Tom's Mad Blog
May 23rd, 2011 | Posted in News
This weekend is the 65th Annual National Cartoonists Society Reuben Weekend, being held this year in Boston, MA. I am off to the event early on Wednesday to help with some preliminary preparations and some NCS Board stuff, as I have been serving as one of the vice presidents for two years. I am sure it will be a great time as usual. It’s always fun to get together with some of the world’s most talented cartoonists, get to know everybody better, talk a little shop, stammer a bit when running into some cartooning legend I have admired for years, compliment people on the work… READ MORE
May 22nd, 2011 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: In the illustrations requiring text, such as background signs, posters and the like, do you illustrate them free-hand or use the computer? A: That depends on what feel or context I am looking for. In cartooning, no matter how “hand drawn” a particular computer font might look, it still lacks the warmth and truly hand-drawn charm of lettering done by the artist. If I want that sort of feel, I will do the lettering by hand. For example, I do basically all the “sound effects” lettering in my MAD jobs by hand: A panel from MAD #492’s Ironic Man parody with hand lettering More… READ MORE
May 21st, 2011 | Posted in MAD Magazine
BATMAN BLACK & WHITE: BATMAN BY SERGIO ARAGONES Statue This is destined for a place of honor in the studio! I’ll have to get Sergio to sign it for me… READ MORE
May 20th, 2011 | Posted in General
After my post on Wednesday about how the accurate drawing of features does not necessarily create the only path to a caricature’s “recognizability”, I received an interesting email from my friend and superstar cartoonist Rick Kirkman, artist of the widely syndicated comic strip Baby Blues. Rick mentioned how he sometimes does a type of caricature with his strip and its animated TV version, where he has to “Baby Blues-ize” famous people…and I’ve seen him do it for soldiers on the USO trips we’ve taken. He also mentioned how this is frequently done on The Simpsons, Futurama and other animated shows. Another friend, Pearls Before Swine… READ MORE
May 18th, 2011 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
I did this sketch of rock guitarist Slash to demonstrate my side of a little disagreement I was having with a fellow caricaturist. We were discussing what makes a successful caricature. While we both agreed that being able to instantly recognize who the subject was constituted the most important aspect of a successful caricature, he insisted this hinged on “likeness” of the features, and I said that was not necessarily true. This caricature of Slash has no features, but it is unmistakeable. A viewer recognizes a person or personality on more levels that just their face. Body posture, signature clothing or “look”, accessories, setting…these all… READ MORE
May 17th, 2011 | Posted in General
to even post the Dreaded Deadline Demon, then you are really, REALLY busy. READ MORE
May 15th, 2011 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I have a question about Caricatures, especially doing live caricature work.¬¨‚Ć I have watched videos on YouTube and have seen different artists using different tools.¬¨‚Ć I don’t know if this subject has came up before or not, but I was wondering if you could tell me anything about what kind of markers, brushes, etc. are used in live caricature work? A: Yes, this question does come up often…so I post the answer every year or so for the benefit of new readers. There is no “standard” drawing and coloring tools used by live caricaturists. Many use markers for the linework, for which the Dixon… READ MORE
May 13th, 2011 | Posted in MAD Magazine
It’s official, you can buy anything on Craigslist. One of the resin statues of MAD‘s Alfred E. Neuman that were made in conjunction with the film Up the Academy is for sale on Craigslist for a paltry $17,000…which is just a little more that half of what Bill Gaines paid to get MAD’s name removed from the film when it was released on video. There are at least three of these statues in existance, the one being sold by this gentleman, one owned by Jim Halperin, and the one pictured above which is in the offices of MAD in NYC. Pictured above with Alfred is… READ MORE
