"Smaug The Golden"

"Smaug the Golden"

2023

This December marked 10 years since Desolation of Smaug was released; 10 years since the greatest dragon to be ever put to screen first delighted our senses. Whatever may be said about the Hobbit Trilogy, Smaug was and will forever be its crowning achievement.

"Free Palestine"

2023

(Artwork and caption made on the first week of the genocidal aggression on Gaza)

I oppose war and violence on general principle. Yet when the root of that violence lies in oppression, colonialism, and apartheid, then it isn't my place, nor anybody else's, to tell an oppressed people that they should not resist and fight back against their tyrants. 

Every single day my social media feed is filled with stories of Palestinian people being shot by Israeli soldiers; and if not that, then it is a kid being strip-searched, or beaten, or arrested without charge, or an elderly person being shoved to the ground; and if not that, then it is a town, or a market place, or a refugee camp, or a mosque being raided by the Israeli military, and the people inside being harassed and threatened by Israeli settlers. It is infuriating to me to see supposedly liberal/progressive people in the West suddenly care, to see them become outraged at the loss of Israeli civilians, however regrettable and tragic that may be, without having ever said a word about all the systemic, state-sponsored violence against Palestinians that preceded it, and then claim that those that do are being insensitive, or mean, or propagandized. 

I thought we had learned to recognize systems of oppression, no? That to take a neutral stance was to side with the oppressor? I now ask, who is the oppressor here? Who's the powerful country in this circumstance? Who has the nuclear arsenal, the top-grade weapons, control over most of the land and resources, and political and economic backing of the most powerful countries on Earth? I have the answer for you: it is not the Palestinians. 

*be advised: any zionist trolls, colonial apologists, right wing nutters, etc, will get their comments deleted and accounts blocked.

"Hope is Kindled"

2023

'See! The beacons of Gondor are alight, calling for aid. War is kindled. See, there is the fire on Amon Dîn, and flame on Eilenach; and there they go speeding west: Nardol, Erelas, Min-Rimmon, Calenhad, and the Halifirien on the borders of Rohan.'

-"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King", by J.R.R. Tolkien

One of the most gorgeously iconic scenes in Return of the King, and a perfect showcase of the beautiful cinematography and soundtrack in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I like the contrast between this scene and the earlier one at Minas Morgul, where the war beacon from Mordor was a single, great sorcerous beam, discernible from miles around; here, Gondor's beacons are but tiny specs of flame in the mountains, insignificant by comparison, but put together they have the power to change the tides of destiny. 

"Groovin'"

2023

Strangely, cel shading takes a lot more effort and time from me than when I do a more rendered piece. But this came out quite well.

"OC Face Study: Shuzam"

2023

I tried for months to draw this dude's face the way it looks in my head, until finally it came out alright.

"Drip"

2023