Tom's Mad Blog
October 8th, 2021 | Posted in General
It’s Day Two of my simultaneous NYCC live and virtual Artist’s Alley booth! Yesterday was so crazy at New York Comic Con I barely remembered to snap any pictures of all the commissions I did. Mock MAD Covers are the most popular item this year, but I did a few other things like this black and white piece done in someone’s sketch book. Bruch pen and Copic markers. I’m not often asked to draw Bing Crosby or Bob Hope. My virtual version of my booth is open here on the website through Sunday at 5pm EDT. There you can order any of the types of… READ MORE
October 7th, 2021 | Posted in General
I’m at New York Comic Con through Sunday, and my “virtual” Artist’s Alley table will be open at the same time. Visit my virtual table here and order any of the commissions I only do at comic cons from the comfort of your couch… pants optional! READ MORE
October 6th, 2021 | Posted in General
Another sketch found in an old sketchbook. My daughter The Effervescent Gabrielle loved this commercial back in the day. I’m on my way to New York today where I get to see her at New York Comic Con, where she’ll be DJing to warm up the crowds at several major panels and on the main stage! READ MORE
October 5th, 2021 | Posted in News
Some news on the workshop front! Due to the continued unknowns of the pandemic, and because I was trying to concentrate my efforts on putting together my online video workshop, I have not scheduled any in-person workshops since 2020 (although I did a few makeup ones in 2021). Frankly after the nightmare that was 2020 and all the cancellations, postponements and re-postponements I was not planning on doing any or very few live workshops anymore, and that is still more or less the plan. However friend and fellow caricaturist Thomas Counts has been after me to do a workshop in his newly built private art… READ MORE
October 4th, 2021 | Posted in General
As if Monday’s weren’t bad enough, it’s time for another stop on the chronological crawl through my work for MAD Magazine! Today’s look back is another of those “Backstage” features, this time skewering the animated TV show “Family Guy”. “MAD‘s Exclusive Backstage Tour of the Family Guy” was written by David Richards and first appeared in MAD #458, Oct 2005. This was a very interesting job for a “behind the scenes” reason. Writer “David Richards” is a pseudonym for another writer who had a connection to the actual show, which is why he used a pseudonym. I’m not going to “out” him here because it’s… READ MORE
October 3rd, 2021 | Posted in General
Q: Now that you are an established comic artists with a good rep, how useful are societies and guilds and the like? Is it just for fun and networking or do they have your back when times get tough? I was shocked to hear that comic book artists don’t have a union. Should they have one? A: There is no real “union” for comics artists, but there are a number of different professional industry organizations, trade unions, guilds, and societies, that pertain to comic book artists/cartoonists. They range from professional networks to social clubs to organized representation. Visual arts being such a varied field with… READ MORE
September 30th, 2021 | Posted in News
One week from today, it’s the return of in-person comic cons with New York Comic Con, which runs from Oct 7th-10th! The Lovely Anna and I will be manning a booth in Artist’s Alley for the first time since Feb 2020, when we appeared at C2E2 in Chicago and COVID-19 was just beginning to rear its ugly head. We are looking forward to doing a live show again! If you can’t make it to NYCC, never fear. This year I’ll also be conducting a simultaneous “Virtual Artist’s Alley” booth here on my website. Starting at 10 am on October 7th and ending at 5 pm… READ MORE
September 29th, 2021 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Still under the gun with deadlines this week, so no time for a new sketch today. Instead, here’s a look at an inked version of a sketch of Jackie Gleeson from a month or so ago. Someone commissioned it after missing out on the sketch. I’ve been doing a lot of inking this week, so I working it up in between waiting for wet pages to dry. This is mostly crow quill pen and ink, with some #2 brushwork as well. READ MORE
