Richmond Illustration Inc.

Tom's Mad Blog

Sketch O’The Week

September 26th, 2007 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

“The Bourne Ultimatum” actor Matt Damon… I wanted to have some fun with the body and hands with this one. READ MORE

Here Comes Fall TV

September 25th, 2007 | Posted in General

When I was a kid the start of the fall TV season was a big deal. We marked the calendar and gathered around the living room to watch our returning favorite shows and new shows that looked interesting. I remember seeing the season premiers of “The Incredible Hulk”, “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “The Wonderful World of Disney”, and my parents never missed “Dallas”, “M*A*S*H*” or “Dynasty”. Personally I was more excited over the start of the fall lineup of Saturday morning cartoons and shows… “Shazam/Isis Power Hour”, anyone? Like most things in the 21st century, it’s all different now. TiVo and the DVR especially… READ MORE

The Dreaded Deadline Demon

September 24th, 2007 | Posted in General

Very busy trying to get caught up before taking a little trip to celebrate our 19th wedding anniversary (which was yesterday) this weekend to the Sonoma wine country… READ MORE

Sunday Mailbag

September 23rd, 2007 | Posted in Mailbag

Uh oh! Looks like the mailbag is empty! only the second time in well over a year… When I get some fresh questions concerning cartooning, illustration, freelancing, MAD Magazine or other similar subjects I’ll be happy to answer them as best I can. E-mail me your questions and I’ll try and answer them here! READ MORE

Work Out Update

September 22nd, 2007 | Posted in General

It’s been a while since I posted about my workout routines. Briefly, about 5 years ago I got motivated by some shocking pictures of a fat, middle aged guy with my face and got back into the gym for the first time in many years. I’ve been working out ever since with a personal trainer, currently Ryan Branson who operates out of a studio gym in Burnsville, MN. I do a constantly changing periodization program that switches from endurance to hypertrophy (mass building) to strength and power. This summer I spent mostly in a high endurance/cardio program designed to give me a break from building… READ MORE

Jake Byrd Strikes Again

September 21st, 2007 | Posted in MAD Magazine

I nearly fell out of my chair watching this: The video above contains highlights (term used loosely) from a press conference by O.J. Simpson‘s lawyer the other day. Watch the guy on the right in the ballcap… see the oily lawyer squirm. You have to love it when some clown like this lawyer is trying to act like a big shot and puff up in front of the cameras, only to have someone demonstrate how utterly ridiculous and unimportant the whole circus is. The “high five” comment had me practically in tears from laughing. The bit with the cell phone also was a hoot. Anyone… READ MORE

On the Drawing Board

September 20th, 2007 | Posted in On the Drawing Board

It absolutely never fails that if I take any kind of vacation whatsoever I will get at least two jobs the day I leave or find them waiting for me when I get back home. As it happens I have several things from last week to finish up today, plus these two new jobs and one very old job: MAD- Quick little two pager, no caricatures or likenesses which is odd for me. I like these different projects, though… nice break from all that caricaturing. As always, I can’t share more details but will post sneak peeks upon publication. Magazine Cover Job- I don’t get… READ MORE

Sketch O’The Week

September 19th, 2007 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

A few weeks ago I had a little after the season party at my place for all my Minnesota artists. A few of them found a couple of old sketchbooks in my studio and paged through them. This was one of the sketches in one of those books… probably around 10 years old or so. It was a study I did of MAD caricature legend Mort Drucker that I later did as an airbrush painting as a thank you to him for sponsoring me for membership in the NCS, among other things. I still like the sketch because it captured his posture and body type… READ MORE