Forgot to mention an outta-town visitor this past weekend. Tom Richmond has become one of the star caricaturists of MAD Magazine…and if you specialize in drawing likenesses, that's pretty much the highest honor you can achieve. I mean, appearing in the same pages as Drucker and Davis? Doesn't get much better than that.
Tom was in L.A. (briefly) for a Sunday convention…so we had dinner Saturday night. Then the next afternoon, I watched him whip out striking caricatures of many of his fans and sign advance copies of the next MAD (with Tom's expertly-illustrated take on Grey's Anatomy). Great guy, great artist.
Tom has a website which I would recommend to anyone with an interest in professional cartooning. His weblog has a lot of "how I do it" pieces, including rough sketches and images of jobs in various stages of completion. And don't miss this posting from September in which Tom told the story of how his spouse surprised him with an amazing anniversary gift.
Another fine caricaturist whose work appears in MAD, Drew Friedman, was also in town last week for a bookstore appearance to promote his new book, Old Jewish Comedians. Alas, I was unable to get my keester or any other part of me over to his signing but I do have the book and it's quite wonderful, capturing some very grotesque people in a grotesque style but with just enough affection to make it enjoyable. Order a copy here and see what I mean.