I'm Clare! Illustrator, Geek, Tatted Up Jack of All Trades

Hi there! My name is Clare. I'm an artist from Cleveland, Ohio. By day, I design and illustrate bingo cards and games. By night, I freelance as an illustrator, artist and blogger with a zillion hobbies like making crazy pies and getting tattoos to name a few. It's a hectic lifestyle with very little time to take it easy, but it is what it is. Busy is fun!

Art for a bingo game I made

I work in vectors all day and sometimes for my freelance as well, but I have been getting back into traditional media lately. I've developed a fondness for markers and really want to hone my skills. A full set of Copic markers would amazing and wonderful, wouldn't it?

Done in Faber-Castell Pitt markers

My work usually ends up having a very cute feel to it. In college, my heart was set on being a children's book illustrator. A year working as a children's product designer made me reevaluate my goals. That is not to say I did not enjoy my creations, but I felt like I wanted my work to be something different. I always had a soft spot for cute art that had a second angle be it sexy, scary, or trippy. Chris Sanders, Junko Mizuno, 64 Colors and so many others inspired my ever still evolving "cute with an twist" style.

In the last few months, my art world has positively exploded as compared to before. While I don't have time to play video games anymore, (I miss Minecraft so bad) I spend my time at Drink and Draw, Dr. Sketchy (both Cleveland and Akron,) and any other art event I can work my way into. I'm loving every minute. I have found a great support group in my friends here and in the community.

Tonight I will be drawing in the Great Lakes Brewing Tasting Room for Comic Book Heritage Night, and tomorrow and Sunday I will be at Cleveland Concoction hawking my stickers and prints and doing sketches. I hope to see you this weekend!

You can find me here too:

My website
DeviantART
Instagram
Twitter
Tumblr
The Darling Apartment
Pinterest

XO - Clare

Intro Post! Mark Laubenthal, Illustrator & Super Nerd

Hi all, Mark here.
Today's post is a quick "about me" and showcases some of my art!

I'm a digital illustrator who works in vector art, and I pay the bills by working freelance on children's products like coloring books, stickers and craft kits.  I also work on game-app projects occasionally as well.  The main thing I am known for in my work is my use of cute, quirky characters and a childlike sense of wonder.  I consider myself someone who really understands the concept of "cute" very well, and as such, my work is also often characterized by a "toy-like" feel.

As far as my personality/personal interests go, I'm a proud nerd, a hopeless romantic, a lover of all things cute, obsessed with toys and toy design, a huge fan of pop culture, and to top it all off, I also love to bake (almost exclusively cookies, because COOKIES).  I'm also super inspired by animals.

Here are a few of my pieces:

You can find me at the following:

Portfolio Website: marklaubenthal.com
Twitter:  https://twitter.com/MarkLaubenthal

I also blog dessert recipes and art projects for:
The Darling Apartment

Spotlight Henry Pope III 

Former Marine, Freelance Illustrator, Comic Artist, Graphic Designer. 

Badass, Nice Guy. 

Oh boy where do I begin...I have been drawing steady ever since like 2nd grade, I have always loved to draw, loved comics, comic strips, comic characters, cartoons. It's truly one of my first loves. Next to the Ford Mustang and women. 

It all started with Peanuts and Garfield, then Heathcliff and everything Warner Bros. Then it was TMNT (go figure) Bucky O'hare, Usagi Yojimbo, tons of Anime, then it was Marvel Comics, Spider-Man and the Avengers, artists like Todd Mcfarlane, Jim Lee, Erik Larsen, lesser known independent artists like Ben Dunn's Ninja High School, James O'Barr's The Crow and of course Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, all creating their own characters and comic book companies inspire me each day to push and work hard to be of that same level, the same success!

I write and illustrate my own webcomic "Pink & Nanook" its a story about two teenage girls who are going to go on a great adventure with each other and become amazing friends for life. Yeah I know it sounds kind of odd for on old marine to be writing and drawing a kinda girly comic book, but I really believe in the story and characters as they have been evolving along with me since I first came up with the idea in 2011. Here is a taste of Pink & Nanook.

So that's the dream, to get to the point where I am publishing and selling my own comics regularly. The day gig is all about looking for a gig. Working as a freelance illustrator, I have to constantly hustle to find jobs, create sales opportunities and foster, grow relationships that are crucial to not only the growth of my business, but myself as person. I place the value of having good people in my life first and foremost and well I do believe I found some in these Scribble Nerds. 

If you would like to see more of my work, or wish to hire me for any commissions or any other creative business needs please contact me as soon as possible! My prices are very reasonable and I am always available! 

Here are my links to all my sites and social media! Please Like, Follow and Share! Thank you!!! 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pinkandnanook

Website : www.pinkandnanook.com

DeviantArt: 2pope.deviantart.com

tumblr: pinkandnanookink.tumblr.com

Twitter: @PinknNanookInk 

Instagram @2PopeArt 

Dee Pio - Designer. Illustrator. Nerd.

By day I’m your friendly neighborhood kids craft product designer and illustrator, by night I super obsess over Batman and The Hobbit.

Being split between kids crafting and my nerdy interests has necessitated my use of a few very different art styles.  My art can range from clean colorful vectors, to messy sketchy more realistic pieces.  You’ll notice for my Scribble Nerd challenges I’ll choose whichever style fits the mood I’m going for.

Below are a few of my personal pieces that show the range of my work.

You can also find me under the name nerdee_design.  I'm on:

Intstagram:  http://instagram.com/nerdee_design#

 Tumblr:  http://nerdee-design.tumblr.com/

 Deviantart:  http://deepio.deviantart.com/

 Twitter:  https://twitter.com/nerdee_design

Scribble Nerds Assemble!

It’s roll call time here in scribbleland, folks, and this week we’ll be giving you a sneak peek into our souls!!...Or just sharing a little about ourselves, and the work we do outside of Scribble Nerds. Either way, I expect it will be soul crushing in some manner.

BMO! "Who wants to play VIDEO GAMES?"

Hi all, Mark here.
This week's subject was one that I hold especially dear-- the animated series "Adventure Time!"
Originally I wanted to do an illustration of the lovely but neurotic Princess Bubblegum, but since I was a little crunched for time, I decided to instead draw the super-cute, super-quirky video game character, BMO.

If there's a cuter video game character on television, I have yet to see 'em; seriously, BMO's crazy adorable.
Enjoy!

Marceline the Vampire Queen

I LOVE Marceline!  For this challenge I centered in on my favorite episode, "What Was Missing", where they have to play a song to open the door of the Door Lord, so I drew Marcie in her costume from that episode.

I decided to give my scanned line art a try, but I'm thinking I might do this piece again as an Illustrator vector. Anywho, enjoy!

Its Adventure Time!!! 

This weeks challenge had the resident Badass parking his testosterone and sitting down to watch some Adventure Time from Cartoon Network and uh, yeah...I did it. Drew some stuff from it and then went outside to change the oil and lift heavy objects. 

The sketch cards were fun and a good warm up before diving into other work. I will have them for sale at Cleveland Concoction in sunny Cleveland (shocker) Ohio May 30th- June 1st! Clare and I will be on hand representing the Scribble Nerds!!! 

The second digital doodle was me taking a shot at one of my fave parody artists female rendition of AT characters. I don't even know there names, so don't ask. 

Happy Memorial Day! Don't forget to thank a Vet!!! 

You're Welcome! 

*mic drop* 

I'm just a cute little elephant.

Tree Trunks is my absolute favorite Adventure Time character. The first episode I saw was about her, and I fell in love. It doesn't get much cuter than Tree Trunks in the land of Ooo. She's a tiny elephant who likes to bake apple pies! Come on! She is the character I would imagine myself as in the Adventure Time universe.

-Clare

We're Officially on Bloglovin!

Alright. We're going to try to make things a little more legit around here. Bloglovin' is a great resource to keep all the blogs you read all neat and tidy. You can easily browse you favorite blogs latest posts and find new ones! We finally registered our blog with them, so hop on over and add Scribble Nerds to your feed and to your friends list!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Algebraic Sneak Peek

Here is the beginning of my Adventure Time scribble for this weeks challenge. More work incoming!

Weekly Challenge: What Time Is It?!

Shmowzow! For this weeks challenge we’re diving straight into the awesomesauce and drawing those totally loveable Adventure Time characters. It’ll be Algebraic!

Ninja Turtles Challenge! Raphael Edition

Hi all, Mark here!
This week's challenge was in honor of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 30th anniversary.  Since I was a bit "obsessed" with this franchise as a young boy, today's drawing was a fun trip down memory lane.

I drew Raphael from the original animated series, sharing pizza with his adorable one-episode love interest, Mona Lisa, who was a lizard girl.  Regardless of if fans considered her ridiculous, Mona was fun and memorable, and sported a cute character design to boot.

On to the art-- Turtle power!

A Turtle...of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Variety.

Leonardo Leads, Raphael is cool but rude, Michelangelo is a party dude....and Donatello is just adorable!!  I've always been a Raph fan, but I decided to dabble with some Donnie for this challenge and had a lot of fun drawin' his widdle punim. Enjoy.

How about a Ribbs throwback? I'm still so very sorry, pizza you know i luv u

Hey citizens! I know I've been quiet on the challenge fronts but I found a gem for you all drawn back in my Arabica days circa 2007. I drew a lotttttttttta weird stuff back then.

I wish I had any inkling why I drew this.


Well.

Enjoy!
:D

Cowabunga Dudes or Booyakasha to the new generation! 

So I dropped the mic on Slash last week and inspired this weeks drawing challenge so here I go again! *MIC DROP*  This time I wanted to make a piece worthy of the 30 years of greatness, fun and entertainment that TMNT has been for me. I am kinda...ok really proud how this one turned out and received plenty of praise, and professional hazing which is even better! Ah if only one piece of art made a career. Can I quit now? No, ok. 

Bonus points to anyone who can name the homage I paid into this one! :) 

12 hours, traditional and digital tools. 

Say No to Drugs! Say Yes to Pizza!

A quick little colored pencil sketch from this morning. I really wish I had more time for this one. This week kind of got away from me. Oh well, enjoy some Mikey enjoying some pizza!

-Clare

Weekly Challenge: Turtle Power!

Cowabunga, Dude! This week we are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! We're gonna raise some shell, and churn out some cool art of our favorite heroes on the half shell. Do I smell pizza?

This IS The Post You're Looking For

There are a lot of things to love about Star Wars...and several more to hate if you're talking about the Prequels.  But whether it's the newer movies or the original classics one thing will always remain the same, my deep undying love for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Alec Guinness and Ewan McGregor are both tremendous actors that embody the spirit of this kind and wise Jedi Master, so I was very torn between drawing the younger or the older version of the character.  Ewan's adorable, so that was probably the deciding factor, but I'm definitely going to set aside some time to draw a version of Alec Guinness as well.

Star Warsin' all over the place

Hey all! I am a huge fan of Star Wars. They were the movies I was raised on. I'm so excited to get the chance to do a little fan art for the series. I made a little trilogy of my own with artist trading cards. I'm completely addicted to these things. I made the happiest Darth Vader I could muster, a fluffy Chewbacca, and a Princess Leia in her original 1977 poster style. I could have gone full metal bikini on this one, but come on. The original white dress costume is much sexier!

All of these were done with markers.

-Clare

May the 4th Be with you....and Happy Anniversary TMNT!!!

WHAT IT LOOK LIKE INTERNET!!!

I have had another busy, active week! Still enjoying all the love of Free Comic Book Weekend! Working an Artist Alley style table has certainly put a taste in my mouth I cannot forget and eagerly desire more of! Stay Tooned for more public appearance action!!!

So this week were honoring Star Wars...a film series I loved deeply till maybe 4 years ago when something in my head just said... you had a good run my friend, but we're so over. Still got mad respect for the art and vision of George Lucas, Lucasfilm and now Disney (of course I love Disney) but yeah, with age comes wisdom, and far less patience. I think the repetitive nature of the new content wore me out. 

So to motivate me to scribble something I choose to gender bend Darth Vader at the latest Drink & Draw Cleveland. It must've been pretty good for I won a prize for the night! Now you can be the judge! 

About 30 min. brush in pen, white gelly roll pen on some very poopy paper. 

This week is also the 30th Anniversary of the original TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES comiczine! 

Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird's TMNT was very influential to me as a young lad with dreams of drawing comics for a living. Growing up I was way into comic strips, cartoons with anthropomorphic characters or just any animal doing human things. They always seemed to be able to do stuff and say things that people couldn't or things that we as humans would think was taboo. I mean come on man, how many times can Bugs Bunny dress like a woman and kiss a man and nobody see's the weirdness way back in the 50's-60's, but see a human do it and everyone's like...OH NO's! 

TMNT really broke a lot of taboos...first they were kids, teenagers..ninjas...assassins and the original comic was bloody and violent as hell...so yeah lets make this a Saturday morning cartoon for kids...its wholesome family entertainment. Dude, really? Yeah they dumbed it down, but after seeing the toon, I wanted the toys, then eventually the graphic novels...Which blew my mind. Simple story, simple art, made by two dudes who just had  crazy idea one night farting around the apartment. Hey I can do that!! 

So in the spirit of the boys that inspired me, and to hook a friend up with an art swap, for during FCBD my most popular free sketch was the turtles and everything I had turtle flew off the table! Here is a full color illo of Slash...looking...slashy. 

About 2 hours, pen & ink, prismacolor markers on not as poopy bristol board. 

Original Size 11x14. 

Thanks for reading!!! If your at all interested in stalking me on a frequent basis, Holla at ya boy over on one of these lovely social media sites! I love to make new friends and fans!!! 

facebook.com/scribblenerds

facebook.com/pinkandnanook

www.pinkandnanook.com 

Star Wars May the 4th Challenge!

Hi all,
Mark here!
Today's post features is all about the Star Wars challenge, and features two characters I really like-- C3P-O and R2D2!  I drew this piece in what I call my "chibi" style, and the background was inspired by the desert scene with the two of them.

Wonder Woman *Finished*

Hello! Here's the finished commissioned piece from the previous post.  

Drawn on comicbook board with markers. I think it came out really well and the client really liked it! I can't wait to hear what the wife thinks.

Here's another version that didn't get picked, but came out just as good.

Weekly Challenge: Star Wars!

Join us in a galaxy far, far away! In (belated) honor of May the 4th, we are making Star Wars art. Keep an eye out for our out of this world art and sketches.

Bonus! Hello Wonder Kitty

Friday and Saturday were my first times drawing at the local comic shop, Carol and John's Comics for Free Comic Book Day. I had a blast, and drew so many cool things. Some of the people I drew for had very colorful imaginations. My favorite drawing of the event was for my friend and coblogger, Dee's, niece. She wanted Hello Kitty dressed as Wonder Woman. She was such a good sport and she was so excited to get her drawing. It totally made my day. 

-Clare 

Monday Morning Warm-Up, WW Digipaint.

Good Monday Morning Nerds!

The resident Bad@$$ has been quiet, well I am back stitches!!! Here my (late) Wonder Woman Scribble dibble!!! A nice quick paint sketch to get the noodle and hand back online after an epic weekend of Free Comic Book Day sketching!!! 

About 50 min. using Autodesk Sketchbook Pro 6 on a Wacom Cintiq 22. 

Gotta love that 80's Big Hair...lol! 

Wonder Woman Challenge

Hi all, Mark here!

Today's post features my take on Wonder Woman, a character that is one of my favorites!

It's no secret that I have a soft spot for "cuteness", so I tried to show a softer, more playful side of WW.  I did this piece in Adobe Illustrator, and had a lot of fun on it!    

Wonderful Wonder Woman

Few things are as wonderful as Wonder Woman, and hopefully I've done the awe inspiring Amazon justice with my humble doodles.  I was originally only posting the portrait version, but my niece is a huge Wonder Woman fan and wanted me to draw her a cute version.  So please enjoy my double dose of truth, justice and star spangled undies.

Wonder Woman WIP

Hello this is Shawny! This Wonder Woman Challenge is right up my alley! I'm doing a commission piece for a client that is going to be based off his wife for their anniversary.

Here are some really rough sketches.  I'll share the finished piece sometime later this week!

I picked the last pose for the final drawing. Can't wait to show it off!

Bubble Babe Wonder Woman

With Free Comic Book Day coming up, I am in full merchandise mode. I printed stickers and have been drawing up a storm on Artist Trading Cards to sell at my table. Wonder Woman will be available for sale at Free Comic Book Day at Carol and John's Comics today and tomorrow. Prints are available upon request.