The Art Of Richard Thompson

Richard Thompson, illustrator and creator of the syndicated comic strip Cul de Sac, passed away in northern Virginia on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was 58 years old.

Thompson was born in Baltimore on October 8, 1957. He was a voracious reader from a young age, and was particularly drawn to Winnie the Pooh and the works of Charles Addams and Dr. Seuss. His parents nurtured his love of illustration by enrolling him in extracurricular classes at the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Thompson continued his formal art education at Montgomery County Community College, although he dropped out prior to graduation (which, Thompson proudly noted, did not preclude him from earning the university’s Milton F. “Sonny” Clogg Alumni of the Year Award in 2004).

He drew all loose and stuff.

Terry Gilliam Cut Paper Animation (Copy)

His few seconds, or a couple of minutes at most, of pure fun and creative freedom accompanied the TV sketches of British comedy troupe Monty Python in the early 1970s.

Technically speaking, Terry Gilliam’s animated collages are called cut-out animations, a two-dimensional version of stop-motion where cut-outs are used just as they are in collages.

The cut-out pieces of paper are positioned on backgrounds (which can either be drawn or collages themselves) and photographed repeatedly, moving each piece a few millimeters each time. During the subsequent editing stage, the images are put into a sequence, creating the illusion of movement.