Mailbag
August 2nd, 2015 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I’d like to know how you manage to resist the temptation to add ‘just a bit more’ to an artwork you’ve just done. I have to admit I’ve given in to that a few times and a drawing can get ruined as a consequence. A: That’s a problem for many artists, especially younger ones. I think it’s because there is always a certain amount of insecurity when you create a piece of art and the temptation to keep tinkering with it is hard to ignore. When to stop is something that every artist has to figure out for themselves. Yes, you absolutely can ruin… READ MORE
July 19th, 2015 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Is there any movie/TV show you wanted to draw a spoof of, but never did? A: Sure, many of them. As for recent movies I’d have loved to do a spoof of “Captian Phillips (Captain F’s Up)”, “Dallas Buyer’s Club (Dullest Buyers Clubbed)”, “Birdman (Birdbrained)”, “Argo (ARRRRRGH-O)”, or “American Hustle (American’s… Hustled)”, among others. Possible spoof titles all mine… I missed me calling. For TV shows I’m still hoping I get to do “Sherlock”, “The Blacklist”, “Arrow” or “The Flash”, “Penny Dreadful” (“Really Dreadful”… see, MAD! I’ve already written the title for you!), “Doctor Who” and “Person of Interest”. Those are all just off… READ MORE
June 21st, 2015 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Is there someone who evaluates your caricatures? Currently with your experience, did you have bad reviews and did you have to redo caricatures? A: I’m assuming you are referring to live caricature work. Caricature is, to some extent, subjective. A likeness is a likeness but, unlike portraiture, caricature includes the exaggeration of what the artist perceives as the things that make the subject unique. That can be different for different artists. One artist may perceive a subject’s face as having a strong jaw, where another may see it differently. It’s the same for your audience. What you as a caricaturist see and exaggerate might… READ MORE
June 14th, 2015 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: In regards to recurring characters like Spy vs Spy, Melvin and Jenkins, and Monroe etc does MAD own the rights to those characters (I’m assuming they DO own Spy vs Spy) or does the original artist/ writer still own them? A: I am not the best person to ask that question of, since I have nothing to do with the inner working of the magazine or its relationship with freelancers. That said, as far as I know EVERYTHING that is published in MAD Magazine is done as “work for hire”, which means that MAD owns it once they pay you for doing it. That… READ MORE
June 7th, 2015 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What’s your favorite and least favorite movie and/or tv show you’ve drawn a spoof of? A: I have to separate those into the two categories, TV shows and films, for a complete answer. One caveat: my choices would not necessarily reflect how I felt about my work on the spoofs in question… what I would consider my best work might not (in fact does not) coincide with what I consider my favorite and least favorite shows and film I’ve drawn the satires for. Mostly my choices are based on a balance between how much fun I had doing the job, how much I either… READ MORE
May 31st, 2015 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Two questions about digital coloring: 1) I realize that probably 99% of your coloring work is digital, but when you do go old fashioned do you exclusively use watercolor? Or do you use other mediums as well to get the effect you want? 2) Do you see a trend in the marketplace where clients are preferring to see work done either completely digital or at least colored digitally? Or is there still a demand for more traditional mediums such as watercolor? I’m asking because I can’t think of the last time I saw an actual feature cartoon that had that traditional look, it’s all… READ MORE
May 17th, 2015 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Hey, clod–what’s with all the furshlugginer caricatures of the U.S. presidents? P.S. your Benjamin Harrison sucks and looks nothing like him. A: On Saturday of this next week I will reveal the reason behind my project of doing caricatures of all 44 U.S. presidents. It will be incredibly anticlimactic. Thanks (I guess) to A. E. Neuman for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me and I’ll try and answer it here! READ MORE
April 26th, 2015 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Q: Were you surprised that Mad Magazine picked “American Sniper” their next Movie Parody? A: Actually that was a nice surprise. As I have written here recently, for many reasons MAD has been sort of forced to stick to big blockbusters for their film parodies the last decade or so. “American Sniper” is a great departure from that. MAD‘s approach to the parody was also very clever. To do a straight parody of something as politically charged and controversial as “American Sniper” would have been hard to do without coming off as either left or right wing centric, and other than the silly “fake baby”… READ MORE
