I had a great time at Tsukino Con this weekend, hanging out at the Camosun Comics and Graphic Novels Program table in artist’s alley, going to panels, admiring all the costumes, and generally basking in the upbeat, geeky atmosphere. I wasn’t up to standing in the long lines for the movie screenings, but now that I’ve been enlightened (or at least had my interest piqued) I’ll be watching a lot more anime!

I didn’t neglect my vow to draw every day, though; Iris the Muse wanted a day off, however (I suspect she went shopping for manga wigs at the convention) and she delegated someone who looks suspiciously like Spam the Cat to stand in for her. I sketched this while hanging out in artist’s alley, lots of creative vibes there! His legs are a little short, though, so I suspect it’s one of Spam’s half-brothers, offspring of his father Hank, the ginger-striped ladies’ tabby of Port Deception. There were a lot of cute animal-character costumes around to help inspire me, though I didn’t see any ginger tabbies.

I sketched this in pencil on cream-coloured Stonehenge paper, then inked it with an ink cartridge brush, and coloured it with watercolour pencils, using a few swipes from a watercolour brush to blend the colours.

A relative of Spam the Cat!

(For those just tuning in, Spam the Cat is the main character of a graphic novel I’m working on with author Elizabeth Ann Scarborough. You can find out more about Spam’s other adventures here.)