TOMOKAZU TASATA: MASTER CARICATURIST

If you like to draw caricatures then hold your hat, because this blog will be one of the most important that you're likely to read this year...well, this week, anyway. We'll discuss a wonderful Japanese caricaturist, Tomokazu Tabata, and we'll investigate how he manages to draw drastic portraits without offending people. 

In the previous post commenters EZ, Jennifer and Pappy remarked that some of the recipients of Aaron's caricatures didn't seem too happy about them. The guy above is an example.  Why the sour face? The caricature was a good one; he should have been delighted. Aaron must have felt pretty bad.

My first reaction was that Asians must react negatively to caricatures that give them linear eyes. They don't think of themselves that way, and maybe they're insulted by it.

But Tomo, who's Asian himself, routinely draws linear eyes and Asian subjects love it. What gives? How come they accept it from him, and not from Aaron?

I thought about this all morning, then the answer hit me. People accept it from Tomo because his drawings are so doggone happy and cartoony.  His desire is not to humiliate his subjects infront of a crowd, but to bring them into the cartoon world where everybody looks goofy. His purpose is to glorify cartooning. 

Contrast that with this portrait of an American kid who's slightly wall-eyed.  Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to do it this way. It's realistic enough to suggest that the kid actually has a serious deformity. It's bound to make the kid self-conscious about his eyes.

Look at how Tomo handles a similar problem.  The guy in the upper left is handsome, but he's also a bit chunky. An unsympathetic artist could shred him, but Tomo chooses instead to bring him into the world of stylized cartoons where everybody is distorted. The finished drawing of the guy pulls no punches, yet it still succeeds in having a good-time feel.

This (above) is a terrific picture. It's also philosophical. The value of remembering moments of happiness can't be over-estimated. Remembering those gives us hope that good times are ahead. and in moments of solitary depression, reminds us of the importance of being with friends.

Never pass up the opportunity to be drawn by a first-rate caricaturist. it's always worth the money.

A happy kid (above), with a happy portrait. I suspect that downright gloomy portraits would succeed too, provided the gloom was funny and cartoony. Portraits like that are also happy, just in a different way. It's Tomo's simplicity and directness that sells the picture. 

That approach even works when you pile on a lot of detail (above).  This picture was done by Sakiko Ushiodo.

Tomo also sculpts. Wouldn't it be great to have a sculptured caricature done in his style? It would cost, though. You can't sculpt as quickly as you can draw.

So, have I abandoned Aaron (the two pictures above) for Tomo? No, not at all.

 I like them both for different reasons. Aaron's more grotesque than Tomo, but his best work is so outrageous that it elicits involuntary laughter, and that's the gold standard for caricature.