Moss Piglet (March 2025): Ordinary Adventures

 Moss Piglet (March 2025):
Ordinary Adventures

Hey, hey, it's another post about a submission I made a few months 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.  This time it was "Ordinary Adventures" (no excitement allowed!) and I figured the result would work just fine for my Nerdy/Geeky Blog as it is a faux comic book cover in a mock "Tales From the Crypt" and Daniel Clowes-style mash-up.  Except really, really boring.  Like most of my life, now that I think about it... 😳

Once again, I managed not to save any work-in-progress steps for the "Moss Piglet".  Something I seem to forget to do with my "Moss Piglet" submissions.  Usually 'cuz I'm scrambling at the last minute to get an idea and then get it finished...

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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  This one was on the back cover for those interested.

If you're able, subscribe and tell 'em John D. sent you!

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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May the Fourth be With You 2025 (Belated)

May the Fourth be With You 2025
(Belated)

Hey, hey!  Sure, I'm just a smidge late to the whole "May the Fourth" thing... What's that?  SIXTEEN days?  Great googly moogly, that **IS** late!  Oh, well, I'm sure I'll be on top of it next year for sure...

This time it is in reference to the alleged and apocryphal story of George Lucas himself wanting Jaxxon removed from the Marvel "Star Wars" comics series, mixed up with the "Somehow, Palpatine has returned" meme.

To re-explain everything about Jaxxon (and to copy-and-paste this part from last year's Blog), he's part of my continuing--although not as Quixotic as it used to be--quest to make Jaxxon, the "Star Wars" version of a green Bugs Bunny, into something vaguely popular.  Jaxxon started in the Marvel Comics "Star Wars" #8, taking place after "A New Hope", in a pastiche of "Seven Samurai"/"Magnificent Seven" and...  And it's a long story.  He's a 6' tall, green rabbit which was loosely based on Bugs Bunny, that was in "Star Wars" comics.  Now he's appeared in comics (sure, the "Star Wars: Adventures" line, but I'll take it as a win and say he's officially canon, now), and apparently even has a Black Series action figure.  He also is the star of the "Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories" one-shot with Dark Horse Comics last year (with an awesome Mike Mignola cover).  So, shall I declare myself the winner and say I'm done?  Oh, I'll probably beat that dead horse a little more!

I just did the picture on a single Layer and completely forgot to show the progress until it was too late.  Yeah, I'm sure I'll be on top of that, too, someday...

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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Tron: Legacy (2010) - Gem - Digital Quick Paint

Tron: Legacy (2010)
Gem

It's yet another "Tron: Legacy" (2010) Quick Paint, this time for Gem (who may or may not be a hard-light hologram... [Insert "Jem and the Holograms" pun here].  She was another character that compelled my attention when she was on screen--something striking about her appearance... or, maybe it was just the contrast of the white costume with the dark backgrounds of The Arena.  Again, nothing to do with a skin-tight catsuit with glow sticks on it.

I am hesitant to call this one a "Quick Paint", as this one took a bit more time, but here we are (alas, whenever I start with something like this, the first one is a couple-a-few hours, and then the amount of time begins to increment up and almost doubles and doubles again, etc.).  Also, it didn't help that I had to do a lot of back-and-forth to get everything in the correct proportions.  I was guilty of rushing the layout so I could get on with the fun of the painting the character, Gem, but then spent a lot of time just fixing the proportions I should have corrected before I started getting serious on the actual Digital Painting.  Ah, well.

And, yes, I broke out the Light Pen just to use the Light Pen for the sake of it being a "Tron" pic.

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STEP ONE:  Here is the quick layout, done in Procreate on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas @ 300dpi, done in Procreate with a Conte Brush.

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STEP TWO:  And here it is a little further along.

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STEP THREE:  And the finished pic, for better or worse.  I did some Adjustment Layers in Procreate, and then a slight color correction in Photoshop to warm up the colors a little bit more.  The color looked good in Procreate, but were nearly absolutely blue on my other screen (it's not color calibrated or anything fancy like that).

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Done digitally in Procreate on an iPad (with a slight assist from Photoshop for some minor color correction).

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Tron: Legacy (2010) - Quorra - Digital Quick Paint

Tron: Legacy (2010)
Quorra

I'm still just goofing around with Procreate and having fun with the Tron series, so it's another Digital Quick Paint with Tron: Legacy (2010).  Olivia Wilde as Quorra was a sleek, cool character that I've always been meaning to draw/paint.  She was absolutely magnetic on screen, IMHO, and I'm reasonably sure the skin-tight leather light suit had very little to do with it.

That said, I will probably just do one or two more "Tron" themed ones and move on to whatever else catches my eye,  next.

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STEP ONE:  Here is the quick layout, done in Procreate on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas @ 300dpi, done in Procreate with a Conte Brush.

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STEP TWO:  And, since I wasn't paying attention and forgot to save one of the mid-steps, here's the finished pic.

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Done digitally in Procreate on an iPad.

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Tron: Legacy (2010) - Flynn - Digital Quick Paint

Tron: Legacy (2010)
Flynn

I'm having fun with the Tron series, so it's another Digital Quick Paint, this time for the sequel, Tron: Legacy (2010).  It's in like Flynn, with Jeff Bridges doing the Bio-Digital Dude, man.

"Tron: Legacy" was far more visually striking, showing how far digital effects have come; it's the move up from the Atari 2600 of my youth and to the latest X-Stations and Play-Boxes of the kids today.  I always had a soft spot for the Tron franchise, and I thought "Tron: Legacy" was pretty good and had great special effects.

Alas, I didn't get to use the Light Pen in Procreate.  Aw, well, maybe next time...

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STEP ONE:  Here is the quick layout, done in Procreate on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas @ 300dpi, done in Procreate with a Conte Brush.

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STEP TWO:  And here it is a little further along.

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STEP THREE:  And the finished pic, for better or worse.

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Done digitally in Procreate on an iPad.

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Tron (1982) - Sark - Digital Quick Paint

Tron (1982)
Sark

It's another Digital Quick Paint from the original "Tron" (1982).  This time it is Sark (SARK-ES-1117821), the Second in Command to the bad guys, but he was more visually interesting to me than the Master Controller Program, IMHO.  Again, just goofing off in Procreate and figured I'd post it.

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STEP ONE:  Here is the quick layout, done in Procreate on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas @ 300dpi, done in Procreate with a Conte Brush.

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STEP TWO:  And here it is a little further along.

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STEP THREE:  And the finished pic.  I used the Light Pen in Procreate to do the Light Effects on the costume.  Once again, I went a little overboard, but didn't completely over do it like the last one.

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Done digitally in Procreate on an iPad.

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Tron (1982) - Flynn / Clu - Digital Quick Paint

Tron (1982)
Flynn / Clu

Hey, hey, the other day they dropped a teaser trailer for "Tron: Ares" and I figured what better time to do a series of digital quick paints for "Tron" and "Tron: Legacy", why not?

The original "Tron" (1982), while revolutionary for its time for visual effects, is rather slow-moving and mostly on the dull side through today's eyes, however, there is something within that I find compelling about it.  There are bits (and bytes!) that are more clever than they should be, and the late, great Syd Mead's digital designs are amazing.  I do have a warm fondness for the series, nonetheless.

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STEP ONE:  Here is the quick layout, done in Procreate on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas @ 300dpi.  Some marginal noodling around with some oil-style brushes I got to play around with and see how well they worked.  They are OK, but not quite what I was looking for (alas, the curse of most brushes--when will I learn it is not the tools, per se, but the practice that is more important?  And why is the answer to that question NEVER?).

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STEP TWO:  And here it is a little further along.   Shortly after this point, I decided to use a Conte Chalk Brush, instead.

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STEP THREE:  And the finished pic.  I used the Light Pen in Procreate to do the Light Effects on the costume.  I will admit, that pen works pretty slick when it comes to making it look like illuminated, neon lighting on the costuming.  And, yeah, I admit that I went a little overboard with the lighting on the helmet for no apparent reason.

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Done digitally in Procreate on an iPad.

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March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025 #8

March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025
(Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)

Well, here it is, the end of March and the last submission to "March M.O.D.O.K. Madness", done as a Re-Paneled Jack Kirby panel from the original appearance of M.O.D.O.K.  In this case, he is a little worse for the wear and really, really needs a little nap until "March M.O.D.O.K. Madness" comes around again next year.

I will admit that I have an inordinate fondness for M.O.D.O.K. and every year I have so many plans of what to do for "March M.O.D.O.K. Madness" and only get to about one-third of them.  Here's to hoping I can get to at least half of them next year. 

Feel free to pay a visit to the March M.O.D.O.K. Madness Blog and see some of the other artists who also enjoy the exploits of everyone's favorite Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the very quickly scribbled digital pencils done on a 2,000px x 2,050px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  Here are the digital inks and lettering.

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STEP THREE:  And here are the colors, done on a few Layers below the digital inks.  I also imported the color layer into Photoshop and used a Color Pixelation as a quick-and-dirty color halftone effect, which I placed over the color layer with a 40% opacity.  I also placed a newsprint overlay over top to really give it a 60's/70's comic book feel.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint with an assist from Photoshop.

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March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025 #7

March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025
(Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)

It's another March M.O.D.O.K. Madness submission.  I'm not sure why I have submitted so many drawings this year with ol' M.O.D.O.K.'s head being so lumpy with all them big brains he has, but here's another.  He's got a muffin top, by which I mean his head sort of looks like a muffin (completely unintended, but I'm willing to roll with it... Muffin... Roll... there's a terrible bakery pun in there somewhere, but I'll leaven it alone this time). 

Also, I'm really not sure as to why he's wearing metallic overalls and the rest of his outfit, for that matter.  Perhaps he has some wrasslin' to do or some opponents to defeat in the dojo of mental combat?

Feel free to pay a visit to the March M.O.D.O.K. Madness Blog and see some of the other artists who also enjoy the exploits of everyone's favorite Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the very quickly scribbled digital pencils done on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  Here are the digital inks which were also rather hastily scrawled.

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STEP THREE:  And here are the colors, done on a few Layers below the digital inks.

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Done digitally in Procreate.

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March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025 #6

 March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025
(Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)

It's another March M.O.D.O.K. Madness submission.  This time, it's something a bit more off-model, with M.O.D.O.K. as a giant-headed guy sitting on some sort of weird throne, or something along those lines.

Feel free to pay a visit to the March M.O.D.O.K. Madness Blog and see some of the other artists who also enjoy the exploits of everyone's favorite Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the very quickly scribbled digital pencils done on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  Here are the digital inks.  Hmmm, not sure why I flattened the stairs into a pattern, rather than actual steps, now that I look at it.

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STEP THREE:  And here are the colors, done on a few Layers below the digital inks.

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Done digitally in Procreate.

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March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025 #5

March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025
(Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)

Hey, Kids, it's "Mr. M.O.D.O.K." in the style of the "Mr. Men" book series.  I can't say I've ever read any of them, but I have seen the book covers online.  And who wouldn't want to read a book to their kids with "Mr. M.O.D.O.K." on the cover?

I will admit that this submission is probably the easiest one I've ever done, with just a few lines on it.  Perhaps I should change my entire drawing style to be more in line with "Mr. Men" and save myself sooooooo much time...

Feel free to pay a visit to the March M.O.D.O.K. Madness Blog and see some of the other artists who also enjoy the exploits of everyone's favorite Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the very quickly scribbled digital pencils done on a 2,000px x 2,300px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  And here are the digital inks.  This was one a very simple bit of line work, so was probably one of the easiest and quickest submissions I made. 

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STEP THREE:  The colors were done underneath the pen lines, and then a paper texture was placed over top on a separate layer.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025 #4

March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025
(Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)

It's yet another bit of spam for March M.O.D.O.K. Madness!  This time, he seems a little crabby for some reason, but isn’t he always?  Or, should I say “Krabby”?  After all, it’s M.O.D.O.K., not M.O.D.O.C., am I right?  Ha, ha!  I make the best jokes… Wait, what’s that?  He **WAS** M.O.D.O.C. when he was originally Designed for Computing and not Killing?  Ugh!  Fine…  More submissions to come!

Feel free to pay a visit to the March M.O.D.O.K. Madness Blog and see some of the other artists who also enjoy the exploits of everyone's favorite Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the very quickly scribbled digital pencils done on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  And here is the digital painting over top the pencils, done on a few different Layers before being merged down.

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Done digitally in Rebelle.

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March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025 #3

March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025
(Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)

It's time for another submission for March M.O.D.O.K. Madness.  This time it is something slightly more whimsical, with him just toodling along.  It's not yet Spring, but he should stop and take time to smell the roses… If only I’d thought to draw them.  More submissions to come!

Feel free to pay a visit to the March M.O.D.O.K. Madness Blog and see some of the other artists who also enjoy the exploits of everyone's favorite Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing!

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STEP ONE:  Here are the very quickly scribbled digital pencils done on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  And here is the digital painting over top the pencils, done on a few different Layers before being merged down.

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Done digitally in Rebelle.

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March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025 #2

March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025
(Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)

It's time for another March M.O.D.O.K. Madness submission--this one done vaguely in a Sumi-Brush style.  No work progress pics to show with this one as I just sort of used the ink brush in Rebelle and sort of kept going.  I didn't bother with pencils or preliminary sketches, just laying down digital ink and then using the eraser option to carve stuff back out again.

I'm hoping to get in about a dozen submissions or so before the end of the month.  We shall see...  Who knows, next year maybe I'll work myself up into doing a submission every day, sort of like I do with "31 Days of HELL-O-Ween" in October.  Now there's a scary thought...

Be sure to visit the March M.O.D.O.K. Madness Blog to see some of the other artists who also enjoy the exploits of everyone's favorite Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing!

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Done digitally in Rebelle.

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March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025 #1

March M.O.D.O.K. Madness 2025
(Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing)

Hey, hey!  It's time again for everyone's favorite March-based bit of Madness and Mirth featuring that wacky, hyper-cephalic Jack Kirby creation Designed Only for Killing:
MARCH M.O.D.O.K. MADNESS!

Speaking of Jack Kirby, this pastiche vaguely done in his style is the first of what I hope will be many submissions to the March M.O.D.O.K. Madness Blog.  Visit to see some of the other artists who also enjoy the exploits of everyone's favorite Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing!

Also, this submission involves--and was built around--a terrible pun, involving A.I.M. (Advanced Idea Mechanics), so it's got that going for it.

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STEP ONE:  Here are the very quickly scribbled digital pencils done on a 2,000px x 3,000px canvas.

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STEP TWO:  And here are digital inks.

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STEP THREE:  And here are the added colors.  I just did flat colors and then imported the color plate into Photoshop to do a quick and dirty, faux dot screen effect.

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Done digitally in Clip Studio Paint.

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Unwanted Valentines: RoboCop (1987) - Part 2

 Unwanted Valentines:
RoboCop (1987)

It's couple more Unwanted Valentines from "RoboCop (1987)".  This is one I've been sitting on for a couple-a-few years, now, always meaning to do it, but never quite getting to it in time.  It is probably the filthiest "G-Rated" one I've done.  And, I kept going back and forth between the movie accurate quote, "Dead or alive, you're coming with me!", to the also amusing inversion, "Dead or alive, I'm coming with you!"  So, since I couldn't decide, I had the bright idea to do 'em both.

I did consider spelling "Coming" with the sexual variant, but figured it works best as a double-entendre with plausible deniability.  After all, that's part of what makes it amusing and, also, the Unwanted Valentines should just be unwanted and not actionable as part of a Restraining Order...  😉 

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STEP ONE:  Here are the digital blue pencils, done on a 2,000px x 2,800 @ 300dpi canvas.

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STEP TWO:  And the digital inks, done mostly with an 10pt and a 15pt brush.

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STEP THREE:  The colors were done on the layer below.

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Done digitally with Clip Studio Paint

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