Tom's Mad Blog
March 6th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: My question is how do you manage your time between the multiple projects, appearances, gigs, marketing, etc.? I’ve revived my caricature business and I’m trying my best to keep on top of these things myself and learning what I can and putting into practice what works so I would love to hear some ideas of your “time management” (more like self-management). A: For starters, I’d advise NOT writing on your blog when you have a pile of work sitting on the drawing board behind you! Seriously, there are not that many secrets to managing your time (something I am actually not that great at)… READ MORE
March 4th, 2016 | Posted in General
Those who create art for a living, be it writing stories, drawing pictures, creating comics, making films, etc., are constantly fighting the bizarre conception among the rest of the world that what we do is effortless and not really work. The creative layperson seems to think that what we do is so much fun, getting paid for it is just an added bonus. Since what we create isn’t made from bricks or wood or plastic or any other tangible material other than our heads (and maybe a little paper, ink and paint), it isn’t really worth anything. Case in point: I’m working at a caricature… READ MORE
March 3rd, 2016 | Posted in Illustration Throwback Thursday
This was for the cover of a CD (that was this shiny plastic disk that contained music and audio on it. You would put in into something called a “CD Player” and…uh… nevermind) that was a collection of radio show antics by a couple of DJs named C.J. Goodearl and Dave Green. “Moe Fugger Malt Liquor” was a fictional product they did spoof ads for, among their other bits. Anyway this was their second CD, circa 2002. READ MORE
March 2nd, 2016 | Posted in Classic Rock Sketch Series
It’s “The King”, Elvis Aaron Presley! In honor of our upcoming National cartoonists Society Reuben Awards Weekend in Memphis! As always, this original sketch is available for purchase in The Studio Store. READ MORE
March 1st, 2016 | Posted in On the Drawing Board
I know I say I am busy a lot but I have to tell you I may never have had as much work due as quickly as it needs to be done on the board at one time as I have right now: GQ Magazine Illustration– Actually I put this to bed late last week, April Issue MAD Parody– a NINE PAGE movie parody for MAD #539. That matches the longest I’ve ever done, which was “Harry Plodder and the Lamest of Sequels” back in 2002. Starting the inks today. Another piece for MAD 539– Last second assignment. Super secret. Web series animation character design–… READ MORE
February 29th, 2016 | Posted in MAD Magazine
It’s the final season of “American Idol”, so here’s a look back at one of the two pieces I did about the show over the years in MAD. These are the pencil roughs and final artwork for “You Can Write the Next American Idol Single!”, written by Desmond Devlin and appearing in MAD #466, June 2006. It’s actually kind of amazing how many of the people in this piece are still somewhat relevant. READ MORE
February 28th, 2016 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: When drawing live caricatures I am finding it very difficult to get faster (under 8 minutes) and keep things pretty recognizable and well observed. I have your book and have been sequencing my drawings, looking for that t-shape with the eyes and nose, and squinting my eyes to see the head shape, but I am still pretty slow. When working live should I just focus on accuracy and speed will come in time? Or should I focus more on speed and accuracy will come in time? It is a difficult balance to achieve, any advice you could give me would be helpful. A: Finding… READ MORE
February 26th, 2016 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Those who frequent comic book shops and comic cons will be very familiar with “Sketch Covers”. For the rest of you, a sketch cover is a comic book (or magazine, or…) that has a blank cover with just the book’s title graphics in place. These are either the actual cover or, more often, a second cover on top of the printed cover and stapled in as a single comic. Sketch covers use a cardstock or heavyweight paper that is suitable for drawing on in pencil and marker, hence the name. Every time I do comic cons I get more than a few people who ask… READ MORE
