Richmond Illustration Inc.

Tom's Mad Blog

Sketch O’The Week

August 22nd, 2007 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

After my post about this guy on Saturday, I couldn’t resist. “Tay Zonday” of “Chocolate Rain” YouTube iFame. READ MORE

I stopped doing gigs many years ago. I always hated hauling all my stuff out to some company picnic or holiday party and trying to draw with people jostling my elbows, drunks sloshing around, loud music from some obnoxious DJ in my ear and typically bad lighting. After a while I just decided it wasn’t for me. I refer all party inquiries to my best artists from the parks. That’s not to say I don’t occasionally venture out with my portable drawing table and do caricatures… it just needs to be for a good reason. Every summer I make at least two visits to Eden… READ MORE

Joe Bluhm’s “Rejects”

August 20th, 2007 | Posted in General

Live caricature is an artform unto itself, combining fast art skill and technique, split second caricature observation, quick wit and a certain amount of showmanship. It’s not an easy thing to do well, and those who do it well are worthy of praise and admiration. One guy worth a lot of praise and admiration is Joe Bluhm, one of the best live caricaturists I have ever met… and that’s saying something as I have met approaching a thousand of them in my 22 years “in the business’. I blame Joe for much of my recent displeasure in my own live work, which I have been… READ MORE

Sunday Mailbag

August 19th, 2007 | Posted in Freelancing

Q: I am currently developing a couple of different portfolios to shop around to different companies. Each portfolio I am working on basically “caters” to that specific company I am going to send it to. I have done some freelance work in the past, as a matter of fact, as I speak, I am developing and illustrating characters for a board game expansion due out in September, but, as I develop my portfolio and ready myself to send it out to the different companies I am targeting, what advice can you give me to make a better impression on the companies I am sending them… READ MORE

iCult of Celebrity

August 18th, 2007 | Posted in General

The internet is a bizarre place where ordinary people become “iCelebrities” for seemingly no concrete reason other than they are on the internet and strike some unknown chord with other internet dwellers. YouTube in particular has spawned a number of iCelebrities thanks to quirky and just plain weird uploaded videos. The traditional media is starting to take notice, and as a result iCelebrities are sometimes breaking into the mainstream pop culture. Here’s a recent example: The other day in my local newspaper was a story (front page, no less) about a University of Minnesota grad student who has made a YouTube music video of his… READ MORE

A MAD Sneak Peek: #481

August 17th, 2007 | Posted in MAD Magazine

I did the “Celebrity Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards” job (written BTW by cartoonist and former Cracked artist Michael Arnold in his first appearance in MAD) in a typical time frame, but the Paris Hilton job was a last second, brutal deadline job. As such the ‘rough’ is as rough as you can get. Here’s some images and the rough of that piece: Click for a closer look Close up of Paris Lots of word balloons with the “things shouted out” were to cover the crowd, but I didn’t know exactly where they would be placed so much of the crowd will not be visible in the printed… READ MORE

On the Stands: MAD #481

August 16th, 2007 | Posted in MAD Magazine

In comic book shops today and on newsstands on Tuesday, August 21st: MAD # 481 (Sept. 2007) Covers (Jack Syracuse) The Fundalini Pages (John Caldwell, Dick DeBartolo, Desmond Devlin, Duck Edwing, Feggo, Laura Howell, Jeff Kruse, Kevin Pope, Adam Rust, Eric Scott, Jack Syracuse, Rick Tulka) Spider-Sham 3 (Arnie Kogen, Hermann Mejia) The Young Man’s Guide to Successful Mall Romance (Jacob Lambert, Rich Powell) Planet TAD!!!!! (Tim Carvell) MAD Proudly Presents Outtakes from Hillary’s Sopranos Spoof (Uncredited) Failed Pitches for the new Simpson’s Movie (Steve Smallwood) Things Shouted Out to Paris Hilton as She Left Prison (Tom Richmond) Spy vs Spy (Peter Kuper) Monroe and…… READ MORE