grandma, it's me... DOM!

he/him | illustrator | comic artist | [[email protected]]

[dommnics]

🐚 D Y E S E B E L 🐚

I wanted to do at least one new drawing for this year’s MerMay, and this is a character that I’ve been meaning to draw my own spin on for a couple of MerMays now, but have kept missing the chance to, or just haven’t been inspired. This is my take on Dyesebel, a prominent mermaid character in the Philippines. She originally made her debut in comics, created by Mars Ravelo, and has since been translated into various screen adaptations. Her story varies in the adaptations, but pretty consistent elements through them all are that she has at least one human parent, and when she grows up, she falls in love with a human boy named Fredo. She’s usually having to conceal her mermaid identity and runs into trouble when she’s discovered and becomes a circus attraction. It depends on the adaptation whether she gets a happy ending. For my design, I stuck to her red orange tail, which has become the most popular look for her on screen. I lifted the shell and pearl hair decorations from the 2008 telenovela, and the tail design was me having fun trying to make her distinct from previous versions.

Check out more of my work on other platforms or buy prints!

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[thecomicbookaddicts]

Kloud 9: The Star Soldier: Top Shelf’s Star-Crossed YA Sci-Fi Debut http://dlvr.it/TRj5c3

[graphicpolicy]

Top Shelf to Release Kloud 9 —​A Love Story Written in the Stars #comics #graphicnovel

Top Shelf to Release Kloud 9 —​A Love Story Written in the Stars

[dommnics]

Hi Dom: I'm new here on Tumblr (and on several social media platforms). But I love your work. I started following you because of your fairy tale character designs. Do you have any stories you'd like to recommend for your character designs works? I'd like to suggest some stories. I also wanted to tell you that your character design work motivated me to pick up my own projects again, which I had abandoned a while ago. Greetings, and know that you have a follower from Chile.

PS: Sorry if I'm bothering you or if you don't like being told how to do your art. Also, sorry for my English, as it's not my native language.

Hi there!

First, not a bother at all! This was such a lovely message to read through, and honestly made me very happy, so thank you so much for reaching out!!

Yes, I'd love to hear some recommendations - I'm always open!

And I'm so glad to hear you've been enjoying the fairy tale character designs, but even more happy that it ended up helping in giving some motivation to pick up those abandoned projects again - that's really rewarding to hear honestly, and I'm just so appreciative.

[dommnics]

“I am Illyana Rasputin… humanity’s savior… or the means of its eternal damnation.”

Magik is one of my favourite Marvel characters, but initially more in the sense of adoration of her design and barebones knowledge of her character. I’ve put off reading her comics because in the past, I’ve been very “I’ll read this when I’m in the perfect mood, and when I’m all caught up on all the issues I need to be caught up on” which is my general approach to a lot of comics, and it’s just never going to be the perfect day to read them and I will never have the luxury of abundance of time to actually catch up on everything, so I’ve just been ripping off the bandaid on reading things I’ve been holding off on reading. I finally read through her first spinoff Magik (1983) and was even more fascinated with her character, and totally taken aback by how dark her time in Limbo and relations with characters there actually was. I definitely plan to continue reading more of her and I wanna see what kind of journey her character takes on. Now she’s DEFINITELY a top Marvel character for me!

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My Instagram -- My Bluesky -- My Twitter -- Buy Prints

[dommnics]

Have you ever considered designing a male version of the mermaid from H.C. Andersen’s Little Mermaid, since it Andersen himself was in love with a close friend of his, and the story itself was basically a gay allegory and a love letter to his friend if I’m correct. I have seen two artists designing their own version of the mermaid/merman so I’m interested if you ever considered that when doing your own design of TLM?

Hi there!

I definitely considered having the mermaid be a male character when I was initially drawing the designs!

Ultimately, I went the route of having mine be a sapphic twist on the story instead because I’d seen a few versions out there on the web where artists did put that spin on it, of having their interpretation be a merman falling in love with a human prince.

I didn’t see too many, or enough, of this fairy tale with a princess instead of a prince, so that seemed more compelling to me to make my version stand apart a little more!

[dommnics]

Red on my mind lately, apparently. 🕷️🔱

[dommnics]

Hi, I'm sorry for asking all the time :) but would you like to make a fanart with some historical figures like Ecatherine the Great and Joan of Arc?

No need to be sorry - I appreciate the questions!!

Never say never! I had a fascination with Joan of Arc when I was younger. I've actually previously drawn something based on her back in 2013 from my DeviantART days hahaha

[dommnics]

⭐️ COVER REVEAL ⭐️

“In this YA sci-fi original graphic novel, teenager Kal is an Earthling without much purpose in life. Cosmoturr Col Al’neyr, or Cosmo for short, is an alien struggling to find his place in the galaxy. Sparks fly when the two meet—but when Cosmo’s past catches up with him, Kal is forced to make a choice: remain on Earth, or follow his crush into the great unknown. Easy choice, right? Now they just have to navigate the dangers of outer space, a megalomaniac pseudo-parent, and their growing feelings for each other. Yeah. It’s complicated. Kloud 9 begins as a slice-of-life love story with fish-out-of-water humor before expanding into full-on space opera, packing every page with thrilling action and charming romance.”

AJ O. Mason and I pitched this book way back in 2020 and it has been such a journey to get to this point, years later. We are so delighted that we can now start talking about it! KLOUD 9 is our queer space opera TRILOGY series, with BOOK ONE: The Star Soldier introducing readers to our fantastical outer space story.

KLOUD 9 BOOK ONE: The Star Soldier hits stores on JULY 7th, 2026 but you can PRE-ORDER it now.

ART by me WRITING by AJ O. Mason and me COLORING by Leonardo Ito FLATTING by Alice Ito LETTERING by Lucas Gattoni

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Check out more of my work on other platforms or buy prints!

My Instagram -- My Bluesky -- My Twitter -- Buy Prints

[dommnics]

Hi, you have a lot of cool Disney fanarts, but what about other studios like Soyuzmultfilm and Ghibli?

I'd definitely like to do some fanart for Ghibli eventually! I love Ghibli!

And I've had it in my mind for a while to do fanart for the 1968 Little Mermaid film at some point haha

[dommnics]

Here's a small tribute to Jennifer Hale's artistry. These are just a handful of characters with her voice that I grew up with! A lot of them I haven't drawn before, so that was really exciting. Can you identify all of them?😉

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Check out more of my work on other platforms or buy prints!

My Instagram -- My Bluesky -- My Twitter -- Buy Prints

[dommnics]

"only true love can break the spell."

I'm so in love with Tessa Sheehan's new SWAN LAKE picture book and I had to do some fanart of her designs for the characters. I bought my own copy, which she kindly sent over, and being such a big fan of her work, I'm so delighted to finally have something of hers in my book collection. Please check out her art and give her some love - you can find her work on @acuriosquirrel via Instagram and Twitter.

above: illustrations by Tessa Sheehan (@acuriousquirrel) for her SWAN LAKE picture book!

Check out more of my work on other platforms or buy prints!

My Instagram -- My Bluesky -- My Twitter -- Buy Prints

[a-curious-squirrel]

Resharing because I just found out today you shared it here too! Love you and your art and u get the joy to look at this piece ever day at my desk 🩷 @dommnics

[dommnics]

Aaaa I didn’t know you were on here too @a-curious-squirrel!! I cryyy - that literally makes me overjoyed to hear 😭😭❤️❤️❤️❤️

[dommnics]

FAIRY TALE ART SERIES | L. Frank Baum's 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' | PART 7 "You people with hearts," he said, "have something to huide you, and need never do wrong; but I have no heart, and so I must be very careful. When Oz gives me a heart of course I needn't mind so much."

Here is my interpretation of the Tin Man character! I had a lot of fun designing him.

These are some additional insights into his looks:

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Check out more of my work on other platforms!

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[dommnics]

Are you gonna draw Odette (from the animated Swan Princess from the 90s) meeting your version of the Swan Lake?

Ooooh that's lovely!

I never considered them meeting, but I grew up on The Swan Princess films (pre-3D lol) and I loved Odette from that version, so I'd definitely like to draw her at some point.

(Also, I kind of feel like I love her more in Odile/black swan mode)

[dommnics]

Hi again! I’m here to ask smth related to art ofc. As someone who loves to draw, lately I’ve been struggling to find the right art style for me, something that isn’t super hard to draw every time but also looks good if that’s makes sense, and I’ve always thought this one art style that I like and choose is for me but then I realize what if this isn’t the right art style for me? What if it’s another one that I didn’t consider but is the right one for me? This is also to the other artists who are struggling with the same thing as well 😭🫶💕💕💕

Hi!

My instinct is to say try not to worry about the specifics so much at this stage, which I know is easier said than done. I think a lot of artists end up having this panic of “the right art style” (myself included in my younger years!) and the truth is that your style will always just continue to change, shift, and evolve. And you can also have a whole range - multiple art styles and that’s totally okay too.

Right now, I would encourage just focusing and reframing your headspace into what art style makes you feel good when you’re drawing. Focus on what comes naturally to you in the way that you draw things, and how you instinctually draw certain shapes or the way that you put detail on a character’s face. I would think that it should feel good while working, and it should feel good when you look at the result. And if it doesn’t feel good at all right now, try to pinpoint what isn’t working for you and explore.

Be open to other artists and styles… be inspired!

I think by shifting the focus to making sure the experience of your creation is self joy, then the rest comes later. And naturally too. You don’t want to force it, but you do want to encourage it and let it come to you.

I don’t know how helpful that is, or if that’s too vague haha. If anyone wants to jump in and offer suggestions too, please feel free 😅

[dommnics]

Thank you for you art of Black people!

(Sorry if this is too personal, feel free to ignore it if it is!)

For a long while, I've been extremely insecure about being visibly Black in a majorly white area with no connection to the Black side of my family and zero black friends.

On some especially bad days, I find myself feeling bitter and furious due to how hurt I am by my experiences and isolation, my sadness turning to hatefulness that is exhausting and upsetting to feel.

Today was one of those days.

Then I found your Dorothy art and all the restless grieving frustration faded.

Oh wow, it was just such a relief and a blessing and truly made me smile.

I'm not sure where Black Dorothy has come from, maybe it's just an artistic indulgence, but I am so grateful for her.

Seeing a black girl presented as cute, girly, innocent and sweet in artwork then reading all the genuine love for her in the comments made me bawl.

Soon after, I saw your Brandy's Cinderella and I was an absolute gonner.

Like I said, I'm so sorry if this is all too much and I won't be offended by no response but I just wanted to let you know what a genuinely brilliant artist you are and how happy you've made someone who could really do with happiness.

Take care of yourself and nurture your creativity.

Thank you so much for your hard work and beautiful art!

Hi there!

First off, I just wanna say I'm sorry to reply to this so late. This was a really beautiful ask and I was truly touched reading through it. It's definitely not "too much" and I really appreciate you reaching out and sharing this.

I really feel for the headspace and situation you've found yourself in. Even though I can't relate to the specific details of your experience, I can absolutely sympathize with the aspect of loneliness, as I was a super lonely person for a lot of my youth. So a lot of that time was majorly yearning for feeling proper connection and community.

I really hope that you're able to find more of a black community around you somehow, even if it's finding connections online potentially. I also hope that it has felt lighter and better for you since the holidays (I think I might have gotten this ask a little before that) and that you're doing alright over there this month. I sincerely hope January's been lovely to you!

It seriously warms my heart to hear that anything I've drawn has created any sort of positive experience for someone else. I don't see that part being on this side of the screen, so when I do get to hear that kind of stuff, it really does stick with me and I do carry that very fondly.

So I'm very happy to hear that my take on Dorothy (and of course, not specific to me at all - I can definitely point to The Wiz and I've mentioned it on here previously, The Muppets Wizard of Oz as being part of her design DNA) and Brandy Cinderella fanart played a part, in whatever increment, in providing levity for you. That makes me feel incredibly soft, and I just want to give a really big hug to you across the virtual / digital realm here haha.

Thank you so much again - this was trulky so lovely and beautiful to read through, and I was just very appreciative of this. Thank you <33

[dommnics]

Recently cooked up designs for Dorothy and Wizard of Oz/Oscar Diggs! They’re such cuties I wuv them

Oh and have a surprise drawing of my sona

All so very cute!! <33

and the sona too - love the little stars <3