RavanonMay 26

Bonus #Mermay drawing!

Since I drew my regular mermaid so early in the month, I decided to show what she likes to get up to: pressing herself up against the viewing domes of submersibles used in marine research to say hello.

True fact: dozens of undersea expeditions are lost each year due to mermaids compelling scientists to let them into their vessels. It's a big problem in marine studies.

#Mermay2026 #MastoArt #FediArt #ArtistsOnMastodon #Illustration #Mermaid #BigHair #DeepSea #Diving

Show threadRavanon

Double-plus bonus #Mermay drawing! (Sort of.)

Just for fun, I tried rotating my mermaid visitation drawing to match the mermaid's perspective.

I also restored the mermaid's reflection in the glass, which I'd previously hidden because I thought it made the centre of the drawing a little too busy.

What do people think? Better from the scientist's orientation (as shown upthread) or the mermaid's (shown here)?

#Mermay2026 #MastoArt #FediArt #Illustration #Mermaid #BigHair #DeepSea #Diving

May 27 at 4:21pmWeb
Show threadBobby PolitteMay 27
@ravanon Oh, this one is so much more interesting because of the flipped perspective, and the reflection is perfection, allowing us to see what the scientist is seeing.
Show threadRavanonMay 28
@bpolitte I wasn't sure about the reflection, but I did think it would be a shame to hide the mermaid's face entirely.
Show threadHyzualMay 27
@ravanon I love the mermaid's perspective 😍, it makes the drawing more puzzling, like you're wondering why is there an upside down person.
Show threadRavanonMay 28
@Hyzual I'm glad you like it! As long as the drawing isn't *too* puzzling, I guess that can be a virtue.
Show threadMikael MyyrÀMay 27

@ravanon I find this one a bit difficult to wrap my head around because there's not much context besides the person to tell us which way is up. If you wanted to play with it some more I'd perhaps try adding more environment elements (kelp, fish, rocks?) to make it easier to understand. Or maybe a bit of confusion is the intended effect? Either way I like the idea, playing with camera angles is always fun

Edit: oh, and the reflection is a cool detail, I like it

Show threadRavanonMay 28

@molentum Yeah, I think there's a reason I posted this one second—without the context of the first version, I agree it's probably too confusing.

An upside-down fish swimming by would probably be the most economical solution.

I do enjoy playing with orientation; I was even considering a 90Âș landscape variant, though that might have been a little too strange.

Show threadPaul ArmstrongMay 28

@ravanon it's delightful and the idea of multiple orientations for perspective is excellent. Restoring the reflection helps a lot, I didn't originally parse it and the whole image was a bit weird. Having it there provides the necessary orientation.

If you SCUBA, going upside down is a worthwhile activity that too few divers seem to try. Gives a whole different perspective on the undersea world.

Show threadRavanonMay 28

@psa Yeah, there was a definite tension between the drawing being 'interesting' and being actually legible. I'm glad the reflection helped.

I've never had the pleasure of going scuba-diving, alas. It's something I think I would like a lot.