What's my deal?

ftm horror artist

Name: Smoky

Age:25

Main interests: art, music (mainly metal and insdustrial), old horror movies, video games, collecting weird shit

Hobbies: knitting, gaming, coding, riding my bike, rotting in the ground, collecting cool shit (rocks, bones, gems, rusty metal, old edged weapons, and fossils), repeatedly trying to learn guitar and then forgetting to practice, photography, hanging out with animals, learning about human anatomy, hanging out in the woods

Unsurprisingly, I'm not a people person, so while I try my best to be interactive, it doesn't come naturally. I often disappear from social media for months at a time, and it's very hard for me to start conversations. I don't bite, though! I especially appreciate every time anyone's ever said anything nice about my art or been kind to me, those moments tend to stick in my head for years. But I struggle with psychosis and that can make socializing very difficult for me. So if I've ever seemed standoffish to you, or if you've ever wondered why I never 'reach out' and tend to act strangely, that's why! It's almost never a personal thing. I'm not made for everyone. (Thank god!)

I've been drawing for as long as I've been alive. I've always loved coming up with characters and stories to go along with them. Throughout my life, art was my one solace when it came time to escape from the foot of life as it would attempt (and repeatedly fail) to curb stomp me.

I draw a lot of fanart of the characters I love, all of whom mean a lot to me and have changed my life in some way for the better.

I often use my art to cope with my chronic illnesses and my psychosis. Which means there are a lot of horror elements in my non-fanart work. Most commonly featured is body horror.

My love of gory art, horror movies, and metal music was often seen as a "problem" growing up, and it took me a long time to overcome the need to water down both myself and my works to make others happy. Thankfully, those around me eventually learned that my taste in clothing and media and the kind of art I make will not suddenly turn me into a violent person.

I've often been told that my macabre taste in media and fashon contradicts my calmer and somewhat optimistic personality in a really funny way, in fact.

Ultimately, unless it's a commission, my art is for myself, and I love sharing it with others in the hopes that they also feel less alone in this world.

I'm hoping that, with my art, I'll be able to fight some of the stigmas surrounding schizospec and other psychotic disorders. The outdated notions that we are violent, that we are always dangerous, that we need to be locked up and kept separate from society, all need to be challenged. And I hope I can make at least some small difference in that way, by showing others that we're just normal people, like them.

I guess some fun facts?
♱I like deserts and snow
♱My favorite weather is stormy
♱I'm vegan
♱I'm writing my own comic
♱I like all animals but I'm very partial to horses, bugs, deep sea creatures, and seals.