Richmond Illustration Inc.

Tom's Mad Blog

Happy New Year!

January 1st, 2022 | Posted in General

Here’s to a happy and healthy 2022! I’m hoping this is the last year I have to draw a mask on Baby New Year. READ MORE

2021 was definitely dominated by working on Desmond Devlin and my CLAPTRAP book. I started turning down jobs to try and keep on track with it, although some jobs and especially a couple of bigger jobs had to be done. Easily the most high profile thing I did this year was the art for a CNN Docu-series called “History of the Sitcom”. This art was seen all over the place back in July, so that was fun to see. I also spent about six weeks in April/May doing a big job for a corporate annual meeting that involved a 16 page comic book and several dozen individual illustrations of… READ MORE

One More MAD Commission!

December 30th, 2021 | Posted in General

Here’s a last “Mock MAD Cover” commission from 2021. This one was from my virtual NYCC “Artist’s Alley” back in October. I usually don’t post the ones with personal caricatures but this one was fun and David, who is playing the Cliff Claven role here, gave me permission to share it. I’ll do at least one virtual artist’s alley table in 2022. That’s the only time I do these sorts of comic-con style commissions online. READ MORE

Sketch o’the Week- Penn & Teller!

December 29th, 2021 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

This week’s SotW is of the magical comedy duo Penn & Teller! The original sketch of this is available in my Studio Store! I’ve actually met Teller. He is a friend of fellow caricaturist and the editor of my “The Mad Art of Caricature” book Celestia Ward. I was at her wedding years ago in Las Vegas and Teller was also in attendance. I chatted with him briefly and yes, he does talk. A subscriber of my “Ink Stained Wretch” newsletter wrote me after I shared this in a recent edition to tell me he saw Penn & Teller in one of their first appearances… READ MORE

Monday MADness: Holy New Content, Batman!

December 27th, 2021 | Posted in MAD Magazine

We’re taking a week off of revisiting the old with a brand new MAD piece from MAD #23, which dropped earlier this month. This is a rare piece of new work inside of the magazine, which is almost entirely reprint material these days. MAD #23 is a “Batman” themed issue, and since the cover featured the latest Batman from the upcoming “The Batman” film, MAD head honcho Suzy Hutchinson convinced the powers-that-be upstairs to spring for s new two pager so there was something inside that also featured Robert Pattinson‘s Bats. This is it, written by my CLAPTRAP cohort Desmond Devlin. Toon in next week… READ MORE

Sunday Mailbag: Art School Value?

December 26th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag

Q: What are your stances on the comic artist training grounds (CalArts, Kubert, SCAD et al) regarding their value overall for the students? Have you met grads of these institutions and discussed their experiences? I tend to find a lot of worth in spending the money to learn from artists you look up to but I’m curious overall about what industry professionals think about how well a place like Kubert does at helping their grads find work in comics/design/storyboarding/animation etc. A: I get asked about art college a lot, but not about the specific topic of if art schools help their graduates get work. If… READ MORE

Sketch o’the Week- Jimmy Stewart!

December 22nd, 2021 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

Just in time for Christmas, today’s SotW subject is Hollywood icon and “It’s a Wonderful Life” star Jimmy Stewart! This one made it through the “Ink Stained Wretch” subscriber’s gauntlet and the original is available in the Studio Store. Merry Christmas, all! READ MORE

MADness #51- Rejected Cars!

December 20th, 2021 | Posted in MAD Magazine

Rev those engines, race fans! It’s monday, and that means it’s time for another agonizingly slow lap around my work for MAD Magazine. This week we are shifting gears with what was my first all-digital piece for the magazine, “Rejected Characters from Cars”, written by Jacob Lambert and first appearing in MAD #467, July 2006. When I say “all digital” I just mean the finished art. I still did the pencil sketches with actual pencils on actual paper, but after scanning the roughs I did do any physical inking on bristol board like I usually do. I wbt right on top of the pencils with… READ MORE