GRDI Art Collage 2023

Once again I'm breaking the rules of the Art vs Artist challenge - it's impossible for me to choose only eight favourite drawings from 2023, so again, I'm making a collage of all drawings from this year!

I came up with this idea in 2020 and at first it wasn't so crammed, because I didn't have that many digital drawings back then. I started creating content in 2016 and over the years I shifted from papercraft, polymer clay, cosplay accessories and occasional drawings to full digital art, so putting these collages together has become really challenging since then. But it's an interesting way to present my art and I think I'll continue with this tradition in future. And since there's a gap between 2016 and 2019, I'm planning to make some kind of a retro collage. It could be a good way to see a progress (or a regress?) in my style and creativity.

And when it comes to reactions to my art, it's also an opportunity to comment on my Top Nine Instagram posts, just to check what kind of content is popular. There are again embarrassingly few likes per post (they barely go over 30) and they keep plummeting. All of them are from January to May and I'm not sure what happened after that. I keep drawing more and more, but except for interaction from my family and friends, the account seems to be dying. Maybe the infamous algorithm had something to do with it, but it's frustrating not knowing if it's Instagram's problem or if I'm just that bad. However, I won't let that discourage me, no matter how ridiculous this all is - I'll keep doing my thing, while occasionally posting relevant content and drawing recognizable characters, hoping my effort will be acknowledged more as time goes by.

To finish on a lighter note, let me wish you all what I'd wish for myself - a successful and healthier new year! And of course, peace and mutual understanding, because WTF, world?!

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

#digitaldrawing #artvsartist2023 #topnine2023 #grdilicious #grdi

Ornament Design Challenge (Archimedes)

I guess it's probably too late for the Ornament Design Challenge by @tonycartoonish, but I decided to finish this drawing anyway. I struggled with finding the right inspiration, but this Christmas also happened to be Disney's The Sword in the Stone's 60th anniversary, so I decided to draw something from the movie!

The first thing to do was to watch it again on Disney+, because it's been about 30 years since I last watched it. The idea was to draw Arthur pulling out the sword, but it was Archimedes, "a highly educated owl", who stole the scenes and eventually became the center of this drawing. 😍 I mean, knowing my obsession with owls, it was the obvious choice the moment he appeared in the movie. Plus, taking my other obsession in consideration - my job in education - a drawing of an owl would be a symbolic last drawing for this year.

The movie premiered on December 25 in the US. It's not that much about the titular sword, but about Arthur meeting Merlin. The crucial scenes happen at the very end, but until then it's like a fun fantasy for kids, magic transformations into animals etc. It looks episodic at times and I remembered watching some parts of the movie in cartoon daily shows during the 1980s.

There's also some extra footage from the 1960s on Disney+ about an alternative plot with a darker version of Madam Mim, her raven and the Black Knight, a more Disney-like movie with the formulaic plot and the real villain. It was an interesting idea and I'm glad they saved that glimpse into their brainstorming process and something that could've been.

I also like the 2D animation with textured, seemingly unfinished outlines and colours "bleeding" under them. I tried to mimic that style with a similar pen on CSP, so if you zoom in you can see it's not so "clean" as my previous drawings.

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

#digitaldrawing #theswordinthestone #disney #tc23ornament #ornamentdesignchallenge #grdilicious #grdi

The Emperor's New Groove (Yzma)

This drawing wasn't part of my original plan for this month, but as it was another Disney movie anniversary three days ago, I simply felt the need to honour it somehow. Why? It's another favourite masterpiece, The Emperor's New Groove!

I already drew Yzma two years ago, but I decided to watch the movie again and try to recreate all her amazing outfits. As you can see, I made only two more, so I guess the remaining three will have to wait for some other time. I drew new Yzma's versions using parts of the original lineart, mostly for her face and the pose in general, but I still had to finish everything else.

I agree that calling this movie a masterpiece is a bit farfetched, because there were many problems with the production and it was a flop according to Disney standards, but it got new fans over the years and became a kind of a classic. And so I got hooked, too!

It's not a typical Disney cookie cutter movie - there's a funny theory it's the most WB's Looney Toons movie Disney will ever make. 😄 But there's so much more to love about it: the humour, 2D animation, buddy-buddy dynamic (Spade/Goodman), a scene-stealer Kronk (Warburton), Perfect World by Tom Jones and unforgettable Eartha Kitt as the villain Yzma! 😍 I was first introduced to this amazing singer and actress while watching her as Catwoman in 1960s Batman reruns, then came the year 1994 with the successful Eurodance remix of her hit "Where is my man" and finally The Emperor's New Groove in 2000.

Yzma is such a cool villain, unapologetically (im)perfect in everything she does. She is often a laughing stock because of her looks, but although she could take one of her transforming potions and choose a better image, she believes she's perfect as she is and she shines with her bold choice of ridiculous outfits. That's why I believe I'll return to this subject one day and finish her other versions.

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

#digitaldrawing #theemperorsnewgroove #yzma #disney #grdilicious #grdi

Grace (Startup Company)

Yay, I've managed to draw another Grace before the end of this year! I hope you know what I'm talking about, but if you don't, it's one of my personal art challenges: drawing every Grace from Josh's videos on his YouTube channel "Let's Game It Out".

Grace is a recurring name across his videos, where characters with this name often appear and get relentlessly tormented by Josh. You can even find a whole list named "Games where I torment Grace" on his channel. He always finds creative ways to ruin this character's life or job, as well as the whole game (he plays these games the wrong way on purpose). Of course, they don't look the same (for example, in Raft she's a shark!), it's all just in the name, either given randomly by the game creators or Josh himself to make his videos more entertaining.

And this one here is a special Grace, because she's actually the one who started it all, on April 25, 2019! As I mentioned before, Josh didn't choose that name himself, the game Startup Company named her Grace Cross and the legend was born! There are 18 of them on his playlist and this is my 7th drawing:

+ Startup Company

- Rescue HQ

- Overcrowd: A Commute 'Em Up

- Project Hospital

- Oxygen Not Included

- Flashing Lights

- Meeple Station

- Arcade Tycoon

- Flotsam

- Two Point Hospital

- Crossroads Inn

+ Planet Zoo

+ Foundation

+ Good Company

+ Raft

+ Parkitect

+ Parkasaurus

- Big Ambitions

You can find all 7of them in my gallery (they're marked with + on this list) and hopefully I'll get to draw the rest soon... ish. 🤔

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

#digitaldrawing #fanart #letsgameitout #youtube #gaming #gamingchannel #videogame #startupcompany #grace #grdilicious #grdi

Treasure Planet

It's no secret that Treasure Planet is one of my favourite Disney films, so it's strange that I've never drawn any fanart. Not that I haven't tried... I've started some sketches a few times throughout the years, but there was always something strange about the process, so I never finished them. As the movie came out on November 27, 2002, last year's 20th anniversary was a perfect opportunity to try drawing again, but although I thought I had a great idea, I struggled with Jim's pose, the whole composition looked like so many similar drawings all over the internet, so I gave it up again. But this year I finally decided to finish it and although I'm happy I did, I never thought that the process of creating something I love could bring me so much pain and suffering. 😄

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

#digitaldrawing #treasureplanet #jimhawkins #disney #grdilicious #grdi

Influenzers

There's a saying "A healthy person has a thousand wishes, a sick person just one.” While I was waiting for this one wish to come true, I came up with the idea for this drawing. It's a result of a word play: "influencer" sounds similar to "influenza", so I let my imagination run wild and ended up with what you see here. I'm not sure if it makes sense, but I had fun creating this illustration.

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

#digitaldrawing #characterdesign #influencers #influenza #grdilicious #grdi

Dar-Vell (GRDI-Verse)

It's been a weird month so far. I've been sick for 20+ days and still can't see the end of it or get a reasonable explanation. So, apart from forcing me to be more creative in battling exhausting symptoms, it also prevents me from seeing The Marvels at the movies. I know, many would say not to worry, I didn't miss much, but in this time of superhero movie fatigue, MCU is still something I hate to miss. 🤷‍♂️

So no real fanart before I see the movie, but I just couldn't keep still. It took me more time than usual because of dealing with three consecutive illnesses or their combination or some kind of new mutated illness, but I managed to draw another character from my ever-growing GRDI-Verse. It's my avatar with Carol Danvers's powers, Davor Grdobina from another universe, who didn't become the new Spider-Man but Captain Dar-Vell!

The moment I got the inspiration, I knew I had to combine Captain Marvel's latest redesign and Superboy's '90s costume. They're pretty similar, both of them wear a jacket and sport similar colours. I also chose Carol's mohawk and that strange piece of cloth that doesn't have any purpose but it looks cool fluttering in the wind (which is one of my favourite things to draw, including a scarf, a headband etc.). Plus, I drew it in the shape of the symbol for infinity, which is pretty self-explanatory when it comes to Captain Marvel's powers.

P.S. It seems I can't keep avoiding major spoilers because "some people" think that "the movie is out long enough for everyone to see" - well guess again, you... people! 😡

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

#digitaldrawing #characterdesign #captainmarvel #themarvels #grdilicious #grdi

Martial artists

This weird combination is a result of playing with Jazza's Arty Games application again. I was trying out the random character feature and created six prompts just for fun. Two of them were kind of similar, something about fighters - or more precisely - "a weak martial artist with long black hair that is obsessed with cheese" and "a fighter's apprentice with the ability to fly that can't keep off their smartphone", so I decided to create this unusual duo.

I've always admired artists who can cleverly incorporate any given prompts in their drawings, for example Jazza or the Drawfee crew, but I must admit I struggle with it sometimes. While I'm happy with the apprentice, the martial artist turned out really weird. I decided to interpret "weak" as "clumsy while using shurikens" and I presented his obsession with cheese by his choice of clothing and also as part of his training process - he's trying to hit a stack of cheese with shurikens and accidentally knocks it over... I'm not sure if it's imaginative enough, but that was my best idea for this piece. 🤷‍♂️ I believe I've had much better ideas over these decades and some of them are among my proudest works, but no matter how brilliant or awful something turns out, the result is usually the same (lack of acknowledgement, low interest, a few likes etc.). So I'll just accept this drawing as it is and move to the next one.

But on the other hand... while the martial artist feels and looks like some kind of a failure, I'm very satisfied with the apprentice's design, so I'll probably make her a hero in my GRDI-Verse saga as Davorachnid's ally and friend. 👍

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

#digitaldrawing #characterdesign #grdilicious #grdi

Nightclown & Sailor Titan

Halloween may be over, but as I was sick at the time (curse you, damn TN!) and couldn't complete everything I had planned, here are some "leftovers". It's a redraw of two of my Halloween monsters from 2020 whose designs I liked the most.

You've already seen them, in fact some of you helped me create them. It was a Six Fanarts challenge - I chose six spooky creatures and asked you to suggest any familiar characters I could combine them with using Jazza's Arty Games radom generator. I was particularly proud of these two combinations, DC's Nightwing + Killer Clown (aka Nightclown) and Sailor Moon + Annie from Attack On Titan (aka Sailor Titan), and decided to draw them from head to toe this time (the original ones had to fit the Six Fanarts template, so there was no need to draw the lower part of their bodies).

BTW, I finished watching Attack On Titan (the finale came out last week), so drawing Annie was some kind of a goodbye to this beloved anime. I can't believe I didn't draw more AOT fanart throughout these 10 years! I admit the unfolding of the story kind of killed the initial mystery (I definitely didn't see it coming!) and although everything made sense in the end, the first season remains an amazing masterpiece that I've already watched several times so far.

The anime also introduced me to a band called Linked Horizon and their unforgettable hits like "Guren no Yumiya" and "Shinzo wo Sasageyo!", which found their permanent place on my playing lists. 😍 And not to diss the "dub-lovers", but I always prefer watching movies or shows in their original language. Maybe it's easier for me to both read the subs and follow the plot because that's the only way we've been watching everything for decades here, but I like how Japanese sounds and although I don't understand it, it seems more natural while watching an anime.

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

#digitaldrawing #fanart #halloween #throwback #redraw #grdilicious #grdi

Odd Yuckly #64

 A not-so-fantastic job 😫

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#comic #comicstrip #webcomic #oddyuckly #job #work #school #fantasy #grdi #grdilicious #grdicomics

After The Horror 2023

There was a drawing competition by Jazza in 2019 named "After The Horror", where the participants were supposed to draw familiar horror villains spending their time after the cameras and lights go out. I drew Freddy, Michael and Jason sitting next to a phone, feeling bored and expecting a call from producers to find out what's next for their franchises. This year I decided to expand that challenge and add three more characters each Halloween. I chose Chucky, Ghostface and Pennywise for 2023.

I also had to change the scene a little bit, which will become a challenge for my future additions, because I'm not supposed to change much from my previous versions. Here we can see Chucky trying to cut the phone line, while Ghostface is shocked because he's also expecting the call for his next movie and Pennywise even encourages Chucky to do it because his story was limited and he isn't expecting to film anything new. Freddy, Michael and Jason are not aware of what's going on, they're either focused on the phone or sad and worried, so let's say it works. 👍

While I was scrolling and looking for that 2019 drawing on my IG, I remembered it was the time when I used to pay for promotion of some of my drawings (at least three if I'm not mistaken) and After The Horror was one of them. I was sick and tired of drawing so much and not being acknowledged, so I thought paying for promotion would help. Well, it actually did, but only for those promoted drawings - but I didn't get new subscribers or likes for regular drawings so I stopped paying to see what would happen... and nothing did, my account vanished again in the depths of anonymity. That "false interest" was useless and although my drawings keep getting up to 10 likes, I've made my peace with that fact and I guess that's just the way it has to be. The algorithm's become my frenemy for life now. ❤

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

#digitaldrawing #fanart #halloween #afterthehorror #artchallenge #jazza #grdilicious #grdi

Odd Yuckly #63

 

Horrible bosses 😱

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Main IG: @grdi.main

#comic #comicstrip #webcomic #oddyuckly #job #work #boss #grdi #grdilicious #grdicomics

Halloween Throwback (2019)

This is my throwback to Halloween Challenge from 2019, a period when I had less followers, but more interaction with them - I'm not sure if I could pull off this kind of cooperation today. 🤔

It was a Six Fanarts challenge - I chose six spooky characters and asked you to give me random six characters I'd combine them with. Using Jazza's Arty Games random generator I got following combinations:

Nightwing + Killer Clown

Cyclops + Demon

Jazza's Sexy Benjamin + Ghost

Vision + Headless Horseman

SpongeBob + Bride of Frankenstein

Sailor Moon + Attack on Titan

I also did something similar again for following Christmas and Easter and now that I think about it I feel sorry I stopped doing these challenges. I guess I also had more time back then.

For this version I used Clip Studio brushes (pumpkins and leaves) to hide the fact that I didn't draw legs for four of them. As I mentioned, it was a Six Fanart challenge so they had to fit the template (six rectangles), but shortly after that I decided to draw complete figures every time, no matter if they were going to be cropped or not on the final version, so I can reuse or combine them in possible future combinations.

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

#digitaldrawing #fanart #halloween #throwback #redraw #grdilicious #grdi

The Black Cauldron

 It's spooky season, so my "The Black Cauldron" fanart comes at the right time - it's a happy coincidence because my regular work keeps me busy and I'm not sure if I'll get to draw what I originally planned. I guess that's the real horror of this Halloween - and this whole year for that matter! 😱

Here are the main antagonists, the Horned King and his right-hand lackey Creeper with the titular cauldron. The movie was a flop when it came out because of the dark theme and scary sequences (which was atypical for Disney and supposedly almost destroyed the company) and who knows how I would've reacted if I had watched it as a kid! This movie ended on the "invisible" list although it's pretty decent and interesting: a hero, a quest, a villain, funny side characters, love interest, the final resolution... there was everything this kind of movie was supposed to have.

The only distraction for me was the voice of Gurgi, a funny creature Taran meets on his journey. It's sooo similar to Gollum's from the Lord of the Rings movies that once you hear it, you can't get the resemblance out of your head (of course, the voice actors are different, John Byner for Gurgi and Andy Serkis for Gollum). It's actually nothing new, I mean, the Black Cauldron is from 1985, but it was new to me and there are also many comments about that on the imdb page, so I guess I'm not the only one. 🤷‍♂️

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

#digitaldrawing #fanart #disney #theblackcauldron #thehornedking #grdilicious #grdi

Sir Hiss (Robin Hood)

Here's an unexpected drawing, done last night in a moment of sudden inspiration. 🎨 I've been watching some less known or famous Disney cartoons lately and this drawing was inspired by "Robin Hood" (1973). It's one of the characters from the movie, Sir Hiss.

I adore 2D animation and some titles I've never heard of before became newly discovered gems for me. This movie is brilliant and fun, but when Sir Hiss appeared, my first thought was, oh no, this one's going to be a tragic character! I mean, the tragedy is that he's sooo much more intelligent than other villains but always stays in Prince John's shadow, overlooked and never gets acknowledged for his brilliance, you just have to feel sorry for him. In other circumstances he could've been the mastermind or even a redeemed villain who'd eventually help our heroes, but somehow he remained a misunderstood PJ's sidekick.

There are basically three main villains in the movie: of course, the sheriff of Nottingham is the worst, Prince John is a fool who doesn't know what it means to be a leader or boss and does everything on a whim or because of ignorance or boredom and has power only because his brother King Richard is on a crusade (I guess you know the story) - but Sir Hiss (who is one of the original characters made for this movie) has the greatest potential to be the brain behind the crown - and somehow never gets the chance to shine, so instead of that he ends up the same as other villains in the movie.

P.S. I think "The Black Cauldron" (1985) is next.

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

#digitaldrawing #fanart #disney #robinhood #sirhiss #grdilicious #grdi

My hairstyles

I often look for inspiration in dates, so when I found out that October 1 is celebrated as the National hair day, I decided to draw as many of my hairstyles I've sported over the years. I actually did something similar a few years ago, but this time I expanded my collection.

My father lost his hair in his early twenties, so my brother and I were concerned it would happen to us too, but apart from slowly receding hairline, both of us kept most of the hair to have decent hairstyles. And then some, as it turned out in my case!

1) During my childhood my haircuts were usually short and unimaginative. But when I became more self-conscious about my looks, I let it grow and part in the middle. My hair was usually straight but the more it grew, the more it curled outwards.

2) I didn't have a punk phase, but I found mohawks fascinating, so I experimented one summer with this hairstyle. I really liked it, but that was it.

3) The hairstyle that stuck for a bit longer was the undercut pompadour and is still one of my favourites.

4) The boldest experiment happend one summer when I let my pompadour grow, dyed my hair blonde and started wearing a top knot or man bun. I also let my beard grow longer to complete the look that I considered the coolest ever.

5) That was also the summer after which I couldn't return to my work looking like that, so I shaved it all. I did it several times before letting my hair grow again.

6) And all this leads to my present and most boring haircut, just short hair with a fade.

So I'm keeping it short and I'm not planning to repeat any of the styles, mostly because of my age, increasing grey hairs and occasional alopecia, but I'm glad I had courage to do something I really liked and wanted at the moment. Plus, I did it all on my own, because I've been cutting my own hair for more than a decade (using mirrors and other tricks). 👍

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

#digitaldrawing #haircut #hairstyle #pompadour #topknot #grdilicious #grdi

Storm Area 51 (2023)

"Storm Area 51" was a weird event that took place on September 20, 2019. The idea was to gather people who'd raid the secret military base in the Nevada desert and find out the truth about aliens, but it ended as a music festival and an Internet meme. One of the jokes was to help aliens escape Area 51, so I started my little art challenge where my avatar saves a different alien each time, mostly recognizable creatures from pop culture. In my three artistic attempts I've "saved" a common green alien, a baby xenomorph and a facehugger and this year - my favourite childhood alien Alf!

The TV show of the same name was megapopular in the 80s, there was a ton of Alf merchandise and he was one of the characters I often drew in my elementary school notebooks at the time. Drawing him for the first time after 30+ years really brings back nostalgia, but I'm glad I came up with this idea, no matter how silly it sounds and looks. There's plenty of comic book, TV and movie aliens to save!

P.S. First, ugh work! 🙄 I got some new obligations and usual unresolved issues that keep interfering with my drawing schedule, so that's why I'm pretty late with this drawing. Second, as you already know, the background in my drawings is basically nonexistent because I keep focusing on characters, so I used some Clip Studio Paint brushes for the background again.

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

#digitaldrawing #alien #area51 #stormarea51 #area51raid #alf #tvshow #sitcom #80s #grdilicious #grdi

Hooligfan (GRDI-Verse)

The source of inspiration for my next GRDI-Verse villain may be triggering for some football fans, but although I try to be a polite, understanding and tolerant person, there are issues I have strong opinions about. I usually keep them for myself, but as I'm getting older, the less f**ks I have to give. This time I was inspired by my dislike of football/soccer - to be precise, not the game itself, but the so-called "culture" surrounding it, which leads to dangerous and questionable issues, such as money, nationalism and hooliganism.

OK, it's not the first time I write about this, so let's keep it short. First, there's too much money involved and it's mind-blowing how much some of the players get, while "ordinary" but more important jobs remain underpaid. I know footballers are modern gladiators, but come on! Keep it real! Second, it's a way too big thing for some countries, including mine, especially during local and world competitions, when supporters turn into raging zombies (yes, that kind!) and there's no more important thing than scoring a goal. And third, the issue of hooliganism or any kind of "irrational" support, which I'll never be able to understand, no matter how much it's present in our everyday lives.

And if you consider attacking my opinion, don't bother - karma's already got me: this year they built the country's most modern and praised football stadium in my backyard, so... Ugh! 🤦‍♂️

This villain's alias is Hooligfan but I still don't have a real name or background for him. His main ability is multiplication, i.e. creating copies of himself and confusing his opponents. His secondary ability would be using metal wrist bracelets that can turn into brass knuckles, spikes, claws etc. Other weapons of choice would be grenades in a shape of footballs and a bat, usually with spikes. In a way, I turned him into an agile ninja and gave him more interesting abilities a person like he deserves. His logo is a burning football with a fuse.

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

#digitaldrawing #characterdesign #originalcharacter #grdiverse #grdilicious #grdi

My Internetversary 2023

Today is my 7th Internetversary and although my online presence as a wannabe artist began long before that, it was my Instagram account that gave me hope that one day I might achieve something more with this hobby.

But the innitial rise didn't last long and soon after that it stopped at around 550 followers (now it's 580), while the number of likes per post barely goes above 10 anymore. I'm not sure if it's the algorithm or my failure to deliver more interesting content, because I've been working on my drawings more than ever, obviously without satisfying results.

In the beginning it was difficult for me to decide what exactly I'd like to do. I knew I'd definitely do something digitally, but I wanted to explore other artistic interests too, including traditional drawing, polymer clay sculpting, papercraft etc. Eventually, somewhere along the way I turned almost completely to digital art. One of the mistakes I made was refusing to create reels, because I'm not a film maker, I don't need a TikTok knock-off and I still consider IG a photo-based app and that kind of thinking most likely took its toll.

And there's another thing... OK, let's say the algorithm does its devilish thing, but my drawings still manage to reach a certain number of users - and most of them still ignore my posts! I mean, there are styles, franchises, fanart etc. I'm not particularly crazy about, but when I see a beautiful or interesting post, I click like. A composition, colours, pose - if I like it I support the artist, no matter if I don't usually love that theme, watch that anime or read that comic.

This last concern makes me believe that what I consider to be my "art" might be a failure after all. Or maybe it is somewhat good, but not many share my point of view and just keep scrolling when they see unknown OCs or characters they don't like. Anyway, it won't stop me from doing what I do, but it will surely keep me wondering if I've been doing something wrong.

P.S. Characters in the collage are my drawings from 2020, 2021 and 2022.

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

#grdilicious #grdi

Whoody (GRDI-Verse)

My next GRDI-Verse villain has a really simple design, but it's sooo cool. There's this hooded cloak thingy that I came across a long time ago and although it looks ridiculous and I'd never wear it (or couldn't pull it off), I saved screenshots of these ads in my gallery because I knew I'd use this design some day. And that day's finally come!

This OC is mysterious, in fact so mysterious that I haven't come up with his real name or background yet. I wanted his alias to be Void or Null, but there already are comic book characters with these names, so I decided to name him Whoody. It's a portmanteau of "who" (because we don't know anything about him) and "hoodie" (because it's basically that - just an oversized hoodie). Apart from his limbs, his body inside the hoodie is like a void, there are no features, just darkness. His powers are a mixture of telepathy, hypnosis, energy drain or something like that, but I'll probably figure it out as time goes by.

And another thing... he's not a typical villain,  because he often has his own agenda and depending on a situation it's not always clear whose side he'd choose.

Pose: @theposearchives

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

#digitaldrawing #characterdesign #originalcharacter #grdiverse #grdilicious #grdi

Smaugust 2023

This year's Smaugust challenge (a month of drawing dragons) seems like a perfect opportunity to promote my OC wyvern again and show how it evolved.

I created it in 2019 as part of two combined challenges, Smaugust and the silhouette challenge, to show how a map of Croatia can be drawn as a dragon (more precisely a wyvern). I decided to copy our national flag's pattern - red, white and blue, which is how it ended with blue breath/fire. 🤷‍♂️

After that I continued drawing it, so it became my recurring OC. Of course, I moved away from the original silhouette and drew it in various poses, but I kept the colour pattern I established four years ago. Here's the latest version!

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

#digitaldrawing #characterdesign #originalcharacter #dragon #wyvern #smaugust #grdilicious #grdi

Dr. Anemonica (GRDI-Verse)

It was obvious I needed a main villain for my GRDI-Verse, someone who's going to pull all evil threads and be a worthy opponent to my superhero Davorachnid and here she is - Dr. Anemonica. I found inspiration in Olivia Octavius aka Doc Ock from the Spider-Verse, but also in Queen Vanda from Sport Billy, one of my favourite childhood cartoons.

Her looks are also inspired by a sea anemone - it might sound weird, but I needed a creature with dangerous tentacles, something that would represent a weapon, but also the idea of being an omnipresent multi-tasking creature and it would be too obvious to use an octopus or a giant squid. Dr. Anemonica started her villainous career under the radar, seemingly insignificant as a little sea anemone we rarely pay our attention to, but she honed her skills to a perfection... or somewhere close to it.

Her suit is basically purple, apart from metallic gauntlets that she can transform into almost any kind of weapon using nanotechnology. Here you can see her using electricity in one hand and some kind of a teargas in the other. She also wears goggles, an anemone-like tiara and a cape that's divided into several bands of cloth that can sway in the wind, making her look cool and more menacing. Her logo is basically a stylized anemone.

She's some kind of a mad scientist with a delusion of grandeur and driven by blind ambition. The creature behind her is one of her experiments, her accomplice or helper Aresmo, a ghost-like entity that has powers of its own, but she conducts many other experiments, not just on creatures, but there are also robots, vehicles etc.

I gave her an absurd comic book type rhyming name Mona Belladona, just to show how ridiculous she really is. It also sounds similar to "anemone", plus belladonna is a poisonous plant and adds to her villainous nature.

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

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The Litterer (GRDI-Verse)

The next villain in my GRDI-Verse rogue gallery is also inspired by real life situations. I decided to name him The Litterer and his real name would be Terry Lee (it kind of sounds similar).

This time my beef is with people who either don't know how to recycle or don't care about recycling and using the right colour-coded trash containers. Even I'm not sure if dividing different types of garbage into separate containers is actually regulated in this God forsaken corrupted country or it's just for show for the EU, but I do my best and try to follow the rules no matter what... silly me. 🤷‍♂️ And then you open a container and see that hardly anyone does the same. 😔 It's all mixed up, there's glass in organic waste, plastic among paper etc. and it breaks my heart, but hello Balkans, it's you, hello, you're the problem, it's you... 🎶

Anyway... Terry you see here is one of those persons who don't care about the colour of the containers and throw away garbage anywhere they want. In fact, he wears some kind of a mixer machine on his back that grinds different kinds of waste into a toxic liquid that he sprays around during his fight against superheroes (at the moment just my own OC superhero Davorachnid). His logo contains the familiar recycle sign, but only ironically, in yellow square with black print, usually used for dangerous and toxic materials.

If I want to explore his story, I'll need to work on his reasons and motivation as a villain, but let's just say he doesn't care about environmental issues and uses his contraption for criminal activities.

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

#digitaldrawing #characterdesign #grdiverse #grdilicious #grdi

Quickscanner (GRDI-Verse)

For my first villain in my GRDI-Verse rogue gallery I found inspiration in bizarrely fast cashiers, mostly because of popular memes, but also because of real life experiences, especially while shopping in Lidl.

As usual, I went through a ton of portmanteau names for her, but settled for Quickscanner. Her real name is Cassie Swift - Cassie should be similar to a "cashier" and Swift is one of the synonyms for "fast". Her powers are telekinesis and ability to throw items at incredible speed (she can "move" them, but has to touch them to turn them into potentially deadly missiles).

So, this is what I've got for now: her logo is some kind of a barcode with lightning bolts and she has accessories such as barcode scanners on her belt (used to scan opponents' weaknesses), something like storage containers on upper arms for smaller items that can become unstoppable missiles (coins, coupons, loyalty cards etc.), metal wristbands on forearms (for protection) and a face shield or a screen to both hide her identity and be used as some kind of a monitor to help her process information after the scan, pick her target, aim etc. In short, she's some kind of a speedster, but with a twist.

I had a problem with the choice of colours because red, white and blue are usually considered "heroic" and I wanted her to have a bit of The Flash and a name reminiscent of Quicksilver, so at one point I almost made her a hero. But I believe she'll better function as a villain and, who knows, there's that grey area in comics where sometimes these differences get blurred.

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

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My Rogue Gallery (WIP)

As I mentioned before, I've been thinking about expanding my GRDI-Verse and my first decision was to design some villains for my superhero Davorachnid. I created a few new characters, but also repurposed some old ideas. Some of them will have superpowers, some will be technologically advanced or altered and I also plan to create some mecha or even fantasy creatures and various accessories. Here are my latest doodles and you'll see - my inspiration comes from all over, not only comics and movies, but also some everyday stuff, such as bizarrely fast cashiers, people who don't care about separating waste, etc. It's going to be fun, at least for me. 😉

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

#digitaldrawing #characterdesign #grdiverse #grdilicious #grdi

Ken Doll Challenge

Let's continue with another summer drawing! As the Barbie movie is trending, so are numerous art challenges. Here's my avatar as a Ken doll, in a box and with some accessories.

I haven't seen the movie and I'm not really planning to, at least not until it comes to streaming services or TV. But all this hype seems very interesting, so why not join the fun?

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

#digitaldrawing #artchallenge #barbie #ken #barbiemovie #barbiememe #grdilicious #grdi

Grace (Parkitect)

Let's go back to one of my personal ongoing art challenges: drawing every Grace from Josh's videos on his YouTube channel "Let's Game It Out". This version of Grace is from his gameplay of "Parkitect" (Jan 13, 2021). On his channel you can find a whole list named "Games where I torment Grace". He always finds creative ways to ruin this character's life or job.

Officially, a character with that name first appeared in his "Startup Company" video from April 2019 and she keeps reappearing in some of his other videos. I believe there are 15 of them for the time being and this is my sixth drawing. So far I've drawn a version of Grace from:

(1) Foundation

(2) Planet Zoo

(3) Raft

(4) Good Company

(5) Parkasaurus

(6) Parkitect

You can find them all in my gallery. I think my next choice should definitely be the original Grace from Startup Company. I'm not sure why I didn't start drawing them chronologically, but I believe I'll manage to complete my project anyway.

BTW, Parkchitect is a simulation game where you can create and manage theme parks, so you can imagine all the ways Josh thought of to break the game and make Grace and other visitors sick and confused.

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

#digitaldrawing #fanart #letsgameitout #youtube #gaming #gamingchannel #videogame #parkitect #grace #grdilicious #grdi

Pokémon Summer 2023

If you follow me regularly, I hope you'll remember it's time for another Pokémon Summer post. Every summer I give my best to draw a little bit more complicated drawing of my OC Pokémon trainers Umberto and Espina with their Umbreon and Espeon, doing something summer related.

This year I found inspiration in a viral Barbie and Ken mugshot meme, but I expanded it and created a different scene. In my version they wear outfits from the movie but they're sitting together with their Pokémon, they're not arrested and instead of placards they're holding pictures of two Eevees (their Umbreon and Espeon before the transformation). A similar idea has been on my mind for years, I'm just glad I found the perfect way to recreate it now as this popular meme.

I just love how different they are: Umbreon is always angry and suspicious and Espeon is calm and friendly. Although in their Eevee forms they're basically the same and they don't manifest that kind of behaviour, it was fun to draw their different personalities on photos Espina and Umberto are holding.

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

#digitaldrawing #fanart #ocs #pokemon #summer #eevee #umbreon #espeon #barbiememe #barbieandkenmugshot #grdilicious #grdi

Kaijune / Junicorn 2023

Two art challenges for June - Kaijune and Junicorn combined - are just a perfect opportunity for me to redraw another OC of mine, Dinocorn, a dinosaur-like monster with unicorn features! When I created it last year, it was a silly experiment for a specific post and I didn't think I'd draw it again, but here we are, this is my third version of this creature.

Dinocorn was one of three monsters I created to illustrate a rant about my neighbours' children who kept playing in our parking lot, damaging our property (cars and parts of the building) and making insufferable noise (such as hitting a ball against metal garage doors pretending they're goal posts). The creatures were chimeras representing kids' interests in toys, superheroes, video games etc., so among others I came up with a combination of a dinosaur and a unicorn and named it Dinocorn. It was supposed to be a one time thing, but I realized it could be an interesting character, so I keep drawing it.

Unfortunately, as this kind of behaviour is sadly still encouraged by their parents, this drawing becomes relevant every summer. Hell, I can hear them under my balcony right now, doing their devilish deeds as I'm typing this... 🙄 I'm glad there are kids today who choose to play outside, but due to the nature of their games I secretly hope for scorching weather by day and armies of mosquitoes by night so they would be forced to stay inside and play on their phones or whatever. 😒

In order to redesign my creature as a kaiju, I added some kaiju elements, for example the strength and the ability to use electricity (the horn is some kind of a lightning rod or a conductor). It's fun coming back to your old creations and experimenting with their looks, accessories and styles, so I'll probably add more features as time goes by. The background and other effects for this illustration was created by using CSP brushes.

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

#digitaldrawing #artchallenge #kaijune #junicorn #grdilicious #grdi

Colour Wheel Challenge

I know I'm a little late for this challenge and I'm aware I'm not doing it right. The point is to ask you, my followers, for a character you want me to draw for each colour, but here I am, filling in the colour wheel with the characters I'd already drawn before.

Red - The Flash (DC)

Orange - Ahsoka (Star Wars)

Yellow - Invincible (Image Comics)

Green - She-Hulk (Marvel)

Light Blue - Stella (Interstella 5555)

Dark Blue - Captain America (Marvel)

Purple - Yzma (The Emperor's New Groove)

Pink - Eleven (Stranger Things)

Still... if you want to help me draw something new, could you give me your suggestions?

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

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #artchallenge #colourwheelchallenge #colorwheelchallenge #colourwheel #colorwheel #grdilicious #grdi

Odd Yuckly #62

 

School first! 👨‍🏫

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Main IG: @grdi.main

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Davorachnid (Evolution)

My last post about Across the Spider-Verse encouraged me to go back to some of my abandoned versions of my Spidersona, so here are 3 versions and the story behind their evolution.

Version 1 was a funny try to present myself as a Spider-Man, but also include as many features and habits I have. He's fa... I mean, "heavy" like me and wears some of my favourite colours: orange, green and gray. I often have to carry almost everything I'll possibly need in any moment, so he has a shoulder strap bag. I'm also notoriously famous for my cap or hat collection, so that's why he wears one.

Version 2 was a try to show my face more. I mean, the full mask is an iconic Spider-Man feature, but I wanted to try something else. I ditched the hat and tried with a hood, inspired by Miles and Gwen. As it's an imperative for a Spider-Man to hide his identity, I still wanted to keep some kind of a mask and I also added goggles that looked more like sunglasses.

Version 3 is a current version that I keep drawing with no or little changes. The sunglasses became some kind of a visor or eye shield and the mask was inspired by another Spiderperson, Silk. I kept the hood, but the suit became a bit tighter (not a baggy hoodie anymore) and with more details. I think that's the design I intend to keep - the only thing I shouldn't have changed was the spider logo, so I'll probably use the previous one again (a plump spider with orange outline).

I'm also planning to create other characters, as well as a rogue gallery. I already have some ideas and names for them, although I don't think I showed my imagination while concocting the name "Davorachnid" for my Spidersona. But let's keep it for now. After all, it's just for fun and no matter how poor my posts perform or how deep the algorithm buries them, I'm definitely having fun drawing these characters. 😉

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

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #spiderman #acrossthespiderverse #spidersona #davorachnid #grdilicious #grdi

Davorachnid - Across the Spider-Verse

Across the Spider-Verse has been trending non-stop since the movie came out and my feed is teeming with some great art (both  original and fanart), so I decided to hop on the bandwagon and put my OC Spidersona Davorachnid in their world - even though I haven't watched the movie yet!

It's also another great opportunity for me to draw my favourite OC and try to imitate the Spider-Verse art style. But basically I drew Davorachnid as usual and then used tons of CSP brushes (mostly hatches and halftones) to create some kind of an atmosphere that could resemble the movie design. And I guess I couldn't go wrong because there's no one specific Spider-Verse style, it's a combination of everything. I also added silhouettes of my previous Spidersona versions (let's call them Davorachnids from other multiverses 😉). I hope I got the visual tone of the Spider-Verse right, or at least pretty close.

The reference for the pose is a royalty free stock photo by Dreamstime.

P.S. I'm obviously sticking to the name Davorachnid, although I don't think it's the best I can think of, but at least it sounds unique and it's a witty portmanteau. It looks like everything else with "Spider-" has already been taken. 🤷‍♂️

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

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #spiderman #acrossthespiderverse #spidersona #davorachnid #grdilicious #grdi

MerMay 2018-2023

Now that May and the MerMay drawing challenge are behind us, let me present you all mermaids I've drawn do far. I know that the point of the challenge is to draw one mermaid each day during May, but I decided to draw only one for each year.

2018: My first mermaid was inspired by J. Scott Campbell's The Little Mermaid statue. It also set some kind of a standard for my future drawings - a mermaid leaning on a rock in the sea.

2019: The new version of She-Ra became popular on Netflix, so my choice was Princess Mermista. I didn't really like the show, it was the actress Vella Lovell who voiced Mermista that actually inspired me to draw her character.

2020: The idea to draw Ahsoka as a mermaid came in the last minute. I had something else in mind but somehow I ended up with this and I'm still not really happy how it turned out.

2021: I'm very proud of this drawing, especially because I included some Pokémon! I was inspired by a photo of Albina, our Eurosong contestant who was holding a stuffed teddy bear. In my version she's holding a Magikarp plushie (plus there's a Staryu).

2022: This was another "I don't know what kind of mermaid to draw" challenge, but somehow I came up with some alien and galaxy themes, so... here it is. Just like in 2020, I'm not so happy with this one.

2023: This year's choice was influenced by another challenge, DTIYS, so I knew immediately what I wanted to draw. Just like in 2021, I'm also very proud how this drawing turned out.

So here are my final thoughts:

• The best: 2021 and 2023

• The not-so-good but still OK: 2020 and 2021

• The most popular: 2019 (I still get a lot of likes for her, especially on dA)

• The one I thought would be more popular: 2021

• I changed my logo in 2019

• Somewhere around 2019/2020 I started avoiding backgrounds, drawing an ellipse instead of a shadow and using white outline more often

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

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