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J. L. Barnes

@fishwithatophat.com

200 followers 140 following 580 posts

I draw gentlemen animals. I write sci-fi and fantasy. And when I'm not preparing for the zombie apocalypse, I run DragonCrest Studios, 'cause it pays for kibble. www.fishwithatophat.com https://www.instagram.com/fishwithatophat/

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Drekos @erdrekos.bsky.social · 9d

#slaytober #inktober2025
Day 1: Pristine Blade (I'm back!!

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 1h

Oh my gosh, I love him! The way I gasped when I saw this--so fun!🤩

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Matt Jay @thewyzerd.bsky.social · 1h

October Drawing Challenge, Day 11: Pumpkin
#art #artist #artistonbluesky #cartoonart #dailydrawing #drawingchallenge #drawlloween #funart #halloween #illustration #inktober #monsterart #mabsdrawlloweenclub #outsiderart #popart #pumpkin #spookyart #weirdart #uglyart

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Drekos @erdrekos.bsky.social · 1h

#slaytober #Inktober #Inktober2025
Day 5: The Tower

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 9d

Day 1: Mustache. RIP my metallics, which my scanner hates. But done and with enough time to get a little start on tomorrow's!
#Inktober #art #dragons

A long and winding eastern-style dragon in the mists at sunset. Its tail winds all the way back to some mountains in the background. It has a long, thin mustache.

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 8d

Day 2: Weave. This is what I came up with after I promised to do less detail-work. I clearly lied to myself.
#inktober #art #dragons #weave

Illustration of a woven basket shaped like a dragon.

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 6d

I'm not sure how I feel about this one, but I like his face! 😅 I guess part of the point for Inktober is to create and not judge yourself so much... I'm gonna try!
#Inktober #art #dragons #murky

A swimming wingless dragon in murky water. It has three eyes and swims between beams of light penetrating the murk.

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 2h

Day 11: Sting. As often happens when I search around for the prompt and my theme (dragons), I found a new thing! This is the stinging blue dragon (colloquially), another real critter of the sea. Check out the details and learn things here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glaucus...
#Inktober #art #dragons

A floating blue dragon sea slug. He's kinda cute, in his way. Lots of odd little tentacle-type bits in vaguely leg-shaped protrusions, with two little antennae on his little head.

He's also super stingy, so don't touch.

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 22h

Day 10: Sweep. Not a good day for the town.

#Inktober #art #dragons #sweep

A dragon sweeping a town with fire. The dragon is mostly silhouetted, but has some glints of yellow and red off its scales. Its wings are a semi-transparent grey-brown. In the background a town burns; the skies are filled with thick smoke.

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 2d

Day 9: Heavy. Turns out uranium is the heaviest visible element, so this is my very happy uranium dragon!

Dragons have a lot of cat in them, it turns out.
#Inktober #art #dragons #heavy

A very heavy dragon loafing just like a cat. His mouth is slightly open because he's super happy. (Possibly from a lot of a carbs, because who wouldn't be happy after that?) He's bright yellow and brown, patterned after the colors of raw uranium.

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 21h

Thanks so much! The flames took foreverrrrrr, heh. 💜

J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 21h

Quick reminder that if you're enjoying the daily art and would like to drop in a tip, I have a Ko-Fi! Here's the link:

ko-fi.com/fishwithatop...

Thanks very much to everyone who's liked and shared the Inktober posts so far! You're keeping me goin'!

Buy J. L. Barnes a Coffee

Support J. L. Barnes on Ko-Fi! Get silly sketches, free art, and fun times for the price of a cup of tea--all while supporting your internet-local artist and her crazy medical bills!

ko-fi.com

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 22h

Day 10: Sweep. Not a good day for the town.

#Inktober #art #dragons #sweep

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 2d

Day 8: Reckless. I'm not holding out a lot of hope for that tiny knight. Good luck, though, friend.
#Inktober #art #dragons #reckless

A massive angry dragon looking down upon a tiny silhouetted swordsman.

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 7d

Day 3: Crown. An actual crown wasn't speaking to me... but the crown of a dragon tree being made into an actual dragon-creature? Yeah, that works.
#inktober #art #dragons #crown #trees

A sepia-and-brown-toned tree dragon based on a dragon tree, which is a real thing. Who knew? He's sitting back on his haunches and looking off to the left, with the crown of the tree sprouting from his back.

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Aubo 🏳️‍⚧️ Shop update 10/18! 🎃 @aubryjoi.bsky.social · 1d

Crisp fall prints comin at ya ⭐️🧡

[ #cuteart #artshop #traditionalart ]

A photo of three art prints surrounded by fall leaves, candy corn, and paint pens. They’re of: three tomato kittens in various stages of ripeness; three pumpkin cats; three candy corn colored chickens.

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 1d

I just backed Rigsby WI - Volume 2: Burn It Down, by @secase.bsky.social, on Kickstarter. Because I can't stop reading it, and it MUST BE IN MY LIBRARY. Maybe you should read it too:

www.kickstarter.com/projects/iro...

Rigsby WI - Volume 2: Burn It Down, by SE Case

The second volume of SE Case's Eisner-nominated webcomic about the brutal disaster of being a teen in the early 2000s!

www.kickstarter.com

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PumpkinSpooky 🎃 (COMMS OPEN!) @abobraspooky.bsky.social · 1d

Day-9: Dark Druid
#inktober #inktober2025 #rpg #dnd #druid

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sean lewis @slewis-phd.bsky.social · 1d

9/31 - Heavy #inktober #drawtober

Colin Ayers dragging along a recently freed Node. Nodes, while vertically weightless, are extraordinarily dense and therefore difficult to move around. Ayers is about to discover what happens when you drag a Node to the edge of a cliff but have no way to slow it's momentum before it slowly floats off into the void beyond.

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月燼 @moonashesart.bsky.social · 1d

DAY-10
Sweep

#inktober2025 #inktober #traditionalart #Original #art

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Matthew Tak @matthewtak.bsky.social · 1d

#DailySketch: Heavy

#inktober52 #inktober #inktober2025 #drawing #illustration #art

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 2d

IT DOES. New headcanon.

Veleda_k @veleda-k.bsky.social · 2d

What isn't clear just from the art is that the knight and dragon are actually practicing for a production of Hamilton. Aaron Burr will be the dragon's first major role!

(...I think the knight's pose looks like the logo.)

J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 2d

Day 9: Heavy. Turns out uranium is the heaviest visible element, so this is my very happy uranium dragon!

Dragons have a lot of cat in them, it turns out.
#Inktober #art #dragons #heavy

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Reposted by J. L. Barnes

J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 5d

Day 5: Deer. It's a deer, it's a dragon, it's... a little bit cat. Oops.
#Inktober #art #dragons #deer #cats

A flying deer dragon that's posed a bit like a cat and has a large fluffy tail. It's in a yellow grass field.

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J. L. Barnes @fishwithatophat.com · 4d

Day 6: Pierce. Rock on!
#Inktober #art #dragons #punk

A cartoon illustration of a cute dragon in greyscale, with only its lightning tattoo, bright pink hair, and green eyes in vivid color. It wears a leather vest and a has a huge variety of piercings.

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