KrisCynical
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kriscynical.bsky.social
KrisCynical
@kriscynical.bsky.social
41 followers 4 following 50 posts
Illustrator & Fandom Artist | BFA Ringling | she/her | 40s | 🔗🌲: kriscynical
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kriscynical.bsky.social
KrisCynical @kriscynical.bsky.social · Sep 18
"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.
kriscynical.bsky.social
"Inner Demons" Another old #Bleach piece of #Ichigo with his inner hollow. Honestly it's been so long since I watched the first season of Bleach I don't remember all of the terminology and names! Gimmie a break, I'm internet old™. 🙃 #fanart #KrisCynical_art
October 10, 2025 at 11:52 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
Standard story: Today's my bday. I decorate cakes as a hobby, including my own. My mom bakes/frosts it for me, then I have fun w it. If I didn't, I'd get candy letters. #loz #Zelda #LegendOfZelda #Hestu #BotW #BreathOfTheWild #TearsOfTheKingdom #TotK #CakeArt #FoodArt #BirthdayCake #KrisCynical_art
My birthday cake for this year, obviously korok/hestu themed. Nothing like having little crap nuggets decorating the sides of your cake, amirite? All made with fondant. Hestu's body is painted, then everything else is drawn with food dye markers. I wish pearl dust showed up better on camera because there are touches of it everywhere on this to give it a little sparkle. Outline and magic bits made with glitter gel. I got a cake leveler tool this year and it made a huge difference!
September 28, 2025 at 9:28 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"Mom of the Wild" My Christmas gift for my mom back in 2020. The full story behind the image is in the alt text, but I got my mom into #Zekda via #BotW and she ADORES the #koroks. And #Hestu. She's my partner in Hylian mischief. #BreathOfTheWild #LegendOfZelda #loz #fanart #KrisCynical_art
Breath of the Wild illustration titled "Mom of the Wild". I got my mom into Zelda via BotW back in about 2018, and she's been hooked ever since. She became known as "Mom of the Wild" on my tumblr at the time because tales of her exploits in Hyrule in her own playthrough ended up being surprisingly popular, which absolutely delighted me. You can still find the whole saga over there. This was my Christmas gift for her in 2020, of the two of us dressed up as Link with her favorite thing in the whole Zelda universe, the Koroks. And Hestu. I cannot tell you how many hundreds of times I have watched that broccoli man dance. I can never skip the cut scene because she LOVES his dances and thinks the koroks are the most adorable little things ever. We still play Zelda together constantly, particularly TotK. I think we've played through it completely six times? Seven? It doesn't get old. Different weird and funny shit happens in every single playthrough!
September 27, 2025 at 2:00 PM
kriscynical.bsky.social
...are these something else I never posted outside of LiveJournal? I think it is. Oops. This was another convention piece, this time of #Sebastian from #BlackButler. He was very fun to draw. #CielPhantomhive? Not so much. I was freaking nuts for trying to do LACE RUFFLES. #fanart #KrisCynical_art
Black Butler piece of Sebastian pulling on one of his gloves. Black Butler piece of Ciel Phantomhive. Every so often I'll do a piece like this that really makes me think that I hate myself deep down, because wtf was I thinking??? LACE? LACE RUFFLES? Detail shot of the eyelet lace ruffles in the piece of Ciel Phantomhive. That was temporary insanity.
September 27, 2025 at 1:48 PM
kriscynical.bsky.social
The one other #AttackOnTitan piece that I did back when only the first season was out. It's #LeviAckerman. And there were so many tiny details in that equipment & all of those straps/buckles that my eyes hurt by the time I was done with it. lol #AoT #fanart #KrisCynical_art
Another Attack on Titan piece, this time of Levi Ackerman flying through the trees mid-battle, spattered with blood. My eyes legit hurt by the time I was done with this one due to all of the details in the equipment and straps and buckles everywhere. I was also really happy with the trees, which were another use of the same textures from my Adventure Time piece.
September 27, 2025 at 1:33 PM
kriscynical.bsky.social
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/.
September 26, 2025 at 11:39 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
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.
September 26, 2025 at 10:39 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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
September 26, 2025 at 10:26 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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
Yuri on Ice illustration titled "Hand in Hand" originally made for the fic "Winter Song" by proantagonist on Ao3. Victor gives Yuuri a kiss on the forehead before heading to the arena for the GPF. "You have a job to do, and when it's done, you and I are going to walk out of that arena hand in hand. No matter what, okay?" Sparkles are surprisingly tricky to do in cell shading. Photoshop also crashed in the middle of this -- which it NEVER usually did because my desktop was a brand new BEAST of a machine at the time -- and nearly made me keyboard smash because I had lost all of my coloring progress at the time. lol I'm still running that same Windows 7 machine now because my old copy of Creative Suite CS3 won't install on 10 or 11 and even if it would, Adobe shut down the verification servers so the software disc I paid hundreds of dollars for back in the day is just a *very* expensive coaster now. Which is completely fair and consumer friendly and not at all fucked up in the slightest. Nope, no-sir-ee-bob. :|
September 26, 2025 at 10:18 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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.
September 18, 2025 at 6:42 PM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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.
September 18, 2025 at 3:32 PM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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.
September 18, 2025 at 3:26 PM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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.
September 18, 2025 at 11:05 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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.
September 12, 2025 at 6:55 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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.
September 12, 2025 at 6:48 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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.
September 10, 2025 at 11:50 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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.
September 10, 2025 at 11:31 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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!
September 10, 2025 at 11:16 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"Stammi Vicino Duetto" #yoi #YuriOnIce #YuuriKatsuki #VictorNikiforov #victuuri #fanart #KrisCynical_art
Yuri on Ice illustration titled "Stammi Vicino Duetto" of Victor and Yuuri's pairs skate.
September 10, 2025 at 11:00 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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.
September 9, 2025 at 6:04 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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.
September 9, 2025 at 5:49 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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.
September 9, 2025 at 5:46 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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.
September 9, 2025 at 5:38 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
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!
September 8, 2025 at 11:54 AM
kriscynical.bsky.social
"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.
September 8, 2025 at 11:50 AM