"Memories"

"Memories"

[sources: x / x ]

Fanart for the "Backrooms" series by Kane Pixels on Youtube, focusing on the character of Ivan Beck. Made in GIMP with free stock images from pexels.com.

(I am actually made this today and am posting it way ahead of schedule - I have multiple months of work in my backlog at this point oops. But considering we got a new video I felt its warranted.)

So I not only found - what I consider to be - perfect Ivan stock images, but also an image that reminded me of the Backrooms/Found Footage 3, and so I wanted to make some fanart with both. I initially tried to emulate the style in how Kane Pixels' song covers on YT look, which seemed fitting, but kinda ended up doing my own thing.

I really like the result - of course we do not have a lot of info about the character at this point, but there have been hints that there are themes of memory involved and that Ivan is linked closely to the Backrooms themselves. I like to think this piece managed to capture that.

"Who's Lila? - Tanya Kennedy" aesthetic/moodboard

[sources: x / x / x / x / x ]

Aesthethic/Moodboard made with GIMP using stock images from unsplash for the character "Tanya Kennedy" of the videogame "Who's Lila?" by Garage Heathen. Both the game and this piece of art make use of 'dithering'.

Additional thoughts beneath the cut:

This moodboard was both easy and difficult to make; easy because I managed to choose a set of pictures that immediately seemed to 'fit' for me and that I ended up using. Difficult, because we find out a lot about Tanya's inner life in the story of 'Who's Lila?', and she has connections with so many characters - so narrowing down what to put in this moodboard seemed a bit daunting before I started.

I think in the end, I managed to convey a couple things about her but haven't dipped too much into spoiler territory - I feel the relationship with William is hinted at in the pic with the cigarette (which has her face hidden, which I think also fits well in regards to her character), her phone hints at the connections with various people etc.

Maybe I'll make a part II one day, or a moodboard that focuses more on specific parts of Tanya's story. For now though, I think this turned out quite well.

"Incognito"

[source/stock image used: x ]

Glitch art made in GIMP with a free stock photo from pexels.com.

I discovered some cool effects I could get by combining different layer effects (partly by accident). The result is a bit like halftone, a bit like glitch art, but I achieved this with only a few layers - that's it.

I quite like how these came out, I couldn't really settle on one color scheme and just did a few ones to test out different options and combined them. The resulting piece reminds me a bit of Roy Lichtenstein and a bit of Andy Warhol for some reason.

I think especially the upper two color schemes are something I will go back to in other pieces of art; the upper right corner gives me some 80s/90s vibes that I really like. The upper left one is a color scheme I have used in a few other works that I will hopefully post in the future; I like calling it "Raspberry Lemonade".

"Ladybug" (pixel art)

Made in Aseprite. 2nd ever pixel art project/sprite, made on the first day trying out Aseprite for pixel art.

(A big thank you to pixel artists like @tofupixel, @pixelartjourney and all the others who post tutorials, share their knowledge, and encourage people to try their hand at this artstyle. I wouldn't have even tried this if it weren't for you and people like you!)

(Originally written 08/24/24) HOLY SHIT I AM DOING PIXEL ART LET'S GOO-

Ahem. Sorry for the outburst. But like. At the point I am at rn, first preparing this post, I made this piece literal minutes ago, and it is my *first day* attempting to do pixelart and like...I love this piece. So much. I haven't felt this giddy in a while, which is saying something, considering how happy making art has made me feel those last few weeks.

After I made my first project (a little sprite, which I will also post soon), I wanted to try other stuff in Aseprite, preferably stuff I might be able to make into patterns for example. I thought about veggies and fruits first, then thought of a ladybug. Considering they are meant to bring luck and I love those little critters, it was a perfect choice.

There's still room for improvement, obviously - my first attempts at lighting anything but what I did in this version wasn't...great. But considering I spent about 2-3 hours on this and this was my second ever project/first day of doing this, I'd say this is a huge win.

I might continue to tinker around with this, we'll see. But I am already so happy with this version I wanted to share it.

Also, for anyone reading this (in which case - thank you for letting me ramble lol) - I used references and am not very fluent in Aseprite yet, and still I was able to do this. I do not think it is some kind of inherent 'talent', just determination and willingness to try a hundred different things until one is satisfied with the result. As well as the joy of creating stuff.

If I can do it, you can do it too, is what I am saying. I never would have thought I'd be able to make something like this and yet I did. And I think others can too.

"Wheeliam #2" (Who's Lila)

[sources: x / x Sycamore trees, Arkholme by Ian Taylor]

Digitial collage made in GIMP using its dithering option, with stock images from pexels.com and wikimedia commons (license). Depiction of the character 'Wheeliam' from the videogame 'Who's Lila?' by Garage Heathen.

Further thoughts below the cut:

This, like the first Wheeliam piece I posted, was a result of me getting hit with inspiration big time. For this one, I made the wheel from scratch and then used the perspective tool in GIMP to get the final shape. I also wanted to try and 'hide' the wheel-head behind the coat a bit, as if Wheeliam is looking around the Sycamore forest.

I really like how this came out, especially since multiple parts of this piece were a bit more challenging for me, like the wheel, finding a good background, getting the different parts to work together etc.

(Also, fun fact: The working title for this piece was 'biblically accurate Wheeliam'.)

((Tiny rant: Again, it is super frustrating that when I try to upload dithered pics, tumblr will desaturate them and also crop them (or over-size them) in unexpected ways, meaning I had to go back a dozen times to try and crop/saturate/etc. this piece until it looked good. And yet I still like the original much more. Stuff like this can really dampen the enjoyment of making art imo.))

"Mind Your Head" (Digital Collage)

[add sources! sources: x / x ]

Two variations of a digital collage made in GIMP with stock images from pexels.com.

An original piece, believe it or not. I mostly just wanted to cut out the 'doorframe' and then played around with what I could put into the resulting space. I actually planned to put a person in there, but looked at the picture I ended up using and it just fit so well.

I really like the contrast between the dark blue and the red, though the visibility in the 2nd variation makes the uncanniness of the 'doorway' stand out more in some ways.

While this piece is not consciously inspired by anything, it reminds me of SCP: Overlord, the Backrooms, and House of Leaves.