Hey! Long time, no see. Or something.

Well, I am finally done with Inktober 2025. I usually spill over into November, but I don’t know if I’ve ever spilled over into December. I thouht for sure I was going to be more on schedule heading into October this year. On paper, I should have more time on my hands to spend in the studio. I finally stepped down as scoutmaster of our local scout troop after almost 8 years and 15 total years of volunteering. I’m still registered and help out from time to time, but my weekly commitment is very minimal. Most weeks it is nothing. There are aspects I definitely miss, but (theoretically) having those weekly hours back (“just one hour a week!” is the joke among volunteers) is very good. Our youngest son graduated high school in June, too, so my days of daily chauffeuring back and forth to school are done.

So, again, on paper I finally have a good chunk of hours back each week to spend in my studio. But, as has happened so many times at critical juntions in my life, something else creeps in to fill that void for me. When all our kids were finally in school all day, I wound up volunteering in scouts with them, first as a committee member, then as a Den Leader. When my time as a Den Leader came to an end, the need arose and I stepped in as the scoutmaster of the troop (my original plan was to take a back seat, to still be involved and helpful, but to step back and spend more time in my studio, which would allow my kids to have some freedom from me always being around). When our kids were finally in school all day and on the same bus (meaning all I had to do was get them on the bus in the morning, they could walk from the bus stop to home in the afternoon), one of our kids developed a chronic illness, which meant never catching the bus in the morning anymore and barely sleeping at night (I spent most nights for five years straight sleeping on the couch outside his room to be able to respond to issues). Then, of course, COVID hit, which meant a year and a half of remote schooling for us, followed by no one taking the bus anymore at all.

Now all of those obligations and challenges are behind me. There were other minor things during the last 2 decades that contributed to fewer studio hours than I would have liked. Some things that weren’t necessarily time consuming but would always seem to crop up at the worst times of the day and leave me with not enough time between obligations to do anything. But, such is life. I’m happy I’ve been able to get anything accomplished in the last 22 years since becoming a parent. Things could have been much worse and much more difficult.

Oh, yeah. I was going somewhere with all that before the ranting/venting kicked in. The new thing requiring my attention is our old dog, Kuma. She had surgery to remove a tumor in late August and hasn’t been able to walk since. Aside from that (and the underlying cancer), she is completely normal, happy, and healthy. So, instead of making the very difficult decision to put her down, we’ve decided to try to rehabilitate her. I carry her outside with a harness several times a day for bathroom breaks, during one of which is “workout time”. I built a contraption that I can strap her into with bungee cords so she was able to build up the coordination and some strength for walking again. She has made a lot of progress in the last three and a half months, but still can’t walk unassisted. Lately, I’ve been walking her around the yard manually with the harness, which she seems to enjoy but is pretty physically demanding for me (I have to straddle her like she’s a horse and shuffle walk. Since she spends all her time with her back legs splayed out, she can’t pull them in under her very well, so I have to really straddle my legs to avoid stepping on her feet). All of the work I do with her takes up about the same amount of time each day as driving my kids back and forth to school used to, and because of the timing of her trips outside, it has really injected chaos into my plans.

Are you still reading, or was my complaining too off putting? This was supposed to be about Inktober 2025, which, as I mentioned before my digression, I finally finished today, December 2. That happens to be my father’s birthday (he’s 80, but doesn’t seem like it at all). I find it to be an interesting coincidence. I’m not one that buys into “destiny” or “fate” or anything, but I do appreciate things I can attach personal symbolic meanings to. When my father was younger, he idolized Walk Disney (and still loves all things Disney, especially Buzz Lightyear) and dreamed of being a cartoonist or animator. In college, he wound up choosing a more practical and stable career and became an architect (and a darn good one). My parents have always been my biggest supporters and cheer leaders. They have always believed in and encouraged me. Whether or not anyone else ever sees the art I create, I will be making art. It’s a compulsion. However, I do want to be successful, I do want my art to be seen and hopefully appreciated by a large audience. Part of the drive is a weird need for external validation that I should really sit down and analyze at some point, but a bigger motivation is wanting my parents’ belief in and support of me to be validated. I know that’s not important to them, but it’s important to me.

Anyway, shall we finally get to the actual Inktober 2025 recap? Let’s go.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #1: MUSTACHE.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #2: WEAVE.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #3: CROWN.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #4: MURKY.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #5: DEER.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #6: PIERCE.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #7: STARFISH.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #8: RECKLESS.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #9: HEAVY.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #10: SWEEP.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #11: STING.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #12: SHREDDED.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #13: DRINK.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #14: TRUNK.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #15: RAGGED.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #16: BLUNDER.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #17: ORNATE.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #18: DEAL.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #19: ARCTIC.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #20: RIVALS.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #21: BLAST.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #22: BUTTON.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #23: FIREFLY.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #24: ROWDY.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #25: INFERNO.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #26: PUZZLING.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #27: ONION.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #28: SKELETAL.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #29: LESSON.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #30: VACANT.

INKTOBER 2025 Day #31: AWARD.

There you have it, another Plunger Monkey infused Inktober in the books. Speaking of books, if you want to see the first 3 years’ worth of PMD Inktoberings, you should get yourself a copy of Inklings. Tell me I sent you. Or something. I now have four more years of PMD Inktober illustrations, plus two years of Inktober 52s. The goal is, at some point, to collect them into books, but I haven’t decided what that will entail and look like yet. Inklings was a lot of work to put together design-wise, trying for a pseudo illuminated manuscript kind of vibe. I put a lot of work into creating unique fonts and themed design elements, which was time consuming. There were things that worked and things that didn’t, but overall I’m happy with the result. The colored paper textures I made meant I had to print in full color, though, which meant a higher cover price. It has been pointed out to me (by my father, actually) that the illustrations “pop” a lot better on a white background, which makes sense. However, my obsession with consistency and organization makes the idea of dramatically changing the format and look of future additions almost painful for my brain, even if it is more cost effective and visually pleasing. My brain might try to make me redo the first volume so they match, which would be insane. So, instead of figuring out the best path forward, I’ve been avoiding thinking about it entirely. That’s a good strategy, right?

While avoiding all that, I had been working on turning my web comic “It’s Plunger Monkey Dynamo Time” into a graphic novel. That was my main focus for most of 2025. I have wanted to make comics, specifically big, epic, beefy (…hard cover…) graphic novels for as long as I can remember. Finally removing all my self-imposed hurdles and roadblocks to focus on that endeavor has been awesome. I’m excited about it. Some of my neurotic obsessions creep in to slow things down (like requiring myself to do a ridiculous amount of character and location design before anything else), but progress is progress. It has been months at this point since I’ve had the time to work on that project, and while I’d love to say I’m going to dive right back in now that I’m done with Inktober for the year, the truth is I can’t yet. I have too many other holiday related things I need to do. Maybe before 2026 arrives I’ll be able to get back into it, but definitely by the new year. I think. We’ll see. I just remembered another project on the horizon.

Anywhat, enough of my babbling. I suppose that’s what happens when I only post here a few times a year. If you want to keep more regular tabs on what I’m up to in my studio, you can follow me on one of several social media thingamabobs. Thanks for reading, thanks for supporting, I hope you all have a fantastic holiday season.