Tom's Mad Blog
July 8th, 2018 | Posted in General
Q: How do you separate your personal life and family problems that interfere with your professional artistic life, and may affect deadlines or completing a job or project? A: Considering what my family just went through last month with my daughter Gabrielle‘s serious health crisis, this is a timely question. The bottom line is, you don’t. You manage problems according to their level of seriousness. I don’t care what kind of job you have, everyone has life complications that pop up and get in the way of getting things done. I think this is especially true if you are self-employed, because you don’t have an… READ MORE
July 6th, 2018 | Posted in News
EDIT- Wow, that workshop sold out within hours. If you missed out send me a note to be added to the waitlist. Be sure and indicate it’s the Orlando workshop you are interested in. I can almost guarantee one or two people will decide not to follow through, and spots will open up. I’m starting to look into locations for workshops in 2019, and my first stop will be Orlando, Fl on Jan 11-13th. It will have been two years since my last workshop in Orlando, so this one is bound to sell out quickly. If you don’t know what these workshops are all about,… READ MORE
July 5th, 2018 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Continuing with our “Catwoman” series, here’s a caricature of Anne Hathaway‘s portrayal of Gotham’s most notorious cat burglar. Original available in the Studio Store. READ MORE
July 4th, 2018 | Posted in General
Cookouts, backyards, pools and fireworks… don’t work too hard at having fun today! READ MORE
July 3rd, 2018 | Posted in News
I just got back from doing a workshop in Portland this past weekend. Great fun with a great group of artists! Just a reminder that I have two open spots in my London workshop next month, Aug 14-16th, as well as two spots in my Minnesota workshop, October 12-14th and three for my Phoenix workshop Nov 30-Dec 2. All my other 2018 workshops are sold out! I have one workshop planned for 2019 so far (announcement coming soon) and I’ll probably schedule a few more, but I guarantee I will not be doing as many as I am this year. They will be fewer and… READ MORE
July 2nd, 2018 | Posted in Monday MADness
MAD #3 cover art by Mark Fredrickson The Washington Post‘s online “Cartoon and Comics Culture” feature Comic Riffs by Michael Cavna posted an article on new MAD executive editor Bill Morrison and the the revamped MAD Magazine. Said article included an exclusive look at the cover of the next issue, due out in August. Art by Mark Fredrickson. READ MORE
July 1st, 2018 | Posted in MAD Magazine
Q: Aside from whatever contributions you make to an issue of Mad Magazine, to what other contents in the magazine are you privy before it hits the newsstands? Do you get to see artwork for the cover or are you told about random articles in the upcoming issues, or are you as much in the dark as any regular Mad Magazine reader whose only contribution is the $5.99 (cheap!) we cough up every two months? A: Other than my piece, I get to see none of it. If I happen to be in town and drop into the offices, and the staff has an advanced… READ MORE
June 29th, 2018 | Posted in Freelancing
I’m in Portland right now doing a workshop, and arrived early to do a podcast and a couple of interviews for Wacom who is hosting the class at their “Experience Center”. During the podcast we discussed some of the other aspects of freelancing besides the art part of it. One of those aspects is “professionalism”, the lack of which is something that can greatly hold back, or completely derail, one’s career. By “professionlism”, I mean things like meeting deadlines, following through on promised stages of completion of a project, working well with art directors, etc. Don’t get me wrong, the art is job number one.… READ MORE
