Hey, gang- I’m back for a Muppet Monday/Monster Monday mash-up.
This time it features Sweetums on another wood panel acrylic marker painting.
I love Muppet monsters, and really love the walk-around/full body Muppets. My favorite of those is Sweetums.
Sweetums first appeared on the television special The Frog Prince. Over the years he’s been performed by Jerry Nelson (1971, in-suit performer), Carl Banas (1971, voice only), Richard Hunt (1976–1991), John Henson (1992–2005), Noel MacNeal (2008), and Matt Vogel (2009–present).
I started on this marker painting during the Mid-South Cartoonists Association‘s visit to the Ave Maria Home assisted living facility this month.
MSCA president Kevin L. Williams and I went out to Bartlett to draw with the residents there.
This painting was done on one of the many panels I currently have in my stash. I picked up these round and square wood panels recently at Dollar Tree for about a $1.25ea. They’ve had different sized panels, and you have to shop and keep an eye out because their inventory does change.
I started off sketching it out freehand with a #2 pencil on the round wood panel, and then started filling in some color on the nose and mouth with an acrylic paint marker.
I’m using Posca, Ivsun, and Sharpie Creative paint markers. You can find them all online or at stores like Walmart, Michaels, The Art Center, or other art supply stores. They come in a variety of colors and tip shapes/sizes.
After filling in more on the nose and mouth, I then started filling in the eyes, teeth, fur, and background.
It took a lot of layering on the fur! I worked darks and lights back and forth. The paint markers are fairly opaque and dry quickly, so working dark to light helps. I also use my finger to help blend the paint while it’s still wet. Like I said, they do dry quickly, but occasionally not fast enough and I’ve accidentally smeared or picked up some paint on my hand as I’m drawing. The good thing is it’s usually an easy fix.
I wasn’t crazy about how the blue background was looking against the fur, so I went with a slightly darker green to cover it up. I then started adding some highlights to the fur.
I did some texturing, shading, and highlighting on the felt parts of Sweetums. I used a black 03 Pigma Micron pen for the outlining.
For the white highlights I used a Gelly Roll pen and a Prismacolor pencil. Also used a white paint marker here and there, too.
Once I was finished I took it outside and sprayed it with a light coat of Krylon Workable Spray Fixative. Best to do light overlapping coats in a well ventilated area.
I’ve done a few of these wood panel marker paintings now. They’re inexpensive and a lot of fun to work on, and I’ll have them at my “Featured Creatures” art show this summer.
The art show reception will be on June 5, 2026 from 5-7pm in 2nd Floor West gallery at Playhouse on the Square – 66 South Cooper Street, Memphis, TN 38104. Angi Cooper, another artist is having their reception the same night in the downstairs gallery. Show runs from June 6-August 2, 2026 and in conjunction with Playhouse’s production of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street“, June 12 – July 12, 2026. It’s free to attend art shows during Playhouse’s normal business hours.
Hope you can make it out!
Lin