Daily Sketch 20260506 | My journey with pen and paper

May 6, 2026

Documenting the week of April 29 - May 5

Substack: https://monumentsinruin.substack.com

Hello and welcome to another sketch update! It looks like this week was kind of dedicated to the creature feature! Let’s revisit what went down.

Tuesday April 28

Whatever this thing is, it sure looks friendly. Everybody who’s friendly needs a creepy barn to stand in front of right?

Not totally sure what led me down this path but think it may have been related to a strange cartoon that I found online. It was so bizarre but in a creative way. Nothing too exciting, but really loose. It made me want to experiment a little. In doing so, it made me realize I’ve been doing quite a lot of more serious work lately. Was good to dig into a fun and bizarre world of character creation.

Having already committed to the barn/house feature, it seemed like a fun direction to add a “not horse” and some creepy barn eyes into the mix. Not expecting to go full cowboy with this. Only a touch of rancher vibes.

Wednesday April 29

In the words of Bob Ross, “Let’s add a happy little cloud”. The first idea was in include some cloudy eyes looking over the setting but somehow we ended up with a vortex, complete with tongue birds.

Thursday April 30

Sketch and Catch! We interrupt your regularly schedule program for a quick game of sketch and catch. It was a nice day out and I am still working on incorporating the color pencils. This time it started with pen outline and later added the color pencils. A much better method than my first attempt.

The topic was inspired by the Bone Folder Press chat where they suggested doing 5 of something. We did commit to more than 5 catches, of course.

Thursday April 30 Sketch and Catch - 5 Stones

Ok, we are back on track. This fish thing may have been the catalyst to the whole shift toward fun characters. Last week it materialized from a daily sketch challenge and it felt right to give it a forever home in this new world barnyard. See also flies and Bunny Pug. What a fun adventure! Would you jump through the vortex to visit this place?

Daily Sketch Challenges April 29 - May 5

Nothing says that these are master works but it is fun to wake up and get the creative energy following. Staying in the routine pushes me to try things outside of my comfort zone.

Wednesday April 29 - Art Deco , This was a fun dip into a new world for me. A perfect reason to follow the daily challenge format.

Thursday April 30 - Art Nouveau , ironically, I was looking at some posters in this style a couple of days ago and asking myself if i could work in this style. I called out to the universe forced my hand! What fun.

May 1 - Free Draw Friday , I really enjoyed this character and his fascination with bubbles

Saturday May 2 - Star Trek XXVII: The Search for…

Star Trek XXXVII: The Search for the Legendary DJ Spock Mix Tape. File under documentary.

Backstory: A highly influential mix tape that circulated in the underground hip hop community from 1982-83. Some claim it’s among the items connected to the Mandela Effect as it seems to have disappeared from existence when ‘84’s Search for Spock hit theaters. Many well known hip hop DJ’s, producers and rappers claim to have heard but never owned a copy and it completely changed their trajectory leading them into the music world’s elite names of people to know. Even with so many connections, the mix tape has never been confirmed to exist.

Monday May 4 - Star Wars / May the 4th be with you

Tuesday May 5 - Aya Huma , another reason to keep up with the daily challenge. This was totally new to me.

Friday May 1

I know we are circling back. It felt accurate to showcase the daily work before dipping into the weekend. It was filled with monsters and other fun stuff. After the free draw Friday morning, i wanted to dive into whatever that vibe was. A monster party!

The idea here is to work on shadow in the form and the ground shadow.

Friday May 1 - Recreation of the morning sketch without bubbles

Friday May 1 - Added a humpback creeper to the mix.

Saturday May 2 - A nosey fella and a creature with extreme hand / eye coordination

Sunday May 3 - I had really been leaning toward turning this entire page into a monster high school yearbook. This was an attempt to visualize that.

Sunday May 3 - monster high glamour shots continued

Sunday May 3 - sometimes you simply want to draw a teenage dragon. This was also a change to redeem myself from a previous failure that occurred long before I started sharing the weekly work.

Sunday May 3 - Full page of creepo’s and a page I am very proud of. A long way to go but this really resonates with my teenage self. Would be a fun sticker set, imo.

Sunday May 3 Weekly Challenge

The weekly challenge that kicks off every Sunday evening was “Draw the Shadow, Not the Object”. This was my not my first thought but it was my first effort. It turned out ok but did not represent what my intention was. Sometimes it be that way! The work will guide you. So be it.

Monday May 4

Since my previous effort fell a bit outside of my comfort zone for a challenge that could be much more I decided to try again. This was a Vampira toy reimagined. Somehow I lost the plot on this one again and decided to keep this sketch for myself.

Note: Vampira continues to be a work in progress, for me. Not sure why she eludes me so but I will keep circling back until she finds her way from my pen to paper.

Monday May 4 - Vampira Action Figure sketch

Now we are talking! This is the first image that came to mind for the shadow challenge. So glad to have went back to this idea. It pushed me into a place that felt comfortable, challenging and, the end result, rewarding.