Tom's Mad Blog
May 28th, 2018 | Posted in Monday MADness
I was at the National Cartoonists Society’s annual Reuben Weekend in Philadelphia and sat in on a MAD magazine panel. During the panel, I was asked about how I got started with the magazine. I thought about it afterward and it was basically exactly 18 years ago, shortly after the 2000 Reuben Weekend, that I got my first assignment from MAD. It was a three pager entitled “MAD‘s Cable TV Viewing Odds” written by John Biederman. This job was what is called an “evergreen” feature… meaning it is not timely and can be run virtually at any time when they need a couple of pages… READ MORE
May 26th, 2018 | Posted in News
I’ll be one of around 80 cartoonists meeting, signing, and sketching, for people tomorrow at the Free Library of Philadelphia. The library will be opening special for us on Sunday from 1-4, where you can meet some of your favorite cartoonists and get some autographs or sketches. If you are in the Philly area, come by and say hi! READ MORE
May 25th, 2018 | Posted in News
The National Cartoonists Society’s 72nd annual Reuben Awards Weekend kicks off today in Philadelphia. Above is the art I did for the program/posters for the event. Here’s who’s who: Top row: Mark Tatuli (Reuben Nominee) Arnie Roth (Golden T-Square recipient) Mike Luckovich (Reuben Awards emcee) Stephan Pastis (Reuben Nominee) Glenn Keane (Reuben Nominee) Jake Tapper (ACE Aware recipient) Bottom Row: Lynn Johnston (NCS Medal of Honor recipient) Hillary Price (Reuben Nominee) Lynda Barry (Reuben Nominee) Brenden Burford (Silver T-Square recipient) Rick Stromoski (Silver T-Square recipient) READ MORE
May 24th, 2018 | Posted in Illustration Throwback Thursday
As promised from last week, here’s the one piece I did for Penthouse that bordered on being “blue”. The article was about why males tend to think about sex more than females do. I did a “Barbie” on the female figures, meaning I left off the nipples and obscured or left out the genitalia (and their noses! Although Barbies do have a nose) turning them into more like plastic toys than women. I thought that a workable approach, so i did not use a pseudonym in the byline. READ MORE
May 23rd, 2018 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Can you tell I’m busy? Nothing but flashbacks on the blog this week as I’m desperately trying to wrap up several things before heading out the the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards this weekend, and today is no exception. Here’s an old sketch of ageless rock goddess Gwen Stefani, which appears on the last page of my book. Done in pencil with digital grays. READ MORE
May 22nd, 2018 | Posted in General
–Originally posted 4/21/07 I was thinking the other day about how much the internet has changed the dynamics of freelancing, in terms of how illustrators communicate, conduct and deliver jobs and market their work. For the most part it’s been an invaluable tool, but there is a dark side to it. The easy access and instant communication of the internet often leads to being contacted for jobs that aren’t really jobs. I used to have the same problem when I drew at the theme parks. A few times each summer someone would approach me at the park and ask me to draw something for them… READ MORE
May 21st, 2018 | Posted in Monday MADness
Every once and awhile MAD would chose to do a parody of some show that was a real head-scratcher… not the show but the fact that MAD decided it was parody worthy. This is an example from MAD #478, the June 2007 issue. “Dog the Bounty Hunter” was a reality show on A&E that, while it ran for eight seasons, was a far cry from a household name. I’m still not sure why it was picked for a MAD parody subject, but I thought the same thing of the two dozen HGTV shows we spoofed. Anyway, I drew the four page parody written by Dennis… READ MORE
May 20th, 2018 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I heard a great tip from Lynn Johnston that she uses toys for references. I always thought that was such a great tip. You can use toys from different angles and can give your more depth than looking at a photo and…some toys can be cheap. I recently bought a farm animal toy pack from Walmart for $3 and a matchbox truck for $1! My question is…do you use toys for references? If so, any examples you can give us when you did? A: Toys and props are great for references, especially these days where they are often VERY accurate to the real thing…… READ MORE
