kosjenka

✿ Hello, this is my first post on Tumblr!

I will mostly post art of my characters, maybe some fanart too, if I feel like it. My art is pretty basic, as I focus more on the stories that I'm creating. ( I'm not really sure how to use this site yet, though lol )

🎼 unfinished character sketch ♪*. full story below ↓

I liked how this turned out, so I decided to post the black and white version )) this is Biruta (her name is an homage to a character in "Syzyfowe Prace"), she's a working class student from Cerewa, more on her in the next paragraph. I'm still not sure how I want to incorporate her story in the main Jane Doe storyline, with Adri, Alicja & the crew. In my head (and in docs) they are two separate stories. For now, her storyline is called Morderca Psów/Dog Murderer/Killer of Dogs; as I said before - it also takes place in Cerewa, but not in Nirsk; she comes from a place that's way worse, way more run down and hopeless.

Ruta is very outspoken, she never shies away from confrontation (conflict seems to be more like a driving force in her case) & has the street smarts, she knows everyone in her area but also knows who to avoid. Her comrade/brother used to take care of the locals when Cerewa went into lockdown, but after getting into an altercation with foreign military (who were there to keep people in place basically, not letting them out of the city even when food was running low, the only people who were allowed to leave were "volunteer soldiers") he suffered brain damage that left him very unstable. He could no longer take care of their neighbors or children because of his erratic behavior, it got so bad Biruta lost contact with him. So- she took over his role, albeit clumsily.

She's a student, although it's a university only in name - classes take place in an old library and are led by volunteer professors. Some of them local (who Biruta likes), some led by volunteers from rich-er countries/regions (who Biruta doesn't like) that want to do a good deed! Help the poor people in a poor country! While staying at the only resort in the area, that's there precisely for the type of people who stay there: faux philanthropists born with a golden (ruby and diamond-studded) spoon in their mouth and equally rich artists who want to visit a rundown place like Ruta's hometown to get inspired, to have a new, exotic experience. Pretty much just tourists and sometimes international cargo workers.

Her hometown falls into ruin, simultaneously becoming an international bedroom, for the privileged, of course. The education isn't great, her peers don't need to work or study as the foreign military gives out food rations (which are not big, people are starving) and another emerging problem is the lack of medicine. Ruta herself suffers from an illness that requires taking pills, but after the lockdown for some reason there weren't any available and if they were, the price skyrocketed; people are stealing and selling drugs in order to buy food or find whatever addiction or dreams they have going for them. She knows she's going to die, every day is worse, her only chance at survival would be to steal the medicine or leave the region to a richer part of Cerewa, which, of course is impossible.

Her days turn into an endless cycle of checking on her comrades and neighbors, flaking on classes, looking for meds or substitutes and feeling her body deteriorate more and more every day. Her drug-seeking escapades make her run into other disabled or sick people, whom she bonds with. They naturally form a group that tries their best to re-obtain as much medicine as possible and redistribute it back to the community.

There's more I have in store for this character, but that's the gist of it )) her best friend is a man around her age who suffered spine damage (you can see his cane on the left from her) I'll draw them together soon!

♥︎ 2026 Adri vs 2024 Adri - design improvement ♥︎

And here's our girl's current design by itself:

For quite some time I was worried my art wasn't improving as much due to burnout (thanks, art school) but now that I look at it, my art has definitely changed a lot. Even though it's more messy now )) one thing hasn't changed, my poses are stiff as ever...

Recent world-building sketches! More world + characters info

Sketchbook pages of sketches and concepts )) from the top:

Zosia Jenot - young receptionist in Nirsk, Cerewa Federation; younger sister of the local police department archivist. She's mischievous, loves to gossip, collect pretty objects and ride her bike. She used to work at a post office before it got shut down due to military actions. She's currently saving money for further education

Andrieja Šafran (surname may change) - detective at the Nirsk police department, a hard-working woman who, despite her seemingly professional demeanor is a romantic. She loves to read - prose and poetry; she cares deeply about the city and it's people, even though the police obviously aren't liked. Even in the poverty and degradation of the area, Nirsk was the first place she's ever felt at home in. She favors her right leg due to an old contusion.

Maria Juric (ID photo) - the Jane Doe that started it all, the Ophelia fished out in Santa Nova, kilometers away from where her ID would initially place her (that would've been Nirsk), no ring finger, strange death and many, many unanswered questions...

Ewa - Nirsk PD's lawyer and legal advisor. She comes from one of the richer regions of Cerewa. She's between 40 and 50, very elegant and witty.

The three (lazily drawn) men on the top of the last page are other Nirsk PD police officers and Zosia's brother, the archivist, Seweryn Jenot. The symbols below are different ideas for what I would call religion in this universe. Or saints (kind of inspired by the cult of virgin Mary above Jesus in Poland); I do have some overall lore dumps on the saints.

Santa Nova, the country, is named directly after their favorite saint (cult of the red sun, strength, military power and quiet luxury, pride, physical strength, bee/ant worker symbols)

Working on world-building! (Character sketches below 🩻(•؎ •) )

I've been away for a bit due to uni stuff (lame) so I haven't been drawing as much lately, but I was writing and creating nonetheless! I'm trying to set up an alternative/original world/planet earth with countries inspired by real places, with the "main" place being the Federation of Cerewa (inspired by a multitude of Slavic countries).

The shapes of the countries are loosely inspired by organs like liver, lungs & brain, but also by bones and the nervous system. Cerewa's geography is inspired by the heart (it's not very visible on the WIP map, but there will be rivers that resemble arteries and veins). I also wanted the country to be build over tunnels/bunkers/sewers (this part is inspired by my immediate area, that's peppered in abandoned WW2 bunkers and remains of trenches, now turned parts of the forest).

Coming up with country names is hard lol. I still can't decide on many and keep changing them. For now I've got three definite names chosen: Cerewa Federation (Slavic inspired) and Keltlandy/The Keltlands (Gaelic inspired) and of course Santa Nova (totalitarian, inspired by Italy). There is also Terana which for now is inspired by Bulgaria but that might change. My current plan on Cerewa is to divide it into regions (each with their own little government) and each region is a bit more inspired by a specific Slavic country. But then again, there are some Slavic countries like Croatia or Bosnia, which have a different type of climate & Cerewa is quite small, so I'd probably split those into different countries.

As for the stories that will take place in this setting, they will mostly center on hardships of life, underprivileged, regular young people in a dying world (very optimistic, I know. But that's just my style) and how they interact with it and cope. I've got two plots loosely planned out (one is a murder mystery & political coverup and the other one is a sort of coming-of-age story with a bleak undertone, also a social commentary in a way, although I am still learning how to do it sensibly).

I wanted to focus on poverty, disability, environmental degradation and loneliness; of course by pulling from my own experiences but also from my peers'/friends'.

As for the characters!

The main story, the murder mystery, had been echoing in my brain for quite some time. My first character sketches were from 2024! Such a long time ago! Of course, character relationships, backstories, names and even nationalities have changed. Anyway, here are some real old drawings of the cast circa 2024 :)

The blonde (Alicia Edera) and Adrijana are no longer a couple, at least I don't see them together anymore with how the story is. Mostly because my own tastes in women have changed but also because there's another character who I feel like will make sense for Adri to date.

Cami

favourite type of woman to draw, colors are muddy tho, oops

Ivy Pepper - Lackadaisy (quick sketch)

The girl & her scent 🌲☕🎞️🍒

I finally sat down and wrote something about my girl 𖹭 more of her backstory below ↓↓↓

Also- an extended version on the gravestone drawing

Alicja was actually the first character I designed, she's inspired by WW2 polish nurses ))

As for the dodo... I have the silhouette down but I can't decide on his face. He will also get a cane, but I want it to match with his overall look.

soz for low picture quality,

sketchbook – happy birthday! 🎊

Lil brother birthday party