Tom's Mad Blog
June 28th, 2008 | Posted in General
Just a short post today as we are travellng back home after our short but fun trip to NYC. Yesterday we spent in Manhattan, visiting the MAD offices, the Frick Museum, walking about the city and having a nice dinner. Stopping by the MAD offices is almost a must of course. When you work and communicate all the time with people but never see them there is a certain disjointed feeling, so whenever I come to NYC I always pop my head into the office to say hello. The lobby at the MAD Offices Two usual idiots Prints of some of the famous works of… READ MORE
June 27th, 2008 | Posted in General
The Lovely Anna and I are currently in The Big Apple visiting our good friends Ed and Heather Steckley and in general just hanging out and relaxing… at least I will be as soon as I recover from the three all nighters I pulled to finish the “Super Capers” movie job. I spent Wednesday afternoon and night working in Ed’s studio on the final images for the final scene. Deadlines conquered…. AGAIN. Now its time to party! Despite my being a little bleary eyed we managed to spend yesterday afternoon traveling to Long Island to attend the annual NCS “Bunny Bash”, which is always a… READ MORE
June 26th, 2008 | Posted in General
Hard to believe it’s been two years already since the first post on The MAD Blog. Thanks to leap year and a (very) few multiple post days, this is post #791. Just when trying to come up with something new to write about or when writing a post begins to seem like a chore, I get another e-mail from someone telling me how much they love the blog and how much they get out of it, and they thank me for doing it. As I’ve said before, it’s a kind of therapy for me to put down the drawing pen and write for a little… READ MORE
June 25th, 2008 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Still trying to nail this deadline so this week’s sketch will have to be a “blast from the past” from an old sketchbook. This was a quick study of director Steven Spielberg that I eventually redrew and painted up as a theme park sample circa 2002 (see park sample below). I was making fun of his cashing in on the anniversary of E.T. READ MORE
June 24th, 2008 | Posted in General
Every once and awhile a freelancer finds themselves working on a project that is a long way out of their usual type of work. This year that project for me has been working on “Super Capers“, a super-hero comedy by writer/director Ray Griggs. The great thing about working “outside the box” is that it is challenging and fresh. This job has certainly been that. What would a cartoonist have to do with a motion picture production? Good question. That’s exactly what I wondered. Ray had his own ideas, and he wanted some comic book/MAD Magazine cartoon imagery to go along with his live action film.… READ MORE
June 23rd, 2008 | Posted in On the Drawing Board
I’m extremely busy with a tough deadline for Wednesday morning, but hope to keep the “Dreaded Deadline Demon” at bay on The MAD Blog if possible. Here’s a quick piece I wrapped up last week for the client I do the workplace posters for… pencil, ink and final color stages. Click each image for a close up look: Pencil roughs. The client wanted me to tone down the “anger” in the old lady driver, and make her look more annoyed than fuming. The also asked me to make one of the two onlooker ladies heavier. Final inks reflecting those changes. Final color. In the case… READ MORE
June 22nd, 2008 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: The pencil sketches you make before the final drawing are so detailed and clean, where are the lines of the very beginning rough roughs???ᬨ‚Ć I know there’s the non-reproducing blue pencil approach but I suspect it’s something to do with the automated drawing system you use. A: I confess I have no idea what you mean by “automated drawing system”. I hope you do not think I somehow use a computer program to do any actual drawing or manipulation of drawings. That is very far from the case. I draw everything I do traditionally with pencil on paper/bristol, and later erase the lines after… READ MORE
June 21st, 2008 | Posted in Surf's Up Dept.
Our usual sm??⬨?rg??⬨‚Ä¢sbord of cartoon, caricature and MAD related website, links, news articles and announcements! I Like Both Kinds of Music: Country AND Western Dept.- MAD artist Grey Blackwell and MAD scribe David Shayne collaborated with David’s brother Jon on this animated music video where “Merle Hazard” laments losing his girl for someone who is more “environmentally sensitive” and trys going green to lure her back. I’m Smarter than This 5th Grader Dept.– Smithson with the offensive drawing… 10 year old 5th grader Cullen Smithson got into a little hot water recently when his teacher, Karen Boudreau, 44, filed criminal charges against him over a… READ MORE
