iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

It feels like a huge deal just to get an hour or two in on a painting. Miles to go before I'm done. Thank goodness I don't owe this to anybody or I would feel terrible. I get so little time in on art that I sometimes think I can feel myself rusting.

A charcoal drawing of a woman with snakes for hair, poking at the nasal cavity of a human skull sitting on a plate in front of her. Color has been applied sparingly to her hands and face and the background is mostly a warm amber.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Mordecai (my supervisor) just wants to be close on the couch. Not on my lap, noooooo.

A striped brown shorthair cat surrounded by pillows, partially under a tortilla blanket.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

The interior illustrations by Phil Hale in The Drawing of the Three are SO GOOD. I stared at them for hours.

A painting of a man straddling a man laying on the ground, holding a knife to his neck. Use of negative space suggest photographic influences, the pale ground has a desert or dry plains texture.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Without downloading anything new, where are you mentally?

Alan Wake looking like total shit with a green filter.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 26/04/2026

Good suggestions in this thread. I make books out of found and recycled paper from time to time, they're not precious intentionally so I can be experimental with mediums and not feel like im ruining a good book. Took me about a year to gather enough steam for a small batch.

Gray books with stab binding, about 11×16 inches.
The title is screenprinted "Bad Book; For all the bad ideas"

Photo showing all nine sketchbooks from the side, covers are flexible and the front wraps around.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Everybody tell this snek I drew that they're doing so good.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Life drawing happened, and I'm reasonably happy with these results. Artistic nudes! Make sure your boss isn't looking over your shoulder unless they're a cool boss. Or want to be seen as a cool boss. ("I'm not like other bosses...") Oooh, fun fact, I made the sketchbook that 3/4 of these appear in.

Nude lady in red brush pen with bright apple green highlights/corrections.

Two standing nudes, one seen from behind. Same pose but reversed, if that makes sense. One is pencil with mauve colored pencil shadows, the other is just pencil without shadows.

Two nude figures, one is a bust in all green paint markers, the other is a full figure in baby blue colored pencil, but the book is sideways to how it was drawn. A cell phone sits nearby.

A seated nude showing maybe one nipple if you squint. Spraipainted paper, colored pencil and paint marker.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

Posting something random but not continuing the chain:

A go-kart sits abandoned in a field on the other side of a fence. (NO LOW-BALL OFFERS, I KNOW WHAT I HAVE!!!)

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

Framed this painting, for the technical challenge as much as to present it in its best light. Constructed the panel as a demo for weird stuff you can make in the woodshop with a little bit of imagination, the painting itself became an exercise in dealing with the extra edges. Off to charity auction.

A painting of orange power cables on a butter yellow and purple background. Painting has eight corners, with one large near square and two smaller intersecting seamless joined rectangles.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

Post a comic cover you love. (Wolverine #6 by Esad Ribic)

Nightcrawler stands in silhouette in front of a relaxed Logan. Tons of subtext, like wow.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

I feel like @brandonbird.bsky.social needs to know about this very important image:

Gates McFadden in her Star Trek TNG uniform riding a unicycle in a studio backlot.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

Finding time in the evenings to try to catch up with the cool kids and their fancy drawing tablets. Compression makes this look super crunchy but I don't care too much.

A digital drawing of a man in silhouette. It's mostly rose hues, a limited palette.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

And this is the screen I built to receive images as the disk moves through the beam of light and the tiles rattle around.

A square mahogany frame with a matte white translucent screen, standing on a pedestal in front of a brick wall. A small piece of the projector is visible over the top of the frame. An arabesque tile shape in muted greens and browns passes through the field of view.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

I made these over the last few months for a show about being intentionally soft when the environment around you wants to make you into something tough and productive. "Erosion (The Same River Twice)"

Still image of a kinetic sculpture. A shiny black mid-century Kodak slide projector that has been cut and mounted on a small Mahogany platform. A matching wooden arm extends up and holds a clear disk with floating arabesque patterns in it.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

"Go Into the Light, Little Gummy Bear" 6x6, mixed media on panel.

A geometric red and brown inage field with a prickly pear cactus next to a person holding the handle of a shovel in front of their chest, yellow background and a superimposed frame with a standing red gummy bear in high contrast with a white and yellow beam of light. Other weird scribbles here and there, compositionally without much purpose besides the artist just having a tough time with empty space.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

Post one of the most haunting shots in movie history from a film made before the year 2000.

Shawshank Redemption. Brooks considers freedom.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

New headshot for press releases. I don't mind that I'm getting older, but I do dislike that I feel like I look super different from photo to photo and can't really seem to pin down what "look" I'm going for. This year the vibe is "being addressed as "M'am" in the hardware store."

Photo of a middle aged white lady holding a pocket knife, seated in a woodshop.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Oh we *spinny* now. Hopefully will be more glamorous by finish line. #wip #kineticsculpture

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

Have you seen Mordecai? (Now you have)

This is a picture of my cat Mordecai. He's a brown Bengal kitty with green eyes and maybe a little sensitive about his weight.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 18/08/2025

My friend's truck-stop-special car plug for her laptop. This thing has some HEFT. Glad and mildly amused that it has its own fuse.

A auto cigarette lighter charger for a three-prong outlet and a USB. Notably, it has a cooling fan and a FUSE.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 09/08/2025

Been remodeling my closet while vacationing. So close to being done! Whoever cuts cedar paneling and does the trim edge so they interlock.... I salute them but they clearly have some good days and bad ones.

A closet with about a half-rack of clothing, white ikea boxes above with some cloth and cardboard boxes above that.

The same closet with no clothing, but with cedar wood panels and white shelving.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Somewhere in all this mess is a studio. Performing an exorcism and may do a dump run soon.

An open two-car garage with no cars in it. Easel, table, printmaking materials, garbage, donations, and a couple visible paintings in it.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

This is from a super long while ago but it was a fun doodle.

Pen and ink of a minimally-shaded elf in plate armor with the visor of their helmet up.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

This little book is absolutely packed with great drawings. I love research projects like this. My conclusion is that roughly a thousand years ago, something dressed as a horse got hammered and went galavanting around the British Isles. I appreciate your sending it all this way, @6knifes.bsky.social

The front cover of Horse! Folk Customs of the British Isles by S. Cousins

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

Good morning everyone! Especially my little dog, who (despite his allergies) enjoys the big grass areas with all their varied smells.

A green field with a dirt path, my long shadow extending out in front, with a little golden dog wading through the grass.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

I got my shirt a little while ago and decided to rep my favorite fictional band today. Forgive the angle on this selfie, I have purposely never learned to take good ones. Thanks @coreybrickley.bsky.social

I'm wearing a shirt that says "Fibonacci Death Spiral" and it's rad as hell

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Couple more. This one gets a content warning.

Two ten(?) minute poses in dark ink interposed over a blue translucent sketch that was probably five minutes.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

Got to do some life drawing yesterday.

Four different standing poses, 3 minutes spent on each

3 minute poses, but some fast hands and arms, upper torso, buttocks and legs studies

Five minutes on these two overlapping poses, kinda loopy.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Mordecai is innocent! He would never put both paws in the dog's water!

A brown stripey kitty with a bright sunbeam crossing his face.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Thought I posted this here but not seeing it. Old, old painting of mine. Like almost old enough to legally drive itself. Part of migrating from one social platform to another is constantly looking at old work, cringing inwardly, and remembering that this thing won you money way back in '09.

An oil painting of a pile of garbage laying in front of a smoldering manzanita tree. Semi abstract, very yellow ochre in color. 30-something by 40-something inches.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

Human artists, use one piece to convince people to follow you.

A painting of a corner of an abandoned schoolhouse with papers and books strewn on the floor with fallen leaves. greenish walls with a crooked and damaged quality to them. Facing the corner sits a bent wooden chair.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

I got a galaxy 9 tablet for Xmas! And I doodled for thirty minutes, not sure whether this is my old ranger or my new L5R scout yet. Using autodesk sketchbook, very happy so far.

A sketched portrait of a vaguely disinterested femme person wearing sketched in robes. Hair is a mess but in kinda a tousled/cute way? Blue "pencil" under dark gray line work and brushstrokes.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 21/12/2024

Many hours spent on thermal-glue backed trim, razoring the edges just as perfect as I can get. I'm on the fence about projects like this; always have to wait until students aren't around, and then I'm out of time while in the end steps. I really goddamn hope the finish stops looking like goldenrod.

Close up of *the foot* which promises easy lockability and non-marring non-skid engagement. Oooo

The platform has been coated in finish and this is literally a photo of it drying. Gotta pass the boredom on to my friends.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Felt cute, might finish building a model stand later.

Hey its me, a selfie. Uh great describe myself... I'm a middle age white lady with a pink overdye on my salt and pepper hair. Wearing a t-shirt of "the Sword" which is a metal band that's definitely worth checking out. I have a tattoo visible on my left arm going from bicep to elbow and then out of frame. My earplugs are hanging on and nearly ready to drop to the floor.

A plywood box in my woodshop, upside down like a turtle.

The box is assembled upside down with wheels and stand legs pointing towards the ceiling. It is 48" × 72" × 18"

I flipped it over all by myself. I am swole and very competent. My back does not hurt at all.
In this photo you can't see the wheels anymore, but you can see the floor-gripping magnificent floor locks.
One of them is just a little different, and it makes me *insane*

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 04/12/2024

I got people in my neighborhood walking their dogs without a damn leash. My poor little blind dude is overwhelmed.

My doggo sitting on the floor, he's some kind of smallish dog mutt with fluffy light brown hair.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 03/12/2024

Yesterday one of my favorite people on Patreon asked people to post what they were working on. Me, I've been carrying around an incomplete fortune cars set for nearly two years hoping inspiration will strike me to finish it. Eventually, perhaps, all 32 will be inked and watercolored.

4 tarot sized cards on a dark mat, labeled as follows: XXXI: The Eldest Tree, I: The Lone Traveller, XXII: The Gaunt Ancestor, and VII: The Whirlpool.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 28/10/2024

I got my confirmation. Continually baffled by the transition of voting by mail: From arduous but necessary process everyone should partake in, to a vital act if I want my friends to stay alive. It's been a hell of a couple decades. And I'll never forgive those that paved the way to get here.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 11/10/2024

So this is partially an older piece that I expanded on and mounted on a piece of plywood. The glue and lineup of all the different papers went pretty well but are still slightly visible. I'm super happy with how she's coming out so far. Bonus content: My work desk.

A charcoal drawing of a Medusa holding a sketched-in skull. The drawing has a semi-circular arched top and a square bottom.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 24/09/2024

This little moth landed on a mirror in my entryway and stayed long enough for me to take some glamor shots. I'm not sure what kind it is, it looks way too small to be a Luna moth but has the coloring I've come to expect from them.

A moth pondering their reflection. Light green with velvety black eyes. Itty bitty friend.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 17/09/2024

Ah, I found it. Still stamped as first 10% even though I'm well above 100k. (To get your number, open bluesky in the browser and refresh if it doesn't pop up)

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 06/09/2024

Drew this little guy while at the table for a Pathfinder 2e one-shot. We spent a lot of time discussing my buddy's excellent worldbuilding and not enough time trying to garotte the undead. Very fun.

Hathi "The Drake". A ratfolk rogue with a rapier and a bandolier of daggers. Missing one finger on their left hand.
Drawn with brushpen and colored pencil in a sketchbook of miscellaneous papers discarded from printmaking, this one is a soft brown color printed patchily on white paper.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 02/08/2024

I managed to get so close to this little dude at work today. The only thing on their mind was BERRIES.

A mouse on a branch eating berries, surrounded by dense leaves and flowers.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 26/07/2024

Bathroom tile job almost done. Then comes grout, paint, silicone, and wallpaper. Should only take what, two days? My time estimates on this project are super broken. This started last fall.

A bathtub with a blue hexagonal tile surround. The tile is incomplete and there's plastic sheeting and supplies in the tub.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 26/07/2024

Picked this up today at a comic store I used to work at in 2007. Keep your friendly local stores in business folks! Even if the owner is some kind of weird hoarding badger. Anyway, loved this, would buy more. Out of the loop on whether they will keep the story going.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 03/06/2024

Went on a hike today. Small park, a couple miles. Took a lot of photos. Banana slug, one of two I spotted, was marooned on a rock in the middle of a stream, so I moved it along with a leaf. An upskirt shot of a pair of redwoods. A working pay phone. Place was crowded, filled with families and kids.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 27/05/2024

Setting aside time for art is harder than it was when I had a studio in an old skating rink. (Sounds terribly romantic but it was a PAIN.) When you do art for long enough, the practice has its own gravity, and continuing to orbit and work at it is really the only way to go. Don't think, just do.

Hey, it's a painting of a bunch of boards arranged as they fell from an shadowy structure. It's in oil paint.

The same painting but warmer, maybe lighter, pops of rust-colored dirt and bright viridian sprouting up.

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lydirae.bsky.social @lydirae.bsky.social · 19/03/2024

Found this dude in my garage/studio again. He's uniquely creepy and useful. Here he is just hanging out near my books and papers.

Photo of a 24" resin model of a man without skin, illustrating the muscle groups and anatomical structures. He is positioned behind a folded easel and next to a paintbrush in my messy studio.

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