Starting off Inktober 2025 with some traditional art. This year will be a mix of digital and traditional.
I have also decided on a DC Comics theme for all the prompts. Mostly in the Batman category, but with some other characters thrown in.
Day 1 prompt: Mustache.
Day 1 return: Commissioner Gordon
Summer is over and the kids are back in school. Everyone is thankful for that. For me, I’ve been working, playing games, drawing, and reading comic books. Its a tricky balancing act, trying to find time for all my hobbies, while trying not to neglect my family.
/ art over the summer
/ inktober
/ comic collection stats
/ video games for the remainder of the year
//
As I mentioned in my last post, I wouldn’t have much art to share, but in less than two months, I actually feel I have more to share than I expected.
First up, can’t go wrong with Spider-Gwen. She has a new number 1 issue on the stands and a new costume.
Next up, the exiled sorceress-warrior Wysta, the Wayward Wytch of the Spider Sect. From my favourite comic book of 2025, Bug Wars.
And a current work in progress piece, currently not shared anywhere else. Kpop Demon Hunters. This has become a new favourite in the house as my young boys enjoy the movie. As its very trendy, I figured I’d draw the 3 main characters. and I’m very happy with the progress so far, so I will likely turn this into a full coloured piece and print it as a poster for the boys. By then it might not be cool – but who knows. So far I have completed Rumi, and sketched out Mira and Zoey. But I’ve been taking my time, which I think shows in the final results below.
As an annual tradition, I like to do the #faceyourart challenge, to make a collage of all the faces I’ve drawn over the last 12 months. Mostly from Drawtober in this collection, but its a cool visual. This is from August 2024-2025.
Speaking of Drawtober, the prompts for this year have been posted. I’ve come up with ideas for all, and the KPOP demon hunters drawing is a good warmup for me, leading into October, as the summer I didn’t draw much. After reviewing the list, I have a general idea for each one, but, if I decide to apply a theme, I also have a backup plan: to do all Batman/DC characters as a theme. As I get closer to the start of the month I’ll decide which route to go.
//
In comic books news I’ve come to the harsh reality that I am collecting too many. I think I’m around 70-75 books a month. So I’ve been slowly cutting back on some titles, and watching the miniseries conclude through the end of the year so hopefully all I have left is the on-going books. My goal is to get the number down to around 50 by 2026. And then get a little more strict. Average 10 a week I think is a good number.
Here are some stats from May 2024 – 2025
+991 comics
+840 read (2023 I had read 85% of my collection. Now its up to 87%)
2024 saw 63% increase annually over 2023 in new books
Batman overtook Spawn as most collected character. And Spider-Man made the top 5, booting out Joker who is now in 10th.
It’s always interesting to look back on the collection stats year after year.
//
In video games, I’ve been a little all over the map.
Doom Eternal, I play a mission here and there, but like the name implies, the missions feel eternally long so I need a break after each one. 18 hours in – although I think that number might be a little inflated. Can’t imagine I’ve actually played that long.
Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition, like Doom, I play for a bit once a week just to make some progress. 5 hours in.
Gears of War Reloaded, playing in co-op every Wednesday. We have finished act II. 3 hours in. We are also still playing Skull and Bones, and have Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on our shortlist.
Dredge. What I thought was going to be a cosy fishing game has turned into quite the time sink. 30 hours in, and I’m nearly done. I’ve completed the main story and 1 DLC, and 1 left to do.
Star Wars Outlaws, just started this, 4 hours in. So far its a pretty impressive game. Big maps, pretty visuals and an interesting story.
Spider-Man 2. Definitely my primary game right now. 10 hours in and starting to get interesting, with the introduction of Venom. As expected, the game has a very good photo mode, so I spend a lot of time taking pictures.
See in you in October with Drawtober.
Rogan
Alright, so this will be a rather large post today. My last update was end of July, and then I was on vacation, so today’s will encompass all of August and first week of September. Lots to share, including my first impressions of Starfield.
//
Wrapped up Need for Speed Unbound:
The writing was actually pretty funny in the final act. They make Fast and Furious jokes, and actually said “Need for Speed”:
Overall the game was ok. A little grindy with the constant cop chases, and I was irritated in the beginning when I was making very small amounts of money after races, and by the end, you just make stupid money. I guess because the S cars have more expensive upgrade parts and the final buy-in is higher, but still. By the last week, I was maybe only doing one or two races per day/night cycle because I was so tired of getting chased by cops, and just wanted the story done.
After NFS was done. I had a week or so to kill until Starfield released, so I got Immortals of Aveum, which is an EA FPS High Fantasy magic spell casting game. Pretty decent over-all. But I wanted a palette cleanser before I jumped into Starfield, and nothing else in my queue interested me at the time. And I wanted something that would be a relatively quick completion. Below, the female character is Zendara. She’d be fun to draw.
//
In the art studio I’ve been busy. As I mentioned in the last post, I was playing Exoprimal quite a bit, and had the Vigilant class design stuck in my head and needed to draw it:
Then the Blue Beetle movie came out, so I draw Blue Beetle – but didn’t see the movie:
Made a little bit of progress on the colour wheel challenge. Re-did female Riddler, and added Catwoman. 3 more colours left, Purple, Pink, and Red. Purple I think I will do Neo-Joker, Pink will be Two-Face, and Red will be Rose Wilson, daughter of Deathstroke:
Then I got some inspiration by Cammy’s new Street Fighter outfit. She’s chopped off her hair, but the jacket she now wears has this long belt that kind of mimics the long ponytail she used to have, which is a pretty cool design:
After Cammy, I thought, since Drawtober / Inktober is around the corner, that I should get a head start. Populate a list of characters and start sketching them out, so that in October, I can flesh them out, ink and maybe add a splash of colour. But this way it will take a lot of the stress away if the base is already done. So far I have Dove, Zatanna, Spiral, and Fire & Ice. Definitely off a good start. Hopefully I can have 31 ready for October. Having time off this month will help.
//
Comics for the week of Aug 2:
Comics for the week of Aug 19:
Comics for the week of Aug 24:
//
Alright, the point of this one-sided conversation we’ve all been waiting for: Starfield. A review, of sorts, in progress.
Starfield will be the first Bethesda Game Studios game that I’ve tried, in earnest. I’ve tried Fallout 4 before, for about an hour or so. Got killed by big bugs in the wasteland. Couldn’t wrap my head around the slow-motion gun aiming. Called it quits. Was never really interested in the Elder Scrolls games or setting as I tend to gravitate to sci-fi over fantasy (although I did play Bioware’s Dragon Age Inquisition). But guns and spaceships are more my style, and I did like Bioware’s Mass Effect series, so I have high hopes for Starfield, even though RPG is usually not my first choice.
But so far I am liking it. I appreciate that you can diverge off the main quest and focus on other activities like Faction Missions or other side-quests. I initially started down the main quest, but after arriving in New Atlantis, and meeting the Constellation group, and acquiring Sarah as a companion, she brought me to the UC Vanguard headquarters to discuss a rumour of one of the next artifacts. But mid discussion with the Commander, he had a dialogue option about enrolling into the UC Vanguard services. So I did, and was then whisked away on a side adventure involving Xenowarfare. I guess those weird artifacts will have to wait.
I’m playing on the PC which has been ok so far. I have an RTX 3080 and it handles it decently at 4k, 35-40fps. It defaulted to Ultra settings. But I think I could get more out of it after adjusting some shadow/reflection/particle settings. See if I can get those FPS up. Haven’t tried it on the Xbox Series X. Likely won’t.
Visually the game is both very good looking and also kind of meh, depending on the environment. But I guess with a game this large, it can’t be all amazing. Overall though, very pretty. And it has an in-game photo mode, so that’s a bonus.
I’m not deep into the game yet, but I have time off work for the next few weeks, so by the time my next update roles around I should have more in-game photos and new stories to tell. I’m also thinking about the whole role-playing aspect, and considering doing a short story or Captain’s Log journal, similar to what I did with The Division.
Until then, Above and Beyond.
iRogan
G377,240
Don’t call it a come back, I’ve been here for years…
October is over, so TECHNICALLY drawtrober is over too. I’m conflicted as my prompt list isn’t done, but I’m kinda done, if you know what I mean. Here’s week three:
So, to date, I have completed 19 drawings. And I still want to finish my initial prompt list, but maybe a bit slower. 12 drawings left, maybe I can get them all done over the month of November. But I also want to get back to video games too, and my wrestling comic has been an annoying buzz in the back of my brain. So maybe over the next two months?
Speaking of games…
//
What I’m Playing
I jumped back into Death Stranding after a month off. Finished Chapter 6 and 7. Got to brave the mountain during a white-out which was intense, only to find another Super Cell storm that completed chapter 6, and concluded with another dimension/time jump to WWII, and chapter 7.
I briefly took a step into Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which is what I’ll play more consistently once Death Stranding is done. And I’ve been playing Fall Guys, when I get 5-10 minutes to sit down (ie: my lunch break 😉 ).
That’s it for now, quick update.
iRogan
I’m up to 14 drawings now this month for Inktober/Drawtober/Artober…whatever. So many names. I remember a few years ago, someone came up with Pouchtober, and the prompt list was just a bunch of Rob Liefeld characters who were overburdened with pouches.
Here’s week two:
Tira is a redraw from a 2003-2004 drawing I did back when I worked in Flash. I never finished that drawing as I accidentally wiped my HDD and always wanted to try again. This year’s drawtober is all about 2nd chances.
Fragile was really just me inking a drawing I had completed earlier in September and more or less needed a night off.
Harley Quinn, another attempt at trying to make my evening a bit lighter. Not a full pose.
Usagi Yojimbo and Leonardo. The tortoise and the hare. But really just a Turtle and Rabbit, but that doesn’t sound as cool. This one was spread over 2 nights as it was 2 characters. So it counts as 2. My rules after all 😉
Medusa, Queen of the Inhumans. Obliviously wanted to torture myself with some hair. A lot of fun to draw though.
Felicia, from the video game Darkstalkers. Another re-draw, or inspired for an old drawing. This character I had previously drawn in 2011. Funny story, re-reading my 2011 post, I had wanted to draw Felicia and then Morrigan, but never got around to the latter. Well 2022 me resolved that.
So that’s week two. I feel like this set has some strong entries. More better than not. Harley’s corset lacks any type of detail which I feel is hurting the piece, and Felicia could benefit from some shading or colour or something as it is just very fine line work right now. Fragile’s face got lost in the inking. i feel the pencil was stronger, and I ruined it. Another post-October fix I think. Due to cold (still ongoing), I’m actually 4 days behind schedule, but that’s OK. I still intend to complete the full set. Just maybe not exactly on time.
//
Otherwise, I haven’t done much else. Playing Fall Guys in my spare time, and “watching” a lot of movies and TV in the background as I draw.
iRogan
Idly Playing the Waiting Game 