lordshanks - Tumblr blog

[lordshanks]

When I was in Italy, I saw the cutest little ice cream truck (or vespa?) I knew then and there that I had to draw it with Kiki delivering ice cream (made of fish) to the kitty cats! High res image and art videos on my Patreon~

[lordshanks]

The Citrus Black Hole

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Literal Star Dew ✨

[lordshanks]

For those who missed it, I just opened an Etsy shop and I'm having a 20% OFF sale storewide :) there are 3 days left of the sale before prices return to normal.

Get them here YuumeiArts.Etsy.com

[lordshanks]

For those who missed it, I just opened an Etsy shop and I'm having a 20% OFF sale storewide :) there are 3 days left of the sale before prices return to normal.

Get them here YuumeiArts.Etsy.com

[lordshanks]

More art inspired by my recent trip to Europe. This one is based on the drowned church tower I saw in Italy. The village of Curon was flooded to create a hydroelectric plant in the 1950's and this tower is all that remains.

Closeup of the cats~

Here's a sneak peek of how I painted this. The full hours long video process will be DMed on my Patreon on Sept 5

The photo I took, it was raining so I did it really quick, you can even see my finger in the corner trying to cover the camera lol

[lordshanks]

Been designing a posable bird wing made completely out of interlocking paper, no glue or tape! My goal is to make a bird lantern similar to my koi lantern :D

The only problem now is that my laser cutter broke due to some software update by Full Spectrum Laser and they are refusing to fix it 😭When I contacted their support, they just told me to buy a new one. As if I would ever buy another laser from such a shitty company.

Anyone has a recommendation for a better laser cutter from a reputable company?

[lordshanks]

Thank you all for the kind comments in my last post. I'm sad to hear that many of you experienced the same pain from your own family as well. It's hard, but I hope we'll all be able to heal as much as we can, and still find beauty in this world.

Here's one of my old paintings that always made me happy. I recently returned from visiting the in-laws in Europe and the architecture there has been such an inspiration for new art. I'm excited to share those soon! <3

[lordshanks]

I'm finally back from visiting the in-laws in Sweden! There were so many whimsical and unique buildings in Stockholm, I must have taken hundreds of photos. One in particular is of this historic little house at Terrassen 16. The building used to be much longer but now only 1/5 of it remains, like a leftover slice of bread. The tiny house served as the inspiration and reference for this painting. I can totally see Kiki and Jiji living here with their cat family ❤️

I also briefly visited Italy and Switzerland, which have their own unique and beautiful architecture. I can't wait to painting them all~

[lordshanks]

I’m honored to be the artist for Yupeng Chen’s new album cover, Fantasyland! This was a months-long project with a different attraction to match each song of his album. The goal was to take the listener through a variety of emotions as they travel through everything Fantasyland has to offer. From the mobius maze to the castle in the sky, I hope you will enjoy the imagery as much as you enjoy Yupeng Chen’s music!

This is just a peek of everything in the album, there are lots of more paintings in the full booklet. The album is now available on major music platforms such as Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube Music. You can follow Yu-Peng's Youtube and Instagram accounts Youtube.com/@yu-pengmusic and  Instagram.com/yupengchen_official

[lordshanks]

Finally finished this piece about the toxic beauty standards imposed by my parents while growing up. Painting all those eyes felt both meditating and drove me insane.

TW: child abuse

I included some of the comments my family has made about my appearance over the years, some of which are contradicting, just to show how impossible it was to please their toxic beauty standards. To them, I was always too skinny and too fat at 115lb. And being 5'6 was too short.

My mom told me to get plastic surgery for my monolid eyes, because only double lidded eyes are considered beautiful by Chinese standards. She pointed to her friend's daughter, who did get plastic surgery for her entire face, and said how much better the girl looked, how I should be like that.

My dad commented on my flat chest, asking how come my mom has boobs while I don't. My stepmom pointed out the frown lines around my lips, saying I don't smile enough. My stepmom always bullied me to the point of crying (by calling my mom a whore and such), so she knows exactly why I don't smile enough. My stepdad said my personality is too horrible to get a normal job, so I would have to prostitute myself, but that I'm too ugly to get clients so I would starve. When I told my mom what he said, she told me to stop lying.

After a lot of therapy for my CPTSD, I can look back and realize that they were the ugly ones, in all sense of the word. But for so long I had such little self-esteem, I would avoid photos. At my first artist alley over a decade ago, fans of my art wanted photos with me but I was too ashamed of myself to accept. I've improved a lot and no longer fear being photographed. I still struggle with other aspects of my childhood abuse (a story for a different day), but with each passing year I feel like I'm regaining bits of myself.

___

A peek of the painting process, the full hours long videos will be DMed on my Patreon on Sep 5th

[lordshanks]

Unreachable

Wandering mind, full of creation

Meandering lines, lost in elation 

Each stroke, I broke a little inside

Each fate, I hate. My will defied

I painted this in Feb 2022 about what it's like to be an artist with repetitive strain injury. In 2008, When I was 18, I made my first comic titled 1000 Words, it was about an artist helping a little girl with a broken family similar to my own. It received such positive feedback that I changed my Environmental Science major at UCBerkeley to Art major. Ever since then, my goal has been to tell stories with my art. Stories that are important to me. My next comic, Knite, was about a boy who wants to put the stars back into the polluted skies of China, my homeland. The comic after that, Fisheye Placebo, is a cyberpunk story about living in the age of technology, about fighting censorship and propaganda.

Unfortunately, I never got to finish Knite nor Fisheye Placebo. By the time I was 24, I was drawing day and night with no regards to my health. Not only did I get repetitive strain injury in my drawing hand, but my entire health suffered. My roommates had to rush me to the ER after fainting one night. I remember looking at my swollen right hand, my fingers like sausages, not even able to hold a pen, and just cry.

I've gone to the doctors and physical therapists. One told me I have Lupus (I do not), and another told me to put ice on it. More recently, I met a friend who happens to an amazing physical therapist and he was able to help me regain a lot of use of my hand. At my worst, I could only draw an hour a week, but now I am able to draw 2 hours a day. My hand is unlikely to fully heal, but I'm so grateful to regain what I have.

To my fellow artists who suffers the same, please know you're not alone. I can't promise that it'll get better, and it's cliche to say don't give up, but I want to keep hoping that no matter what the world throws at us, we will continue to make art.

[lordshanks]

★ 【Dino】 「 🥶😪 」 ☆ ✔ republished w/permission ⊳ ⊳ follow me! insta • x • bsky

[lordshanks]

A peek into how I painted Terrarium Wings ✨ 🌿

Special thanks to Dr. Kelso for editing the hours long recordings into this short clip! Music is Te Quiero by Nico Anuch

[lordshanks]

★ 【Shiren】 「 Kim Ye-ji // Yusuf // killers🔫 」 ☆ ✔ republished w/permission ⊳ ⊳ follow me! insta • x • bsky

[lordshanks]

I'm currently in Europe visiting the in-laws, but all I can think about are my huskies back home 😭 I miss my babies 💔 can't wait to hug them again in a week

[lordshanks]

Roses without thorns Wings without horns Skin stained in color Still, I grow duller

I've painted a lot of glass wings, and now I want to explore all the possibilities with stained glass wings. What's your favorite type of stained glass? I love nature so anything botanical or starry would be my fav.

The 3 hours long process videos will be DMed on my Patreon on August 5th