Hi, Peridot! Just Letting You Know That You're Awesome And I Hope The New Year Is Gentle On You ❤️

I've been experimenting more with overlays and bright colors

on this day i got born'd👍

[Start ID. A close-up photo of one titular Provence Hairstreak perched on a rock. It is a butterfly only a couple centimeters long, with one of its big black eyes visible and lined in white, thin clubbed antennae striped black-and-white, and large, generally brown wings, with black spots amid a patch of orange on the forewing. Its most notable feature, though, is the ludicrously fluffy appearance of its front half: long setae the color of verdigris almost completely take over its head, thorax and abdomen, and the green hairs extend to its femurs and half of the hindwings. The white speckles dotting the green wings contribute to an overall fairy-like appearance. End ID.]

Provence Hairstreak (Tomares ballus), family Lycaenidae, found in northern Africa and SW Europe

photograph by @yaylalperen

1, 8, and 18 for the asks~!

1: Favorite color to work with

Never really thought about it before! I don’t think I actually have a specific color (maybe greens or reds, but I’m not sure those aren’t just often-used as opposed to well-liked), but the eyestrain, bright yellow/red/teal/blue palette definitely fits the bill, it’s Very fun to use. Gold’s fun to render, too.

8: Show some art from 1-2 years ago

Boye. 1-2 years is a large time frame. I’m taking it to mean anything between one and two years ago, which pretty much lands everything in 2021. I’m not sure if this was supposed to be pieces I actually still like or an accurate representation of that year, I’ll choose the first, as I wouldn’t consider most of it terribly interesting.

Feb 18 - one of my very few lineless pieces, for a person I engaged in frequent art trades with

Sep 4 - yeah we sure are gonna skip seven months, here’s one of the first times I used a non-black color for shading/lineart: a beloved older OC, mosa :]

Sep 28 - A cropped screenshot from a time I tried pixel art again. Surprisingly, it wasn’t connected to any media or world of mine, I just had an idea for an animation (...that did become the basis for a lesser fictional world). Unfortunately the file’s autosave was overwritten and it wasn’t finished, so a couple screenshots and a video of my progress are all that remain of it

18: How long have I been drawing? When did I begin to call myself an artist?

Funny thing is I was just wondering about that. I've been drawing since I could hold a pencil, I've had long phases of experimenting with clay and origami and pipe cleaners, five years ago I made an art folder for school that was so filled by my various drawings and doodles it's now two inches thick (I carried it around with me everywhere, no matter the circumstance), four years ago I added pixel art to the menagerie, and yet I only actually considered myself an artist two years ago. That was when I was gifted an old art tablet, and thus began what I've previously described as a personal renaissance, as I was allowed access to tools I never used before, diversified and improved, forgot everything I thought I knew about art to learn it again. Fun times.

some more dragonfly V1

The last thing I have finished, that once again has nothing to do with any of the other fandoms I've posted about in the past day

Get Out Of My Head: a piece dedicated to (exorcising) all the random guys I've hyperfixated on despite knowing nothing about the games they're from

HAPPY BIRTHDAY YOU'VE AGED

I INDEED HAVE. ONE WHOLE YEAR, IN FACT

Blight and Herring.

Both these guys have several different descriptions that still all get the main gist of their characters!

Blight

The main feature defining his appearance gave him his namesake. Splattered thoughtlessly across his pale, otherwise nondescript, variously gradient lime scales, are splotches of purple-brown ringed in yellow, most notably dotting his wings, snout and talons.

A pensive, mildly arrogant LeafWing professor with a painless but harmful disorder, typically lethal to males, that leaves brown stains on his scales and chips away at his membranes, shooting his wings through with pinpricks and holes, is Blight. A biology nerd specializing in entomology and botany, he works at the LeafWing Institute of Education, likes tea, salads, philosophy and spending time in dark libraries, and owns a loyal pet sun beetle named Pachnoda (whom he carries around daily on his shoulders or horns). He can be described as thoughtful, a bit melancholy, leaning sometimes off to the indifferent side and sometimes rather haughty.

While he isn't particularly friendly, he sees no time wasted in teaching someone about something he loves.

Herring

His scales are a light gray-blue, with dark overscales and dapples across his back. His horns are a dull gradient, from blue at the base to green to orange, shimmering like washed rainbow shells and bearing a resemblance to his similarly-blended wings and webs, offering many positive comments from those who stare into them. He has conch-pink underscales, and pale peach bioluminescent stripes.

A writer and a minor noble, Herring is a melancholy SeaWing honing his craft in a studio on the coastline of Pyrrhia. He enjoys long walks, hot water, serene days at the beach, and fancy gatherings (in which he, sometimes, may or may not have a bit too much to drink). His preference for air rather than sea does set him apart from the other ocean-dwelling dragons, but made pursuing his current career quite a bit easier. While living above-water, he travels to spend much of his time at events in the rebuilt Summer and Island Palaces and long-standing Deep Palace, partying amongst the other aristocrats.

He makes a good partner for conversation whatever his mood.

They met through a strange (and beautiful, they both agreed) dragon, somehow-mutual friend, Nephrite, suggesting they find each other.