#this was a sketch I drew for one of my patrons

[scales-n-art]

#FeltCuteWillNotDeleteLater

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[coolnonsenseworld]

BeEn feeling like sharing one of the sketches I drew in exchange for NSFW posts from 52woK, and this was it. I could draw them interacting for eternity, uhh 😩

They are a lil bit changed from the original page, btw, but they are on the 100th page of 2022 (23rd Dec). 😌 The ribbons are a hint what was in the original post haha. Shirts project not mine 💙❤️

52 weeks of KICK  - what is it? It's 3 PDFs made out of my Patreon content where I published Klance each Friday (KICK Fridays) since 2020. You can buy them by lowest price Patrons could pay each year to see it (1/month) in my shop (payhip.com/mezzy) I publish something for each sold PDF 💞 new or old

[shirecorn]

Your reindeer designs give me such childish joy I can't wait to see the rest. What's your process (aka any advice) for designing from scratch with something like just a name or concept?

Redbubble (buy reindeer swag) || Patreon (see all early!) || Ko-fi

See more free tutorials!

You can see my process unfold in real time by joining any tier of my patreon discord. Which doesn't even have to go through patreon! If you want, you can just pay me $20 and let you in for a year (and then lose track and probably keep you anyway)

Here's a preview using comet! (nevermind the preview thing I wrote you a whole lecture lol)

initial sketches in 2021:

Revisited in 2022 and 2023

I was constantly asking which design was the weakest, why, and how to fix it. Whenever I tested without the magical comet behind it, people could only guess who comet was by process of elimination.

I didn't want to rely on throwing icons into the design. I wanted each one to communicate through shape and silhouette alone. It would be like drawing a little cherub with a bow and arrow floating along with cupid. If you have to include a nametag to communicate, your design can be improved.

So I tried a few different strategies to say "comet" before I realized I could twist the antlers into any shape I wanted. I was worried I would have to discard the drawing and restart from scratch! Which is what I did for rudolph about 6 times before I had a breakthrough.

Then I gave my patrons a brief lesson in antlers to explain where and why I was placing the tines. When I stray from the caribou structure, I do so knowingly in order to achieve something that cannot be achieved within the caribou shape, like dancer's tutu. Know the rules before you break them. My goal is to make animal nerds (myself chief among them) happy when they see species-specific anatomy instead of cop outs.

I tried a few things before figuring out antlers could become comet

Another thing that often caribou have is an unsymmetrical "spork" that comes forward off only one antler. I figured this out by looking at hundreds of reindeer pictures and saving them to my reference folder. A few of my designs have this, that's what the little spiral is in the final comet antler design.

When I put comet in my lineup, I realized that the antlers I drew were way more stylized, chunky, and "tribal" than the others. I had already changed the proportions on one of my designs to match, so then I had to hack away at the basic comet rack to make it look natural.

I already knew that comet's colors would be easy because a basic reindeer already Has the big comet on the shoulder. But here's a peak at all the reindeer images I posted for my patrons to look at.

As you can see below, I chose reindeer markings for all my designs instead of other deer or animals. Even vixen is tied to actually possible reindeer patterns rather than copy-pasting a fox. Almost all of my designs have light-colored anklets on dark colored legs, which is very common with caribou of any color. This is the sort of thing no one tells you; you have to observe it yourself.

Ft cupid's early design! I was continually testing out my reindeer silhouettes and colors on new people, taking their feedback, and fixing what wasn't clicking.

I know I could have made vixen sexy and curvy to play into a recognizable trope, but I really wanted them to be scary and fox-like. Sometimes you gotta do what you want and not what you think will appeal to audiences. Reindeer Days is a purposeful exercise in audience resonance. Most of my art is 100% me and what I feel like doing with no regards to anyone else. So it was a fun challenge!

My patrons also got to see me making fun of corporate designs for recognizably/cliches at the expense of literally anything good

One of these is going to get a lot more "that must be vixen!" results from people who aren't constantly thinking about animal colors, markings, hunting strategies, and teeth.

And one rocks.

Vixen changed the least from the initial 2021 concept!

A Vixen is a female fox. In english slang, it means a cunning, fierce human woman, and sometimes sexually attractive or promiscuous. Quite often an insult to someone because she won't date you!

But to me, a vixen is an animal. A predator.

When designing to reference something, I like to hit it at multiple angles, referencing obscure trivia about something to delight and educate. This is done by researching a topic deeply, far below surface level and beyond what you think you need to make your design. Or in my case its just knowing a bunch of animal trivia already.

After researching/dredging your knowledge, sit there and Think. Don't draw anything. Come up with several ideas and then throw them all in at once for the ultimate trivia design.

Trivia about red foxes:

They have Long bushy tails

They have teeth that include large sharp canines, flat incisors, triangular premolars, and chunky molars with points on them that slide scissor-like with the molars above to cut meat via chewing

They hunt rodents in burrows under the snow by jumping into the air, arcing, and slamming down with their face through the snow

They are orange

They have a dark vertical stripe on their snout

They have black legs, with the backs and bottoms being orange

Translated into the design:

Pose based on a fox jumping, about to land in the snow

Antlers twisted to resemble teeth

Long (for a reindeer) bushy tail

black mark on snout

Some adjustment to the pose to be at the top of the arc and flow better.

Tinkering with the design to make it recognizable but not 100% copypasta fox

I was finally happy with a design that absolutely showed "fox" while still being creative and plausibly caribou shaped. This would absolutely communicate who it is! I thought!

The most obvious one of the bunch! After all, everyone knows what a vixen is!

Nope! No they do not

Want to be part of the design process, help me with WIPs months before everyone else, see exclusive doodles every day, and join a funky little community?

(you also get to see photos of my dog)

Connect your discord to your patreon and join any tier to automatically get added to the server. Not a fan of patreon or monthly subscriptions? message me here, on ko-fi, or via email (shirecorn.art@ gmail.com) and ask if you can pay $20 to get put in the server for at least a year and longer if we work it out later!

This was supposed to be a preview to get you to pay me but instead I wrote an entire lecture for free because I can't help myself.

Want to thank me for the free info? Tag me when you use what you learned! Comment and give feedback! If I could pay rent with attention I would never need anything else in life.

You can also thank me by tipping my ko-fi! I use it to buy pens since I die if I have caffeine. But could you imagine??

[landsel]

Sooo~ Every week my Patrons get to vote for a drawing that I post every Thursday~

So enjoy this week's Thirsty Thursday, A super fluffy hand holding moment on an outing with Leo~💙🐢💙 I also drew an alternate version with Leo in a tank top in the cut below, I honestly flipped a coin bc I can't decide which one I like more. This pose was the alternate to that one other sketch I posted yesterday~

(This version of Leo is 25+ years old, all of the characters I depict are not minors unless they are turtle tots!) 💙🐢💙

[neathyingenue]

Drew this a while ago but just now getting to post it!! Here's a sketch of Silvia's Parabola reflection. I'm calling her "the Daffodil Maiden." For an overexplanation of the Yucatec Maya, Welsh, Spanish, English, and Catholic visual references-- look below the cut :)

Also I *am* working on the OC gouache portraits (got one done and two sketched out) but my hip is injured or something?? making sitting down painful so I can't paint :/ As soon as I can, I will get to work on those again!

The majority of the reflection's garment is based on the huipil of the Yucatec Maya, specifically the versions worn in the jarada, the national folk dance of Belize. Silvia's is embroidered with daffodils, the national flower of Wales. The flared hem is ruffled and gathered, trimmed with ribbon, a nod to European textiles/sewing techniques and Spanish folk-dance costumes. The ribbon sash thing is also part of the jarada costume--here I want it to constrict Silvia a bit.

The long unstyled hair is taken from the pre-Raphaelite painters, who depicted idealized versions of Victorian youthful femininity. Specifically I'm thinking of Waterhouse's 'Lady of Shalott,' because that poem is about a mirror and a forbidden glimpse of a desired reality. It's too perfect for Parabola! The halo, though, moves us into the more austere Catholic ideal of the virgin saint, most notably Mary the mother of Jesus.

I specifically took inspiration from the Virgin of Guadalupe, the patron saint of Mexico and the Americas, who legend states appeared to an Indigenous peasant, St. Juan Pablo. There is a lot of debate among Latin Americans about how the story of the Virgin of Guadalupe should be interpreted. Is her apparition the Church's attempt to redirect and control Indigenous goddess-worship? Or does it represent an important step toward inclusion in Christianity for Mary to appear to an oppressed non-white person? Does she represent colonial control, or the resistance to it? Although Silvia was never Catholic, Catholicism is one of the most recognizable impacts of Spain's colonialism in the Americas, so I wanted to visually depict that tension in this design.

The daffodil rod references iconography of St. Joseph, Mary's husband. Legend states that his walking-stick flowered with lilies to show everyone that he would be Mary's husband and Jesus's legal father. Joseph is the patron saint of fathers, immigrants, exiles, and workers, so that's also relevant to Silvia's backstory.

With this design, I'm trying to convey Silvia's complicated relationship to her cultural identities, as well as her deep desire to be seen as morally pure and good. I think she would be uncomfortable with how European and maidenly her reflection is--because it would force her to confront the fact that her moral code, no matter how radical, still smacks of European philosophy and Catholic ideals of "purity."

[colleendoran]

I went to a lot of comic cons in college. My impression was that most of the creators were… creatives. People that spend long hours in front of a drawing board or a typewriter, building worlds out of the aether that is their brain(s). That’s illustration to me. Physically manifesting the metaphysical, moment by moment. Picking the best moments for each beat of the story.

I -flat out- went to school to be a comic book artist. I just cannot fathom feeding my wife and my boys by manifesting the images in my head into a monthly income. But hey, that’s me. Your work is a continuous source of inspiration and joy for me.

My eldest son loves the power rangers. He he drew the green ranger in pencil on a canvas. He then painted the drawing with acrylic. He had a full-on meltdown when the painting didn’t look as good as he wanted it to look.

I sat with him and explained the process of creating comic book artwork. From blueline to publication. I spoke with him about the value of perseverance, and the value of using mixed media. He waited a day and then outlined his painting with Sharpie. He BEAMED with pride when he showed me the final product. Made me so, so happy.

Rodin was a hack. Dude had no deadlines, and no narrative outline.

Keep being awesome. You are an inspiration to me, to my boys, and to generations to come.

I am so glad you are encouraging your son to make art and enjoy it, and it is great that you find so much to appreciate in comic art and have so much respect for those who make it. We all truly appreciate it.

A few thoughts, if I may.

If you want your son to understand and appreciate mixed media, you might want to move him away from using markers like Sharpies.

If you are concerned about the longevity of the original art, I regret to inform you alcohol based markers such as Sharpies and Copics are not lightfast. That is to say, they fade on exposure to UV light. They do not use pigmented inks, they use dyes.

The fading may not happen today, it may not happen tomorrow, but it will happen sooner than you would like. Many well-known cartoonists who used Sharpies on their original comic pages, or did commissions sketches using them, have seen the art fade markedly (pun intended) over time.

Here's what that looks like.

This Klaus Janson commission has just about gone home to Jesus.

Try to switch to pigment based markers, such as those from Faber Castell, or go wild and learn to use a crow quill.

Also, while I truly appreciate your kind compliments, it's not necessary to do that at another artist's expense.

Rodin was the complete opposite of the definition of "hack".

A hack is a term originally used for one who works on tight deadlines to publisher specifications, and produces poor quality work.

That's not Rodin.

Rodin was a spectacular talent who earned his place in the canon. He came from humble beginnings and spent the first two decades of his career sculpting decorative architectural elements. He obtained his place as a fine artist after many years of struggle.

And even then, a fine artist often works to deadline, as there are salons and exhibit specs that must be met, as well as the requirements of patrons and clients, to say nothing of the grueling formal training aspiring artists were subjected to in the ateliers.

His work often contains strong narrative elements as well, as evidenced by his design for The Gates of Hell.

In fact, for most of the history of modern art, narrative elements were considered anti-art. As someone who prefers 19th century genre art, this attitude is bummerific.

The term "hack" comes from the 17th century term "Grub Street Hacks".

Back in the day writers did not get royalties. Bookstores usually published books and paid writers a flat fee and never another penny, which resulted in a lot of very broke writers, or writers who came from wealthy families who could afford to scorn the sordid topic of coin.

Grub Street was located in London where a lot of book publishers were housed next to brothels and flophouses. It's now known as Milton Street. This area was the location of the lowliest of the low publishing joints.

The great Samuel Johnson was once a Grub Street Hack.

I've just read the most wonderful book about Samuel Johnson which has many amazing details about the development of publishing. The Club: Johnson, Boswell and The Friends Who Shaped an Age. My highest recommendation, though some will be very upset by attitudes and behaviors toward the women in these men's lives.

Johnson, despite many years of poverty, was able to escape after his work eventually earned him a royal pension. When well-thought of creative people couldn't make royalties, they were supported by wealthy patrons and the royal pension system.

While I don't have a formal education, I spent many years doing research for auction catalogues and ghost writing articles about art history, which is why I am annoyingly pedantic about it all to this day.

[dichromaticdyke]

@plvtosun drew devon because she's a sweetheart and so here's a payback fic 😘

hope i did a good job with blanquita i love her so much i'm halfway through Selenicerus

The girl with blue hair had been sitting at the bar for a while, anxiously scribbling away at her notepad. Devon had been keeping an eye on her, wondering if she’d ever actually order anything. The bar wasn’t busy, it was still early enough in the evening before all that, so they could manage feasibly manage one loiterer up here.

Still— “Look, I don’t mind if you draw up here, but can I at least see some ID first?” they asked, putting their hand on the table, as close to the girl’s sketchpad as they could get without actually touching it.

Her eyes peeked up through her bangs, and she blinked up at them a couple times. “’m twenty-three,” she mumbled, eyes turning down a bit.

“I’m sure you are. I’d like to see that on ID, though.”

She blushed, a ghost of a pout on her face, before sitting up a bit. Devon could get a partial glance of her sketch now, but they tried not to pry. She pulled out her wallet, throwing her ID onto the bar. “There.” She was really turning away from Devon now, as they picked it up to double check the birth date and validity of the card. She tapped her pen against her sketchbook until Devon handed the card back.

“Okay, Blanca,” they said, “can I getcha anything while you’re here at least?”

She pressed her lips together, squirming a bit. “I dunno. Just something fruity.”

They took one look at her stark blue hair and smirked. “I think I got just the thing for ya.”

“Alright. Thanks.” She returned to her sketching, again keeping her head down.

Devon didn’t mind quiet patrons, and sometimes it was easier that way. But she’d recognized Blanca’s name—how could she not when that name had been listed as the artist of Dethklok’s last few album covers? They desperately wanted to pick her brain, to see if she was working on something else for the band, but instead they casually slid her a Blue Hawaiian.

It took her a few moments to realize her drink had been delivered to her. But when she did, she let out a bit of a scoff. “On the nose,” she muttered.

“I can make ya something else—“

“No! No, it’s fine.” She pulled it closer to her sipping from it idly as she drew.

“Well, good.” They watched as her posture straightened a bit, the drawing becoming a bit more visible. It looked like something with horns and sunken eyes, doodles at the corners that seemed to resemble cartoony ghosts. “So it’s comin’ along?”

“Huh?”

“Your piece.” He gestured to the drawing. “Lookin’ alright to my eye.”

She scrambled to pull the sketchpad back towards her. “It’s not ready, don’t be looking at it!”

“Sorry—”

“I’m already not supposed to let too many people outside of Mordhaus see it before it’s ready, okay?” She let out a frustrated huff. “I just…wanted a change of scenery to inspire me, but I think this was a mistake. How much do I owe you?”

“Uh, Blanca—”

“You’re right, I’ll just put it on Toki’s tab.” She slid off the barstool, but not before Devon barked out a laugh.

“Oh. Toki’s tab? Why not all of Dethklok?”

At that comment, Blanca’s face turned redder than her lipstick, and she looked up at Devon while sputtering. “I—! I meant all of Dethklok. Just because I said that baboso’s name doesn’t mean anything.”

“Oh really?” They chuckled again. “You have a pet name for him, and it doesn’t mean anything?”

“What? No! It’s not a pet name. Just stop it, okay? I gotta go, just lemme pay—”

“Yo entiendo, no te preocupes. Es gratís.”

Blanca paused, squinting her eyes at Devon, placing her hand back on the barstool. “¿Habla español?”

“Un poco. Mi primera novia fue puertorriqueña. Pero creo que baboso se dice algo más, ¿no?” They smirked. “I won’t bother ya if you wanna stay, promise. Though I do also have quite a few stories of Toki actin’ a fool while he’s sloppy drunk.”

“I don’t care about that!” Blanca proclaimed as she took her seat back at the bar. “But…thanks.”

“No problem. Just make yourself comfortable—“ As they were making this standard offer, they picked up Blanca’s Blue Hawaiian. They made to hand it to her, not noticing as she picked up her sketchbook to adjust its position. In this shifting of movement, the glass knocked into Blanca’s hand, and Devon lost their grip just momentarily.

Momentarily enough for the blue cocktail to spill all over the sketchbook and Blanca’s lap. “¡Chingao!”

“Fuck— Blanca, I’m so sorry!” they cried as they grabbed their towel, pulling the liquid back towards the bar. They considered grabbing her sketchbook and trying to see if they could get that dried off too, but Blanca was frozen in fury. “Shit. I’ll get you a new sketchbook— I’ll fuckin’, I dunno, I’ll—“

“Wow,” she said, her voice quiet and shaking, but still maintaining a dry level to it. “Well. This is fuckin’ great.” She took in a deep inhale. “What was your name?

She winced. “Devon.”

Blanca slammed her wet, now-ocean-blue sketchbook on the counter. “Devon, I spent a week on that sketch. A week for Dethklok, and that was hell enough, but I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that. I’m sure you never see them when they’re drunk or angry or crazy.” She pressed her shaking hand to her forehead. “But. Fuck, y’know what? I probably would have scrapped that fuckin’ drawing when I was done. Would have thrown away a whole month’s worth of work.”

“Oh. You’re welcome?”

“Oh yeah, because getting the choice taken away from me of whether or not I’d finish it is way better.” She was still angry, still spitting sarcasm at Devon, as she stood up, grabbing cocktail napkins from over the bar to wipe across her wet lap. “I’m gonna need another drink. Or four.”

Devon let out a breathy, nervous chuckle. “Yeah. Yeah, whaddya want?”

“Just a shot of tequila.”

“Just a shot of tequila?” They chucked. “Sure you can handle it?”

“I’ve had tequila shots before.” She let out a small huff. “And I don’t think you wanna piss me off even more right now.”

“Alright, alright. You got a preference, then?”

“Silver Patrón. Straight.”

“Boring, but alright.” They grabbed the bottle, pouring two shots of tequila and sliding one to Blanca. “Enjoy,” he said, pulling his own shot glass back and grabbing a lime wedge and salt shaker.

Blanca stared at Devon curiously. “Should you be drinking on the job?”

“I always share the first tequila shot of the night.” They sprinkled a bit of salt on their hand. “Besides, I happen to know for a fact your baboso and his band are coming in later tonight, they called ahead asking to reserve the dining room. I gotta be ready.”

At that comment, Blanca’s frown turned to an expression that more closely resembled resigned acceptance. “Please don’t say anything about me in front of him,” she mumbled.

“There’s nothin’ to say, hon. Don’t worry.” She tapped her shot glass against Blanca’s before tipping it back. Blanca slammed her own empty shot glass down before Devon finished their shot, and she looked at them with a small smirk. With a laugh, he refilled her glass. “At least ya got good taste in music,” he said, gesturing to her Children of Bodom hoodie.

“I know it.” She hid her own half smile behind her second shot.

[misc-obeyme]

CC I'M SO EXCITED, I FINALLY GOT ENOUGH CONFIDENCE TO COMMISSION THINGS FROM PEOPLE (it's like three different people AJDJWJF)

but the prices are good, two of the people needed it for emergency money so it was a good push to bite the bullet and message them. I'm so happy, I'm gonna have art of me and Mammon (and one is gonna be a sketch page of me, mammon, and a friend who also likes obey me). Also i lost my drawing streak, but I just drew a bunch of random poses today for fun, so it makes up lmaoo.

anyway I am here to ramble about the job my mc/I would have in the Devildom! definitely got roped into working at the bunny cafe for one (1) shift with Mammon (the daily chat is what gave me this idea).

Not sure how the cafe works, but in the anime, Beel is working the bar lolol. So I always imagined it as a bar with some food, and you could request certain servers by paying extra, and obviously give them carrots or tips. Like a mix between a maid cafe and a club I suppose is what I'm thinking?? (...Hooters? I've never been)

anyway I totally got coerced bullied into working a shift (I am always caving when it comes to Mammon </3). And my anxiety is terrible, I CANNOT talk to people (it's a wonder how I'm a manager), so I'd definitely stick to bussing tables and helping run super big orders with one of the guys. Maybe even have Beel teach me to make some drinks, because that seems really fun. Basically completely avoiding any kind of one on one service.

And I think there's been chats or devilgrams about mc gaining popularity and having a fan club, so imagine all these patrons requesting me, and the owner has to be like "unfortunately - no." And then someone is like, "I'll pay an extra $100 just to have her" and that's when the owner decides to ask if I'd be willing. Because it doesn't hurt to ask, right?

And I'm like, "Ha! I'd do it for $250", and like, I say it as a joke, but imagine Mammon overhears everything. He'd drag me to the table and say my price, and to everyone's surprise, the demon agrees to pay. Now everyone is like 👁️👁️ interesting.

and now I'm suddenly serving a random demon, and I'm nervous as hell (HA), and I'd honestly spill their drink or something on them. The bill comes, come to find they tipped way over 20%, and wrote a note about hoping to have me again. Now I've singlehandedly paid back a big chunk of Mammon's debt.

now THAT would change my mind real quick. I would do anything for money, I'm so easily convinced 💀 like imagine how much cash I could make in one shift. Anxiety who ??

It ends up becoming a part time gig, and I become the owner's favorite. I learn the bar for fun, and can be requested as a server for a big fee. I'd like to imagine Mammon works extra hard to earn the owner's favor and begs to work the same shifts as me (little does he know I request to work with him bc he makes me feel safe, especially if people get way too drunk)

I've literally brainstormed about this so much, and I've still got more ideas rattling in my brain, SORRY IT GOT SO LONG AAA

- ✨ anon

WOOO!! Congrats, ✨ anon! You are braver than I lol! I've been trying to work up the courage for months, but I keep talking myself out of it. Mostly because I want to commission art of my OCs and I feel absolutely ridiculous asking someone to please spend hours drawing this silly guy from my head lol. It's a me problem, I'll get over it one day. Anyway, I'm sure your commissions will turn out amazing! I hope you enjoy them!

OMG what but I love this idea!! Listen, I have the social anxiety, too (it's so bad wow), so I get it. But I looove that you've got things that help you work this job despite that! Mammon and Beel to count on when you need support and of course the motivation of just... making money!

And it's so sweet that you're making the money to help cover Mammon's debts. And I love that both of you are like... requesting to work together and the other person is unaware of it. That's adorable!

I'm always going to recommend writing your ideas down! It doesn't have to be story-style, sometimes just getting them out of your head in some form really makes a big difference! Especially if it's something you've never told anyone or written down before. Forcing yourself to articulate ideas in a way that would make sense to someone else (even if no one else ever sees it) really helps to make ideas more solid. Then you can expound on them even more! It's a never ending cycle for me lol.

Anyway, I love all of this, I think it's fantastic.

For my part, I'd absolutely be bunny-ing it up at the bar with Beel. I like the idea of him making Devildom drinks and MC making human world ones. The demons that are willing to pay top dollar for MC to wait on them are also willing to pay top dollar for MC's authentic human world drinks! Now you're really rolling in the Grimm!

[spectrearia]

Hiya! I've seen you reference Eggs Benedict, but I don't think I've ever heard anything more about him except that he's a cat! (I may have missed posts, potentially.) Can you tell me more about him? :o

oh of course!! I've mostly posted about him on my art blog, but I can't help but tag posts that remind me of him here on this blog as well xD here's a link to his tag for all the chaotic sketches that I've done over the past few years: [link]

basically, Eggs started out as a silly sketch of a weird cat that I drew once and then he evolved into an actual Character once I found a cat like him in Minecraft and named it Eggs Benedict. my friend Cookie and I turned it into this running joke that he's a fae entity of sorts trapped in a "cat's" body (in quotations because he's got this... unnatural appearance to him that's not Quite a real cat but is still Just Enough like one to count). he likes to torment Khalan for fun but Aya is fooled by a glamour that conceals his true identity from her, so she thinks he's a normal cat and doesn't understand why Khalan vehemently insists that he's Not and claims that the cat is out to get him. (they fight about this A Lot. Khalan has had Enough of this demon cat and wants it out of the house but Aya claims that Eggs is just -baby- and is mad at Khalan for saying otherwise lol)

the name Eggs Benedict is one Aya gave him (since she names all of her pets after food), but no one knows his true fae name because if anyone did, I feel like they'd just instantly die idk xD he was put in a cat-like body as punishment for horrible crimes against the fae council and is forced to stay with Aya as part of that punishment because we just thought that would be a hilarious idea lol (she absolutely babies him - which is incredibly demeaning and patronizing for someone of his status). what did he do to deserve that...? we have no idea. it will always remain a mystery.

anyway, sorry that's a lot haha. i've just put a decent amount of thought into this silly character over the years because I Wanted To and it's Fun 👍

[3gremlins]

"3 of Swords: Goddess of Rot" ⬆️ heartbreak, separation, sadness, loss ⬇️healing, forgiveness, recovery

Thought this was a good card for Malenia since so much of her story is about tragedy and loss- each time her flower blooms, she dies a bit more (but once she is finished, she can perhaps finally be free).

look, when a boss ass valkyrie looking lady impales your character on her wicked sword that is also a prosthetic limb enough times, you have no choice but to stan and make fan art of her :)

this was one of those pieces that just burned itself into the back of my brain until i drew it all out. Idk if i'll do a series of elden ring tarot cards or if this is stand alone (absolutely not promises, my partner suggested a wider video games one which might hold my attention longer, we shall see). The fact that she's associated with butterflies helps a lot too (also one of my favorite design tropes which is "a thing made of a swarm of other things, esp insects, birds or rats").

idk why lately all the fan art i want to do is elden ring, i think it's partially b/c i play with my brother a lot (he's already beaten it and LOVES the soulsborne games) and he lovingly relates all the lore to me.

this is perhaps my favorite way to obtain lore, tbh, like just have someone else tell me a story about it (it's different to me than having to find it/read it in game yourself). Also even though I wanted to draw it (obviously), I knew it would *delight* him so there's that too. That's the best part of fan art really, like yes the art's partially for me but it's also for someone else (knowing that someone else will be excited about it helps a lot)

this was a print from last month (feb) for patrons and the coloring page version is available *this* month to all patrons (march) if you're interested! plus you get to see more stuff like my longer process videos, sketches and wips!

prints will be available in my shop | please do not repost others in this series: The Magician patreon: https://www.patreon.com/manicgremlin

[shaniacsboogara]

haven't been posting a ton because anxiety's been acting up, hoping to be back on my bullshit soon!!!

dropping some (mostly unfinished) dnd sketches i've been working on in the meantime because character design is fun and helps me chill out :)))

Marscha Squabblestone, halfling barbarian. Has a mace bigger than her head, a Russian accent, and a passion for getting into fistfights with bears. She's extremely honest, especially when she shouldn't be, and has an overall cheery demeanor. She drew the little bear tattoo on her arm by herself. It was supposed to look scary, but... She isn't exactly an artist.

Figgriffin "Fig" Boldebort, a half-orc warlock with an Archfey patron. Just started working on his backstory, but he's very much a crystal bitch, a free spirit and is honestly a pretty chill dude. Does he know a ton about his patron??? No. He's just going with the flow. Vibing, if you will. He grew up with his human mother (a very eccentric Professor Trelawney type, an icon truly) in a cozy little commune / village and had a good childhood (I DIDN'T TRAUMATIZE HIM I DESERVE AN AWARD)

"Buggs" Templeton, tiefling artificer. He DOES have childhood trauma, and a shit ton of it. His mom was shitty so he ran away and was taken in by this nice clockmaker guy (kinda like Geppetto from Pinocchio) who ended up giving him his nickname. (Yes Buggs is his nickname. No you don't get a real name reveal 😈). He has a tiny little mechanical dragon companion named Pal, which he built after learning he had a passion for engineering by helping out in the clockmaker's shop. He is also autistic because I say so. And he's aroace.

Salxire (aka "Sal"), tiefling rogue, sort of a crime boss or something. Somehow the Newsies soundtrack inspired him??? Idk boogers, Boog's mind works in mysterious ways. It's taken me AGES to figure out a design for him so this sketch is MONUMENTAL (although I do want to draw a better version for his actual proper reference in the future). Anyway he has a burn scar on his face from that one time his childhood house caught on fire and yeah he's a goober.

If you Boogers or moots want more DnD infodumping I have a TON more characters (these aren't even the ones I've been playing in my campaign lmao) and a lot more to talk about for these sillies so yeah

Keep on boogieing 💕

[muitamaita]

Drew one last quick character sketch before launch, for those unfamiliar with her, this is my Tav Ne'netl, a half drow half wood elf warlock and her patron Nessa (who is sometimes an ugly cat, sometimes something else...) Before the events of BG3 she owned a shop in Baldur's Gate selling magical(and illegal) artefacts and ingredients. I can't wait to start the adventure with her soon!

[solradguy]

How do i find the motivation to practice art? I have so many shitposts that’ll never come to fruition because my skills plateaued ):

No one else is going to draw my ideas and I'm too broke to pay someone else to do it for me. For better or worse, I seem to approach a lot of things from a "gotta do everything myself around here" angle haha

Honestly—and I won't lie to you—doing art studies is a real pain in the ass, I hate doing them. I never do them unless I've got major art block, and even then I still hate doing them, but it's like taking medicine and I know doing them will make me better. Every art teacher I've ever had's grilled me about this, "solradguy, you need to do 15 studies before the end of the week to get a full grade this quarter." Blah blah blah.

I guess for some people doing studies could be fun, not having to think about pose or composition, whatever, just putting lines down on paper and focus on your reference. One time, when I was still in college, I had to do a certain amount of studies in charcoal so I booted up Red Dead Redemption and drew landscapes or objects from it that I kinda liked. It was enough. I told my professor it was from my grandma's farm hehe

Art memes can be a good way to practice too, especially those ones about drawing in different styles or drawing a character in different outfits. They combine fun with tricking you into drawing things you might not normally draw. Emulating different art styles is the only art study method that doesn't make me want to fall asleep. Don't forget they're just art games though, and especially don't forget:

👉If You Already Feel Burnt Out Don't Feel Compelled To Complete Every Art Meme You Start👈

As you get better at art, you start noticing improvements less and less because they become more subtle. When you're really new to art, figuring out stuff like basic anatomy or shading is REALLY obvious because they're foundational parts of art. Hang on to your really old stuff and look at it every now and then and I guarantee you'll have improved way more than you thought you had.

I get the impression you've probably been at art for a while now, and I don't want to come across as patronizing, but sometimes refreshing the basics can help overcome a plateau too. Drawabox is usually what I recommend to people just getting into art, I really like their approach. Here's a link to their introduction lesson: drawabox.com/lesson/0 And here's one that skips to the actual art stuff: drawabox.com/lesson/1

While it's probably beneficial to actually do the exercises in the lessons, just skimming through reading them can be good too.

Something I've noticed a lot of my artists friends (and artists online) do is try to make every single drawing a finished piece, and I'm like "damn, no wonder art feels like such a chore." My sketchbook is 99% scribbles done in pen:

I use Pentel RSVP fine point ballpoint pens so if I make a mistake I'm forced to deal with it. Doing these rough sketches before starting a bigger piece is something I recommend with my entire heart. Just get a pack of shitty $0.99 pens and doodle like it's high school math class. I like the cheap pens because you can get faint lines drawing lightly and can coax them into darker lines with a bit more pressure (and if you lose/break one it's no big deal).

The best way to get better at art is to keep putting lines on paper. Even if it's just silly pen doodles, you're still improving coordination/pen control, improving construction of basic shapes, exploring concepts, and thinking about art, which will lead to more new ideas and further inspiration.

Sorry this is long and meandering haha Hopefully something here helps at least a tiny bit.

[art1for2the3masses]

Royal Paintbox | Artistry of King Charles III

Royal Paintbox - From PBS - HRH The Prince of Wales reveals an extraordinary treasure trove of rarely seen art by members of the Royal Family past and present, exploring a colorful palette of intimate family memory and observation.

In Royal Paintbox, the Prince of Wales reveals an extraordinary treasure trove of work by his forebears, many of whom were accomplished amateur artists, and traces his family's love of art through the generations. This story is brought to the screen for the first time by award-winning film-maker Margy Kinmonth.

Set against the spectacular landscapes of the Royal Estates and with contributions from Countess Mountbatten of Burma; professional working artist Sarah Armstrong-Jones, daughter of Princess Margaret, speaking in her first ever interview on film; Royal Academy of Arts Chief Executive and Secretary Charles Saumarez Smith; Royal biographers Lady Antonia Fraser, Marina Warner, Jehanne Wake and Jane Ridley; Royal tour artists Susannah Fiennes and Warwick Fuller and Lady Roberts, Librarian at Royal Collection Trust, Royal Paintbox contains insights into The Prince of Wales's own watercolours, and other works by members of the Royal Family past and present.

Speaking about what inspires him to paint, The Prince of Wales says: "I think, you know, drawing from nature, observing from nature, is absolutely crucial. ’ve obviously been inspired by just looking. It’s usually the light, is what catches my attention. You can look at the same view over and over again and then suddenly one moment, there’s the most magical light.”

The Prince recounts how, as a teenager, the great art which lined the walls of the Royal residences in which he grew up suddenly came alive to him.

“Because when you are small you rush about, you know, pedalling or something up and down the corridors, and you notice nothing. It’s just a background. Suddenly, literally and I must have been 14 or something, suddenly all the pictures on the walls, the furniture, suddenly all came into focus. Do you know what I mean? And they had just been blurred sort of backgrounds which were just there. Then suddenly I started looking.”

The Prince of Wales takes the viewer on a journey into his family archives to reveal works of art by members of the Royal Family - including HRH The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, the prolific work of King George III in and his children in the 18th Century, Prince Louis of Battenberg who it is said could have been a professional artist, as well as Queen Alexandra, King Edward VII, Princess Louise, Prince Rupert of The Rhine, Mary Queen of Scots - and a lino cut of a circus horse done by Her Majesty The Queen as a child.

The audience discovers in the film that Queen Victoria drew and painted thousands of sketches and watercolours during her long period of mourning following the death of her husband Prince Albert.

The film also shows how professional, contemporary artist Sarah Armstrong-Jones, the daughter of Princess Margaret, brings the Royal Paintbox story up to date with the inclusion of her paintings and drawings inspired by landscape, with an exhibition of her work at the Redfern Gallery in London.

She maintains that the family link must have helped her talent develop.

“It must come down, you know, I hope we can pass it down to the next generation.”

As an active Patron of the arts, The Prince of Wales is keen to create a record of his foreign tours that goes beyond photography. For over 25 years, The Prince has invited an artist to join the tour party at his own expense. In Australia, artist Warwick Fuller is seen at work on a new oil painting. Former tour artist Susannah Fiennes provides her perspective on the Prince’s passion for art.

“So much of the time he’s on duty and painting allows him a little time for quiet reflection and also a bit of an investigation of things at a deeper level than his whirlwind existence normally allows.”

The Prince shows a selection of the paintings he has done while abroad, and demonstrates a work-in-progress while explaining the power and appeal painting holds for him.

[art-h]

We have been very lucky in Falmouth since the 17th June - The Falmouth Art Gallery on the Moor has hosted an amazing exhibition:

The Legend of King Arthur: A Pre-Raphaelite Love Story

I have been a fan of Pre-Raphaelite art for years, even going so far as to organise a tour of art galleries across the UK in 2011 to see famous pieces by Millais, Holman-Hunt, Maddox-Brown and Rossetti among others. I was elated when I discovered that this exhibition was occurring so close to home, especially since it ties in my love for Arthurian myth and legend also.

Possibly my favourite Pre-Raphaelite piece is the Scapegoat by Holman-Hunt, which hangs in the Lady Lever Art gallery in Port Sunlight, Liverpool. I smiled in my soul when I saw the above piece by the entrance, a surprisingly small landscape by Holman-Hunt. I was very surprised to discover that he had visited Cornwall at all, let alone painted somewhere I had visited and been familiar with. I enjoy Holman-Hunt's highly detailed, yet somehow simple pieces, with careful attention paid to the minutiae of the rock formations and portrayal of the damp and dry sand on the shore. A lovely piece.

The main draw of the whole exhibition was "The Lady of Shallot" by Waterhouse. I had not seen this piece in the flesh as it were before, but was taken aback by its actual size, I had surmised it was smaller. It certainly draws the attention like no other painting in the room. I sat and sketched this in the gallery and drew the attention of some of the other patrons, one man, a pastel artist in his spare time, called me brave for being able to sit and sketch. This struck me as something I had not thought of before about my character. Does it require bravery to be a creative? To want to capture something you see without regard of the thoughts of others who might watch you do so? I pondered this while I drew, but was inspired to work on something similar to the Lady of Shallot in the future maybe. It really is a remarkable piece.

Speaking of pastels, I was blown away when I closely inspected this piece by Evelyn De Morgan. On first glance, this is a sketch in pastel of a suit of armour, plaing silver/grey in appearance. If you pay close attention to the work, neither grey nor silver are used in the composition! I will leave it to mystery as to what actually makes it up, but rather than ponder the meanings of the work this sketch informed, I was totally taken away by her material use and technique. Something which, as time passes, is deeply informing my thinking.

Last but most certainly not least, I adored being able to see some work by Elizabeth Siddal. Her story is very familiar to me as part of the wider Pre-Raphaelite canon story, but in all my travels to see Pre-Raphaelite work, I had not come across her work in this manner before. Being largely untutored in art before meeting her future husband, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, she displayed some talent, enough to pique the interest of John Ruskin, renowned enough that I need not explain who he is. I immediately fell in love with the simplicity of these pieces. It made me wonder; does drawing have to be significantly complex or break new ground to be considered worthy of entering the canon of art? Do we have to have a tragic story in order for our work to be considered posthumously? On the whole - why can't we all be remembered for our creations? No matter how simple they may be?

In short, if you are in Falmouth, please stop by this wonderful exhibition and spend as much time as you can soaking in these wonderful pieces and more! You have until 30th September!

[syrpyrpai]

Recently, while drawing that girl with the daylily, I realized: oh, her story is about to be 10 years old… So I decided to compare the very first and one of the most recent drawings of some of the characters to see what time has done to them.

The protagonist probably had the biggest design change of all. The character, inspired by the color palette of forget-me-nots and blue hydrangea, eventually shifted to greenish hues. On the one hand, it's sad that the girl lost this zest, on the other hand, this color scheme, as I think, better emphasizes her character. But nothing is as eye-catching as the new hairstyle. The hair now has a specific shape (yay!), the second layer with longer strands is gone. A short haircut is much more practical in her case, and the cowlicks make it feel more spontaneous. As far as I remember, the character was originally intended to be much calmer, more skeptical, and smarter. But over the years she has become a silly, but very sincere, self-sacrificing girl who can find the best in the worst. One thing remains the same: she is still frighteningly naive, thanks to her hyper-patronizing father. In pictures, of course, it's funny to joke about storks and a complete lack of understanding of the concept of romantic relationships, but in reality it's dangerous. Poor kid.

Speaking of father. After years of searching without success, I finally found the very first sketch of him. I've never been good at stereotypical grown men, which is especially evident in this kid of fifteen. :"D I've gotten better at it with years of practice, but that brightly colored, disheveled hair still causes dissonance. I often think about redesigning it, but then I realize I'm too used to seeing this guy like this. I want to tug on his ahoge… This character used to seem like a bit of a scatterbrained relaxed slob. And then he gradually transformed into a sensitive melancholic who adores anguished literature, who loses and forgets things not just because that's his archetype. He's not just a good dad anymore. He's too good a dad, in a bad way. In short, he's a funny character. It's hard to draw him because of his masculine features, but it's fascinating to dig into his head.

This character hasn't changed much in appearance. Except that the ahoge on the right became a key element of the hairstyle and ombré appeared. The evolution of her character is a literal embodiment of the proverb "beware of a silent dog and still water". And that's description enough.

The concept remained, but the details changed so much that the character became very different. They are now in khokhloma, which I congratulate them on. Aside from the jokes, the character is now shorter in stature and has a more muted color palette. I rarely draw them lately (which I regret), but I still try to gracefully cover their groin with any object I can find. Because despite the lack of genitalia, it makes me uncomfortable.

I didn't really know what I wanted when I drew this character the first time, which is summed up in the first picture by the weird hair. But then I decided to use the good old cliché of appearance clashing with temperament, so I got a kid with stereotypically angelic golden curls and a manipulative, cunning nature with a pinch of cynicism. You know, those anime kids who act like they're at least 40. Due to the lore revision, he's also lost his collar. Now the dog is free, woof.

Not much of interest here either, other than the fact that I learned how to draw curls better. All the meaningful changes happened on the inside of the character, because I was able to find a heart among the ice that I originally associated the character with. And it fascinated me. This is one of my favorite characters, if not the most.

Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo and Shaggy, Woopsie and Poopsie…. In short, guys who complement each other's characters. Both pictures are primitive in their poses, so the differences are easier to see. The male character's long cloak has become a decorative cape, and the leaf pattern has disappeared (it's all the lore's fault). The female character is almost unchanged. Well, maybe she looks older now because of my experiments with style. Their story is pretty simple, so I didn't think much about them. I think they've only grown more attached to each other over the years. Woopsie and Poopsie, yeah.