iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

We went to Dallas/Fort worth as a college field trip and I snapped a few photos on the way home. This one felt like it wanted to be painted. #oilpainting #dallas #church

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

I sat at an art walk yesterday. Unfortunately, it was really slow traffic wise. But I got to talk with some other local artists, so that was cool! This painting is held in the frame with thumb tacks because I don't have framers points right now. (Not for sale yet) #oilpainter #artist #artwalks

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

A little #BTS type shot. I got the fresh prints of my tiny people paintings! I do love seeing my art in a nice frame. How do you frame your art? I feel so fancy. Prints available on my site (jlbillings.com/store) #oilpainter #illustrator #miniatures

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Boy these have been a pain to make, but I think I have the process down and can start really cleaning them up. Wax Seal Mini Picture Frame Stickers featuring my tiny people paintings! #oilpainter #waxseal #stickers #whimsicalart

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 20/03/2026

Fanart of Bubs summoning his mom in The Devil's Due Ep 7 (around 1:35:00). When you shock the party so hard the cleric prays to a different deity. Did I make Carver gross enough? I spent way more time on this than I originally intended, but I enjoyed it. #Dnd #fantasyillustration #DnD5e

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Page of oil practice ( #wip). Gale (bg3, study from riceballoon on tumblr), Drexel (oc) Ed/Blackbeard (ofmd), and Aziraphale (good omens) #oilpainting #study #fanart #ofmd #goodomens

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

I'm late to Valentine's shenanigans, but felt like drawing these two getting ready for date night. Modern setting for my OCs Drexel and Archimedes from my my webcomic Fortune's Fancy. They have different ideas of matching. #Datenight #illustration

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

#WIP working on my webcomic this week!

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

An OC for a reddit user. This is a drow elf blade dancer. #oc #illustration #fantasyart

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 10/01/2026

I finished my post-baccalaureate certificate in studio art! This series is about my struggles after getting a divorce and rediscovering myself. #oilpainting #artist

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

I made a set of animated wizard emotes. I think I kind of know what doing! I'm not sure which is my favorite, but probably confetti or vacay. #animatedemotes #illustration #animation

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

I've been going down the rabbit hole of figuring out emotes. It didn't take long to try to animate one. #animated #gif #emoteart

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

My poor cat got bob cat fever! Luckily she is making a recovery. Unfortunately, I now have a lot of vet bills and work has been slow. My Etsy shop has Dungeons and Dragons Cat stickers available for download! See my linktree. #dungeonsanddragons #cats #stickers #Etsyshop

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

My cat, Autumn, got Bob Cat Fever. It has a 50/50 survival rate and my little shit is on the mend! I'm so happy she's getting energy back, but I have a lot of vet bills. I'm dipping my feet in emotes! Link to my Etsy in bio. #twitchemotes #illustration

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 21/05/2025

A mighty wizard cat, practicing magic in her study, surrounded by books, scrolls, ink, and magical artifacts! I'm imagining old stickers as full illustrations, first up is my wizard class cat! What cat class should I do next? I'm slowing down my process, it's paying off #illustration #fantasy #cute

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

I have the line art of my current illustration project. I decided to put my wizard cat from my DnD cats in an actual setting. Why did I decide to draw a bookshelf? UGH #workinprogress #illustration #DnD

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

The semester just ended and I felt like something super self indulgent. Let's go Sailor Gale, everyone's favorite wizard. #fanart #bg3 #sailormoon #gale

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

This is my first plien air painting. I tried to capture my backyard when the evening sun hits the leaves and makes them golden and glowing. I think I got close. It's a small canvas board just to experiment with. #plienair #outdoorpainting #landscape #oilpaint

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Yay! I finally added the little guys! I've been somewhat disinterested in my art projects, I think I'm mismanaging my blood sugar. It's so inconvenient that we need to eat multiple times a day. 😅 But I think I might be done with this one. Any title ideas? Right now it's just "The Climb." #oilpa

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 12/04/2025

My reddit critique videos are back! These are probably my favorite videos to make because it reinforces art concepts for myself and I get to help the art community. youtu.be/94KZ1cLAmek #artvideo #artcritique #artist

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Excuse the not great photo. I think I'm almost done with this one. It's from my series based on Copland's "Rodeo" ballet. Cowgirl is lamenting not fitting in with the men or the women, while Fancy Lady wants to thank her for her hanker chief when she fell in the mud. #illustration #oilpastel

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 10/04/2025

This is the other still life I'm working on. I'm still thinking about how I'll add tiny people to it, but there's lots of still life left to paint first! #oilpainting #wip #art #painter

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 09/04/2025

But wait there's more! I think I'm happy with how the still life portion has turned out. Now to add some tiny men running around! I think I'll have them climbing up the white vase but I'm not 100% sure yet. I'll get some mock ups going. #WIP #OilPainting #stilllife

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

I TOTALLY changed how I was going to do the background! Rather than having text, I made it a stage. It's so wild how different the figure looks in an environment rather than flat on a page. I usually plan my paintings as a whole rather than adding a background halfway in. #WIP #oilpainting

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

I decided to give fluid acrylics a try! They're like watercolor, but dry between layers and do not rewet. I painted my webcomic character, Drexel and I really enjoyed them! I also painted The Hermit Sketch in my sketchbook. #sketches #newmaterial #artist

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Progress on my current project: Anatomy of Self-Esteem. I still need to add the text. I'm not looking forward to that. It's supposed to read like a text book but the negative things women are told about their bodies. #WIP #oilpainting #figurepainting

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

This piece is coming along! I'm really proud of the reflection of the grapes in the shiny vase and the shadow of the grapes on the white vase. I haven't decided where I want to add my little guys yet. #oilpainting #stilllife #WIP

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Sometimes a throw away piece is the best thing! This was not working, I couldn't get the colors to read right. So I went full ham- I pushed the saturation to the MAX. I added hash marks, scraped the pastels. It's one of my favorite pieces! #oilpastel #artist #illustration

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 29/03/2025

I was inspired to make some daily comics. This is my frustration that my phone camera keeps making the picture more vivid, which is not helpful when taking a picture of art. #dailydrawing #dailyillustration #illustrator #digitalillustration

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

Trump is going after the Smithsonian with an order to restore "truth and sanity" AKA white wash everything. It reminds me of the queen of hearts yelling about the roses being red and white. #politicalcartoon #illustration #fucktrump #queenofhearts #smithsonian

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

This is the most recent installment of my oil pastel work. The series is inspired by Copland's Buckaroo holiday. This is the cowboys enjoying some rowdy boy time. Very straight activity. #illustration

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

I'm taking these two paintings in for the MSSU alumni show! I'm really glad they were accepted, so much so, I decided to continue the series! They're always really popular. #oilpainting #artist

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

I have the first layer of color in! This is a still life I'm working on for my little guys series. At the end I'll add some tiny people running around. I'm really embrasing using multiple layers with oil paintings. I painted this in grayscale before adding a wash of color. #oilpainting

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

It's not much to look at right now, but it's one of the next pieces in my little dudes series. I'm really embracing working in layers with my oil paints. It's much easier to focus on all of the nuance of color when you have the values already down. #illustration #oilpainting

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

I'm not done, but I've been experimenting with abstract art. This one is titled "The Patio" #art #oilpainting #abstractart

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

My first attempt at abstract art. It was fun. It was a challenge to create a visual representation of touch, sound, smell, or taste. #oilpainting #abstractart

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Luckily (?) I have a small following and probably won't get in trouble for this. I don't condone violence. But logic, facts, and nice words have failed. America is no place for kings. #oilpainting #art

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

"But I'm her Daughter" Oil on Panel 24"x48" This piece is about being a child with an abusive mother. There's a weird double standard where people will say "But she's your mother." #oilpainting #oilpaint #art #artist #oilonpanel

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 09/02/2025

My project for drawing is illustrations inspired by Copland's Buckaroo Holiday. This is around measure 37. Still some work to do on the mountains. #softpastel #illustration #brightcolors

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

A year after it's released, I discovered The Dead South dropped a new album. I'm loving it though.

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

"School Days" was accepted into a juried exhibition.

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

At this point I'm going to let it sit for a while. I know there's changes I need to make, but I'll come back with fresh eyes in a week or so. Also I need to let the paint dry a bit more. #oilpainting #art #artist #selfportrait #WIP

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

Making progress, but still more to go! I had quite the battle trying to get my nose right. The far eye needs more work and of course I'm still missing eyebrows! My self portrait work in progress #art #artist #oilpainting #selfportrait #WIP

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

Forbidden Grape Jelly!!!! At school we tube paint. This is a tin of Dioxizine Purple, one of my favorite colors to have on a palette. #oilpainting #notreallyfood #purple #artistproblems #comedy

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

This is one of the best starts to a self portrait I've had. I really caught my likeness and I didn't use a projector (I think I'm going to have to fuss with ear more). #selfportrait #oilpainting #oilpaintingartist #portraiture

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

I have a love/hate relationship with Michael's reward vouchers. I love getting $5 off my purchase, but then I spend money and get more art supplies and get another voucher so I have to go back and spend more money..... #artproblems #michael'scraftstore #artistproblems

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 15/01/2025

I made the trees a much cooler green. The value is the same, but I used more phthalo green and less of my collection of yellow. It really made it feel more like night. I added some more bushes too #ghost #oilpainting #summer #solventfreeoilpainting

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 12/01/2025

I freshened up the pumpkins and trees in the background. I made these as a way to test out solvent free oil painting. I used linseed oil and marble dust for the first few layers, but it didn't give enough flow to the paint. I think I might just need to use more of the paste. #ghost #oilpainting

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J L Billings @jlbillings.bsky.social · 11/01/2025

I've been working on this one and forgot to give some updates. I felt since I did a fall and summer ghost, I should add a winter ghost too! I've been working on solvent free painting. It's going pretty well, thanks to solvent free gel by gamblin. #oilpainting #ghost #cute

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