Cactus Garden

I'm Iben Krutt, and this is my art blog. This is where I post personal work, commissions, fanart, worldbuilding, sketches, and more!

[ikrutt]

New Year's Eve, 2025 Secret santa for @makibirdd

[almostrealzine]

Coming soon: Almost Real: A Speculative Biology ZIne • Vol 6 & Book 1!

The spec bio anthology series is BACK with its sixth volume all about POP CULTURE, and a REMASTERED HARDBACK COLLECTION of Volumes 1–5!

ALMOST REAL: A Speculative Biology Zine returns with the ALL-NEW VOLUME 6 and a remastered collection of VOLUMES 1-5!

Back in the mid 2010s, illustrator and Runaway to the Stars creator Jay Eaton incepted the idea of hosting a speculative biology anthology: a small magazine collecting uniquely-made entries from pool of fellow artists and authors who loved all the possibility and creativity that the world of spec bio had to offer. Together with Hye Mardikian, their idea and collaboration brought forth ALMOST REAL: A SPECULATIVE BIOLOGY ZINE's first volume all the way back in 2017. 

In 2018, we took to the skies with our second volume FLIGHT. Volume 3 took you under the waves with AQUATICS, Volume 4 introduced all sorts of inventions from BIOTECHNOLOGY, and legends came to life in from Volume 5's MYTHOLOGY.

Now, in 2026, we RETURN: featuring our sixth volume with 12 new entries all about POP CULTURE and a remastered omnibus of BOOK 1 that collects all 5 of our previous, some out-of-print issues, and we need YOUR HELP to print these books and pay our artists!

Sign up now to be notified the moment we drop!

[ikrutt]

What's in a Name?, 2026 Illustration for @ashanimus

Moashi and Halvery teaches Flyleap the cub to read. Saxifrage the ferryshaft belong to @bookshelfpassageway and the other cub to @olimnia.

This was the grand prize my book review contest, which is over now, but if you're looking for a summer read, why not try one of @alhilton's novels?

What's that behind the bush??

[ashanimus]

This is so beautiful, everything I dreamed and more. Thank you so much for putting on the contest! Also, to everyone seeing this image for the first time, if you like xenofiction, Abigail Hilton is an author you can't miss. There is nothing out there like her work. If you like animals, if you like speculative biology, genuine epics, lions, thylacines, and sea dragons, you're in for a treat! The audibobooks are also SPECTACULAR.

[bowelfly]

NEW ART TELEPHONE GAME

^header art by @blossompigeon

PART 2: TEAM SORCERY

starter image by @ibenkrutt again, team sorcery: @bowelfly @crtastrophe @gachimushi @chalkrub @biomechanicalmash @iinfinitejester @tetrameryxx @iguanodont @proteesiukkonen @deadlydaemondraws @whip-o-will @leona-florianova @skelleste @mawchops @skelizardarts @palossssssand @barabones @kororobus @maria-ruta

PART 1: TEAM SWORDS

[g3t-jinx3d-archives]

How dare you gaze upon her girlfriend

The millennia and ushas curbs are back!

Nothing bad will ever happen to them..

I also really like the unshaded colors

[ikrutt]

What's in a Name?, 2026 Illustration for @ashanimus

Moashi and Halvery teaches Flyleap the cub to read. Saxifrage the ferryshaft belong to @bookshelfpassageway and the other cub to @olimnia.

This was the grand prize my book review contest, which is over now, but if you're looking for a summer read, why not try one of @alhilton's novels?

What's that behind the bush??

[leona-florianova]

Intelligent talking creatures of Lidian from Hunters Unlucky

[ikrutt]

Painted portrait commission for @bimboozled

[ikrutt]

Riposte, 2026 Book contest prize for @flashbic

[princeriot]

Extremely rough sketch of Tollee from hunters unlucky! Always thought she was described as looking particularly interesting and I decided early on she had large rounded ears in my mind (kind of like an African wild dog. I tried to give her a slim, more sighthound or deer shaped face.

Planning to finish it in oil pastels but I’m lazy so I’m hoping people looking at it will motivate me to work on it lol

[princeriot]

Storm Ela-Ferry…I love drawing little creatures

[maria-ruta]

evil intimidating yuri scene from memory haha

go play Scarlet Hollow, its mad good!

[ikrutt]

Painted portrait commission for @Liz.violetdrakegames

[strwrs]

pls… i beg of you… reblog creations… or else there won’t be any more creations

[strwrs]

it makes me so sad to see so many creators talking in the tags about how they’re not creating as much because less and less people are interacting. this is proof that interaction is vital. this is proof that a lack of interaction leads to discouraged creators and leads to less creations. liking—and only liking—does not encourage creators.

and that’s because (1) the purpose of this website is to share things that bring us joy and (2) likes don’t share things or ensure something is seen by more people, not like they do on other sites. so, when so many people decide to only like a post and not share it (i.e. not reblog it), that tells the creator that those people didn’t think their hard work was worth sharing with others. that’s discouraging. 

and the creator isn’t the only one that gets something out of that. you get something, too. you get the joy of sharing something you like; that’s a meaningful experience for both you and for the creator. and that experience—that interaction—encourages the creator to create more, and so there’s more joy to be had for both you and the creator.

long story short, interaction (i.e., reblogging, which is interaction in its simplest form on this site) brings joy. it’s literally all about the joy, people. the joy in discovering and sharing and appreciating and marveling at creations. so please reblog—for everyone’s sake, including your own. 

[lightasthesun]

REBLOG!! Support content creators!

[g3t-jinx3d-archives]

Posting this finally

Might make another later if a higher quality image (when I scan it in with another piece)

But hunters unlucky art! (Gore warning)

“Escape of a spirit”

This piece features tollee (a character from hunter’s unlucky), and plants from groth, and my take off a ferryshaft skeleton

The skull items was inspired by pig, coyote, and deer skulls. A mostly canine shape, with more swine like teeth, and the back of the skull based on a whitetail.

Other fun notes- despite her fire being covered in blood, there’s almost none on the skeleton itself above the leg, nor on the plants

[ikrutt]

The Mothman & Me, 2026 The beginning of Team Blue's incredible Turbophone pacifist run!

[ikrutt]

Back in the Tall Grass, 2026 Secret Santa piece for @skelebee