March of Robots 2021 Finished

This year, I decided to participate in my first March of Robots, an online drawing challenge conceived by DaCosta Bayley founder of Chocolate Soop Studio. Every March, artists all over the world take on this challenge by doing one robot drawing a day the entire month - 31 total. My goal of the challenge was to improve my drawing skills, but frankly, I just love drawing robots.

Here is this year's prompt list:

Here are my submissions:

I wanted to kick it off with the first prompt: “Element”  We all know every robot needs to keep up with their ‘Bot-a-mins’ which contain 100% of their daily allowance of iron ( Fe: number 26 on the periodic table of elements).

The second day prompt was “Cannon”. This one was pretty straight forward, with a little bit of a circus theme to it.

The next prompt was “Room”. Since I really didn't have the time to plot out an environment, I decided to go tighter in and just ‘imply’ a room. Here we see a key for room number 3 (which is, coincidentally, the number of the prompt) in a robot’s hand.

Day 4's prompt was “Run”.   This one is pretty straightforward. I’m starting to develop my own series of OC robots. Not that this style hasn’t beed done before (and probably not very own-able), but I wanted to start putting names and personalities to each of my ‘bots. This bot is Box Head #boxhead, obviously defined by the box shape of his head - which I’m trying out on different body types. Maybe those will be interchangeable. 

The prompt for day 5 was “Sword”. I wanted to do more than have a robot yielding a sword, so I thought it would be fun to do a play on the story of Excalibur, the famous sword in the stone. Clearly this bot is not King Arthur. 

The prompt for day 6 was “Shield”. When you are in the middle of an intergalactic war, there’s no better shield from an evil drone pulverizer ray, than the galvanized steel lid of a trash can—found in most back alleys of Anytown, USA. 

The prompt for day 7 was “Water”. Contrary to what most people think, robots can function in the water—especially if they are designed and controlled by aquatic aliens who love to stay clean. 

The prompt for day 8 was “Leaf”. Seems like raking is a never ending job for this 'bot. No matter how much he gets bagged, more keep coming. The story of my life. 

The prompt for day 9 was “Path”. It’s all about the journey, and not the destination. This ‘bot is about to choose the next path in that journey.  

The prompt for day 10 was “Wheel”. I did this as a pencil sketch, which I called ’The Juggler," back in 2012 and I’ve wanted to redo it in pen and ink with an ink wash. I guess 9 years is long enough to wait, and today’s prompt is a great excuse to get it done.

The prompt for day 11 was “Sound”. I’ve been thinking about doing more interactions between humans and robots. Here, this singer ‘bot is belting out her favorite songs—no matter where she goes. Very convenient. 

The prompt for day 12 was “Bubble”. Imagine crash landing on an alien planet, only to find yourself as the latest action figure in this boy ‘bot’s collection. He keeps all of his toys, mint, in a protective package. 

The prompt for day 13 was “Flower”. I must have come up with three or four stories for the description of this piece, but I decided to let you come up with your own.

What do you think the situation is, here? Is it the start of a new beginning or the punctuation on a grim end? Please share the story that comes to mind. I’d love to read it. 

The prompt for day 14 was “Staff”. This ‘bot is hopeful to be the latest to join the staff at U.S. Robotics—but he would be just as happy with an internship. 

The prompt for day 15 was “Tool”. To keep things fresh, I thought I would try something different than my typical humanoid shaped robots. This guy is a mechanic bot, with all the tools for repairing vehicles—in the garage or at the pit stop. 

The prompt for day 16 was “Patch”. There is no other ‘bot more qualified for nuclear reactor patch repair, than this guy. Fast, friendly and always affordable. 

The prompt for day 17 was “Symbol”. Just so you know, ancient aliens didn’t actually make the infamous crop circles that are found all over the world. Each symbol was carefully placed by their loyal and extremely precise, gardening ‘bots—following strict maps.

The prompt for day 18 was “Home”. You know what they say, “Home is where the heart…of your derelict, ancient robot used to be.” If they had a heart. 

The prompt for day 19 was “Sand”. Bucket head ‘bots are known for their ability to improvise—especially when they forget their sandcastle building tools. They have SPF 15 (Special Perceptive Functions) built right in. 

The prompt for day 20 was “Spring”. So far I’ve sketched a Canon ‘bot and a Juggler Clown ‘bot. But, no circus is complete without the infamous Strong ‘bot, equipped with the latest lift spring arm. 

The prompt for day 21 was "Award". This one might be a stretch today, but I wanted to have a little fun with it. For the 21st year in a row, this chef ‘bot has taken first place with his 'award winning' robot chili recipe. His secret is that it’s made with extra WD-40, low sodium SAE 15W-40 mineral base oil, and lots of love. 

The prompt for day 22 was “Job". This worker ‘bot has a very important job of washing all the dishes. Not an easy task—especially after yesterday's chili cook off.   

For this prompt, I wanted to do another installment in my Misfit Robot #misfitrobot series, where I give a little nod to old technology or services that have run their course—and perhaps have been replaced by modern tech in the real world. This one pays tribute to the service task of ‘dish washing’, which still gets done by hand (even at my house). Today, we have energy efficient machines that fit under our countertop and use a lot less water. But after the last few that have died, right after warranty expiration, it’s clear to me that they don’t build them like they used to.  

The prompt for day 23 was “Chain". This Sculptor ‘bot is so skilled that he carves most of is masterpieces, with a chainsaw—while blindfolded.

The prompt for day 24 was “Float" When on vacation, these ‘bots would rather relax, floating on the jet stream, sipping drinks, instead of the typical tourist stuff, like going on excursions and collecting souvenirs.  

The prompt for day 25 was “Extend". This ‘bot is for the folks who want to turn on their television, adjust the volume or change the channel, from across the room. That’s right! With a cord that can extend up to 25 feet, surfing your favorite shows can now be done with the simple twist of a joystick, turn of a couple of nobs and a flick of a few buttons—all from the comfort of your davenport. 

The prompt for day 26 was “Box". This legacy champion boxer ‘bot has seen better days. Lately, he leaves most of his boxing matches with some parts in a box. Fortunately, his punching bag, trainer ‘bot is skilled at repair too.

The prompt for day 27 was “Light". When my wife saw me working on this ‘sketch' ‘bot, doodling under the light, she asked if it was a self portrait. That wasn’t my intention, but I suppose I have gotten a bit more cylindrical since quarantine started. 

The prompt for day 28 was “Lost". For this prompt I thought about doing something different. This time I wanted to make some fan art from this classic 1960s sci-fi TV show, ‘Lost in Space’. The B-9 robot was a favorite of mine when I watched the reruns during my childhood.

BTW, here are his specs from Wiki: Series 1A-1998 Model B-9 Class YM-3 General Utility Non-Theorizing Environmental Control Robotic Ionism, 1A1998-B9 M-3 G.U.N.T.E.R., YM, Rodney, Blinky.

The prompt for day 29 was “Drop". One of my favorite movies to watch with my family is the Mel Brooks classic, 'Young Frankenstein'. Not only is it one of the funniest movies ever made, but my wife and son know every line. Sometimes it cracks me up even more to hear them say the lines before the movie.   

This robot is a tribute to the comedic genius, Marty Feldman—Igor. One famous scene is when he was asked to retrieve the brain of scientist and saint, Hans Delbrück. Of course, Igor accidentally dropped that brain. So, in haste, he opted for another nearby, one which was labeled, ABNORMAL. Of course, he remembered it as Abby, something... Abby... Normal.

I usually don’t like to add facial features to my robots, but this ‘bot had to have Marty’s big bulging eyes to really pay it off. Of course the robot hump is interchangeable to either side of his back.

The prompt for day 30 was “Seek". This ‘bot is trying out his new pari-telescope (size small), to seek out life on other planets. He heard of this place called Earth, which is known for it’s primitive life forms. 

The prompt for day 31 was “Stone". This young ‘bot eventually outgrew his toy blocks, then forgot about them on the playground when he returned home from vacation.   

It was a pleasure participating in this challenge because I love to draw robots. I’ve also met and discovered some great and talented folks, who will continue to inspire me moving forward.  

It was also nice to win the digital drawing pad from Xenca Labs. I can’t wait to take that for a spin.