Mailbag
August 27th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: You are excellent at drawing, but for me your writing is excellent too. How did you learn to write? Some time ago I’ve read William Zinsser’s “On Writing Well”. You are always following his four articles of faith: clarity, simplicity, brevity and humanity. A: Thanks for the compliment. I’ve always loved to write, but have had no formal training past what everyone got in high school. That makes my writing long on message and context but short on grammar, punctuation, and structure. What grasp of the language I have I credit to my mom for forcing my siblings and me to speak correct English.… READ MORE
August 13th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Which kind of easel do you use when drawing live caricatures? A: I don’t use an easel per se but rather a drawing/drafting table or drawing board when I do live caricatures. It depends on if I’m drawing them at a theme park or a convention/event. At the theme parks we use drafting tables that have been modified. I replace the laminated pressboard table top with a custom made laminated plywood board (much lighter and thinner) that has a drawing paper holding tray on the underside of it, a clip scavenged off of a clipboard for holding the piece of paper I am drawing… READ MORE
August 6th, 2017 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Q: Someone told me you hold back on the exaggerations of your caricatures in your MAD Parodies for some reason. Is that true, and if so why? A: That’s sort of true–or at least true to a certain extent. First off, I’m not really much of a “mean guy” caricaturist. I do not exaggerate features to the point of grotesqueness… my goals are seldom to push the exaggeration as far as I can. I am more about exaggerating expression than anything else. Still, without exaggeration of the features all you have is a portrait, so clearly exaggeration in some form is a crucial part of… READ MORE
July 30th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I know that you mention the inside/out method when working on live caricatures, but I wanted to know if you still use that same method when working in studio on celebrity caricatures? A: No, in the studio I usually start with the head shape and rough I'd the basis features, then go back in and draw it out more completely. For that final stage I do work from the eyes and interior features out and make adjustments as I go. This is actually still the same process as what I do with live work. Even though the first thing I draw in a live… READ MORE
July 16th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Have you ever been sued or coerced to remove your caricature drawings from your books or blog because the subject did not like his/her drawing to be publicly displayed even if it was not a commissioned work? How did you deal with it? A: I’ve never been sued but once I (or rather one of the artists who was drawing at my booth at the Mall of America) was told by a celebrity to remove his caricature from the display at one of my booths. This happened a long time ago, so some of the details are a little hazy but basically he demanded… READ MORE
July 9th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Are you going to come to my hometown and do a workshop? A: I get a lot of people who ask me that, and the only answer is maybe but probably not. It isn’t as easy to set up a traveling workshop as one might think. I have to find a hotel that has the right room for our needs and all that, but the biggest concern is making sure I can fill all twelve student spaces. It doesn’t make sense for me to take three plus days away from the studio and incur the expenses of travel and hotel and room rental etc.… READ MORE
July 2nd, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: How do you choose the colors for your drawings? Is there something like a Tom-Richmond-color-palette? A: My PhotoShop swatch palette is a Frankenstein-ed amalgamation of colors which includes ones I have found I like the look of in print and kept a sample of for future use, standard PS colors, and a palette of comic book orientated colors I got off the internet from somewhere years ago. It’s a real mish-mash and very disorganized. However, if anyone is interested in having it, here it is. Thanks to Dominick Zeillinger for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about… READ MORE
June 18th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: How long does it typically take you to do a MAD parody? A: As long as they give me. Seriously, that’s the real answer. I am given a deadline, and I turn in the art on that deadline. If the job is a six page parody and the deadline is in 4 weeks, it takes me four weeks. If the deadline is in two weeks, it takes me two weeks. In the former case I am able to work on other jobs as well, and do things like sleep. In the latter, not so much. I have been given as long as 5 weeks… READ MORE
