Tom's Mad Blog
July 21st, 2006 | Posted in News
I mentioned before that I am a member of the National Cartoonists Society, a 60 year old organization of professional cartoonists. The NCS also has local chapters throughout the country, and I belong to the North Central Chapter. Since the mid-west is apparently no man’s land for cartoonists, our chapter easily covers the largest geographical area: Minnesota, Iowa, the Dakotas, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado. While most chapters are only one state (and in some cases one area like Long Island’s “Berndt Toast Gang”) and get togther monthly for a meal and some fun, it’s difficult to get us all together in the North Central.… READ MORE
July 20th, 2006 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Now we are in the home stretch! It’s time to get coloring. Those of you who are looking for a tutorial on my painting techniques will be a little disappointed I’m afraid. In order to do that I need to save steps along the way, and I did not do that with this or any past job in anticipation of a tutorial. My apologies, but I will save those steps the next chance I get, and will put together a real tutorial on how I paint my line art soon. In the meantime, here are the basic steps: When painting I used to use a… READ MORE
July 19th, 2006 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Now that the inks are all done, erased and cleaned up, it’s computer time! First the pages need to be scanned in sections, then placed together to make a complete page. This is roughly as much fun as getting poked in the eye by a sharp instrument, but it is what it is. I invested in a very large scanner to simplify my life and cut down on popping veins in my forehead. I use a Microtek ScanMaker 9800XL, which is a flatbed with a 12″x17″ scanning area. I use their ScanWizard Pro software and scan directly into Photoshop.¬¨‚Ć Even so, a two page spread… READ MORE
July 19th, 2006 | Posted in General
Before I get into all the scanning and computer coloring for this MAD job, let’s get something out of the way. I use a PC. That’s right, a PC. I have a G4 Powerbook also and years ago had a Mac Power PC, so no one can accuse me of not having tried both platforms. Macs are fine computers but I can tell you from vast personal experience that they are no better than a PC, and only personal preferences and what you find easiest and most effective for the tasks you specifically have to do make any difference. I have a fire breathing Dell… READ MORE
July 18th, 2006 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Now that the pencils are finished, it’s time for the inking. This has always been the toughest part for me. I??ᬨ‚Ć don’t know too many comic artists who ever feel their inked work is as effective as their pencils are, and you can count me among them. No matter how much I’ve done it, I always begin an inking job with trepidation and a certain amount of nervousness. Over the years I’ve learned to trust myself a bit more, but I still wouldn’t say it’s easy. To get started, I take out a #3 (.80) Rapidiograph pen and rule the balloons and tails, bleed and… READ MORE
July 17th, 2006 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Once the pencil roughs are approved with the gang at MAD, I can move on to the final pencils. This is the stage where most of the hard work occurs. The first thing I do is transfer the roughs on to the final boards. I do this by blowing up my scans of the roughs to 200% of original size, and then printing them off on 11×17 paper. In the case of a splash, I have to use the 13×19 paper and print the image in quarters, then trim and tape them together. With the story pages, a typical row of panels fits an 11×17… READ MORE
July 16th, 2006 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Can you do a caricature of (me, my mom, my friends, etc.) for their (birthday, wedding, anniversary, etc.) and how much would you charge? A: I really hate my answer to this frequent question, but realistically I have no other answer to give. No, I am very sorry to all who inquire,??ᬨ‚Ćbut I had to stop doing personal commissions a long time ago. Due to a plain old lack of physical time I have to often turn down very high paying freelance publication or advertising jobs. If I accepted personal commissions, I would have to turn down even more of the freelance work. For… READ MORE
July 16th, 2006 | Posted in MAD Magazine
The next step in a MAD job is the package I get from the art department. In it is a copy of the script, printouts of the layouts and the reference materials they have gathered and the boards. The boards large pieces of Strathmore bristol with all the pages, panel borders and text boxes drawn in pencil. These are usually done by longtime MAD production guru Lenny “The Beard” Brenner. The boards are drawn at 200% of print size, so a full page is 16.25 x 21 trim size. That is big, being that comics are usually drawn at 150% of print size, but who… READ MORE
