By the time he was a teenager he was fascinated with the cartoons in MAD Magazine ... especially by the work of Mort Drucker who did their movie and TV parodies. Raoul was determined to mimick that style of caricature. It took hours of practice. He realized that in order to be good at this he had to be able to make quick sketches. So he would practice drawing cartoons and people as they were featured on the TV.

Throughout his high school he would make caricatures of his teachers. To Raoul it was just doodling but he soon realized that what he saw and exaggerated were what his classmates recognized in their teachers. He quickly concluded that what was easy for him to point out in somebody's face was difficult for the untrained eye.

He once drew his English teacher and made him look like a bulldog. Again it was just doodling but it caused a riot in class. His infuriated teacher confiscated the drawing and, in front of the now silent class, asked him a very important question.

"Do you enjoy making fun of people?"

"No sir, I only draw what I see," he replied.

It was an honest response and his teacher didn't know whether to get mad or not and told Raoul to meet him during lunch break.

Raoul was "dead meat." He thought so. Everyone thought so. But when lunchtime came his teacher asked: "I'm in charge of the school newspaper. If you enjoy drawing so much, how about joining the team as Art Editor?"

That was the beginnning of his career in art. From there he has branched out into Art Directing, stage design, political cartoons, Corporate ID's, digital art and flash animation.

Fast forward to the present. Raoul is a print and web artist/designer/programmer. Click here if you care to see what he does in "real life." He still enjoys doodling and regularly puts up a caricature booth for community fairs and fund raisers. The lines to his booth would usually be the longest and many would have to be turned away at the end of the day.

This is why this website was created — to provide an opportunity for those people who never make it at the lines. If you care to have an original caricature by Raoul, please send him a note.

Raoul believes God gave him this talent and he just wants to spread the gift.

NEWS FLASH!

Raoul received an email from a visitor of this website. It came from faraway Romania and they requested that he contribute to a growing collection of caricatures of a local outspoken hero named Ion Caragiale. Raoul whipped up a quickie sketch (about half an hour) and sent it over. Now it hangs in a museum in Romania to be enjoyed for generations to come. Now isn't that cool?

One more thing. Many artists leave a secret mark somewhere in their work and Raoul is no exception. If you look at Ion's right sleeve, it has the names of his family. Click on the picture for an enlargement. Click here for the Romanian website and it will be under USA.

Raoul's Been Around

Raoul has done caricatures for many establishments. Here's a short list:

• A Motorola convention - drew a gallery of the top delegates in Asia
• Atherton Baptist Homes
• South Pasadena Rotary
• First Baptist Church of Alhambra, CA
• First Baptist Church of Temple City, CA
• Arcadia Gardens
• The Monrovia Providers Group
• South Pasadena High School
• San Antonio Winery, Los Angeles, CA
• Lake Avenue Church
• Saint Christopher Catholic Church, Moreno Valley, CA
• IBEW (Int'l Brotherhood of Electrical Workers),
  Los Angeles
• Rotary of South Pasadena
• Make a Wish Foundation
• City of Pasadena
• Mosaic Church, Pasadena

Raoul's cartoons come out regularly at AMICI (National Italian American Lifestyle Magazine), California Contractor Newspaper, Traveling Boy, TGIF Joke, Pension Maxima.