doodling elves

Whoa! You found my FAQs!

Requests are: Closed! Those already submitted are in the works. Please note it may take weeks or even months for me to get to your request (but I will!)

Can I use your art for _____? Probably! Unless you plan on doing something really weird with it (like selling it or feeding it to AI.) Don’t do that. In general, you can share, print out, use as a profile pic, add to your powerpoint, or enjoy it however you like. If you aren’t sure, just ask.

Do you do comms? Not really, but I do requests for Tolkien characters (and sometimes Tolkien OCs!) Just message me. Please note that any post replies about this will be deleted as spam. ^^

I draw with … an old iPad mini and Apple pencil using Procreate! My main brushes are Procreate pencil, HB pencil, Spectra, and a fully opaque version of Script. My go-to for refs is TrueRef.

Okay, here’s the logic:

1.) Elves live forever unless killed

2.) Elves cannot grow back limbs like starfish (c.f. maedhros)

3.) Elves, due to their preternatural endurance, are very likely to survive having limbs hacked off (c.f. maedhros again)

4.) Elves, especially in the First and Second Ages, spend a lot of time trying to stab each other and/or fighting things that want to rip them to shreds (orcs, werewolves, etc.)

Rinse and repeat long enough, and by the Third Age, most older elves would have several serious permanent injuries. Conveniently, elves also have a cultural predilection for a.) the healing arts and b.) magic smithery, which gives us an excellent fast-track to automail-type fantasy prostheses.

I drew Maglor and Galadriel, who have decent odds of rocking the most metal-per-hröa by the time of LotR.

Maglor has a vocal prosthesis (maybe for smoke inhalation during the War of Wrath, specially calibrated for singing-laments-upon-the-shore purposes); a cranial implant/helm (I like to think Elwing chucked something heavy at him); a gauntlet (to restore fine motor control to his Silmaril-chucking and harp-playing hand), and a prosthetic leg.

Galadriel has several implants and a prosthetic arm. The crown-with-circuitry is a helm designed to offset migraines (a common side effect of peering into things that are, once were, and have not yet come to pass.) It was made for her by Celeborn, who is her husband AND her mechanic, and is also why he gave her the nickname Galadriel.

My approach to human clothing designs is a little bit different than my approach to elvish/ainur designs! For immortals I just draw whatever high fashion concepts without worrying about realism, but for mortals I focus more on practicality — how is it made, washed, fastened, mended; is it warm; do the sleeves get in the way of work, etc. More generally, I take a lot of inspiration from historical/folk fashion, other artists, runway styles, video games, etc.

I like to create a common look for different in-universe groups (“Thingol’s court” or “Beorians”) by playing with different design elements. For the Iathrim, I like to use very light diagonally-wrapped fabrics with cross-collars, in tones of blue and gray — that’s what Dior is wearing under the capelet here. I like that it makes them look ethereal and very comfortable and graceful. But Beorians wear much warmer and thicker clothing (because human frailty), culturally important patterns (as a way of preserving history), good luck charms (also because human frailty), etc.

A lot of times I have existing headcanons about clothing a long time before I ever sit down to draw them! Dior’s capelet here (and Beorian capelets in general) was originally imagined for my TRSB collab with the wonderful @southaway.