National Superhero Day 2023

Happy National Superhero Day, April 28! It's been celebrated since 1995, but it's evolved during that time from honouring comic book heroes to acknowledging real life heroes too.

I'm no hero, but I've had my favourite superhero persona since the Spidersona challenge (inspired by the release of the first Spider-Verse movie). Here you can see a few versions and how they evolved. The colour scheme didn't change much. I wasn't sure what to do with the mask, but when I decided that I want to keep most of my facial features and found way to do it, I think I established my style. As I wrote a few months ago, my glasses became some kind of goggles with ear protectors, inspired by Impulse (DC) and Hawks (My Hero Academia), the idea of a hoodie came from Miles Morales and Spider-Gwen and a face shield from Silk (Marvel). When it comes to his name, I'm still sticking to that weird portmanteau Davorachnid, but I think I'll keep looking for a better solution.

And of course, a big shout-out to real heroes in our lives. Mine are my parents, they set a high bar I'll never be able to reach.

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

#digitalart #drawing #superhero #superheroday #nationalsuperheroday #grdilicious #grdi

The Great Giana Sisters

Now that The Super Mario Bros. Movie is out and the Internet is teeming with fanart, here's my little contribution. But wait, these aren't Mario brothers! 🤔

The Great Giana Sisters (sometimes spelled Gianna) was an obvious knockoff. And the weirdest part of our 80's childhood obsession with this Commodore 64 video game was that we didn't even know there was a game called Super Mario Bros. 🤪 Giana and Maria were our Mario and Luigi, I lived for that game and this obsession spread to my cousins and all over my neighbourhood. The Commodore 64 video games were on cassettes (ordinary audio tapes) and they were easy to copy and share, all you needed was a Commodore Datasette unit.

My dad bought my brother and me a used Commodore 64 with tons of games on cassettes and even floppy discs, so I don't know why there wasn't a Mario Bros. game among them. Giana Sisters was one of the first that caught our attention and remained a synonym for an ultimate video game, so when I finally found out about Mario Bros., I was like, wait a minute... 🤔 And fun fact - I've never played the original Mario game, not even after that. I guess I didn't find it necessary after playing so many hours of Giana Sisters.

Giana sisters' anonymity and problems with production after copyright isuess also meant that there's no definite character design. Before they powered up, they wore big red bows in their hair (Giana was blonde, Maria green) and after powering up they got some kind of punk hairstyle that allowed them to crush rocks in the sky. They wore red shirts and blue skirts. However, the (unsuccessful) sequels changed their looks, so I combined some of the designs, but also tried to stay close to the original I remember and like.

And there's one thing that will undoubtedly put The Great Giana Sisters among the greatest - the music! The phenomenal intro theme by Chris Huelsbeck is still one of the best compositions for video games. Pure nostalgia and goosebumps. 😍

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

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #videogame #gianasisters #thegreatgianasisters #supermariobros #commodore64 #grdilicious #grdi

Stella (Interstella 5555)

April is International Guitar Month and I finally got to draw Stella from Daft Punk's Interstella 5555! 😍 And not only that - this month's art challenge by @tonycartoonish and @theposearchives fits perfectly into my plans. 😉

I've been planning to draw Stella in her original (alien) form for years, but then I thought, wait - why not draw her in her (brainwashed) human form too? Yep, I'm pushing my limits with multiple characters again, but I'm glad it gets easier. Drawing both versions of Stella was such a blast. ❤

BTW, I guess you've seen some Daft Punk videos from their album Discovery (2001) on music channels or YouTube (probably One More Time or Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger), but if you want the complete visual-audio experience, please watch the anime Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem - it's worth it. The animation, the music, the story and all that without a single word except for the Discovery songs... perfection! 👍

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

#digitalart #drawing #drawingchallenge #fanart #daftpunk #discovery #interstella5555 #stella #anime #guitar #dtpiysapr23 #grdilicious #grdi

Quantumania

To be honest, I didn't think I'd be drawing a Quantumania fanart. I came across negative movie reviews and spoilers so I thought oh well, I guess I won't go watch it after all, I'll just wait till it's released on Disney+. But then I went to see it anyway and now I'm ready to say something controversial but brave - it was the first among recent MCU films that I immediately liked!

Don't get me wrong, I'll keep watching Marvel movies with the same blind fanboy fascination, but when it comes to the new MCU movies I usually end up looking for the flaws. I admit they get better after I watch them again on Disney+ (some things make more sense), but I'm aware why more and more fans are so concerned. And when it comes to Quantumania, I definitely had my concerns about goofy creatures of the quantum realm and the silly version of MODOK, but somehow it all worked and I ended up having a lot of fun!

And now a short rant about Instagram, my main platform... As for the drawing itself, I feel a little bit discouraged knowing that Instagram will traditionally bury it and only a dozen followers will see it. The process was exhausting and took me too long because I paid attention to the smallest details as if Andy Park himself had drawn it but I know that the algorithm doesn't care and all I can do is complain. 😔 But truth be told, I don't play by their rules anymore - I stopped making reels and stories - so I guess I should shut up and endure my punishment. Anyway, I still believe I've improved, my art looks much better than before and I'm amazed how some initially impossible idea eventually turns into a finished piece. ❤

All poses are from @theposearchives, it's become my favourite source of all kinds of reference poses. 👍

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

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #marvel #mcu #antman #antmanandthewasp #quantumania #grdilicious #grdi

Easter 2023

Happy Easter! Here's Eggvor, a character I designed for a work project. And yes, I gave him my face - but if anyone asks, it's just to avoid possible copyright issues. 🤫 These drawings present some of the usual Easter traditions, especially in English speaking countries. If you celebrate Easter, what is your favourite tradition?

P.S. Once again it was fun working with mixed media, I'm really digging these no-name alcohol markers.

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

#digitalart #drawing #traditionalart #mixedmedia #characterdesign #easter #happyeaster #eastertraditions #grdilicious #grdi

Lost In Paradise (Jujutsu Kaisen)

Yuji Itadori, Megumi Fushiguro, Nobara Kugisaki and Satoru Gojo dancing to Lost in Paradise by ALI feat. AKLO, the first ending theme song of Jujutsu Kaisen.

The song is very catchy, it won the award for "Best Ending Sequence" in the Crunchyroll Anime Awards 2021 and it's been on my playlist since I started watching Jujutsu Kaisen. 🎶 It's one of the outro sequences I never skip. And the animation of these four characters is so cool, the art has that unfinished look, so I used a textured pen and a brush pen in CSP and tried to imitate it. I hope you like it.

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

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #anime #jujutsukaisen #lostinparadise #outro #grdilicious #grdi

Tri-Chain-Ju

Here are the protagonists of three anime shows I've been watching lately: Vash from Trigun Stampede, Denji from Chainsaw Man and Yuji Itadori/Sukuna from Jujutsu Kaisen.

I didn't know there was going to be a Trigun reboot (the original remained one of my dearest memories of pre-Crunchyroll and Netflix times), so this discovery took me by surprise. I was curious about the new style of animation, as well as the reimagined story. I don't like 3D/CGI cartoons and I've always believed that 3D anime have a special place in hell, but it turns out that some of them could change my mind - mostly if they don't look completely CGI and keep the 2D anime aesthetics in the art style, as Trigun Stampede does. The second surprise was the characters' redesign, especially when it comes to Vash, but somehow it works too.

The animation in Chainsaw Man is a blend of 2D and 3D animation - the environments are mostly 3D, while the characters are 2D. Jujutsu Kaisen has beautiful 2D animation and the interesting thing is that both of them are animated by MAPPA studio. They also took over the last season of one of my most favourite anime of all time, Attack On Titan, so no matter if they use 2D, 3D or CGI infused 2D, this studio is slowly but surely coming to the top of my list.

I liked combining these three characters into one drawing (and I'll try something similar in future, probably with Attack On Titan, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia, something like that). I actually drew them separately, which is a big step for me. I usually hate drawing multiple characters because it takes too much time and I just don't know when to stop adding small details that eventually become invisible once the image is resized. Even when there was just one character I used to avoid drawing the full body, but now I'm proud of how quickly I finished this drawing and controlled my obsession with details. All three poses are from @theposearchives.

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

#digitalart #drawing #fanart #anime #trigunstampede #chainsawman #jujutsukaisen #grdilicious #grdi