Tom's Mad Blog
April 30th, 2009 | Posted in On the Drawing Board
I’m still staying remarkably busy considering the dire state of the economy. Here’s what I have on the board right now: MAD job– This one is still in the final pencil stage, as it sadly isn’t due for 6 weeks. Other stuff keeps cropping up preventing me from finishing it. Stay Tooned! Cover- This for John Read‘s fantastic magazine. I will have this done today. Book Job– Impossible deadline on a massive project I can’t talk about yet… so what else is new? I’m afraid you can expect to see the Dreaded Deadline Demon a few times in the next several weeks. Comic book– This… READ MORE
April 29th, 2009 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Here’s another quick study attempt at actress Amy Adams. I did one a few months ago I was not too happy with. This one is certainly less of an exaggeration and still not quite on target. This was from a small picture where she is in her role of Amelia Earhart from the “Night in the Museum” sequel. Update- Here’s a scan of the reference I used. My observations keyed in on her big, round eyes and small, thin mouth. Image from Entertainment Weekly used under Fair Use. READ MORE
April 28th, 2009 | Posted in Surf's Up Dept.
Embedded video from <a href=”http://www.cnn.com/video” mce_href=”http://www.cnn.com/video”>CNN Video</a> “Alliance, Assemble?” Ummmm. no. You know that silly super-deep voice Christian Bale used in the Batman movies suddenly doesn’t seem so ridiculous. READ MORE
April 28th, 2009 | Posted in News
This past weekend I drove down to picturesque Lake Okoboji, IA to attend the 2009 Toon Awards Exhibition, held at the Pearson Lakes Art Center right in Okoboji (in the town, not in the lake). It was organized by Toon-Ed, a cartoon education group led by Sioux Falls cartoonist Ken Alvine. Veteran magazine gag cartoonist and Iowa resident Dave Carpenter and Ken did a fantastic job with the show, program and all the arrangements. The folks at Pearson also did a great job, especially Lissa and Danielle. It’s not easy setting something like this up. Toon-Ed is dedicated to educating the student of cartooning and… READ MORE
April 28th, 2009 | Posted in Freelancing
Click for a closer look… The poker game website I did the artwork for just had a press release about new unique features like private tables, on-demand tournaments and other cool stuff. Here is the full release: NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 27, 2009 Contact: Alan Curtis Info@5pmpoker.com New Poker Web Application Features Free Private Tables HERMOSA BEACH & HONOLULU – The new online poker site 5PMPoker.com officially launched today, setting itself apart from competitive sites with features such as free Host-Your-Own Tables. This feature allows online poker players to invite friends (and foes) to private invite-only games whenever they desire. The web application… READ MORE
April 27th, 2009 | Posted in General
Clockwise from bottom left: Jeff Keane, Mike Luckovich, Michael Ramirez, Dan Piraro, Stephen Pastis, Dave Coverly, Steve Moore, Eric Goldberg, Drew Struzan and Cathy Guisewite. Click image for a closer look... For the last 6 years I have been honored to do an illustration for the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Awards Weekend that they use on the official T-Shirt and sometimes on the tote bags, programs, in the Reuben Journal, etc. Usually it has involved the guest speakers and some scene related to that year’s event location. This year the Reubens will be in Los Angeles, AKA “Hollywood”, so I went with a movie set… READ MORE
April 26th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: While in Syracuse, we listened to a pretty cool artist who complained of unfair standards in the publishing industry. She¬¨‚Ć ranted about doing something for Playboy then finding out that Proctor and Gamble discovered it and banned her from their list of preferred illustrators. Do you fear backlash after doing something for Penthouse? A: That thought did cross my mind. I do work for some kid orientated publications and having work in an “adult” magazine might be viewed by some as unacceptable to then be allowed bylines in their publications. That’s partly why I used a pseudonym on the last job I did for… READ MORE
April 25th, 2009 | Posted in General
One of the best things about running theme park caricature operations is getting to work with a lot of young, talented artists. Theme park artists often get a bad rap because there are a fair number of them that employ “cookie cutter” type techniques where everyone looks the same and the art quality isn’t very good. However there are just as many who do an outstanding job and who are very good, and in some cases incredible, artists. I’ve worked with artists who have gone on to success in comics, animation, fine art, illustration, design, publishing, etc. It’s always cool to see one of my… READ MORE
