Rich Powell - Cartoonist Survey #283

Award winning artist, illustrator and cartoonist Rich Powell was born on Long Island in 1963. He grew up in New Jersey and served in the Marines after high school. While studying at the California State University, Hayward he met his wife Frankie, who is also an artist.

Rich spent many years working in the computer gaming field starting at Sierra On-Line in the early 90s. During those years he worked as both a conceptual artist and eventually an art director. When Sierra shut down he began doing freelance work.

As a freelancer he has created illustrations for logos, t-shirt designs, board games, greeting cards, character/mascot designs, cartoons and more. His illustrations and cartoons have been used by MAD Magazine, Playboy, Our State Magazine, Highlights for Children, The North Carolina Zoo, McGraw-Hill, The National Institutes for Health and many others.

His hilarious single panel cartoon, WIDE OPEN! (Formerly Dixie Drive), is distributed by Universal Uclick on the Gocomics.com site and also appears daily in Asheboro, North Carolina’s Courier-Tribune.

In addition to his cartoon and illustration work, Rich enjoys combining his love of old toys with large scale acrylic paintings.

A couple of weeks back Rich was honored at the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Awards weekend by being presented with the 2013 Best Product/Advertising Illustration Silver Reuben. This is quite an honor and one that he truly deserves.

Rich lives in Asheboro, North Carolina with his wife Frankie. They have a daughter Bailey who is also a very talented artist. Be sure and visit the Rich Powell Illustration website to see much more of his work, as well as his blog which is updated regularly. You should also check out his WIDE OPEN! comic here at GoComics. Very funny stuff!

What is your favorite pen to use?
It's funny you ask this now. I work in 3 different ways: Usually for MAD or Highlights, I cartoon in pencil and pump up the contrast in Photoshop before adding color. I like the "scratchiness" of the line: When I do a watercolor humorous illustration I'll go over the pencil with a waterproof ball point or marker (Uniball Elite or Pitt or Pigma) to preserve that scratchy look. If I'm doing a gag cartoon such as my Wide Open panel, I'll use Superblack and a nib (most of the time!). I'm no master of the nib so I wrote to the great Jim Woodring whose inking I greatly admire and asked him what HE uses. He was kind enough to mail me a nib! It's a very cool thing: A Brause Fingerfeder #29. It's shaped like a hand wherein the extended index finger is the nib. I would have expected no less an artifact from Mr. Woodring. I placed that Talisman aside and bought myself a pack!

Do you draw in pencil first and if so do you use a standard pencil or a mechanical one?
I use a Pentel Twist-Erase mechanical .05. On an excursion in Savannah with a bunch of MAD guys I turned around in the bus to talk with Sergio Aragones and noticed a Twist-Erase in his pocket. "Wow!" I said. "I draw with the same pencil as the great Sergio!" He took his out and asked me ".07?" and I answered "No...05" he grins and says "Oh well!"

Do you do your coloring by hand or on the computer?
Depends. Cartoons that I send digitally are most often done on the computer. I love working in watercolor though and do that often. I like the bleed.

If you do your coloring by hand, what do you use?
I have a Pelikan set of watercolors and sometimes use my Dr. Martin's Synchromatic Watercolors. Unless my daughter (an art student) has swiped them.

What type of paper do you use?
I've been using the new Strathmore Mixed Media pads lately. Very versatile and affordable.

What thing(s) do you hate to draw?
I am absolutely horrible at drawing good looking women. Sad, I know.

Do you buy your supplies from big chain art store catalogs/websites or a local one that you physically go to?
I like to use Jerry's Artarama. It's based up in Raleigh, NC but they have a catalog. We don’t have a mom and pop shop around here and I hate Hobby Lobby.

Are there any rituals that you do before starting to draw?
I ran out of chickens so, no.

Do you listen to music while you draw and if so what genre?
I like Jazz, Folk Rock like Dylan or Wilco, blues.... but that's not all. I like many genres. I find it hard to pay attention to the lyrics if I'm really into the drawing. So, mostly Jazz I guess.

What was the first job as a cartoonist/illustrator that you were paid for?
I drew bachelorette party cards where the men's "naughty bits" were left out for the women to draw. Ugh.

Did you read comics as a kid and if so what was your favorite?
MAD, Creepy, Eerie, National Lampoon.

What is or was your favorite comic strip?
I loved the Far Side, Watterson's art, Dick Tracy, Little Orphan Annie, Buck Rogers...too many to mention. I like gag cartoonists: Addams, Kliban, Gross, MK Brown.

What was your favorite book as a child and do you still own a copy of it?
Yes. New Yorker collection that my parents had. Early stuff like The War Album, 1925-50. I've still got them.

Did you have any formal art training and if so where did you receive it?
I went to Cal State Hayward after the Marines for a fine art education. Painting/drawing/sculpting...nothing you can get a job doing!

Do you feel that the Internet is a blessing or a curse?
Both. Easier to approach people, larger audience, crappier wages and more competition.

Did either of your parents draw?
My dad (an accountant) painted after work. He was good!

Who in your life is/was the most supportive of your art?
My dad was.

Do you keep a sketchbook?
Many.

Have you ever taught cartooning/drawing and if so did you enjoy the experience?
I teach the occasional quickie class at the local library. I wish I was better at it.

Do you feel that talent or passion is more important in drawing?
Passion and work ethic, if you want to make it as a cartoonist.

Do you collect anything and if so what?
All sorts of crazy crap. Anything old and strange looking.

If you were an animated cartoon character who do you think you would be?
Koko the Clown.

Are you a righty or lefty?
Righty.

If you weren't an artist what would you want to do for work?
Manage my fabulously wealthy late parent’s fortune.

In one or two sentences describe your drawing area.
A giant, green monster of a drafting table that ends up far too cluttered.

Do you play any musical instruments?
I screw around with a guitar. Not well.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone who wants to pursue drawing as a career what would it be?
Draw, draw, draw.

Who is your favorite artist?
I couldn’t begin to answer that. I love cartooning, illustration, photography, painting, collage...

Thanks again for taking the time to participate, Rich!

Tom Stiglich - Cartoonist Survey #264

Tom Stiglich is a cartoonist, illustrator and graphic designer who was born in Philadelphia, PA in 1966. He started drawing when he was very young, and while he was still at Northeast Catholic High School, had his first cartoon published by the Philadelphia Daily News. After high school he studied at the Art Institute of Philadelphia and graduated with a degree in Visual Communications in June of 1988.

Now working at a weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Tom has had his editorial cartoons printed in most of the major papers including, USA Today, The New York Times, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer and many others. His cartoons have been featured in numerous magazines such as Time, Newsweek, Newsweek Japan, Mad Kids, Funny Stuff and Comic Relief. In addition to magazines and newspapers, his editorial cartoons can be found in J.P. Trostle’s “Attack of the Political Cartoonists” and also regularly appear in Charles Brooks’ annual book series “Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year”. Tom has been awarded the United Nations’ Citation of Excellence three times, and has had his work displayed at the Charles M. Schulz museum in Santa Rosa, California.

Tom’s work isn’t limited to cartooning. He has created illustrations for various children’s books such as “Woe is I Jr.: The Younger Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English” and both “Goin’ To The Zoo” and “Hate That Thunder” for the bi-lingual Mandy and Andy series of books.

A member of both the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists and the National Cartoonists Society, Tom was recently nominated along with Nick Galifianakis and Kevin Kallaugher (KAL) for the 2012 NCS Divisional Award in the Advertisement Illustration category. Visit Tom’s website where you can see more of his editorial cartoons, read his two strips, ‘Uncle Joe’ and ‘Disconnected’ and order prints. There is also a Tom Stiglich CafePress store where you can purchase t-shirts, hats, mugs and other goodies.

What is your favorite pen to use?
Believe it or not, Papermate Black felt tip. I've tried some of the finer pens and I've stayed with these.

Do you draw in pencil first and if so do you use a standard pencil or a mechanical one?
Yes, standard yellow #2 pencil.

Do you do your coloring by hand or on the computer?
Color with Corel Draw and Photoshop

What type of paper do you use?
Anything I can steal from the office. That stuff adds up.

What thing(s) do you hate to draw?
Horses. Damn horses. The legs seem to be going the wrong way.

Do you buy your supplies from big chain art store catalogues/websites or a local one that you physically go to?
Usually Blick and Utrecht here in Philly.

Are there any rituals that you do before starting to draw?
Have a clean art table, bottle of water and turn on the music.

Do you listen to music while you draw and if so what genre?
Music is a must. Rock and Blues. Mostly Eric Burdon and the Animals, The Doors, Stones, Springsteen, Ray Davies and The Kinks, RL Burnside, Muddy Waters, etc.

Did you read comics as a kid and if so what was your favorite?
Yes, Sgt. Rock.

What is or was your favorite comic strip?
The Far Side

What was your favorite book as a child and do you still own a copy of it?
The "Stand", Stephen King. Yes, still have a copy. I was amazed how much fun reading was when it wasn't required reading from school.

Did you have any formal art training and if so where did you receive it?
Yes, Art Institute of Philadelphia.

Do you feel that the Internet is a blessing or a curse?
Both. More exposure than ever before, yet, leading to the ultimate demise of newspapers.

Did either of your parents draw?
Yes, my mom was a huge influence.

Who in your life is/was the most supportive of your art?
My girlfriend, Audrey.

Do you keep a sketchbook?
No, I should. Mostly scraps of paper that I stole from work. Recurring theme here.

Have you ever taught cartooning/drawing and if so did you enjoy the experience?
No.

Do you feel that talent or passion is more important in drawing?
Both. There has to be some talent there to start, then passion will play a big part. How bad do you want it?

Do you collect anything and if so what? I collect too much junk.
Lots of Peanuts merchandise and Bobbleheads all over the place. Do you have any extra space I can store my stuff?

If you were an animated cartoon character who do you think you would be?
Cuckoo Man from The Mighty Heroes.

Are you a righty or lefty?
Right handed.

If you weren't an artist what would you want to do for work?
Play basketball overseas. Need to work on my jump shot.

In one or two sentences describe your drawing area.
Organized with lots of pens. HATE looking for something when I'm drawing.

Do you play any musical instruments?
Harmonica.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone who wants to pursue drawing as a career what would it be?
Work hard, dedicate yourself and you'll see results. I would steer them towards animation only because, working at a newspaper company really gives you a sense of where everything is going. Print isn't dead but it's on life support.

Who is your favorite artist?
Charles Schulz. An amazing cartoonist and an even better person.

Thanks again for your time Tom and enjoy the Reuben’s!

Bill Amend - Cartoonist Survey #240

(Click strips for larger size.)

Award-winning cartoonist Bill Amend was born in Northampton, Massachusetts in September of 1962. While in grade school he realized he had a knack for drawing cartoons and was soon creating his own comic books. He moved with his family to California in 1974 and attended high school in Burlingame where he contributed cartoons to various school publications. After high school Bill studied at Amherst College and was the editorial cartoonist for the twice-weekly college newspaper. He graduated from Amherst with honors in 1984 and received a Bachelor’s degree in Physics. He worked in the film and animation industry in San Francisco after college and in his spare time sent out cartoons trying to get syndicated. It took about three years of submissions before Universal Press Syndication offered him a contract in the fall of 1987.



On April 10, 1988 Bill’s strip, FoxTrot, debuted as a seven day a week strip. FoxTrot revolves around the daily lives of the Fox family, comprised of Roger and Andrea Fox, their three kids, Peter, Paige and Jason and Jason’s Iguana, Quincy. The strip covers a wide range of topics including nerd culture, popular consumer products and pop culture. As Bill puts it, “FoxTrot tends toward the geeky, with occasional forays into the super geeky.” When FoxTrot started in syndication it appeared in about 70 newspapers and grew to more than 1,000 newspapers worldwide at its peak. In January of 2007 Bill cut back the strip to Sundays only in order to “free up time for other things and to generally preserve what sanity I had left.” There have been well over 30 collections of FoxTrot strips published, with the most recent being last November’s “The Best of FoxTrot”.



Bill was presented with the National Cartoonists Society’s most prestigious award in May of 2007, the Reuben Award as Cartoonist of the Year for 2006. He also received an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Amherst College in 2000. He presently lives in Kansas City, MO with his wife Kristin and two children. Visit the official FoxTrot website to learn more about Bill, read the strips and also purchase prints. He also has a CafePress store where you can buy FoxTrot mugs, t-shirts, sweatshirts, mouse pads and even infant onesies.



What is your favorite pen to use?

For writing I like Uni-balls. For drawing on paper I use Pigma Microns (05 mostly). I draw the strip on a Cintiq now, though.

Do you draw in pencil first and if so do you use a standard pencil or a mechanical one?

I've never liked mechanical pencils. When I draw on paper, I always lightly pencil first with a 2H pencil.

Do you do your coloring by hand or on the computer?

Computer.

What type of paper do you use?

Strathmore 400 series smooth finish bristol. The 11x14 pads usually (can chop in half for dailies, or use whole for Sundays).

What thing(s) do you hate to draw?

Trees in the winter.



Do you buy your supplies from big chain art store catalogues/websites or a local one that you physically go to?

Both. Depends how soon I need stuff.

Are there any rituals that you do before starting to draw?

Depends. Does procrastination count as a ritual?

Do you listen to music while you draw and if so what genre?

If I'm still fiddling with dialogue, I'll play music without words, such as movie soundtracks or classical stuff. If I'm just working on the art, I'll play whatever I'm in the mood for.

Did you read comics as a kid and if so what was your favorite?

MAD magazine was probably my favorite source of comic entertainment as a kid.

What is or was your favorite comic strip?

Calvin and Hobbes.

What was your favorite book as a child and do you still own a copy of it?

Richard Scarry's Busy, Busy World. It's out of print now, I think. I bought a copy off e-Bay to read to my kids when they were little.

Did you have any formal art training and if so where did you receive it?

No, I studied physics in college.



Do you feel that the Internet is a blessing or a curse?

Huge time sink, but great way to research stuff quickly and connect with readers. Making the newspaper business a little iffy, which isn't fun for those of us who rely on it, but hopefully we'll adapt.

Did either of your parents draw?

Not often.

Who in your life is/was the most supportive of your art?

My parents were always really supportive, which was especially important during the years after college when I was mostly unemployed and trying to get syndicated.

Do you keep a sketchbook?

No.

Have you ever taught cartooning/drawing and if so did you enjoy the experience?

I taught a one-week class over winter break once in college. Was fun, but I was pretty disorganized, so not sure how much they learned.

Do you feel that talent or passion is more important in drawing?

Well, with comic strips, I'd say having interesting/entertaining things to say is the most important thing. Talent is obviously important but some of us have succeeded with only a mild amount of it. Passion helps keep you going when it's 3am and stuff is due the next day or when rejection letter number 500 comes in the mail.

Do you collect anything and if so what?

Not really. My office collects clutter, but that's not intentional.

If you were an animated cartoon character who do you think you would be?

As a kid I always liked the smart alec types like Bugs Bunny and Top Cat. As I've grown more nerdy, I'd probably be pegged as more of a Dexter (the mad scientist, not the serial killer lol).


Are you a righty or lefty?

I'm right handed.

If you weren't an artist what would you want to do for work?

Program computers.

In one or two sentences describe your drawing area.

Sort of a U with my traditional drawing table and supplies on one side and my computer stuff on the other. Books and papers and a sea of coffee cups in the middle.



Do you play any musical instruments?

Piano, guitar, tuba. None well.

If you could give one piece of advice to someone who wants to pursue drawing as a career what would it be?

Well, if it's someone wanting to do a comic strip, I would advise not focusing purely on art. Drawing is only about 30% of the job. Learn/experience lots of other things so you'll have stuff to write about.


Who is your favorite artist?

N.C. Wyeth



Thank you very much for taking the time to participate Bill!