As Her Father Fought, So Will She

This was another piece where I remember it taking WAY longer than it should’ve been (least to me). Though, this could be because the original painting was pretty messy and abit hard to replicate how it should be drawn to match it properly. The tricorn looked warped, the fingers were so squeezed together that it was hard to tell how she was holding the rifle and the right sleeve looked like she had two sleeve collars on her right arm, so it was difficult to tell which one was the correct one that’s on her hand. This isn’t a statement that the painting was terrible (far from it imo), but it’s one of those paintings that’s only nice to look at rather than to recreate. Not every painting is as easy to do as the Mona Lisa where there’s a million remakes of that.

Speaking of the painting, let me tell you, it was IMPOSSIBLE to find a decent scan of it. For one, it doesn't seem like it even has a name for it. You would think the caption below would be it, but when you google it, you get a bunch of Facebook “inspirational” quotes. On some websites where they try to sell homemade shirts and stickers of it, it’s listed as “Revolutionary Suffragette”... but Suffragette is the actual name for what the painting’s all about (A brave and strong woman who’s an active member of the women’s voting rights movement), so that doesn't lead you anywhere (and there were dozens of other posters advocating for the movement). When I DID find the original painting, the few scans of it looked like trash. It was slightly yellow and cropped. So, the only one that’ll have to do is an image from Alamy. Yeah, that stock image website that surprisingly isn't inflicted by the AI bug.

BTW, when researching for a scan of it, I found out the painting was originally done by the same person who did that goofy “I Want You” poster where Uncle Sam is menacingly pointing at you like you just committed a war crime and he wants a confession out of you. And considering how famous and important that poster is, that just made this just-as important painting being as hard as it was to find or even look up even more confusing. 

 Heatwave

As the calendar charts down through the months, we reach what may be the most mixed bag of a trio of months, least here in Pennsylvania; June, July, and August. Summertime has arrived and the best way (like the rest of the seasons) to tell is by the weather. When Mother Nature isn't messing around with her shower head and unprotected loose wires, most of the time has her setting the oven to “Bake” and just… lets the planet cook. From the crack of dawn to the darkest points when the bats and owls are at play, the temperature is still set at around 90 to 110 degrees (You’re be lucky if it’s at 75 around midnight, but that usually doesn't make a big difference). To some, it’s the time for outdoor play at its most unlimited, while for others, it’s the longest 14 hours of the day thanks to how sticky and humid it is. 

Now, when it comes to what kind of animal Tom’s combined with (the most lesser known “Lesser Roadrunner”), they usually adapt to whatever weather lends them a hand with their diet. When it’s warm outside, they wait for the bugs, rats, and baby snakes to reach out of their homes. But, when it’s freezing outside, they have to search around for loose plants and seeds to survive. I think you can tell what kind of weather they prefer. But… like, there’s a limit. If you can’t even walk around without the soles of your feet burning off, Is it REALLY worth it?!

Even though this was done in mid-2022 (back when I didn’t think to do the pencil layouts on paper before scanning and digital inking), I redid some parts to it so it could actually look… decent?

 Under The Hadalpelagic Zone

It may surprise you that just about 20% of the earth’s oceans have actually been checked out. And that’s counting sections where it’s nearly impossible to actually swim down there (That is, without your lungs inflating like a hollow helium “It’s a Girl!” balloon from Dollar Tree) and they have to use muti-million-dollar machines and 480p cameras. It’s a complete guessing game as to what could even be at the lowest pits of the seven seas. Who knows what kind of nightmarish mutilated creatures are just crawling around. The only thing I know is that it’s the perfect playground for a couple of ink-painted yo-yos to play around and explore. 

Even though I drew this a couple of years ago, I still remember just how many layers this took. Each specific creature (that includes the trio of honey-roasted peanuts) had to be their own layer so everything could match perfectly.

 Graduation Day

To a hard-working lad, Graduation Day is one of, if not, THE most important day of their life. To finally be recognized for the years of archiving high grades, for studying for all of the tests, quizzes, pop quizzes, and side questions that have to be completed in order for you to leave the classroom (yes, this happened to me multiple times before). To be celebrated for surviving the ending amounts of trial-and-error games when it comes to friendships, bullies and… Just a bunch more bullies that you find out in 7 years were talking shit about you behind your back because they were so bored in their life that they decided to spend the days testing every bit of patience you have (This is slowly just turning into me ranting about my own personal school life).

The point is that, for the folks who have earned that literal $10 piece of paper that says you actually passed school, it’s a day to pat yourself on the back on a job well done. Just be lucky you didn’t have to file for bankruptcy just to even get your textbooks (That’s for next year). But that’s for another story.

 "Unca" Donald's Birthday

The day was June 9th 2024 when the citizens of Duckburg U.S.A were in for a situation so completely unheard of and so far removed from the common norm that it nearly caused such a panic that hasn't been beaten since The War of The Worlds. And what kind of event caused such insanity? Donald Duck ACTUALLY had a pretty nice birthday!

No massive Disney meddling (least to my understanding), no sign of Gladstone gloating over his inhuman amounts of luck, no near-death experiences caused by Uncle Scrooge and his never-ending need to gain as much money as possible, nothin’! Just a nice pleasant in-house birthday party with a lovely homemade cake done by his…. girlfriend?, Daisy. And what can be finer than that?

As you can tell, despite studying and translating dozens and dozens of comics around the funny duck, drawing him, specifically his beak, is HARD AS B-A-L-L-S! I don’t know how artists can draw him in seconds. I envy their insane amounts of talent lol.

Uncle Scrooge; Past Life (2018)

Synopsis: Donald and Scrooge try out Gyro’s newest invention; a helmet with a built-in screen that visualizes the person in a completely new life from the past.

 Vorig leven (H 2011-247) | I.N.D.U.C.K.S.

“Oom Dagobert; Vorig Leven” is a short story from the Netherlands in the early 2010s, presenting a formula all too well to those familiar with the Disney Ducks; Donald and Scrooge is presented a brand new contraption by the one and only Gyro Gearloose that, with a normal person, would work perfectly well, but once handed over to the heavily copyrighted duck family, it falls into pieces, sometimes literally. 

The invention of the week turns out to be some weird mind-bending device that lets the person see themselves either in another person’s body or as someone similar but looks and sounds just like the helmet-wearing subject. At least, that’s what I got out of it considering Donald, Scrooge, and Gryo’s former life names are parodies of famous people in history. 

Now, I will say, I do really like the punchline that Emperor Donald forces General Scrooge to polish both his and the soldier's buttons after current-day Scrooge was having a hissy-fit over Donald cleaning up his coins. Including having Emperor Donald yell and demand his order just like how Scrooge usually “asks” a favor. I do, in a morbid humor way, love how the first thing General Scrooge’s army states after he plans out how to attack the enemy forces is that they’re “Chop them to Pieces”. I just adore how completely out-of left field that is, considering how family-friendly the rest of the comic is. But that’s that European humor style.

Gotta love how Scrooge turns that shit off as soon as they're about to be captured. The army can threaten to slaughter the enemy side verbally, but we can't show them being sent to the firing squad (despite Europe already showing that in a way earlier story that's already been translated). Also, look how greedy Gyro is here! "Oh, you wanna see more of ME, Donald?" Shut the hell up lol.

Some Short-Cuts to Life 

It may come as a surprise to some, but there are lots of people who graduate for an event BESIDES high school and college. It could be a celebration of finally passing that final challenge to enter a club, a moment of glory for years of hard work at an establishment who owed you due to say thanks for all your help, or this specific flapper’s case, a shock that she ACTUALLY did something to prove that she deserves to be a top star of her own series of shorts.

Considering 95% of the time, all she usually does is either stand around and show off how ”””sexy””” she is, sing a 30 second tune which isn't new considering everyone around her has that skill and her performances are at the bottom of the tier list, or, despite being the star of a long line of shorts aimed to be comedic, she shockingly is terrible at bringing in any kind of material or even react and really interact to outside comedy. So, thank God she didn’t cheat her way into archiving the award. 

This was done for one of my top artists and closest friends, who happened to finally graduate high school. That’s pretty much that.