Drawings, Paintings, and other bits of art which are (mostly) related to comic books and other pop-culture ephemera. I hope to post something at least every week or two, so check back semi-often.
Click on the pictures to embiggen.
31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
Addams Family: Morticia
It's the O.G. Goth Woman, Morticia Addams!
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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.
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STEP TWO: And here is the first pass with Rebelle's Soft Charcoal Brush.
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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.
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Done in Rebelle 8.
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31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
Addams Family: Gomez
Time for another series, why not? I've had several people suggest "The Addams Family". Sure, but if I'm doing it, it's gonna be the black-and-white, 1964 TV Series. Yes, the 1990's movie (and its sequel) was fun, but it's the original TV Series that comes to mind. Well, that and the original Charles Addams comic panels, which were delightful fun in a semi-macabre way that I would randomly find in collected cartoon books. They called to my morbid sense of humor as a kid and would often get a cackle or two outta me.
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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.
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STEP TWO: And here is the first pass with Rebelle's Soft Charcoal Brush.
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STEP THREE: Here are the finished tones and values. I noticed there were a few things to correct, such as the cheek/jawline along the right-side. The rest of it was mostly minor changes and a bunch of more subtle shading, etc.
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Done in Rebelle 8.
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31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
Hellraiser IV: Bloodline (1996)
It's another mash-up, this time it is Betty Boop and the female Cenobite, Angelique, introduced in "Hellraiser IV: Bloodline" (1996) (A.K.A. "Pinhead in Space"). The movie itself was mostly OK at best, but the ending with the spaceship folding into the Elysium Configuration/Puzzle Box to destroy Pinhead did catch my attention and was pretty clever, IMHO.
As for Betty Boop, some of those cartoons from the 1930's were really dark, surreal, and, of course, a bit horny. Something about the bendy nature of the characters and the reality around them give off a certain level uncanny that I always felt subtly unsettling as a kid.
Something about Angelique's peeled back, exposed skull and Betty Boop's bulbous head just sorta seemed like some horror franchise just got their bloody chocolate in someone's animated peanut butter.
BOO! Oop-a-Doop!
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STEP ONE: Here are the quick, digital pencils in Clip Studio Paint on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas.
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STEP TWO: And here are the digital inks.
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STEP THREE: Here are the finished colors... er, make that the tones and values, done on their own layer.
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Done in Clip Studio Paint.
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31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
Halloween (1978)
This time it is Michael Myers "Halloween" (1978) done in the vague style of Winsor McCay from "Little Nemo in Slumberland" and "Dreams of the Rarebit Fiend". There was something about young Michael Myers standing in his Halloween clown costume holding the knife in hand that made me think of Little Nemo in Slumberland, so that was an easy connection. Also, I thought the Moon having a cartoon face was also from appearances in the comic strips.
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STEP ONE: Here are the quick, digital pencils in Rebelle 8 on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas.
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STEP TWO: And here are the digital inks. Since Winsor McCay used a more equal size, dead line, I vaguely emulated the same.
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STEP THREE: Here are the finished colors, done on a series of layers. I tried to keep some of it a little more painterly, but also wanted to keep things from getting too fuzzy with the watercolor settings.
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Done in Rebelle 8.
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31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
Well, well, it's officially past the halfway point. So far, so OK. This time it is a vague mash-up of "Freddy vs. Jason" (2003) and "Calvin and Hobbes". For some dumb reason, I thought I should do it up as an entire comic page rather than a simple panel or two.
Yeah, I realize I have Freddy complain about the movie ending in a basic draw, only to have the cartoon also end in a draw. But, what're ya gonna do?
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STEP ONE: Here are the quick, digital pencils in Clip Studio Paint on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas.
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STEP TWO: And here are the digital inks.
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STEP THREE: Here are the finished colors, done on their own layer. I did debate whether I should export the Ink Layer as a .PNG and color the comic in Rebelle in a more realistic watercolor style, but figured I was running out of time and I had to hurry my rear into gear.
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Done in Clip Studio Paint.
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31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
John Carpenter's The Thing (1982)
Hey, hey, it's pretty much the halfway point. This time it's Thing #1 and Thing #2 from Dr. Seuss's "Cat in the Hat" as, well, Thing #1 and Thing #2 that became Split-Face from "John Carpenter's The Thing" (1982). Sure, it's a joke so obvious that even I made a similar one previously with Thing #1 and Thing #2 as John Carpenter's The Thing, as have many others, of course. But, since I guess I'll be doing mash-ups this week, I figured I could revisit that well, why not?
I debated on how realistic I wanted to go with this, but since it was a mash-up, I decided to keep it a bit more Seussian in its whimsy. I'm debating about revisiting it before the end of the month on the opposite side of the scale.
I also thought it would be amusing to have the "Thing #1" and "Thing #2" signs on their chest weirdly merging, as well.
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STEP ONE: Here are the quick, digital pencils in Rebelle 8 on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas.
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STEP TWO: And here are the digital inks.
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STEP THREE: Here are the finished colors, done on their own layer.
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Done in Rebelle 8.
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31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Invisible Man (1933)
I often joke about having to use a blank picture and say it is "The Invisible Man" if I ever don't finish a drawing/painting in time. Well, in this case, I did the Claude Rains "Invisible Man" as a mash-up with Charles Schulz's Charlie Brown for no reason whatsoever. Well, other than I wanted to do something with "The Invisible Man" since I was doing the Universal Monsters and all. And the image of having him as Charlie Brown popped into my head, so I decided to go with it (and will do a few more in this vein, perhaps).
Alongside that image, I thought it would have been amusing to have him writing a variation of Rorschach's Journal from "Watchmen": "Invisible Man's journal. October 14th, 2025. Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city is afraid of me. I have seen its true face..." but thought it was maybe a bit too much, with a hat on a hat on top of yet a third hat.
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STEP ONE: Here are the quick, digital pencils in Rebelle 8 on a 2,000px x 3,000px @300dpi digital canvas.
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STEP TWO: And here are the digital inks.
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STEP THREE: Here are the plain colors also done in Rebelle.
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STEP FOUR: I opened the color plate in Photoshop and used the Color Halftone filter. And then I imported the finished picture into Clip Studio Paint and placed the paper texture over top.
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Done in Rebelle 8 with an assist from Clip Studio Paint and Photoshop.
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31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Breakfast Club: Carmella Creeper
Whew, got it done just in time and an hour-and-a-half to spare (well, about one hour by the time you factor in the scanning, clean-up, and whatnot). Although, I did think it would be fun to set it to post at 11:59:59pm just to add a bit of suspense.
In my dotage, I do have to admit that Carmella Creeper somehow slipped past my Monster Cereal radar. Well, that and my attempts to avoid sugary cereals, so I don't pay as much attention to that part of the food aisle as I did a years ago--aside from a brief notice that it is that time of year when the Monster Cereals are back out again (which I find reassuring, for some nostalgic reason).
Anyhoo, here is "The Bride of Frankenstein" (1935) as Carmella Creeper. Although, she seems to look a lot like the goth lady on NCIS, Abby Sciuto (played by Pauley Perrette... Yes, I had to Google it 'cuz I didn't know the answer to either of those questions).
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STEP ONE: Here are the quick pencils I did digitally in Clip Studio Paint on an 12" x 16" canvas @ 300dpi.
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STEP TWO: I transferred the drawing onto a 12" x 16" gessoed chipboard using Carbon Paper/Transfer Paper, which I then painted.
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Done with Acrylic on 12" x 16" Gessoed Chipboard.
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31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Breakfast Club: Frute Brute
Still done in plenty of time, it's Frute Brute done as the Universal Wolfman.
There's still one more Monster Cereal mascot to go for tomorrow, and after that... well, I'm still trying to figure that out. We shall see!
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STEP ONE: Here are the quick pencils I did digitally in Clip Studio Paint on an 11" x 14" canvas @ 300dpi. I printed it out on 11" x 14" paper.
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STEP TWO: I transferred the drawing onto a 12" x 16" gessoed chipboard using Carbon Paper/Transfer Paper, which I then painted.
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Done with Acrylic on 12" x 16" Gessoed Chipboard.
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31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Breakfast Club: Yummy Mummy
It's Yummy Mummy, based on the original "The Mummy" (1932) with Boris Karloff (y'know, Frankenstein's Monster). The colors were just getting too muddy when I tried to do a more realistic shading and I wanted those colors to pop, so I went with a completely different painting scheme. Almost a sort of color solarized effect. It... it definitely stands out. I'm unsure if it was successful, but here it is nonetheless.
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STEP ONE: Here are the quick pencils I did digitally in Clip Studio Paint on an 11" x 14" canvas @ 300dpi. I printed it out on 11" x 14" paper.
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STEP TWO: I transferred the drawing onto a 12" x 16" gessoed chipboard using Carbon Paper/Transfer Paper, which I then painted.
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Done with Acrylic on 12" x 16" Gessoed Chipboard.
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31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Breakfast Club: Boo-Berry
It's Boo-Berry, this time as the "Phantom of the Opera" (1925). I'll be honest, I wanted to do "The Invisible Man" (1933), but with both "The Invisible Man" and "The Mummy" coming up for Yummy-Mummy seemed a little too close together. Also, Phantom and Ghost seemed like enough of a connection to hang Boo-Berry's pork-pie hat upon. And bow-tie.
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STEP ONE: Here are the quick pencils I did digitally in Clip Studio Paint on an 11" x 14" canvas @ 300dpi. I printed it out on 11" x 14" paper.
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STEP TWO: I transferred the drawing onto a 12" x 16" gessoed chipboard using Carbon Paper/Transfer Paper, which I then painted.
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Done with Acrylic on 12" x 16" Gessoed Chipboard.
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31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Breakfast Club: Count Chocula
Hey, hey, everybody! Next up on the Universal Monster Cereal mash-up is Bela Lugosi's "Dracula" as Count Chocula. Two down, four more to go.
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STEP ONE: Here are the quick pencils I did digitally in Clip Studio Paint on an 11" x 14" canvas @ 300dpi. I printed it out on 11" x 14" paper.
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STEP TWO: I transferred the drawing onto a 12" x 16" gessoed chipboard using Carbon Paper/Transfer Paper, which I then painted.
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Done with Acrylic on 12" x 16" Gessoed Chipboard.
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31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Breakfast Club: Frankenberry
This is an idea that I've had previously--using the Universal Monsters as the Monster Cereal characters--but this time I am doing all the Breakfast Club in a larger, painted format. First out of the gate is Frankenstein's Monster as Frankenberry.
Like "The Horrors of Sesame Street", I'm just doing the digital pencils and finished painting. Alas, for these larger ones, I'm just painting as fast as I can to stay on schedule. Sigh...
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STEP ONE: Here are the quick pencils I did digitally in Clip Studio Paint on an 11" x 14" canvas @ 300dpi. I printed it out on trimmed down 11" x 14" paper.
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STEP TWO: I transferred the drawing onto a 12" x 16" gessoed chipboard using Carbon Paper/Transfer Paper, which I then painted.
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Done with Acrylic on 12" x 16" Gessoed Chipboard.
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31 Days of HELL-O-Ween 2025:
The Horrors of Sesame Street - Grover
It's the last of "The Horrors of Sesame Street"for now. This time it's Grover as "John Carpenter's The Thing"--one of my favorite Horror Movies.
One week down! Next on deck, another half-dozen series on Monster Cereal characters. After that... I dunno. I guess we'll all find out at the same time.
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STEP ONE: Here are the quick pencils I did digitally in Clip Studio Paint on an 11" x 14" canvas @ 300dpi. I printed it out on trimmed down 11" x 14" paper.
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STEP TWO: I transferred the drawing onto a 12" x 16" gessoed chipboard using Carbon Paper/Transfer Paper, which I then painted. Unfortunately, I didn't think to do a scan of the mid-point in the painting, so here's the finished painting.
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Done with Acrylic on 12" x 16" Gessoed Chipboard.
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