Q&A - Written Answers

Thanks so much to everyone who sent in questions for the Q&A panel at DVS! I figured I'd type out some answers also for anyone that wasn't able to attend.

ScarySerum 

Much of your art features women readily embracing their monstrous transformations. What drew you to this enthusiasm in your characters' attitude?

Do you have any artists in particular that have inspired your work?

The short answer is I draw willing TFs because I find it hot. TF has been my main kink since the beginning, and whenever I found a comic or story with willing TF it was like striking gold. The vast majority of transformation stuff I see online is characters reacting to the tf with shock and horror. And that's great for people that are into that, but it was never quite what I wanted it to be. I'd often ignore parts of the dialogue in comics and imagine my own story where the character chose this, because to me it was so much hotter. Eventually I was like "wait, I'm an artist! I can actually make the smut I've been craving for so long." 

I have TONS of artists that inspire me. Sometimes I feel like every piece or project, I'm ripping off a different artist and copying parts of their style. Incase is the goat, of course. Angrboda is amazing, and was the inspiration for how I make art books. Shysiren & Blanclauz draw amazing smut. and On the SFW side theres Guttertongue for monster designs, Tom Parkinson Morgan for character designs and general vibes, Will Kirkby for detail and style.

Hellbound Aria

You've done work for and fanart for characters in ttrpgs you have done. do you have a favorite ttrpg system? Either mechanically or aesthetically?

Right now, top mechanical RPGs are:

Blades in the Dark

Draw Steel

Dread

Top Aesthetic ones are:

Cy_Borg

Icon

Wanderhome

I absolutely love RPGs, and they've been a huge influence on both the visual style of the art I make and also the editorial design of my books. I really love artsy rpg books with quirky layout design and art, I collect them!

ScarySerum

Do you have any favorite media (films/shows/games/comics) that features enthusiastic transformations?

Sadly, there isn't much out there for my specific brand of depravity. There's some kind of similar stuff in Baldurs Gate 3, some routes you can take with the tadpoles. Cyberpunk has some similar themes with cyberware. Bloodborne has similar vibes with people enhancing themselves with monster blood, but it's not super enthusiastic when the transformations come along. Delicious in Dungeon has some moments that feel similar, and is an amazing series overall.

Maeve [KimRinzley]

Who among your library of characters is your favorite OC and also least favorite?

That's a tough one to answer lol. And my favorites change all the time. I think my xenomorph gal Tala is probably #1 overall, her vibe is just so much fun to draw. I don't know if I have a least favorite... there have been plenty of vivid shadows pieces where I didn't end up being happy with the character design, but I just had to finish it and call it done for time.

Maeve [KimRinzley]

Is there any kind of kink you'd like to explore that you haven't had the opportunity to (yet)?

There are definitely kinks I'd love to explore more in the future. A lot of my TF stories are not as directly sexual, there's a lot of fading to black. I'd love to explore more of actual post-tf (or mid-tf) sex, and the various possibilities that spring from that. My stories from Tales from the Facility were more explicit with that than most of my previous work, which was fun!

TF-adjacent kink wise, I'd also love to further explore things like fusion, macro, scent, and some kinda vore related things.

Mr_0182

Of any creatures across all mediums would you like to draw in the future and which creatures you don't like/refuse to draw?

Jill and I actually have a big spreadsheet full of prompts for Vivid Shadows, and we like looking up obscure creatures from folklore to add in! Right now I'm excited to draw some kind of monstrous clown, I think that could be fun to explore in my style.

I don't think there are any creatures that I would absolutely refuse to draw. There are a bunch that I just wouldn't be super excited about, like I'm not really into shortstacks so goblins and kobolds aren't really interesting to me. Some animal types are also often used to kind of demean or de-power characters, like pigs or cows. Again I think I could come up with ways to draw those that would be more fun for me, but it wouldn't be high on my list.

Not Fenimore

Do you have any foundational TF media you'd recommend?

Some of my personal foundational ones are Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, Bartok the Magnificent, Ben Ten... 

There are also some movies that I think tap the same vibe as TF, where the villain unleashes some monstrous power at the final confrontation. I was fascinated by stuff like The Road to El Dorado, where the priest guy does a ritual that gives him control over a giant jaguar statue and drives him kind of crazy and feral with glowy eyes. Or the Disney Atlantis movie, where the bad guy gets infected by the magic power crystal that turns him into a corrupted monster. Not one-to-one for my stuff like Zombie Island or Bartok, but still very informative.

lofitimes

What would be your favourite characters you have worked on?

My xenomorph gal Tala is up there. Rita the werewolf and Vara the cult leader are also all timers. I kind of have a short attention span as an artist, where after drawing one character a few times I get kind of bored with them and want to design a new one. Designing characters is kind of my favorite part lol.

Right now I'm also really happy with the characters Jill and I made for Tales from the Facility. They were really fun to monster up!

MitchellTF

Are there any characters you want to go back to? Like Succubus Tongue, or James Bond Sharkgirl?

Kind of! I've been enjoying the throwback character redraws I've been doing here and there, where I revisit them after a few years to see how my skills have changed. I get kinda bored with characters and move on kinda quickly, so I need some time to come back around to them. I'd love to revisit Tiberia the shark girl sometime, she was a lot of fun. Maybe April, the dinosaur taur girl from Shifts 1?

Krem

Have you ever thought about doing more Longform comics? If so what are some settings/things you'd want to do?

Honestly, no not really haha. Comics are a TON of work. And my artistic attention span is pretty short, after I draw a character a handful of times I start getting bored and wanting to draw something else. I have a ton of respect for people who make long comics, but I don't think I'm built for it. 

That said, I am pretty intrigued by the possibilities of visual novels. You can make a visually interesting interactive stories without as crazy high an amount of work. So I may try to tell some longer-form stories that way.