‘CUL DE SAC’ ON PARADE: From art contributions to the Corcoran

(RICHARD THOMPSON / SELF-CARICATURE) .

IF YOU’RE fortunate enough to get to the Corcoran on Tuesday night, you’ll get to glimpse never-before-viewed art from “Cul de Sac” creator Richard Thompson

“I found some early stuff deep in the drawers,” Thompson tells Comic Riffs. “Some of these have never been seen by the public. Character prototypes...the ideas I had leading up to creating ‘Cul de Sac.’ ... I fooled around with these [illustrations] for two years before I got anything done.”

During his lecture this evening, Thompson says he’ll focus on his Universal Uclick strip (which was launched on the pages of The Post). The Northern Virginia artist also notes wryly that this visit to the Corcoran his overdue on his part; to the best of his recollection, he hasn’t been to the D.C. institution in several decades — since he took an art class there when he was about 7.

Thompson’s lecture is in conjunction with the “Kings of the Pages: Comic Strips and Culture 1895-1950” exhibit through Nov. 19 at McDaniel College in Westminster, Md. Inspired by associate professor Robert Lemieux, the show was designed by Corcoran College of Art + Design grad students.

(Other speakers in the show’s series have been historian/cartoonist Brian Walker, New Yorker cartoonist Harry Bliss and political cartoonist Kevin “KAL” Kallaugher.)

2011 continues to be a big year for Thompson: He won his industry’s esteemed Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society in May And his Team Cul de Sac auction/book campaign to raise money for Parkinson’s research received its latest cartoonist contribution: original art from “Doonesbury” creator Garry Trudeau.

(Here’s the full color illustration; an early black-white version of the art leaked prior to its intended release.)

Thompson says he was deeply honored by Trudeau’s contributin, which he pronounced “lovely.”

Thompson, who has Parkinson’s, announced the launch of Team Cul de Sac in January.

RICHARD THOMPSON: The Post Magazine profile

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Garry Trudeau’s artistic contribution to Team Cul de Sac. (GARRY TRUDEAU / courtesy of Team Cul de Sac & Universal Uclick) .