lycomorpha

[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 🪨🖌️

[lycomorpha]

When I'm at art fairs, people seriously love looking through my big swatch book of handmade paints.

So I've made some teeny miniature ones for the Bookface Art Fair this weekend (Rising Sun Art Centre, Reading, UK.)

They're tiny and fkn delightful and I love my paint babies so much 🖌️💖

[lycomorpha]

New solidarity set! Leaf cycle mini-pan paint set is in my store at https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/1773611208/leaf-cycle-a-unique-handmade-watercolour 🌿🖌️🍂

All proceeds after fees & shipping will be donated to the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) same as last time. Or donate directly at www.map.org.uk

It's based on a tiny dot set I made last autumn, which despite being teeny raised just over £120.

I made 7 sets of this one. That red-brown earth pigment came from another small maker, & 7 mini-pans was all I could make with what I had. But it was in the original dot set so I wanted to include it! If I sell all these, I'll look for a replacement pigment so I can make more sets.

I support MAP in solidarity with disabled/chronically ill Palestinians, who like me rely on regular medical care... But unlike me have suffered as their hospitals and care services get bombed and destroyed in a genocidal war. Please donate to them directly if you can. But if you need a reason? Paint is good, eh 🍂🖌️🌿

[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]

Broad-bordered secret mustard moth dropping by to improve your Monday 🦋💖 Look at its little stripey legs!

Tried to encourage it to fly off & go about its mothy business, but it was having none of it. Late starting work because moth is a standard excuse for me tho, TBH 🤷

[lycomorpha]

Rhaphidophora foraminifera.

This climber has two rows of irregular holes along its leaf midrib. The ecological significance might be that it pretends herbivory holes to avoid potential herbivores since plants can produce antifeedant chemicals in response to herbivory.