Happy New Year - Supergirl-uary

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Supergirl-uary

HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

What's this, a Happy New Year Post on the actual New Year's Day?  Who'da thunk it?

Just to carry on with last year's New Year's post, this time it's Supergirl instead of Superman.  I will admit, being a huge fan of "Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow" (a book I've gifted to my daughters), I am looking forward to the movie set to be released later this year.  I'm also hardly the first to point out that it is a super-hero version of "True Grit", and the Charles Portis book and Coen Bros. movie in 2010 are also both great.  And, yeah, Supergirl-uary is a deliberately, comically a terrible name.

I want to give a sincere "Thank You" to all of you who have stopped by to gawk and rubberneck at my modest Blog.  As I mentioned in my previous End of Year post, there has been a 10x to 20x increase in traffic to this Blog (although, it may just be bots and AI scrapers trying to steal art and whatnot.  Again, suck it Tech-Overlords and Oligarch Dickheads trying to force AI Slop on everyone and everything).  The Blog also crossed a half-million Views, so that's something, I guess.  A mind blowing, humbling statistic to me.

Last year I was hoping to do some larger projects for the Blog.  Well, it was a resolution that sorta was half-done.  I did have several larger projects in 2025, but they fell outside the scope of this Blog, alas, although I did do the most posts on this Blog last year (69 posts--Nice!).

This year, aside from a trying to break last year's number of posts, I have a few comic-based projects specifically that I am hoping to do for my own amusement.  We'll see how that goes with this New Year's Delusions... er, I mean New Year's Resolutions!  So, stay tuned and check back often!  Well, not too often, of course, we don't wanna be weird about it...  Y'know, casual often.

The next post should be back to our regularly scheduled silliness, Batman-uary style!

* * *

Done digitally in Rebelle 8, with as assist in Photoshop for the lettering.

.

Moss Piglet (December 2025): Inventions

Moss Piglet (December 2025):
Invention

Hey, hey, it's another cartoon/comic strip-based post about a submission I made a little bit ago to "Moss Piglet", a small art magazine out of Kenosha, Wisconsin I've been contributing to the past few years.  They use a monthly theme for it's publication and this time it was "Invention", and what better Invention than a Time Machine?

I figured, since I had this cartoon taking place on December 31, 2025, it would be a good one to use for the last day of the year.  Also, if I was visited by my future self, it would probably happen in about that way.

Since it is the end of the 2025, I do want to take a few moments to sincerely thank everyone who has stopped by to gawk and rubber-neck at my modest Blog.  It is much appreciated!

I'm not sure what happened this year, but the numbers on my Blog really took off by a factor of 10x-20x.  Not that anything else seems to have changed--just a case of "Line go up" on a graph--but it is still interesting and somewhat flattering, if real.  Although, for all I know, it's probably just AI Bots scraping all the Internetz for art to steal.  Who knows?  I'll be posting regardless and Generative AI can go to H-E-Double Hockeysticks, as can the rich dickheads trying to push it down our throats ala foie gras.

Speaking of posts, this year I've done the most posts--69 (Nice!).  And, for next year, hopefully there will be more.  I did sort of like running with a theme a couple times, and will probably do that again.

Anyhoo, THANK YOU to all my friends, enemies, and everyone else who has stopped by to gawk.  Out with the old year and in with the New Year!  Here's to hoping everyone has a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

* * *

For those of you interested, here's the link to the Homepage for "Moss Piglet": https://www.krazines.com/

You can also view previous issues online at: https://www.krazines.com/archives.html  If you're able, subscribe and tell 'em John D. sent you!  There isn't a discount with it or anything, but it will give the illusion that I have friends and know people and such. 😉 

* * *

Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

.

Merry Sithmas 2025 - Darth Maul

MERRY SITHMAS
Darth Maul

Merry Sithmas!  I hope everyone is well and has/had/will have a great Holiday Season (whatever you do or don't believe)!  Rather than do up a more obscure Sith character (cannon or non-cannon, who knows?), I figured I'd dust of Darth Maul again with his Christmas Tree lights for horns.

Sure, last year I was hoping to perhaps do up a "Real" animated video for Sithmas and while I did do up a better animated .gif, it is not quite the true, smooth animation I had in mind.  Oh, well, next year, for sure!  Probably...

* * *

Alas, I don't have a Work in Progress, but here's a single image .jpeg rather than the Animate .GIF for no apparent reason at all...

I did up the Darth Maul and Winter Scene digital painting in Rebelle, leaving the Christmas Tree Bulbs/Horns on his head to be done in Photoshop, along with the snow and the type for "Merry Sithmas".

* * *

Done digitally in Rebelle and some in Photoshop (with the animated .GIF produced in Photoshop).

. 

Merry Sithmas 2025 - General Grievous

MERRY SITHMAS
General Grievous

Hey, hey, it's time for a Sithmas Card!  This time it's not a "True" Sith, but someone adjacent to Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus, as well as killing a number of Jedi, as well.  So, we'll call it close enough!

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the digital pencils, done in Clip Studio Paint.  It is a 2,00px x 2,791px document at 300dpi.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here are the digital inks.  They were mostly done with a 15pt digital brush.

* * *

STEP THREE:  Here are the colors, done in a variety of layers under the inked layer before the animation lights were applied.  For the animation, three images were imported into Photoshop in the Timeline, and exported as an animated .GIF.

* * *

Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint (with the animated .GIF produced in Photoshop).

.

Moss Piglet (October 2025): Hidden

 Moss Piglet (October 2025):
Hidden

Hey, hey, it's another cartoon/comic strip-based post about a submission I made a little bit ago to "Moss Piglet", a small art magazine out of Kenosha, Wisconsin I've been contributing to the past few years.  They use a monthly theme for it's publication and this time it was "Hidden".  And who is more hidden than Waldo?

I kind of wanted to keep the Song Title Theme going with the name of each strip, but the closest I got figure on using for the last one was "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"... which probably still would have worked now that I think about it.  Ah, well, I went with the literary pun, instead.  Live and learn!  Well, live, anyways.  Something about Waldo being cast out of Eden amused me at that moment--not that it takes much.

As usual, I managed not to save any work-in-progress steps for "Moss Piglet", which, at this point, seems to be part of the process for my "Moss Piglet" submissions.  Typically 'cuz I'm scrambling at the last minute to come up with an idea and then get it finished...

* * *

For those of you interested, here's the link to the Homepage for "Moss Piglet": https://www.krazines.com/

You can also view previous issues online at: https://www.krazines.com/archives.html  If you're able, subscribe and tell 'em John D. sent you!  There isn't a discount with it or anything, but it will give the illusion that I have friends and know people and such. 😉 

* * *

Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

.

Day 31: The Incredible Melting Man (1977) - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Incredible Melting Man (1977)

Well, I made it--and with plenty of time to spare!  And as is the tradition, it's myself represented at the beginning and end of each year--and this year I feel like this picture of "The Incredible Melting Man" (1977) looks.  Which is pretty much how I feel at the end of every "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween," alongside a mild sense of accomplishment of actually having finished it.  So, there's that.

I've probably mentioned it before, when I was a kid, I found a huge stack of "Monsters of Film Land" and "Starlog" magazines at a rummage sale.  One of them had "The Incredible Melting Man" on the cover and I must have pored over that cover so many times.  It was a gross-out cover and it definitely captured my attention.  As for the movie itself, it was pretty slow-moving (like The Incredible Melting Man!) and the story did sort of fall apart (like The Incredible Melting Man!), but it was good, clean fun (like The Incredible Melting Man!  Oh, wait... that's the opposite of The Incredible Melting Man...)

This was a bit of a strange year for my dumb "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween" challenge, in that I was sort of bored just painting various horror movie monsters (and assumed everyone else was bored of seeing them) and decided to mix stuff up a little bit--in some cases literally, what with all the Mash-Ups and all.  Sure, there were still a few referenced drawings here and there (particularly the Addams Family and the Horror Host series), so it wasn't a complete deviation from my normal challenge.

Last year was almost all traditional acrylic paintings on cardstock.  This year was a bit heavier on the digital side of the ledger.  Granted, the first dozen mash-ups of "The Horrors of Sesame Street" and "The Breakfast Club" were 12" x 16" on chipboard, so those really kicked my butt as far as the amount of time involved.

Maybe I'll try something different yet again next year for HELL-O-Ween.  As always, we shall see...

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the quick, digital pencils in Rebelle 8 on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas with the digital Pencil Brush.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here is the first pass with Rebelle's Filbert Quick Oil Brush.

* * *

STEP THREE:  And here's the finished digital painting, done with a variety of brushes, blending, and whatnot.  Also, lots of specular highlights with all the gooey stuff happening.

* * *

Done in Rebelle 8.

.

Day 30: John Carpenter's The Thing (1982) Mash-Up - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)

I mentioned earlier when I posted the original mash-up with "John Carpenter's The Thing" 15 days ago that I was considering redoing it in a more realistic manner.  So, it's the Thing-Thing-Thing: Redux

Well, I didn't quite achieve the full realism I was working toward, but I got a little bit closer and decided to post it as the second-to-last post for 2025's "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween".

One day to go!

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here is the previous posting, which I imported back into Rebelle 8 on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas.

* * *

STEP TWO:  'Cuz I'm a little slow, I forgot to include a mid-point "Work in Progress", so here it is completed.  I did keep the merging Thing #1 and Thing #2 logo the same, as it seemed to fit without having to be modified.

* * *

Done in Rebelle 8.

.

Day 29: Addams Family: Wednesday - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
Addams Family: Wednesday

Hey, it's Wednesday, again--And it's also Wednesday Addams!  Oh, and it's the same joke as last Wednesday.  That's right, I'm so environmentally conscious, I recycle all my jokes, too!  Although, it's probably better to just leave them on the compost pile now that I think about it...

This time, it's a semi-cartoonish version of Christina Ricci from the amusing "Addams Family" (1991) and "Addams Family Values" (1993).

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the quick, digital pencils in Rebelle 8 on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas with the digital Pencil Brush.

* * *

STEP TWO:  Because I wasn't paying enough attention, I had merged down and kept working on the first pass layer until it was pretty much done.  Ah, well, one of these days I will learn.  Not any time soon, I'm sure, but one of these days...

* * *

Done in Rebelle 8.

.

Day 28: TV Horror Hosts - Svengoolie - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
Svengoolie

This time it's the relatively local Horror Host out of Chicago, Svengoolie, on MeTV.  I watched it semi-regularly on Saturday evenings just after  a double-shot of Adam West's "Batman".  Lots of Sci-Fi and Horror B-Movies--right in my wheelhouse.

The finish line is in sight and we're down to the final three!

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the quick, digital pencils in Rebelle 8 on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas with the digital Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here is the first pass with Rebelle's Soft Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP THREE:  Here are the finished tones and values, done with lots of blending, back-and-forth, etc.

* * *

Done in Rebelle 8.

. 

Day 27: TV Horror Hosts - Elvira: Mistress of the Dark - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
Elvira: Mistress of the Dark

Continuing on with the TV Horror Hosts theme, it's Elvira: Mistress of the Dark.  I would see her show up on TV occasionally when I was an early teen--just when a young male would be mostly likely to imprint on a seductively curvaceous TV Host (sorry, Svengoolie, you're cool and all, but you arrived much later and never stood a chance).  It was all fourth wall breaking high camp with terrible puns.  Y'know, the stuff I do all the time. 

She also was also the illustrated host of DC Comics "Elvira's House of Mystery", which were PG-ish ghost and ghoul stories ala "Tales from the Crypt" and other EC Comics of yore, as well as some other comic books here-and-there.  There was also a 1988 Elvira: Mistress of the Dark movie which I recall fondly, again filled with campy fun.

I have frequently mentioned the massive impact that the obscure, Wisconsin-based TV Host driven show ,"T.J. and the A.N.T." (All Night Theater) made on my childhood.  I was 7 years old and staying up all night on Fridays to watch Sci-Fi and Monster B-Movies, so I already had a predilection toward TV Horror Hosts and MST3K (alas, I have watched a shocking number of movies they have featured without Joel/Mike, Crow, and Tom Servo in the corner).  The format for the TV Horror Hosts brings a deep nostalgia in my dotage.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the quick, digital pencils in Rebelle 8 on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas with the digital Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here is the first pass with Rebelle's Soft Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP THREE:  Here are the finished tones and values, done with lots of blending, back-and-forth, etc.

* * *

Done in Rebelle 8.

. 

Day 26: TV Horror Hosts - SCTV: Count Floyd - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
SCTV: Count Floyd

Well, since I mentioned SCT's Count Floyd (played by the late, great Joe Flaherty), why not included him among a very brief series of TV horror hosts?  I watched "SCTV" as a young kid, staying up really late with it playing after "Saturday Night Live".  One of the recurring segments was Count Floyd, an attempted TV horror host dressed as a dime-store Dracula with a grease paint widow's peak to introduce and talk during breaks in the movie.  He would try to hype up the terrible movies with "Very scary stuff" to stuff that was obviously not very scary at all.

Count Floyd amused me, and one of the things that always stuck with me was Count Floyd in his 3D glasses watching "Dr. Tongue's Evil House of Pancakes" spoofing the 3D movie cliche by breaking the scene to move stuff back and forth toward the camera with a semi-spooky music sting.  "Would you like some more... PANCAKES?"

I used to imitate it, myself, all the time.  Yes, I was an irritating kid.  And equally irritating adult!

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the quick, digital pencils in Rebelle 8 on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas with the digital Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here is the first pass with Rebelle's Soft Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP THREE:  Here are the finished tones and values, done with lots of blending, back-and-forth, etc.  I also added color to the 3D glasses as an interesting accent. 

* * *

Done in Rebelle 8.

.

Day 25: The Thing vs Thing vs Thing #1 vs Thing #2 vs Thing - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
Thing vs Thing vs Thing #1 vs Thing #2 vs Thing

This time it's Thing vs Thing vs Thing #1 vs Thing #2 vs Thing done up in a vague Mortal Kombat style.  Of course, I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to decide on the order I should list the various Things and am still not sure if I should have done 'em in a different order.  Oh, well, it's not like I over-explain every joke until it is dead, comes back from the grave, only for me to over-explain and kill it again.

Addams Family Thing is paying tribute to Kurt Russel's line "Yeah, F**K you, too!" before tossin' the dynamite at The Thing.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the quick, blue-line digital pencils in Clip Studio Paint on a 3,000px x 2,000px @300dpi digital canvas.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here are the digital inks.

* * *

STEP THREE:  Here are the finished colors, done on their own layer.

* * *

STEP FOUR:  I used the Mosaic Filter in Clip Studio Paint to give it a more 16-bit Video Game feel to make it somewhat resemble the arcade version of Mortal Kombat.  There is a trade off between trying to balance the pixelated look and still keep some of the linework.

* * *

Done in Clip Studio Paint.

.

Day 24: Addams Family TV Series (1964): Uncle Fester - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
Addams Family: Uncle Fester

Ah, Uncle Fester.  One of my favorite characters in "The Addams Family" TV Series.  "It all began and started, when Uncle Fester farted..." Oh, wait, that's an alternate lyrics to "The Addams Family" theme song that we sang back when I was a kid--right up there with "Jingle Bells, Batman smells..."

One week to go!

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the quick, digital pencils in Rebelle 8 on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas with the digital Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here is the first pass with Rebelle's Soft Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP THREE:  Here are the finished tones and values, done with lots of blending, back-and-forth, etc.  I also used the airbrush tool to add a bit of a glow to the lightbulb.

* * *

Done in Rebelle 8.

.

Day 23: Addams Family TV Series (1964): Lurch - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
Addams Family: Lurch

You rang?  It's the late, great, character actor, Ted Cassidy, as Lurch.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the quick, digital pencils in Rebelle 8 on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas with the digital Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here is the first pass with Rebelle's Soft Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP THREE:  Here are the finished tones and values, done with lots of blending, back-and-forth, etc.

* * *

Done in Rebelle 8.

.

Day 22: Addams Family TV Series (1964): Wednesday - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
Addams Family: Wednesday

Continuing The Addams Family, it's Wednesday!  Oh, and it also Wednesday Addams, too!

Yes, I had to plan on starting The Addams Family series with Gomez on this past Sunday to make sure Wednesday would be done on, um, Wednesday (sure, I could have reversed Pugsley and Wednesday if needed, but that's beside the point).  Yes, it's a long, long way to go for a single, bad joke, but I never let a little something like that stop me.

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the quick, digital pencils in Rebelle 8 on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas with the digital Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here is the first pass with Rebelle's Soft Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP THREE:  Here are the finished tones and values, done with lots of blending, back-and-forth, etc.  I also realized the head was tilted a little too much to the side and straightened it about 10-15 degrees.

* * *

Done in Rebelle 8.

.

Day 21: Addams Family TV Series (1964): Pugsley - 31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025

31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
Addams Family: Pugsley

Continuing The Addams Family, here's Pugsley.  Kids... very scary!  (I suddenly feel like Count Floyd from SCTV and his 3D House of Pancakes.  Sigh.)

* * *

STEP ONE:  Here are the quick, digital pencils in Rebelle 8 on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas with the digital Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP TWO:  And here is the first pass with Rebelle's Soft Charcoal Brush.

* * *

STEP THREE:  Here are the finished tones and values, done with lots of blending, back-and-forth, etc.  The usual ticky-tac sort of stuff.

* * *

Done in Rebelle 8.

.