I’ve been on #inktober2021 recharge and recovery mode for the past few days. 31 days of drawing was a beat down or me, so I was only able to do a few drawings to finish out the year.
I haven’t sketched a transit rider in a while, so I thought that I would give you a break from the robots. This guy was totally asleep most of the way, until transit police told him that he was on the wrong train. For this piece, I stepped away (mostly) from my multi liner pens and went ol’school nib pens, dipping them in ink.
To break out of my drawing slump, I decided to participate in the @drawmearobot December art challenge. They’ve shared a piece from @claygrahamart , and asked participants to draw it in their style. This is my take on it.
This year, I decided to participate in another Inktober, an online drawing challenge conceived by Jake Parker. Every October, artists all over the world take on the Inktober drawing challenge by doing one ink drawing a day the entire month. The goal of the challenge is to improve your inking skills.
Part of the challenge with Inktober is coming up with ideas, that align with my style, but also honors the prompt. My goals for this challenge are simple: all analog ink art, with limited ink wash for shading.
Here is this year's prompt list:
Here are my submissions:
Day 01: “CRYSTAL”
For “Crystal” I wanted to do something other than a faceted gem, or fortune telling device. This one my turn a few corners, but I thought it would be fun to do a portrait of Mike Wazowski, the cute little character from Disney Pixar’s, Monsters Inc. - played by, you know it, Billy Crystal.
Day 02: “SUIT”
For this prompt, I wanted to do something fun and show a different kind of ’suit’. Being a huge fan of Godzilla and being raised on the 50s and 60s classics—on Saturday reruns—I thought it would be nice to pay tribute to the man who wore the giant monster suit, Haruo Nakajima.
Day 03: “VESSEL”
I’m a huge fan of the classic 1966 film, Fantastic Voyage, and more recently, the 1987 film Innerspace — where people were reduced to microscopic size, in order to pilot ‘VESSELS’ through one of humanity’s final frontiers: the human body. Travel would happen through the host’s blood “VESSELs”. This sketch is a stylistic tribute to those films.
Day 04: “KNOT”
I decided to stick to my wheelhouse on this one, robots. This ‘bot never sprung for the MagSafe® wireless charging upgrade, so it spends most of its recharge time untangling its power cord, which always seems to be in a “KNOT”.
Day 05: “RAVEN”
Would you believe me if I told you that this is Raven Symone, in a flight suit, riding a giant “RAVEN”? Clearly wildlife is not in my wheelhouse of drawing skills. The old me would have drawn a raven-bot or a simple raven on a bot’s shoulder. However, I wanted to push myself outside of my comfort zone on this one.
Day 06: “SPIRIT”
Just to reset after my last journey outside of my comfort zone, here’s another robot. There is no other person with more team “SPIRIT” than this cheerleader ‘bot, cheering for its favorite Golden Bolt winners, during the BattleBot World Championship.
Day 07: “FAN”
Perhaps inspired by Curious George, when he made the paper boats and sent them off into the pond, this ‘bot dreams of being a great sea captain, sailing his ship to the far corners of the ocean. Until then, his little paper boat will need a little bit of wind assistance from his portable “FAN”.
Day 08: “WATCH”
This Projector ‘bot is ready to play your favorite move, whenever you want to “WATCH” it. But first, let’s all go to the lobby and get ourselves a snack.
Day 09: “PRESSURE”
Before he takes a few laps around the track, this cyclist always makes sure that his tires are at the right “PRESSURE”.
Day 10: “PICK”
This girl loves to “PICK” flowers to share with anybody—including giant robot invaders.
Day 11: “SOUR”
This Baker ‘bot loves to make “SOUR”dough bread. From its top secret starter to the organic, non-GMO flour, it only puts the best ingredients in its mixer bowl.
Day 12: “STUCK”
I’ve always assumed that extraterritorial travelers would be human sized. What if they travel for thousands of lightyears, only to end up getting “STUCK” in your neighborhood spider web? This might be a sad end to any tiny explorer’s journey.
Day 13: “ROOF”
There is nothing that says road trip better than a loaded “ROOF” rack. This little car is ready for adventure across the country, making stops at every roadside attraction.
Day 14: “TICK”
“TICK” tock is the sound the punch clock makes, every time the “TICK” crew clocks in for their shift. Another day, another drop of blood.
Day 15: “HELMET”
Some stunt ‘bots are so focused on their sick moves and jump flips, that they forget to fasten their “HELMET” straps.
Day 16: “COMPASS”
As it turns out, this hiker’s trusty “COMPASS” wasn’t actually leading him true north to his campsite, but rather west, to the local salvage yard.
Day 17: “COLLIDE”
To take out their frustration, these ‘bots love to “COLLIDE” into each other during the Bumper Car Demolition Derby.
Day 18: “MOON”
This robot is rethinking how close he was standing to greet the new neighbors. “One giant leap for mankind” meant the end to this bot’s welcome to the “MOON” casserole days.
Day 19: “LOOP”
Nothing gets this ‘bot’s day started better than a big ol’ bowl of Reboot “LOOP” cereal. Chock full of minerals and iron, and part of a complete breakfast, there’s enough fuel resources to power through the morning.
Day 20: “SPROUT”
Not much of a story to tell for today’s prompt except that I love that movie Wall-E from @disney @pixar . Who wouldn’t love a movie that has a robot as the lead character? For this prompt, I decided to do a little fan art and draw the little lone “SPROUT” that Wall-E found and placed in an old boot.
Day 21: “FUZZY”
There isn’t a better mod for your car, than a good pair of “FUZZY” dice! They will add instant horsepower, prestige and value to your vehicle, no matter what you drive—even if it goes nowhere.
My wife—who is an amazing photographer, gardener, mother and partner—is also a great creative thinker and helps me work through my solutions for many the prompts. Fuzzy dice was all her.
Day 22: “OPEN”
Believe it or not, robot brain surgery is a very difficult task. It requires precision instruments to “OPEN” the head of a robot to get access vital operational parts. The procedure is typically painless, and can be repaired by using a simple welding torch.
Day 23: “LEAK”
This ‘bot didn’t realize that it’s boat had a “LEAK” until it was too late. Being miles from shore and not knowing how to swim should have caused worry. Fortunately, Bucket Head ‘bots are known for their ability to improvise—especially when they forget to bring their water pump and life jacket.
Day 24: “EXTINCT”
The past called. They want their “EXTINCT” technology back. I went a bit surreal on this one giving the caller a triceratops head, just to push the prompt a little further. What can I say, it’s day 24 and my creative bank account is getting a bit tapped out.
Day 25: “SPLAT”
I thought that I would try something different with this one. Instead of showing the actual mess, I decided to draw and implied “SPLAT”. Here, this robot’s actions, to reach just a little too far out of his range, will lead to only one conclusion.
Day 26: “CONNECT”
I’m attempting another small break from robots. The first thing that came to mind, when I thought about this prompt, is LEGO. My son grew up playing for hours with this limitless toy, and admittedly, I had fun with them too. I love how each piece would “CONNECT” to the others to create whatever your imagination could come up with.
Day 27: “SPARK”
No robot is worth its gears, if it can’t change it’s own “SPARK”plugs. The newer models come with a flux turbine core—which requires hours of fine tuning. However, ,owthese older generations are rock solid and easy to maintain, with fewer, well built parts.
Day 28: “CRISPY”
This taco stand owner is trying a new Lucha Libre gimmick to sell his soon-to-be, world famous “CRISPY” tacos. The Pile Driver taco, comes with an extra large shell and double stuffed with ingredients.
Day 29: “PATCH”
I brought back my Unicycle Juggler Bot for this prompt. When juggling chickens and bowling balls all day, this bot’s unicycle tends to get a flat tire from time to time. He’s had to put a “PATCH” in several different places on his old inner tube.
Unicycle Juggler Bot: A few years back, when my kids were a lot younger, I asked what they would like me to draw. Jokingly one of them said, a clown robot on a unicycle, juggling — so I did it. During #MarchOfRobots this year, I decided to redraw it better. If you scroll down my feed, you’ll be able to see the March of Robots version, and if you are completely bored, scroll down more to see the original sketch done in 2012.
Day 30: “SLITHER”
I’ve been using so much ink this month, that my pencil has decided to “SLITHER” away. When this is over, I may take a break from my pens and ink wash, and just live in the world of graphite for a while—just for a little something different.
I have to admit, this was the most difficult prompt of the whole challenge, mostly because I’m not great with drawing snakes. For almost every other prompt, I was able to come up with a visual solution that fits my style - even if I had to turn a few corners to get there. My wife came through for me again. When I was struggling to come up with an idea, she suggested a PENCIL that looks like a snake. Simple but brilliant.
Day 31: “RISK”
This robot is taking a “RISK” sliding around in its tighty whities and socks, while dancing to Bob Segar’s “Old Time Rock and Roll” —but that’s it’s ‘Business’. It’s not like it’s going to run a brothel in it’s parent’s suburban house, while they are away.
My wife came through for me again. When I was struggling to come up with an idea, she suggested the classic 80s movie, Risky Business. I went ahead and did an iconic scene from the movie, but with a robot Tom Cruise.
With Inktober 2021 around the corner, I thought I would share some of the random sketches that I've done to finish out the summer. First some bots:
This bot will work for lube and batteries:
Here is a plumber bot:
Finishing out a sketch pad with another quick bot—keeping it simple without any ink wash shading.
Who’s addicted to SUGAR? I certainly am.
I feel like I’m a pretty healthy person. I don’t eat meat or anything that’s deep fried. Still, it’s almost impossible for me to resist anything with processed sugars.
Like with any addiction, I’ve cut out my vice - hopefully for good. No more cakes, ice cream or candy.
I’m now a month into my sugar fast, and I’ve only just reintroduced fruits (I’m not completely insane).
But the cravings are still there.
Breaking in my new sketchpad, I decided to take a pause on robots and do a drawing that illustrates my ugly addiction.
This is my Sugar Demon.
Man With Beer - Inspired by a picture that I took weeks ago. You might know this person even though he absolutely doesn’t look like this.
Here are a few more birthday bots. When we sign office birthday cards, I’ve tried to add a little sketch about the person being celebrated. Lately, I’ve been doing them virtually.
I'm playing catchup on a few VERY belated birthdays. I typically get these done for their happy day, but I was busy with work and a little burned out from #Inktober2020 — so I had to put them on the makeup list.
Let's start with Dean - Creative Director at LAUNCH Agency. Dean’s birthday was actually last October.
I’ve worked with Dean for a many years and respect him as a valuable member of our agency. He’s a brilliant Art Director / Graphic Designer and I often aspire to create as well as he can. Dean is also from England and a true Brit. So, I decided to draw him as a Brit Bot, with a Union Jack on his head, Dr. Martens on his feet, riding an iconic Mini Cooper. Happy BELATED Birthday, Dean!
Now let's move on to Amy - Senior Designer at LAUNCH Agency. Amy’s birthday was actually last November.
I’ve worked with Amy for a couple of years and respect her as a valuable member of our agency. She is one of the most talented Graphic Designers that I’ve ever worked with, and we are fortunate to have her on the team. You can see some of her work on her deign Instagram @amynortman.work or her website: amynortman.com
As a graphic designer, sweating all the details in her work. I decided to draw her as a Kern Bot, adjusting the spacing between type. Happy Belated Birthday, Amy!
Now let's move on to Ray - Controller at LAUNCH Agency. Ray’s birthday was actually last December.
I’ve worked with Ray for a few of years and respect him as a valuable member of our agency. He is the one who keeps the finances and numbers right in a world full of left brained creatives, and we are fortunate to have him on the team. Ray is also notorious for honest and funny movie reviews, an expert on craft beer as well as a damn good golfer. I decided to draw him as a Golfer Bot, always hitting way under par. Happy BELATED Birthday, Ray!
Sometimes, I get unusual requests. A former client of mine, from my work in advertising, has moved into real estate. He's also an avid cyclist. He wanted to know if I would draw a cyclist with a real estate sign connected to his bike. He wanted the image to put on his bike jersey, to promote his business.
I usually turn down such specific requests, but this one seemed really interesting and challenging for me. So I agreed to take it on.
With this, I went form the sketch and took it into Photoshop to add the type and his logo.
I haven't been sketching much lately. Between work, a couple of commissions and some 'favors' for friends and family, my sketchbook is getting dusty.
I have found time to play around with some dickdavid graphics. These pencil/finger icons came to me in my sleep. I immediately sketched them up the next morning, then later, applied them to the dickdavid pencil icon.
I also saw a cool 'ink bottle' graphic on the internet and thought to myself, I could do that. I took a pic of my own ink bottle, and with the magic of Photoshop, came up with a cool graphic.
![dickdavid - the artwork of richard [dick] david wezensky](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiGopupb8RwKnEyoPC23HoZ0Hbjbenf6VQJ0msbgf4VbP_JauBypcZjSdiDYpXTD18dm6JDw38WTzVzcF0o6-kapy-2Uc22F_zldHiZ2gN2d5OtWNQJDXnV6cKkQ542i6ER9KckJzHVQXVSrzRDJwTcWxqd6N1xs1H0OTvEaWNUKSIQT_kom_dvm5GBJQ17=s1280)
