Tom's Mad Blog
November 20th, 2011 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What advice would you give on preparing and showing a portfolio for obtaining freelance work? A: This question isn’t really from anybody specifically, but last week when visiting the Savannah College of Art and Design I did a round-table portfolio review for a group of students, and I thought some of the questions and information disseminated there would make for a good Sunday Mailbag post. First off, let me say that the era of hauling around and showing a physical portfolio to art directors in pursuit of work is all but over. The term “portfolio” used to mean the leather case containing the bound… READ MORE
November 18th, 2011 | Posted in News
Art by John Martz The deadline approaches… STOP PROCRASTINATING! If you are an art student/college student interesting in cartooning, send in your submissions for the Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship today! : Jay Kennedy Scholarship The annual Jay Kennedy Scholarship, in memory of the late King Features editor, was funded by an initial $100,000 grant from the Hearst Foundation/King Features Syndicate and additional generous donations from Jerry Scott, Jim Borgman, Patrick McDonnell and many other prominent cartoonists. Submissions are adjudicated by a panel of top cartoonists and an award is given to the best college cartoonist. The recipient is feted at the annual NCS Reuben Awards… READ MORE
November 17th, 2011 | Posted in General
Photo by Jamie Smith I had a chance to meet a number of very talented and hospitable professors, underclassmen and grad students during my visit to the Savannah College of Art and Design last week. One of them got saddled with me as my “handler” (poor schmuck) and really did a great job making sure I had everything I needed for my student portfolio review session and the workshop I did at the SCAD museum. His name was Jamie Smith, and he has written a really terrific recap of the time he spent keeping me out of trouble in Savannah over on his blog… he… READ MORE
November 17th, 2011 | Posted in Freelancing
Clicky to Embiggen This two page spread appears in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated Kids magazine. The idea was to show a bunch of NBA players opening up their own stores and shops in a mall since they have nothing else to do during the lockout! The weird rectangle sof lighter color/values are where the text was to be placed by the SI folks. READ MORE
November 16th, 2011 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
I have to cheat on the SotW and post a rough sketch of a recent illustration project because I am under the gun being behind in the studio thanks to the Savannah trip last week and my trip to the ISCA convention in Florida tomorrow through most of the weekend. The above needs some modification, including the addition of some objects or interest in the lower right corner as the composition is imbalanced right now… probably will lose the bear from the gift bag, and instead add a large bear with a bow and a heart-shaped box of candy on the floor next to the… READ MORE
November 15th, 2011 | Posted in General
Team Cul de Sac is the brainchild of Chris Sparks, who has worked tirelessly to organize this fundraising program for Parkinson’s research. It’s a part of TeamFox, the Michael J Fox Foundation’s fundraising arm, which in the last year alone raised almost 4 million dollars for research. The fundraiser revolves around the brilliant comic strip Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson, an incredibly talented cartoonist who happens to have Parkinson’s. Team Cul de Sac invitied professional cartoonists, illustrators, artists and animators to donate original art made especially for a book, published by Andrews & McMeel, about Parkinson’s awareness. Part of the profits from the sales… READ MORE
November 14th, 2011 | Posted in MAD Magazine
From left: Nick Meglin, myself, Paul Coker, Sergio Aragon?¬©s, Al Jaffee, Jack Davis and Sam Viviano. Clicky to Embiggen. This past weekend I had the distinct privilege to participate in a gathering of some of the “Usual Gang of Idiots” (i.e. major contributors to MAD Magazine) hosted by the Southeast Chapter of the National Cartoonists Society and the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah Georgia. In attendance were long-time editor Nick Meglin, cartooning legends and members of the exclusive 50 year MAD contributor club, Paul Coker Jr., Jack Davis and Al Jaffee, soon to be member of that same club (next year) Sergio… READ MORE
November 13th, 2011 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: You must have accumulated a ton of digital artwork since you’ve been working as a professional illustrator. How do you go about saving, backing up and archiving your files so that you never lose them? A: That’s one of the things that sucks about digital artwork…you are one electrical surge away from losing it all unless you are careful to back things up. I tried several methods to make sure I properly backed up all my work. First, I would pick up my computer, open the drive bay door and attempt to shake out all the 0’s and 1’s that made up the binary… READ MORE
