A Sticker, A Button, and A Magnet- New Products

Bast Katt (sticker)

Creating merchandise/products outside of the occasional one-off convention print is very new territory to me, but it's a venture that I'd say is well worth taking.

I recently had a series of products manufactured (a sticker, a button, and a magnet) to sell at conventions. In time, I'd like to expand out the line to feature more characters from not only the world of Bast Katt, but from other stories/ideas I have.

For right now though, I'm starting out small, and I'm only going to do a limited run to see how folks react.

Admittedly, while I am nervous about how this could all work out, I am at least glad to finally be moving forward with my art/work in a far more tangible way.

It only feels right that I begin this journey with three of my classic characters- Bast Katt, Fida Cantor, and Mary-Gold Tauros. When I first began conceptualizing original characters/stories years ago, they were some of my first efforts to truly congeal and gain a degree of momentum.

While many of the pieces were small, every time I drew Bast, Fida, or Mary-Gold the reaction was almost always the same- positive.

Fida Cantor (button)

Now with time/experience under my belt (and a much better/mature mind for it) I feel like I can finally begin making the world of Bast and co. a firmer reality.

I had a ton of fun running through the different concepts for this product line, and while they're somewhat simple in their final forms, I'm overall happy with the results.

Bast's hair proposed a bit of a challenge initially (seeing as Bast has a ton of crazy anime-hair) but once I decided to put her hair up in a segmented pony-tail, the rest of image fell right into place. The line-work for the piece was done by hand, while the colors were rendered through the art program Krita.

The phrase "Tail Chaser" is actually a small reference to what I originally wanted to call the story that Bast comes from, but sadly it was already taken in another comic. All the same, I figured it would be a fun nod to include the origins of the character in the first product line.

Fida was perhaps the most troublesome of the three designs, not necessarily because she was difficult to depict (in fact, I had the easiest time drawing her) but simply as a matter of me not having a witty slogan to build the button around.

Mary-Gold Tauros (magnet)

When I first decided that I was going to do three different products, I wanted each to have a fun slogan that would (somewhat) inform the overall design. Bast and Mary-Gold came to me almost in an instant, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what to put on the button for Fida.

It wasn't until I was at work one night that the slogan would hit me when I was told to "button up" before going into an area. Once I had the slogan, everything else fell into place, and the final piece proper came out smooth as butter from my pencil.

After doing the line-work on paper, I rendered the colors in Krita, and sent the image off to the manufacturer. While there was certainly a fair bit of some hassle in the beginning, I think that Fida's piece may be my favorite out of all of them.

Guess I'm just a sucker for abs.

There isn't much to say for this one (as I think it speaks for itself) outside of I don't think I've ever drawn Mary-Gold this "big" before. Much like the Bast and Fida pieces, the line-work was done by hand, while the colors were rendered in Krita.

All the same, I'm sure she gives great hugs...

Zakaria (a.k.a. Mushroom)- Dungeons & Dragons Character

Warlock Zakaria

It's definitely been a min. since my last post huh?

This is one of my many D&D characters. Her name is Zakaria- A 5th edition lvl. 3 tiefling warlock.

Once the leader of a mighty eldritch cult, Zakaria was a dominating magical force throughout the land few would ever dare to face in combat. That was until the day when the elder being she worshiped became silent, and her temple fell to an opposing faith.

Left with no other recourse but go into exile (or be killed by paladins, clerics, and zealots of the church) Zakaria has remained hidden in a cave, isolated from the rest of the developing world. Surviving off of mushrooms and cave moss, she's continually prayed to her elder-deity, hoping that it would grant her some kind of answer or divination as to what she should do.

As the years passed, Zakaria found her powers fading, along with the knowledge of how to perform her most imposing magics. For a time she even forgot her own name.

It wasn't until a wanderer named Nana (a goliath barbarian played by DuckDraw) took shelter in her cave from an oncoming storm. that Zakaria could begin to remember a mere vestige of her potential. As they both silently stared at the lighting bolts rolling through the skies, Zakaria saw a symbol for a brief moment- a sign from her god, and a familiar spark of energy began to fill her emaciated frame.

The time had finally come for her to rise from the dregs of the cave she had long made a home. Not only was the world safe enough for Zakaria to emerge, but she could travel the lands without fear of threats from the church who had forced her into that dismal hole in the first place. It was happening, she was regaining her strength, and she would not do it alone.

Zakaria voyaged out with Nana, eventually meeting a cadre of other adventurers (Jack- played by Crybringer, Boris- played by Clear Skies, Avew- played by Justin, and Dramin- played by Joseph Silver) to aid in her quest. With a newfound purpose, and a sliver of hope that she can restore her temple, Zakaria vows to bring the name of her god back into the hearts and minds of all she encounters.

Now if only she could remember that god's name...

Materials used for this piece was nothing more than pencil on 11 x 17 in. Bristol board.

To the Moon- Fan Art

♫Fly me to the Moon, and let me play among the stars...♫

Now that the convention-going season has wrapped up for me, I'm going to break step with tradition a little bit here, and post the art-prints  that were for sale at the shows.

This fun little number is called To the Moon, featuring a humanized ver. of everyone's favorite Pony Princess of the Night- Luna.

Ever since the launch of the Roan RPG, my good friend Clear Skies has been kind enough to provide table space for little ol' me, with one minor request- Create a bomber-girl ver. of a My Little Pony character to help promote the game.

For this year's Bronycon I decided that I'd go with Luna, mostly because the slogan of "To the Moon" felt like a very bomber-girl thing to say, and well Moon... Luna...?

Meh, you get it...

The pose was actually based on an image of the pro-wrestler Naomi (of WWE fame) and I did little to alter it, as I wanted to retain as much of her energy in the photo as possible.

The most fun/interesting bit of trivia I have about this image though is that the star-field in her hair is actually a layer mask of The Horse Head Nebula, because Ponies... Horse Head...?

Meh, you get it...

Overall I'm pleased with how the piece came out, and I hope you all dig the results as well!

Feeling the Crunch

It's definitely getting cramped in here!

Now that the convention-going season has wrapped up for me, I'm going to break step with tradition a little bit here, and post the art-prints that were for sale at the shows.

This piece is titled Feeling the Crunch, in part because three of my characters are all mushed together into one (way too tiny for them) frame, but mostly because I finished this image a mere day before I had to leave for Anthrocon 2018.

Leading into the event, I was feeling somewhat void on inspiration, and as the date of the convention drew closer and I closer, I kept telling myself I had to get some kind of new art-print made to sell at the table.

While I probably stressed far more about the matter than I should have (as there was no real obligation on me to have any new prints available) it was something I told myself I'd do for my very first Anthrocon, and dammit, I was going to do it!

Thus, the idea hit me at the last possible minute to have my original adult-comic trio of Bast Katt, Fida Cantor, and Mary-Gold Tauros all crammed into one place that clearly wasn't big enough for any one of them, let alone three. Having them slightly pop-out of frame is a touch meta for sure, but I'd like to think it adds a bit more fun to the overall vibe.

In the end, I'd say I'm rather satisfied with the final result, and I can only hope you all dig it as well.

Donation Button Art

Mary-Gold Tauros: "Why don't you consider Donating to help N8Dogg5k grow?"

Much like the title suggests, this here is the line-art for the donation button I'm currently working on for my Picarto streaming site.

I kinda liked the idea of putting my character Mary-Gold doing a "Consider the Following" type pose, while in a set of overalls, and hopefully you all find it fun too.

There isn't much else to say here except for you all to keep an eye out for when the finished piece emerges.

The V Slashers- Commission

Magnum Fox & Gunnery Sgt. Jade

This foxy duo was from an over-the-top pro-wrestling tabletop RPG my brother GM'ed for us back in 2017, to which my good friend Clear Skies commissioned this piece when the first season of games finished.

Clear made no bones about it that he was highly inspired by the likes of Heidern (of King of Fighters fame) when it came to creating his character, except he imagined him as a cruiser-weight fox-man named Magnum Fox.

Escorted by the equally lovely and deadly Gunnery Sgt. Jade, Magnum Fox was able to lay claim to the title, after scoring ten grueling victories over several colorful and crazy wrestlers.

There's a lot more wackiness to it, but I won't waste your time with all that.

Overall, I'm fairly pleased with the final results, and I intend to color this digitally, I do want to render the rest of the cast from the game in the near future as well.

Hope you all dig it!

Thanos Holding Infinity- Fan Art

Why have Eternity, when you can hold Infinity?

I know this is coming quite a bit late to the whole Infinity War party, but here's my take on Thanos sporting the iconic universe-altering gauntlet.

Avengers: Infinity War was such a phenomenal blast, I felt a major compulsion to do some sort of artwork commemorating an experience that was essentially 10 years in the making.

When it came to my overall approach to this piece, I wanted to get back in touch with my American Superhero Comic Book roots, so tried to be somewhat evocative of my more favorite/prominent comic artists of that genre.

Joe Madeureira and Arthur Adams were (obviously) the most influential, and I can only hope that I've done both of those amazing fellows some degree of justice here.

Overall I had a great time working on this one, even though I will admit that the hatching and spotted blacks took more time than I would've liked them to.

Much like my other B & W works, I do intend to color this one in the future, but for now I'm simply happy to have the line-work completed, and I hope you all like it too.

Sorry for the wait, and thanks for your patience.