From a comic strip artist I follow on Tumblr.

I was practicing drawing beetles in different angles and settled on this one. Just practice. I didn't really add texture or detail but this was a test of my smudge technique.

I aim to make my art more and more random. Time from now, imagine this but with much more variety in contour and detail. This was a simple artwork. I like taking animals and adding random features from other animals. Idk what the long parts are supposed to be coming out of the shark. There is a hole and a bunch of 'tendrils' coming out. I wish I added more detail to this but I got to ap point where I felt I added enough.

I like combining random things. This looked cool after I was done.

I posted a comment, complimenting a fellow artist and a commenter turned it into an ordeal. I ended up getting massively downvoted. Why tf do I even need reddit? It's much more friendly on Lemmy.

For context, I thought someones work was professional but they called themselves a beginner. I thought they could sell it. Most of the other commenters thought it was intermediate at best and told me I was stifling the skills of said OP by telling them they are professional. 'Why don't you let them grow their skill?' they proclaimed. SMH. I just wanted to give a compliment. Toxicity. I usually have good compliments for people to build them up.

What were they comparing it to. I still thought it was pretty professional. C'mon. That was ridiculous.

Rant over.

I used the rounded corner method from neurographic art techniques on this beetle. Made in Krita with the SK2 2B pencil brush and the TombOfNull 9RL Stipple brush.

I love making creatures but occasionally I go back to the inspiration itself--animals. Just a sketch. No final product. All is for practice.