Tom's Mad Blog
February 1st, 2015 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: A few months ago I finally got my first serious contract as a freelance illustrator, but unfortunately, almost at the same time I started feeling slight twinges in my wrist, that initially just came and went, but now they’re starting to last longer and increase in intensity as well. I have been considering getting a Cintiq (now I’m using a tiny Bamboo, that I think because of its relatively small surface being mapped onto a bigger screen kind of forces me to concentrate too much on getting my lines right and thus grip the pen too tightly). Do you think that could be a… READ MORE
January 30th, 2015 | Posted in News
Clicky to Embiggen… I did the above piece a month or two ago for an issue of GQ Magazine that just hit the stands…it’s a gag article about how the NFL is trying to make the Superbowl more woman-friendly. Some of the gags: Players have to wear Spanx rather than football pants Susan B. Anthony painted on all the game balls Mood lighting and aroma therapy in the bathrooms Katy Perry doing the halftime show Fun project and cool new client. Hope to do more work for them in the future. READ MORE
January 29th, 2015 | Posted in General
If you are a fan of comics or cartooning, you should be a regular reader of Comic Riffs, a column/blog from the Washington Post written by “Writer-artist-recovering-syndicated-cartoonist” Michael Cavna. Michael posted an article today about my recently released cover art for the NCS Reuben Awards Weekend brochure, where he interviews some of the victims subjects of my caricatures for their reaction. Generally good this year, no threats of stoning or keying my car. In the article Micheal asks me if I had any trouble with any of the subjects. I did have to have a couple of tries at Jeff Keane. It’s interesting when you… READ MORE
January 28th, 2015 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Here’s a (very) rare commission: Doctor Who’s Peter Capaldi– 8 1/2 x 12 on bristol board, ink with dip pen and washes. READ MORE
January 27th, 2015 | Posted in News
Clockwise from far left: Nick Galifianakis, Mort Drucker, Brian Crane, Doug Mahnke, Mark Anderson, Jeff Keane, Ann Telnaes and Juana Medina- (Clicky to Embiggen) Members of the National Cartoonists Society will be receiving the official brochure for the 2015 Reuben Award Weekend in their mailboxes in the next week or so. My cover art above. With it goes the announcements of the speaker lineup and special award winners: Mort Drucker– First recipient of the “NCS Medal of Honor”; Speaker Jeff Keane– Recipient of the NCS “Silver T-Square” for outstanding dedication to the Society Brian Crane– Reuben winning creator of the syndicated comic strip “Pickles”; speaker… READ MORE
January 27th, 2015 | Posted in News
As I speak… uh… type, my book The Mad Art of Caricature is running its sixth printing since its release in November of 2011. Copies will be arriving here sometime in early March, depending on the shipping strikes on the west coast. The book will definitely sell out both with me and Amazon before the new printing arrives. Your mileage with bookstore stock may vary. I am truly floored by the staying power of this book. I figured I’d sell a ton of them to caricaturists right away and then see it trickle into obscurity with continued but small sales levels for years after. Instead,… READ MORE
January 26th, 2015 | Posted in Monday MADness
This week’s Monday MADness is a look at my very first parody for MAD, “Malcontent in the Muddle” written by Desmond Devlin from MAD #403, March 2001. The color digital files from this piece is lost to posterity thanks to a lost CD-ROM and a computer crash in the late 2000’s that corrupted the original files. However, a UK based “Malcolm in the Middle” fan site has high resolution scans of the entire parody online, so here’s a look at those pages (clicky any to embiggen): I was told that Frankie Muniz did not like his caricatures in this piece. Just hearsay, though. Many thanks… READ MORE
January 24th, 2015 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Do you use your drawing skills for private tasks, say for instance a birthday-card for your uncle? And are you asked by relatives, friends or neighbors to make just a little drawing for a party, a present, etc.of course without getting payed? A: That sort of thing is inevitable, but I have to say my family, friends and neighbors are all very good about understanding I have a hard time finding enough hours in the day to get my professional work done, so they seldom if ever ask me to do anything for them. I’ve done art for a few things like that here… READ MORE
