Tom's Mad Blog
December 19th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Thanks for your blog and especially the tutorials. I refer to your blog weekly for inspiration and tips. While you mention your preferences for inking and drawing surfaces, I was wondering what types of pencil leads, holders, and paper you use for the “sketch of the week”? A: Thanks for the kind words about the blog. I’m very glad you enjoy it. As for the materials I use for the “Sketch o’the Week”- while I do occasionally experiment with things like inks, washes, etc., 95% of the sketches I post for SOTW are done in a basic Strathmore (or similar) sketchbook with a number… READ MORE
December 18th, 2010 | Posted in General
I promise this will be the last reminder that The Great MAD Art Sale will be over in a little more than 48 hours. It’s been pretty successful although there are still plenty of pieces left, including some cheap $75 full parody pages from movie “Behind Enemy Lines” (Gene Hackman, Owen Wilson) and TV shows¬¨‚Ć “The Bernie Mac Show”, “America’s Most Wanted” and “Boston Public”, $100 pages from “Traffic” (Michael Doudlas, Benecio del Toro, Catherine Zeta-Jone, etc), “The Royal Tennenbaums” (Gene Hackman again, Luke Wilson) and TV shows “Dog the Bounty Hunter” and “Scrubs” plus a few $150 pages from HBO’s “Entourage” and the movie… READ MORE
December 17th, 2010 | Posted in General
I received a note from an interested party yesterday concerning The Great MAD Art Sale (which officially ends on Monday, BTW… don’t delay, order now!) asking about original MAD cover artwork. He was looking to buy an original MAD cover, and wanted to know if I had any or if Mark Fredrickson has any originals available for sale? My answers were: No, unfortunately I’ve never done a cover for MAD (well, two for MAD Kids and one for a MAD advertising insert… but they hardly count) and have no originals of cover art and, regarding Mark’s covers, I don’t believe any originals exist because he… READ MORE
December 16th, 2010 | Posted in General
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6w0r-ScEG4[/youtube] This video has really been making the rounds on the Interwebby. Before anyone cries foul over the ‘dark’ nature of the clip, go rent and watch “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”. Not only is it an underrated movie, but the climatic assassination/death scene in it is what this clip parodies. Michael Cavna of the excellent Comics Riffs blog on Washingtonpost.com interviews animator and creator of the short Edmund Earle. READ MORE
December 15th, 2010 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
It’s been a long time since I did a caricature of actor and nutcase Tom Cruise. Just watched the movie “Knight and Day”, which was watchable but a long way from good. I still can’t figure out where the “Day” in the title comes from… Cruise’s characters real surname is “Knight”, but I can’t think of any connection to a “Day”. Cameron Diaz‘s character’s name is June Havens. Ah well, the title makes about as much sense as the plot. READ MORE
December 14th, 2010 | Posted in Freelancing
Penthouse Magazine assigned me a series of illustrations to use as a “header” (pun not intended) for a new monthly feature column by musician/celebrity Dave Navarro. These spot illustrations will accompany Dave’s articles in each issue. The one above is in the latest issue, and I have two more “in the can” as they say in the biz for future issues. READ MORE
December 13th, 2010 | Posted in General
Just another friendly reminder that The Great MAD Art Sale ends one week from today, on Dec. 20th. Some of the artwork will be available after in the “Studio Store” but gone will be the insanely expensive cheap prices and they will be even more ridiculously overpriced than they are now. There are still a number of full parody pages from movies like “Traffic” (my first movie parody in MAD), “Behind Enemy Lines”, “The Royal Tennenbaums” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” , as well as TV shows like “Scrubs”, “Entourage”, “Dog the Bounty Hunter”, “The Bernie Mac Show”, “America’s Most Wanted” and… READ MORE
December 12th, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: How do you choose the colors for your illustrations and parodies?¬¨‚Ć Do you use the colors you see in the DVD’s and photo boards, or do you just make them up?¬¨‚Ć I know the basics of color selection such as the color wheel etc, but do you have any special techniques? A: Occasionally I am asked the same or similar questions for the mailbag, and every once and awhile I will repost the answer to a commonly asked question for the benefit of those who are newer readers, although I often add things to them or expand on the original answer. This is such… READ MORE
