My Inktober 2022 - 15 - Scuba Minnie

Underwater art really relaxes me, and I'd been doing a little "Wet Minnie" series, so I decided to dedicate one of my 2022 Inktober entries to Minnie Mouse as a scuba diver. 

 

In "Wet Minnie," I just got the idea of Minnie embracing the water, first with simple swim goggles, and then she "upgrades" to a snorkeling mask and an official scuba tank. In actual Disney art, she looks fairly competent in the water, so I'm simply doing it my way. 

I started this back in 2020 and I plan to "reboot" it fairly soon. Like I said, it really relaxes me and Minnie is quite easy to draw, though you'd be surprised at how tricky her ears and nose are. One little misplacement makes a huge difference.

Here's what I've got thus far: 

My Inktober 2022 - 14 - The Pumpkin King

The nice thing about Jack Skellington is that he's very easy to draw, and yet the public positively eats him up. I've heard a couple of people who don't like his movie sing praises about his character.  

And my Jack pins were the biggest hit by far.

My Inktober 2022 - 13 - Pac-Man

Okay, so this one's a bit of a cheat, but I wanted to make it easy on myself this time. 

If it wasn't Mario or Donkey Kong or Sonic the Hedgehog I was playing to death, it was Pac-Man. I can recall two or three different versions of the yellow dot-muncher right off the bat, and we used to own Ms. Pac-Man: Maze Madness for N64. 

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My Inktober 2022 - 12 - SD and KH

This was one of the first suggestions when I was putting the list together. Something tells me Scooby-Doo wouldn't be at all out of place among the Heartless.

 

My Inktober 2022 - 11 - "Mine!"

I've always loved those silly seagulls. Dad thought they were an absolute riot. 

This is how I often envision my customers at my job, especially around the holidays. Today was a real doozy, because we're selling pumpkin bread and we had a "buy one, get one free" deal today. You know what that means, and I leave the details to your own imagination. 

On a side note, and a much sadder one, Angela Lansbury passed away today, just five days away from her 97th birthday. Mrs. Potts is now reunited with Lumiere and Cogsworth. 

I also remember her fondly from Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and from The Last Unicorn, where she lent her marvelous voice to the creepy Mommy Fortuna. Overall, she wasn't an actress; she was one of the actresses. You just didn't get much better than her. 

Godspeed, Lady Angela. 

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My Inktober 2022 - 10 - Beowulf Alone

That's the thing about Beowulf: people can't fully make up their minds what to think of him. He's no more a saint than he is a monster, and anyone who accuses him to his face of being "evil," they have no answer when he challenges them, "You try living the way I do and see how long you last." 

Most people in Beowulf's situation would be a total wreck within just a few months, if not a few days, or even hours. 

Beowulf is the first to admit when he's guilty, but then again, it's plain enough how much worse he can be and yet he chooses of his own accord to not go there. That requires no small amount of self-control.

He can't decide whether it's worse to be hunted down or left entirely alone. He's well accustomed to being alone...but he still doesn't like it. 

For all his marvelous and terrifying adventures, he goes for many years without a family or a place to call "home." He's like a leaf blowing in the wind, or a drifting ship without an anchor or any trace of shore in sight.

The anime Ringing Bell makes me think of him. For those of you who don't know, it's about a young lamb who loses his mother and learns to be more like a wolf...with the very wolf who killed his mother as his tutor. Quite complicated, to say the least. 

I won't spoil the ending, but there's an utterly heart-wrenching line that fits Beowulf perfectly, especially when he's first transformed and his whole family is killed off: "But I'm still alive! Where do I go now?" 

Be forewarned if you watch the anime: it's as depressing as all heck. 

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At least Beowulf's story is a bit more uplifting than that, given how he meets Terence and becomes his most devoted ally, and how Reid wins him over many years later. If not for Terence, Beowulf would have become a complete villain, sooner or later. He would have been okay if he hadn't met Reid, but Reid sure made those last days all the warmer, far more pleasant and far less lonely. 

Loving the Lactantiuses (and receiving their love in exchange) was truly his saving grace. 

My Inktober 2022 - 9 - Werewolves vs Vampires

It's only natural I'd do a piece dedicated to two creatures of the night who are sworn enemies in pretty much every appearance they make. 

I never liked either creature, since I never liked blood and guts. But since I've dabbled in werewolves over the last few years and I've created Beowulf, which I deem one of my best characters, I'll have to side with the werewolves.