“Left, Right, Setty!” cartoon character drawing

Cartoon character with bulging eyes & tongue hanging out throwing dice, holding a shot glassThis cartoon character drawing was created for a friend’s upcoming party, which will also be doubling as a U.S. wedding reception for our friend Setty, who just got married over in India.

Setty is obsessed with the drinking dice game “Left, Right, Center”. He’s also notorious for exclaiming “Shots!” when out drinking, therefore the shot glass.

The friend who requested the art suggested creating it in the Odd Rods/”Big Daddy” Roth style which I am known to emulate from time to time.

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Cool Guy/Rocker Dude Cartoon Character Sketch

Rocker dude with tattoos & soul patch cartoon character sketchThis cartoon sketch of a trendy ‘cool guy’ rocker type mascot character was created for a current project. He was to the the male ‘companion’ character for the cute cartoon indie rock/alternative rock girl created for the same project. While I love how the head and face came out, I am not so pleased with the body – could use a bit more flair. This is an initial working sketch, so had the client approved that would have been edited. The client wanted to go in a different direction with him, so he’s on the reserve list for perhaps another project.

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Cute Cartoon Indie Rock/Alternative Rock Girl Sketch

Cute indie rock/alternative rock girl cartoon character sketchThis cartoon sketch of a cute indie rock/alternative rocker girl is one of a series of cartoon characters I am working on for a current project. She went through quite a bit of revisions in look, dress and age – but the final came out perfect.

Earlier version had her a little too old and road-weary – I thought we were going for a more ‘edgy’ character but the client wanted a younger, cuter version. The iPod, chain wallet and Chuck Taylor sneakers were a must.

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Cartoon Man with Evil Grin Sketch

Cartoon Man with Evil Grin Sketch of a cartoon man’s head with an evil grin. this was sketched out on a newspaper using a ball-point pen. Drew this the other night while having some beers with friends down at Ray’s Place in Kent, Ohio.

If a large, blank(ish) piece of paper and a pen is around, I can’t help but draw.

My friend Preeti snapped the photo for me.

Cartoon ‘Teeth Creature’ Sketch Tattoo Art

Cartoon teeth creature tattoo photoMonths ago a fan emailed me to get the OK to use one of my sketches as a tattoo. I usually give the go-ahead on any not-for-profit use of my personal art (that said, unless I actually do give the OK, it’s not officially OK). In this case since it was a personal sketch I had done I was cool with it.

I have a few tattoos myself (all done by the venerable Eric Starr over at Arkham Tattoo in Akron, Ohio). I can sympathize with someone who finds the right art for a tattoo – I had Eric ink over a bunch of early stuff that I became less than enthralled with – and now have a huge Japanes-style koi fish shoulder piece in addition to my original Mayan God/Ancient Astronaut glyph.

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Cute Goth Girl Cartoon Character Sketch

Goth Girl cartoon character sketchThis Goth Girl cartoon character sketch is one of a series of characters I am currently developing as a series for a client. The entire set will include all sorts of cartoon characters with different personalities, lifestyles & looks. More details on this project as we get closer to completion…

The goal here was to find the look and keep her cute. The original incarnations of the little goth came out a bit too old and also a bit too punk/heavy metal, but since the Goth will have an “older sister” Rocker Chick for the group, I’ll be able to use those initial rough sketches for the Rocker Girl. The Rocker Girl will probably be more along the line of a Suicide Girl — with clothes on!

Once I had the face & head down, I moved on to getting the clothing right; the obligatory striped stockings, skull t-shirt, spiked wristbands, black rubber bracelets and combat boots completed the look. I especially like how the long pigtails came out for the hair.

An interesting aspect of this project, developing 12 characters in a family, is keeping consistency. I have found that some characters have lent themselves to more wild exaggeration than others, and I have had to tone down the look of some of the characters which I would have otherwise gone a bit more wild with. In order to keep the overall look of the group I have had to sacrifice some stylistic choices.

It’s a great experience and process as I have been coming up with variations of characters that I might not have other otherwise pursued.

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