#ArtBySEM
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thesem.bsky.social
ko-fi.com/s/cc59071bf6 My comic about a cat in ancient China is ready for people! It's pay what you want on my ko-fi. I hope you enjoy! #ArtBySEM #comic
The Mandate of Heaven (short comic) - SEM's Ko-fi Shop
This is a comic I made about a cat in China. Inspired by watching the 2010 Three Kingdoms, but with historical influences from Xianyang Palace and the...
ko-fi.com
March 2, 2025 at 12:55 PM
thesem.bsky.social
Please ignore the typo where I used the incorrect ware #ArtBySEM #TodayILookedUp
TODAY I LOOKED UP RAKU WARE Raku ware is a style of Japanese pottery. The pottery is taken out of the kiln while hot & cools in the open air. There is a Western style of raku ware, developed in the 20th century. This involves cooling it in water or air, or in a barrel with other materials to affect color. This leads to vibrant colors. Looked up because videos were recommended to me. 5 Feb 2025 SEM There is a drawing of a teacup in the corner
February 5, 2025 at 8:48 PM
thesem.bsky.social
Here is a batch now #ArtBySEM #HourlyComicsDay
Panel 1: 1-3AM. Just says in all caps “insomnia” Panel 2: 3-4 AM. “I decide to book travel” Panel 3: 4-5 AM. “WvW time in GW2. Follow the comm” Panel 4: 5-6AM. “Drew these panels. Guess I’m doing 1 panel/hour” Panel 5: sleep attempt 2, 6 AM to…? Panel 6: 5-6PM. Took a shower after escaping bed. It needs cleaning.
February 1, 2025 at 6:18 PM
thesem.bsky.social
Taphonomy comics batch 3/3. Taphonomy is the study of how something died and was fossilised, made for university
#ArtbySEM #Taphonomy
La Brea woman, a woman with a head wound who was found in the La Brea tarpits
July 25, 2024 at 1:24 PM
artbysem.com
My latest comic is here! 16 page full color comic about the Varangian Guard. Additional research done by @randomisedmongoose.bsky.social Please check it out! ko-fi.com/s/768ba39651 #comics #historical #ArtBySEM #traditionalart
Halfdan Was Here comic - SEM's Ko-fi Shop
Halfdan Was Here, a 16 page full color comic about the Varangian Guard. Historical fiction. Two files contained, a PDF and one set up for printing and...
ko-fi.com
June 21, 2025 at 5:14 PM
thesem.bsky.social
Forgot to tag #ArtbySEM
thesem.bsky.social SEM @thesem.bsky.social · Nov 13
Baby’s first riso print :3 quickly drew in class, but people asked for copies ;_; yay
A cat in pink and teal on green paper
November 13, 2024 at 2:55 PM
thesem.bsky.social
My last facts, for now. My little February project ends #TodayILookedUp #ArtBySEM
Today I looked up New tomb found Sort of. A tomb found in 2022 was confirmed to be the tomb of Pharaoh Thutmose II. This tomb was found in the Valley of the Queens, and is the first Pharaoh’s tomb discovered since Tutankhamun. Due to flood damage, the body of Thutmose II was not there. His body has been discovered in the 19th Century elsewhere. A picture of Thutmose II based off of the relief at Karnak. 25 Feb 2025 SEM Today I looked up Sloyd/Slöjd Sloyd is an education system developed by Uno Cygnaeus in Finland in 1865. Sloyd comes from the Swedish slöjd, meaning handicrafts. Mainly woodwork, but also sewing, knitting, and such. In the modern day sloyd is broken down into soft and hard materials. It’s still part of the curriculum in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. Picture of a sloyd knife, used in woodworking. 26 Feb 2025 SEM Today I looked up Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (TV show) The original 1978 film was a parody film, poking fun at 50’s B-movies. In the 1986-87 season of the Muppet Babies, they made a joke about the attack of the silly tomatoes. This episode was so highly rated that New World Pictures asked Four Square to make a sequel. This sequel was a hit, and so New World Pictures greenlit an animated kids’ show. It ran 1990-91. Picture of a Killer Tomato 27 Feb 2025 SEM Today I looked up Omphale Heracles had killed Iphitus, and to atone was commanded to serve Omphale for a year. Omphale was queen of Lydia. During his servitude to Omphale, Heracles was said to be forced to dress as a woman, with Omphale wearing his skin of the Nemean Lion. No Classical Greek texts survive with the full story, but there is art showing the story. Picture of Omphale in the Nemean Lion skin. 28 Feb 2025 SEM
February 28, 2025 at 10:31 PM
thesem.bsky.social
Catching up. How did I get to this guy in my wiki trawling? It’s complicated, sorry. #ArtBySEM #TodayILookedUp
TODAY I LOOKED UP SUN YAOTING Sun Yaoting was the last Imperial eunuch of Chima. He died in 1996. Eunuchs in China were emasculated– that is the penis & testes were removed. His father emasculated him when he was 8, hoping he would serve Puyi. Despite Puyi being deposed within months of this, Sun did serve the Imperial Family. He had kept his genitals but they were thrown out dung the Cultural Revolution. 6 Feb 2025 SEM A picture of a penis and testes in a jar. The jar says “not historically accurate” as I’m unsure how they kept and preserved their genitals.
February 8, 2025 at 10:54 PM
thesem.bsky.social
Big Head, one of my in-laws' former cats. Done with watercolor, pencil, gouache, and paint pen. #cat #cats #art #traditionalart #ArtbySEM
A black and white painting of a mostly white cat with some black patches. His name is Big Head (sounds like Big Ed with the wife's accent)
August 8, 2024 at 6:26 PM
thesem.bsky.social
Please look this up there’s a lot to the methodology I didn’t have space for #ArtBySEM #TodayILookedUp
TODAY I LOOKED UP CROWS KNOW ZERO Zero seems obvious to us but as a mathematical concept it is rather abstract, not appearing until c 5th century AD. In 2021, a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience using carrion crows showed evidence that they could comprehend zero, & that they understand that zero is less than one. Looked up because I was fact-checking a meme. 10 Feb 2025 SEM A picture of a crow in a graduation cap holding some chalk (to do math).
February 11, 2025 at 12:05 AM
thesem.bsky.social
Wrist is still acting up, but it's my character Phil's birthday (August 20) so I wanted to get a doodle done at least. One of the few characters of mine to have a set birthday #artbySEM
August 20, 2023 at 4:34 AM
thesem.bsky.social
We had a welcome week project, where we were assigned a word and had to make a piece about it. My word was “temporary” #ArtbySEM
September 30, 2023 at 8:22 AM
thesem.bsky.social
Commission from late March for a friend of one of the players in her DnD campaign. Toby, a circle of spores dhampir druid #ArtbySEM #DnD
July 25, 2024 at 12:52 PM
thesem.bsky.social
Dinner time #ArtBySEM #HourlyComicsDay
6-7PM: Waiting for pizza.
February 1, 2025 at 7:26 PM
thesem.bsky.social
Taphonomy comics batch 1/3. Taphonomy is the study of how something died and was fossilised, made for university #ArtbySEM #Taphonomy
A 3 panel comic showing an opabinia and some trilobites dying in an underwater mudslide in the Burgess Shale A 3 panel comics showing an ancient horsetail being choked out by muddy water and dying eventually forming the South Wales coal fields A 3 panel comic showing Mary Anning's Ichthyosaur eating a belemnites before dying A 3 pane comic showing Mongolia's "Fighting Dinosaurs" (a velociraptor and protoceratops) sparring before being buried by a sand dune
July 25, 2024 at 1:21 PM
thesem.bsky.social
I just like loons #ArtBySEM #TodayILookedUp
TODAY I LOOKED UP LOONS Loons or divers (apparently) are an aquatic bird. There are 5 species of loon. Loons are better at swimming than walking, & only come to land to mate & nest. Looked up because I just wanted to learn about loons. Gavia immer (scientific name of the loon drawing in the corner) 4 feb 2025 SEM
February 4, 2025 at 9:14 PM
thesem.bsky.social
A little late #portfolioday post! I'm a UK-based illustrator and aspiring comic artist. I love to work with watercolor #ArtbySEM
A watercolour painting of a pineapple A watercolour painting of two Andean Flamingoes. They are on the salt flats of the Atacama A black and white watercolour painting of my in-law's cat Big Ed A digital drawing of my two oldest characters, Lord and Phil. Lor is resting her arm on Phil
January 15, 2025 at 12:50 AM
thesem.bsky.social
All my drawings (paintings?) from tonight. First batches done in water soluble graphite, last done in watercolor #ArtbySEM
3, 3 minute life drawings done in water soluble graphite 2, 10 minute life drawings done in water soluble graphite 2, 14 minute life drawings done in water soluble graphite 2, 20 minute life drawings done in watercolor
December 5, 2024 at 8:38 PM
thesem.bsky.social
My mom made a pun about calamarigraphy (calligraphy using octopus ink) and I had to be a killjoy. But a killjoy who checks facts #ArtBySEM #TodayILookedUp
TODAY I LOOKED UP SEPIA Sepia is a color that comes from Cuttlefish ink sacs. The cuttlefish are from the genus Sepia, hence the name. Sepia in was common in Greco-Roman civilizations, per Wikipedia. As best I can tell sepia toning in photography doesn't employ Sepia ink. Looked up because of puns. 3 Feb 2025 SEM
February 3, 2025 at 9:39 PM
thesem.bsky.social
Almost done I promise #TodayILookedUp #ArtBySEM
Today I looked up Old pregnancy tests Before at-home pregnancy tests became viable, scientists often used animals to check pregnancy. In the 1940’s-60’s two tests developed using frogs. Hogben tests used female African clawed frogs. Urine would be injected on the back of the frog, and if pregnant, the frog would ovulate within 24 hours. The Galli Mainini test used male South American frogs. If pregnant, they’d release sperm. Picture of an African clawed frog (labelled) 19 Feb 2025 SEM Today I looked up Xiao’erjing Xiao’erjung is a Chinese-Arabic script. It literally translates as “small children’s canon,” but xiāo can also mean “to digest,” perhaps in relation to learning the Qur’ān. While employed in translations of the Qur’ān, it is mainly used by the Hui, a Muslim ethnicity in China. The Hui mostly settled China during the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, where Persian was the most prominent language. Picture of the star and crescent. 20 Feb 2025 SEM Today I looked up Colonial hummingbirds Gustavo Cañas-Valle, an Ecuadorian ornithologist and guide, found a cave of hummingbirds roosting together. Hummingbirds are one of the more aggressive bird species, being very territorial. Juan Luis Bouzat, Cañas-Valle’s former graduate advisor, co-wrote a paper with him. They hypothesize that harsh climates in the High Andes forced them together. More research to come. Picture of a Chimborazo hillstar (male), the hummingbird observed. 21 Feb 2025 SEM Today I looked up The Gemonian Stairs A set of steps in Ancient Rome, also known as the Stairs of Mourning. The stairs were probably built before Tiberius’ reign, but their first use as an execution site was during his reign. Those executed there were usually strangled before being cast sown the steps and left to rot. This was in full view of the Forum. Eventually bodies would be thrown in the Tiber. Looked io because I’m still watching I, Claudius. Picture of some stairs. 22 Feb 2025 SEM
February 24, 2025 at 6:35 PM
thesem.bsky.social
For one of my classes we had to do a portrait of a celebrity over 60 so I chose the father of filth John Waters. Digital #ArtbySEM
February 7, 2024 at 1:31 PM
thesem.bsky.social
Commission for a friend last year. Cypher from X-Men #ArtbySEM
February 1, 2024 at 8:19 PM
thesem.bsky.social
#ArtbySEM haha whups
December 12, 2024 at 8:27 PM
thesem.bsky.social
Commission info #commissions #commsopen #ArtbySEM
Commission prices are as follows, you can message me here or on discord at the.SEM. I also have a ko-fi at http://ko-fi.com/thesem Lines - £25 Tones/colors – £50 Digital Painting – £75 Traditional painting (ink and watercolor including shipping and handling) – £100
July 25, 2024 at 2:32 PM
thesem.bsky.social
#ArtBySEM #HourlyComicsDay oh look. Feeling bad time haha
8-9PM Panel 1: Started my Feb project Panel 2: Beratjng self for not painting & being bad at art
February 1, 2025 at 8:55 PM