Cheap words, for a dragon

I have somehow managed to make it through yet another decade of laboring in thrall to The Man, so I have treated myself to a @balrogballs portrait of one of my favorite comrades in chains: Rôg, from my ficlet Call Me Out of the Gloaming.

He is everything I hoped for, and more. Dangerously charming, supremely confident, and disdainful of Noldorin neuroses about hair and scars and shame and whatnot. Hammer of Wrath, indeed! Thank you enormously, Ziz! He's going up over my desk, and will be a source of delight and solidarity whenever I'm clanking away with my little pickaxe, breaking up the stones.

Rôg!!!!!

literally not a single fucking person:

me: actually if i was going to handle silmarils i no longer have any right to because i killed people and shit, i would simply not touch them bare handed. i, being an intellectual who knows that these stones burned the innards of a literal werewolf, a creature whose own stomach acids probably had the same corrosive effect as lava, am perfectly aware that my silly little tummy (which throws tantrums about dairy) is no match. a silmaril would give me instant stigmata. carve a perfect tunnel through my flesh. i, being clever and possessing the ability to look up at the sky, am equally aware that eärendil’s newest labret piercing being visible to the naked eye from the stratosphere makes it pretty clear that the thing is probably very bright. as bright as a star. neil armstrong walked on the moon in a space suit. he did not wank off the stars in his birthday suit. all things considered, i, unlike maedhros fëanorian who spent the first 500 years of his life eating hot chip, specialising in himbodom, lying, and not educating himself on basic physics, i would be trotting away peacefully from eönwë’s camp, my silmarils clenched victoriously in

Cursed reverse mermaid Maglor for @peasant-player's reverse mermaid crack week, i got invited to participate and I couldn't say no 😭

in honor of the last day of mermay:

gil galad was a swordfish king, of him the harpers sadly sing: the last whose realm was fair and free between the mountains and the sea.

his legs were long, his bill was keen, his shining fin afar was seen; the countless stars of heaven's sails were mirrored in his silver scales.

——

here is a quick drawing of celebrimbor from the prayers to broken stone au, as suggested by @slashmarks in my art requests post! celebrimbor, rudely nicknamed “kaykay-kello” for his severe stammer by the late elros (who is, while possessing a halo and generally pleasant, somewhat of a comrade maedhros style jock in many senses) is pretty much the most well-adjusted person in that family with the neck scar to show it. which is saying something considering this guy spent much of his childhood at a specific famous boarding school in fucking ooty.

CELEGORM THE FAIR

latest finished commission of Celegorm in full Fëanorians-in-Beleriand getup, and this is probably the most ‘illustration’ style commission I’ve done so far: I loved the brief specifying the style of the earrings and I have been wanting to do armour again since my Eönwë commission. I also enjoyed the challenge of balancing a slightly feral look with the militaristic attire, plus balancing a ‘silver’ Celegorm with steel armour and gold+red accents as per the commissioner’s headcanon!

had an excellent time painting this OC commission of Ilsë, daughter of Celebrimbor and Tinwë of the Laiquendë, for @princessbatteringram, who described her as “generational trauma given form” and “curious, maybe a split second away from impish or mischief”, which I feel like everyone knows are my two favourite vibes to capture in a portrait. this is intended as a self-portrait by Ilsë done in oils (though of course the actual piece is digital).

I especially enjoyed rendering the iridescence of her dress and the various incarnations of her face I cycled through to land on this expression, and characteristically, her hair being described as resembling molten silver made my brain go brrr (complimentary brrr). Anyway, here’s a closeup as always because the main reason I spend multiple sessions rendering hair pretty much strand by strand is so that you can look at the closeup and go “damn balls you render hair pretty much strand by strand” 🥰

Finished him (took me forever)

It’s Wednesday, my dudes!!!

I haven't had the energy to draw anything with a plot or a background lately, but here is Celebrimbor with a funny frog my gf found on Vinted. We thought it suits him well. Frog is under the cut.