Maria Ochoa

Zorca shenanigans

With the month wrapping up Im looking for all the stuff I sketched out. These are several for my tides-that-binds-us blog. It's been nice being active there again and finding my stride.

My partner and I also started a side blog called Tales of Hyrule, where we're collaborating; he writes and I draw pieces for his short stories. We'...

Demons! At the Disco

Groovy, baby!

This was a belated birthday gift for my friend, Werewolfsister! They have a personal project about priests, demons, and math problems OH MY! It's an awesome concept and the designs for the disco demons are just as awesome. Here are two of them, the one on the left is Lux and the one on the right is Motus!

This was possibly one of the most colorful pieces I've done and I love it 🪩🤩

Pride Spotlight - Cironus

Here is the last spotlight for this month but certainly not the least by any means - Cironus!

While researching orca behaviors when first setting up the zorca, I learned they're polyamorous. The zorca follow the same behavior, where they meet with other pods and pair off. Sometimes it's with the same partner, or a different one, or there is a polycule of consenting individuals. Some examples include Lurona with her two partners Kamion and Fat Fin. And with Cironus, he's in a relationshi...

Paprika Comic - Lurona and Finn

This comic is extremely self indulgent and it's been fun to work on even if it's been slow going. I've been dabbling here and there in this human AU for my zorca characters, making up ideas for each of them such as their careers, family, etc.

Context for this comic; Fat Fin (or Finn) and Lurona have been hanging out since first meeting when she attended her first wrestling match. Thanks to discussions Ive had with a friend, Lurona has had late night dinners with Finn at the local Waffle...

Pride Spotlight - Ducky

We're in the homestretch of June and Im trying to see how many of these I can make before the month's end. So next up is DUCKY!

All of my characters on CDN were krogan so I wanted to challenge myself by playing as another alien race. Ducky was heavily inspired by Peridot from Steven Universe; her colors, the shape of her head, even had the voice actress in mind for her own voice. She is a small neurotic salarian who just wants to get out of her family's political drama.

Salarians...

Request sketches!

I mentioned in a previous post that Id like to do requests here on patreon, but I was still unsure. For now Im starting small with a group of friends! Here are a some of the pieces I did over the last few days C: I get the art zoomies and this is a nice way to spread some positivity!

Sketches, sketches everywhere!

Im always reminding myself that it's okay to be inconsistent with your art. I dont have to keep to a specific schedule or an art style, or even a topic. Just enjoy things while you're in the zone!

That said, here are several things I made while in that zone! I do have projects I want to work on and eventually finish but Im trying to pace myself so I don't end up resenting them later on. Some of these were on a whim while others I wanted to share on tumblr to spread some positivity. Hope...

Digital - Adrift from Home

Listening to music got me wanting to doodle something for Cironus being wistful and lonely, and to play with water effects. Here's the full colored piece as well as the test sketch that started it!

Pride spotlight - Zoar

Another krogan OC! Im having fun drawing them all again. Ive been thinking over who else I wanna showcase in these little spotlights. Like, it won't be Mass Effect only but Im kinda in the zone here haha!

So this is Zoar! Like Kron, he was made to be part of Aralakh Company, and had the role of the old man veteran everyone comes to for advice. When I brought him on CDN he took a wildly different turn that Im pretty happy with! I made him Lydia's father who was absent for most of her lif...

His job is Beach

This was a gift for Bec-Son/Becquerel on tumblr! They've been so nice drawing art of Fat Fin and I wanted to draw them something in return. I found a pose reference and showed them and they came up with the scenario of their zora resting on the beach after fighting monsters, and Fat Fin just plods on over going "Sup?"

Had a lot of fun with this one, it makes me laugh each time I look at it! And added the sketch here too, messy but always love the energy they have!

Pride spotlight - Kron

Up next in my little series is Kron! Before I joined CDN I created Kron along with my other krogan; Turak, Vuk, Zoar (and another who didnt show up on the boards named Uvnar) Originally they were going to be part of Aralakh Company that Grunt was in charge of. They were a group of classic tropes (the smart one, the funny one, etc) all going on space adventures and fighting in the Reaper War.

Like Lydia, I didn't get to do too much with Kron or the others on tumblr so they were placed on...

Human AU - Fat Fin

Fat Fin has been an unexpected comfort character for me. I like drawing him, making up ideas for him, planning out stories that are not related to the stuff I feel like I should be working on. He's a character where Im like "I really enjoy seeing you on paper (literally or digitally)" and in those rare occasions Im not feeling guilty about drawing him too much

So here's some more concepts I worked on in the last few days for a human AU. There's no plot direction for it, just mo...

Paprika - Fat Fin pinups

These were all done with reference from art belonging to another artist named Hoggan who draws large furry men 👌I wanted to expand (hurr) my skills when it comes to body shape and practice things like how fat is affected by gravity. Also I really wanna draw Fat Fin 👀 Im cackling over how this is slowly becoming a series.

Pride spotlight - Lydia

This little project may or may not be my excuse to draw krogan again (but let's be honest, any time is a good time to draw krogan) so here we have Lydia!

I had her join Cerberus Daily News about a month after I joined as Branka. Before CDN, I did try to bring her on tumblr's MERP community but RP blogs were slowly becoming inactive so I didn't have a chance to show her off. Originally she was a dancer at Purgatory on the Citadel, then on CDN she was a dancer and a prostitute at a club i...

Pride spotlight - Branka

I always wanted to do something like this but each year I was too busy or too scared to share or talk about it in any capacity. Ive seen folks do art of their OC's identities and it looked like fun. I don't know if I can do ALL my OC's but I wanted to give it a shot with as many as I can.

So let's start with Branka!

I wanted to start with her because writing her helped me discover my own ace identity. Though it unfortunately was an experience rife with aphobia. In Branka's story, ...

Final prompt - SRKW

"If we lose the Southern Residents, it will be the first extinction where every individual's name was known." - Alexandra Morton

Here we are at the final prompt.

The southern resident killer whales inspired me to make Orcanomics. They inspired me to create the zorca.

I don't know why it surprises me, but opinions about killer whales for most people even today don't go any further than "Sea World attraction" or "dont they kill everything?" It...

Tokitae & Kiska

Okay, we're in the homestretch.

I've been going slowly over this prompt because it was the hardest to talk about. Reading about the history of these two orcas was a lot to take in, and they're not the only two who went through these experiences. Trying to summarize it without somehow lessening the importance is also a challenge. I don't want to make this into some kind of depressive spiral, but I also feel its important to share, you know?

So here we go <3

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Art trade - Caldermuir

my finished piece for Stellarcherry on tumblr, with and without the mask, and an edited sketch since the last one because as I was working on that I realized the arm fins were facing the wrong way, oops!

J35 Tahlequah

Tahlequah is a special killer whale to many people. I remember hearing about her story in the news and online. It's another sad tale so here we go:

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She's another killer whale from J Pod of the southern resident orcas who has gone through several losses, but she's especially known for what people called The Tour of Grief. She has given birth to four children, with two still alive today named Notch and Phoenix.

Tahlequah is the daughter ...

J2 Granny

Granny was the matriarch of J pod (part of the southern resident orcas) and was said to have lived into the hundreds. Further research discovered that may not be likely, maybe putting her at 50 or even 80 years old when she finally passed away in 2016. That's still a long life for a killer whale in the wild!

What's fascinating about how they came to these conclusions was the whale who often accompanied her, named J1 Ruffles. Researchers assumed he was her last child. Female orcas stop h...

Moby Doll - The Killer Whale who changed the World

This week was the one I was looking forward to the most though I want to give some warning first; some of these stories are extremely sad as well. I had to take a few breaks in my research because I broke down in tears. Orcas have an ugly history of being mistreated ;_; but if you're willing, come on this trip with me to learn some of their history with humans

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Moby Doll is I think the second orca brought into captivity...

Sleep, Spa Day, and Dorsal

Just about caught up with my Orcanomics! Let's get into some orca facts because they're pretty cool! :>

Sleep - Did you know that orca don't sleep? Not fully, at least! They are voluntary breathers so one half of the brain has to stay alert so it can remember to breath. It's called Unihemespheric Sleep which a few animals can do, such as other dolphins, porpoises, seals even chickens! (there's even one eye open on the side of the brain that's awake) Killer whales swi...

Title Cards

So these were mainly for practice but one day I was strongly hit with particular visuals and I wanted to try out some fonts (text design is not a strong point of mine) these were fun little edits

The first three title cards are stories made by werewolfsister/gargoyle sister (done with their permission!) and other collaborators. And the last (but not least!) was a title card I made for myself for Cironus' story.

Backgrounds are from Breath of the Wild (save Diplomatic Relations whi...

WIP - Caldermuir

Stellercherry from tumblr asked for permission to draw Cironus hanging out with one of their OCs, so in return I asked if I could draw something for them. They chose one of their zora who is a yiga! This is the wip sketch, I had to stop temporarily due to injuring my hand and elbow (nothing huge, but it is SORE) but very excited to get this done though!

Art Trade - Kurt and Briar

I uploaded this on tumblr but posting here because I want it here! This was an art trade for axicentshappen on tumblr. Who in turn did an awesome piece for me! These two have something going on but they haven't quite put a name to it. Their designs are great and I had an absolute...

Catching up - Baby Talk, Delphinidae, and Super Pod

It's been another busy week but thankfully no storms that knocked out our power! My partner and I have been looking forward to this weekend so mostly been taking a break from drawing (i also injured my elbow and hand so that kinda forces me to take it easy haha) Let's get chatting about these prompts, shall we?

Baby Talk - a super adorable fact I learned is baby orca have their own baby babble! Each pod has their own distinct language, unique clicks and whistles and th...

Despite everything, we stay silly

So last week was not so great, and I don't want to use this to vent about it (Im honestly ready to move on) but the week was fantastically topped off with a tornado warning that caused a lot of damage to the area we lived in. So my partner and just returned from a disappointing outing only to return to a mess and no power. That said, you dont feel like drawing when things around you suck, and that said again, thank you to everyone who always show support, on here, in chat, ...

Gift art and sketches

This week has me all nervous and stressed and Im trying not to think about it. I like to draw to keep myself busy but you don't want to do too much or else you face burn out and wrist injury, so you gotta balance. The frustrating part of it is despite being so productive I can't help but feel like I'm falling behind somehow. There is no deadline...and yet!

I'm in a weird limbo with my feelings but the art does make me happy and I hope you enjoy it too. Here are a few I did over...

Happy Mother's Day!

It's a little hard to celebrate mother's day but drawing is a nice distraction and I wanted to do something nice for the occasion! Here is my zorca family; Lurona with her kids, Sardon, Cironus, Kaso and Kaska with her missing daughter, Lufina, in the background

If you celebrate this day I hope it's a good one for you and your family, and if there are circumstances that dont let you, I hope you receive so many signs from the universe that you are loved ;u; ❤️

Clan & Community

A clan is composed of pods that share calls and also share maternal ancestry. While whales from different clans do interact and interbreed with one another, they do not share any call types.

Population/Community: This is the largest social unit for resident killer whales. A population (also known as a community) is composed of whales that interact and interbreed with one another. A resident killer whale population may contain mult...

2025-05-10 01:34:32 +0000 UTC View Post