Inking Uncle Deadly (The Phantom of the Muppet Show)

This was a fun video to make. And not just because I got to draw one of my favorite scary muppets, Uncle Deadly.

And not just because Run Red Run and I got to talk about Muppets (which is always fun).

But this time, we’re also debuting a brand new experimental segment where SOMEONE ELSE does the inking. Have I got your curiosity piqued? Good. Watch the video and find out what I’m talking about:

Inking Muppets! Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear.

I know we usually ink monsters or villains (because they’re fun) but we’re lightening things up a touch today and inking Muppets!

Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear, up on stage, thrilling the crowd on open mic night at Chet’s Beef and Brew. Everybody’s gotta start somewhere! But you know with the talent these two have, they’re going places!

And while I ink Muppets, RunRedRun and I discuss inking, kazoos, and that one time we met a Muppeteer! I also spend most of the video trying to convince her to sing.

Plus, if you stick around ’til the end, I tossed some digital color on my inks. Here the video:

Inking Prince John (from Disney’s Robin Hood)

There’s this middle-era of Disney animation that I just love. One of the movies from that era is Disney’s Robin Hood.

The villain of that movie is the scheming Prince John, a lion (and lyin’) king that’s a pretender to his brother’s throne. But, as conniving as he is, he’s actually a pretty funny Disney villain.

So I inked him with a brush pen and finished with some ink washes, while RunRedRun and I discussed Disney movies and what we liked so much about the art style in Robin Hood. Here’s the video:

Inking A Skeleton Pirate (From the Pirates of the Caribbean Ride)

My friends and I love going to Disneyworld. But, honestly, I’ll wait until after the whole mask thing has passed…if it does.

Until then, I’ll have to settle for drawing skeleton pirates and talking about the Pirates of the Caribbean ride with Run Red Run.

If you miss riding the rides at Disney, or if you want to see me ink this skeleton pirate…or even if you just have 9 minutes to kill while your pizza cooks, here’s the link to the video.

Inking Ratigan (from The Great Mouse Detective) and Talking About Vincent Price

The title pretty much covers it. I inked another Disney Villain — this time, the insidious Professor Ratigan from The Great Mouse Detective.

And, if you’ve seen the movie, you’re well aware the character is voiced by the amazing Vincent Price, one of the great horror actors of the 20th Century.

So Run Red Run and I used my inking practice as an excuse to talk about our favorite Vincent Price movies. Here you go:

 

Inking Br’er Fox (ink wash)

Continuing with villains this week, I inked Br’er Fox, the villain of all those Br’er Rabbit stories. And since this illustration was based on the Disney version of the character, RunRedRun and I do a lot of gabbing about the Splash Mountain ride at the Disney parks.

Oh, and if you stick around long enough, I do a quick, simple inking of another crafty critter from Chickapin Hill. The video is embedded down below. Stay safe! -v

Haunted Mansion Bride (and Hatbox Ghost Bonus) Process Video

Yikes, what a weird week. I’m quarantined in my home studio, my friend RunRedRun is quarantined elsewhere, so we haven’t been able to work on any new videos. Here’s one of the handful we got in the can before the quarantine: The Haunted Mansion’s Black Widow Bride, with a bonus backup of her pal, the Hatbox Ghost. Hope everyone’s staying safe and healthy.

Inking Donald Duck

Disney’s second banana, Donald Duck, gets the inking treatment this time. And while I do that, RunRedRun and I talk about inking, Lonesome Ghosts, and other Donald Duck trivia.  Here you go:

Inking Captain Hook (and talking about Peter Pan’s Flight at Disneyworld).

Another inking video. This time, the villain is a little less deadly that our recent videos with Freddy Krueger and Frankenstein’s Monster. This time, it’s Peter Pan’s flamboyant nemesis, Captain James Hook!

Here’s the video. If you like it, you can subscribe to our channel to get updates.

Oh, and I recently started putting the artwork from the videos up in my online shop. So if you see something you like, feel free to grab it!

Swinging With Those Happy Haunts Poster (With Video)

Inking The Ghosts

Here’s something fun I just finished. I doodled a ghost a day, ink on paper, hoping to end up with a stylized cross-section of a haunted mansion; an illustration you could ‘ride through’ with your eyes. Just an experiment; to see if I could do it.

The Tricky Part

The mansion is a kooky collection of spooky rooms, linked together through a series of twists, turns, ramps, and drops. It’s kind of difficult to reconcile the interior experience with the exterior facade. The toughest part was figuring out how to link all those rooms together in the same sequence as the ride in an easy-to-follow 2-D cutaway that made sense. It was a fun challenge to puzzle out.

Fiddling Around With Color

The more I completed the ink drawing, the more I wanted to see it in color. Muted colors, maybe, and a limited palette; something that evoked an early ‘70s feel to me.

When my friends saw what I was working on, they wanted a poster for their walls. I told them to quit creeping around behind me while I was working, and that I wasn’t planning on printing it. The inked illustration was the final stage.

Digital Color

But once the inks were finished and some high-res photos were taken, I started to think my friends had a half-decent idea. So I re-inked the illustration digitally, fixed some goofs, and added items I’d missed. It doesn’t have ALL the ghosts, but lots of my favorites. Then I did a color pass over the whole thing, keeping it light and fun, like a children’s book illustration or a kids’ comic.

Printing A Poster

When I was done, I kinda’ liked it. I liked it enough to print up a small run of 18×24-inch posters. Now my nosy friends who creep around my studio are happy. They can hang this on their walls. So now I have this small stack of spooky posters. If you know anybody who might wanna hang one on their wall, email me for details on purchasing a signed copy. Check out the video for a ‘ride-through’: