Tom's Mad Blog

The Dreaded Deadline Demon

March 5th, 2007 | Posted in General

Twice in three days….. READ MORE

Sunday Mailbag

March 4th, 2007 | Posted in Freelancing

Q: My question is about keeping all business matters straight. Do you recommend any software in particular such as Quicken or the myriad Microsoft Office apps? A: The business aspect of being a freelance illustrator is sometimes intimidating for artists because… well…. they’re ARTISTS. Whether you buy into the left brain/right brain theory or not, it’s often the case that the creative mind has difficulty with analytical things like organization, record keeping, invoicing, etc. It’s really not difficult at all, and there are lots of things that can help out. Some are computer programs and some are not. In addition to the freelance business, I… READ MORE

The Dreaded Deadline Demon

March 3rd, 2007 | Posted in General

Several deadlines due Monday… Busy, busy, busy! READ MORE

It’s all Geek to Me- Die, Spam! Die!!

March 2nd, 2007 | Posted in It's All Geek to Me!

Really, I’m not that frustrated over the number of spam e-mails I get these days. No, I actually enjoy spending precious minutes of my day going through several hundred messages in my spam filter folder, checking to make sure there isn’t a legitimate e-mail amid the many stock tips and cheap viagra offers… okay, maybe I am that frustrated about it. I used to dream about winning the lottery, Salma Hayek or finding a mint copy of Action #1 pressed in an old book I bought at a garage sale, but now I dream about meeting someone who is responsible for any number of the… READ MORE

Quick LOST thought

March 1st, 2007 | Posted in General

I read this CNN article yesterday which talks about the changing of a TV show’s direction of focus to try and “fix” it with respect to ratings and viewership. They talk about several shows that are getting that kind of makeover to try and salvage their ratings. In passing they mention that LOST has seen a dramtic drop in ratings since coming back on the air compared to last season and last fall’s ratings. The article quotes a veteran TV producer saying ABC needs to add a stronger lead in show for LOST and concentrate on lead character storylines. Another TV expert feels LOST is… READ MORE

Cracked Dead Again

March 1st, 2007 | Posted in News

Back before I got my first assignment for MAD I did a few jobs for longtime MAD knockoff Cracked Magazine, as I recounted a bit in this blog post. Over a year ago the rights to Cracked were bought by a group of investors, and there ensued a total makeover by a newly assembled team of contributors (several from the Harvard Lampoon) that lead to the debut of the new Cracked in August of 2006. Looks like Cracked Magazine‘s big comeback lasted a whole three issues. Read an open letter from Jay Pinkerton concerning Cracked’s ceasing publication (via theapiary.org) I didn’t care much one way… READ MORE

On the Drawing Board

February 28th, 2007 | Posted in On the Drawing Board

I’m in the final stretch of the two MAD KIDS illustration jobs for issue 7, done with the finals for the Nader job and still haven’t started the National Cartoonists Society illustration… that’s for this weekend. I also finished the poster job I posted the pencil sketch for a few days ago while waiting on some approvals and revision approvals from the folks at MAD. Here’s some stages of an area of that image: A close up of the sketch for one of the figures… The inks… The backgrounds in color, used a noise filter for the concrete… The base color for the figure, on… READ MORE

Speaking of Don Martin…

February 27th, 2007 | Posted in MAD Magazine

I came across these animated shorts of Don Martin’s cartoons on YouTube: I believe they were done by German film producer Hahn Film, and may have been part of a 30 minute TV special called “Don Martin Does It Again”, presumably for German TV. They are definitely in German and not the ones that reportedly appeared on early episodes of MAD TV. As animation goes these are pretty crude and the funky sharpness of Martin’s art is lost in the process. The best one is the last one entitled “Frog”, which is a gag straight from the pages of MAD. Speaking of MAD TV specials… READ MORE

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