OIAF + Monster Tank // The Whole Process...

Newgrounds OIFA // Sponsorship Illustration, Digital, 2026

Well, well, well....well. August was an absolute blast and let me tell you - completely out of left field in the best way possible. For starters, I am beyond blessed for the community I have found here on Newgrounds and extremely honored to be able to support that community with my skills as an artist. Giving back to NG at any turn seriously has been a pleasure and working with Tom and others on here has been a blast. 

Now, enough of the gush fest - let's get down to brass tax. I started this illustration soon after Short Short Fest as I was approached by TomFulp to take a stab at it. We worked shopped a tiny bit, discussing true intensions for the Newgrounds brand moving forward and how NG would represent itself to the Ottawa International Animation Festival. Initially I was thinking animation and went into details regarding a possible bumper logo though due to time constraints - an illustration would have to do. Tom suggested a lot of the newer animation series that have hopped onto Newgrounds in the past decade. With the constant evolution of current-day indie animators, Tom and I wanted to represent newer series that have had an impactful showing here on Newgrounds and that have progressed even further to new opportunities outside of the NG community to really capitalize on the secondary tagline, "Online's cornerstone community for creatives."

Newgrounds has an extremely organic community of those who have a deep love for creativity, especially in the animation space. Connecting with other artists, voice actors, animators, and game designers is extremely easy here on NG which opens up the space as the perfect breeding ground for creators (and rad original series) . Now, believe it or not, I'm an illustrator (I know, hard to chew on that fact) - I'm not animator though I have taken a class or two on animation and digital asset creation in my undergrad. With that being said I tried my best to capture the emotion, dynamics of animation and "play" of each series presented to me by Tom to create a still image that best represented the animation crowd of NG. Sprinkled in Gappy as well because, I mean c'mon, Gappy's that guy.

OIAF Illustration // Sketch Phase

Newgrounds OIFA // Sponsorship Illustration-Prelim Sketch, Digital, 2026

At first Tom had suggested the various characters of Newgrounds to be on stage, with a crowd of on-lookers in the foreground admiring the line-up of series and have the Newgrounds Logo center stage surrounded by said NG characters. I originally did a couple of thumbnails that presented that composition, but I personally thought - why are we adding another crowd? The crowd at OIAF will already be there! So - then came the building of the "character wave" concept. Each side of the composition would have a wave of character expressing action and dynamic poses - almost like taking a snap shot from each animation series and placing them in a fluid wall of expression. I began with a concept where the characters only took up about 2/3 of the screen space and thought that was the final bill - but before finishing it out, I wanted to add more. I would be satisfied if I was able to land about 20-30 characters into the composition effectively without muddying the waters.

Newgrounds OIFA // Sponsorship Illustration-Prelim Detail Sketch, Digital, 2026

Alright, now we're cooking. During this process I had each of these series on repeat, in fact - my wife and I were super into "How to Be Cool" and watched each episode multiple times. As you can see, I'm a traditional artist first - I build using layers and try to structure my art process as efficient as possible so I'm not wasting any time. I started with construction shapes that express motion and dynamic positioning then I pencil in a detail pencil layer that I end of inking 1:1. Usually the detail pencils portion allows me to really pack in details I often would negate in a construction-sketch-to-ink process. It's like making a sandwich - each layer allows me to pack in details which eventually compact into one solid final composition with as much detail as possible.

A lot of the time, I think in layers as if I'm printing - I took a lithography course in my undergrad that really informed me of the importance of planning shit out. Re-grinding a limestone slab because you messed up placement or fucked up your chemical burn process really humbles a person.

The multi-phase sketching allows for input from collaborators - in this case Tom - to interject with suggestions and changes with ease through multiple points in the creation process. I always try and make things accessible to a client throughout the process to ensure they are receiving what they think is the best possible product. Obviously there are stipulations to that, and you'll want to safeguard yourself as an illustrator to not be taken advantage of but thats a story for another time.

OIAF Illustration // Inking Phase

Newgrounds OIFA // Sponsorship Illustration-Inks, Digital, 2026

Ahh - inks, my absolute favorite fuck'n part of the process. If I could ink for the rest of my life I would - being mindfully still and working through each stroke of a brush, or in this case my Wacom pen, really brings a sense of joy that no other act really does. Tickles the brain just right and I seriously just get lost in it. This is the final portion of the illustration stage where I can create just a little more "umph" for the details of each character. An extra vein here, some additional scrapes or scratches there - and this is usually the stage of my illustration process where I lay down the dark hues of any metallic surfaces like chrome or gold - keeps things a little more organic regarding metallic reflections.

OIAF Illustration // All Together Now...

Newgrounds OIFA // Sponsorship Illustration-Start to Finish, Digital, 2026

And there we are - the process from start to finish. Was a blast to work with Tom and make something for the community. I seriously was locked in on this project for about a weeks worth of free time - ended up taking about 15-17 hours total from start to finish but that also includes correspondence, production file curation and planning. Was an awesome week though I was a bit of a shut-in haha. I went to work, came home, lifted and then immediately went to work on this every evening.

Monster Tank // The Precursor...

Prior to even discussing the OIAF or even before I met Tom in person, I was perusing the Newgrounds merch store and saw that things hadn't been updated in quite some time. Now I'm sure Tom and his team have plenty on their plates that they are focused on - which is completely understandable - which is why I decided to implore: "Yo Tom, if you ever need some merch designs of NG properties, I've worked with many local business before to help bolster their merchandise line ups. I could probably pump something out fast". Then Tom, being the absolute chad he is, reached back out and accepted my offer to help out! I was stoked and he pointed me in the direction of last years Newgrounds Halloween shirt. Now I'm a bit of a metal head (if you couldn't tell) - so what's more spooky/metal than an actual MONSTER TANK. I actually was inspired greatly by Neil LeFort who makes some amazing organic, demonic tanks for miniature sets/chaos armies. His stuff rocks and a living monster tank would be a great spin on the NG logo without losing its core components.

Newgrounds Halloween // Monster Tank-Start to Finish, Digital, 2026

I went through my usual sketching to ink process and landed on this messy, homunculus of a tank design. I was a little more loose with the inks on this design and tried to capture that organic feel. Veins, tissue, bone/carapace and teeth every where. I was going metal full on and I know that's not everyone’s cup of tea but hey, gotta have something different every once in a while, right? I had a really fun time fleshing out the typography for this piece as the standard NG typographic lock-up didn't fit the exact vibe - I went the hardcore route. Usually with custom typography, I sketch out the general form and cut out from that shape with the letter forms I'm looking to create - kind of like a CNC machine carving out of a block of material. The process is the opposite process of my usual illustration work flow but works well for creating new and organic letter forms. Be sure to snag a shirt!

Newgrounds Halloween // Monster Tank, Digital, 2026

September+October // The Upcoming...

I'm not slowing down, not even for this busy season - Inktober is just around the corner and I've got my own prompt list prepped for anyone who would like to join in on the fun! I'm going to be transforming some of the Evil Doers of Newgrounds into my own personal style and expanding upon their character designs - The Evil Doers Reign of Terror is here! Although most of these characters are perfect in their own right, I wanted to add the "prowlink flavor" to them. I have a couple illustrations pre-loaded cause, I have plenty of events and vacations to attend during October and can't illustrate each day of October but I will be posting on each day in October to keep the Inktober Challenge alive! Join in, here's the prompt list! Every prompt is open ended for those who join the challenge to create their own characters or they can chose a character from media that best fits the prompt. Also, a sneak peak at the first on the list for my own line-up! Bad Captain or as the prompt states "Trench Dweller":

Inktober // Trench Dweller, Digital, 2026

I'll bee expanding on the style I developed during my Inktober set from last year, here's that by the way:

And last but not least - Madness Day is near. So you already know ya boy is making a MC Chop inspired movie poster where Hank and Chop take on the Auditor. "Hack and Slash: The Auditor" is the current working title, it might stick.

Madness Combat // Hack and Slash: The Auditor, Pencil Sketch, Digital, 2026

Earlier this summer I turned my OC Chop into a Madness Combat Character of my own. A force of nature and a silent killer - he's judge, jury and executioner.

Stay tuned for this beast to be out on Madness Day and if you haven't seen Krinkels's post yet about this years Madness Day, check it out pronto!

If you made if through this novel of a post - thanks for doing so, you're a fuck'n legend and I greatly appreciate it.

Until next time - Peace!

prowlink