Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I try to have two WIPs going on at any given time, but my iPad fucked up an update and it's likely all my Procreate art is gone forever. Here's the two pieces that were in progress and have had many hours of refinement since then. Unlikely I'll go back to these now. 153
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 21/08/2026Human artists! Use one piece only to convince people to follow you! 🩸 0103
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Anyway, go check out The Wandering Inn! And feel free to ask me stuff! I've left out a lot because, well, 1. character limits, and 2. I didn't want some dingus to come in thinking they're funny by saying "even bsky posts about it are too long" 1114
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026And really, more than anything else, what appeals to me about this is how committed the story is to what I would call its central theme (see linked essay below for more): that treating everyone with dignity and compassion is far more powerful than any ancient eldritch being. 1103
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026I know how easy it is to dunk on its length, but even years into TWI, the author has still been able to knock it out of the park with emotional scenes, somehow covering new ground. This scene was particularly evocative, and more importantly, felt earned over years of character growth. 1104
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026I've always been surprised by just how much the author is willing to experiment! Their attempts at playing with genre don't always land, but are usually interesting. And keeping up with the varying tones is one reason I've always played with styles. Comedy! Horror! Drama! They've tried it all! 192
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Over the years, I've drawn so much fanart of Erin herself, because I've always loved how her character grew. She gets a bad rap for being an airhead, and yeah, that's core to her, but she's so much more than that! And I've loved painting every milestone she's had as she learned more about herself. 182
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026And conversely, it's quiet moments like these that serve to heighten the loud moments that come soon after. I'll concede that the pacing isn't for everyone--but for most of us readers, the so-called fluff is central to it! The burger selling, the stage plays, and yes, even the baseball games! 193
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026"Slice of life" is often conflated with "cozy", but it turns out it's far from cozy! And that's because it contains slices of lives of people around the world--and many of these lives are ones that see death and mayhem on a regular basis, which makes the actual cozy moments all the more meaningful. 1103
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026to fishers, to kings. People, living their own lives, separately from the main character, but with resonating thematically... and eventually, weaving in and out of the inn's story. TWI didn't invent worldbuilding, but it leveraged the web serial format to do it in a way unlike any other. 182
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026And yeah yeah, I know--"oh no, it's an isekai? and a LitRPG? I hate it already!" I won't deny that it does carry some tropes associated with those, but it goes way beyond that! Before I knew it, the story grew to encompass so much more--glimpses of lives of people from all over, from couriers... 192
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026It proved shockingly unpredictable, and while the inn remained core, it surprised me just how much variety there was to it. While this looks like something straight out of an anime OP, it is in fact very literal, and I painted this absurd scene to highlight the crazy directions the story goes. 192
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Initially, I thought that this was as far as it was going to go... but it wasn't, as I expected, just an inn where random people come in to tell stories! Far from it! I painted this to illustrate that the inn isn't merely a hub for disconnected vignettes, but a central player in the world's events. 1101
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Don't think of my art as spoilers... think of it as teasers. I started reading TWI in 2016, and it's been crazy watching it grow as my own art grew. Don't stop me even if you've heard this before--it's about a young girl who gets transported into a fantasy world. Things were so simple back then! 182
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Hey all! Today, The Wandering Inn (@thewanderinginn.bsky.social) celebrates its physical release, and I'm making a thread of the fanart I've done over the years, to gush about why I made these pieces, and hopefully, along the way, convince you to read it. Yes, YOU. 13119
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 30/07/2026Ooh... my art was not so good back in that era... lemme see if I can curate some that won't spoil much. There's some spoilers in here but they have no context, and some you won't even realize are spoilers until you get to that part 110
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 10/07/2026wait til you see what i imagine every time foliana shows up 110
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 16/06/2026Half of it is posts just like the ones in that vid; if you replace the references, every single line he reads out is something I hear someone say about twi every week. The other half is posts like this: 000
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 21/05/2026After a long painting break for learning purposes, here is another Wandering Inn painting to break my inactivity. because it's cooler to like things than hate on them and boy oh boy for some reason people who hate TWI really don't want to let you forget it 0157
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 23/02/2026Been a while but I've not been idle! Still working on pumping those Blender muscles, this time in the class of Azusa Tojo 031
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 04/12/2025I've emerged from my Blender hole with my first try at 3d models+paintovers. I've actually been using Blender for a while now for lighting ref, but with premade assets--and I wouldn't paint over other people's models. But everything here is sculpted by myself, so now I'm allowed! 031
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 26/09/2025Every time someone says she has no character development, or just dismisses the story entirely, I make a painting like this out of spite. "That'll show you!" I say to myself, not understanding entirely how I'm teaching anyone a lesson by making this. Also: sympathy for goblins is NOT her big flaw 1176
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 08/09/2025100 endings I've been going down a 3d rabbit hole the last month or two, so I haven't done a lot of 2d paintings. I promise I have at least one more coming that's already mid-progress! #HundredLine #LastDefenseAcademy 0192
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 12/07/2025It pains me whenever a well-known reviewer gives up after a few chapters and then makes a video to laugh about how bad it is. I have much longer thoughts, but all I can say in 300 chars is that I hope, in some small way, my art somehow can help prove it's actually very good. (how? dunno. but it is!) 0104
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 20/06/2025Happy #gwenpool and #ItsJeff day! (confession: I added Jeff at the last minute; I didn't even know Jeff was getting his own comic until the last minute when I was wondering what I should put in the lower left) 1409
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 29/05/2025O brave new world! First project for my SmArt School class with Cynthia Sheppard. Any idea what's happening here? Maybe the quote already gave it away. 2227
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 16/05/2025every time someone stops reading it early i pour one out for erin 183
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 25/04/2025"Who said anything about being done?" #gwenpool #marvel 27923
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 02/03/2025Trying to maintain a quota of one bigger piece a month, crossing fingers. This one's for Feb. Kinda crammed it in the last few days though (all for the quota). 0123
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 05/02/2025quick tubipaint (that's when i paint random stuff while tubi plays in the bg, sometimes it's a tubi screenshot, like now) 071
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 09/01/2025Slacked a lot last year and made only like... 3 or 4 finished paintings? I'm gonna try to do better this year 1215
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 31/12/2024and that brings this year's painting output to a meager... 3 or 4 paintings? Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from Doreen Green aka Squirrel Girl 072
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 17/10/2024Thanks for the thread! Always love it when an alternative to the other site enjoys an injection of new blood! I'm Miguel; I don't do art for a living but I greatly enjoy illustrating fantasy scenes! 0106
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 07/09/2024She has faults, but I had to make this after seeing one too many people say she's "endlessly whiny and emotional" and never grows out of her flaws. Not wanting to kill goblins on sight is not a flaw, and treating sapient species like people and showing empathy is not "forcing her culture on others"! 11810
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 27/08/2024I don't normally spell things out so explicitly but I did it here because even big Marvel fans would be hard-pressed to identify someone from one of those universes Marvel doesn't want us to know about--a universe where Spider-man is allowed to be happy. 010
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 15/07/2024Been forgetting to share my class pieces, this is an illustration of life in the Necrocracy of Khelt, as seen in that one book I keep telling you all to read. This is a very long vertical piece so you may have to click it to see the whole thing, depending on how bsky crops the preview 011
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 28/06/2024Arriving at Tural International Airport later today ETA 1600 Atomos Standard Time 030
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 21/06/2024happy birthday erin solstice, sorry this is all i have time to make at the moment 052
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 29/05/2024Proof of concept for a few new brushes I made... I wonder how much I'll be able to abuse these before people start thinking of me as "that guy who keeps using that specific gimmick brush" 030
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 03/05/2024oops i was supposed to be doing homework but i made another one instead 063
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 03/05/2024Read The Wandering Inn (note: image is not actually representative of the story) 174
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 15/04/2024A rare physical painting from me. Have not touched actual paint in literally years, but I impulse bought a pad of Dura-lar after a bunch of people talked it up. Fun surface! Anyway, bring back the best MCU show, #AgentsOfSHIELD and yes it's canon to the MCU I don't care what you say. 0105
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 25/03/2024Marcille would probably be terribly grossed out by Ceria, but they'd be united in disliking Falene. Chilchuck would get along with the Halfseekers, and Marcille would get along with the Silver Swords but they would be a very boring team. Laios and Senshi will try to eat crelers. 061
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 24/03/2024This is a visual metaphor, not an actual spoiler. Az'Kerash, the Necromancer of Terandria, has the ability of [Parallel Thoughts], letting him think about multiple things at once, at the cost of higher cognitive function. For actual spoilers, read The Wandering Inn at wanderinginn.com! It's free! 1178
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 06/02/2024No, it's not Nsiia... I do have SOME original characters in me, you know... 1102
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 05/01/2024it's amazing; this show is way too powerful for the casual tv viewer; i hate watching it but i am not hatewatching it 010
Miguel Arguelles @cmarguel.bsky.social · 26/12/2023Working overtime to increase my 2023 output before it's too late! For once, it's not related to TWI! Check the next post for an embedded process video (at least, I hope it's embedded... I don't know if bsky actually does that with Youtube links) 150