Tom's Mad Blog

Illustration Thurowback- Marlin Co!

August 5th, 2021 | Posted in Illustration Throwback Thursday

I haven’t posted one of these in a long while, so today’s “Illustration Throwback Thursday” is a look at one of the “workplace posters” I did for many years for a client called “The Marlin Company”. These were 17″ x 17″ illustrations that generally illustrated some message about teamwork, reducing stress at work, workplace safety, or some other employment issue. I happen to have the pencil sketch I sent them for approval also: I did one of these every month for about 15 years. I don’t have an exact count but I am sure I did over 150 of them. This one was done in… READ MORE

Sketch o’the Week- Dua Lipa!

August 4th, 2021 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

This week’s sketch subject is British pop music superstar Dua Lipa! As usual the original is available in the Studio Store. READ MORE

CLAPTRAP Original Art For Sale?

August 3rd, 2021 | Posted in General

I’ve been getting a number of inquiries about if the original art from Desmond Devlin and my upcoming book of movie parodies will be for sale. The answer is yes, some of it, eventually. A number of the pages from the book are already spoken for through the different tiers we had during our Indiegogo campaign. All the pages from the parodies of “Psycho” and “Toy Story 4” will be going to our two super-ultra-uber “Megalomanic” backers. They each both chose the movie they wanted us to do and sponsored the entire parody, and get the entire set of pages from their spoof. Those at… READ MORE

MADness #34- Bernie Mac!

August 2nd, 2021 | Posted in MAD Magazine

It’s Monday! That means another step on our excruciatingly slow creep through my work at MAD magazine! This week we have a look at MAD‘s parody of “The Bernie Mac Show”, written by MAD editor David Shayne and first appearing in MAD #447, November 2004. I still have the pencil roughs of this one. This was one of those show I had never seen any episodes of, and it was WAY before streaming and on-demand was a thing, so I had to set me DVR (THAT was a thing then) to record some episodes to do my research. Fortunately it had been on a few… READ MORE

Sunday Mailbag: Live 3/4 Views?

August 1st, 2021 | Posted in MAD Magazine

Q: I have been using the principles in your book for theme park style caricatures. So far I feel I’ve improved on drawing caricatures head on but I really struggle to draw them at 3/4 angle. How important is it for a theme park style caricature artists to be able to draw front AND 3/4 angle caricatures? A: A theme park (or any live style) caricaturist need not ever draw the face at any angle they don’t wish to. You can do full face caricatures forever. Profile caricaturists can do the same. However being able to draw 3/4 faces gives you another option and keeps… READ MORE

Down the Yellow Brick Road Again!

July 30th, 2021 | Posted in General

I did this acrylic painting back in the early 2000’s for a book called “Memories of a Munchkin” which was an illustrated autobiography of a gentleman named Mienhardt Raabe, assisted and put together by publisher Daniel Kinske. Mr. Raabe was one of the last surviving cast members of the Wizard of Oz, specifically of the Munchkins. He played the munchkin coroner. “Memories of a Munchkin” was published in 2005, and contained a lot of terrific OZ art done for the book, including pieces by Al Hirschfeld, Jack Davis, Mort Drucker… it’s a long list. Daniel has a new book out in a similar vein, but this one… READ MORE

Illustration Thurowback: Teen Mags!

July 29th, 2021 | Posted in Illustration Throwback Thursday

This is a 1/2 page illustration I did for School Library Journal back in 2009 for a story about how magazines were becoming more popular with teenagers at the time. The idea was the kids were ignoring their electronics in favor of physical reading material. Of course I snuck MAD in as one of the magazine. Something tells me the boon in popularity of magazines was short lived. Here is the pencil sketch for that illustration: READ MORE

Sketch o’the Week- Alec Baldwin!

July 28th, 2021 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week

No time for a real sketch today, so here’s something from a few years ago. I did this sketch and color final of Alec Baldwin for Comedy Central for a roast they were doing of him in 2019. It was supposed to be used for a giant head/mask they were thinking of creating for part of the show, but I have no idea if or how it was ever used. Here’s the color version: I remember they had me tone down the chipmunk cheeks and some other parts, so the final does not have as strong a likeness IMO. Welcome to Hollywood. READ MORE

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