#I like drawing mermaids they're like fish centaurs to me

[cinnamon-flame]

A mermaid drawing to celebrate mermay - inspired by the fact that the only thing keeping me from completing the community center in stardew valley for like 3 seasons was a SINGLE WALLEYE, so yeah a walleye mermaid

[kidrat]

[id: scribbled drawings of andalites. They are underwater, among some simply drawn fish and reeds. At the top, is an andalite in a horizontal position. It's legs are tucked up, and it's arms hang by it's chest. At the bottom of the picture is an andalite in a similar position to the first. However it's legs are tucked closer to it's body, it's head is down, and it's arms are outstretched in front of it, squeezed around it's head. It appears streamlined, and closer to how mermaids are often depicted swimming. A third andalite swims in front of the other two. It is even more hastily drawn, and shows a variation of the second andalite's position, in which it's arms are held straight by it's sides. All the andalites' eyestalks are shown to drag behind them slightly, indicating forwards movement. end id]

Been thinking about how andalites swim. @c-rowlesdraws art among others has convinced me of wiggly andalites with more spine flexibility than the typical centaur. Most human swimming strokes either require you to out-turn your feet for a better kick (breaststroke), or to point your toes to slice through water easier (front and back crawl). Hooves can't do either of these things really, so I imagine andalite tails would do the 'kicking', so to speak. They're big, strong, and prehensile. Maybe the tail blades are even used for streamlining purposes, or even steering, who knows.

But yeah, I imagine andalites swim much like water monitor lizards, or like a human doing butterfly stroke. maybe otters are another good comparison. In my head their tails/bodies wiggle up and down to propel themselves, but side to side could work too. Possible they default to up and down, but switch to side to side if they're swimming forward while laying on their sides (ie. you and your andalite buddy are swimming together and chatting. They're herd animals!)

The uppermost andalite in the picture is what I imagine to be casual/instinctual swimming - their equivalent of doggy paddle. The others are variations on a more serious, effective form.

[cheesomancer]

congrats on 100 cheesy! Do you have a favorite monster to draw?

Thank youu!! 🥰 Oooh it's a great question! And a hard one. Cause as you can see amount of finished arts isn't that big, so there's a lot of monsters are still left untouched... (Not for long huehuehehu) In theory, not to be basic but I can't wait to draw such creatures as satyrs, centaurs and minotaurs. They just do something for me...... And frankly speaking I think satyrs are a bit underrated. Like yeah they're not as big and burly, but their enthusiasm is everything. ....but in practice, looking at ones I've drawn already.. I love drawing anything honestly. I just enjoy the process, it makes my mind relax at last. Mermaids are cool for their diversity - you basically can make them based on any kind of fish. Orcs are orcs. Burly, strong and hairy - so of course it's pleasant to draw them. Werewolves are all that but + fangs, claws and knots, goblins are small but eager- Ok enough with rambling, maybe as more time passes I'll get favorites, but for now my mind is all over the place. Or all over the monsters if you will.

[usssnarfblat]

Lazy Disney Designs: Ariel's Sisters

Since mid elementary school, I've strongly preferred the Neverland mermaids to those in the Disney movie that's actually about mermaids.

Besides their far more unique accessories, the Neverland mermaids are just so much more...mermaid-like. They actually feel like beings at one with the sea and its life. Ariel's sisters just feel like human valley girls with fish tails.

Someone online called the design for Ariel's sisters "tacky," and I think that's the perfect word for it.

Ariel's design is great

While I now prefer my mermaids more extravagant and less human-like, I have come to appreciate the brilliance in Ariel's simple, iconic design. Disney created a color scheme that not only stands out perfectly against the blue ocean backdrop, but also stands out in a child's mind.

Ariel is the first thing I remember drawing at age three (I'm a lifelong fantasy artist). Remembering my mom guiding me through picking out the right crayons for Ariel's red hair, purple shells, green fins and blue eyes, it's like she was designed with basic color theory in mind for training the young artist.

Her sisters tho.

BAlright, in their introduction they're interesting enough. Cool opening number, opening their clams to the audience. Cute hats that turn out to be live sea creatures they've enslaved to serve as both backup dancers and head-gear. Very nice.

But the rest of the series?

Okay, to be fair, like...half of these are okay. I like Attina's Statue of Liberty motif. And Alana's conch tiara. Pearl scrunchies are cute.

And color-coding them is also understandable--Ariel has to stand out.

But look what Disney did decades earlier, with the mermaids of "Peter Pan and the Centaurettes of "Fantasia:"

And remember that "Fantasia" was only Disney's third film ever!

And it's not like Ariel's sister's had much more screentime than the Neverland mermaids or the "Fantasia" centaurs.

Animators were rushed with "Little Mermaid," but why not just reuse some of these previous ideas? It's not like Disney had never reused entire designs for more prominent characters before then!

So the female lead of "Sleepy Hollow" can come back as "Cinderella" one year later, and half the cast of "The Jungle Book" gets to put on Ren Fair costumes and come to Sherwood Forest, but none of the Neverland mermaids or "Fantasia" Centaurettes can have a quick cameo as one of Ariel's sisters?

TV Series and Sequels

The sequels and TV series should have been an opportunity to visually spice up the Daughters' of Triton, but no such luck. And it wasn't for continuity's sake; they had no problem changing Adella's weight, Aquata's scrunchy, and all six girls' eye colors throughout. But their overall designs remained bland as ever.

Instead, the better designs were used on minor guest characters and background swimmers.

Any one of these would've been a wonderful redesign for one of Ariel's sisters.

Rant over.