Tom's Mad Blog
February 6th, 2017 | Posted in News
The National Cartoonists Society Foundation is holding a benefit auction featuring some very cool and very rare pieces of original cartoon art. All the proceeds go to the NCS Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3) charity that works with the NCS to promote education in cartooning, encourage aspiring cartoonists through scholarships, and to provide assistance to cartoonists in need. The NCSF has several worthwhile programs like the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship, which provides a $5000 grant every year to a student of cartooning; the Cartooning for Kids program with sends cartoonists to children’s hospitals all over the country with goody bags full of art supplies and comics… READ MORE
February 5th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: When drawing live caricatures sometimes people urge another person to get a caricature drawn. But this other person sometimes does not want to be drawn. Some say just “I don’t like caricatures” or “I’m already a caricature myself”. What are the most funny/interesting answers you’ve heard in your career? And do you think it is a good idea to try to persuade the other person? A: No one has a funny answer to that. It’s all variations of “I’m already a caricature” or “why would I do that?” I hate it when someone pushes a reluctant person into the chair to get drawn for… READ MORE
February 3rd, 2017 | Posted in News
I have just confirmed two weekend workshop dates for here in Minnesota this coming spring: April 28th-30th May 5th-7th Both will take place at the Quality Inn and Suites in Eagan, MN. Tuition is $500, with a refundable $100 deposit to reservce your space. The Minnesota workshops are unique in several ways: First, they only cost $500. My out-of-town workshops are going to be $600 from now on due to the time involved, travel costs, shipping costs, and the higher costs of the venues. Here in MN I can keep the costs lower and pass that along to the students. If you are local or… READ MORE
February 2nd, 2017 | Posted in Tales from the Theme Park
This story is legendary, and comes from back when I had an operation at Six Flags St. Louis. At the park locations we are always ribbing each other over the quality of each other’s work and the guest’s reactions. It wouldn’t be surprising to hear one of the artists who is not drawing at the time do a fake cough masking the word “Yamistem” (aka “you missed him”) at an artist who is drawing. We would sometimes joke about how the customer clearly hated the drawing an artist just did (after the customer had left of course). One summer one of my artists (name withheld…… READ MORE
February 1st, 2017 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Better late than never today! Our “Sketch o’the Week” this week is another star of “Westworld”, Jimmi Simpson! As always, the original is available in the Studio Store. READ MORE
January 31st, 2017 | Posted in News
I’m afraid I have to cancel my workshop in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. I thought I’d give it a try since I had a sudden window of time open to do one over those dates, but there was very little follow through despite my getting several emails expressing interest in my doing one there when I mentioned it as a possible spot. Maybe there was not enough time between it being announced and the dates of the workshop. Regardless, no Dallas workshop in March. If you signed up you’ll get a refund immediately for your deposit. READ MORE
January 30th, 2017 | Posted in Monday MADness
This week’s Monday MADness is a look at the finished inks for MAD #449’s parody of of the TV show “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” entitled “Lewd & Disorder: Criminal Malcontent” written by Dick DeBartolo, dated Jan 2005. At the time this was one of my favorite pieces I had done for MAD because it was a lot of fun exaggerating the difference in size of the hulking Vincent D’Onofrio and the diminutive Kathryn Erbe. D’Onofrio was also always doing these weird and uncomfortable things when talking with people where he would lean in and around their personal space, peeking around them with his head… READ MORE
January 29th, 2017 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Do you have any tips/suggestions for drawing 3 or more people in a caricature…especially when there’s a baby/toddler involved? I often struggle with letting the kid “take over” the whole drawing (by letting his/her face be larger than everyone else’s). A: Composition is always very important with live caricature, and it gets trickier the more faces are in a single drawing. Even with a single subject, composition can degrade or ruin an otherwise good drawing. Here’s some tips for good composition for various numbers of subjects: One Person- It’s common for a live caricaturist to just start drawing the face without thinking of its… READ MORE
