Madison Square Park

Photos by Alison Clemente

Weather in NYC this past July has been mostly hot, but frequently perfect.



A few Saturdays ago, the morning weather could not have been better when I was invited by the Madison Square Park Conservancy to conduct drop in cartooning activities on a lawn near the playground.



Ably abetted by their resident teaching artist, Alison Clemente (unseen here behind the camera), I helped children and their parents and caregivers create comic strips, panel sequences, pop-up pictures, and other images.

This girl had just come from the Minions movie.

A good time was, I believe, had by all, including me. Many thanks to Miriam Fodera, Family Programs Manager, for reaching out.
I love my job.



Here's the flyer I handed out that day, still true:

Adults eager to cartoon should check out my SVA Continuing Ed courses for fall, enrolling right now.

Private Moment

scene from "The Royal Tenenbaums" performed by Nancy Ellen Shore and Henry Packer

For the last several weeks there was a theatrical event in Central Park that made for an amazing and unusual sketching opportunity. Private Moment, directed by David Levine, consisted of performances of scenes from eight classic movies set in the precise locations where the scenes were originally filmed.

scene from "The Out-of-Towners" performed by Matthew Schneck and Autumn Dornfeld

Actors would perform their scenes over and over all day long for six hours a day twice a week, unannounced. Watching these, I couldn't help thinking of the story The Invention of Morel by Adolpho Bioy-Casares. Finding the performances was like some marvelous grown-up Easter egg hunt. There's a recurring art show in Williamsburg at Crest Hardware where all the art is made from hardware or about hardware and it's displayed in the aisles with the merchandise. You walk around looking at things & asking yourself "is this art or hardware?" After awhile it doesn't matter because you see that the hardware is beautiful. This was like that-- searching the park for actual theatre, studying people, wondering if I found it yet, pretty soon it's all theatre, all imbued with that dignity and majesty. But the actual scenes and performances were terrific. The dedication and hard work of these actors was amazing to behold. 

scene from "Bullets Over Broadway" performed by Caroline Hewitt and Mickey Solis

I managed to see all but one of the performances and managed to sketch four of them. How I wish there'd been time to really delve into this! 

scene from "Cruel Intentions" performed by Xandra Clark and Camara McLaughlin

I sold a couple of these drawings to the director for $75 apiece. The rest are available on a first come basis, as are most of the sketches on my Tumblr (tiny drawings are cheaper). Direct all inquiries through my website.

Cartozia Sneak Peek

My specialty.

I'm relieved to have finally worked the joke below into one of my comics. Maybe now I won't be haunted by it every time I make a quesadilla.

These are from my contribution to Cartozia Tales #7, coming soon from Cartozia.com.

These comics are really fun and feature an amazing array of cartooning talent. It's fantasy world building treated as a game. Trust me, you'll want to subscribe and get all the issues and extras.
Editor Isaac Cates has posted gobs of fun samples on the Cartozia Tumblr.

Here's one where he calls me the "mad scientist of comics."

Student Spotlight: Links and News

Continuing my roundup of student work,...

First, please have a look at Van Hong's beautiful and detailed post about the Inking Comics course on her Wednesday Drawing blog.

Here are two happy people who’ve taken Inking Comics

In other news, Bryan Douglas had his wild and hilarious work on display in SVA's hallway gallery at 209 E 23d St, not long ago.



And here are comic and links by Figure Drawing for Cartoonists students,

Peter Batista




Kendra Allenby

Kyle Rose




and Cartooning Basics student Anna Laytham.



Classes are beginning this week. It's the last chance to enroll until we resume in the summer.
Thanks, everyone, and have a great spring!

Student Testimonials

One of the chief pleasures of being an art instructor is getting to watch your former students turn pro, land book deals, go viral, win awards, ...

I can’t pretend to have taught these artists everything they know. Most are already better than I’ll ever be. But I was there early on, giving help along the way. And this is the thanks I get:

“You’re someone whose teaching I admire - you engage with each student’s work on an individual level but also get the whole class to come together as a group. Your workshops and exercises bring home each topic while making people excited to make their own work. I loved being in your class.”
Andrea Tsurumi

“...I took your class and found it fundamentally reoriented my approach to comics drawing. Just your summation of the PURPOSE of inking (it tells the reader how to read) turned my thinking about the page on its head. I am still digging through your class handouts on a regular basis and, on your sage advice, going to weekly life drawing sessions--the lone ink-toting artist in the room!  Tom Motley! You taught a great class that really helped me.”
A. K. Summers

“On the last session of illustration class, my piece came up for crit. The teacher had a dozen nits to pick on various things, but the one thing he lavished unqualified praise for was - the inking. Said it showed a reverence for the line, and was comforting to look at. I credit Tom Motley’s Inking Comics course.”
Van Hong

“Tom gets great work out of students at every level. He helps beginners get off the ground, while at the same time challenging more advanced students to reach for the next level on the long path to competence in cartooning.
His courses are thoughtfully designed, combining easy-to-absorb, game-changing insights into art-making with life drawing, loads of useful handouts, and exercises that make every week a true learning experience.
His style is entertaining and encouraging, and he has a masterful way of giving you the push you need to try harder and get better.”
Peter Shevenell

“Tom Motley has got a great comics mind in addition to his inking proficiency, and is an amazing resource to have. I don’t think I’d ever have developed the amount that I had without his insights when I was starting to take comics seriously.”
Matt Lubchansky

The summer session of Inking Comics is slated to begin in a week. Sign up soon!

Student Spotlight: Zachary Brunner and Ron Zoni

Here are two students from the spring semester Inking Comics course who took very different approaches and achieved outstanding results.

Here's Zachary Brunner's "Single Source Light" exercise. The assignment is to begin a comic story with an all black panel. In panel 2, a light comes on, and the comic develops from there.

In an earlier post, I teased you with one of the panels from Zachary's final project. Here's the whole thing:

Podcast DJ, Ron Zoni's cartooning tends more toward the whimsical and playfully experimental, often recalling classic humor styles.

Here's a page from his final...

...and here are images from Ron's sketchbook:

It's one of the paradoxes of cartooning that the first thing the reader sees, the inking, is the last thing the artist did. The first thing the artist does, get an idea, is last thing the reader sees. They have to read the whole comic to know what that was. Whatever type of cartoonist you choose to be, it's your inking that'll win people over.

Class begins June 5. Sign up soon.

In Loving Memory...

Student Spotlight: More from Spring

I have more recent student work to share:

Jeremy Fuscaldo came to the Inking Comics final with this striking piece, just in time for May the Fourth. It appeared in Nyack News and Views.



Sibu Puthenveettil created the first page of this exciting story, also for Inking Comics. I'm eager to read more.



Here's a richly toned page from Rik Sansone's final Inking project. Rik creates editorial cartoons for the Clyde Fitch Report.

In the Figure Drawing for Cartooonists course, Gabriella Santiago-Vancak created this beautiful page-- another story I hope to read soon.

Sheetal Menka, in Cartooning Basics, sent these fantastic worksheets. Beyond their entertainment value, they can give you a sneak peek at the kinds of assignments I give.

Classes are enrolling right now and starting soon. Come sign up!

Student Spotlight: an Outstanding Spring Semester

Here are examples of the amazing group of students I was honored to instruct last semester.

David Beitzel, in the Cartooning Basics course, demonstrated delightful mastery of the comic strip. Follow Dave's blog here.


Laura Joh Rowland, also in the Basics class, created the first chapter of a finely crafted dramatic comic about a photographer trailing Jack the Ripper. Here's how it begins:

Peter Shevenell has appeared on my blog before. This time, he completed the Figure Drawing for Cartoonists course, focusing on 1970s era superheroes.

Zachary Brunner amazed us with his fine work in the Inking Comics class. Here's a panel from his final project,...

and here are a couple studies of one of our excellent models.

SVA employs the best art models. In the Inking course, we draw from models several times and in the Figure Drawing course we draw from models every second week.

And finally, Nathan Place, a.k.a. Difang, entertained us in the Inking class with his new online comic, which you can follow here. He posts a new page every Sunday night.

When such high calibre students come to me already knowing most of what they need, I'm able to help them fine tune and clarify key steps in the creative process. But don't let these folks intimidate you. These courses are helpful for students of all levels.

I'm collecting more examples of student work and hope to post more soon, so keep watching. Summer courses start in June. Come sign up.