Brian Kolm

@briankolm.bsky.social

575 Followers 1109 Following

Artist and Instructor in the SF Bay Area. Briankolm.com https://mastodon.art/@BrianKolm https://www.instagram.com/briankolm/

Sketch-a-thon art by Chuck Whelon (Blue Beetle Ted Kord) and Rick Lucey (super space moose)
Cartoon Art Museum black and white art samples for 2026 2021 Bouncing boy with a cute alien to take back to his wife 2021 Loki and Volstagg transformed into a mouse 2022 Mercury of the Metal Men with the Red Lantern cat 2023 Hanna Barbara's Captain Caveman 2024 Bat Lash If you purchase a piece from my, things I could draw... theme park characters, obscure superheroes, a ttrpg character, international characters, mascots.
A sketchbook journal for recording a solo rpg campaign lies open. On the left is a postcard visual table for the location, and Irish village, with images of a stone circle, river dancers, the Pookha, a harp. On right are a paper folded in half for a character sheet and a tri-fold with tables needed for the game. In the sketchbook is says: once upon a time, chapter 2 in fancy lettering. On the right side is a map. The pages have notes and drawings of characters.
A trifold with the sections horizontal with tables to play a solo ttrpg game.
Two 8.5 x 11 convention sketches from Wondercon 2002 and 2003. The John Romita Spiderman face is from when the convention was still in Oakland CA and the Jill Thompson sketch of Orson a pre-teen vampire from Scary Godmother was in 2003 when the convention moved to San Francisco. In 2002 I was helping at the Cartoon Art Museum booth and met Romita through that.
A page from my solo rpg journal for a new campaign. Here is an introduction from my player character, circus performer Bruno Jet. Bruno is of european decent with a strong almost pointy chin, 5'oclock shadow and thick curly hair. He has a muscular build and wears his circus outfit along with his lucky bandana and his champeon golden belt. There is also a picture of his sidekick, Gharam the pig (rolling his eyes).
A page from a solo rpg journal with the player character, Bruno Jet a high-flying circus performer with his good luck bandana and his golden champion belt. There is a profile picture of Bruno with a strong stubbly chin, swooping nose and thick curly hair. Listed are ATTRIBUTES that can make up dice pools using FU: Freeform Universal, both ones that give and EDGE and ones that are character flaws. There is also a picture of his sidekick NPC who is an anthropomorphic pig.
A scamy message stuck on the door from a 'public utility' (it should say PG&E) that is selling solar as wild-fire prevention.
Pen and ink drawing with grey washes. A location that is also a d6 table. An abstract concrete building high above the trees, some features look like a face A distant tower A small hut A rectangular pipe A mysterious figure A 'fist' extension with fire
Pen and ink drawing with grey washes. A location that is also a d6 table. Tents in the woods Paintings of aliens Old man with skull topping a staff Retreat by great falls Theater with cafe Mansion
Pen and ink illustration with grey washes, a d6 table for use in a solo rpg campaign. Swiss town A lynx nurse hold a vile. A man with a dollar sign in his coat and a announumes bar over his eyes Cheese fondue. Clock tower with silhouetted figure. mountain building with lift to arrive. chocolate bunny.
Pen and ink illustration with grey washes, a d6 table for use in a solo rpg campaign. Cut in the hill a larger fortified building with a great chimney a distant tower a secret garage a masked armored figure a nearby motel a small hut
Pen and ink illustration with grey washes, a d6 table for use in a solo rpg campaign. Science carnival Big tent Snow cone Farris wheel Ghost train Fortune teller dome Dapper ring master
Pen and ink illustration with grey washes, a d6 table for use in a solo rpg campaign. Irish village step dancing harp ruins pooka donkey guy haunted pub
Pen and ink illustration with grey washes, a d6 table for use in a solo rpg campaign. An Austrian town domed building on a snowy mountain singing in the hills with masked skiers lurking a restaurant that serves cordon blue A spooky composer A singer with pointy ears
Pen and ink illustration with grey washes, a d6 table for use in a solo rpg campaign. A danish town Summer gardens with a spooky harlequin above Windmill Furniture designer Toy store Wheel of cheese
Pen and ink illustration with grey washes, a d6 table for use in a solo rpg campaign. A norwegian town Troll by sun/moon Puffin in a sweater A fisherman with a net and secrets below the water
Pen and ink illustration with grey washes, a d6 table for use in a solo rpg campaign. A spanish sea-side resort with grand hotel Secret beaches and secret doors Tango dancing and bull wrestling Opera house with opera ghost
Pen and ink illustration with grey washes, a d6 table for use in a solo rpg campaign. A detective and a wolf watching her A sign for a pub with a bee-hive A sturdy farmer Music and media A forest A mansion and observatory
A visual d6 table for an english village, done in pen and ink with washes of grey. A sweet faced magic detective, a sturdy middle aged farmhand, music industry, bee themed pub, stately manor by the sea, magic forest.
A pen and ink with washes drawing, a 'travel poster' for a fictional french village. 6 numbers make it a d6 table. Solo rpg A mysterious man, a racing biciclist, a fashionable lady with a rose magic wand, a mansion with a dress bust outside, a well dressed rooster.
Pen and ink with grey washes. A 'travel poster' illustration that is also a d6 table for a solo rpg game. A women in lovely robes holds a magic wand in one hand and a spool of thread attached to it in the other. A well dress rooster is near by. Above is a large mansion 'maison de mode' with an attached greenhouse and large roses. On top a bicyclist with a basked on their back is enticed by floating figures of women in couture holding a croissant.
Pen and ink with grey washes. Numbers for this 'travel poster' to be used as a table in a solo rpg game. A figure with a colorful costume fills up the height of the left of the art, their open cloak shows a striped tie and a dress shoe at the feet. They hold a scepter in their left hand with an spinning atom on top. A vision of a wolf in a race car by their right hand. A crescent moon. An old padlock with skeleton key, stone wall and bell tower, a bunch of grapes.
A pen and ink drawing with washes. A montage of images with numbers to be used as a d6 table for a solo ttrpg game. A women holds a large beer stein with a music note design on it, a cute bird sitting on top. A tall tree on the edge of the forest with a figure with a pointy hat and beard, holding an ax. A hotel. A candy factory. An apple. A goose and a badge dancing by a trophy.
An ink drawing of a small plane with small floral patterns. Tea Air, the calm way to fly. A picture of a bearded man is in the bottom right corner with the word "magic?".
Location five pen and ink drawing. A quaint inn with a table of six elements that could connect who resides here. Something under a tarp, a walking stick, a cauldron, bike, bus stop sign, steps down to someplace.
Ink drawing of a train in the night. The bottom left is a portrait of a questionably train engineer.
Location three Mod Ship A dirigible with 'arms' on either side to hold propellers. Covered with an abstract pattern that features what looks like an eye, making the ship sort of bird-like. In the bottom right corner is a portrait of Molly who owns and flies it.
Pen and ink drawing with grey washes of a elegant cruise ship and a portrait of a sea lion with a nice captains hat. Anything can happen in international waters. Elegant buffet Indoor/outdoor pool private meeting space no questions asked rumors $$$ Haunted? Live Entertainment
Location #1 features !#$*&@! PIRATES A pen and ink drawing of a pirate ship with ink washes. A portrait of the captain with pointed ears and a mohawk haircut. A sea creature lurks in front and a structure on a rocky 'island' is in the back.
working code-name: #solotale26 WHAT: Prep-as-play for a solo rpg campaign These are 'scaffolding' that can help my game to keep moving, ad flavor and connections and will be expanded in my game journal during play. TOUCHSTONES: fairy-tales (talking animals, magic, royalty), 1960's (spies, sci-fi, fashion) locations 1 to 6: Starting locations that have no specific location. locations 7 to 15: fictional European cities that will be expanded as needed. Each one is a d6 table. locations 16 to 20: Special Locations after I build the character.
A solo rpg journal with the opening page for Princess with a Cursed Sword.
A final illustration on the final page of my longest solo campaign so far. In front in J-Box K a.k.a Kurt Mc Ivy a magic born (i.e. magic construct) a superhero in the small northern california town of Heathburg. The game ends with an event, the wedding of his parents Helen and chris and attended by family and friends. His mother Helen plays a guitar with her husband as they sing a favorite son. The game spans 4.5 sketchbooks and so I had to go back and find drawings of different characters, which took time, but was fun.
A sketchy drawing from my solo rpg journaling. A robotic looking character is dressed as an admiral, including a fake 'stach; a handsome man wearing sunglasses leans away from the anger.
Album back cover for Performing Arts Night 2025: The Album - Transcendent Stories TRACKS 1. Skywatchers Intro - Seasons of Growth 2. Manise - New Town (Prod. PUIA) 3. Group 1-No Mae Lacked Doorz (Prod. HrvłzLab) 4. SirensEyeZ - Learn About You (Prod. Onye) 5. King $moove Pretending (Prod. Anders x JBP) - Narcan II 6. Ajah Kilo - Narcan II (Prod. SOGIMURA) 7. Thank Ruu - Games (Prod. JBP) 8. Han!! - Genesis (Prod. Unknown) 9. T-Sauce - They Wanna See me Swerve (Prod. Wooskii2k) 10. Group 2-Reminisce (Prod. Maisuneverse) 11. King $moove - Let's go Home Tonight (Prod. JBP) 12. King $moove - Needing You (Prod. Thism/Slimey) 13. T-Souce - Closer (Prod. B.Blessed Beats) 14. Strawberry The Ballad of Pragma Phat Kakes (Prod. JBP, additional guitar by Ben Brosnahan) 15. Thank Ruu-Try Again (Prod. JBP) 16. Manise Diary of a Mad Black Man (Prod. XtraLargekjp) 17. Han!f Imperfect (Prod. Anders x JBP) 18. Ajah Kilo - Who I Do it Fa? (Prod. Requena)
Collage: Salt n Boka from Aqua E Farina in Hayward. Pantone with fresh berries, Painting ornaments at work, Lights, a little christmas tree.
A collage: Hickory Farms for lunch, cousins cookies, watercolor painting of a sleepy cat for a christmas card.
A collage: Let's Glow SF 2025, Union Square SF and Winter Walk.
The intimate space at Little Raven Art Gallery and a collage of some of the work on display for one night!
Orange setting sunlight in San Francisco, CA. A collage. The Old Mint SF Chronicle building a parking garage
Life is the Occasion A GALLERY SHOW FRIDAY, NOV 21 5PM TO 8PM LITTLE RAVEN GALLERY 1015 HOWARD STREET, SAN FRANCISCO LIGHT REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED FEATURING WORK BY EMERGING VISUAL ARTISTS FROM THE LARKIN YOUTH ART STREET SERVICES PROGRAM
I voted sticker on a blue plaid shirt.
#POSTCARDoraclejam Every day... Draw a small postcard sized visual table/oracle to use in a (solo) RPG game! 1 Crime scene* 2 d6 Local folks 3 Fancy chart* 4 Festival* 5 Cozy town/village* 6 Spooky place* 7 d6 Spooky folks 8 Point Crawl map 9 Inside* 10 Coin flips 11 d6 Food/drink 12 d6 Monsters/creatures 13 Dice drop 14 d6 Rip-off heroes/villains 15 Ship/craft* 16 d6 Ephemera 17 Resort/vacation* 18 d6 Intergalactic folks 19 d6 Rooms 20 d6 Family 21 Theater/arena* 22 d6 Books/documents 23 d6 Plants 24 d6 Tech 25 City/kingdom* 26 d6 Scoundrels 27 Road trip* 28 d6 Team/Band 29 d6 Magic items 30 Outpost/wastelands* 31 d6 Fancy folks *Each table could have 6 items so you can roll a standard 6-sided dice on it, but it can be any number from a polyhedron dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20). 6-sided dice (d6) are pretty common.
Locations from days 1 to 6 are added to a map so it can be used in a game. The location is Celebration Point, a hard to reach resort.
A 5 x 7 postcard sized drawing. Day 6 outskirts includes a dock and welcome station, a train looking transport, flying craft landing pad and the road out of town
Day 5 Postcard sized drawing The top left has two ovals with husband and wife the buildings are VIP bungalows, a gift shop, the lookout above a waterfall, mansion and private garden.
A stack of trading card sized artwork with locations for a solo rpg game in a small purple plastic box.
A postcard sized drawing with six elements that can be used in a solo rpg game around the new year. Here an large building with a dome of metal on the top, a school. There are big gates, a small hut and temple, etc.
A postcard sized drawing with a facility to produce steam power, a cave with a boat parked inside, and facilities to invent things.
A postcard sized drawing in pen and ink. Six locations: old man cave, staff housing, economy lodging, lighthouse, cave, and meeting space.
The postcard sized drawing says "theater square" and has a montage of buildings with notes. Small ink drawings with scratchy lines. DORRAS NEST MARKET and CAFE PIERROT HOUSE RESTURANT Royale theater Sky Lift Gallery and Memorial Tree
A postcard sized cardstock with 6 buildings drawn on it. Each one is numbered.
A hand holds two postcard sized pieces of bristol board with fine ink drawings of small buildings that are numbered.
Brian has his left T-shirt sleeve rolled up to show a small round bandage where he got a covid booster this year 2025. Some say he might have the vestige of a god, but that might just be in his own imagination.
A section of a sketchbook page. A penny sits next to small drawings of a building and a park with tall pine trees.
cosplayers at Batman and Peacekeeper The rows of outdoor tables under tent covers. Tall chrome silos for beer making. The entrance table with the Cape and Cowl Con banner. Inside with it's high ceilings and murals on the walls.
A photo collage HANIF IS JOINED BY ALL THE PERFORMERS ON-STAGE. Hanif sings as they are joined by the other performers on stage. On the screen behind a series of TV screens with an 'off air' color bar pattern. Strawberry Phat Kakes is dressed in a pink gown as they sit on a chaise lounge. On the screen in a pyre burning with pink flames, a temple and full moon behind. Ruu is dressed in a tight seafoam colored dress with blue hair and glasses. She sings as a projection of a lotus opens and glows blue. Ru did a drawing of the flower that I edited in parts and animated in After Effects. A picture of me, Brian Kolm in the 'control booth' which was a corner of the ACT black box theater. I sit next to the laptop running powerpoint. My design for this years PAN 2025: TRANSCENDENT STORIES. A disco ball with an art deco 'rays' in blues and purples. A multicolor swirly sky behind.
FAVORITE CUSTOME TABLE. GENERATE A TABLE OF 6 ELEMENTS (THINGS, NPC, ETC) AND THEN ROLL ON THE EXPLORATION TABLE TO SEE A RESPONSE FOR EACH ONE. (INSPIRED BY POINT-N-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES.) This is the table, sorry the text is all in CAPS EXPLORATION table (element details) d6 and a d6 1 is Memory, Familiarity or Opinion 2 is add NPC or creature or add prop orsetting 3 is a Connection, Tracker/Thread, or a world Anchor 4 is an Obstacle, Limit or Barrier 5 is a Discovery, Clue or Direction 6 is TRIGGER ACTIVITY, EVENT, or a SCENE Table: Brian Kolm 2025
A sample visual table of Knight NPCs. Head and some shoulders and hands, drawn in ballpoint pen. It says... GENERATE AT TABLE OF 6 ELEMENTS (THINGS, NPC, ETC) AND THEN ROLL ON THE EXPLORATION TABLE TO SEE A RESPONSE FOR EACH ONE. (INSPIRED BY POINT-N-CLICK ADVENTURE GAMES.) Knight 1 is hurried, bearded and tapping on a table. Knight 2 is imposing, a clean shaven face with a thick neck. Knight 3 is brutal, a rough face holds a blood stained piece of fabric. Knight 4 is spiritual, a round faced with a goatee holds a cross. Knight 5 is glowing, a clean, youthful face beams with positive energy. They seem to sparkle with purity. Knight 6 is mellow. Sharp features and a pencil thin mustache. A mop of hair and relaxed attitude.
A sample visual table of NPCs for a solo game. Labeled: Bar Patrons. 1 says Hidden. A man has a hat that hides part of his face. 2 says Cursed. A heavy set woman with scraggly hair and a sign with a skull drawn on it around her neck. 3 says on-edge and moist. A fishy looking person with reptile nostrils and thin plant like hair. 4 says fresh and imposing. A baby faced man with hulking arms, wearing a cut sailor suit. 5 says an old grave digger. A senior woman with bugged out eyes and long thin hair. She’s looking at us with suspicions. 6 says flamboyant and revenge. A woman with curly hair and a menacing, mean grin, She wears a small hat with big flowers and feathers. There are also notes on each character for in-game actions. 1 says familiar memory, 2 says trigger activity, 3 says trigger scene, 4 says limit, 5 says anchor, 6 says clue