The Mad Art of Caricature!: A Serious Guide to Drawing Funny Faces

LMAO!!! i LOVE IT! I'm currently in the Navy stationed in Yokosuka, Japan and have always loved to doodle faces. Ever since i was a kid, i remember i could draw the body and all the other features to my satisfaction but not the face. It drove me insane! so i began to grow an obsession of how to master the art of drawing the face, after a while, i got the basic shapes down and after i felt i figured it out i stopped. That was 10 years ago. So fast forward to present day, and while i was here at work on the Ship one day i decided to do a quick doodle of my LPO (boss) on the whiteboard hanging up in the shop. It was a REALLY simple face on this pudgy little body and a crooked mouth with a ball cap saying "arghhh." The guys in my shop thought it was pretty funny and everyone got a good laugh. My boss walked in took a look at it and couldn't stop laughing, that was the moment when i realized i want to draw CARICATURES! It all was very spontaneous and very random, but i felt like it was something that wouldn't only be fun for me, but also be fun for the people that saw them, and hopefully got a kick out of a likeness if i was good enough to pull it off. Having NO idea where to start I started punching in "funny caricatures," into Google image search and browsed through page after page, then i saw this one caricature of Steve Jobs, i couldn't stop laughing i clicked on the picture and it forwarded me to tomrichmond.com :) That's where my inspirational flame turned into a wildfire. I went through his website, all the tutorials and saw his offering for this book. The book came in about a week ago, and i can't put it down. It answers every single question you could ever have about any detail of the face, breaks down an even more advanced concepts like digital color if you choose to take it that far, or breaks down how to even do live caricatures step by step to save time and achieve maximum likeness and Humor. I've got in trouble a couple times because i'll be reading the book more than doing my work :) Since getting the book I got this idea to Caricature my entire chain of command and so far the results have been HILLARIOUS! there's a point when your following Tom's steps in the book, and your drawing starts to come to life and you can't stop laughing and your hand is shaking and you find it a little difficult to concentrate because all you want to do is laugh!!! I love it. I did one of my Captain a couple days ago and was kinda scared to show it to anybody cause the likeness was scary! I scanned a copy from my sketchbook and dropped it in the "CO's suggestion Box," :) i'm still waiting to see how it's gonna play out hmhmhm. But ya,Amazing find, and incredible book. Thanks so much to Mad Magazine, and Tom Richmond for making this book! Incredibly inspirational. Forget about all those other books, THIS IS THE ONE!!!

This is an Amazing Book! I was very surprised when it arrived that it was such a big, thick book. It is chocked full not just of incredible caricatures, but Tom very clearly teaches you a lot about the art form and the techniques that could help you see things more clearly, break them down more easily, and execute your own designs more successfully. I have a good friend who is an amazing caricature artist, which was what inspired me to find and buy this book in the first place. I am more of an amateur, but I am confident that this book will help me improve at it and drawing in general. Thanks for making and sharing your experience Tom!

This is the most amazing book about Caricature I have ever consulted. I have always been a fan of Mr. Richmond's work. I have been into his blog for a while and I had looked forward to getting his long awaited book with all his tips and tricks about how to make REAL funny caricatures. I don't think this is a book for those who are starting in this. I guess it requires a certain degree of expertise. As he explains, it's really difficult to teach someone how to observe and this particular form of art requires a lot of observation and that's something you may not learn in a book regardless how good the author is, however, it's really inspiring. All those fantastic examples of his work really will make your eyes keener and it will make you eager to start creating your own images (it's kind of frustrating to see you'll be far from creating as compelling ones as Sensei Richmond, but keep trying). Sometimes you may feel he assumes you know how to deal with many things (petty ones if you want, but if you're new to this you will have questions that probably won't have an answer in this book) like how not to end up with a huge caricature for not being contained for the head shape or how to create the amazing cross hatching that adds the amazing volume and life he gives to each rendered image. I guess there's no such thing as a book that will make you as skilled as you want to be. But this book is a mirror of what you may become if you truly want and put your soul and effort on it! It's a great book, great quality printing all examples of the process are nicely colored. If you want to start your bibliography about this art, this book is a MUST. Don't buy anything else. But if you have some spare bucks also buy the Lenn Redman's "How draw caricatures" also available in Amazon. Classic approach and also great results. How To Draw Caricatures

On reading this book you get the impression that the author really wants to teach you what he knows, rather than throwing a few crumbs to get you interested. It's very detailed and methodically goes through every step of developing a strategy for producing quality caricatures. The author is not only a brilliant exponent of his art, but an excellent teacher. The Mad Art of Caricature is well-thought-out and well-put-together. As a bonus, it's more comprehensive and better-produced than some costlier guides. This book will keep you busy for a while, and the detail is such that it can be used as a reference when further developing your own style. Tom Richmond could have easily gotten away with trading on his name and his amazing art by producing a starter book with lots of his existing material tossed together, but this is no such thing. It's a genuine tutorial - in the form of both graphics and prose - on the art of caricature by someone who is a giant (possibly a hyperactive one) in their field. There's also some excellent ancillary stuff - based on genuine experience - on real-time caricaturing (such as you'd do at amusement parks if you were brave enough). The strategy here differs from doing it in the comfort of your study. This book exceeded my expectations, and I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in any sort of facial artistry.

Words cannot express how awesome and mind-blowing this book is. Tom is a true artist as he teaches you to SEE as well as how to draw! I've spend hundreds of dollars on art books in the past, from life drawing to character design to animals and everything in between. The book seemed a bit pricey at first, but he really jam-packed value into this book! So many pages are covered in stunning full color images, such an inspiration. He starts by explaining what "caricature" is, the subjectivity of it vs. the objectivity of portraiture, then goes through feature by feature and explains what to look for. This is the best example of "teach a man to fish rather than just give him a fish" in an art book ever. It's like a stylized version of the amazing "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain". My only complaint... why stop at caricature, Tom? I would pay hundreds to see Tom Richmond publish books on animals, stylized life drawing, backgrounds, character design... I want to learn it ALL from this guy!

I just got the book as I’m typing this review. I skimmed through the pages and the highlight seem to be informative and interesting.however, I like my books not to be torn as you can see from page 155-174 I guess it bothers me because I invested money into this.

Great read love learning new tricks k?

For those who want to improve their caricature drawing, this is a PERFECT book! Very educational and highly illustrated, the analysis and the process of how to do it. Highly recommended.

As a Graphic Designer, I can hold my own when it comes to drawing or illustration, but I’ve always been fascinated by the caricature and those who can do it and do it well. This is something that I’ve always wanted to be able to do but too scared to try. After watching many videos of other artists I followed one who highly recommended this book by Tom Richmond. It is an amazing book. It’s well written with tons of detail and explanations. It helps shed light on everything that you need to look at when deciding on what to emphasize or exaggerate in a caricature drawing. Highly recommend this for beginners to seasoned professionals.

Este é o melhor livro para quem quer aprender a desenhar caricaturas. Recomendo

大変気に入りました。買って良かったです。

Ottimo libro per chi vuole approcciarsi al mondo delle caricature. I disegni sono strepitosi. Veramente sorpreso. È in inglese e il testo non è digitalizzato quindi ci vuole un po’ di pazienza se non si conosce qualche parola.

It's a awesome book to learn the caricatures..!!