Bilboctopus and Thorin Crabbyshield. @pangur-pangur​ reblogged this amazing merman Thranduil fanart and it got me thinking about what other mer-creatures might be in Middle-Ocean. 

Hobbits are octopi! They’re secretive, soft, colourful (when they want to be) and natural burglars. I decided Bilbo would be the most unlikely octopus you’d take on an adventure and I made him an adorable dumbo octopus! He’s so wee catching prawns is a bit of a struggle for him! <3 I have no idea if the dumbo octopus can ink or not, but if they can, adoooorable! The little ‘wings’ on Bilbo’s hips are a type of flappy fin that the dumbo octopus uses to swim! CAN THEY BE ANY CUTER?

Dwarves, on the other hand, are natural crabs. >:D Do you know what’s difficult to draw? MERCRABS! Drawing it was like, mmhmm torso, yes, lovely, little hip lines, yes okay then… A MESS OF LEGS AND ARMOUR PLATES! *sigh* Thorin (and all the dwarves) really ought to be hermit crabs who spend their lives building elaborate shells but I made the mistake of googling hermit crabs and saw too many with their shells off. Ick. (Sorry hemie lovers!) I may take another stab at dwarfy crabs because I still like the idea but the execution was beyond me.

To the crabs… soft little Bilboctopus is very… pinchable. Which gets them a face full of ink. >:( How rude to pinch his chubby little tentacles!

Random HB pencil on copier paper. I was going to go to the drafting supply store this past week but it snowed. And I’m lazy. And I spent four glorious days indoors, instead. I’m not sure if I’ll refine/colour these or not, but if I do little Bilboctopus prefers to be an orangey yellow colour! Like an underwater blob of sunshine!

Next Thursday is my birthday and, in the hobbity tradition, I’m hoping to have a special sketch to share with you!