*Photo Credit for this picture of Randall goes to his son Kristan.
This is from Randall's Mocha Dick project (click to enlarge).
Randall was nominated for this year's National Cartoonist Society's, Advertising Illustration Award for his artwork on the show "The Norman Conquests".
Illustrator Randall Enos was born in New Bedford, Massachusetts. In the mid-1960's, Randall developed his linocut style and for over 50 years now has been well known for creating these colorful illustrations. His work has been published in magazines and newspapers including Playboy, Time, Sports Illustrated, The National Lampoon, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone and countless others. The pages of hundreds of children’s trade and textbooks, record and CD covers, posters and animated films have all been graced with his illustrations. He has created comic strips for Playboy and The National Lampoon, and his animation designs have been used by NBC, CBS, Columbia Pictures, Xerox, Singer and John Hancock. In 1964 Randall won a Cannes TV Film award for his work in animation. He has taught at Parsons School of Design, the Philadelphia University of the Arts, RISD, Syracuse, Montclair and the School of Visual Arts. Growing up in New Bedford inspired him to study the history of whaling and to collect whaling tools and artifacts. His whaling print creations are sold at Mystic Seaport and other maritime centers. Just this year Randall was nominated for the National Cartoonist Society’s Advertising Illustration Award. Randall lives on a horse farm in Connecticut with his wife Leann, horses, ducks, cats and a dog. Check out Randall's website here and also go to his Drawger page where he has some great posts.
What is your favorite pen to use?
I don't really use pens. I do linocuts so I use a linocutter. However on the rare occasions that I do use a pen, My preference is a stiff Hunt # 107 pigsticker.
Do you draw in pencil first and if so do you use a standard pencil or a mechanical one?
I do my roughs in pencil and I use a regular good ol' #2.
Do you do your coloring by hand or on the computer?
Both.
If you do your coloring by hand, what do you use?
I print on colored papers and create a collage by cutting out the parts I need and pasting them together. But since I have a limited supply of the papers (The company stopped making them), I usually pop my colors in on the computer.
What type of paper do you use?
Just cheap copy paper...unless I'm making a print to sell or give someone in which case I'll use a good printing paper. But for magazine and newspaper work that's going to be sent by jpeg, I just use standard copy paper (I find it takes the ink very well and gives me a good print. If I'm drawing in pen etc. I'll use double ply Strathmore.
What thing(s) do you hate to draw?
I'm not terribly fond of drawing buildings or cars.
Do you buy your supplies from big chain art store catalogues/websites or a local one that you physically go to?
Both. My linoblocks and printing ink I buy on line from a big supplier. For small stuff, I use an art store that I have been going to for 54 years. The cheapo copy paper comes from Staples.
Are there any rituals that you do before starting to draw?
I find that donning an Indian headdress and chanting whilst hopping around in a circle really gets me going. I don't drink caffeinated coffee.
Do you listen to music while you draw and if so what genre?
I used to always have the TV on while I worked sometimes not even seeing a single scene...just listening to it but now I prefer listening to MSNBC or CNN or blues music.
Did you read comics as a kid and if so what was your favorite?
I definitely read a lot of comics as a kid. Little Lulu was my favorite comic book.
What is or was your favorite comic strip?
Blondie and Bringing Up Father (Jiggs and Maggie) were my favorite comic strips as a kid. Krazy Kat was a little before my time but is my all-time favorite comic strip (what else?).
What was your favorite book as a child and do you still own a copy of it?
Tom Sawyer and I still have a copy of it.
Did you have any formal art training and if so where did you receive it?
I have very little to no formal art training. I took two years of painting at an old fashioned school where you didn't get to paint from a model until your third year, which I never got to. I'm really self-taught.
Do you feel that the Internet is a blessing or a curse?
I vote for blessing although sometimes I curse at it.
Did either of your parents draw?
My father made a few drawings when he was first married and they were excellent realistic drawings but then he never drew again.
Who in your life is/was the most supportive of your art?
My wife, my father and my mother-in-law.
Do you keep a sketchbook?
Never.
Have you ever taught cartooning/drawing and if so did you enjoy the experience?
I have taught for many years at a few different schools and I did enjoy the experience most of the time but the frustrating thing is that the students are not familiar with the field and the practitioners of it as, for instance, dance or music students would be.
Do you feel that talent or passion is more important in drawing?
Passion.
Do you collect anything and if so what?
I collect books and tools of 19th century whaling. And I seem to have a huge collection of masks all around my studio walls that seemed to just appear. I have never purposefully collected them. I inherited a lot of them from my mother-in-law.
If you were an animated cartoon character who do you think you would be?
Popeye.
Are you a righty or lefty?
Right in drawing...left in politics.
If you weren't an artist what would you want to do for work?
I would be an actor/comedian.
In one or two sentences describe your drawing area.
I work in a good-sized room in my basement. It is filled with three drawing boards, lots of books, drawers and one old, antique OS 9.1 Rasterops computer.
Do you play any musical instruments?
I can play a very bad five-string banjo and I'm getting fairly good at blues harp.
If you could give one piece of advice to someone who wants to pursue drawing as a career what would it be?
Be honest...draw honestly not in an affected way or a way that mimics other artists. Try to find your own "voice".
Who is your favorite artist?
Cy Twombly in painting. George Herriman in cartooning (followed closely by Cliff Sterrett).
Thank you very much Randall!
Up next is cartoonist and caricaturist Bill Larocque.
Here are the compiled answers to the question, What Is Or Was Your Favorite Comic Strip?
This is from Randall's Mocha Dick project (click to enlarge). 
Comic book artist and novelist Bob Fingerman was born in Queens New York on August 25, 1964. He attended the New York’s School of Visual Arts and while still in school he created work for Harvey Kurtzman’s satirical magazine “NUTS!”. After school, his work appeared in numerous publications including Heavy Metal, National Lampoon, Cracked, Screw, Penthouse, High Times and the Village Voice. In 1990 he spent a year working on the “ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” comic book, as well as several titles for the EROS line of adult comics. He also created short stories and covers for Vertigo and Dark Horse Comics. Bob wrote and drew his first graphic novel, ‘White Like She’ in 1993. His next creation was a semi-autobiographical series called “Minimum Wage”. In 2003 the “Minimum Wage” series was collected in the Fantagraphics graphic novel, ‘Beg the Question'. It went on to be nominated for two Eisner Awards and an Ignatz Award. Next came his humor collection ‘You Deserved It’, which was followed up by ‘Zombie World: Winter’s Dregs & Other Stories’ and ‘Recess Pieces’. In 2007 his debut prose novel, ‘Bottomfeeder’, was published and in 2009 Bob’s illustrated novella ‘Connective Tissue’ came out. Last month, 'From the Ashes' his post-apocalyptic "speculative memoir" was released as a graphic novel. In August of this year Bob’s second prose novel ‘Pariah’ will be published by Tor Books. He lives in New York City with his wife. To find out more about Bob and his work check out his website and follow him on his blog .
Brian Fies is a freelance science writer, journalist and cartoonist. Brian created the serialized webcomic ‘Mom’s Cancer’ in 2004. ‘Mom’s Cancer’ is an autobiographical story dealing with his mother's fight against lung cancer, as well as his family's reactions to it. In July of 2005 ‘Mom’s Cancer’ won the Eisner Award for Best Digital Comic. Sadly, Brian’s mom lost her battle in October of the same year. Abrams Books published a hardcover edition of ‘Mom’s Cancer’ in 2006 which went on to win the 2007 Harvey Award for Best New Talent and the 2007 German Youth Literature Prize. Last June Brian’s second book, ‘Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?’ was released and has been nominated for the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Publication Design and the 2010 Eisner Award for Best Lettering. Brian is also a science and technical writer with his work appearing in many publications such as ‘Physics World’ and ‘Sky and Telescope’ magazine. You can find out more about Brian's science and technical writing here. He lives in Northern California with his wife and twin daughters. Follow Brian on his blog here.
Here are the compiled answers to the question, Do You Listen To Music While You Draw And If So What Genre?
Scott Metzger has been a professional cartoonist since 1996. He creates single panel cartoons for greeting cards which are distributed by Papyrus, NobleWorks and Just Wrong Greetings. His cartoons also appear regularly in Funny Times Magazine. From 2005 to 2006 Scott drew two strips, “Tree” and “Stewart”. “Tree” was about a walking and talking pine tree and “Stewart” was about a not-so-bright bison who lived in San Francisco. Scott works with Better World Advertising as the cartoonist for a syphilis prevention campaign called "Healthy Penis", which is sponsored by the San Francisco Department of Public Health. He belongs to the cartoonist collective, Tall Tale Features. He presently lives with his wife, daughter and three cats in Northern California. Visit Scott’s website here.
Here are the compiled answers to the question, Are There Any Rituals That You Do Before Starting To Draw?
Editorial Cartoonist Clay Jones was born in Fort Hood, Texas. He attended Belhaven College in Jackson, Miss. He started doing freelance work at the newspaper, the Panolian, in Batesville Mississippi, and he soon he became their editorial cartoonist. Clay stayed in Mississippi for seven years, working at the Panolian, The Daily Leader in Brookhaven and freelancing nationwide. He won multiple first place awards for Best Editorial Cartoon in the Mississippi Press Association's Better Newspaper Contest. In 1997 he moved to Hawaii where he worked at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. A year later he moved to Fredericksburg, VA to work for the Free Lance-Star, where he still works today. His editorial cartoons are distributed by Creators Syndicate and have been seen on CNN and in numerous publications including, The Washington Post, The Chicago Sun-Times, The New York Times, USA Today, The Los Angeles Times, Time and Newsweek magazine. A collection of his cartoons was published in 1997 titled, “Knee-Deep In Mississippi.” Clay’s cartoons are also regularly included in Pelican Publishing’s “Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year” book series. Clay presently lives in Fredericksburg where he plays guitar for the band Corporate T-Shirt. Follow his daily ‘Toon Talk’ feature here at the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star.
Tim Whyatt is an Australian cartoonist who was born in August of 1967. His cartoons have appeared in many publications and have been translated into German, Spanish and Norwegian. They currently appear in Mexico’s Reader’s Digest, Norway’s ‘Vi Menn’ magazine, DFW.com (Dallas, Fort Worth) magazine and are on hundreds of greeting cards around the world. Tim’s very funny cards are distributed by NobleWorks Cards and are available in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, South Africa and the US. Here in the US his cards are available in thousands of stores including Wal -Mart, Carlton Cards, Rite Aid, CVS, Spencer's and K-Mart. In Canada they are carried in Wal-Mart, Spencer's and Carlton Card stores. In the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, Whyatt greeting cards are known as the ‘Traces of Nuts’ line. If you don’t feel like going to the store to purchase his cards you can order them online here at NobleWorks. There are all kinds of Whyatt goodies available for purchase here on Tim’s CafePress store. Go to Tim’s website to see more of his work and then signup for his free newsletter.
Obama working his "magic."
One of my sport's heroes, Teddy Baseball (Ted Williams).
This is Ken sitting at Al Hirschfeld's desk.
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