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caraid.bsky.social
Caraid
@caraid.bsky.social
28K followers 720 following 990 posts
AKA Ilse Gort. Professional illustrator & cat lady, 35, she/her.

WotC / Hi-Rez / MacMillan / Penguin Random House
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caraid.bsky.social
Randomly remembered this painting I did (2014) today and still think it's pretty cool honestly! I love this color combination.
A digital painting of a purple dragon perched on a rock, framed by a stormy blue sky and with a red firey glow in its mouth and eyes.
September 20, 2025 at 7:35 PM
caraid.bsky.social
Time to go sailing the seas again I guess.
A screenshot of a confirmation that my Disney+ subscription has been cancelled following Disney's knee-bending to fascist demands.
September 20, 2025 at 7:32 AM
caraid.bsky.social
Your favorite dragons in media!

Draco, Falkor, Pete's Dragon (the remake one, don't @ me he's a cutie), Ysera
September 6, 2025 at 10:03 PM
caraid.bsky.social
Painted some tiny Ajanis! 😊
Acrylic painting of Ajani, Nacatl Pariah from Magic the Gathering painted on an artist proof (a white-backed MtG card). Acrylic painting of Ajani, Nacatl Avenger from Magic the Gathering painted on an artist proof (a white-backed MtG card). The Nacatl Pariah painting from a different angle. The Nacatl Avenger painting from a different angle.
August 1, 2025 at 7:50 PM
caraid.bsky.social
Quick feral ref of my girl that I drew up for a commission 😊
July 25, 2025 at 6:59 PM
caraid.bsky.social
Auctioning off my original Jackalweres painting! This is my first time running an auction on bsky so fingers crossed it works out alright.

COMMENT BELOW TO BID - REPLY TO LAST BIDDER TO RAISE

The shipping cost is included in the price (from the UK to anywhere).
The scanned illustration featuring the Jackalweres, two in anthro form of which one masculine and one feminine, and one in feral (quadrupedal) form. Auction info Jackalweres Auction ends on Tuesday, June 10th at 7:30pm EDT which is Wednesday 0:30am BST and 8:30am JST The opening bid is 1300 USD The minimum bid increment is 25 USD There is a so-called anti-sniping rule in effect. Any bids made within the last half hour will move the auction deadline to be 30 minutes from the last bid, until no further bids are made. Payment plans are possible with a maximum of 3 months time. These will be discussed in private. The piece will not be shipped out until the full payment is completed. As mentioned in the OP, the shipping cost is included in the price. A photograph of the illustration on a wooden stand. Illustration info Jackalweres The paper size is 41 by 26 centimeters, which is 16.1 by 10.2 inches. There are no sketches or color roughs available. The piece was published in the Dungeons and Dragons 2024 Monster Manual and its copyright belongs to Wizards of the Coast. My art director for this illustration was Fury Galluzzi.
June 7, 2025 at 10:09 PM
caraid.bsky.social
My initial prompt was to feature the jackalwere in humanoid and feral form, ready to ambush desert travelers. The reference provided featured a rougher looking creature with wild hair and tattered clothes. I was asked to change it to a more "civilized" looking design and to add a feminine variant.
First sketch I submitted for the Jackalwere illustration. I features a jackalwere in humanoid and in feral form, looking as though they were getting ready to ambush desert travelers. The second, updated sketch I submitted for the jackalweres, featuring a more "civilized" design with neater looking clothes, as well as a second humanoid form that was more feminine in appearance.
April 27, 2025 at 9:08 PM
caraid.bsky.social
"Jackalwere"

My contribution to the 2024 Monster Manual! This was a fun one to paint ☺️. The sketches were done digitally, the final is an acrylic painting.
A page from the 2024 Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual, featuring the stats of the Jackalwere for which I did the accompanying illustration. Acrylic illustration featuring three jackalweres in a rocky desert environment, looking at the viewer. Two of the jackalweres are humanoid, one feminine and one masculine, wearing loosely patterned clothes. The third jackalwere looks like a regular jackal except they have green eyes and wear earrings.
April 27, 2025 at 8:59 PM
caraid.bsky.social
A few of my favorite shots from an incredible photoshoot my partner and I did with @perky.bsky.social while at NFC! Thank you so much ♥️

I built Asterisk (the dog) in the month leading up to NFC. I suppose this is technically my first "fursuit family" shoot 😄 ♥️
My partner sat on a guardrail wearing Asterisk, a canine fursuit head that I made. My partner and I sat on the stone steps of a harbor in Malmö, wearing Asterisk and Niva, the fursuit heads I made. My partner and I lounging on a climbable art installation in Malmö, wearing Asterisk and Niva, both fursuit heads I made. Asterisk and Niva posing in front of the Clarion Live hotel in Malmö.
March 2, 2025 at 10:17 PM
caraid.bsky.social
Acrylic painting of a phelddagrif, my contribution to a charity playmat organized by "Keukentafel MtG" in the Netherlands! 😄

The original of this will be for sale at KeukentafelMtG Fest, where I will be present for the day and available for signatures as well as playing some Sealed Draft!
Acrylic painting of a phelddagrif: a hippo with a pair of green feathered wings.
January 17, 2025 at 11:21 PM
caraid.bsky.social
There she is! 🥰
A photo of the 2024 DnD Dungeon Master's Guide with the special edition cover by Olena Richards. The "treasure" chapter inside the guide featuring my black dragon painting.
December 23, 2024 at 9:32 AM
caraid.bsky.social
Sculpting probably. I could never charge enough for the stuff I make to be worth the time it takes anyway. I just really enjoy the process and the result, and they make for great personalised gifts 😊
December 5, 2024 at 7:25 PM
caraid.bsky.social
Not included in the above: said lounging cat.
December 5, 2024 at 6:54 PM
caraid.bsky.social
"Show off where the magic happens"

I guess this isn't where *all* the magic happens since I paint traditionally in the living room. But this is my office, which is also my fursuit building space and my cat's lounge area lol. Also didn't clean for the pic 'cause that's cheating.
December 5, 2024 at 6:42 PM
caraid.bsky.social
Dragon doodle! Droodle?
A sketch of a long-necked dragon.
December 3, 2024 at 11:37 PM
caraid.bsky.social
"Light" <3
My character Lhune, who is a blue tiger with the back end of a deer, appearing to be floating or falling with a feather.
November 12, 2024 at 3:46 PM
caraid.bsky.social
WIPs! I was thrown a curveball with this one and was asked to change the perspective of the head while the painting was already in progress. I ended up finishing most of the painting first, then redrawing the head and repainting it from scratch. Worked out OK in the end thankfully!
A work-in-progress of the painting, showing the color rough top right which I was using for reference. The photo shows how I painted in the background first while protecting the dragon with a liquid mask, then peeled back the mask once the background was done, leaving a clean dragon silhouette for me to fill with paint. A photo of the illustration as it was near completion, showing the background and most of the dragon, but the dragon's head still unfinished, before I had redrawn it to change the angle as requested. Once the head was repainted the piece only needed a final detail pass and some finishing touches to be done.
November 11, 2024 at 5:23 PM
caraid.bsky.social
Once the sketch was chosen I traced it onto paper and did a traditional color rough. I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted to arrange the colors and values and was very pleased with how it came together! Aside from cooling down the gold, this is almost exactly how I wanted the final to be.
A quick, small color mock-up for the final painting to test my intended colors and values and see if the composition would be balanced and read well once filled in.
November 11, 2024 at 5:09 PM
caraid.bsky.social
More dragons! I'm always, always happy to do more dragons 🖤! Anytime I'm given an assignment like this I think of my child self and want to create an illustration that would've knocked her little socks off. It helps that I really dig this particular design.

Sketches!
The sketches for the above illustration. On the left, the sketch that was chosen to be made into the final, with the difference that in this sketch the dragon is looking at the viewer rather than slightly away to the right. On the right, it shows the dragon similarly perched atop ruined pillars, but from behind, as if were hiding in a corner and the dragon just turned her head having spotted us. Her long tail curving close by and disappearing towards the background.
November 11, 2024 at 5:03 PM
caraid.bsky.social
"Onyx"

The black dragon Onyx guarding her treasure hoard in the ruins of Xak Tsaroth. Painted in acrylics for the D&D 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide!
A black dragon perched atop a treasure hoard in a damp cave. In the background we see waterfalls pouring down onto the treasure piles, moss covers the stone ruins that hint at long gone civilization. The dragon has a pale face that makes it look skeletal, while her body is covered in black spiky plates, and her back ridged with tall spines. She has an almost serpentine look with a slender body and an enormously long tail curling back around to her front.
November 11, 2024 at 4:54 PM
caraid.bsky.social
Finally I took the piece to get scanned. The raw scan is closest to what the original looks like in real life and I'm really quite fond of it!

I made some adjustments only to ensure legibility at card size & vibrancy for the print. And lastly, the card itself!
Image showing the raw scan up top (that is, the unaltered digital file I received directly from the scanner) and the digitally adjusted final file below. The final is higher in contrast and vibrancy to ensure good legibility and print quality at card size. The Magic the Gathering card that the illustration was used on, named "Felidar Savior". It is a 4 mana Creature type card that is of the Cat and Beast tribes. It has 2 power, 3 toughness and Lifelink, and when it enters the battlefield the player may put a +1/+1 counter on each of up to two creatures they control.
August 23, 2024 at 3:31 PM
caraid.bsky.social
I used a liquid mask to cover the main focus area so I could paint the background first. Once I was satisfied with that, I removed the mask and kept a copy of the sketch next to the painting so I could keep an eye on my intended shapes and details as I finished it.
The final painting in progress, showing the background mostly painted while the Felidar and the rock it's on are still in the sketch stage. The final painting in progress, showing the color rough top right, the main painting in the middle and a copy of the original sketch top left, which I used as reference for the detail work on the Felidar.
August 23, 2024 at 3:27 PM
caraid.bsky.social
This piece isn't particularly big. The original is only twice the size of the color rough - a bit larger than A4. I'm still finding my ideal working size, though it's also possible it just really depends on what the piece needs. In this case, it didn't need it to be big!
Photo showing the color rough taped to my working desk in the top right, while the intended final work is taped down in the middle, currently featuring a refined sketch ready to be painted.
August 23, 2024 at 3:25 PM
caraid.bsky.social
I painted the color rough in acrylics then made some digital adjustments to it to use as reference for the final.

I really wanted the piece to feel bright and warm, with the felidar itself and the rocky formations contrasting nicely against the cool blues of its horns & the sky.
On the left, the original color rough as it was done in acrylics. On the right is the digitally adjusted color rough, which is brighter and warmer and contrasts the Felidar against the background more sharply.
August 23, 2024 at 3:23 PM
caraid.bsky.social
Sketches!

This is one of the first pieces I've done entirely in traditional media, using pencils and markers for some basic shading. I think either of these would've worked really well and I was excited to start painting!
Two sketches of the above Felidar done in pencil and grey markers. One features the sketched version of the illustration above, the other has the Felidar perched in a more central spot in the composition, facing somewhere over the viewer's head in the far distance and showing off its impressive horns and ears in their full width.
August 23, 2024 at 3:21 PM