The Netminder's Brush

Hey guys! My iOS app - Goalie GO - that I developed as a hobby a while back has recently been approved by Apple! I had registered for an Apple Developer account - and didn’t want my idea or developer account subscription to go to waste - so I decided to release the app. “ Goalie GO ” is a simple tool to capture your game data in the crease! You can: - Log “Goals Against”, “Total Saves”, “Win” or “Loss” Result, and “Notes” for each match you play on the ice -  and see your “Lifetime Stats” populate on your dashboard! - Review your “Game History” to view and/or edit your game notes and other stats at any time! - Reset or Export a CSV file of all your stats! On the technical and privacy side of things, I wanted to be transparent and assure to any users of the app, the following details: - The app does not collect any user data in any server capacity - it only lives on your iPhone as a standalone software; - The app’s larger size (~300 MB) is due to ~17 encrypted 3D goalie mask models...

I'm very excited to share this update with you guys! Earlier this week, I discovered  marketiger  - a full colour 3D printing service based out of the Netherlands, I believe. I uploaded  my 3rd concept - NYC  mask shell model and artwork that I developed using Procreate 3D - and within a week the result came in the mail. Check out the pictures below! You'll observe that the miniature NYC goalie mask depicts an accurate, full colour  3D  print of the design I made. Just look at the details - personally, I was blown away! I'll definitely be adding this art piece to my airbrushing studio decor! I also look forward to printing some of my other design concepts I've made in the future - to add to my collection! What do you guys think!? Let me know in the comments below :) Have a great weekend! Cheers!

This piece is the first of a few that I’ve illustrated, that features comic panels on a goalie mask design. In this case, it’s a black-and-white strip with various action scenes. I didn’t quite cover the entire shell - limiting the design to eight panels only - as you’ll observe in the renderings below. In any case, this one took 4847 strokes in roughly four hours. What do you guys think about featuring comic panels on a goalie mask shell? Personally, I think it could be an interesting way to tell a netminder’s story… Let me know in the comments below! Cheers!

Hey guys! Here’s another one from my collection: “The Apprentice”.  Back in the day, I drew a rather comical rendition of Donald Trump, as featured in one of my MAD magazines. I decided in November of 2024, to try to make a goalie mask version of the drawing using Procreate 3D. As such, this one took me almost three hours, with 2064 strokes. Anyways, more concepts to come shortly!

Here we go again - another Cartoon Network classic: it’s “Samurai Jack”! I completed this mask in nearly three hours with 1371 strokes. Hope you’re having a good week! Cheers!

I actually really like this mask’s artwork and I hope you do too! It’s simple, but it works! I spent three hours on it for a total of 1397 strokes, back in November of 2024. It’s another cartoon-themed rendering, but from Nickelodeon this time… it’s “Catdog”! Below, you’ll notice it features the Catdog character along with the “Catdog” sign. I also went ahead and filled in the background with a slightly transparent fish and bone wallpaper. Moreover, I believe it was in this design that I started to get a hang of using coloured brushes in Procreate 3D too. I accepted that I didn’t have to colour within predefined sketch lines - I could define the general shapes of the illustration with the colours themselves, and simply layer over mistakes with the intended corrective colours afterwards. It saved me the step of sketching beforehand! So do you like this shell? What would you do differently? Let me know in the comment section below! Cheers!

After spending seven hours on this design - and 9800 strokes later - I decided to abandon this mask. It was simply taking too long as I got caught up on the little details. With that said, it’s supposed to loosely resemble Cartoon Network’s “Dexter’s Laboratory” - a show that I occasionally watched growing up. Anyways, what are your thoughts on the mask? Should I revisit it? Let me know in the comments below! Catch you later!

UPDATE (as of 02/13/2026): You now have three options! I recently discovered browsing Instagram that Apple's Made on iPad  campaign has released their own template for designing 3D goalie masks. Check out the links above - or search "Made on iPad" on Google! Cheers!

This has to be my second favourite mask that I've developed - the first, being one that I designed recently (which you'll have to stay tuned for, for a while to come!) I illustrated the artwork for this mask in four and a half hours - and a total of 3228 strokes! I just love how the King Kong design on the left side of the shell turned out - Kong scaling the Empire State Building, with the Statue of Liberty at his side. I also threw in a couple more pop culture references that I'm a fan of, including: Spiderman, The Watchmen's Comedian logo, and A graffiti of the word "Jungle" displayed on a brick wall Can you guess what this last reference is from? Hint: It's a well-known song by a popular artist from NYC! ( Scroll down to reveal the answer). Anyways, that's it for now! I hope you were inspired by this mask! I also hope that it brought up some ideas for your own artwork, maybe?! See you around! Answer: Did you guess it? It's an homage to JAY-Z...

About a week after my first mask concept - "Mountains", I wanted to design a cartoon-themed bucket in Procreate 3D. The decision to include illustrations from Cartoon Network's, "Courage the Cowardly Dog" was completely random - although I was a big fan of the show growing up! My favourite line from the TV series was obviously, Eustace exclaiming, " Stupid dog! You make me look bad! " In any case, in the renderings below, you'll immediately recognize Muriel and Eustace, on either side of the shell. However, Courage's usual  pinkish-purple-ish self , was designed somewhat more realistically - except with much sharper teeth. I also added some spooky octopus tentacles to add a horror element to the concept! With that said, I finished this mask in five hours, with a whopping 5092 strokes!  What do you guys think about this design? Feel free to leave a comment below! And I'll s ee you in the next post!

After buying my iPad in October of 2024, I deep dove into my goalie mask design hobby right away! Below, you'll find renderings of my very first concept - "Mountains". I took inspiration from a shell design I had found browsing currently popular artists - in this case, Friedesigns . This piece took me just over four hours to complete, in 4239 strokes. I was very impressed with the result, quite honestly - being my first design and all! The landscape imagery - although being illustrative in style - still looked rather realistic. And because I didn't apply very many colours, the process of designing felt a lot like sketching! Overall, it was a fun, addictive and intuitive, first experience - with the help of Procreate 3D! Anyways, a lot more to come! Feel free to comment below what you think about this design!

Welcome to my blog - The Netminder's Brush! It's been a little over a year now (~ October 2024), since I decided to try my hand at designing goalie masks. In fact, I bought myself a new iPad and airbrushing system around the time Apple and the NHL launched their "Made with iPad" (goalie mask artwork) advertisement campaign. A NYC-themed, turntable rendering of one of my first designs - featuring King Kong and Spider-Man. Since then, I've created concepts for roughly 40 goalie mask shells. You'll find one of the first designs I made in the video above. With that said, I plan to share my remaining designs over the next series of posts - so stay tuned! Anyways, the reason for which I've started this blog is to document my journey with developing the craft - as sort of a personal, yet public, time-capsule that not only motivates me, but inspires and helps others as well. Here, I plan to archive the mask concepts I've come up with, as well as document my le...