All posts tagged 2025

Inktober 2025 #1: Mustache

 Martin · 154 days
An illustration of a close-up of cartoon man gritting his teeth and squinting one eye. The other eye is wide open and is staring with concentration at the man's own mustache, where a tiny bug is sticking out. The drawing is textured with spray paint splatters and is in black and white.

It's the 1st of October, so you know what that means: it's time for Inktober!

This year, I'm following the "official" prompts, and today's is "mustache", so here's my entry for that one.

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 and Splatter spray paint brushes for background texture.

I hope everyone out there enjoys seeing my drawings and process throughout the month!

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

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June Toons 2025 #30: The End

 Martin · 248 days
A cartoon illustration of a dog turned around, showing his bottom, and snickering about it. The dog is bright green and looking over his shoulder at the viewer. His bottom, with butt cheeks, is sticking out with tail up on the right. The dog has blue ears and nose, and little hairs protruding from various parts of his body. The dog's eyes are slightly bloodshot, and his blue collar is too big. The background is a purple color with a pink ellipse over it, spray paint splotches, and small doodles. The words "the end" float over the dog's bottom on the upper right, in orange with pink streaks.

Here's today's June Toons illustration - the last one for the month, and the project! 😄

Thanks to everyone who followed along and enjoyed the art - I appreciate the support!

You can view all the completed pieces in the gallery. And all the time-lapses on YouTube.

I'll be back with another drawing project in August. 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 #29: Go That Way!

 Martin · 249 days
A cartoon illustration of a boy riding a robot, telling it what to do. The robot is leaning over, almost horizontally, and holding up an apple, examining it. Its face has two large round eyes and a flat mouth, with no expression. The boy is sitting on its back, pointing in the other direction, and yelling directions. The robot is dark gray with stippled black shading, and has red bolts/joints, yellow hands, eyes, and mouth. It has two antennas coming out the sides of its head, with red bulbs at the ends of each. The boy is wearing a red shirt, brown shorts, white socks, and red shoes. He has fluffy/curly brown hair and a pale complexion. His mouth is open wide. There is a square red word bubble coming out of the robot with a geometric question mark inside and a yellow word bubble with an exclamation mark inside coming from the boy. The background is a bright turquoise with a splotch of light spray paint behind the robot's head.

Today's June Toons cartoon is of a boy riding on the back of a robot, telling it what to do. Inspired, in part, by my son.

Initially, I asked my son if he had a robot who would do whatever he wanted, what would he have it do. And his answer was to have it pick up all his toys, which I didn't think would make for a very compelling drawing, so I went with this instead. 😆

I always try to get in at least one robot drawing for these projects, and since this one is just about wrapped up, it was time! Normally I draw my robots pretty rigid and geometric, but I wanted to do something looser this time, and ended up with a SCUD-like, stretchy look.

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 Pin Linear 0.5 Pressure Spray brush for stippled shading, and the Fat Nozzle spray paint brush for background texture.

The Smooth Natural Nib brush is from the Rusty Nib pack, and the Pin Linear brush is from the Stipple Studio 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
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June Toons 2025 #28: Trash Dive

 Martin · 250 days
A cartoon illustration of a raccoon diving into a trash can. The raccoon is beaming widely, and is diving straight into the trash can, about to hit it. His legs are bowed out to the sides above him, and his tail is sticking straight up between them. The trash can is drawn in a distorted way, with the can much wider and shallower than it would be normally. There is a lid leaning up against it and a bag of trash behind it. A banana peel and other random bits of trash can be seen near the opening at the top. The raccoon is brown with faded dark brown stripes and "mask". He has a gray nose and slightly yellow teeth. The trash can is a steel blue and the trash bad behind it is shiny and gray. The background is a bold gold color, with a lighter fractured triangular shape behind the raccoon, pointing down toward the opening of the trash can.

For today's June Toons cartoon, I drew an ecstatic raccoon diving into a trash can!

I could've used a little more vertical space for this one, to have the can be taller and the raccoon be a little farther away from it. Having to work within a square forced me to make some interesting choices though, and I like the absurdity of this large raccoon jumping into such a shallow trash can.

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching and the Studio Pen 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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June Toons 2025 #27: Fast Food

 Martin · 250 days
A cartoon illustration of a grumpy owl eating a fast-food burger and fries. The owl is scowling and chewing a mouthful of food. He is holding a burger with a giant bite taken out of it in one wing, and his drink cup in the other. There is a greasy burger wrapper on the surface in front of him, as well as a mostly empty fries container, with a few fries and crumbs strewn about. The owl is purple with a lavender chest, yellow beak and eyes, and a bulging cheek. There are a few crumbs coming out of his mouth. The burger is a simple cheeseburger with a bun, patty, and slice of cheese. The burger wrapper is yellow and has fold marks on it. The drink cup and fries box are fuchsia, with stripes on the inside of the carton and straw. The background is bright green with a pale green ellipse behind the owl.

Today's June Toons cartoon, for no reason at all, is a grumpy owl eating a fast-food burger and fries.

Sometimes these ideas just come to me, what can I say? 😆

As always, 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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June Toons 2025 #26: Father Time

 Martin · 251 days
A cartoon illustration of Father Time, depicted as an old man wearing a wizard-like suit and holding a staff. The old man has a medium complexion and is smiling. He has long, white, scraggly hair that is coming out from under his hat, and a long white beard that curls up at the end. Only his large nose and ear is visible under the low brim of his hat. The hat is cone-shaped and bends downward in the front. It is adorned with clock symbols. The old man is slightly hunched and is wearing a large gold clock around his neck. His robes and hat are teal and splotchy. His staff is made from wood and gold and is topped with a gold hourglass which is emitting rays of light. The background is a messy slate color.

Today's June Toons illustration is of Father Time!

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, the Fat Nozzle spray paint brush for texture, and the Hartz 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 #25: Alien Astronaut

 Martin · 252 days
A cartoon illustration of an alien in a spacesuit running, carrying a laser gun. The alien is frowning and grinning mischievously. He is looking back and up. He is bald with light blue skin, red eyes, slits for nostrils, and is wearing a blue shirt. His spacesuit has a big glass bulb for a helmet, and the body is similarly bulky. His thin arms and legs stick out of framed holes. He is wearing light green boots and gloves. The laser gun is pointed upward and is yellow with a green bulb at the end. There is a simple control panel on the front of the spacesuit and a rocket on the back. The background is red, with a puff of pink spray paint over it.

Today's June Toons illustration is of a devious alien astronaut. What's he planning to do with that laser blaster? I'm not sure, but we can bet it won't be something good.

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 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 #24: Busted Shoe

 Martin · 254 days
A cartoon illustration of a foot in a busted shoe. The shoe is ripped open at the end and a socked toe is sticking out. The sock is covered in patches. The shoe is orange with a light orange sole and circle emblem on the side. There is a torn edge sticking up from the top. The sock is white and has blue and red patches on it. The leg is black, and there is a bit of blue pants leg at the edge of the image. The background is bright yellow.

Today's June Toons illustration is of a busted shoe!

I don't know why this image popped into my head the other day, but I've been sort of mulling it over and wondering how it might come to be. It turned out mostly how I wanted it to, with bright colors and a sort-of-vintage look to the shape of the shoe. It's almost like a piece of pop art, and I could see it printed in a large format and looking pretty cool. 😎

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 #23: Bird Feeder

 Martin · 255 days
A cartoon illustration of a bird dangling from one side of a hanging bird feeder while gobbling up seeds falling from the opposite side. The bird is hanging upside down and its body is arching upward underneath the bottom of the feeder. It has its mouth open in a smile, and a pile of seeds are on its tongue. The feeder is tilted, making the seeds spill out. The bird is blue with a white beak and belly. The feeder is done in monochrome, and the seeds are mostly white with speckles of black here and there. The background is a pale green. The drawing is stylized to look like a vintage illustration, with a light halftone pattern visible on the bird and feeder, and a faint distressed effect over the entire image.

Today's June Toons illustration is of a bird feeding at a bird feeder. This was inspired by some of the moves I've seen real birds pull off on our backyard bird feeder, when they don't quite fit on its small perches.

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 Rough Dot Shader 45/Light for halftone effect and the Worn 4 Subtle brush for the distress effect.

The Dot Shader 45/Light brush is from the Beat Tones pack, and the Worn 4 Subtle brush is from the Fast Grit 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:

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June Toons 2025 #22: Skateboarder

 Martin · 255 days
A cartoon illustration of a man doing a jump on a skateboard. The man is squat and wide, and has his head hunched down, his front arm over his chest, and his back arm trailing behind. He is looking towards the viewer and smiling. He has a medium complexion, red eyes, and muted blue hair. He is wearing a backwards green ballcap with a blue bill that curls up at the end, a plaid green shirt, blue jeans, and green shoes that match his hat. He has a pocket chain hanging out, waving in the air. His skateboard is orange with a blue top and white wheels. The background is pink with a lighter pink splotch of spray paint over it.

Today's June Toons cartoon is a skateboarder doing a jump.

It's not a particularly complex drawing, but it gave me the opportunity to add some loose details in and be precise with my line widths, which is something I feel like I'm constantly getting better at. The lines always seem to get thicker and more uniform the longer I draw, which is something I fight with a lot. Here, I think I did a pretty decent job not doing that.

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, 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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