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| Local cartoonists in Tom's poster include Joe Sutliff (2nd row, center), Mike Jenkins (2nd row, right) and Donna Lewis (bottom row, right) |
Tom Richmond’s Caricature Workshop
Bethesda Md September 12-13, 2026
By Mike Jenkins, the noted caricature artist.
While most of the comic, cartoon and graphic-novel curious were flocking to the Small Press Expo in Bethesda Md. last weekend, about 20 caricature-curious artists gathered in the same town for Tom Richmond’s Caricature Workshop! Richmond, the world-famous cartoonist for Mad Magazine, generously shared his expertise, advice and stories to guide a mixed bag of seasoned and beginner caricature artists through the maze of creating caricatures portraits. As Tom quotes caricature illustrator John Kascht: “A caricature is a portrait with the volume turned up.”
My own experience with caricature drawing began 50 years ago at Kings Dominion, with famed caricaturist Buddy Rose. But the style Buddy taught us, cool as it was with the excellent line technique he used, was profile only. It didn’t translate well into the political cartoons I spent most of my career doing for newspapers. Tom’s style is more in line with caricature styles in the DC area, mainly three-quarter and full-view facial drawings. But in the various amusement parks I worked in, profile was the style.
About 20 years ago when the downturn in the newspaper business hit me, I decided to buff up what I’d learned in the amusement parks and newspapers and jump back into the caricature business. But I felt like I was missing some fundamentals about the full-face style, so glad to have the opportunity to learn from Tom.
As it turns out, Tom also has an extensive background in working in amusement parks too, even working in one I had, Six Flags Over Georgia. But he was trained in the full-view style, and he trained many caricature artists in those theme parks. One thing he learned is that you can’t actually teach anyone how to draw caricatures. You can only show them how to learn. As the great Mad Magazine cartoonist Jack Davis said, all artists, even the good ones, have maybe 500 bad drawings in them they have to get out before they can start drawing the good ones. What better place for that than theme parks?
I am amazed I made it this far without the fundamentals Tom emphasizes. I’d muddled through somehow with happy accidents, working with good people and the sheer volume of drawings that come with continuous caricature work. But Tom upended a lot of my thinking, with concepts like the rule of thirds- where most people’s faces have more going on either above or below the eyes, so give that part of the face two thirds of the drawing, taking the extra from the less defining part of the face. Good caricature is about exaggerating, not distorting. And the recognizable features break down basically into a “T” shape made up of the eyes and nose leading down to the mouth, and compiled within an imaginary space you keep in mind to create the head shape around those features once they are established. I had been more or less doing the reverse, working from the outside in. With Tom’s way, I didn’t have the compositional drift issues I’d often have when I drew interior facial features too large or small, and had to fudge the proportions.
We spent the better part of the two days drawing each other, and faces from photos Tom provided. Tom critiqued our work, offering helpful suggestions and guidance where needed. By Sunday evening, we had all gained a lot, and I had a renewed enthusiasm for my next caricature job.
