A painting I did quite a while ago (all the way back in 2013) for Breadcrumbs - A Sherlock x Grimm's Fairy Tales collab artbook! You'll get this and other extras if you buy the book right at the beginning. There's also an absolutely stunning animated trailer!
I'm so excited about this book - it's absolutely gorgeous, and it's been amazing to see it grow. I really think you'll love it.
I want to make one thing clear before we start: I do not think of my earlier art as bad. I believe myself to have improved a lot as an artist, but we are not comparing "bad, or pretty ok, or whatever" to "good, or pretty ok, or whatever" - but the differences in how I paint. I hope that in two years I will be able to look back at the art I create now and do the same. Our art will change, and improve, and develop as long as we keep creating. I've learned new techniques, and my hand knows better now how to more truthfully create what's in my mind, but the process is always still a WIP.
Please: DO NOT REPOST THESE PICTURES.
I’d rather they’d just stay here, in this post, ok?
I thought I’d start by showing you the very first drawing I did (for me, and not for school). (And now I feel very protective.)
Belladonna, 2007:
The (short version of the) story:
I started drawing in 2007, with pencils on paper. At that time, I would have been 14, turning 15. I drew with graphite pencils only (although a lot), until I got the chance to try Photoshop in 2009 and, slowly, learned how to work with colours. After that I wasn't as creative at all for a couple of years (although I had my first art exhibition, called “Decomposition Dance” in late 2011), and when I started to draw enthusiastically again it was about two years ago (and the same time I joined tumblr, so from this point on you can find almost everything here on this blog.)
Black and White Portrait (pencil, PS)
Random (pencil, PS)
Colour Portrait (PS)
Pencil Portrait (about the same size)
Bust/Body Colour Portrait (PS)
NSFW (PS)
Looking back, I actually quite love a lot of my old pencil work. Colours, on the other hand, did not come as naturally to me at all.
My hardest challenge was to combine shape with colour. However, I wanted realism, so practise, practise and, you know... yes, practise.
PS paintings from ~2009
... And I'd say I've come quite far with said practise.
With the few exceptions of the work that I’ve sold, given away or that accidentally have been destroyed (I’m not very careful with my drawings), I have tried to save every single piece of art that I have ever made. Some of it is on my computer, and the rest is in folders in my mum’s attic.
It’s nice for me to be able to look back and see an improvement, and I really wish that showing you this will have been helpful and/or interesting to you!
Please do not bash my older (or newer) art, and please do not bash your own! I do not wish to see that. My hope is that at least someone will have seen this and gotten inspired, and that you can notice the good in my old work and the improvement in my new.
Therefore, I am thrilled (and still sort of nervous).
I've realised that I will probably never finish this, so I might as well post it as it is.
Hannibal fan art that I think I tried every single textured brush I have on.
NO.
If you want to see more, you'd do it here, where the artist that spent hours creating this painting decided to give it a home.
I have seen this picture as a reblog with all original sources removed, and I have seen it as reposts. I have seen it with my caption (that ties this painting to my blog) removed, and I have seen it cropped and edited.
Of course I have.
Sadly, that's part of being an artist on tumblr.
Now, @qsecixoma, your ask wasn't open or I most likely would have written this a bit more politely and in private, because I know that you were not the one who removed my caption and consequently this blog as the source. It's pretty much a coincidence that yours were the post that I got upset over this time.
You are however, taking credit for my art by adding your own blog as caption, and I would appreciated if you didn't. If you really must use my art to promote your own blog, at least make sure it's easy for people to find the original post. Please.
Luckily, the click-through link to my DA is still there as a source in this case, but my caption was very simple - It could have been kept.
decompositiondance:
The Woman
So please, please, please don't edit an original post. I don't want to have to add watermarks to paintings like this one. I take pride in my art - they take time and effort. So while I'm always glad that you like what I create... understand that I feel protective. Thank you.
I sadly don't have any new art that I can show you at the moment, but I found a Livestream recording of this old drawing from a year ago, and I decided to speed it up.
During these holidays many people feel stressed, or lonely, or sad.
We sometimes talk about each other as our fandom family, our tumblr family. And as part of that family, I have something to say to you, and I'd like you to remember this.
I want you to know how much you mean to me.
You might feel like you don't know me, because what I've been sharing with you during the last couple of years has been mostly fan art. But my art and fandoms are a big part of me.
And I want to tell you how much you have inspired me.
I have seen your posts and reblogs and I have laughed and cried and nodded in agreement. I have seen the comments you leave on my art (even every now and then when they are written in your tags, because I like to visit your blog when it shows up on my dash) and I want you to know that I'm likely to say "thank you" out loud, when you write something sweet. You are the reason why I want to share my art, and you are often also the reason why I am inspired to create.
I might have read your fics, your metas, and your jokes. I might have seen your art, your videos and your gifs. I might have listened to your podfics and your songs. Maybe I recognize you because you like and reblog my art. In any case, I want to say thank you.
I might just be another person behind a computer, and it is very likely that we are living in two very different parts of the world. But I want you to know that I am proud of you. Life can be extremely tough, and for many people it can be especially so during this holiday season. But you keep breathing, and just knowing that makes me glad. We have gone through a lot together, so trust me when I tell you that being here on tumblr with you has changed my life for the better, in so many ways.
You are passionate about something, and to me, that is incredibly beautiful, and amazing.
So thank you. Thank you for being so very inspiring, lovely and remarkable.
Love
DecompositionDance
You have got to be one of my favorite fan artists of all-time! All your artwork has so much emotion and your smut is so much more than just lustful, they are beautiful, aesthetic works! Please, keep up the good work! I look forward to seeing so much more! <3
You have no idea how happy this made me. I've been staring at this message (smiling) trying to find a suitable answer, but, well... basically, thank you so very much!<3 I am thrilled that you like my art, and moreover that you see beauty in the smut pieces I've made - it is something that I am personally trying to achieve when I paint them, so thank you.
And as for being one of your favourite fan artists?<333
I am sitting here in awe; your artwork is truly enrapturing. I eagerly await more of your work on my dash <3
Thank you so much<3
It’s likely to be mostly pencil drawings in the nearest future since I’ll be visiting people in Scania in a couple of days and be there for at least two weeks (which means no Photoshop). Hopefully you won’t mind watching me rediscover pencils though! Even so I’m finally back on tumblr, creating, and frequently checking my dash again, and I’ve missed it. I’ve missed you guys, you are amazing.
(Ok so I didn’t go to sleep, sue me… also there’s 9.)
... Yet I have to admit a beard can make a huge difference. Hm.
Last WIP, it's 4:22am and I'm going to bed. Night luvs.
(Also, it's great being back on tumblr again)