Be smart/broke like me and get yourself a cheap CD player and dust off your under bed storage boxes
I’ve been cutting back significantly on the amount of online accounts I’ve built up over the years. I’ve mainly deleted SM (instagram, twitter, etc.) and art platforms (artstation, devart, etc.) but I’ve also been avoiding music streamers like spotify.
Initially I set up an old windows phone as an mp3 player but got a bit bored of shuffling tracks so I’ve returned to CDs and more importantly albums. I’ve got loads of the things and some haven’t been touched in over 15 years at least, mainly because I donated my Hi-Fi to charity.
I can see why CDs are having a bit of a resurgence, it’s pretty great to turn off my phone and just avoid scrolling or switching through playlists and endless suggestions. It’s the same reason why I’ve also started watching DVDs again.
Reading the classics – Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 1 (1982) & Vol. 2 (1983), Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 1 (1989)
Continuing to take advantage of my local libraries newly acquired stock of manga. Reading these for the first time and I couldn’t be happier, the hype is real.
Little Batman: Month One – Morgan Evans (W), Jon Mikel (A), Ian Herring (C), Lucas Gattoni (L) (2025)
I adored the Merry Little Batman animated special so I grabbed the collected volume of month one recently in my local library. I love the compact size of this TEEN/YA graphic novel format, at 5-1/2 x 8 inches it’s slightly larger than the Tankōbon format (5 x 7.5 inches) but only just (issue 1 pictured for scale). Should also mention that there’s a great gallery section in the back matter with sketches and inks.
Like so many others I was gutted to learn of Sam Kieths passing recently. An incredible artist, I will always remember poring over my best mates copies of Marvel comics presents and having my teenage mind blown by Sam’s work on Wolverine. Similarly since his passing I’ve been poring over his blog and having my mind blown all over again. Sam’s influence is undeniable, a huge loss to comics and the community as a whole.
It’s the end of a month which means only one thing round these parts, a massive and possibly illegal dumping of sketch stuff and scraps from the auld decrepit iPad.
Paddy’s day was definitely a thing that happened in March…. I worked up this sad lad in procreate and then completely forgot all about itLooking again at the initial sketches I prob should have drawn the wee guy dangling from the pint glass with his arse outI drew a bunch of Blob & Duck by Lobster RobinStruggled a bit to turn that duck falling pose into something goodAbsolute characters are so hot right now
Continued #animalstudies with some great suggestions on Cara including the Tanuki, which admittedly I was not aware of, such a delightful creature if a little tricky to draw.
Walking eyeballs were cool before Alien Earth ya know, at least in my bookHulk not have TMJ, Hulk just a little stressedReally like the colours on this Rathraq, picked them out pretty quickly tooWas curious to see if I could do something similar in a larger fan art piece, might revisit this in AprilOne fan art leads to another with some Hellboy doodling, might give him an axe instead
I’ve been enjoying Terran Omega by PJ Holden but haven’t really figured how to approach the character. Think I’m getting closer here but still doesn’t feel like it’s on model as such/captures the right feel… I dunno.
Tricky to balance the feminine physique of Terran with the armour, etc.I mocked up a rough Terran helmet in card for referenceAbs Bats brings the gun show to close this out
I’ve been requesting books for my son at the local library and grabbed this up for myself. What an absolute treat, I loved this, a delightful manga with highly relatable characters. Despite themes of grief, anxiety and friendship/connection, the manga never feels heavy or even depressing. In fact, it’s uplifting and at moments profound. I’ve been thinking about this book a-lot lately, especially sequences with the granny character or Natsumi’s struggle to find her place at art school. There’s even a sequence about escalators that makes me smile when I get off at the train stations in Belfast.
I love the art, Keigo Shinzo has quickly become one of my favourite manga artists, there’s so many little choices in this book that I just adore.
Love that the lil guy is picking his nose here and that kokeshi doll bubbleNatsumi’s body language/acting here is just chefs kiss, we’ve all had walks home like this
Keigo developed Hirayasumi while recovering from lymphoma during the pandemic and there’s a fantastic diary manga of that available on reddit – “Akusei Rinpashu de Nyuuin shita Toki no Koto” (About the Time I Was Hospitalized for Malignant Lymphoma).
Predator: Badlands (2025)
Watched this late last night and I had an absolute blast. The action is superb, the design work astounding and you’re really rooting for this brutal young killing machine. It’s so much fun and that’s something I haven’t said about a film in a hot minute.
Minari (2020)
A beautiful and deceptively simple film, I loved this, there are so many great performances but I adored David’s relationship with his grandmother Soonja.
Things kind of got away from me the last few weeks, January started off well enough but took a bit of a nosedive when I started back at work following the holiday. Here’s some of the sketches/things I produced after my previous dailies post.
I participated in Cara’s anniversary month posting work for day 1 & 2 (of 10). Day 1 was simple enough – post your best 9. It was really interesting to see which pieces got the most responses/what resonated more (I also noted a lot of green in my work last year).
Cara is great btw, if you signed up to it ages ago and haven’t logged-in there in a while I’d recommend having a wee explore again (it’s the only other place I’m posting art, bluesky feels kinda pointless for posting anything that isn’t a finished piece or comic).
I really enjoyed taking part in #caraversary2026, commenting on posts, reading about experiences on Cara and also finding lots of new (well, new to me) artists.
Some studies of a capybara for day 2 (with quick colours in clip studio paint)
Didn’t quite get there with this lil guy for day 2, those proportions are tricky but glad to have sketched something to celebrate the cara mascot (it’s purple btw and called carabara). Drawing this page also reminded me just how much I love sketching animals, there’s a lot of problem solving involved, figuring out proportions, etc. I’m gonna try to draw a different animal each week as an exercise in my sketchbook and maybe post them to the blog and Cara using #animalstudies.
A robot boy from the sketchbook
I’ve been trying to avoid mindlessly scrolling on my phone, so when I get the urge to check it I’ve been scribbling something in coloured pen instead. I recently saw someone on Cara use a Japanese term for doodle/scribble so I’m gonna refer to these as rakugaki (落書き).
Some rakugaki for my sonNot sure where I’m going with that second page, gonna keep noodling at it (spiral shapes provided by my son)Possibly the best drawing of a plane ever (ignore the small wing), hell yeah!
After my dailies post at the start of the month I started looking for books to help me get over some of the mental roadblocks I’ve been experiencing when I sit down to draw. Luckily, I stumbled upon the book Art & Fear online and was thankfully able to request a print copy to loan from work. The following quotes really helped me to get to the core of why I’ve been struggling with my art in 2025/26.
To demand perfection is to deny your ordinary (and universal) humanity, as though you would be better off without it. Yet this humanity is the ultimate source of your work; your perfectionism denies you the very thing you need to get your work done.
Art & fear: observations on the perils (and rewards) of artmaking – Bayles, David; Orland, Ted (2001)
To require perfection is to invite paralysis. The pattern is predictable: as you see error in what you have done, you steer your work toward what you imagine you can do perfectly. You cling ever more tightly to what you already know you can do – away from risk and exploration, and possibly further from the work of your heart. You find reasons to procrastinate, since to not work is to not make mistakes.
Art & fear: observations on the perils (and rewards) of artmaking – Bayles, David; Orland, Ted (2001)
I really think if I start taking risks with my drawing again (not just drawing heads/skulls) it’ll be a good first step to avoid the perfection death spiral.
I’ve added an archive page to the site. It’s something that I’ve been meaning to do for a while now since I deactivated almost all of my art accounts online (I’ve deleted my flickr, tumblr, devart, twitter, instagram & artstation pages).
I plan to gradually add pieces to the archive as I will be exporting files individually rather than doing batch exports (most of the older files resolution/dimensions are too small compared to what I currently export at). I’m still happy with most of my old stuff so I feel that it’s appropriate to give it a digital space and make a home for it on the website. The archive goes back to 2010 with a few gaps yet to be filled. I’ll be including art that has never been posted before such as life drawing/studies and other work that I’ve since reassessed and deemed worthy for public consumption.
In other news, I started to relist more comics and books to my eBay this month. I’m determined to reduce my collection this year and free up some much needed space. So far, it’s going ok and I’ll continue to list when I get the chance in February. If you’re interested you can see my items for sale here.
Moving the pen, wanna make it a daily habit this year
2 Jan 2026
Photos shared to my bluesky and cara accounts
It’s been surprisingly difficult to carve out the time to draw each day this week. Something that years ago before the birth of my son seemed so easy to me, necessary even and often ritualistic. I always feel better when I draw, there’s a surprise of sorts and a meditative stillness that I find myself within. I’m not sure what I’ve missed more really, creating something from nothing or just the quiet escape that drawing provides for me.
The biggest challenge I’ve found has been settling on something to draw, mainly finding the inspiration or spark to start. I’m just trying to draw through it really, hoping that if I sit at the table long enough and fill enough pages something will catch. I’m probably just tired and lacking concentration, motivation and intention.
When you set some time aside to draw for yourself you feel a pressure to make it worthwhile. After 10 or 20 minutes of noodling at something or rubbing out pencils the inner critic gets louder and the urge to give up is strong.
I’ve been here before and I know I just need to lower my expectations and have fun.
Raw scans of the sketchbook pages
With that in mind I think I’ll keep at this wee sketchbook, I just might not post anything more from it on SM, I’ve got into a bad habit of measuring the quality of my work in likes, comments, and follows.
Some quick colours in procreate
If you’ve made similar plans to draw daily this year, let me know what’s keeping you motivated in the comments. Also, if there is anything you’d like to see me draw, I’d love to hear it!
Haven’t really drawn anything for the last few months but started doodling this merry green fella the other night… funny how the urge returns sometimes. Just a quick pencil sketch that I thankfully flipped in procreate before inking digitally (never forget to flip).
The original sketch included a necklace of elf headsI explored the elf head necklace idea a bit more but decided it was just too damn bleak/unsettlingSome other less successful attempts at the green guy (I like how deranged the first one looks though)
I also had great intentions of drawing a card for Matt “the machine” Garvey this month (inspired by this post on his bsky) but life conspired against me, just a quick rough to show for it… sorry Matt!
Bed time doodles in Clip Studio Paint… you should see the ones I didn’t includeThe colours did a lot of the heavy lifting on big chin here
Had a pretty good response to the Dredd sketch on bluesky, a big surprise really, I haven’t seen much reaction to anything I post there honestly, lucky to get a reply or comment at all. Haven’t drawn any Dredd stuff in years, the helmet is always tricky but this looks alright… it might even be a new favourite of mine. The Eastwood of this is entirely accidental btw, couldn’t resist adding a wee speech bubble nod to auld dirty Harry.
Not a great HB, but I like how the colours turned outBit of a wonky sketch but who cares right?! (I mean, I do actually, it’s bloody wonky)
Was in two minds about posting this Ultramega but I’ll let it slide as I’ve already put it on insta… that’s late night posting for ya. Someday I’ll do a decent drawing of this awesome character and melt some eyeballs.
