Unearthing the Bones of J. Giggles Flintstone

This week I had to work on a commission, and since it aligned nicely with the usual cartoony-spooky-vintage stuff we cover on our YouTube channel, we recorded my process. The medium is colored pencil, and the subject of the commission is the late J. Giggles Flintstone, a minor Season Five character who bequeaths Fred his entire fortune, on the condition that he stays one night in the old, haunted Flintstone estate. See? Told you it fit right in with our other videos.

The video isn’t just a rundown of my process, though. Michelle and I also discuss the episode in question, A Haunted House Is Not A Home, and recap it for anyone who might not instantly recall the 60-year old cartoon. It’s one of our favorite episodes, due in no small part to the malevolent staff who are also spending the night at the mansion, Creepers, Potrock, and Wormstone. If you think they look a little shady, keep in mind that should anything happen to Fred during the night, these stone-age weirdos get the fortune to themselves. Now, it’s a party!

The Flintstone commission is only the second time I’ve tried using solvent with colored pencil. It was a special request by the client, and I was happy to give it another try. And, as usual, in the spirit of passing on any knowledge we acquire by trying these things, I try to drop as many tips as I can think of while I work.

If you haven’t seen how solvent smooths out the texture of colored pencil, it’s really kind of magical. The colored pencil pigments are carried in the wax core of the pencils. When the mineral spirits of the solvent are brushed onto the wax, it melts, releasing the pigments. The result is a much smoother blend of colors.

If you’d like to see more of this solvent effect, you can check out our original Velma and Black Knight video from 2022. And if you want to know if Fred makes it through the night alive, you can watch this week’s Flintstones video at the link below.

Taking A Run At Scooby-Doo’s Ghost Clown

The comedy-themed project streak continues unabated this week as Michelle and I each take a turn at rendering the classic Scooby-Doo villain, Ghost Clown. And everyone knows there’s nothing funnier than a clown who could swallow you whole.

The clown first appeared in episode 10 of the first season, Bedlam In The Bigtop. I’m guessing the original clown design was done by Iwao Takamodo, since he handled most of the designs for those early Scooby-Doo episode. His design was tight and perfect for the show, and looked like this:

I love that clown. But I wanted to try to make him a little scarier. So, after a few sketches, I landed on a slug-like monster with two-rows of razor sharp teeth. I lightboxed my digital sketch, and inked it with Microns, Tombow Brush Pens, and some brushed inks.

The wash I use is just water and Dr.Ph Martin’s Black Star ink. I keep a few pre-mixed jars of it so I don’t have to work out the ink-to-water proportions every time I sit down to do a wash. Once all of that ink is dry — all of it waterproof — I put down some nice, bright, circus colors that echo the original Scooby-Doo design.

And in addition to my version of the clown, this week Michelle plays another round of Ink It or Stink It where she tries to ink one of my drawings for a panel of judges. I sketched out the original Takamodo design for her to try her hand at, and members of our Patreon voted whether the final outcome was an “ink” or a “stink.”

If you want to see the process video, and hear us talk about Bedlam In the Bigtop, the video link is below.