lycomorpha

[lycomorpha]

Well, I've been lurking not posting for a while because *waves hands* life. But I need to confess that Melasnous & me finished our BG3-themed issue of the Journal of Video Game Botany, about dragon egg mushrooms, fire, & wanting to make out with Karlach. & I made a whole Underdark themed paint set.

For the zine we roll-played as our characters; Mel, a mathematically gifted bard with the voice of a dying goose, and Evernia, a perpetually horny druid with a compulsive looting problem. We hatched an ill-fated plan to woo Karlach using dragon egg mushrooms. And consider whether levitating underwater is the same thing as swimming. And call the delightful owlbear cub Beaky McFeathers, because we can.

I made the paint set to match the alchemy minerals and fungi found in the underdark, because that's my favourite place and I wish I could live there, quite frankly. First time I've set myself such a specific paint-making challenge, but it worked! Anyway, you can find these things here.

OK I feel better for getting that out of my system, and doing the obligatory artist self promotion. Thank u. I will get back under my rock.

[lycomorpha]

Good moth friend alert: spotted today, a super-fuzzy pale brindled beauty (I think) on nice lichen. My 1st moth of 2025!

That is all, please go about your evening, thank u.

[lycomorpha]

HOW DO YOU DRAW SO FAST OMGGGG

I worked really hard on it tbh haha. A few years back I went through a long period of intense perfectionism where I slowed down to a crawl (like five comic pages in 4 months). I finally decided that that wasn't working for me, and so I started implementing my motto: shitty is better than incomplete!

Basically it's about the idea that it's more important to me to get the ideas and stories out there than it is for them to be perfect. I have a lot of stories I want to tell, and there's only so much time for me to tell them. It helps to remind myself of this as much as possible!

As for technical tricks, I do a few things that really help:

Draw a lot! Practice is truly one of the number one ways to improve speed, as annoying as it is to accept

I don't zoom in too far

I only use 1 brush at 1-2 sizes for inking (outside of specialized stuff like stippling)

I put hard limits on a lot of stuff--how much shading I do (if any), or what shape my comic panels are (only squares, no diagonals or weird shapes), for example

My characters (comic characters especially) all have pretty simple designs and outfits

I write down every idea for an illustration that I have, even if I'm not ready to tackle it yet. That way when I have a chance to sit down, I've got a whole list ready to go and I'm not waffling around in the concept stage

Finally, I've learned to accept my imperfections as a neat part of my art! It's not easy, and I slip back into bad habits sometimes, but I try my best to see every misplaced mark or color that bleeds outside the line as proof that a human hand made this. I don't spend a lot of time correcting mistakes or painstakingly trying not to make them.

Here's an example from Hello Sunshine, where if looks fine from far away, but if you zoom in a bunch, you can see all kinds of little "mistakes." gaps in the ink and color, the line of Alex's ear doesn't match up, very sketchy linework where their faces meet, haha.

But then when you zoom out even a little bit, you a) don't notice those things nearly as much, and b) I think it gives it a kind of traditional charm. Just because you CAN use ctrl-z doesn't mean you HAVE to.

Anyway I hope that helps!!

[lycomorpha]

Behold the majestic floof of this canary-shouldered thorn moth and let your Monday be that little bit more bearable.

The food plants of this ridiculously fluffy species are birches, goat willow, and alders; to help look after it please look after local trees. If you're in the UK like me, please report any damage to urban trees your council.

Thank you from the Moth Promotional Board ✨🦋✨

[lycomorpha]

When people do big eyes, why is it called puppy-dog eyes and not adorable-hawkmoth eyes?

Moths have the best big round eyes, I will not be taking questions. 💖🦋

Happy holidays from the Moth Promotional Board 🦋✨

[lycomorpha]

A good stick! :3

I went to Glen Shira last week - it's a special place for lichens. Every tree was clad in a bewildering array of colours and textures.

[lycomorpha]

Well, I've been lurking not posting for a while because *waves hands* life. But I need to confess that Melasnous & me finished our BG3-themed issue of the Journal of Video Game Botany, about dragon egg mushrooms, fire, & wanting to make out with Karlach. & I made a whole Underdark themed paint set.

For the zine we roll-played as our characters; Mel, a mathematically gifted bard with the voice of a dying goose, and Evernia, a perpetually horny druid with a compulsive looting problem. We hatched an ill-fated plan to woo Karlach using dragon egg mushrooms. And consider whether levitating underwater is the same thing as swimming. And call the delightful owlbear cub Beaky McFeathers, because we can.

I made the paint set to match the alchemy minerals and fungi found in the underdark, because that's my favourite place and I wish I could live there, quite frankly. First time I've set myself such a specific paint-making challenge, but it worked! Anyway, you can find these things here.

OK I feel better for getting that out of my system, and doing the obligatory artist self promotion. Thank u. I will get back under my rock.

[lycomorpha]

A minute listening to the sea, in case anyone needs it.

[lycomorpha]

This distinctively warty lichen is Melanohalea exasperata (with several friends) on a lushly populated oak twig.

It can be tricky to find as it mostly grows high up in the tree canopy - so far I've only enountered it on branches that have recently fallen to the ground.

[lycomorpha]

Inside you are 2 hawkmoths...

The first is like "oh so u think all moths are dull and brown, eh?"

The second is all "why TF do you think brown = dull anyway, hmm?"

~

Small elephant hawkmoth and pine hawkmoth visitors to my moth trap. All moths were released unharmed (moth trapping is nice and non-lethal.)

If you enjoyed these moths, please consider not talking 💩 about moths, they're very good bugs. Moths are important pollinators (bees are the day shift, moths work nights.) Moths are an important part of food chains in many ecosystems. Thank you from the Moth Promotional Board ✨🦋✨

[lycomorpha]

Kassandra of Atlantis - Assassin's Creed: Odyssey fanart, watercolour and acrylic-gouache on hot press paper

Entirely because I LOVED the Atlantis aesthetic so much, and I love Kassandra ❤ It's been a while since I played the game, but I think that thematically she should have been holding the Staff of Hermes Trismegistus but…uhh, I didn't want to paint it, so I didn't! Have the Spear of Leonidas instead :) Like Bayek, this one was based on an old sketch - finishing it traditionally was a little challenge I gave myself. ('little' she says, you know, like a fool)

Art prints here!

[lycomorpha]

Hello this is smol reminder to please take care of yourselves and each other as much as you're able to right now, however much that is. Especially my spoonie people. Cos it's a batshit world.

Anyway, I'm wishing you all the best things 🦋🌿

[lycomorpha]

A minute of staring at a calm sea from a pebble shore, for anyone who needs it right now.

[lycomorpha]

"Friends, food, a bed to sleep in. I'm telling you, this is it. And do you want to know my favourite part?"

[lycomorpha]

Assassin's Creed Odyssey ↳ Kassandra the Eagle Bearer

[lycomorpha]

The Journal of Video Game Botany #2 - The flora of Horizon Zero Dawn: medicinal valley's blush

Finally got JVGB issue 2 in the store! This one is about how botanist Maria & I went about creating a scientific description for a fictional plant. We talk about what physical properties we think it would have, how we wrote and visualised the plant from a Nora healer's perspective, what art materials a Nora might make, and... How I accidentally came up with a fictional moth species that lives on medicinal valley's blush... Look, I love moths and I'm very predictable! & In my defense we also thought of a way the Nora would use the caterpillar. We plan to botanise more of HZD and HFW in future.

Issue 1 was about the fungi of AC Valhalla, and took the form of a field guide.

Issue 3 will be about the flora of Baldur's Gate 3 - the real and fictional plants, fungi, & lichen that exist side by side in the game. It will probably take the form of discussions (or maybe sh!tposts) between our player characters (a bard and a druid) about the wildlife. Watch this space...

[lycomorpha]

Please enjoy this emperor moth (Saturnia pavonia) and please take care of yourselves and each other as much as you're able to this weekend 🦋

This is a colour pencil drawing I under-painted in homemade shale and chalk watercolour paint I think. I'm writing about how to make shale pigment from rocks and mud right now 🪨🖌️