Tom's Mad Blog
January 28th, 2020 | Posted in General
While going through one of my flat file drawers I ran across five pristine copies of my long-ago sold out Batman print “Bats in the Belfry”. A lot of people ask me about reprinting this, and I have to explain what “limited edition” means. This print is so rare that I didn’t even have a copy of it! Well, I’m keeping one of the five, but the other four I have put up in my Studio Store and will sell as signed “Artist Proofs”. Get one while they last! Update: These sold out within minutes. Sorry if you missed out. There’s a good chance I… READ MORE
January 28th, 2020 | Posted in General
This is a left over from my “Holiday Commission” run from last month. The gentleman who ordered this one very kindly let me put it off until January as it was not for a gift but for him. Thanks for that, Tom! READ MORE
January 27th, 2020 | Posted in MAD Magazine
From “Muddled Family”, MAD #509, June 2011. Writer: Arnie Kogen. I always liked this caricature of Ed O’Neill. It was weird going back to drawing him after doing all those issues of “Married…with Children” comics back in the early-mid 90s. READ MORE
January 26th, 2020 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: I’ve heard you mention, briefly, about being able to draw people in various positions, while maintaining a likeness, and have been wondering about your work drawing celebrities (or anyone) for the parodies that you do. Are you doing them from references that are in the pose that you want? Or are you using your knowledge of facial construction to “cheat” the pose? A bit of both? I have found it daunting to find references in a certain position, and have had limited success trying to “cheat” the pose. A: It’s a little of both, especially with regard to doing a movie or TV parody… READ MORE
January 24th, 2020 | Posted in General
I don’t do a lot of comic cons… really just a handful each year. They are exhausting but fun and the ones I do generate enough revenue for it to make sense to spend that time away from the studio. As much as I like meeting and talking with people and connecting with readers of my work, studio time is valuable and being away means less time to do the work that pays my bills. I make no secret of it…I’m trying to sell stuff at these cons. One thing I don’t charge for is my signature, although I have certain rules about that. There… READ MORE
January 23rd, 2020 | Posted in Illustration Throwback Thursday
Here’s a full page and two spot illustrations I did for GQ magazine back in 2016. It was a story about famous “brothers” both fictional and real life. Above was the full pager with The Manning and Affleck brothers plus the three actors who played the fictional brothers in the TV “Empire”. Below are spots with the Gronkowski brothers and the Koch brothers. These illustrations were actually never used. I was told GQ had a couple of illustrators do different takes on the art and then they decided to go with photos instead. I got paid full rate rather than a kill fee, however. READ MORE
January 22nd, 2020 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
This week’s sketch is a new one of iconic sex symbol Marilyn Monroe. As always, the original is available in the Studio Store. READ MORE
January 21st, 2020 | Posted in General
This is a pretty funny ad for car insurance featuring a live caricature artist. I’m guessing the lady is an actor and they hired someone else to do the artwork, just because that’s how showbiz works. Maybe they did find an artist who was also the kind of actor they wanted, but unlikely. Kudos to the creators to cast an older, plump lady for this role rather than some skinny young guy. The end gag is funny. Basically the same one as this video from 2008: Many years ago the local theme park I have operations at here in Minnesota did a series TV ads… READ MORE
