Project Description

INKTOBER 2025 Day #21: BLAST.

“Inktober wouldn’t be complete without my making at least one reference to the great Bill Watterson’s ‘Calvin and Hobbes’. This image is an homage to a colored pinup type piece Watterson did of one of many of Calvin’s alter egos Spaceman Spiff (I think I’m calling PMD Spacemonkey Spiff here). Calvin had a vibrant imagination that I loved and identified with. It was one of the many charms of the strip. Calvin was a daydreamer, just like me, so it’s no wonder I loved the comic strip so much.
One of the other many reasons I am such a fan is because of Watterson’s art. It is packed with life and energy, simplicity and complexity, details and textures as well as wide open spaces and implied details. And that’s just his pen and ink work, his watercolors are a whole other thing of beauty. His work has always been an inspiration to me. There is a looseness and expressive freedom to his linework that I love but have never been able to get myself to do. I’m too uptight about my lines. Just another thing I should work on.”

Do you enjoy these silly pen and ink illustrations starring Plunger Monkey? Wish you had a whole book full of them to gaze at lovingly whenever you wanted? You’re in luck! Get a copy of Inklings to satisfy that need: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1733734716/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1AO28074KOTGC&keywords=inklings+by+toby+gray&qid=1689026488&s=books&sprefix=inklings+by+toby+gray%2Cstripbooks%2C103&sr=1-1