Tom's Mad Blog
February 26th, 2014 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
The Lovely Anna and I have been watching the Netflix series “House of Cards” and I have to say that is one TV show that can still surprise me on a regular basis. It took a few episodes to gather steam in season one, but once it got there it never lost momentum. The above is my take on star Kevin Spacey. The format of the show, with an entire season being released all at once, is very interesting.” Binge-watching” is the new catchphrase around the water cooler these days, but considering how long it takes these elaborate series to be shot and produced, is… READ MORE
February 25th, 2014 | Posted in General
As promised. here’s a sneaky peeky at the splash page and art for the Desmond Devlin scribed parody of “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” from MAD #526: Clicky to Embiggen… Just for fun, I did the clouds and shadows in that above panel using ink washes rather than digital… it gives things a more textural feel which I wanted for the stormy atmosphere. Here are the inks for that panel sans color: What do you mean you want to read the dialogue? What does this look like… a library? You’ll have to go out and buy the fershlugginer magazine for that, clod! READ MORE
February 24th, 2014 | Posted in MAD Magazine
In comic book shops, on the iPad and in subscribers mailboxes now, on news stands everywhere tomorrow: MAD # 526 (April 2014) Cover (Mark Fredrickson) The Fundalini Pages (Anton Emdin, Barry Liebmann, Stan Sinberg, P.C. Vey, Kenny Keil, Justin Peterson, Will Presti, Jeff Kruse, Jack Pittman, Jay Rath, Chris Houghton, Rick Tulka, Todd Clark, Garth Gerhart, John Martz, Ward Sutton, Tom Cheney, John Kerschbaum, Jonathan Edwards) The Hunder Pains: Getting Tired (A MAD Movie Satire) (Desmond Devlin, Tom Richmond) The MAD Vault- (From MAD #297, Sept 1990: Jack Davis, Mike Snider) Spy vs. Spy vs. Spy (Peter Kuper) Why the Lego Man was Made for… READ MORE
February 23rd, 2014 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: There’s a big (pardon the pun) difference between drawing a 15″ caricature (amusement park style) and a 3″ or 4″ that goes into a Mad drawing. Did you have difficulty switching sizes? a: There is no major difference when it comes to the drawing, really. The same basic elements should be in place in a caricature of any size.¬¨‚Ć The size it will be reproduced at is something to think about when it comes to execution, though. You can obviously include a lot more detail in a larger illustration, and you need to think more economically for something that will be viewed much smaller.… READ MORE
February 21st, 2014 | Posted in MAD Magazine
A few sneak peeks at MAD #526 are popping up around the interwebbies: From Uproxx.com Sergio! Via Toonzone.net Jaffee’s Fold In? I ruined my computer monitor trying to fold it… courtesy of ComicVine.com. The issue comes out next week, but is already in comic book shops and subscriber’s mailboxes. READ MORE
February 20th, 2014 | Posted in News
Clicky to Embiggen… Roughly left to right: Tom Gammill, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Greg Evans, Eddie Pittman, Sandra Bell-Lundy, Russ Heath, Bunny Hoest Carpenter, John Reiner, Suzy Spafford, Chris Houghton. The lineup for the speakers for the National Cartoonists Society Reuben Awards Weekend was just released: From the NCS Website Eddie Pittman– Animator, illustrator, creator of the online graphic novel Red’s Planet Chris Houghton– Animator, comic artist, illustrator, 2009 winner of the NCSF Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship Greg Evans– 2003 Reuben Award winning creator of the syndicated comic strip Luann. Suzy Spafford– Creator of Suzy’s Zoo, greeting card/product/licensing entrepenuer Sandra Bell-Lundy– Creator of the syndicated comic… READ MORE
February 19th, 2014 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Spring training is underway for Major League Baseball, and all pro ballplayers are showing up at their teams spring training facilities to get ready for the 2014 season… well, not his guy. Alex Rodriguez is serving a 162 game suspension for the use of banned performance enhancing substances and obstructing the investigation of such. He actually could attend spring training under the terms of his suspension, but he’s staying home. Must have run out of “the cream” and “the clear”, and he’ll just concentrate on “the remote” this summer. READ MORE
February 18th, 2014 | Posted in General
If you are ever engaging a cartoonist in conversation and for some reason want that cartoonist to do all the talking, just ask them about the art supplies they use. This never fails to send cartoonists into a rant about how this pen and that paper and this ink and that brush just aren’t made the way they used to be, are discontinued, or some other tale of woe about the struggle to get the tools they like working with. It’s like a law of physics. I’m no exception. I prefer the Gillott 303 pen nib for much of my inking and that’s a hard… READ MORE
