Tom's Mad Blog
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¬¨‚Ć 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
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
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
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
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
December 18th, 2009 | Posted in General
Wow. The response has been overwhelming for The Great Art Blowout sale… I am practically sold out and people are clamoring for more. I don’t have a whole lot more of these Marlin poster illustrations (I lost a lot of them over the years) , but I did have about ten that I did not include in the original blowout sale for various reasons. Some was because I felt that too much of the work had been done on the digital end, and the inked image didn’t make a lot of sense. For those I did a little filling in here and there where possible… READ MORE
December 18th, 2009 | Posted in News
I few months back I did a short post singing the praises of Tall Tale Radio, the podcast show that focuses on the cartooning and comics industry. I’m a big fan of the show and an avid listener. Earlier this week I was interviewed by none other than Tom Racine, the host of TTR, and will be “appearing” (so to speak) as a guest on the show! All of which leads to just one obvious conclusion: Tall Tale Radio has hit the skids and is desperate for guests of any kind… why else would they sink this low? Maybe Tom’s just run out of really… READ MORE
December 17th, 2009 | Posted in General
EDIT- WOW, these are going FAST. Don’t wait around if you want to get your favorite. In the process or remodeling my studio I had to clean out my flat files, and while doing so I came to the following conclusion: I have way too much original artwork laying about. To remedy this situation I have weeded through the immense pile of original inked illustration I have done over the last decade or so for The Marlin Company’s employee subscription posters and made fifty (that’s 50!!!) of them available for the low, low price of.. $25.00 each! That’s right! Now you can own an original… READ MORE
