Summer 2023

It was a busy summer, since March of Robots 2023. The biggest and saddest news was that my brother had cancer.

It was Pancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumor with metastasis to his liver which was mostly comprised. I wasn’t sure if I should post about it because it was his fight and his choice to share. But, I thought that he would appreciate a little call-to-action. 



One of his biggest concerns was not having done enough before leaving this world. He was a software programmer, who has worked in the field for decades. He was also a tech nut who’s always tinkering with the latest gadgets. One thing that he wanted to do was inspire someone to become a programmer — particularly with the Python program language. 



If you are thinking about programming as a career and this message finds you, I hope that it’s enough to encourage you to take another step in that direction.



Also, if you are over 50 or have a family history of cancer, please consider getting screened sooner than later. 



He was in the hospital many time, towards the end. When I went to visit him, I made him a get better card with wishful thinking. 

This is a Joe-bot, using Python to program the cure for cancer. 

Joe passed away in late May a few weeks before his 58th birthday.

I managed to get in a quick drawing for Star Wars Day, on May the Forth. Star Wars, especially the original movies, were something my brother and I shared a passion for, when we were kids. 

Around the same time, I was asked to do a commission. My friend David’s son was getting married and he wanted a robot version of the happy couple. Here, I’ve captured them as they start their new lives together, heading towards an amazing future. Congratulations Sam and Emily! May you have many wonderful adventures together.

This is a repost from Inktober 2022 because I wanted to mention that I also collect and shoot pictures of tint diecast cars (Hot Wheels, etc). If you are remotely interested in that as well, head over to my other account and check it out. @diecastpunk (FYI: the art use in the @diecastpunk logo isn’t mine. For speed, I ended up using some stock art from Adobe. New logo is in the works).

Then I took a long pause in my posts. I could have used my typical excuse of being too busy, but the truth was, it was less about that and more about lack of inspiration and motivation. Perhaps a little burnout, too.

Part of it was losing my brother. We weren’t as close the the last few years but I do feel deeply saddened by his loss, mostly when I take a moment to reflect on things — which happens quite often when pen is in hand.

After that, my mother had moved in with us for the foreseeable future. It's been a bit of a cultural shock for her and us, but we're working through it.

I’ve also shifted my time onto one of my other hobbies, collecting diecast cars. To give myself a shift in creative focus, I’ve been spending some time making photographs of them. This has helped give my brain the reset it needed. You can see them at @diecastpunk.

Coming back to the sketches: I want to get back to drawing for fun. So, you may see less participation in challenges and fewer commissions, and more drawings for creative outlet.

In early July, I managed to pull one together for the Forth, to celebrate U.S. Independence Day.

Inspired by @berts_bench and his amazing bots, I asked if I could make a drawing of one of his Coupling Bots. I hope that it’s worthy of comparison.

I ended up doing an art trade with him. He made a custom sculpture for me, in exchange for the original of this piece. I have to say, I ended up with the better end of the trade.

Finally, I was sad when I found out that Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman) passed away a few weeks ago. His character and his bike were iconic and always brought a smiles to me and my family. Here’s a little robot (on a rocket bike) tribute to him.

Late 2022 and Early 2023 Work

I've been pretty busy with things, so there isn't much to share. Let's start with a post-Inktober 2022 piece.

I was approached by a friend who asked if I could donate one of my #inktober2022 drawings for their charity event’s silent auction. It’s for a group called Best Buddies (Texas chapter) 

I asked what the theme of the event was and they said ‘James Bond 007’. So, instead of giving one that I’ve already made, I decided that it would be more fun to make a new piece.   

Here is a ‘bot in that classic Sean Connery pose. Instead of a hand gun, I thought that it would be more playful to give it a lime green squirt gun. 

It ended up being sold for $125.

I decided to take a small break from robots and sketch out this guy that I saw on the train a few months ago. Seemed kinda fitting, not only as we depart this year, but also as the last page of this sketchbook. Time to start a new one. 

I did a commission for a coworker who was looking for a gift for his girlfriend. He asked for a robot version of their dog, Tanner, who is old but still has some pep. One of his eyes is hazy but still works. Tanner is also gassy.

This is my submission to @drawmearobot December DTIYS challenge, which is a “chess” themed robot. I love to participate, not to win or get any prizes, but rather to enjoy the interesting prompts that I wouldn’t normally draw.   

This Two-headed Chess bot is constantly challenging itself to a game, on its portable, rotating chessboard. Unfortunately, it always ends in a draw. 

My wife read to me a wonderful story about a dad telling his child the truth about Santa Clause. He said that although the person wasn’t real, the idea of Santa was. It was the idea of giving for the sake of giving. To give without needing recognition or thanks.   

This Santa Bot’s primary function is to do the same. Perhaps we should all be Santa bots every now and then. 

I just wanted to send one last sketch out before the end of the year. Here's a Happy New Year Bot.

I’ve been lucky enough to be invited to participate in the @drawmearobot 2023 Tournament of Champions. I’m not a very competitive person but I love to play with their challenging prompts. Win or lose, I find the accomplishment of completing the challenge is rewarding enough.   

This challenge, participants were asked to recreate an amazing piece by @benson.ink (see pic) in our own style.   

Since part of my style is creating a narrative behind the art, I decided to recreate one for this. Looking at Brandon’s piece, I see the defeated robot looks like the red Rock Em Sock Em Robot. Inspired by Frank Kelly Freas. I wondered if this battle bot might feel some empathy towards the casualty of the battle. Playing around with scale and some creative liberties, I came up with this tribute to Freas. 

It Was A Light Summer for Work and Freelance

Break time was over and it was time to start drawing again. I’m not sure if you struggle like me, but the first line is always the hardest. After that the rest just flows. 

I wasn’t completely slacking off. It’s been really busy at my real job and I also managed to knock out a commission (see below). With #inktober2022 just around the corner, it’s time to dust off the pens and see if I still have my lines. 

I had the pleasure of working on a fun commission for The Overhead Wire, @theoverheadwire which is a consulting firm that specializes in urban planning and sharing information about cities with advocates, elected leaders, researchers and other interested parties. 

I’m a huge fan of their podcast, Talking Headways. You should check it out!

For this project, I was asked to come up with a T-Shirt graphic that represented the theme, “Cars are Cholesterol” Their idea was to show how cars are congesting cities. The idea was to have a real looking heart and the arteries are full of cars. The heart could look like an urban landscape. With a lot of collaboration, we came up with this. 



Here is the rough sketch and some images of how I turned the art into a graphic for the T-Shirt.

This art is the ©copyright of Richard David Wezensky a.k.a. @dickdavid_sketches 

Late Spring and Early Summer 2022 Work

I've had trouble finding time (and inspiration) to get much work done this time of year. I did manage to knock out some commissions and a few birthday bots.

Some of these happened right in the middle of March of Robots, so they kind of got over-shadowed by other work.

Here are some birthday bots. 

First, I gave a Happy Birthday wish to Brian Dedering - Creative Director at LAUNCH Agency. I’ve worked with Brian for over a year, and respect him as a valuable member of our agency. His top-level creative thinking and attention to detail is rare, and welcomed in this industry. 

Brian was OVERDUE for a #birthdaybot because his birthday fell right at the end of March of Robots, last year and I didn’t know much about him. Brian has a super impressive resumé with experience in lots of well known agencies. He comes from the midwest, but his work has taken him across the country and even Budapest. I decided to draw him as a mid-west polite, Creative Director Bot—spending his time sipping a coffee and paying attention to all the details.

Next was Megan Robertson’s birthday. She's an Account Executive at LAUNCH and I respect her as a valuable member of our agency. She’s one of the many client facing team members who keep the work organized and the creative team happy. 

Megan was also OVERDUE for a #birthdaybot because her birthday fell right in the middle of March of Robots, last year. Megan is always well dressed at work - like a true professional. She's dedicated to her family, where they are always connected to her heart. Megan is also addicted to Diet Cokes from McDonalds. I decided to draw her as a fashionably posed Daughter/Sister Bot with a soda—always linked to her family and thoroughly hydrated. 

Next was Caleb Alba - Associate Creative Director at LAUNCH.  I haven’t worked with Caleb for very long, but I do know that he is an amazing talent and a great addition to the agency. He’s really nice, too—which is rare in the Advertising industry. Caleb is also a new dad, who’s super proud of his family. I decided to capture him as an Art Director, Graphic Designer, Illustrator Bot, hard at work on his next brilliant piece. 

Next up was Andrew Reimherr. I was fortunate to work with Andrew and really appreciated his attention to quality client interaction. Andrew is also an avid concert fan, having been to many of them. I decided to capture him as an Encore Bot, ready to cheer his favorite performers into another set. 

Finally, we have Isaac Swedlow @isaacswed - Copywriter at @launchagency I haven’t worked with Isaac for very long, but he’s already become a valuable member of our agency. He is an amazing talent and I’ve got great respect for what he brings to the the team. 

He also has a great sense of humor. With his mini desktop drum set, he’s always ready to give a ‘rimshot’ to anybody in the office who tells a joke — especially dad jokes. I decided to capture him as a Rimshot Bot, ready to accent any punchline, tagline or headline.

I also did a couple of commissions. 

Here’s a commission I did for a tattoo. This person wanted an illustration of an Elvis Bot. They wanted it to honor their grandparents, who were big fans. It’s really cool that folks want my art on their skin.

This is a commission that I was a little hesitant to do, because I didn't quite understand the concept. Fortunately, this client worked with me to develop the concept for the art. This is a Node Garden with Robots.

New Commission Work - Realtor Rob

Sometimes, I get unusual requests. A former client of mine, from my work in advertising, has moved into real estate. He's also an avid cyclist. He wanted to know if I would draw a cyclist with a real estate sign connected to his bike. He wanted the image to put on his bike jersey, to promote his business.

I usually turn down such specific requests, but this one seemed really interesting and challenging for me. So I agreed to take it on.

With this, I went form the sketch and took it into Photoshop to add the type and his logo. 

I Am Doing A Few Commissions

I get requests to make art all the time. Most of those requests are from folks who want free stuff. It's partly my fault, having a little impostor syndrome, mixed with lack of experience and a bit of always wanting to help a friend out. 

For a while, I was also getting requests for art that had nothing to do with my style or subject matter. I make line art with ink washes of robots and caricatures of people. When I get requests to do paintings of landscapes or true-to-life portraits, it's clear that person has no clue as to what I do. Just because a person makes art, doesn't mean we make all art. 

I've also been burned on a few art requests. Somebody promised to pay me for art, only to ghost me after the work is done.

I've decided to try doing commissions again, but this time better prepared. I've got a whole new process of steps and information that I share with potential clients to set expectations. If they agree to those terms, we can start making art. 

My rate is probably below industry standards, but high enough to make sure folks, who want commissions, are serious enough to not waste my time. I'm also requesting half up front.

You can find all the information, as well as, my current rates on my Commissions page. Ultimate, as my skills and confidence gets better, my rates will go up.