Mailbag
October 30th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Is it hard to turn off your “artist mode”? That is, do you encounter new faces on TV or in the newspapers or even during real-life conversations and find yourself calculating angles and shapes and relationships as if you were going to draw them? A: It is impossible to turn that switch off once you have it going, or at least I find it impossible. I do not go around seeing EVERYONE in caricature, but sometimes I become fascinated by a person’s face or some aspect of their appearance and am driven to distraction by it. This can happen when I am watching a… READ MORE
October 16th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: My question probably has a different answer for each individual but I’d like to know your thoughts about developing a unique style. I spend a lot of time looking at different styles and techniques of caricature both traditional and digital. I have become a lot better at the caricature process but still find my work not looking very unique. Maybe you can share your thoughts on how your style developed? A: An artist’s “style” is a surprisingly difficult thing to define. It’s easy to see and identify, but not so easy to pigeonhole into where it comes from and how it’s developed, because as… READ MORE
October 9th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What is to consider when drawing different ethnicities? I think a French caricaturist is usually seeing a lot of “big” noses in France. So he maybe will draw every Japanese nose small, even if it is a “big” nose in Japan. A: Of course race and ethnicity play factors in caricature because they affect the physical features of the subject. Racial/ethnic stereotypes as they apply to a subject is something a caricaturist needs to be aware of. Your question pertains to if the ethnicity of the artist colors their perceptions of the models, which is an interesting point. Let’s look at the stereotype issues… READ MORE
October 2nd, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: When (and why) did you make the switch to doing your artwork digitally, and do you ever miss the traditional media you used to use? A: Back in the early 90’s I was using a combination of watercolor, acrylics and airbrush to do color illustrations. here are a few very old examples: Right around that time I started doing a series of comic book style booklets for a company that produced anti-drugs, anti-smoking, anti-drinking and other anti-stuff materials for schools. They wanted me to do the work digitally, so I bought myself an Apple Macintosh computer and taught myself how to use Adobe Illustrator.… READ MORE
September 25th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Are you going to do more workshops in the future? A: Yes, most definitely. Except this time I am taking my show on the road. in 2017 I am going to do several workshops in different cities around the country, and possibly even overseas. I am going to announce the dates of my first traveling workshop next week, as soon as I have this second one in the books. It will be in January sometime, and the location… Orlando, Florida! Check the blog next week for more details. Thanks to A Lot of People for the question. If you have a question you want… READ MORE
September 18th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Will your book “Sketch o’ the week Vol 1” be available on Amazon like your “Mad Art of Caricature”? A: No, because Sketch o’the Week Vol. 1 isn’t really a book, not in the official sense. It’s just a self-published collection of sketches. The Mad Art of Caricature is a real book with an ISBN number, Library of Congress Control Number, is distributed with a real distributor and carried by book wholesalers like Ingram, Baker & Taylor and Barnes & Noble. I didn’t think it was worth going through all that to make Sketch o’the Week Vol. 1 an official book and have it… READ MORE
September 11th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I was wondering if you ever get tired of drawing. If so, what do you do to stay motivated, other than getting a paycheck 🙂 A: I love my job. I get to draw funny pictures for a living.. what’s not to love? That said, it is a job, and sometimes you get tired of doing any job. After hours and hours and hours of working on the same project sometimes the last thing I want to do it sit back down at the drawing board and get back to work. Reading books is nice. So is watching a movie. I also like to… READ MORE
September 4th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Looks like it’s that time again… no questions to answer in the mailbag. I actually only have to post this maybe once or twice a year, and only because many of the questions I get are repeats of ones I have answered more than once in the past (I’ve had this feature running for ten years, and this is the 484th “mailbag” post) or of the “please show me how to crosshatch” variety that are impossible to answer in a few paragraphs. Several regular readers have accounted for a great many of the questions answered here, and for that I thank them. It’s entirely possible… READ MORE
