Tom's Mad Blog
December 27th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I have been looking for a platform on the Net to publish my works and, what is more important to me, get a little feedback on what I am doing. I have been considering Flickr, DeviantArt etc., but I am quite confused about the implications of the copyright terms behind them. I also have been thinking about opening an old-fashioned (but always good) blog, whereas building my own website from scratch still sounds premature to me. So I am asking your opinion: what do you think would be a good internet publishing platform for a wishful beginner? A: As far as the copyrights associated… READ MORE
December 26th, 2009 | Posted in General
Nothing says “Christmas” quite as much as traveling to Florida for a few days in the sunshine and visiting the House of Mouse. The Lovely Anna, all four kids and I are off to see some sites, visit with some good friends and otherwise escape what has already been a rough winter in Minnesota (14 inches of snow since Christmas Eve). I leave behind more snow on the way, a broken snowblower and a whole pile of work that will need some serious attention upon our return. As always, the posts will keep on rolling on The MAD Blog. Thanks for visiting. READ MORE
December 25th, 2009 | Posted in General
All the best for the holiday season from The Richmonds! READ MORE
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
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
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
