Don’t you just love that brand new year smell? Those notes of hopefulness and freshly-baked resolutions that just about mask the stench of weeks-old Christmas turkey you’ve forgotten to chuck out or the scorched musk of 2023?
Seriously though, go throw those leftovers out now.
This is going to be a heavy update, so for those of you who need the credits before the movie, here’s a TL;DR:
Alt title: death by a thousand scales.
I'm actually really proud of how this one turned out! I also see it as a move towards consolidating my style into this lineart-focused, softly rendered type (as opposed to either fully rendered or fully flat). I really enjoy working like this and I've always wanted to settle on a style instead of having a myriad of experiments in my portfolio.
As always, your thoughts are loved!
2024-01-03 13:08:06 +0000 UTC View Post
Happy New Year everybody! I hope December was kind to you all.
Here's my first piece of 2024- which I actually started in 2023, but left in my WIPs due to personal reasons and the year not starting how I hoped. This year, I'm determined to make it as the piece feels - hopeful, vibrant and bold - so even if it's still somewhat unfinished, I decided that this would be my opening salvo.
I spent a lot of time resting and thinking in December - as well as making progress on quite a few...
2024-01-01 12:14:33 +0000 UTC View Post
For this Mystery box I went for a chipper catte ready to sail off to the new shores of Dawntrail!
Style wise I wanted to try and imitate some of the FFXIV key art they've made for events. Not sure I quite got there, because despite their simplicity, those styles are strangely complex. Either way, I'm quite pleased with how this one turned out!
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This reward was a "Mystery Box" - a type of reward where you give me a character but I get to decide how I draw everything. Y...
2023-11-27 13:05:04 +0000 UTC View Post
100% mood, 100% vibes.
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This reward was a "Color Bust" - a type of reward you can purchase with points through my patreon reward portal StarStickers! If you're a patron make sure you sign up, and if you're not... well *shifty eyebrow waggle*
2023-11-21 23:11:59 +0000 UTC View Post
I've been wanting to lean more into more fantasy aesthetics lately, so for this Mystery Box I decided to turn a FFXIV character into a dryad.
I had different plans for the colors on this one originally, but as I went along, I really felt like going for more of an autumnal vibe.
Now what shall my next mythological creature be...?
As always, your thoughts are loved!
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This reward was a "Mystery Box" - a type of reward where you give me a character...
2023-11-15 17:30:10 +0000 UTC View PostWell if it isn't another update by yours truly. This time it's a specific one to let you know that new merch/options have been added to StarStickers!
My most recent piece - After the Storm (Lyse, FFXIV) - is now available as a print.
You c...
2023-11-09 09:47:11 +0000 UTC View Post
A Fanart Mystery Box of one of the most underrated characters in the series, Lyse Hext. I'll really never understand why she's so disliked...
This was a joy to work on, even though I will never stop groaning at my inability to not chuck flowers and plants at everything. Must be my inner impulses telling me to actually go touch some grass.
As always, your thoughts are more than loved!
You know how I usually start these updates with a reference to the month, the weather or something equally banal? I just realised I’ve got nothing for November. Like, what even is this month? It’s not quite spooky, it’s not quite Christmas even if we keep rubbing up against reams of tinsel on our way to get toilet paper and the only thing remarkable about it is that they once again changed the clocks and made us all sad.
November really is the middle child of the year, isn’t it?...
2023-11-02 09:18:04 +0000 UTC View Post
The best girl, and I will not hear otherwise.
This is a piece I made over 3 years ago, for the release of the FFVII Remake, but that I was never quite happy with at the time, so for this most recent MCM I decided to give her a spruce up with my upgraded skills and I am so much happier with how she came out.
She also makes for a beautiful print, just saying... <.<
As always, your thoughts are loved!
2023-11-02 09:10:57 +0000 UTC View Post
Ahh I can finally show this one! My entry to the FFXIV EU art contest - which as it happens - got shortlisted!
I will reserve commentary on this piece as to not spoil things for people who haven't gotten to Endwalker yet but, if you know, you know.
If you have an EU FFXIV account, I would love it if you could throw...
Finally, the winner from our poll last month- fire mommy herself.
I had to trim this one down from the full body piece it started of to a bust, as I quickly found out that all her belts, scars, buckles, more belts, fire, horns, additional pointless belts and the fact that her skin is the most painful color to paint with were going to be the end of me if I tried to pursue the full thing at this time.
In other news, this will soon be available as a print on StarStickers (or at MCM L...
2023-10-16 20:19:36 +0000 UTC View Post
My lovely Artlings of Light! (aka, those of you who play FFXIV)
I'd like to formally invite you to the most whimsical event of the year, our Halloween Special FFXIV Art Party!
This is our most anticipated event of the year, for which you're strongly encouraged to dress up in style as we will having our yearly costume contest, with rewards for the winners! (If you're coming on an alt, do let us know and we'll gladly provide some ...
I don't get to do many original outfit designs these days and it's something I really, really love. I had such a blast with this one even though ohmygod it was so much work.
This was an Ultimate Mystery Box - which is the high end version of the Mystery Box, in which someone gives me their character and I design it however I wish. That may include rendered pieces, full bodies or wrist-breaking outfit designs like this one.
Your thoughts, as ever, are love...
2023-10-05 19:59:34 +0000 UTC View PostGather round children, for this is the story of an artist with a crooked hand and a wobble in her sciatica, who day in, day out, would sit, hunched like a prawn left in the sun, over a list of tasks that grew five times longer for every item she completed. One day, when she was just minding her business, quietly moping over the umpteenth field of flowers she was drawing behind a character covered in scales… BAM, Covid got her.
And then Covid decided to stay for tea an...
2023-10-04 09:59:32 +0000 UTC View Post
A mystery box piece, very moody and just in time for spooky season.
I loved working on this, despite catching covid in the process and feeling like day-old lettuce throughout most of it.
Also apologies for the radio silence - I actually finished another piece before this one, but as I submitted it to the FFXIV art contest I'm not able to show it yet! Please do look forward to it in mid-October (or check the Discord out as I did publish it there)
As always, your thoughts are ...
2023-09-29 14:08:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Oooh this one's going to kill me, but it's gonna be such a good way to go...
2023-09-16 13:38:36 +0000 UTC View PostWell I’m not gonna say that it was my fault that I got a little too overzealous about autumn and pumpkin spice before summer decided to clap me in the face but… I'm sorry about that.
As promised, here’s the second part of this month’s update - which I apologise for being little later than I said it’d be. I blame my hands fusing to my desk keyboard in this weather.
Please see below for info on new rewards and merch added to the store, as well as some exciting new...
2023-09-10 16:23:27 +0000 UTC View Post
Our second poll winner, in all his snarky, trash eating glory.
I was going to paint this one in my simpler style, but then those cheekbones took the wheel and we ended up here.
It's been a long time since I felt this proud of how a piece turned out and I can't wait to make it into a print!
As always, your thoughts are loved!
2023-09-09 11:05:00 +0000 UTC View Post
And for our second round of WIPs, we have third place in the poll: mommy Venat.
Behind her we had Y'shtola, who'll come in due time. In the meantime, we'll be getting a Lyse - courtesy of a booked fanart reward and an Estinien - courtesy of my partner who won't shut up about it.
I don't think I've ver had this many WIPs going on at once and I'm quite looking forward to hammering them all out in the next two months.
2023-09-02 20:30:51 +0000 UTC View Post
The top and second scorers in the poll were (un)surprisingly Baldur's Gate 3 characters - namely, Karlach and Astarion.
So here are the two ongoing WIPs for that - Astarion will likely be painted in my simpler style while Karlach is most likely getting a glow up featuring all the bells and whistles to make sure she burns with rightful intensity.
2023-09-02 20:27:37 +0000 UTC View PostShh come here, quick, hide. Do you hear them? They lurch ever closer, mindlessly ambling in search of pumpkin lattes and the first browned leaf to harvest unto their Instagrams. Cover your ears and don’t listen to them harp on about 'Fall being their favorite season' or you too might end up cursed by plaid and the pretense that 6$ is an acceptable price for any beverage.
In an effort to not see my birthday come and go whilst writing this update, I’m going to keep it simple: ...
2023-09-02 18:24:27 +0000 UTC View PostNote: My apologies for the repost - I made a mistake with the settings and couldn't correct it without deleting the entire post.
So here's a bit of Ony lore from yonder: back in the very early days, when it was 10 of us ragtag gremlins in here, I used to host monthly polls to decide which piece of fanart to draw.
These polls were so contentiously popular we'd have patrons bribing other patrons for their vote and flat out trenches being built aro...
2023-08-23 09:58:05 +0000 UTC View Post
A mystery box of a sad yokai.
What's funny about this piece is that the smoke framing the piece probably took me longer than the character herself. The dumb stuff we choke on, eh?
2023-08-22 13:52:41 +0000 UTC View Post
Your heart ever aches even though it has no reason to?
For this mystery box, a bit that stuck out in the description was "she's usually cheerful, but often sad and lonely though she overplays it with over-the-top happiness" so I tried to convey that by giving it bright colors and flowers (yes, shut up, more flowers) while adding contrast with a very somber expression and greyed out hues for the center piece.
As always, your thoughts are loved!
Mother of hair, this one took me for a whole ride and a half with its shwoops, loops and braids.
Looking back on these updates I realise I always start them with either a reference to the weather, the time of year or both, and if that’s not an indication of how culturally embedded I’ve become into the United Kingdom, then I don’t know what in the jolly crumpets is.
If only I had some sun to remind me of what a normal August is supposed to feel like…
Oh. Well.
Pip-pip ta...
2023-08-05 16:54:32 +0000 UTC View Post
July's art party was a hoot and I'm glad I got to make so many portraits to make up for how long it'd been since the last event.
Hoping to schedule the next one for September, so make sure that if you're not in the Discord yet (or don't have the @wol role) you join us so you don't miss out!
2023-08-05 11:43:16 +0000 UTC View Post
It's been a minute since I posted a pure lineart piece!
More to come soon - I've been burrowed in WIP hell for a minute, so August should be the month I have something to show for it!
2023-08-01 12:05:48 +0000 UTC View Post
What if FFXIV but... also Barbie?
Lately I can't seem to get away from my rainbow barf tendencies for Mystery Boxes. The next few pieces will probably be linearts, just to clease the timeline and spare your retinas.
Your thoughts, as ever, are always loved!
2023-07-20 15:12:47 +0000 UTC View Post