Tom's Mad Blog
November 13th, 2007 | Posted in MAD Magazine
On news stands today, November 13th: MAD # 484 (Dec. 2007) Cover (Richard Williams) An Important Message from the Editors (Dick DeBartolo) The Fundalini Pages (John Caldwell, Matthew A. Cohen, Paul Coker, Garth Gerhart, Barry Liebmann, Hermann Meijia, Frank Santopadre, Jack Syracuse, P.C. Vey) A MAD Protest Poster (uncredited) MAD Deconstructs TV Talk Shows: The Colbert Report (Desmond Devlin, Sam Viviano) Juggles: The Juggling Juggler Who Juggles (Mo Willems, Tom Bunk) You’re Not Exactly Full of the True Spirit of Christmas If… (John Caldwell) Are We Winning the War on Terrorism? (Barry Liebmann, Ward Sutton) Blose QuiteDiscomforting Headphones (John Ficarra, Irving Schild) The Don… READ MORE
November 12th, 2007 | Posted in General
As I have said many times I don’t get to watch much TV. “LOST” was one show I have watched each season, although it was really losing me last year, and it has yet to premiere in 2008. The two shows I currently watch are “Heroes“, the darling of last year’s TV season and “Bionic Woman“, new this year. Both shows are in dire need of a rescue of heroic proportions. I’m not the only one who has noticed… I read separate articles this week in TV Guide and in Entertainment Weekly about how the show’s creators are trying to revamp their shows in mid-season.… READ MORE
November 11th, 2007 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Is there a celebrity that no matter how many times you attempt to capture their likeness it just eludes you? I see posts from artists a lot (ones that do incredible work) that seem to have at least one subject that they just can’t seem to capture. Conversely is their a person that you find hard to do an original caricature of because their features have been beaten to death; ex: Jay Leno always is drawn with a big chin etc. A: Some faces are easier to draw than others but there is no face that cannot be caricatured with a good likeness. That… READ MORE
November 10th, 2007 | Posted in General
Here’s another collection of the weird, somewhat interesting and downright horrific from around cyberspace: The Blubberfull World of Disney Dept. According to this article, Disneyland in California will be closing down their “It’s a Small World” ride for some refurbishment. Not because the characters are looking tattered or the endless looping song needs updating… nope, it’s because the boats are bottoming out and getting stuck. Disney won’t come out and say it, but the reason?… riders are too fat. Yes, it has come to this. Disneyland has to do reconstruction on a 41 year old ride because Americans have become so fat they are literally… READ MORE
November 9th, 2007 | Posted in General
I’ve mentioned the National Caricaturist Network‘s annual convention here a few times… it really is a one of a kind event. In 2006 a documentary crew did some filming at the con in Orlando and is in the process of putting together a video program of it. Here is the “trailer” for the film: Sketch Monkeys Trailer I have a few problems with the direction of the documentary, not the least of which is the title. “Sketch Monkeys??”. ..sounds like we are a circus act. They also seem to be focusing a bit much on the negative side of things… and the crude and tasteless… READ MORE
November 8th, 2007 | Posted in On the Drawing Board
All these jobs from last month are seeing print, so here’s another I can now share. This one was an odd job as it started out way back in June, then got shelved, changed subject matter and finally went to final. The client was Contingencies Magazine, a publication for the insurance and financial industry. The original concept back in the early summer was to do a cover showing primary candidates from both parties fighting over health care issues. The client wanted a few concept sketches, so I did the obligatory “race” concept and one where the candidates were doctors surrounding a patient and trying to… READ MORE
November 7th, 2007 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
This week’s sketch is of bizarre film maker David Lynch. His “Blue Velvet” is still one of the weirdest films I’ve ever seen. The other day I caught a portion of his 1984 version of “Dune“. I’d forgotten how visually stunning that movie was… and how terrible the rest was. It does have it’s moments, but overall it was not a good adaption. READ MORE
November 6th, 2007 | Posted in On the Drawing Board
Right now I have several jobs on the board including another MAD job, an ad project, another poster illustration and two other ongoing projects. Last month was incredibly busy and so this month I will be able to begin sharing some of the jobs I did as they start to see print. This one is printed and shipping, and is a good example of how a job can evolve during it’s process. The job was for Scholastic, and originally was a 1/2 page spot illustration to accompany a story about the presidential primary race. It was a different kind of job for me as it… READ MORE
