Art Sandwich, Hold the Humility

[Dat Oni]

Oh god, here we go.

 

Okay, I draw. Or more precisely, I drew. My last drawings were made in 2010.

 

Since then, I've been on a 4 year hiatus, mostly due to self-esteem issues, a particularly devastating breakup, and just general lack of inspiration. It's beyond an art-block. It's like my hands just don't want to pick up the pencil anymore.

 

I hope to change that. Until then, though, here are some of my drawings from across the years, and only those I consider my personal best. It has been painfully pointed out to me that my proportions, perspective, and anatomy need some work, so when it gets bad, it gets bad. One fellow who shall remain anonymous, even had the gall to call it "dA-quality art", as if to say that my art typifies most of the galleries on that site...Which I consider to be a cruel statement, keeping in mind what dA is infamous for.

 

Also, I like to elaborate on the backstory behind characters, because for me, story is everything, so I  included some lore tidbits with the pictures.

 

Alright, on with the show.

 

Alexandre

 

 

 

Isn't he precious? Alexandre is a fan character for the Touhou franchise, and my first time practicing the ancient art of Lore Bending.

 

He's what is called a Tsuno-Sen, which is a combination of the Japanese (don't ask me which kind) words for "Magic" and "Horn", producing the rough translation of "Horn Mage". Essentially, it's what you get when you breed a Youkai Magician with an Oni. And isn't he just the cutest insult to mother nature.

 

I understand we have Oni Mages in Youkai lore, which is where Touhou gets 90% of its characters from. Take for instance, Fujiwara no Chikata, the commander of the 4 strongest Oni in existence: Kin-ki, Sui-ki, Fuu-ki, and Ongyo-ki. He had magic. And Oni is basically a placeholder for monster, demon, or, more commonly, ogre, so I could have gone with calling him an Oni Mage and be done with it. Instead, showing my ignorance back then, I had to be all "creative". :dodgy:

 

...Where was I? Oh yes, Alex. By the by, those are manacles on his wrists. Why is he chained like an animal? In Touhou, Oni have so much raw, concentrated power they need to keep it at bay by wearing enchanted restraints, sometimes with chains included.

 

Of course, little Alex wasn't little for long. I RP'd the guy (cutest...roleplay moments...ever), and eventually, he did in fact grow the hell up.

 

 

Okay, let's get this out of the way right now. There's a drawing error. In my laziness, I tried to make it look like he had one of his arms behind his back. It's obviously done poorly, so let's not bug the hell out of me over it, okay?

 

My god...he's gorgeous! And he...has my hair. Yeah, that's how my hair grows in ladies and gentlemen.

 

Several things to note. One, the horns have apparently crystallized. This is part of being a Tsuno-Sen; in fact, it happens during puberty. For some reason, Tsuno-Sen horns fall off during adolescence and new ones, made of a clear, sky-blue crystal grow out. I left it a mystery because even I couldn't explain it. :dazed:

 

Also, being an Oni offshoot, he has fangs. I didn't draw it like this in the picture, but typically, they're sticking out at all times.

 

The chest crystal is a roleplay element. Placed directly over his heart by the dragon Ryuujin, it caused him to recede into his mind while his body went on auto-pilot berserk. All a test of will to see if he could regain control of his body. 

 

Finally, we get to the sword. The blade is part of a set of two, the other being named Scylla. This stems from the Odyssey, where Odysseus had to choose between the Hydra, Scylla, or the whirlpool/gaping mouth fish thing Charybdis, which gave us the saying "Between the rock and the whirlpool", or "A rock and a hard place". Don't ask me why Hydras are synonymous with rocks. 

 

Overall, this is one of my favorite characters. I like how he turned out in both pics, and I hope that when I finally crawl out of this hole I've dug myself into I can get more drawings of him out there.

 

 

Zoloid

 

 

 

OH GOD WHAT

 

What was I on when I drew this thing-what's going in this picture-are those slabs of meat legs-oh Jesus forgive me...

 

Alright, so believe it or not, there was actually an intent behind this abomination besides gargling graphite and barfing it onto a sheet of paper to see what happens (Doodle Hellraiser, that's what happens).

 

The Zoloid is a demon. Now that we've got the obvious out of the way, it also has acidic saliva and terrorizes the souls of those who maliciously handicap others. Because Karma is ironic, and if you haven't guessed yet, this thing is quite handicapped itself. Give it one good look and tell me you see that thing moving at a decent pace. Nope.avi

 

Still, it manages to get around, a la Weeping Angel. Being a demon and all, it will pop up where it damn well pleases, like, say, right in front of you, knock you down, and eat your face. How it does that with a jaw hampered by tentacles is too x-rated for this forum, so use your imagination.

 

I'll admit, the perspective on this one is probably fucked to kingdom come. But that's okay, because honestly, the overall form is spot on. I hit the nail on the head: monstrous abomination is monstrous. 5 stars! A+! 4 stars!

 

 

Eye of the Blind

 

 

 

This drawing was made by staring at my left hand. While drawing with my right.

 

Every wrinkle, every little bulge, all of that is detail from my actual hands. The proportions might be off a little bit, but everything else looks fine as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Dyani]

I like it  

 

 

Alexandre is indeed the cutest insult to Mother Nature. He is so adorbs  

 

Don't let the art block stop you! Keep going! You have some good talent! I'd love to see more from you. :3

[Tla]

I like it like it like it! Seriously. 

I understand the block, I hardly ever draw anymore, but you should really go on, or at least I hope you do because you have something there.

And the persons who draw with pencil nowadays are damn rare, I myself can't use anything else though, it has all a special feeling.

[Hyakki]

I know the feeling, I haven't bothered much to draw over the past few years myself. I scribble every now and then but its nothing special. I hope you can find the motivation to get back into it!

 

I think you have a knack for drawing monsters. Also, hands are supposed to be one of the hardest things to draw but you seem to do just fine.

[Dat Oni]

Hands were easy to get the hang of, though mine could still be a little more smooth.

 

Where I seem to have the most trouble is the frame of the human body...

 

...Specifically female bodies.

 

THEY DEFY ME.

[Dyani]

Hehehe  

 

Weirdly enough, I had the opposite problem for a long time and still a little bit. I find it so hard to draw dudes sometimes

 

Lol how do I dude

[Tla]

I find males harder, like Lyrielle, but I think that's mostly due to lack of habit...or dunno. I also find human figure much harder anything else animals in general, I've always been more for other animals