V. Martin Writes

The professional blog of V. Martin. Expect posts about writing, politics, art, culture, Civil Rights, fantasy, science-fiction, mythology, and the African-American community. Ask box is always open.

[vmartinwrites]

I don’t know why but the new Teen Titans made me think of this gang of idots

[vmartinwrites]

A little picture guide to the races of Elvish Americana. Some of them are yet to appear in canon but I figured eh, why not show them off? (Plus, I needed to practice my shading anyway) More info below the cut

Lord of Hell - Very little is known about them aside of them being the denizens of a hellish realm. Neither angel nor demon, they are paid the tithe…or else.

Angel - Beings of time. Perfect in shape and form but always lack one critical feature that keeps them from true beauty.

Demon - Beings of space. Imperfect in shape and form and always have an additional feature that keeps them from true hideousness.

Seelie - Learn more about here

Courtless - Neither Seelie nor Unseelie, these small populations are made of various type

Unseelie - Learn more about here

Human-descended - The descendants of former humans or humans.

Human - Regular people like you and me.

Former human - Humans who cross over into fae by either eating fae food or other questionable methods

[vmartinwrites]

“Can I truly protect the Earth...?”

Usually its Naru/Molly who is nominated to be Sailor Earth, but I always liked the anime’s idea of villains becoming allies so why not Queen Beryl? Like Mamoru/Darien, she was also born on Earth and reincarnated. I used elements of her human form (sandals, the skirt) and her Queen Beryl form..mostly because giving her black hair just made her look too much like a curly-haired Rei. XD;;

[vmartinwrites]

Art process for my picture of Annie punching undead confederates. :3

[vmartinwrites]

Some characters from the recent installment of Elvish Americana. Lord Torii was a lot of fun to design

[vmartinwrites]

I realized I forgot to post Annie Christmas and all her children. The original folktale says that Annie had 12 children but it never gave details as to their names, ages, or genders. I decided to fill in the gaps.

Each of Annie’s children has their own boat in her fleet and a role within the family’s various businesses.

Read about Annie’s gay pirate misadventures here

[vmartinwrites]

Decided to draw reference file for fae races that make up the ruling nobility.The traits featured here are common only to the nobility and those descended from them. A personal note about Unseelie ruling nobility: they’re hairless and have wrinkly skin (think of a sphinx cat). The less hair, the more noble you are.

More info below the cut

Queen Tephy and King Sheba are the unchallenged rulers of the Unseelie and Seelie Courts. The rivalry between the courts has cooled over the millennia, devolving into a testy relationship mostly chalking up to barely there tolerance and occasional culture shock.

As per tradition, a Queen rules the Unseelie and a King rules a Seelie regardless of gender. Once the ruler dies or retires, the declared heir gets to rule. The heir can literally be anyone as long as the previous ruler chooses. That includes family members, close friends, etc. If there’s no declared heir, the inner court holds an election.

Can Seelie and Unseelie nobles have children with each other? Yes, but there’s little interest in doing so. They come from different cultures, speak different languages, live in different parts of the world, prefer different environments, and fashions. Unless there’s a political problem few have motivation to have interracial marriages. That’s not to say there aren’t star-crossed romances. Its just there’s a LOT of barriers to cross.

Of course there’s a lot more details about court life that’s to come.

[vmartinwrites]

I’m Vic and I’m an African American artist. This is probably the final set of American Folklore related characters for a while now

Foxglove and Wolfsbane are probably the only ones not based on characters but the folklore of plants. Foxglove being known for its strong association with fairies and Wolfsbane for being related to werewolves.

Fiddler’s Green: the paradise for sailors where its always green and there’s always a fiddler playing, so he’s an undead pirate of course

Davey Jones: the hell for sailors ruled by the monstrous Davey Jones, collector of sunken ships and dead souls. Also an undead pirate but from an ancient era

Brer Rabbit: the character of the American South known for trickery and always being a step ahead of her enemies

Tony Beaver: another strong frontiersman on the level with Paul Bunyan, although he lacks an animal companion and isn’t as strong

Polychrome: Not so much American Folklore as American Fairylore with the courtesy of L. Frank Baum. She’s the daughter of the rainbow and a constant figure in the Oz books, although she only appears in the movies once

[vmartinwrites]

At some point, I will stop drawing American folkloric characters, but today is not that day. 

Black Aggie: The infamous red-eyed statue of Maryland. To sit in her lap is to earn her wrath and your destruction. The story of it was so popular (and people kept sitting in her lap) that the original was actually moved to New York.

Bloody Mary: A common interpretation of Bloody Mary is as a terrifying mirror demon, but originally she was just a divination spirit. I decided to bring her back to her ‘roots’ as a more friendly entity with some spooky themes.

Tailypoe: This is actually a campsite story I actually heard and looked into it. The theme is very typical: creature has its precious item (this one being its tail) stolen and hunts down whoever took it. A very “jumpscare” story, if you will. I designed a humanoid form for tailypoe, including the very important ‘tail’ and the common ‘red eyes’ feature mentioned in most versions of the tale.

I guess we could call this the ‘red’ themed bunch of characters.

[vmartinwrites]

Cover title for my short story A Mean City for Losers

[vmartinwrites]

Drew some more ocs for my Elvish Americana series based on american folklore because I felt like it

Aunty Greenleaf: New York witch who loves venison and hexes

Annie Christmas: not one to be trifled with on the river

Nain Rouge: loves fast cars, guns, and heavy metal

Beast Prospect: your friendly local gremlin on the wing

King Sheba: ruler of the Seelie Court and daring you to tell her to cover up

[vmartinwrites]

Loleta and some of her favorite shows. Explanations under the cut.

W.I.T.C.H. Loleta prefers the comic book’s art to the cartoon, but she still likes seeing her favorite characters animated. Irma is her favorite.

Equestria Girls It was a tie between this and Monster High but Loleta likes the My Little Pony franchise a bit more…for now.

The Flintstones A rather old and boring show but she’ll watch it if it’s on and nothing else is.

Beauty and the Beast Her favorite Disney movie not just because the Beast is cool but she really likes Belle’s personality and her dress (in her opinion) is the best princess dress.

Sherlock Hound Loleta liked The Great Mouse Detective and this is even better. Because dogs.

Barbie and the Rockers Loleta really wants to be rockstar and this old, old movie is just perfect for her. She loves watching it every opportunity she gets.

The Modifyers Another short Loleta saw one of her sisters watching on her phone. She stole it later and got to see the entire thing. She wondered why they never made more.

Sailor Moon Loleta’s go-to show for when she needs cheering up. Her favorite is Sailor Venus, probably because she’s cheery and cool. she thinks her Sailor V uniform was a lot better than the standard uniform she got stuck with but oh well.

[vmartinwrites]

Charity is one of Orland’s foster siblings, so I drew her  in the styles of her favorite media. Explanations underneath the cut.

Adventure Time Charity loves Adventure Time and it’s her go to show when she feels bummed out. Princess Bubblegum is her favorite character because although she’s a princess, she’s one of the smartest people in the show.

Coraline Charity read the book but she loves the movie a lot more.

Bob’s Burgers A guilty pleasure show for Charity that doesn’t always have great jokes but when they land, it’s like a bombshell.

Mulan Mulan is definitely Charity’s favorite Disney princess.

Princess Mononoke Charity wasn’t actually supposed to be watching this since it was rated PG13 but she eavesdropped on one of her neighbors to watch it and managed to sneak the rest at the library

The Last Unicorn Charity thinks the music isn’t the best but she likes Molly Grue and the conflict that goes on during it.

Twelve Forever A cute online short Charity really liked looking at.

Digimon Charity’s go-to show. The games aren’t great but she loves the characters, especially Matt.

[winsomewyvern]

A birthday gift to @bad-imagination from @shedancesinthenightsky

~“Thank you for your stories, your dedication and your friendship.”~

[vmartinwrites]

Fanart and birthday gift of Jafaris from What the snake Saw

[vmartinwrites]

A quick pic of Orland and the other foster kids. This is probably the first image I drew of them.

[vmartinwrites]

Orland in a variety of styles based on media he would watch. Explanations under the cut.

Steven Universe Orland is not a huge fan of action cartoons but he does love how close Steven is to the Crystal Gems as a family and how he cares about everyone, no matter how weird they are. His favorite character is Sour Cream (because he’s cool) and Pearl, because she would be the perfect Mom.

The Phantom Tollbooth Orland saw this in the library once he read the book. It’s definitely a weird and dated movie. He especially likes Milo for being so smart and using his intelligence to get out of problems.

Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation This is a guilty pleasure for Orland. It’s a movie made for far younger kids, but he can’t help his crush on Dark Heart’s human form. Just look at him. Being a cute redhead.

Sleeping Beauty Orland saw this on TV and fell in love with the visuals, the songs…just everything! Even the Prince was dynamic in saving the day from the evil witch. Also, Maleficient is cool. Scary, but cool.

My Neighbor Totoro Orland saw this movie at the library when they were having an anime day. It was a fun story and he really likes Satsuki and Mei. he thinks the Totoro are a bit creepy with their teeth though.

The Prince of Egypt Orland saw this at a relative’s house and it was his first introduction to big budget, amazing movies. Not that I’m biased or anything. He really likes Tzipporah, that sassy lady.

Infinity Train Orland found this online while at school during a free period. He really liked the premise of it and the corgi.

Cardcaptor Sakura Another thing Orland saw at the library’s anime club. He really likes the outfits and how nice Sakura is.

[vmartinwrites]

Going to the petting zoo was a mistake....