Tom's Mad Blog
December 7th, 2012 | Posted in Freelancing
This year I did a series of spot illustrations of rocker Dave Navarro as the header graphic for his ongoing column in Penthouse magazine. Thought I’d share a couple of them that have already been published: There are a couple more but they haven’t been published yet. It’s funny, but whenever I get my comp copies of Penthouse, the neighborhood guys always seem to show up at the door “just to say hi”. That never happens when I get my comp copies of National Geographic World or Scholastic. Hmmmm. READ MORE
December 6th, 2012 | Posted in General
Art by Ed Steckley Last weekend I was privileged to attend the first annual Wyakin Warriors Guardians Ball in lovely Boise, ID. The evening was sold out, and a great success. It’s always fun to get together with other cartoonists, and in support of such a great cause made it even more enjoyable. The Wyakin Warriors Foundation is an organization dedicated to providing support to wounded warriors through college education, placement, mentorships and other programs. They provide these brave veterans: A full, four-year scholarship (including room, board, books, tutoring, and living expenses). A custom, one-on-one, multi-layered mentoring program by the nation’s top leaders in business,… READ MORE
December 5th, 2012 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Up until Christmas I will probably be posting nothing but caricatures from the Limited Artist’s Editions of my book as my “Sketch o’the Week”, since I am very busy doing those every chance I get. The good news is I will also post some of the photo references I used to work from, so you can see the decisions I made, etc. The one above is of St. Louis area cartoonist Chris Grant. He does some fun work, including character design, comic strips, greeting cards and illustration, as well as caricatures! You can check out his work on his website and blog. Thanks for getting… READ MORE
December 4th, 2012 | Posted in Freelancing
Clicky to embiggen… Frequent readers may remember that this summer I posted a couple of sneak peaks of some comic book character sketches that were part of a larger piece I could not disclose info about at the time. Well, the book in question is shipping next month, and it’s being advertised as such from multiple sources, so I guess it’s safe to post the artwork. See above. The art is for the cover of Ryan Sohmer‘s Absolute Ultimate Gutters Omnibus Volume 3, which is described thusly by the fore mentioned sales teasers: The Absolute Ultimate Gutters Omnibus Volume 3 is the newest collection of… READ MORE
December 3rd, 2012 | Posted in General
There is still time, but it’s running out. Anyone wanting to get their copy shipped internationally (except Canada) in time for Christmas, you might already be out of luck. While the U.S. Post Office claims the delivery time of an International Priority package is 6-10 business days, customs in the destination countries have been known to randomly hold a package for weeks before deciding to let it continue to its intended recipient. So, at best it would have to be ordered this week and shipped by Dec. 10th or so, and then there’s no guarantee when it comes to the whims of the recipient county’s… READ MORE
December 2nd, 2012 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What was your very first professional freelance job? A: My first truly professional freelance job, meaning for an actual company and not a personal commission or a live caricature, I did while still a student in art college, and it nicely opened my eyes to the realities of art direction and working with difficult clients. During my third year of college at the then named “School of Associated Arts” in St. Paul, MN., I was approached by the head of the design department about doing a job for him. It was fairly well known throughout the small school (my graduating class: 40 students) that… READ MORE
November 30th, 2012 | Posted in General
Art by Ed Steckley I’m headed to Boise, ID today to speak at the the inaugural, black tie Wyakin Warrior Guardian Ball, a fundraiser for the Wyakin Warrior Foundation. In Native American mythology, a¬¨‚Ć “Wyakin” is a spiritual guide that advises and protects a person throughout life. The Wyakin Warrior Foundation follows in its namesake’s footsteps, providing a college education, mentoring, job-placement networking and other forms of support both financial and personal to wounded veterans of our armed forces. It was founded by Jeff Bacon, a retired Navy captain, cartoonist and creator of the comic Broadside, and the gentlemen responsible (or perhaps to blame) for… READ MORE
November 29th, 2012 | Posted in On the Drawing Board
The last month of the year is usually a quiet one for the freelance biz. Magazines and publications have often blown their budget for illustration for the year by the end of November. Their “end of the year” issues that come out on the stands in December are often bigger and more costly to produce, and were done back in October or in early November. Thus, around the holidays it is usually a bit slow. Here’s what I have on the board right now- Penthouse Spot Illustration– The last of a series of caricatures of Dave Navarro for a column he is doing in the… READ MORE
