Tom's Mad Blog
April 19th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q:¬¨‚Ć I recently saw a display for some caricaturists at the Sydney Easter Show that showed the caricature of you done by Mort Drucker. They were using it as a sample of work. I know your work itself is also always being used to promote others (placed on their displays meant to make potential customers think they did it themselves).¬¨‚Ć I would love to hear your thoughts on this. A: Here’s a picture from the Sydney Easter Show he is referring to: Photo courtesy of Aussie cartoonist Lee Sheppard That’s a caricature of me by Mort Drucker on the left. I also see (from left… READ MORE
April 18th, 2009 | Posted in General
After a great week in London, The Lovely Anna and I are going home today. Back to reality… and a couple of jobs needing urgent attention. London was great fun. There are so many famous places and things to see that one week was no where near long enough. We could easily have filled another week and still only seen the major things. Still, we did pretty well and feel like we got a good feel for the city. I accomplished most of my goals, except I got tired of fish n’ chips after the third day so “eating fish n’ chips everyday” was probably… READ MORE
April 17th, 2009 | Posted in General
I was clearing out the old tear sheet files and came across this old job from 1992 that represents some interesting points about the dos and don’ts of freelance illustration. This was the first job I remember getting directly from my sourcebook ad in the “Directory of Illustration”. I almost turning it down because I was not sure ethically if I should do it, considering the circumstances. The client was a company called “Business and Legal Reports”, and as the name suggests they usually designed and printed business and legal reports. They had started what would be a series of comic book-like educational booklets meant… READ MORE
April 16th, 2009 | Posted in General
Mitre Square, site of the Catherine Eddows murder Yesterday The Lovely Anna played along and accompanied me on a “Jack the Ripper” walk through the Whitechapel area of London. Being somewhat of a “Ripperologist” I was looking forward to seeing the actual sites of the murders and walking the same streets where once walked the Ripper, his victims and those who sought to stop him. We were also accompanied by caricaturist Steve Hearn and his wife Wendy. Steve in fact had spent the day driving us to and touring with us Windsor Castle. Wonderful people. The tour was very entertaining and I highly recommend a… READ MORE
April 15th, 2009 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
In honor of our visit this week to London, here is England’s future king, Charles, Prince of Wales. We will be visiting Windsor castle today with friend and fellow caricaturist Steve Hearn. I’ll say hi to Chuck if I see him. READ MORE
April 14th, 2009 | Posted in General
In Holmes’ sitting room London has no shortage of sights to see, and we have barely scratched the surface after only two full days. We’ve been to several famous sections of the city including Covent Gardens, Leicester Square, Picadilly Circus, Sloane Square, Regent’s Park, etc. Today we’ll be getting to some of the really big things like the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, London Bridge and others. The Lovely Anna and I always assemble a list of things we want to see on any trip we take. it consists of “Tom and Anna things”, “Anna things” and “Tom things”. It’s history that interests me most… READ MORE
April 13th, 2009 | Posted in News
I was once again privileged to be a part of the selection of the annual Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship recipient this year. The National Cartoonist Society Foundation just announced the 2009 winner: _______________________________________________ 2009 Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship Winner The National Cartoonists Society Foundation (NCSF) is happy to announce the winner of the 2009 Jay Kennedy Memorial Scholarship. Chris Houghton (pictured), 20, is a junior at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan where he studies illustration. Houghton was chosen from among 120 applicants for the award, which includes a $5,000 scholarship and a trip to the National Cartoonists Society’s Reuben Award weekend in… READ MORE
April 12th, 2009 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Considering your recent surgery: If your ‘normal’ level of output of artwork (for want of a better expression) is affected for some reason such as illness, injury etc, do you find it hard to regain the motivation you had before? I try to draw every day but find that if I go for a period where I have no significant commissions or projects, or when I recently suffered from flu, and I found it really quite difficult to motivate myself again. When I did grasp the pencils again I didn’t think the quality of my work was as good. Do you have any tips… READ MORE
