Tom's Mad Blog
November 10th, 2014 | Posted in Monday MADness
I just finished a piece for this year’s MAD 20 aka MAD‘s 20 Dumbest People, Events and Things of 2014, so I thought it would be appropriate to post some of the art from a past MAD 20 piece. This was from MAD #502, Jan 2010, and was depicting the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates by Sgt. James Crowley for trying to break into his own house. After an escalating media fight with accusations of racial profiling, harsh comments from Obama that were then criticized by law enforcement, the President had both parties and VP Joe Biden discuss the issue at a patio… READ MORE
November 9th, 2014 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Have you ever been asked to do a pet caricature? What would be the challenges involved? A: No, I’ve never been asked to do one. I did do an illustration of Jeff Dunham‘s dog for him once: but it’s not much of a caricature. Except for making the eyes and ears a bit bigger and the snout a bit smaller, this is practically a portrait. I believe you can caricature animals, but not in the same way you caricature humans. With humans, you identify what makes them unique from other humans both visually and in their personality and exaggerate that. Different species of animals… READ MORE
November 8th, 2014 | Posted in General
I don’t spend much time on Google+ but I do have a plug in that feeds my blog posts to my wall there. Today I stopped in to notice an interesting bit of cropping done on my post from last week featuring a drawing of The Lovely Anna: I know it’s automated but… really??? READ MORE
November 7th, 2014 | Posted in News
“YEEEEE-HAW?” Next weekend I will be in Dallas Texas to be a guest at the Saturday-only North Texas Comic Book Show, which is doing a special “MAD” event with guest artists and writers from the magazine. Joining me will be cartoonist David DeGrand, who does the features “Ain’t Life DeGrand” and “Patience Man” in MAD‘s “The Fundalini Pages” and “The Strip Club” sections respectively, “Bitterman” cartoonist Garth Gerhart, writer Kit Lively, who has contributed to “The Fundalini Pages” and “The Strip Club” as well as other features, and the special guest of honor Annie Gaines Ashton! Annie is the widow of MAD founder and publisher… READ MORE
November 6th, 2014 | Posted in Freelancing
It’s no secret the world of publishing and printing is being taken over by digital publishing, the internet and hand held “media consumption” devices. That said, the world of illustration is hardly dying as a result, it is merely changing to fit into the evolving digital world. No corner of the business is immune. Here’s a case in point. Followers of my blog will know I do work for a client called The Marlin Company, which produces workplace communication products that employers purchase on a subscription basis with monthly messages of teamwork, stress management, safety, etc. as well as other useful information tailored to various… READ MORE
November 5th, 2014 | Posted in Classic Rock Sketch Series
This week’s subject is the late, great Jimi Hendrix. You have to wonder what music today would be like if he had lived to influence it further. I think it would be VERY different had he never lived at all… READ MORE
November 4th, 2014 | Posted in News
The Winsor Newton Series 7 watercolor brush is considered by many comic artists, myself included, to be the best inking brush available. I’ve tried other brushes, including both synthetic and natural hair, and none I’ve found are comparable. Series 7s have a tremendous “snapping” quality that allow the brush to keep its shape and point, and return right back to it, with vigorous use. They resist splitting and last for a long time with proper care. Unfortunately, they have become very hard to get in the U.S. thanks to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and something called the Convention on International Trade in Endangered… READ MORE
November 3rd, 2014 | Posted in Monday MADness
Well, technically election day is tomorrow but today is “Monday MADness”, so here’s an election day themed blast from the past: In October of 2000 MAD was putting together it’s annual “MAD 20 People, Events and Things” issue and I was assigned the obligatory page making fun of the presidential election of that year, George W. Bush versus Al Gore. The issue was going to press on Nov. 8th, the day after the election. Not knowing who was going to win, I was asked to do two versions of the image, one with Bush being sworn in and one with Gore, showing the appropriate despondent… READ MORE
