Happy Monday Tuesday to you! Yesterday was Memorial Day here in the United States, you see. Since I was visiting with family and friends, Sketchbook Monday was delayed until today. It’s just like old times here on the blog!

Anyhow, let’s take a peek into my sketchbook and see what I doodled this past week.

Peace!

I voted in the Kentucky primary race last week, and they gave me this sticker. After running errands and returning home, I did what any other rational human being would do with a sticker. I peeled it off my shirt and put it in my sketchbook.

Initial design sketch for the marine commander in the science-fiction story I’ve been showing other characters from lately. Didn’t really capture what I was looking for at all, though. He also looks too young here. He’s supposed to be in his 40s (or else the story’s timeline doesn’t work).

I suppose if you took a chipmunk and genetically crossed it with some dude in middle management, this is what the result would look like.

This past week I played around with a ballpoint pen a bit, which is fun because it forces me to actually sketch instead of mucking around for a half hour just trying to doodle the underlying constructing shapes. I have a tendency to do that, which usually leads to me going over a sketch multiple times as if I were inking it. I probably need to loosen up like this more often and have more fun.

Granted, without an initial underlying sketch to guide me, I kind of reverted to a really cartoony style for most of these, as you can see here.

Mister moon face here has quite the chin-beard.

One side of the page is blurred when I scan these, because I’ve been using a hardcover sketchbook. I can’t lay the whole thing flat without physically ripping the page out. Which would, of course, defeat the purpose of having a hardcover sketchbook in the first place.

Eyes are fun to draw no matter the medium.

I don’t know what time it is right now, but this appears to be Jake the Dog and Finn the Human from some popular television program that’s on the cable box these days.

I keep meaning to do these, but always seem to forget about them until Monday is already gone. I usually realize it around Wednesday or so. I’ll try to get back to regular updates, but as usual, no promises. In any cases, I have quite a few neat little doodles to share with you all this week! I even have a brand new scanner, so let’s see how the quality comes out, shall we?

A lot of the sketches this week are going to be of this character. His name is Rafa, and he’s one of the lead characters in a science-fiction story I’d like to do. This was one of the first sketches I did to begin getting a grasp on the art style I wanted for him. I wasn’t quite as worried about his actual design at this point, so his hair isn’t anything close to what I was looking for.

Here’s a later design sketch of the same Rafa character. This was the sketch where I began to feel like his look was coming together the way I wanted.

Nothing really to say about this one of Rafa, other than I really like how the pose came out.

This is the point where I said, “Yes! There he is! That’s him!” The art style may not be 100% there yet, but I feel I’ve nailed the general essence of his look.

A design sketch for another character. This is Sanvi, a childhood friend of Rafa. Both characters begin the story as young children, not quite teenagers yet. The story stretches over many years, so by the end they will be adults. Perhaps they will even have children of their own by then?

A simple test panel of Rafa. Note that it doesn’t depict any actual scene from the story. As you might now be able to guess, I’d really like the story to be a webcomic or graphic novel of some sort, but the story as laid out is really long, so I don’t think that’s feasible without committing to a decade or more of work. I suppose the options are either scale the story back, or do it as a more traditional novel.

This character isn’t connected to the story at all. Just a random young man I felt like putting to paper for whatever reason.

And here’s a female adventurer. She seems really thin and squished because she was sandwiched between two other sketches on the page (which I have edited out).

And finally, a young woman sitting in a window. This appears to be a rather popular pose.

I really need to get my scanner up and running. These things are a pain to edit and place with the uneven lighting that I’m getting just snapping pictures.

Felt like getting my inking pens out, and this is the result. Still got it! Really need to do more sketchbook inkings, I think.

Another sketch of the above character.

Here’s another inking I did this past week. First concept design for a new character…

Full body concept for the character. I don’t think she’ll end up with this outfit, even though I really like it.

Colin, a character of mine from ages ago that I haven’t really ever done anything with. I think he’s showed up before in a few other Sketchbook Mondays.

It’s Tachi! You should know him!

A chibi pointing. Just whatever.

An environment sketch. I don’t do these nearly as much as I should. This particular one is concept art for a level motif.

It’s Sketchbook Monday! On a Wednesday! Just like old times. Monday was Labor Day here in the United States so I wasn’t planning a Monday update. Also, the Internet was out for whatever reason.

We begin with an age progression. These are usually fun to do. Here’s a character as a toddler, around age three or so.

Here they are again, further into childhood. Around age nine.

Now he’s a teenager, age thirteen-ish. Because of the way I placed everything on the sketchbook page, I didn’t have room to do the full bodies of these last two.

Finally, the character has reached young adulthood, around age seventeen or eighteen.

Bonus sketch: age 118.

Random stoic girl for a story idea in my head that I likely won’t ever bother to develop. It takes place in a future where full-body transplants have become a thing. This young girl is actually an FBI agent in disguise…

Like I said before, I really like doing sketches in profile. The shape of the face in profile is just a lot of fun.

I tend to sketch really rough, so there’s not usually enough room to really detail the eyes. Sometimes I’ll just draw an eye by itself to work on one.

This is how my week has been.

See this dog? This dog likes to sit in the most uncomfortable places while I draw. Uncomfortable for me, that is.

A self-portrait of the artist. Gotta get used to drawing myself a bit more angular. I’m not as round as I used to be. In any case, this sketch was warm-up for…

A gift for my sister’s birthday. Honestly I like the sketch version better. The pen I was using didn’t work well on the glossy sleeve, as you can see. Should have gotten my good Pigma Microns out. Oh well. (A gift card goes inside the sleeve, in case you didn’t know.)

“Hello. I have a square jaw. How are you?”

Drawing the face in profile is always my favorite. Adding long hair makes it even more fun!

Is he full of angst, or just trying to look cool?

So, apparently drawing long-haired pretty boys was a thing this week.

As you might imagine, I did a lot of sketches in the four or so years that I wasn’t doing Sketchbook Monday entries anymore. One day I might do a special entry to go back and show the highlights of what was missed, or space them out and put them at the end of normal Sketchbook Monday entries.

Some random king dude, along with his regalia. It’s hard (for me, at least) to do a lot of detail work like clothing patterns and layers in sketches, not just because of how loose the line art is, but because the whole sketch tends to get smudged as I work on it.

A young space pilot cadet, in gear for the first time ready for their training. Are they excited at all, or just nervous and anxious?

The cuteness! You cannot handle the cuteness!

I’m not sure why, but I just really like the way this guy turned out.

Just some girl, reflecting on things. Do love the way her hair turned out.

Sometimes I don’t bother putting clothes on people when sketching because I’m more interested in the shape and form of the human body. Other times it’s because I’m just being lazy.

Felt like drawing a kid in a hoodie.

Well, this makes two weeks in a row. Hopefully this reboot of Sketchbook Monday will actually stick around for awhile.

Who doesn’t love making their own fantasy maps? (You can see the curvature of the page in the top-left corner. It annoys me to no end. Really need to get a working scanner hooked up to my system, I guess.)

And here’s a generic elf to go with it. Although, in this setting, elves are the jack-of-all-trades that humans usually are, while the “humans” of this setting are telepaths.

And here’s something I haven’t done in… (checks archives)… four years. It’s Sketchbook Monday! Yeah, I’m bringing it back! We’ll see how long it lasts. Now, if I really wanted it to be accurate, I would have waited until Tuesday to post it. Just like in the good old days.

Drawn while listing to the Attack on Titan soundtrack. Because determination.

Character concept for the military leader in a story idea where humanity tries to return and repopulate Earth after a devastating scenario which left them wanderers in space. The angle is a bit skewed because of the fact I’m taking pictures with my phone’s camera instead of properly scanning them.

Pretty sure this is medically accurate.

Despite the fact I don’t like watching sports all that much, for some reason I really like sports uniforms. They pop up in my sketchbook quite a bit.

Presented without comment.

HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO YOU?

No story. Just some chieftain of some sort.

Goodness, it’s been a long time! I should have updated the Monday after I got back from my extended trip to Kentucky and beyond, but I was too lazy then—and also busy! Many of these were sketched after I returned.

A much older version of Iccari, playing with his son. This never happens in the book, and it’s not exactly canon. Still, little things like this are what make me want to finish the story so badly!

“The Playful Prince” Though most teenage monarchs who are thrust upon the throne at such a young age in fiction are either pawns, manipulative back stabbers, or wise beyond their years, this boy retains his youth. Even though he may be the absolute ruler of his realm, everyday is an adventure for him and, to the chagrin of many, he can’t stand to stay still for long, often delighting in pranks. His enemies in the court may be powerful and great in number, but because of his kind heart and concern the common people have come to love him. Just a concept stuck in my head, mind you, I’m not planning anything with him.

Concept sketch for the cover/main page art of Under a Different Moon.

Concept art of Iccari’s sister, Nanno, and the design of her outfit.

Concept art of Iccari’s best friend, Namko, and the design of his outfit.

Concept sketch of the river near where Iccari’s clan lives.

Concept art of the two human boys Iccari and Namko spot playing in the river when they go out exploring beyond where they’re supposed to be.