Tomokazu Tabata

In a little under a week, I'm going to be journeying to Sandusky for the annual ISCA convention, where caricaturists from around the globe will be gathering to participate in workshops (held by the likes of Jan Op de Beeck and Jason Seiler!), challenge one another in various competitions, and basically just hang out, have a good time, and get to know one another.

So, in the time leading up to the event, I thought I'd talk about the work of some of the artists I admire most and will hopefully meet soon.

I've loved Japanese artist Tomokazu Tabata's art ever since I first saw it in Exaggerated Features magazine. He's got a totally unique style--incredibly perceptive and always capturing great likeness, but extremely simplified and abstracted. His live drawings are some of the most creative and laugh-out-loud humorous I've ever seen. In addition to markers, he uses watercolor and watercolor pencil for his live work; an unusual choice that leads to great results.

His abstractions are always new and different and can be a great source of inspiration for how to handle various facial features.

See more of Tomo's work at his website.