Tom's Mad Blog
April 14th, 2019 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: Do you ever do live caricatures anymore? A: Not very often. I spent 20 plus years doing them five to six days a week at seasonal theme parks (only during the summers), and while I credit those years and the tens of thousands of faces I drew for developing my eye for caricature, I do not miss that scene. I much prefer to work in my climate controlled studio where the music is both good and at a comfortable volume and there are no mosquitoes, rainstorms, or people with nacho cheese breath dribbling Dipping Dots down my back while they ask where the bathrooms… READ MORE
April 12th, 2019 | Posted in General
I didn’t return from Vienna to Monster Island but I did return to about a foot of snow in April in Minnesota, so frankly I’d prefer Monster Island. I did find this waiting for me, though! It’s the 20th Anniversary Creator’s Edition of the Monster Island comic by Graham Nolan. Graham funded it via a Kickstarter campaign, which sadly ended yesterday. Actually that Kickstarter was for copies of the comic itself. The Kickstarter I promoted last summer was for this limited edition hardcover. I hope you backed it because this is one beautiful book. 11′”x 17″ glossy hardcover with 96 gorgeous pages featuring the original… READ MORE
April 11th, 2019 | Posted in News
I had the pleasure of attending the 7th annual Eurocature Festival of Caricature Art in Vienna, Austria this past week. I’ve attended a lot of cartooning and caricature events over the years and Eurocature ranks up there with the best and most enjoyable of them. It is a true celebration of the art of caricature with artists from all over the world participating. The festival is part convention with speakers and events and part competition, although the latter element is only a competition in that some of the works produced get recognized at the end. The focus is on the creative process and the joy… READ MORE
April 10th, 2019 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Sorry for the bad photo, I had no access to a scanner so I had to take a pic of this with my phone and it’s a bit shiny in some of the darks near the top. I’m currently in Vienna at the Eurocature Caricature Art Festival… in fact I am speaking today. In addition to many different events and presentations, those attending are invited to do a piece in the medium of their choice based on any one of three suggested topics. The topic I chose was “Art World Legends”. This is what I came up with. Brush pen and Copic markers with a… READ MORE
April 9th, 2019 | Posted in General
This is crazy but after ordering a (reduced number of copies) 9th printing of the book back in December I thought I’d have enough copies to get through to the printing of the new version. It turns out I underestimated things and now have to order a 10th printing. We won’t run out this time… I have certainly ordered enough copies to make it to the end of the year. By then the new version will be out. The staying power of this book continues to amaze me. I am very lucky that several things fell into place to help the books longevity, not the… READ MORE
April 8th, 2019 | Posted in MAD Magazine
MAD dropped the cover of issue #7 (art by Chris Wahl) last Friday along with a sneak peek of “Avenjerks: Is This Ever Gonna End-Game” by Ian Boothby and Gideon Kendall on Syfy.com. Visit the link to have a look. In case you missed it, on Saturday Loblo.com posted a peek at the splash page of Des Devlin’s and my “Aquaman” parody in this issue. READ MORE
April 7th, 2019 | Posted in General
Q: I would like to try and push getting some magazine work, but I have no clue of how to go about it. What do you suggest? A: The first step is always “do work art directors will want to buy.” That sounds simple but you’d be surprised how many people show me portfolios where their work is just not of professional quality, but they want to know how to get work. It does little good to market work that is not going to appeal to art directors. So, all the advice here is predicated on the assumption the work being marketed is work that… READ MORE
April 6th, 2019 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Joblo.com just posted an exclusive sneak peek at the splash page of Desmond Devlin and my parody of “Aquaman”. Check out the art above! READ MORE
