Tom's Mad Blog
November 16th, 2015 | Posted in Monday MADness
I know I’ve posted the artwork to this piece, the first thing I ever had published in MAD, many times. However this issue (#399) was finally just released in digital format via the MAD iPad app, so I can show it to you with all of Dick DeBartolo‘s hilarious jokes in place as it appeared in print back in Oct 2000. MAD is slowly building up it’s digital back issue library in their app. Print subscribers get the digital version of the latest issues FREE, and can purchase back issues for as little as $.99 when they are on sale. The app is free and… READ MORE
November 15th, 2015 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I really love your book on how to draw caricatures. It’s the only one I’ve ever found that actually attempts to explain the thinking behind how to exaggerate the face. Do you have plans to write more books? Maybe about how to exaggerate anatomy or cartooning in general? A: First, thanks for the kind words about my book. I’m very glad you liked it. As for other books, “never say never” but I do not foresee any more how-to books in my immediate future. Some of that is because of the time involved. The Mad Art of Caricature! took a long time to put… READ MORE
November 13th, 2015 | Posted in Freelancing
In the art world “illustrators” sometimes get dismissed as nothing but image making machines for other people’s ideas or concepts. According to that point of view, we draw and paint nicely but we have no original ideas of our own, and only draw what people tell us to draw. I remember in college, the fine arts majors called the illustration majors “wrists”, since the considered us little more than human copy machines with art filters. To be fair, I think I might have referred to a few of the fine arts majors as “future baristas”, since 99% would never manage to make a living with… READ MORE
November 12th, 2015 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Since I posted yesterday about Veteran’s day, this week’s SotW is a day late but a full TWO dollars short. Another in my series of caricatures of the cast of “Firefly”, here’s Adam Baldwin as Jayne Cobb. As always, the original of this sketch is available for purchase in The Studio Store. READ MORE
November 11th, 2015 | Posted in General
Today is Veteran’s Day. It’s a day where we all should take a little time to thank the men and women who have served our country in the military… regardless of your politics. I never served in the military. It wasn’t something I ever even considered, being focused on college and becoming a professional artist. My grandfather was a World War II veteran, serving in Guam and the South Pacific. He was not at Pearl Harbor, but traveled to many of the other islands in the Pacific, especially after the war to clean up and secure the areas. My uncle (his son) served during the… READ MORE
November 10th, 2015 | Posted in On the Drawing Board
Thanks to sudden death in the family that took up a lot of my time in October I just spent the last two weeks digging myself out from under a pile of several freelance jobs, so actually the drawing board is a bit light at the moment. Here’s what I finished up since the beginning of the month: Two (count ’em… TWO) jobs for the upcoming MAD #537, both different from my usual work. A Marlin Co. illustration (pictured above) A couple of smaller projects that had been put off for way too long What I’m working on now: Another Marlin illustration “Z-People” comic book… READ MORE
November 9th, 2015 | Posted in Monday MADness
Back in MAD #476, April of 2007 I did the art for a parody of the TV show “Entourage”, written by Arnie Kogen. The opening splash called for one of the show’s famous party scenes where you could always count on a couple of gratuitous celebrity cameos. Here is the art progression from (very) rough sketch, final pencil, and inks leading up to the finished art above (clicky any to embiggen…): The rough sketch… The final pencil… Finished inks… READ MORE
November 8th, 2015 | Posted in Mailbag
Welcome to my every-year-or-so answer to the perpetual question “What kind of ______ do you use?”… Updated to November 2015 accuracy. In the Studio For doing my publication work I use a lot of different tools and materials. While most of what I do these days is digital I do occasionally, when the job calls for it, pull out the old paints and such. Here are the tools I like to use in the studio: Pencils– Honestly I usually use whatever I end up grabbing from my eight or so coffee cup/jars full of drawing utensils near my board. For years I used a clutch-type… READ MORE
