Illustration Sketchbook

Inktober 2025 #24: Rowdy

An illustration of a cartoon monster upper cut punching a skyscraper, breaking it in two. The monster is drawn in a basic way, with a thick body, stubby legs, and simple face with only gritted teeth, dots for eyes, and a frown. The monster has a teal, and it has rounded plates going down its back. There is a burst in the air where the monster hit the building, and the part of the building above the punch is broken off and flying away from the monster. There is a faint cityscape and sun in the background. The drawing is in black and white.

I took some inspiration from Rampage for today's Inktober illustration. The prompt was "rowdy", which was a tough one to visualize. But what are giant city-destroying monsters, if not rowdy?

As always, 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, and the Watercolor and Rough Dot Shader 45 Light brushes for shading.

The Rusty Nib brush is from the Rusty Nib pack, and the Rough Dot Shader brush is from the Beat Tones pack, 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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Inktober 2025 #23: Firefly

An illustration of a cartoon fly sitting on a log next to a small campfire. The fly is smiling with his mouth open, and has his hands extended towards the flame, to warm them. The drawing is done in the style of a vintage 1930's cartoon, and the fly's arms and legs are curved and noodle-like. The background of the drawing is gray with a lighter gray ellipse angled behind the fly and fire, with a smaller circle of even lighter gray behind the fire. The drawing is in black and white.

Alright, today's Inktober drawing is a bit of a stretch, I know. It's a fly sitting by a campfire. But there's a wholesome story behind it.

I was talking to my four-year-old son today about what I should draw. I told him the prompt was "firefly", and I asked him if he knew what a firefly is. He didn't, so I gave a brief description of them. Then I told him I might draw a fly holding a torch. He suggested flies sitting around a campfire instead, and I liked his idea better, so I drew it! 😊

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Studio Pen brush for linework, and the Worn 1 Bold brush for texture.

The Worn brush is from the Fast Grit pack, 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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Inktober 2025 #22: Button

An illustration of a button with a thread looping through it. The thread is pulled taught vertically, and is holding the button at an angle, suspended in midair. The drawing is in black and white.

Today's Inktober prompt was "button", and I wanted to draw a button that wasn't the "push" kind of button, since I sort of did that earlier this year for June Toons.

This was supposed to be a quick one and I ended up spending an hour on it! 😫

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching and some light texturing, the Syrup brush for linework, 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:

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Inktober 2025 #21: Blast

An illustration of a stick of dynamite exploding. The stick is broken into two main pieces, one flying up and the other flying down. There is a large blast behind them, with bits of the stick floating near the edges, and a puff of dark smoke behind the blast. The word "boom!" is bursting out of the center. The background is white. The drawing is done in black and white.

My drawing for today's Inktober prompt, "blast", is just a stick of dynamite exploding - and I'm still almost late with it! It was a long, busy day though, so I've got a decent excuse. 😅

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Rusty Bib 1 brush for linework, and the Soft air brush and Rough Dot Shader 45 Light brush for shading.

The Rusty Nib brush is from the Rusty Nib pack, and the Rough Dot shader brush is from the Beat Tones pack, 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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Inktober 2025 #20: Rivals

An illustration of two anthropomorphized cartoon animals ready to battle. The animal on the left is a dog wearing pants and a tank top, looking menacingly down at his opponent. He is frowning, gritting his teeth, and holding a knife out. His tongue is sticking out of his mouth in the front. The animal on the right is a cat wearing a leather jacket and striped shirt. He is also frowning, has his mouth open to reveal his fanged teeth, and is extending a hand with claws out. There is a slanted line running down the middle of the drawing, with a bubble in the middle with the letters "VS" on it. The drawing is done in the style of a comic book, with halftone pattern shading, and it is in black and white.

This is today's Inktober illustration, for the prompt "rivals".

I had this idea in my head from the moment that I read the prompt, but I wasn't sure if I'd be motivated enough to do it. It turns out that I was, but man, did it take me a long time to finish this one. This was the longest drawing I've done for this project so far, at 2 hours and 18 minutes!

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, and the Rought Dot Shader 45 Light brush for shading.

The Smooth Natural Nib brush is from the Rusty Nib pack and the Rough Dot Shader brush is from the Beat Tones pack, 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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Inktober 2025 #19: Arctic

An illustration of a small seaside town in the arctic. The houses are all small, boxy, and have dark roofs and white-framed windows. There is snow on the ground and on the roofs, and bits of fencing going up and down the slopes of the land. The dark water has ice floating near the shore, and in the far distance are many floating bits of ice and large snow-topped mountains. The sky is a streaky gray and white. The drawing is in black and white.

Today's Inktober prompt was "arctic", and so I began by doing a quick search for the term to make sure I understood exactly what one might find in the arctic.

One of the links that popped up featured a town in Greenland called Kangaamiut, and it looked like it might be fun to draw, so that's what I did!

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 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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Inktober 2025 #18: Deal

An illustration of a cartoonishly small, basic house drawn in 3D and at an angle, with a large tag coming off the top left that says "50% OFF" on it. The tag is attached to the house with a large dark gray string. The house is white with a dark gray roof, and a door and window on the front and a single window on the side. The flat end of the two-sided roof is on the side of the house, and there is a small chimney popping up out of the roof on the right side. There is a large burst graphic drawn behind the house and a handful of smaller stars drawn around the house and tag. The drawing is in black and white.

Today's Inktober prompt was "deal", and it was another one where I had a lot of misfires getting started.

First, I thought I might draw someone holding a hand of cards, but I couldn't really get the post right and I just wasn't feeling it. Second, I thought about drawing two hands engaged in a handshake, but again, I just wasn't feeling it. Finally, I settled on drawing something that was a "good deal", but it took me a long time of sitting and thinking to come up with an idea of a thing that would be universally viewed as "good".

In the end, the drawing is a bit basic for my taste, but it conveys the meaning of the prompt and now it's on to the next! 😎

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, and the Soft air brush for some light shading.

The Smooth Natural Nib brush is from the Rusty Nib pack, 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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Inktober 2025 #17: Ornate

An illustration of a bear looking content and wearing a fancy necklace. The necklace hangs down around the bear's neck with a centerpiece hanging onto the bear's chest. The centerpiece is round with a large gem in the middle, a number of round gems surrounding it, and frills around the edge. The bear has its paws up, holding the ends of the centerpiece. The drawing is in black and white.

Today's Inktober illustration was for the prompt "ornate"!

I was inspired by one of my son's toys that was laying around the living room for this one - a nesting doll of animals with a bear as the largest shell - and I'm glad that I was able to come up with an idea that fits the prompt without being a massively detailed drawing. 😅

As always, 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 Gouache brush for background shading, and the Worn 4 Subtle brush for the grunge overlay.

he Worn Subtle brush is from the Fast Grit pack 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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Inktober 2025 #16: Blunder

An illustration of a cartoon mouse slipping on a banana peel. The mouse's hands, free leg, and tail are swinging wildly in the air, and his eyes and mouth are open in panic. The mouse gray, and he is wearing white gloves and shoes, and a black hat and overalls. The banana peel is large and under the mouse's foot as it skids across the ground. The background is a split light and dark gray, with the floor being darker. The drawing is in black and white.

Today's Inktober prompt was "blunder", and so I drew a classic: a cartoon mouse slipping on a banana peel.

This was a rough one for me because I hate the prompt, I'm not really happy with the final drawing, and I made a huge mistake that I didn't correct until the end, and it made the work tedious and overlong.

It's a classic digital drawing mistake: I meant to resize my sketch before "inking" it, but I forgot to. So, I basically created the drawing at almost half the resolution I meant to and didn't notice until I was just about done. The brush I was using for the linework has a pretty hard edge that often leaves pixels un-aliased, so I thought I might be able to get away with resizing the drawing with nearest-neighbor filtering, but the edges just looked too jagged and chunky for me, and after I'd basically finished the drawing, I had to go back in and trace/refine all of the prominent edges.

I guess I baked my own "blunder" right into the drawing. 😵

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, the Soft air brush for some light shading, and the Worn 4 Subtle brush for texture.

The Worn Subtle brush is from the Fast Grit pack 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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Inktober 2025 #15: Ragged

An illustration of a ragged flag flying on a flagpole. The view of the flag is close so that only a bit of the pole is visible. The flag is white with a dark gray peace symbol on it and has many horizontal rips and tears across its surface. The background is dark and fading slightly to light at the bottom of the image, with stars visible mostly near the top. The drawing is in black and white.

Today's Inktober prompt was "ragged". I almost drew Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy, which I remember from my childhood, but I wasn't sure many others would recognize them, so I went with this instead.

I didn't intend to put anything on the flag until the very end, but I think this is a more interesting drawing with the peace symbol on it. ☮️

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Inka brush for linework, the Hartz brush for blotchy details, and the Gouache 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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