What If... I Drew the First Idea I Had for the Cover of “Unstoppable Tuff-Girl” No. 1?

Here’s how I realize a 14 year old doodle into a comic book cover for the first issue of my self published comic book:

Compare this to the final cover in color.

As I write this in 2020, I am in the scripting stage of issue number 4 of my self-published comic book, “Unstoppable Tuff-Girl.” Thinking that it would be a good idea to speak more frequently on social media about my personal projects, if not a branding essential notion, I thought that it might be fun to consider issue number 1.

With a cover date of September 2010, UTG, volume 2, number 1 represents the anthology nature of the comic. The main image is the titular hero, Tuff-Girl, preparing for an attack from an airborne man-lizard aggressor to be revealed in the book as Rip Tyler. The left side panels allude to the other features “Wichita the Tuff Mutt” and “Little Tuffy and the Tuf Gurlz.”

On page 32, are depicted over 51 tiny thumbnail images each representing a concept sketch for the book’s cover with the first scribbled in 2006.

The multi-panel layout was a late consideration not only for the cover image development, but frankly also reflects the late inclusion of second and third story features.

The moment on the cover has a marked difference by placing Tuff-Girl in peril, rather than being portrayed as a confident actor.

The concept also features the lead story’s main antagonist, Eagle One along with obvious gambling elements of the coin-slot machines and roulette games of chance. This undermines whatever surprise the story may have as to the nature of Eagle One’s actions.

The redux cover was drawn and inked at actual print size, as opposed to the traditional process of creating art oversized for the benefit of tightening up the art when it is reduced.

What do you think. Did I make the right choice back in 2010?

Logo Grow

Is a company a real company if it doesn’t have a logo? Not if you judge it by American capitalism since, oh, 1960.

Starting in high school, I played around with logo designs as an extension of musings about what would I call my own company. This, in turn, was the natural extension of the high school activity of thinking about what one would do after high school. Designing logos was the easy and fun part.

I came up with logos for a variety of businesses:

• Illustration services
• Engineering design
• Film company
• Detective agency
• Animation studio
• Apparel design
• Distribution company

They all happen to be creative outlets. Considering that I would be pointing my nose in the direction of university engineering studies, these diverse pursuits could have been a premonition of the mega-corporations of today. Or perhaps not. I don’t think Amazon or Warner Brothers either have detective agencies in their respective families of divisions.

It was a fun exercise. The fun was topped by imagining a corporation for them all. That corporation was called Monster Enterprises. If you’re paying attention, “Monster” is a play on my last name “Mon.” It was an is better than most other puns on my name like “Monkey Co.” and “Money Maker, Inc.”

In college, I developed a character called “Monster” which was to be what Mickey Mouse was to Walt Disney. Intentionally, I took the three letters of my last name and mashed them to be the basis of Monster’s face. With that, I moved to formalize the corporation idea with a logo that used the same Monster’s face that served double duty as the “Mo” that begins “Monster.” Unfortunately, right now any copies of drawings of that character are buried deep in some moving box. I think I attempted a visual link by pairing the “TER” common to both “Monster” and “Enterprises.” I still think that maybe I should conflate the two into “Monsterprises.”

Monster as a character evolved as needed in a couple of comic strips all while serving as the corporate mascot. Around 2010 or as late as 2013, I re-designed the corporate mascot Monster to be specific and distinctly different than the ones used in comic strips. Much of this design, borrowed from my Cartoon Network job. Think Fred Flintstones and “Billy and Mandy“ as the nose inspiration.

By 2013, the corporate logo was updated with the new corporate mascot design. Here, I pushed the letter forms to NOT be reminiscent of the “Disney” logo type. The forms have saw-tooth jaggedness, asymmetry and breaks. Here, also, Monster’s ears were left off for better “Monster” legibility.

For the logo icon, Monster’s earless face was isolated and often is placed in a circle. 

This year, Monster’s face has been completed with ears and a defined face/head shape. It seemed necessary for the icon/logo. While I attempted to place the new head into the logo type, in doing so hampered legibility. Too many thick lines, I think. Other detail adjustments include a slightly smaller face compared to his nose and the long cowlick hairs were changed as to not appear to be an “F” and an “N.” Since the icon and the logo type are different, the icon head can be a bit rotated counter clockwise.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the logo gets re-designed again within ten years. That seems to be what all the big companies do.

What I Drew Sunday, May 24th - Top 3

The May edition of my “drawing other folks’ suggestions” was just a regular open call, in keeping with my plan to not have back-to-back special editions. A special edition might be themed or like April’s improv experiment. 

I am pleased that people continue to engage by pitching suggestions. I am further pleased that those suggestions continue to be clever and fun. Sometimes they’re too clever for something I try to make as a quick sketch. I left behind a true “quick sketch” by, oh, some time in the middle of that first year of doing this.

Here are the top 3 liked pieces from Sunday’s What Shall I Draw Today?:

#1 - John Wick playing with Disney dogs: suggestion by @sickleclaw

The Keanu Reeves starring film is over five years old now, and even though I have yet to watch it or its sequels, I know that John Wick was very attached to his dog. However, I don’t suppose that fact very much informs into the story of this sketch.

I selected three dogs because it’s a good number. The other major variable left to me is selecting of the three of the many Disney dogs. I decided on dogs that had human owners. After that, landing on three that happened to have black, white and grey fur matched well with John Wick’s black and white outfit.

More or less the caricature style aligns with the character designs of the 1961 animated feature, One Hundred and One Dalmatians.

#2 - The Frozen gang as the Mystery, Inc. gang: suggestion by @johnssketches

The quartet of the Mystery, Inc. gang has proven to be a popular subject in general. They’re no less so for a mashup. I think it’s because of each member’s clearly defined personality and contributions to the group.

The quartet of Disney’s Frozen franchise have yet to be around as long as the Scooby gang, and as such is yet to prove as well loved and lasting. That hasn’t stopped me from making comparisons.

Sven (reindeer) as Scooby-Doo – Both clever quadrupeds. An easy match.

Kristoff as Shaggy – Both the long-time companion to the reindeer/dog. It writes itself.

Elsa as Fred – Both the assumed leaders of their respective groups, but also are either one of them the most qualified to be the leader? 

Anna as Velma – For both, perhaps the most curious and book smart of their respective gangs. Anna doesn’t wear glasses but they seemed to be part and parcel of Velma’s costume.

Olaf as Daphne – Beside being the last match and Olaf not being a natural better match for any of the other Mystery, Inc. members, the commonality is character malleability. As the script calls for, Daphne can be helpless victim, or accidental puzzle solver or a Velma stand-in. As for Olaf he can be naive, or unexpectedly intuitive or situationally oblivious.

For the story, Mystery, Inc. has maybe two tel-tale group modes: 1) solving mysteries including an unmasking; and 2) running from not-ghost ghosts. Portraying unthreatening Snowgies casting menacing shadows fits the second criteria fine.

#3 - Yakko, Wakko, and Dot giving safety procedures: suggestion by @akoymdf

The trio of characters lend themselves to a trio of safety tips.

I assumed that “safety procedures” meant a timely pandemic theme. But I suppose that I could have chosen any three bits of safety advice. “Chew your food well.” “Buckle up.” “Don’t run with scissors.”

I opted to break up the suggestion into three mini posters, rather than trying to squeeze them into one poster. Design-wise, it was the better and easier choice. Besides, packing in tiny type wins no points for neither design nor clarity of concept.

Wakko gets “hand washing” so that I can draw hims eating the soap. Yakko gets “masks” because I didn’t want to necessarily cover Dot’s face. Dot gets “social distancing” in order to give her long, pointy sticks - that’s comedy.

Here are the rest of the 9 drawn on Sunday:

Huey, Dewey and Louie playing the game of life

Suggestion by Jeff

Aloy (Horizon Zero Dawn)

Suggestion by @sickleclaw

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Suggestion by Kinzey Freels

Lightning McQueen eating dessert

Suggestion by @herreriamon

All of these and more original piece of art will be reserved for sale at my next comic convention showing, which, honestly, looks like will be in 2021.

The next WSIDT session is scheduled for Sunday, June 28th.

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.

“John Wick and dogs” on paper. 12.70 cm x 17.78 cm (5.00 in. x 7.00 in.)

“Frozen/Mystery, Inc.” mashup on Bristol Board. 12.70 cm x 17.78 cm (5.00 in. x 7.00 in.)

“Yakoo,“ “Wakko” and “Dot”  each on Bristol Board. 6.35 cm x 8.89 cm  (2.50 in. x 3.50 in.)

What Shall I May 24th?

The May edition of What Shall I Draw Today? is happening is a few short days. In my pattern of hosting a themed or special versions on every even month, it follows that for May there is no theme, unless the theme is “fun” and “clever.”

What Shall I Draw Today?

Sunday, May 24th, 2020

Eastern Daylight Time:  12pm noon - 8pm

Pacific Daylight Time:  9am - 5pm

Pitch your suggestions at any of the following social media spots where you find the above prompting image form now until the 24th:

Blog:  monotonae.blogspot.com  (right here in the comments)

Instagram: @monstergram7

Facebook:  /Monster Enterprises

For FAQs, please click on the WSIDT tab above.


Remember, all previous suggestions have been tossed out to make room for new ones. But you can always suggest things again and again.

Deadpan and Spider-Man / in a taxi /  in Chicago
Black ink and color pencil on paper. 12.70 cm x 17.78 cm (5.00 in. x 7.00 in.)
Mashed up suggestion by @akoymdf / @mannysmyname / @mannysmyname
(spelling corrected)

What I Drew Sunday, April 26th - Top 3

For last Sunday’s session of What Shall I Draw Today? I reshaped it into an improvisational drawing session. For the six days leading up to the day, suggestions were welcomed. However, this time, folks were prompted to suggest things in three categories: 1) one or two characters; 2) things; and 3) settings or activities. On WSIDT Sunday, everything got deconstructed, sorted and recombined randomly as new drawing suggestions.

Here are the top 3 liked pieces from Sunday:

#1 - Barley and Ian (Onward) / in Firelight / Ballroom Dancing: suggestion by @johnssketches / @annakat.m / @alltookayleigh 

Here we have two elf brothers, who don’t dance in their movie, “Onward” and much less in a ballroom style dance. Embracing the “yes and…” tenants of improv, the two would be take to it with zero reluctance. Still, I chose to not pick a flashier composition of a dip or a lift.

The “firelight” aspect added a bit of additional attention and time, in the coloring stage of the drawing.

The story plays pretty straight forward and I guess there’s no more to say about it.

#2 - Padmé Amidala or (and) Peggy Carter / with teapot / in an attic: suggestion by @annakat.m / @japchrissy / @jonmpeterson

The character component has the “or” option. Here, I could have prepared the suggestion by splitting it into two different character suggestions. Instead, I let it play into an “and.” You get it, “yes, and…”

Here I demonstrate my push to generalize and minimize the background setting, if I can get away it. I had in my mind to depict a strong spotlight on the teapot, a la Raiders of the Lost Ark. The yellow patch at the top right implies a roof-top window which would have been the source of a shaft of light. Expediency nixed that idea, I’m sorry.

I have Peggy call Padme “princess” even though “queen” would have been the proper title. I like to think that Peggy would tease Padme about having such titles. Maybe that confused some folks.

Would Padme not recognize what a teapot is? Well, perhaps if she first saw only a odd shaped pot with a handle (the spout is pointing away from her point of view)?


#3 - Leni Peakitten / with an iPhone / swimming: suggestion by @thefurmaster78 / @breezie_draws / @harishas.art

Leni is an original character (O.C.) that the IG follower has suggested before and that I have drawn once before. Now you know.

This was the first combo-pick of the day and as a demonstration, I had posted a goofy introductory video of me pulling the slips of paper out of three cups. I mentioned that the suggestion was “a recipe for disaster” by which I meant that swimming is not an activity to take one’s iPhone.

Taking a selfie seemed to be the best way to feature the iPhone. I didn’t want to draw something that just happened to have a cel phone in it.

As it turned out by day’s end, it was the only suggestion featuring a single character and coincidentally the only one the I fit into the smaller collector card size format.




 

I only managed five sketches for the eight hour session.

Here are the rest of the 5 drawn on Sunday:

Spider-Man and Deadpool / taxi driving / Chicago

Suggestion by @akoymdf / @mannysmyname / @mannysmyname

Sorry for the misspelled “Chicago”

Wonder Woman & Okoye / as Star Wars characters / Cleaning puppys’ mess

Suggestion by @madesalvo / @motheroffreels / @juliet.montenegro

I hope that the results were interesting or funny. I believe it’s safe to say that they’re unexpected.

All of these and more original piece of art will be for sale at my next comic convention showing, which, honestly, I don’t know will happen this year.

The next WSIDT session is scheduled for Sunday, May, 24th.

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.
“Barley & Ian” and “Padme & Peggy” on paper. 12.70 cm x 17.78 cm (5.00 in. x 7.00 in.)
“Leni“  on Bristol Board. 6.35 cm x 8.89 cm  (2.50 in. x 3.50 in.)

Heroes

My deepest thanks go out to the hard working everyday folks on whom we depend to persevere through these challenging times.

- --- + + + --- -

Color pencil on Bristol Board.
30.48 cm x 22.86 cm (12.00 in. x 9.00 in.)

With this piece, I attempt to focus on a few representive folks who aren’t hunkered down in their homes waiting out the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Folks who continue their essential work, so that a nation can best brave these times before a cure is found.

(L-R)

• Paramedics and first responders •

• Teachers •

• Scientists •

• Nurses and medical staff •

• Postal workers and delivery persons •

• Farmers •

• Grocers, restaurant owners and clerks •

• Shipping and transport workers •

I made a few conscious choices before proceeding with the drawing. The first was to depict representations of ordinary people and neither famous people or identifiable intellectual properties. The second was to depict a diversity of genders, ethnicities and body types.

There exists an aborted first rough composition that had a line-up of all the standing figures as fully drawn. Plainly, it was boring. In this version number 2, the cropping is tighter and the figures are placed at different levels, i.e. distances from the viewer/ camera. Artist tip, if your subjects are merely standing about, ask yourself if you really need to show their feet? The camera is positioned low, looking up at the group, making them feel more important.

The monochromatic nature of the piece was decided upon mid sketch, as this tonal stage reminded me of the white statues featured in the American Adventure theater in Epcot. Flanking each side of the theater seats are 6 figural stature representing the so-called spirit American values.

What Shall I Draw April 26?

With the April edition of the What Shall I Draw Today? things are getting mixed-up, literally. The typical WSIDT session features me accepting other folks’ suggestions and drawing as many of them as I can in an 8-hour span. It’s a little like improv with a pencil. Well, this time, let’s see what happens when WSIDT is really treated like improv. It will either be super fun, or be a spectacular  disaster.

Here’s what we’ll do.

Step 1) Folks like you are invited to suggest in any or all of 3 categories:
1- 1 or 2 Characters 
2- Things 
3- Settings or activities

Step 2) All of the suggestions will be separated and mixed up.

Step 3) I’ll pick from the 3 category piles, recombining then into a new suggestion and I’ll attempt to draw it. For example, the new suggestion might be player #1’s suggested character, utilizing player #2’s thing suggestion in a setting suggested by player #3.

Does that make sense?

Another ways of looking at it is, for a second example, a suggestions like “Ariel dressed as Spider-Gwen at a Renaissance Faire” will get broken up as 3 parts: 1)-“Ariel”; 2- “Spider-Gwen costume” and 3- “At a Renaissance Faire.” Any of the parts might contribute to a new, different Franken-suggestion.

What Shall I Draw Today?

= Improv =

Sunday, April 26th, 2020

Eastern Daylight Time:  12pm noon - 8pm

Pacific Daylight Time:  9am - 5pm

Pitch your suggestions at any of the following social media spots where you find the above prompting image.

Blog:  monotonae.blogspot.com (right here in the comments)

Instagram: @monstergram7

Facebook:  /Monster Enterprises

Click on the WSIDT tab above for FAQs.

As a bit of a warning, all suggestion are subject to interpretation and editing. This may involve but may not limited to individual characters pulled from suggested groups, and settings simplified and or suggested possibly by a word bubble.

What could go wrong?

Flynn Rider and Rapunzel at Disneyland.
Black ink and color pencil on paper.
12.70 cm x 17.78 cm (5.00 in. x 7.00 in.)

What I Drew Sunday, March 29th - Top 3

Of the 32 suggestions pitches for last Sunday’s “Disney Day” edition of What Shall I Draw Today?, 19 were actually Disney themed. In this. In this context, I do classify Muppets as under the Disney umbrella along side of Pixar, but I don’t include Marvel or Star Wars. That’s just under 60%. I can’t speculate whether the other 40% represents people who had no regard for Disney ideas, or strategize that I might get to their non-Disney suggestions in the days leading unto the next WSIDT in April, or that “Disney Day” just didn’t register with them.

Here are the top 3 liked pieces from Sunday:

#1 - Ariel and Eric as MJ and Spider-Man: suggestion by @chrispy2143

This “Spider-Man” “Little Mermaid” mashup received the most likes, no contest. As such, it is an indicator that I no good at picking the winners in these things. For this session, I pegged this one as #3 with my #1 and #2 picks not making the top-3.

It always helps with a mashup to choose a pose or composition that’s typical or iconic to the theme which does a lot of the work. With Spider-Man and Mary Jane, it was either this scene from the 2002 movie, or #2 when Peter Parker first meets MJ in the comics, or #3 the wedding cover from the comics. Clearly, it had to be the kiss.

The next consideration with a mashup like this is to keep enough of Ariel and Eric, that they look like Ariel and Eric. This is a tougher task, because both Ariel and MJ are red-heads, and then Eric is up-side-down. Facial likenesses have heightened importance when both characters are entirely costumed, with maybe only Ariel’s hair as a “Little Mermaid” look.

Except…

… I replaced the spider symbol on Eric’s chest with a silhouette of Sebastian. That then makes him Spider-Hermit-Crab-Man! And no one on Instagram made mention of it.


#2 - Jessica Rabbit as Tinker Bell: suggestion by John Coy

Another of 4 mashups drawn on Sunday, Jessica Rabbit as Tinker Bell, is a simple costume swap. Still, I thought she should strike a snarky Tinker Bell pose.

The top-knot hair style throws off Jessica’s recognizability. So, getting the face right becomes that much more important. Consider that if Jessica were a blonde, then then results could very well be a stylized “grown-up” Tinker Bell.


#3 - Stay Home Oswald: suggestion by Chiemi Kaneko

Tapping into the issue of these days (which is the COVID-19 self-quarantine to those of you reading this in the future), a lot of folks on social media have already been making light of the situation with comments about being bored.

“Oswald at home” doing at home things does nothing the communicate the underlying “quarantine” idea. Neither would a hyperbolic “trapped at home” composition, which I then thematically used for the March Hare.

Deciding on a bored Oswald on his cel phone isn’t the solution in itself. What pushes the idea over is the text bubble with the right text. As proof, cover the text bubble and ask, “what’s happening here?”

I haven’t drawn a lot of Oswald. So I guess his ears aren’t particularly floppy, like, say Goofy’s.



 
Of the 10 pieces drawn, 6 were done on the larger 18cm sheets with 4 on the collector-card-size 9cm. This is curious, in that I usually try to draw more on the smaller format as a strategy to complete more pieces in the day. What I think skewed things was the decisions to draw the two single character pieces of Jessica Rabbit and “Hula” Belle larger than on 9cm in order to capture more details on full-figure compositions.

Here are the rest of the 9 drawn on Sunday:

Rapunzel and Eugene at Disneyland
Suggestion by @lokoteibex

Kim Possible as Black Widow and Ron Stoppable as Captain America
Suggestion by @rod_j_sloan

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy dressed up as Spider-Man and Spider-Gwen
Suggestion by @benmcdermott93

Hula girl Belle
Suggestion by @akascooby

Ariel with the Sorcerer Mickey hat
Suggestion by @elijones94

Pepper Ann
Suggestion by @mannysmyname

March Hare
Suggestion by @cindyhendersonliotta

All of these and more original piece of art will be for sale at my next comic convention showing, which, honestly, I don’t know will happen this year.

The next WSIDT session is scheduled for Sunday, April, 26th.

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.

“Ariel & Eric” and “Jessica Tinker Bell” on paper. 12.70 cm x 17.78 cm (5.00 in. x 7.00 in.)
“Oswald“  on Bristol Board. 6.35 cm x 8.89 cm  (2.50 in. x 3.50 in.)

Working from Home

With COVID-19 impacting the world, the Walt Disney Company quickly cycled through allowing, encouraging, facilitating and then up to nearly mandatory making work-from-home policies for its employees. With the Products group being “entertainment-industry-adjacent,“ my Disney department quickly took up the opportunity and Friday March 13 we all began the WFH life. 

Following the social media trend of artist’s sharing snapshots of their home work spaces, here is mine. 

It’s a mess. 

If you’d like to spend a few minutes of your day as a minimal escape from the world’s concerns, then you can play this game of find these 20 things. The prize is giving yourself a socially distancing pat on your own back. 

Let me know in the comments how long it takes you to spot all 20.

1. 1)  Painting easel
   
2. 2)  Box of sketchbooks
   
3. 3)  Grey water tub for painting (with 2-paint brushes in the rim holes)
   
4. 4)  Box of Ziploc® bags
   
5. 5)  Stack of paper pads
   
6. 6)  Superman
   
7. 7)  Small, white electric personal fan
   
8. 8)  Bottle of Elmer’s® Glue All
   
9. 9)  Black/ dark grey fishing tackle case (for art supplies)
   
10. 10)  Wooden folding chair
    
11. 11)  Pickle jar
    
12. 12)  Supergirl
    
13. 13)  3 metal rulers of different sizes
    
14. 14)  Mickey Mouse alarm clock.
    
15. 15)  Black manual pencil sharpener
    
16. 16)  2 heavy duty moving boxes that have been cut down to half size
    
17. 17)  Collected lanyardsof different colors (but mostly are black)
    
18. 18)  Digital picture frame
    
19. 19)  White clip-on light
    
20. 20)  Pack of 9-volt batteries
    

There are plenty more thing in the picture, but the task of visually identifying them is thwarted by the picture resolution and/or, like many of the boxes, have little or no distinguishing features. For example, I can see the paper shredder, but there’s not enough of it visible from this angle for anyone else to make it out, although with those clues, I’m sure many of you can propose an educated guess or two.

Stay safe. Stay healthy.

What Shall I Draw March 29?

The March edition of the 8-hours session of drawing other folks’ suggestions that I call “What Shall I Draw Today?” is proceeding as planned. And it’s a Disney Day! Less as planned is the cancellation of WonderCon, Anaheim, where I was to have a booth and where original Disney sketches tend to sell well because Anaheim, CA is the home of Disneyland Resort and surrounded by Disney-philes. So, the WSIDT suggestion box will be emptied to make room for your fresh, new drawing ideas.

What Shall I Draw Today?

Sunday, March 29th, 2020

Eastern Daylight Time:  12pm noon - 8pm

Pacific Daylight Time:  9am - 5pm

Pitch your suggestions at any of the following social media spot where you find the prompting image above. While you are welcomed to suggest just about anything and drawing subjects, for consideration on WSIDT Sunday, I will be selecting Disney-themed suggestions.

Blog:  monotonae.blogspot.com (right here in the comments)

Instagram:  @monstergram7

Facebook:  /Monster Enterprises

Click on the WSIDT tab above for FAQs.

Chip 'n' Dale meet Trader Sam
Black ink and color pencil on Bristol Board.
6.35 cm x 8.89 cm  (2.50 in. x 3.50 in.)