SK Schäfer
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skschafer.bsky.social
SK Schäfer
@skschafer.bsky.social
1.2K followers 280 following 72 posts
Sight-impaired queer artist from Bristol, UK. Fundamentally misunderstood the phrase "crying with laughter". More active on Instagram @skschafer
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skschafer.bsky.social
However, that will probably be it for me for Inktober this year. I am too busy and would rather spend my energy making other comics. But this was a great inspiration and got me making again. Thanks for all your support. See you soon.
October 15, 2025 at 6:51 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
#Inktober eleven was "sting" and maybe I should have been drawing bees this whole time! It turns out I can draw bees!
Bees! A cartoon guide to a lot of bees. Spelling bee: a bee is holding scrabble tiles spelling bee. Long Division Bee: a professorial bee teaches math at a chalkboard. Carpenter Bee: a bee carries some wood and tools. Karen Carpenter Bee: a 1970s girl bee plays the drums. 2Bee: a been with a pencil nib head and an eraser butt. To Bee Or Not Too Bee: a bee in a ruff holds a skull aloft. Cardi Bee: a cosy bee in a big cardigan knitting a honeycomb scarf. Mr Blobbee: a round inflatable bee coloured like Mr Blobby with his bow tie for wings. Bumblebee: a bee swiping on a dating app. Fumblebee: a bee trips dropping all their dishes and glasses of honey. Humblebee: a cute shy bee blushes. Wannabee: a wanted poster for Beelly the kid, a cowboy bee. Beeline: a long flat bee. Furbee: a hybrid of furby and bee. Beefcake: a hunky muscle bound bee man. Herbee: the talking car Herbie but he is a bee now. Herbee Fully Loaded: the same as Herbee but covered in cheese and bacon. Beelittle: a little bee. Busy Bee: an exhausted bee drinking two mugs of hot honey. Bussy Bee: a bee with a big ass. Bee Arthur: a bee that looks like Bea Arthur. Arthur Bee: a bee that looks like PBS's Arthur. TBee: a sickly bee with tuberculosis coughing up blood. USBee: a USB shaped like a bee. U.S. Bee: a bee with red and white stripes, blue wings with stars on, and saluting, three arms to his heart. Beeyoncé: a bee in a leotard doing the single ladies pose. Beetwicé: two bees in leotards doing the single ladies pose. Plan Bee: a box of EllaHoney morning after pills shaped liked bees. Gumbee: if Gumbee were a bee. Bee Bee King: two bees sharing a crown. Beelated: a bee panickedly looking at their watch as they rush off. Bee Gee: a disco bee. Bee Gee Gee: a horse bee. He Bee Gee Bee: a bee dressed as a ghost. She Bee Gee Bee: the same as before but with a pink bow. Baybee: a baby bee. Michael Bay Bee: a bee in sunglasses running from an explosion. To Bee Continued: a half-drawn bee.
October 15, 2025 at 6:50 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
And part two of two.
So instantly I caught my foot and I began to fall. Literally, head over heels, falling for someone. A trio of images where I start to catch my foot on the cane, arms outstretched, and I come to a sudden halt. Then my cane goes fully between my legs and I start to tilter over, my expression turns to worry as I try to hold on. But I fall flat on my face, like Newman in Space Jam but upside down. Between each image the dance chart continues but the arrows get all messed up and it becomes impossible to follow. I can never be happy again... it is too dangerous. The same cartoon face from panel one but this time my glasses are askew and cracked, my hair is a tussled muss, my skin is scraped and bruised, and my expression is resigned despair.
October 13, 2025 at 9:50 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
Day ten of #inktober was "Sweep". So here is a little story that happened to me recently. (Part one of two)
Inktober day ten: Sweep. I can never be happy again. A simple cartoon drawing of my face, looking very happy. I am a round faced white man with big glasses, a scraggly beard and volumous dark hair. A few weeks ago I got a text from my crush and it gave me a literal skip in my step. I am pictured swinging my arms wildly, legs astride, full skip. You can see my full body, tall and fat, wearing a turtle neck, woolen trousers, sharp boots, and swinging my white long cane with my arms. Like a cartoon mouse on their way to the fair, or Nicole Kidman divorcing Tom Cruise. A little cheery round mouse dressed up in their fall finery of a flat cap, rich scarf, stiff coat, and welly boots, skips their way through the blowing leaves. Nicole Kidman triumphant dances her way down the street yelling praise to the heavens. The problem is my white cane uses a sweeping motion which requires me to keep an even and predictable pace. A dance step chart shows the foot placements for how to walk across the page, one foot in front of the other, whilst an arced arrow zig zags back and forth showing the path of a long cane.
October 13, 2025 at 9:49 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
#inktober nine "Heavy".
I regret not making the last joke "Big Cow".
Inktober day nine: Heavy. Dense Dairy. Heavy Cream: a black and white inkwashed drawing of a dollop of cream. Hefty Cheddar: a small bite of cheese snapping and obliterating the cracker it is placed onto. Immovable yoghurt: a little pot of strawberry yoghurt with the foil lid pulled back, and a spoon stuck in, but as the speed lines indicate the spoon is being moved, it is being twisted and bent out of shape. Neutron milk: a carton of milk cracking the floor it is placed on, bulging at the seems as it expands and collapses in on itself. Localised Babybel Field: a babybel being unpeeled and the peel forming rotating planetary rings of wax around it's cheesey core. Butter black hole: a black hole forms in the centre of a stick of butter that slowly melts.
October 12, 2025 at 8:25 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
Reckless (Part two).
She then tried to taste the spaghetti off of the HOT SHARP knife and I got too scared. A close-up on the chef's face in the foreground, her eyes unnaturally wide with madness, and her tongue worming out to meet some spaghetti dangling from the point of the incredibly sharp and on fire knife she is loosley holding pointing directly into her open mouth. A man in the background looks on, hands covering his eyes, but peeking through in horror. But Becky is my friend and she didn't want me to feel uncomfortable so she put down the knife... The chef siddles up to the man and puts a hand on his shoulder and comforts him. They both look at ease. And she used her hand instead. A zoom out of the previous panel to show the chef's other arm stuck directly into the steaming pot with fire licking at it. Her expression has changed to be an even broader more unhinged smile, whilst the man's shoulders and face have dropped into unyielding shock.
October 11, 2025 at 5:57 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
#Inktober eight was "reckless". And I am being reckless with my time and scheduling and cross-hatching abilities. Also Becky was fine. (Part one)
Inktober day eight prompt: reckless. One of the most reckless things I've ever seen is my friend Becky cooking pasta. A little but very proud woman dressed as a chef with long dark hair, generously adds seasoning to a pot of boiling pasta almost as big as she is. Mainly because she stirred the spaghetti whilst in boiling water with the biggest and sharpest knife she owned. The chef launches herself at the giant pot wielding a big knife and maniacally creating a whirlpool as she furiously and gleefully stirs it.
October 11, 2025 at 5:56 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
#Inktober day seven was "Starfish". But I accidentally already did a starfish joke on day five and didn't read ahead. So now we get this.
Also I spent like 2 hours trying to draw a frowning Wallace Shawn over Pisces, and I swear it would work in someone else's hands. I just couldn't capture his eyes
Inktober day seven prompt: starfish. Things Pisces looks more like than two fish tied together with string... image of a starry sky with the Pisces constellation highlighted and a drawing of two fish tied by the tails superimposed over it. A pelican with a little wing. The point where the strings converge is the tip of the pelican's beak, the stars of the leftmost fish making up the pelican's head and the rightmost fish becoming a little wing. Someone trying to catch a naughty mouse. The V of the two strings from Pisces form the crook between the thumb and forefinger of a grasping hand, whilst the rightmost fish becomes the naughty mouse running away. A half-demolished old Pizza Hut hut. It's an old Pizza Hut building cut in half and collapsing. I feel like this one doesn't need explaining if you know the shape of Pisces.
October 8, 2025 at 7:50 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
Day six of #Inktober was "Pierce".
I'm trying to produce these quicker and just lean into the roughness of them and try not to let that bother me too much, all of which to say is this one was quick and sloppy.
Inktober day six: Pierce. When I was eighteen a close friend returned from a gap year in China and gave me a little knife shaped like a boot a trio of images of this little ornate knife unfolding. It was inscribed in Mandarin on one side and Uyghur the other. She didn't know what it said but told me she thought it might mean "hero" or maybe "fish". Either way it's nice to be thought of. The possible meanings are shown written on the knife blade underneath the imagine Mandarin and Uyghur for "might mean hero" and "or maybe fish". Along side a triptych of images showing a close up of a worried man's eyes, his anxious fist clenched, and then that hand reaching into his pocket, text reads "I'd just left home and started going blind. I felt so anxious. I felt so alone. But in my pocket I had this... a reminder someone a world away thought of me. A small weight to help ground me. Images of the contents of his pockets, house keys, the knife, and loose change, are labelled home, community, and money for snacks. The same format as the second panel with two large knife blades with translations of Mandarin and Uyghur. Text reads: a few years later I met a chinese student at a picnic. She was fascinated by the knife until she told me it said made in china on both sides. Fish indeed.
October 7, 2025 at 7:31 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
... and part two.
Too many soft functionless cushions? Mantlers! We sell them! A pile of fluffy cushions are impaled on a giant set of antlers. Eating from a BOWL like it's a mooncup? Mantlers! It's different now! The fruit bowl is empty with two antlers screwed to either side and multiple pieces of fruit forced onto their many tips Ottoman? Otto-Mantlers! Gun noise! The ottoman has an antler screwed to one leg unbalancing it, whilst two more antlers are protruding from it's cushiony flesh. Mantlers! Make your exterior as uncomfortable as your interior! The living room from the first panel but this time there is a woman cowering on the sofa as antlers jut out from every conceivable surface. Through cushions and furniture. Out of the art and on books. Through the leaves of plants and even the glass of the window. The man stands proud to one side looking like he has accomplished something worthwhile.
October 7, 2025 at 12:08 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
Day 5 of #Inktober was "Deer".
Here is part one of what I did...
Inktober day five: Deer. MEN! Tired of all your decor being decided by your wife, grandmother, or female neighbour? The image is of a black and white modern nicely decorated living room with a man standing in the corner looking fed-up, like a tired dad in an infomercial. Introducing all news MANTLERS! (With screws). They go on things. Exploding on to the page is two big deer antlers with screw holes to attach them to things.
October 7, 2025 at 12:07 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
I really like this one. Good job.
October 6, 2025 at 9:20 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
I know it. And anyone who has ever spent more than a couple of days in my company has probably heard it as well.
October 6, 2025 at 1:37 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
#Inktober day four was "Murky" and I am bringing you the news Science refuses to.
(I'm actually pretty pleased with this, I worked really hard on the textures of these stupid little guys, but have probably worked too small for it to actually be noticeable. But I know.)
Inktober day four prompt: murky. Fish we are yet to discover. Balloon-dog puffer fish: a puffer fish tied into the shape of a balloon-dog, spines all over, two bulging eyes on the top of either ear, and some little lips out the front. Lighthouse fish: a tall stripey angler-fish in the shape of a lighthouse, with a big long forehead, and tiny little tail and fins. Fire eel: an angry dynamic eel with billowing fins and wreathed in flame. Little Mouth Billy Bass: a living version of the wall-mounted singing novelty but with only a wee small gob. Gaullier Clownfish: a black and white clownfish with an exaggerated frown, wearing a beret, and letting a damp cigarette dangle from it's lip. Pentagram Fish: a starfish in the shape of the pentagram, it's limbs tied pretzel like to create the illusion of a single line. Glorm The Unknowable: a writhing wretched mess of texture and shape that is indescernable, except for it's many tiny adorable fins and goofy little cartoon face. Gun ray: it's a stingray with a gun.
October 6, 2025 at 8:55 AM
skschafer.bsky.social
Day Three of #inktober is "Crown" and I am only two days late.
I hope the lads are OK.
Inktober 2025 day three prompt: Crown. I feel like we don't see the Nigerian Prince scam emails anymore. A cartoon of an email inbox where the folders are inbox at infinite, important at zero, spam (actual) and spam (mistake). There is an email marked "ad" for "get even bigger returns with Ponzi plus (now with AI). An email from Subtack "you've not read any of your many many subscriptions", one from Big Chomp Dog Food "we're proud to unveil our new AI powered chunk mix", one from your Dad "here's a broken link to an article I mentioned over a year ago", and finally one from Brian Name that says "hello fellow human, I love your good/service and can help...". Maybe enough of us pitched in and they all reclaimed the throne. A black and white cartoon of a vintage 1990s desktop monitor decked out in a royal cape and crown and the screen displaying. A simple smiley emoticon. Or maybe they got fed-up of constantly being called scammers so they just quit the internet. Sillouhettes of three princes skip off into the sunset as they leave their laptops and phones abandoned in the grass.
October 5, 2025 at 6:40 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
And #inktober day 2 "weave" (part two) (final part).
Panel 5 shows me wide eyed sat atop a Mickey Mouse shaped throne and holding the skull of Goofy. Text reads: for a brief moment I knew what it felt like to be Walt Disney: all imagination & greed. Panel six text reads: but then I won second place, other children started to cry, and I felt something Disney never felt... shame. The image shows a mother angrily dragging away the crying child in the bunny hat, which is also crying. The mother is muttering "maybe next time you should lay the foundations for all of Ducktales, or is life too much of a duckblur?" Panel seven text reads: and now as we all are forced to grapple with questions of authenticity in art, all I can do for penance is keep drawing the duck, hoping he turns into something "mine". The image is a nightmare of repeated drawings of Donald Duck each one stretching further on the mistakes of the last until he becomes a wretched distortion of himself that looks more like an anime egg only half remembered to hatch. Panel eight, the final panel, text reads: and until then I should at least get a new cap. The image is of a baseball cap with the dictionary definition of "liar" on it, but redefined as "runner-up west wiltshire funniest hat 2000".
October 4, 2025 at 9:15 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
I got over ambitious on how much I could draw in a day, and then got food poisoning. But here is #inktober day 2: weave (part one)
Inktober 2025 day two prompt "weave". Panel one of a black and white comic. Three small adorable children are lined up in crazy crafted hats, one looks like bunny ears, one is a top hat full of hay, and one is a crown overflowing with ribbons. Text reads: when I was ten years old I went to the county fair. There was a "funniest hat" competition. Panel two shows an overweight older kid in a baseball cap slide in confidently beside the younger children who are all annoyed. Text reads "every other entrant was five and had hand-made elaborate hats of card & glue. I had a baseball cap with Donald Duck and the dictionary definition of "duck" on it. Panel three text reads: obviously all the funniest things are rigid well-boundaried definitions, it's why if you look up "joke" in a dictionary you just find another smaller dictionary inside. The image is of a series of nesting dolls of dictionaries with the smallest one open at the definition of "Knock": verb. To strike in collission. Oft repeated to begin a joke. Panel 4 text reads: The judges asked me who was on my hat as if they didn't know him, so I was left with no choice but to tell everyone I invented Donald Duck. Image of me as a young boy grabbing an amazed competition judge round the shoulder and wildly gesturing to the horizon as I tell him "so I thought, he's not just a bird, he's a duck! What if that meant he was in the navy?!"
October 4, 2025 at 9:13 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
Checking out the local haunts
September 26, 2025 at 9:47 PM
skschafer.bsky.social
Ouch, seems the sword isn't the only thing that's sharp.
September 15, 2025 at 10:47 AM
skschafer.bsky.social
No, the point is the sharp bit at the end.
September 15, 2025 at 10:38 AM