keegan's art blog

new icon to match my pixel art moment! when u gotta shelve books but it’s the full moon 😔

a 3 page comic challenge to get back in the grove of drawing! hopecore mites on the back of a phoenix, loosely inspired by a dream 🐦‍🔥🪲

Image description: Page 1 of 3. A phoenix flies over an orange sky, two mites on a bald spot of its body converse as the bird’s feathers fall off. The old mite says, “We have always lived on this phoenix. It’s about time we die with it, too. So why spend today with an old mite like me?” The young mite gestures at everything angrily and replies, “‘Cause what’s the point of telling stories when our world’s about to end?!” The old mite retorts, “what’s the point of not doing so at all?”

Page 2 of 3. The old mite shows the young mite three other bugs conversing nearby. They swap stories and laugh at one another as the flames begin to spread. The old mite remarks, “It’s a way to reminisce on the lives we’ve led, no matter how embarrassing they’ve been.” The phoenix lands on a branch, her feathers beginning to catch more flame. She preens herself calmly despite the growing blaze. The old mite says, “But I think our dear phoenix likes to listen in, too. Think of the tales she’s heard with each preen…”

self creation’s not for the faint of heart 🫀🩸

“i don’t want to make my pain pretty anymore”

been practicing pixel art by drawing my cravings to save money on ordering out 😭

school’s been hectic but my new love for pixel art persists 👾

smile!

cw: blood, death, implied child abuse

Birds of a Feather: Tylos Flossfey vs Anis Taartje (R4)

Image descriptions: Anis Taartje, a blonde girl with a round hat wearing checkered sleeves over a medieval tunic, lies next to Tylos Flossfey in a grassy field. Tylos is wearing a suit of armor made from natural materials with spiked vine forearm braces, his hair is wild and covered in leaves. Title reads: Birds of a Feather, The Devoured Year Round 4.” They are both looking at each other with one eye closed. 

Dramatis personae showing portraits of each character. Surrounding the portrait of Tylos, text reads, “Tylos Flossfey: A heretic knight keen to protect all magic users from the Bulb and its zealots. Didn’t anticipate other dangers lurking in the woods…” Surrounding the portrait of Anis, text reads: “Anis Tarrtje, a birdcatcher-turned-assassin dabbling in murder to keep her undead friend alive.” Surrounding the portrait of Casper, a man with a scarred eye and crispy twiggy hair, text reads: “Casper Saltytwig: A caged bird. An unwilling accomplice.” 

An abandoned cottage in Joyau de Vin. Casper slurps the blood of an unconscious girl as his friend Anis speaks: “See? You’re already getting better, ‘Kas! Just a few weeks ago you could barely move, and now you’re eating on your own!” In the next panel, Anis is holding the unconscious girl up as Casper says, “This isn’t a way to live, Anis. You can’t keep finding magic users for me to feed on forever.” With an eerie expression, Anis replies, “You’re not done yet.” Casper says, “what?” Anis points the tip of her pineapple spear to the girl’s neck and continues speaking: “You’re not done yet, why risk your healing by waiting for our catches to recover?” Casper yells, “I don’t know, because she’ll die?!” Anis looks on determinedly and replies, “she can die by my hand or your teeth. The former for naught, the latter for the greater good.” 

The spear’s tip presses into the girl’s neck, Anis says, “I deluded myself into thinking that my aunt would recover on her own. My inaction killed her while a grove of druids sat hiding with the fruit that could’ve cured her.” Her eyes flash with a cold stare, she says, “I do not mind taking the initiative, for once.” Casper looks down dejectedly, before they are both interrupted by the sound of ringing. Anis looks out the window to see Tylos freeing himself from a bell trap with his sword. 

Three star anise throwing stars are flung at Tylos, who grows a barrier of thick branches to protect himself from two of them. However, one grazes his cheek, hissing with acid as it cuts into his skin. Tylos wipes the injury with his thumb and says, “Normally I’d let a hunter seek prey for their packmates, but you’re hunting endangered quarry, and I can’t let that happen. I can smell the innocent syrup you’ve shed from here, you know. Come out, or I’ll pay for every life you’ve taken tenfold on your friend instead.” Anis is taken aback by these words. 

Running out of the door with her spear ready, Anis screams: “No! I’m not losing anyone else!” Tylos swiftly steps out of the way and yanks Anis by her hair as she passes, slamming her to the ground. 

Anis is panting and searching for her dropped spear as Tylos speaks: “You don’t smell Bulbian, yet you hunt magic users like one.” He continues as he steps on Anis’s hand with his foot: “You’re an odd one, Miss Pineapple Tart. Why harm the very people like your undead friend?” Anis grits her teeth and replies: “You’re one to talk, hiding your gifts from those in need. Countless lives could’ve been saved if the druids shared their fruit…If a healer actually visited us.” Reaching for another throwing star and stabbing it into Tylos’ calf, she yells, “So forgive me if I take from magic users what they took from me!” 

As Tylos screams off-screen, Anis reaches for her spear and raises it up, only for Casper to step in and block her path as he yells, “Anis, stop!” Anis looks on with awe and says, “Casper? How? You haven’t been able to leave the cottage since…Since you woke up!” Casper holds his face in horror as he explains: “The magical blood works. In fact, the first drop I tasted brought me closer to living than ever. And I hate every moment of it. I thought if I pretended to heal slowly, then you’d realize what you were doing. That you’d resort to less violent means. Yet…Here you are again. I don’t think your hands know anything else but ruin.” At this statement, Anis’ hands shake as she holds her spear. 

The page is shrouded in darkness, a white outline of Tylos with his sword at the ready looms ominously over Casper’s shoulder as he says, “You should’ve let me die that day, Anis.” 

Anis is spattered with blood as Casper is beheaded off-screen. She drops her spear. As the realization settles in, she tears up and shakes. 

As Anis cries, Tylos turns away and says, “You should know better than to ignore a friend’s wishes.” Suddenly, he coughs, and sees his hand covered in blood. “What the…” he says, only to be interrupted by Anis sadly laughing. She says: “I was never good at anything, was I? Not at saving people. Not at killing. Certainly not at dosing my poisons correctly.” Tylos braces himself on a tree and remarks, “Trust me, it’s dosed correctly.” As he bleeds from his nose and mouth, he sits beneath the tree. Anis sits next to him in silence.

Anis looks down and asks, “How naturally did your magic come to you? I bet it was easy. I bet it felt like breathing.” Tylos, still bleeding, replies, “You’ve been around The Grove. That’s something I can’t say myself, so you know that’s not how it works. It’s like…Running.” Anis is confused and asks, “running?” Tylos continues and says, “You eventually build up to it, then it’s suddenly off to the races. You can’t imagine life without running.” The page shifts to a flashback, a silhouette of a young girl is seen running happily in a field. Tylos says: “I’ve been remembering more of what I was like before.” 

The girl shows a sprout she grows from her hands to her father, who yells at her as she raises her hands up with fear. Tylos remarks: “I thought it was a gift from the Bulb. The man who was my father in another life didn’t think so.” A series of hands are seen, surrounded by vines of lightbulbs and candy. The hands pray for hours on end, are deprived of food, and are even led to an open flame. Bulbs crack and shatter. 

Tylos looks down as he continues: “To avoid further pain, I learned how to run faster. Shapeshifting came easily when I wanted to be anything but his daughter. It’s easy to run when you feel like you’re being hunted all the time. You remind me of something he said, oddly enough. He once told me there’s a reason why religion comes easily for others. We were all born with gaps in our souls, waiting to be filled with obligation and duty. Anis sits with her knees up, a silhouette of her aunt’s profile looming behind her. Anis remarks: “And look at me now. An empty vessel.” 

🍽️ why do you hunger, sister baechu? 🍽️

judith baechu belongs to @pysics!

payanak

heeeere's tylos! and he's...coping

Image description: Tylos Flossfey is a pink-skinned druid knight with long burgundy hair littered with leaves. He wears a makeshift set of armor made from dark purple and maroon wood and tattered dark purple pants. On his forearms are red vines with spikes, and he wields an orange creamsicle-swirled wooden sword with a matching spiked shield. 

Tylos is not having a good time as round 4 of The Devoured Year rolls around :(

Image descriptions: 

Page 1: A comic in black and white digital graphite. A thunderstorm booms in the sky as trees obscure a rabbit with an anemone growing out of it. The rabbit runs with tears in its eyes, a red halo of spikes indicating fury. Text reads: “Tempest…Should I hate the Bulb?”

Page 2: Tempest, a witch with a black garlic hat, burns a Bulbian pamphlet with green fire. She and Tylos are in the catacombs. She replies, “Why else are we hiding to train in some dusty catacombs? I’m surprised you’re still alive despite being so outwardly…Druidic. Because of the Bulb, I gave everything and gained nothing.” She closes her fist as ash pours out, then looks at Tylos. She says, “Why do you question your own hate? It’s one of the very few things we can call ours these days.” Tylos, practicing pink cloudy magic in a prayer pose, responds: “I guess I don’t want to believe there’s a power that doesn’t want us to exist. I wonder if it’s less of a god and more of an excuse to be scared. To them, it seems more acceptable to wage crusades for a deity instead of fear.”

Page 3: Tylos is in his bear form, blood smeared all over his front. He says, “as if fear isn’t a weapon in and of itself.” In the background are clamoring guards, saying, “They’re over here! Ack! The witches are in the catacombs! Seize them both! Heretics!” Off-screen, Tempest tells Tylos, “You need to run. For the both of us.” The scene switches to the present, Tylos stands in the Candian wilderness, and snow melts as spring arrives. Narration reads, “Winter has long died. So has my reluctance for vengeance.”

Considering the events of his round 2 comic, I figured it was time to give Tylos a new sheet!

image description: Tylos Flossfey is a pink-skinned druid with a long mullet and whorl shell ears. A purple anemone grows on his shoulder and he is holding a mop with his seal flipper hands. He wears an orange and white striped swim top and cheesy parachute pants with a swiss cheese waist sash. 

Text reads: Tylos Flossfey, he/him lesbian, gumpaste druid sailor. To pay off his property damage debts incurred during his quest, Tylos Flossfey has found himself working on the Scurvy Curd, a small shipping vessel on the Dairy Isles. Still on the search for medicinal herbs for his mother, Tylos has taken on the seafaring life of his dreams and is learning how to balance living for her while creating a life of his own. As his malleable gumpaste flesh reflects the changes in his environment, time will tell if he’ll be the same as the seasons change…

cws: parental illness, animal/druid harm, strangulation, war

helloooo round 2 of the devoured year! this was such a blast to draw, and i'm so glad i finished this in time!

image descriptions: The comic cover. Choque is resting her head on her elbow as she looks down at Tylos, who is in an open birdcage. He is sitting with his back turned to the viewer, pushing the door open. Text reads: “The Druid in the Open Cage. The Devoured Year, Round 2. Choque versus Tylos.” 

A page titled, “Dramatis Personae,” featuring the two main characters of this comic. In one circle is a druid with a shaggy mullet and crocus flowers for ears, wearing a tattered cloak. Text reads, “Tylos Flossfey. Allegiance: Candia. A shapeshifting druid on the search for medicinal herbs to cure his ailing mother.” In the second bubble is a chokecherry knight with one eye, wearing cherry-themed knight’s armor. Text reads, “Choque. Allegiance: Fructera, but mostly herself. A chokecherry squire pretending to be her deceased cherry mentor, Sir Eaz.” The comic is colored in hues of purple with textures reminiscent of colored pencils.

A bear with flowers growing out of it roars loudly, the setting is the city of Comida during the Autumn of 1194. The bear chases after a chokecherry knight who yells, “out of the way! Knight coming through!” Narration on the side reads, “looking for easy money, Choque took what she thought was a simple mission to retrieve an apothecary’s stolen goods.” 

The bear accidentally knocks over a stand containing giant watermelons, looking rather ashamed of itself. Narration continues. “In the apothecarist’s defense…She didn’t know the knight would come face to face with a shapeshifting druid.” Looking over her shoulder, Choque yells, “I was not paid enough for this!”

In front of a stand that reads, “Cynara Apothecary,” a woman with an artichoke head is sweeping, but yells in surprise, “Sir Eaz?! What is that thing?!” Choque violently pushes the crate of herbs she was holding in her arms into the artichoke lady, causing her to go, “oof!” Choque yells, “here! Payment now!” The artichoke woman asks, “what about the bear-thing?! It’s getting closer by the second!” With her shoulders raised, Choque yells, “that wasn’t on the job ad!” 

Then, a stomp appears on the page. The bear approaches Choque and the artichoke lady and sniffs the air. 

The artichoke lady hides behind the crate with an, “eep!” Choque reaches for her sword. A close-up of Choque’s pocket reveals she holds a pouch of herbs. The bear lunges for it and grabs Choque by the skirt. Choque yells and says, “Get…” 

With a slash against the bear, she finishes her sentence, saying, “off!” The bear roars and transforms into Tylos, shards of dried gumpaste scattering around him. 

The scene grows dark as Tylos listens to the whispering townsfolk around him. They say, “did you see that? How did they do that? You did hear about those heretics in the woods, right? All that destruction! Someone’s paying for that! All this blasphemy…And so close to the cornclave…” Suddenly, the scene changes to Tylos in a jail cell, the door slamming closed.

Tylos asks Choque warily, “am I…Am I getting executed?” Choque, on the other side of the bars, says, “Well…For extra gold, that artichoke lady asked me to determine a suitable punishment for you. Knights knowing honor and all.” Tylos sniffs the air and looks confused, seeing that she doesn’t smell like a cherry. He notes, “but that armor doesn’t smell like it’s yours, though.” At the bottom of the page, Choque shoots Tylos with a venomous glare, causing him to backtrack and say, “U-um! Ignore what I said!” 

The conversation continues. Choque says, “anyway, you do know the herbs you stole weren’t the profitable kind, right?” Tylos looks confused and says, “profitable? I wasn’t looking to sell them. Plus, I shouldn’t have taken them anyway. Not when you have something I wanted all along!” Choque tilts her head and says, “what?” And Tylos responds, “the herbs in the pouch! The one in your pocket, I mean.” Choque pulls out a pouch containing some herbs. She says, “This? It’s some chewing leaf I won in a game.” 

Choque holds it up and says, “I don’t care much for it.” Tylos holds the bars of the cell gingerly and says, “funnily enough, it means the world to me.” The scene changes to a farm cottage, where a pot of stew is being made. A woman with several lost fingers and splotches on her face tries the stew with a wooden spoon. Narration reads, “there’s this tincture made from six Caloran herbs, one from each nation. It’s the only thing that works to halt cottonmelt in Candians of cotton candy descent. My mother’s been holding on since the war began. We may not be related by blood, but she’s all I have.” 

Tylos begins to tear up, saying, “If I just collect the ingredients…If I brew the tincture on time…Everything will be okay!” He buries his bear paws into his face and cries in earnest, “but I really messed up this time and–and I don’t even know what I’m doing! I don’t care what I’ll have to do to get back to searching, I just want the person who’s seen me to be okay!” Tylos cries as Choque looks on. 

Choque looks down and says, “kid…People die.” Choque looks to the side, imagining a battlefield with makeshift graves. She reminisces and says, “I’ve been on the battlefield. I’ve buried bodies that held hands, kissed lovers, birthed children.” She thinks back to her knight, who she remembers killing with her bare hands. She continues, “they may have meant something to someone, but now? They’re all the same. Flesh feeding the earth. The difference between us and them?”

Choque talks to Tylos, who has now crossed his arms. She says, “We’re alive. And you can try to be honorable and do the right thing, but fate’s the ones calling the shots. And if despite it all she dies, then what? Who will you be when you just have yourself to live for?” At the bottom of the page, Tylos thinks about his shapeshifting abilities, the heads of animals he can turn into swirl around him. Choque tells him, “if I had your abilities, I wouldn’t put myself in a cage.” 

Panels are set up in a way that makes it seem like Tylos and Choque are talking face to face. Tylos asks, “don’t you have someone you love? Someone you’d do anything for?” Choque replies simply, “Yes. Myself.” Tylos challenges that further and asks, “is that who you think you are right now? Yourself?” Choque thinks back on her life as a peasant, surrounded by failing crops. Then, the scene reverts to where she is now, a respected knight. She replies, “it’s the best I’ll get, so I’ll take it.”

Tylos pauses for a beat and holds onto his tattered cloak. He begins to take it off, saying, “I’ve always wanted to be a sailor. Especially if it meant finding new animals to learn from. When I left for my journey, she told me something I’d never forget.” Tylos’ mother, the woman from before, is seen wiping down windows with a cloth. She says, “even if there’s a chance I’ll die before you get back, I’ll be glad you took it. I want you to see the good that can exist in people, even if it would never make up for the harm they inflicted upon you.” Tylos looks at Choque with a side-eye and comments, “I”m not gonna lie, you’re not the best example of that kind of person. You’re a hermit crab in a stolen shell. You’re the prime example of selfishness if I’ve ever seen one.” Choque, confused, thinks of a hermit crab with her face. 

Tylos kneels to meet Choque eye-to-eye and continues, “but…I can learn a lot from you. You’ve survived more than I have, after all. I’ll take any punishment you see fit and defer to you. And after that? I’ll take a leaf out of your book and seek what I desire.” Choque looks at Tylos, pausing in silence. 

She breaks that silence by tossing Tylos the pouch of herbs and says, “I think you’ll learn your lesson after some hard labor on the docks. Always demand for a deck scrubber somewhere.” As she leaves, she looks over her shoulder and says, “half of what you earn goes to me. The other to…Whoever you owe for damages.” Tylos, looking confused, says, “T-thanks? It’s better than execution…” Choque turns her back on Tylos and is heading out the door. She says, “As long as you don’t get in my way, get out of your simple life while you can.” 

30 min celebration of finishing this month strong!! since i’ll be flying tomorrow, i decided to finish this early

29 min portrayal of a mindset change I realized I made recently

28 minute reminder to all the chronic illness besties that it’s not worth that extra thing getting done!!! just rest!!!