Today I Had The Following Confirmed:

From sketch to finished illustration, gouache and watercolour on gesso primed paper.

Following: more ramblings on the technique and inspiration

I loved the process, and clear gesso one of the best thing to ever happen to artists because sketching on gessoed surfaces is a pain in the ass.

Also this way I didnt have to worry about over working the paper. That in fact is NOT watercolour paper.

Subject-wise I have been toying with re-starting my struggle with the Russian language and in my Tumblr rotted brain I thought that it would be fun to read some fics in Russian with help from the ever loving Google translate. Then I remembered reading when I was like 11-13 some (way too adult for my age probably) great and creepy urban fantasy set in Moscow.

Long story short I then stumbled on this amazing fic for the ночной дозор fandom, and my inner preteen was so delighted I had to paint something. So here is one of my faves, an old schemer of a Light Magician, part time steppe dweller and simp for his way-cooler partner: the Most Bright Gesar just before he met Olga.

Took a break from england to listen to the new History of Byzantium and I'm just immensely charmed by the anecdote about how the Niceans very carefully brought Mongol ambassadors to court via the route that required going through as many mountain passes as possible to try and minimize how invadable-by-horse-archers they seemed.

Just some random things to try out Infinite design ( disclaimer: I know nothing about vector drawing)

i don’t know who this woman is. but these two nameless photos of that i think are both of her have shown up in two separate threads of photos of lesbians, a month apart. and i picked them out to attach to without even realizing it was the same woman at first. and i am hopelessly attached to her

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edit — her name is asia. both photos were taken by chloe sherman in san francisco, in 1996. [x] [x]

Inktober 2023

Day 16 - The Master and Margarita

'So, she used to say, she had gone out that day carrying those yellow  flowers for me to find her at last and that if it hadn't happened she  would have poisoned herself because her life was empty.'

(Mikhail Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita")

Captains James Clark Ross and Francis R. M. Crozier, just back from Antarctica, posing for a portrait.

(I am still falling down the firehole, can't seem to reach the sea. It's embarassing.

The two captains are now living rent free in my brain. Just what I needed. But they are quite fun to paint😊. )

This is just a rough sketch but I am quite happy about how it's turning out. I may have spent way too much time blending portraits, photographs and statues into cohesive faces, but it was worth it.

My eldest begotten is besotted with you, The Weeping. I see why. Who are you? TWILIGHT OF THE GODS — Now Hear Of… (Episode 6) written by Eric Carrasco & Caitlin Parrish directed by Dave Hartman & Andrew Tamandl ››› John Noble as Odin ››› Sylvia Hoeks as Sigrid

I stumbled upon "The Terror" on Prime a couple of weeks ago and I (predictably) fell into the rabbithole (or is it firehole?) that is the Franklin expedition. And since when I love I paint, here are a couple of sketches of (historical) Francis Crozier and James Clark Ross, best friends and polar explorers.

I have a question. It's a really silly question but I am curious. Pink Floyd. I LOVE Pink Floyd. I mean the Dark side of the Moon? Wish you were here? Beautiful. Amazing music. Probably amongst my favorite of all times.

But am I the only one who can listen to them only so much before starting to feel a mixture of existential dread and general depression?

The notable exception is my beloved Piper at the Gates of Dawn. I could listen to that one over and over again.

NB: some of this is and exaggeration for dramatic purpose.

I'll go and do a deep dive of their discography to gather more data.

the thing that sucks is that people love saying sleep early is good etc etc and yeah it is. I've seen some benefits before. but I think it sucks to ignore that late night is the only time with any freedom. I think it sucks to not acknowledge the dread in waking up and it's a work day again