Originally drawn: 15 September 2025
I've had the idea for this drawing in my head for three years, and I've now only had the time to draw it! These two are Finan and Claretta, my first Delta Green player character and NPC respectively. I draw and think about them a very normal amount, especially a few years ago back when their game was still going on.
The idea had always been to draw it during summer, for summer, based on a song called Summer Days. It was inspired by my second Delta Green game which I ran, where I threw in these two as a red herring/self-indulgent cameo. The two returned to their country of birth, Indonesia, during their honeymoon and unfortunately ran across suspected cosmic horrors they coudn't afford to ignore. I was actually going to draw an alternate version where Finan has a huge bruise on his chest because Claretta had to perform CPR on him. But this took days to work on on-and-off, and I was getting sick of looking at it. So I left it how it is lmao
This drawing was also inspired by splash art in gacha games for summer skins! Specifically, Fire Emblem Fates' art. That's why my art style looks a little different with thinner, coloured lines and painted rendering. I also used a photo of myself at a beach for colour reference. I tried paying more attention to colour cohesiveness too. I grabbed the colour palette of Summer Days' album art and ran with it.
I'm not 100% happy with the final product. I wanted it to look funkier and more vibrant to reflect the song, but I think I shot myself in the foot from the start with the art direction I took. It could also be that I've stared at this drawing for too long and feel nothing from it but at least it's done! (Pardon the anatomy too btw I've never studied it before) (it's kinda embarrassing but ball)
I didn't draw this during previous summers because my summers have been really busy. It's what happens when you study abroad and come home (which is also Indonesia) only once a year. I'd rather do things I can't do in Canada (spend time with family and friends) than do things I can do in Canada (drawing and writing). So I never end up drawing or writing a lot over summer break, despite it being being my biggest stretch of free time. (My one summer internship didn't help, too.)
But ever since I got an iPad, I'm able to draw a little bit more! It's great how portable it is and how I don't have to set anything up, unlike my 16" screen tablet. That's why I finally got to drawing this (plus it being my final summer break before... the j-word...). I set a deadline for myself to finish this before summer ended!
Except the end of summer is when the protests in Indonesia began lmao. It was really big and much-needed, with a bunch stuff that's so crazy, they were included in my draft for a game about a government conspiracy I wrote months before this protest. With Finan being Indonesian, Claretta being Indonesia, and this drawing taking place in Indonesia (Bali), it felt really ignorant and tone-deaf to finish and share this drawing while Indonesian protestors were being arrested, beaten up, and killed like maybe 30 minutes away from where I live.
That's one reason why I finished up this drawing weeks later (plus being busy with meeting people). The protests have died down, but we're still waiting on our government to meet our requests! It's been 11 days past the due date for some. I have a feeling they're stalling and hoping we'll forget about them... so I'm going to keep bringing it up until something's done lol. I'm going to take advantage of buzzers not understanding English and me being out of the country right now.
You can read the protest demands here!