fayforn-feathers

special interests include:

video games

hollow knight

hollow knight: silksong

sky: children of the light

outer wilds

disco elysium

dark souls

ttrps

worlds beyond number. i’m absolutely obsessed with this podcast currently. this is a treasured piece of media for me, and i feel that i discovered it at just the right time

really into dimension 20 atm. i’m going through all the seasons in chronological order, currently listening to misfits & magic!

naddpod, currently listening to the eldermourne arc. hot boy summer has to be my favorite campaign!

love the legend of vox machina. i’ve only seen the cartoon, though, and i haven’t listened to the critical role podcast

botany, ecology, generally identifying the different organisms around me

restoration ecologist in training

most familiar with southern california’s flora

inaturalist is pretty cool!

my queen with her Cathartic aura, she nourishes the soil, breaks down the delicious carrion and feeds the ecosystem with the help of her extended family, the soil microorganisms and other decomposers! yay for detritivores and decomposers and their reciprocity with the soil

reposting this from my main here, if you’re seeing this twice consider yourself twice blessed :)

experimented with some textures and different brushes on procreate with this one. i might go back to using these same brushes at some point. painting this was a deeply personal experience and i got to celebrate and reflect on my connection with Lemonade Berry in completely new ways

through this project i began to explore new ways to express my overwhelming, very autistic love and appreciation for biology, ecology, and Indigenous knowledge (both the knowledge of the Indigenous peoples that have long cared for the land that i currently inhabit, and the traditional knowledge of my own ancestors, though they did not originally live here. learning about the connections between the lifeways of my ancestors and the lifeways of the Indigenous peoples of southern California has been very healing). i am discovering the magic of making art as a way to celebrate these sciences and knowledges!

land back land back land back ‼️‼️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️

the little yellow spots on their backs, the funny-lookin’ blue eyes, and the shape. i cannot get over how perfectly shaped they are. when i think of a “fish shape” i think of these guys. such cute little ovals. i love to watch them feed on algae and other yummy things on the rocks off southern California’s coast. yay for intertidal zones and kelp beds!

if you’ve seen this painting anywhere before.. no you haven’t! this is the first time you’re seeing this ever 🥰

i miss the California quail plush i had as a kid, shaped so cute and how he would call out when you squished him a certain way. i remember a quail landing on our backyard fence for a moment of rest and i was so excited since i recognized their voice as the same bird call from the quail plush

i took the stuffed animal outside and was squeezing him to get him to call out and talk to you. i’m sure you were so so confused since the stuffed animal was communicating with you using only two different calls. thanks for stopping by and talking to me anyways!

i had so much fun experimenting with the colors in this piece, i remember being nervous about using such a bright orange background but i think it worked out nicely. chalk pastel is fun, but it’s also a sensory nightmare if i’m not mentally prepared for it

and i’m still playing! not as often since i’m avoiding burnout, but i’m taking things slower and still enjoying it :) happy days of feast everyone

i have a huge weakness for corvid-inspired characters. if the character reminds me of blue jays, crows, ravens, jackdaws, magpies, or is directly inspired by them, they're immediately added to my maladaptive daydreams yes indeed! 🙂‍↕️

i do remember this piece giving me some trouble though. i went back and forth on whether to render this or not, to transform the sketch/illustration into a painting or not. eventually i decided i didn't need to, but not before i did a lot of erasing and redrawing, and definitely not before i got frustrated and had to walk away from my tablet to get some chocolate and peanut butter. it took me awhile to pick it back up again.

making art does not come without its frustrations. when i start to feel stiff, exhausted, and annoyed with myself, it's usually because i didn't catch onto some other sign of hunger, thirst, need for movement, or another similar need. i have a hard time knowing when to take a break. i get so absorbed in the work. but i am proud of myself for remembering taking a step back and taking a break more often. it really helps.

i'm getting better at recognizing that point where the excitement of creation catches up to me, where i know that the satisfaction of making something i am proud of is within my reach. where i make an important choice: a) continue working on the piece or b) take a break.

the second choice is just about taking a break, not finishing it, since i can always pick up the art piece to continue it another time. this art piece will be here, waiting for me, if i decide i want to render and paint vax in all his glory. but until that moment comes, i'm ok with leaving it as is.

sometimes i work on a piece for so long that i overdo it, and the magic of it all that pushed me to create in the first place starts to fade. the satisfied, wonderful feeling that i know is right before me begins to feel further and further away. that magic usually starts to fade when i stop enjoying the creation process, and start to worry about whether or not the end result looks exactly how i envisioned it to. the magic thrives when i take breaks and step back from the piece. the magic thrives when i am present in my body as well as my creative mind, they work together. bodymind. the magic thrives when i let my hand move the way it wants to move, to draw the lines that feel natural and fun and interesting in their movements.

and so the art is finished (for now). i don't have to choose between continuing to work and then "finishing it," where i never return to the piece. the art can be finished and then continued later. it doesn't need to have such finality to it. it can transform and change with me.

making characters/self-inserts is something i've done for most of my life and few things make me as happy as putting my own being, essence, spirit into the worlds of my favorite video games, books, movies, tv series. i'm a creative just like the wonderful artists that inspire me with their works, and i have the amazing power to connect w the creators and fans of my favorite stories, to weave a piece of myself into their worlds.

and it is indulgent, and it is just for me. but it is also my way of saying thank you to the creators for making such amazing stories. they resonated with me so strongly that i wanted to be a part of them. and through my own creative power i am part of this storytelling ecosystem

what amazing practice it is, to envision yourself as another being, in a different world. we need creativity like that now more than ever. we need people who have this wonderful empathy and vision, who can imagine themselves in different universes, in different stories.

i grieve for my 13 year old self who was embarrassed and ashamed of this creative expression. keep making self-inserts! keep making ocs! i'm cheering you on!

dimension 20's a court of fey and flowers killed me. it was the second season of d20 I had ever watched, the first being fantasy high. i loved watching hob and rue's connection strengthen and deepen and then in the last epsiode brennan dropped that line. that line destroyed me it really did. that whole scene had me giggling and crying

i remember having so many thoughts about these two, and masking and neurodivergence, and gender and queerness, though i honestly can't remember what those thoughts are. they were wonderful amazing thoughts though, even if i can't remember them. they were so wonderful i had to illustrate these two in love at 1am in the morning