The Bad Guys Marching Band

This was a month long drawing challenge that I did a few years back. The idea is that you'd draw a new character each day for 31 days (the month of October) as a fun exercise to not spend too much time with a single image. It can be hectic but I love the challenge of making something cohesive out of all of these random prompts.

Below is the original list!

The first day was the busiest as I had to figure out what the idea for the series would be. With all the random characters, I decided on a marching band. I figured the uniform would help make everything cohesive and would help simplify each day's illustration since I had the basic outfit decided. I also decided on a limited colour palette to keep things simple.

I was inspired by vintage Halloween decorations for the colour palette. I don't remember if it was this exact image, but I knew I wanted oranges and yellows to be the dominant colours.

After figuring out the basic idea and colour palette, it was just a mad dash to the end of the month! Each day I'd illustrate another member of the band, fit them into the bigger group composition, and rest before doing it all over again the next day.

Also the tuba-playing cat was inspired by my cat at the time, Fred. Fred has since passed away but he lives on forever in my artwork (as do my other cats, Wallace...who has also passed away, and Bernard who is very much alive).

I remember one day I was so behind schedule that I knew I wasn't going to get it done. While I wanted Batman & Robin to be swinging from their grappling hooks, I just didn't have time to draw it. Above is the solution I came up with.

And that's why I love doing challenges like this. Sometimes it forces you to try new things or accept mistakes/imperfections. I'm really happy with the final illustration and while it can be stressful to do at the time, I think it's worth it in the end.