Tom's Mad Blog
July 30th, 2007 | Posted in General
I just arrived back from New York after a short but energetic trip to the big city. The Lovely Anna, myself and kids Victoria, Gabrielle and Tommy made the trek in part to see Laura Osnes, winner of the “Grease: You’re the One That I Want” reality TV show, perform as Sandy in the Broadway production. Laura, as I wrote last week, grew up four houses down the street from us and was a drama instructor for years with our kids during summer drama camps at the local high school. Laura with Tommy, Gabrielle and Victoria Trips to NYC are always fun but very expensive… READ MORE
July 29th, 2007 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Does anyone ever get angry or offended by a live caricature you’ve done? And if so, how do you handle it? You seem like such a diplomatic and eloquent guy on your blog, but maybe that is the result of thoughtful editing. Tell us some stories! A: These days I have little problem with people getting angry over their caricatures when I draw live because after 22 years I am pretty good at reading a person’s tolerance for caricature and exaggerate only when I think they can handle it. I always err on the side of caution if I am unsure, and frankly my… READ MORE
July 28th, 2007 | Posted in Freelancing
Back when I was going to college at a small school in St. Paul, Minnesota called the School of Associated Arts (now the College of Visual Arts), there were three distinct groups of students… the illustrators, the fine artists and the designers. To say the three groups were mutually exclusive would be unfair, as most of us got along just fine, but it would be fair to say that among each group there was often an attitude about the validity of other groups. The fine artists were sometimes heard to call the illustrators “wrists” as we were considered by some creativeless machines that churned out… READ MORE
July 27th, 2007 | Posted in News
As thousands of cartoonists head to the west coast for this year’s San Diego Comic Con, I’m on the east coast for a short visit to New York City. We are meeting good friends here and went to see “Grease” on Broadway last night, among other things we’ll do in the big city. Why “Grease”? Well, some may recall a reality TV show this spring called “You’re the One that I Want”, which was an “American Idol”-like competition for the leads (Danny and Sandy) of this Broadway revival of “Grease”. The winner of the Sandy role was Laura Osnes, who happens to have grown up… READ MORE
July 26th, 2007 | Posted in On the Drawing Board
Lots o’stuff on the board at the moment. As usual not much of it that I can show images of, but I did finish this poster job last night. I’m posting it to show how sometimes you get so focused on the details you don’t step back and think about the big picture until you literally step back and look at the big picture: Pencil sketch, approved by client Final color illustration…. …hmmmm….. I’m thinking the placement combined with the coloring of the stuffing coming off that falling platter might be unfortunate… yep. Better fix that. That’s better, a poo-free illustration. Whew. Disaster averted. You… READ MORE
July 25th, 2007 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Damn! I forgot the “Sketch O’the Week” last Wednesday. Sorry. Here’s a small and quick study of Lucille Ball for a possible black and white park sample. READ MORE
July 24th, 2007 | Posted in General
Right now I am trying to work ahead in anticipation of a short trip to NYC this weekend with The Lovely Anna and the kids (sans The Animated Elizabeth, she hates anywhere but her house and her videos). After getting assigned a short deadline piece for MAD yesterday, there is not a lot of time for blogging, so here is one of those cheap posts about some websites to visit: Freelance Switch- The Daily Cartoonist, which is itself a must visit concerning news about the world of cartooning, had a great link the other day to a blog called Freelance Switch. It’s billed as “a… READ MORE
July 23rd, 2007 | Posted in General
NOTE- This review contains NO spoilers. No specific plot points are revealed, so read with confidence that the fun will not be ruined. Well, It’s over. Ten years, seven books, 3,694 pages. Five feature fives (two more to come), billions in sales of books, merchandise, etc. Millions stood for hours in line to buy their copy of the final tome at 12:01 on Saturday the 21st of July. Easily the most popular, best selling fiction book series in history. Over. The tale is told. That’s a lot of hype to live up to for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and final book… READ MORE
