Art by Harbek

Kristine. 38. Norway. Teacher back at uni, doing a master's degree. Main blog: @theheroheart

[harbek]

I'm not gonna live my life on one side of an ampersand Even if I went with you, I'm not the girl you think I am And I'm not gonna match you, cause I'll lose my voice completely I'm not gonna watch you, cause I'm not the one who's crazy

-

Lots of little work sessions, spread out over 5 months, adding up to a ton of hours spent painting this. Cause Lucy's my darling.

Now available as a print!

[harbek]

bite risk.

(alts + info under cut)

Shoutout to the Billy Hargrove fandom for enabling me to draw him more, simply by being enthusiastic when I do.

Friend asked me why he was muzzled, and I was like... Is it flayed Billy to keep him under control? Is it a kink thing? Is about how he's powerless against his dad? Or a metaphor like a dog he'll bite to keep himself safe because he has no other option? Take your pick!

(Really I just got the image in my brain last night and enjoyed it enough to remember it the next day.)

Drawn in Clip Studio Paint + Photoshop. I was gonna colour this but then I drew the muzzle in red just to make it stand out while drawing, and I liked the way it looked. His expression was honestly the most difficult thing, and I'm still not entirely convinced.

[harbek]

I saw a post about Billy Hargrove's blackened veins resembling cracked porcelain, and my immediate reaction was

kintsugi that young man!

Basically:

WIPs and info under cut:

Clip Studio Paint 4 for most of the painting, Photoshop for colour adjustments and tweaks. Finally got PS back, but I'm still enjoying painting in CSP more, just for the colour blending honestly.

And my trusty Wacom Intuos 4 tablet, which, happy birthday to it, recently turned 16 years old. Amazing value tbh.

Took about 6-7 hours? I've been trying to do slightly rougher work, partly because I don't want to over-render everything, and partly because I have 5 unfinished works from the past few months. The ADHD problem of getting bored once I'm 90% done has really been kicking my ass, so I'm trying to find a way to finish things quicker and be less perfectionist.

Oh yeah and I finally watched Stranger Things! Infuriating show with incomprehensible messaging, but great character concepts and actors, so of course I came out of it with a new blorbo.

[harbek]

Captain Sabertooth

Study of my favourite pirate, portrayed by Kyrre Haugen Sydness.

Another obscure lifelong obsession rears its head once again. Kinda went into a fugue state for the last like 5 hours of this. This is my second painting of him, though this is a different costume variation. (High budget movie, vs the other one which is a stageshow for kids.)

Ironically I was working on a different painting of Sabertooth, and then I went "hang on I need some warmup" (aka using good photo reference) and then the warmup slowly turned into this... So... maybe another one coming soon?

Details:

[harbek]

Organising my old art (2002-2016) and came across this moment in history.

[harbek]

fanwork academia question poll!

Another question related to my masters thesis on fanart! This time I'm asking about community events related to fanworks!

Some notes:

I'm dividing this between writers and artists. If you're both, pick which role you're most connected to or more active as! There's also options for if you're not a creator yourself.

I'm defining "artist" broadly - it does not need to be drawings. It can be crafts, GIFs, video, cosplay...

Likewise "writer" may involve analysis or.. other things??

I'm SUPER interested in detailed feedback!! Pls comment/reblog!

It's hard to exactly define how much involvement you have, so try to think combination of how often AND how big. If you do one huge project, that might count as the same as doing a dozen tiny challenges.

The focus here is really "How big a role does fandom community events have on your general fandom activities/fanworks?"

Do you participate in fandom community events that focus on fanworks? How much/often? (E.g. zines, big bangs, meetups, prompt challenges etc.)

Writer: Frequently or long-term, big part of fandom for me, may also organise

Writer: Sometimes (a few times a year), or when I'm really deep in an interest

Writer: Rarely, minor involvement (1/year or less), only special cases

Writer: Never, or it's been more than 5 years since last time

Artist: Frequently or long-term, big part of fandom for me, may also organise

Artist: Sometimes (a few times a year), or when I'm really deep in an interest

Artist: Rarely (once a year or less), only when something catches my interest

Artist: Never, or it's been more than 5 years since last time

Not a fanworks creator, but I organise or am very involved with events

Not a creator, but I follow/react/share to see what's made

Not a creator, not really aware of these events

See results/vanilla extract??

Voting ended onSep 9, 2025

DISCLAIMER: For anyone who wants to share their thoughts!! If I want to directly quote you, I will notify you, and of course credit you. (default credit is tumblr username, will do name if you ask me).

I may paraphrase responses, esp if many people share similar observations. I will not publish a collection of every response. Everything will be anonymized as much as possible, we have ethical guidelines about this stuff.

ALSO pls feel very free to send me asks (or email) if there's stuff you're not comfortable with sharing publicly!!

pls reblog and comment, fan studies is a fascinating academic field that's still wildly under-researched!!

[harbek]

Working on my masters thesis about fanart, doing some preliminary questions to orient myself and maybe discover some interesting topics/themes etc, and formulate better questions. Please do signal boost!!!

PS: "fan creations" can mean any sort of creation. Art, fic, GIFs, crafts, memes, analysis, video edits etc.

PPS: when it says "recognition from creators" in the poll, I mean creators of the ORIGINAL thing your fan of. Like actors in TV shows.

When making/sharing fan creations, do you prefer bigger or smaller fandoms? Why?

Bigger - easier to get notes/likes when there's more fans

Bigger - I get hyped about the big new thing

Bigger - but I like to find a specific niche

Bigger - I get inspired by other people's fandom work

Bigger - other reason

Smaller - I can contribute without being overshadowed

Smaller - easier to get recognition from creators

Smaller - feels more personal

Smaller - easier to get notes/likes when people are starved for content

Smaller - loyalist to a dead fandom that used to be big!

Smaller - other reason

Nuance/I'm bald/depends what I'm into/not a creator/elaborate in comment or tags

Voting ended onSep 3, 2025

PPPS: if you have THOUGHTS™️, please talk to me!

I'm also super interested in ppl who have tried both? And the drawbacks!! Did you find it discouraging when almost no one cared cause the fandom was too small? Did you create something popular just for notes but it felt soulless? How does your skill level factor in? Does it feel pointless when already so much exists in a big fandom, or so you feel unworthy??

I have so many questions, this is why I'm writing a thesis.............

[harbek]

Working on my masters thesis about fanart, doing some preliminary questions to orient myself and maybe discover some interesting topics/themes etc, and formulate better questions. Please do signal boost!!!

PS: "fan creations" can mean any sort of creation. Art, fic, GIFs, crafts, memes, analysis, video edits etc.

PPS: when it says "recognition from creators" in the poll, I mean creators of the ORIGINAL thing your fan of. Like actors in TV shows.

When making/sharing fan creations, do you prefer bigger or smaller fandoms? Why?

Bigger - easier to get notes/likes when there's more fans

Bigger - I get hyped about the big new thing

Bigger - but I like to find a specific niche

Bigger - I get inspired by other people's fandom work

Bigger - other reason

Smaller - I can contribute without being overshadowed

Smaller - easier to get recognition from creators

Smaller - feels more personal

Smaller - easier to get notes/likes when people are starved for content

Smaller - loyalist to a dead fandom that used to be big!

Smaller - other reason

Nuance/I'm bald/depends what I'm into/not a creator/elaborate in comment or tags

Voting ended onSep 3, 2025

PPPS: if you have THOUGHTS™️, please talk to me!

I'm also super interested in ppl who have tried both? And the drawbacks!! Did you find it discouraging when almost no one cared cause the fandom was too small? Did you create something popular just for notes but it felt soulless? How does your skill level factor in? Does it feel pointless when already so much exists in a big fandom, or so you feel unworthy??

I have so many questions, this is why I'm writing a thesis.............

[mcnultied]

Lieutenant Edward Little, digital oil painting

In honour of 1000 posts on this blog - as well as 500 photos (and 6500 screencaps!) on the Matthew McNulty Gallery website - I wanted to do something!

So to thank the Terror fandom for giving so much content and appreciating our man, here's a portrait of darling Nedward. My art is usually posted on @harbek, so go there for more. I have over 30 drawings of Matthew.

Bonus detail:

[harbek]

Geography of the Hapless Heart

I started this drawing in 2015. Occasionally poked at it every few years, then got bored. It only took 10 years, a different drawing program, and a complete change of palette to actually finish it. Sometimes WIPs do turn into Ws, it just takes a while!

The film it's referenced from was supposed to be released in 2010 but didn't come out till 2015, so I guess it makes sense.

Closeups + earliest WIP from 2015:

[harbek]

Drawing people I saw outside:

This very old man (at least 80s, certainly) waiting in a parking lot for a younger man. Very stereotypical old man clothes, except for a black baseball cap and comically oversized bright yellow novelty sunglasses.

[polarity-disturbed]

Common Anime Trope episodes I Think Should Be Future Doctor Who Episodes

The Beach Episode Put the Doctor in one of those ridiculously charming 1950s-style striped bathing suits. Let them build a sandcastle. Let them be adorable. Do it, cowards.

The Hot Springs Episode Peak awkward character interactions. Steamy fog. Emotional confessions. Aliens in the water. Come on.

The Cultural Festival Episode They visit so many planets—give us an episode where the festival is the main event, not just background flavor. (Yes, I know some people will mention Turn Left or the one with the sun-parasite where the Doctor tells a story, but that’s not what I mean. I want parades! Weird alien food! Strange contests! Local drama! Give it the screentime it deserves.)

The Sickbed Episode One of them is sick or injured and the other has to care for them. Cue emotional vulnerability, soft character moments, and maybe a dramatic fever dream sequence. Please.

The Birthday Episode No one knows how old the Doctor is anyway. Throw them a party. Make it weird. Let the TARDIS decorate.

The Body Swap Episode Yes, I’m aware we had New New York and Cassandra in the Tenth Doctor era. But I want the Doctor and companion to swap bodies and immediately regret everything. Also it's been awhile and I want a little treat.

The Halloween/Cosplay Episode No, not “we go to the past and wear ‘historically accurate’ clothing” (or as close to it as this show likes to try). I mean a full-on costume party. A fan convention. A masquerade ball on a space station. Let them dress up for non time travel reason. Let the Doctor have fun. Let them cosplay themself.

Footnote for the Classic and Extended Media Whovians in the Room: If any of these have been done in Classic Who—I haven’t finished it yet! BUT I’d genuinely love to hear about it. Same goes for Big Finish, the novels, the comics,—if the Doctor’s thrown a beach party or been body-swapped with a companion in some obscure 1996 audio drama, please tell me. I want to know.

Also: fic recommendations also welcome. I know these tropes are catnip for fic writers, BUT I’d still love to see these in the show all the same.

[harbek]

I drew Five and his ducklings in beachwear one time.

[harbek]

I know you know who I am + A vision in blue

- Next To Normal (2025)

Everyone has been drawing this shot of Gabe, so obviously I wanted to join the club. But I was sad Natalie didn't get the same attention, so that needed to be amended. And then her hair probably took more time than the rest of both of them combined. Still a delight!

I've loved this show since I saw it opening night on Broadway in 2009, and I got to see this production live last year. And now the PBS recording of it is my new hyperfixation. Highly recommend it, but be warned: it tackles very heavy mental health topics. Be safe, take care of yourself. ♥

All my love to Jack Wolfe and Eleanor Worthington-Cox for portraying these characters so wonderfully.

Reference shots:

[harbek]

I know you know who I am + A vision in blue

- Next To Normal (2025)

Everyone has been drawing this shot of Gabe, so obviously I wanted to join the club. But I was sad Natalie didn't get the same attention, so that needed to be amended. And then her hair probably took more time than the rest of both of them combined. Still a delight!

I've loved this show since I saw it opening night on Broadway in 2009, and I got to see this production live last year. And now the PBS recording of it is my new hyperfixation. Highly recommend it, but be warned: it tackles very heavy mental health topics. Be safe, take care of yourself. ♥

All my love to Jack Wolfe and Eleanor Worthington-Cox for portraying these characters so wonderfully.

Reference shots:

[harbek]

Teaser for portraits of the Goodman siblings from Next To Normal. Gonna post the full versions later.

[harbek]

I’m so obsessed with your art, it’s GORGEOUS. I‘m so excited I found your blog!!!!!!!!!!! Happy as Hell Rn.

Thank you sweetie! ♥ This made my day.

Any day now I'm gonna post some non-school related art, I promise.

[harbek]

Asemic writing art research

I'm doing an art research project for my master's degree, where I've made a ton of art pieces featuring asemic writing - aka writing with no linguistic meaning. It would help me out a TON if you could take a look at this survey I've made, and rate the images according to certain terms.

You get to look at pictures and click buttons to tell me when you think of them!! Tumblr loves polls!! ♥

Here is the link:

https://form.jotform.com/251253156042346

If you don't have time or energy for going through all that, please share this around! The more responses, the bigger sample size, the better science!!

(Also if you run out of energy, please just scroll to the bottom and hit "submit", rather than abandoning it! It's ok if you have to half-ass it!)

Regardless, I hope you have a wonderful day and you get to make some art too, whatever your medium may be. ♥

Previews of a few of the pieces: