Tom's Mad Blog
May 8th, 2009 | Posted in News
I did the above doodle for Gillian Anderson‘s cause fighting neurofibromatosis some weeks ago, as part of National Doodle Day. National Doodle Day is an annual event where dozens of doodles are auctioned off to raise funds to benefit NF, Inc., an organization dedicated to providing support to individuals and families affected by neurofibromatosis (NF). Neurofibromatosis is a genetic disorder that affects one in every 2,500 births. NF is more common than Cystic Fibrosis, Muscular Dystrophy and Huntington’s Disease combined. Funds raised from the Doodle Day auction will go to support education, advocacy, coalitions, and research for treatments and a cure. The auction is on!… READ MORE
May 7th, 2009 | Posted in Surf's Up Dept.
Happiness is a Warm Carcass Dept. I ran across this on MAD production artist Ryan Flander‘s Facebook page. Like him I think it’s unbelievable: Tauntaun Sleeping Bag My favorite parts are the intestine print on the interior lining and the disemboweling light saber zipper pull…. and the fact that the kid in the picture is smiling pleasantly instead of screaming in terror. Nothing like snuggling your young Jedi up in the simulated stinking carcass of a dead tauntaun at bedtime. Sweet Dreams! In fact it is unbelievable. It’s a April Fools prank. Apparently they do something like this every year on ThinkGeek.com. Brilliant, though. READ MORE
May 6th, 2009 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Okay, so after last week’s dismal failure to get a likeness of Amy Adams I had to take another crack this week. These two quick studies are much more successful. Part of the elusiveness of her face is her chin and jawline. Some angles make them seem very prominent and strong, but in reality she has a bit of a week chin and slight underbite. She has very large eyes and a sharply angled nose. This time I used several different pictures at various angles to compliment the two pics I used as the basis of these sketches. I officially wash my hands of Amy… READ MORE
May 5th, 2009 | Posted in On the Drawing Board
Here’s a 1/2 page spot I did for this month’s issue of Library Journal: Click for a closer look… The story it accompanies is about magazines that are popular with teenage kids. I likely got the job because MAD happens to be one of the magazines they list in the article. They wanted a teenage boy and girl reading these magazines. Here’s the initial pencil sketch: The consensus was they wanted a high impact statement, having the kids reading the magazines but surrounded by high tech toys and other things kids are known for spending their free time with, which they are ignoring in favor… READ MORE
May 4th, 2009 | Posted in General
We interrupt this blog for a brief note today to update anybody who might be interested (that’s you, mom!) about the progress of my recovery from rotator cuff surgery. Friday I met with my surgeon for the “six weeks after surgery” exam. The good news is that I finally got to ditch the sling my left arm has been languishing in for the last month and a half. The bad news is that my left arm no longer resembles the one in the above sketch, but looks more like the arm of a 12 year old girl. It’s amazing how fast 7 years of intense… READ MORE
May 3rd, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: You love to write and illustrate. Have you written any of your own books, if not when will you? A: No, I have never written a book. I am currently working (inbetween everything else) on a “How to Draw Caricatures” book, but every time I think I’ll have a little time to work on it some big job comes along and it’s shoved to the back burner. Currently the big job keeping me from working on the caricature book is, coincidentally, a book… written by someone else, however. This project will take me the entire month of May, but the end result I hope… READ MORE
May 2nd, 2009 | Posted in News
To be more accurate: I remember seeing this exact sign on a wire rotating rack at the Ben Franklin “five and dime” store when I was a really little kid. My dad would buy me Batman, Superman or Captain Marvel comics and I’d take them home, read them over and over, copy all the drawings and then draw my own adventures with kid versions of the characters. Great fun. Today is “Free Comic Book Day“, and I’ll be bringing my own son with me to the local comic shop to see what’s out there that’s cool and interesting. Free Comic Book Day is when participating… READ MORE
May 1st, 2009 | Posted in General
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote 56 short stories and 4 novels starring his famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes and his “Boswell” Dr. John Watson. They are collectively known as the “canon” to Sherlockians. These are his “official” adventures, treated as if they were his biography were he an actual person from history. Holmes’ adventures in fiction hardly stop there. It is said there have been more books written about Holmes and related characters than any other character in literary history. I have not been able to find even an estimate as to the number of non-canon works, but it certainly numbers near or over a… READ MORE
