SKETCHBOOK: oni orcs !!! // sfw (Patreon)

so i heard you like beefy boys...

when me and kubi started worldbuilding our desert empire setting (about 6 years ago) we decided that there's orcs. we always wanted our orcs to be different from textbook portrayals a la lord of the rings, though, so we characterised them more like warrior poets with a taste for art and culture.

but it's only recently that we decided to draw inspiration from oni. it helped us figure out not only what our orcs look like, but also motivated us to further develop orcish society. here's some examples of what we've come up with: orcish textiles are beautiful and high quality, so they're in high demand all over the empire; orc architects (... aka orchitects) are responsible for a lot of incredible temples and public buildings; they basically invented the art of calligraphy; on at least one historical occasion, orcs protected the empire from being conquered by supremacist elves; and they like having poetry readings on the eve before battle. 

// art + characters © me.