Tom's Mad Blog
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
February 9th, 2020 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Do you ever draw live caricatures anymore? A: Very occasionally. In fact, I just did a gig a couple of weeks ago at the Mall of America with three other local caricaturists. My doing gigs is extremely rare. It’s more likely I will sometimes fill in at one of my two theme park operations. I spent about 20 years doing live caricatures full time at theme parks every summer, as well as at fairs, holidays at shopping centers, and some gigs. In 2004 I hurt my wrist working out with a heavybag (note to artists: activities that involve throwing your drawing hand at heavy… READ MORE
February 7th, 2020 | Posted in News
Later this month I’ll be at C2E2 in Chicago… you’ll find me at table H-4 in Artist’s Alley. This is the one show I do where I can drive in, so I sometimes bring some original MAD pages long (these are so big that I don’t carry or ship them around to shows I have to fly to.) This year I thought I’d post a few pages I’ll be bringing with in the Studio Store, so C2E2 attendees can pre-buy them and pick them up at the show. I’ll post some more next week, but here’s one Chicagoians will probably like… the splash page to… READ MORE
February 6th, 2020 | Posted in Classic Rock Sketch Series
One day late for the Sketch o’the Week this week. Our subject is Metallica frontman and heavy metal legend James Hetfield! As always the original sketch is available in the Studio Store. READ MORE
February 5th, 2020 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Screenrant.com posted an exclusive sneak peek of the two page feature I did the art for in MAD #12; “VH-1 Drags Out Even More RuPaul Shows!”, written by Grant Reed. They had not just the spread (above) but a close up of each of the TV show promo images: Giving credit where credit is due, the “nuclear mushroom cloud” hairdo gag was suggested by MAD art director (and now also managing editor) Suzy Hutchinson. ??? MAD #12 is on sale in Comic Book shops on Feb 19th. READ MORE
February 4th, 2020 | Posted in News
This appears to be the week for people cancelling workshop spots. My Minnesota Caricature Illustration Workshop is back to being sold out, but I now have a spot open in my Chicago area workshop. taking place April 18-19th. Grab it while you can! READ MORE
February 3rd, 2020 | Posted in General
I’ve had a couple of cancellations for my new “Caricature Illustration” workshop, and I’ve exhausted the waitlist so there in one spot now open! Here are some of the details: This is a NEW kind of workshop… Caricature Illustration! Tom’s other workshops focus on teaching the art of caricature and only sample some of his illustration techniques. This workshop will be focused on the process of creating a caricature-based illustration from concept/roughs all the way to color final art. Tom provides instruction on each phase, including: Concept, “narrative”, composition and rough sketches Final pencils and prep for inking Traditional inking with dip pen and brush… READ MORE
