Mailbag
June 6th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I’ve read many of your posts in the past about accepting payments as a freelancer. From what I understand you only accept a “check in the mail”? I think you mentioned on your blog that it’s the “safest” way to get paid. But don’t you fall in the trap of receiving a bounced check? How does your “payment to making/ finishing artwork” process go? Is it – You agree to a price, they send a check, you start the work, only continue working on the project until you receive the check and if the check doesn’t turn out to be a rubber check, you… READ MORE
May 30th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I am enjoying the “mock” MAD Cover commissions you are posting on your blog and was curious what specific markers you use? You mention brush pens and Copic Markers on your blog but do you mind sharing what “specific” model of markers you use. A: I use Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens for the linework. They come in two packs with a hard tip and a soft tip, or you can get them separately. The harder tip has a blue colored barrel and the softer a green one. I get them either through JetPens (hard and soft) or on Amazon. I like these pens because… READ MORE
May 23rd, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: When you worked at Six Flags Great America, did you ever have a customer so deeply touched by his or her caricature that they actually shed a tear? A: Well, I did make a few people cry with my caricatures… but not for the reason you mentioned. Thanks to David Strickler 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
May 9th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Do you have any favorite picks for covers of MAD Magazine? Or, perhaps a favorite piece of funny art done by another artist for a magazine not related to MAD? A: That’s an impossible question, since MAD has had so many different eras of covers. There was the Kurtzman comic book cover area, the Mingo/Freas Alfred gag era, the interior MAD artists do covers era, the “reboot” era, the Fredrickson era, and finally the Burbank era. Each of these had their own best moments. For most of the Mingo/Freas era, the covers involved a stand alone gag with Alfred. Some of the gags were… READ MORE
May 2nd, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I have a question for you: Have your personal, political, or religious convictions ever prevented you from accepting a gig or gag? Or have you felt a need to interject and change things which don’t jibe well with your own ethical standpoints? I get that a job is a job, but when is enough enough? A: I have turned down a few jobs because I didn’t want to “go there”, but to be honest I have not been put into that position very often. When Penthouse hired me to do illustration work I immediately told the art director there I would not do any… READ MORE
April 25th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: How do go about drawing certain poses? Do you take photos of yourself, ask someone to pose for you? Use an artist model figure or just make it up? Or a mixture of the above? A: Generally speaking I will attempt to draw a figure, pose, hand, whatever, just out of my head first. That works most of the time, especially for smaller figures in say a movie parody panel. When things needs to be particularly detailed, say for a cover or a full page illustration, or it’s a rather difficult or awkward pose, I’ll take some photos. There are also times when whatever… READ MORE
April 18th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Knowing that “Chicken Fat” will eventually be in a satire you do, which comes first in the drawing process, the main characters or the chicken fat stuff? How do you determine how much space is needed for the chicken fat? A: For those who don’t know what the “Chicken Fat” our questioner is referring to is, here’s a definition: “Chicken Fat” is a term coined by Will Elder, one of MAD‘s original “Usual Gang of Idiots”, for the background gags and extra visual jokes stuffed into the panels of a MAD Magazine parody. It meant visual jokes and gags added for “extra flavor” to… READ MORE
April 11th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Welp, it’s been a while since I’ve had an empty mailbag but here it is. After 659 answered mailbag questions over the last (nearly) 15 years, perhaps this feature has run its course. If I get any questions I’ll answer them, otherwise I will start posting classic “mailbag” questions on Sundays. 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
