What I Drew Friday, Oct 1 - Disney Parks

Day 1.

I’ll be keeping thing brief with these daily accounts as I endeavor to fill a Disneyland autograph book with 50 sketches. Each sketch being an improv-style mix up of characters, Disney Park thing and other embellishments.

#1, pp. 2-3 - Goofy / visiting Be Our Guest Restaurant: @the_kira_diaries / @nikkistar5394

Lumiere added as a server and to underscore the restaurant’s Beauty and the Beast theme.

That’s one of the restaurant’s dessert menu item.

2x hidden Mickeys.

#2, pp. 4-5 - Vidia and Bolt / stacking themselves to try to meet height requirement for a ride: Nicole P. / Abigail R.

Vidia in on oof Tinker Bell’s fairy friends.

The “stacking” suggestions had originally been pitched with the Aristo-kitties.

The attraction here is The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train.

3x hidden mickeys.

#3, pp. 6-7 - The Princess and the Frog characters and Br’er Rabbit / (going) "around the world" at Epcot: @caitlinfogartyart / @the_kira_diaries

I figured that these characters from the American South would enjoy sitting a spell in the France Pavilion during this food & wine festival.

3x hidden Mickeys.

For those of you following along, you may spot a few suggester names that will repeated pop up. Well, there wasn’t any rule against pitching multiple suggestions.

What Shall I Draw October 1st?

On Friday, October 1st, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the opening of Walt Disney World, I will conduct a special edition of What Shall I Draw Today?, embarking to fill a Disneyland autograph book with your Disney Parks themed suggestions- improv style.

During an improv styled WSIDT session, suggestions will be distilled into 3 parts:

• Character(s) (Disney, Pixar, etc).
• Disney attraction, show, etc.
• Prop or activity.

Then they are all mixed up and recombined randomly for new sketch ideas.

From now until 12noon Eastern Time on that Friday, you may pitch your drawing suggestions on any of these social media platforms:

Instagram: @monstergram7 

Facebook: @Monster Enterprises

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

Only those suggestions posted during this window of time will be considered.

What Shall I Draw Today?

Disney Parks Improv

Friday, October 1st, 2021

Starting time:

Eastern time:  12pm noon

Pacific time:  9am

The official Disneyland Autograph book, contains 50 blank, 5.50 in. x 4.25 in. bound sheets. With 50 pages ready for 50 wild, remixed suggestions, this special, WSIDT drawing session will continue throughout Friday and into the weekend until the autograph book is filled with sketches.

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 Shall I Draw August 29th?

 

On Sunday, August 29th, for 8 hours, I will be drawing other people’s suggestions. Due to occurrences that will unexpectedly impact my time, I had previous announced that last month’s would be the last WSIDT session of the year. Upon a friend’s urging, I’ve decided to have at least this one last session.  

This particular session will be themed “science fiction.” Is there a difference between science fiction and, say, space genre fantasy? Not for the purposes of this activity. In the most broad sense, many fictional stories can be unexpectedly argued as science fiction: Frankenstein, Superman, Scooby-Doo, and Gilligan’s Island as examples. 

From now until 12noon Eastern Time on that day, you may pitch your drawing suggestions on any of these social media platforms:

Instagram: @monstergram7 

Facebook: @Monster Enterprises

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

Only those suggestions posted during this window of time will be considered.

What Shall I Draw Today?

Science Fiction Themed

Sunday, August 29th, 2021

Eastern  time:  12pm noon - 8pm

Pacific time:  9am - 5pm

For As to your Qs, please click on the WSIDT tab above.

What I Drew Sunday, July 25th - 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 just 6 sketches.

Here are the top 3 liked pieces from Sunday:

#1 - Krypto the Super Dog vs Cruella DeVil!: suggestion by @rockamola

I imagine that this could be a spectacular animated sequence. It might not be a long sequence. It is picture of a non-super-powered villainous fashionista battling a super dog, after all. But still, it might be spectacular. 

I employed the standard motif of looking up at the hero, to imply his power and dominance in the scene. I enjoy every opportunity to draw super pets.

Cruella is frequently a fun character to draw. She is tall and her posture presents lots of sharp angles. Her voluminous fur coat is an interesting counter that works best if you stay loose when drawing it. I had considered changing her outfit colors, but chickened out. Still, with the two characters sharing nearly identical color palettes, against the energetic yellow-orange burst in the background, it all kind of works.

1x hidden Mickey.

#2 - Paul Dini’s Jingle Belle meets Wonder Woman: suggestion by @jazzatron5000

The suggestion came with a bit of dialog: “Your Dad sounds wonderful” “Yeah, yeah.” I hope that I assigned the lines correctly. I changed “Dad” to “father” because I think that’s what Diana would have said it.

This I laid out as a medium-two-shot. Reasoning: if you don’t need to see legs and feet, then you don’t need to see legs and feet. The whole of the action is the dialog, the contrasting expressions and their body language.

Jingle Belle is a comic creation of Paul Dini who may be more famous for writing Batman: The Animated Series. Jingle Belle is the daughter of Santa Claus, and if I remember correctly, a lot more bratty than Anna Kendrick’s “daughter of Santa Claus” in the movie Noelle (2019).

I opted to draw another caricature of Gal Gadot’s portrayal of Wonder Woman. I think that if I continue to draw that version, that eventually I’ll get it right.

#3 - MacGyver (Lucas Till) and Fred Jones (Scooby Doo) working on a trap together while Daphne watches and swoons: suggestion by Nicole P.

Here’s a lesson in persistence (kind of). Nicole has inserted Lucas Till’s MacGyver several time previously and paired with Fred at least once. Top be fair, she has also pitched multiple suggestion per session.

I’ve watched the Richard Dean Anderson MacGyver series (1985-1992), but only a couple of Till’s episodes. From the typical internet image search I took on the caricature and hoped that it would look more like Till than say Matt Damon.

The close-up framing of Mac and Fred has everything to do with not wanting to devise and draw a readily recognizable trap contraption that wasn’t just a camouflaged noose. If you’ve read my behind-the-sketch “Top 3” run downs, then you’re familiar with me finding economy where I can.

Both Fred and Daphne are wearing version of their costumes from the Scoob! movie (2020).

Here are the remaining 4 drawn on Sunday:

Luke Skywalker or Qui Gon Jinn lifting Thor’s hammer. Either is worthy.

Suggestion by @loquacious_piano_hobbit

Calvin and Hobbes as firefighters during wildfire season.

Suggestion by @artofthehike

Calvin and Hobbes as firefighters during wildfire season.

Suggestion by @artofthehike

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

This as the last WSIDT session for this year, 2021. Unfortunately, there are events happening later this year that will interfere with my schedule and causing me to cancel the last 2 WSIDT sessions.

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.

“Krypto vs Cruella” and “MacGyver and Fred”: on Bristol Board, 12.70 cm x 17.78 cm (5.00 in. x 7.00 in.)

“Jingle Belle and Wonder Woman”: on Bristol board, 17.78 cm  x 12.70 cm (7.00 in. x 5.00 in.)

What Shall I Draw July 25th?

On Sunday, July 25th, for 8 hours, I will be drawing other people’s suggestions. This session that I call What Shall I Draw Today? will be a normal, non-themed drawing session. From now until 12noon Eastern Time on that day, you may pitch your drawing suggestions on any of these social media platforms:

Instagram: @monstergram7 

Facebook: @Monster Enterprises

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

Only those suggestions posted during this window of time will be considered.

What Shall I Draw Today?

Sunday, July 25th, 2021

Eastern  time:  12pm noon - 8pm

Pacific time:  9am - 5pm

This will also be the last WSIDT for the year. Certain big events lie ahead for me that will disrupt my previous WSIDT plans. I hope that I’ll be resuming WSIDT in January 2022.

For As to your Qs, please click on the WSIDT tab above.

What I Drew Sunday, June 27th - 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 - “The Family Circus” newspaper strip with Wanda, Vision, Billy and Tommy: suggestion by @nikkistar5394

These character are naturally from the Marvel Studios Disney-Plus series “WandaVision.” 

The Family Circus is the long running newspaper comic created by Bil Keane.

As a general note, what I did not realize when I had embarked on the day’s theme of “comics” is that I would very likely have to emulate the comic tone, humor and style of other artists. It’s a challenge that I enjoy, and in fact, it is a challenge that I did more often as I learned about art and popular artistic media such as newspaper comic strips. The standard layout of The Family Circus daily comic is to have the art bound in a circular frame with caption. One of the basic sources of humor for the comic is the world view of the family’s four kids shaped by the misunderstanding resulting from lack of experience.
 

WandaVision used the conceit of Wanda using her magic to structure her life as a television, family situation-comedy. Since part of that features all of the people around Wanda being unaware of being on a T.V. show, then maybe Billy and Tommy’s comments would be speculative about living on a once-a-week T.V. show. Is that irony?

Drawing the quartet sitting down watching television had never been a consideration. I gravitated to an outdoor scene. Having the twins playing with Avengers action figures was intentionally an additional infusion of “Marvel” that any ironic commentary. Which isn’t to say that the dolls that they’re holding aren’t intentionally representative of other Marvel/Disney-Plus content: The Falcon (a.k.a. Captain America) and the Winter Soldier, Loki, and The Black Widow movie. I was only after placing the Iron Man doll on the ground to fill the space, that it dawned on me that effectively his story was complete and the comic’s subtext was was about New stories versus the old. You’d think that I had planned it that way.


#2 - Wednesday Addams: suggestion by @alltookayleigh

As the first sketch comic of the day, I chose to emulate Charles Addams comic, The Addams Family. I struggled with the imagery of Wednesday with a huge axe, only in so far as how I could make that funny.

Time being short, I looked up movie quotes from the 1991 live-action movie featuring a young Christina Ricci playing Wednesday Addams. Is it Wednesday’s best line in the movie? It is certainly up there. It does require some context. One at least has to have knowledge of “Girl Scout Cookies.”

I changed the scene setup from what is depicted in the movie. In the movie, Wednesday and brother Pugsley are running a old-time lemonade stand and are approach by the Girl Scout who has boxes of Girl Scout cookies in hand. I stripped out the lemonade and Pugsley to the basic elements.

Arguably, the better worded caption could be, “Are your cookies made from real girl scouts?”

The raven and spider were added because I thought it needed more macabre elements.


#3 - Donald Duck meeting Howard the Duck: suggestion by @akoymdf

The meeting of two ducks, one from family-friendly Disney and the other the subversive opposite of that. Early Donald was quite the rascally-child who took short cuts whenever possible if he couldn’t first not opt out of doing a task in the first place. I thought that even that version would contrast greatly against a world-weary duck from another world/universe (I don’t really know which).

I also opted to contain the scene onto a smaller collector card. This actually meant that I was unwilling to invest in drawing a lot of supporting props and/or backgrounds. The conflict ended up having Howard complaint about something about Donald or Donald’s world. Enter Disneyland and its iconic Sleeping Beauty Castle. It may well be that I can’t go a whole WSIDT day with out drawing something about a Disney Park.

2x hidden Mickeys. (One is teeny tiny)

Here are the rest of the 5 drawn on Sunday:

The Rocketeer!

suggestion by @evanblasor

Calvin as Loki the trickster who loves chaos

 suggestion by @oliviamn14

Jessica Jones and Batman in a bar (because they are both moody detectives who are orphans)

suggestion by @ani8tor57

Snoopy as Krypto the Wonder Dog

 suggestion by @jonmpeterson

Static Shock

 suggestion by Abigail R.



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 July 25th.

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.

“WandaVision Family Circus”: on Bristol Board, 12.70 cm x 17.78 cm (5.00 in. x 7.00 in.)
“Wednesday”: on watercolor paper, 12.70 cm x 17.78 cm (5.00 in. x 7.00 in.)
“Donald and Howard”: on Bristol Board, 8.89 cm x 6.35 cm  (3.50 in. x 2.50 in.)

What Shall I Draw June 27th?

 

On Sunday, June 27th, for 8 hours, I will be drawing other people’s suggestions. This session will be themed “comics,” which I’ll include topics from comic books, newspaper comics and animated cartoons (why not?). Sketch pitches that feature topics that originated as comics will be favored over comic styled versions of other things. From now until 12noon Eastern Time on that day, you may pitch your drawing suggestions on any of these social media platforms:

Instagram: @monstergram7
Facebook: @Monster Enterprises
Blog: monotonae.blogspot.com (here in the comments)

Only those suggestions posted during this window of time will be considered.

What Shall I Draw Today?

Comics Day
Sunday, June 27th, 2021
Eastern  time:  12pm noon - 8pm
Pacific time:  9am - 5pm

For As to your Qs, please click on the WSIDT tab above.

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 Shall I Draw May 30th?

 

On Sunday, May 30th, for 8 hours, I will be drawing other people’s suggestions. This session will be a non-themed, all pitches welcome event. From now until 12noon Eastern Time on that day, you may pitch your drawing suggestions on any of these social media sites:

Instagram: @monstergram7
Facebook: @Monster Enterprises
Blog: monotonae.blogspot.com (here in the comments)

Only suggestions posted during this time window will be considered.

What Shall I Draw Today?
Sunday, May 30th, 2021
Eastern  time:  12pm noon - 8pm
Pacific time:  9am - 5pm

For As to your Qs, please click on the WSIDT tab above.