cat drawer snail keeper

Art blog for Finchwing (she/her) I draw lotsa cats, birds, and animals bc I just think they're neat. I use Procreate and Clip Studio Paint for illustration, Toon Boom Harmony 17 for animation. You can can also find me in other places via: Links

[finchwingart]

Hi I'm Finch ! I'm an animator/illustrator/rig artist from the UK, who thinks animals and plants are really neat

My art tag

You can find me elsewhere here:

https://finchwing.carrd.co/

[finchwingart]

zoom call

[finchwingart]

Just wanna say I really enjoy your art! Good vibes all around! <33 Also, I know it's been a while, but have you drawn Pantropical recently? I just enjoy creatures very much and he's got such a nice design,,

Thanks so much!! Omg no I haven't, but I still love their design omg ToT I was so inspired when I designed them so I still remember how much fun I was having back when I was drawing them!

[finchwingart]

HIHI what is your latest ref of Finch and your latest ref of Oriole? I kinda want to draw them hehe

aw wah thank you!!

Good question lmao, I'm so sad with modern social media it's pretty hard to find ref sheets x_x here:

I wanna do updated refs for both, they're from 2023 and 2022, but the designs here are still relevant!

[finchwingart]

You are my fav artist ever and the reason I started drawing as a kid

thank you 🥺🥺🥺🥺 It's rough out there for art rn but we keep going, you da best

[finchwingart]

box fox

[finchwingart]

why are u so small

[finchwingart]

The White? Or The Storm? If you're taking requests. (Whistorm req)

I'm taking commissions if you're interested lmao

[finchwingart]

The lost 🥀

[finchwingart]

The fire 🔥

[finchwingart]

Thoughts on cheetah cub mimicry? I’ve loved them ever since I found out they mimic the aggressive African honey badger!

theyre coolest thing ever I'd die for cheetahs

[finchwingart]

The messenger

[finchwingart]

Hi! I was wondering if you had any advice for traditional art? Especially watercolor! And any advice on anatomy would be deeply appreciated too! Thank you so much! I love your art!

I kinda wing in with traditional art sometimes but maybe I can help a lil! I think a lot of the fun with traditional media comes with learning it and what effect it can have, so I'd enjoy just playing around and making a mess at first! Just swatching your colours and materials is a nice low effort way to start, gets you making marks with no pressure and lets you see what you have to work with

With watercolour I started off just kinda pretending I'm using them like markers; I was annoyed that I'd need to buy a whole new marker just for a new colour, so I figured I may as well just colour with watercolours instead bc I can mix any colour I want out of only like 6 paints. So at first I was just laying down flat colours as decoration, without any intention of 'painting'. Then as I got more confident I started exploring the actual painting side of things. With watercolour especially the paper is most important, as that what allows you to layer and for the paints to behave the way in which they're designed. I paint a bunch on lower quality paper too but that's in more of the 'marker' way instead of the traditional watercolour way with lotsa water. Start with simple stuff, fruit is always great, and learn to start with thin/watered down layers and slowly build up.

Watercolour (and gouache) you tend to work with it in different stages of water/paint density: tea, milk, cream, and butter. Always start with your thinnest and lightest layers/colours (tea) and finish with your thickest layers/darkest colours (butter). If you paint a thinner/wetter paint on top of a thicker one, itll lift up the colour and create a weird effect. Sometimes it causes that 'cauliflower' effect

With anatomy it's best to observe and draw from life/photos! Maybe diagrams of muscles and skeletons too if that helps give you an idea of whats going on under the skin. I actually did a course on animal joint anatomy last year, and although I cant make it public yet I'm hoping I can one day. I think I have some bits n bobs here for now if that helps:

tutorial

Posts on finchwingart tagged as tutorial

[finchwingart]

Hi! Sorry if this is a bit of a weird question, but I was wondering if you had any advice for designing an oc/ a sona? I absolutely love your designs!

Thank you!! ;0; I'm actually hoping to open some adopts or design commissions soon

For a sona I just kinda collect all the things I love and try to incorporate them in little ways.

Finch is a colourpoint caracal, a cat colour and animal I love, and I added markings that I find really appealing, like the dark muzzle features on wildcats that make them look really Wild, or dalmatian spots bc I love dalmatians.

With Teal I did this more bc she's newer and made to be more like me; I made her more like a small sandcat which I felt suited me more, and I wanted sandier warmer colours in there. I love birds/dinosaurs so incorporated bits from those in there, like the raptor feet and feather crest. I also love blue and orange together, but like kinda subtle designs with pops of colour, so hid those colours underneath the feathers and in the eyes so that they're accents. She also has stripes on her legs as a call to prehistoric animal colouration, and spots again for dalmatians.

Basically take things u like and smush them together a bunch til you find something that sparks joy

[finchwingart]

I just found you on bsky. I don't have bsky.

thats ok I have tumblr, twitter and Instagram too :) tho I admit I rarely post on here these days (I used to love it, but I got into traditional art and tumblr doesnt like my phone image files), twitter is an ai cesspit so I dont post there much anymore either. Instagram is my main place but its also gross I get it

[finchwingart]

probably a dumb thing to ask now since I'm already in uni for it, butttt With the multiple years of animation under your belt, do you still think animation as a carreer is worth pursuing? How often do you have to job hunt and, now that you have a few projects to back you up, is it easier to get new contracts? Are you able to fully sustain yourself? I think you once mentioned wanting to do a followup to the "1 year in animation", it would be so very informative if you did but I'd love to even just get crumbs of insight. The state of the animation field makes me want to quit, but honestly I don't know if biology would be much better aha. Atp I rather stay on this path but it looks so muddy right now.

I'm so sorry I never really know a good answer to this question 😭 A lot depends on where you live and how good you are, so it goes up and down. I don't think it's a secret right now that the industry is in a huge pit and lots of people are unemployed. I'm optimistic it'll get better, but with everything happening in the world rn I think networks are just finding it too risky to greenlight new projects (n just making legacy sequels and reboots instead)

For a good 5 years I had consistent employment with very few breaks so I think that counts for something! As of now though I've effectively been out of the anim industry since june last year and self employed doing commissions since then. Idk when it'll get better, I'm lucky I can sustain myself doing this atm, but I have to face moving to a lower cost area and finding temporary hospitality work if it gets worse

Animation is gig work, mostly always has been, and with gig work comes risks

[finchwingart]

stone lantern (at NIGHT 🫢)