Richmond Illustration Inc.

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Happy Day After Valentine’s Day!

February 15th, 2019 | Posted in General

… otherwise known as “Damage Control Day” for everyone who forgot yesterday was Valentine’s Day. READ MORE

Workshop Warmups: Gov. Ralph Northam!

February 12th, 2019 | Posted in General

I just got back from teaching another caricature workshop, this time in Las Vega$, so it’s time for another round of “Workshop Warmups!” On the second day of the class, we start out by doing three or four warmup sketches where I have the class suggest subjects, I search for an image to work from, and we all spend 10 minutes doing a quick caricature study of each. Here’s one from this past weekend, embattled Governor of Virginia Ralph Northam. I was tempted to do him in blackface, but my better nature triumphed. By the way, I project what you see above on a large… READ MORE

Illustration Throwback Thursday #60- Reason Magazine!

January 31st, 2019 | Posted in General

This was done as a cover for Reason magazine back in late 2010. I can’t remember the message behind the image, but this is then governor-elect of California Jerry Brown. He was about to take office for the second time in 2011. Below are some of the rough layouts I sent the art directors early in the process: READ MORE

Sunday Mailbag- Struggling with a Likeness?

January 27th, 2019 | Posted in General

Q: Do you have trouble capturing the likeness of some subjects and if so how do you fix it? A: How to capture a likeness is too big a question to answer here, but I do have some things that I do if I am struggling with a getting a good likeness for a particular subject: Get more photo references– This is hands down the most helpful thing you can do if a likeness is eluding you. Trying to base a caricature on a single image means you are relying solely on the information that picture gives you. Lighting, angles, odd expressions, lens distortion and… READ MORE

Inches, Pixels, and DPI… Oh My!

January 25th, 2019 | Posted in General

In the last week or so I’ve had three pals write and tell me they are having problems delivering digital artwork to clients and having said clients complain that the images are “too small” or “too low a resolution”. They are confused about the differences between resolution and physical size of a piece of art, and how those are related and how they are different for print and for web/computer screen display. I thought about doing a mailbag post on this subject, but I think a full blown post/article is in order: Understanding Physical Dimensions, Pixel Dimensions and DPI When you are working with a… READ MORE

Workshop Warmups- Sly Stallone!

January 22nd, 2019 | Posted in General

People seemed to like the “Workshop Warmups” I posted last week from my Orlando Workshop that took place Jan 11-13th, so I thought I’d post the ones from my second Orlando workshop that took place this past weekend. On the second day of the workshop, we always start out doing three warm up sketches. I have the class suggest a subject, I find an image online to work from, and then we project it on the screen and do a quick caricature while we listen to music. No instruction, just a few “getting the juices flowing” studies. 10 minutes per warmup (although I tighten them… READ MORE

Workshop Warmups: Babs!

January 15th, 2019 | Posted in General

We always start the second day of the workshop with some warm up sketches. I have the class suggest a subject, then I find an image online to work from, project it on the screen, and we all spend 10-15 minutes or so drawing the subject. Here’s Barbra Streisand. READ MORE

Orlando Workshop One!

January 15th, 2019 | Posted in General

The first of two back-to-back workshops here in Orlando is in the books. I had a terrific group that was heavy on professional live caricaturists this first weekend. That’s to be expected since you cannot throw a rock in any direction in Orlando and not have it land on a theme park property of some kind. Above is the class illustration. Since I’m spending the intervening week enjoying NOT being in Minnesota in January I’ll be posting some of the warm up sketches I did with the class. Look for one of those shortly, and throughout the week. READ MORE