What I Drew Friday, Oct 15 - Disney Parks

Day No. 15

Three of the four sketch done this day, are scenes from attractions already featured in this book’s pages: Haunted Mansion (no surprise), the Sword in the Stone Ceremony and the Mad Tea Party. Which means each offered an additional challenge as to not repeat myself. The “Mansion” is a storytelling attraction with plenty of staged scenes and a lot of characters and details. In that respect, the Mansion was easy.   

#43, pp. 86-87 - Haunted Mansion servants / America Sings / regretful: @caitlinfogartyart / @spanky.bear / Abigail R.

An option offeedr by syntax is that if the suggestion does not have a key verb like “riding,” “watching,” “eating,” etc., then I choose to put the characters right into the story of the attraction.

I think that I find this extinct attraction so beloved that I failed to really make the mansion servants regretful. Rather, they’re just whiny here.

I cast Ichabod Crane and Katrina Van Tassel as the displaced Mansion servants.

2x hidden Mickeys.

#44, pp. 88-89 - Sebulba and Young Anakin / in the Haunted Mansion: @eljcid / @alltookayleigh

In this third scene occurring in the famed Haunted Mansion, I forego the “Doom Buggy” ride vehicle and treat the attraction as a walk through the creepy house.

Sebulba’s dialog doesn’t allude to anything in particular. I wanted some response to the voice coming from the coffin and didn’t think he or Anakin would be eager to assist.

4x hidden Mickeys.

#45, pp. 90-91 - Darth Vader taking Luke and/or Leia with Stormtrooper bodyguards / pulling the sword out of the stone / wearing a cast member costume from the Enchanted Tiki Room: @akoymdf / Nicole P / @fletchthis

Finding images of the Cast-Member costume for “The Enchanted Tiki Room” was not easy, and what I did find I can’t say is correct.

There’s really only two stories to tell in a single panel comic setup, isn’t there? 1) Someone can’t pull the wort out of the stone/anvil. 2) Someone who can.

2x hidden Mickeys.

#46, pp. 92-93 - Meg with Hercules / getting on Teacups: Nicole P. / Abigail R.

What’s the story of this scene if “getting in” means that things are happening before the main action? Reluctance? Horror? Unbridled excitement? I ended up with prologue, triggering the reader’s imagination of what could go wrong given Hercules’ well known godlike strength.

2x hidden Mickeys.

What I Drew Friday, Oct 8 - Disney Parks

Day No. 8

On this day, I made it past the half way through the book on my way towards 50. This is becoming a marathon. Trying to make up for yesterday’s two sketches, I drew four today to maintain a minimum average of three per day.

#24, pp. 48-49 - Peter Pan / at Ronto Roasters / carving pumpkins: Kinzey F. / Nicole P. / @herreriamon

There some joke to be made about the pumpkin innards that Peter has been tossing on the ground beneath him. Maybe that’s why the Mon Calamari kid is watching him?

How could I not make a “pumpkin Hook” pun?

4x hidden Mickeys.

#25, pp. 50-51 - Chip and Dale / pop up pin shop: Jeff S. / @vbehappy

Not considered “hidden” Mickeys are 1) the “Mickey” that Chip is playing at by holding two round pins over his head and 2) the Mickey on the 50 anniversary pin that Dale is holding.

The Daisy design is based on how she appears in the short “Donald’s Diary.”

2x hidden Mickeys.

#26, pp. 52-53 - Sadness & Joy / riding Maelstrom: @the_kira_diaries / Abigail R.

The way I see it, characters like Joy and Sadness don’t have physical bodies and therefore aren’t limited to any scale. Still, since the Pixar film, implies that they exist some where in Riley’s head, they’d have to be small. I depict them here atop the dragon figure head of the Maelstrom boat.

2x hidden Mickeys.

#27, pp. 54-55 - Joe Gardner / in the Haunted Mansion / struggling to cover his ears: Abigail R / @madesalvo / @the_kira_diaries

“Covering his ears” really directed the setting to something about the Haunted Mansion that might incite the reaction in Joe. Maybe all of the spirits in the seance played at the same time but not the same tune and not in the same key.

It was only while in the coloring stage did I consider the “soul” version of Joe in the mansion could have been interesting.

2x hidden Mickeys.

What I Drew Sunday, August 29th - Top 3

During last Sunday’s science-fiction themed “What Shall I Draw Today?” I managed to create 6 sketches based on other folk’s suggestions.

Here are the top 3 liked pieces from Sunday:

#1 - The Jetsons Watching an Encounter Between the Enterprise and the Millennium Falcon: a mashup of suggestion by @akomdf and @nikkistar5394

Two suggestions with only Han Solo’s Millennium Falcon in common: 1) The Jetsons watching the millennium falcon fly by; and 2) The Enterprise and Falcon meeting in space.

The logistics of the elements are the automobile sized Jetson’s saucer, the 2-train cars long Millennium Falcon and the 3-city blocks long Enterprise of the 2009 Star Trek movie. As a character artist by profession, I leaned into featuring the space-age family as the foreground focus. Then the two large ships pushed to the far background and even then cheating the size relationship. 

An initial pass I tried the trailing zoom lines of the Falcon between the Jetsons and the viewer while trying a fish-eye effect to have show the Falcon’s tail trusters in the distance. That wasn’t working to keep the Jetsons’s saucer as large as I had wanted. 

The other element (as I do) was introducing a story to it all in the form of dialog. I though that perhaps Elroy could be excited about the speeding ships. But then per the family comedy structure of the cartoon, it’s always George’s flustered father reaction that pays off best.

The Doctor’s TARDIS is added for extra spice.

The star field is created here and on two other pieces, by first indenting star shapes in the Bristol board (on a small stack of paper of cushioning) with a white pencil. Then space field is colored by a rubbing effect with the side of the pencils. In the past, I’ve used opaque white paint over colored sky field.

#2 - Space Ace and Kimberly: suggestion by @tom_graham_jr

The suggestion was more broad as “Something from Don Bluth’s Space Ace!” However, it seemed that I should really just draw the lead couple. Not really knowing much of the story, this was going to be a character piece.

The pose composition is copied from the poster art for the Star Wars: Solo movie. I can understand folks not picking up on that after all, I drew 2 figures instead of the five + of the reference. Secondly, the pose is rather generic action story-guy with gun kind of pose.

#3 - K-9 with the 11th Doctor: suggestion by @nikkistar5394

The family dog seems like a great fit for the lead character in a television series. Examples: The Brady Bunch had Tiger; Battlestar Galactica had Muffit; Frasier had Eddie. Many times, however, they don’t last long on the show. K-9’s history seems to have included several upgrades as well as being the feature of its own spin-off series.

Still, as a practical prop for the long running Doctor Who series, only so much action can be staged when the robotic character can only roll over flat surfaces.

K-9 remains beloved and it’s fun to pair it with any of the Doctor’s regenerations.

Here are the rest of the 3 drawn on Sunday:

Spaceman Spiff

suggestion by @big5army

Harley Quinn vs Patrick Starro the Conqueror (in Space)

suggestion by @alltookayleigh

Chani (a.k.a. Something from the new Dune film)

suggestion by @anthony.helmer

All of these and more original piece of art will be for sale at my next comic convention showing, which, I guess, will be in 2022.

This will be this year’s last scheduled WSIDT session. The scheduled September WSIDT is cancelled as emerging events are poised to occupy more of my time and energy.

Thank you to everyone who pitched their fun drawing suggestions. Thank you for following my blog and/or Instagram (@Monstergram7) and/or Monster Enterprises Facebook page. Thank you for liking. 

All: Black ink and color pencil on Bristol Board.

“The Jetsons”: 17.78 cm  x 12.70 cm (7.00 in. x 5.00 in)

“Space Ace”: 12.70 cm x 17.78 cm (5.00 in. x 7.00 in.)

“K-9 and the 11th Doctor”: 6.35 cm x 8.89 cm  (2.50 in. x 3.50 in.)

What I Drew Sunday, May 30th - Top 3

During last Sunday’s What Shall I Draw Today?, an eight-hour session reserved for drawing other folks’ suggestions, I managed to create 8 sketches.
Here are the top 3 liked pieces from Sunday:

#1 - Original Josie and the Pussycats dressed like their 2001 versions: suggestion by @nikkistar5394

A creation of comics artist and writer Dan DeCarlo, the rock-and-roll trio Josie and the Pussycats have existed since the mid-1960s. The live action film that starred Rachael Leigh Cook, Tara Reid and Rosario Dawson is now 20 years old having received less than stellar reviews and box office when released.

I imagine that it’s the idea of the Pussycats, being an all-girl rock trio, that is the enduring aspect  over any realized incarnation be they from the comics, animation, live action or their music.

The suggestion is a straight forward costume update. My choices came down to the tall, poster-like format and being inspired by the costumes from what I guess is the main movie poster. Dan DeCarlo’s style of drawing young women, is fun an appealing. It’s the reason that Bruce Timm and Paul Dini used it as inspiration where updating the look of Batman: The Animated Series.


#2 - Luke and Leia as Hogwarts students: suggestion by @harishas.art

I haven’t had a good record of matching characters to Hogwarts houses. That said, I read lists of attributes sought by the four houses and made my best guesses. Well, for the sake of the joke, I pre-determined to place Luke in Slytherin house.

For the caricatures, I looked up photos of Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill when they were younger. Some of the photos of Carrie has her resembling Linda Blair. For Leia’s hair, I based the style on how she had it on Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back. For Luke’s hair, it’s pretty much his Episode 4 style.

The broom that Leia is holding is both an allusion to the speeder bike from The Return of the Jedi and a “Harry Potter” prop that I felt the composition needed.


#3 - Obi Wan answering the phone with "Hello there": suggestion by @akoymdf

Honestly, this isn’t my best caricature. The results came out looking less like Ewan McGregor and more like Steven Spielberg without glasses. But that’s how it goes on a WSIDT Sunday when I keep moving forward and don’t back step by doing second passes on my sketches.

In the initial pencil sketch, Obi Wan was holding a rectangular cel phone. No, it wouldn’t have been Star Wars accurate, and perhaps a modern prop is expected. It’s also kind of boring. So enter the big, blue handset with curled cord.

1x hidden IG-88



Here are the rest of the 5 drawn on Sunday:

Po from Kung Fu Panda as Shang-Chi
suggestion by @rod_j_sloan

Ulala and Hatsune Miku
suggestion by @stevedelacruz.16

Lizzie and Darcy from Pride and Prejudice and Zombies 
suggestion by Nicole P.

Trent Lane from Daria
suggestion by @linnofthewoods

Tow Vader
suggestion by @nuggie99x

All of these and more original piece of art will be for sale at my next comic convention showing, which, I guess, will be in 2022.

The next WSIDT session is happening in June 27th. The theme for the next session will be “Comics and Cartoons.”

Thank you to everyone who pitched their fun drawing suggestions. Thank you for following my blog and/or Instagram (@monstergram7) and/or Monster Enterprises Facebook page.

Thank you for liking.

All: Black ink and color pencil on Bristol Board.

“The Pussycats” and “Luke & Leia”: 12.70 cm x 17.78 cm (5.00 in. x 7.00 in.)
“Obi Wan Kenobi”: 6.35 cm x 8.89 cm  (2.50 in. x 3.50 in.)

What I Drew Sunday, April 25th - Top 3

Last Sunday’s 8-hour drawing session was not only “Star Wars” themed as planned, but also full of kids and family scenes. Who knew that “family” was such a strong theme running in the franchise? I thought it was about laser words and exploding moons.

Here are the top 3 liked pieces from Sunday:

#1 - Anakin and Padmé take little Luke and Leia to Disney: suggestion by @annakat.m

There seemed to be a family vibe running through many of the suggestions pitched for this “Star Wars” edition of WSIDT. For example take this “what could have been” family vacation scenario.

A couple of similar suggestions came in. @bodast “Young Luke and Leia playing near the lake on Naboo.” Kinzey F. “Padme, Anakin, Luke, and Leia as a happy family”

Remove the time travel aspect of placing characters from an era “a long time ago,” I chose to place Padmé and Anakin in the Magic Kingdom’s famed Fantasyland behind Cinderella Castle. It’s a location different from the typical front of castle.

Clearly communicating “Disney” is a character encounter. From Mickey, to Minnnie I landed on Donald Duck thinking that during my sketch development, that a “dark side“/“duck side” joke could bubble to the surface. such a joke never did.

Young Leia and Luke, having never been realized in the films, are generic to the point of being drawn mostly from their backs. Luke has his name custom sewn into his mouseears. Leia is dressed as a princess. Padmé turned out to be a reasonable caricature of Natalie Portman. Her hair style and dress are made up, but evoking something that she might wear. Anakin on the other hand, is not a good caricature of Hayden Christensen. As the last drawing of the day, this, unfortunately, is the state that I took it calling “time’s up” for the day. From that point, I spent at least another hour to finishing inking and coloring the piece.

1x hidden Mickey.


#2 - Ahsoka babysitting an unruly Grogu: suggestion by @sdogg52
 

This pairing comes from the Disney Plus series The Mandalorian. Ashoka is a character who originated in the animated Clone Wars series and is a Jedi in hiding. Grogu is the character commonly known as “Baby Yoda.”

The suggestion brought to mind Dennis the Menace and Calvin and Hobbes, the later also serving as stylistic inspiration. As depicted in The Mandalorian, Grogu isn’t a very active character. He sits and waddles and is carried a lot. For the benefit of this “streaking baby” joke, he needed to be much more energetic.


#3 - Chewbacca babysitting Toddler Ben Solo: suggestion by Kinzey F.

 
This “babysitting” story was drawn prior to the “Ahsoka and Grogu” piece. Not knowing anything of what the young son of Leia and Han was like, the more fun set ups comes from some conflict. Here a day-worn caretaker (Chewbacca) and a restless ward (Ben). I aged up Ben from a toddler of the suggestion to have more vocabulary, since Chewy would’t be one with dialogue.


Here are the rest of the 4 drawn on Sunday:

 

R2 and 3PO exploring Mars
Suggestion by @elijones94

L3 and Lando on a date.
Suggestion by @fletchthis

Admiral Ackbar yelling “IT’S A TRAP!” at a mouse droid rolling towards a mouse trap
Suggestion by @madesalvo

Bossk
Suggestion by @carbonswap

In the tradition of hiding Mickeys in my Disney sketches, I put IG-88 references in these Star Wars drawings. Did you find them all?


All of these and more original piece of art will be for sale at whatever ends up being my next comic convention showing.

The next WSIDT session is happening in May 30, as a normal, non-themed drawing session.

Thank you to everyone who pitched their fun drawing suggestions. Thank you for following my blog and/or Instagram (@Monstergram7) and/or Monster Enterprises Facebook page. Thank you for liking.

All: Black ink and color pencil on Bristol Board.

“Anakin & Padmé” and “Chewbacca & Ben” 12.70 cm x 17.78 cm (5.00 in. x 7.00 in.)
“Ahsoka & Grogu” 6.35 cm x 8.89 cm  (2.50 in. x 3.50 in.)

What I Drew Sunday, September 27th - Top 3

In the last-of-the-year session of “What Shall I Draw Today?” I offered a list of 21 not-yet-drawn suggestions previous pitched this year. Last year, I branded this kind of thing as a “Rewind Day.”  This year I didn’t brand it as such, allowing for folks to also make new suggestions. On the day, I pulled from the poll starting with the suggestion receiving the most votes and trying to work in order down the list.

Here are the top 3 liked pieces from Sunday:

#1 - Christopher Robin-Hood: original suggestion by @ch_arles7762

 

The fully worded suggestion was as follows, “Christopher Robin-hood. Pooh and the gang posing as the characters from the cartoon Robin Hood.” This was the Number 1 voted of 21. The mashed name itself is fun enough to attract the curious.

As I do with mashed up groups, I wrote a column of name of the Hundred Acre Wood characters and a column for the Sherwood Forest characters. Then I try to match them up. Most everyone who is familiar with the Robin Hood tales knows that he led and band of “merry men.” The animated Disney film was a bit short on named merry men however: 3- Little John, Friar Tuck, Alan A-Dale. In contrast Christopher Robin has a tight group of 7 friends in the 100AW named in the Disney song about Winnie the Pooh, and then don”t forget about Tigger. Sorry, Kanga gets left out, as does Owl. I cast Roo as young Skippy- not a merry-man but it works. I cast Rabbit as Prince John, which is possible because they’re all playing. Thankfully, the antagonist gives the others something against which to react. And then Piglet is a poor Sheriff and a porter Sir Hiss. So he is cast as Will Scarlet, a named merry man in many adaptations including the Errol Flynn classic movie.

No need to get overly complicated with perspective and depth, when working with the Pooh characters. Trees with branches to sit upon provide great opportunities to place characters off of the ground. Even Rabbit gets to stand on a rock.

In another world, perhaps Tigger would have been cast as Prince John and then he would use his own tail as a puppet version of Sir Hiss.


#2 - Jasmine, Belle, Ariel and Elsa as Doctors and Nurses: original suggestion by @lindsey_baker28

This suggestion was number 5 in vote counts. You never really know what people are going to react to most strongly. I think in this case, the difference between the suggestion and the final drawing is an ethereal something that you didn’t know you wanted until you see it.

The suggester would later comment that these five are her sister’s favorites, and the suggestion was made on her sister’s behalf who is an x-ray technician.

The composition is very stock photo like. I mused about giving them a patients to attend to. I was leaning towards Aladdin, creating a humorous scene suggesting that the former street rat just took “one jump” too many. Ah, but I thought that was the wrong tone. Likewise, I opted not to have Ariel fiddling with her stethoscope, a thing to her that might be an entire mystery.

I made Belle a doctor, believing that she’d have the better grades. The other three ladies are nurses. Jasmine and Elsa nearly gets to keep their assigned colors. With her trademark hair color and large mass of hair swooping over her forehead, Ariel is always a quick read, no matter her outfit or fish tail.


#3 - Sorcerer Mickey as a Jedi: suggestion by @akoymdf

This suggestion was number 2 in vote counts.

This mashup reads like a good fit. On the one hand, you have good-gut Mickey Mouse wearing a magician’s robes and sometimes a magician’s hat. On the other hand, you have the Jedi, the fabled space magicians of Star Wars.

Never underestimate my eagerness to take an idea and make it more complicated, especially if it involves Disney characters. Enter, then, Peg Leg Pete as a Sith Lord. You can tell it’s him be the peg leg. The layout is a common showdown composition with the antagonist in the foreground with his back to the audience. In perspective, the hero is towered over by the villain, and his expression is clearly read as bravery and determination.


I decided to draw of these on the larger format of 5 in. x 7 in. The multiple character suggestions always work better given the room. But as this was a day of second chances, I wanted to give each drawing the best chance to shine.

Here are the rest of the 5 drawn on Sunday:

The Black Widows! Natasha, Yelena, and Melina
Original suggestion by @chujo9

Young Minerva McGonagall with her witch hat
Original suggestion by @akoymdf

All of these and more original piece of art will be for sale at my next comic convention showing, which, I guess, will be in 2021.

The next WSIDT session is happening in January 2021, as I take a break to turn my attentions to the end of the year holiday events. I still may pull from the voted upon list for inspiration for a fun drawing.

Thank you to everyone who pitched their fun drawing suggestions. Thank you for following my blog and/or Instagram (@Monstergram7) and/or Monster Enterprises Facebook page. Thank you for liking. 

All: Black ink and color pencil on Bristol Board.

“Christopher Robin-Hood” and “Medical Princesses” 17.78 cm  x 12.70 cm(7.00 in. x 5.00 in)
“Mickey Jedi” 12.70 cm x 17.78 cm (5.00 in. x 7.00 in.)

 

What I Drew for Disneyland's Birthday – Day 9

The crew from the Mystery Shack drop in
at The Hollywood Tower Hotel.

That’s a Gravity Falls/ The Twilight Zone® Tower of Terror mashup/crossover.

3x hidden Mickeys. 

(front row L-R) Wendy Corduroy, Dipper Pines, Mabel Pines, little girl ghost.

(middle row L-R) starlet ghost, actor ghost, Grunkle Stan Pines, nanny ghost.

(back row L-R) Jesus Ramirez, bellhop ghost, ‘Black’ Pete as the Ghost of Christmas-Yet-To-Come (Mickey's Christmas Carol)

 

Goofy piloting a Star Speeder 3000.
Star Tours, Disneyland.

2x hidden Mickeys. 1x cookie. 1x potato.

(passengers, front row L-R) Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey and Louie.

(passengers, 2nd row L-R) Pluto, Donald Duck, Minnie Mouse and Mickey Mouse.

 

The suggestion box for July 10 is now closed.

You have now until 5:00pm EDT (2:00 PDT) July 10th, to pitch suggestions inspired by your favorite Disney Parks things and characters for consideration to be my last sketch of the day - here in the comments.

Above is a handy checklist of the 30 things I’ve already sketched, which will to help you to help me fill this autograph book with 51 sketches of 51 different beloved Disney Parks things.

21 more pages to go.

What I Drew for Disneyland’s Birthday – Day 6

Albert and the mysterious music box.
Mystic Manor, Hong Kong Disneyland

2x hidden Mickeys.
Easter Eggs: Kida’s staff (The Emperor’s New Groove), Bust of Zeus (Hercules), model of Kuzcotopia (The Emperor’s New Groove); Fa Zou’s sword (Mulan).

 

Mickey and Minne at
Videopolis, Disneyland

2x hidden Mickeys.
Easter Eggs: Powerline (A Goofy Movie), Gosalyn and Honker (Darkwing Duck), Penny Proud (The Proud Family)

 

A mashup at the Haunted Mansion
featuring (front L-R) Miguel, Dante, mummy,
Mama Imelda, Hector, “ear cone” ghost, 2x lonesome ghosts.
 (back L-R) 2x Fa family ancestors,
“Hatbox” ghost, Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobi.

2x hidden Mickeys.
Easter Egss: 2 ghosts from the short The Lonesome Ghosts.

 Miguel, Dante, Mama Imelda & Hector from Disney/Pixar’s Coco.

Yoda and Obi Wan Kenobi as Force ghosts from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

The Fa Family ancestors from Mulan.

The mummy, “ear cone” ghost and the “Hatbox” ghost from the Haunted Mansion attraction.

The suggestion box is closed for July 7.

You have now until 5:00pm EDT (2:00 PDT) July 7th, to pitch suggestions inspired by your favorite Disney Parks things and characters for consideration to be my last sketch of the day - here in the comments.

Above is a handy checklist to help you help me avoid repeating things I've already drawn and included in the book.