Double Proficiency 🐦‍⬛

@doubleproficiency.com

2456 Followers 1471 Following

Natural history & folklore, astronomy, TTRPG. Authors of #AphelionRPG, Herbalist's Primer, and more! By @annaurbanek.bsky.social and @jakubwisz.bsky.social Posts by Anna https://linktr.ee/2xproficiency https://www.doubleproficiency.com 🌐 Tampere, Finland

A four-panel Anakin and Padme meme template. On the second panel, Padme is asking "Our art, right?" in response to the original user saying they will be consuming artists.
Screencap from Kickstarter comments: The backer: "Before I fully commit to pledging, I wanted confirmation that AI was NOT used for this book or any previous book in the "Primer" series." The Double Proficiency response: "Oh, I can 100% assure you that all illustrations have been drawn by my arthritic hands and I'd rather put the whole project (and myself) in a blender than use AI to write it. No AI, ever."
A digital watercolor and ink illustration showing different crow species: a hooded crow, carrion crow, fish crow, pied crow, and a pied crow egg. The image comes from Zoologist's Primer: Birds by Anna Urbanek and Jakub Wisz of Double Proficiency.
Digital watercolor and ink illustration of various gull birds: ring-billed gull, swallow-tailed gull, laughing gull, western gull, and a kelp gull egg. The illustration comes from Zoologist's Primer: Birds by Anna Urbanek and Jakub Wisz from Double Proficiency.
A screencap from Zoologist's Primer: Birds, the References chapter. Delves into real-world folklore and cultural significance of cormorants. Among listed sources are: Artemidorius Daldianus (2nd cent CE), The history of Cormorant fishing in Europe by Marcus Beike (2012), The Devil's Cormorant: A Natural History by Richard King (2013), and in passing, Milton's Paradise Lost.
A cormorant spread from Zoologist's Primer: Birds. It features the above illustration, scale reference, basic ornithological data, and a full page description of the birds' physical traits, habitat and behavior, breeding, interaction with humans, magical (folklore) properties, and conservation status.
Digital watercolor and ink illustration of various species of cormorants: great cormorant, the same in a wing-drying pose, little pied cormorant, double-crested cormorant, imperial shag, and as a treat, Brandt's cormorant egg
A mockup on orange background: an open box of cards covered in bird and egg illustrations, with a title: Zoologist's Primer - Birds. Next to the box are two cards. One shows a an illustration of various cardinals, with a male Northern Cardinal in a main role. The second card shows the reverse of a blackbird card, providing information on their natural history and magical and folklore connotations.
Digital watercolor and ink illustration of various ducks: wild and domesticated mallards, a flying teal, a Mandarin duck, and a domestic duck egg.
A digital watercolor and ink illustration showing a variety of herons: great blue heron, great egret, boat-billed heron, green heron, and a green heron egg.
Six bird illustrations arranged in two rows: 1. Champion of Nobility. Heron. The Audubon Society 2. Champion of Charm. Kakapo. Birdlife International 3. Champion of Power. Peregrine Falcon. The Peregrine Fund 4. Champion of Wisdom. Owl. The Owls Trust 5. Champion of Cunning. Raven. American Bird Conservatory 6. Champion of Industry. Chicken. Farm Sanctuary
A digital watercolor and ink illustration showing different species of frogmouths: tawny, Papuan, and marbled, plus a white oval egg.
An open book mockup shows an illustrated entry on bowerbirds, various species are drawn above a table with data and scale reference. The opposite page describes the birds in more detail, listing their biology, folklore, and magic. A header above reads: "Zoologist's Primer. An illustrated guide to real-world magical birds." In other corners: "Compatible with all tabletop RPG systems" and a selection of tags: birdwatching, wicca, divination, feather magic, folklore, TTRPG, D&D 5e, worldbuilding.
A mockup of a bird-covered zine. The title reads: "Adventures in Augury". The nearby text on the orange background reads: "Cover design and title not final. Final version will be way cooler"
The pink Beltane text, on grass-green background is surrounded by drawings of plants, crystals, and fungi befitting the holiday: amethyst, dogwood, rose quartz, carnelian, yarrow, ink cap, witches' butter and others
A watercolor and ink illustration of blackbirds, mostly the European common blackbird. The illustration is from Zoologist's Primer: Birds book
A graphic showing three birds: a heron, a kakapo parrot, and a peregrine falcon. The text reads: "Choose the bird charity we donate to" and lists the Audubon Society, Birdlife International, and the Peregrine Fund as options.
A watercolor and ink illustration showing different buzzards: a common buzzard, a red-tailed hawk, a roadside hawk, and a common buzzard spotted egg.
A card with an illustration of a bustard and a quest idea: "Nomads in these lands consider the bds sacred teachers and revere their ways. Recently, they entered into conflict with a nearby city-state, whose rulers traditionally see bustards as symbols of royalty and valor—and regularly hunt them for their feathers. The situation threatens escalating into violence; the nomads prevent the settled folk from engaging in their traditions, causing the latter to close their markets to them in retribution."
A watercolor and ink illustration showing different species of crows.
A card with an illustration of a bowerbird and a quest idea: "Bowerbirds are sacred in this land; to harm one or its construction is to invite the wrath of the gods. And yet, one of the feathery icons living here might have gone too far as it stole a sacred jewel—Blue Eye of the Sky—from the local temple. Unless someone figures out how to recover the gem before the annual Sky Goddess celebration, the entire es harvest is in peril!"
A card with an illustration of a blue jay and a quest idea: "A family in dire distress requires urgent help. Believing the tales of mutual aid agreements with helpful birds, the matron laid out food for blue-winged paragons... Unfortunately, this one is not *that*. The blue jay all but holds the family hostage: the feathery menace lures predators and foes to the homestead if it's not paid tribute to - or, if it perceives *anything* as an offence."
A product photo of a woman posing in a knee-length casual cotton dress, pale pink, with a kaleidoscopic pattern of blackbirds in flight.
A card with an illustration of a black bird and a quest idea: "A mining town in a secluded mountain valley endures a self-inflicted tragedy. Defying the local legend of blackbirds bringing dusk and dawn with their calls, a drunk miner threw a stone at a flock not long ago, scaring the birds away - and with them, the rising sun. Drowned in darkness for days, the denizens are desperate for aid in bringing the sacred flock back."
A card with an illustration of a black bird-of-paradise and a quest idea: "A typically quaint settlement changed beyond recognition as a new trend took hold. A local priest promised the townsfolk a sign from the gods, and - just as they prophesied - a pair of colorful birds made a home in the temple's altar. The birds became the de facto government, as the people place offering bowls along with notes and prayers in front of the birds, and follow the "advice" of whichever note they choose.
A card with an illustration of a bee-eater and a quest idea: "A colorful bird buzzes back and forth, clearly trying to convince you to follow it someplace. Tempted, you sentenced yourself to a dredge through dense shrubs deep into a forest. Your dedication was rewarded when the bee-eater stopped just short of a massive, gilded chest. Sounds of knocking and hushed cried for help come from beneath the bejeweled lid."
A miniature of Tragopalas, described as a kind of hornbill, in a Middle Dutch encyclopedia of nature by Jacob van Maerlant. The picture shows a pissed-off bird, wings at his hips, and two antler-like horns growing out of its head.
A card with an illustration of an albatross and a quest idea: "A storm ravaging the countryside persists days longer than usual this time of year. Entrusted with the task of finding out whether the cataclysm has unnatural origins, you discover a lone giant albatross crying out in the eye of the maelstrom. Endowed with the power of speech, the bird agrees to leave and take the storm with it, if you help it find its missing partner."
A photo of a ca. one year-old Anna, lying spread-eagle on a blanket covered sofa and matching pillows. She looks into the camera with a numb, burned-out expression, like butter scraped over too much bread.
A watercolor and ink illustration showing three different loon (diver) species, a silhouette in flight, and an egg.
A photo of lined-up red horse plushies. Someone mistakenly sewed their mouths upside down, so instead of smiling, they are looking like they're just about to cry as they side-eye the world.
A watercolor & ink illustrations showing four different crow species and a brown-spotted crow egg.
A content spread from Zoologist's Primer: Birds, decorated with a common robin perched up on a twig. The Bird Guide includes a hundred of birds eligible for a place on the cover.
A detailed watercolor and ink illustration of the cassowary, showing the southern cassowary in a dinosaur-like stride, heads of the other two species, a youngling, and a green egg.
A photograph of a male northern cardinal perched on a branch.
A photo of a forest canary, a roundish yellow finch perched upon a branch.
A digital watercolor & ink picture showing a variety of birds-of-paradise, mostly colorful males, but also a female and an egg. The picture is a part of the Zoologist's Primer: Birds book.
A digital ink & watercolor illustration of blackbirds from the upcoming Zoologist's Primer: Birds book.
A digital ink & watercolor drawing of the bird blue jay, having nothing in common with the trending topic which is, I think, baseball thing. These blue jays are happily perched on sticks and fence posts, with their blue crests lowered or raised. There's also an egg in a corner.
On a black and gold marble lies a stack of The Phantom Manor zines. On the cover, a cartoon-style ghost does its best to scare you. A crimson reflection of a manor appears in one of the black eye holes. A cartoon spider swings on a silk thread from the subtitle: "A spooky adventure for characters of any game and level." Next to the zines, a text reads: "10 rooms, 13 ghosts, 1 mysterious door. Can you survive until dawn and lift the Rosebloom family curse?"
A gloomy, misty, and green forest seems to devour completely lost Thumbelina who looks like she's about four years old. An ethereal, giant toad observes the child from afar, deciding to kidnap her as a bride for the toad's son.
A painted poster with an anthropomorphized sparrow wearing a sparrow-brown business suit, no pants, white shirt, golden vest, and dark brown tie. The sparrow carries a briefcase as stares you down, so you know it means business.
An illustration of antimony minerals, including needle-like stibnite crystals. The pic comes from Geologist's Primer by Double Proficiency.
A simple illustration of a magpie sitting on a naked branch. The bird it sitting with its back and tail to you, displaying the beautiful array of iridescent colors on its feathers.
A digital watercolor "botanical" illustration of ergot, showing purple-black sclerotia in various forms.
A reagent card of fly agaric, a common mushroom with red cap covered in white warts. The picture of the mushroom is included on the left side. It is found in 4 biomes (forest, grassland, urban, and waste) and represents the element of air. The card lists three magical effects: magic, chaos, and slow.
A picture of a Globetrotter's guide open on a spread about Environmental Threats & Challenges and Catleya orchids. The text next to it describes the series of biome guides - a resource for writers and TTRPG creators and game masters.
A drawing of a sunflower on the background of the blue & yellow Ukrainian flag. The text around the sunflower reads: "Stand with Ukraine"
A photograph of a framed watercolor and ink illustration of a cat-sized dragon sitting atop a red fly agaric mushroom. The dragon is of an European design, blue-gray, but it also sports butterfly-like antennae, orange horns, and blue and orange butterfly-like wings. A tail tipped with orange wraps around the mushroom's stalk.
A watercolor and ink illustration of pixie's parasol, Mycena interrupta. It's a tiny mushroom on pale stalks and with cyan to royal blue caps, vaguely resembling the evil eye charm.
Bad Habit Artist Bingo covered in translucent fly agaric caps. Managed to not get any bingos, mostly because the bottom tow depends on drawing people. Also, a bingo just avoided by not marking "too hard on self".
A watercolor + ink illustration of a variety of honey mushrooms (genus Armillaria) from the Mycologist's Primer.
A watercolor + ink illustration of the ghost fungus: a clump of creamy oyster-like mushrooms, caps of a darker coloration, and a ghostly-white luminescent mushroom.
A round token with a red-scaled, yellow-eyed and toothy kobold holding a spear. The kobold is drawn in the style of "The Order of the Stick" comic book, all adorable and stickman-like. You could fall in love with this kobold.
A photo of a book "Mushroom Magick: Ritual, Celebration, and Lore" by Shawn Engel. This small hardcover tome has a gold foil title and a ring of cute mushroom illustrations surrounded by gold sparkles and a crescent moon.
A botanical illustration of comfrey (Symphytum officinale), a herbaceous plant with black roots, narrow leaves, and bunches of purple bell-shaped flowers.
A detailed watercolor and ink illustration of various types of garnet, from unpolished orange to gem-cut red and purples. In addition, a very demure brown garnet pebble with electric-blue sheen on the surface.
Accompanied by a miniature picture of a candy cap mushroom, text reads: "#018 Candy Cap An oddity in the world of mushrooms, candy caps introduce a remarkable sweetness thanks to a compound called quabalactone III, which in reaction with water produces sotolone: a fascinating aroma compound which at low concentration smells like caramel or maple syrup; at high concentration, it resembles curry or fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum). You will find it added to artificial maple syrup, molasses, aged rum, and plenty other alcoholic beverages. Collecting candy caps is a tiresome quest due to their small size and limited habitat. Lactarius rubidus is limited to mostly western areas of North America, while L. camphoratus, more curry-like than sweet, is found in eastern North America, Europe, and parts of Asia. The latter is sometimes attacked by the ochre gillgobbler (Hypomyces lateritius, relative of the lobster mushroom), preventing gill formation and improving the flavor. We mention it only because "gillgobbler" is such a cute name for a goblin."
A detailed botanical illustration of frankincense (Boswellia sacra), showing a flowering top, a flower in bloom, and clumps of resin sold as incense.
A detailed illustration of indigo milk cap, a white mushroom staining blue at the lightest provocation.