Drawing SRG's drawings

Maedhros_Nelyafinwë said:

He looks very capable of solving IT related problems! I hope the next ticket I submit goes to him!

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I was struggling between 😂 and 🥺 for a good moment there.

Server Room Gremlin said:

Curufin the Service Desk Gremlin

Behold, a teeny tiny drawing I did in my pocket-sized notebook at work, illustrating the reason I have had less time to draw lately.

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Since February, I have been working as an IT service desk operator. And today, this cute little image popped into my mind, and I had to draw it at once. :>

He's right on the first page (which I had left blank), and it makes me smile to look at him. ☺️

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Sounds like a job suited for him(to my limited understanding, anyway). May his company bring you much joy every day!

Server Room Gremlin said:

Curufin the Service Desk Gremlin

Behold, a teeny tiny drawing I did in my pocket-sized notebook at work, illustrating the reason I have had less time to draw lately.

View attachment 47835

Since February, I have been working as an IT service desk operator. And today, this cute little image popped into my mind, and I had to draw it at once. :>

He's right on the first page (which I had left blank), and it makes me smile to look at him. ☺️

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That is so precious! I was literally thinking I want Curvo as my go-to IT guy looking at this. 🥺 I also want to sneak up behind him and give him a hug with a l'il squeeze. (When he's not coding or doing anything important.)

Glorfindel Goldtress said:

That is so precious! I was literally thinking I want Curvo as my go-to IT guy looking at this. 🥺 I also want to sneak up behind him and give him a hug with a l'il squeeze. (When he's not coding or doing anything important.)

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He is... extremely adorable. 😂

Server Room Gremlin said:

Curufin the Service Desk Gremlin

Behold, a teeny tiny drawing I did in my pocket-sized notebook at work, illustrating the reason I have had less time to draw lately.

View attachment 47835

Since February, I have been working as an IT service desk operator. And today, this cute little image popped into my mind, and I had to draw it at once. :>

He's right on the first page (which I had left blank), and it makes me smile to look at him. ☺️

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He's so tiny and adorable sitting at his desk and wearing his headset! 🥺 I was going to say he's like a lil' server room gremlin now, but then I saw your title for the sketch. 😂 I would definitely want him as my IT guy if ever I needed someone to remotely commandeer my computer for tech issues. 😂

To @Tyelkormo the Fair,

I don't know when you'll next be online to see it, but this is my gift to you. 🩶 🫂





The first part was inspired by a conversation we had, where you imagined Tyelko carrying baby Curvo strapped on his back.
And I thought Tyelko must consider his lil bro as ‘very portable’: as Curvo was a very small baby, it would have been easy for young Tyelko to pick him up and take him everywhere.

The second part is based on the story you wrote for me as a birthday gift:

There's little Tyelko's hands, one holding a piece of cake, and the other reaching out to touch his newborn brother. And baby Curvo grasps his finger. There's the tattoo which both Tyelko and Curvo have over their hearts - 'heldi tenna i metta' (friends until the end) - which I wrote here in the Tengwar they would have used.
And then there's Tyelko and Curvo in Beleriand, disguised as Dark Elves by the power of Tyelko's song, and watching the last ships leave for the Isle of Balar. There, they discover Celebrimbor leaving to join Gil-galad, having deserted Nargothrond before its fall with a number of his people.
The moment I drew comes after the end of the story: I imagine they would have stayed there a while, watching the ships depart into the sunset.

I liked the pencil sketches I drew for these, so I didn't want to cover over them too much. Therefore I added some light digital colour to the first drawing, and left the second one unaltered. The little colourful hearts around the first drawing were already present on the note paper I used, so I tried to match their pale watercolour-ish feel. And I drew the second drawing on the other side of the same note paper, which is blank.

I feel like it matches the tone of each drawing. The colourful one is cute and sweet, and the greyscale one is more bittersweet.

Attached below is a picture which has both drawings together.

Happy birthday, @Maedhros_Nelyafinwë!

Here is a drawing loosely inspired by a thought I had, which I told you about late last year. I imagined Tancaquárë and Aranya sitting together and talking while embroidering. You responded with ‘We need to get these girlies together sometime!’, and it seems that my brain suddenly recalled this conversation and thought now is the time. 😂

I imagine that Tancaquárë does enjoy a bit of needlework now and then, even though she primarily finds satisfaction in smith work.



The image I had in my head for this drawing had a more cosy and relaxed atmosphere, with modern clothing. It is a sketch with some light digital colour on it (I used a watercolour textured brush).

Anca is wearing a partial costume: cat ears and tail. And Aranya’s kitty pjs and slippers are based on this sketch of yours:

Anca is crafting a little black cat plushie. She does love tiny figures and plushies. And Aranya is embroidering something pink and floral onto blue cloth (perhaps it is her healer robes?).

I found myself going 🥺 a few times as I worked on this!

I hope you have a lovely and blessed day bro, and that this drawing brings you joy. ☺️ Perhaps it may even spark short imaginative scenarios in your mind as you think about it.

So cute! 🥺 I love how Aranya's PJs of my design have been brought to life! I didn't imagine what color they would be, but of course it's gotta be pink, right?

I also love their height difference (seems like Aranya has a height difference with just about everyone, lol.) Also, with her outfit and the shorter T shirt over the long sleeves black shirt, my mind immediately thought of 2 things: a reference to Tyelko and Curvo's crop top shenanigans, and Y2K styles! And the kitten Anca is making is very cute. Aranya would definitely approve.

It's nice to see these two developing a friendship. Thank you for the gift! ☺️

Maedhros_Nelyafinwë said:

So cute! 🥺 I love how Aranya's PJs of my design have been brought to life! I didn't imagine what color they would be, but of course it's gotta be pink, right?

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A couple of other colour choices did float through my mind, such as purple and yellow, but in the end I settled on pink. I feel it's the colour that most suits her character/personality. And it also provides a nice eye-catching contrast with the blue Tancaquárë is wearing.

I find my mind tends to automatically match the colour of a character's clothing to their personality. In my thoughts Tancaquárë is most often wearing blue and black. And while Curufin likes to wear red (especially darker red), my mind's eye more often sees him in black and silver, or wearing a white shirt in a more casual setting (yet this is still often paired with dark trousers).

Curufin liking to wear red shows his desire to be like his father. I usually imagine Fëanor in red (especially bright red). But Curufin's temperament is much cooler, more reserved and calculating, yet also very stubborn and determined. So what comes to mind for him is the coolness, darkness, subtlety, strength and exact shining quality of black and silver. Him wearing white in more casual settings shows his underlying frankness and strongly held ideas. When Curufin decides to be open with his thoughts, what you see is what you get.

Maedhros_Nelyafinwë said:

I also love their height difference (seems like Aranya has a height difference with just about everyone, lol.)

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Hehe, it's a fairly obvious difference between the two of them, since Anca is the same size as Curufin (i.e. average height for a male Noldo).
And then Aranya is representing the smol Noldor, making for a nice contrast with all those gigantic folks in the royal family. 🤭

Thinking about it just now, I also feel like it adds another aspect of uniqueness or relatability to Aranya? Kind of like how we see the fantastic and larger than life world of LOTR through the eyes of the small, ordinary hobbits. It's possible she might feel more distant to the reader if she had the more typical willowy elf-lady look.

The way I imagined Tancaquárë appearance-wise was simply based on 'what sort of person would suit Curufin, and who could I see him having a strong relationship with?'. But I guess she turns out to be 'atypical' in her own way, as elf ladies go. Though not unprecedented: similarly to Nerdanel, Anca engages in crafts which require a significant amount of physical strength and endurance.

Similarities with the 'typical' image of an elf woman: Tancaquárë is tall, and has a cute/sweet looking face with an expression that is most often serious and aloof.

Differences:
Despite being tall and long-limbed, I wouldn't exactly describe her as delicate or willowy. She has a strong frame, a lean sort of strength as though cords of metal run through her limbs, similar to Curufin in that way. Stone and metal vibes rather than trees and flowers. :3

Her smiles are rare, and meaningful when they happen: she doesn't really have sustained and obvious merry or smiley moods. That doesn't mean she's 100% serious all the time, it just means she's subtle about the way she outwardly expresses mood and emotion. And she just has a very stable mood to begin with. (Suited for Curufin with how good he is at perceiving subtle things, and how he's not the best at handling emotional extremes!)

And Anca is much more methodical than whimsical in the way she goes about her life (including creating art). However, she does have her moments of impulse and inspiration, where she tries a new thing and gets excited about the new discoveries made in the process (and starts speaking about it in a disorganised and rambly manner, and her eyes light up and her tone of voice is also lighter and clearly very pleased...). Curufin, listening: 🥺💓

Maedhros_Nelyafinwë said:

Also, with her outfit and the shorter T shirt over the long sleeves black shirt, my mind immediately thought of 2 things: a reference to Tyelko and Curvo's crop top shenanigans, and Y2K styles!

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I didn't put much thought into Anca's clothing, really. It was just what popped into my mind when I considered what sort of thing she would wear, if her clothing were casual and modern. ...It turned out to be reminiscent of clothing styles in the days of my youth, I guess. 😂 And maybe I thought it would suit her hair: long and straight but kind of unruly/spiky in places, with a distinct side parting.

Maedhros_Nelyafinwë said:

It's nice to see these two developing a friendship. Thank you for the gift! ☺️

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You're very welcome. :3
Something I liked about this drawing is that their respective personalities can be seen in their faces and in the way they sit. (Well, I'm always trying to do this, really, but it was something that I noticed in particular after I drew this.)

Surprise hug

Curufin comes out of the workshop. He spots his wife coming towards him and stops. In an outpouring of affectionate feelings at the sight of him, Tancaquárë gives him a hug! Curufin is surprised, but his heart is very much melted.



I noticed a common theme in people's comments on the first chapter of my fanfiction I Will Hold Your Hand Again. They expressed enjoying seeing Curvo and Anca's gentleness with each other, the tenderness in their quiet moments together.

This drawing reflects such a moment! Though it is not an illustration of something in my story: this is just a mental image that came into my mind not long ago. 🥺

However, I tried to show something in Curufin's expression which does appear in the beginning of IWH:

Tancaquárë enters the dim kitchen. The only light in the room comes from an open window, the silver of Telperion softly illuminating the dark stone of the far wall. Curufinwë is there, silently stirring something in a pan on the stove. It is markedly different from the fire he usually works with: this one is gentler, more contained, housed and hidden in the oven. Yet it serves its purpose just as well.

Tancaquárë comes up behind him and wraps her arms around his middle, hugging him and resting her chin on his shoulder. Curufinwë is not startled by it. "I'm trying to concentrate here," he mumbles softly, not turning to look.
"It smells good. It's not something I'm familiar with."
Curufinwë shakes his head slightly. "It's a family recipe." Though he is focused, he lacks his usual intensity: the light of his eyes is dim, as soft as his voice. Such moments are rare, and Tancaquárë naturally treats him gently, as one would a glass sculpture. Though he is usually as resilient as iron—flexible at times, immovable at others, versatile and intelligent—sometimes he is not, and Tancaquárë would never mistake even the darkest glass for iron, nor misuse it so.
Tancaquárë takes in the sight of the thick, almost sauce-like sausage stew, slowly and ponderously bubbling. "Hmm. I think I will like it, anyway. A miracle, truly, with how much my tastes have changed in the brief time since I've started growing this little mite of ours."
Curufinwë smirks. "With how contrary the child is towards your own preferences already, it must take after my side of the family..."
He falls silent, adding a pinch more seasoning.
Then speaks again, quietly. "Well, I am glad it suits you."

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The softer side of his personality, which is more likely to be seen in private moments, as it is so vulnerable to hurt.

It was a bit tricky to get his expression right in this drawing, as I had to try and show both his surprise (brought on by the sudden hug) and that soft, vulnerable side (brought out by proximity to Anca) in his gaze.

...and yeah, I was most definitely melting while drawing them too...!

I also liked giving Curufin a bit of a different look: his hair is tied back as he's just been working in the forge.

Aww, I like how his one eye is closed because her face is smooshed against his!

Maedhros_Nelyafinwë said:

Aww, I like how his one eye is closed because her face is smooshed against his!

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Hehe, yeah, that was a distinct part of my mental image. It's just inevitable when they're the same height (she's leaning forward a bit in order to hug him under the arms, but her face is still mostly at the same level as his). 😅
It also just makes the scene so much cuter to look at (sorry Curvo mate, that's the only way I can describe it! *pat pat*). Because normally Curufin looks cool, calm and put together, but in this situation it's physically impossible to keep his face straight! And in a way that he doesn't mind it at all, because he feels the love. 🥺

Server Room Gremlin said:

Surprise hug

Curufin comes out of the workshop. He spots his wife coming towards him and stops. In an outpouring of affectionate feelings at the sight of him, Tancaquárë gives him a hug! Curufin is surprised, but his heart is very much melted.

View attachment 49113

I noticed a common theme in people's comments on the first chapter of my fanfiction I Will Hold Your Hand Again. They expressed enjoying seeing Curvo and Anca's gentleness with each other, the tenderness in their quiet moments together.

This drawing reflects such a moment! Though it is not an illustration of something in my story: this is just a mental image that came into my mind not long ago. 🥺

However, I tried to show something in Curufin's expression which does appear in the beginning of IWH:



The softer side of his personality, which is more likely to be seen in private moments, as it is so vulnerable to hurt.

It was a bit tricky to get his expression right in this drawing, as I had to try and show both his surprise (brought on by the sudden hug) and that soft, vulnerable side (brought out by proximity to Anca) in his gaze.

...and yeah, I was most definitely melting while drawing them too...!

I also liked giving Curufin a bit of a different look: his hair is tied back as he's just been working in the forge.

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🥰😍🤗🥹
I love this image so much for the both of them. Curvo's surprised, yet tender expression, Anca's quiet delight and the certainty in her hug. It's definitely cute(and yes, I won't tell them that either).

WatcherWraith said:

I love this image so much for the both of them. Curvo's surprised, yet tender expression, Anca's quiet delight and the certainty in her hug.

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Their respective personalities are very much evident. ^_^

WatcherWraith said:

(and yes, I won't tell them that either)

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hehe, indeed 🤫

Server Room Gremlin said:

Surprise hug

Curufin comes out of the workshop. He spots his wife coming towards him and stops. In an outpouring of affectionate feelings at the sight of him, Tancaquárë gives him a hug! Curufin is surprised, but his heart is very much melted.

View attachment 49113

I noticed a common theme in people's comments on the first chapter of my fanfiction I Will Hold Your Hand Again. They expressed enjoying seeing Curvo and Anca's gentleness with each other, the tenderness in their quiet moments together.

This drawing reflects such a moment! Though it is not an illustration of something in my story: this is just a mental image that came into my mind not long ago. 🥺

However, I tried to show something in Curufin's expression which does appear in the beginning of IWH:



The softer side of his personality, which is more likely to be seen in private moments, as it is so vulnerable to hurt.

It was a bit tricky to get his expression right in this drawing, as I had to try and show both his surprise (brought on by the sudden hug) and that soft, vulnerable side (brought out by proximity to Anca) in his gaze.

...and yeah, I was most definitely melting while drawing them too...!

I also liked giving Curufin a bit of a different look: his hair is tied back as he's just been working in the forge.

Click to expand...

Aww, such a tender moment between them! I can almost sense Anca's hug being firm yet gentle, comforting as she gives her hard-working husband a spontaneous display of her love. He's perhaps weary from a long day in the forge, only to find himself surprised by his wife. It is a good surprise. What did he do to deserve her? She loves him for him. ☺️❤️

I love their facial expressions and positions, showing both the action and stillness of the moment. I also like the design of Curvo's hands, particularly his left one in the air.

The idea of Curvo being greeted with a hug in the forge and him dealing with/enjoying it reminds me of @Maedhros_Nelyafinwë's birthday drawing for you from 2024, with Maitimo hugging Curvo. 😊

Fingon_Findekáno said:

I love their facial expressions and positions, showing both the action and stillness of the moment. I also like the design of Curvo's hands, particularly his left one in the air.

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What happens next: Curvo's arms gently wrap around her in turn, and both his eyes close. He presses his head against hers more firmly.

Fingon_Findekáno said:

The idea of Curvo being greeted with a hug in the forge and him dealing with/enjoying it reminds me of @Maedhros_Nelyafinwë's birthday drawing for you from 2024, with Maitimo hugging Curvo. 😊

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Everybody: *wants to hug Curvo*

Curufin: I had no idea I was so cuddly... 🤨 ... 🫠 ...🥺

with eyes of wonder

I had a cute mental image come to mind: Fëanor working on something, and tiny Curufin clambering up behind him to observe!



I imagine Fëanor's sitting on a seat which has a short back (for lower back support), and little Curvo is standing on that in order to look over his shoulder.
Fëanor is crafting a gem which shines brightly when exposed to light. And Curvo's eyes are likewise shining brightly in wonder! He is absolutely in his element right now, being so near to someone he loves so much, and having his attention drawn to a craft that he finds fascinating and beautiful: it has also captured his love.

Also I am very happy with how Fëanor turned out! He looks very similar to my drawings of adult Curufin with the shape of his face, nose and eyebrows. But the eyes! The eyes have a different expression to them: more 'light' than 'dark'. This fits perfectly with my description of Fëanor as Tancaquárë meets him in IWH:

As if picking up on the train of her thoughts, Fëanáro raises his head to look at her also. The light of his eyes burns entirely differently to that of his son's, despite their otherwise close resemblance. A fierce and unshakable will that few would dare to gainsay shines out there for all to see. But he smiles proudly, and his voice is warm.

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I love your Fëanor! He looks very close to my mental picture of him.

Server Room Gremlin said:

I had a cute mental image come to mind: Fëanor working on something, and tiny Curufin clambering up behind him to observe!

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I imagine Fëanor's sitting on a seat which has a short back (for lower back support), and little Curvo is standing on that in order to look over his shoulder.
Fëanor is crafting a gem which shines brightly when exposed to light. And Curvo's eyes are likewise shining brightly in wonder! He is absolutely in his element right now, being so near to someone he loves so much, and having his attention drawn to a craft that he finds fascinating and beautiful: it has also captured his love.

Also I am very happy with how Fëanor turned out! He looks very similar to my drawings of adult Curufin with the shape of his face, nose and eyebrows. But the eyes! The eyes have a different expression to them: more 'light' than 'dark'. This fits perfectly with my description of Fëanor as Tancaquárë meets him in IWH:

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This is now my favorite version of Fëanor. I have seen SO many fanart pictures of him, and there was always something missing. Something lacking. There is nothing lacking here. The focus in his expression, the care and interest in his eyes, the firm shape of his face.
And TINY CURVO! Adorable baby boy! As focused as his father, and entranced to boot. His big eyes are taking in every movement of Fëanor's fingers.

I love them :]

Server Room Gremlin said:

Fëanor working on something, and tiny Curufin clambering up behind him to observe!

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THE SIZE OF CURVO'S HEAD!!! Next. To. Fëanor's. Not to mention his big eyes. 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 His body is what, the length of Fëanor's arm?! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!
Our l'il marshmallow.