Vermin-Star

Happy Holidays everyone, hope you've had a nice break so far  

So...Krampus. I just can't get enough of the horny bugger. (Probably fuelled by reading this fantastic book by Brom, which I highly recommend btw).

This Christmas seems to have seen an influx of Krampus hype, which for me was a breath of fresh air. The cheesy fakeness of Christmas that used to irk me has lessened, the much needed dark edges are back and it feels like this time of year is almost as cool as Halloween now (I haven't seen the Krampus horror movie, looks ridiculous, but might give it a watch anyway because... why the heck not?).

Krampusnacht has been and gone, but better late than never: here's this month's features. I hope you've all been good...

#Krampus #christmas #Yule #devil

Hey guys,

I see there have been a lot of changes to DA again. I think many of you also signed up to be #BetaTesters recently, right? What do you think of the new Toolbar/Browsing and Watch system etc?

Anyway, the main thing I wanted to shout about this month is- I took the plunge and set up a Patreon for RetroBlade:


If you are enjoying the comic, (which is available to read for free here) maybe you'll be interested- I'm offering some exclusive rewards, and hoping to add even more stuff soon!
Also the Prologue (plus extras) is now available as a HD Download on Gumroad, so there's that option for instant gratification reading as well

Either way please take a look, share it with any nerdy friends that may also enjoy science fantasy time-travel stories and the like, and if you can, please consider supporting 

---

Sooo, DA is 15 today
I figured I'd jump on this birthday questionaire bandwagon thing. It looks like fun!
_{And also solves the problem of not knowing what to update my journal with next}

How long have you been on DeviantArt?
Since February 2006. 9½ years.

What does your username mean?
It was inspired by this graphic novel:


I'm a bit of a Durham Red fan
I've been meaning to change my username for years, but I have a slight... problem with picking names. 

Describe yourself in three words.
Scullion. Rampalian. Fustilarian.

Are you left or right handed?
Right Handed most the time

What was your first deviation?
This:

Realism and traditional media, ugggh.


What is your favourite type of art to create?
I guess mostly character art.
I like creating art that has a purpose beyond just decoration. Things that can bring an idea or story to life.

If you could instantly master a different art style, what would it be?
Not so sure about styles, but I'd love to be better at technical drawing and vehicles. Sometimes I can do them but it takes me a tremendous amount of energy and time...

What was your first favourite?

Yep...a technical drawing of a vehicle! Damn.
(HOON seems to have disappeared, wish he was still active on DA )

What type of art do you tend to favourite the most?
Erm...*looks through favourites* ah, er...mostly skillfully executed stuff that inspires me, lots of characters, but there's some random eye candy and just funny stuff that might resonate with me in some way at the time.
_{Also, an unusual amount of skinny emo boys with long hair.}

Who is your all-time favourite deviant artist?
Ye gods, there's no straight answer to that.
I can't pick one, but here are a few of the usual suspects:



If you could meet anyone on DeviantArt in person, who would it be?
Hmmz, I've already met a few or already knew them off DA, but it would be cool to meet any that I chat with or am online friends with really. cooley, Oteibilitz, enistoja, 47ness and Nightmare-Bug seem cool

How has a fellow deviant impacted your life?
This sounds hella cheesy, but every encouraging comment I've had here has impacted my life and has helped me to stay motivated. Also, a lot of the amazing art I've seen on the site has inspired me to create and do things I may not otherwise have done.

What are your preferred tools to create art?
Once you go Cintiq, you never go back. It's like getting your first dishwasher.

What is the most inspirational place for you to create art?
I have this idealistic view in my minds eye of painting outside, surrounded by nature, trees, birds, flowers and dappled sunlight shining through the canopy. There's butterflies and those little floaty fluffy seed things like the forest in the start of Legend (the film).
In reality, I'm usually holed up in a dark and dingy (wo)man-cave with computers, wires, nerdy figurines, empty mugs, biscuit crumbs and cat hair everywhere. 


Yep, exactly like this!* (*almost).
I can work anywhere my workstation is really. I kinda have to. But I do find it helps to change things up a bit from time to time.

What is your favourite DeviantArt memory?
  
Actually, no. The best memories are from the goode olde dayes when all my uni friends were active on here, and the site was smaller and closer knit.
Things change...there are good things now too...
but not as good as in my day.  


 Yay for procrastination! #DeviantArtistQuestionnaire

Back from vacations! (or holidays if, like me, you're from a tiny isle known as the UK )
It was...eventful. It was really nice to be back, but so much stuff happened and the people I love all seem so...vulnerable. I know I'm not solely responsible for their wellbeing, but it's hard not to think I could help them better if I was living closer.

I didn't really get much of a break tbh, there was some really terrible stuff that happened, my best friends' dad died very suddenly while I was staying at her house (literally, one moment he was fine, next moment- bam), and all the holiday plans got cancelled as a result. I'm still pretty shocked by it all since I've known the family for many years and their house was like a second home to me growing up, it's really awful but at the same time weird that I was fated to be there when it happened. 
I've spent the past week with the family helping them with arrangements, getting shopping, and trying to offer some moral support during this difficult time.

My own family is...more than a little bit dysfunctional. Some drama kicked off there too while I was visiting, but nothing I wasn't already expecting and I dealt with it like a baws (though I do say so myself). My dad is awesome though. He looked really dapper at his 80th party.
I got home just in time to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary with my fantastic husband...all the drama and stress melted away when I got home and he's so supporting and fantastic, I know I can deal with all the shit life throws at me so long as I have him by my side. <3

Anyway ART! Yeah, I finished illustrating the whole childrens' book! 



I'll be promoting the crap out of it as soon as I get a spare moment. I'm really chuffed with how it came out in print, looks way better than I was expecting, the colours were beautiful. I used Blurb to print the prototype, I can recommend them: www.blurb.com (Im not affiliated honest, was just genuinely impressed by the print quality). 

This is the website for the book: www.jillchild.com 
I'll be updating it with more info veeery soon.

Also, I somehow managed to make enough comic pages to cover my absence, and todays' page: retrobladecomic.com/webcomic/p… but now my buffer is totally depleted so I'll be working hard on building it up again. Damn comic buffers never last.

***EDIT*** check out this sweet review of RetroBlade!! There's a comparison to Dune, and some really interesting scientific speculation and theory: 




That's about it, peace out y'all!