Sunday Mailbag- Still Work Live?

Q: Do you ever draw live caricatures anymore?

A: Very occasionally. In fact, I just did a gig a couple of weeks ago at the Mall of America with three other local caricaturists. My doing gigs is extremely rare. It’s more likely I will sometimes fill in at one of my two theme park operations.

I spent about 20 years doing live caricatures full time at theme parks every summer, as well as at fairs, holidays at shopping centers, and some gigs. In 2004 I hurt my wrist working out with a heavybag (note to artists: activities that involve throwing your drawing hand at heavy objects with all your force again and again is a bad idea) and developed de quervain’s tendinosis in my drawing wrist. This forced me to take a summer off of doing live caricatures, because while I could draw and do my illustration work in the studio I had a lot of pain when I pressed hard to get the type of lines I wanted when working live. The wrist healed but I never went back to full time live work. I discovered I enjoyed working in the air conditioned, quiet, mosquito-free environment of my studio where no one spilled Dipping Dots down my back or asked me where the bathrooms are while in the middle of a drawing. I still enjoy it on the rare days I draw live.

I am, however, going back to the trenches on a limited basis. I’ve got two days scheduled this month at Nickelodeon Universe, and will probably continue to works a few days a month especially during the summer. This is partly because I’ve got some extra time these days now that I am not doing the VERY time-consuming movie/TV parodies for MAD anymore, but mostly because I want to get my live caricature skills back to a high level.

Live caricature is as much a craft as it is an art form. You “lose your line” and the sharpness of your spontaneous drawing skills if you don’t do it enough. It’s a little like shooting baskets. You practice shooting until you stop thinking about your form or footwork or follow through or the other mechanics of taking the shot and just see the basket, throw it up there, and in it goes. Muscle memory and “touch” become instinctive. Stop shooting baskets for six months and then try again, and everything clangs off the rim. It’s the same ball, the same basket, the same hands and eyes taking the shot, but you’ve lost the “touch”. It comes back pretty fast if you get back to practicing though. Same thing with live caricature.

Thanks to Grant Jonen 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!