somanyfangs

OC SPOTLIGHT: Poll for JANUARY

which one of these characters should i write about in january? you can vote for up to 3 options!

(the december OC spotlight will be about a dutiful spirit of loyalty named sagra, and the travelling apothecary he decides to protect with his life)

new deadline for HTM12: december 6th (+ general health update)

hi folks! in the last HTM poll & question post i said that "the planned release date for HTM12 is november 30th." i specifically used the word planned in case i would have to postpone the deadline a bit, because i've realised that i stress out a lot about hard deadlines. i have much less anxiety about bigger projects if i give myself the leeway to spend a bit more time on things in case it proves necessary and/or beneficial.

that's exactly why i'm postponing the re...

OC Spotlight: Lei // sfw

First of all I want to address the elephant in the room: you may notice some core similarities between Lei and a few other characters, primarily March and Tsaga. This is because Tsaga and Lei both originated as alternate universe versions of March. They quickly evolved into new characters in their own right, but some basic personality traits and story elements remain, though adapted to new concepts and situations.

Second of all, let's go over some pieces of lore that are essential to Le...

PROCESS VIDEO: dewy // nsfw

want to watch me spend about 4 minutes rendering Fluidsâ„¢? jk, i'm exaggerating, but i did spend a lot of time perfecting that mess they just made -- although it might not look that way, since the timelapse is so sped up. anyway, download the attached file to watch the process video of this recent drawing of tsaga & latif -- and if you have any questions, you're welcome to com...

WALLPAPER(S!): November // sfw

so um ... as it turns out, all the nsfw pieces i made lately are vertical, meaning they don't lend themselves well to wallpapers. so for a change, the november wallpapers are sfw -- will you choose the majestic dragon or the idiot demon chasing woodland spirits? 

// art + march + huangwu © me.

EARLY ACCESS: loyalty’s reward (week 48) // sfw

back in april i posted a sketch of huangwu that i’ve always wanted to finish, and today was the day. huangwu was once a human who fell in love with renxia, an immortal merman. for centuries huangwu keeps getting reborn and finding his way back to his lover, life after life, death after death. finally huangdi, the yellow dragon, rewards huangwu’s devotion by allowing him to be reborn as an undying...

November MOTM: of the starry night - painting process video // nsfw

download the attached .mov file to watch the process video for the november MOTM painting!

the focal point of this design is the starry pattern on the cloth- or fin-like elements flowing from the monster's shoulders and hips. i wanted to show it off and give myself plenty of real-estate to fill with stylised yellow stars, as described in the 2020-11-28 01:08:42 +0000 UTC View Post

November MOTM: of the starry night - concept sketch + design commentary // sfw

thanks again to toreadorkable and lostmisfits for suggesting a starry night/constellation MOTM theme!

at the start of this designing process, i gave myself a challenge. see, i already have a couple of monsters based on night sky aesthetics. my OC weshau is a so-called starbeast; his colour palette ranges from mid to very dark blue, and his coat is dotted with sma...

November MOTM: of the starry night (sketch) // nsfw

starry eyes   â˜…u★   (there’s so many puns i could make, like something about his lovers being starstruck or made to see stars, but i’m still low key  ashamed about the big dipper joke so ... i’ll just see myself out lol)

// art + character © me.

November MOTM: of the starry night (painting) // nsfw

they don't call him 'the big dipper' for nothing.

... ANYwAY. shoutout to lostmisfits and toreadorkable for suggesting a starry night/constellation theme! <3 i made a few ~artsy~ choices for this one, hope you all like it!

// art + characters © me.

SKETCHBOOK: chomp // sfw

i can’t stop drawing march and charlie ... please send help ...

more moments from recent scenes! in which nobody has a proper face, but it’s ok.

// art + march © me; charlie © kubi.

*TWO* OC portrait commission slots open!

i currently have 2 slots open for icon/OC portrait commissions -- claim one by pledging to the $75 tier before november 30th! just make sure to read THIS post (about the rules & guidelines) before you pledge!

important note: the $75 payment must be successfully processed on december 1st before i begin any...

EARLY ACCESS: peachy (week 47) // nsfw

better work that knot in before it swells too much, hm?

blake rivers said they wanted to see more rabbit characters and toreadorkable suggested nian & tu shen, a pairing also previously mentioned by ciyu! i LOVED working on this piece — i know i’m guilty of using more or less the same colour palette for every nian & tu shen piece, but it’s just so pretty and soothing that i can’t resist... 

// art + nian © me...

SKETCHBOOK: refining Lei's design // sfw

the november OC spotlight is going to be about Lei, who you might remember from an older sketchdump i put together after having a design breakthrough. since then i have tweaked his design even further; i decided to draw his head in a different way, to make him look less like a 'regular' fox, and for the same reason i'm experimenting with scaly peets. the design isn't 100% done yet, because there's st...

SKETCHBOOK: humor me // sfw

this is a scene from early in charlie and march's story, when their budding romance is still far from full bloom.

they have travelled to help another forest guardian with a demon-collecting witch problem and quite a few enemy encounters ensue. march (being a wrath demon) can handle a lot of pain, which usually means he fights recklessly and with little regard for any injuries he might sustain along the way. after the battle is over he relies on his very fast healing to soon be back to n...

EARLY ACCESS: dessert (week 46) // nsfw

latif is a baker of many tasty goods, but tsaga's favourite sweet treat is the faun himself.

(psst, i've been in kind of an art slump lately so i wanted to encourage you all to suggest which OCs i should draw next. i've been finding myself short on inspiration and motivation and it actually really helps to hear which of mine and kubi's characters you like to see! <3)

// art + tsaga Â...

Question post for HTM12: WEREWOLVES

the poll results are in: HOW TO MONSTER 12 will be all about WEREWOLVES, a topic requested by jaeger&wick, toreadorkable, and liquid ferret!

my plan is to structure this guide similarly to my HTM about dragons. i want to discuss how werewolves are depicted in mythology, folklore, and media; how to design both  'traditional' lycanthrope...

OC SPOTLIGHT: Poll for DECEMBER

which one of these characters should i write about in december? you can vote for up to 3 options!

(for the november spotlight i'll tell you about lei, a lab-grown monster looking for a purpose!)

Monster of the Month: Poll for DECEMBER

which of these monsters should i draw in december? you can vote for up to 3 options!

lostmisfits suggested snowy themes, shae wished for an abyssal horror, and for the rest of the poll options i was able to combine suggestions from several patrons as follows: sunset (bees) + pastels (toreadorkable) = pastel sunset; a forest creature/moss & mushrooms (ciyu) ...

EARLY ACCESS: "... what?" (week 44) // nsfw

i mean, someone is gonna have to clean that up, right ...?

i’m working on a bunch of stuff rn but still wanted to take the time to draw a little something something for week 44! i believe this might be the first time i’ve done a proper painting of march in his more humanoid form, although some of you will already have seen it in several sketchdumps (like here and 2020-11-03 04:21:32 +0000 UTC View Post

October MOTM: eldritch angel - painting process video // nsfw

here's the process video for october's motm painting of an eldritch angel & their lover! you can download the attached video below.

this design is relatively complex, with many different parts overlapping each other and lots of elements and details to take into account. despite this i found it strangely easy to figure out the basic pose, and i guess that positioning each wing and limb was 2020-10-31 21:55:32 +0000 UTC View Post

October MOTM: eldritch angel - concept sketch + design commentary // sfw

thanks again to ciyu for suggesting a many-eyed, many-winged, objected-headed monster based on biblical angels! 

it seems that in the modern mainstream, angels are usually depicted in one of two ways. the first is as gentle, winged humanoids with benevolent smiles and glowing halos, come to deliver encouraging pep talks or to help. the other is the more martial version, with angels in roman armour and wielding swords to smite the wicked or protect the sacred. but t...

October MOTM: eldritch angel ("sketch") // sfw

today’s aesthetic is symmetrical wings striking an artful pose.

this portrayal of our eldritch angel friend is directly inspired by frescoes and mosaics of seraphim and cherubim :> i wanted to make the design look extra weird and stylised so there’s some differences between this sketch and the painting. it’s still the same individual and several key elements are the same, but the exact c...

October MOTM: eldritch angel (painting) // nsfw

when sinning feels like heaven.

thank you to ciyu for suggesting a monster of the month based on biblical angels! drawing them was so much fun — i’ll be sharing the behind-the-scenes commentary soon, explaining what the various parts of the design are based on.

this is one of my most intricate pieces lately and i’m including an unprecedented number of close-ups, as well as three different versions. the first is vertical and cropped relatively tight,...

HOW TO MONSTER 11: Concepting - EXERCISE SHEET // sfw

voilà, here's the exercise sheet for HTM11, on the topic of concepting and generating ideas! download the .zip below to access the 3-page PDF + individual pngs of each page.

i hope you'll enjoy doing any or all of the suggested exercises, and that you'll get inspired to try new approaches, widen your horizons, step outside your comfort zone, think outside your usual kind of box, and all that j...

OC Spotlight: Tsaga // mildly nsfw

I've posted numerous sketch compilations of Tsaga (1 2 3) that showcase both his design and his cocky personality, as well as several nsfw scenes (2020-10-29 02:36:50 +0000 UTC View Post

WALLPAPER(S!): October // nsfw

bam, here's the wallpaper versions of a few recent pieces! access them by downloading the files below <3 

// art + tsaga + sau + random faun lady + andreas © me; latif + julian © kubi.