Illustration Sketchbook

June Toons 2026 #6: Pac-Man & Ghost

Martin · 11 hours

A cartoon illustration of Pac-Man chasing a scared ghost. The drawing is done in a loose style, with thick lines, dark hatched shadows, and extra details. Pac-Man has a large gaping mouth with protruding teeth and tongue sticking out. His mouth is slightly smiling, and he is leaning toward the ghost as if he is chasing it. Pac-Man is yellow, his tongue is pink, and the inside of his mouth is red. Two drops of spit are flying out of his mouth. The ghost has a worried look on its face and a drop of sweat on its head. It is hovering in the air and leaning away from Pac-Man, as if it is fleeing. The ghost has a round head, and its sheet has a jagged edge at the bottom. It is purple with blue eyeholes. The background is a steel gray with a splatter of lighter blue spray paint behind Pac-Man and the ghost.

Today's June Toons illustration is of Pac-Man chasing a scared ghost. I recently picked up Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 and I've been having more fun than I expected playing it, so it's sort of on my brain.

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 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:

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June Toons 2026 #4: Enchanted

Martin · 2 days

An illustration of a volcano exploding. The volcano has a cartoon face on it that looks like the smiling emoji with stars in its eyes. It is light brown with pale green trees going partly up both sides. The top of the volcano is covered in lava that is dripping down the sides, and a shaft of fire is shooting out of the top and into the it, creating a large gray cloud at the top. The sky is a pale yellow that fades to white near the horizon and gray at the top, under the cloud. The line work and shading are meant to make the image look like it's from a vintage comic book.

Today's June Toons illustration is of a volcano who is feeling enchanted. That's why they explode sometimes. It's science!

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 Syrup brush for fills, the Rough Dot Shader 45° - Light and the 145° Line Shader - Light brushes for shading, and the Worn 1 - Subtle brush for texture.

The Rusty Nib brush is from the Rusty Nib pack, the Rough Dot Shader and Line Shader brushes are from the Beat Tones pack, and the Worn 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:

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June Toons 2026 #3: Floating Bear

Martin · 3 days

A cartoon illustration of a large, chunky brown bear sitting in a large floating innertube and looking dejected. The bear is slouched into the center of the tube, which is a teal color. One of his paws is hanging into the water and the other is holding a mixed drink with a straw and tiny umbrella sticking out. The bear's feet are hanging over the end of the tube, but his legs are too short to let them go into the water. The bear is frowning. There is a glowing gold sun behind the bear, and a wavy reflection of everything below. The background is a pale purple color.

Today's June Toons illustration is of a bear floating in the water and having a drink, though I can't say he's enjoying it much.

I started out feeling a bit uninspired for this one, but the shapes and colors pulled me back in. I think the reflection added a lot to it as well.

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:

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June Toons 2026 #2: Bazooka Penguin

Martin · 4 days

A cartoon illustration of a penguin holding a smoking bazooka. The penguin is blue with yellow beak and feet, and is somewhat squat and triangular. He is wearing an army helmet that covers his eyes completely. The bazooka is a large green tube with a square crosshair on the top and a handle on the bottom. The penguin is holding the bazooka on his shoulder with one wing over the top. A wavy light brown smoke is coming out of the front of the bazooka. The background is a pale orange color with a lighter colored distorted circle behind the penguin.

Today's June Toons illustration is a penguin. With a bazooka. And it looks like he... used it? 😱

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 shading, and the Fat Nozzle spray paint brush for texture.

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

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June Toons 2026 #1: Popped

Martin · 5 days

A cartoon illustration of the words "June Toons" as a bunch of jumbled balloons. The 'S' at the end has been punctured by a cactus below, and it starting to blow away. The 'T' has a string hanging down, which is being held by a small pink rabbit. The cactus has a face on it, with a surprised look. It is green and is in a large orange clay pot with a yellow zigzag across the bottom. The balloons are a bright turquoise color. The background of the image is a gray-green, with a light burst of white behind the lettering.

It's June again and that means it's time for another June Toons project - the 5th that I've done, to be precise.

I almost forgot to get started tonight, so I got off to a late start and am posting this quite late. I'm hoping I can catch up a bit tomorrow (and maybe catch a nap too 🥱).

As usual, 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 shading, and the burst spray paint brush for background texture.

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

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Drawrch 2026 #31: Self-Portrait

Martin · 68 days

An illustration of Martin Crownover - me! This drawing is a self-portrait of me looking up and to the right. In the illustration, I am facing to the right, at an oblique angle. I am smiling. I have a light complexion, light eyes, and dark hair. My hair is tied back in a short ponytail, and my hairline is high on my forehead. I have thin sideburns going down to the bottom of my ears, and I am wearing a t-shirt. The drawing is shaded in a posterized way, with each section of shading separated by a hard edge. The colors for the shading are the same as the famous Barack Obama "hope" poster, where the colors go from dark blue, to red, to light blue, to a pale yellow, dark to light. There is light horizontal line shading between the yellow and blue going down the center of my face and on my visible arm, on the right. The background is split into red on the left side and light blue on the right.

Today's Drawrch is the last one for this series, and as is customary, I drew a self-portrait for it.

I didn't know what style I was going to choose for this one when I started working on it, but as the sketch came along, I began looking more closely at the values in the reference selfie and thought it might be cool to give it a posterized look. And since I've never attempted a portrait in the famous Barack Obama "hope" poster style, I thought it'd be worth a try.

So here it is, my last drawing for Drawrch 2026. I'm pretty happy with how this turned out, though I probably could've spent another 30 minutes tweaking the sketch. It's good though, and my wife actually thinks it looks like me this time, so I mission accomplished, I guess. 😅

As always, this was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Inka brush for linework, and the Vertical Line Shader Light brush for the line shading effect. The Vertical Line Shader brush is from the Beat Tones pack, by True Grit Texture Supply.

For some reason, the horizontal and vertical brushes in this pack are swapped for me... maybe I missed a pack update somewhere, or my Procreate is just weird.

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

And you can re-watch all of the drawing time-lapses for Drawrch 2026 at my Drawrch 2026 YouTube playlist, or by scrolling through the other blog entries on this website.

Thanks again to everyone who followed along with and enjoyed the project this year! Looking back at all of the drawings I made, I'm proud of what I was able to make. I hope that you'll join me for the next one!

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Drawrch 2026 #30: Over Her Shoulder

Martin · 68 days

An illustration of a woman smiling over her shoulder. The woman's eyes are closed, and her mouth is open, with tongue and upper teeth visible. She has a light complexion and brown hair, with yellow highlights and a few strands of pink mixed in. She is wearing large, gold hoop earrings. She is wearing a top with a thing black strap going over her shoulder, and bright sunlight is cast onto her shoulder and cheek, leaving the rest of her face darker. Wisps of hair curve over the woman's forehead and cheek, as if the wind has tussled her hair. The background is a white that fades to a light yellow towards the bottom, and the entire image has a slight noise effect added.

Today's Drawrch illustration is of a woman smiling over her shoulder.

This is yet another reference image that I wanted to draw for a while but didn't feel confident about until I was sufficiently warmed up for drawing faces. It's not precisely the same, but it's close enough, and I like how it turned out.

This project is just about over, by the way - only one more to go!

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Inka brush for linework, and the Old Brush paint brush for background blending/texture.

The photo I used as a reference for this drawing is from SketchDaily.

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

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Drawrch 2026 #29: Scrunch

Martin · 70 days

An illustration of a man scrunching his face together as if he is sad or in pain. The man is facing the viewer directly. He has a round head, and it is lit brightly in the middle, on his forehead and nose, from a light slightly above and in front of him. His nose is casting a soft shadow down onto his lips. The man's eyes are closed, and his teeth are visible through open lips. He has a stubbly mustache and beard. The man is wearing a black shirt. The man is drawn in black and white and the background is a pale teal.

Today's Drawrch illustration is of a man scrunching his face together in pain or sadness.

I said the other day that I wasn't going to do another drawing in this style for this project, but the reference image for this one was in black and white and I couldn't resist the temptation to do more values drawing. I did try a new gouache brush for this one though, and I actually really enjoyed it. More so than the charcoal brush from the other illustrations, even though the outcome is roughly the same.

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

The photo I used as a reference for this drawing is from SketchDaily.

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

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Drawrch 2026 #28: Smiling

Martin · 71 days

An illustration of a woman looking at the viewer and smiling. The woman has a light, freckled complexion, dark green eyes and red hair. She is wearing a brown hat and blue striped shirt and has one hand under her chin. The drawing is done in an ink and watercolor style. The background is a pale green that fades to yellow and then white towards the top.

For today's Drawrch illustration, I tried a different shading technique: Procreate's new-ish watercolor brushes. I still stuck with the Syrup brush for my linework, but I like the watercolor effect a lot!

As mentioned above, 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 Pacific Golden brush for colors and shading.

The photo I used as a reference for this drawing is from SketchDaily.

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

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