O_o #59

Season's greetings! 🥳🎄🎁🥂

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Main IG: @grdi.main

#comic #comicstrip #webcomic #oddyuckly #seasonsgreetings #merrychristmas #happynewyear #grdi #grdilicious #grdicomics

Xmas Spidersona 2022

Once again December has proved to be one of the trickiest months when it comes to organising my drawing schedule - although I have some sketches for the Black Panther and Wednesday Addams, I haven't finished a single drawing since November. 🙄 And now that I have time for just one drawing, I decided to get back to one of my favourite themes, my Spidersona (or more precisely my Xmas Spidersona), and draw something similar to last year's drawing to wrap up 2022. And I guess all mentioned things I've planned (including some Avatar stuff and my reaction to AI "art") have to be postponed to January. 🤷‍♂️

But I had fun drawing my own Spider-Man again, even like this, in Santa Claus's role. It's my superhero OC I plan to continue drawing and developing, but I keep struggling with choosing the right name. Many of them are already taken, some are too simple and ridiculous and some are so complicated that they don't even sound like superhero names. I tried dozens of combinations with spider- and arachnid- but I failed every time. 🤔

But let's end 2022 in a festive style. As this is my last drawing for this year, let's make it a greeting card for a (belated) Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 🥳🎄🎁

My socials: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #spiderman #spidersona #christmas #merrychristmas #happynewyear #happyholidays #seasonsgreetings #grdilicious #grdi

O_o #58

 

Noise 📣

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Main IG: @grdi.main

#comic #comicstrip #webcomic #oddyuckly #neighbours #noise #grdi #grdilicious #grdicomics

Winter Soldier Comic Book Cover

 It's funny how inspiration comes when you're not looking for it. One of the recent posts by @lovrothesupernaut (photo by @filip.pavic) provided just that and then some - a challenge to draw a superhero by imitating comic art and create a fake comic book cover. 😉👍

They're supposed to be "stylized and simplified drawings", but there was nothing simple in trying to get that look. Plus it was time consuming because it's not a style I'm used to and there was a lot of trial and error. 🤪 But still, I hope I managed to get the likeness... to some extent. 🤷‍♂️ I kind of stopped reading comic books over the years, but it was both interesting and nostalgic to get back to them this weekend while exploring ways to make this fake cover.

As for the reference model and his post, Lovro the Supernaut is one of my favourite cosplayers. Not just because he cosplays Marvel characters (Winter Soldier, Gambit, Quicksilver, Deadpool), but his props and other cosplays (for example the Plague Doctor or Star Wars Rebel Pilot) turn out so professionally looking like something you'd expect to see in movies. Plus he's an award-winning cosplayer you can meet, greet and talk to at numerous Croatian and regional sci-fi and fantasy conventions. If you're into cosplay, as well as looking for ideas how to make various props, be sure to visit his Instagram profile and his other socials.

My socials: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #comics #comicart #comicbookcover #marvel #wintersoldier #buckybarnes #supernautcosplay #lovrothesupernaut #grdilicious #grdi

O_o #57

Self-evaluation 🏆

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Main IG: @grdi.main

#comic #comicstrip #webcomic #oddyuckly #teacher #seminar #selfevaluation #grdi #grdilicious #grdicomics

The FIFA World Cup 2022

The FIFA World Cup 2022 is here and as you can guess it was the inspiration for this drawing/rant. I'm not planning to write about the controversies that keep piling up, there are way better artworks on this platform that address these current issues. These days it looks like both football and money make the world go round and they go hand in hand perfectly.

I really don't understand all that football craze, although I come from a country where sometimes it seems like it's the only important thing in life. For me it's just noise, crowds and not so occasional violence that's often tolerated or ignored. But what really gets me are the enormous amounts of money invested in organisation, building gigantic arenas and impossibly high payments some of the players get.

I understand the talent part, it's not reserved only for sports after all, but in the end we live in a world where a talented footballer still has more worth than a talented artist. I'm afraid it sends a message that while you can get education, skills and experience, it's not the same as having a desirable ability in an area that brings more money, in this case football. It may be one of the best promoters of our country, but isn't it absurd that our Minister of Education allowed students to leave class and go watch our team's matches during the Cup? 🤯

On the other hand, I've seen how perspective can change - for example, the other day one of my students said it wasn't fair that his brother who works all day on a farm gets paid less than us teachers who "sit five hours a day in warm classrooms and just read lessons from books". 🤔

Of course there are bad teachers - I've met my share during both my own education and my work life. I've been trying to change that kind of students' opinion through hard work - but sometimes it's hard not to feel discouraged when you see that it's possible to earn $128 mil. by chasing a ball. Nobody should be allowed to earn that much (even including politicians or CEOs), but that's obviously not how the system works.

I'm not against the idea that people who can cash in on their talent should be paid accordingly, but hardly anyone complains about them earning millions, while at the same time many complain when other workers go on strike for bigger salaries (which are very far from such big figures).

My social media links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #worldcup2022 #money #grdilicious #grdi

O_o #56

 

A toxic workplace, part 2 🤢

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Main IG: @grdi.main

#comic #comicstrip #webcomic #oddyuckly #teacher #seminar #jurassicpark #quote #toxicworkplace #grdi #grdilicious #grdicomics

O_o #55

A toxic workplace 🤢

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Main IG: @grdi.main

#comic #comicstrip #webcomic #oddyuckly #aliens #dinosaurs #multiverse #toxicworkplace #grdi #grdilicious #grdicomics

"A toxic work environment is one where negative behaviors - such as manipulation, bullying, yelling, and so on - are so intrinsic to the culture of the organization that a lack of productivity, a lack of trust, high stress levels, infighting and discrimination become the norm. It can lead to stress, burnout, depression, damage to your self-esteem, and serious disruptions in your normal life."

"Examples of bad communication:

- overall lack of communication

- constant lack of clarity around projects

- different employees receive different messages

- passive-aggressive communication

- weak listening skills

- constant off-hours communication"

(Various sources)

GRDIVERSE

To promote some of my older drawings, I came up with "My Avatar Across The Multiverse" challenge (I call it the GRDIVERSE because of the acronym I use for my social media). Basically, I chose a few "persona challenge" drawings and adapted the "six characters" template.

As you can see, they all have similar features (haircut, beard, glasses etc.) and my favourite colour palette (mostly orange and green), as well as my logo and some items that represent my character, hobbies or my job.

I'm especially proud of my "spidersona", a character I'm planning to keep developing and drawing more frequently.

My social media links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #avatar #multiverse #grdiverse #spiderman #attackontitan #sonicthehedgehog #animaniacs #cuphead #thedarkcrystal #grdilicious #grdi

Ironheart (Sketch)

The first appearance of Riri Williams aka Ironheart is another reason why I'm excited about Black Panther 2. To be honest, I don't know anything about the character or the actress Dominique Thorne, but I'm interested in Iron Man's legacy and can't wait to see it evolve. There will also be two Disney+ shows, Ironheart and Armor Wars, so we'll see what's next in store for Tony Stark's technology.

I'm also not sure what version of armour she'll have in Wakanda Forever (she appears very briefly in the trailer), so I decided to make sketches of two possible versions - one with classic Iron Man colours and the other from the latest comics, although there's a chance she'll have some kind of a Mark1 suit first and then later develop it in the Disney+ series. I used a rough, textured brush in CSP for lines and a watercolour brush for colours just to get that unfinished artsy look, but I'll probably draw the final version after I've seen the movie.

My social media links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #marvel #mcu #ironheart #ririwilliams #blackpanther2 #wakandaforever #grdilicious #grdi

Namor the Sub-Mariner

The moment Okoye mentioned underwater earthquakes in Avengers: Endgame (2019), I thought "Oh boy, Namor the Sub-Mariner is coming!", so it wasn't a surprise when I found out he'd be in Wakanda Forever. I guess that was the plan all along, although they had to change a lot about the movie because of Chadwick Boseman's passing.

They also changed Namor's origin story because of similarities to DC's Aquaman. He's still a mutant, but not the ruler of Atlantis, etc. Although I like the original and have been excited about fan casting through the years (for example, Luke Evans would definitely rock the original looks), the trailers convinced me that this new direction and Tenoch Huerta could pull it off and I'm excited to see the final version.

BTW, Namor was also on my list of Spooktober villains, but as I mentioned in one of previous posts, I didn't have enough time to draw everything I had planned. And there's that question again: is he really a villain? I believe we will see more blurred lines again, as today's villains are more anti-heroes or have some kind of a redemption arc.

As for the drawing, the pose is from @figurosity and I tried to add as much of the MCU design.

My social media links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #marvel #mcu #namor #namorthesubmariner #blackpanther2 #wakandaforever #grdilicious #grdi

Halloween 2022

Happy Halloween! 🎃

I drew a sketch for this illustration during the Sketchtember challenge back in 2018, when instead of drawing five different drawings I combined five prompts into one and got this. They were HORN, SCROLL, BOW, CAULDRON and BOOK and now after all that time I finally decided to colour it and make it my Halloween 2022 illustration. I hope you like the rendering. 😊

My social media links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #illustration #sketch #halloween #grdilicious #grdi

Catwoman

My next Spooktober villain is Catwoman. A villain... really? Yeah, I know, she's just another character who ticks a few boxes on both sides and sometimes it's difficult to tell the difference.

I don't really care about her hero/villain status, this was the perfect opportunity for me to finally draw my favourite Catwoman, played by Michelle Pfeiffer (Batman Returns, 1992). My second choice would be Eartha Kitt and the third Julie Newmar. I believe all other actresses gave their best to successfully portray this character, but these three are still the top of my list. As well as the movie - after Batman Returns I stopped caring about other Batman movies and actors. Sorry/not sorry, Nolans, Snyders and others. 🤷‍♂️

The pose is from @adorkastock (formerly SenshiStock).

My social media links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #dc #dccomics #catwoman #michellepfeiffer #selinakyle #batman #batmanreturns #grdilicious #grdi

Hisoka (HunterXHunter)

Stand back Joker, Pennywise and other evil clowns... for my next October villain I chose Hisoka from HunterXHunter!

To be honest, it's a very strange manga/anime, where killing people is an everyday occurrence, even for 12-year-old boys such as Gon and Killua (who is also an assassin). In this weird world we meet Hisoka Morrow (or Moro or something like that), a clown-like fighter and wielder of the "Nen" power with a plan to become the best hunter, but his behaviour seems very problematic when it comes to his obsession with Gon and Killua. Or does it? Apparently he's not some kind of a pervert as he appears to be in interaction with them, but someone who's ready to challenge the best fighters in the world (and both of them are showing possibilities of becoming very skilled and powerful hunters). At least that's the official explanation, but there's definitely something strange about him. 🤔

Anyway, he's not a typical villain. He doesn't kill because of pleasure, but he tries to win his battles fair and square and mostly operates in that grey area that's become so popular with villains lately. As for his appearance, I chose the costume from the Phantom Troupe arc and he's holding a card with number 4 because it's become a recurring number when it comes to Hisoka: he's the fourth Phantom Troupe member and his number during the hunter test was 44.

My social media links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #hunterxhunter #hisoka #villain #grdilicious #grdi

Kai Winn

Slowly but surely I'm trying to get back to drawing more, but the series of unexpected events in both my work and private life just keep piling up so I'm not sure how it'll turn out. 🙄

Apart from the Inktober challenge, this is the month for spooky drawings leading up to Halloween, of course, so I chose some... villains? OK, maybe more like anti-heroes or annoying characters that aren't real villains per se, but they often challenge the heroes or main characters in movies, TV shows, anime etc. Anyway, there are many blurred lines when it comes to defining fictional villains today and some of them have become fans' favourites (Joker, Loki, Darth Vader, Harley Quinn, Ryuk etc.).

My first choice is a religious leader Winn Adami (or Kai Winn) from Star Trek: Deep Space 9. It may seem unexpected and many of you may not know anything about this character, but the actress Louise Fletcher died last week so I remembered one of her most famous roles and how furious I was every time she appeared in an episode. As the Trekkies say, "Kai Winn is someone who we love to hate" and Mrs Fletcher played this role to perfection. I can still hear her famous condescending line "My child...", especially in interactions with Major Kira. She wasn't the real villain, but she managed to stir things up on both Bajor and DS9. And we all know someone like her - at first look they're nice smiling people but they often push their own agenda by tricking other people into believing they're doing the right thing and support their views, especially when it comes to politics.

As for the costume, there are a few, but I chose the scarlet one. I believe she's more famous for her golden costume and you'll find it more often if you google her name, but I liked this one more because of the details and its more interesting headpiece.

My social media links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #startrek #deepspacenine #winnadami #kaiwinn #ds9 #grdilicious #grdi

DOGust 2022

I've been absent for weeks because of my work obligations, so here's a drawing that was supposed to be posted last month for the DOGust challenge. I drew this for national dog month, but August 1st is also the universal birthday for shelter dogs.

Here's a funny drawing of Bella and me. She's a rescue dog and after it took her a whole year to get used to my family and get out of her shell, she's unrecognizable now, a happy carefree dog that hopefully forgot all the bad things that happened to her in a puppy mill.

She's a small bichon breed, but when she's determined to stop or run the opposite way while she's on a leash, there's no way to make her move or change the direction, which leads to many funny situations. 🤣

Fun fact: many dogs with white fur are called Bela (sometimes spelled Bella like in Italian) here because "bijela" or "bela" means "white" in many Slavic languages. 😉

My social media links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #dog #rescuedog #dogust #dogust2022 #grdilicious #grdi

She-Hulk

The new She-Hulk show may seem somewhat unworthy of the MCU's grand plan, but boy was it a fun ride - at least the first episode! I guess they'll continue in this comedy direction but I'm not sure how Daredevil, Kingpin and Abomination will fit in without upsetting hardcore Marvel fans. 🤔

All I can say for now is that the approach may be a bit silly, CGI can be surprisingly problematic at times, but I'm Tatiana Maslany's fan and it's great to see her again on TV and having fun with this role. Mark Ruffalo also did great, no matter how "dumbed down" his version of Hulk has become (not my words!). Their chemistry as cousins and mentor/trainee is great and there are already a few viral memes, especially the one about Captain America. 😉

I was inspired by one of the last scenes from the first episode and the reference is a combination of poses by @theposearchives.

My social media links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #marvel #mcu #hulk #shehulk #disneyplus #grdilicious #grdi

The Sandmen

That moment when you get a suggestion to draw the Sandman, but you're not sure which one. 🤣😱🤪

OK, I'm joking, nobody asked me to draw him, but I used @mcapriglioneart's template for #SixFanarts anyway. The thing is that I've been hearing about someone called Sandman for all my life not knowing who this character really is - so I drew all the Sandmen I've "met" so far. 😉

First we have Sandmännchen from a German kid's show from the 60s. I never really watched the show, but during the Eurodance era in the 90s there was a band called Sandmann's Dummies with a few dance hits. Only later did I realize that they actually cut parts of the conversation from the show and rearranged it to give it... hm, not so innocent meaning. My favourite song was "Ach du meine Nase".

The second one is the most obvious for Marvel fans, a Spider-Man villain Sandman aka Flint Marko.

The next is one of the guardians from DreamWorks' The Rise Of Guardians.

The fourth is one of the versions from horror movies. There are a few of them but I chose the 2017 version (which actually looks like someone rolled Vecna from Stranger Things in sand 🤪).

And the fifth one is finally the man of the hour, the one everyone's been talking about for days etc. etc... 👏

This was also a big step for me because I drew five new characters in the shortest time ever, without paying attention to usual details. I even used a different brush to make it look unfinished. It doesn't mean I'll change my style, but it could be helpful when I need some quick drawings.

My links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #sixfanarts #sandman #netflix #grdilicious #grdi

Neighbourhood Rascals

This drawing is dedicated to my neighbours' children screaming, growling and crying like the devil hunts them in a game of battle royale (or the hunger games for younger generations), making noise, chaos and havoc on the parking lot under my window. 😡

We all (are supposed to) love them, kids are our future and blah, blah, blah, but they can often be such monsters! 😈 I'm not sure what toy franchises are modern among preschoolers today, so I reimagined them as some kaiju or robot types with features from dinosaurs, unicorns, Transformers, Hello Kitty, Minecraft and Batman. 🤪

Joking aside, I'm not attacking parents who try their best but the ones who replaced a playground with our parking lot and let their rascals cause apocalypse under our balconies and among our cars without any supervision or control. 🤯 Sometimes I have to turn up the volume to listen to music or watch a movie or even shut all doors and windows while there's all hell breaking loose outside.

I'm aware this sounds like a grumpy old man complaining about nothing but it's so freaking loud that the sudden shrills cause something like jump scares when you think you feel relaxed and mess with my phone or zoom calls and people on the other side wonder what's going on, if I'm in a kindergarten or something. 🤔 And I'm actually pretty far away from them, on the third floor, but their evil screams carry on through all distances, obstacles and multiverses. 😭

I'm not the only one who complains but we all whisper instead of roar, so until we choose a superhero who will eventually stand up to their parents, I guess we'll just keep putting up with this kind of behaviour. 😔

My links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #spoiledchildren #brats #rascals #badparenting #chaos #noise #grdilicious #grdi

Running Up That Hill

I know that Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush is a surprising discovery for some new kids, but it's been one of my so-called theme or spirit songs for decades. I guess I'm just like Max from Stranger Things! 😄 I've always had a special relationship with music and a lot of songs represent some kind of a getaway for me.

The video for that song has always been special and mysterious too. I'm not sure about the meaning behind it, but there's something mesmerising about her and Michael Hervieu's interpretive dance and that's why I chose a piece of that atmosphere for my drawing (the reference for the pose is by @figurosity again).

The other reason why I chose it is to show my support to such nostalgic gems that new generations exploit in their TikToks and Reels to the extent that after some time many of them get sick of hearing them anymore. 😔 I've got nothing against reviving old hits for some new fans who will appreciate them, but I feel sorry when something so dear to me eventually gets handled like an expired product.

My links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #katebush #runningupthathill #strangerthings #grdilicious #grdi

Smaugust 2022

Smaugust is a drawing challenge that takes place during August and the goal is to design one dragon per day for the whole month. It's named after Smaug, the dragon created by J. R.R. Tolkien. There are usually lists of prompts for each day, but I created my own OC dragon a few years ago and keep drawing it every year, as I usually do when it comes to monthly challenges. It's red, with white neck and belly, plus some blue details, as well as blue flames that come out of its mouth and nostrils.

And yes, I know, it's not actually a dragon but a wyvern. 😉

My social media links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #cartoon #fanart #dragon #wyvern #smaugust #smaugust2022 #grdilicious #grdi

Spidersona (Spider-Man Day 2022)

Two days ago was Spider-Man Day, but instead of drawing any of existing spiderheroes, I decided to work a little bit more on my spidersona. I drew my first version three years ago but I became so obsessed with this challenge that I wanted to work on this design as often as I get opportunity or inspiration. As some of you may already know, Spider-Man is one of my most favourite Marvel characters, so in my gallery you can find more fanart of Peter, Miles and Gwen. 😉👍

The pose is from ThePoseArchives (on Instagram or Twitter)

My social media links: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #cartoon #fanart #marvel #spiderman #spidersona #spidermanday2022 #grdilicious #grdi

Wolverine, Wolverine and Wolverine

This year's Marvel month finally made me draw something I've been planning for a very long, long time - the three most famous Wolverines together: Logan/James, his son Daken/Akihiro and his clone X-23/Laura. I wanted to draw their costumes but then I realized they'd all basically look very similar and some of the recognizable features would be lost (for example Daken's mohawk and tattoos).

As for the poses, anytime I need action pose references I turn to @figurosity. They have tons of poses with three points of view (street level, bird's eye and worm's eye) as well as different actions (jumping, punching...) and all sorts of props or weapons. 👍

Follow me: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #marvel #wolverine #logan #daken #x23 #xmen #mutants #grdilicious #grdi

Captain Marvel & Ms Marvel

Let's continue with Marvel month posts! Today it's time for Captain Marvel and Ms Marvel, more precisely their latest MCU versions. Can't wait for The Marvels and to see Monica Rambeau again. 😍

I'm aware the current titular character hasn't been fan's favourite and that's probably why her name was removed from the title of the sequel (first it was named Captain Marvel 2, now it's The Marvels). I can't even remember what the real issue was because I really liked the 2019 movie, I have rewatched it several times since then and really liked how they managed to fit the story from the 90s into the MCU timeline. I was obsessed with the Flerken and the costume design, especially the "mohawk helmet", so much that I made my baseball hat version of it.

I'm not sure what to expect from the sequel, but I also liked the Ms Marvel Disney+ show and the introduction of Monica in WandaVision, so I'm glad they'll try to explore the dynamic between all three Marvels in the next movie.

Follow me: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #marvel #captainmarvel #caroldanvers #msmarvel #kamalakhan #mcu #grdilicious #grdi

Quicksilver & Iron Fist

As July is supposedly the Marvel month, there's usually an art challenge with a list of Marvel characters for each day. But as you also probably know, I can barely finish any monthly challenge, so I usually choose only a few characters. For this post I chose two of them that have been introduced to the MCU, but most probably won't reappear in any new project - Quicksilver and Iron Fist.

The story about twins Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver must be one of the most bizarre cases when it comes to shared Marvel properties. As far as I know - or at least it was one of the theories - the deal was that Fox can get Quicksilver and Disney the Scarlet Witch as long as they don't make her a mutant (that's why they were called "miracles" in Captain America: Winter Soldier). The MCU version of Quicksilver appeared in Avengers: Age Of Ultron and was immediately killed off and the X-Men version became more popular and appeared in more movies. I was more interested in Pietro's story (MCU), although I guess he fulfilled his purpose so that his sister Wanda could become the OP Scarlet Witch in WandaVision and The Multiverse of Madness and there's no real reason for his return. 😔 Even now that Disney owns rights for the mutants too, I don't believe they'd explore that story any further, especially not with the MCU version of Quicksilver, as seen on WandaVision.

The second missed chance is Danny Rand aka Iron Fist. I don't know what happened to that Netflix show, but MCU missed a great opportunity to make him a more prominent superhero. The second season was a little bit better and Defenders are one of my favourite crossovers, but I also think they won't try to bring him back or expand his story. 😔 I guess Shang-Chi, who has similar powers will get the spotlight and maybe they'll mention him here and there, especially in the new Daredevil show on Disney+ or something related to the Defenders but I think that's it for this character too.

On the other hand, we never know what we can expect from future projects. Sometimes they try to explain or fix some previous plotholes like they did with Inhumans, Abomination, Mandarin or Peggy Carter, so maybe a cameo that would explain what happened to some of the characters wouldn't be such a bad idea. I'd also like to see more Ghost from Ant-Man and The Wasp, Magik from the X-Men, Nova (Richard Rider) and Namor (although he will appear in Wakanda Forever, so I guess I can cross that one off my list).

Follow me: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #marvel #quicksilver #ironfist #mcu #avengers #defenders #grdilicious #grdi

Superteacher

I'm obviously failing to draw something for the Marvel month, but don't worry, here's some... superhero content.

It's actually an original character design - just me as some kind of a powerful teacher. While creating this character I had Doctor Strange, Thor, Captain America and Scarlet Witch in mind, but I didn't want to overdo it adding too many superhero details, so I added things like an academic robe (which basically became a cape) and a hat, the staff is a big metal pencil with an owl holding a diploma, the shield is a chalkboard and there are other details such as a bag and a book.

Anyway, I wanted him to look like a teacher, especially since there have been some affairs regarding education in my country recently and I had to react somehow. I've been tolerating jokes and misconceptions about my occupation for almost two decades but things just keep getting worse.

Namely, the first lady pressured her son's teachers to change his grades from 4 to 5 (something like B to A) two weeks after the school had finished. What really happened has yet to be investigated, but it was enough to cause reactions and make other teachers speak up openly about their experiences.

I'm not surprised by this affair because similar things happen on regular basis. There's been an open season for teachers for a long time, targeted by students, parents, collegues, principals, politicians, ministers of education, prime ministers or presidents. It doesn't matter if you did everything right, there are always someone else's interests that can easily interfere with your work and law can hardly protect you.

Like most teachers, I've also been a victim to similar pressure, but we're not allowed to talk about it. It happens subtly via messages, phone calls, pieces of advice in school hallways or "friendly" conversations with your superiors but it can sometimes result in a verbal persuasion in a locked classroom until you give in. This kind of behaviour has rooted itself as a rule we now accept without thinking and I often feel sad and sorry for my country. It was born in the nineties but then immediately fell into a coma and it's been surviving on life support machines all this time. No politician or political party have done their job so far and it shows in the layers of corruption, with the education system being just one of the victims. Almost everyone who gets in a position of power takes care about themselves first and gets away with it. We are just watching and electing the same corrupted people over and over again.

My thoughts are with all my fellow teachers involved in this unfortunate charade and I'm not feeling comfortable returning to my work next month knowing that any of us can be next. Again. 😔

Follow me: https://linktr.ee/grdi

#digitalart #drawing #oc #originalcharacter #originalcharacterdesign #teacher #education #superhero #grdilicious #grdi

Mjölnir or Stormbreaker?

Like I wrote in my previous post, good old fan art is OK, but why not spice it up a little bit, combine it with something different or unexpected? So this is my Love And Thunder fan art in a form of a famous meme made by Jake Clark.

First, let me say the movie turned out to be better than some friends and social media comments suggested. Or maybe it's just me, I like silly Marvel fun and Taika's humour. I can see why it may not be for everyone, but I wasn't disappointed as I was afraid I'd be. It's definitely not one of the best Marvel films, but it's entertaining enough.

Second, which weapon do you prefer, Mjölnir or Stormbreaker? I'm still not sure, so I drew my avatar in Thor's costume not being able to choose one or the other in a modified meme I've mentioned before. I also drew the helmet, but it doesn't make much sense - for example, how to wipe sweat off the forehead and what to do with the glasses? So I improvised and I guess my solution turned out unusual and funny. 😄

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#digitalart #drawing #thor #thorloveandthunder #mjolnir #stormbreaker #meme #marvel #grdilicious #grdi

Portal (CeilingFanCEO)

I've been trying to draw something regarding Portal (video game) for ages, but somehow I never felt like I had the right idea. And then one day I came up with this drawing while scrolling through Reels!

There's a popular TikToker @tugboat_spenny aka Ceiling Fan CEO, whose main act is attaching his camera or iPhone to a ceiling fan and while he's turning around, dancing and lip-syncing famous TikTok songs and remixes, he suddenly puts some kind of colourful caleidoscopic glasses and... well that's it, but it's fun, you have to see it. 😉

The reason why I chose him for my illustration instead of Chell or my avatar was the continuing mystery behind the camera setup he uses in his videos - he never comments on the process of filming and surprising transitions while putting on his glasses. So I imagined GLaDOS rotating around him and filming him instead of the camera attached to the ceiling fan. I added the Portal gun and the weighted companion cube from the game and drew him wearing Chell's orange jumpsuit and jumping shoes. As for the logo you can see on his T-shirt and on the Portal gun, I designed it myself instead of just using Aperture Science logo from the game. It represents a rotating ceiling fan with lights and imho it's one of the coolest logos I've ever designed.

I mean, the whole drawing turned out perfect and I'm happy I came up with this idea instead of just drawing fan art. ❤

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#digitalart #drawing #portal #portal2 #glados #ceilingfanceo #valve #aperturescience #grdilicious #grdi

HMM and CON (Social media)

I redesigned the classic "Drake meme" again, this time replacing a "Pro frame" with a "Hmmm frame" for choices or issues I'd like to talk about that can't be described just as PRO or CONTRA. This time it's about my experience with social media, more precisely the five apps I use regularly.

Instagram is (was?) one of my favourite apps, but only because of its old fame, before it decided to be a TikTok knockoff. True, my posts didn't have that much success even before the change, but I accepted it as the most relevant indicator of popularity of my art on social media. But now, after the sudden turn to video content and insane algorithm that's not generous to art creators... Well, I'm still there, disappointed and angry, but still doing my thing. 😠

DeviantART used to be very popular among artists but now it became a habit and I feel guilty that I don't use it more, interact with users more etc. Nostalgia, I guess - although it seems there have been more likes and constructive comments lately. 👍

I'm not sure why I still post on Blogger, because I haven't had any views, comments etc. for years there. 🤪 No one knows it exists anymore so it became some kind of a backup for my works.

Facebook, ughhh... 🙄 I only keep it because of some contacts, but I wouldn't cry if they closed it completely one day. It's been on my blacklist since the time they bought Instagram and merged accounts, so many acquaintances and colleagues I casually and naively befriended on FB found my IG account that was supposed to be inaccessible to many of them and now follow me without even understanding what I'm trying to do with my art, don't like or even comment my drawings, just lurk and think who knows what. 😒 Usually it wouldn't be an issue, but the person they think they know isn't the same as the silly artsy-fartsy creature I present here and I don't think they really understand it.

And Twitter is the worst - just a cesspool of spoilers, trolls, conspiracy theories and irrelevant opinions that make me puke and I don't really understand why I keep my account there anymore. All I know is that I feel depressed, disappointed and outraged and lose faith in humankind every time I open it. 😭

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Pokémon Summer 2022

This one's definitely one of my most favourite drawings I've drawn this year, it's pure top 5 material! It took me more time to finish it, I was trying to pay attention to as many details as possible and I'm more than happy how it turned out. ❤

Some time ago I created my OC Pokémon trainers Umberto and Espina and I was hoping to explore their story and their experience with raising Eevees and later Umbreon and Espeon, but I got discouraged because they didn't get expected recognition and those unfortunate likes, shares, comments etc. 🙄

But as I've recently embraced that TikTok meme "I used to be nice but now I'm like f... this and f... that and f... everybody" as one of my new life mottos, I decided to return to this project and continue drawing summer illustrations with them as main protagonists - if not for some strangers' acknowledgement and praise, than just for me. And I'm glad I was persistent because it turned out more beautiful than I had imagined. But on the other hand, third time's the charm, so who knows? 😉

P.S. I just love the fact that Espeon is always playful and in good mood and Umbreon is always unimpressed and grumpy. And not to mention the trainers obsessed with their pets and using their colour palette in their accessories and even hair colour. 🤣

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#digitalart #drawing #pokemon #eevee #umbreon #espeon #summer #grdilicious #grdi

Jurassic Frog

"Hey, Green! Eyes on me!" Here's my avatar doing "the Pratt hand" thing while training his Jurassic frog Green. 🤣

OK, I know there weren't frogs like this, it's just my design. Apparently, the first known frog was Triadobatrachus massinoti and of course it didn't have horns and spikes. It lived 250 million years ago, was about 10 cm long (3,9 inches) and even had a small tail.

I chose it as my "Jurassic pet" because of my fear of frogs (if you follow me you probably know about my ranidaphobia). One of the most memorable things about the Jurassic World trilogy was Owen Grady's hand gesture when he communicated with his pet velociraptor Blue. It was so funny that during the screening of Dominion we would mimic this so-called "Pratt hand" every time a dinosaur appeared on screen. And even some of the moviegoers in our row joined us! 🤣

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Honey

Of course there's a weird story behind this silly drawing... 😄 The song "Trebaš li me" sung by Eni Jurišić and Matija Cvek is currently one of the hottest hits in Croatia and during an entertaining skit about misheard lyrics a couple of local radio hosts interpreted the refrain "Javi trebaš li me" (Tell me if you need me) as "Javi trebaš li med" (Tell me if you need honey) and the rest is history - it's become my earworm for the next couple of weeks that ended in me drawing this illustration! 🤣

It represents my avatar dressed as a bee yelling "Tell me if you need honey" while posing as some kind of a soldier, holding a staff resembling a honey dipper, a shield in a honeycomb style and standing on jars full of honey. Just... don't ask why. I know it doesn't make sense, but that's just how my mind works from time to time. 🤪 BTW, the song is really great, I like it a lot and this drawing was just for fun.

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#digitalart #drawing #honey #bee #song #trebaslime #med #misheardlyrics #croatia #grdilicious #grdi

Mermay 2022

Here's my drawing for this year's Mermay challenge. Yes, just one, as usual with these monthly challenges - I just can't commit to drawing 30 or 31 drawings a month. 😒

The theme I chose for this year was "alien". It wasn't actually my idea, but a combination of this and another May challenge I came across. Fun fact (or maybe not so fun): I accidentally deleted my original file. 😱 It was just a sketch, but after that I just couldn't force myself to draw. Then I decided to start from scratch, but as I also lost my first reference, this time I used a pose reference by @theposearchives. It turned out fun and I'm happy with the final result, although the deleted pose was more dynamic. 

This is my fifth Mermay, so let me remind you of my previous drawings: the first was a reference by J. Scott Campbell, the second Mermista from the Netflix show She-Ra, the third was inspired by Ahsoka from Star Wars and the fourth was inspired by the Croatian participant of the 2021 Eurovision contest, Albina + some Pokémon.

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#digitalart #drawing #mermay #mermay2022 #mermaid #alien #galaxy #grdilicious #grdi

SFeraKon 2022

If you're wondering what's happening in this illustration, that's just me becoming a villain after my birthday and weekend plans were ruined by a positive Covid-19 test. 😡 I guess it's inevitable and it'll happen to all of us at some point, but I managed to avoid it for 2,5 years and now that I finally made some real plans after so much time being too damn careful, someone somewhere just said "LOL, no". 😔

As for my weekend plans, it was SFeraKon, a sci-fi, fantasy etc. convention in Zagreb, Croatia, one of the highlights I'm looking forward to each year. Last time I was there in 2019 before the pandemic and this was supposed to be my comeback, but... better luck next year, I guess. 🙄

That also means that I had to postpone watching Multiverse of Madness and so far I've seen most of the spoilers but it won't stop me from going to the movies after this damn isolation is over. There are so many annoying things happening at the same time that it actually looks like my own villain origin story. I'm disappointed, sad and furious and while everyone tries to calm me down and make me feel better I'd rather release my inner Scarlet Witch and cause some chaos. 👿

BTW, I used the real poster for my drawing, taken from sferakon.org or @sferakon. The author is a graphic designer Daniel Ille and all names and images on the poster are copyrighted so if there's an issue with including it in my illustration I'll take it down and replace it with something generic.

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#digitalart #sferakon #doctorstrange #scarletwitch #multiverseofmadness #marvel #disney #grdilicious #grdi

Multiverse Of Madness

So it begins!!! But unfortunately not for me, at least not yet. 😒 I'll have to keep fighting off spoilers for a week, although it's been a lost battle for a while. Namely, even the trailers are necessarily full of them and - what's even worse - a horde of fans who have already seen the movie or are going to see it now can't wait to share them with the world... Yay! 🙄 I can't believe it's still a thing. In this case sharing is definitely not caring. 😡

But it is what it is. I'm just happy to see two of my favourite characters together on the big screen. Plus Sam Raimi. 👍 Even if it doesn't turn out epic or it becomes the most spoiled movie ever, it will be one of the best birthday presents. ❤ Just like it happens every year with Marvel movies in May, for that matter. 🤣

P.S. As for the costumes in my drawing, they're not movie accurate and that's because I combined several versions. I also didn't want to explore the trailers anymore because of the spoilers I had mentioned. And if you follow my work regularly you may also remember that magic spell discs were first made traditionally using a spirograph and then scanned and rendered. I'm especially proud of how they turned out although the whole drawing is 🔥,  of course.

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National Superhero Day (April 28)

Ugh, I keep forgetting the National Superhero Day or I remember it when it's too late. 🙄 Nevertheless, here are Marvel's heroes (and a few villains!) I have drawn so far. To be honest, I basically recycled my last year's post, adding a few new characters I've drawn since then. I didn't have time for anything else. Maybe next time I'll remember it's on 28 April and draw something new, but somehow I doubt it. I've got a feeling I'll just end up with an updated collage again. 🤣

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Jane Foster (Thor)

Time for another drawing challenge by @tonycartoonish and @theposearchives!

I was trying to choose what to draw for this pose, but when the new Thor trailer dropped, the decision was made in a split second - the image of Jane Foster with the reforged Mjölnir seemed like the perfect choice! 👍 BTW, can't wait for Love & Thunder, Taika Waititi and Natalie Portman's return! ⚡

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#digitalart #drawing #thor #janefoster #loveandthunder #dtpiysApr22 #grdilicious #grdi

The Masked Singer

The singing competition The Masked Singer started airing in Croatia three weeks ago and... it was met with mixed reactions. 🤔

Honestly, I have to agree with some of the bad reviews, but I wouldn't call it complete garbage as some people say. The hostess can be annoying at times, but I think I've got used to her style so far (she's been hosting numerous shows on that channel for years now). Two of the panelists are sooo irritating and cringe, they're trying to be funny but their guesses are way too bizarre. For example, of course it can't be a 60 year old politician or a famous couple's toddler under a mask and although it doesn't make any sense they keep insisting on their answers that it eventually becomes too painful to watch.

But when it comes to the concept of the show itself, it is what it is - they're trying their best to entertain us and if it's not your cup of tea just move along and change the channel. Stop leaving hurtful comments under official posts and let people enjoy things. Recently I've been dealing with some problems and I just need something silly like these brainless but fun shows to lift my spirits and make me smile.

It would also be a shame not to mention the excellent work put into creating the 12 masks. I think they're perfect, both the ideas (tradition, history, nature, pop culture and even our cartoon characters) and the incredible design. 👍

Finally, about my drawing... Here's my avatar masked as - himself! I know it defeats the purpose of the show, but I tought it would be fun. 😄 The "mask" is not as detailed as it shoud be (it looks like papier-mâché) but there is also a mysterious item to help you guess - a stylus for digital tablets. 😉

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Ambigrams (watercolor pencils)

I've been creating digital drawings for quite some time, but if you follow me long enough, you may remember my experiments with various techniques. It's no secret that I've always been inspired by Jazza and just like him I wanted to explore other artistic possibilities, but of course, it's impossible to keep up with him. 😄 So, these here are the watercolor pencils I bought a few years ago - they can be used as normal pencils and then a damp or wet brush activates the pigment and creates something similar to watercolors, but with more control.

Sometimes I miss drawing (or creating) in different styles. After trying most of them out, I eventually chose digital art as my main focus, mainly because of some so-called experts' advice about growing your IG account (some bs about consistency and blah, blah...). 🙄 Again, I can't stress enough how I'm starting to hate those "Instagram gurus". 😒 I should really stop playing the pointless game called the Instagram algorithm and just do and post whatever I feel like at that moment. At this point I've turned into that ancient Roman senator Cato who always cried "Carthage must be destroyed!” and the more I keep talking about this issue, the crazier I sound. 🤪

So I've been working on a few ambigrams (for birthday presents), but instead of just printing the plain monochromatic versons directly, I copied blank shapes on watercolor paper and used watercolor pencils to fill them in as well as thin black markers for the outline. It was fun to combine and blend colors this way again and I hope the people who get them will like it too. 👍

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Is It Cake?

I don't usually do throwback Thursdays, but I've recently watched "Is it cake?" on Netflix and remembered a drawing I did two or three years ago when I was obsessed with the "everything is cake" trend. The idea behind the drawing was that even the knife itself was cake, so I just adapted it a little bit to the show's esthetic.

As for the show itself, I see there are mixed opinions about some of its aspects and I'd lie if I said I wasn't worried about the waste of all that food. 🤔 I just hope they're somehow taking care of that - after all it's not the first baking show and I want to believe they know what they're doing.

So, what do you think about this trend?

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