iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Johis @johannatarkela.com · 05/09/2026

So why does bsky keep booting me out constantly and won't even save my login details? Maybe the latter is just my phone, although it seems to save everything else fine :V

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 24/08/2026

Been stocking up on some nice watercolours lately and also grabbed a calligraphy brush today and I'm so obsessed with it, such lovely soft brush strokes and textures

A watercolour portrait of a maned wolf, and half of an inked maned wolf's butt

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Steve Cole @stevecolewriter.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

What a lovely display of The Wild Ones in Oxford Waterstones. The cover artwork by @johannatarkela.com is so beautiful. I feel very lucky.

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 28/07/2026

Having a lot of fun lately filling a physical sketchbook again! I'm trying to figure out which tools I enjoy the most and gouache is definitely on top of the list at the moment. Also inks! Did an assortment of bird drawings after visiting a bird park last weekend 🪶

A collection of brightly coloured tropical birds on a sketchbook page

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 06/07/2026

Just noticed a project I worked on last year is out! I got to make the box illustration for a new Celestial Seasonings tea! :D made both the front art of the otter, and ingredient spot art for the back. Packaging art has always been one of my favourite types of jobs, loved making this too.

A tea box with an illustration of an otter, floating around with mint leaves and ginger

The back of the box, with an illustration of a ginger root and mint twig

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Warriors Wiki @warriorswiki.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Today’s artwork is of Tigerstar! “Tigerstar was a super fun cat to paint, we tried to emphasize a strong and muscular stance, clearly a different build to the other cats.” - @johannatarkela.com www.instagram.com/reel/DYvrGWU...

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Warriors Wiki @warriorswiki.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Today’s artwork is of Scourge! “I love painting the contrast of shiny black fur, and Scourge’s icy blue eyes made the contrast even cooler to work on.” - @johannatarkela.com instagram.com/p/DYtGTrYE81I/

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Warriors Wiki @warriorswiki.bsky.social · 23/05/2026

Today’s artwork is of Squirrelflight! “You can never have too big or fluffy of a tail when it comes to Squirrelflight 😀” - @johannatarkela.com www.instagram.com/reel/DYrTMHJ...

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Warriors Wiki @warriorswiki.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

Today’s artwork is of Tawnypelt! “Fun fact, Tawnypelt has the special role of having her face closely referenced from my own dear cat!” - @johannatarkela.com www.instagram.com/reel/DYpCjPy...

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Warriors Wiki @warriorswiki.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Today’s artwork is of Jayfeather! “With Jayfeather we tried to lean into the slightly more oriental cat/lanky popular look with fan work, which I really like too!” - @johannatarkela.com www.instagram.com/reel/DYmUzRx...

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Warriors Wiki @warriorswiki.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Next up is Brightheart! “Brightheart is one of my personal favorite cats, I was really enjoying painting her and aiming to give her a very sweet and hopeful vibe.” @johannatarkela.com www.instagram.com/reel/DYiiTgn...

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Warriors Wiki @warriorswiki.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Today’s artwork is of Graystripe! “Graystripe went through a few sketches as I tried to nail the playful pose, hope you like the final result too!” - @johannatarkela.com www.instagram.com/reel/DYhtqUS...

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 18/05/2026

Big reveal time!! Something I've been working on since last year.... I am an official artist for Warrior Cats! ✨️ Here's the first one that's been shared today, Firestar! There will be a new illustration shared every day for about a week now on the Warrior Cats social media accounts 👀

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 10/05/2026

Been getting back into traditional art lately on my free time, painted a tiger yesterday! Painted on approx A3 size Arches hot press 300gsm paper with watercolour, the whiskers and eye highlight are gouache though.

a tiger portrait painted in watercolour, with a purple background. yellow light hitting the side of the tiger's face.

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The Renegades Wiki @renegadecats.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

New official Renegades art is up on the official Renegades instagram! Meet Luna, Willow, Violet, and Jay Saxton, illustrated by the wonderful @johannatarkela.com!

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Nathan Anderson @nathanandersonart.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

The Black Rabbit of Inlé.

An ominous black rabbit idles in the distance behind some tufts of grass as drops of blood lead to it.

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Night time? Dey time! @deyvarah.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Open for February commission slots! :3

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🪴 Ant Fart 🪴 @antidarkheart.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Seems the news has broken out so I'm gonna take the time to voice that yes, it's true that the Odd1s team was retired. Now more than ever I'd like y'all to please support my coworkers ❤️❤️ This came as a shock & they deserve ALL the support. Here's a thread to all their work 🔽

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 18/02/2026

O hey, I realised I have a fire horse painting too! Done as a cover commission for a book series, but this particular painting didn't end up getting used as the direction changed a bit and I made an alternative cover in the end. I still like it though!

A shiny black horse with a fire mane on a red background

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BERNERI ✧ @berneri.horse · 12/02/2026

long and slender #art ✧ #painting ✧ #manedwolf

Acrylic marker painting of a very stylized maned wolf. The painting itself is on a red blanket but it actually has a dark green background. The maned wolf is making a long arch, looking down with red eyes. Under the arch so between the stomach and back there is a red star. Otherwise the animal has orange, grey and dark brown details.

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Night time? Dey time! @deyvarah.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

+*.First Snow.*+ Collab with @johannatarkela.com <3 (2019)

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 11/02/2026

I have two ink originals left for sale! They're drawn on a 300gsm watercolour card, A5 size (5.8 x 8.3"). 70 GBP each, will post anywhere, tracked shipping included. Email me at johiscomms@gmail.com if you'd like to grab any :)

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Allister Jones 🍃🐦アリスタ 🔜 Oshi Conbini @allisteranim.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Kinda Fucked Up that in our lifetimes we've gone from "never share personal info on the internet" to "hand over your identity to the most incompetent corporations imaginable".

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 08/02/2026

Thank you all who visited my den table! Had a great time and my bag is 10 x lighter to carry home so my back appreciates that 😎👌 I have 2 originals left, will post them up later! Should be able to ship anywhere.

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 03/02/2026

Been working on some A5 originals again, they will be available at Scotiacon this weekend! Here's a selection of some I've made.

An ink drawing of a spinosaurus. A cat looming in the background

An ink drawing of a lynx looking up at snow falling

An ink drawing if a fox resembling Japanese fox Inari shrine statues

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 24/01/2026

Book cover reveal! I worked on the cover wrap, a lot of interior illustrations and a map for this book. One of my favourite projects recently, I really liked portraying all the characters and locations, can't wait to share more art later on :D Published by Macmillan us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

A green foresty book cover with a red squirrel on the front, and a black squirrel in the back. Title reads Sentinels - Keepers of the Forest, by Kate O'Hearn

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 19/01/2026

I'll be at Scotia in a few weeks, dealing Saturday-Sunday! This will likely be the last con I'll be dealing at for quite some time, so if you're there and want to grab anything last chance 👀will have the usuals; prints, my wooden keyrings and some original art.

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 19/01/2026

So what's the way to go at the moment if I wanted to record a digital painting process video? Don't need to stream, just record (windows & photoshop). Haven't done it in quite a few years, is OBS still the best option?

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Mayh ✨OKAMI SEQUEL @mayhw.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Okami Amaterasu (inspired by Mucha)

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 06/12/2025

Time for another seasonal fox painting! Started this in September on the iPad (Artstudio Pro), finished when we got the first snow of this winter a few weeks ago.

A fox painted in a bit stylized style standing in snow and light blue background. Snowflakes falling around the fox.

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 01/12/2025

Random freelance artist tip, if you have a personal website make sure you have some sort of a sketchbook section available! I knew it's useful but I didn't expect it to be so important, and in a way even more important than the final work sometimes.

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 19/11/2025

🫠 been sick twice this month and in between those had a persistent allergy triggered cough too so November's been fun so far. Suspect the first one was flu and the second one maybe good old covid. Can I be done nowwww

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 10/11/2025

A painting commission I recently finished for @tiv.bsky.social ! What'd be better than a sunset scene with some pretty backlight *u*

A cheetah with a blonde mane standing on a hill, with the sun in the curl of his tail. Orange and yellow background

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Sam Perin @zebotc.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

New Moon 🌕🌑 A piece for my ongoing series “A Starry Place”, where I explore spaces meaningful and nostalgic to me!!

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 10/11/2025

Huh, I assume the Pokémon card illustration contest is not happening this year even though usually it's every 2 years so it should be time, wonder if all the AI stuff put them off last time 8')

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twarda.bsky.social @twarda.bsky.social · 05/11/2025

I like how some birds look like adorable cute cutesy fluffballs ✨but also they have Eldritch abomination feet 😈

A sketch of a robin with quite monstrified and bad aura giving feet

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 09/10/2025

One of the most extensive paintings I've ever done, two covers in one even! A lot of hours, planning and detail went into this. So much greeeen! This is for Treecer's newest board games, already fully funded on the first day, if you want a copy have a look :D www.kickstarter.com/projects/mar...

A lush green fantasy forest setting with a pond in the middle and a lot of magical creatures scattered around it.

Detail of one of the creatures, what looks like a combination of a deer and an owl with leaves growing on it's budy and mushroom antlers.

Another creature, an ent looking creature with a leafy body and branch antlers. Small glowing blue birds flying around it.

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 03/09/2025

Got to do another Polish Warrior Cats cover recently, this time a novella, 'Mothwing's Secret'. Here's the final cover and the full spread! AD by @missdako.bsky.social , published by Nowa Baśń ✨

Two cats sitting by the river, the colour scheme is sepia/brown. There are a lot of fireflies flying around them.

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Reyna @reynabeast.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

In my quest to (slowly) collect badges of all Reyna versions, I now have one for the sergal version! This one has been drawn by @johannatarkela.com :D

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 02/08/2025

Ohh lots of new followers this week. Hello! Here's some new art I haven't posted yet but which got revealed recently on their new website, I did a full page/wallpaper illustration for the Finnish Kids' Forest Trip Day by University of Helsinki last year.

A Finnish forest scenery featuring a woman walking a dog, and two kids playing in the forest. There are other animals hiding in the forest full of pine trees, old spruces and other foliage.

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 22/07/2025

Bit of a personal vent post but urgh. Why is anticipatory grief the worst. I'm running out of time with my cat who I've had for 12 years, pretty much since I moved to the UK. He's not even gone yet but we know it's imminent after a few recent urgent vet visits and I'm already shattered lmaoo

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jamzenn ✶ @jamzenn.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

This little pirate had six of her teeth pulled earlier this month and needs to have five more removed next month due to periodontitis, effectively draining our savings almost completely! If you're in a place where you'd be able and willing to help, I'll leave a bunch of links down below! ❤️❤️❤️

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Johis @johannatarkela.com · 19/06/2025

Ooo helloo. I am alive! Just been a hectic year so far with work, medical stuff (for myself and others - including my super senior cat who has been needing my attention a lot) I put a timer on social media, and turns out I kind of drifted off from it pretty well and didn't miss it that much.

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