Jonathan Nelson
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mandelmic.bsky.social
Jonathan Nelson
@mandelmic.bsky.social
65 followers 560 following 58 posts
Character Designer | Illustrator | Graphic Designer from Kingston, Jamaica ✉️ mandelasmicrocosm@gmail.com
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mandelmic.bsky.social
Pick your favourite design!!

The prompt for the final day of #peachtober was spider 🕷🕸 I had three ideas for this one, any time I have an animal as a Namesakes prompt I try and figure out what direction to turn them to be non-traditional, I don't want them to just be a furry😂
This image features three character designs for a cartoon anthropomorphic spider. They each use the form of a spider in different ways to make unique designs. The one at the top has the spider upside down to form a humanoid body with spider legs sticking off of the back. Her legs are pedipalps with fangs for cute little feet. She is wearing some kind of high-waisted, pink bikini bottom with her fluffy chest sticking out of the top. Two of her legs double as long fluffy arms. Her head is formed from the abdomen, her eyes being covered under a fluffy bowl cut and her fanged mouth smiling happily. She has a ball of webbing as a hair accessory. The second actually only has the spider as her head, her body is just a dress made of a strewn web, like she's a little floating ghost. The spider legs have formed into dreadlocks and the abdomen is a big afropuff, tied back with a scrunchy made of webbing. Where the spider eyes would be are represented by a headband with four black jewels on it. She's also smiling brightly. The third uses the upside down spider idea again, but most of the legs have formed into a kind of skirt, above which is a tutu made of webbing. She wears a pink and red sleeveless top with a collar made of webbing as well. The abdomen head is featured again but the hairstyle is more bangs-forward. She has a ponytail made of webbing. She is smiling gently.
February 4, 2025 at 2:13 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
Pick your favourite!

The prompt for Day 30 of #peachtober24 was "pearl" 🦪 I had two ideas for this one so I here's another twofer!
This illustration features two character designs made as personifications of the word "pearl" They both have pearls for heads. The one on the left has her eyes covered by half of an abalone shell, leaving only her full lips. She has a scalloped collar on a dress made of a similar shell texture, with long billowing sleeves and covering her feet. It's unclear if she even has a body under there. The character on the right has a shell doubling as long sideswept hair, revealing a meek looking face with big watery eyes. The meat of the oyster is also visible beneath, like an inner layer of hair. Her dress is a white dress similarly scalloped as the other and with equally long sleeves but the texture is based on the meat inside of an oyster. Around her neck is a pearl necklace. Her hand is up and reaching towards the camera with splayed fingers.
January 31, 2025 at 12:37 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
The prompt for Day 29 of #peachtober24 was "break" 💔 I have a Namesakes character from back in high school named Broken who was kind of just a punching bag character, this was a play on that guy. What if he was fed up of being broken... and decided to break out!
This illustration is a character design of a cartoon personification of the word "break". He's the kind of character where their head is also their torso like Darwin from The Amazing World of Gumball. His body is made of red terracotta actively breaking apart. He has a Sonic-styled goggle shape for eyes made out of a gaping hole in the pottery revealing two glowing eyes floating in darkness. He's gritting his teeth with determination as he flies towards the viewer with an arm cocked back. That arm is actively exploding with the hand completely missing and replaced with a blast effect and shattered scars. His forward arm is made of cracked pottery but it has been reformed into the shape of a large rocky fist. He's wearing an orange prison jumper with the upper half removed and bound around his waist by the sleeves.
January 25, 2025 at 2:12 PM
mandelmic.bsky.social
Pick your favourite design!!

The prompt for day 28 of #peachtober was Pony 🐎! I had four ideas for this one, some more traditional than others 😂
This illustration features four character designs of cartoon anthropomorphic ponies. The first has a big cute snout and is wearing a sleeveless pink vest and blue jeans shorts. The second one has a hairstyle formed into the shape of a horse's neck and head fastened with a leather bridle. She wears a pink tank top with a black leather harness on top and jeans shorts with the pockets sticking out of the bottom. The third has a pompadour vaguely shaped like the head of a horse, with a pink headwrap whose bow forms the shape of horse ears tying back a long high ponytail. She wears a long sleeve button-up tied in the front and with rolled up sleeves as well as a pair of bell-bottom jeans. The fourth is stockier but with a smaller head, closer to the proportions of an actual horse. She wears a pink, yellow and blue plaid short-sleeve shirt and jeans shorts. The colour scheme of everything is variations of blue, pink, yellow and white. They are all horse-girl coded lol.
January 24, 2025 at 4:56 PM
mandelmic.bsky.social
I had three different ideas for #peachtober24 day 27's prompt grass! 🍃 I liked all three of them so I coloured all three! Which do you prefer?
This illustration features three character designs that are anthropomorphic interpretations of grass. The first has a grass skirt with dirt and roots for a belt. The second has a body made from roots and a head made of blades of grass, their ends becoming spiky hair. Their face is abstract and made of shapes cut out of the leaves. The third has a poncho made of grass and a head made of squiggly roots pointing up. Which design would you pick?
January 21, 2025 at 3:30 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
I just realized that technically this is day 26 of #peachtober! I already have a character named Stone so I didn't do any new art for the prompt.
This is an illustration of anthropomorphized stone. He's the kind of cartoon character where his head is his body, and angular chiseled stone with a cleft chin and heavy brow made to look like a stereotypical chad. His arms are thick and muscular made of similarly angular dark grey rock. There are two character illustrations one with visible arms and the other wearing an oversized, open, puffy jacket with a massive fur collar around the back of his head. The fur collar is stylized in chunks to continue the angular shape language. In both images he's wearing purple pants with a black leather belt and giant brown leather low top boots with a visible, white padded interior. In both illustrations he looks at the camera with a confident smile however in the one without the jacket he's flexing an arm and talking to the viewer.
January 19, 2025 at 6:03 PM
mandelmic.bsky.social
I did not inface post the second idea the following day lol, i've been down lately and losing track of days. I really love this design though, I think it's really fun!
This is an illustration of a anthropomorphized backpack. Her head is a red backpack, with her face as the cushioned dark grey back of the bag. The straps frame her face like two curled bands of hair. The round panels and segments of the backpack make it appear almost like a headwrap, with side-zipped pouches over the ears like headphones and a big pouch on the front of the bag like a hair bun at the back of her head. She wears a white oversized hoodie, with a red pouch on her elbow and her hands are in its stomach pocket made of jersey mesh. Her pants are bluejeans and her shoes are chunky sneakers with big thick tongues, zipper pulls sticking off of the sides and a black bag strap around the back of the ankles. She's looking at the camera with a wry smile.
January 19, 2025 at 5:54 PM
mandelmic.bsky.social
#peachtober24 day 25's prompt was backpack 🎒 I had two ideas for this prompt so I'll post the next one tomorrow!
This image features a cartoon personification of a backpack. Their body/head is a green school bag, his sonic-styled eyes sit within the strap at the top, doubling as eyebrows. His mouth is the front pocket, zipped open for speech and his nose is a rectangular patch for the logo. His arms are the straps of the bag, only connected by the shoulders. His fingers are straps with adjusters as knuckles. He wears tan cargo pants with multiple pouches featured on the sides. His shoes are chunky sneakers, also made to look like little backpacks. He is gesturing while speaking to the camera with an exasperated expression.
January 16, 2025 at 1:57 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
#peachtober24 day 24's prompt was turnip! For some reason I saw these two as counterparts, they're both different kinds of party dude I guess
This image features a cartoon personification of a turnip. His skin is the reddish purple of a turnip and all the white areas double both as facial features and facial hair. He has big curly leaves for hair sideswept but voluminous and covering one eye. He clothes are distressed - a white torn shirt, a long black coat blowing in the wind with sleeves caked in dirt and puffy pants with one knee blown out. He wears flip flops. He is jumping in the air and holding up the "rock-on" hand sign.
January 15, 2025 at 12:16 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
#peachtober24 day 23's prompt was party! 🥳🎉🎈 I love trying to find more and more interesting ways to make the facial features!
This image features a cartoon personification of the word "party". The character has a red balloon for a head with multi-coloured streamers for hair. The tie of the balloon doubles as a goatee. His facial features are just white silhouettes, streamer shapes make his eyes and a long balloon shape forms his mouth. He wears a puffy sky blue jacket as shiny as his balloon skin. Underneath he wears a yellow shirt and baggy blue sweatpants. His white shoes have long balloons tied into bowed laces like a balloon animal. His pants and jacket both have drawstrings made from white curly streamers. He's jumping in the air excitedly, holding up a hang-ten hand sign with his far hand.
January 10, 2025 at 2:45 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
#peachtober24 day 22's prompt was village 🏘 prompts like these where the concept is multifaceted are always the hardest. How do I represent an entire village as a single person? In this case I made the head be the home of the leader or "village head" as they're called 😂
This image features a character design for the cartoon personification of the word village. The character's head is a straw hut, the roof doubling as a hat with the puffy crown of a tree sticking out from underneath like old man hair. His face has a mustache and beard made from loose straw, otherwise his face is old and wrinkly with big bags and lines under the eyes. On his shoulders is a massive cloak enclosing his body and dragging on the floor. The cloak is made of the landscape of a village, with smaller huts clustered together on his back, connected with slender dirt roads carved out of grassy fields. At the cloak's end are wheat fields and beyond them a wall of clouds as a trim. The distant right shoulder has a straw-roofed well as a pauldron. Underneath the cloak he's just wearing a grass tunic and simple shoes of the same hay yellow colour. He peers up at the camera from below his roof hat, stoic.
January 9, 2025 at 12:43 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
Here's a second pass at #peachtober24 day 21's prompt greenhouse! When I drew the first one, the spade in their smock pocket made me think of a weaponized leaf spade like a kunai. I guess you could call them a leaf ninja 😜
This image features a character inspired by the word "greenhouse". Their head is a bushy mass with leaves for facial features, a single sprout forming their nose and eyebrows. They have a single heart shaped plant dangling off of the top like a cowlick. They also have a potted palm floating behind their head like a wild ponytail. The lower half of their face is surrounded by a greenhouse structure turned on its side with the angled roof wrapped around their face like a chevron, their mouth visible through the see-through material. They wear a billowing see-through coat with a lowered hood and a khaki uniform underneath. Their boots and bracers are made from mud stained pots with leaves peeking over the sides. Their hands double as a leafy plant sticking out of the soil within the pot. They are wielding a spade shaped like a pothos leaf, and leaping forward with one hand back and one leg up in a ninja pose, ready to strike.
January 7, 2025 at 12:02 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
#peachtober24 day 21 was greenhouse! This one I got two ideas for and I really loved both, so i'll share the next one tomorrow!
This image is a cartoon personification of a greenhouse. They're made of plants and leaves with heart-shaped leaves sticking out of their bush of a head. Their eyebrows and eyelashes are leaves and their hat is the roof of a greenhouse, tied on with a blue ribbon at their neck. Around their neck like a tall colour is a black plant pot. They're wearing a blue short-sleeved shirt, brown pants and a see-through smock on top with a pocket full of planting tools. Leaves are sticking out of their open sleeves, whose thick hem makes them look like plant pots turned upside down. They're wearing yellow flip flops. They're holding up a white flower and smiling gently.
January 4, 2025 at 1:09 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
#peachtober24 day 20 was Rest 😴 I love how cozy she is!
This image features a cartoon personification of the word "rest". The character is wearing a pastel pink long-sleeve pajama shirt and a purple comforter is over her shoulders like a cape, trailing behind her. She's wearing bunny slippers and a sleep mask doubling as animated eyes, closed from a yawning expression. Her hair is made from a pillow pushed back with a pink headband with only a few chunky strands sticking out over her face. The hair sticking out at the front is shaped into a Z with two other smaller z's floating off from it. She's holding a teddy bear, dragging it on the ground.
December 30, 2024 at 3:52 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
The second idea for the #peachtober24 day 19 concept was a crocodile body but a Egyptian plover for the head inside the mouth! These are the birds that have a mutualistic relationship with crocodiles, flying in their open mouths and picking their teeth. I thought this idea was fun!
This illustration features a cartoon character, whose shoulders have the open mouth of a crocodile pointing upward, and within the jaws is a head formed from the shape of an Egyptian plover facing backwards, the tail forming a little goatee and the wings forming ears. The rest of the body is green and muscular but fat like a weightlifter. He wears tan ripped pants with a red torn handkerchief sticking out of the pocket. He's holding up a toothpick and has a cocky expression with a wry smile.
December 26, 2024 at 5:27 PM
mandelmic.bsky.social
For context, "What's the Word?" was a comment-prompted Namesakes character design series I did a few times this year—I want to do it again honestly 🤔 Here's the original design for Christmas Breeze! Candle is an original namesakes character, she's been around since the beginning!
This image features a personification of Jamaican Christmas breeze . She has hair made from the pointy red leaves of a poinsettia plant and the rest of her body is made of pine leaves and holly in the shape of a dress. Her waist is cinched with a red ribbon as a belt. She wears a scarf made of a strong breeze swirling around her neck and behind her, carrying red and green leaves with it. This image features a cartoon personification of a candle. It shows her wearing two different outfits with accompanying hairstyles made of her flame and melted wax. On the left she's wearing a red leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up, revealing a red lining underneath that also appears at the lapel. She wears yellow cargo shorts with big pouches at the sides below her pockets. her boots are black. Her flame is blown forward like a short punk hairstyle. Her arms are made of wick fabric, her right one held up and producing a small flame. Her hand is burnt black. On the right she wears bright red shorts with yellow flames along the hem. Her boots are the same shade of red. Her flame is to the back of her head like a high ponytail or a top knot and at the front her wax has been melted over one of her eyes like a sideswept bang. She is angrily shouting with her fists cocked and her legs spread, ready to fight.
December 25, 2024 at 7:12 PM
mandelmic.bsky.social
Taking a break from Peachtober late-posting to wish you all Merry Christmas! 🎄🎄🎄 Featuring @reneekitson.bsky.social's What's the Word character Christmas Breeze and the hot-headed Candle—an unlikely pair!
Merry Christmas! This image features two characters, one a personification of Jamaican Christmas breeze and the other an anthropomorphic candle. The breeze character has the hair made from the pointy red leaves of a poinsettia plant and the rest of her body is made of pine leaves and holly. She wears a scarf made of a strong breeze swirling around her neck and blasting behind the two characters. She has an off-white skirt with a red ribbon as a belt. The candle character is shorter and is wearing a Santa jacket, white gloves and shorts instead of the classic red pants. The breeze character is excitedly giving a Christmas greeting to the candle, but her breeze is threatening to blow out her flame, the candle is smiling awkwardly and visibly uncomfortable about it.
December 25, 2024 at 7:12 PM
mandelmic.bsky.social
Day 19 of #peachtober24 was crocodile 🐊 I had two similar ideas for this guy and this was the first. I knew I didn't want to just have an anthropomorphic crocodile. Where's the most fun place I can put the eyes 🤔
This image is an illustration of a crocodile cartoon character. His facial features sit inside the darkness within the crocodile's mouth. The crocodile's eyes are just a swirly line representing a heavy cartoon brow with no visible eyes. The tail sticks off of the back of the head like a ponytail. The body is scaly and green with countershading on the stomach. He wears a pair of tan slacks, red suspender straps with gold fasteners and black dress shoes. He is sitting on the ground and has his finger up to his chin in a curious pose.
December 24, 2024 at 9:04 PM
mandelmic.bsky.social
Day 18 of #peachtober24 was fast! I already have a character in Namesakes called Fast so this was just a redesign to fit him into the new aesthetic of the story. Also since I gave Slow a slug motif, I've given Fast here a little bit of bunny rabbit 🐇
This image features an illustration of a cartoon personification of the word "fast". He is a being made of orange energy. He has two long tendrils of elecricity trailing off of his head that turn to white at the ends in a bubbly gradient. His Sonic-style eyes are just a band of sparks with vertical cartoon pupils in the middle. He's running to the left of the image at super speed, with a trail of disturbed air behind him. He's wearing white track shoes and both his foot making contact with the ground and his swung forward hand have lighting bounding off of them to show his speed. He's wearing blue track shorts with a lightning bolt line detail on the side. He has an angry expression
December 20, 2024 at 11:32 PM
mandelmic.bsky.social
The prompt for day 17 of #peachtober24 was slow! 🐌 Snails and slugs are some of my favourite animals so they're always on my mind 😂
This image is an illustration of a cartoon personification of the word "slow". Her hair is made of a giant slug draped over her head, its eyestalks doubling as a cowlick. Her skin is the same lime green of her slug hair. She has big hands and rubberhose arms. She wears a tan coloured jumper overalls with big brown buttons. The tattered ends of the legs of the jumper drag on the ground and are stained with slime. She has a tired expression and a drop of drool drips from her mouth. She's reaching towards the screen.
December 20, 2024 at 12:37 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
The prompt for day 16 of #peachtober24 was owl 🦉I went with my first idea which was just this Court of Owls looking dude, looking back I should have done something more interesting...
This image is an illustration of an anthropomorphized owl. They appear to be wearing a mask with the iconic V shaped eye-to-beak connected pattern of a barn owl has been emphasized into a hollow graphical shape, with no face visible beneath, only blood red vertical slit eyes. Their arms are the large wings of an owl with the largest feathers at their tips doubling as thick curled finger shapes. They are curled into the fetal position but with their arms large and looming around them. An eerie glow lights them from below. The background is an unsettling blood orange.
December 18, 2024 at 12:09 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
The prompt for day 15 of #peachtober24 was Lamp! I immediately imagined a student burning the midnight oil swatting for an exam the next day!
This image features an illustration of a cartoon personification of an articulated desk lamp. Their head is a lit bulb inside of a shiny metal shade, the switch sticking out of the back like a cowlick. They have a long neck made out of several articulated metal joints, craning over an open text book that they're holding up to their face. Their facial features are swirly filaments inside the bulb. They wear a purple sweater vest layered over a white long sleeve dress shirt, very academic. They wear a pair of wide-leg pants that are silver and shiny like their shade. Their feet are also lit bulbs. They have a distressed expression as they try to study their text book. They are floating in a sitting pose.
December 17, 2024 at 2:01 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
Day 14 of #peachtober24 was Burrow! 🐰 I had this idea immediately and I still love it. The bunny and the body are technically separate, in so much as they can form their body from any soil around them, but the being named Burrow is the both together.
This image is an illustration of a cartoon character design of a bunny rabbit sticking his head out of a round golem-like body made of soil. Their cotton-tail sticks out of the back of the dirt body at the top giving the illusion of a hair-bun. Their whiskers are actually roots to match with the underground theme. They a pair of big dirty orange shorts. The bunny has a wide-eyed uncertain expression. The body is in a leaping pose towards the camera.
December 15, 2024 at 6:51 PM
mandelmic.bsky.social
Day 13 of #peachtober24 was Cape! I imagine she can give people superman powers by letting them wear her 🦸‍♀️
This image features a cartoon personification of a superhero's cape. Her head is made of the neck and shoulders of a red cape bound by gold clasps whose designs combine to make a pair of cartoon eyes, her mouth is represented by a braided cord that hangs between them in a gentle smile. The rest of the cape flows down freely appearing as body-length hair and doubles as a large cloak. Her body is a shadow within the cape, it is a black void that tapers to little pointed feet. At her waist is a fauld made of concentric gold rings. She is in a leg up superhero flying pose but without arms she appears to be flying leisurely.
December 14, 2024 at 3:09 AM
mandelmic.bsky.social
Day 12 of #peachtober24 was Earth! I already have an old Namesakes character named Earth so I just drew a redesign of them. Although I don't like this design anymore!
This image features an illustration of a cartoon personification of a cross-section of earth. His face is on his body instead of having a separate head - a common quality for characters from my personal story Namesakes. His cube body has levels of strata running through it horizontally. His hair is a patch of grass with a top knot formed from a classic mushroom-shaped tree. His face is wrinkled as he is an ancient elemental. He wears a pair of dirty army green pants. He smiles gently as he reaches his hand out to the right side. He floats from an unknown power, two chunks of earth hover beneath his feet.
December 12, 2024 at 12:43 AM