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oh i drew a thumbnail for a video and forgor to show yall
[id: a yellow slugcat is slouched over, hold a spear in one hand and their head in the other as they look to be in pain. the shaded citadel region art as well as well as many lines of As are in the background. end id]
the video
Thank you @skyball2000 for commissioning me ^^
These 2 drawings of Rivulet will be in an upcoming video on https://www.youtube.com/@Skyball !
Edit: Video was posted! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQrCjBf1JVk&ab_channel=Skyball
Make sure to check it out :D
(Read more for my self-indulgent art thoughts)
Designing Rivulet:
Oh dear void Ruffles why must your official art be so inconsistent. They draw your gills different every time, and your anatomy is so much more detailed than how the slugcats in the original game look. I decided to base Riv in this art more off the og slugcats than their downpour art. For their gills, sometimes theyre drawn more feather-like or more gill-like. I went with the more gill-like shape. Rivulet's eyes are also one of my favorite things about their design. Theyre so LARGE and they stand out a lot, especially in the dark structure of the Rot.
Designing The Rot:
I heavily referenced the official game art for the background. I love the aesthetic of The Rot so much, the dark blue tendrils with the moody red lighting, its such fun to try to capture that dying superstructure atmosphere. In my drawing I wanted to convey how navigating the Rot as a player feels. the room is long and dark, and you cant tell how long it is. The only path ahead is surrounded by Rot cysts. One wrong step and its over. And among it all is a small blue overseer in the distance, telling you which direction to go. Then theres Rivulet, a small creature navigating a vast world
Designing Submerged Superstructure:
Again, referenced official art. Except there was also some unused art for Submerged Superstructure, so i added that to my references as well. The colors in it are wonderful, I love how the bright green looks with the dark red, and then Rivulet being blue lets them pop out a lot more. The yellow glow weed also adds a bit of a nice touch. I wanted this drawing to convey the feeling of Rivulet plunging into the depths of a superstructure taken over by water and nature. They swim further down into the green nothingness, with only a few broken buildings left. The bubbles were also added to help communicate that this is an underwater scene.
Additional thoughts:
-man i should draw backgrounds more theyre actually pretty cool once you have a solid idea in mind
-please watcher dlc if you change the slugcat anatomy one more time i will literally drink water
-slugcats are so shaped i dunno how else to say it they are just a blob with limbs and ears and i love them for it
-ruffel cute watr ket ya
i made speary dream too :D (featuring the correct aspect ratio this time)
I tried to keep it as canon compliant as possible, so the dreams mostly focus on the story rather than Spearmaster themself. Though I tried to make the last image give them a bit more character by showing how they miss Suns !
I want to draw Rivulet next, which will probably focus on just them being cute rather than the grander story of their campaign haha (if you have any ideas for things rivulet can dream about let me know i need ideas-)
guys what do you think of my new object oc Iteratory
i honestly feel like it's a shame that Artificer's backstory was told through gameplay cutscenes rather than artwork. i mean the gameplay scenes weren't bad or anything, but the intro cutscene and dream sequences that Survivor/Monk got had such pretty art and were really impactful! so i tried to do it myself :D
(i wish every slugcat got illustrated dreams - imagine if we got to see Hunter and Spearmaster have dreams about NSH and Suns. or if we got to see Rivulet's dreams where they're just swimming or eating bubble fruit XD. and Saint could have lore cool lore stuff! it could really help characterize each scug)