Tom's Mad Blog
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
November 2nd, 2014 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: (I’m paraphrasing this one from a non-english speaking emailer’s question) I’m a caricaturist and sometimes when I’m working on a sketch of a subject I just can’t get the likeness. I will redo it several times and ask others like my wife what they think, and even though they know who it is supposed to be I am still unhappy with it. Does this happen to you? Do you have a trick to drive you back out of a seeming impasse? A: This happens to every caricaturist at one point or another. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to it… you… READ MORE
October 31st, 2014 | Posted in General
Be safe out there, kids! READ MORE
October 30th, 2014 | Posted in Illustration Throwback Thursday
Clicky to Embiggen… I did the illustration above in 1997 for a syndicated radio show called “Backtrax USA”, which played retro music from the 1980’s. I don’t like doing logos but in this case the logo was provided and my task was to add caricatures of some iconic 80’s rock stars and the shows host Kid Kelly. This was one of my earliest digital color illustrations, I think. I shortly thereafter abandoned the “airbrush” tool in PhotoShop and started using regular brushes with pressure-sensitive opacity settings to get a more watercolor-like look. The original agreement was for use on promotional items like mousepads and T-shirts,… READ MORE
October 29th, 2014 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Clicky to embiggen… The last of our Halloween themed sketches- Elsa Lanchester as “the Bride” from the 1935 film “Bride of Frankenstein”. Done using various pens and markers. READ MORE
October 28th, 2014 | Posted in General
Six years ago I had my wife, The Lovely Anna, be my first (and last) guest blogger here on The MAD Blog. She wrote the following post about being the wife of a freelancer which I am reposting today because I am still on vacation (with The Lovely Anna) so I don’t have time to write and neither does she. All she says here is still true over six years later except we’ve now been married 26 years, all our kids are graduated from high school and either off living life or going to college (except The Animated Elizabeth, who will be home with us… READ MORE
October 27th, 2014 | Posted in Monday MADness
Not exactly from MAD this week but rather an odd MAD-releated job from Warner Bros Consumer Products, which to my knowledge has never been used. WB has contracted me in the past to do a number of Alfred E. Neuman illustrations they use on various products. I did one for the International Spy Museum, and several as seasonal Alfred images like for St. Paddy’s Day and Halloween. This one was (I think) also for Halloween a few years ago, but it was never explained to me what the specific use was supposed to be. It’s a pretty bizarre concept- an Alfred/Little Red Riding Hood mash-up.… READ MORE
