Tom's Mad Blog
September 11th, 2008 | Posted in News
Used with permission Yes. It’s that time again. The Orphan Works bill is still on the table and still being pushed by the deep pockets and lobby efforts of Google, FROM THE ILLUSTRATORS’ PARTNERSHIP: With Congress back in session this week, Orphan Works rumors are back too. According to some sources, deals have been made to pass the bills quickly. According to others, the bills have stalled for this session. Here’s what we know, independent of conflicting sources: SEPT 6: OpenCongress Lists “8 Controversial Bills That Congress Still May Pass” In Congress Gossip, by Donny Shaw, the article notes that the Orphan Works Bills “have… READ MORE
September 10th, 2008 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
This week’s sketch is a study of fashion maven Donatella Versace. I came across the reference photo in a tabloid article called “Plastic Surgery Shockers!” There’s not much more to say… except this could be Madonna on a bad day. READ MORE
September 9th, 2008 | Posted in On the Drawing Board
With that big MAD job wrapped up the only things on the drawing board right now are a workplace poster job and some revisions to the on-line gaming project. I do have a few personal art projects that need some attention, so this will be a good time to get those wrapped up. In the meantime, here’s a project I worked on last spring that is probably not going to be produced now (too late for that) and I think is safe then to share with readers. It was a product illustration job for a company that was going to manufacture these fake food cans… READ MORE
September 8th, 2008 | Posted in Freelancing
Deadlines conquered… again. I had to pull an all-nighter last night to wrap up that MAD job but as they say in the business it’s “in the can!” (okay, that reference is actually from the movie business reffering to when filming is complete and the film reels are in their metal containers, but who cares?). I sometimes get comments from fellow cartoonists and/or illustrators about the amount of work I do, and it’s assumed I must work very fast to squeeze in that kind of volume. In truth I don’t really work that fast, and any reputation I may have for being prolific is much… READ MORE
September 7th, 2008 | Posted in Mailbag
Q:¬¨‚Ć What do your contracts look like? Do you get paid for all the work you put in on a job, or only for a finished project? Once your pencil hits the paper, do you get paid for each step along the way? A: Let’s tackle the middle question first. It’s a bit of a common misconception that an illustrator gets paid for the artwork they create. Technically that is not true. What an illustrator gets paid for, or more accurately what they sell, are the rights to use the artwork they create. A magazine illustrator sells the rights to reproduce their artwork to a… READ MORE
September 6th, 2008 | Posted in General
I originally posted the DDD today but forgot about this “poster” that the folks at MAD released early from an upcoming issue. It’s another in their series of political parody movie posters: This is of course a takeoff on the poster for “Forgetting Sarah Marshall“, a forgettable movie from this year. Last issue they did two posters, one bashing Obama (The 40 year old Polititcal Virgin) and one McCain (No Country for Old Man). MAD has been “leaking” these images on the internet recently. These poster parodies are a smart idea for MAD, serving as a way to combat the challenges of publishing a time… READ MORE
September 6th, 2008 | Posted in General
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September 5th, 2008 | Posted in General
Still really under the gun… I won’t be coming up for air until Monday. I ended up working at Valleyfair on Labor Day and remembered to bring my camera, so here is a sampling of some of the live caricatures I did that day: READ MORE
