#ballpoint pen is one of my favourite mediums

[potpourrifandoms]

I’ve been feeling kind of down lately, and I’ve been doodling little Warhammer pictures to make me feel better. They’re not my best work, but they made me smile and I haven’t posted anything here for a bit and I thought these would be better than nothing. 

Have a beautiful day everyone! =D

[mallory-likes-whales]

About Me!

Hi! I'm Mallory! I like whales!

🇨🇦

Now then, for more details...

}> Name: Mallory

}> Age: <18

}> Pronouns: She/her

}> Favourite Colour: Purple

}> Favourite Season: Autumn or Winter

}> Favourite Musician: Chappell Roan

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I love:

Whales <3

Music

Art

Computers

My awesome partner @xx-midnight-calico-cat-xx <33

Theatre

Star-Trek

Vampires

Books

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Here's a really bad photo of a minke whale I took in August 2024

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Music:

I like music a lot, both in the creation and listening of it; I'll start with listening. As I said earlier, my current favourite artist is Chappell Roan; her music is so good, it is simply always a vibe. Plus, few things can help (one of my) more dreary moods than the hyping-up power of H-O-T-T-O-G-O you can take me HOOOT TOOO GOOOOOO . That being said, my music taste is quite eclectic. Some other of my favourite artists are, in no particular order:

Mark Knopfler

Stan Rogers

Hozier

Siouxsie and the Banshees

Fish in a Birdcage

Icon For Hire

Boygenius

Ken Tizzard

Aviators

Set It Off

And here are some very good songs:

Whatcha Want - Lawrence

Giant - Stan Rogers

Picture You - Chappell Roan

Bitter - Chappell Roan

Red Wine Supernova

Border Reiver - Mark Knopfler

Scavenger's Yard - Mark Knopfler

The Nancy - Stan rogers

Hope of Morning - Icon For Hire

Fire With Fire - AlicebanD

I also have a fairly extensive cd collection, which I am very proud of :>

Now, if you somehow wound up here for the making of music, you are probably better off going to @literatureisdying. They actually play songs. I do not do that. I play tuba in my school's concert band, which I consider myself pretty good at; I sing, mainly quietly to myself in the mornings, but also in my school's choir, and a musical one time (where I had a solo that I'm told was pretty good); I am also learning electric bass, which is going fairly well!

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Art:

I love art. So so so so much. I don't do as much of it as I would like to, but I like to think I'm pretty good at it. I mostly use watercolour paints or ballpoint pen. (Which generally comes from my philosophy of not dwelling on the past, because I find myself trying over and over again to get every stroke perfect when using more forgiving mediums, and that's not very fun imo, but this is the art section, not the philosophy section, so I digress) I also sometimes dabble in digital art or pencil work, though not often. (see earlier tangent) My icon is my own art, as is:

This whaaaale

I really like this whale skeleton painting, painted with the whale skeleton on display at Memorial University of Newfoundland as a reference :3

And this thing:

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Computers:

I really love computers and computer science. This does not extend to liking ai art or LLM "AI"s in general. I do really like keeping my computers happy and healthy. (even if it takes a hacksaw sometimes (No this is not an exaggeration (If you're interested, ask me. (how many stacked brackets can I use before it gets to be too hard to read? (oh well))))) I recently retired my lovely Optiplex 980, as her hardware was not up to the stress I put her under. By the end she needed two powers supplies to run. I am currently using a very nice machine containing a Nvidia GTX 760 GPU, 16gb of RAM, and a Ryzen 7 inside. She does good work. Writing this I realize I am personifying my computers a bit; it's only weird if you make it weird.

My computers have a variety of operating systems; my main machine runs (for the moment) windows 10, as I need some of its features, you must understand that I do not like windows; my laptop and secondary desktop runs Debian. I also have an old Windows XP machine, and an Arch machine.

On my computers, I code, play a couple of video games, and do whatever work I need to. I am fairly fluent in Python, and I would like to learn a few other languages. My video gaming extends primarily to Terraria, Trailmakers, Minecraft, and Skyrim. In Terraria I have over 8000 hours, so if you need advice on the subject, I'm your gal. :>

Also here's a fractal I coded :>

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@xx-midnight-calico-cat-xx:

Is awesome and you should check out their blog. Like aaaah I am so lucky :3

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Theatre:

I am decidedly in the camp of theatre kid. I have done fourteen shows, of which two were withing school productions and the other twelve were with a local youth theatre company. I like to think I am a decent actress. I am a huge fan of devised theatre, and I would like to someday actually write a play of my own, but I currently haven't the inspiration nor the grasp of narrative writing to really do that. Someday...

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Star Trek (And also other video media):

I like star-trek. It's fun. I haven't watched all of it yet, I have only watched (Most of) TOS and (A good chunk of) TNG. Very fun. I am also an enjoyer of several other tv shows and movies, including: The Princess Bride, The Owl House, Gravity Falls, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, First Kill (curse you Netflix...... (Objectively I see why they cancelled it but I really like vampires so.)), Batman: The Animated Series, and probably others I'm failing to think of right now.

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Vampires:

On the subject of Vampires, they're really hot cool. The concept of immortality is very philosophically fascinating to me, especially immortality at the price of others' lives. (I could get into that here, but this is already waaay longer than I intended, so if you want to know, ask! :> The aesthetic is also just so cool. I will leave it there, but know there is more I could say.

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Books:

Big fan of books. So very tactile, so much reader interpretation, so much symbolism, so much tell-don't-show storytelling, oh books my beloved. Currently my all time favourite is The Cruel Sea by Nicholas Monsarrot. It takes place on two ships during in the Atlantic theatre of World War Two, and is hauntingly heavy. It gets somewhat gory at times, and it is written by a WW2 veteran so don't expect it to sugarcoat things. I also highly recommend approaching it like a high-school English teacher, because I swear to you: THE CURTAINS ARE NEVER JUST BLUE. I am a big fan of Neil Gaiman's work, and at the time of writing this I am partway through Bram Stoker's Dracula

Bye! Sorry for the wall of text! Enjoy my blog!

[gawaincomic]

Helloooo! please tell us about 5, (&6 if you feel like it,) 25 and 28 <3

Thanks for asking!

So... 5 & 6: my favourite and least favourite things to draw.

Favourite is easy: I love to draw fictional people. When I love a verbal description of a character, there is something that compels me to draw it. It's a bit silly but I hate it when I read a novel and the characters don't get much of a description. I want to see this person in my head. And when I see a person in my head, and the visual speaks to me, I'll probably want to draw them.

I love making these fictional people express things, whether through their faces or body language. I think I came to drawing comics because I wanted to see these characters act and react instead of just sitting still in one image.

I have a good friend who loves my drawings, and he likes to ask me to draw characters that he likes, the same way that he commissions real artists. That means he requests characters that already have existing visuals. It is a weird and slightly unnatural thing to me to take *someone else's drawing* and do my own version of it. Drawing fan art of novels = the most natural thing in the world. Drawing fan art of comics = weeiiiirrrd. I realise that it's mostly me who is being weird there, but - you know, if I can see the character already, I don't have to imagine it anymore. It's... kind of fixed?

- In the meantime, I've got more used to it, rest assured. It's not *really* unnatural, and 'draw this in your style' is a Thing.

There are a good many things that I *don't* like to draw, including (but very much not limited to) real people. They exist. They walk around. You can take photos of them. I have zero interest in drawing them.

25: do I draw in silence or with music?

Both, really. Sometimes I like to put on music to help me get in the mood for the subject I'm going to draw. Coming to think of it, it probably helps me focus... But it's not a habit (- I should probably make it one O_o). I also draw while listening to podcasts or audio dramas. I don't like complete silence, in any case.

28: preferred medium (traditional artists)

...That question is surprisingly more difficult to answer than I first thought!

I've noticed that I go through phases. I have been All About The Ballpoint Pens, All About The Fineliners and All About The Brush Pens so far. I still like all of them. I guess the theme is that my favourite thing in the world is sharp (mostly black) lines?

I love pencils (coloured or with lead) for my underdrawings, and while I have *also* had a phase where I used pencils for finished artwork, I've come off that. I feel like my drawings only really come together when I ink. Right now, my favourite tool is definitely the brush pen - and I mean the ones that are more brush than pen. I can't stand the more 'penny' ones :p.

For colour, I almost invariably turn to watercolour, but usually with extremely limited succes :/. The fact that the watercolours go over my inks is occasionally almost heart-stoppingly stressful.

Artist Asks

[meruz]

Aforementioned long ask post please excuse me while i try to figure out tumblr's new text editor. I’ll get into the art meme questions first and then the rest at the end.

Ok first of all thank you all for sending in questions! Giving me an excuse to talk hehe. I’ll address these in number order. Here’s a link to the ask meme for reference but also I’ll restate the question for ease of reading.

1. When did you get into art?

Super cliche answer but I don’t remember a time where I WASN’T the weird art kid! I started keeping a dedicated sketchbook when I was about 12? But here’s a page from my kindergarten journal about what I want to be when I grow up.

2. What art-related sites have you ever signed up for? 

LOL this is a weird question. Not sure why so many people want to know. Anyways I definitely had a dA. more than one dA account. I used to browse oekakis when I was a kid but I think I was only signed up to some small ones that internet friends owned. What else...? Mangabullet,Tegakie, Paintberri, iscribble back when that was a thing, instagram if that COUNTs, I used to post art on livejournal and dreamwidth too. Patreon, I guess. Gumroad, inprnt, bigcartel, storenvy all for selling stuff.

In terms of resources.. I have a schoolism account that I’m sharing with friends. Used to take classes on coursera for free. I signed up to textures.com for work recently haha. I can’t remember if I ever had an account on posemaniacs. Did they have accounts...? I definitely used to visit all the time.

3. Show us your oldest piece of art you have on hand.

Alright here’s me actually logging into my old deviantart account. These are from September 2008 So I was 13 years old. I don’t have a deviantart account from before then because 13 was the required age for having an account and I didn’t want to lie about my age because I wanted people to be impressed by how young yet clearly incredible at art I was LOL.

4. What defines your artistic style?

You guys are probably more equipped to answer this than me but uh... I wanna say... Focus on colors. And... a slightly heavy hand? Like confident... not always well-considered mark making HAH...

Also I think I have a pretty healthy mix of american comics/manga influences. I feel like people who are into american comics always think my art is too manga and people who are into anime/manga always think my art is too american. And I’m taking that as a good sign.

5. Do you practice other styles/have you tried other styles in the past?

I like to think I switch it up a bunch! I mean, these are pretty different, right?

I think I’ve mentioned this before but one thing I really took away from art school is that, for an illustrator at least, art style shouldn’t be consistent. Your greatest weapon is changing the aspects of your style based on the task, the emotions and message you want to illustrate etc. So depending on the project I’m working on, the fandom I’m drawing for, whether I want something to be funny or serious or dramatic, I’ll change things about my style all the time.

One thing I don’t rly post on here is really tight polished work and that’s because I do that for my day job haha. If you’re not paying me... I’m probably not gonna color in the lines.

6. What levels of artistic education have you had?

I have a whole ass diploma LOL. Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. from the Rhode Island School of Design. And I had a great college experience tbh. Besides the student loans. If any of you guys are thinking about art school feel free to e-mail or message me questions or concerns, I’ll be happy to help. Be as honest as I can be.

7. Show us at least one picture you drew or sketched recently that you did not put on a public site.

heres the wandavision kids. Uhh what else do I have...I feel like I’m rummaging for loose change here...

assorted valentines prep doodles

8. What is your favourite piece that you have done?

Well, obviously this is gonna change all the time and generally it’s gonna be my most recent piece LOL. So yeah, why the hell not. I’ll say it’s this one. I have a pretty short memory which I count as a blessing for an artist. I don’t dwell that long on older work and it keeps me moving forward.

10. What do you like most about your art?

I like that it’s something that only I would make! I had this thought fairly recently and I wrote it down in my sketchbook, it’s pretty cheesy and rambling but it felt revolutionary at the time:

So yeah. I like my art best when it’s the most me and for me. And I like it least when it feels like I’m just making something for social media or for other people’s expectations or whatever.

14. What do you like drawing the most?

Kids in baggy clothing are like my go-to LOL idk if that’s obvious. but also I like being challenged so lately I’ve really loved drawing multi-character compositions, environments, weird angles, etc.

oh i LOVE drawing the underside of shoes lol. And bandages. People that are kinda beat up.. I think it comes from getting a bunch of cuts all the time. I’m always patching myself up and I want to patch characters up too.

15. What do you like drawing the least?

mmm I try to find something to like in every drawing but lets see... I don’t like doing commissions of people’s dogs. Just because it’s normally like... a family friend and my mom volunteered me without my consent and I don’t even really know what they’re expecting me to draw and I don’t even get to meet the dog. Also I’m not that great at dog anatomy. Trying to learn though.

18. What is your purpose for drawing?

This could have a million answers! Uhhh to GIT GOOD??? But also to express myself... and also to make money... I mean it depends on what the drawing IS. I draw fanart mostly to connect to people in the fandom so if you ever see me drawing fanart please take it as like an open invitation to talk to me about the character haha. 

20. How would you rank your art? (poor, mediocre, good, etc.)

Good!!! I have a lot of self-confidence primarily born out of ignorance and a short attention span. If I don’t think too hard about how many other artists are mindblowingly unfathombly good... its easy to think I’m good too! LOL

In all seriousness though, I think the opinion a person has of their art is like a crazy balancing act, right? Like you have to think you suck enough to want to get better but also you have to think you’re good enough to not want to give up. I think we’re all walking that line, I know I am! But also I’m a glass half-full type of person so. Most of the time I feel good about it.

22. List at least one of your “artspirations.”

This is a good question because I’ve been trying and failing to put together one of those “influence map” memes for like a full month now. What’s giving me a hard time is I feel like none of these are actually really obvious “““influences”““ in my art? Like it’s hard to see a lot of them in the work I make...? But idk maybe you guys’ll see what I can’t.

And these are just a couple! God there’s so many more. I could talk about other artists for ages, from all different genres of art. Daumier, Rockwell like every illustrator out there, Dana Gibson, Alex Toth, Hiroshi Yoshida, a lot of the Brandywine School. Lots of current working artists too, Karl Kerschl, frikkin Masashi Kishimoto lol, Jake Wyatt, Richie Pope, Edouard Caplain, Matt Cook, Sachin Teng, - lots of big internet artists, Sophie Li, Freddy Carrasco, Milliofish, Angela Sung... like all my friends from art school too. I could just keep going but I’ll stop for now lol.

24. Do you have a shameful art past? (recolour sprite comics, tracing art, etc.)

I mean if that’s how we’re defining shameful?? sure LOL. It’s not sprite comics but I used to do pokemon sprite recolors all the time. And I used to trace manga panels and color them... Granted this was all when I was like under 12 yrs old so it’s not even embarrassing. Can you really call it shameful when a 7 year old wets the bed or whatever? Not really. In fact some of these are cool as fuck. Look

25. Draw a picture!

Man I’m so tired now but here.

I used to get a lot of compliments for drawing people smiling lol but I don’t think I’ve drawn a lot of smiling lately.. here’s proof I’ve still got it.

OK MEME DONE. onto the rest.

I read this ask first thing when i opened my computer in the morning and it made me really emotional.. I’m so glad my sketches could help you!!

I think a lot of artists on social media talk about the struggle of making art but imo not enough people talk about the joy! Like I know it’s corny but. I really meant what I said at the beginning of that sketchbook about re-contextualizing art around process and progress > product and perfection. I think its super important..! The strength of messy, unfinished, and energetic art! For the feeling of it, for the love it!

That's crazy!!! I hope you like 'em. The whole line of x-books is really good rn imo.

Hi! I totally have the answer for digital stuff on my faq lol. But in terms of drawing on paper.. it varies! I tend to use sketchbooking and any on-paper doodling I do as a way to loosen up/warm-up or experiment. But right now my go-to aresenal is:

from top > bottom

- kuretake no.55 doublesided brush pen

- tombow fudenosuke

- muji 0.38 ballpoint

- medium size poscas

- grey tombow double brush pens

- good ol bic mechanical pencil

not EXACTly sure which inking you referring to from my sketchbook but if I had to take a guess it'd probably be the kuretake no55. That's been my main inker, lately. Great for sketching with the thin end too.

You can print out and eat my art if you like. Just please don't mass produce or re-sell. <3

Thanks! I've come to accept that my art is always gonna be sort of gestural and painty naturally. It's getting it to tighten up enough to be legible that's hard lol...

uh yeah lol I agree actually. I think yolei is great.

I assume these asks are related? LOL

1) Yeah totally true. I love David.

2) I don’t take requests, sorry! But if you want to commission me to draw Legion i would be MORE than happy to. Just e-mail me at isellhotdogs@gmail.com.

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[frogsmulder]

fanart masterlist

The X files

Pencil

Scully it's Me and Mulder it's Me

Swoosh

Baby Scully in pencil

Rough pencil Scully

Scully my beloved doodles

Birthday Boy

Digital

Paper Scully

Top hat Scully

Crowned Fox

Crowned Scully

Softly Gazing in the Rain

The World according to Chris Carter

Have you seen my wife?!

The truth is out there

Charcoal

Charcoal Scully

burritoscully tumblr icon ask

Oh God, Mulder... (nsfw)

Acrylic

The beard (David Duchovny)

Finger painting

Scully in genderbender

Home Again

Another beard b/w

Okabogee

The Present (Rm9...)

Ink

Dana Scully owns Fox Mulder's desk

Mulder pointing at a ufo probably

Scully looking upwards

Speed drawing of Scully looking upwards

Failed ftf take

Baby Scully in ink

Speed painting of baby Scully in ink

Art exchange Two Baby Agents in Love

emily--sim tumblr icon ask

The wheels on the bus

Chaos theory

Some Crosshatch work

Height Difference

You're the only one I've called

Cancer Arc Trilogy

Dana Scully, Ice Queen

Under the lights of a ufo

Ballpoint pen

Some ufo doodles

danascullyfreckles tumblr icon ask

"Watercolour" Scully

Coffee

Mulder in coffee

Mixed media

In the Wars

Process of In the Wars

Felt tip pens

Scully bunks down with her new partner (nsfw)

Home science kits with Scully

Ftf handhold impressionism

Fine Liner

Goofy theatre kids

Photo Edits

Adoration of women, edwardian couple photos

Star Trek Voyager

Fine liner

Just a Janeway Doodle

A lil Chakotay companion

Updated pair of janeway and chakotay

Coffee

Janeway painted in her favourite medium

House of mirth

Ballpoint pen

Lean on me

Pencil

The many faces of Lily Bart

Photography

Lily Bart in flowers

Mixed media

Epilogue

To meet and fall in love with Lily Bart

Ink

The letter

Lily Bart at dinner in Monte Carlo

Lily's smile

Acrylic

mypanicface tumblr icon ask

Doctor Who

Mixed media

A collection

Good Omens

Pencil

angel and daemon are best buds

Rick and Morty

Digital

Rick and Morty I want to believe

[midnightsilver]

My Castiel Challenge

Recently I challenged myself to do the same Castiel pic in as many different mediums as I could. I had a lot of fun learning as I went and these are the results 😁

Reference photo is Misha Collins by the wonderful @stardustandmelancholy (source link to original site no longer active, see photographers blog for other examples of their work)

My artwork:

1. Watercolour 2. Acrylic (Timelapse vid)

3. Colour pencil. (vid) 4. Markers (vid)

5. Charcoal (vid) 6. Ballpoint pen (vid)

7. Oil pastels (vid) 8. Digital Painting (vid)

9. White in on black card (vid)

Which one is your favourite? 😄

[toomanycharr]

I’ve decided to do inktober this year! Ballpoint pen is by far my favourite medium to work with, and I don’t do enough with it.

I’m offering up PWYW slots for each day, choose one of the two themes (or both, if you really want?) What you get depends on how much you pay- $1 will be a basic-ish headshot, and more gets more! not more than $15, though, please. The finished things will be scanned, these photos are from my phone so yours will be better quality. (I can draw things that are not charr, but..... I really love drawing charr, can you tell? ;D)

Slots Taken: 5 - Build 12 - Dragon 15 - Legend 16 - Wild 17 - Obsession 31 - Milkshake

[petrodragonicapocalypse]

hey!! i love your art a lot, i think you draw deaky (and the rest of queen) really well. what mediums do you typically use and which one's your favourite? (and are there any mediums you would love to start using?

Firstly, thank you so much!! I'm so glad you think I draw the boys well 😊💞

Secondly, good questions! I basically use anything I can get my hands on, and (having almost zero art training) I mix and match things that probably shouldn't be used together lol. Mostly I use pencil ( e.g. x x x x ) or charcoal and chalk if I'm feeling adventurous (x) for portraits n stuff, so that's probably my fave. I've also used bottled calligraphy ink and a paint brush (x), and occasionally acrylic (x). Oh and also I ""doodle"" (can take hours) in ballpoint pen (x). I'd love to get better at watercolours, which I currently struggle with because of how permanent each brushstroke is (I like to be able to fiddle and re-do things lmao) and also digital art (I tried it here), which I just think is super cool. Sorry for blatantly self advertising... but an artist's gotta do what ya gotta do y'know 😔

Thank you for the message!! :D I hope you're having a lovely day 💞

[dailythranduilproject]

DTP Interview #6 Elbenherzart

Hello to all our friends and followers of Daily Thranduil Project!

Today it’s @elbenherzart‘s turn for our fandom interviews. She is a really talented professional illustrator, who has produced many beautiful artworks inspired by the world of Tolkien. She works with traditional media as well as with digital ones and has a lot of other creative talents, like sewing awesome cosplays. I hope you are curious to find out more about her, so without any further delay, I present you here with her answers to the questions we had asked her:

General Questions: 


Username(s) we can find you under: 



Either ElbenherzArt or my real name, Christina Kraus. :)




What Media do you create? 



For digital paintings I use Photoshop and for my traditional stuff mostly inks or ballpoint pens. I almost never use pencils, because I find myself erasing all the time. 

Are you self-taught or did you go to art school? 



I am mostly self-taught. Tho I have a bachelor degree in Intermedia Design. This gave me a few design and composition fundamentals I can apply to my images, but didn't teach me to draw or to paint. Also I have a lot of other professionals as friends who help me with critiques and reflection of my art. I always wanted to go to Art School but the programs in Germany are pretty shitty for it. All you learn is like drawing with a pencil bound to a stick, drawing with your not-drawing hand or drawing with a blind fold. It's complete garbage and I envy people who can afford programs such as the Swedish Academy of realistic Art where you actually learn useful drawing and painting fundamentals instead of fooling around. 




Which artists have influenced your style?



That is a tough question. I admire a lot of artists but I guess my digital work is mostly influenced by Magic-the Gathering or Dungeons & Dragons artists, since this is the direction my work is heading too. 



Which are your favourite artists? 



I'd say Peter Mohrbacher, Jana Schirmer, Cynthia Sheppard, Jason Rainville...but hell, there are a lot. I can't pick a favourite.



Where can we find your work? 



On my website, Tumblr, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Deviantart, Artstation and on Behance. 



What would you say you are best known for in the fandom? 



I'm not even sure I'm known for anything in this fandom. XD But the work I did based on the Silmarillion so far sells the best on Conventions and I get the most comments on it.  




Do you have a favourite pairing? 



Yes of course, but it's kind of controversial I'd say. ;)



Do you have a favourite creation of yours you are especially proud of? 



I'm kind of proud of my latest piece, Celebrimbor's Smithy. It was a tough one, since interior scenes are very hard in general for me. The work on this piece took a whole month with a few breaks of course. 



Do you have a favourite fictional character, besides Thranduil of course?



That would be Kylo Ren/Ben Solo from the Star Wars Universe. 



What other fandoms are you part of?

 

The Star Wars Fandom, tho I'm barely active there. I have a Tumblr blog dedicated to it, but I mostly just reblog stuff and did only one Star Wars related painting so far. The fandom is kind of toxic with its stupid ship wars and anti culture going on.



Do you do commissions?

 Yes. :)

Any advice/words for others in the fandom? 



That is such a general answer, but stay true to yourself, do what you love and don't give others shit over characters/pairings you don't like. Treat people the way you want to be treated. Be kind and respectful, you don't know what people are going through.
If you are an artist, or want to be one; only self reflection, critiques and hard work will get you moving forward. You need to be able to see your own flaws.  For that you need to seek out people who can give you an honest opinion about your art. (Not your friends or family.)
Vanity is the downfall of every professional artist. You can be proud of your work, but never vain. 
(You can always ask me for porfolio reviews or advice if you want by way. :))



Personal Questions: 


Favourite Book? 

The Silmarillion. 



Favourite movie? 

Currently Star Wars-The last Jedi.




Do you have a pet peeve? 



Littering. When I see people throwing their trash onto the walkways or streets I get furious. Take it to the next trash bin or home! It's not difficult.



What country are you from? 

Germany! 



Who do you think you might have been in a past life? 



Probably a cat. Sleeping and eating is all I want to do. :)



What do you like to do in your spare time other than create the media you work on?



When I'm not drawing or painting I'm either binge watching series on Netflix (currently Outlander <3)  or I'm with my friends/boyfriend. Sometimes I write Fanfiction, but mostly I'm reading it. I also try to travel as often as possible and sew my own costumes when time allows it.

 

When did you join the fandom?



I think back in 2007. Not really sure actually.  Definitely more than 10 years ago.

Follower Questions:

@floranocturna asked: 

You are a very versatile artist and I have been admiring your very cool cosplays already for a while, especially your Celebrian and Celeborn are amazing! Do you sew all the cosplays yourself?

 

Thank you and yes, I sew them usually by myself :).

What inspires you to cosplay a specific character? 



Honestly it's mostly the robes. If I like the aesthetic of a character, I want to cosplay him/her. XD Of course I also have an eye on the character and need to like him/her.



You are very ardent about being vegan. Will you tell us a little bit about your reasons and why is it important to you and should we maybe all think about how can we help to preserve nature instead of destroying it? 



This is a loaded question and I'm unable to answer it with just a few words. Feel free to ignore this text if you are not interested. 
As I learned that raising livestock for meat, eggs and milk generates 14,5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, the second highest source of emissions and greater than all transportation combined and that it's the leading cause of deforestation, biodiversity loss and water pollution, I knew that I had to act and change my diet, because I simply couldn't live with that knowledge and not doing something about it. And of course the killing of millions of sentinent animals every single day. The meat industry is the most powerful industry in the world and they try literally everything to make us continue to buy meat, to make it cheaper and to leave people in the dark about the consequences for our planet and our health. Here the Pharmaindustry comes in. The meat industry is their biggest customer (80% of their money is made from antibiotics they sell to farmers and animal factories) and sponsor, feeding billions of pills to animals each to day to alter their flesh. It's all about money, control and very fucked up. Like always.
 If the grain that is used to feed our first world country livestock would be given to people in Africa or other third world countries where children starve to death, no one on this planet would need to suffer from hunger anymore. It's all pretty messed up and a paradox. 
The only way of preserving nature in the long run is going vegan actually. I know that a lot of people don't like this thought, but that's mostly because they are misinformed (I was too, everyone is in the beginning) and fear either deficiencies or they think they can only eat vegetables and fruits. But that's not true. There are so many vegan dishes and sweets out there people are not even aware of. Oreos for example are completely vegan. A lot of junk food is. Cake, Ice cream and chocolat can be vegan too. It's all just a matter of replacing the eggs and there are plenty of alternatives. When people think about going vegan, they think about all the things they can't have anymore. Instead, think of the things you gain from it. You support the environment, save lifes and it's beneficial for your health. You are less likely to get cancer or diabetes. You don't have to give up your beloved sweets or junk food. I mostly eat the same things I ate before, just with egg replacement and almond or oat milk instead of cows milk. The only thing you have to keep in mind is B12. I take a pill everyday for it and you should too if your are vegan. If you do that you are completely safe and won't suffer any deficiencies if you live on a wholesome diet. 
This wall of text may imply that I try to preach or what ever, but I simply state facts. It's up to everyone if they choose to act or not. I don't judge people for not going vegan. It takes a bit of effort, research and people will judge you for it. If you want to have more information I recommend the Netflix documentaries „What the health.“ and „Cowspiracy“. They are all based on researchable facts and explain a few statements I've given here. Also you might want to take a look at „Why we love dogs, eat pigs and wear cows“.




@beelovesbutterfly asked: First of all, thank you for sharing your lovely artwork. What is your favourite art medium?

@themirkyking asked: Which method of creating do you prefer? Digital or traditional, and why?

For my personal taste and fun I prefer traditional mediums. It's much more relaxing than digital art where I have to stare at a screen all day. Also I love the smell of paint and texture of paper. But for client work I definitely prefer digital since it's easier to change mistakes and I'm able to finish something faster. What makes the pay a lot better. 

Thank you so much Christina for taking the time to participate in our series of fandom interviews for @dailythranduilproject. It was a pleasure having you!  

Please check out Christina’s blog and her page at DeviantArt for all her awesome artwork! And if you happen to be in Cologne on May 12/13th 2018 you can go and visit her booth at the RPC Germany!

@floranocturna ^^

[prettylittlelyres]

I do like to make my drafts pretty!

Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 16 of Violins and Violets, written out by hand with a new glitter-barreled ballpoint pen I bought on a recent disastrous (extremely fun, but disastrous! So much yarn! So many clothes!) shopping spree with my flatmate.

I bought the Stabilo Boss pastel highlighters with birthday money last year, and I love them so much. They’re so much easier on my eyes than the neon ones (which are still awesome, but hurt after too long), and, being Stabilo Boss, they’re a lot easier for me to grip than most. I’ve had to stop using Bic Cristal Medium ballpoints (my absolute favourites) due to problems with the joints in my hands, but this glittery pen from The Works is comfortable between my fingers, and has a nice weight to it. It’ll certainly suit me while I seek out enough pen-grips for my large collection of Biros.

Wilhelm stood over Johann's grave for hours after the rest of the mourners had left. From where I sat on a nearby bench, I could hear him whispering, and, though I did my best not to listen, my ears did catch a few snatches of what he said. He was praying.

I clenched my fingers into fists, so that my knuckles pressed hard against the cold, polished stone, and stared at my feet, grinding the heels of my boots into the fine gravel beneath then. Shutting my eyes, I distracted myself from the particulars of Wilhelm's prayers by joining them with my own.

God, guard Johann's immortal soul. God, have mercy on Your son, Johann. God, please accept my thanks for Johann's boundless friendship, trust and kindness. Thank you, God, for everything he was. May he sit at Your side with the generous and sweet. May he sit there for eternity. The Lord take his hands, the Lord embrace him, the Lord smile upon him. Lord God, please ease Wilhelm's pain with the knowledge that his beloved is safe, that Johann is in Heaven at Your side.

When I finally looked up, Wilhelm was crouching by Johann's grave, one hand's fingers stroking the patted-down soil. He had stopped whispering; now he was murmuring. "One day."

[sfusummerfestival]

Artist Spotlight: dippa draws

🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨 

Greetings everyone! We’re back at it again with another amazing artist.

Today, we’re interviewing dippa draws!

🎨 Tell us about yourself!

Hi! My name is Daisy Lippa and I work as a freelance illustrator in Vancouver, BC. Currently I am in the final year of high school, and will be attending Capilano’s 3D animation program! For as long as I can remember, animation (like video games, TV shows, and movies) has inspired me and eventually drove me to create my own art.

🎨 Name a driving force behind your creativity.

One of the main driving forces behind my work is video games. The combination of art, music, writing, and gameplay just captured me the moment I got my 5 year old hands on my Dad’s Nintendo 64. However, there are a few games that truly pushed me to want to create: the Bioshock series, Dark Souls III, Undertale, and Transistor.

🎨 Do you have any goals as an artist? How are you hoping to grow in the future?

I hope that I can create something that inspires people the way I was inspired as a child. I would really like to have a job in the video game industry, particularly 3D and 2D character design.  

🎨 You said that you're new to the tabling scene! What are you looking forward to the most selling your art at conventions and other events?

Well, when I first started attending conventions I just loved the atmosphere. The creators were upbeat and interested in talking to con-goers, and it just felt like a small family. I’m hoping to forge new friendships with the other artists.

🎨 You use a variety of traditional mediums in your art. Do you have any favourites? When do you decide to use which medium?

My favourites have to be brush pens, but it depends on what kind of piece! Sometimes I’ll choose watercolor to give a softer look, or markers to give a bold one. Sometimes I’ll draw figures on massive sheets of newsprint with charcoal or conte, other times it’s just a ballpoint pen and copy paper. I tend to avoid using one thing all the time, and switching mediums is actually a great cure for art block!

🎨 Check out dippa draws’ instagram @dippa.draws  for more of her work!

[phoebeisobelmorris]

Very late to be uploaded to here but I finally got the majority of my photos back that were on my broken laptop and will upload them all in the order I moved forward with my ideas.

Although I knew that I wanted to look at film in this project, I didn't end up filming until after I came back to Somerset because of Covid-19. However, when I was still in Salford Id started writing my Contemporary art essay and was looking at one of my favourite artists Takashi Murakami!

Murakami creates the most beautiful vibrant Pop art and his use of iconography  and characters in his work really interested me. I created a series of work using my own drawings and characters and keeping with the same colour scheme Ive been trying to use throughout my project. 

This was one of the characters I initially started drawing. I think he responds well to the theme of Pop Art as I wanted him to stand out on the page and be bold and I think this character achieves this. In future I would like to use more range of colours and work with other mediums than just a ballpoint pen.

[c-conztantine]

This is how I work with my art - that takes over 50 hours to make!

I listen to music while doodling. I get really inspired by a certain feeling I get from the track, so I sketch it until I feel that I have “captured” my feelings on the paper. It takes usually 1-3 sketches, but this one took up to 40 sketches. That one you see is one of the first ones I was happy with, but I did “re-touch“ it with more sketches. 

When sketching is done, I draw a more detailed version in pieces

Here I drew a reference on how the hand that penetrates the chest.

If I’m stuck or need help on the progress, I take reference photos of myself or grimace/pose in front of a mirror. Here I took a photo to see how the shadows fall onto the hand. Professionals use references all the time,so don’t be afraid to look dumb in front of a mirror or photos. References are always gold kids.

Now when am finished with all the pieces of sketches I do a “colour reference map”. I do different versions of how I want to colour the artwork. I also write what type of markers that will be the “main colour “ next to the sketch. This has helped me AAALOOOT during the colouring progress!! Also, if you are uncertain how to colour, for example, wood or maybe water, try to practice on a different paper before you draw on the main artwork. You must prepare a lot if you gonna spend over 50 hours on it colouring it! After that, I will take a ballpoint pen and make the line-art on another paper! I use a homemade light table to make the line-art and traces the finished sketches.

6-8 AND NOW THE BEST PART...ENDLESS COLOURING WITH MY COPICS! A tip if you feel like the colouring process is going slow: try out new music you haven’t heard before! try out new podcasts! try out listening to the news or why not your favourite YouTubers? New mediums always help! One of my artworks “An end“ I had listened to the entire “Nightvale”- podcast (which was 60 episodes at the time) downloaded 40 different documentaries and news podcasts and listened to the whole “Yugi-oh abridged”- series, AND I STILL WASN’T FINISHED - BUT I WASN’T BORED EITHER! I also feel really relaxed just sit and draw in complete silence. Do whatever you feel like to keep on drawing, but don’t be afraid to try out new media. This is also a good tip if you ever had an ARTBLOCK. Like you might even come up with something entirely new by just listening to other sorts of music!  Other things that I recommend while drawing: tea, snacks (not anything sticky ) and some breaks...it really helps! Draw something else in the breaks, or just watch your favourite show. You get my point now! 

11:

TA-TA! FINISHED ARTWORK! HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS POST! IF YOU LIKED IT LEAVE A LIKE OR/AND REBLOG! I love to hear if you have any thoughts about my process, please ask if you have any queries too!  Have nice day folks, cheers!

[emyyystudies]

30 Day Back to School Challenge

7th October 2017 || 4. Study essentials and 15. Supplies + reviews

I’ve missed a few days of posting this challenge because it was my first week of lectures for this academic year and I’ve been really busy! Also, I decided to combine these two prompts, because I found them quite similar.

The photo on my left shows my study essentials:

Agenzio medium black grid notebook from Paperchase. I use this for my bullet journal. The paper quality is good with nice sized squares, and there’s lots of pages- I’ve used it since January 2016 and still have quite a bit of space left. It’s also quite sturdy to carry around.

Uni Pin fine line 0.4mm. This is the main pen I use in my bullet journal. It writes really well and has lasted me for a while.

Stabilo point 88 mini 0.4mm. I’ve been using these in my bullet journal since January 2016 and they’re still going strong, apart from the black, which I used a lot more than the rest. The nib of the orange has split a bit, but otherwise they have lasted well.

Stabilo Boss original pastel highlighters. I’ve just started using these in my academic diary, but so far they’re really good- I love the colours!

The photo on the right shows some other supplies that I use fairly regularly:

WHSmith fineliners. I mostly use these when I need a larger range of colours for my bullet journal, or sometimes for revision notes. I bought these instead of the Staedtler fineliners because personally I prefer the tips, which I find work better at the angle I write at.

Blott retractable ballpoint pens. These have been sitting around in my drawer for a while (since before May 2015 in fact, as that’s when Blott merged with Tinc). I find that the colours are strong, especially the light ones like yellow and orange- other ballpoint pens I have in these colours don’t show up well on paper.

Pilot Frixion pastel highlighters. I used these in my diary last year, and for the year calendar in my 2017/2018 diary. The colours are really nice, although the lilac is a bit on the grey side. They erase quite well.

Bic Marking highlighters. I use these for general highlighting, and I would perhaps prefer the tip to be a bit wider. Also, purple is my favourite colour, so I’m always a bit sad when a highlighter set comes without it!

[chemicalperfume]

Nanami Hiroki Personal Book: 100 Questions [translation]

Today, January 16th, is everyone’s favourite cheesy lines generator, Nanami Hiroki a.k.a. Kai’s birthday! Here is a thing in celebration (that I had -for once- conveniently forgotten in my drafts forever, and just now remembered). Happy Birthday, Kai! :D

Coffee or Tea

Morning or Night

Stars or Moon Back in grade school, I did a project on shooting stars

Meat or Fish I love Yakitori and Karaage

Baseball or Soccer

Spring or Autumn

Summer or Winter When it’s cold I can just pile on the layers, but in summer, no matter how many clothes you take off, it’s still hot! I can’t stand the heat.

Dogs or Cats

Hot springs or amusement parks

America or Europe

Red or Blue

Western movies or Japanese movies

The mountain or the sea

Sushi or Ramen

Sauce*(Worcestershire) or Soy sauce

Mayonnaise or Ketchup I use neither.

Udon or Soba noodles I love Inaniwa Udon.

Countryside or big city

English or Math

Vertical writing or horizontal writing

Texting or Phone call

Japanese sweets or Western sweets I like both, but I love chocolate so, western sweets it is.

The Tale of Genji or Shakespeare

Bread or White Rice Love savoury stuffed bread. Hate sweet buns.

Plane or Ship Being in transport for extended periods of time is agony. If it’s for an hour or so, then a ship.

Alone or in a group

Color or Black & White photography

Getting married japanese style or western style

Hokkaido or Okinawa No can do hot weather *laughs*. Give me cold instead.

A hot or lukewarm bath

Japanese or Western style room

Silent or Chatty

Outdoors or Indoors

Resort Hotel or Luxurious Ryokan I really love this feeling they have of offering attentive service to each and every guest.

Coarse or smooth sweet red bean paste

Elevator or escalator

Ballpoint pen or mechanical pencil Are there really people who go as far as liking or disliking either of these? *laughs* I don’t really use mechanical pencils, so the pen.

Roses or Orchids I love blue roses.

Tamagoyaki or Sunny-side up eggs Tamagoyaki and stock flavoured!

Rings or Watches

Bus or Train

Close-up or full-body photos I prefer taking a step back and taking medium shots

Sweater or blouse

Cleaning or Laundry Laundry is the one I still do. *laughs*

Preparation before cooking or cleaning up afterwards

Heavy or light futon How do people who prefer it heavy exist?!

Hard or soft pillow

Scuba diving or sky diving I want to do both! Since I like swimming, I guess i’ll pick scuba diving. I am a-ok with jumping from high places too.

Newspaper or Magazine I often flip through men’s magazines for research purposes.

Japanese liquor or wine Lately it’s white wine.

During winter, kotatsu or air-condition

Cookies or senbei

Okonomiyaki or Yakisoba

Nishikori Kei (tennis player) or Hanyu Yuzuru (figure skater)

Military uniform or Tailcoat

Lace or Velvet I don’t really like lace.

The Orient or The West

Green Tea or Oolong Tea

Roller coaster or Ferris Wheel

If you could hire one at home, a cook or a personal masseur Personal masseur all the way!!

In transport vehicles, window seat or aisle seat

During a discussion you mostly talk or mostly listen

Clothes with a flashy colour but plain design or clothes with a plain colour but flashy design

When staying in a hotel, high floor or low floor

A house with a big garden or a high-rise apartment with a beautiful night view? Taking care of a big garden is hard work so the high-rise apartment!

Nara or Kyoto

Arashi or Kanjani8 (boybands)

White or Black

Elisabeth of Austria or Marie Antoinette

Tragedy or Comedy I prefer playing tragedies but watching comedies.

Would you rather go to the future or the past? I want to watch the Earth being born on fast forward from the outside *laughs*

Tokugawa Ieyasu or Oda Nobunaga

Watching movies on DVD or in the cinema

Chirashizushi or Nigiri sushi

Fiction or Non-fiction

Suspense or Romance TV series

When riding a roller coaster, sitting at the very front or the very back

Freedom or Money Having freedom but no money or having money but no freedom...Talk about extremes *laughs*. Freedom, since money can’t buy that.

Christmas or New Year’s

Bed or futon

Group activities or solo activities Over 3 people, no can do *laughs*

If you could keep one at home, a tropical fish or a hamster? Couldn’t keep either! I wouldn’t be able to care for it properly and it would be a pity.

Gouriki Ayame or Nounen Rena (actresses)

When you’re lost, do you go back the way you came or, keep moving even if you don’t know where you’re going?

Guitar or Drums I can play the guitar a little.

Jazz or Classical music

Travel tv show or Foodie tv show

Hot or cold drinks I can’t handle hot food.**

Extremely sweet or extremely spicy

Sons or daughters I can’t really imagine such a thing… *laughs*

Super busy or super free

Getting ready for a trip, or sorting out the photos after you come back

Sports Festival or Culture Festival I like both. If you asked me to be in the committee for either of these, then the Culture Festival.

During a trip, chilling in one place or going around for shopping and sightseeing? I’d like to go someplace within Japan with hot springs and a beautiful scenery, stay in a luxurious ryokan, and just space out.

Boke or Tsukkomi

Staying up late or sleeping in

Cherry blossoms or Autumn leaves

Sleeping with a light on or in total darkness

Do you deal with bothersome things immediately, or procrastinate until the last minute? In my school years I would get things out of the way quickly, but since I joined Takarazuka I got lazy… The stage takes all of my effort.

If you were reincarnated, would you rather be a man or a woman? Next time, I want to work hard as a man.

Notes:

(*)When the Japanese say just “sauce”, they usually mean a thin Worcestershire, which is a popular dressing (**) 猫舌 (nekojita) Disclaimer: Recipes linked are just for reference

[laetro]

Shital Verma: Capturing the Essence of Personality Through Portraits

Through pen, pencil and stylus, Shital Verma continues to successfully encapsulate the soul of renowned personalities in his portraits. The ballpoint and digital artist reveals his secrets on how to capture the spirit and essence of individuals in portraits.

From the narrow lanes of Banaras, Shital Verma, the current National Design Editor of Navbharat Times, continues to stun the world with his art. His art journey carried him to various fields such as lifestyle magazine design, children’s books, packaging design, ad campaigns, logo design and digital illustration to name a few. Verma pursued Fine Arts in the Banaras Hindu University.

ORDER A CUSTOM ILLUSTRATION

Q. What inspired you to take up portraiture among all the other genres in art?

Shital: As a child, I read many books, comics and other literary works; this enhanced my ability to visualise the scenes, which I tried to capture through my artworks. I also tried to draw portraits of public figures and celebrities. Many great artists on the Ghats of Banaras performed live paintings; such exposure to great artworks pushed me to pick up my pencil and draw.

Q. Who is your greatest inspiration in the art field?

Shital: Works of Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Raja Ravi Varma are incredible sources of inspiration. There are several upcoming contemporary artists from around the world whose works are incredibly fascinating.

Q. What are some of the most critical elements in portraiture that one must follow to capture the likeness of the individuals?

Shital: Eyes and hair are the most critical elements in portraiture.

Q. How can one portray emotions in their portraits? What technique do you employ to achieve this?

Shital: A portrait goes beyond just copying a person’s face. Before starting any work, it is essential to study the characteristics of a person. This will enable us to help choose the best image to justify their personality.

Q. Your artworks showcase a broad and versatile style. How would you best describe your style, and what would you call your signature style/technique?

Shital: When I started digital portrait, I experimented a lot, following several renowned illustrators, studying their styles and techniques. I use varying styles to match the personality of the person in the portrait.

Q. Your works can be found in various mediums, from pen and ink to digital. Which is your most favourite medium and why?

Shital: Pencil and Ballpoint pen are my favorite mediums.

Q. Most of your works are exclusively digital. How did you transition from traditional medium to digital? Can you recall that period when you were first introduced to digital art for us?

Shital: Being an Art Director, I often had to illustrate my ideas to better guide my team, and digital was the medium for this due to its ease and accessibility. With time, the medium grew on me, and I began using it for my portrait drawings.

Q. Could you kindly share the artistic process behind your digital painting?

Shital: My artistic process is relatively simple. I primarily use Photoshop and split my desktop screen to hold the original photograph on the left and artwork on the right. I use multiple layers to obtain the desired end result.

Q. Whose portrait among your creations is your favourite and why?

Shital: Irrfan Khan and Chadwick Boseman

Q. What are some of the projects that we can look forward to in the future?

Shital: I plan on exploring other unique styles and techniques of illustrations. Apart from portraiture, I plan to pursue architectural drawings, daily life, and other genres of art.