Tom's Mad Blog
February 14th, 2020 | Posted in General
This is an embarrassing blast from the past. A few days ago I received this email through my website: From: Brian Re: 3 stooges sketch I have a framed drawing of the 3 Stooges that looks like was done in pencil and ink. I have had it for 20+ years and never taken it out of the frame. Can see a signature in bottom corner of Richmond. Was hoping to get more information about it. Thank you, Brian I thought maybe it was an old theme park sample I had done, so I asked Brian to send me a picture of it. He sent me… READ MORE
February 13th, 2020 | Posted in Freelancing
My Sketch o’the Week of Steven Tyler I posted yesterday solicited several social media comments about how Tyler famously hates caricatures of himself (or portraits that don’t make him look like he’s 25). That reminded me of one of the longest freelance nightmares of my career… a job that took over two years of waiting on and then never actually happened. Back in the early 2000’s I got a call from an art director at Disney Design, a division of the Disney empire that works on all kinds of projects from merchandising to packaging to promotional materials for the Mouse. He wanted me to do… READ MORE
February 12th, 2020 | Posted in Classic Rock Sketch Series
This week’s sketch is of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, one of caricaturdom’s favorite subjects (original available in the Studio Store). I did a quick version of Tyler from the same photo reference for my inking demo at my workshop in Las Vegas this past weekend, and I liked the expression enough to give it another shot in my Sketch o’the Week. Most artists draw Tyler with his mouth open screaming into the mic. READ MORE
February 11th, 2020 | Posted in MAD Magazine
A couple of old school Usual Idiots are getting decidedly new school by bringing their legendary foolishness to the Interwebs! Angelo Torres is one of the most prolific MAD artists ever, appearing in 282 issues since his debut in MAD #130 (Oct 1969). He helped define the movie/TV parody genre with his fantastic caricature work and witty storytelling. His work also appeared in earlier E.C. titles, Atlas Comics and Warren titles like Eerie and Creepy. He’s won numerous awards including the prestigious Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Cartoonists Society. In short, Ange is a Big Deal. Angelo recently launched a website, where… READ MORE
February 10th, 2020 | Posted in MAD Magazine
This week’s Monday MADness is a look at one of the more unique movie parodies I’ve done for MAD, “Green Lantern” from MAD #510, August 2011. written by Desmond Devlin. It was not unique because of the film, but because of a rare instance of the MAD editors cutting a gag of mine, some experimenting on my part with my process, and a bizarre request for a cameo. First, the MAD edit: This was my pencil rough for the splash page: The “finger” ring construct was my gag. It’s not very often the editors step in and nix a gag I come up with, but… READ MORE
February 9th, 2020 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Do you ever draw live caricatures anymore? A: Very occasionally. In fact, I just did a gig a couple of weeks ago at the Mall of America with three other local caricaturists. My doing gigs is extremely rare. It’s more likely I will sometimes fill in at one of my two theme park operations. I spent about 20 years doing live caricatures full time at theme parks every summer, as well as at fairs, holidays at shopping centers, and some gigs. In 2004 I hurt my wrist working out with a heavybag (note to artists: activities that involve throwing your drawing hand at heavy… READ MORE
February 7th, 2020 | Posted in News
Later this month I’ll be at C2E2 in Chicago… you’ll find me at table H-4 in Artist’s Alley. This is the one show I do where I can drive in, so I sometimes bring some original MAD pages long (these are so big that I don’t carry or ship them around to shows I have to fly to.) This year I thought I’d post a few pages I’ll be bringing with in the Studio Store, so C2E2 attendees can pre-buy them and pick them up at the show. I’ll post some more next week, but here’s one Chicagoians will probably like… the splash page to… READ MORE
February 6th, 2020 | Posted in Classic Rock Sketch Series
One day late for the Sketch o’the Week this week. Our subject is Metallica frontman and heavy metal legend James Hetfield! As always the original sketch is available in the Studio Store. READ MORE
