Tom Richmond posts first of series on how to do caricatures

MAD Magazine cartoonist/illustrator Tom Richmond, has posted the first of a multi-part series on how to do caricatures.

Iâ??ve been working with young caricaturists at theme parks for over two decades now, and Iâ??ve learned one very important lessonâ?¦ itâ??s impossible to teach someone to draw caricatures. I can teach them to DRAWâ?¦ that isnâ??t so hard. Learning how a face looks and works by learning anatomy, how expression changes the features, how the angle the face is at changes the perception of features, how hair grows and falls about the headâ?¦ those are things that can be taught. Drawing caricatures, on the other hand, is a lot more about seeing what makes the person in front of you unique and personal interpretation than it is about making good, confident marks on the paper. I can explain to someone exactly how to draw a circle, but if I place a circle before them and ask them to draw it and they draw a squareâ?¦ well, that is all about seeing and not drawing. The ability to see, and after that the ability to exaggerate what you see for humorous effect in a caricatureâ?¦ that has to be developed. For most that means a lot of drawing and a lot of looking.

In addition to his work with MAD Magazine, Tom owned a small business doing caricatures at theme parks.