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Long Lost Friend Studio is my self-publishing imprint, the studio space where we work, and a YouTube channel featuring videos about art and creativity. This blog covers everything happening with me and Long Lost Friend Studio.
Inque and Bat in Ink Combat
I know it’s a clunky title but if you say it fast three times in a row it creates a weird, homophonous echo of itself. Anyway, this week’s monster is a slippery villain from the Batman Beyond cartoon named Inque who often shapeshifts her way into deadly conflict with our hero. But this isn’t just an Inque battle. It’s an ink battle. See? Homophonous.
When The Apes Take Over, My Loyalty Will Be Rewarded
Anyone who’s watched The Planet of the Apes saga unfold (either the original franchise or the reboot) knows that one day, in all likelihood, the earth will be ruled by hyper-intelligent primates while increasingly less-capable humans fall from their position at the top of the food chain. In preparation for this, I’ve begun honoring our future ape overlords by respectfully illustrating a portrait of their leader, Proximus Caesar. Here’s a breakdown of my process.
King Kong Plays Ping Pong With A Ping Pong Paddle
King Kong plays ping pong with a ping pong paddle. Of course he does. What else would he use? Anyway, we washed some giant monkeys with ink in our latest video. With any luck, we learned a little more about the medium and improved our skills. Baseline, we have a companion piece to January’s Godzilla.
Clowning Around With Scooby Doo
Scary clowns have been around for a long time. Grimaldi. The Joker. Pennywise. So it would’ve been odd if Scooby-Doo, a cartoon that prided itself on introducing monsters to impressionable young minds, didn’t include that particular ghoul in its rogues gallery. And it did. In the tenth episode of season one they introduced a ghost clown that’s been creeping kids out for the last 55 years. This week, in a misguided effort to fix what was never broken, I decided to redesign that monster.
Inking Devastation: Godzilla Minus One
Recently, I went to see Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One. Then I went and saw it again. A day later, I saw it a third time. It wasn’t too long ago Godzilla movies were just a fun diversion that I could take or leave. But this week I have spent hours meticulously doodling Godzilla like some ten year old kid back from the Sunday afternoon Creature Features, and I’ve been planning a fourth trip to see it before it leaves theatres. I have been stomped into submission by Godzilla Minus One.
Muppetober Was Chaos And I Loved It
It’s October 31st and that’s significant for two reasons. One, of course, it’s Halloween. Look out for spooks. And two, it marks the end of Muppetober, our self-imposed, Muppet-a-day, illustration/video challenge for the month. It was grueling, and we just made it by the skin of our teeth. Now we can collapse like a puppet after you take your hand out.
Mailbox Monsters
When I was a child, there were certain cultural touchstones associated with Halloween that I considered sacrosanct; jack-o-lanterns, trick-or-treating, and halloween specials. Most people agree on those. But there’s one arcane practice that most folks have relegated to the past, one that I have always genuinely looked forward to at this time of year: sending and receiving Halloween cards in the mail.
Pitting My New Brushes Against Spider-Man’s Deadliest Enemies
Much like Peter Parker is always tweaking his web shooters so they respond efficiently during life-threatening battles with his super-powered foes, I, too, am constantly tweaking my art tools in an effort to produce better results. Not quite as life-threatening, but important nonetheless.
Brushing Off Work With Spider-Man
After weeks of what felt like putting on major production numbers in the workshop to create elaborate dioramas, I decided this week would be a low-pressure stroll through some illustration fundamentals. Specifically, brush inking and watercolor work using Spider-Man and Kraven as inspiration. Nice to have a lazy week now and then.
Rocket Had Come Equipped With A Gun
If you’ve seen the latest Guardians of the Galaxy flick, you understand that raccoons don’t like being in cages. And while anyone would assume that to be true, I’d faced that very situation not too long ago and the experience still stresses me out. So I thought I’d work through my issues by doing a quick ink and watercolor sketch of my favorite Guardian, Rocket Raccoon.
The Immortal Elephant in the Room
As a member of the Long Lost Friend Studio Patreon, after a year at the BFF tier, a supporter can request either an illustration from me, or a felted sculpture from Michelle. This time, my ticket got punched and I was tasked to draw Manmoth, an elephantine immortal in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe.
Monsters Lead Such Interesting Lives
The Long Lost Friend Studio YouTube channel started as a fun way to bone up on traditional brush-and-pen inking (and an excuse to discuss famous monsters in pop culture). We’ve since expanded the channel into an opportunity to learn all kinds of art techniques (watercolor, sculpting, diorama building, etc), but this week we went back to basics and inked a couple of classic Looney Tunes monsters.
Burying Myself In My Work
Long Lost Friend Studio is back from our summer YouTube break. As Herman Munster would say: Oh, goody! This week we ink and tone those classic horror-sitcom characters, The Munsters. And it’s all because that zany Rob Zombie trailer is on everyone’s lips.
A Bone To Pick
A little over two years ago, on our Long Lost Friend Studio YouTube channel, I drew and inked this skeleton sailor from the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disney World.