Curse of the Zombie Witch

| Mister Kessell

Greetings friends!

Sorry it’s been so long since my last post. There was a lot going on recently.

For one thing, I now have an actual art space/office where I can physically put paint on canvas like this:

You can check this out over in my portfolio.

“Curse of the Zombie Witch” is the temporary title I’ve assigned to this piece. I’m open to better suggestions.

I hadn’t really planned out this post, so I will leave it there. Maybe I’ll show you my new art space in the near future.

Talk to you guys soon!

Don’t Forget to Like and Subscribe

| Mister Kessell
Illustrated headstone, with decorative carved skull and flowers with an epitaph that reads "Don't forget to like and subscribe."

I don’t often like to promote my own merchandise, it just feels dirty to me, I don’t know. But the image above has been added to my shop at redbubble, you can pick up a print if you so choose.

Or just enjoy it on your screen.

Of course I provide many, many illustrations on my website or on social media for free, you should, uh, not forget to like and subscribe.

cartoon batboy looks out an old victorian stained glass window on a rainy day, the quote below reads: "Rainy days are a relief, I suffer no guilt about remaining indoors."

For instance, have you seen the latest installment in my original Batboy series? You can find him on Instagram and Twitter, hopefully he’ll make you laugh.

Until next time!

Enter Sadman

| Mister Kessell
A sad batman turns his back on the bat signal because he feels they only call when they need something.

Ain’t that always the way?

We all know people like that, or we’ve done it ourselves. Make sure to check in with your friends and family just for the heck of it. It’s as simple as a text (although a phone call is good too.) Ask them how they’re doing.

BS with them a little bit.

They will appreciate it. And you’ll feel better too.

This is my message to you, internet. Now excuse me, I have some calls to make…

Coffee is for Closers

| Mister Kessell
Illustration of a business man emerging from behind an office plant and a filing cabinet, he seems to be spying on someone.

I’m super excited to share this album art I created for CODE OF THE JAGUAR, a punk band from the “old, weird Philadelphia.”

This two-song single is streaming now, you can listen on bandcamp , and also preorder a physical 7″ record.

While you’re there, I recommend checking out their whole oeuvre, you’ll have these songs stuck in your brain for days.

And speaking of weird, old Philadelphia, in the 80s and 90s there was an all ages nightclub in the area called Pulsations, which featured a dancing robot. Take a look if you don’t believe me.

Introducing Batboy

| Mister Kessell

A few weeks ago I created a random, ten-minute doodle. It was intended to relieve some pressure in between other more serious projects.

It turned out to be a new character. I call him Batboy.

He is able to voice some of my worries, my boredom, and other ridiculous thoughts in a single panel.

I have been posting him every other day on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

Follow me there if you’d like to see more!

Happy New Year, I think

| Mister Kessell

Welcome to my first blog post of 2021. How is everybody doing?

I spent the end of 2020 reflecting on some things I had accomplished and other things that fell through the cracks. I thought about my unhealthy relationship with social media and I pretty much avoided it. I needed to relax and recharge a bit. I did some reading, some film marathons, and I ate a lot of shrimp.

I have no regrets.

Feeling a bit uninspired after the break, I decided to mess around with a really neat AI tool from Google called Chimera Painter. I was pretty excited by the results so I made a video lesson on how to create a quick creature design with it and then take it one step beyond and refine the design in Clip Studio Paint.

I’ve also added a new design to my portfolio, as well as my T-shirt store. It’s an idea that hit me way back when I used to ride the crowded New York City subway system.

Green tentacled space alien spreads a jelly made from humans on toast
MAN SPREAD ON SPACE TOAST
(That was the shrimp talking)

Follow me on Youtube! I’ve been told my monotonous voice is good if one suffers from insomnia.

Halloween Hijinks in December

| Mister Kessell

It’s been over a month, but I’ve finally gotten around to compiling a video of the fun I had creeping around Brooklyn in my trash wild man costume.

Is that Sasquatch? A living pile of leaves and toilet paper? No, just a creepy wild man.

I’ve been toying with this costume idea for a few years but have never been able to get it together.

wild man creature sitting back in recliner pencil sketch
Ever since I did my sketchbook series of domesticated wild men. Which you can see here.

As with most of my ambitious projects, it was years in the making but then ultimately a spur of the moment, headfirst dive into cardboard, paper and duct tape. Maybe I can do a follow up with a few of the step-by-step progress photos in my messy, cramped apartment.

pagan woman in black with skull in a basket poses with a tall, wild man creature at Halloween 2020 in Brooklyn, NY.
A wild man with his pagan woman.

As you can see, I had way too much fun during this weird, pandemic Halloween of 2020. At least something was kinda normal for once.

Until next time!

Do you know that I tweet about stuff? I think I’m pretty entertaining, you should probably come hang out and say hi. It’s super fun. And if not there, why not check out my YouTube channel?