(no subject)

drawing zihark has always been interesting because on one hand he is absolutely a pretty boy bishie, right, lol.

but on the other hand i've always thought he'd have this unsettling... intensity? most of the time you'd assume he's in airhead land when he's intentionally being ~quirky silly~ or not even really see him because he knows how to melt into the background, but he'd look at you and it's simultaneously right through you and too much. i could see some characters being spooked. the scales of judgement are not in your favor, etc, and the times he'd be weirdly confrontational (rare) do not at all line up when you'd expect it too - he'd be placidly smiling when he's truly annoyed, and he'd love to annoy you when he's actually pleased (all the times he teases characters in supports - it can be surprisingly sharp at times).

(imo the best zihark fanfic writers like neotula & queenlua & a few others of you here) understand that implicitly. <3 bless u)

so i've been leaning into that askew-ness, the off-kilter like quality a little more recently in this feh strip. remember this mini essay on sleaze and trying to dial more into it with art? leaning deliberately on a lot of that since this flavor/themes the strip touches on selfshipping cough, but also the coercion factor with gacha summoning contracts is very much all in the territory. this is home, in some ways.

and idk it's fun experimenting how to pull off that intensity stylistically. exaggerating and pulling certian expressions. pushing back against the omnipresent habit of making people "pretty" first and instead bringing the subtext of expression to the forefront.

shit's the crunchy side of drawing i love. :D