2025: A Year In Review - MastaFran ComicsMastaFran Comics

https://youtu.be/FyFQHluzJUQ

Despite the ups and downs over this year, I’ll recount the art I’ve done over 2025 and my pitch my plans for 2026!

December Sketchbook

Digital color sketch of 4 anthropomorphic male wolves sitting at a crowded bar drinking ale, each wearing a different outfit reflecting their origin and background. Far left wolf is shirtless with a red bandana, brass bicep rings, and red arm bands. This wolf drinks from a wooden ale cup. Middle left wolf wears a blue captain's long coat with round buttons on the lapels and drinks from a similar wooden ale cup. Middle right wolf wears a tattered dark blue kimono drinking from a flat sake cup. Far right wolf wears a heavy green deel coat with zigzag pattern trim and a Ushanka style hat with a short brown tassel at the top drinking from a long teacup.

Back in 2024, I purchased a new iPad Mini after months of not having one. Like with the previous ipad I lost back in November 2022, I wanted a portable means to draw digital and get in more practice. Funny enough, instead of using the iPad as my Procreate machine, I ended up using Pixquare more often for commissions and game dev art.

Dog Kingdom Art Direction

Like most internet artists, I don’t like drawing backgrounds; but for Blackmask’s development, there’s no choice but to figure it all out. So I’m doing what I can to figure out how to make my environments interesting to draw for myself.

Pen and marker sketches of a small street lined with brick buildings that anthropomorphic dogs walk around and live in. Middle and bottom sketches show how the mechanics of doors with center peephole hatches in the middle of them work. The peephole open and a dog sticks their head out to chat to strangers.

Doing all this helped me drum up cool world-building ideas, that might save development time. A fun idea for the dog folk to have peephole windows in their doors to stick their heads out to greet people.

Pencil sketch of a vaguely Spanish village of brick building with hanging festive flags on the roof top. A single anthropomorphic male raccoon balances on one of the lines traveling between the rooftops.

With my writing for Blackmask, I’m refining the art direction and themes of the various kingdoms in the world. I spend my time on an architecture grind, looking at buildings and histories to match themes I’m going for. I shoot to go beyond, “fantasy version of real life country.” Doing these is part of my daily “frog swallowing” to get myself to draw an environment sketch under a theme, starting with the Dog Kingdom.

pen and ink sketch of an anthropomorphic male raccoon leaning on a long grated fence in front of a rose bush garden. The raccoon seems to converse with an anthropomorphic female dog dressed as a nun, snipping a few of the roses in the bushes with scissors behind the grated fence.

Right now, I’m working with the theme of “Freedom Vs. Security” with a Dogs Vs Wolves thing that Cole, my raccoon protagonist, stumbles upon. With this “Walled Garden” sketch, I wanted to use the grated fence to subtly look like jail bars. It’s on the nose when I explain this but, it’s something to lean into.

Sirititus, the Dog society is this authoritarian kingdom under a leader with a simple world conquest motive. While my Rudwulf, wolf clan, tilts toward sword and sorcery barbarian warrior nomad stuff.

Pen and ink illustration of two armies of anthropomorphic canines facing off against each other anticipating a grand war. In the center an large armored male dog with a giant double edged decorative great sword, stands in the face of a muscular lighter armored male wolf holding a crude single-edged great sword.

The wolves overall have been a struggle to give more to because, they started as typical nomadic raider hordes that my Cole has to fight or sneak around, and I wanted to give more motives to them.

Pencil sketch of an anthropomorphic male wolf walking forward toward the camera. He wears Roman style armor with a massive cape and metallic armbands.

Pencil sketch of an anthropomorphic female wolf sipping into a wine glass She wears Roman toga robes with elaborate jewelry and wrist accessories.

Pencil sketch of an anthropomorphic female wolf walking through halls of columns with her smaller fox hand maidens. The wolf wears Roman style toga robes with metallic wrist accessories.

The function of the dogs was first going to be wolves. With some wolves having a more “civilized” society that would be trying own control the territories of other wolves, similar to Romans conquering their surrounding societies.

Pencil sketch of an anthropomorphic dog in roman style armor and an anthropomorphic wolf in a spiked shoulder pad and loincloth, butting heads and clashing with their sword and axe.

The big thing between the dogs and wolves I’m pushing is how similar they are with separate “breeds” being a culture divide than specific breeding thing. In the big Blackmask lore, they’re the same to other animals, but dog societies arbitrarily separate wolf societies away for their own ulterior motives.

Through more brainstorming, I continued the theme of the dogs having a higher order they’re obedient to, so I started making sketches beginning to gesture toward a religion they’d have. After all “Dog” spelled backwards is “God” so dog paladins and clerics are a natural fit.

A series of pen and ink sketches of an anthropomorphic dog, wearing a simple tunic, gloves, sandals, and a helmet with a small flag on top. The dog also wields a spear for defense. Top two sketches are a side and front view drawing of the character and bottom sketch is of the dog being picked up off the ground bu the helmet by an anthropomorphic wolf warrior.

pen and ink sketch of an anthropomorphic raccoon wearing a long coat hanging on the ceiling with his claws to avoid the sight of anthropomorphic dogs wearing armor and a round shield, climbing up a staircase in their daily patrol.

Much of this is in flux and I can’t worry about pondering every tiny societal detail to what’s basically enemy characters who patrol dungeons and fortresses Cole must infiltrate for his own goals. This shit’s ballooning enough, and I’m fighting to not dumpster it all.

Cat Empire Relook

This personal visual development grind also got me doing cat themed buildings along with the dogs. The ear shaped rooftops might be on the nose, but it’s a start.

Obviously, the cats have a rivalry with the dog kingdoms, with their own means of espionage and warfare. No matter high an army can build their walls, Cat Warriors will find a way to scale them.

Lion Knights

Pen and ink drawing of three anthropomorphic armored lions charging at the viewer with their various weaponry. Many are equipped with gauntlets with long claw blades at the finger tips, a large three-clawed shield gauntlet, spears, and claw dart gauntlets.

The Lion Knights of Felira are the world-class fighting force of the mighty cat kingdom. Donning armor and maned helmets, they venture into far lands to enact the will of King Lionide IV in the inevitable journey to conquer the world for catkind.

Pen and ink drawing of an anthropomorphic lions wearing heavy armor. Lion is equipped with a metallic helmet with a long cape-like mane, a large three-clawed shield gauntlet, and a long, fat-bladed, spear.

The Lion Knights are a blended force, with the majority female lions, donning maned helmets to look cohesive.

Pen and ink drawings of anthropomorphic male and female lion wearing heavy armor standing back to back. At their feel they have variations of similar head gear with the male lion having a mask and the female lion having a helmet with an elaborate mane on top of it.

Pen and ink portrait drawings of two anthropomorphic lions, female and male, wearing heavy armor with variations of similar head gear. Left drawing has the female lion holding a helmet with an elaborate mane on top of it. Right drawing as the male lion holding a smaller mask.

The Lion Knights are a huge thing I want to explore, but there’s still much that’s still needs to be elaborated on. Big Cats and Small Cats can’t fit in a similar category like the canines, so I need to figure out what their motives can be.

Lions making a society makes logical sense as group hunters, but cats in general are more individualistic, so it’s a puzzle to dive deep into what they can do that hasn’t been done a million times. But I’ve done something unique with Foxes, so I can’t give up.

Olivia the Dragon More Draws

Fountain Pen sketch of an anthropomorphic female dragon wearing a leotard flying over the rooftops of brick houses.

Another batch of Olivia drawings this time in a old school cheerleader outfit. I don’t want to distract myself, but she end up in many of my sketchbooks. Many times, Olivia pops up to cover my unwillingness to draw buildings.

Green gel pen sketch of an anthropomorphic female dragon wearing a sweater with a the letter "D" on the chest and pleated skirt standing heroically.

Pen sketch of an anthropomorphic fish creature with four arms and a mow hawk style top fin about to battle an anthropomorphic female dragon wearing a sweater with a the letter "D" on the chest and pleated skirt in flight.

Human Sketches

Sketch to see if I still remember how to draw humans. I could stand to go back to do some figure drawings as I’m sure I’m falling into bad habits as a general artist.

Pen and ink sketch of a black woman with long fuzzy hair wearing googles and an open blouse displaying her prominent cleavage.She has her pen at her mouth and ponders over her notebook as she sits at her desk of holding a messy assortment of treasure chests, metal tools, scrolls, metal boxes and ink bottles.

Pen and ink drawings of a muscular lanky black man with hair twists. He wears loincloth with a knife attached to his belt.

Pen and ink drawings of a fat black man with long dreadlocks that cover his left eye. He wears a trench coat with a chain necklace.

My human designs aren’t as creative as my animal designs, yet I wonder if I could still try. I still ache to be a comic artist, but that dream is in the toilet. I can’t think of any ideas that do will for more human designs but it does well up in my head from time to time.

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