This plushie is made of minky, custom hand-dyed minky, fabric covered buttons and wiring for the hair flyaway. It sits at about 13 inches from the top of the head to the rump. The flyaway on top of the hair contains wiring and makes it poseable. None of the clothing is removable.
PHEW! This sweetheart took a bit out of me! It feels like I may have overpatterned some parts (made some unnecessary patterning) but honestly I think it was unavoidable. ^^; The base body of this plush, including the wooly ruffles were patterned and are machine sewn into the plush. The only things that weren’t machine sewn onto the base is the front and sides of the hair, horns, and clothing (minus the wrist bands). Usually machine sewing takes me about a day, maybe 3 hours? This fella took closer to 10 hours!
Actually, lets back track a tiny bit and revisit the over patterning bit.
I started patterning and dyeing the minky for Jakkob at the same time. I dyed about 1/3 of a yard of minky, I believe. Looking back, it seemed like much less than that, but my measurements seemed about right. This is when overpatterning happened. I struggled to get the dye to stick, even with color intensifier. It seemed like I could only get this color, or dingy red brown. I settled for this color even though it felt a few shades too light, and that other color came out patchy and was just too dark. I double checked the yardage that I had and realized I had juuuust enough to make Jakkob, and (VERY LUCKILY) dyed another 13x20 cut of minky.
Oooooh boy, my measurements were SEVERLY off at some point, or I missed some pieces because I definitely did not have enough minky dyed. I traced Jakkob’s reddish orange parts 4 different times to get everything to fit! At this point, I realized I messed up bad; I anticipated making Jakkob’s clothing removable to add a cute touch to them (but how is it possible to make a character this cute even cuter!) but scrapped the idea and revisited my pattern to salvage some of the minky.
What isn’t seen is the belly under the vest is white; and the back of the head was remade to save minky. The back of the head ruffles/hair were patterned in a way to have it machine sewn and use only about ½ of the minky what was originally patterned. The front of the hair was also edited to use less minky; not a significant amount like the back, but definitely enough to use on other parts.
In the end, I have absolutely NO left over minky aside from tiny unusable scraps. I truly was lucky. ^^; A HUGE emphasis to dye more minky than what you need because you never know what will happen!
Moving on! Aside from the dyeing mess, everything else went smoothly! I had quite a bit of hand sewing to do, and it took me a while to get it all done!
In the end, I was slightly bummed out that I couldn’t make the clothing removable, but I’m glad that Jakkob came out nicely. ^u ^
He was an absolute joy to work with! <3
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More intimate WIPs can be found on my Ko-fi if you buy me a coffee!.. Actually I’ll take a water. :) https://ko-fi.com/appledew
Jamil Viper sighed irritably as he sat next to his dorm head, who bounced eagerly on the seat next to him while the Pomefiore student readied their camera: they were taking photos of all the housewardens and their lieutenants for a school function.
“I don’t have time for this,” he muttered, with a slightly petulant frown, crossing his arm in a fittingly cross manner.
“Awwww, it’s okay, Jamil!” Kalim chirruped, and patted Viper on the back…only to withdraw his hand as Jamil jerked away with a soft snarl. “Heh…uh…sorry, I forgot…the whole not-friends thing…”
Jamil glared, and then looked down towards Kalim’s lap and scowled
“Why are you taking a picture with that thing?” he sneered. “What are you, five?”
Kalim gasped and hugged the red parrot plushy close to his chest.
“Gilbert is not a thing!” he whined. “No need to be rude!”
Jamil just scoffed and rolled his eyes, looking away again.
Kalim looked at Jamil, then back at Gilbert, then up at the Pomefiore student, who was still trying to make adjustments and check the functions on the camera. A slightly sneaky smile came to Al-Asim’s face, and a twinkle was in his eye.
Jamil jumped as, suddenly, he felt something soft light upon his shoulder. He turned…and gave a deadpan look as he found Kalim had perched “Gilbert” onto his shoulder, and was moving him around as he spoke for him.
“Hey, Jamil!” Kalim squawked, in a high-flying, grinding, decidedly annoying kind of voice. “Ya seriously gotta lighten up! Laugh for once, why don’t ya?!”
“I’ll thank you to leave me alone, ‘Gilbert,’” sneered Jamil, and tried to brush the plushy away, but Kalim kept it in its place.
“Awwww, c’mon, Jamil! You deserve the recognition this photo’s gonna getcha!” the parrot “said,” and then went on: “With all the hard work ya do makin’ this dump run, ya oughta take pride in it! After all, who’s got more know-how, more savvy, more skill than you’ve got? No matter who runs this show, yer the glue that keeps it all together! Ya smooth out all the rough edges, like a piece o’ living sandpaper!”
Jamil turned, about to comment on the voice Kalim chose being like living sandpaper…but was stopped short by what “Gilbert” said next.
“Y’know, Kalim? Even though yer my best friend, I think Jamil’s my favorite person! There’s a lot to admire with him, just like the Wizard o’ the Scalding Sands!”
Kalim laughed, now speaking in his own voice, reacting as if Gilbert had just told a very funny joke.
“Ha Ha Ha! Well, I can’t say I disagree with you, Gilbert! Without Jamil here, Night Raven just wouldn’t be the same.”
Kalim’s smile became a soft sort of smirk as he made Gilbert nod, and looked into Jamil’s face.
Jamil was blushing bright, BRIGHT pink. For a few moments, he just sat there, stunned, unsure of what to say…
…Then the blush disappeared…and a sly, slippery smirk came over his face…as he petted the toy parrot on his shoulder.
“Well, thank you, Gilbert,” he purred, in his smoothest, most silky way. “For what it’s worth, if I ever had anyone I COULD call a best friend, I think it would be you. You can be annoying and crazy, but you know how to make me laugh, and you’re always there to keep me from taking things TOO seriously. I may smooth out the rough edges, but you give me an outlet for the craziness that comes with this part. Night Raven…my life…just wouldn’t feel right without you in it. On a scale of one to ten, you are an eleven.”
Kalim’s eyes were sparkling like a pair of stars.
“Do…do you mean what?” he peeped happily.
Jamil smirked, and looked away, taking Gilbert from Kalim. The young nobleman squeaked and blinked, a little surprised, as Jamil perched the plushy on the opposite shoulder with a triumphant look in his eyes.
“Who said I was talking about you?” he teased with a wink. “I was talking to Gilbert.”
Now it was Kalim’s turn to blush, as the photographer told them to “watch the birdie.”
Neither of them were sure, but they could have sworn the parrot smiled a little wider as the Pomefiore student finally took the picture.
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On April 12th, 2022, Gilbert Gottfried - stand-up comedian and the voice of Iago from Aladdin (among other roles) - sadly passed away. In my headcanon for Twisted Wonderland, I created the idea of Kalim buying a toy parrot and naming it “Gilbert,” sort of as my own little reference to Iago. I decided, as my own little tribute and farewell to Gilbert Gottfried, to make a trade for the artwork above, and compose the little mini-story you’ve just read to go along with it.
The story is inspired by comments Jonathan Freeman (the voice of Jafar) made about working with Gilbert Gottfried as Iago. The art is by the “Shy Art Anon” who has submitted some things here in the past, and also created the image of my OC, James Killian (based on Captain Hook) not so long ago. I’ll be working on their story for this trade after I finish the current round of commissions. I feel like you guys will enjoy it. ;)
Rest in Peace, Gilbert Gottfried. Thank you for all the laughs.
…Also, on a less serious and somber note…is it weird for me to say I like how thick Jamil’s thighs look in this picture?
It is? Okay then, sorry. ‘XD
Need your daily dose of hilarity and fluff with a dash of feels? Check out this lovely piece written by my good pal @twistedtummies2 based on this lovely drawing he received from the “Shy Art Anon.” Enjoy the fun and the feels. :P
Also, if you wanna bid a fond farewell to Gilbert Gottfried? Check this out, you FOOL!!
So, a BIG part of why I’ve been largely absent is just work. I’ve been working seven days a week and have been too exhausted to really do a whole lot. But another part is that I have a whole bunch of major projects in the works at once. One of which being a little test game of HISS.
The plan is to create a single level with basic side scrolling action platformer mechanics since stealth action is such a goddamn nightmare to figure out. One thing I DID realize early on is it would be a lot easier to get things going if I used a character model and imported animations from Mixamo instead of trying to draw everything at once.
So, after getting in touch with a truly amazing 3D artist, that’s what I did. And now that the model is finished, I’d like to show you guys the full process of how it all went down, beginning, middle and end.
As y’all are fully aware, here’s my “muscle villain” for HISS, the bandit leader, Koloss:
Well, once we had enough of a back and forth and I explained what kind of game I wanted to make and the style I was going for, he explained that anime styles weren’t his strong suit. I said that it didn’t necessarily need to be something akin to My Hero One’s Justice 2, as I originally stated. Ultimately, I wanted something with a more ‘animation vibe’ and with really expressive faces. Something a bit cartoony and comic book-y, if you will. And when it came to video games, the visual style that we both agreed best suited that approach was something like Overwatch, or SMITE and Paladins. To me, that was a perfect reference point, and if that was a style that could be replicated, I was all on board with it!
Once all the reference images were provided and a general rundown of the character model and bones was agreed upon, here was what originally came about at the start of the sculpting process:
I was excited because already, I could see that ‘Overwatch’ style in the proportions, the general look of the model, it was a brilliant start. There were just a few notes to make Koloss more accurate to the images. Namely, to lose the frills, the tale, to make his snout much shorter, his belly thicker and pudgier, and to give him a bit more ‘curves’ in the thighs and hips.
So, those notes were taken into consideration, and after they were applied, the clothing was applied as well, and this was what take two looked like:
I was already excited after the first sculpt. But seeing the adjustments made, my excitement levels were through the roof. Everything looked ship shape after a few additional tweaks here and there. And with the model shaping up well, it was time to start mapping out textures:
It was legitimately looking like Koloss was starting to take shape in 3D form. I’d never seen that before; any 2D reference of a character of mine translated to 3D like this. But this gentleman does some truly amazing work, definitely worth every single penny (quite a few, but it’s important to pay artists what they’re worth, and this fella’s work is incredible, to say the least).
And once everything was coming together with no real additional notes beyond a few proportion fixes, it was time to start applying the bump and spec maps, and when I saw these? I was enamored beyond belief because hooooooly crap, this looks absolutely amazing…
And finally, the end result after the fine details were added, and the incredibly detailed rigging was finally complete?
Turning this:
Into this…
Soooo naturally, after such a long process, Koloss definitely earned himself a full on binge to show off the belly bone and the unbuckled belt object for when he REALLY overdoes it. XD
But seriously, words cannot express how blown away I am by the final result. His work is truly incredible, and it’s been such a fun experience seeing it evolve with each update until it perfectly resembled this big, scaly brute.
Now, the hard part is learning Maya to actually work on rendering sprites while I still have this trial, since it’s not nearly as user friendly as Max was in that regard, but I’m very committed to figuring this thing out since, according to everyone I know who uses both, Maya is way better for animation purposes.
“Mmmmm…I don’t need a net to capture you little farmers. No point in trying to hide! You all smell…delicious…heh heh heh…”
A birthday gift from Rchlis over on FA: concept of an SR Beans Camo card for Billy Geant, as part of the Monster team. I guess the big guy is carrying on the Giant Legacy. ;)
I wanted art like this ever since playing Beanfest at last, and Rchlis really, REALLY went all out, trying her best to handle the style, colors, and so forth. Billy looks wonderful…also, totally not imagining him just swallowing the Beans people try to shoot at him. Ahem.
Thank you, my friend, if you’re looking at this! It really means a lot. <3
Get a good look, y’all! My pal @twistedtummies2 recently had a birthday just a few days ago, so if you haven’t already, be sure to wish him a happy b-day!
And also, take a gooooood look at this absolutely amazing art by @horriblehooter that she did of TT2′s lovable TW OC, Billy Geant. As all TW players know, not too long ago, we had the Beans Day event, and while Jack proved to be one helluva final boss for the event, there’s a certain OC giant lad who might do a weeeeee bit better at playing a giant for the occasion. ;)
Jade Eel form multi-vore because I’m starting to get into the series despite not actually being able to play it and Jade needs more love IMO. Maybe don’t make a contract with Azul if you’re not gonna keep to it….
Yyyyyyep. Jade and Floyd are definitely the types to down multiple prey at once for other students reneging on Azul’s contracts. And you ain’t kiddin’, there really ain’t enough love for Jade on the vore market, so it’s great to see him getting some love there from @the-elusive-libbin with this lovely piece. ;)
Did a slight design overhaul for Hakari. First, gave his body more scales so his scales aren’t just on his nose and cheeks like before. But also, given Hakari’s nature, the sleeveless look didn’t work for him anymore. So I gave him sleeves, and a few additional bells and whistles he’ll acquire later in his journey, namely wrist-mounted dart launchers that shoot stun darts from his gauntlets.
Aaaaand threw in a casual wares look for fun, as well as a full nude (sans underwear) to show off the extent of scales running across Hakari’s body, aaaaand to give some fan service because why not. :P
