April 2024

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zmeess:

digital fanart of Essek Thelyss and Caleb Widogast. Essek is a drow with dark purple skin and short white hair swept to the side; Caleb is a taller light-skinned human with long red hair and a beard. they are standing with their backs to the viewer in front of a large mirror; Caleb is behind Essek, in the middle of helping him do up the hook closure in the back of Essek's white shirt. it is open all the way down to Essek's tailbone, exposing Essek's naked back and a delicate necklace consisting of several interconnected chains with one orange pendant trailing down his spine; the necklace is resting low on his neck so it would be completely hidden by the high collar of his shirt once it is done up. the closure of the shirt is decorated to vaguely resemble a vertebral column; Caleb is holding one part of the open collar with his right hand, while the left is positioned down low, with the index finger slipping underneath one of the panels of the shirt, touching the skin of Essek's back. Essek is looking at himself in the mirror with a slight self-satisfied smile, fixing the cuffs of his shirt; the reflection of Caleb's face is carefully watching Essek in the mirror. the painting utilizes a dark and sultry limited color scheme, and the characters are lit from the side with cool light that turns Essek's white shirt and hair bright chartreuse and his skin a saturated emerald green.ALT

just over a year ago, @saturdaysky commissioned me with an absolutely outstanding shadowgast prompt; namely, ‘Caleb helping Essek put on a fancy outfit’. i’m sure you can imagine how ecstatic i was about it (just look at that line, every single word in it is designed to make me go heart eyes), and i’m finally finished and excited to post this bad boy. i hope you guys enjoy this picture too and my very optimistic wish is that it inspires all sorts of lovely stories in your minds 😏

sky gave me a beautiful prompt and a specific atmosphere/mood to depict, but was very patient and generous about letting me go wild on the actual posing, colors and details, so naturally i did 😂 my idea of using a mirror in the composition was admittedly rather ambitious, and lead me to reading up quite a bit on optics, the physics of reflections and reflections in art specifically (as well as the history of zippers and other closures!), so not only was this commission a delight from the point of view of its topic, but i also learned a fair amount of new stuff while working on it. honestly speaking, i like to think that the bookworm wizards would approve of my little adventure.

thank you for commissioning me! 💜

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digital drawing of Essek and Caleb from Critical Role, done in shades of mint green and dark reddish brown. Essek is a drow with short curly hair and small pointed ears, wearing a cloak with a large fur collar; there is a sluggishly bleeding cut on his forehead. Caleb is a human with longer, wavy hair and a beard, wearing a thick knitted scarf over a winter coat. they're clinging to each other with their eyes closed, Essek hugging Caleb's head to his chest, his right hand in Caleb's hair. Caleb is pressing his lips to the palm of Essek's left hand, his own hand wrapped tightly around the back of Essek's.ALT

shadowgast kiss meme: hand kiss ✨

i know y'all said to make it spicy, but something happened along the way, and i didn’t. hope you will still enjoy some desperate hand kisses!

tip jar!

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zmeess:

digital drawing of Essek and Caleb from Critical Role, done in shades of mint green and dark reddish brown. Essek is a drow with short curly hair and small pointed ears, wearing a cloak with a large fur collar; there is a sluggishly bleeding cut on his forehead. Caleb is a human with longer, wavy hair and a beard, wearing a thick knitted scarf over a winter coat. they're clinging to each other with their eyes closed, Essek hugging Caleb's head to his chest, his right hand in Caleb's hair. Caleb is pressing his lips to the palm of Essek's left hand, his own hand wrapped tightly around the back of Essek's.ALT

shadowgast kiss meme: hand kiss ✨

i know y'all said to make it spicy, but something happened along the way, and i didn’t. hope you will still enjoy some desperate hand kisses!

tip jar!

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zmeess:

digital sketch of Essek and Bren from Critical Role. Essek is a drow with short curly hair, dressed in leggings, a form-fitting shirt with voluminous sleeves and an elaborate armor-like piece that resembles a beetle's carapace resting on his shoulders. Bren is a human with short messy hair and a beard; he is wearing simple pants and a loose shirt with the sleeves rolled up, exposing his forearms and the maze-like tattoos on them. Bren is sitting in a chair, leaning back with his knees spread and his hands resting palms-up on his thighs. he's looking up at Essek with hooded eyes; Essek is standing in front of him with his back to the viewer, with one of his legs bent and the knee propped on the seat between Bren's thighs. his posture is relaxed, one hip cocked and his arms at his sides.ALT

since i got stuck in the scourger!Bren headspace it kinda resulted in me drawing some shadowgast featuring that lad. naturally it turned out somewhat horny. also i know a few of you said SHADOWGAST in response to my Bren sketch, and i’m always happy to be of service

random notes: i don’t particularly picture Essek ever wearing conventional lingerie, but i have in fact thought of what kind of clothes he could wear to add some spice, and you know what? it always ends up being some sort of almost or full neck-to-toe coverage with stupidly tight pants. i’m embracing it. anyway, this silly drawing also features another Essek mantle design i’ve been rolling around in my head (i’m always on my ‘drow are bug elves’ bullshit), wanna use it in a full-render piece soon

tip jar!

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zmeess:

digital fanart of Essek Thelyss and Caleb Widogast from Critical Role. Essek is a drow with light purple skin and short white curly hair, wearing a soft cape wrapped around his shoulders, a dark tunic, a teal shirt with decorative bracers, similarly colored pants and short lace-up boots; Caleb is a light-skinned human with a beard and long red hair brushed back into a ponytail, dressed in a simple white shirt, brown trousers and tall leather boots. they're sitting on a blanket-covered log in front of a campfire that is just out of frame; Caleb is petting a very happy-looking Frumpkin, who has taken the form of a fluffy ginger cat and is sitting on his lap, and Essek is leaning his head on Caleb's shoulder, holding an earthenware mug in his hands. Caleb's mug is on the ground, and behind them, there are trees and a dark blue-purple starry sky.ALT

everyone’s favorite wizards commissioned by @that-wee-munchkin! they requested Caleb and Essek finally getting outside and enjoying some whisky hot chocolate at a campfire 🔥 a cozy early autumn night spent sharing stories and petting Frumpkins 🐱

thank you so much for commissioning me and giving me the sweetest prompt imaginable!

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zmeess:

digital painting of a garden, featuring Essek and Caleb from Critical Role. the camera view is looking down a cobblestone garden path winding slightly to the right. on the sides of the path, there is a series of pairs of old brick columns, which support wooden beams that run above the path and perpendicular to it. on top of the beams, there is a network of dense branches and leaves, with wisteria blooms hanging down from between the beams. Caleb and Essek are standing in the middle of the path, silhouetted against the lighter sun-lit background, looking at each other and holding hands. the picture employs a somewhat rough painterly style and a limited palette of mint green, shades of brown, purple, brick red and a bit of yellow.ALT

a while back i saw a picture @mllekurtz took in the gardens of Villa Taranto and really wanted to do a little study of it. then inserting everyone’s favorite wizards into the potential picture was suggested, so naturally i no longer had any other choice but to go through with it. it truly looked like a dreamy garden somewhere in Exandria and the wizards fit in too well 🤌

tip jar!