Kaiju Minis

Hi all, Mark here!
Today's piece is about "kaiju", which are giant or strange monsters.

Kaiju tend to be dark, fearsome & gritty, so I decided to portray them as cute, bright and colorful.  This  illustration would be a logo for a mobile app game where you fight as cute kaiju.  (I would play the hell out of this game)

Fun fact:  I originally drew these out in a different style, before changing to the cute style I adore.  This is how the monsters originally looked:

(Somewhat of a 'Pokemon' vibe here)

Gunnm.

The first manga I ever read was "Battle Angel Alita" (Gunnm).  I was still pretty into western superhero comics when I was 15/16 but that all changed when I started hanging out at the library. Around that time Manga was just really starting to pop up more in the US and the library that I frequent had  a pretty good collection. Since I was already into Cowboy Bebop and Akira animes, I went hunting for  mangas and I wasn't let down.

Battle Angel  was full of sci-fi, violence and chaos, all lead by a sweet faced cyborg. It was glorious.

So here are a few sketches of Alita. I'm going to put these through illustrator but couldn't in time for this challenge! In time though!

Street fashion at it's finest

I have to admit, I kind of have a little thing for fashion, especially street fashion. I used to get Shojo Beat magazine as a kid and every once in a while they would do a feature on Japanese street fashion. Before the days of fashion blogs and trend trackers, these articles were the best part of the magazine. I instantly fell in love with the incredibly unique fashions of the Shibuya and Harajuku districts.

A lot of what I absorbed from those photos informed how I dress even to this day. The whimsical mixing and matching of patterns, textures, silhouettes, and materials is addictive. With a few exceptions of the more strict subcultures, a lot of the fashion I like comes with the "I wear what I want" vibe. Crazy random pieces come together to make a cohesive look. As Dee said to me once, "The don't give a fuck attitude is an accessory all it's own."

the original photo page

XO – Clare

Adorable Japan

Hi all, Mark here!
The theme this week is Japan-- I take a lot of inspiration from their culture, so this was a fun challenge!

A few years ago I designed these kimono cuties, and this week I decided it would be fun to make a traditional Japanese environment for them.

(I have a big soft spot for anthropomorphic characters.)

Who is your favorite kimono girl?  Mine's the swan.

Bonus Art!  Here are two buttons I designed that Japan-inspired.  

(Kero mean "ribbit" in Japanese, and the creature on the right is a tanuki!)

Don't lose your way...to Japan!!!

Moshi-Moshi Internet!!!!

Japanese Anime has always been a huge influence in my art. I was deep into Manga and Anime long before it became a mainstream pop culture thing that it is today. When this weeks challenge of Japan came along there was nothing else I could think of then just share some recent anime fan art from my newest favorite show "Kill la Kill" and even a photo of me way back in 1997 when I served oversea's in Okinawa Japan!

Enjoy!

Ryuko!!!

Life Fiber Synchronize!!

Great time overseas! Okinawa was a blast!

Ya Ta! 

Henry Pope III

(Pink & Nanook Ink)

www.pinkandnanook.com 

Kiki's F#@!in Delivery Service

throw back tuesday!

that's  how you do it, right?
whatev.

This week's theme is Japan, so here's a scribble I did a while ago for Studio Ghibli's Kiki's Delivery Service, a cute story about a witch coming of age that I've somehow taken and displaced into the world of a Cohen Brothers movie where sometimes people are monsters and terrible things happen with absolutely no rhyme or reason and karmic justice is a farce.

Get it together, kid

Check out my other weird (and more uplifting) drawbles at my blooogggggggggg

Yukata Girl

I've been obsessed with Japan for about half of my life so it was hard to narrow down a subject matter for this piece. In the end, I decided to focus on the first things that came to mind when I thought of Japan: the color red, yukatas, and teru teru bozu.  Wiki some words and learn something new today ^_^.  And enjoy!

Weekly Challenge: Japan

Oha, minna-san!  Or maybe Konichiwa depending on when you’re reading this post.  This week the land of the rising sun will be the scribble nerd’s inspiration. It's a loaded theme and I'm excited to see the results!

It's hard to sum up a country in one picture, but here's my best attempt...

Scribble Nerds of the World, Assemble!

If you like our weekly challenges and want to join in the fun, then put pencil to paper and submit your great creations to be featured here on the blog!

All we need is a jpg of your art, your name, what challenge your submitting for and a brief statement telling a little about yourself and your art. Send all submissions to:scribblenerdsart@gmail.com!