r/drawing 2d ago

ink What does my art smell like?

[removed] — view removed post

13.6k Upvotes

3.8k comments sorted by

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2.3k

u/thatoneguy_whowas 2d ago

Piss, and a little bit of mold. I like it. In a bad way. Which is good. Keep it up!

308

u/lumpy-space318 2d ago

haha i love this response

30

u/cleandanddirty 2d ago

These are awful; I love them.

31

u/_Doobalacky_ 2d ago

Weird in a good way

24

u/runawaywith-me 2d ago

In a bad way, which is good

53

u/g-a-Yy 1d ago

Library which fell into the sea (sad old wet books)

2

u/Optimistic_UVlight 1d ago

OMG YES! Exactly the same exact thought. That smelly old book from the library lol

52

u/fae_brass 1d ago

I was literally thinking stale rat piss and old paper but in a good way. It's good art but they did ask.

Edit: maybe also ink

3

u/BaconNamedKevin 1d ago

Have uh.. you ever smelled stale rat piss before? It's not great... 

3

u/fae_brass 1d ago

Lol, thanks, yes I have. I'm not saying stale rat piss is a good smell. I'm saying the art is evocative.

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21

u/poetry_of_odors 2d ago

The poetry of odors

7

u/phat_stax 2d ago

Came here to say I see what you did there lol

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12

u/DrDingsGaster 2d ago

My thoughts exactly!

10

u/50ishnot-dead 1d ago

Rotting flesh

8

u/lalaloopseyi 2d ago

this is what i came to say. like a staircase in a car park. where it stinks of piss but part of you can’t stop from smelling it

5

u/cleomeowa 2d ago

i came here to comment this

4

u/Cultural_Article_519 2d ago

Like that hellraiser episode with Rick and Morty, this is great! So that makes it bad, which I love to hate, which is good¡¡¡¿¿¿

4

u/kaoh5647 1d ago

Hotdog water boiling over Gweneth Paltrow's vagina candle.

5

u/-_MoonCat_- 1d ago

With a touch of sulfur

3

u/hvanderw 2d ago

Piss, that's bad, but mold too, that's good! But the mold is cursed! That's bad...

3

u/hotdiggydog 1d ago

I was gonna say my balls after a long run. Close enough!

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3

u/burgruss 1d ago

The corner of an unfinished basement that is occasionally used as a urinal.

2

u/EmmyWeeeb 1d ago

My first thought was piss too idk why

2

u/Kangaroo-Beauty 1d ago

That’s a pretty good way to describe my thoughts

2

u/LifeToTheMedium 1d ago

Yeh I immediately thought "Piss. But good piss."

2

u/dsbmistrveemocvlt 1d ago

Drawing equivalent of a band like scratch acid or flipper or sumn

2

u/DumbAssbee11 1d ago

that’s funny i was gonna say piss this is more accurate

2

u/Accurate_Incident_77 1d ago

Damn dude I couldn’t pinpoint it all I could think of was “my childhood”

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2

u/qwbif 1d ago

Dont forget the battery acid

2

u/DaRealGeorgeBush 1d ago

I was gonna say piss and vinegar.

3

u/Dio_naea 2d ago

And beer coming out of an alcholic's pores

711

u/MiikaHart 2d ago

Moldy old house with a hint of whisky.

46

u/averageshortgirl 2d ago

Exactly. Musty, like when you come across an abandoned house with the roof collapsed.

10

u/GlensWooer 2d ago

Smells like an apartment without AC at the end of the northeast humid summer that has a guy who lived in the attic and collected carved raccoon skulls and a creepy sounding old German instruments.

5

u/SocialAnchovy 2d ago

You've never smelled whiskey.

2

u/SeniorWalrus 2d ago

Same. Except replace the whiskey with dead rat

2

u/AngledDanglz 2d ago

Or Moldy Old Whisky with Hint of House

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707

u/YaumeLepire 2d ago

Putrid. I assume that was the intent.

61

u/Some-Highlight-7210 1d ago

Coat tails, vermouth, mustache wax and dense cigar smoke Keep up the good work 🎨❤️

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312

u/Lexnaut 2d ago

Formaldehyde and dead flesh.

35

u/DancinThruDimensions 2d ago

I used to work in a funeral home and helped with embalming so I’m well acquainted with the smell. This seems accurate.

4

u/nightshiftrounds 1d ago

I was going to say formaldehyde and seaweed

5

u/FishyDVM 1d ago

Yes, 100%. Like an embalming lab.

2

u/inferno_disco 1d ago

haha this is exactly what i smelled

2

u/bhnopq 1d ago

+1 for formaldehyde

2

u/BobbayP 1d ago

I was also going to say Formaldehyde. Reminds me of the Surgeons’ Hall Museums in Edinburgh.

2

u/AndreiNedu 2d ago

Didn’t have to scroll that long to find the perfect smell choices

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264

u/Miserable_Cabinet532 2d ago

heavy all tomorrow’s vibes all over

48

u/Productions29 2d ago

First thing that came to mind

30

u/unnamed_idiot_boi 2d ago

Qu genetically modifying the shit eaters but naming them colonials despite them being literal Tetris shaped humans linked together in a hive mind

The gravitols were right 🗣️🔥 the flesh is weak !!!!

8

u/Skrunklycreatur3 2d ago

Temptors be like “babe, it’s 3:00! Time for your daily breeding tube session!” “Yes honey…” 🗣️🗣️‼️‼️

2

u/unnamed_idiot_boi 1d ago

Mantalopes yapping for the 100000th time about how they were all super intelligent monkies (they already forgot what the actual hell it was all about)

5

u/vulpinefever 2d ago

I was going to say, this looks like something Kösemen would draw.

3

u/FumingAegis 2d ago

Exactly what I thought I was looking for at with the first slide

2

u/Zestyclown_thing 1d ago

That was in my mind, too.

2

u/CaptainRex5101 1d ago

I thought this was the illustrator of the book at first

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145

u/NoArmadillo5788 2d ago

Ja, the smell is opening a cabinet in a museum of medical history and glance at the weird creations preserved in fluid.

24

u/Valuable-Spread6465 2d ago

The accuracy is terrifying

9

u/noheadthotsempty 1d ago

Yes. Formaldehyde, dust, parchment, and wood. Perhaps accented by the smell of squid ink & ambergris, plus a hint of moth balls.

4

u/Ghostbrain77 2d ago

Huff enough formaldehyde and I’m sure you’d see similar

63

u/EstablishmentFun7553 2d ago

Old dried paint, the kind made with squid ink…

36

u/FractalSpaces 2d ago

rotten flesh

33

u/BahNull 2d ago

Castle dungeon wet cold cobblestone floor smell

3

u/HelenicBoredom 1d ago

I had a similar feeling. Heavy 1500-1600s anti-catholic propaganda vibes with the last two drawings. It's a weirdly specific vibe but that's what it reminds me of lol.

29

u/Bdav001 2d ago

Whatever All Tomorrow’s smells like

57

u/oswaler 2d ago

Teen Spirit

26

u/FootballHuiLiew 2d ago

Idk man the vibe of his art is more suitable for in utero

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20

u/Particular-Humor888 2d ago

It smells like Yellow

4

u/somepurplegal 1d ago

Yes, but not a vibrant or lemony yellow. It's a more dissaturated shade. I'm picturing expired mustard with mold in it. That kind of yellow.

14

u/boys_are_oranges 2d ago

it’s giving a cross between medieval art and illustrations in an old biology textbook. how do you learn to draw like that?

2

u/Atticus-Black 2d ago

I want to know too. It’s like a Victorian person making sketches of new discoveries. Does anyone know the name for this kind of drawing style?

3

u/VanSquirrel26 1d ago

It's dark surrealism with pen etching. It takes dedication and patience, and it consists of adding shade and texture through pen and ink techniques such as stippling, cross-hatching, and contouring. For this type of sketchwork, you need a precision pen like a Micron or a fountain pen and good quality textured paper that can handle fine lines and layers of ink without bleeding, like Bristol boards or watercolor paper (if it's not too textured). Sketches like this can take up several hours up to days depending on the experience, the artist's speed, and the level of detail.

28

u/eeinked 2d ago

Like a book that lived in an attic for many years! Which is a comforting smell

8

u/xbeneath 2d ago

I agree with this the most

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3

u/IcySink1300 2d ago

Best answer! I would say OP’s art is strange but feels like home.

2

u/Ok_Television698 2d ago

I could literally smell that based on your one sentence... Both disturbing and comforting at the same time.

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13

u/stevens0598 2d ago

Butt ass

11

u/R0l0d3x-Pr0paganda 2d ago

IT SMELLS LIKE MONEY

Have this art on t-shirts

8

u/helltotheyaaaas 2d ago

fish guts and rotten eggs

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8

u/IntelligentMight7297 2d ago

W—why would you ask this

8

u/Altruistic-BeeMe 2d ago

Probably smells like what I imagine hell to smell like. Not good.

Love the art style though. Really morbid, but it looks cool.

6

u/EEE3EEElol 2d ago

Paper with graphite

13

u/RedT-Rex8 2d ago

Sultanas and roses. With a wiff of spiced rum.

2

u/RoseGoldWeddingRing 2d ago

I was thinking rum and cigarettes 

2

u/SisterWendy2023 1d ago

That's so wild I thought 'raisins & cognac' or something like that!

7

u/creech84 2d ago

Road kill on a summers day.

6

u/Lailailei 2d ago

cheese with mold

3

u/Desperate_Air370 2d ago

you’re talented and I don’t mean anything bad but art number 4 is going to give me nightmares - I don’t know why but I can’t stand rats/mice and that just…creepy! But well done!

3

u/dirtygymsock 1d ago

This looks like if H.R. Geiger was on the Beagle making sketches for Darwin.

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3

u/Accomplished_Bike149 2d ago

My maternal grandparents’ old trailer had this musty, smoky smell since it was and old trailer and my grandfather smoked. Your art smells like that

4

u/rumzombieplh 2d ago

Graphite(I think you used pencil)

4

u/stellararianna 2d ago

mold but like the mold that smells oddly good like in an attic or abandoned house that you really wanna keep sniffing but you know you can’t cause it’ll kill you

9

u/___your_mom__ 2d ago

vanilla scented smoking candle

2

u/sadbunnyyx 2d ago

!!!! im not the only one who thought of a pleasant smell 😭🫶🏻 lolll

3

u/3Slavo5U 2d ago

smells good man 🤤

3

u/CelestialDesolation 2d ago

parchment paper (the old kind) and linseed oil

3

u/LotsaBear 2d ago

Salt and vinegar chips.

3

u/trilobitesized 2d ago

Old books and parmesan cheese

3

u/Hkittyhanna 2d ago

The black plague

3

u/UltraTuxedoPenguine 2d ago

Old books from a forgotten time

3

u/Samiller23 2d ago

Raw fish and formaldehyde

3

u/Ok_Advice2784 2d ago

Dead rotting corpses and fermeldahide I like it

3

u/mareeskye 2d ago

Tobacco

3

u/Xxlady_marynniexX 2d ago

teen spirit

3

u/Alive-Problem-8404 2d ago

Formaldehyde

3

u/Dependent-Calendar-7 2d ago

Library dust and smoke

3

u/WonderfulPositive745 2d ago

Mental illness

3

u/lamisqtree 2d ago edited 1d ago

Decay, an unfamiliar scent of unease, old tree nuts picked from the ground and forgotten, left dry and crumbling on the drawing table. Sour flesh and sweat. Faint whiffs of sharp grass and pine sting deep within the nasal passage, buried, a platter which all the filth slops onto.

2

u/Shitty_nice_days 2d ago

Like blood... freshly extracted... with a chainsaw... which must be pretty nice tbh, like incense

2

u/Electrical_Source_57 2d ago

A cool, crisp Fall morning, old books and weed resin

2

u/Cool_Business_3872 2d ago

Old books and rat poison.

2

u/nico_di_angelo_4eva 2d ago

Dead rats with rain water

2

u/DarkShadow1337 2d ago

Rotting leaves.

2

u/DrawLazy5622 2d ago

Crazy! I smelled the same thing! Wet, rotten leaves.

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2

u/dardar7161 2d ago

You must be a fan of Hieronymus Bosch.

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2

u/Meraere 2d ago

Graphite

2

u/Red5Draws 2d ago

Lint and Cig ashes.

2

u/Velox-the-stampede 2d ago

Smells like this is tight as fuck haha

2

u/niagaemoc 2d ago

Low tide.

2

u/BueblerryTBGDev 2d ago

Dead wet autumn leaf pile. Or vegetable oil.

2

u/yugyuger 2d ago

What in the all tomorrows is this

2

u/mxssyzen 2d ago

Decomp stains

2

u/UniversalPropriety 2d ago

Hot smashed metal

2

u/Potential-Main-5895 2d ago

ink?😂😂😂

2

u/Waste-Mission6053 2d ago

Smells like Giger is an inspiration.

2

u/Queasy-Deed 2d ago

Depression

2

u/MechaBuster 2d ago

I'm scared

2

u/ZealousidealToe9416 2d ago

Many, many herbs.

2

u/Alpriss 2d ago

Sell like a zoology lab with preserved specimens

2

u/Pigeonwatching- 2d ago

I love a good humonculous

2

u/LobsterFar9876 2d ago

Love your art

2

u/Available_Lab_3272 2d ago

The fourth one creates movement! They’re all exceptional

2

u/TallantedGuy 1d ago

Is this all done with pen?

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2

u/Sisyphus_on_a_Perc 1d ago

Nice indescribable horrors man

2

u/golf-lip 1d ago

Like very old books that have been stored in your grandmas attic for a while. Dusty. The pages are stiff and crinkly, some of them stick together.

2

u/Sea-Cookie9237 1d ago

moth balls... i can't explain it

2

u/hungry-reserve 1d ago

Do you make t shirts? I really want one for money, pm me

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2

u/LuisSosa33136 1d ago

Dead racoons

2

u/timid_one0914 1d ago

Hiiii I have synesthesia and you unlocked a new…thing. While I can’t smell your art, I can feel what I can only describe as the edge of a rock on my tongue along with the taste of metal and dirt. Your art tastes like a rock, basically

2

u/acrocodileelf 1d ago

Idk as my smell sensors don't work properly but your art is SO COOL I want to eat it alive it's so fucking rad

2

u/weelookaround 1d ago

Like pennies- rusty and bloody. And like old rocks on cold, desolate beaches. And smoke from some forbidden fire, eating up the landscape in some ever approaching nightmare. Like sulfur. Like something that was once really hot and now has cooled and shriveled. Like esoteric chemicals.

2

u/Spirited-Loquat-4588 1d ago

The penguin exhibit at the zoo.

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u/KaterinaMarie 1d ago

it smells like I don't know what the tf I am looking it at but I like it so continue drawing more and post it again

2

u/WindomEarly 1d ago

Smoldering Sulfur

2

u/Enough_Vegetable_110 1d ago

A little BO, a little Whisky, a bit of weed, all covered in a nice axe spray and then equal amounts of musty basement and old library books. I’m a fan.

2

u/pretentious-thoughts 1d ago

C.M. Kösemen’s sweat. It’s beautiful by the way.

2

u/Tpatt971 1d ago

Either blood, or curdled milk… but in a good way for sure

2

u/dunmore44 1d ago

black coffee and rotting flesh

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2

u/nik-at-nite15 1d ago

Hard mildew stench. You can taste the mixture of foot cheese and landfill each time you inhale.

2

u/Roachy_inc 1d ago

The oldest mustiest book at the back of the bookstore that might’ve been there before the store opened, in the most amazing way possible.

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u/Anxious-Scratch 1d ago

musty with a mix of sulfur

2

u/semideadinside 1d ago

A old library book

2

u/msp01986 1d ago

Sulfur

2

u/missmatchedcleansox 1d ago

earthy rot, like wet forest smell with perfume and cigarette skoke

2

u/number1dipshit 1d ago

This shit is really good. Smells like a musty old attic with a hint of death

2

u/WendysEmployeet 1d ago

Ur art remindes me a lot of kurt cobains art, so it smells like cigarettes, a musty jacket, and teen spirit.

2

u/farthingnothing 1d ago

Wow I’d get this tatted

2

u/AmateurAdvocate 1d ago

Smells like medieval surrealism right after the protestant religion grew enough in popularity to churn out new artistic representations of revelations.

2

u/Ruu_ruu_2005 1d ago

Death decay and new life. With a tinge of blood and mold

2

u/Paroxysm111 1d ago

Meat left in the fridge for too long

2

u/dxsty_rxse 1d ago

a skull dissolved in acid

3

u/slaywatchuwannaslay 2d ago

Rooting flesh, dead flies, dried piss, and unwashed vagina.

1

u/brutalcritc 2d ago

And old book with a metallic aftertaste.

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u/Intelligent_Buy_1654 2d ago

These are awesome

1

u/super_delegate 2d ago

Formaldehyde

1

u/sugarsaltnsweat 2d ago

Crunchy and a little sour

1

u/PepsiCoconut 2d ago

Putrefaction and dust. I like it!

1

u/apersonwhoeatscheese 2d ago

Like rotting corpses. It gives your art a lot of character

1

u/Basszillatron 2d ago

Formaldehyde

1

u/Arningkingking 2d ago

I love it! ^^