Inktober challenges are called “challenges” because artists have to come up with new ideas every day for a whole month! When we looked at Ed’s drawings, we were impressed by his original ideas while staying true to his unique style. It’s not easy to come up with funny and creative concepts every single day. We asked the artist what sparks his imagination when creating these alternate versions of pop culture characters. Ed shared, "Sometimes I’ll start with a character and think about what goes on in their lives that we don’t normally see. Or if I have a simple, everyday mundane situation, I will think, 'Who would be funny doing this?'"
Sometimes, ideas can feel exciting at first, but as you start developing them, you might decide they’re not the right fit. We were curious if Ed has ever come up with an idea for an illustration that he ultimately decided not to pursue. "All the time," the artist responded. "I try to keep everything fun and light, so I avoid doing cartoons that are too mean-spirited or vulgar."
Ed told us that out of all Inktober drawings, he really liked how Day 10: Nomadic turned out. "Having Anton Chigurh from 'No Country for Old Men' carve a Halloween pumpkin with his compressed-air killing tool, drawn in the style of the 'Peanuts' comic, combines almost everything I like to do: Having extraordinary characters doing stuff we all do while being drawn in a different style than my own."
For Ed, Inktober was a huge challenge - "I normally draw digitally, and creating an actual ink drawing daily was a daunting task. Plus, coming up with a comedic idea based on the daily word prompt was an additional struggle. Ever since it ended, I have been trying to spend more time drawing with a pen on actual paper. I would like to do more 'finished' drawings in the 'Picard and Worf' series - there’s a lot to explore there!"
