Q: With your recent “Bo Confidential” project, and in light of the new MAD Magazine business model, have you considered personal pet projects for development under the MAD umbrella?

A: Yes I have. While things have changed (and are still changing) at MAD there is an unspoken rule that any regular contributor to the magazine can approach the powers-that-be and pitch ideas for things like books and they would be given due consideration. Likewise the publishers that have handled publication of other MAD books like Watson-Guphill will give a good look at any book project from a MAD artist or writer. Of course, that doesn’t mean they will agree to publish it, but they will definitely give it some attention.

I had considered pitching my upcoming “how to draw caricatures” book to them and have it published under the MAD trademark, or try to publish it via one of the established publishing house, but I am now leaning towards self publishing it mainly because I want it out by the summer and that would not happen taking the traditional route.

I also have a few ideas for books exploring some of MAD‘s history.

Every once and awhile I get people asking me when I’m going to publish a “The Art of Tom Richmond” book. I have to tell you I think self publishing a book like that is incredibly narcissistic unless you have a body of work that is lengthy and established enough to really warrant such a collection, and if you have such a body of work an established publisher should jump at the chance to publish a retrospective of your career so there is no need to self publish. I feel I am still many years away from being at that point with my work. In the event I ever get there, I would probably try to have it published under the MAD trademark if for no other reason than to avoid the legal entanglements of including work from MAD in the book.

Thanks to Kevin Richlin 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!

Q: I know there is no substitute for actual art instruction. Books have often help me though. I was wondering if there are any books that you recommend on cartooning in general? What books do you recommend for caricaturing? Most of books are geared toward kids or just seem to scratch the surface but don’t give the tools needed to make the connection between what makes a cartoon a caricature.

A: There is no definitive book on how to draw caricatures. There are a number of them out there, but each has it’s own focus (i.e. live caricature, general caricature, cutsey cartoon caricature) so you need to identify what your goals are before deciding on which one works good for you.

There are a ton of cartooning books out there, and while each has it’s own unique approach they again vary wildly with respect to style and technique.

I recommend a number of books on caricature and cartooning, but also on general drawing as well. I think that last category of books helps the cartoonist more than the more specific cartooning books do. Learning to draw is a general thing that can be learned and applied to your specific style of drawing, but cartooning is a very style-orientated and personal way of looking at and simplifying the universe… I am not sure how much good it does the cartoonist to try and learn “how to cartoon” from another cartoonist. The author will invariably be presenting their personal style as the ‘correct way’ to cartoon since that is what they know. It’s hard to separate the style from the substance.

With all that said, here is a list of books I recommend for cartooning, caricature and drawing in general, as well as some MAD books. There are many others, but these are ones that get the most thumbing through in my own bookcase.

Thanks to Joel from Vancouver, WA 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!