Tom's Mad Blog

MADness #50- American Idol!

December 13th, 2021 | Posted in MAD Magazine

It’s time for another off-key Monday edition of Tom’s MADness! This time we drop the mic with a return to the world of “reality” TV and another cringe-worthy performance with “You Can Write the Next American Idol Single”, written by my CLAPTRAP partner Desmond Devlin and appearing in MAD #466, June 2006. This was also my 50th appearance in the magazine. I have to admit I don’t like these kinds of reality competition shows, and have never watched more than a few episodes of any of them. It’s not that I think they are bad shows, I just find them uninteresting and boring. My wife… READ MORE

Sketch o’the Week- Joni Mitchell!

December 8th, 2021 | Posted in Classic Rock Sketch Series

It’s back to the world of classic rock (ok, folk) music this week with Joni Mitchell as our sketch subject! READ MORE

Some “Live Style” Commissions

December 7th, 2021 | Posted in General

This weekend I’ll be at C2E2 in Chicago for a for realz, live and in person Artists Alley appearance. Here are a handful of the “live caricature style” commissions I did for NYCC that took place in October. The “live style” drawings are done using the black and white pencil/blending stomp technique I do when I draw live caricatures, except of course I work from photos. This first one is a rare straight commission not involving caricatures, which are always fun. The rest are caricatures of celebrities or “Alfred as…” drawings. As I mentioned last week, I will not be doing a virtual version of… READ MORE

MADness #49- Brokeback Mountain!

December 6th, 2021 | Posted in MAD Magazine

Yeehaw! It’s Monday, and that means it’s time for another stop on the dusty trail that is my work for MAD Magazine. Today we have a look at MAD‘s spoof of the multiple Oscar winning film “Brokeback Mountain”, written by Arnie Kogen and appearing in MAD #465, May 2006. I thought MAD doing a spoof of this film was a real surprise for a couple of reasons. First, because of the lag between when a movie is in theaters and when the MAD parody appears in print, and given how short a time most movies spend playing in theaters nowadays, MAD mostly stuck with big… READ MORE

Sunday Mailbag: Pixar Parody?

December 5th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag

Q: What is going to be your approach to the parody of “Toy Story 4” in the upcoming CLAPTRAP book? How do you “caricature” cartoon characters? And how will you fit in a caricature of a real human (backer) in a cartoon story? A: A timley question… I happen to be working on that very parody right now! I have done a few “Pixar” parodies for MAD in the pst, and I am taking a similar approach to the art in the spoof of “Toy Story 4” in CLAPTRAP. Essentially since the characters are all animated characters I do not seek to “caricature” them in… READ MORE

Caricatures for Christmas?

December 2nd, 2021 | Posted in News

Looking for something completely unique and scarce to get that caricature artist in your family? I’ve got three spots left in the only in-person caricature workshop scheduled for 2022, taking place Jan 22-23rd in Riverside CA. It’s a full weekend of learning and drawing with me in a class of only 12 students. Once it’s full, it’s full! READ MORE

New MAD Cover!

December 1st, 2021 | Posted in MAD Magazine

MAD finally officially released this so I can share it here. The cover art for MAD #23, gag by my CLAPTRAP cohort Desmond Devlin. Des and I also did a two page Batman related piece inside this issue. MAD #23 will be available in comic books shops on Tuesday, Dec 7th. READ MORE

Sketch o’the Week- Robert Mitchum!

December 1st, 2021 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

This week’s caricature sketch subject is Hollywood legend Robert Mitchum! The original of this is still available and just got added to the Studio Store. Thanks to subscriber Kevin Halstead for suggesting this one. Remember, if you want to suggest future sketch subjects all you need to do is subscribe to my free weekly newsletter “The Ink Stained Wretch!” See below! READ MORE

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