Hard to believe, but my book The Mad Art of Caricature!- A Serious Guide to Drawing Funny Faces already needs to do a second printing. This is not going to be a second edition . . . there won’t be any new material added. It is merely a second run of the original book.

That said, I do have an opportunity here to correct a few of the stray typos and errors that snuck past my copy editors and myself the first time around. Believe me, the fact that these errors are so few and far between is a testament to the hard work and expert knowledge of my editor (and damn good caricaturist) Celestia Ward and the additional input of Emily Anthony, also a terrific caricaturist. One thing Celestia told me right away . . . there is no such thing as a perfect book. No matter how many eyes you have looking it over, something will always slip through. I have found a (very) few so far, mostly misspellings that got past editors and spell-checkers both. These will be corrected, as well as a quote on page two that will now be properly attributed to John Kascht.

To this end, I thought I’d appeal to the thousands of people who have gotten a copy of the book—here’s your chance to play grammar cop. If anyone has noticed any typos or misspellings, please email me privately and let me know. Please don’t use the comments here. Send me a personal email.

Oh . . . and thanks to everyone who has ordered a copy and helped me to sell out the first run. That is awesome—I am so glad so many people are getting something from the book!

I have a number of caricature and comic artist friends who swear that the iPad is a very functional tool for sketching, drawing and painting. I’ve seen some impressive results by several digital artists, but in my personal experience the iPad lacks two important features to make it a truly useful art tool: a stylus that uses a reasonably-precise point (as opposed to a marshmallow tip) and pressure sensitivity. Yes, you can apparently work around the lack of these features and create some good art, but you can work around the limitations of using a broken stick and dirt also… by why would you want to? I’m sorry, I have to have better control of the interaction between the end of my drawing instrument and the surface I am drawing on to do functional drawing. If it doesn’t feel like natural drawing to me, then it’s useless.

At CES this year, Adonit debuted a new digital stylus for iOS devices called the Jet Touch that uses Bluetooth to transmit the pressure-sensitivity data, and has a more usable tip in the form of a small, plastic disk adhered to the end of a tiny ball. The video above shows the device in use.

I’m not wild about the disk on the tip, but it sure must beat those stupid, pillow-ended styluses that are the status quo today. If the pressure-sensitivity works well (i.e. really controlling line width and opacity in real time), AND if the disk-tip is something that still allows for a more precise drawing experience, they might just have a winner here. The Jot Touch is scheduled to be released sometime next month at a price of less than $100.

All that said, I am not sure what good it will do me personally past the novelty of being able to draw easily on my iPad, but it is very high on the cool scale regardless.

Clicky to Embiggen

Last week Chris Sparks posted a look at the dust jacket artwork for the upcoming Team Cul De Sac book. The artwork is done (of course) by the incomparable Richard Thompson. I’ve posted about the book before—it features artwork by 150 well-known cartoonists with their take on Petey, Alice and the Cul De Sac world. The full list of contributors can be found here, and it’s damned impressive. I am so happy to have been a small part of this project, which will raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for research for Parkinson’s disease. Chris was even kind enough to use a blurb from me on the back of the dust jacket!

You can preorder the book here, the release is set for June. If you are a fan of cartooning, this is a one-of-a-kind-must-have book… plus you will be supporting a great cause. I plan on taking care of a few Christmas gifts early this year with a multiple-copy order!

Clicky to Embiggen

The official brochures and registration info for the National Cartoonists Society’s 2012 Reuben Awards should be landing in member’s mailboxes starting today, so I thought I’d post the artwork I did for this year’s brochure. This image depicts the 2012 guest speakers, special award winners and our nutty emcee. Here’s the list of unlucky models: Top: Tom Gammill (The Doozies, TV writer and producer, Reubens emcee). Second row from left: Steve McGarry (Badlands, Trivquiz, Biographic, Kid City, NCS Silver T-Square recipient), Mark Simon (animator, storyboard artist, entrepreneur), Alfred E. Neuman (idiot), John Lotshaw (Accidental Centaurs), Dave Kellett (Sheldon, Drive), Michael Jantze (The Norm, Jantze Studios, SCAD). Bottom row from left: Ray Billingsley (Curtis), Butch Hartman (Fairly Oddparents, Danny Phanton, T.U.F.F. Puppy), Jim Davis (Garfield) and Stan Goldberg (Archie, recipient of the NCS Gold Key Award). Assorted characters related to those depicted abound.

This is NOT the official Reuben Awards image. That one is being done by illustrator Ed Steckley this year, and will be featured on the T-shirt, program and other fun stuff. Ed had to wait until the “Cartoonist of the Year” nominees were announced, and I didn’t want to that long to get the brochure printed and mailed. This one might be printed on the other side of the t-shirt, unless I am lynched by the subjects demanding retribution for my mangling their faces.

Headline design by John Kovaleski. No one will lynch him for that… it looks good.

Image courtesy and © 2011 Richard Thompson/Universal Uclick

2010 National Cartoonist Society “Cartoonist of the Year” Richard Thompson is taking a hiatus from his Universal Uclick syndicated comic strip Cul de Sac, and inviting six guest cartoonists to take over the reins of the popular daily during his absence. Richard is taking time off to receive treatment for Parkinson’s Disease.

The six guest cartoonists will be Ken Fisher (Tom the Dancing Bug), Michael Jantze (The Norm), Corey Pandolph (Elderberries), Stephan Pastis (Pearls Before Swine), Lincoln Pierce (Big Nate) and Mo Willems (award winning children’s book author/illustrator). Their guest stints began yesterday (Monday, Feb 20th) with Michael Jantze behind the pen, and will continue with dailies through the week of March 19 and Sundays from March 18 through April 15.

You can read about the guest artist project on the Washington Post’s Comic Riffs blog, complete with interviews of several of the guest artists discussing their involvement and how they approached their take on the unique look at humor of Cul de Sac.

This is going to be very interesting. All the cartoonists involved are great talents, and it is going to be fun to see how they incorporate Richard’s style in with their own. I would be surprised to see any of them do a straight imitation of Richard’s very individual artistic look. The two dailies by Michael so far have that Cul de Sac flavor but are still obviously a different artist’s take.

BTW, several of the guest cartoonists also contributed to the upcoming Cul de Sac book benefiting the Michael J. Fox Foundation which supports Parkinson’s Disease research.

Last week’s kerfuffle over the New York Times Sunday Review‘s new initiative restore an editorial cartoon to it’s features by soliciting submissions of finished cartoons on spec created quite a bit of negative response from professional cartoonists. Cartoonist, former National Cartoonist Society president and Cagle Cartoons syndicate owner Daryl Cagle was one of many who received the following response from the Times last week:

As I’m sure you all know, we got a lot of reactions to our request for cartoons for a new feature in the Sunday Review — much of it negative. Your very good questions and criticisms of our process have forced us to take a second look, and to reconsider. We are going to postpone adding the cartoon to our section until we can figure out a process that is fair to cartoonists and also works for us.

Appreciate your interest in the Times.
The Editors.

You can read Daryl’s thoughtful reactions on his blog.

Their rethinking the process is good, but the end result of them deciding not to run a cartoon is like curing the disease by killing the patient… but at least they are only postponing the idea and not dismissing it. I agree with Daryl’s suggestion that, if they want to run an exclusive editorial cartoon, they treat the process like they would any exclusive column or regular feature. Solicit portfolios from professional cartoonists, look for one who’s work and voice are in keeping with the editorial direction of the Times, then commission them to produce a weekly cartoon and pay a living wage.

I know people think newspapers are dying, but the New York Times has a Sunday (the day this feature would appear) print circulation of 1.6 million and just passed a paid online subscription base of 380,000. I think they can afford to pay for a weekly original cartoon if it’s something their readers want to see.

Good for the Times to realize their initial approach was not well thought out, and I hope they come up with something that will benefit both their publication and whatever cartoonist(s) they end up working with.

From the NCS Website:

NCS membership nomination voting has been tabulated, and the nominees for the 2011 Reuben Award for “Cartoonist of the Year” are:

• Brian Crane
  

• Stephan Pastis

• Tom Richmond
  

Brian Crane is the creator of Pickles, a daily comic strip syndicated by the Washington Post Writer’s Group. Soon after Pickles’ debut in 1990, Brian “retired” as an art director for an advertising agency in Reno, Nevada, to devote his full attention to his comic strip. Although he often used cartoon figures in ads he designed, Pickles is his first syndicated comic strip.In 1995 and 2001, Pickles was nominated for Best Newspaper Comic Strip by the National Cartoonists Society, winning the coveted award in 2001. Pickles has topped comics polls across the nation again and again, and it appears in over 800 newspapers around the world. Brian lives near Reno with his wife, Diana. He’s the proud father of seven and grandfather of 10. Visit the Pickles website.

Stephan Pastis is the creator of the daily comic strip Pearls Before Swine, syndicated by Universal Uclick. Stephan practiced law in the San Fransisco Bay area before following his love of cartooning and eventually seeing syndication with Pearls. Launched in newspapers beginning December 31, 2001, the daily strip currently appears in 650 newspapers worldwide. The National Cartoonists Society awarded Pearls Before Swine the Best Newspaper Comic Strip in 2003 and in 2006. Stephan also recently released an interactive app called Only the Pearls. Stephan lives in northern California with his wife Staci and their two children. Visit Stephan’s blog and the Pearls Before Swine website.

Tom Richmond is a freelance humorous illustrator, cartoonist and caricaturist. In 1985, Tom got his start as an artist drawing caricatures at a theme park between college semesters. His work has appeared in hundreds of national magazines, newspapers, books, computer games, comic books, advertisements and in animations for film and television. He is best known as one of the “Usual Gang of Idiots” as a major contributor to MAD Magazine. He also contributes to the MAD animated show on the Cartoon Network, and is the author of The Mad Art of Caricature!, a book on how to draw caricatures. He lives near Minneapolis, Minnesota with his wife Anna. They have four children. Visit Tom’s blog and website.

The official ballots have been issued to all full members of the National Cartoonists Society for voting to determine the winner. Congratulations to the nominees!

The winner of the 2011 “Cartoonist of the Year” will be announced on May 26th at the annual NCS Reuben Awards dinner in Las Vegas, NV.

As the current president of the NCS, I received the results of the nomination voting from the accounting firm that handles the tabulation earlier this week. When I saw my name as one of the top three . . . to say I was stunned would be an understatement. This is as big an honor as it gets in my profession, but my being the sitting president makes this a little awkward. The nominations are conducted by secret ballot by all full members of the NCS and independently counted, so the results are the results and there is nothing anyone can really say about it. It is still sinking in, and I am deeply honored by the nomination.

On the plus side, I saved the NCS some money not having to make a third long-distance call to congratulate anyone after I called Stephan and Brian, so there is that. On the minus side, I have been informed that the results of the final balloting of the three nominees, and subsequently the winner, will not be revealed to me until the envelope is opened at the Reuben Awards dinner. That means the one thing I was looking forward to as being president, being the ONLY ONE who knew who had won the Reuben, will be denied me. However I don’t have to worry about being nervous as my odds of actually winning, given the other company, are somewhere in the same ballpark as the 106-loss Houston Astros winning the 2012 World Series. I am perfectly okay with that . . . I am not being falsely gracious when I say being nominated is enough of an honor in itself.

My congratulations to Stephan and Brian, and good luck. Be grateful it’s a secret ballot vote of the membership, and not an arm-wrestling match.

The Comics Beat is reporting that legendary comic book artist John Severin passed away on Sunday, Feb 12th in his home in Denver, Colorado, surrounded by family. John had one of the longest and well-respected careers in comics we will probably ever see. He was one of the early artists for E.C. Comics, and one of the first artists for MAD, doing work for the first several issues under Harvey Kurtzman from 1952-1954. The above image is his first appearance in MAD #1. He did so much comic work over the years it’s almost impossible to list it all. He eventually became the main artist for Cracked Magazine’s parodies, which he continued to do for 45 years until Cracked changed hands and eventually stopped publishing.

I never met John, but his sister Marie, who was also a very talented comic artist, inker and colorist, inked a mini-series I pencilled for Marvel called The Coneheads back in the 90′s. I never met her either, but we spoke on the phone a few times and she was a really nice lady. Also her inks made it look like I actually knew what I was doing.

John’s place in the pantheon of comic book history is secure. A sad loss for comics but he leaves behind a legacy of work that few other artists can or will ever equal. Rest in Peace, Mr. Severin.

On Monday of this week the art director of the New York Times Sunday Review section sent out an email to a number of the top names in editorial cartooning with an announcement that they would once again be featuring a weekly editorial cartoon beginning on February 26h. That was great news! However, the method they are going to employ to obtain this cartoon was not so great.

Their proposal was to solicit submissions of completely finished cartoons with a weekly deadline of Fridays at 11 a.m.. The submissions would be reviewed by the editors, one chosen, and then that cartoon would run in the Sunday Review. The cartoonist who’s work was chosen would sign an agreement granting rights to the Times (not to be reprinted anywhere) and would be compensated $250. The ones not chosen would get nothing.

This is paramount to a “contest”, but not among the public—the people who received this letter and were invited to participate are professional editorial cartoonists who are among the best in the business. They are being asked to work on spec, something that no creative professional should be asked to do, and the rate being offered is roughly 1/3 what exclusive printing rights should be going for. Outrage has ensued, and rightfully so, among editorial cartoonists. Cartoonist Daryl Cagle responded on his MSNBC blog. Michael Cavna of the Washington Post writes of cartoonists reactions on Comic Riffs. Media journalist Jim Romenesko reprints the actual Times email, and the reaction of cartoonists R.J Matson and Ted Rall.

I penned this letter to the Sunday Review art director on behalf of the National Cartoonists Society:

Ms. Aviva Michaelov
Art Director, New York Times
Opinion Pages | Sunday Review

Dear Ms. Michaelov,

I read with mixed emotions your letter of February 6th to a selection of professional editorial cartoonists calling for submissions for a new editorial cartoon feature in the Sunday Review section of the New York Times.

On one hand, I was pleased to see that the Times was bringing back an editorial cartoon to the Sunday Review. In this day of dwindling editorial cartoon voices in the press, such an addition, particularly in a publication as respected and read as the New York Times, is very welcome.

I was dismayed, however, in the way in which the cartoons were to be submitted, chosen and paid for. The editorial cartoonists are expected to submit finished cartoons completely on spec, and your editorial staff will chose one for publication each week. The submitting cartoonists are to agree that, if chosen, their cartoon becomes an exclusive to the Times, not to be reprinted anywhere. The cartoonist who’s work is chosen gets paid $250, and those who do not get chosen get nothing.

The work of creative professionals today is under siege, being constantly devalued through a multitude of fronts, not the least the internet. Writers, artists, cartoonists, designers and other creatives who are attempting to make a living with their talents and hard work face increasing assaults by “clients” who seem to expect them to do work for either very little pay, or only the hope of being paid. Being asked to do spec work is nothing new in the cartooning world, but when it comes from a publication like the New York Times and it is specifically aimed at some of the industry’s top professionals, it is alarming.

The Times is arguably the most well-known and prestigious newspaper in the United States. It should be championing and supporting the work of the industry’s top professionals in all facets of journalism—reporters, columnists, feature writers, editorialists, and—yes . . . cartoonists. An initiative like this does the opposite. It contributes to the devaluation of the work of editorial cartoonists not just in the offer of extremely low pay and the submission of finished work without the expectation of ANY pay, but in the very nature of editorial cartoons as an individual voice of real opinion. Editorial cartoonists are visual columnists who have specific voices, and “competitions” like this discourage that individuality while encouraging the pursuit of whatever joke might give the jury the biggest chuckle of the week. To stage such a competition among an amateur public would be one thing, to ask a specific group of well-established and professional editorial cartoonists to do it is quite another. That is a slap in the face to their work and profession.

While I applaud your desire to once again feature individual editorial cartoons in the Times, I sincerely hope you will rethink this approach. It would behoove the Times to conduct a search among the countries best editorial cartoonists for one that has a voice that is in keeping with the editorial position of your newspaper, and then commission them to produce a weekly cartoon for which they are paid a living wage for exclusive rights. Such a change would support the profession of cartooning and journalism, and be in keeping with the reputation of the New York Times as one of the world’s leading newspapers.

Thank you for your time and attention,

Sincerely,

Tom Richmond, President
National Cartoonists Society
tom@tomrichmond.com

It is very dismaying to see such a move by a publication like the Times. You might expect such a thing from less prestigious clients and small-potato clients—I get asked for spec work almost daily by people who don’t understand the profession, but when it comes from the NEW YORK TIMES . . . that is jarring.

It’s funny how many people seem to consider creative work as of no practical value. They don’t seem to consider it the result of hard work and time, like any commodity. Here’s a simple but clear example:

I spent 20+ years drawing live caricatures at theme parks. Virtually every day I would have a person come up to me and demand a discount or ask to be drawn for free if I happened to have a little slow time. I would ask them if they would consider walking up to the nearby corn-dog stand and ask them if they’d sell them a corn-dog for half price since they didn’t have anyone waiting in line. I would get a blank stare, and they still wouldn’t get it. To them, the creation of a piece of art is effortless, and the years of hard work and effort to develop the skills and talent to do good work has no value. Nor does the physical time it takes to produce the work. A corn-dog is a product that has a value. Creative work somehow does not. Ideas and talent, essentially, are cheap.

Disheartening.

Splash of the MAD Watchmen parody- Art by me, words by Des Devlin

No one can say that comic book fans aren’t a passionate bunch. There has been so much commentary on DC Entertainment’s announcement of a new series of stories featuring the characters of the beloved Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon‘s classic Watchmen, that I can’t even begin to link to them. Here’s a story on it that made CNN. Much of it is outrage over messing with such an icon part of comic book history as Watchmen.

My take: calm down. They are just comics.

I actually don’t understand the venom. There is no “messing” going on with the original Watchmen. Not one single word, panel or page in that incredible piece of work is going to be changed, altered or otherwise manipulated. If so much as a single line was going to be altered in a “new” edition that would tie it in with any of the new stories, I’d be grabbing my pitchfork and torch.

But, it’s not. Watchmen remains Watchmen.

These are simply a series of new stories featuring these characters by different creative teams. That is hardly a new thing in comics. In fact, every 10 years or so everything gets a “reboot”, and new creative teams come and go in the meantime. Sometimes they do things I don’t like with the characters I love. My reaction is to stop buying those comics. Batman’s newest incarnation doesn’t change a word or page or panel of the Denny O’Neal/Neal Adams era Batman that I grew up with and consider the definitive version of the character. Before Watchmen are just new stories, and if you find they are great then enjoy them. If you think they are terrible, don’t buy them. It’s not like DC is redoing the last Watchmen book and making sure Ozymandias fired first.

What I find most ironic about the criticism leveled at DC for what some amount as sacrilege toward someone else’s creations is that Watchmen was based on a series of old and silly comic book characters in the first place… so Moore was “messing” with some else’s creations from the beginning. In fact, the best known of Moore’s work is mostly revamping and reinventing existing characters: Swamp Thing, Marvelman/Miracleman, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, From Hell. Great work, all of it, but not his characters.

Anyway, I intend to give Before Watchmen a chance. Just like any other comics I get, if they tell me an engaging story and stay true to the complex characters Moore wrote, I’ll enjoy them.

In the meantime, MAD has posted their parody of the original Watchmen comic on The Idiotical. Great stuff from Des Devlin, Glean Fabry and John Higgins, with an exclusive cover from Dave Gibbons. Well worth the read: