By: Tom Richmond
September 16th, 2014 | Posted in News
For the last 10 years or so the National Cartoonists Society has had a terrific booth at San Diego Comic-Con, but has appeared at no other comic conventions around the country. Thanks to a joint effort from the NCS and its charitable arm, the National Cartoonists Society Foundation, the 68 year old organization of professional cartoonists is stepping up its game in the convention world. As part of its mission of outreach to industry professionals and the general public, the NCS will start having a presence at several other major comic conventions, starting next month at the New York Comic Con. The NCS will… READ MORE
September 15th, 2014 | Posted in Monday MADness
Rather than dig through a bunch of old stuff this week, I though I’d share the rough sketches I did for the recent parody of “True Detective” in MAD #528. Here they are, followed by the final art… clicky any to embiggen: Yes, these roughs were all done digitally using my super-sized Cintiq. Why digital, when I have repeatedly professed my dislike for drawing on the computer? There are a couple of compelling reasons. First, the very fact that I don’t enjoy the tactile sensation of drawing on the screen is a plus. It keeps me from becoming too enamored of the quality of the… READ MORE
September 14th, 2014 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: How big are your sketches of the week? A: That’s not a question with a real answer except for “almost any size”. I don’t keep a sketchbook proper, wherein I draw and then put away when it’s full. I have a couple of those but I just draw on whatever is at hand. I have a stack of 12 x 16 live caricature paper in a drawer by my drawing table, and I use this paper for most of my roughs, conceptual drawings and thumbnails for jobs as well as random sketches. I do a lot of my “sketches of the week” on that… READ MORE
September 13th, 2014 | Posted in General
A couple of weeks ago fellow caricaturist/illustrator Hamilton Cline dropped me a line to ask why I didn’t use Twitter Cards for my tweets, seeing as how most of my posts have images that would be a lot more interesting to look at than a simple URL would be. My answer was “What the $%#@ are ‘Twitter Cards’?” Well since then I have been trying to get this figured out. I’ve set up the proper code through a WordPress Plug-in (JP Twitter Cards). I have applied for a Twitter DEV account (not sure I ever got approved, actually). I have set up and validated several… READ MORE
September 12th, 2014 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Remembering actor Richard Kiel, who passed away the other day at age 74. He memorably played the villain “Jaws” in two James Bond films back in the 70s, but had several other notable film and TV roles as well. READ MORE
September 11th, 2014 | Posted in News
Just a quick explanation and apology to any and all who, in the last two weeks or so, have ordered and are waiting for books, prints or original art to get shipped out to them. The last two weeks have been more than a little bit hectic for me, with multiple jobs all due including the longest MAD parody I have done since that nine page extravaganza “Harry Plodder and the Lamest of Sequels” in MAD #424 back in 2002. I often complain here about deadlines, but while they can and do get hairy they seldom get to the point where a couple of long… READ MORE
September 10th, 2014 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Here’s another sketch of a comedy legend: Carl Reiner! This is another preliminary sketch from a job I am working on featuring other old Jewish comedians like Mel Brooks. And no, I am not doing a print of caricatures of old Jewish comedians… the incomparable Drew Friedman has already done the definitive work on that. READ MORE
September 9th, 2014 | Posted in News
I’ll be a special guest at the Pittsgburgh Comicon later this month, Sept. 26th-28th. I don’t have an assigned space at the con quite yet, but I am going to be at a table somewhere and will have copies of my book, my two available limited edition prints “The Game is Afoot!” and “Bats in the Belfry” as well as assorted original MAD art and I will be doing commission sketches including caricatures and “Alfred as…” drawings. I’m also going to be doing a presentation on caricature at 4:00 PM on Friday the 26th, although the time for that may change. The show info: September… READ MORE
