Last night, Gracie and I drew for the unbelievably nice and insanely talented Katie Cook. Katie was an “early adopter” of 5 Minute Marvels, drawing this Wonder Woman for Gracie in 2010. Katie’s worked for Star Wars online and countless others on top of creating her own Webcomic, Gronk, about a nice, nerdy lady who adopts an inquisitive green monster. I put Grace’s drawing in both large form and combined with mine.

I had a lot of fun drawing Matt Smith in a fez with Grace this week … so I decided to draw some of my other favorite Timelords and their haberdashery — William Hartnell in his original fur cap from the very first eppy of Doctor Who, Patrick Troughton’s toboggan from Fury from the Deep (I LOVE that episode) and Tom Baker’s off again, on again cowboy hat/fedora. I know I should draw Sylvester McCoy in his bowler … but I just don’t like that era of Who. Sorry, Sly lovers.

Tonight, we entered a state of temporal grace around the drawing board and decided to take on bow ties, fezzes and Timelords.

Gracie doesn’t really watch Doctor Who, but she knows I do and once she saw the red fez … it was an easy drawing session. In fairness, my Doctor took about five minutes, but I did take an extra ten to draw in the ghostly Dalek and Cyberman. (I drew the redesigned Cyberman while biting my lip. For me, you can’t beat the “Invasion/Revenge” Cyber design. )

I love kooky comics. Since I was a kid, I’ve lived in the extremes. I want my comics to either be really real or really “comic booky.” That’s why I loved Bill Mantlo’s work even before I knew his name. ROM, Hulk, Cloak & Dagger, etc. … when I was Grace’s age, they were just full of odd characters and far out concepts — products of the imagination of Bill Mantlo. Tragically, Bill was injured in a hit and run accident in 1995 and can no longer write. This holiday season, a call went out for Bill fans to draw fan art and send it to him to cheer him up. So, the girls and I decided to draw one of Bill’s most enduring creations: Rocket Raccoon. It’s not too hard to encourage kids to draw a space-hopping raccoon … and that’s thanks to Bill Mantlo.

Click here to read a heart-breaking, but encouraging story about Bill and to learn how you, too, can send him fan art!

I can easily see us doing a whole series on iPhone App characters. Let’s face it … the kids love ‘em.

Tonight, Gracie wanted to draw Swampy from Disney’s Where’s My Water? We had a lot of fun with this one, especially Grace, who vacillated between drawing and dancing like a happy alligator in the shower.

Drawing with Cate is different than drawing with Grace. She’s not really into the “You pick one. I pick one,” idea. At best, you can just hope you agree on a subject. Other times … she wears you down. This was one of those times. She wanted to draw “Wilma,” the Fijit Friend Santa brought on Christmas Day.

If you have one, I think you’ll agree a picture of a Fijit beats the loud reality by a country mile. If you don’t have one in your home … I envy you.

• Scott C: His blog is here and a story on his “Smiling Showdowns” is here!
• Becky Dreistadt: Becky’s Deviant Art gallery is here and Tiny Kitten Teeth is here.

Here’s our source art: 

And, now a word from Scott C.

When asked what she wanted to draw tonight, Gracie yelled, “Tiny Titans.” I’ve said it before … and will again: Art Baltazar’s art is an incredible way to engage kids and teach them how to find the essence of a character with simple shapes and lines. Art’s work can help develop the eye and talent of artists of any age. We can only hope that he’ll release a “How-To” book of his own. To learn more about his work at DC, check out this cool interview.

And, to see more of his Lanterns … dig this!

Wow. Mike’s awestruck expression says it all — Cate killed it today.

She’s been drawing more and displays great understanding of shape and lots of patience, particularly when inking her pencils. When she wants to  … Cate can draw. But, she needs to want to do it. She’s gotten into a great book we got on drawing classic Disney and Pixar characters. It’s not overly “step-by-step,” but it does break characters down into their basic shapes in helpful ways.

Francesco Francavilla is one of our oldest friends at 5 Minute Marvels and it has been an absolute pleasure to watch how his career has grown over the last few years. Even with the darkest of subjects, Francesco has a playful spirit in his art — I think that’s what the Big Two have seen and fans respond to in his work. So, when I saw his Peanuts/BPRD mashups on Comics Alliance yesterday, I was compelled to join in the fun with my takes on Marcie/Lobster Johnson & Franklin/Andrew Devon. See Francesco’s incredible art here!  

And, now, a word from Francesco!