thistlebeetle

[thistlebeetle]

its official: tumblr is selling our data to Midjourney

we'd been hearing rumors about this for a bit but now its open and out there. some details from this article

it goes without saying, but if @staff goes through with this its going to be an utter shitshow and im all but certain the website will not survive it.

#HELLO FELLOW ARTISTS AND ALSO EVERYONE #OPT OUT!!! #tumblr is opting you in automatically #looking forward to nightshading all my art and re-uploading it 🙃 #support human artists #say no to data scraping

[thistlebeetle]

Happy New Year! Excited to share the River of Lights Sticker and Pin I designed for @legendlarkpod's annual gift! I am really happy with how they turned out and I hope listeners will be too!

We've sent them out to our mail-tier patrons and now they're available in our online store as well! This podcast and the fan community have been a bright spot in (another) crazy year and I'm wishing everyone a safe and lovely New Year. Looking forward to bringing you more LegendLark in 2024!

#legendlark #dames and dragons #merch #product design #enamel pins #stickers #trans pride

[thistlebeetle]

AT LAST, THE TRIFECTA IS COMPLETED!!! Ainsley, Antone Postminger, and The Gap from Hrose Camp Adventures! Yes, Hrose.

I updated Antone's art a bit before sending off the print of them for @legendlarkpod's Q3 Patreon mail. Had a lot of fun coordinating these two punk halflings and this fancy human, trying to make sure their styles came across strongly while also tying them together as group.

You can buy the print bundle at legendlark.store!

#legendlark #hrose camp adventures #ttrpg #antone postminger #ainsley #the gap #halfling #bubblegumshoe #aatghca

[thistlebeetle]

Finally sharing the design of Juniper's character, Ainsley, I did for the summer mail for $15 supporters on Patreon! Now u know why Slake simped so hard for them. 😔 Ainsley is a rude teen, full of powerful energies. Any resemblance they happen to bear to any other halfling characters I've designed for LegendLark is entirely coincidental, I assure you. >> You can experience the pleasure of listening to Juniper as Ainsley in our Hrose Camp Adventures arc on @legendlarkpod!

#Ainsley #hrose camp adventures #aatghca #dames and dragons #ainsley badson #halfling #legendlark #bubblegumshoe

[thistlebeetle]

Those of you who are mail-tier patrons on http://patreon.com/legendlark have already seen this friendo, but for everyone else, may I present to you The Gap, Noel's incredible, iconic character from Hrose Camp Adventures on @legendlarkpod.

They are everything. I only hope I did them justice. 😔🙏

#legendlark #hrose camp adventures #the gap #bubblegumshoe #ttrpg #halfling

[thistlebeetle]

I’m so excited to finally show off the dice I designed for our annual Patreon gift at Dames and Dragons this year! The process of designing for them was tricky, there were a lot of rules to keep in mind for the spacing and thickness of the lines in the engraving, but I’m so happy with how they turned out! Hopefully patrons will be too!

We already sent out our annual gift to mail-tier patrons, but if you’d like to grab a set for yourself, they are available in our online store!

#product design #polyhedral dice #Dungeons and Dragons #dames and dragons #dice #the gaurdians #maeri #falen

[thistlebeetle]

I had the pleasure of guesting (for a second appearance) on Dark & Stormy Nights, a delightful podcast in which the hosts and guests discuss a book based on reading the first page! I also guested on their episode on Goosebumps: Night of the Living Dummy, if that’s more your flavor. Both were a blast to record, go check their show out!

(Look I'm still figuring out the whole tumblr thing... is this how an episode post is gonna look? Who knows!) In our most recent episode, we were joined by a dapper little diplomat/handsome fungus beetle, @thistlebeetle, to chat about the first page of SPACIAL DELIVERY, a novel about bears and mail, which may or may not be a romantic comedy. Our materials below:

#Dark and Stormy Nights #darknightsreads #podcast #my voice

[thistlebeetle]

I had to exorcise this drawing of my Bubblegumshoe character, Antone Postminger (they/he) from my body. Thank you early 3D Barbie movies and Jem and the Holograms, I couldn't have done it without you. 🙏

Antone is 17, obscenely wealthy, and morally bankrupt. He’s recently been kidnapped en route to his family’s Elite Equestrian Academy and is now forced to solve a mystery with small town miscreants Ainsley and The Gap.

Listen to Hrose (yes, hrose) Camp Adventures on @damesanddragons! 💙✨ 

This image was too powerful for twitter and so it dulled the colors down, but hopefully tumblr will be able to handle this level of highly saturated energy.

#antone postminger #dames and dragons #Ainsley and the Gap: Hrose Camp Adventures #AatGHCA #character design

[thistlebeetle]

We got the @damesanddragons summer mail sent out, so I can show it off! It's a Slake quote sticker, designed by yours truly! I’m really happy with how these turned out, you can snag one at http://damesanddragons.store!

#Dames and Dragons #DnD #Slake #Beetle #Sticker #Product Design #Hand Typography

[thistlebeetle]

Made a display for my library for National Poetry Month inspired by Lo-fi compilations on youtube! I really enjoy them myself, and I wanted to make something relaxing and spring-ie. 

#lofi #lo-fi #national poetry month #book display #library #illustration #lotus #lily pads

[thistlebeetle]

Thought I’d show a bit of process stuff on this piece, just for fun. So, they’re all dressed as characters from Rankin Bass specials:

And this was actually a piece I started messing with in 2019. I had a color sketch done but then got distracted with other things. By the time I wanted to revisit it, I realized I wanted to redo the artwork entirely.

Bit unfair to compare a sketch to a final, but hopefully 2 years made a noticeable difference!

WHEW! It’s been a minute! This is the art I did for our holiday card for Dames and Dragons this year! It’s our characters from our bonus campaign drawn in a style that is deeply beloved to me, that of Rankin/Bass stop motion holiday specials. <3

Looked at a lot of ref for this one, hope I was able to capture that hokey charm.

Our bonus campaign, Dame-geon Dive, is a great entry point because it’s largely self-contained, there’s just 5 episodes so far, and you can listen to the first 2 for free! If you like weirdos you’re gonna love it. 

#rankin/bass #dames and dragons #dame-geon dive

[thistlebeetle]

WHEW! It’s been a minute! This is the art I did for our holiday card for Dames and Dragons this year! It's our characters from our bonus campaign drawn in a style that is deeply beloved to me, that of Rankin/Bass stop motion holiday specials. <3

Looked at a lot of ref for this one, hope I was able to capture that hokey charm.

Our bonus campaign, Dame-geon Dive, is a great entry point because it’s largely self-contained, there’s just 5 episodes so far, and you can listen to the first 2 for free! If you like weirdos you’re gonna love it. 

#dames and dragons #elias wentel #mickey #seeker #dnd #rankin bass

[thistlebeetle]

New tote bag design! Snag it along with the lovely prints by my talented friend Juniper! All featuring characters from our actual play DnD 5e podcast, Dames and Dragons!

Could it be? New merch on https://damesanddragons.store ??? New prints of the bless-ed and curse-ed variety, and a chance to grab the official Dashing Dawson Tote Bag, or “D-bag”, while supplies last! Art courtesy of our own @ThistleBeetle and @snakestry!

#product design #tote bag #dames and dragons #dungeons and dragons

[thistlebeetle]

I've sent out the quarterly @dragondames mail, so I can show you the Fran sticker I designed! Had a good time with this one, hope folks like it! Available for purchase at https://damesanddragons.store

#dames and dragons #ttrpg #sticker #product design #deer #fran

[thistlebeetle]

Of the Wild Cover Reveal

I am delighted and excited to share the cover for Of the Wild, as beautifully illustrated by Hannah Culbert! I love how this piece turned out and I’m so grateful to Hannah for their hard work and dedication. Please feast your eyes on this GORGEOUS piece, and then visit their portfolio website and their Tumblr @thistlebeetle​

Of the Wild is an upcoming fantasy novel with an asexual + nonbinary lead; a trans love interest; and a big, delightfully-messy family full of goblin kiddos.

Aeris, a shape-shifter of the Wild, steals children from unloving homes and raises them as his own in an enchanted grove deep in the Woods. Under the protective eye of their new guardian, the children absorb the forest’s magic and grow more fey-like than human: some of them sprout mushrooms or flowers while others develop scales or wings.

But the reserve of magic that keeps Aeris and his forest home alive is inexplicably running dry. With his life waning and the dangers of the Wild creeping closer and closer, Aeris will do anything to protect his family, even set his hopes on an unlikely new arrival in the Woods: a human stranger.

Of the Wild’s anticipated publication date is June 2021. I will provide more details the closer we get to having the proofs approved, and the ebook will (as always!) be free for the first three days of its launch.

#book cover #illustration #go check it out!!!

[thistlebeetle]

Hype to show folks this book cover I did for @ajumbleofpages gorgeous novel, Of the Wild, feat. Aeris and his goblin foundlings! If you like fair folk, goblin children and spooky fall vibes you are in for a treat!

Digital and physical copies coming soon!

#book cover #hand typography #of the wild #faerie #goblin #fae

[thistlebeetle]

And here’s the portraits I inked and colored for the Qomrades podcast! Gorgeous pencils by @laskulls! You can follow the podcast on twitter! This was a super fun cast of characters to color, their campaign is set in a magical version of New Orleans, so you got ghosts, vampires, werewolves, fae, the whole nine yards. Check them out!

#qomrades #ttrpg #new orleans #urban shadows #podcast #illustration #freelance