Tom's Mad Blog
June 21st, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: How much of the ability to see caricatures is natural talent, and how much can be learned from a course or a book? If someone has drawing ability, does that mean they can be taught caricaturing? A: I’m a believer in the old adage that art is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. That simply means that “talent” is only a small part of a person’s art… it’s the hard work that makes the largest difference. An artist with a ton of natural talent but little drive or desire to excel will not go as far as the less talented artist with an insatiable hunger… READ MORE
June 20th, 2009 | Posted in News
Legendary cartoonist, fellow member of MAD‘s “Usual Gang of Idiots” and mi amigo Sergio Aragon?¬©s is going to have his first restrospective exhibit of his incredible work later this summer at the Ojai Valley Museum in Ojai, California. Here is the press release from the Ojai Valley Museum: The Ojai Valley Museum located at 130 W. Ojai Avenue in Ojai, California announced today that it will be mounting “Mad About Sergio,” a first ever retrospective exhibit of the work of world famous Mad Magazine cartoonist Sergio Aragon?¬©s, an Ojai resident. The exhibit, scheduled from August 7 – October 4, 2009, will feature original work by… READ MORE
June 19th, 2009 | Posted in General
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZSkzTC6ZfA[/youtube] Next week is going to be “Columbia Week” on The MAD Blog, when I finally chronicle my trip to South America properly. I’ve been too busy trying to get caught up with everything else I’ve neglected while globetrotting to do it yet…. my apologies. Above is another segment of the dreaded 1993 caricature sample demo, this time featuring Martin Lawrence. I remember how I tried to pick subjects for these demos back then that I thought would remain relevant in years to come, but I don’t think Martin is exactly a household name these days… I’m not even sure anyone will get the gag… READ MORE
June 18th, 2009 | Posted in News
Cartoon by Nick Anderson, Used with Permission I heard a story from one of the cartoonists I hung about with in Colombia last week that I think sums up much of what is wrong with the Orphan Works bill. The cartoonist’s name was Francisco “Paco” Pincay, and he was from Ecuador. He was telling me about how much trouble a new law that had been passed in Ecuador was causing. He said in an apparent effort to help clear up a clogged court system in his country, the president and his administration passed a law setting a $600 limit on prosecutable theft. He illustrated how… READ MORE
June 17th, 2009 | Posted in MAD Magazine
I’m incredibly swamped with all the stuff I didn’t do when I was in Colombia, so I have to cop out of the “sketch o’the week” this week. Instead here are a couple of the pencil sketches from the Bo Confidential book I shamelessly plugged yesterday. I’ll leave you to figure out who the caricatures are of. READ MORE
June 16th, 2009 | Posted in MAD Magazine
A lot of people ask me what MAD is planning on doing now that they are only publishing 4 times a year. Hopefully, here’s one answer. New, original content MAD books. Back in the 60’s and 70’s MAD published a lot of paperback books, many of which were the work of individual artist and writers like Don Martin, Sergio Aragon?¬©s, Al Jaffee, etc. These were also mostly original content, not reprints from the magazine. For most of the last two decades, MAD‘s book offerings have been reprinted classic MAD material packaged into themed collections like “MAD About the 60’s” or “MAD about Superheroes”. This book,… READ MORE
June 15th, 2009 | Posted in It's All Geek to Me!
Apple does a lot of things right. They build good computers. They design good software that is easy and intuitive to use. They (mostly) stand by their products and offer very good support, especially if you are willing to pay for their AppleCare extended warranties. AppleCare is expensive, but you get something for your money. Macs are expensive but you get a lot of computer for the money. Apple comes up with innovative products like the iPod and the iPhone. They pride themselves on having their fingers on the pulse of their customers. However, Apple is truly clueless when it comes to the video rentals… READ MORE
June 14th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Concerning drawing live caricatures: What do you do if the subject’s key identifying characteristics may be something they are ashamed/embarrassed about? For example, a person whose eyes don’t point in the same direction, a lady with a long, “horse-like” face, people with extremely crooked teeth, people with an extremely pronounced underbite, people with more chins than they would prefer to have, and the list goes on. On one hand, these “unattractive” features might be needed to clinch the likeness. On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings. A: Good question. A lot of the answer involves that “sixth sense” I talked… READ MORE
