Tom's Mad Blog
October 2nd, 2020 | Posted in News
MAD writer Desmond Devlin, MAD artist and former art director Sam Viviano and I will be doing a live panel discussion for US military and their families week Wednesday. Our talk is part of a larger event for the USO, featuring not only some big time cartoonists but also some less well known people like Scarlett Johanson, Chris Evans, Jon Berenthal and other d-list actors. This is only for service members and their dependents, so if that’s you follow the registration link above to get a virtual seat at the panel! READ MORE
October 1st, 2020 | Posted in News
Last weekend I was in Chicago teaching my last makeup workshop of 2020. I still have one that was postponed twice in the New York area to do, but I am not going to reschedule that one until I am sure it will not have to be postponed again. As of now I am not scheduling any new in-person workshops, and will not schedule any until the pandemic is well and truly over and there will be no need for postponements or cancellations. That will likely not be until the second half of 2021, or maybe even a full year from now. Ever since I… READ MORE
September 30th, 2020 | Posted in Daily Coronacature
Here’s my caricature of today’s “The Daily Coronacature” subject, former Journey lead singer Steve Perry. Caricature Notes: Age plays a part in a subject’s features, but even if you are drawing a caricature of someone at a younger age I find pics of them older help me see things to exaggerate in their younger version. Steve has a very prominent nose, but the latter day pics of him show me how wide and rounded his lower face is, how small his eyes are, and how he actually has a pretty small mouth for a guy known for belting out big songs. READ MORE
September 29th, 2020 | Posted in General
We are officially one week into Desmond Devlin and my CLAPTRAP book project campaign, and we are off to a terrific start! Thanks to over 200 backers, we are already at 44% of our goal! THANK YOU to all of you who have backed the project! Here’s what’s been going on this week with the book and the campaign: Book Stuff! Des and I are already working on the second movie parody. The script is done, and I’m working on the art. We’ll be releasing a sneak peek at the splash page for this one soon. EVERYONE is going to love that we picked this… READ MORE
September 28th, 2020 | Posted in Monday MADness
I taught my final workshop for the foreseeable future this past weekend in Chicago (more workshop news tomorrow). One of the artists participating was Scott Olney, who has been one of the people I most look forward to seeing when I do comic cons in the Chicago area. Fist, he’s a cool guy who is always fun to chat with. Second, he always has a challenge for me with a “Alfred as…” comic-con commission. He names some obscure Marvel character and has me draw Alfred E. Neuman as that character. There are always fun because it can he tough to figure out how to “Alfredize”… READ MORE
September 27th, 2020 | Posted in Mailbag
Q: You seemed to be somewhat dismissive of crowdfunding projects in the past, yet here you are doing one. Why the change of heart? Also, why the high $45k goal? A: I don’t think “dismissive” is an accurate description. I’d use the word “selective”. It’s true I have not promoted very many Kickstarters or IndieGoGos on my blog, but that’s not because I have anything against crowdfunded projects. I am just very picky about ones I do promote. I have to be convinced that They are creating something that really interests me They are going to follow through and make the book or movie or… READ MORE
September 25th, 2020 | Posted in General
Yesterday I posted a picture of my drawing board for an online challenge. A corner of my Al Hirschfeld original of me was showing, and I got several messages asking me to show the whole thing. I’ve done that several times on the blog, but here’s the story of “The Big Three” again. A good portion of one wall in my studio is filled by three caricatures of me by three of the greatest caricaturists ever, Al Hirschfeld, Sebastian Krüger and Mort Drucker. There’s a story behind each (if you only read one, read the Mort Drucker Story): The one on the left is by… READ MORE
September 24th, 2020 | Posted in General
It’s a “thing” right now for artists to post a picture of your drawing board, so here’s mine. I cut and recessed the LED light table into the board myself (the Batman “Shakespeare” bust switch turns it on). There’s a piece of plexi over the light table that is flush with the green drawing board cover so it’s one level surface. The two framed MAD splashes are signed by Jack Black and Kyle Gass (Fools of Rock) and the entire cast of “Mad Men”. That’s Greg Preston‘s picture of a bunch of the “Usual Gang of Idiots” from the 2012 NCS Reuben Awards, signed my… READ MORE
