Tom's Mad Blog
June 3rd, 2016 | Posted in News
Well, that was fast. All 12 spots are taken for the Sept. 23-25th workshop. The $100 deposit is fully refundable up until Aug 1st, so anyone can cancel their spot up until then without penalty. If you want to be put on the waitlist for a spot, email me and we will add you. First come, first served based on email date/time stamp. If anyone drops out we will contact the first person on the list and offer them the spot. If they decide not to do it, then we go to the second person, etc. There is no deposit required to be on the… READ MORE
June 3rd, 2016 | Posted in News
It’s official, I’ll be conducting my first ever caricature workshop this fall here in the Twin Cities. Here are the details: Dates: September 23-25th, 2016 Location: Eagan MN Class size: Limited to 12 students Itinerary: Friday, Sept 23rd: 7:00 pm- 10:00 pm: Welcome party at Tom’s home and studio: Hors d’ouerves, food and drinks included. Tour Tom’s studio, look at lots of original art, complete discussion of process that goes into doing a parody for MAD, including demo of inking and digital painting (transportation provided to and from the hotel for those that need it) Saturday, Sept 24th: 9:00 am- noon: Morning session– Lecture on… READ MORE
June 2nd, 2016 | Posted in Freelancing
Swamped playing catch-up right now, so here is a look at another fairly recent Marlin Co. workplace poster illustration. This one ran in April I think. I did this one digitally… roughs (below), inks and color. READ MORE
June 1st, 2016 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
This week is a look at Hollywood’s stab (or bite?) at “sexy Dracula” played by a young Frank Langella in the 1979 film “Dracula”. As always, the original is available in the Studio Store. READ MORE
May 31st, 2016 | Posted in General
I just got back from the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards Weekend. Always a great time and the best part is getting to reconnect with old friends… and meet a few new ones. One such friend is long time, and now lamentably retired, MAD editor Nick Meglin. Nick was one of the people I most have to thank for bringing me onboard MAD and despite the fact that he only did it because he said I work cheap, he’s been a great mentor and friend. Nick pulled me aside this weekend to tell me that he was browsing in an antique store recently and he… READ MORE
May 30th, 2016 | Posted in General
The National Cartoonists Society‘s annual Reuben Awards Weekend took place this past weekend, this time in birthplace of Rock n’ Roll, Memphis, Tennessee. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 professional cartoonists attended where they could be found talking talks, drawing drawings and being honored with awards. This was the first time in four years I have attended a Reubens where I was not NCS president and running the show. It was very relaxing, not just because I didn’t have to plan and run the event, but because current NCS president Bill Morrison and his wife Kayre did a terrific job so we had no worries.… READ MORE
May 29th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Which is the hardest feature on a face to draw? I’m finding the mouth to always mess things up despite following some of your advice in that realm (i.e. draw the lower line of the upper lip first, etc). I would probably say whichever feature one is trying to caricature, probably has the most impact on whether one’s drawing “works” and that could potentially be the hardest but for me, things seem to fall apart more when I get to the mouth. Any ideas or exercises you would recommend? A: The hardest feature to draw is whatever one you happen to be struggling with… READ MORE
May 26th, 2016 | Posted in Illustration Throwback Thursday
Well, not really an illustration. This is a theme park sample from 1992 of Dana Carvey as “The Church Lady” from his serial SNL skit. This original had been missing for years and was found this spring behind another sample in an old frame at my Minnesota park operation. Gotta love the lumpy body. When I drew this sample I was 26 years old, had been doing “Married…with Children” for NOW Comics for about 2 years, had been doing live caricatures for about 7 years and had just started doing freelance illustration for a few clients. READ MORE
