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Here Is Your Chance - Cover (Remake) [RUS]

A remake of the cover for my TLK fancomic, "Here Is Your Chance". This is the Russian-language version of the cover, the original English version was in a different file, but the text is the same.

I am going to start posting this comic here, as well. This is a TLK2 AU story where Vitani and Nuka get tired of their secondary role in Zira's plan, and decide to take matters into their own paws.

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Vista's Siesta

A gift drawing I made for my friend @tumbleweed-chaser for her birthday. Her character Vista on her little farm with her geese :)

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Tag! You're It!

Another simple drawing with Kiara! For the most part I'm drawing my TLK fancomics (I'm posting them on DeviantArt), but pages with so many things going on can be exhausting. Something like this is good as a break from all the comic pages.

The background was supposed to be drawn in the movie style, but simplified. I was also planning to make a sticker with a similar pose based on the same sketch, but I've never drawn anything that can be a sticker, so we'll see.

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Exploring the Kingdom

A new drawing with Kiara! It's been a while since I've drawn something simple and colorful like this :)

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Best Friends AU: Swingset

Another illustration for Best Friends AU! Vitani seems to like these vine swings. Probably because she thinks they're doing a balance and coordination training. I wonder what she will think if Kiara tells her this "training" is "just" for fun...

Other illustrations for this AU:

Best Friends (AU)

“Give up, Pridelander!“

Best Friends AU: Tug Of War

Best Friends AU: Tree Climbing Contest

Best Friends AU: Mud Fight

Best Friends AU: Look!

Best Friends AU: Hide and Seek

Best Friends AU: Training

Best Friends AU: Summer Adventures

Best Friends AU: Birthday Boy

Best Friends AU: Cool story, bro!

Best Friends AU: Flower Crowns

Best Friends AU: Flower Crowns for Everyone

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Present Princess, Future Queen

Another drawing with Kiara. I wanted to draw something simple that captures the character's vibe :)

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Vista feat. goose

A gift drawing I made for my friend @tumbleweed-chaser for her birthday. Her character Vista feat. goose :)

I got the idea for this drawing in autumn, which is why there are autumn motifs on this illustration.

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"Can I trust in my own heart? Or am I just one part of some big plan?"

A new drawing with Kiara! The colors in this scene are so lovely, I wanted to draw something with them :)

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"Two Worlds"

This illustration was supposed to be for The Lion King 2 25th anniversary, but it's been almost two months since then. This is very late for the anniversary of course, but it was already started, and this was another opportunity to show my appreciation for Simba's Pride. I love this movie's story, its nuanced portrayal of the main conflict, and of course, the amazing, multifaceted characters!

This illustration was made in a half-drawn, half-painted style that I've never tried before. I think the result looks good overall! The process was quite difficult, though, because Photoshop kept lagging and glitching. I had to redo some parts of the work because of that, and the coloring part had to be done in FireAlpaca.

I have also made a time-lapse video of the process! You can find it here:

Two Worlds (The Lion King 2 Anniversary Fanart Illustration) - Speedpaint (time-lapse)

The video editing process was also not easy, it was compiled from many small video fragments, and was rendered in parts. Some parts of the process are missing, mainly because of technical difficulties, but the video is already long enough. I've added time codes, and there are also some notes within the video on some parts of the process. The colors in the beginning of the video changed during the video editing and rendering process, not exactly sure why.

I think this video is an a lot more comprehensive time-lapse than my previous video, though!

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Best Friends AU: Flower Crowns for Everyone

A sequel to my previous Flower Crowns drawing, an illustration for my Lion King 2 AU, “Best Friends”. Nala watching over the kids is also relevant to this AU story.

Other illustrations for this AU:

Best Friends (AU)

“Give up, Pridelander!“

Best Friends AU: Tug Of War

Best Friends AU: Tree Climbing Contest

Best Friends AU: Mud Fight

Best Friends AU: Look!

Best Friends AU: Hide and Seek

Best Friends AU: Training

Best Friends AU: Summer Adventures

Best Friends AU: Birthday Boy

Best Friends AU: Cool story, bro!

Best Friends AU: Flower Crowns

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Best Friends AU: Flower Crowns

"Uhh, thanks, Kiara, but these things are not for me..."

"Oh, they're not only for you! Rafiki's made two more for your brothers!"

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New illustration for my Lion King 2 AU, “Best Friends”! Not sure about the colors, I'm on laptop now, and it displays colors somewhat differently.

Other illustrations for this AU:

Best Friends (AU)

“Give up, Pridelander!“

Best Friends AU: Tug Of War

Best Friends AU: Tree Climbing Contest

Best Friends AU: Mud Fight

Best Friends AU: Look!

Best Friends AU: Hide and Seek

Best Friends AU: Training

Best Friends AU: Summer Adventures

Best Friends AU: Birthday Boy

Best Friends AU: Cool story, bro!

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“The Shaman of the Outlands”

Nuka, the Dork Dark Shaman :)

Okay, to be serious, this idea is also connected to my oldest and most thoroughly considered Lion King 2 theory, that throughout the whole movie, Nuka expected Kovu to betray the Outsiders. The theory itself is in the caption for this drawing, and there is also an addition here. Interestingly enough, Nuka seems to be quite perceptive, at least when it comes to his family and hopes. Besides the main point of the theory, there is also a curious detail that Nuka's role in the movie involves a lot of foreshadowing, like the part of "My Lullaby" where he basically predicted his own death. His good intuition, no doubt the result of Zira's unpredictable treatment of him, also seems to be the reason why he shows certain skill as a tactician/strategist, which can be seen in the ambush scene. This could have been a great asset for the Outsiders, if Zira actually bothered to listen to him. So, this is what this AU is about.

What would happen if Nuka decided to be more proactive and take matters into his own paws, pretending to have shaman powers and channel spirits to make Zira and Vitani finally listen to him? Would Zira and the other Outsiders actually start taking him seriously after it starts looking like his "powers" can be used to aid their effort to conquer the Pridelands? Perfect tactics developed based on what he can "sense"! This story begins when one day, Nuka deliberately hits his head on a tree branch and pretends to lose consciousness. When he wakes up, he brings Zira and Vitani unbelievable news: he had a vision of Scar, who told him that Kovu will soon betray the Outsiders. An enraged Zira hits Nuka, who pretends to lose consciousness once again. This time, upon waking up, he tells her more: if tomorrow, the day before being sent to the Pridelands, Kovu will say that he's worried about not being able to find Kiara in the flames, it's a sure sign that he'll betray them. Zira calls him ridiculous as Vitani laughs, but it stops being funny when the next day, Kovu says just that.

Vitani becomes concerned, while Zira insists it was just a coincidence. Vitani later talks to Nuka, and he "reveals" that he's always had some vague sense of "spiritual connection", and could tell that something was wrong about Kovu. "It's just your jealousy", says Vitani, but it's clear that she begins to have doubts. After Kovu departs for his mission, Nuka has another "vision", and tells Zira that Simba will accept Kovu into the pride, but won't let him sleep in the cave. Of course, that was to be expected, but it nevertheless looks suspicious when it happens just like Nuka said. Zira is still not convinced, but she can't deny that something is up with Nuka out of anyone making three correct guesses in a row. Next day, Nuka tells Zira that Kovu won't attack Simba in the morning, because Kiara will get in the way. What this wording means, who knows (certainly not Nuka), but once again, Zira's spies bring her the news: Kovu looked like he was about to attack Simba at the waterhole, but Kiara jumped out in front of him out of nowhere. Zira turns to Nuka, who can't believe his luck that his "prediction" turned out to be so literal (he only meant that Kovu likes Kiara and that would stop him!), and demands answers. Trying to regain his composure, Nuka says that he can sense these things, and Scar's spirit gives him clues. Remembering Rafiki and what they know about him, the Outsiders come to the conclusion that hitting his head on a branch "unlocked" Nuka's dormant shaman powers. Shamanism and predictions aren't really Zira's thing, but she can't deny that Rafiki's abilities are the real deal, and the Pridelands having what her pride lacks yet again was making her furious. If her pride had a shaman, that would even out the power imbalance at least a little bit... And there is no more perfect candidate for this role in her pride than Nuka, with his eccentric personality, and not really being good for anything else. She starts thinking about many other times when Nuka seemingly accidentally turned out to be right about something, or even instances where she'd swat at him, and he'd duck just at the right moment, like that one time in a tree.

Scar had chosen Kovu to be his successor, but perhaps that was because he had different plans for his biological son, thinks Zira. She had scoffed at the rumor that Simba could feel Mufasa's presence, thinking that these foolish pridelanders use this story to glorify and mystify their "wonderful" new king. But maybe there is some truth to it, and Nuka can really channel his father Scar? And if Kovu will really turn out to be a traitor like Nuka says, then better safe than sorry. So Zira appoints Nuka the pride's shaman, and Nuka, beside himself with joy, delves into his work in his new shaman residence. ----

Apparently this is also the first time I've drawn Nuka in the Elephant Graveyard, which is strange, because he's strongly associated with this location in the fandom, and his dialogue in the movie also implies that he's been there more than once, most likely starting as a cub, because the hyenas were still there. Of course, this place also "connects" Nuka and Scar. Nuka's staff is the same tree branch that he's hit his head on. For how long will he be able to keep up with the charade? Not sure yet, but it's a mystery why I didn't come up with the idea of a charlatan shaman Nuka earlier, it seems like such an intriguing AU idea now.

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A gift drawing I made for my friend @tumbleweed-chaser for her birthday last month - Cletus from the game Deponia, and her character Vista. Love her design!

This drawing was also a bit of an experiment for me, I haven't drawn anything in this exact style before.

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I watched Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (which is a very good movie!), and decided to draw my favorite character from it, Perrito! He's adorable, and his character is more complex than it seems at first glance.

For some reason it's a lot more difficult for me to draw a character in my own style if the original style is in 3D, especially with the colors and shading. I looked through so many photos of merle chihuahuas for reference.

I'm not sure if this has been pointed out yet, but Perrito's merle coloration might be meaningful, and it's probably connected to his sad backstory. Merle dogs often have health problems (especially "double merle", when a dog gets the gene from both parents) and for that reason, they are often excluded from the breed standard.

Perrito appears to be a purebred chihuahua of merle coloration, so it's possible that the "family" he lived with were some sort of unethical breeders. Either they intentionally bred dogs with this gene, or maybe the opposite, they didn't want a merle puppy. In the latter case, probably the only merle-colored puppy in his litter and also a runt, Perrito couldn't be sold like the other puppies or used for breeding, which might be why they tried to give him away and then tried to get rid of him. His coloration also explains his blue eyes, I don't think it's a random design choice.

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A short one-page TLK/TLG fan comic drawn with markers - Lions of the Outlands, Alternate Ending. A little bit of explanation about this:

Before the actual “Lions of the Outlands” episode came out, I had a dream that the episode came out early and I was watching it, and the Outsider cubs were fighting the Lion Guard. Vitani was fighting Fuli (same as in the actual trailer) and Kovu was reluctantly fighting Jasiri, and it seemed like the Outsiders were winning, but Nuka was fighting Beshte (lol) to show his mother how tough he is, and his fighting style was mostly long leaps and fast movements (it was very well-animated and in the style of the movies with shots from different angles, but well, it was a dream, so…). That was a pretty successful tactic, and Beshte looked genuinely impressed and said something like “Hey everyone, this guy is actually good at this!” and Nuka stopped in surprise and was all “You… really think so?”, and he looked so proud that someone complimented him, especially in front of his mother, but Vitani was like “No!” because he got distracted and the Guard won.

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A Sunny Day

New TLK drawing! A bit of a style experiment, with a specific brush and some effects and blending modes used for the leaves. I still draw grass manually, though.

Even when she's resting and having a lazy day, Kiara is a curious kid :)

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It's been a while since I posted here, but here's a new Lion King fan art drawing! Nuka, deep in thought.

This illustration is an addition to this theory I came up with some time ago, that Nuka expected Kovu to betray the Outsiders the whole time, and that he also made a correct assumption about the reason for Kovu's future betrayal. You can read the description in the linked post for more context on this theory.

The more I think about the scene where Zira and Nuka watch Kovu's progress in the Pridelands, the more I become convinced that this theory is actually correct, at least to some degree. I can't think of any other important purpose for this scene than to show that Nuka is suspicious of Kovu, while Zira is certain of his loyalty.

So here is Nuka, looking at Zira training Kovu and contemplating on whether to tell his mother outright that Kovu is going to betray them. Is it even a good idea to tell her? If so, how? Lay out all the evidence that she's set to ignore? Would she be even less likely to take Nuka seriously after this, and see him as a loser slandering his brother out of jealousy and bias? Would she blame Nuka for Kovu's betrayal if he does betray them, and Nuka is certain that he will?

And she will blame Nuka if Kovu betrays them. It was him who was supposed to be watching Kovu back then, and he lost sight of him, and Kovu met the Princess, which led to this chain of events. Oh, his mother will never forgive him...

He needs to warn his mother about Kovu's likely betrayal. But he knows that he will be dismissed, and then likely blamed after it happens. So he can only drop hints, and hope that Zira and Vitani will pick up on them. And when he fears it may backfire, he can play ignorant.

And with this, "I'm sorry, Mother. I tried" gets an additional layer. "I'm sorry, Mother. I tried to be a worthy heir, but wasn't good enough for you. I tried to warn you about Kovu, but couldn't get you to listen. When he inevitably betrayed us, I tried to do what you wanted in his stead. I failed on all accounts, and I'm sorry."

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I tried a few new things art-wise, I think this made this illustration look more interesting. Also, I have recorded the process in parts and composed a time-lapse video, you can watch it here.