Caricaturists MAD convention one week away!

The International Society of Caricature Artists (ISCA, formerly known as the NCN) 2009 Annual Caricature Convention and Competition is just over a week away on November 2nd-7th in Sandusky, Ohio. For caricature artists this is the ultimate event. Whether you work as a live artist, publication or fine artist, if your work involves caricature you could not spend your time and money better than to attend this event.

There are some unique things about this year’s convention that makes it a perfect time for non-ISCA members to attend to see what it’s all about.

First off, there is not one, not two, not three but FOUR guest speakers, all from MAD Magazine:

• Sam Viviano– Longtime MAD artist and current art director
• Mark Fredrickson– Frequent MAD cover artist, former airbrush demigod and current digital painting master
• Hermann Mejia– The brilliant “artist’s artist” for MAD, caricaturist, painter, sculptor, genius
• Tom Richmond– My humble self

ISCA itself is a great value to be a member of. For new professional members it’s only $50 for a year’s membership, and thereafter $60 per year. What do you get? A subscription to their excellent quarterly magazine “Exaggerated Features”, which is chock full of instructional articles and other features about the art form. You also get access to their members-only online forum, which is a great resource to share work, get critiques, learn new techniques and connect to caricaturists from all over the world. Finally it is a great network for getting work or finding people to work with you.

Ordinarily these conventions are only open to members of the organization. For the first time this year there will be a special fee of $125 for anyone who is not a member but wants to attend just the MAD speaker presentations. I warn you, though, if you are a caricaturist or cartoonist and attend just for the speakers you will be so blown away by the creative power of the event you will likely apply for membership on the spot and end up drawing away like the other 150 plus attending artists.

There is still time to register and attend either the full experience as a member or just for the MAD seminars. Check out their website for all the details.