Tom's Mad Blog
October 16th, 2009 | Posted in News
Our group spent a good part of yesterday drawing for and meeting wounded soldiers and medical staff at the Bathesda Naval Hospital and Walter Reed. We are now in Landstuhl, Germany and will spend today visiting Ramstien Air Force Base and the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. Then it’s on to the Middle East. I have no idea what my Internet access will be on this trip. I am guessing spotty at best. I will try to blog when possible but can’t promise anything. Here are some pics from Thursday in DC including the whole group at the Bathesda Naval Hospital. READ MORE
October 15th, 2009 | Posted in General
While I’m on my world cartooning tour there might be a few of these old videos from my 1993 live caricature demo reel posted here. Here’s one of SNL alumni Mike Myers and Dana Carvey from “Wayne’s Word”. READ MORE
October 14th, 2009 | Posted in News
Here is the official press release from the USO on our trip overseas. The exact places we are visiting in Kuwait and Iraq are classified… I’d tell you where they are but then I’d have to kill you. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 14, 2009 Contacts: Oname Thompson, (703) 908-6471 National Cartoonist Society to Draw Smiles on USO Entertainment Tour to Germany and Persian Gulf ARLINGTON, Va. – The USO and the National Cartoonist Society (NCS) will soon deploy ten of today’s most recognized cartoonists and caricaturists on a week-long entertainment tour to visit troops stationed in Germany and the Persian Gulf.¬¨‚Ć The group will visit… READ MORE
October 14th, 2009 | Posted in News
Please forgive this reposting of an old sketch, but in light of events today I thought it appropriate. I am headed out this morning to Washington DC to meet up with a group of cartoonists from the National Cartoonists Society, and then we are off on another USO tour to met and draw for US troops like we did last year at this time. The trip is a little different this year, because after stops to visit wounded soliders in DC and then Landstuhl, Germany, we are off to the Persian Gulf to spend several days doing the same with active servicemen in both Kuwait… READ MORE
October 13th, 2009 | Posted in News
I’m very honored to have been invited to be one of the guest speakers at the 25th annual Australian Cartoonist’s Association Stanley Awards taking place in Sydney November 12-15th. The guy I’m desperately clinging to in the above program cover illustration is another guest speaker, the legendary editorial cartoonist Pat Oliphant. The art on that cover was done by last year’s ACA “Cartoonist of the Year”, David Rowe. I’ll be doing a presentation as well as a workshop on caricature on Saturday the 14th. There will also be a book signing somewhere in the city at some point over the weekend. To say I am… READ MORE
October 12th, 2009 | Posted in Freelancing
Click image for a closer look… The October issue of Penthouse should have the above spot illustration of mine in it somewhere. It’s just a silly little cartoon that is accompanies a short Halloween article about the scariest thing a college student still living at home can experience. This job was one that somewhat approaches the line for me when considering work for a publication like Penthouse. I’ve done a few illustrations for them now and made it plain to the art director on the outset that I would not do any overtly pornographic images. I’m no prude and have zero problems with that type… READ MORE
October 11th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Have you ever had to caricature someone that was so incredibly dull , boring and completely void of any notable characteristics that you are at a loss? I have been stumped¬¨‚Ć a couple times by some friends that literally had “NO” features what so ever!¬¨‚Ć They were just so generic and plain!¬¨‚Ć Have you ever turned customers away because of this? A: This question is geared towards the live caricature angle, but the answer applies to caricature in general. There is no such thing as an “uncaricaturable face”. There are faces that seem to be much easier to caricature than others, but none that… READ MORE
October 10th, 2009 | Posted in General
I recently became hooked on Tall Tale Radio, a podcast show that focuses on the cartooning and comics industry, after my friend Stephen Pastis told me about it. Tall Tale Radio is hosted by Tom Racine, who shows a great deal of knowledge about cartooning and clearly loves the art form. The show’s format is focused on interviews with cartoonists and industry experts, and features some pretty big names from various areas of cartooning like comic strips, web comics, comic books, graphic novels, animation… you name it. As of this writing Tom has 52 shows that “air” on Mondays and run about 25 minutes. Some… READ MORE
