Viny's Newsletter Blog

I've got a brand new Blog, but don't worry (not that you'd actually worry) I'll keep this one as well.

Have you heard of Substack? I haven't until recently. But I'm very excited to use it! It is very much a simplified blog platform that allows you to subscribe using only an email address. You can still use RSS feed like this blog (Check "Subscribe To Viny's Feed" on the left bellow "Blog Archive"). But unlike blogspot, you don't need an account. Also there are options for paid subscriptions in case you want to support yours truly!

There will be free content there, content here, content everywhere!

please take a look!

 vinydewonderful.substack.com

TRPG-ZINE: Hoppings

Click on the cover to go to the store page!

My first self published Zine is on my Itch.io Store {Click Here}!

    So this first project is a Six page fully illustrated Sourcebook about a hare version of halflings. It uses a System Agnostic model which means it will be compatible with whatever system you play. (Click here to see the character sheet model I created).

    If you're not familiar Itch.io is a website where independent publishers post games. usually it is videogames. but some, like me, use the site to post TRPG books and materials. The payment system is done through Stripe so it is safe!

    I also included a PDF version prepped for A5 printing at home. I'll create a video tutorial for that soon! 

Character Sheet Model

 This is a model sheet I created for my own RPG game. I'm working on putting the rules down to paper so I can publish them.

The main importance of my rules system is compatibility with what is out there. So I'm interested in hearing if this template would go well with the RPG system you currently play.

Why I Left Instagram

I started using Instagram to publish my works way back in 2017. Mostly because friends and other artists that I admire had accounts there. I focused quit a bit of my time on that platform, and at some point it was the only place I posted art. Even before I had this Blog.

Despite my best efforts and gimmicks I noticed that my “growth” on Insta was very slow... Seriously! Over time I received far much love from Reddit, Twitter and 4chan. Than that place.

I have never had a single work being commissioned from Instagram!

I just thought that Instagram was a bad platform for getting commissions and proceeded to only use it as a portfolio.

Then, to my surprise, a friend of mine who started using Instagram because of me was getting commissions regularly. When I wasn’t even getting new followers…

No. This is not the art that got removed.
I'm not making the same mistake twice!

Was I jealous? No! I was curious…

But then I remembered the Topless Elf!

This was a watercolour sketch that disappeared from my Instagram. And when I say “disappeared” I really mean it! It wasn’t deleted or removed by Instagram with a warning. It just vanished...

The sketch wasn’t adult or mature in nature. It was an artistic nude. Which was permitted by Instagram terms of service. Nudes of scientific, educational or artistic paintings were allowed...

For a moment I thought I hadn’t posted that, but Instagram had a option to automatically post to Tumblr. And ironically enough there she was: My female presenting nipple in plain sight on Tumblr of all places.

I didn’t pay any mind to it for a while… Until I found out about Shadow Banning.

I can’t explain Shadow Banning in depth, but apparently companies can make you invisible if they don’t like you. That is the short version of it.

Was I Shadow Banned? Who knows!
Should I insist on Instagram? Hell no! It was never good to me and it is owned by Facebook Meta.

And to be honest I was never good or keen on social medias. So my new philosophy is to focus on the things that I love and that I am good at.

That is why I’m nuking some of my social media pages. Twitter 𝕏 might be next.

 I'm sorry but I don't think I can post the art I talked about in this Blog. I just re-read the guidelines and I'm not risking. The piece above is from a request I did last year. I think the male topless is ok!

Le beau est toujours BIZARRE

 

"The beautiful is always bizarre."

- Charles Baudelaire

 

Using the things that were in my table as references, but letting my imagination run wild I created this piece in 2019. The famous quote gains a new meaning in my perspective... Things that most people find strange, I might find beautiful. So the illustration above, somehow, makes me feel more at easy than a grassy meadow...

At the same time it is a good piece to post on the beginnings of this 2023 Spooky Season.

The illustration above was the first one I made in my "Inking Sketchbook" and it measures 10cm x 17,5cm. Of course it was all done with a nib pen and a brush.

Annoucing: Hoppings

So, the project I have been working (on and off again) for a while is: Hoppings!

Hoppings will be a TRPG booklet written and illustrated by me! It uses my Homebrew Agnostic RPG system and I made sure to make it compatible with all the big brand and indie systems. But what is this book about?

Well, as I created designs for my remake of Die Geschichte vom wilden Jäger. I started to think of how a Hare-folk person would function: Their smaller humanoids bodies with big furry feet... Burrow houses with round entrances in the greenish fields... Notably silent and excellent at stealthy missions...
Wait! They're Halflings!?!

So yeah. Basically they became my version of a halfling race. I mean, much gets talked about a Pig version of Orcs... But what about a hare version of Halflings?

Dwarf

A Random Dwarf in the Tavern offers you Wine

Of the fantasy creatures that often are playable the dwarfs are the one that I wouldn't change much. However, I do think that they could be more magical... I think they should know one or two types of magic that are secretive and unknown to other species. That is how I am approaching them in my setting. But other than some metallurgy and magical secrets they are just like the hard hitting dwarfs of Tolkien and Norse lore.

The piece above was created on A5 piece of 1557 Canson paper¹. I mostly used black watercolour and ink. Black gouache for the bottle and as always Mars Black (aka Pbk11 Iron Oxide Black) for leather effect. Oh, and some white gouache on the bracelet metal pieces.

¹I'm not sponsored by Canson, I got a block of 1557 Canson paper for real cheap when a certain store went out of business and I have been testing and enjoying it as of late. I don't recommend since it is only 120g/m². It takes some light watercolor washes but it WARPS like nobody's business! So, for black and white pieces and inking it's fine...