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Richmond Signature
Tom Richmond
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My thrilling bio (whether you want it or not):
I was born in 1966 in the small town of La Crosse, Wisconsin on the banks of the mighty Mississippi... actually I was born in a hospital, but you get the idea. I grew up the oldest of three siblings and all I
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ever wanted to do was draw for a living (or, as my dad would say, to avoid having a "real job"). I went to various colleges in search of a good art program and co-eds who weren't "too particular", and while skipping a particularly pretentious alternative art class I saw a flyer looking for caricaturists to work at a local theme park. I worked my way through college drawing caricatures at Six Flags Great America near Chicago, IL. While working this job I learned an important life lesson: it was possible to get paid to make fun of people. This revelation changed my life. I eventually graduated with a fine arts degree from... 

what is now the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul. MN. They changed their name from the School of Associated Arts shortly after I graduated... they claim my departure had nothing to do with the name change, but I have my suspicions as they always cut the new address and phone number of the school off any correspondence they send me.

After college I started doing freelance humorous illustration work for various clients including NOW and Marvel Comics and a variety of smaller magazines and ad agencies, many of my illustrations centered around caricatures of celebrities and politicians. Ask any cartoonist where the ultimate place to do caricature illustration is, and most would answer "MAD Magazine". So, I set my sights on getting into MAD. I failed miserably for ten years at this goal. Eventually MAD's artistic standards deteriorated so much they gave me a shot, and since 2000 I have been a regular contributor to the magazine or as we like to call ourselves, one of the "Usual Gang of Idiots". Of course MAD is only one of my clients. I also do work for a great many other magazines, periodicals, newspapers, corporations and animation houses you have probably never heard of. Only my mom knows them all, and that's because she uses my tear sheets to line her birdcage.

I have been married since 1988 to The Lovely Anna, have four children and work out of a studio in my basement. I am a gadget and comic book geek, Batman fan and amateur bodybuilder partly for the exercise but mostly because cartoonists, Batman fans and comic book geeks get beat up a lot, and large biceps are a good deterrent for that. Plus I have three daughters and enjoy intimidating their potential boyfriends.

You now know everything there is to know about me. Please do not use this knowledge for evil. Thank you.
A day in the life :  
My day begins at about 6 am, when I get up and go to the gym to lift heavy objects up and down in an attempt to stave off old age... funny thing is I feel about 95 years of the day after these workouts.
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Breakfast consists of steel cut oatmeal and rusty nails.

 
I usually start the day in the studio answering emails and getting my schedule figured out for the day. Or I might take a nap.
 
I start the art portion of my day working on whatever projects I have on the board, which are usually several at different stages of completion. the stages are: procrastination, more procrastination, frenzied works to just beat the deadline, cookies. I might be working on some sketches for one job in the morning, then after sending those off for review I will beck back to the final art on another project. I draw the old-fashioned way... with a #2 pencil or lead holder with HB graphite on simple drawing paper, then doing the final pencils on Strathmore 400 series bristol, inking with a dip pen (Gillott 303 or Hunt 102 nibs) and brush (sable #2) with Pelikan's Drawing Ink A. 
Lunchtime? Leftovers.
 
On to more art in the afternoon. Maybe I'll be doing some color work on an illustration job. I do most of my color, both coloring inked cartoons or painting illustrations, on the computer using PhotoShop. I scan my original drawings in, clean them up and apply the color using a Wacom Cintiq graphics tablet. I am so messy when I work that I can even get digital paint all over my pants.
 
I often get back to work after dinner, especially if the deadlines are starting to get serious. I like to work late at night... no phone calls or distractions. As long as I don't show signs of hating the sunlight or craving human blood, I think I'm still okay.
 
My non-cartooning hobbies are electronic gadgets, watching movies in my home theater and bodybuilding. I do the latter because cartoonists, gadget and movie nerds get beat up a lot and big biceps are a good deterrent for that. Plus I have three daughters and I enjoy intimidating their boyfriends.
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