All posts tagged Artwork

Februdoodle 2026 #3: Mouse with Cheese

 Martin · 28 days
A cartoon illustration of a skinny gray-blue mouse standing up and holding a chunk of cheese. The mouse is giving a thumbs up with his other hand. He is wearing a yellow beanie, opaque round glasses, a pair of blue shorts, and green sneakers. The glasses make his expression unreadable. The chunk of cheese is yellow and about as big as the mouse's head. He is standing in front of an orange background with a pale-yellow wedge shape directly behind him.

Today's Februdoodle was inspired by a book that my kid loves reading, Time To Pee!, by Mo Willems. There are hundreds of little mice doing all sorts of things in that book, and I was thinking about them when I sat down to draw tonight. It's a silly book about an important subject and I sorta love it.

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 Inka brush for background texture, and the Rough Dot Shader 45 Light brush for the halftone shading.

The Rusty Nib brush is from the Rusty Nib pack, and the Rough Dot Shader is from the Beat Tones 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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Februdoodle 2026 #2: Frightened Phil

 Martin · 29 days
A cartoon illustration of Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog who famously (tries to) predict the weather each year on Groundhog Day. He is sticking out of a hole, looking frightened down at the ground, where his shadow is cast by a bright circle of light behind him. He is a gray-brown color with dark brown nose, light orange eyes, and flaring whiskers coming off his eyebrows and cheeks. His mouth is agape, revealing large upper buck teeth. His arms are gripping the sides of his face in fear. His shadow is short and lumpy over a light blue background. The light circle is a pale orange. There are white lines emanating from Phil's head and a large orange exclamation point on the upper left, intersecting the light.

For today's Februdoodle illustration, my wife and I asked our son to see what he thought I should draw, and he suggested Punxsutawney Phil. So here it is!

Originally, I intended to draw him in a top hat, but then I felt like that's too many top hats to start Februdoodle with. 😆

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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Februdoodle 2026 #1: Late!

 Martin · 31 days
An illustration of the Monopoly guy looking at a cellphone with a tiny stopwatch on it. He is drawn in the style of the original game's cards, in a similar illustration to the "Grand Opera Opening" Community Chest card. Lines emanate from the phone indicating the timer is going off. The Monopoly guy is leaning against a large sign that says "Februdoodle Tonite 8 PM Sharp". The drawing is in a speckled black and the background is yellow.

I'm kicking off this year's Februdoodle a day late - yahoo!

I had a busy day yesterday and just totally forgot to start the project. I didn't remember it until I was getting ready for bed! That's fine though, it happens. I will catch up soon!

Today's drawing is in the style of a Monopoly Community Chest card. It's almost identical to the "Opera Opening Night" card, except this one features a cell phone with a stopwatch app instead of a stopwatch, and a large billboard introducing Februdoodle.

This was created in Procreate with an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, using the Procreate Pencil brush for sketching, Chisel Nib Cleaner brush for linework, the Drrrty 1 and Grainy 1 Dense Fine Grain brushes for the grit, and the Rough Dot Shader 45 Light brush for the halftone pattern.

The Drrrty and Grainy brushes are from the Fast Grit pack, and the Rough Dot Shader is from the Beat Tones pack, both by True Git 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 #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 · 126 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 · 129 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 · 131 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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