Stuck 4 hours at the train station yesterday, so I drew this entire world freehand with just a ballpoint pen. No pre-sketch, no plan, the story just appeared.
Full story on my blog: https://www.davidrevoy.com/article1134/the-matchbox-kingdom
The Matchbox Kingdom

David Revoy
@davidrevoy Lovely! Such a good way to spend the time! 🙂

@davidrevoy that’s just beautiful!

Thank you!

@davidrevoy that's so cool!! And also one of the great things about ballpoint. It can have a dry almost scratchy quality to thin strokes that is almost like a pencil
@hwll Exactly, for a long time, I was impressed by them about the "I can't erase" part of the ink. But if I abstract it and just think I'm holding a pencil, then it works.

@davidrevoy

FR version below;

omg omg omg ! You did it again !

Last time, you drew Pepper paddling in the wrong direction on her bark.

And now you try to convince us that such 6-sided dice exist ?

EN version over;

omg omg omg ! Tu as recommencé !

La dernière fois, tu as dessiné Pepper qui ramait à l'envers sur sa barque.

Et maintenant tu essaies de nous faire croire que de tels dés à six faces existent ?

@Mindiell Haha, I was sure the dice had something wrong, when I drew it; I thought that the relation between how the number are appearing are probably standard, but I didn't wanted to search on my phone for a ref (to economize the phone battery, the delay of train was going +20min every 10 min, and I really felt like I would need all battery to find hotel, call relatives, etc... later).
So, I went for a 6 (2026) a 3 (March) and 1... because easier? 😆
@davidrevoy @Mindiell The standard thing is that the sum of opposite faces on a d6 is always 7, so six opposites one, three opposites four, and five opposites two.
@elzen @Mindiell 🤯 Oh, that's a so cool fundamental to know about how dices works. Thank you for sharing!
@davidrevoy @Mindiell It's a fantasy world, the die can be what it wants to be.
@davidrevoy you're right, I just love searching for mistakes in drawings, and this one was... obvious ;)

@davidrevoy I love the piece, but that die on the right side of the page is really bothering me. On dice, ⚀ and ⚅ are always on opposite sides, with only the very rarest exceptions.

I hope the fairy is OK. I would not want to wake up in that situation.

@mjd Thank you! Oh yes, when I drew that dice, I had a hesitation: I was sure some simple rules were at play. Good to know about the 1 and 6 opposed: they never can appear on the same picture.
I could check that on my phone, but I was really in a situation where I preferred to keep the battery in case I had to book another train, hotel for the night, call relatives, get info, etc...
@davidrevoy @mjd The standard with cubic dice, FWIW, is that opposite sides always add up to 7. So 1 and 6, 2 and 5, and 3 and 4 are opposed.
@wordshaper @mjd Thank you! Yes, I just read it in another comment and my head just went 🤯 That's a very cool fundamental to understand. Next time, I'll be able to draw dice from imagination more accurately thanks to this!
@mjd @davidrevoy Thanks, now I can’t unsee it.
@davidrevoy
human brlliance like this offsets the orange pedo somewhat. thank you.

@davidrevoy Nice ! Some of the mice remind me of « La famille Souris » by Kazuo Iwamura. All my childhood !

But it seems that there is a problem with your « AI only » text at the end. There is no banana involved…

@amic Thank you! I'll check La famille Souris, thanks for pointing it.

Ha, right, banana peels probably can help the process of strengthening the paper. I'll check what I can do for the next one!

@davidrevoy “what’s your prompt?!??
- 4 hours with a pen and my brain”

beautiful drawing 

@davidrevoy I love that drawing. And I know the feeling of being stuck at railway stations. Its annoying and sometimes cold, but did i have my most creative moments there. The majority of my old p&c fanarts were born in Darmstadt central station, when i was stranded after work.
@guineasofbayeux Thank you, and true, I remember you mentioned working on it in the train.
@davidrevoy Really awesome! The lizard's head looks kind of crocodily, is it wearing a mask 🙂
@aurochs Thank you! Oh yes, all design came from visual memory, no reference, and also from a lot of randomness due to the process of 'direct drawing' ; once a line is on the paper, it's final. Maybe the head of the lizard was an attempt at drawing a head of mouse, and because it was looking weird, or too small, I shaped it later like another creature. A classic with this process. 😆
@davidrevoy I could model for you (look at my profile picture :-P)

@davidrevoy It's the teeny tiny details that make your art so distinct and lovely to get lost in.

*Every single one* of those mice has a different personality and the viewer can tell with a glance.

Seeing your line art makes me simultaneously want to draw more and also want to give up !

Hope that makes sense.

@davidrevoy Are all those lines the same width or are you able to vary the line thickness with a ballpoint pen?
@scvalex That's all lines I could do with the Bic "Round Stic M" one of the photo: depending the speed, angle and pressure of my hand. I also take advantage of 'ink blobs', that I smear with my fingers to darken the paper.
It has in final a very large variety of effect and line weight. I love this tool.
@davidrevoy That's pretty cool.
@davidrevoy Really nice ! Where's the associated speedpainting video ? 😅
@gmic Thank you! Oh I'm sure if you hack the security system of the Montpelier Saint Roch train station, find a surveillance camera near the "Paul" baker, you'll find me drawing their. 😆 The data exists!
@davidrevoy wow. Can I get stuck with you in the elevator next time this happens to me?

@jtr 🤣 Not sure I can be relax enough inside an elevator to draw like that!

A train station, yes, full of passenger stuck and with the "next info in 15minutes" left really a special moment in space/time. It's sort of easy to navigate with an access to the toilets and cheap food. Part of the comfort of waiting there for an undefined amount of time. Also, sunny and soft weather in Montpelier yesterday, it helped at staying positive and just sketch and enjoy.

@davidrevoy yes that's definitely a different environment than a stuck subway elevator (that's what happened to me). On the other hand, I wonder what kind of drawings that will inspire...? Haha. Not that I wish it on you or anything!

Really like the drawing:)

@davidrevoy great!!! Now, write the story it's an order😜

@peha 🤣 🤣

🤔 Actually, there is really something to do here, a fantasy novel a bit in the same vein as Little Nightmare, and Alice in Wonderland around a lonely fairy.

I'll note it somewhere.

@davidrevoy you shall better keep this note on top of your list, closed to your eyes if you don't want to feel my wrath!!!😂
@davidrevoy Whoa, so good! Well done
@davidrevoy So nice! A friend of mine (who gives me pencils) always says that the ideas are already in those pencils. All you have to do is draw it out.
@astridpoot That's beautifully said! 💜
@davidrevoy I always experience creativity as a sort of channeling (like the ideas that are stuck in the pencil until we bring them out); I felt that strongly in your magnificent drawing. The drawing is somewhere (in you), and it's yours to put in on paper. Magical! 

@davidrevoy I love that the Fediverse looks at a enchanting scene of a mice army, complete with bottle cap shields and lizard/bird mounts, surrounding a sleeping fairy...

...and immediately jumps to "That six-sided die in the corner seems unrealistic." :)

@windigo 🤣 🤣 🤣 Exactly! I can't imagine what would happen if I drew an imaginary big keyboard with a fictional keyboard layout from memory.
@davidrevoy This is lovely, but it makes me wonder if fairies are ever able to sleep on their backs...
@lhauser  Thank you. And good point. I now wonder what is a ideal bed for a fairy. Especially if they are two. Does this mean a couple of fairy can't spoon to go to sleep? That's sort of sad 🤔