No “Sketch o’the Week” today, or maybe for a while. Between work on CLAPTRAP, a freelance job that is a lot of work with a tight deadline, and all the artwork I still need to do for my “Virtual Artist’s Alley” event, I am swamped. Here’s one of the “Mock MAD Cover” commissions I did recently for a customer. Tombow brush pens and Copic markers on 9 x 12 bristol. READ MORE
Five years ago I pulled this epic April Fool’s Day prank on a vacant lot about a mile up the street from our house. The lot had contained a BP gas station/auto repair business that had closed up about a year before, and the building had been razed the previous fall. It sat on the corner of a very busy road about 100 yards from the on/off ramps of a main metro highway, so it was a high traffic area. There was a lot of speculation as to what was going to be built on the lot, but so far no signage or any official… READ MORE
It’s day two of my “Virtual Artist’s Alley” table, being held this weekend in lieu of the cancelled/postponed C2E2 and Wondercon (I forgot that one was also supposed to be this weekend). The above is an example of one of the kinds of commissions that I only do at conventions, live or virtual. It’s a “mock” MAD cover, done with brush pens and copic markers on a 9×12 piece of bristol paper with the MAD logo professionally printed just like a real cover. You get to art direct your own MAD cover! It can feature you, or characters from your favorite movie, TV show, or… READ MORE
Last week Saturday we celebrated the 100th birthday of the amazing Al Jaffee. Former MAD art director and longtime MAD artist Sam Viviano organized a P.O. Box for anyone and everyone to send him birthday wishes for Al, which Sam delivered to Al on his big day. Sam told me he got over 400 cards and letters! Al will probably be 101 by the time he opens them all. The above was what I sent him. It’s the original inks for the spot illustration I did for MAD #14, which I watercolored and did some scribbling on. I thought I’d share it here. A huge… READ MORE
Happy St. Paddy’s Day! After one of those DNA tests a few years ago I discovered I am actually 3% Irish! No wonder I like Guiness so much! The above image was done for Warner Bros Consumer Products for a T-Shirt that they no doubt have stacks of gathering dust in the “clearance” bins: READ MORE
The words “legendary” and “genius” get thrown around an awful lot these days, but if there is anyone in the world of cartooning to whom these words truly apply it would be the great Al Jaffee, who turns 100 years old today. MAD Magazine has had many artists work for them whose level of talent and skill have been off the charts: Jack Davis, Mort Drucker, Wally Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder, Sergio Aragonés, Don Martin… the list keeps on going and going. Some were incredible visual artists like Drucker, Wood, Elder, and Davis, some were unique combinations of written and visual humor like Kurtzman, Sergio,… READ MORE
I’m starting to offer a few of my prints as high-end giclees, including this never-before-offered print of my “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” MAD cover prop. Up until now I’ve only offered a print of the MAD #9 version of this cover, by that I mean the actual cover of MAD #9 including the 2019 cover date, copy, etc. This new giclee print is how the art appeared onscreen in the actual film, with slight faux vintage edging, the 1961 date, issue number, and pricing. This is also a larger print, with the art being 14″ x 18″ (as opposed to 11″ x 14″)… READ MORE
Some of the things people have asked me to write as a personal inscription on a book or print purchased from my Studio Store: “To Steve- Thanks for saving my life in the war.” “For Chris- We’ll always have that one time at Comic-Con…” “To my birthday girl Sam, I love you and am so proud of you!” “Dave, You’ll never be as good as me but don’t give up trying!” “To my best friend Amy!” “To Darrin- The greatest caricaturist to ever set pen to paper.“ “John- Fuck off, mate!“ Obviously these and many other similar ones necessitate my emailing the customer and telling… READ MORE
Sign up for Tom's FREE newsletter:
