Artemis Blackwing

I enjoy writing, art, and nature is awesome. I love corvids... so like and unlike humans. The ravens that live with me reflect a companionship going back centuries, melding into myths of Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest who believed it was a crow who brought the gift of fire, and Europeans who linked corvids with wisdom and the afterlife. All religions, viewpoints, and learning lead us to a future we are building together.

[artemisblackwing]

Welcome!

Feel free to ask questions, tag, or DM me. Tumblrians are cool. I'm here to have fun.

About me: I have been a self-employed artist, animal trainer, editor, and computer tech, and I randomly have a BS in math that is super helpful background for everything else I do. I have asthma (a condition I would not recommend, 0 out of 10.) I have two African hybrid ravens: Hugin and Munin -- I love all the critters. I'm currently building a cabin -- it's the largest craft project I've ever done. To visit old friends, I travel back and forth between Washington (AKA "The North") and California (AKA "Mordor".)

Currently, I have a fictional novel titled "Raven" that I am publishing on Friday, March 20th, 2026, which is the first day of Spring in 2026. The book is a light fantasy novel with more of a focus on wisdom, reason, and action than magic. The action-packed plot reflects my own love of adventure. It might be called a young adult or new adult book, but will likely be interesting to a wide range of ages. I was in the middle of writing the book when Hugin and Munin came into my life, so they now appear as characters in the book alongside the two human protagonists. I am currently posting about writing at least once a week on Saturday at 6pm.

If you want to repost my art or photos, please credit me. Please do not repost the art I created for my avatar though. I've recently started "signing" my posts with my handle on Tumblr and Instagram, @artemisblackwing. This is to make it easier for people to repost my stuff elsewhere while giving me credit for it. Almost any use of my stuff for non-commercial purposes should be fine. If I have concerns about a particular photo or artwork being reposted elsewhere, I will note that in the post itself. If you want to use my photos or artwork for something weird, you can ask me about it and I will probably say yes.

I support LGBTQ+ people and equality of gender and race. You risk the wrath of the Raven Gods if you repost my artwork or photos to support bigotry of any kind.

Any pronouns for me are fine, but I use "she/her". Munin is a "she" and Hugin is a "he".

I post a little more on Tumblr than elsewhere, but just so you have them, my other social media accounts are:

Bluesky: @artemisblackwing.bsky.social

Instagram and Threads: @artemisblackwing

Mastadon: (I will edit this post with my mastadon later, since I'm changing my handle there.)

My website is www.wildraven.org

[licker-of-guns-offical]

I finished the book The Alex Crow and I just

Does anyone have that post that goes like *Opens book**takes 200 psychic damage*closes book*"Neat!"?

That just about sums up my experience getting through the end of that

[artemisblackwing]

I think you meant to read about Andy the crow. Very understandable mistake.

Here is the link to one of the best Crow books ever:

Andy

Andy Dough is always getting into trouble. Andy is consistently given to gluttony and jealousy, and he's always back-talking Mother Dough an

For future reference:

Fun:

(Wonderful book about an amazing friendship.)

Not Fun:

(Probably deep and meaningful. I would not know, because I haven't read it, but I probably should.)

[ravenswolf]

He should also read Blacky the Crow.

[artemisblackwing]

Blacky the Crow is one of my favorites!!! Here is the dedication from my 1922 edition ❤️

And here's a picture from my favorite part of the book, where Blacky mischievously makes Hooty and his wife angry:

[licker-of-guns-offical]

I finished the book The Alex Crow and I just

Does anyone have that post that goes like *Opens book**takes 200 psychic damage*closes book*"Neat!"?

That just about sums up my experience getting through the end of that

[artemisblackwing]

I think you meant to read about Andy the crow. Very understandable mistake.

Here is the link to one of the best Crow books ever:

Andy

Andy Dough is always getting into trouble. Andy is consistently given to gluttony and jealousy, and he's always back-talking Mother Dough an

For future reference:

Fun:

(Wonderful book about an amazing friendship.)

Not Fun:

(Probably deep and meaningful. I would not know, because I haven't read it, but I probably should.)

[artemisblackwing]

You are getting sleepy...

Sleepier...

And now... SLEEP!

Munin was really cute when she fell asleep in a Starbucks.

Also, look how interesting the coloring on her feathers is... The blackish-yellowish color is where the indoor lights were reflecting off her feathers, and the blackish-blueish color is where the outside sunlight was reflecting off them. Fascinating. I didn't retouch or enhance these photos at all.

[porcelain-face-art]

[artemisblackwing]

There's a CORVID DETECTOR????? ❤️💕

[artemisblackwing]

You are getting sleepy...

Sleepier...

And now... SLEEP!

Munin was really cute when she fell asleep in a Starbucks.

Also, look how interesting the coloring on her feathers is... The blackish-yellowish color is where the indoor lights were reflecting off her feathers, and the blackish-blueish color is where the outside sunlight was reflecting off them. Fascinating. I didn't retouch or enhance these photos at all.

[artemisblackwing]

I've been posting about my writing and writing-related stuff on Saturdays at 6, and a few of my very valued mutuals have been noticing. I'm wondering now... what are people most interested in? I wanted to start posting more complex stuff as well as my usual photos and pictures of Munin, but it doesn't have to be writing-related.

What do you want to see more of? Post ideas:

bird training methods

animal training in general

nature art

my OC's or fantasy art

writing

the creative process

my cats (they mostly sleep)

other ideas: put in comments or tags

Voting ended onMar 16, 2025

[artemisblackwing]

I made a game, and I'm starting to create pieces for it... This dragon piece looks a little iffy, so I'm going to try other designs.

It became obvious to me that the "evil queen" in the book I wrote really needed a hobby. We all need hobbies. So she now she likes playing this particular strategy game I am creating based on the tafl family of games. One of the traditional European tafl games is called Brandubh, meaning "Black Raven." (Very cool name -- who says medieval peasants didn't have pizzazz?) I am working on understanding the rules and strategies of the tafl games myself right now. I have a tentative list of rules for this game, and as I play with them they are evolving.

[artemisblackwing]

You may remember I was invited on my first fishing trip ever -- I took a bunch of videos and pictures, and I have decided to take you, my Tumblr friends, along on this adventure of mine. It was a very full day, so I'm making three videos to cover all the coolness. I did not take Munin (my raven) along... it didn't seem safe with all the talk of freezing water and possible river rapids. Also, she certainly would have been horrified by the oars: she strongly, strongly dislikes it when ape-creatures wave sticks around.

[artemisblackwing]

Hugin and Munin's real-life personalities

and how I am fictionalizing them in my book "Raven".

(Below is a picture of Munin fluffed up and happy on a trip to the park. She was very chatty that day.)

My two ravens both have personalities that are very distinct from one another. Hugin's personality is protective, and generally calm and cautious. Munin's personality is defined by her inquisitive and active nature. Munin is protective of her things, but she is not protective of Hugin. If she is concerned about something, she will often go to Hugin for help, and Hugin will stand between her and the offending person or object croaking menacingly at it, ready to snap at it if it threatens him or Munin. Interestingly, Hugin is not nearly as good a flyer as Munin though, and seems incapable of her complex aerial turns and graceful landings.

When I decided to include Hugin in my book, I took a while to think about how to make the raven in my book true to Hugin's personality. Frankly, real-life Hugin is a bit clumsy, and seems afraid to try tricky flight maneuvers. I hit upon making my fictional male raven albino, to account for the disadvantage in flight (since albino feathers are more brittle, albino ravens often have trouble surviving in the wild due to difficulty flying.)

Note: Hugin and Munin are my two African ravens. I raised Munin from a baby, and got Hugin when he was 4 years old. I gave Munin many experiences with the goal of making her feel confident in new situations. Hugin was raised very differently, and by someone else.

For context, here's a link to my post describing my novel "Raven" which I am publishing in March 2026.

[artemisblackwing]

Napping in the rain: Definitely just a corvid thing!

I love the rain, but I draw the line at napping in it.

(This is Munin, my African Raven.)

[artemisblackwing]

My friend Loki found a home, and I painted his portrait for his new human:

I made a pet portrait for Loki's new human. Loki was a rescue dog I was taking care of, and he recently found himself the perfect home. The human he chose is taking such great care of him, and is giving him all the love he should have gotten from puppy-hood. (Loki was found to be a purebred Belgian Malinois, with all the energy and loyalty that implies.)

[cute-catts]

[rain-droplet]

fuck you

[artemisblackwing]

I always thought seagulls were losers, but I judged too soon. This one has been taking notes from the crows.

[bunnie-tells-stories]

If you’re having writers block…READ!!!! CONSUME MEDIA

I feel like I don’t hear that given enough as advice for writers block..just read? Watch tv? Movies? Find inspiration in media.

Writers block is a lack of inspiration, so go collect more.

[f4t4-m0rg4n4]

This works for art as well!

[artemisblackwing]

Yes. Consuming non-fiction is also helpful. Sometimes it works better for inspiration, especially because you're getting a lot of facts about various time periods mixed in with the very real human stories. Check out this link for example. I thought number 10 and 9 were pretty cool.

10 Historical Real-Life Robin Hoods - Listverse

The star of countless novels and movies---and discussions on his own historical validity---Robin Hood is deeply ingrained in the collective

[artemisblackwing]

I just made an account on bluesky to experiment with. I'm not sure what I'm going to post there yet. Some of you are on bluesky but I'm not sure who. I'm there as:

@artemisblackwing.bsky.social

Anyone wanna be friends?

[xtreme-cringe-warning]

Okay but imagine a fantasy world but instead of humans it's just crows (humans went extinct or maybe left Earth)

The story is set during the crow medieval period and all the "magic" they use is just technology the humans left behind (So basically post apocalyptic fantasy but with crows)

[artemisblackwing]

Yessss...

[artemisblackwing]

I wrote a fantasy book titled "Raven"

I have decided on a release date for it of Friday, March 20th, 2026, which is the first day of Spring in 2026!

Summary:

In the aftermath of a war, the land of Ascalon has been thrown into order rather than chaos. In the grip of a new queen that strangles choice, the lives of the people are forced into the image of a new nation. Villages that resist disappear. A woman comes to the rescue -- who is this person who seems to read souls? Who is this person who can call the ravens? Will she release the kingdom from its tyrannical rule, or choose to rule herself? Will the prince regain his kingdom with her help, or is she a power to be feared? ...Or perhaps both? In a land with a hidden history, heroes sleep until they are needed; may the monarch beware.

Some of my thoughts about this book:

I enjoyed writing my raven Munin into many scenes of this book.

After the election, I felt very concerned about Stuff™ and I started to feel like my book was no longer relevant, but I think I was wrong... At its heart, behind all the action, adventure, and humor, it's about how knowledge and reason should guide us. I tried to write a world that was inclusive, but in a natural way, not a showy way -- gay people are simply accepted in my world as normal, for example. I placed my world in a fantasy setting to accomplish this goal of equality, since history offers few examples of it. I did not include complex magic systems because the point of my book is reason and knowledge, not flashy fun magic.

Now, above all else, facts and reason will bring us through the darkness ahead. That is why I have decided to publish my book as planned a year from now.

[artemisblackwing]

So... about my writing...

I want to start posting more about my writing so I can gain more confidence to really talk to people about it. It would be so helpful if people commented on the posts I make about it, and gave me some advice.

I'm going to post about my writing every Saturday at 6pm so it is easier for my followers to check in, and I will tag the posts with #blackwingwriting

My current works are a fantasy novel featuring ravens, scheduled to be published in April 2025, and a bird training and husbandry book that does not yet have a scheduled release date.

(The above pen drawing is of my raven Munin sitting on a book.)