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ziplequick.bsky.social
Zip
@ziplequick.bsky.social
73 followers 53 following 110 posts
I'm a cartoonist with big plans, a long history, and low expectations.
Connoisseur of the finest trash culture.

https://ziplequick.neocities.org/
https://malu.thecomicseries.com/
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ziplequick.bsky.social
"Lizard Man" mixed media, 5"x7"

#fantasyart #cartooning #sketchbook #ttrpg #osr #osrart #dnd
A monstrous lizard man in profile, turning to face the viewer. The lizard man's skin is green, it has a large, contorting tail, and back fins that are blue and violet. It stands against a yellow and orange background, to cause a more dynamic feel.
September 11, 2026 at 3:27 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
I don't "finish" sketchbooks. I keep them around for years and years, and just keep drawing in them. The #sketchbook I'm currently #drawing in has some stuff from about 9-10 years ago. I like them a lot, still. They represent a big shift in my #cartooning style, that still holds today.

#comicart
Ink sketch of a muscular guy with huge arms, in a casual stance, holding a large club over his shoulder. He's wearing jeans and a tank top, and he's got a bandage wrapped around his head, covering one eye. Ink cartoon drawing of a man holding a large sword, stuck into the ground next to him. The man is drawn in a clean, open-line and graphic style. He's wearing black pants and a sort of poet's shirt. His legs and arms are long and skinny. The sword is longer than he is tall. Cartoon ink sketch of a woman sitting on some sort of bar structure, holding a gun. She's dressed in a padded coverall, like a racing suit. She has long hair and a side cut. Open-line ink sketch of a woman holding a sword, slung across her shoulders. The sword is in a scabbard. The woman is wearing jeans, a tank top, suspenders, a kind of bowler hat with a feather in it, and some shoulder armor.
September 9, 2026 at 5:07 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
As much as I loathe sharing my work on social media, here we are. I'm scanning the piles of #drawings and #paintings I've been making lately, to compile into #tradingcard and #zine projects. I might as well upload stuff here, too.

I'm sure nobody will see this stuff, or give a damn.

#cartooning
Highly crosshatched pen and ink cartoon of a laughing grim reaper. Behind him is the onomatopoeia of a guffaw, "HAW HAW HAW" in the style of hatemonger and legendary indie cartoonist Jack T Chick. The grim reaper character is also enthusiastically stating, "We're all having SUCH a GREAT TIME!"
September 8, 2026 at 7:51 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Oh, hey. I keep forgetting I have this account.

"Helluva Planet to Lose a Moon-Cow" Mixed Media, 7.5" x 10.5"

#scifi #retrofuturism #cartoon #cartooning #art #drawing #mixedmedia
A woman wearing a retro-futuristic space suit, holding a ray gun, looking warily about an "alien" landscape that looks suspiciously like red, orange, and yellow hoodoo rock formations found in the Southwest United States. There is a shattered moon looming in the dark blue sky, and the space woman's rocket ship is landed nearby, behind her.
February 16, 2026 at 9:27 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
I think I'm starting to dial in what I want Malu to really be. Underdrawing for the next card front / page.

#MaluComic #comic #webcomic #comicart #art #drawing #sketching #sketchbook #WIP #painting #mixedmedia #inking #characterdrawing #cartooning #fantasyart #swordandsorcery #darkfantasy
Rough underdrawing of an action scene. Our protagonist finds himself surrounded by hostile guards, and in a headlock.
July 23, 2025 at 4:55 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
More neon skeletons.

#art #drawing #sketching #sketchbook #sketching #painting #mixedmedia #inking #characterdrawing #cartooning #OSR #ttrpg #dnd #swordandsorcery #darkfantasy #horror #skeleton #undead
Highly saturated mixed media sketches of warrior skeletons. Highly saturated mixed media sketches of warrior skeletons. Glamorous social media style framing, with all sorts of art supplies, and an oblique angle. Influential! Highly saturated mixed media sketch of a warrior skeleton. Highly saturated mixed media sketch of a warrior skeleton.
July 22, 2025 at 8:31 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Honestly, this is the coolest thing I've made in a long time. Card front and back!

#comic #webcomic #comicart #fantasyart #cartooning #handdrawn #printing #OSR #darkfantasy #weirdfantasy #MaluComic #tradingcards #artisttradingcards #DIY #diymerch #proofofconcept #mockup
July 22, 2025 at 8:37 AM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Trading card test prints I made into stickers. All-around success! Awesome to hold, and look great as part of the sticker bomb. Glossy color prints next?

#comic #webcomic #comicart #fantasyart #cartooning #handdrawn #printing #OSR #darkfantasy #weirdfantasy #MaluComic #tradingcards #stickers
Black and white test print of some of my artwork in trading card format, two and a half inches by three and a half inches, for a new project.
July 22, 2025 at 7:12 AM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Malu panel 2 art.

#comic #webcomic #comicart #fantasyart #swordandsorcery #cartooning #handdrawn #ink #inking #OSR #darkfantasy #weirdfantasy #Malu
Strange animals graze in a field of odd vegetation, alerted as a figure walks past in the distance.
July 16, 2025 at 2:44 AM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Individual shots of the sketches, with the saturation pushed way up, which I think helps heighten the weirdness.
#art #drawing #sketching #sketchbook #painting #mixedmedia #inking #characterdrawing #cartooning #OSR #ttrpg #dnd #swordandsorcery #skeleton #undead
A sketch of a skeleton warrior, standing against a field of blue, holding a rotten sword and shield. The saturation has been digitally amplified to almost neon levels. A skeleton stands against a field of bright yellow, and is swinging a tarnished two-handed battle ax. The saturation of the colors has been digitally amplified to an almost neon level.
July 14, 2025 at 6:08 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Neon skeleton sketchbook spread, presented both in social media photo style, and more straightforward.

#art #drawing #sketching #sketchbook #painting #mixedmedia #inking #characterdrawing #cartooning #OSR #ttrpg #dnd #swordandsorcery #skeleton #undead
One of my biggest peeves is that social media has ruined aesthetic presentation. Now, everything has to be staged, surrounded with a bunch of useless visual noise. If I'm looking at a person's art, i want to see the art! Not a bunch of props and shitty angles. Anyway, this is a sketchbook spread, social media style, with a bunch of nonsense props surrounding the colorful sketches of skeleton warriors. (I couldn't bring myself to do a shitty angle.) A sketchbook spread featuring two colorful cartoon drawings of skeleton warriors brandishing old and damaged weapons. The skeleton on the left is set against a field of blue, holding a rotten sword and shield. The skeleton on the right is set against a yellow background, about to swing a tarnished two-handed battle ax.
July 14, 2025 at 5:59 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
"Larry Daring"

Tons of unused colored pens and markers, sketchbooks full of half-finished pencil scribbles of odd little dudes, and a little downtime -- a winning combo.

#art #drawing #sketching #cartooning #inking #characters #oddballs #weirdoids
A colored ink sketch of a man wearing a jet-helmet. Yes, a jet-helmet.
July 6, 2025 at 4:00 AM
ziplequick.bsky.social
In my pocket today.

A 1:72 scale (about 25mm) Dark Alliance miniature figure of an undead warrior.

#pockettoy #toy #minis #toys #ttrpg #osr #dnd
Back view of a molded plastic miniature undead warrior figure, 1:72 scale. It was the toy I had in my pocket today. Front view of a molded plastic miniature undead warrior figure, 1:72 scale. It was the toy I had in my pocket today.
July 6, 2025 at 3:31 AM
ziplequick.bsky.social
In my pocket today.

#pockettoy #toy #hotwheels #minis #diecast #toys
A Hot Wheels purple toy street rod.
July 5, 2025 at 2:59 AM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Finally moving forward (again) with my comic-thing, Malu.

#comic #webcomic #comicart #fantasyart #swordandsorcery #cartooning #handdrawn #ink #inking #OSR #darkfantasy
The first page/panel of the comic, Malu. A man comes to the end of a long journey. "Praise the skies," he thinks to himself as he takes in the sprawl of a city in a dusty valley. "With fortune on my side, perhaps my mission may soon be fulfilled!" And perhaps it may, but he will first have to face... ...THE TYRANT OF TARKO!
June 23, 2025 at 9:02 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
New cover art for my comic project, Malu. Links on my profile.

#comic #webcomic #comicart #fantasyart #swordandsorcery #pinupart #drawing #painting #mixedmedia #ink #gouache #coloredpencil #illustration #coverart #cartooning
A painted scene in a typical book cover composition. A nude woman is sitting in the foreground, long hair waving in the wind, as she gazes outward. A man, wearing only a wrap around his waist, is in the mid-ground, holding a staff or spear, and also gazing off. In the background looms a city, bathed in orange and golden light. The title reads "Malu".
May 21, 2025 at 3:58 AM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Working on Malu, my "forever" comic project, which I've been chipping away at, but I haven't talked about much here.

These are the pencils redoing (again) the cover painting and the first page/panel.

#comic #comicart #artprocess #pencil #painting #drawing #cartooning #fantasyart #sketch
A drawing board with two loose pencil sketches, underdrawings for the cover painting and the first page of my comic project.
May 7, 2025 at 1:55 AM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Tip Top Comics, 1940, a letter describing the making and distributing "cheer up books" -- zines from before zines were called zines!

#zines #DIY #comics #comicshistory
A page from a 1940 issue of Tip Top Comics, with a letter describing making and distributing zines, which they call "cheer-up books".
May 1, 2025 at 8:06 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Val Kilmer has been many things in his iconic career, but to me, he'll always be the greatest swordsman that ever lived!
Madmartigan, holding a sword while making his escape from the mountaintop camp of the Nockmaar army, after his failed attempt to seduce Sorsha while high on the Dust of Broken Heart.
April 2, 2025 at 3:25 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Guys. For the first time in ten years, I have a dedicated workspace. Not just a TV table and the edge of my bed, but an actual desk, where I can set up my boards, and get down to business!

#art #artist #workspace #artspace #battlestation #drawing #painting #cartooning #illustration
My new workspace! A desk in the corner, and a bunch of my bins with all my pens, inks, paints, and pencils. And three lamps, because lighting is important.
March 21, 2025 at 6:17 AM
ziplequick.bsky.social
If you see this, share a skellington.
It's a full-body drawing of a skeleton, in a 3/4 turn. The skeleton is fully intact, except it's missing its jaw. There are glowing points in the eye sockets. OMG, is it (un)alive?!
February 23, 2025 at 12:52 AM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Sometimes, we draw region maps of our fantasy settings, as a treat.

#OSR #ODnD #ttrpg #rpg #sologaming #solottrpg #dndart #osrart #mapmaking #mapdesign #gamedesign #GMing #prepisplay #BECMI #ADnD #BX #handdrawnmap #rpgmaterial #rpgart
A hand-drawn region map, done in pencil, depicting coast, islands, forests, and mountains. Some notations are made of a few major landmarks and areas.
February 20, 2025 at 11:07 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Upper level redesign of Quasqueton, from #DnD module B1: In Search of the Unknown. Explanation in the alt text.

#OSR #ODnD #ttrpg #rpg #sologaming #solottrpg #dndart #osrart #mapmaking #mapdesign #gamedesign #GMing #prepisplay #BECMI #ADnD #BX
On the left, the original map for the upper level of Quasqueton, the dungeon from the first basic adventure module for Dungeon & Dragons, In Search of the Unknown. The floor plan is largely nonsensical, being designed as a "dungeon" in an old school game sense, It is explicitly designed as a maze, rather than a living space, and as such, it is meant to frustrate and confuse players who seek to explore it. There are so many twisting corridors that lead literally nowhere, and so many weird rooms in odd places, unnecessary secret doors which hide necessary progress, and SO MUCH wasted space. On the left is my redraw of the floor plan, focusing on what it might look like if it was designed as a place that was built for heroes and their followers to live, and to stand as a monument to their glory. I've removed the maze elements, expanded and shifted deserved focus to the set pieces, made it more logical and accessible, and significantly condensed the space (even though I still have a lot of dead space, especially on the wizard's half of the dungeon, where things would be a bit more eccentrically designed.) There's something to be said for the idea that the dungeon should be a maze, especially if you subscribe to the theory that a dungeon is a "living thing", and there's nothing that says things haven't shifted around, and it's grown more maze-like in the years that the stronghold has been unoccupied. I like that idea, in that it give a great weird, flavored reasoning for a very gamey design. The problem is that the inconsistency doesn't just frustrate players; even running a map like this is pretty painful. Starting with a map that feels recognizable from the outset gives room to weird it up with deeper exploration, especially once a party delves into the caverns on the lower level.
February 13, 2025 at 11:25 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Quasqueton from the #DnD module B1, In Search of the Unknown is so frustratingly nonsensical. Redrawing that floor plan is some fun problem-solving.

#OSR #ODnD #ttrpg #rpg #sologaming #solottrpg #dndart #osrart #mapmaking #prepisplay #BECMI #ADnD #BX
Photo of the D&D Basic module B1, In Search of the Unknown, and its absolutely stupid dungeon map, which is being redrawn by me, in order to actually make some sense as a place where people lived, rather than a maze of wasted space and needlessly-twisting corridors meant to frustrate people playing the module.
February 12, 2025 at 10:40 PM
ziplequick.bsky.social
Composition thumbnails for trading card-style illustrations.

#sketchbook #conceptbook #notebook #sketching #journaling #art #drawing #doodling #thumbnails #ideation #comic #comicart #cartooning #osr #osrart #dnd #dndart #ttrpg #ttrpgart #gamebook #characterart #OC #OCart #fantasyart #bunchaguys
A page of eighteen composition thumbnails, sketched in ink, showing rough illustration compositions, with dynamic characters in action within a setting. The idea is to make striking "trading card" illustrations, so the challenge is to work out interesting scenes, especially utilizing space and value, while focusing primarily upon the characters.
February 11, 2025 at 12:14 AM