Richmond Illustration Inc.

Tom's Mad Blog

Workshop Warmups: Dave Attell!

January 17th, 2019 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

Here’s another warm up sketch from my Orlando workshop: stand up comedian Dave Attell! READ MORE

Workshop Warmups: Lady Gaga!

January 16th, 2019 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

Here’s another warm up sketch from my Orlando workshop this past weekend… Lady Gaga in full on glamour mode. READ MORE

We always start the second day of the workshop with some warm up sketches. I have the class suggest a subject, then I find an image online to work from, project it on the screen, and we all spend 10-15 minutes or so drawing the subject. Here’s Barbra Streisand. READ MORE

Orlando Workshop One!

January 15th, 2019 | Posted in General

The first of two back-to-back workshops here in Orlando is in the books. I had a terrific group that was heavy on professional live caricaturists this first weekend. That’s to be expected since you cannot throw a rock in any direction in Orlando and not have it land on a theme park property of some kind. Above is the class illustration. Since I’m spending the intervening week enjoying NOT being in Minnesota in January I’ll be posting some of the warm up sketches I did with the class. Look for one of those shortly, and throughout the week. READ MORE

Monday MADness- MAD about the Sopranos!

January 14th, 2019 | Posted in General

It’s hard to believe it’s been 20 years since “The Sopranos” debuted on HBO. MAD did several pieces on the show, including a full parody by Arnie Kogen and Mort Drucker in MAD #389 (Jan 2000). I did the piece above in MAD #422 (Oct 2002) written by the late John Caldwell. Sopronos writer and Executive Producer Terrance Winter bought the original art of that from me, and talks about how cool it was to be in MAD in this article about the show’s 20th anniversary in Variety: Winter: When we got into Mad Magazine, that was the highlight for me. That said everything. The… READ MORE

Sunday Mailbag- Multiple Projects?

January 13th, 2019 | Posted in General

Q: You have always several projects/commissions on the drawing table. How is your Time Management for them? Do you Work One hour on each Project every day? Or Monday on Project 1, Tuesday on project 2, etc.? Or do you finish Project 1 First, than Project 2, etc.? A: Everything I do is deadline driven, so I work on jobs based on when they are due. Therefore if I get a call Monday job to do a job that is due Friday I will start that job, but if I get a call Tuesday with a job due Thursday I will but aside the Friday… READ MORE

NCSFest Artist Alley Deadline Approaching!

January 10th, 2019 | Posted in General

I just got back from meetings down in Huntington Beach where plans for the NCSFest are really coming together. The speakers and presentations in the main tent right at the pier are going to be great, with lots of big names and international cartooning talent sharing work that is seldom seen or celebrated in this country. Four cartoon art exhibits will be showcases at the Art Center Gallery, kids programming and readings by some of the biggest names in children’s books will be going on all weekend at the main library, the “window walk contest” features over 30 participating storefront windows participating along Main and… READ MORE

Monday MADness: SoBe Nascar Cameo!

January 7th, 2019 | Posted in General

Back in the early 2000’s Warner Bros had MAD was doing some kind of cross promotion with SoBe, a subsidiary of PepsiCo, and a new chocolate drink they had called “Love Bus Brew”. There was promotional artwork done by Sergio Aragonés, “What Me Worry” printed under select bottle caps (send in three of these “MAD” caps to SoBe and get a free SoBe/MAD branded T-Shirt), etc. I actually drew caricatures at a SoBe booth at the X Games in Cleveland at one point. They also did a sweepstakes where the “grand prize” was to get drawn into MAD with Alfred E. Neuman. I was given… READ MORE