iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

I actually have two more TotK Zelda things in progress right now, one of which is being inked after being a pencil doodle on my drawing board next to my bed for more than a year. What an odd but dearly missed feeling, having ideas and /actually executing them/.

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This is untitled because I cannot for the life of me find a record that I ever actually posted this anywhere after it was finished. 0ops. An #AttackOnTitan piece that I did for cons of the original trio. #ErenYeager #MikasaAckerman #ArminArlert #AoT #fanart #KrisCynical_art

An untitled Attack on Titan piece that I apparently forgot to post...? I can't remember giving it a title and I'm not seeing it on my other socials, so... oops? lol

I never finished AoT because it just wasn't really my cuppa when it comes to anime (I'm not one for gore), and when I watched season 1 that's the only season that had been released so far so by the time season 2 hit I had lost interest. I know a lot of people ended up completely obsessed with it, though!

All of that equipment was an ABSOLUTE NIGHTMARE to draw and ink for someone as detail obsessed as I am. That's one of the main reasons why I only ever did one other piece for AoT, of Levi. Which I DID post on my other socials and will post here on BlueSky soon.

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"Come on n' Grab Your Friends" An #AdventureTime piece I did eons ago for conventions. And it bombed spectacularly even though I still really like it. ALT text for some tech talk. #fanart #KrisCynical_art

Adventure Time illustration titled "Come on n Grab Your Friends" that I created as a convention piece eons ago. Fin, Jake, and BMO lounging under a tree while Jake plays his viola. This piece BOMBED even though I still like it.

I made a lot of technical strides with this one when it comes to texture overlays in the grass and tree bark, which were made using photos of one of the big trees in my own front yard as well as the grass. Even the sky was a photo from the same afternoon.

I was really proud of how the whole thing turned out, including the tree shade which I had never tried to do before. Too bad nobody liked this one, either in person or online. Sigh. :c

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"Hand in Hand" Another pic for proantagonist's #YoI fic "Winter Song" on Ao3. #VictorNikiforov giving #YuuriKatsuki some reassurance before the GPF. #YuriOnIce #victuuri #fanart #KrisCynical_art

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"The Hero's Tears" The end of The Dragon's Tears quest broke my heart in the best way, esp with all of the Silent Princess that sprang up around Link like a last "I love you" from #Zelda. #loz #totk #zelink #TearsOfTheKingdom #LegendOfZelda #fanart #KrisCynical_art

Tears of the Kingdom illustration titled "The Hero's Tears" as a play on "The Dragon's Tears" side quest. The whole thing was devastating, and the image of him surrounded by all of the glowing Silent Princesses broke my heart in the best way. I'd had this concept swirling around in my head for more than a year but it wasn't until last week that I finally got the motivation to sit down and draw it.

It's been a long time since I actually drew something just for myself and not a client. I'm finally off of my antidepressants again and I hope to be able to keep creating new stuff now that my hiatus is (again, hopefully) over. It felt so good to create again that it nearly brought me to tears.

Reading the fic "Love Stayed With Me" by 1UpGirl1 on Ao3 gave me that kick in the pants because a portion of it described this concept almost perfectly.

I wish I had made this sketch a higher resolution, but I didn't expect the sketch itself to be the finished product so I didn't. It's not often that one of my initial sketches ends up being the final piece, but if I tried to clean this up and finish it in my usual way it would definitely lose something, imo.

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"Morning Routine" Some future #victuuri of #VictorNikiforov loving on #YuuriKatsuki during their morning routine. I always liked the little intimate detail of Victor's fingers tucked in Yuuri's waistband. #yoi #YuriOnIce #fanart #KrisCynical_art

Yuri on Ice illustration titled "Morning Routine" of Victor kissing the nape of Yuuri's neck while Yuuri puts his hair up for the day. I've always liked the little intimate detail of Victor's fingers tucked into Yuuri's waistband. Also according to the original description on Tumblr, I got this idea while brushing my hair.

Detail shot of "Morning Routine" of Victor kissing the nape of Yuuri's neck while he's pulling back his hair for the day.

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"Ina Bauer in Blue" #YuuriKatsuki doing a layback Ina Bauer, which was great anatomy practice. #yoi #YuriOnIce #fanart #KrisCynical_art

Yuri on Ice illustration titled "Ina Bauer in Blue" of Yuuri doing a layback Ina Bauer which is one of my favorite figure skating moves.

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KrisCynical @kriscynical.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

"Mischief and Adoration" One of the many pieces I did for the fic "Winter Song" by proantagonist over on Ao3. #YuuriKatsuki and #VictorNikiforov having a little tipsy fun on the beach. #victuuri #yoi #YuriOnIce #fanart #KrisCynical_art

Yuri on Ice illustration titled "Mischief and Adoration" of Yuuri and Victor having a little tipsy fun on the beach. Inspired by the fic "Winter Song" by proantagonist on Ao3. This is yet another use of the night sky from "Lonely".

Detail shot of Yuuri holding Victor's face in his hands and looking at him adoringly.

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"The Six Sages" YES I KNOW ZELDA IS A SAGE the title refers to the six TEMPLE sages. You don't need to tell me. lol OoT was my fave Zelda game for 19 years until BotW hit in 2017. This is my love letter to it. #loz #LegendofZelda #OoT #OcarinaofTime #zelda #fanart #KrisCynical_art

Legend of Zelda illustration titled "The Six Sages" after the temple sages of Ocarina of Time. I wish I'd had the foresight to actually name it The Seven Sages to include Zelda but at this point it's just too late to change it. This is... like... 15 years old now. lol

OoT was my first Zelda game when it released when I was 14. It was my favorite Zelda game and just GAME in general for 19 years, until about 30 minutes into playing BotW in 2017 when it dawned on me that I was playing my favorite video game for the first time so I damn well better savor it. I did the same with TotK six years later.

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KrisCynical @kriscynical.bsky.social · 12/09/2025

"Touch Me Like You Do" The night that I originally drew this I was going to doodle for 20 minutes before bed, and then this started happening and kept me up until 9:30am because I knew that hatching wouldn't last. #yoi #YuriOnIce #YuuriKatsuki #VictorNikiforov #victuuri #fanart #KrisCynical_art

Yuri on Ice illustration titled "Touch Me Like You Do" of some more Victuuri lovin'. Title from the Alex Goot & Sam Tsui cover of “Love Me Like You Do” originally by Ellie Goulding.

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KrisCynical @kriscynical.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

"A-Kon 28 Deer, 2017" The last time I was asked to be the #A-Kon #ArtistAlley staff badge artist, they wanted a deer/doe girl holding an arrow. Again, she was fun to draw because it was unlike anything I'd ever drawn before. #KrisCynical_art

Again, the base staff badge. The head and first lieutenant wanted "a deer girl holding an arrow" which was a little bit of a challenge for me because I'd never really drawn anything like that before. I like how she turned out, though, especially the freckles. And I know only bucks have antlers. They wanted her to have antlers and they're pretty, okay? Also another re-use of the night sky from "Lonely".

I didn't know at the time that A-Kon 28 would be my last con before the irl hell of 2018 would force me into retirement permanently. All in all I did conventions for 13 years and over 30 cons across Texas and Oklahoma, and I loved every moment of it. Even the legendarily shit ones like the Anime Matsuri at the Crowne Plaza on Rodeo Weekend, YuleCon 2011 at the American Airlines Training Center, and the one Tokyo in Tulsa when the artists and dealers were stranded alone in the convention center that was under renovation with dust EVERYWHERE and no signage to tell people where we were. The passage of time allows for nostalgia to replace the migraines. lol

Hastur's badge variation with darker coloring and Cthulhu.

Starrydance's badge variation with the purple and rainbows.

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KrisCynical @kriscynical.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

"A-Kon 27 Djinn, 2016" The first year I was asked to be the #A-Kon #ArtistAlley staff badge artist, the art was my choice (the geisha). When they asked me again the following year, I told them it was theirs. They wanted a "smart, sexy djinn". She was REALLY fun to draw. #KrisCynical_art #conventions

The assignment: a smart, sexy djinn for the artist alley staff. For anyone familiar with the Aladdin TV series from the '90s, I took a lot of inspiration from Eden, Genie's girlfriend (who was a reference to Barbara Eden of "I Dream of Jeannie" in and of herself!).

Another fun fact: the night sky in the background is from my Inuyasha piece "Lonely", which was also re-used as the background of my Sesshoumaru piece, "Threatening". I've gotten a lot of use out of that night sky over the years after first painting it.

Again, the artist alley head, Hastur, loved Cthulhu, mythology, and other dark things so I made her this badge variation. The squid dude on the scroll is the same one from the geisha's fan the previous year.

Again, Starrydance, the artist alley first lieutenant, loved purple, rainbows, and unicorns so I made this badge variation for her.

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KrisCynical @kriscynical.bsky.social · 10/09/2025

"A-Kon 26 Geisha, 2015" Back when #A-Kon was actually a regular Thing a million years ago, I had the privilege of being the #ArtistAlley 's staff badge artist. Three times. This was the first, with variations for the AA head and 1st Lieutenant. Details in the Alt text. #KrisCynical_art #conventions

This was the "base" geisha that was used for the overall artist alley staff badges. Fun fact: the texture overlay used in the background circles was just a wadded up piece of 8.5x11 printer paper that I flattened back out, scanned, and color graded. I've used it in several other pieces of work over the years.

I was told she was a big hit with the staff. I've always adored her, so it made me happy that everyone else seemed to enjoy her just as much.

Hastur, the AA head, loved Cthulhu and other dark Alien-esque imagery, so I made this variation especially for her badge.

Starrydance, the artist alley First Lieutenant, loved purple, rainbows, and unicorns so I made this variation for her badge. I think I had the most fun with this one in particular, especially the photo of the clouds in the kimono.

I originally drew this geisha holding two fans back in 2007 which was my senior year at Ringling. It was an unused concept for the "beer, wine, or hot sauce label" project where I redesigned the label for Takara Plum Wine (the hot sauce was an option for students who weren't old enough to legally drink yet). I ended up going with a different concept, but I loved this geisha so much that I just stuck her on a back burner mentally to possible use at a later time because I loved her JUST THAT MUCH.

I got the opportunity nearly 10 years later when I was asked the first time to be the staff badge artist for A-Kon 26's artist alley/Komik Market. I still love her nearly 20 years later!

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"Tea by Laptop Light" Another of my favorite oooooold pieces, this time of L from #Deathnote. #fanart #KrisCynical_art

Deathnote illustration titled "Tea by Laptop Light" of L sitting behind his laptop with a cup of tea. Likely with roughly ten thousand sugars.

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"On Love: Eros" Not much explanation needed. #YuuriKatsuki being a pork cutlet bowl that enthralls men. #yoi #YuriOnIce #fanart #KrisCynical_art

Yuri on Ice illustration titled "On Love: Eros" of Yuuri in costume for his short program of the same title.

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"My Hero" One of my quickest sketches (~30min) that still holds the record of the most notes of ANY piece of art I've ever posted on Tumblr (4200+). I wish I knew why. #VictorNikiforov swooning at literally being swept off his feet by #YuuriKatsuki. #yoi #YuriOnIce #victuuri #fanart #KrisCynical_art

Yuri on Ice sketch titled "My Hero" of Victor swooning at literally being swept off his feet by Yuuri. Dynamite comes in small packages.

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"Tenderness Quite Like This" Title from the Duncan Sheik song "Days Go By". #victuuri lovin' on the couch during a lazy day off at home in St. Ptersburg. #yoi #YuriOnIce #VictorNikiforov #YuuriKatsuki #fanart #KrisCynical_art

Yuri on Ice illustration titled "Tenderness Quite Like This" of Victor and Yuuri laying on a couch and a shirtless Victor kissing Yuuri's chest.

Detail shot of Victor and Yuuri's upper bodies/faces.

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I hope those of you who are already here don't mind the multiple posts at a time. I've been posting my work online for 26 years now and I'm still willing to claim the last 20 yrs or so of that backlog, so there's quite a bit to sift through.😅 Once I get through it all posts will slow down. Promise!

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Gus 🌱➡️ LBX 422 @friedbaens.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

"Dark Link" Screw this battle. Seriously. I suck at it. I seem to be the only person who sucks at it. lol #loz #zelda #LegendOfZelda #OcarinaOfTime #OoT #DarkLink #Navi #fanart #KrisCynical_art

Legend of Zelda illustration titled "Dark Link" of the mini boss battle from Ocarina of Time's water temple. The hue sliders in Photoshop saved my butt when I forgot that Link wears the blue tunic in this temple, not green.

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Reposted by KrisCynical

A BLATANT reminder that I will NEVER support Al or use it.

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"Winning Worlds" Originally a countdown image for Yuuri Week 2017 over on tumblr that also fit Day 1's "future" prompt. It's a pity MAPPA never let us see that Next Level they promised us all at the end of episode 12.😑 #yoi #YuriOnIce #YuuriKatsuki #fanart #KrisCynical_art

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"I Promised I'd Come Back" My fave #fmab piece of Ed metaphorically pulling Al's soul out of the armor. This was one of the first pieces that I utilized texture overlays as well as bruising and dirt on clothes and skin. #fma #FullmetalAlchemistBrotherhood #fanart #KrisCynical_art #EdElric #AlElric

A Fullmetal Alchemist:Brotherhood illustration titled "I Promised I'd Come Back" or Ed metaphorically pulling Al's soul from the armor.

Detail shot of Ed and Al's hands, and the blood dripping from Ed's rebar wound. This was the first piece I ever fully rendered blood and bruises for along with dirt on flesh and fabric.

Detail shot of the weathering on Al's armor. This was one of the first pieces that I ever really utilized texture overlays on, as well as dirt smudges.

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"The Real Thing" Back when the body pillows released the fandom made tons of content about #victuuri obsessing about them to the point of neglecting each other, so this was my answer. "I have the real thing right here!" #yoi #YuriOnIce #YuuriKatsuki #VictorNikiforov #fanart #KrisCynical_art

Illustration titled "The Real Thing". Victor loving on Yuuri from Yuri on Ice.

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