All posts tagged 2025

June Toons 2025 #21: Thing 3

 Martin · 257 days
A cartoon illustration of Thing 1 and Thing 2, from the Dr. Seuss books, looking at another figure who looks strikingly similar to them and has "Thing 3" on his chest. Thing 3 is dressed in goth garb, with hair dyed black and combed over part of his face, a stubbed choker and bracelets, a gray leather jacket with the sleeves torn off, dark gray pants, and tall black leather boots with straps. Thing 1 and Thing 2 look like their traditional selves, with blue hair and red jumpsuits. They look perplexed by Thing 3. Thing 3 has a wry smile on his face. All of the Things have white skin. The background is pink with a purple streak going across and down towards Thing 3.

For today's June Toons cartoon, I got inspiration from some of my son's books, and tried to imagine what Thing 3 might look like.

Is there a Thing 3 already in the Dr. Seuss books? If there is, I'm not familiar with it. I just thought it'd be funny if Thing 3 wanted to take his look in a different direction than the other two Things. 😆

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 #20: Easy

 Martin · 257 days
A cartoon illustration of a white glove pushing a button, with the label "easy" below it. The button being pressed is next to another button, which is not pressed and has the label "hard" below it. The "easy" button is green and the "hard" button is red. The background is a pale teal color, and there is a lighter colored oval behind the glove.

Today's June Toons cartoon is all about taking the easy route. It's been a long day - and a long week! - and so I needed to do something a little simple today so I can recharge for the weekend. 😅

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 #19: Balloon Dog

 Martin · 258 days
A cartoon illustration of a dog in the shape of a ball, floating in the air like a balloon. The dog looks a little like a pug, though his breed is not defined. He has a wide face with bugged out, walleyed eyes. His tongue is handing out of his mouth, and he has a vacant look on his face. His body is a sphere, his small ears and short tail are sticking up, and his legs are dangling underneath him. He has red fur and a light red belly, butt, and face area. His eyes and nose are purple. There is a small shadow a little underneath him, indicating that he is floating. The background is a muted green.

For today's June Toons illustration, I drew a dog inflated and floating in the air like a little round balloon. I'm not sure what inspired this drawing, but I like how it turned out!

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 Pin Linear 0.5 Pressure Spray brush for stippled shading.

That last brush is from the Stipple Studio 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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June Toons 2025 #17: Derp Knight

 Martin · 260 days
A cartoon illustration of a chess piece, the knight, which is a small bust of a horse on a tiny pedestal. The horse's eyes are bugging out and walleyed, and his tongue is sticking out of a goofy smile. The piece is a warm light gray with large blue shadows on the left side and bright shiny highlights on the right. The background is a gold color with a half circle of light behind the piece, and a faded checkerboard beneath it.

Today's June Toons is one of those ideas I've had in my brain for a while, and tonight was the night it escaped. Posting quite late because I was catching up on TV while drawing it. 😎

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 #16: Turtle Boat

 Martin · 261 days
A cartoon illustration of a turtle driving a motorized inflatable boat. The turtle is wearing a green trucker hat. He is smiling, and has blue eyes, bright green skin, and a green shell. He is holding the rudder of a motor, attached to the back of the boat. The boat is a yellow inflatable raft with two orange patches on it. The ripples created by the boat are blue, and the reflection of the turtle and boat are visible underneath. The background, which includes most of the "water" area, is a yellow-gold color.

Today's June Toons illustration is of a turtle driving an inflatable motorboat!

I'm back to getting these done late today, unfortunately... it was a busy day, and it took me a really long time to come up with an idea. I'm happy with how it turned out, I just wish I had made it a few hours ago instead. 😅

Anyway, 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.

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June Toons 2025 #15: Father’s Day

 Martin · 263 days
A cartoon illustration of a large bird with a small bird standing on its back. The large bird is turning to look at the small bird, and both are smiling. The large bird is a turquoise color and the small bird is a similar shade, but a little more blue. Both birds have pale yellow beaks and stippled undersides in a darker gray-blue. The background is lavender with a light wash around the center, and the colors are distressed to look like the drawing has some age to it.

For today's June Toons illustration, I drew two birds, a dad and son, hanging out together and enjoying the day. Happy Father's Day!

As always, this was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. For this one, I used a bunch of brushes: the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, the Rusty Nib 1 brush for linework, the Inka brush for highlights, the Pin Liner 0.5 Pressure Spray brush for stipple shading, the Plimsoll brush for line shading, the Old Beach brush and Soft air brush for background texture, and the Worn 1 Subtle and Worn 1 Bold brushes for the distress effect at the end.

The Rusty Nib brush is from the Rusty Nib pack, the Pin Liner brush is from the Stipple Studio pack, and the Worn Subtle distress brushes are from the Fast Grit pack. All 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 #14: Shooting Star

 Martin · 263 days
A cartoon illustration of an astronaut gripping a falling star for dear life. The star is large and glowing gold. The astronaut is in an orange spacesuit, with light colored helmet and air tank. The gloves and boots are brown. The visor of the helmet is a pale red, and the astronauts face looks alarmed and concerned. The star is casting a bright glow on the astronaut's arms and legs. The star is leaving a fading yellow trail behind, and other smaller stars in white and gold are visible in the background, set against a dark blue space. The background is masked in an oblong oval shape that points in the same direction as the shooting star. The rest of the background is white.

I had a lot of ideas for today's June Toons illustration, but settled on doing something a little simple again. I'm not a big fan of drawing spacesuits and the like, but I once the concept of this drawing entered my brain, I couldn't not draw it.

It reminds me a bit of a book that my son likes, Harold's Trip to the Sky, which is a part of the Harold and the Purple Crayon series. When I was a kid, I would have liked these books a lot, just for the sheer creativity and magic. As an adult, though, they are quite tedious to read. 😵‍💫

That's it for the first two weeks of June Toons 2025, and only a day out from the halfway point. It's going by fast! If you've been following along, or you're just now joining in, thanks for checking it out. I get a lot of encouragement hearing from people who enjoy the daily drawings, and it means a lot to me that people out there would take time out of your day to enjoy my work.

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 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 2025 #13: Frog Ladies

 Martin · 264 days
A cartoon illustration of three lady frogs walking together. Each is a slightly different shade of green. The front frog is smiling and has purple hair that curls at the ends. She is carrying a yellow purse and is wearing a pink tube dress and yellow sandals. The frog in the middle is much taller than the other two, and has blue hair tied back in a ponytail. She is wearing a dull brown shirt, purple pants, and gray shoes. Her mouth is open, and her tongue is sticking far out, catching a fly. The frog in the back is talking on the phone. She has bright red hair and is wearing a short, light turquoise shirt and a short blue skirt. She has light gray shoes with bright red socks. The background is a slightly muted blue, with a darker rectangle behind the frogs.

Today's June Toons cartoon is, for no particular reason, frog ladies!

I don't usually like drawing things in this style where the line thickness has less variance, but it was an interesting project that turned out just about how I envisioned it, so that's cool.

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 #12: Happy Fun Car

 Martin · 265 days
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:

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