Inktober Day 10: A Well-Needed Rest

A Well-Needed Rest

The Kindly Lumberjack Thaddeus led Bartholomew and Cor to his homey cottage not far from the road. The windows were glowing with warm lamp light as it started to rain outside. The smell of delicious stew was overpowering! After they ate and graciously thanked the Lumberjack's wife Elouise for the hardy meal she had prepared, they lay next to the warm fire with packs for pillows, and the aroma of the Lumberjack's pipe and the crackle of the fire lulling them into a deep slumber. The Kindly Mr. and Mrs. Lumberjack of Evergreenshire were happy to once again share what they had with guests from the Road.

Inktober Day 9: The Kindly Lumberjack

The Kindly Lumberjack

After the incident with the Horrible Caterpillar, both Bartholomew and Cor were exhausted. They had already traveled many miles, and had faced even more unusual things than they had previously imagined. Their muscles ached from walking and carrying their heavy packs, and it was growing dark. Not to mention the fact that the sky was starting to spit rain at them.

Just as the travelers thought they might have to sleep in a hollow log for the night, a jovial voice called from the trees: "Hullo There!" And with that, a red-faced fellow with a bushy mustache and a sharp axe came into view. He introduced himself as Thaddeus the Lumberjack of Evergreenshire. The travelers were indeed thrilled to find a friend at last on this tiresome road, and he invited them to stay with him and his wife for the night. Bartholomew gladly accepted, but Cor was the first one to start for the cottage, because he could already smell the stew on the fire!

Inktober Day 8: The Horrible Caterpillar

The Horrible Caterpillar

After a few days of peaceful travel, Bartholomew and Cor began to think that perhaps the Forest Road wasn't as dangerous as they had once thought. The memory of the Fox Prince was beginning to fade in their minds.

But when a new terror came crashing through the trees, they had little time to think of the Fox or anything else for that matter. For suddenly a horrible Caterpillar with dreadful stinging spines came upon them ferociously. The travelers drew their trusty swords and did quick work of the soft-bellied creature, but his poison did both of them very little good. Shaken, the friends surveyed the soiled ground and realized that alone, their efforts would have all been in vain. In their future travels the incident of the Horrible Caterpillar was often good for a laugh, but only because the dread of the beast was far behind them.

Inktober Day 7: The Fox Prince

The Fox Prince

As the forest grew thicker and darker, a chill spread through the shadows. Cor began sticking closer to Bartholomew, and growled a bit. He could smell trouble. Suddenly, in a break in the underbrush, they spied a strange, darkly cloaked figure. But strangest of all was his face - a Fox! And above his head an eerie golden apparition of a crown. 

Suddenly the Bard's strange song came back to Bartholomew: 

"Once a prince, now rules alone, 

Cursed to wander, road his home,

Human form now laid to rest,

The Fox Prince stalks, both croft and nest,

For greed his heart hath all-consumed

and greed will be his waking doom.

But raiding coop and stripping vine,

Is only his to bide the time

For on future day of vengeance near,

Will Prince reclaim all he holds dear"

The strange fox let out a strange cry upon spying the travelers, and dashed into the deep forest. Both Cor and Pilgrim were glad to say farewell to that horrible creature, but Cor's sharp mind had suspicion that they would see him again far too soon...

Inktober Day 6: The Lady of Beetlewood

The Lady of Beetlewood

Pilgrim and Cor bid farewell to the Bard the next morning, and went on their way. They came to a clear spot along the road mostly devoid of trees, and spied a great black mound coming toward them. As they got closer, they realized it was giant beetle! It moved at a moderate, jerky pace and towering above the travelers was a rider - an elegant lady of about twenty with a broad hat.

She halted a moment and hailed the travelers. Her name was Lady Eleanor of Beetlewood and she informed them that she was returning from Stumptown where she was clearing up some diplomatic disturbances between a clan of Black Bears and the Shepherdess of the Bees. Cor was none too pleased with the strangeness of the beetle before him, but refrained from doing anything rash to annoy the hulking horned beast. Before departing, the kind Lady admonished them to stay to the road, as there had been reports lately of a strange figure wandering the woods...

Inktober Day 5: The Friendly Bard

The Friendly Bard

Upon leaving the Mushroom village behind, Bartholomew & Cor encountered a friendly bard singing in a clearing in the woods. He had a cheery demeanor and an equally cheery campfire, and as it was growing late, the Bard invited the two to share the warmth of the blaze.

They quickly made friends with the musical fellow, who informed them that the road ahead through the forest was very long and not always as pleasant as the miles they had traveled so far. As the weary Pilgrim and his canine companion drifted away to sleep, the Bard struck up a strange song that blended into the orange flames of the fire as their tired eyes closed. The last bit that Pilgrim remembered was snatches of a verse about a strange prince... and an equally strange curse...

Inktober Day 4: Mushroom Guard

Mushroom Guard

Leaving the outskirts of the village behind, Pilgrim & Cor encounter a large wooden gate. It is not too imposing, but the stern nature of the Mushroom Guards that stood there informed the duo that it would be better to mind their manners when addressing them.

After a few moments' parlay, the Guards were convinced of the Travelers' harmless intention and allowed them to enter the strange little settlement...

Inktober Day 3: Farmer Fungi

Farmer Fungi - And Faithful Companion.

Upon the Forest Road, Pilgrim & Cor happen upon a strange sight - A village entirely populated by large mushroom folk!

The first citizen of this fair burg that they encounter is a farmer. He seems friendly enough, although he is a bit shy. He reassures his pet... beetle? that the Pilgrim & Dog mean no harm. But it's not often that the Fungi folk see a human walking in their village. Cor & Pilgrim note that although this fellow is friendly, he is slightly witless. Everyone knows that you cannot plant seed with a pitchfork. But perhaps that is merely one of the strange ways of the Forest people.

Inktober Day 2: Cor - Outcast of the Royal House of Pembroke

Cor - Outcast of The Royal House of Pembroke

Inktober Day 2 - I was struggling to make myself work on today's drawing - you know the feeling. You get home from a long day of work at your day job, or you've been busy with other artwork. It's hard to make yourself take time to bring a personal vision to life. But it felt really good to get this little guy drawn. He's a character I've been honing in my sketchbook for a while, and this is his debut!

Cor - Outcast of The Royal House of Pembroke. He's Bartholomew's traveling companion and is very handy with a sword. They seek adventure and strange lands on the Road!

Inktober Day 1: The Pilgrim

The Pilgrim - Bartholomew by Name, Son of the Road

Inktober is upon us again! I can't believe this is the 4th year I've participated in Inktober. I've been doing some sketching up to this point, so I've got a few ideas to draw from in the next few days. Honestly, this really feels more like a warm-up image - I feel pretty rusty, and I'm afraid it shows. Also, I'm using mainly Micron pens this time around, so I'm planning to draw a little smaller maybe? I'll be playing around with technique in the next few days, so hopefully I'll hit my stride. 

Anyway! Here you go. Number one - looking forward to tomorrow's already!

I'm enjoying seeing everyone's awesome drawings (they're so great!). If you'd like to share yours with me send me a link! I'd love to see them.

Recent Drawings!

 

 

Well, it's been a while since my last post! Here's a quick photo dump of some drawings I've done in the past couple of months. To be honest, I've had a difficult time keeping myself drawing. But I'm trying to get into more personal work. From the top: Davy Crockett, Girl with an Umbrella, and Smudge the Rabbit from a recent Story Warren post.

Enjoy, and look for more posts very soon. Because INKTOBER is upon us!

Best,
-Will

Story Warren - Guest Illustration

Hi there gang! Here's a quick blog post to tell you about a thing I did a few weeks ago - an illustration for Story Warren, a website devoted to fostering children's imagination through storytelling. You may have already seen the story that ran on June 27th, but if you'd like to check out the full post you can find it here.

It was a super fun piece to work on, and I really have to thank Zach Franzen for not only asking me to do the piece, but also providing some excellent art direction! Looking forward to possibly doing more for Story Warren in the future.

In the meantime, I have got lots of things going on, like potential new projects in the works! I'll try my best to keep you updated with new work - I know the blog has been dormant for a while. I just returned from a 10-day tour of Scotland as well, which was magnificent and life-changing! I'm hoping to post some photos from that just as soon as I can, but for now, check out this blog for a general idea of what we did: http://www.douglasbondbooks.blogspot.com/