magpiemalarkey

[magpiemalarkey]

Yet another OC turned Fallen London character. Ember Niemand is my alt account, tho actually the one I am currently playing the most as I am stuck on needing a particular home to progress my ambition on my main and decided I needed a break!

Only to almost immediately slam into "grinding for boat" hell with Ember. Oh well, at least progress is happening. (or was. it's whitsun at the time of this post and thus it's time for EGG)

Like Finn, Ember leans in a sort of "messing with things you should not" direction, but while Finn is interested in prestige and power alongside knowledge (or as a means to acquire knowledge) Ember has a lot more disdain for authority and society. So it'll be fun to explore some avenues and areas with them that I don't with Finn! Originally they were a sorta cyberpunk character it's been fun figuring out how to translate that to the Neath's more steampunk/"weird tales" vibe!

[magpiemalarkey]

Yet another OC turned Fallen London character. Ember Niemand is my alt account, tho actually the one I am currently playing the most as I am stuck on needing a particular home to progress my ambition on my main and decided I needed a break!

Only to almost immediately slam into "grinding for boat" hell with Ember. Oh well, at least progress is happening. (or was. it's whitsun at the time of this post and thus it's time for EGG)

Like Finn, Ember leans in a sort of "messing with things you should not" direction, but while Finn is interested in prestige and power alongside knowledge (or as a means to acquire knowledge) Ember has a lot more disdain for authority and society. So it'll be fun to explore some avenues and areas with them that I don't with Finn! Originally they were a sorta cyberpunk character it's been fun figuring out how to translate that to the Neath's more steampunk/"weird tales" vibe!

[magpiemalarkey]

Decided I was in the mood to do a portrait of the Fallen London version of my oc, Finn. They are so sane and hinged and only involved in normal respectable activities, thank you for asking.

[magpiemalarkey]

With the news that Tumblr has slashed its staff down to the bare bones, feels like a good time to remind folks that I am also on BlueSky. My account there functions a bit like a sketchblog, but with more reblogging of various other things, though kinda sporadic! Much like my posting here!

You can also check out my pinned post here for more places to see my art or support me.

That said, like many a long-time tumblr user, I am not abandoning this place and will continue to erratically post here until the site dies for real.

[magpiemalarkey]

With the news that Tumblr has slashed its staff down to the bare bones, feels like a good time to remind folks that I am also on BlueSky. My account there functions a bit like a sketchblog, but with more reblogging of various other things, though kinda sporadic! Much like my posting here!

You can also check out my pinned post here for more places to see my art or support me.

That said, like many a long-time tumblr user, I am not abandoning this place and will continue to erratically post here until the site dies for real.

[magpiemalarkey]

Gosh I miss Photoshop 7-9's little icons. 7 is great. It's got character and color and an eye looking through a camera lens, I think. Pretty sure that's a lens. Been awhile since I handled a real camera. Anyway! It feels a little playful, while also being somewhat representative of the program.

The minimalist blue boxes era is boring and depressing. It's not even good as a unifying "brand identity" thing anymore because I have like half a dozen minimalist blue boxes in my taskbar rn and I am always clicking the wrong one if I click in haste. This would not be a problem if there was some interesting and creative design to break it up a bit.

And like, I know some of the minimalism is due to people doing everything on tiny phone screens now, but I have apps with fun distinct icons! We can have fun distinct icons!

this is like going to art school and having your creativity ripped to shreds

[magpiemalarkey]

I've been dithering a bit, trying to remember to do self-promo at a "good time" but eh, this is a good enough time. I made some more stickers combining 2 things I like (ghosts & the post) & tried out the holographic option RedBubble added on an old fave sticker set! Get 'em here!

[magpiemalarkey]

to anyone missing my writing please know i am also missing my writing

[magpiemalarkey]

I'm looking to raise a chunk of cash in a short amount of time, so I'm briefly opening up some COLLAB BUST COMMISSIONS at a cheaper rate than I'd normally charge.

£30 GBP will get you one bust of a character of your choice, with sketch + lines by me, and colours + shading by @stopboorider !

If you're interested, check below cut for more details:

We're currently only offering coloured + shaded busts, like the one in the example image above, sent as a digital image. Art can be sent with a transparent background on request.

Visual references with colour are required. If you want to request art of someone else's OC, please provide proof that you have permission to commission art of them.

Willing to draw most types of characters, as long as the general head shape is humanoid! Extra limbs such as wings won't be included. Major injuries, complex outfits and accessories, etc. may be subject to consideration.

Payment will be required up front via Paypal invoice. Art may take up to a month to be completed depending on health.

Since these are discounted commissions, we won't be accepting any edit requests or sharing sketches - what you get is what you'll get! That being said, you're free to edit the image you receive however you like once you receive it if there's anything you want to adjust.

If you're interested, DM me here on Tumblr and we'll work out the details!

[magpiemalarkey]

Your original WIP is getting an adaptation! Spin this wheel to find out what it is!

Feel free to ramble about your results in the tags!

[magpiemalarkey]

The Color Trends for 2025

[magpiemalarkey]

i love drawing so much. utterly obsessed with the concept that i can just. go ahead and draw a guy. will he be a perfect representation of what i had in mind? probably not. but he exists now where previously there was absolutely nothing and i think that’s pretty cool

[magpiemalarkey]

okay, yes, I know that comma isn't supposed to be there but I want the reader to take a breath! I want a pause! Stop trying to correct me, I'm trying to control the flow of reading

[magpiemalarkey]

The art advice that helped me take the first step towards repairing my relationship with making art is "give yourself permission to not make any art"

Which sounds entirely counter intuitive, I wholly realize this, but if you're in a headspace where you just. Constantly have expectations of yourself. The best thing to do is take a step back. I was constantly fighting my brain about making art. And taking a dedicated break from the self imposed expectation to make things was extremely helpful. Sometimes I think there is worth in the idea of just. Being ok with the idea of not being productive. And it hurts and is scary especially if a lot of your self worth is based on your ability to produce art but. If youre stuck, perhaps it's your brain saying it needs a break and forcing it isn't gonna make it better

You're not gonna lose your passion for art. I was extremely afraid I'd never make art again if I allowed myself to stop expecting myself to make art. But as artists, that's not a realistic outcome. You WILL make art again. And you WILL enjoy it. You just have to give yourself the space to actively not make art first, so that your brain later will naturally come around to the idea of being creative again on its own

[magpiemalarkey]

I still think these sort of things sometimes, but if there was any benefit to art school, it was a structured environment where I had to submit myself to critique multiple times a week and every single teacher would just shut you down if you started to put down your own work or be self-deprecating in any way.

And part of that was very much like "hey, be nice to yourself and let your audience come up with their own opinions on your work" and some of it was like "if you are showing work to potential clients and you tell them your work is bad, do you think you are going to get hired?" lmao.

Anyway, it pretty much killed my habit of preemptively pointing out flaws. Like, I have lapses or ways my brain still tries to wiggle something past that filter, but generally the filter catches it and reminds me that We Don't Do This. And it's given me a much healthier relationship with my art and made me relax about sharing stuff. Somewhat. Look. I'm an anxious person and I'm doing my best, lmao.

you'll get the urge as an artist or a writer to say out loud the things you're worried about "the proportions are off" "kind of out of character" "i'm not good at summaries" "didn't get as much detail as i wanted" "i made a mistake and here's how" and that's the self-conscious part of your brain telling you "it's bad and if you don't tell them you know it's bad then they'll think you're stupid" but you've got to ignore that little voice and pretend you think it's good or else that little voice is going to ruin your life

[magpiemalarkey]

It's Fallen London's 15th birthday! Which is a good excuse to look through my posts and realize I've apparently not shared any art of the FL incarnation of Finn (he/they), my main account.

So here's a pic of Finn showing off their cool Feast of the Rose tattoo! I cannot believe it's almost Feast of the Rose time again, lmao!

[magpiemalarkey]

Look, I am a freelance artist who does illustrated book covers and I try to keep my prices for indie folks somewhat affordable, but I know it's still a big expense that many indie writers can't really afford.

And I would much, much rather y'all make a nice simple cover yourself than use AI. (I mean,frankly, if I see AI art on the cover, I am going to assume you used AI to write the thing too.)

And as someone who is weirdly passionate about book covers, this is a really nice breakdown of tools and resources, plus a guide to putting it all together to make something that looks very nice and professional!

Too many writers are using generative 'AI' to make their book covers, so I've written a guide on how to make your own cover for free or cheap without turning to a machine.

If you can't afford to pay an artist, you CAN make your own!

I hope this is a helpful overview that covers the basics and points to some free resources.