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