SEPTEMBER SAP SPECIAL!!!

Alright CRAZIES!!!  We have OFFICIALLY reached Fall!  Granted, I've already been guzzling hot cider by the gallon since Labor Day, but now I can guzzle it and feel even MORE festive about it!  With any luck, I might even put up my Halloween decorations this weekend...  If I haven't already!  But, I know why y'all are really here and I'm anxious to reveal the next CRAZY Colored Pencil Portrait too, so let's get to it!  Enjoy...

The possum, or opossum if you wanna be technical about it.  The ultimate scavenger, these scuzzy little freeloaders will stop at nothing to get their fill, and there's no possum more daring than Sap O'Possum, the rascally third member of the Ragtags Trio and without question the Curly of those Stooges!  Typically easy going, Sap's long been the daredevil of the group, often being the one on the receiving end of the Ragtags' many big failures!  And yet, despite all that, he's proven to be a resilient, resourceful and insanely impervious little bugger who just keeps coming back for more!  He's been squashed, stretched, flattened and inflated, and yet he always bounces back!  A Top 5 fan favorite for sure amongst Bubble Fox Fans, Sap's probably my personal favorite character as he's really fun to write for.  So yeah, I wanted his Colored Pencil Portrait to be really badass when the time came!  This is one that I'm very happy about.  Not perfect, but the blending was much smoother this time around, proof that I was getting better the more I worked at it.  Gray is a color that pretty much goes with anything, so when I came across a tutorial that had a really cool aura effect to it, I decided to apply it to Sap.  I think it works pretty well!

And that's a wrap on September 2025!  Hard to believe we are entering the home stretch here.  I used to say time moves too fast when you get older, but frankly these days, it can't move fast enough!  But I promise we'll kick the witching month off right with some spooky art that's sure to scare your pants off!  Well, maybe socks at least.  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

HEAVY HITTER HEADING TO FALL!!!

We are back again!  That much closer to Fall and that much farther away from Summer!  This was a fun Summer too.  Despite the ills of the world trying their best to bring me down, I'm stubborn and dumb to let it all get to me and I keep plugging on!  Had some great visits to the San Diego County Fair, had an amazing time at Comic Con and enjoyed many fun moments with my family.  Let's bring on Autumn!  And let's bring on the art!  That's (HOPEFULLY!!!) why y'all are here, right?  Enjoy...

The Raccoon.  Also known as the "Trash Panda," he is nature's ultimate opportunist.  Mooch, however, is a little more sophisticated than that.  Though he's not opposed to digging for scraps in a garbage can, he enjoys gourmet cooking much more!  If Clover's the Moe of the Ragtags Trio, Mooch is certainly the Larry of the group!  Most often the voice of reason between two wild egos, he isn't immune to mischief himself.  He's just more coy about it!  Another Favorite amongst the Bubble Fox faithful, Moocher "Mooch" Raccoon can certainly hold his own, preferring brains over brawn, despite having somewhat prodigious girth!  The background colors here were another attempt at doing iridescence, only more green.  This too was inspired by a tutorial and certainly came out much better than the last, though there was still much practice needed.  Again, a softer touch was needed for the blending, but I was at least getting closer at least!  Practice makes perfect!

Well, only one more post to go here in September!  How will it end?  If you know your Bubble Fox characters, you probably have a pretty good idea who's next, but I won't spoil it for you.  So be sure sure to come back next week and check it out!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

HOPPING INTO FALL OFF ON A BLUE NOTE!!!

Welcome back CRAZIES!!!  And welcome to September!  Although Fall is officially still a few weeks off, the Autumn Spirit's already hitting these CRAZY parts as college football is back (SCREW THE NFL!!!) and smell of Pumpkin Spice has permeated the air!  I'm already fixing to grill up some bratwurst and boil up some cider because it is my favorite time of year!  But, we do have some art to get to first and since it is the start of a pretty colorful month, why not celebrate with some more CRAZY Colored Pencil Portraits?  So scroll down and let's get the party started!  Enjoy...

Well now, would ya look at that?  It's Charlie Bunny, Pepper's best friend from Bubble Fox!  He and Pepper have certainly had some fun adventures over the years, as only a rabbit and dragon can.  And even though Charlie sometimes takes advantage of the fact that he's older and little more up to speed with things than Pepper is (Pepper's technically an infant after all), they still look out for each other and make fun a top priority!  As mentioned in the opening, this piece along with all the coming art this month was rendered in colored pencils, PrismaColor to be precise!  It's a medium I've totally fallen in love with over the last few years and I just can't get enough of them!  The darker to medium blues didn't blend as well as I would've liked, but for the most part, the colors all work.  Brown doesn't really have an opposite on the color wheel, but with these shades being a bit more on the orange/red side, I felt blue would be enough to make Charlie pop, and he does!  When it comes to coloring, most of it is just trial and error really and also just knowing the basics of color theory.

Well, that's it for Week 1 of September 2025, but if you are a fan of colored pencil art, then you are in luck my friend because we got three more pieces coming your way this month!  So be sure to come back next time and check it out!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

MIKE & MINDY GET PENCILED!!!

Well, another month is just about down!  Leaves are turning, the air is cooling and the Sun is setting earlier.  Yup, Fall is really here!  And with any luck, I'll have already had some apple pie and spice cake by now!  If not, I guess some colored pencil art will simply have to be my consolation prize as that's what I got to show today!  So let's get to it!  Enjoy...

 

How do ya like that?  Two months in a row now that we end things with the original CRAZY icons, Mike & Mindy!  Yeah, when I started doing these, there was no doubt in my mind that these two would be among the first characters I rendered in colored pencil, and I'd say these two came out great!  It should be noted that these are two separate pieces combined into one, hence the double signature.  I should also note that these are based off of poses that my dear friend Scott Warren did for M&M's anniversary back in 2020, as seen below...

My art doesn't have anywhere near the toony energy that Scott put into his, as he's just that amazing.  But I do feel the colors on mine came out great and the backgrounds really make the characters pop.  Color theory's very important CRAZIES.  If you wanna be an artist, be sure to study it!

And that's a wrap on the month of September!  It's been fun, but I'm in the mood for some spooky things, and I'm sure you are too!  So be sure to come back next week so we can kickoff October properly!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

PEPPER GETS PENCILED!!!

Welcome back CRAZIES!!!  We are now past the halfway point of September and that much closer to All Hallow's Eve, or Halloween to you modern types!  But there will be more time for that later!  Right now, it's time for art!  So let's get to it, shall we?  Enjoy...

Hey hey!  Pepper has popped up!  Bubble's adopted dragon son has become quite the fan favorite since he hatched eight years ago, and continues to gain new fans everyday!  This was actually the first of the colored pencil portraits when I began this effort to better understand the medium back in April of 2023.  Although I'd been dabbling since 2021, it really wasn't until I did my piece for Team Cul De Sac last summer that I really started to better grasp colored pencils and see how cool they can really be!  Pepper got me off to a good start, though, much like Willow, there were about two or three more colors I could've used to make the blending smoother between shades, mostly in the background.  His skin, scales and fins though came out perfect!  Practice makes perfect y'all!

Well, three weeks down one more to go in our colored pencil walk through, but fear not!  I got a double dose of color blasting your way to end September on a high note!  So be sure to come back and check it out!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later! 

WILLOW GETS PENCILED!!!

We are back CRAZIES!!!  Some of you no doubt need a break from doing the Monster Mash right now, so why not use that time to check out some art beautifully rendered in colored pencils?  Seriously, it'll only take a few minutes and then you can get back to your Frankenstein walks and Dracula talks!  Enjoy...

Willow's up next!  Bubble's long suffering girlfriend certainly has the patience of a saint and now glows like one too!  Not many realize that neon/fluorescent colors can be used for more than just black light effects.  They really pop in their own right, and neon colored pencils especially just have a very radiant glow to them, even without UV lighting.  In hindsight I should've used a couple more shades of pink as the blending deepened, but overall I'm happy with this one.  I know I've mentioned this in past posts, but it's worth mentioning again here: It's important to use quality colored pencils when coloring with them.  You just can't get a good result with Crayola or Artist's Loft.  I use PrismaColors and am very happy with them.  Also, electric pencil sharpeners are a must with colored pencils!

Wowzers!  Almost halfway through September already!  Well, that just means we're closer to the next colored pencil portrait which debuts next week, so be sure to come back and check it out!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

BUBBLE GETS PENCILED!!!

Welcome to September CRAZIES!!!  And welcome to Fall!  My favorite time of year has arrived with all the seasonal treats, festivals and holidays I love so much all on the horizon!  Summer was a mixed bag.  Lotta highs, but some lows.  VERY busy time actually and Fall's looking like it's coming at me a mile a second too, so best I can do really is brace myself and hope for a little sleep once Christmas rolls around.  But enough about that!  I got a lot of cool art to showcase this month that won't get posted if I keep droning on in the opening paragraph, so let's get to it!  Enjoy...

It's Bubble Fox!  Bubble Fox in color!  What's so special about that you might ask?  Well, this piece was done in colored pencils!  Most regular readers, as well as those that follow me on social media, know that in recent years I've been exploring mediums outside of my typical marker coloring.  Markers are still my primary coloring medium as they're quicker and familiar, but I'm always interested in trying new things.  Some mediums are easier to pick up on than others.  Watercolors have proven to be tricky thus far, though I haven't practiced much.  Oil pastels have also been a mixed bag.  I've created a few really cool pieces with them, but nothing I'd truly brag about.  Colored pencils, however, have really become my favorite medium!  The way they blend and just give a textured, picture book look to art...  I love coloring with them!  Last year I made a commitment to do one colored pencil portrait a month featuring a different CRAZY character.  Haven't always been able to keep up with it as much as I'd like to, but I've definitely got a catalogue going and I'm gonna see how far I get on this endeavor before I run out of characters!  We got Bubble Fox so far, so that's a start at least!

Well, that's one down with four more to go as the Fall season kicks off here at the CRAZYVERSE.  Be sure to come back next week which citizen of CRAZY gets the pencil rendering next!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!

MIXED MEDIA MAYHEM!!!

Welcome back to the CRAZYVERSARY!!!  It's the last week, but don't worry folks.  We got something really cool lying in wait, but more on that later.  It's time for some art!  Fine art even!  And today we got a triple shot!  So sit back, relax and take a look at the creative process in motion!  Gonna be your last chance for awhile anyway, but again, more on that later!  Enjoy...

So the last few weeks you've seen some of my attempts at oil pastels.  Well, in addition to those, I've also been dabbling in other mediums, mainly watercolors and colored pencils.  My watercolor efforts have been less than stellar, hence the reason you don't see any on here.  Colored pencils, however, have been a little easier to grasp.  All three of today's pieces are the same line art, just colored in different ways.  The piece above was done using colored pencils.  It's medium I'm getting more and more into the more I use them.  I especially like the way they blend.  Much like pastels, you can create some really cool effects by blending colored pencils.  For the most part, I'm fairly satisfied with the attempt above, with the exception of the skin tones.  Despite using the same color types as my markers (I use PrismaColor for both mediums), this kid looks anemic!  I guess PrismaColor pencils go on lighter than their ink counterparts.  This leads to a very important thing I learned about colored pencils: USE QUALITY PRODUCTS!!!  Normally, I'm all about affordability and using cheaper supplies to practice with until an artist is ready to make the jump to real supplies.  With colored pencils though, and even certain paints, you really can't skimp!  My first attempts with colored pencils were with an Artist's Loft set, which is a Michaels brand.  Good God were those things crap!  Tips kept breaking, colors were off and they couldn't even blend!  I think Crayola pencils might actually be of higher quality!  It was certainly an eye opener for sure.  Hate to say, but if you're looking to try colored pencils, spring for a quality brand!

Next up, a more traditional medium that I'm far more familiar with: Markers!  Not much to explain here.  I used the same color choices as I used for the colored pencils.  Depending on the color, PrismaColor markers will either lighten or darken as they dry, so a piece can look very different within a few hours of finishing.  I will say I've gotten so much better with markers over the years, especially now that I've learned blending and shading.  Ironically enough, some of these techniques I learned completely on my own by accident!  Always funny when things work out that way, am I right?  The only downer really are the marker highlights.  Highlight colors have to go on first and as such, they don't always blend in too well with other colors, especially lighter ones.  Of course, there is another solution to that...

We see the same piece yet again, but this time I mixed things up...  LITERALLY!!!  You see, I went in with a marker base and even did the shades in marker, but then I added a layer of colored pencil highlights on top that look more natural and didn't mix in with the markers.  I even added a color pencil sheen to the crystals!  It's nice to know that the countless hours I spent watching YouTube tutorials during the pandemic are really starting to payoff here!

And that's a wrap for February 2023!  Sheesh, two months down already?  It'll be Summer time before we know it!  But before Summer, there must come Spring, and with that comes one of my favorite events!  That's right CRAZIES, it's almost time for WonderCon,  and starting next week, we're bringing back the CRAZY WonderCon Countdown, a look back at all the fun of the past while getting hyped for the future!  So be sure to come back have some retro-tastic fun as the art gives way to the cosplay!  Until then, take care, stay safe and I'll catch y'all later!