THE SKETCHBOOK TRIBUNE: Summer Special Issue

AUGUST 2025

WRITTEN BY RAYHAN BENGOUGOU

Illustration by Rayhan Bengougou.

Hello fellow readers and welcome back to this delayed and belated issue of the Sketchbook Tribune, the blog-based series where I breakdown the latest things I've drawn and created in the bizarre world of art and fiction.

I first of all like to take the time and apologies to all my beautiful readers for not publishing an issue of this series since I decided to take a break from publishing some big articles on the website while preparing for final year. So now that I am back you lovely people get not only one, but two fantastic issues rolled in one.

This issue will be more of a catch up where I share some of the artwork I've done over the summer and give a break down on what I've done and what things I learned. Without any further delays, lets get into this.

GALLERY:

Isabelle Adjani from the 1981 horror film 'Possession'. Illustration by Rayhan Bengougou.

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A sketch I did at Freshers Fair. Photo by Rayhan Bengougou.

A little 'Absolute Batman' sketch whilst sitting and enjoying a coffee. Illustration by Rayhan Bengougou.

A mock up poster for an Animal Man film. Artwork by Rayhan Bengougou.

Overall, I made a varied amount of sketches and artwork where I applied certain techniques and tries new art styles to learn and get comfortable with.

For example, both Batman art pieces both are quick sketches that utilized quick and precise lines to build shape and flow. The cape for the second photo in the gallery was using the small block of black lines in order to break up the sea of black ink which would of made the cape just this ugly smudge that wouldn't feel alive and free-flowing. It also allows for the light source to hit the parts of the cape that aren't the darkness of the fabric.

The same was applied for the second Batman piece. The Absolute Batman cover was made just using a regular pencil and making the basic head and shoulder shape with sharp direct lines and then adding in the little details such as the ears, eyes and the facial features such as the mouth and the shading. With the pencils I made sure to break up the armor piece and make it feel alive and gritty.

The other two pieces where some that I made to try and build and learn other styles and art techniques. It was also a good excuse for me to learn how to actually draw human face.

The first photo is a piece I based of actress Isabelle Adjani from the horror film 'Possession' in which I used digital synthetic fan brush and painted the main shapes and colours from the original image still from the film. I took my time for this one and made sure it was neat but not perfect. Complete but not a masterpiece.

As for the Animal Man poster, I wanted to pay tribute to what came before in the film institution and mash up ideas and concept that would work for a character like him. I added the name of David Cronenberg to this fictional project since his themes and tone for films in the body horror sub-genre would work for Animal Man. I use the same brush and some water colour to create the final result which creates this horror magazine feel to the poster which is inspired by a Doc Savage magazine from a long time ago.

The thing I learned overall with these projects, was understanding what techniques and what styles would work for these characters and for what I am trying to get across. That's not to say that other styles and techniques won't work with these characters, the contrary is true. Anything can go with anything and that is the most important aspect of art I found interesting and took it to heart. It knowing when to use technique and drawing styles which will help you get across a message or a theme that you really want to share.

All Illustrations by Rayhan Bengougou