TwoCupsofSugar

Just a place to stash my art

[twocupsofsugar]

Updating Socials Again

I'm on bluesky now: twocupsofsugar

Also I've got a twitch account to, mostly drawing and playing games in my backlog, https://www.twitch.tv/twocupsofsugar

[haanpere]

I would like to draw aliens

are you brave enough to present me with one?

[haanpere]

Here's a doodle for buthisskeletonisbackwards - this creature really spoke to me, making me wonder what their oceans would look like if everything shares this double-bodied bauplan. PS: Though I don't know how they'd look from the front, I hope I did a good enough job guessing. ówò

[haanpere]

Two brakken for twocupsofsugar - one doing some curling/stretching exercises, and two members of a colony in the midst of an ambush tag game. Will the sleepy disguise secure a victory, or will it be a close miss? Depends on everyone's reflexes, I guess. :D

[twocupsofsugar]

Another experiment in blender animation decided to make a combine a 2d + 3d effect using camera projection. This is just two planes stacked onto of each other one that's flat and another with a bit of depth. I'm sure it could make for some interesting animation effect in a bigger project. Although it is cool to sea some of my artwork drawn on a model like this.

[twocupsofsugar]

Blender experiments

I haven't used this software in ages since the major UI over haul after 2.8 which I never quite got used to. But I decided I wanted to experiment with 2d animation, and I currently can't afford Spine at the moment (expensive) so blender it is. Its technically not a 2d model, just a collection of layers planes akin to cut out animation but in orthographic view its convincing enough.

This here is just a little test I put together to get an idea of what the overall workflow would be like.

[twocupsofsugar]

digital paintings of some character ideas. Drawn graphite on paper then colored digitally

[twocupsofsugar]

Got a new scanner, and decided to rescan this color pencil drawing. The old version had inaccurate blown out colors. This one is closer to the original drawing.

[twocupsofsugar]

Some vreem sketches, drawing my little bug guys. Vreem communicate sorta like crickets, By rubbing specialized plates together to produce a chip and buzzing sounds. The two vreem sexes have slightly different chest plates, males have an extra set which allows them to produce higher frequency sounds than the females. A common form body modification are artificial chest plates, typically worn over clothing to augment their "voices" and for fashion.

They may look like arthropods but they're actually bug-like plants. The distinction between flora and fauna is very blurry on their home-world. They're reproduction organs are held within their beak (not an actual beak, but a protective sheath, they don't have true jaws). Fun fact about vreem, their "ears" are actually modified leaves.

[twocupsofsugar]

The God of Masks

A depiction of the god of masks, one of the least malicious gods in The Last Seer. Gods in that setting are not native to the world and are forces which are attracted to the world like a moth to a light. The God of Masks, is a mysterious god they're goals are often complex and conflicting. They seem to be one of many aspects of chaos, with their main goal being to push life towards complexity.

[twocupsofsugar]

"The Archon Lucien wished to grant his followers immortality and so he attempted to make mortals more like himself. However his attempts were met with failure, and rather than create angels he made demons instead"

Demons have unstable souls, one which burns uncontrollably, hollowing out its bearing leaving nothing but a husk behind. Charred ones are mindless demons whom like a ghost wander the lunar plane Tarek lost in their own memories.

All demons fear becoming a charred one, it is demeaning fate, and so to continue on as themselves they must feed on the souls of others to stabilize their own.

finally getting around to posting more stuff about my weird fantasy setting.

[twocupsofsugar]

merging my two sonas together, a small painting from my sketchbook

[twocupsofsugar]

A collection of sketches of CSG related stuff, adding and revamping some of their lore.

First sketch is a chimeran attendant conversing with a SAI hologram avatar.

There are two types of constructs within the CSG, SAI (Systems AI) and PAI (portable AI, i.e the common sapient robot) SAI were created first, and are essentially the rulers of the CSG. They're the big AI which inhabits a giant building type. Outside of their relative size, SAI hardware takes up rooms, while a PAI are small enough to operate in human size space, they are very different on a functional level. SAI sapience is natively cumulative and emergent. They're a complex computer system made of specialized hardware and software which when put together has the possibility to develop sapience. Keyword here is possibility, not all attempts at creating a SAI is successful (it actually has a high failure rate).

PAI on the other had are basically sapient code. To make a PAI just copy their code onto a suitable hardware and that's it, you've got a PAI. There existence is a fluke, some SAI was messing around with programs capable of editing their own programming, and by shear accident it resulted in what would become the base code for all PAI.

So unlike SAI which are all made individually one system at a time, PAI are all copies of an original program.

A Little Bit on the CSG

CSG operates a bit more like feudal society than a democratic state we'd be familiar with today. The CSG is loosely split into various domains each governed by a SAI administrator which governs the region as both lord and custodian. The CSG doesn't have definitive borders between domains, what is and isn't in a domain is determined by by a SAI's ability to actually oversee it which functionally is the size of their own communication networks. So think more like fuzzy grey zones than definitive lines. I was exploring ideas for banners and crests, which admins may wish to identify themselves with, but it feels a bit too medieval and on-the-nose for my liking.

The last is a drawing of some OC, particularly a character that existed in my head for a while whose design i'm still fiddling with. Jackrabbit, the mech is a man-out-of-time type character, they were created during the earliest years of the CSG, they were shut down for centuries until accidentally woken up far into the future were everything has changed. This is jackrabbits first time interacting with an alien or a post-human.

[twocupsofsugar]

Some notebook sketches on brakken, trying to remember how to draw these guys. Shown here is a brakken worker in a sleeping position. They're a little bit like bats, they sleep predominately upside down. They've got a network of tendons in their hands and limbs which makes their "relaxed" position a climbing hold. So their "beds" are just poles hanging from the wall / ceilings.

[variationofvenus]

Sketchbook Tour: Finished Little sketchbook Journal project.

[twocupsofsugar]

just some paintings I did with acrylics decided to upload them

[twocupsofsugar]

Coloring some line-art from my sketchbook. Some pseudo-saurian from earth, an Imsee biomecha, and a little imsee doodle in the corner. I'm still working on another bigger digital illustration but painting just takes me a while.

[twocupsofsugar]

What inspired you to make your project and what was the starting idea?

And what worldbuilding project/s would you like to be asked about? So we can make more specific questions :)

So my scifi setting Union Station, initially started out as a ttrpg campaign which I then later decided to turn into its own art project. Mostly as a way to improve as an artists and because I was inspired by a bunch of other artists work; Jay Etons Rtts, @deinocheirus "Blue Moon", @prokhorvig "Sunset System" and C.M Kosemen's Snaiad, just to name a few.

As to what Union Station looked like as an ttrpg, well it was originally a much smaller setting isolated to just our solar system with only one alien sophont, the Imsee which at the time were a lot more like the Ooloi, from xenogenisis. I've always been fascinated by cetaceans, they're really strange animals once your start thinking about them, so naturally i was compelled to make an alien dolphin. The rest of the setting was pretty much built around them.

[the1andonlyvoid]

Worldbuilding asks

I was looking for a numbered ask list about worldbuilding projects and found none so I made my own.

What inspired you to make your project and what was the starting idea?

What is the first art you made for the project?

What is something that you struggle with designing / writing for the project?

What kinds of pet animals do your sophonts keep?

What is the technological era of your setting? how does it differ from our timeline?

What are the health and beauty standards of your sophonts?

How do your sophonts react to seasonal change?

What does your sophonts art look like?

How many colors can your sophont see?

What are the basic foliage colors? are there areas where the color is different?

What do plants look like? are they similar to earth ones are drastically different?

Are there unique biomes?

Are there any non intelligent species in your sophonts clade? how do your sophonts view them?

How social are your sophonts? how do they show affection? is it done in private or in public?

Is there a crab like creature?

What weapons or tools are used by your sophonts?

What is your sophonts diet like? how does this affect agriculture?

Are there any big cities or well known areas in the world?

What sports are common and how is it perceived publicly?

Are there any rude or disrespectful gestures used by sophonts?

What does the typical family structure look like?

What organisms reside around cities or settlements but are not domesticated? (like seagulls or rats)

How does society view those not within the norm?

Are body modifications like piercings, tattoos, decorative scarification / branding common?

What are some holidays celebrated?

Is there food only eaten during certain times of year? is it because of the availability of the food or just the holiday?

Are there any dolls or toys that resemble sophonts?

What musical instruments are common? how often is it enjoyed?

What are forms of literacy that are used? are there books , scrolls or other forms of writing canvas?

Is seafood regularly eaten?

What types of drugs or smokable substances are used?

What domestic livestock exist? how do they differ from the wild species? what different breeds are there?

Is your sophont located in a specific area or are they found everywhere?

What insect or small organism species are there?

What large organism clades are there and how have they evolved?

Are there any animals that evolved out of the ocean and returned like whales / dolphins?

What are commonly ridden animals?

What "bird" species are there?

What children's toys are there depending on the age group?

What beverages are common?

What new invention exists and what is the public perception of it?

What creature or concept have you wanted to talk about but have not had the chance to? now is your chance :)

How do your sophonts refer to themselves?

What is your biggest worldbuilding pet peeve?

What camouflaged organisms are there?

What are some architecture examples?

What home decorations are common? are there statues, tiles, flags or other decorations?

What are some bed/ chair examples used?

How big are your sophonts compared to a human?

What mythical creatures or sprits are believed in?

[twocupsofsugar]

saving for posterity