Jackal - Tumblr Posts
Nikkes at the beach pt 2
Its hard choosing because I pretty much like all Nikkes ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I present yall
Rainbow Six Squish
Enjoy uwu
Old sketchbook pages with misc. designs for egyptian deities, mainly featuring Ammit, “Devourer of the Dead”, a mix between a crocodile, a lion and a hyppopotamus.
I’ve been asked several times what I think about The Lion Guard. I have to admit that I got curious and, despite my old-ass age and despite it being a cartoon airing on Disney Junior, I watched the whole season. My opinions are a bit conflicting, so it’s better if I explain myself in terms of pros and cons.
Pros: first of all, I loved the design. All of it. Characters and sceneries. Ah, the good old 1990s 2D animation! Of course, the quality doesn't reach that of the original movie, but nonetheless the background paintings and character design were great – we know, after all, that when it comes to character design Disney is the best. The voice acting was great, too! Then, what a lovely bunch of bad guys! I liked how Janja wears his spiky mane backwards like a true gangster, I liked how Cheezi bears an amazing resemblance to Ed, I liked the jackal couple, the cunning committee of vultures… And, not surprisingly, the villains songs are the best. And then, Jasiri! I think she’s the best character in the show so far. Her design is beautiful, her tough and mocking attitude balanced by her good heart make her downright adorable, and the message she carries (Sisi Ni Sawa) is one of the most important things to preach to children. Also, I thought that making up the Guard with different animals was not a bad idea in this sense. Another thing I appreciated was the accuracy as far as the animals’ behavior is concerned (the aardwolves being shy and nocturnal termite-eaters, the honey badger being a little pest and his immunity to snake venom, the zebras being the predators’ favorite dish, the cheetah’s strong sense of independence, etc.), and the fairly more significant presence of other species than what was shown in The Lion King movies and in the Timon & Pumbaa TV show: I found all this potentially edifying for kids, and I hope the producers and writers will continue on this line. Last but not least, I loved the usage of that awesome language that is Swahili: maybe the catchphrases were a bit too much repetitive, but surely the choice of names was damn clever.
Cons: “After all, hyenas are scavengers…” Again. We know it’s not always true; actually, accredited research has shown that this behavior is most of the time attributable to lions. Speaking of hyenas and their enduring bad image in the human mind, it’s shocking how this cartoon criminalizes this species. Okay, it’s a cartoon and bad guys are needed and who better than hyenas, jackals, and vultures if the protagonist is a lion? I get that. But the blind, senseless racism against these species, no. That, I don’t like. Despite the sporadic positive messages like Jasiri’s, the selective racism – or classism is predominant and it is also expressed in the settings: the sunny, luxuriant Pridelands versus the barren, dark, creepy Outlands; the beauty and wealth are reserved to ‘good’ animals, while the ‘bad’ ones (the POOR, the STARVING) are exiled in the ghetto without any clear reason. The song from the pilot, “Tonight We Strike!”, is about a fair rebellion of the outcasts against the privileged Pridelanders, yet it is represented as a vicious, despicable act, without specifying the fact that who is excluded from the sharing creates chaos as a natural reaction. In the same way, that ridiculous Kupatana thing was nothing else than a pathetic, fake pietism towards the outcasts. This leads me to the question of the Circle of Life, which is rightly depicted as the natural balance for survival and preservation of life; but the Guard also has a fanatical attitude towards it, as if it were a goddamn Reich! Like, “You, filthy hyena, you’re ugly and evil, no I don’t care that you have to eat and survive as well, you don’t respect the Circle of Life so you’re out!”, and “You, beautiful zebra, you’re every carnivore’s yummiest dream, I can save you from the hyenas and you can live in the Pridelands, and no don’t worry about me getting hungry and chewing up your stripy ass, it’s the Circle of Life!” To quote Fuli, see what I mean? I know, I'm almost 30, I have an education that has given me the skills to read between the lines, and all this may sound like a bunch of philosophical details kids will never catch. Maybe. But some of these ideas should be rethought, because kids do acknowledge the message, at least subconsciously! Never underestimate the kids’ powers of reception, guys. They notice everything. Their little minds are huge containers and their memory is fresh and amazing. We don’t want wrong stuff to get to them, do we?
That would be all. This is not the first time Disney subtly expresses such ideologies, after all. Anyway, as a cartoon freak and artist, I’ll gladly watch the next season. I think I’ll watch cartoons as long as I’m alive.
I had a couple people order this mask in relatively quick succession recently, but I realized I'd forgotten to post the photos I'd gotten of it being worn. This means I should probably go through my files and see what else I forgot to show off. I also cut an extra copy when I was in the laser shop cutting the most recent one, so I have one to play with. Any suggestions for other colors this could be cool in? I do like it in black, but I'm kind of thinking of doing some gold accents on the ears. This mask is up on my Etsy page: https://www.etsy.com/listing/212168040/jackal-mask
Aaaand updated photos of my jackal mask!
I feel silly for forgetting to make people other than my boyfriend wear it for product photos. But that’s fine, he looks good in it.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/212168040/jackal-mask
Only a few more things to post and then I’ll finally be done with the photos from that October photo shoot!
Here’s a comparison series with a couple jackal masks. A while back I was experimenting with an alternate method of doing black leather. On the right you see the normal black dye I use. The left mask, though, I used a chemical process to color. You rust a bunch of steel wool into vinegar (making a solution I believe is called vinegaroon), then when you brush it onto the leather it reacts with the tanins in the leather to produce a black or very dark brown color. It’s apparently the same chemical reaction that was used to make super long-lasting ink Back In The Day. If you really hit the leather hard with it, it does go quite dark black, or if you’re a bit light with the application it stays a dark brown as seen here.
I ended up not continuing to use it much for a couple reasons. It seemed to change the texture/stiffness of the leather a bit, making it less pliable and more dry, so it seems to want to get oiled or waxed more than I normally do. I also had a couple issues when it touched other masks, where some of the chemical leeched out into the neighboring pieces and got a blotch of black on them. So it’d need to be sealed harder all around the piece, where I usually like to leave the back side of the leather un-sealed for moisture/drying reasons. (The vinegar solution tended to soak all the way through the leather, so only coloring the front surface wasn’t exactly tenable.) But honestly, mostly the issue was just that it was yet another process and option to have materials for and to fuss over, when it didn’t seem that it was going to be substantially different from my normal process, at least from the point of view of the customer and finished product.
The vinegar-iron colored jackal sold at Arisia, so it’s no longer sitting around in a box! Hooray, somebody is enjoying it!
Made this jackal mask as a gift, decided to try out some gold leather paint. It's kinda tricky to get a smooth coat on, it tends to show brush strokes. Also tried a new finish I just got, which is more reflective than what I've been using. I think I actually like it.
And here’s this mask being worn!
(And of course here’s the Etsy listing for the regular jackal mask.)
Made this jackal mask as a gift, decided to try out some gold leather paint. It’s kinda tricky to get a smooth coat on, it tends to show brush strokes. Also tried a new finish I just got, which is more reflective than what I’ve been using. I think I actually like it.
New design! I finished this jackal hood just before the new year. I designed it to be angular and geometric, leaning in the direction of an Anubis style. I'll gladly admit to referencing Wild Gas Mask's jackal with the hexagonal snout shape, but I think I went in a decently different direction with it.
This is the first full canine hood that I've made! I'd sorta avoided it for many years. When there's dozens of people making cool versions of a concept, it's hard for me to feel motivated to throw my hat into the same ring. So I'd focused on other species like dragons or sharks. (Terrible business decision, I know, to just not have anything aimed at the pup play market.) But with this idea I finally felt like I had an idea unique and interesting enough to join the fray.
I'll have this one (and hopefully a second one with gold details) at my dealers den table at ANE in a couple weeks, and after that it will be available for continuing sale on my Etsy. I'll save most of the photos until I'm ready to start pumping for sales though.
The jackal stalks the night in silence, always alert and watchful. Is he guarding against danger, or waiting for an opportunity to strike?
After years of thinking I didn't have any good canine hood ideas, I finally remembered that Anubis is a good dog. I wanted to put a lot of character into the mask, so I really leaned into the sleek angular shaping. Especially happy with how the pointy ear cups mirror the corners of the ears.
If you'd like this psychopomp to weigh more than just your heart, you can find him over on my Etsy!
THIS SHIT RIGHT HERE >>>>>>>>>>>>
for some reason this has always been the one thing to turn me on so much and my most favorite moments 🤣 apparently it turned hirano on as well—he thought the idea of alucard using his teeth to cock back casull was the coolest thing to illustrate ever, and i'm so glad he went through with it
Rainbow Six Siege
mute jammer bamboozle