Tom's Mad Blog
February 16th, 2020 | Posted in Mailbag
This is one of the most frequently asked questions I get, so every year or two I repost this mailbag answer, with updates as needed: Q: How much should I charge for an illustration?A: I get individual e-mails occasionally asking for advice on what to charge on this project or that kind of job, and the problem is that the question in basically unanswerable. It is always “that depends”. One mistake a lot of people make in the beginning is charging based on how much time it takes to do an illustration. You need to understand that you are not actually selling the client your time… READ MORE
February 15th, 2020 | Posted in General
After posting my humbling 1988 Three Stooges caricature the other day I am posting some I did 25 years later just to redeem myself a bit. READ MORE
February 14th, 2020 | Posted in News
My 2020 comic-con schedule kicks off two weeks from today in Chicago at C2E2. You’ll find me in booth H-4 in Artist’s Alley. I’ll have my usual bunch of crap for sale, be doing caricatures and commission sketches, etc. etc. My exclusive (i.e. you can only get one of these at my booth at this show) is an oversized print of the splash page from MAD #7, written by Desmond Devlin. I’ll only have 20 of these, all hand numbered and signed. Anytime you want to check my convention schedule, just click on my “Appearances” page in the menu. READ MORE
February 14th, 2020 | Posted in General
This is an embarrassing blast from the past. A few days ago I received this email through my website: From: Brian Re: 3 stooges sketch I have a framed drawing of the 3 Stooges that looks like was done in pencil and ink. I have had it for 20+ years and never taken it out of the frame. Can see a signature in bottom corner of Richmond. Was hoping to get more information about it. Thank you, Brian I thought maybe it was an old theme park sample I had done, so I asked Brian to send me a picture of it. He sent me… READ MORE
February 13th, 2020 | Posted in Freelancing
My Sketch o’the Week of Steven Tyler I posted yesterday solicited several social media comments about how Tyler famously hates caricatures of himself (or portraits that don’t make him look like he’s 25). That reminded me of one of the longest freelance nightmares of my career… a job that took over two years of waiting on and then never actually happened. Back in the early 2000’s I got a call from an art director at Disney Design, a division of the Disney empire that works on all kinds of projects from merchandising to packaging to promotional materials for the Mouse. He wanted me to do… READ MORE
February 12th, 2020 | Posted in Classic Rock Sketch Series
This week’s sketch is of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, one of caricaturdom’s favorite subjects (original available in the Studio Store). I did a quick version of Tyler from the same photo reference for my inking demo at my workshop in Las Vegas this past weekend, and I liked the expression enough to give it another shot in my Sketch o’the Week. Most artists draw Tyler with his mouth open screaming into the mic. READ MORE
February 11th, 2020 | Posted in MAD Magazine
A couple of old school Usual Idiots are getting decidedly new school by bringing their legendary foolishness to the Interwebs! Angelo Torres is one of the most prolific MAD artists ever, appearing in 282 issues since his debut in MAD #130 (Oct 1969). He helped define the movie/TV parody genre with his fantastic caricature work and witty storytelling. His work also appeared in earlier E.C. titles, Atlas Comics and Warren titles like Eerie and Creepy. He’s won numerous awards including the prestigious Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cartoonists Society. In short, Ange is a Big Deal. Angelo recently launched a website, where… READ MORE
February 10th, 2020 | Posted in MAD Magazine
This week’s Monday MADness is a look at one of the more unique movie parodies I’ve done for MAD, “Green Lantern” from MAD #510, August 2011. written by Desmond Devlin. It was not unique because of the film, but because of a rare instance of the MAD editors cutting a gag of mine, some experimenting on my part with my process, and a bizarre request for a cameo. First, the MAD edit: This was my pencil rough for the splash page: The “finger” ring construct was my gag. It’s not very often the editors step in and nix a gag I come up with, but… READ MORE
