nokkiart

[nokkiart]

Now that he’s been officially announced, I can finally mention that DK is the other Nintendo character I got to work on! I didn’t have as big a part in working on DK as I did with Toad, but I did do A LOT of sewing to get this boy together. The last photo is from when I was working on his hands. You can see just how massive he is!

It looks like Universal made a few changes to the final costume that we fabricated for them. But there are definitely still parts of him we made that were used in the Epic Universe version 😊

Someday I hope I can meet both my boys in the park 💖

(Video by TheKrystalPalace)

[nokkiart]

As a long time httyd fan who has been heavily involved in the fandom since the first movie and who has spent years working in the animation industry, I’d like to share my thoughts on the new httyd movie. Keep in mind, this is just my personal opinion and it's completely fine if you disagree with me. I just want to say a little something about all this that really bothers me.

The core reason that Dreamworks and Universal made this film is that it’s a quick and easy cash grab for them. Thats it. They don’t care about telling a good story or making a “better” version of the original movie for fans or even having an accurate portrayal of the characters/story. It’s purely about money. They know that fans of the original film will go see this movie, whether it’s good or bad. And those guaranteed ticket sales are all that matter to the studios. And with Universal, it has the added bonus of being a cheap promotional and merchandising opportunity for the new HTTYD land in Orlando that opens around the same time that the film is premiering in theaters.

And to help the studios make even more money out of this, they are using non-unionized VFX companies around the world to make this film, so that they can get cheaper labor and push the artists to do more that would be against American union standards. The same thing has probably happened with the costuming and fabrication for the filming, hence why the costumes look un-weathered and the sets look cheap. They don’t want to pay for the extra time and effort that it would take to make the practical bits of the production look good.

On top of all this, Dreamworks has already announced that they’re shutting down all their in-house animation projects in favor of using AI and outsourcing projects to cheaper international non-union studios.

With all this in mind, I just can’t support this film and I will not be seeing it in theaters. And I hope that others will do the same.

The only way to stop all these horrible “live action” remakes (which are actually just realistically animated remakes) is to not buy tickets to see them. Money is all that matters to these studios, and if they don’t make any money off of it, then they will stop and try something different. Maybe they'll even go back to focusing on original stories!

That’s the power that we hold as audiences. Our wallets help drive the decisions that the executives make. So support unique storytelling and gorgeous cinematography in movies. Support indie films. Support animators as they're fighting for fair pay and better contracts. But don't support a mediocre shot-for-shot remake riding on the coattails of an already successful film.

And I just want to wrap all this up by saying I have absolutely no hate towards anyone that has worked on the new film. Toothless looks incredible and I know the artists and creatives involved in this project did the best they could with what they were given.

But I also know that those same artists have so many more brilliant ideas that they would’ve loved to be given the creative freedom to do. I just wish hollywood would be willing to take a chance and let them do it.

[nokkiart]

I had the opportunity to go to Epic Universe on Saturday, and since this is probably the only time I'll ever be able to go, I wanted to do something special for the Vikings of Berk. So I made mini gouache paintings for all the characters and handed out a ton of Astrid/Stormfly stickers to the other vikings.

Ruff and Tuff were so nice to spare a minute for me, since I caught them while they were trying to go somewhere.

And Astrid was the absolute sweetest and loved the lil painting so much. She said that Stormfly had been in an extra cuddly mood lately so it was perfect. She also said that she was going to tell on me to Hiccup because I said that she and Stormfly were my favs. And we just had such a lovely chat. I hope I made their days as much as they made mine ~<3

I was so emotional being there and nearly cried so many times. Berk is perfect and is absolutely the best part of Epic Universe. It was a literal dream come true.

[nokkiart]

Happy International Asexuality Day to all my fellow Aces out there!

Treat yourself to some ace-cream today! XD ~<3

EDIT: Some folks were asking what flavors these would be, so my personal top choices would be: dark chocolate icecream with oreo bits on top, lavender earl grey icecream, chocolate chip icecream, and ube icecream on the bottom! ^^ ~<3

[nokkiart]

I made this to explain Astrid's Epic Universe look to a friend. Her costume is a mashup of all 3 movie's outfits, and also Toothless' harness for some reason.

I think the designers made some interesting choices and at least it doesnt look bad. It just caught me off guard the first time I saw photos of her XD

[nokkiart]

Late night scribble while thinking about how amazing a show with Dreamfinder and Figment would be.

They could journey thru the Realms of Imagination and create things to solve problems. That would be a dream-come-true project if I could work on something like that 😭🙌💕

[nokkiart]

My heart is so shattered over the news about Zombies Run. I can't even fully process it with everything else happening right now. I wish I could give everyone at Six To Start the biggest hug to thank them for everything they've done over the years.

Anyway, I think this painting from 2 years ago sums up my feelings pretty well. ;;A;;

[nokkiart]

Reunited at last~

[nokkiart]

This is a little different, but I wanted to share some love for the Yogscast. They’re an independently owned studio and gaming channel, and right now, it’s very important that we support as many smaller studios as we can. Especially ones that also support amazing charities and causes, like the Yogscast does. And they just genuinely seem like such fun folks.

I’ve been following their youtube for a few years now and its so nice to see a gaming channel that’s just about having fun with friends and not necessarily being competitive, especially when I’ve had a rough day and I just need a laugh. So shoutout to the yogscast for being amazing.

I thought it’d be fun to draw a few of their TTT player’s models in a lineup, which ended up being a good drawing exercise because they have such diverse designs! ^^

[nokkiart]

USA people! Buy NOTHING Feb 28 2025. Not anything. 24 hours. No spending. Buy the day before or after but nothing. NOTHING. February 28 2025. Not gas. Not milk. Not something on a gaming app. Not a penny spent. (Only option in a crisis is local small mom and pop. Nothing. Else.) Promise me. Commit. 1 day. 1 day to scare the shit out of them that they don't get to follow the bullshit executive orders. They don't get to be cowards. If they do, it costs. It costs.

Then, if you can join me for Phase 2. March 7 2025 thtough March 14 2025? No Amazon. None. 1 week. No orders. Not a single item. Not one ebook. Nothing. 1 week. Just 1.

If you live outside the USA boycott US products on February 28 2025 and stand in solidarity with us and also join us for the week of no Amazon.

Are you with me?

Spread the word.

[nokkiart]

Recently I saw the cast member costumes for the new HTTYD land at Epic Universe, and I was rather disappointed to say the least.

So as someone who has experience in costume fabrication for theme parks, as well as years of experience physically working inside theme parks (and also as someone who ran around in Cali and FL in an Astrid costume for years), I decided to spend the morning doodling my own versions of what I think the staff costumes should look like to fit in better with the Berk theming.

My main focus of these designs was staff comfort, considering the Florida heat and the amount of physical labor that cast members have to do daily. Simple lightweight materials could help cool staff as well as hidden pockets under the fur fabric for ice packs. All these costumes have the same base shirt and pants to help simplify production. The shoe covers could easily be worn over any tennis shoe, so there’s no need to worry about custom footwear either.

There's much more that I can think of for the Berk costumes, including ponchos and jackets, but I've already spent more time on these than I should have.

And the best part is that these costumes don’t include a baseball cap with horns on it… -_-

[nokkiart]

Good morning~

Just a little 5AM cuteness ~<3

[nokkiart]

Good morning~

Just a little 5AM cuteness ~<3

[nokkiart]

A random idea that popped into my head right after I was laid off was a story about a dragon befriending a penguin. It helped give me something to work on and to pull myself out of the burnout from my previous job. It also helped clear my mind for a bit.

I’m not sure I’ll ever do anything with them, but I’m grateful that they helped me thru such a difficult time 💕

[nokkiart]

A random idea that popped into my head right after I was laid off was a story about a dragon befriending a penguin. It helped give me something to work on and to pull myself out of the burnout from my previous job. It also helped clear my mind for a bit.

I’m not sure I’ll ever do anything with them, but I’m grateful that they helped me thru such a difficult time 💕

[nokkiart]

This time it’s character studies with Peter!

I love Peter so much. He’s one of those characters that’s so expressive that there are endless possibilities when drawing him. These are only about half the drawings of him that I made this session. XD

Thank you to Peter’s voice actor and the ZR writers for giving us such an amazing and hilariously complex character.

[nokkiart]

More expression studies. This time with everyone's favorite radio operator, Sam Yao!