All posts tagged 2025

Inktober 2025 #31: Award

Martin · 124 days
An illustration of a large metallic medal with the number "10" on it, sitting on an attached bunched up striped ribbon. The medal is shiny and tilted at an angle, and the ribbon is attached at the top with a large angular hoop. The background is gray, with a slight glow behind the medal and ribbon. The drawing is in black and white.

This is my last drawing for Inktober 2025, for the prompt "award".

I drew this because, earlier today, I realized this was my tenth year doing Inktober - which is kind of crazy!

Anyway, thanks to everyone who followed along and enjoyed the art this year. I had a great time drawing it and, of course, seeing everyone's reactions! 😊

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

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

And if you'd like to watch all the time-lapse replays in one place, you can watch them on this YouTube playlist.

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Inktober 2025 #30: Vacant

Martin · 125 days
An illustration of a cartoon girl with a vacant expression on her face. The girl has a light complexion and light hair in a high ponytail. Her eyes are half open and she is staring ahead with glassy eyes. Her mouth is hanging open. She is pictured from the shoulders up. The background is dark gray with a textured glow that is centered behind the girl. The drawing is in black and white.

For today's Inktober prompt, "vacant", I drew a cartoon girl with a very vacant look on her face.

Originally, I thought I might draw a dark, moody, and empty parking lot at night. But then I sat down and I just wasn't feeling it. So I fell back to an idea my wife had: draw a vacant face. 😐

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 Quoll 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 #29: Lesson

Martin · 126 days
An illustration of a tortoise with a hare sitting on his back. The tortoise is holding a medal with a "1" on it up and has his head turned around to look at the hare with a big, open-mouthed laugh. His eyes are squinted shut. There are light lines emanating from the tortoise's head, indicating that he is beaming. The tortoise's shell and the medal appear to be shiny. The hare is sitting with his legs bent and feet up against the tortoise's shell. His arms are crossed, and he is hunched over, with an angry look on his face, looking at the ground. The hare has a dark scribble emanating from his head that increases in size as it moves away, indicating that he is putt off. The drawing is in black and white.

It's the abstract Inktober prompts that always give me a hard time, and todays was a doozy: "lesson". How do you draw a concept like "lesson" in a single picture?

I thought about drawing kids being taught something, but I've seen others do this already and it felt like cribbing their work. I thought about drawing a schoolhouse, suffering some natural disaster that it (somehow) was denying the existence of. A friend suggested a similar concept, but with an AI datacenter.

It all felt like trying to cram too many ideas into a single drawing, and so I sat there for quite a while, staring at a blank canvas, until I thought of this. It's a bit basic and I wish the linework/background was better, but in the end, it came out how I pictured it. And I think it very clearly illustrates the prompt. 😎

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

Just two more drawings left for this year's Inktober! 🤯

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

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Inktober 2025 #28: Skeletal

Martin · 127 days
An illustration of a hand holding a key. The hand is dark in complexion and in shadow. It is a left hand, holding the key between thumb and index finger. The key is bright and metallic. It has a complicated set of teeth at the bottom, a diamond-shaped jewel set in the middle of the handle, and a small skull surrounded by intricate metalwork at the top on the handle. The eyes of the skull have round jewels inset. The background is black with a dirty rectangular patch of gray in the center, behind the hand and key. The drawing is in black and white.

Today's Inktober prompt was "skeletal", and it got me thinking about one of my favorite games of the year, Blueprint. One of the items you can eventually pick up is a "skeleton key", and as you might imagine, it's a very useful item indeed. This isn't the key from the game, but it is my own interpretation of such a key!

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 shading, and the Worn 4 Bold brush for texture.

The Worn brush is from the Fast Grit pack, by True Grit Texture Supply.

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Inktober 2025 #27: Onion

Martin · 128 days
An illustration of an onion with a face on it and legs. The onion is taking a wide step and looks to be walking away from the viewer to the left. Its face is feminine, with closed eyes with long eye lashes, a small nose, and glossy lips. There are two tears coming out of the eye closest to the viewer. The onion still has its stalks on top. The background is gray with a lighter gray ellipse behind the onion. The drawing is in black and white.

Today's Inktober prompt was "onion". Early on in my brainstorming, I was thinking about an anthropomorphic onion, but I also wanted to incorporate crying somehow. This is the obvious result! 🥲

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:

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Inktober 2025 #26: Puzzling

Martin · 129 days
An illustration of a large multi-story building with a construction crane next to it. The building has a large hole in the middle in the shape of a traditional jigsaw puzzle piece, and the crane is holding a large puzzle piece which matches the hole. In the background are trees, other buildings, and the sky. The drawing is in black and white.

This is my entry for today's Inktober prompt, "puzzling". I thought it would be fun to play off the idea of a puzzle, but in an off-the-wall context. Pun intended. 😎

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Rough Nib Bleedy brush for linework, and the Gouache brush for shading. Also, shoutout to the Syrup brush for assisting me with some of the fills.

The Rough Nib Bleedy 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 #25: Inferno

Martin · 130 days
An illustration of a large fireball burning the top of a small house. The fireball is round and is burning off to the right. It has a face on it that has an open-mouthed smile and frowning eyes. The house has a face on one side with X's for eyes and a downturned mouth. The background is black and there is a slight glow around the flame. The drawing is in black and white.

Today's Inktober prompt was "inferno", so here's my drawing: a giant fireball burning the top of a basic house. This was another tough one and I just didn't have any idea what to do with 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 Gouache 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 #24: Rowdy

Martin · 131 days
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

Martin · 132 days
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

Martin · 134 days
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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