Today's fanart, created for us by DoodleDeity, features our main boy (if you can call him that...), Sangreal, in all his length!

One of the most aesthetically interesting things about this character is the length of his body, this silver ribbon, streaked with charcoal lines, moving through the depths of the blue... and DoodleDeity did a great job portraying it. Look at those sinuous coils!

And who knows what he's contemplating, with this gaze turned upward... what awaits him in the light? Perhaps a young marine biologist (named Seraphin)?

Or maybe he doesn't want to go up there. Not again.

Sangreal has complicated feelings about the blinding light of the surface...

More about Sangreal: https://fantasydiario.blogspot.com/2025/12/character-sangreal.html

#FishDontCry #Pistrix #ProjectOdysSea 

Lil' sketch to answer a message on you Tumblr (for once the ask is not from an anon!), featuring our fish guy Sangreal!

#FishDontCry #Ask #AnsweredAsk #MerfolkAU #Merfolk #FnMArt #DigitalArt #Sketch #OC #Sangreal #Pistrix #FollowThePistrix #Fantasy #FantasyArt #Sketch

And it's finally here, the reference for our main guy, Sangreal!
With an all-new reference style (you may remember the old references for our OCs, with paper-like backgrounds and a more "medieval fantasy" vibe) to match the saga of which he's part, Fish don't Cry, in which deep-sea creatures are studied, thanks to futuristic technologies, by the Panorme family, four sisters and a brother that are all marine biologists.

https://fantasydiario.blogspot.com/2026/04/fish-dont-cry-masterpost.html

Just in time before the starting of ArtFight, too! (Hey, do you want to fight us?  https://artfight.net/~FuriarossaAndMimma )

So, what do you think? Isn't he cool?

#FishDontCry #Sangreal #OC #Merfolk #Pistrix #FollowThePistrix #Referencesheet #ReferencePage #OdysSea #ColoredWork #FnMArt

Sangreal and Rosas have both been chosen by Seras to play the role of her very own "moray eels" but... not only they are very different from each other, but also neither are exactly Muraenidae, aaand they might also belong to species that usually don't get along. At all.

What's her deal? 👀

Just wanted to draw the fishmen colleagues together, they both have such fun textures to color!

(Another illustration for the Fish don't Cry Project https://fantasydiario.blogspot.com/2026/04/fish-dont-cry-masterpost.html )

#TraditionalArt #Chibi #Chibis #ColoredWork #Merfolk #Mermay #FishDontCry #Pistrix #FollowThePistrix

The Vertical Castle!

Drawn with ballpoint pen and colored in digital. Illustration created for a little contest on WorldAnvil... you can read the entry (it's a lil' travel guide) here: https://www.worldanvil.com/w/fish-don-t-cry-cactusdifuoco/a/visit-the-vertical-castle21-document , and at the end of the page there's even a link to download the PDF brochure! Visit the Vertical Castle ;)

(It's another expansion for the Fish don't Cry Project)

https://fantasydiario.blogspot.com/2026/04/fish-dont-cry-masterpost.html

#FishDontCry #Fantasy #Merfolk #PistrixCulture #Pistrix #OdysSea #FnMArt

His long body stretching towards the depths, a silvery ribbon with red dorsal fin, the same of the creatures that inspired in the minds of sailors the wild shape of ancient sea serpents...

Artfight is approaching! Time to work on new Reference Sheets!

This is for our main guy, Sangreal :)

First image that will be part of his ref!

https://fantasydiario.blogspot.com/2025/12/character-sangreal.html

#FishDontCry #Merfolk #MerfolkAU #Pistrix #FollowThePistrix #DigitalDrawing #DigitalArt #FnMArt #ColoredWork #OC #OriginalCharacter 

The old king is chained. Long live the king?
Maybe he's immortal. Maybe he never was alive. Maybe he never was real.
But what do you feel, when his singular, luminous eye, pierces your soul?

Azoth, the Chained King. Just another illustration for the the Fish Don't Cry project. Ballpoint pen + a little of digital color.

https://fantasydiario.blogspot.com/2026/04/characters-king-azoth.html

#OC #FishDontCry #Merfolk #MerfolkAU #KingAzoth #Pistrix #Ballpointpen #FnMArt

Do you need help? I can save you. If you need it.

Sangreal, for the Fish Don't Cry project.

https://fantasydiario.blogspot.com/2026/04/fish-dont-cry-masterpost.html

#TraditionalArt #FishDontCry #Merfolk #OC #FnMArt #Fantasy #FantasyArt #Pistrix #FollowThePistrix

King Azoth. He may or may not be a real king from the past and his people, the pistrix, may or may not have ever had a monarchy.

Another of the characters (depiction may or may be not accurate ;) for our Fish Don't Cry project!

#FishDontCry #Merfolk #Pistrix #FollowThePistrix #Fantasy #FantasyArt #Ballpointpen #FnMArt

When you're really deep in unfortunate situations, you could start thinking there's some supernatural force behind it, but that's a very, very dangerous trick.

It's a thing that can makes us feel like we have no control whatsoever in life. And sometimes it is real, sometimes we have no control.

But there are situations in which... we can actually react. Change our lifestyle, to be healthier. Change our mindset, to be more resilient.

It's not a curse, it's something much, much worse: the randomness and unpredictability of life, the consequences of the history of hundreds of years that unfolds now, in front of our eyes.

It's miserable and it's glorious. One flap of butterfly wings, one hurricane. We have always to remember that we're not the only people suffering in this world, that the net of our misfortune encompasses all the globe.

We're all going to die, and that's why we have TO LIVE, now, now, now. We have to write, to dance, to sing, we have to make so that our short lives were not in vain.

I can't touch you, but I want to put a hand on your shoulder, look you in the eyes.

«It's not a curse» I would say to you «It's the randomness of the World. And it's not your fault. I know, I know it's easier to think that it's your fault, for all the misfortune, but... it just isn't. You can't live scared forever. You have to live. There's only one of you, forever and ever, there won't be another one».

I can almost feel your tiredness. Is one and the same with mine. I'm feeling tired all the time, heavy head, heavy shoulders. Carrying the weight of a little World, but feeling like this training is not making me any stronger.

It's just momentary pain. We will become stronger, my friend. And if that's not enough... I am now lifting your curse.

Art is powerful magic. The most powerful you can imagine, my friend. I'm gonna lift your curse.

I charged this art with intention, and with the symbols that resonates with me and give me joy. Now breathe, unclench your jay, let your shoulders drop.

You are free from your curse.

#Pistrix #FollowThePistrix #Sillyposting #FishDontCry #BrokenCurse #TheCurseIsBroken