J. L. Barnes

@fishwithatophat.com

211 Followers 154 Following

I draw gentlemen animals. I write sci-fi and fantasy. And when I'm not preparing for the zombie apocalypse, I run DragonCrest Studios, 'cause it pays for kibble. www.fishwithatophat.com https://www.instagram.com/fishwithatophat/

Ink illustration of a blue-green scorpion-crab at the shoreline of an endless desert. Their reflection has a happy little smile.
Error message on USPS.com stating "This service is currently unavailable."
A basset hound in a striped summer shirt hanging out on the couch. He very much prefers to be dressed, because apparently he's a dapper gentleman.
Peter Falk as Columbo. I have seen every episode... uncounted times. It is my happy jam.
Cartoon drawing (by me) of a basset hound pretending to be a sheet ghost... but his sheet is a picnic blanket with red checkers. He's saying "rawoo!"
Artist ad for Enchanticon, showing my company logo (DragonCrest Studios) and featuring "Enchanticon 2026" and the dates/location in the text (available above). Across the top is a landscape image of me as a witch, sitting cross-legged with a filmy black veil. The smaller images on the right show an illustration of a firefly dragon and an acrylic painting of a silver cat in a yellow dress drinking tea.
Head shot illustration of a Caucasian woman with bright pink hair and long pink and blue nails. She has a cuff earring ending in a large mirrored ball. The background is abstract swirls over a red-to-orange gradient; two crystals float in the foreground, one blue and one pink.
A composite of two horror drawings and me all dressed up in witchy attire (image on the right). The text reads "Enchanticon 2026, 10-12 July 2026." In the upper left is a picture of a demon/ghost being summoned by a ouija board in a dark attic. The lower left is a totally-friendly lady in a misty forest with white dots for eyes and an umbrella to shade her silhouetted face.
An army of clay mice headed by a little rock goblin.
Ink illustration of a woman in a purple dress facing off against a shade on neon city streets.
Screenshot of a Roll20 battlemap. Three players are fighting a large, bird-like snake critter... and by that I mean I (Scrimshaw) am currently being grabbed in its mouth and have 0/106 hit points. We've got notes scribbled on the map, including a skull-and-crossbones pointing at my avatar and "dead men tell no tales" written over my head. Clearly I've lulled the boss into a false sense of security and have him exactly where I want him.
A few illustrations you'll be able to find at the con (a Loch Ness anatomy diagram, creepy mermaid, and dapper bunny), plus all the con details from above.
Grey Maine Coon mix leaning into ear scritches.
Basset hound Basil snoozin' on the couch next to a window. There's a suitcase and a box crowded on his left, a portfolio book behind him, and layers of tissue paper stacked on top of him. He is not phased.
A grey cat sitting almost on top of a dapper basset hound, who wears a blue plaid jacket. Both of them are looking intently at the camera.
A dragon lies on a cliff edge surrounded by a surrealistic mix of textures and colors. The dragon has a glowing mane with small pink flowers; its horns and wings are bare branches. In the background, a desert moon meets a snowy mountain.
Light pencil sketch of a man with long blond hair. He has his head tilted to one side and a creepy smile that's made all the creepier by a set of pointed teeth.
Ink drawing of a woven basket in the shape of a dragon, with little button eyes. The background is a splashed gradient from brown to blue with spatters of dark brown.
A cartoon dragon crossed with a button mushroom. He's got two little fangs and long, branchy wings. A speech bubble contains a bubbly question mark, because he's just as curious about you as you are about him.
Ink drawing of a diamond dragon. Predominately white, the dragon's crystalline body and wings have pink and blue surfaces to display its angles. It has a long, beaked face, and it's always seemed very haughty to me.
Sketch of a large-armed mech that's been digitally splashed with all kinds of colors. It's got overthick arms and armor-like feet. The text reads: Hazard Lights General Massive Systems Sagarmatha Artist name (@FishWithATopHat) is in the lower-right corner.
Sketch of a mech with oversized arms and vaguely armor-like feet.
Detailed ink illustration of a walking house in sepia. A number of hidden objects can be found: a tree grows out of the top roof, a bear lounges on the front roof, a figure is in a tiny window looking out onto a porch, and various towers have minor details. The artist is @FishWithATopHat.
Screenshot of the results, showing a JND of 0.0047.
Upside down basset hound squished between my leg and the couch.
A sculpted ghost with a red cartoon heart suspended in a small glass vial. The vial is wax-sealed with dripping red wax. The video gives a 360-degree view.
Screencap of a Word doc where grammar check is suggesting the word "warmer" in "only a degree or two warmer than the weather" should be "warmers." Which would make it "only a degree or two warmers than the weather."
Screencap of a grammar "suggestion" by Word, where it wants to correct the "bare" in "bare arms were loosely crossed" to "bear."
A horrifying creature (woman?) with a distorted face, lips stung by a thousand bees, and huge bushy eyebrows. Her bright green hair is wild and short. She has different-colored eyelashes and yellow mascara. He paired all of this with a bright purple dress (not shown), so he looks like a psychotic clown when running around in the game.
A dapper gentleman with pale skin and black hair. He has thin eyebrows and a dashing mustache that curls at the end, implying a propensity for evil-doings. (It took my brother all of 20 minutes to learn black magic in this game.)
A pretty woman with wavy reddish hair and heterochromia. She wears suspenders and a paperboy hat.
A black-and-white collage of three drawings and a picture of me (the artist). Upper left is a silhouetted woman with a knife and curly hair leaning into a doorway. Upper right is a ghostly woman at the base of dramatically lit stone stairs; her feet fade out before touching the steps. Lower left is a dark forest with a clawed woman in a tattered dress staring at the viewer. In all three drawings, the women's eyes are pinpricks of white light. The text reads: Grimoire Academy's Gothic Market. 7-8 March 2026.
A circular blacklight in front of a cluster of glass vials. Each of the vials has a tiny clay ghost hanging in it.
Pencil drawing of a woman in a loose blouse. One hand goes off-screen and the other is folded on her lap. She has shoulder-length, wavy hair, and sits with one leg crossed in front of her.
Pencil drawing of a woman in a loose blouse. One hand goes off-screen and the other is folded on her lap. She has shoulder-length, wavy hair, and sits on a partially rendered chair with one leg crossed in front of her.
The list of Merriam-Webster's Top Thesaurus Lookups, listed as follows: 1. avarice 2. good 3. archetype 4. calm 5. lost 6. love 7. acid
Pencil drawing of a woman in a loose blouse. One hand goes off-screen and the other is folded in front of her. She has shoulder-length, wavy hair.
A small corked vial containing a little clay ghostie on transparent fishing wire so he can float around. The base has a layer of sand.
A grey-and-white cat sitting very erect on a cat tree, staring at something off-camera with a worried and alert cat face.
A very happy grey kitty with his face shoved into his dog brother's bed while he makes biscuits.
An adorable collie in his crate, tucked in with a red blanket and a little blue blanket from his mom's crate.
Light sketch of a badgerfolk with his hands in the air (wearing the faintest suggestion of white gloves). Around his center is a thick belt decorated with three hearts.
A colored pencil portrait of a young girl with a wide smile. She's waving at the camera over her shoulder. She's pale, with strawberry blonde hair on one side of her head--the other side is shaved, with a red eight painted above her ear. She wears an oversized blue shirt belted at the waist with a tied brown belt.
Short clip of a polymer clay raven with white eyes and slightly gold-fringed wings. The clay is black glitter and the sculpture spins on a moving base.
A magnetic light held at an angle to display its pitted and partially melted plastic shell. Oops.
Picture of Paramount Plus's streaming service showing "Under the Dome" classified as "Reality."
A rough collie (Lassie dog) named Odd in the back seat of a car. His front half is draped over a sweater-wearing basset hound (Basil) and his back half is on a German Shepherd (Mouse). The German Shepherd had surgery recently, so he's got a shaved leg and the Cone of Shame.
A basset hound bounding through tall (for him) snow. His ears are straight up, because he uses them to fly. He's wearing a blue coat because he's a fashionable pup... and also hates being cold.
A 3-by-3 grid of art, with a picture of me in the middle. From the upper left, the drawings are as follows: a dapper lady platypus (named Flora) with a fan, a dragon made of branches, a Pathfinder character portrait (nagaji woman with a large neckline and a purple background), a gold dragon with a smaller black dragon in the background, a painting of a cat woman having tea, a firefly dragon, a dapper pigeon in a bowler, and a silhouetted dragon flying in a blizzard.
Screenshot of a CNN article with the caption "Book lovers have enough books. Get them one of these 32 bookish gifts i..." There is no such thing as "enough books."
A red d20 that has magically rolled a 20... for the third time in a row. I do not know how this has happened. Clearly I have the luck today?
A flying gold dragon with its tail wrapped around a craggy rock. The background is cloudy and appears to be near sunset. The silhouette of a black dragon is visible in the distance.
Illustration of a black cat dragon with bright, glowing eyes and a little fang. Flecks of white and purple reflect the dragon's body, and the tail has a glowing white ball at the end. The background is dripping sepia tones, matching the random drips coming off the dragon.
A blue dragon with spectacles and a mustache carrying a book decorated with a crescent moon. He wears a plaid vest and brown pants, and has a floating pocket watch beside him. A teacup and plate follow after him, likewise floating, and he carries an old-fashioned candleholder with a lit candle.
Full-body illustration of a skeletal dragon with white, shredded wings and a white plague doctor's mask. It wears a rainbow gradient cape.
A large, hippo-alligator-looking dragon in the swamp, its mouth open in a roar. It's scarred and has a tattoo on its right shoulder. The necklace it wears floats in the water around its neck, and holds a tiny onion on the end.
Cartoon illustration of a very confused green dragon looking at a purple stuffed dragon toy in his hands.
A fierce red dragon flying in front of a fire tornado.
A bright illustration of a fox dragon bust framed in a circle. Golden wings make up the sides of the circle, with evening colors (purples and pinks) between them. The bright orange fox dragon has her mouth wide open and is side-eyeing the viewer. She has a pair of small antler-like horns and a few brown patches on what otherwise seems to be a furry body.
A cute little dragon based on a firefly. Their front half is orange, with black hindquarters and a long, glowing tail. They have two sets of wings: an outer set that looks like more traditional dragon wings (in black), and an inner set like insect wings that are translucent and veined in gold. The background is indistinct green, and the firefly dragon is perched on a single blade of long grass.