Illustration Sketchbook

June Toons 2025 #12: Happy Fun Car

Martin · 4 hours

A cartoon illustration of a car dancing down the road, looking bubbly and happy. A black rabbit is climbing out of the driver-side window, looking down at the car with apprehension. The car is a shiny pink with a smiling grille and pale yellow eyes with large black pupils. It is leaning up on the passenger-side tires, with its other tires sticking out in the air. The car's license plate reads "HUGZ". The rabbit is wearing white sneakers, blue jeans, and a bright yellow shirt with a pyramid on it. There are three sharp stress lines emanating from the top of the rabbit's head. There are colorful pastel flowers floating in the air around the car, and the sun is smiling down at it. The road is curving as if it is being viewed through a fisheye lens and is a pale lavender. The sky is a bright light blue and there is a curvy, blobby white shape behind the car, highlighting its happy mood.

The black rabbit is back for today's June Toons illustration, this time escaping a runaway car that's just a little too delighted.

I often have a hard time making more complicated compositions like this work in a cartoon style, but I'm pleased with this one. I think the muted colors for the background really helped, and I'm glad I resisted my initial urge to make this in a retro comic style.

The name of the drawing is sort of a callback to an old SNL sketch called "Happy Fun Ball".

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Syrup brush for linework, and the Soft air brush for shading.

If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:

2025artartworkcartoonillustrationipad projune toonsprocreate
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June Toons 2025 #11: Unicycle

Martin · 1 day

A cartoon illustration of a yellow blob with legs riding a unicycle. The blob has small, red eyes and is smiling. Two tiny fangs are sticking up out from its lips. Its legs are long and ready the pedals of the unicycle easily. It is pedaling, and the wheel is spinning. The background is a bright cyan with a slightly brighter circle behind the blob.

Today's June Toons cartoon is of a yellow blob riding a unicycle!

"Why?", I can practically hear you asking. Well, why not? At least he looks like he's having fun!

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, and the Syrup brush for everything else.

If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:

2025artartworkcartoonillustrationipad projune toonsprocreate
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June Toons 2025 #10: Skunked

Martin · 2 days

A cartoon illustration of a skunk standing proudly in a classic cartoon pose, with body forward, chest out, back arm bent, and front arm out with palm up, as if he is presenting something amazing. The skunk is smiling broadly and his eyes are closed. His body is rectangular and his limbs are curvy/wiry. He has a large tail sticking up behind him, with a green trail of skunk scent wafting up, around, and down in front of him. He is a dull, dark purple where a normal skunk would be black, and light lavender where it would be white. The background is a pale teal color with a spray paint splatter behind the skunk.

For my tenth June Toons cartoon, I drew a boxy skunk proudly presenting his stench. I wanted to make this look a little more old-timey when I started it, but one thing led to another, and it ended up looking like this. I'm happy with how it turned out, though! 🙂

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Syrup brush for linework, the Inka brush for some extra details, the Soft air brush for shading, and the Fat Nozzle spray paint brush for background texture.

If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:

2025artartworkcartoonillustrationipad projune toonsprocreate
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June Tunes 2025 #9: It’s Magic

Martin · 3 days

A cartoon illustration of a rabbit leaning on his arm and eating a carrot, while resting in a magician's hat. The rabbit has eaten part of the carrot, and some of it is visible in his mouth. He is holding the carrot in his free hand with only his thumb and index finger, as if he is bored. He is looking at the viewer. His ears are falling forward. The rabbit is a light blue color with red eyes and a pink nose. The magician's hat is crumpled slightly on the side, as if it is being compressed by the rabbit. It is a dark, muted purple color with a red ribbon around the body of the hat, near the brim. There is a magic wand laying behind the hat, and various playing cards are sticking out from underneath it. The rabbit is highlighted by a hard spotlight. The background is a dark pink with some spray paint spots behind the rabbit and hat.

Today's June Toons cartoon is a rabbit tired of waiting around for his magician.

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Syrup brush for linework, the Inka brush for extra detail, the Soft air brush for light shading, and the Fat Nozzle spray paint brush for background texture.

If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:

2025artartworkcartoonillustrationipad projune toonsprocreate
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June Toons 2025 #8: Pipe Dream

Martin · 4 days

A cartoon illustration of Super Mario plunging his arm into a pipe, and the arm coming out of a pipe in the background holding an uprooted Piranha Plant. Mario is drawn with his hat pulled down over his eyes, and he has his mouth open, yelling. He is wearing his traditional outfit of red hat, red shirt, and blue overalls. The Piranha Plant looks as if it is gasping, with small globs of spit flying out of its mouth. Its roots are visible at the bottom. The pipe that Mario's arm is traveling through is green, and there is another brown pipe end in the distance, above Mario. The entire piece is shaded with large areas of black and hashed, contoured lines for shading, almost like a wood-cut print. The background is a muted teal, with a splotch of black spray paint behind Mario and gold spray paint behind the Piranha Plant.

Today's June Toons cartoon is a drawing of Mario sticking his hand through a long pipe and grabbing a Piranha Plant on the other end.

I had this idea a few days ago but needed time to think about how the image should be composed, and what style I wanted to draw it in. In the end, I decided to do something like a wood-cut print, with heavy blacks and a lot of texture. I also liked the idea of making Mario not look quite like he normally does. The background is the only thing I'm a little unsure of, but I think it turned out okay.

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Syrup brush for linework, the Soft air brush for a tiny bit of shading, and the Fat Nozzle spray paint brush for background texture.

If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:

2025artartworkcartoonillustrationipad projune toonsprocreate
33 4 0

June Toons 2025 #7: Help!

Martin · 5 days

A cartoon illustration of a fish in a disposable plastic soda cup, using the straw to shout out "help!". The fish is looking at the viewer and has a concerned look on his face. He is bright green with a light belly, light blue eyes, and red pupils. The straw is red. The cup is squat to fit the fish and straw and is filled with brown soda. It has a plastic lid with flavor indicator bubbles on top. A word bubble is coming from the outer tip of the straw, and the word "help!" is written upward inside of it. The background is a bright orange with a pale orange circle behind the cup and word bubble.

Today's June Toons cartoon is of a fish in a disposable soda cup, pleading for help through the cup's straw.

I had the idea for this one a few nights ago, but I didn't actually feel like making it until today. I like how it turned out, though I wonder if it might've benefitted from a little more detail in the background - I sort of like how a lot of these, so far, have had the paint spatters/noise. But I also liked how clean it looked so... it is what it is.

That's one week of June Toons down already, by the way! I struggled once or twice to come up with something to draw, but overall, this project has been pretty effortless so far (at least, in terms of brainstorming). I'm looking forward to what the next week might bring!

Anyway, this was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Syrup brush for linework, and the Inka brush for a little added texture.

If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:

Also, if you're interested in watching the other time-lapses in this series, I've got a playlist for that.

Thanks for following along so far!

2025artartworkcartoonillustrationipad projune toonsprocreate
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June Toons 2025 #6: Donutsss

Martin · 6 days

A cartoon illustration of a snake coiled into multiple rolls, with its head sticking up above them, and tongue out. The coils are round and the snake is colored pink with a gold belly. It has white, yellow, green, and red speckles on its top, making the coils look like frosted pink donuts with sprinkles on top. There is a light blue triangle angled behind the snake, over a lavender background.

For today's June Toons illustration, I thought I'd draw a snake that looks a little too delicious at first glance. This might be the one thing that makes me not want to reach into the donut box!

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Rusty Nib 1 brush for linework, the Rough Dot Shader 45/Light brush for shading, and the Worn 2 Subtle brush and Splatter spray paint brush for background detail.

The Rusty Nib 1 brush is from the Rusty Nib pack, the Rough Dot Shader 45/Light brush is from the Beat Tones pack, and the Worn 2 Subtle brush is from the Fast Grit pack. Those are all by True Grit Texture Supply.

If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:

2025artartworkcartoonillustrationipad projune toonsprocreate
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June Toons 2025 #5: Bubbles

Martin · 7 days

A cartoon illustration of a bear blowing bubbles. The bear is brown with pink cheeks and has its lips puckered, blowing a bubble through a small pink loop. Its eyes are closed. The bear is drawn in a fluid way, with its body arcing toward the loop, back in the middle, and then forward again at the bottom. Its free hand is splayed in the air behind it and its tail is visible as its body twists toward the bottom. The negative space around the bear is filled with bubbles of different sizes. The background is a pain-speckled blue green with a slight halftone pattern.

Today's June Toons cartoon is of a bear blowing bubbles!

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Smooth Natural Nib for linework, the Rusty Nib 1 and Soft air brushes for shading, and the Splatter spray paint and Rough Dot Shader 45/Light brushes for background texture.

The Smooth Natural Nib and Rusty Nib 1 brushes are from the Rusty Nib pack. The Rough Dot Shader 45/Light is from the Beat Tones pack. Both of those are by True Grit Texture Supply.

If you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:

2025artartworkcartoonillustrationipad projune toonsprocreate
44 6 0

June Toons 2025 #3: Love

Martin · 9 days

A cartoon illustration of a yellow cat with hearts in his eyes staring at a blue bird. The cat is smiling and has his mouth hanging open. He is clasping his hands together to the side of his face, and his tail is sticking up from the back. He has a broken potted flower sitting on the top of his head, which appears to have fallen on him. There is a small amount of dirt leaking out of the pot onto his head, and the flower is dropping down. There are stars going around the cat's head. The bird is looking at the viewer with a very concerned/upset look on his face. The background is an orange-red with messy pain spots scattered around, and a darker stripe that angles from the top let to the bottom right, towards the bird.

Today's June Toons cartoon is of a recently injured cat finding his true love. 😍

The feeling might not be mutual, though.

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Smooth Natural Nib brush for linework, the Inka and Rusty Nib 1 brushes for details, and the Fat Nozzle and Splatter spray paint brushes for background texture.

The Smooth Natural Nib and Rusty Nib 1 brushes are from the Rusty Nib pack by True Grit Texture Supply.

I streamed this one on Twitch! You can keep an eye out for other live drawing streams in the future at my channel there.

And finally, if you'd like to see how I drew this one, you can watch the time-lapse below:

2025artartworkcartoonillustrationipad projune toonsprocreate
49 7 0