Tom's Mad Blog
May 2nd, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I have a question for you: Have your personal, political, or religious convictions ever prevented you from accepting a gig or gag? Or have you felt a need to interject and change things which don’t jibe well with your own ethical standpoints? I get that a job is a job, but when is enough enough? A: I have turned down a few jobs because I didn’t want to “go there”, but to be honest I have not been put into that position very often. When Penthouse hired me to do illustration work I immediately told the art director there I would not do any… READ MORE
April 30th, 2021 | Posted in General
I still have two spots available for my one and only scheduled 2021 caricature workshop! Grab your spot. READ MORE
April 29th, 2021 | Posted in Illustration Throwback Thursday
I got tired of typing out “Illustration Throwback Thursday”, so from now on the internets will be using the term “Thurowback”. You’re welcome. Back in November of 2015 My pal and fellow National Cartoonists Society member Jeff Knurek asked me to be the guest artist on his widely syndicated comic feature “The Jumble”. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was about to come out in theaters and Jeff thought doing something around that would be a fun and timely idea. This is what we came up with. Here’s a closer look at the art: READ MORE
April 28th, 2021 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
I’m still on my hiatus from doing a new “Sketch o’the Week”, so here’s yet another “mock MAD cover” commission from last month’s “Virtual Artist’s Alley” event. This one is a recreation of my Al Jaffee caricature from MAD #14. Brush pen and Copic markers on 9×12 bristol. READ MORE
April 27th, 2021 | Posted in News
I’ll be doing a live interview tonight at 8:00 pm EDT (7:00 Minnesota time) with comic book artist extraordinaire (and fellow National Cartoonist Society member) Graham Nolan on his YouTube channel “The Storytellers”. We’ll be talking about MAD, caricature, CLAPTRAP, influences, comics, and other stuff. Graham asks great questions and also takes questions from viewers, so drop by and sit back and watch, or jump in with some questions! READ MORE
April 26th, 2021 | Posted in MAD Magazine
It’s yet another thrilling episode of the excruciatingly dull chronological crawl through my work in MAD, featuring my art for the two pager “A MAD Peek Behind the Scenes on the Set of The Hulk.” This piece was written by “MAD‘s MADdest Writer” Dick DeBartolo and “Slightly Disturbed MAD Editor” Greg Leitman. It appeared in MAD #431, July 2003. I did several of these “MAD Peek Behind the Scenes on the Set of…” features, and they were all pretty much the same overhead shot looking down on the set of a TV show or movie with caricatures of the cast as well as set workers,… READ MORE
April 25th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: How do go about drawing certain poses? Do you take photos of yourself, ask someone to pose for you? Use an artist model figure or just make it up? Or a mixture of the above? A: Generally speaking I will attempt to draw a figure, pose, hand, whatever, just out of my head first. That works most of the time, especially for smaller figures in say a movie parody panel. When things needs to be particularly detailed, say for a cover or a full page illustration, or it’s a rather difficult or awkward pose, I’ll take some photos. There are also times when whatever… READ MORE
April 23rd, 2021 | Posted in News
A few comic book conventions are tentatively peeking their heads out of the foxhole and making plans to take place in person in 2021. ReedPop, the company that puts on several big conventions, just opened Artist’s Alley applications to creators for their shows in 2021. I just applied for both New York Comic Con in October and C2E2 in Chicago in December. I will not be able to do the San Diego Comic Con “Special Edition” in November or Emerald City Comic Con in December. I think it’s pretty certain these events will take place, but what they look like compared to previous years is… READ MORE
