Tom's Mad Blog
December 24th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: How often do you get to a museum or gallery, if at all, for inspiration or simply to reacquaint with the Old Masters? Do you try to go when overseas, or another American city, when doing your workshops? Who among the “greats” have influenced you — from Rembrandt to Rockwell..? A: My wife The Lovely Anna is the fine art connoisseur, but I also enjoy visiting art museums when we travel. When is comes to “being inspired” by the works of the Old Masters I guess I am inspired only in the way that anyone is when looking at incredible pieces of art. I… READ MORE
December 22nd, 2017 | Posted in Stuff from my Studio
This is a new occasional feature here on Tom’s Mad Blog, where I post a picture of something on the walls or shelves of my studio and tell a little story about it. That might sound boring but actually almost everything in my studio has some kind of significance for me… it was either obtained in some interesting way, or is a remembrance of some trip or event from my life, or was given to me from someone special or for some special reason, or is just incredibly freaking cool. I’ve got very little “just picked this up at Target” sort of stuff. By the… READ MORE
December 21st, 2017 | Posted in News
Above: art from my Pittsburgh workshop last June I just added a workshop in the Chicago area taking place April 20th-22nd, 2018! It will take place at the Comfort Suites in Schaumburg, IL just outside Chicago. Visit the Chicago workshop page for all the details and to place your deposit to reserve a space. So what do you get at these workshops? Well, three days of intense drawing and learning about caricatures with me, lots of one-on-one instruction where I work with you on your specific areas of need, a class lunch, and a bag full of swag including having your caricature drawn in my… READ MORE
December 20th, 2017 | Posted in Classic Rock Sketch Series
Another in my series of caricatures of KISS… guitarist Ace Frehley! As always the original is available in the Studio Store. READ MORE
December 19th, 2017 | Posted in General
I saw “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” last Thursday while on vacation in Orlando. I must say I am surprised by some of the vitriol a few people are spewing about it online. There’s even an online petition for Disney to get the movie stricken from the “official canon”. Good Grief, people. It’s a MOVIE, not your life’s work. You sit on your ass and watch it… that’s the extent of your involvement. SMH. Personally, despite some disappointing elements, I thought it was a pretty good addition to the Star Wars series, better than any of the prequels, and I thought as good as “The… READ MORE
December 18th, 2017 | Posted in MAD Magazine
MAD Senior VP & Executive Editor John Ficarra was interviewed yesterday morning on NYC radio station AM970 The Answer on the “Morano in the Morning” show. Here’s the interview, John’s segment starts at 17:51: READ MORE
December 17th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: When you make the caricatures in Photoshop, what kind of brush do you use for the inking? Do you have brushes on the internet for sale or free? A: I do not use PhotoShop, or any other digital program, for inking. I still ink the old fashioned way, with dip pens and watercolor brushes and ink. However, I do color with PhotoShop. When coloring, I do not use any special brushes, just the standard PhotoShop “Hard, Round” types. I use the pressure sensitivity of my Cintiq tablet to control both the opacity of my brush and the size of it. I also occasionally set… READ MORE
December 15th, 2017 | Posted in News
… but it’s running out. All orders placed by Sunday ship Monday, and I’ll try to keep up with shipping as the week progresses, but shipping times get dicey the week before the holidays. On the workshop front, I’ll have some news next week about more upcoming locations and dates, but right now I have only ONE SPOT remaining in the Toronto and Dallas workshops, and only TWO SPOTS left for the London workshop. So don’t wait any longer if you are thinking about going, or want to get a spot for someone for a Christmas gift. READ MORE
