Scrippsnetworks © 2011 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved

The folks at the Food Network gave me the okay to share this piece I did for them of FN stars Rachel Ray and Guy Fieri. To be honest I am not 100% sure what the purpose of it was, but I know it was not for print or broadcast. I believe it was supposed to be for some internal promo or something similar. The assignment was to do a simple caricature of Rachel and Guy in a “Dancing with the Stars” pose with a simple background.

The nominees for this year’s National Cartoonists Society’s Divisional Awards have been officially announced. They are:

TELEVISION ANIMATION

• Dave Filoni – Supervising Director / Production Designer, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars”
• Dan Krall – Art Director, “Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated”
• Scott Wills – Art Director, “Sym-Bionic Titan”

FEATURE ANIMATION

• Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders, Directors, “How to Train Your Dragon”
• Glen Keane, Animation Director, “Tangled”
• Nicolas Marlet, Character Designer, “How to Train Your Dragon”

NEWSPAPER ILLUSTRATION

• Sean Kelly
• Michael McParlane
• Dave Whamond

GAG CARTOONS

• Bob Eckstein
• Zachary Kanin
• Gary McCoy

GREETING CARDS

• Jim Benton
• Dan Collins
• Teresa Roberts Logan

NEWSPAPER COMIC STRIPS

• Brian Bassett “Red and Rover”
• Jeff Parker and Steve Kelley “Dustin”
• Richard Thompson “Cul de Sac”

NEWSPAPER PANEL CARTOONS

• Doug Bratton “Pop Culture Therapy”
• Chad Carpenter- “Tundra”
• Glenn McCoy “Flying McCoys”

MAGAZINE FEATURE/MAGAZINE ILLUSTRATION

• Lou Brooks
• Anton Emdin
• Tom Richmond

BOOK ILLUSTRATION

• Sandra Boynton “Amazing Cows”
• Jared Lee “The 3 Wise Guys”
• Mike Lester “The Butt Book”

EDITORIAL CARTOONS

• Bob Gorrell
• Mike Lester
• Gary Varvel

ADVERTISING ILLUSTRATION

• Anton Emdin
• Jack Pittman
• Dave Whamond

COMIC BOOKS

• Stan Sakai “Usagi Yojimbo”
• Chris Samnee “Thor the Mighty Avenger”
• Jill Thompson “Beasts of Burden”

GRAPHIC NOVELS

• Darwyn Cooke- “The Outfit”
• Joyce Farmer “Special Exits”
• James Sturm- “Market Day”

They join the previously announced nominees for the Reuben Award for ‘Cartoonist of the Year”:

• Glen Keane
• Stephan Pastis
• Richard Thompson

in being honored at the 65th annual Reuben Awards, held this year in Boston, MA on Memorial Day weekend. Winners will be announced at the annual Reuben dinner.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

EDIT- I am always deeply honored if I receive a nomination for one of these divisions, as I have for Magazine Illustration/Magazine Feature this year. Thanks to the NCS Canadian Chapter for the honor!

This week’s subject: 2011 Academy Awards co-host and Oscar nominated actor James Franco.

It’s rare that I don’t do any posting on The MAD Blog on any day but Saturday, but yesterday I was completely swamped after an all-nighter sunday night/Monday morning and some furious painting on a magazine cover illustration due yesterday afternoon. Then I passed out. Still recovering but on two two other jobs due ASAP, having just finished up a bunch of jobs in the last three weeks since getting back from vacation. Here’s what I’ve done since Feb 22th:

• NCS Reuben Weekend Illustration- See here
• 6 page MAD TV parody for #509- Another fun one of another popular show
• Illustration for the Food Network- Unknown if I can ever share this, it was for some in-house project
• Workplace Poster illustration- My usual assignment
• Sculpture turnaround design- For promo item for “I Want Your Money” film
• Magazine cover for Utne Reader- On news stands in April, will share when appropriate

Here’s what I’ve still got on the board right now:

• Jeff Dunham illustrations- Pencil revisions on two images today and finishing one final tonight
• Bobble Rep caricatures- A few of the 105 heads of new congress members for the iPhone app, due this week
• Workplace poster- Yep, already have my new assignment there.

I need another vacation.

Here’s some of the images from the above completed jobs I can share:

Workplace Poster Illustration- Click for a closer look…

Q: With freelancing for magazines and stuff, is there a time of year that is always busier than others? Is there one that is slower? If so, why?

A: I’ve noticed over the years that the first few months of the year and October were busier than others, and November/December were always the slowest months when it came to getting freelance illustration jobs. The discrepancy was obvious enough that I finally asked one of my art directors why that might be. He told me it was all about budgets.

Most magazines and periodicals operate under budgets for things like illustration, freelance writing, etc. They get X amount of money to spend on that kind of content. By the end of the year they are out of budget money and can’t buy much illustration. Early in the year they have fresh budgets and, having gone without much illustration in a few issues, go on a little shopping spree. October is busy because that’s when publications are working on their “year end” issues, which are often their biggest issue of the year and generally eat up whatever illustration budget they had left. The rest of the year is pretty consistent.

With regards to being busier at some times over others, as an illustrator who does a lot of caricature any big national election year tends to make the late summer/early fall busier.

Thanks to Steven B. for the question. If you have a question you want answered for the mailbag about cartooning, illustration, MAD Magazine, caricature or similar, e-mail me your questions and I’ll try and answer them here!

I got some cool news yesterday, or at least cool if you are a fan of Stephen King‘s The Dark Tower series.

Although the long series ended some years ago with the publication of The Dark Tower 7: The Dark Tower, there are plenty of holes where King could add to the tale via backstory and adventures alluded to in the existing books. I didn’t really expect him to do that, but it was something I was hoping would happen.

Well, it has happened.

King just made this announcement yesterday:

Dear Constant Readers,

At some point, while worrying over the copyedited manuscript of the next book (11/22/63, out November 8th), I started thinking—and dreaming—about Mid-World again. The major story of Roland and his ka-tet was told, but I realized there was at least one hole in the narrative progression: what happened to Roland, Jake, Eddie, Susannah, and Oy between the time they leave the Emerald City (the end of Wizard and Glass) and the time we pick them up again, on the outskirts of Calla Bryn Sturgis (the beginning of Wolves of the Calla)?

There was a storm, I decided. One of sudden and vicious intensity. The kind to which billy-bumblers like Oy are particularly susceptible. Little by little, a story began to take shape. I saw a line of riders, one of them Roland’s old mate, Jamie DeCurry, emerging from clouds of alkali dust thrown by a high wind. I saw a severed head on a fencepost. I saw a swamp full of dangers and terrors. I saw just enough to want to see the rest. Long story short, I went back to visit an-tet with my friends for awhile. The result is a novel called The Wind Through the Keyhole. It’s finished, and I expect it will be published next year.

It won’t tell you much that’s new about Roland and his friends, but there’s a lot none of us knew about Mid-World, both past and present. The novel is shorter than DT 2-7, but quite a bit longer than the first volume—call this one DT-4.5. It’s not going to change anybody’s life, but God, I had fun.

– Steve King

Awesome, and I am greatly looking forward to that book. One of King’s strongest suits is his ability to create characters that live and breathe beyond the pages… ones that when the book is done, regardless of what you might have though about the plot or ending ended, you wish you could visit with again. They become like old friends. Roland and his ka-tet are like that.

So, back to Mid-World next year. Thanks, Mr. King!

Yesterday MAD very quietly revamped their website to a new, cleaner and more streamlined design. You can now browse the PDF previews of back issues of MAD and extras like MAD Classics, etc. There are links to the Carto0n Network show and promo videos, “The Untold History of MAD” timeline by Desmond Devlin, a page with downloadable parody posters, and even a collection of the “Idiot of the Issue” feature from the old MAD Classics, which features an interview/bio of members of the Usual Gang of Idiots in PDF form!

Nice to see this… yet another sign MAD is not being ignored by the new DC Entertainment management team… although I’m a little upset that the are considering having Steve Buscemi play me in the movie.

Last week I posted a link to the MAD Cover Site and author Doug Gilford‘s great contribution to the collection of well wishes for Al Jaffee‘s 90th birthday, in the form of a comprehensive list of his every contribution to MAD from issue 25 until today. That was pretty impressive.

It turns out, you ain’t seen nuttin’ yet. Al’s list is part of an ongoing project by Doug to catalog all the Usual Gang of Idiot’s credits in MAD. That’s an ambitious project! He’s even got all of my credits listed: Tom’s MAD list.

My credits pale in comparison to many UGOI’s of course, but looking at it all listed out like that I realize… that’s a lot of work!

According to another great MAD resource, Mike Slaubaugh‘s MAD Lists, I’ve appeared in 85 issues of MAD (once the list is update through #508) since my first appearance in #399, and am currently 40th on the list of contributor appearances, and am only two appearances away from having been in as many issues of MAD as one of my biggest artistic heroes, Wally Wood… however I think each of Wally’s pieces in MAD count as two or three of the one’s of us mere mortals, but it’s still pretty cool.

Speaking of appearing MAD, I am desperately trying to finish a six page parody by today…

A very quick sketch of total nutcase Charlie Sheen. Want conclusive evidence Charlie Sheen is crazy? Forget the drugs, the throwing away of a historically easy and lucrative TV gig, the ranting interviews, the tiger blood and Adonis DNA… you need look no farther than the two porno actresses he’s shacking up with. Of all the multitude of hot porn stars probably willing to move in with him, those two are his idea of “goddesses”? :crazy:

Desperately trying to finish a six page MAD parody and a magazine cover illustration… stop distracting me.