Tom's Mad Blog
November 13th, 2009 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Here is a look at the two pieces I have in MAD this issue: MAD 20- Gates Vs. Crowley Everybody remembers the big deal that was made out of “Beer Summit” this summer, when Obama invited Harvard professor Henry Gates and Cambridge police Sergent James Crowley to the White House and had a beer with them and Joe Biden on a patio table on the lawn. More was made out of that than the event that led to their invitation: when Crowley and other police officers arrested Gates on charges of disorderly conduct when he was confronted by the officers when he and his driver… READ MORE
November 12th, 2009 | Posted in MAD Magazine
In comic books shops now and on news stands soon: Here’s a close up of the glove… note the familiar jewels!! MAD # 502 (January 2010) Cover (Mark Fredrickson) The Fundalini Pages (Glenn LeLievre, Desmond Devlin, Kevin Pope, Darren Johnson, Scott Nickel, Jeff Kruse, Bob Staake, Mark Fredrickson, Ryan Pagelow, Tom Bunk, Dick DeBartolo, John Caldwell, Farley Katz, ) The MAD 20- The Dumbest People, Events and Things of 2009 The Canonization of Michael Jackson (Mark Stutzman) Corporate Bailouts (Hermann Mejia) Jon and Kate Plus 8 (Jack Syracuse) Henry Gates Arrested in Own Home (Tom Richmond) Dick Cheney Won’t Shut Up (Jeff Kruse) Angry Town… READ MORE
November 11th, 2009 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Click for a closer look… I have to cheat this week and post a sketch for a recent poster job instead of doing one in the sketchbook. The assignment here was to draw a scene showing a lady butting in line at the grocery store but having the man getting pushed back in line only mildly exasperated by it. The intent is to show that getting bent out of shape over something is not the best way to do things… unless you are trying to get attention for a rejected iPhone app, then in works like a charm. READ MORE
November 10th, 2009 | Posted in News
Wow. The power of the internet is an amazing thing. Yesterday I posted a little rant here on The MAD Blog about Apple’s head-scratching rejection of Bobble Rep, an application conceived and developed by film director Ray Griggs for which I was commissioned to draw a caricature of each of all 540 members of the 111th United States congress. As usual I just wrote off the top of my head, grammar errors and somewhat acerbic tone included. 24 hours later my blog was twice crashed by overwhelming traffic coming from links on virtually every major independent Apple blog/website including TUAW, 9to5 Mac and Macworld, from… READ MORE
November 10th, 2009 | Posted in General
Yep, I’m off again on the final leg of what has been an insane year of traveling and speaking at cartoonists events and other functions… five continents in the last 5 months. This time I’m taking The Lovely Anna along to Sydney, Australia where I will be speaking and doing a caricature workshop at the Australian Cartoonists Associations Stanley Awards Weekend. However this time we will be staying for a week to see the sights including some time in the Hunter Valley vineyard area. Look for a report from the Stanleys and a few others from “down under” over the next week, as well as… READ MORE
November 9th, 2009 | Posted in General
EDIT– Apple reconsidered its decision and approved the Bobble Rep app after a media storm of protest was set off by this innocent little rant on my insignificant little blog. Below is the original blog post: Just yesterday I was complaining about how Apple sometimes treats its customers as if they were stupid. I had no idea how right I was. Back in the late summer movie director/entrepreneur Ray Griggs, for whom I did all that art for his movie “Super Capers“, approached me with an idea for an iPhone app. The concept was a database of all the members of the United States Congress… READ MORE
November 8th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I’ve been following your blog for quite some time and on the last few months I can see that you’re trying to use more and more your new “no black lines” style, it looks pretty cool by the way.¬¨‚ĆMy question is related to “style”, how do you feel about the need for an commercial artist to establish a style and stick to it for years and years? Isn’t it something that ends up slowing the artist progress as he ends up stuck in a “comfort zone”? A:¬¨‚ĆThis is a concept that does see a fair amount of debate: whether or not a freelance illustrator… READ MORE
November 7th, 2009 | Posted in It's All Geek to Me!
Whenever I get a new techie toy that I use in conjunction with my work I try and post a review of it from a visual artist’s perspective… in other words how does it affect my work on the computer or in business? You can read my reviews of the Cintiq 12wx,¬¨‚ĆOS X Leopard and the iPhone from previous posts. I wanted to review the new Apple Magic Mouse from such a perspective, but to be honest it’s still just a mouse, and has no real impact positively or negatively on my illustration/graphic work on the computer. It is a cool new toy, though. Thus… READ MORE
