Tom's Mad Blog
April 20th, 2008 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: What kinds of things do you do to get new work? Online portfolio sites? Sending out postcards? Or have you hit that point where you get most of your work from the work you’ve done before? I’m always interested in how people maintain and grow their client base. A: Honestly I get most of my work through either word of mouth from one art director to another, from an art director seeing one of my pieces in another publication and looking me up or from previous clients calling to do new projects. I do not do any active pursuit of new work other than… READ MORE
April 19th, 2008 | Posted in It's All Geek to Me!
One thing I never really thought much about as far as my computer equipment goes is my keyboard… and what would I? Keyboards are pretty much the same all over, and there’s been little innovation with them since computers became a big part of everyday life. What little innovation they’ve seen has been in the ergonomic department (remember those weird curved keyboards with the keys separated into two sections?) and in adding all sorts of remote function or macro buttons like “one touch” email, play controls for your DVD drive, etc. Despite the fact that keyboards are used everyday and for some all day every… READ MORE
April 18th, 2008 | Posted in News
Christina Beard and Evan Palmer, 2007 NCSF Scholarship winners In 2007 the National Cartoonist Society Foundation, of which I am honored to be a board member and to serve on the scholarship committee as well as chair the investment committee, gave away two scholarship awards to college students studying cartooning/animation. That year the awards were the Herblock and Mendez awards, named after the estates that provided the funds. This being our first year of giving out scholarships, we presented the awards to a single school, the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD), and they were dispersed to two deserving students studying comic art and… READ MORE
April 17th, 2008 | Posted in General
MAD #488 was a fairly significant issue for a number of reasons… the first time they did an all concept issue, The missing Dick DeBartolo credit, etc. One major significant item that slipped a little under the radar was the return of former regular MAD cover artist Roberto Parada, who contributed to the magazine for the first time since he did the cover of MAD #437 in March of 2003. That’s a stretch of 5 years and 51 issues. His issue #488 piece (see below) was part of the “MOMA: The Museum of Monkey Art” catalogue parody. Roberto’s fantastic oil paintings had been gracing the… READ MORE
April 16th, 2008 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Quick warm up study of Greek TV show star Spencer Grammer. I had just read a blurb about this show yesterday and that she is the daughter of Kelsey Grammer, better know to the world of course as “Dr. Henry McCoy” AKA “The Beast” from X-Men: The Last Stand… oh and I guess a couple of TV shows as well. I’ve had a few requests to post the photo I worked from with these sketches as well. I won’t have time to do that very often but here’s the pic I drew this one from: I have no idea at all if my caricature looks… READ MORE
April 15th, 2008 | Posted in Freelancing
Let me tell you how it will be; There’s one for you, nineteen for me. ‘Cause I’m the taxman, Yeah, I’m the taxman. Should five per cent appear too small, Be thankful I don’t take it all. ‘Cause I’m the taxman, Yeah, I’m the taxman. If you drive a car, car – I’ll tax the street. If you try to sit, sit – I’ll tax your seat. If you get too cold, cold – I’ll tax the heat. If you take a walk, walk – I’ll tax your feet. Taxman! -The Beatles April 15th… Nobody in the United States over the age of 18 needs… READ MORE
April 14th, 2008 | Posted in General
I’m finally seeing daylight for the first time in a while… until my phone rings that is. Here’s a cover job I did for Scholastic that is seeing print right about now: Initial pencil rough on layout Final Pencil Finished illustration. Click for closer look Here are a few others on the board right now which I will share fully when appropriate- Political Novelty Product Job– Hopefully the final art for this will be done this week. Lot’s of revisions which can sometimes be typical with a product or ad job. I have no idea when they might be released but I would guess very… READ MORE
April 13th, 2008 | Posted in General
Q: I’m thinking about doing some caricaturing at a local festival. I purchased a 10 x 10 outdoor booth but I’m not sure how to set it up. I do most of my art at home, so working on-location is somewhat of a mystery to me. Can you give any suggestions for my setup? I’m planning on doing pencil and ink (no color) drawings. A: There are several important elements you need to create a good, approachable retail caricature setup. These apply to any kind of retail operation from a multiple artist building at a major theme park to a one artist booth at the… READ MORE
