polarlightszine - Tumblr blog

[polarlightszine]

[Image ID: Digital art of several long-tailed ducks in different plumages. In the front, a family of a breeding female, five chicks, and a breeding male swims in a lake surrounded by long orange and green vegetation. On the right side, a non-breeding male and female fly in the sky. There are purple mountains in the background.

Each duck is labeled with a number 1-5. The bottom of the image is captioned with "LONG-TAILED DUCK -- Clangula hyemalis" and labels for the ducks' sex and plumage. /End ID]

here is my full piece for this year's @polarlightszine! the zine is still available for $2+ at polarlightszine.itch.io, and all proceeds go to the antarctic and southern ocean coalition

[polarlightszine]

One of my pieces for the @polarlightszine featuring Arctic Terns - the birds that have the longest migration route, going from one pole to the other and back in a year. Impressive little guys!

You can get this gorgeous anthology about the Arctic and Antarctic life on https://polarlightszine.itch.io/ and support a good cause 💙

[polarlightszine]

Happy Earth Day!

Here’s my piece I made for the 2024 edition of @polarlightszine. My piece is on the southern right whale.

You can buy a copy of this years and last year’s copy from their itch.io shop

All proceeds go to Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition and you get to see a bunch of amazing works in the zine! 🤩

[polarlightszine]

Happy Earth Day!

I got to write a piece for Polar Lights 2 (@polarlightszine) about an arctic ground squirrel.

The zine is still available to purchase on itch.io. It only costs US$2, and proceeds go toward the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition.

The zine is a beautiful collection of art and writings about the animals that live in the polar regions. I can't recommend it enough. (You can also still buy last years zine, which I also wrote for.)

Read my piece below the cut:

Moving

The sun shines down on the partially snow-covered tundra, the days becoming longer and warmer. Snow melt can be heard trickling down through the rocky landscape towards the river. It’s also the first time in eight months that Sik, an arctic ground squirrel, peeks his head outside of his burrow.

His burrow rests beneath a rock, lined with leaves and muskox hair, and filled with gathered dry grass and nuts to eat while the tundra hasn’t started growing yet. It lies near a river, roaring as it cuts through the landscape. The location has served him well the past few years, and he expects it to stay that way.

While Sik may have just woken up, there’s already much to start doing. The biggest part is making sure his territory stays his. Over the next few days, he patrols, starting small and moving out as he secures his old territory. Unlike previous years, however, he doesn’t come across many younglings trying to get their own share of land. At first it seems to be because of the increased population of lynxes.

Then he notices that the river has been getting closer to his burrow than the day before. He hasn’t seen any females, either, and they should be coming out of hibernation by now, too.

Did the others already leave? Or are they lost to the flow?

He notices that night that his burrow is wetter than it should be.

He’ll have to be careful, looking for a new place to burrow. Not only will he be foraging for food, he’ll be moving through other squirrel territories and past predator homes. He shouldn’t have to go far, really, but the extent of the flooding is unknown.

Sik leaves his burrow and his home the next day, the river ebbing ever closer, too close now to wait.

It’s not easy finding a good place for a new burrow, or even an abandoned burrow. Sik has to skirt around other territories, or risk a fight he doesn't want right now. Most of the squirrels he comes across have had the time to establish themselves, while he has to start over.

It takes even longer because he has to pause to listen for predators. Since he isn’t near his own burrow, he’ll have to keep watch for places to hide. While there are plenty of rocks with space beneath them to hide for a short time, they aren’t good for making a new home. The ground sometimes is too frozen; other times it’s too close to another squirrel.

With the snow nearly gone and plants starting to grow, finding food on the go isn't a problem. Sik eats almost anything he can find, whether that’s stems and leaves or insects and carrion. He knows he has to eat plenty, since finding a new home will take more of his time and energy than normal.

One day, he hears calls about a bear in the area. He doesn’t bother looking or scenting himself; if one squirrel calls it, he doesn’t need to question it. He goes for the nearest burrow entrance, hoping he won’t be chased right back out into the bear’s claws.

To Sik’s surprise, he isn’t chased out, and it actually smells as though no squirrel has burrowed here for a long time. It goes deep, deeper than his old home, but is still dry and cozy the whole way. The entrance he used isn’t well covered, but there is another that sits below a large, lichen-covered stone.

There are tunnels to other burrows, but it seems they’re all empty. The squirrel he heard before must belong to a different network of burrows, a nearby colony separate from what he finds himself in now.

He scouts the area, finding that there’s plenty of food to be had. There’s enough for him to start eating for the winter, and saving some for next spring. He decides that, for now at least, it’s a good place to stay.

The summer goes on, the days never ending. He can tell the colony nearby has had a good year for young. Before, the males made sure he stayed away, but as the summer wanes, they’re more friendly towards him.

The fall settles in, and the young are more mobile. While the adults have had the time to gather food and fatten up for winter, the young are running on a shorter timeline. The females have started settling already as the days grow shorter and colder, not to be seen again until the days are warmer once more.

Sik isn’t alone anymore, as some of the young and even some of the adults move into the burrows alongside his own. They help each other find fur and leaves to line the old burrows, and grass and nuts to squirrel away.

He can feel drowsiness settle into his bones, and he goes to sleep. The other squirrels may be his competition when he wakes again, but at least he won’t be as alone this time.

[polarlightszine]

my piece for @polarlightszine volume 2!!

it was such a lovely experience to be a part of the second volume as well!! everyone on this zine has done an amazing job and check out the zine if you want some really cool arctic themed art!!!

[polarlightszine]

Happy Earth Day! 🌍

One of my pieces for the @polarlightszine featuring Hourglass Dolphins 🐬

You can get this gorgeous anthology about the Arctic and Antarctic life on https://polarlightszine.itch.io/ and support a good cause 💙

[polarlightszine]

my piece for @polarlightszine!

u can buy the full zine here

[polarlightszine]

POLAR LIGHTS 2: DAWN; a charity anthology is still live! All proceeds go to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition and you can grab a copy right now for as little as $2!

I had an amazing time participating in @polarlightszine with my classmate @tincanfish as we collaborated on an illustration poem combo about the Deep Sea! If you'd like to see it, alongside such other amazing art, please consider getting the zine here!

[polarlightszine]

Aside from the cover, I drew an interior illo for Polar Lights: Dawn @polarlightszine!

The zine's full of great art and writing, and we're raising funds to donate to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, so be sure to grab a copy! It's only $2.

❄️ Find it here: https://polarlightszine.itch.io/polar-lights-2

[polarlightszine]

❄️ POLAR LIGHTS 2 Now Live!

Polar Lights 2: Dawn is a digital charity anthology featuring original art and writing from 36 creators in a collection of 32 illustrations, 6 pieces of writing, and more.

All proceeds will benefit the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, a global coalition of environmental NGOs working for the protection of species and marine ecosystems in Antarctica and the surrounding Southern Ocean.

Grab a digital copy of zine for as little as $2! 🩵

Shares greatly appreciated.

[polarlightszine]

Couple of zine previews for ya! My pieces for the @polarlightszine vol. 2: Dawn Zine is available for preorder at: https://polarlightszine.itch.io/polar-lights-2 And all of the zine proceeds will be going to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC)

[polarlightszine]

Polar Lights 2: Dawn

New kickass charity zine just dropped!

All proceeds are going to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition and will be donated on April 15th! You can check them out at www.asoc.org

I have a 3-page comic in it featuring orcas doing orca things. 😈 🍴🛥️

You can check them out on the itch.io page and also at @polarlightszine here on Tumblr!

[polarlightszine]

[Image ID: Crop of a digital art piece showing four dark brown bird chicks swimming on water. The tail and beak of two adult birds are also visible. The crop is set in a blue and white frame with the text "POLAR LIGHTS 2: Dawn / a charity zine" across the top and "all proceeds go to Antarctic & Southern Ocean Coalition" and "$2+ at polarlightszine.itch.io" on the bottom. /End ID]

i'm in this year's @polarlightszine! whose babies are these?

polar lights is a digital charity zine featuring art and writing about ant/arctic wildlife by over 30 creators. all proceeds go to the antarctic and southern ocean coalition. you can get it for $2+ here

[polarlightszine]

❄️ POLAR LIGHTS 2 Now Live!

Polar Lights 2: Dawn is a digital charity anthology featuring original art and writing from 36 creators in a collection of 32 illustrations, 6 pieces of writing, and more.

All proceeds will benefit the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition, a global coalition of environmental NGOs working for the protection of species and marine ecosystems in Antarctica and the surrounding Southern Ocean.

Grab a digital copy of zine for as little as $2! 🩵

Shares greatly appreciated.

[polarlightszine]

Release Delay

Hello everyone! Unfortunately, we'll need a little more time to put the zine together. Our new release date for Polar Lights 2: Dawn is Monday, March 25th. Thank you for your patience and support!

[polarlightszine]

Written for the 2023 edition of @polarlightszine, with the proceeds going to the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition! My piece was specifically about the stoat da Vinci painted :3c

Read on AO3 here

♠♠♠

My commissions are open~ Check my carrd for more info!

[polarlightszine]

Walrus (Odobenus rosmarus), a large pinniped found in the arctic and subarctic.

created for the first @polarlightszine