Tom's Mad Blog
July 5th, 2021 | Posted in MAD Magazine
It’s yet another electrifying episode of the chronologial crawl through my work at MAD magazine. This week is a look at the parody of the TV show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” (with the original cast) from MAD #443, July 2004. This feature was my the first collaboration between me and former MAD editor Dave Croatto. I would go on to illustrate on other MAD parody written by Dave just a few issues later, but years later he and I would team up to do two MAD children’s book parody books, Goodnight Batcave and Superman and the Miserable, Rotten, No Fun, Really Bad Day. Once again when doing one… READ MORE
July 4th, 2021 | Posted in General
Be safe this 4th of July, people! READ MORE
July 1st, 2021 | Posted in Illustration Throwback Thursday
After I published The Mad Art of Caricature in 2011 I discovered an interesting subset of creators in the world of caricature… woodcarvers. Woodcarving is a popular art in the U.S., and woodcarvers have their own organizations, conventions, and stores dedicated to the tools and resources for carving. Carving caricatures is also a big thing in that world. There are books on that specific subject, and carvers that are known for their caricature work. I found out about this aspect of woodcarving when I was contacted by several different woodcarving stores who wanted to buy wholesale copies of the book for sale in their stores.… READ MORE
June 30th, 2021 | Posted in Sketch O'The Week
Well, it’s not really a “Sketch o’the Week”. Rather, it’s one of the original inked pieces from my recently revealed “History of the Sitcom” key art illustration. This one is Henry Winkler as “The Fonz” from “Happy Days”. CNN would not give me permission to do a print of that art, and they have no plans to do one. However I do have all the original inked art, so a few people can get a part of this illustration via one of the groups of characters. I have them all available in the Studio Store. Get ’em while they are still gettable. READ MORE
June 29th, 2021 | Posted in Freelancing
I really got a lot of positive comments on my illustrations for CNN’s “History of the Sitcom” documentary. Thanks to everyone who had nice things to say about the art. For those whose only comments were “WHY ISN’T (insert name of their favorite show) INCLUDED?!?”, please contact CNN Original Series to complain and/or just put it on your TS list. Many people asked about the process and how I put together the compositions. Because there were so many people and they needed to be put together in both a vertical and horizontal format, I did individual sketches of each “show” character(s) and then played around… READ MORE
June 28th, 2021 | Posted in MAD Magazine
We are back on track with another exciting episode of our chronological crawl through my work for MAD Magazine! This week features MAD’s spoof of the TV show “The O.C.” written by Dennis Snee and appearing in MAD #442, June 2004. I have some of the original pencil roughs for this one as well as the finals. This show was set in Orange County, California and was about teenagers from that area. I knew a couple of teenagers from OC, Joe and Luke McGarry, who were the teenage sons of cartoonist Steve McGarry, then president of the National Cartoonists Society. So, I drew Joe and… READ MORE
June 27th, 2021 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: How was your first day on the job doing live caricatures in the theme park? Was nerves an issue at first? Was it weird or uncomfortable having crowds behind you looking at you draw and how long did it take before it became the norm? Is there any advice you can you give for someone wanting to get into live work that may be anxious about the whole process? A: Honestly I never had any problem drawing in front of people. I know many artists for whom that is a big issue, but for me it was always easy. When I was a kid I… READ MORE
June 26th, 2021 | Posted in General
This is out in the wild now so I can share it here. Earlier this month I did an illustration job for CNN for the newest of their entertainment documentary series entitled “History of the Sitcom”. This consisted of a LOT of caricatures of classic sitcom actors/characters, and it was a tricky thing to compose because I needed to do it in a way that allowed for both a vertical (above) and horizontal format: The folks at CNN gave me a list of the characters they wanted included. I don’t know what criteria they applied for which show is represented, but these are the ones… READ MORE
