Tom's Mad Blog
May 6th, 2010 | Posted in General
Click for a closer look… I wasn’t going to post about this job until I finished up a second similar commission for a friend and colleague who has been patiently waiting for me to do his painting for so long it is just plain embarrassing, but considering a number of people have e-mailed and Facebooked me about it since Al twittered (tweeted?) a picture of the art I might as well tell the story. That other long LONG overdue original is almost done anyway. I was contacted by the brilliant greeting card/illustrator/author/cartoonist Sandra Boynton a couple of months back about doing a private commission for… READ MORE
May 5th, 2010 | Posted in General
Sorry Folks, but Wednesday’s “Sketch o’the Week” is going to have to turn into Thursday’s “Sketch o’the Week” this week. No time today as I have burned all my midnight oil and then some, and am still going on a late job. READ MORE
May 4th, 2010 | Posted in General
Today is my birthday… 44 years old. Yikes. Time does fly by. I don’t feel a day over 48. So what am I going to do on my birthday? Why, work of course! Sadly I got behind on a MAD job that is desperately needing to be done so I will be working on it all day. However, tonight The Lovely Anna and all four of my kids will be taking me to the ballgame at the shiny new Target Field where we will (hopefully) watch our Minnesota Twins beat the snot out of the Detroit Tigers. I will also be ignoring my diet for… READ MORE
May 3rd, 2010 | Posted in News
Last year I was one of several judges in the first annual Toon-ED “Toon Awards”, a cartooning compeition for college age students organized by cartoonist Ken Alvine and the Toon-ED Awards Committee. This year’s competition is getting started and the details are at www.toon-ed.com. Toon-Ed is dedicated to educating the student of cartooning and provides a chance to showcase students cartoon art that are enrolled in post-secondary schools, colleges, art schools, and universities. The competition and resulting show of all entries and art from professional cartoonists is a wonderful event. If you or someone you know qualifies for inclusion in the competition, check out the… READ MORE
May 2nd, 2010 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Is there a trick to caricaturing beautiful women? I find it incredibly difficult, as I know many do. But I’ve found it hasn’t gotten any easier as my overall drawing skills have improved, which is frustrating. A: The following answer was a not-so-long-ago post here on The MAD Blog… But this is something many caricaturists struggle with and deserves another look: One of the most common problems I hear about from other caricaturists is that women are harder to draw than men. Many struggle to make their caricatures of women look feminine, and often feel their female subjects look like “drag queens”. I think… READ MORE
May 1st, 2010 | Posted in News
Click for a closer look… For the last several years I’ve had the honor of doing an illustration for the National Cartoonists Society’s annual Reuben Award weekend that they use to adorn the official T-shirt, programs, etc. I usually draw caricatures of the guest speakers and recipients of NCS honors like the Milton Caniff or the Silver T-Square awards amid some scene that has something to do with the location of the event. This year there were a LOT of guest speakers and award recipients, and the Reubens are being held in Jersey City, New Jersey at a hotel on the Hudson overlooking the Manhattan… READ MORE
April 30th, 2010 | Posted in General
Images courtesy Jeff Mandell Last Saturday I traveled to the lovely town of Storm Lake, Iowa and drew caricatures at a rare gig with Florida based caricaturist and illustrator Jeff “Talltoon” Mandell. Jeff is enormously talented and a true visionary in the field of caricature and marketing… he had the foresight back in the infancy of the internet to register the URL www.caricature.com, and has been a pioneer in the world of live digital caricatures as well as the traditional method (i.e. drawing on dead trees) which is what we practiced at Buena Vista University. Jeff draws at corporate events, trade shows, colleges and functions… READ MORE
April 29th, 2010 | Posted in News
Yes indeed. This Saturday is the greatly anticipated annual Free Comic Book Day. The first Saturday in May your local comic book shop (most, anyway) give away free comics as part of this great promotion. The idea is to get people into the store to see that comics are still a great source of storytelling entertainment, and hopefully pick up a few new readers along the way. This year’s slate of free comics looks terrific, including familiar faces and some new and unique title ideas. I see the reboot of The Green Hornet from Kevin Smith is one of the lot… I wonder if this… READ MORE
