Richmond Illustration Inc.

Tom's Mad Blog

Merry Christmas!

December 25th, 2009 | Posted in General

All the best for the holiday season from The Richmonds! READ MORE

2009 Christmas Card

December 24th, 2009 | Posted in General

The Lovely Anna somehow talked me in to doing some artwork for our 2009 Christmas card… results above. READ MORE

The Great Art Blowout Wrap-up!

December 23rd, 2009 | Posted in General

The Great Art Blowout Sale was an overwhelming success. I listed 61 total pieces of original artwork all done for a particular client for the low, low price of $25.00 each, and sold all but 6 of them. The other people standing in line at the post office were not too happy with me when I lugged over 30 packages up to the counter the other day… 16 of which went to destinations outside the U.S. I heard a few “Bah, Humbugs!… and some other more colorful vernacular. Ah… the %$#@* Holiday Spirit! All orders have been packaged and mailed, the final three going out… READ MORE

Sketch o’the Week

December 23rd, 2009 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

I’m busy drawing a lot of political caricatures right now for a series of character designs that will be modeled into 3D animations for a¬¨‚Ä† documentary film, so I have been doing a lot of studies of past and present politicians in the sketchbook. These studies are helpful in trying to “figure out” the faces, so I can transfer the observations I am making to the animated character designs. Here’s one of those studies, this one of former president Bill Clinton. READ MORE

A Less Successful 3D Project

December 22nd, 2009 | Posted in Freelancing

I had a few people ask me about what I termed the “Donovan McNabb Disaster” when I blogged about the release of the Obama bobblehead I designed for a documentary film promo. What I was referring too was a project I did many years ago similar to the recent Obama bobblehead, but that did not turn out so well. The client was a private entrepreneur who was trying to develop a business making sports team giveaway items… you know the sort of stuff that pro teams give away to the first 10,00 people through the gates at a given game. These folks were from Philadelphia,… READ MORE

Obobblehead

December 21st, 2009 | Posted in Freelancing

I think I might be getting typecast with this bobblehead thing. First there was the iPhone App with the virtual caricature bobbleheads I did of all the members of the U.S. Congress. Now I’m starting to do actual bobblehead dolls. Here is another of those weird little jobs that come along for a freelance illustrator that are pretty cool when they actually are followed through with. I’ve designed some 3D caricatures for merchandise before, but other than a prototype Donovan McNabb/ Philadelphia Eagles mug that didn’t end up much resembling the artwork I did this is the first one that actually got manufactured. The same… READ MORE

Sunday Mailbag

December 20th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag

Q: Is there any way you could explain the way you apply line weight (when inking) and why you would do it in a particular place? A: You can find out a little bit about line weights and variations in my tutorial on inking part one and part two, but I don’t touch on it too deeply. I do say the following: You add weight to a line to make something seem heavier or more substantial, or to place it solidly in front of another object, or to emphasize a light source. . . . which really is 90% of the concept of line weight.… READ MORE

Sergio Gives Shirt off his… Pen

December 19th, 2009 | Posted in News

According to Diamond Distribution and Hypergeek.com, everybody’s favorite speedy/brilliant cartoonist Sergio Aragon?¬©s has created the artwork for the first “Free Comic Book Day” commemorative T-Shirt. The shirts will go on sales in comic books shops in April, 2010, with proceeds going assist the FCBD promotion and $1 from each sale going to Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Here’s the press release: (BALTIMORE, MD) … (December 18, 2009) … Legendary artist and creator Sergio Aragon?¬©s has lent his considerable artistic talents to create the first-ever Free Comic Book Day Commemorative Artist T-shirt. “We wanted to create a unique annual event T-shirt and who better to start… READ MORE