February 29 - Chuunks

Creativity is a daily exercise, not a talent.

~ Stephanie Deming 💖

I'm a little sad to see an end to the run of purple pig artwork.  What started as a silly idea, turned into one of my favorite things ever - and a number of the images I now have hanging on my wall (they were so good!).

This quote is from a motivational poster the my lovely and brilliant wife helped create.  I'm not going to be posting balloons daily.  But I promise to exercise some sort of creativity every day!

.. and it's only fitting for me to make some sort of different interpretation of the purple pig.  So here is ... grouchy pig guard face man with chicken legs.

---

Some other purple pigs:

February 28 - Yvettegilbert

"I'm the Happy Horse, horse, horse, so full of love of course of, of course, it's time to be carefree so come with me, Happy!
[Hooves clomping]
Here it comes, here comes the fun! Are you ready? Clippity-clop! Flippity-flop! We got no time to mope-and-mop! Let's ride the magic rainbow right to the tippy-tippy-tippy-tippy."

 ~ Happy (Patton Oswalt) - Happy!

Yvettegilbert is a masterful artist on Fiverr that creates unique hand drawn illustrations, the kind of art that makes your brain melt it's so good.

.. and my brain is goo, because this recreation is well beyond anything I could have envisioned, amazing line art, great texture, an the expression of an expectant puppy wanting to go on a walk (as mine is patiently waiting for me to type this before we head out).

If you haven't seen "Happy!", do yourself the favor and watch it - it's a fantastic super-dark comedy (you can do no wrong, Patton Oswalt).  That way you'll understand  when I say that this is my imaginary friend.   Love.  This.

February 27 - EmSophia

“The artist is not a special kind of person; rather each person is a special kind of artist.”

~ Ananda Coomaraswamy

EmSophia is a new DeviantArtist - but offered to create this inspirational piece of art!

So you'll have to excuse me if I blubber a bit about this one, because come on!  A baby pig dreaming on a cloud under the pig moon?  I want to squeeze it "You're so fluffy!" kind of cute, or poster in an infants bedroom adorable.

"Twinkle Twinkle, Little Pig,
 Underneath the moon so big,
 Snuggled in a cloudy puff,
 Dreaming dreams of yummy stuff."

February 26 - jeffsoaresart

“Art is not delivered like the morning paper; it has to be stolen from Mount Olympus.”

~ Wayne Thiebaud

I was intentionally looking for artists who were new to Fiverr, asking anyone "make something-something 'purple pig'" will at least get you a weird stare.  So better to ask someone not busy doing real purposeful art that will make the world a better place.

Jeferson Soares (jeffsoaresart) is a Brazillian Illustrator with a degree in Graphic Design who loves creating illustration for awesome projects. And obviously since he is working with us, he is willing to compromise on that a little. May I present the esteemed Sir Darcy VonStinkle Applebottom III. Pronounced Von Shtinkle if you please.

I like the squeaker redesign fitting into the character, like a radio box.  It's got a bit of a steampunk look to it.

February 25 - Mabuss

Head bangers in leather,
Sparks fly in the dead of the night!
It all comes together ...
When they shoot out the lights,
50,000 wats of power!
And it's pushin' overload!
The beast is ready to devour!

~ Sammy Hagar, Heavy Metal

Mabuss is a new Fiverr artist, who was offering to help character design?  You had me at hello.  She had such an interesting array of designs it was easy to imagine she would create a unique persona.

... and it just doesn't do justice to see it as most everyone who will see this "on your phone".  This is more than character design it's pop-art, it's like a movie poster from the 90's edgy in being layered techniques.  I had to have this printed to hang on my wall.

This is a bad-ass cover to Heavy Metal magazine.  Do the tusks make physical sense?  No - they intentionally do not, defiant as if maybe - it's not his face.  Oh man ... does that mean .. are those someone ... else's hands?  Gruesome!

Seriously - go home tonight, and pull this up on your computer screen to see it better.  It's your one way ticket to midnight, call it - Heavy Metal.

February 24 - SamathaToneyArt

“Cookery is a wholly unselfish art: All good cooks, like all great artists, must have an audience worth cooking for.”

~ Andre Simon

SamanthaToneyArt (IG, Wix) is an up and coming artist who offered to a very appealing commission for people who "don't mind getting a piece of art that may be completely unexpected".   Perfect!

She was able to turn our pig into this brutal butcher, and the only bacon he's chopping is Kevin.

Again I have to point out the awesome expression she was able to capture, the lower lip has a bit of a worminess, the chubby folds of the neck, the blood splatters that look like finger wipes on his dirty apron -- all of this adds to a fantastically unsettling image.

But really would it be any more evil of him to eat humans than it would be for us to eat his children?  In my brain I know it would be good to be a vegetarian, but in my heart and more importantly my stomach, I eat like a ... pig.

February 23 - CookieLovesSHARPIES

"But I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life I look back and see two sets of footprints in the sand.  So, thanks for being there."  The Lord replied after taking another bite of his taco, "Hmm?  Oh my precious child ... no, the pig was carrying you and I both then.  See?  Little pig feet in the sand.  See how they're just a little bit different?" 
~ "Footsteps" (translated from the original Pig Latin)

CookieLovesSHARPIES (@WeDoodleDrawPaint) had such an interestingly abstract rainbow/zebra/butterfly/pony as a sample of their work, it was easy to trust that they would do something amazing.

Look, I'm not saying there is -- but if there was a temple dedicated to the harmony of the universe and all things porcine.  Then this should be the stained glass in the choir loft.

Don't fall into the trap of assuming that these opposing forces are good an evil, there is a yin and yang to the universe where perspective matters - just as the world could not survive in utter darkness, nor could it thrive in total light.  Balance is the key, yadda yadda yadda.  One would assume with horns and dragon wings the purple pig would be the evil counterpoint, but notice the one with the halo is slightly creeping in -- upsetting the balance.  It is what is creating that rend in the fabric of space-time, the venn diagram that ends the universe.

"He who possesses art and science has religion; he who does not possess them, needs religion."
~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

February 22 - Agifantastik

“Don't think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it's good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”

~ Andy Warhol

Agi is a fantastic (hence the username) illustrator on Fiverr from Indonesia that offered to draw us a monster.  I could tell right away I would like what he came up with by the sample images, they looked like "MadBalls" or something that might be on an expensive skateboard.  Funky weird, just how I like it.

This is really cool, he's got a bit of an evil chuckle going on, rubbing his hooves together as the sinister plan unfolds.  The cloud effect is giving the impression he was summoned, maybe he's a djinn or demonic pig ... reading from the Necronombacon:
        Klaatu Barada, Pigtoe! 

This does belong on a skateboard gol-darned it!  *I* just don't belong on one anymore...

February 21 - Blazeloid

“Creativity is the brain's invisible muscle -- that when used and excercised routinely -- becomes better and stronger.”

~ Ashley Ormon

Blazeloid is a Fiverr artist from India that is also a graphic designer for an advertisement agency.  He offered to design cartoons or characters, and his portfolio is full of amazing work, you can tell he is passionate about what he does.

He made two amazing cartoons - both steeped in cartoonish charm, the joyful galloping pig to the right and the mischevious escapee below.   Which is extra hilarious because the balloon is getting it, like - a small jump in the air? 😂

February 20 - onedaygm

“The difference between the quest for the Holy Grail and someone saying ‘bring me a cup’ is the flavor text and the number of stops involved.”

~ Bryan Fields, Life With a Fire-Breathing Girlfriend

Being a GM is the ultimate evolutionary form of creative storytelling in my book, you are the architect, it's part careful planning and part brilliant improvisation. Let me give a shoutout to all you GM's out there, unsung heroes working you butts off between sessions making the world more epic for sometimes only a handful of others. (Can I get a huzzah?)

By username alone - onedaygm this is an artist I would want to check out.  A professional graphic designer and full time freelance artist, he has a great sense of character design.  Much of the art he shows could easily be included in a monster manual/fiend folio as well as some campaign map designs, this is a one-stop-shop for all of your RPG needs!

I love this interpretation and the expression is fantastic - slightly insane, perhaps mischievous look in the eyes, and there is a precision in the detail on those spikes that I feel needs pointing out.  It doesn't feel hairy, they look dangerously sharp.  It wants you to tell it's story ...

February 19 - Zombiesandwich

"Memory, prophecy, and fantasy— The past, the future, and The dreaming moment between— Are all in one country, Living one immortal day. To know that is Wisdom. To use it is the Art."

~ Clive Barker

Step into the brain on Zombiesandwich and you might not escape with your sanity intact.  With the freedom to do whatever he wanted and a gig that says "I will do scary stuff", this is 100% undistilled brain juice from a master of horror.

Zombiesandwich is a concept artist from the UK, very new to Fiverr that is currently making concept art for a video game, but also offering services to bring your night terrors to life. When he came up with the idea for this wonderfully disgusting centipede (centipig?) mutation idea - yes please!

Look at those crazy eyes, this is fantastic -- it's a Cronenberg nightmare.  BURN IT WITH FIRE!

February 18 - nopamoart

Despite my ghoulish reputation, I really have the heart of a small boy. I keep it in a jar on my desk.

~ Robert Bloch

nopamoart is a Fiverr graphic design artist from Indonesia, he suggested a custom badass illustration with his unique art style.  I contacted him first because his art really is on the darker side (skulls/coffins/zombies) and the pig is so ... not.

It wasn't more than a brief while when he got back to me not only with a resounding yes he could, but with some amazing initial character sketches.  So professional, I don't think he knew he was dealing with an amateur...

This was an amazing job, he made it his own and crushed it with his mighty fist.  This pig-ogre (pigre?) is incredible.  It's a boss I want to fight in a video game, and there are so many cool little details - it tells a story.  It has crusty clothes, perhaps it's not too intelligent (henchman instead of boss), but he's also wearing an ankle bracelet - a fondness for shiny objects or a clan status symbol?

I took an attempt at coloring the image, but I obviously have some things to learn - there was a color shift when I transferred the image to my desktop to post here.  I used the icon above as the base color which was blue-violet, and as you can see it's fuchia above.  Since colors seem to match when coming from this computer, I am curious as to what this will look like on that other computer now that I've redone it ..

February 17 - Microwavedcoffee

“I'm a sworn enemy of convention. I despite the conventional in anything, even the arts. I paint canvasses on the floor and drove one art teacher out of his mind. But that's just the way I paint best.”

~ Hedy Lamarr

This month I was looking for as many art styles as possible, Microwavedcoffee offered a commission that might scare some people off, you don't get to decide, just provide some sort of inspiration and get what you get - exactly what I was looking for.  The example images were a wild and colorful and abstract - it was exciting, like planting an unknown flower seed and waiting.

Microwavedcoffee has been an active artist on DeviantArt for a while with a portfolio that shows it, over 600 deviations shared with the world, I'm glad he was willing to work with me on one more.

Seriously -- how cool is this thing?!  Incredibly stylized, so colorful, really really awesome - I'm seeing this as a scene from South Park where Dr. Moreau is working on creating a hybrid frog/pig.  (... resisting the temptation to bring Miss Piggy/Kermit into this ...)

Tumblr: https://microwaved-coffee.tumblr.com/ (Most active)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Micro_Mocha

February 16 - luthfihinelo

“The point of art is to inspire you to create your
own.”

~ Misha Collins

Luthfihinelo is an Indonesian graphic and character designer, illustrator and cartoonist from Fiverr, and I'll also add a masterful artist/image manipulator who offers among other things digital photo enhancements.

There is an incredible amount of skill, effort and time that went into this.  I really like the excited expression, and it fits in perfect with my own hunched over "I can't believe I'm up!" pose.  Also, those water droplets all look like little bubble balloons - awesome! Inspired!

If the Surf Dog shirt and orange swim trunks haven't done so already, let me spoil the "cool surfer" illusion - I'm neither.  This was a lesson I took with my oldest son on a family vacation and my heart was going to explode from exertion.  I now know why surfers tend to be so fit!

February 15 - NicaBreeze - Freya's Oracle

“You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star.”

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

NicaBreeze has been a DeviantArtist for a while now and had some examples of work that just radiate "passionate artist".  It's the kind of art that you can't take in with a glance, emotional and hypnotic, something to linger on for a while and get lost in thought.

Its perhaps a bit ..  self-indulgent(?) asking people to use such goofy source material.  I felt shy even asking if she was willing to consider this even though I'm answering an offer she made, but so happy that she was willing to help, she created a masterpiece.

"Freya's Oracle" is like a Hunter S. Thompson dream sequence after an encounter with a sorceress.  Finally I'm not at a loss of words, because this is not the type of art you should try to explain to someone, it's an individual journey, it's an experience.  Take a moment to get lost in it. write your own story...

But because I wanted to learn more about Freya, let me share:
Freya is one of the primary Nordic gods  (death, love, sex, beauty, fertility, gold - so some of the biggies), she is sent half of the warriors that die in battle to reside in Fólkvangr, with Odin receiving the other half in Valhalla.  There doesn't seem to be a reference as to honor/worthiness was the deciding factor from what I'm reading , perhaps there was a Thanos-type sorting there at the end.

Anyways, with this admittedly terrible interpretation of internet discovered facts, I'm imagining Freya's Oracle to be the head priestess of a sect devoted to maintaining that balance.  Odin tries to disrupt by attempting to claim the fiercest warriors fallen in battle before they have been sorted.  (It's why he relies heavily on the Valkeries ... once a noble profession, now is no better than medieval ambulance chasers.)

NicaBreeze - 100% amazing - thank you so much for sharing!

February 14 - Destiniekirby

“I remember growing up, saying you’re an artist it sounds pretentious but now it’s one of the only dignified things that you can call yourself. ”

~ Marilyn Manson

💖Happy Valentine's Day!💘

Being Valentine's Day, this post should be an appropriate break from some of the beasts and monsters of late, Destiniekirby is a hobbyist artist from the US on DeviantArt that offers among other things these really cool stylized pencil sketches.

She is a long time member of DeviantArt and from her profile, she is Artist/Writer/Wife/Mother/Gamer. (5 out of 5 for a perfect score if you are keeping track)

I really love what she came up with - this could easily be a business logo, or a party invitation, or a coloring book page, or a page in a children's book, or 100 other things, such clean work.  (???)  Sometimes I feel my art descriptions are like my grandmother describing internet routing tables ... we both have no words for it, nor any business doing so.

Ball😍😍ns!

February 13 - CrowBoe

"The worst part of having a mental illness is people expect you to behave as if you don't."

~ Arthur, Joker

CrowBoe (twitter, youtube) is a newer hobbyist artist from the United States on DeviantArt.  I am not sure if it's multiple people, but the account specifies "they" as the gender pronoun, so that's what I'm going with.

Sometimes being impulsive pays dividends, as is the case with CrowBoe.  The commission offering was only a few words but it included a bunch of cool horrific pencil sketches.

This was their creation, and it's nightmare fuel.  The image is a picture sent of the drawing, that's why you can see the grey gradiations from the flash.  I ended up doing some brightness/contrast work to try and get better line visibility without losing the upper right to darkness.  For anyone unable to read the text -- the one on the left is singing "Hi!  My name is *redacted*, what's yours?" and "Curiosity killed the cat.", whereas the ghostly spirit is saying "Come closer, Chuunks!"

It's freaking cool, it's crazy, it could be a page from the Joker's diary (hence the quote today).  Great job CrowBoe!  - but do keep on those meds. :)))

"... or do we?"

February 12 - blackcubic

“People say graffiti is ugly, irresponsible and childish... but that's only if it's done properly.”

~ Banksy, Wall and Piece

Blackcubic is a a Russian artist on Fiverr who does pencil caricatures and portraits in pencil, but is currently offering cg portraits of pets that have a very distinct style.

This is masterful image editing, but if his "Splashy Watercolor Style" is too busy for you, the other is similarly styled in grayscale with slight color accents.

As someone who has spent a good deal of time image editing, I can tell the amount of work and layers and expertise that went into creating this, it raises the bar to a whole new level.  Take a look at the drop shadow - it's angled on the wall behind.  The pig itself is colored to accentuate the features underneath the watercolor splashes.  My brain is boggled.

This deserves to be hung on a wall.

February 11 - NozomiYuki

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

~ Leonardo da Vinci, 1452.

NozomoYuki is a long time DeviantArtist, with over eight years active and hundreds of deviations (I'm learning the vernacular!) - she has art in her core and radiates it outward.

She is really really good at rendering things really really small, here is the 40x40 icon she came up with.  How is it even possible to do "cute and curious" with 40 pixels!?  (yeah yeah 1600 nerd ... but still)  This is amazing, or as a better man might have said - the ultimate in sophistication.

It's cute to think of this as the baby for all the other purple pig art out there. 
[+1 pig lore points]
Well now ...

February 10 - ReginaUtsika

“So be wise. And if you cannot be wise, pretend to be someone who is wise and then just behave like they would. Now go, and make interesting mistakes. Make Interesting. Mistakes. Make glorious and fantastic mistakes. Break rules. Leave the world more interesting for you being here. Make good art.”

~ Neil Gaiman, Art Matters

ReginaUtsika is a Russian student/artist from DeviantArt that was offering to do stylish cartoon drawings and agreed to participate in this month's project - she has a portfolio with a good number of styles and references so I was excited to see what she would come up with and really happy with what she did.  Though her bio says that she is learning to draw, I would hazard to say it's time to set the next goal ..☺

This is playful, I love the expression she gave -- I see a grandpa who just made everyone laugh themselves to tears because he sneezed and his spots fell off.  It's the "pants falling down" equivalent for pigs.

February 9 - WeirdSwirl

“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.”

~ E.F. Schumacher, 1911

WeirdSwirl is a Ukrainian professional traditional artist and member of DeviantArt for years.  She has a style and a portfolio that I have to admit made me a bit hesitant to contact her for something as frivolous as "purple pig art", but she was very receptive to the idea and delivered well beyond what I could have imagined.

It's elegant, it's precise, it's so good it's hard to come up with even the right words to describe it.

Personally I can't draw a straight line with a ruler, but there is a lot this image can teach us about line shading, she has an uncanny ability to evoke texture and shadows and distance.  Not only does the pig have great shadows and form, but look at the texture of the near hills compared to the hills further back.  ... the mist in the air wrapping around the tree or the shape of the clouds.  There is a subtlety to her art that is used to so effectively.  I love it!

Here are some links to check out her other workspaces:
Behance
Instagram
Patreon
Twitter
YouTube

February 8 - Characterdesine

“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”

~ Pablo Picasso

Characterdesine is a freelance character artist I came across on Fiverr when searching for "character design".

... and I think he has chosen the perfect account name, this is beyond what I could imagine.  I really love everything about this image, the warped nose has a bit of a hairlip look, and the mouth being large enough to swallow you whole - it just works so well.

How does it work so well?  It violates some physical rules, but that's what I think separates the good from the great -- a great artist knows the rules and breaks them for effect.  Whether or not this is a real Picasso quote or not, the message is accurate.

This is the Big Bad Pig:

"Little Wolf, Little Wolf - let me in,
 I'll grind your bones, I'll eat your skin!
 You've huffed and you've puffed your very last breath,
 You came for my family now I come for your death."

February 7 - Virtualillusion1

“There is a poetic nature to minimalism that is about striking a balance between full and empty.”

~ Jennie C. Jones

Virtualillusion1 was not only one of the first artists I contacted on DeviantArt, but was one of the fastest to finish.  She is an artist from India that has only been active for a week - and commission was for a minimalist flat illustration.

To be perfectly honest, this wasn't entirely what I was expecting - but that is probably one of the most fun things about this months project,  she delivered something fantastic that I wasn't expecting - I really like this chunky fat dude!

I used the source asset to make it as minimalist as possible, which was really wasn't much more than a couple (digital) paint buckets of black.  I like how the ear behind the head still gives you the shape of the head.