Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery

@mshades01

Expat American in Osaka, Japan. Teacher, writer, calligrapher, dungeon master. He/Him D&D Writing: Writing Substack: AO3:

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Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· 23d

An #ArtFight attack I did a few days ago for silence0fthelambs with his character Everett. Always nice to have a cowboy on hand. #ArtFight2026 #Art

An illustration of a young cowboy, standing with arms crossed. He's wearing a dark vest and a hat and staring at the camera.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· 23d

Okay. Did some sketching to try and recover from yesterday's absolute Art Implosion. Are they good? No. But are they categorically awful? The hand, yes. Squeaks Malone? Sure. The others? Maybe not. So - a soft reset. #Art #Sketchbook

A page of a sketchbook with a lot of different things drawn in pencil - a couple of foxboys, a frog person. the ATTEMPT at a mouse person, a hand with six fingers because I guess I'm AI now. A sleeping cat, a ring on a holder, a moon, an eye, a flying snake....

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· 25d

FINALLY. Summer break couldn’t come soon enough.

A screenshot of iPhone alarms - set for 4:20 and 4:25 every weekday - turned off.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· 25d

I think I squished him....

A very rough sketch of a wolf, based on the step-by-step in the previous post. Worse things have been done to a wolf, but not many.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· 25d

I wonder if it's time to break out the Art Mandala for practice again.... #Art #Arting #ArtSky #MandalaChart

A grid of 64 art practice ideas in a Mandala Chart, with activities such as "Draw for Comfort," "Ugly Drawing Day," "Anatomy Study," "Fan Art" and so on. It's intended to give me different things to practice so I don't get stuck.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· 27d

Attack number 8 - for Noctus over on ArtFight, their character Zvelzda. He's just a li'l guy, and I wanted to try doing something more like a portrait. Thank gods for Procreate head stamps. #Art #ArtFight #ArtFight2026

An illustration portrait of a young man looking off to the left. He has white hair with grey-blue streaks, pale skin, and bright green eyes. He's wearing a voluminous coat, which includes a neckpiece that comes up high enough to cover his mouth. The neckpiece is black and the top has teeth-like triangles around the edge. The outer coat is blue, with a frankly ridiculously wide collar lined in red. He has two pins on it - a smiley face and a star on which "I Tried" is written. Behind him, large ribbons of green, pink, and blue are arcing through the air. Look, it's tough to describe, but I did my best.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· 28d

And you know what, everyone? She did it. Look at my Sea Serpent, being all smoldering and hot. He can tell me terrible things about myself all day if he wants.... Thank you!

An illustration, in green-on-purple, of the human form of the great Sea Serpent Dolorosus Abyssi. He is staring at the viewer with slit-pupilled eyes, and the great, black eye in the center of his head. Horns rise from his head like a crown, and he has delicate scales on his skin. He's hot. You just have to trust me.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jul 12

Priyet has freedom, of a kind, amidst the trees and the wild. I don't usually draw female characters, so thank GODS for figure stamps on Procreate. An attack on @lsengler.bsky.social with the utmost gratitude! #Art #ArtFight #ArtFight2026

A young woman in an ancient forest, dressed in a simple green and yellow dress with a brown leather breastplate. She carries a twisted wooden staff with a rabbit head carved on the end.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jul 11

Attack number five - a REVENGE attack for Ezrenthiel. Their shapeshifting kelpie. #Art #Artfight #Artfight2026

An illustration of a green-haried man standing on a rocky promontory by the sea, smiling as the waves crash up before him.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jul 10

A shop window that says, "Eat what you love"

An illustration of Galactus from Marvel Comics. His mouth is open, capable of swallowing both the Earth and the Moon.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jul 10

Attack Number Four! For goth_cats - their abominable goat boy seemed like he needed something nice. So I gave him something. #Art #ArtFight

An illustration, mostly in sepia tones, of a goatlike being, with the skeletal face of a ram, furry patches, and weirdly-shaped hoof-hands which is TOTALLY INTENTIONAL. He's holding a bright pink flower that seems very much out of place here.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jul 9

Saw a little Hawk Moth caterpillar crossing the sidewalk on the way home. Probably looking for a place to curl up and metamorphize. Good luck little guy.

A mostly black caterpillar on a sidewalk. It has small red and yellow spots and a little spike on its butt. It’s adorable in its way.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jul 8

#ArtFight attack number 3, for Kanahani. A strange cyberpunk cryptid of a man. #Art

A man in black leather with neon green accents green-lenses goggles, and long, ropy hair, is perched on… let’s call it a pipe? Behind him is a starry night.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jul 7

QRP with your ArtFight pieces, show what you've made in one week! Two very different vibes….

A grey and green canine Persian staring intently at a pizza on a table.

A young man in black and white, summoning a pair of shadow dragons.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jul 7

Attack number two for #ArtFight - for dr4vgr with their character Zephyr and his two shadow dragons. And you know what? I think it turned out pretty well.

An illustration, mostly in black and white except for the dark blue-green background. A young man in greyscale is wearing black jeans, a grey leather jacket, and an off-white t-shirt with the kanji for "shadow" and "dragon" on the front. He is staring at his hands, which are solid black with a white aura. He looks.... a little unnerved? Expressions aren't my strong suit. ANYWAY, from behind him are rising two serpentine Japanese dragons. One is cooler blacks and greys, the other is warmer blacks and greys.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jul 7

(running in, out of breath) Sorry I'm late.... artfight.net/~MShades01

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jul 5

An #ArtFight piece I did for @p0la-ris.bsky.social - who had done me the kindness of being my first follower. And so became my first target. Mua-ha-ha-ha.

A green-and-grey furred dog anthro, staring at a pizza. The Word "PIZZA" is behind her in green neon.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jul 5

Fuck yeah.

A screenshot from the Health app showing weight at 99.8 kg, my latest milestone.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jul 5

It’s here. The Chromopocalypse has begun.

A black and silver bag of Calbee potato chips. Package printing is harder because SOMEONE decided to disrupt the international oil trade.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jul 2

Human Artists! Use one piece only to convince people to follow you!

A drawing of St. Sebastian, the patron saint of confused Catholic boys for centuries.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jun 30

Well, the Month has come to an end, and you know what? I enjoyed it. I'll start collecting ideas for next year, and if you want to join? I'd love to have someone else doing this. #Art #TheLongingMonth #PrideArt #QueerArt

A collection of the 30 illustrations I have done for The Longing Month, all in a nice, even grid.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jun 30

The Longing Month 30 - Sunrise It's the final day of Pride Month. I got through the night, figuratively speaking, and now there's a new day coming. This one was challenging, but I think I made it work. More or less. Probably. #Art #PrideMonth #PrideArt #TheLongingMonth #Sunrise

An illustration of a street. On the left are buildings, on the right are trees. A shadow is stretching out on the road, as if the sun was rising behind the viewer, and "The Longing Month 30 Sunrise" is written in the sky. It's very moody - blue and orange.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jun 29

My Bluesky license. So now I'm official.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jun 28

The Longing Month 29 - Afterparty If I absolutely MUST go to a party, this is the afterparty as I need. Me, coffee, peace and quiet. The contrast between the diner (drawover of a source pic) and the guy (an abomination from Beyond) is pretty stark. #TheLongingMonth #Art #PrideMonth #PrideArt

An illustration of a young man in a suit sitting in a diner booth at night. He looks exhausted and is holding a cup of coffee. Because the Artist clearly hates him, his feet do not touch the floor, and he is vividly aware of his plight, the poor guy....

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jun 28

The Longing Month 28 - Pride My opinion of my own art baselines at "garbage" and then moves grudgingly up from there, if at all. But I've kept up this whole month. Haven't missed a day. And some of it is maybe better than garbage. So I'll be proud of that. #TheLongingMonth #Art #PrideArt #Pride

Ain illustration of an iPad on a desk. The Procreate app is up, with "The Longing Month 28 Pride" written on a blank canvas. Scattered around the iPad are copies of drawings from previous days. The perspective work is terrible, but the point is made.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jun 26

The Longing Month 27 - Future Self This is the least queer entry I've done. But. I've been trying to get healthier. Not because I enjoy it - I definitely don't - but so that Future Me can keep doing things. I lost 10 kilos since September, and 99.8 kg is my next milestone. #TheLongingMonth #Art

An illustration, top-down, of a pair of feet standing on a digital scale. The scale reads "99.8"

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jun 26

⭕Quote-Post with something that is a circle!⚫ #ArtTrain I made a fox logo for my art. Why a fox? I don’t know - they just keep popping up in my mind and other mental spaces. So, a fox logo.

A greyscale drawing of a fox, curled up. The initials CG are in a cartouche on its forehead.

A drawing of a fox, curled up. The initials CG are in a cartouche on its forehead.

A line art drawing of a fox, curled up. The initials CG are in a cartouche on its forehead.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jun 25

The Longing Month 26 - Devotion To me, devotion is small things that don't HAVE to be done, but they are. Because that person is just that important to you. You leave dinner for them because you know they'll be home and hungry and you care. #Art #PrideArt #TheLongingMonth #QueerArt #Devotion

An illustration of an open microwave oven. Inside is a blue-and-green striped bowl with a yellowish plate covering it. A sticky note on the bowl reads, "Welcome home! - C." On top of the microwave is a blue mug with a teabag in it, a green box of "Fine Tea". On the wall is a calendar with notes, and a sticky note that reads, Percy - 15th and Oak, 10 PM. - Eoin." Who are Percy and Eoin? Maybe you'll find out someday....

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jun 25

I don't know how to say "Buckle up, Buttercup" in Japanese, but the sentiment stands.

A map from the Japan Meteorological Agency showing two typhoons, numbers 7 and 8, and their projected intersecting paths along the Pacific coast of Japan. We'll be fine, I'm sure.

Chris Gladis 🇺🇸 🇯🇵 🏳️‍🌈 | Team Mystery@mshades01· Jun 25