Inktober Day 14 – Overgrown
As I have mentioned before, there are lots of houses in Ireland that are just abandoned. It really does not take long for nature to reclaim anything human has created. […]
Category Archives: Travel
Inktober Day 13 – Ash
You can’t have ash without fire, and Duckett’s Grove had two major fires in one week back in the 1930’s. There are rumors aplenty on how the fires were set, […]
Inktober Day 12 – Dragon
You would think there would be a million dragon things in Irish mythology to tie into this theme, but there are not. I searched high and wide, but very few […]
Inktober Day 11 – Snow
Snow in Ireland, haha, that is a funny one. They really don’t get too much snow out here unless it’s high up in the mountains. When I first started dating […]
Inktober DAY 10 – Pattern
When it came to patterns, the first thing that popped into my head was old Celtic carvings. They have been part or Irish culture for as far back as can […]
Inktober Day 8 – Frail
For Frail I chose a Ballyknocken church in Leighlinbridge that has a pretty funny story to it. Back in the 60s or 70s, it was decided to tear the whole […]
Inktober Day 7 – Enchanted
This was an easy one for me, as soon as I heard enchanted this house popped in my brain. It’s called the Doll House, but Skylar called it the Fairy […]
Inktober Day 5 – Build
This drawing is of one of my favorite buildings in Kilkenny, right at the historic John Street bridge, in the shadow of Kilkenny Castle. The reason I thought of this […]
Inktober Day 4 – Freeze
Well this was a tough one again. Mainly because I had an image in my head of one of the very common images around here, of an old stone house […]
Inktober Day 3 – BAIT
Ok, this one was a bit tough, I mean, when it comes to my theme. Bait can be very interesting in so many scenarios, but not so much when you […]
Inktober Day 2 – Mindless
Well day two and going strong. The word of the day is MINDLESS. Now you might wonder what mindless has to do with this castle. Well back in 1814, a […]
Inktober Day 1 – Ring
October has come around fast this year, though it’s hard to tell with the stores setting up their Christmas displays. For me though, October is all about Halloween and fall. […]
An Illustrated Journey Through Ireland – Philadelphia Solo Art Show
“I wanted real adventure to happen to myself. But real adventures, I reflected, do not happen to people who remain at home: they must be sought abroad. […]
Yes or No Vote in Ireland
UPDATE Very exciting news, the 8th was repealed today in a landslide victory for the YES vote. 66.4% voted for it. Results This is very exciting times to be […]
National Drawing Day
National Drawing Day has come and gone, but its a concept that never gets old. Started by the National Gallery or Ireland, its a day to inspire and motivate, from […]
The Barrow Track
One of the great things about the village of Leghlinbridge is it’s right on the banks of the Barrow River. The Barrow River is Ireland’s second longest river at 120 […]
How I Stumbled Into Comics?
It was many years ago that I stumbled into the comics business. I had been working for a toy/publishing company called Mail Mania and the company had gone through a […]
A Five Star Castle for Mom and Dad
Seeing how my parents were coming out to visit, we felt they needed to have a nice relaxing vacation. My sisters have them running ragged in their 70s; between soccer […]
Duckett’s Grove Anniversary
Celebrating our 4-year wedding anniversary, I am starting to remanence about all the amazing adventures Yvonne and I have had. We have traveled to over 16 countries together, lived in two […]
MichaelBencik.com — One Way Ticket – The Comic
One of the coolest things about traveling for nine months through Asia was has the ability to draw and illustrate a web comic as I went. It allowed me to […]