Mai ★ SDCC II-19

@whyst.bsky.social

201 Followers 196 Following

Stranded alien. Art. Books. Geek. Wanderer. Bad at sleeping. Science nerd (not a scientist). History nerd (not a historian). Dino nerd (not a dinosaur) There's always time for roller coasters and ice cream artofmaivan.com artofmaivan.com/links

Colored illustration of a family of sea turtles happily swimming in the ocean, with sun rays shining through the water, creating dancing refraction caustics on the sandy bottom and on the turtles' backs. The mother turtle is gliding gracefully through the water and looking proudly at the camera. One of her baby turtle is dancing energetically in front of her and looking mischievously at the camera, and her other baby turtle is swimming serenely by her and looking shyly at the camera.
A bird sitting on the ledge outside a window visible through, and slightly hidden by, a sheer teal curtain and a white curtain, looking directly into the room as if to say hi
Illustration of an X-wing starfighter with its S-foils locked in the iconic X-shaped attack position while zipping through space in a tunnel of bright, white streaks of starlight. To the top left adorning the illustration are two small origami X-wings, one orange and one yellow.
Beautiful white roses, mostly in full bloom with a few buds visible, and greenery all around on a bright, sunny Spring day
Digital illustration of a squadron of TIE starfighters speeding towards a ringed gas giant that dominates most of the star-filled space. The sun is just beginning to peek around the horizon of the planet, spilling light on the planet's rings and TIE fighters.
Digital illustration of a large, multi-leveled space station orbiting a cloud-covered planet, the space above filled with stars and bright nebulae. A rising sun illuminates a transport ship inside a hyperloop tunnel formed of evenly spaced rings originating from the space station and extending to either side, encircling the planet. Projected from and between the rings is a transparent shield, whose hexagonal pattern is subtly visible.
A gouache and watercolor canvas painting with bright, twinkling stars illuminating blue and white nebulae clouds, contrasted by dark swirls of cosmic dusts threading amongst them. Atop the painting is a 3D paper cutout border depicting more stars and a multilayered paper craft of Perseverance, the Martian rover, in silhouette and looking up in wonder at the universe.
A top-down view of a detailed 3D model of the spaceship Serenity, Firefly class, depicted in elegantly clean and simple black and white with no texture details, like an unpainted marble statue. To the side of the model is an illustration featuring the 3D model, this time painted, flying through a colorful blue, purple, and red spacescape filled with stars and eclipsing planets. The ship leaves a trail of bright, colorful bubbles in its wake, as if it was sailing through the very river of space.
Digital illustration of a squadron of TIE starfighters speeding towards a ringed gas giant that dominates most of the star-filled space. The sun is just beginning to peek around the horizon of the planet, spilling light on the planet's rings and TIE fighters.
Digital illustration depicting an X-Wing starfighter in the foreground and his wingman off to the right, both ships hurtling toward two TIE fighters in the distance, the X-Wings' red lasers firing in staccato bursts to meet the enemies' green lasers. Behind the two TIE fighters, two planets are visible backlit by a bright, distant sun, with rings circling one of the planet.
Pencil drawing of Gandalf the Grey from the movie The Lord of the Rings, with a separate slip of paper on which is written one of his quotes. It reads "I've found it is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folk, that keeps the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love"
A colored pencil sketch of a fluffy reindeer with large antlers on blue-gray toned paper, highlighted in white. The reindeer sits against a background-less blue-gray field, except for a rectangular box extending vertically from the lower section of the reindeer's antlers down to the top half of the reindeer's head, within which a blue, atmospheric glow fades upwards towards black, and white stars fade to white snow falling gently through the clear, crisp air. Two large crystalline snowflakes keeps the reindeer company on this cold winter night.
A fluffy, oh so soft looking, black cat, curled up sleeping on a red cushioned chair. The temptation to pet was overwhelming, but I managed to control myself and let the little one sleep in peace.
A square, gold picture frame displaying a print featuring an ancient Egyptian wall relief style painting of two women in gold masks, both holding a sai in each hand, posed and ready for ceremonial battle. Surrounding the two figures are rows and columns of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics embellished in shiny gold foil, with a large, stylized winged scarab adorning the bottom.
A detailed drawing, rendered in ink, markers, and colored pencils, of the EAS Agamemnon, an Earth Alliance Omega-class destroyer from the space scifi show, Babylon 5
A hardcover book standing on a table with the cover depicting a blue, star-filled spacescape with galactic gas and dust clouds swirling around a ring of light, the title on the bottom right visible as "So Far: The Art of Mai Van". A blue, silver-foiled bookmark is leaning against the book, showing a similar spacescape, but this one depicting the edge of a large planet with its moon rising over the horizon behind it.
A waffle cone with a double scoop serving of vanilla ice cream and a flake stuck in one side, held aloft against a backdrop of colorful flowers in full bloom
A sketchbook page opened to a drawing of a raven's skull with the words "Quoth the raven" written underneath, the entire thing rendered in pencil. The sketchbook is being held resting on the artist's lap as she sits on a park bench, with a scattering of yellow orange autumn leaves visible on the ground, creating a frame around the sketchbook page.
Digital illustration in the style of an ancient Egyptian wall hieroglyphic relief painting telling the story of the movie The Mummy Returns in a series of static sequential scenes laid out from left to right and down in multiple rows, starting with the discovery of the Bracelet of Anubis and ending with our heroes in the dirigible flying into the sunset at the end of the movie.
A white sign with the table number M 22 and the table name Art of Mai Van
Closeup of two adjacent bookshelves with a connecting row of Tolkien books with oh so pretty matching dust jackets. All of the colorful illustrated covers are matte, with the titles standing out in shiny gold foil. On one end of the row, three books are displayed backwards, with the spines towards the wall, to show off the colorful sprayed edges with white text written in the Cirth and Tengwar scripts invented by Tolkien.
Two stacked images. The top image shows a close-up 3D rendered view of the front of a TIE fighter, with its spherical command module, transparisteel viewport, two laser cannons, and the wing spars visible. The bottom image shows the back of the same TIE fighter with its solar ionization reactor, twin ion engines, and the wing spars visible.
An ink and markers drawing of an Ichthyosaurus fossil with a label identifying it as being from the Lower Jurassic era, about 200 million years old. A second piece of paper sitting in front of the drawing says "So long, and thanks for all the fish!" as well as a disclaimer that the drawing is not of a dolphin.
Side view of a Velociraptor skull formed out of layers of cut paper that have been hand painted to emphasize the depth. Below is a replica Velociraptor claw
Two happily in love brachiosaurus with their eyes closed and foreheads touching, each with one front leg raised and touching the other footpad to footpad, their long necks forming a heart around the names Arwen and Aragorn. Vines with heart-shaped leaves adorn both sides of the card, with additional texts indicating the wedding date and location. Sitting atop one side of the card is an unsheathed Sting, the Elven sword wielded first by Bilbo Baggins and then later by Frodo Baggins
Double-sided tote bag featuring an ink and markers illustration of a cat in a spacesuit standing on a new world and looking up proudly at the stars. Planted at his feet is a flag that reads "Mine" with a little paw print and trailing behind him is his little assistant and companion, a mouse rover. A band of stars stretches across the night sky. A close up shot on the right shows the polyester canvas texture
Four tote bags arrayed on a table, each bag depicting a vibrant and fun space-themed illustration. One shows a cute cat in a spacesuit standing proudly on a new planet with a flag that says "Mine" planted at their feet, and another showing a close up shot of a ringed-planet with the rings brightly lit by the sun that is just rising over the horizon behind the planet in a star-filled sky. The two other bags are slightly hidden, but a peek of a space nebula and a black hole are visible
A formation of iconic spaceships with matching blue accents assembled and flying forward together against a black field, each ship outlined in shiny gold foil. The spaceships hail from various scifi franchises including Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate, The Expanse, Firefly, Starship Troopers, StarCraft, Battlestar Galactica, Futurama, Marvel, Lost in Space, Dark Matter, Independence Day, and Power Rangers
A square, gold picture frame displaying a print featuring an ancient Egyptian wall relief style painting of two women in gold masks, both holding a sai in each hand, posed and ready for ceremonial battle. Surrounding the two figures are rows and columns of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics rendered in shiny gold foil, with a large winged scarab adorning the bottom
The "Negotiator", a Venator-class Star Destroyer and flagship of Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, with all her thrusters flaring white hot blue, arrives in the Tatooine system. The system's famous two suns, visible in the distance, bathes the starship and the surrounding cosmic clouds of gas and dust in a beautiful orange light.
Digital illustration of a little cat in a spacesuit calmly floating in space with a long serpentine tether disappearing into the foreground. The cat is dwarfed by a giant black hole with light and stars slowly swirling into the singularity, bright hot at the event horizon and utter blackness in the center, where light can no longer escape
A voter taking a selfie with her mail-in ballot on the way to drop it off, with the ballot covering half her face so you only see her eyes. Over the picture are two stickers, one saying "let's do this!" and the other saying "I Voted!"
A fun pumpkin carving of a full stegosaurus skeleton posed with its mouth opened in a little roar, shown in both daylight and at night with a candle inside lighting up the carving in full jack-o'-lantern festivities. The bottom of the image shows a row of different pumpkins all lit up from within with carvings of cute faces, a unicorn, and even an alien saying hello beneath his spaceship.
A sketchbook page with pencil drawings of six cute cats with varying markings. One expert loafer, one yoga grooming, one contemplating Mondays, one cozy sleepy ball, and two on alert for adventure, with the second one extra curiously leaning forward with neck outstretched and one paw forward
An ink and markers drawing of a full stegosaurus fossil posed with his tail up and his mouth opened, with a smaller piece of paper sitting in front of his face with the word "Rawr!" written on it
A 3x3 grid featuring 9 illustrations, each depicting a brightly colored space scene filled with stars and nebulae, some with planets and moons, one with a black hole being studied and one with a mysterious ring of light. Most are centered on one or more spaceships or satellite, with one featuring a cat scientist in a spacesuit during an EVA mission
A spaceship in the shape of a cat's bust floats cozily along with a giant scarf wrapped around its neck and trailing behind. A bright sun illuminates the ship and surrounding asteroids from behind while a few bright stars shine from the surrounding blackness of space.
Digital illustration of a little cat in a spacesuit floating in space with a long serpentine tether disappearing into the foreground. The cat is dwarfed by a giant black hole with light and stars swirling into the singularity, bright hot at the event horizon and utter blackness in the center, where light can no longer escape.
Traditional drawing of a happy puppy sporting red markings on her eyes and forehead like the character Okami and a sweet little flower tucked on her ear. Her head is poking out of a black framed background and she is looking up with a happy smile.
A hand, mostly offscreen, holding a sticker of an X-wing, its S-foils locked in attack position and its engines flaring red. Above is the following text "Free sticker with all orders, today only!"
Illustration of an X-wing with its S-foils locked in attack position while zipping through space in a tunnel of bright streaks of starlight. To the top left adorning the illustration are two small origami X-wings, one orange and one yellow.
Screenshot of the Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025 logo with the words "Your reservation was successful!" underneath
Digital illustration of a squadron of TIE starfighters speeding towards a ringed gas giant that dominates most of the star-filled space. The sun is just beginning to peek around the horizon of the planet, spilling light on the planet's rings and TIE fighters.
Digital illustration of a squadron of X-Wing starfighters with their S-foils locked in attack position all speeding towards a ringed gas giant that dominates most of the star-filled space. The sun is just beginning to peek around the horizon of the planet, spilling light on the planet's rings and the X-Wings.
The moment of totality during the total solar eclipse 2024. The moon is completely covering the sun creating a black circle surrounded by a white hot halo, with purple flares around the ring
Illustration of the spaceship "Serenity" flying through space, her engines flaring white hot and trailing blue smoke behind her. The ship's head is just eclipsing a bright sun in the background which is illuminating rings of green clouds of gas and cosmic dust, peppered with the lights of hundreds of distant stars.
A round sticker of a drawing of a plate with a face drawn with ketchup and mustard, the wide grin spelling out the word "Wacko" with the letter "A" resembling the Stargate point of origin symbol for Earth
Ink, markers, and color pencil drawing of a full squadron of six X-wings and six Y-wings flying in formation through space on a blank sketch cover variant of issue one of the Star Wars comics from Marvel
An ink and markers drawing of a cat in a superhero pose dressed as Wonder Woman, but with her traditional "W" motifs flipped to be "M"s to mimic the M in the fur pattern on the foreheads of tabbies, her belt subtly spelling out "Meow", and a paw pattern on her skirt. She is swinging her lasso of truth that ends in a ball of yarn with a trailing bit of string that also spells out "Meow", the whole thing glowing to compel you to tell her where the treats are hidden!
Drawing of two anglerfish models with gaping mouths, the first is skinny with a label that reads "anglerfish before a meal" and the second has a distended belly that is very round and larger than the rest of the fish with a label that reads "angerlfish after a meal"
Ink and marker illustration of a proud cat in a spacesuit standing on the surface of a new planet, head tilted up with a small smile, taking in the dark, star-filled sky. There is a little rover in the shape of a mouse trailing behind and a planted flag that says "Mine"
Drawing of the Millennium Falcon flying through space with stars twinkling all around on a blank sketch cover variant of issue one of the Lando comics from Marvel