“Alphabetober” 2021
I wanted to do “Inktober,” but I made up my own rules. A drawing for each letter of the alphabet, one per work day, black-and-white vector illustrations representing as many different objects, characters or places as I could think of using that day’s letter. Tools: Adobe Illustrator and my Wacom Cintiq tablet.
A is for Android. Alert! An ambivalent android cut an apple with an axe and accidentally amputated his arm. He should have eaten an artichoke instead. Maybe some aloe will help.
B is for Buddies. The big black bird left his branches to have beers with his best buddy, a bonehead in a bandanna. Also pictured: balloon, black bunting, blossoms, board.
C is for “Cara mia.” The clandestine cry correlates with clutching his cadaverous companion in the crepuscular light, in the company of coffins, candles, and a cantankerous cat, who considers his cri de coeur a catastrophe.
D is for Daedalus. Daring, defiant Daedalus drinks his dinner, despairing over the death of his darling descendent. Beyond Demeter and Dionysus on their daises and a row of Doric columns, a dramatic deluge of a downpour is in progress.
E is for Elphaba. In search of emeralds, Elegant Elphaba embarks on an epic expedition to the land of Ev. The nomes’ evil eyeballs espy her exploration, unaware of the enervating egg nearby.
F is for Freddie. Fabulous Freddie went foraging in the forest, fiddling a folk tune amidst the ferns and fungi.
G is for Godzilla. Gargantuan Godzilla grapples with a gaggle of galling geese near Gotham. A grazing goat guesses he’s not Godzilla’s goal.
H is for Horns. At the haberdashery, Hellboy’s harried hatmaker hadn’t heard the history of his horns. Perhaps a pair of holes would help.
I is for Ichabod. Isolated indoors, Irving’s ill-fated Ichabod had an inkling the insects weren’t entirely in his imagination.
J is for Jedi. Jumping Jack won’t be so jocular when he’s jarred by a Jedi’s judgement.
K is for Krampus. The kid came upon Krampus, Kris Kringle and the Kraken knocking back some Kahlúa in the kitchen.
L is for Loch Ness. Leia and Leeloo use their laboratory to look for the Loch Ness Monster whilst listening to Led Zeppelin LPs.
M is for Manager. Michael the manager sipped from his mug and marveled at the majestic mountains as he mulled over his monograph. As to the mystery of how he managed to make it to the mountaintop, it might be a matter of Meredith and her minivan. Who wants mojitos??
N is for Nancy Drew and the Case of the Nefarious Novelist. Nancy notices Nabokov nabbing a nymph with his net at nighttime among the nectarine trees.
O is for Octavia Butler, typing her opus on an Olivetti, observed by Odin and Oya, eating olives and oranges, under the shade of an oak, overlooked by Orion.
P is for Picard and Pandora playing Pac-Man in the pub. “I have a premonition I’m going to prevail,” she proposed as he proffered his pint.
Q is for the Queen, who had qualms about Q’s quiche, but was in a quandary about whether to quarrel over his qualifications.
R is for Rosie the Riveter and the Rabbit Ronin, who were required to rebuff some rioting ruffians.
S is for the Sanderson sisters, who were sideswiped by a Sasquatch while slalom skiing on the south slope. Spooky!
T is for Sir Terry Pratchett, who took his time thinking through Thanatos’ theory that it’s “turtles all the way down.”
U is for Ursula riding a unicorn with an umbrella underneath a U.F.O. Looks like she was unwise to not remain under the sea.
V is for Valkyrie, viewing the vineyard while a volcano vents vapor.
W is for Walt Whitman, who was writing under a willow tree when he witnessed Walter White walking into a Winnebago. Walt wondered what Walter was working on.
X is for the X-Files, the X-Men and Xena, Warrior Princess. Mulder and Scully have opened an X-File on the X-Men, and have called Professor Xavier in for questioning. Xena already happened to be there, and was getting a kick out of the case files, especially the x-rays.
Y is for Ygritte yodeling whilst doing yoga with Yoda, watched by yawning Ymir and a yearning yak. Alas, poor Yorick!
Z is for zany Zoolander zig-zagging away from zombies as a zeppelin zips by. He sure is wearing a lot of zippers! Maybe he should ask that zombie for some Zinfandel.