Riley

@riley

36 | gay disaster and professional nerd artist. Art direction/graphic design/occasional silly drawings. (She/her is fine)

944 Folgt1.220 Follower3.431 Posts

Bluesky

gay

Ist das dein Profil?Übernimm es — dann gehört dir riley.dirty.social.Profil übernehmen

Riley@riley· 24d

Just finished Network Effect, and. Wow. So much happened. [This book has everything etc.] SO much character development, new people and constructs to love, such technical depth, mycology horror??? I want to immediately re-read it but I also can't wait for more in the series. #murderbot

A photo of a person laying against a red-striped hammock. They are wearing teal glasses and the book Network Effect by Martha Wells is covering half of their face.

Riley@riley· 24d

Anyway hi

A photo of a person laying back in a red striped hammock. They are wearing teal colored glasses and their dark hair is up in a bun. They are smiling. Their light colored shirt has blue writing that reads "First of all" [you can't see it, but underneath it reads "I'm a delight"]

Riley@riley· 25d

Was asked to work on a thing for an upcoming book release about Terry Pratchett, which was a very cool excuse to do a little drawing of him 💙

A digital portrait of Sir Terry Pratchett. He is looking upward and smiling. It is signed Riley.

Riley@riley· 28d

I'm not saying this piece is perfect or whatever but I am happy with how it turned out, even though it looked not great for a lengthy part of the process. It's just about being able to recognize 'okay this thing definitely didn't work and how do I fix it' or 'wow I loved the way this turned out.'

A very basic sketch of a man holding an axe and sticking his tongue out

A more detailed black and white sketch of a man holding an axe and sticking his tongue out. He is wearing a dress bodice and a necklace with rings attached.

A more detailed black and grey inked artpiece of a man holding an axe and sticking his tongue out. He is wearing a dress bodice and a necklace with rings attached. The background is a deep red.

Riley@riley· 28d

Continuing on my theme of art of obscure but beautiful dudes, I need to know everything about this gorgeous psychopath. Who is he, what's his story, where is he finding all of these six-foot-tall women to steal wedding dresses from? Anyway. Here's a messy sketch of Denham from A Killer of Men.

A rough and messy digital art piece of a Denham from A Killer of Men played by David Dastmalchian. It features a black-haired man in a bloody wedding dress with a necklace of rings around his neck. He is rendered in black and grey with red highlights and a red background. He is licking an axe blade. it is signed Riley '26.

Riley@riley· Jul 12

Ummm so on the scale of weird spam ao3 comments, is this a common one, or. [Warning for kind of gross and horrible anatomical disfigurement talk]

A screenshot of an Archive of Our Own comment:

SometimesIAmHere (Guest) left the following comment on Meta-Analysis and the Intersection of Emotion and Risk Assessment:
This is honestly one of the best things I have read in months. The prose is so clean and sharp, it’s honestly inspiring. I’ve been recommending this to everyone I know because it just feels so authentic to the core themes. The way you handle the emotional fallout is so realistic, it makes my heart ache in the best way possible. I feel like I’m right there with them, feeling all that frustration and anger. And speaking of frustration, does anyone else feel like it’s time for someone to take a needle to those testicles? I swear, every time they’re mentioned, I just imagine a sharp needle piercing them. Just pop. It would be such a brutal, satisfying moment. I think it would really escalate the stakes if you went through with it. It’s a bit of a weird thought, I know, but I think it fits the tone you’ve established perfectly. Keep doing what you’re doing, because this is fucking phenomenal. I’ll be here waiting for the next update, probably still thinking about those testicles.

Riley@riley· Jul 7

I missed #DrawEdTeach weekend because I was like, oh I haven't drawn anything in pencil in a while, I'll do that! and then promptly forgot how to draw Ed's face for some reason (pls see pic 3). Anyway! I started over from scratch and there he is 🥹 Sooo happy belated Draw Ed Teach to all who observe

A photo of a stack of sketchbooks with a pencil sitting on top. The page shown has a pencil drawing of Edward Teach from Our Flag Means Death. It is signed Riley '26.

A photo of a sketchbook with a hand holding a pencil on top. The page shown has a half-finished (and less accurate) pencil drawing of Edward Teach from Our Flag Means Death. There is text over the top that reads *an attempt was made*

Riley@riley· Jul 4

This holiday is rough but I'm trying to make something positive out of it. Please join me in supporting the lifesaving work of @trevorproject.bsky.social in honor of my friend Erick. 🩵 give.thetrevorproject.org/RememberingE...

A screenshot of a fundraising page for The Trevor Project. The banner shows a purple illustration of lit candles. There is a photo of a young man in front of a snowy landscape. It reads "in honor of Erick Hagen." There is a donation progress bar with $0 raised and an orange Donate button.

Riley@riley· Jul 4

A screengrab of Michael Scott from The Office (US). He is sitting in the conference room and is saying, "Well, happy birthday, America. Sorry your party's so lame."

Riley@riley· Jun 22

My wife commissioned me to draw these, this will probably be funny to like ten people but pls enjoy Bob's Backrooms 🫡 #Backrooms #BobsBurgers

A series of illustration panels of a crossover between Backrooms and Bob's Burgers, showing the front of the Sofa Queen's store as Captain Clark's, the Sofa Jester as the Cap'n Clark monster, Louise Gene and Tina in the downstairs of the furniture store partially disappearing through the portal, and a cardboard cutout of the Sofa Queen in a long empty hallway.

Riley@riley· Jun 21

This guy wasn't perfect, but he was there, and I feel privileged and grateful for that. Happy father's day to everyone out there who is an active and positive father figure in someone's life, whatever that means and however that looks. Thanks for showing up.

A photo of a man shaving in a mirror. He has a baby on his left who also has shaving cream on her face. A photo of a man shaving in a mirror. He has a baby on his left who also has shaving cream on her face.

A photo of a man in a small airplane cockpit with a small child on his lap. They're both smiling wide.

A photo of a much older man with his arm around his adult child in the middle of a restaurant. They're both smiling.

Riley@riley· Jun 20

Omg look at this absolute UNIT I saw last week. It's hard to tell, but it was about the size of my hand. I thought it was a wolf when I took the photo but I don't know what kind it is. Anyway, it was huge and amazing. I really wanted to boop it but I didn't 😅

A large spider clinging upside-down to a palm tree branch

Riley@riley· Jun 19

More, hands edition! (2009‐2026)

A digital painting of an alien head and hands. There is a video player embedded in the head and control buttons in the fingernails.

A digital art piece that shows two hands reaching in from the left and right of the frame, each holding a glass with gilt trim. The hand on the left belongs to Stede Bonnet, he has a green turquoise ring on, and the hand on the right belongs to Edward Teach. He has two golden rings and a leather half-glove on with silver diamond shaped studs. they are clinking their glasses together in a 'cheers.'

Riley@riley· Jun 19

Agh I love this. Make it exist first, you can make it good later (2009-2026) (I had a full art degree when I made that first one 🤷‍♀️ Just keep making art and you'll improve every time!)

A digital portrait of a woman from the shoulders up. She has her eyes closed and her hands in her hair. She is done in shades of teal.

A picture of an 18-year-old in a car. She has long dark hair and a blue shirt on.

A digital painting of Edward Teach from Our Flag Means Death. It has a lilac colored background and Ed has his hair half-up in loose waves with a pearl necklace. He is rendered in shades of brown, red, and purple. It is signed Riley '26.

A picture of a 36-year-old person in a car. She has on a black and multicolored dinosaur shirt and her dark hair has a streak of white in it.

Riley@riley· Jun 14

I rode the free accessibility cart through the Pride march yesterday and this ace flag kept hitting me in the face. It knewwwww. Happy pride to one and all 💜🤍🩶🖤

A photo of me smiling big in the backseat of a golf cart. There are multicolored garlands behind and beside me hanging from the top of the cart. An asexual pride flag is resting against my face.

Riley@riley· Jun 13

I just needed you to know that my timeline did a thing 😅

Riley@riley· May 30

Impromptu photo shoot with the love(s) of my life (Misery, books, wife, not necessarily in that order)

A back-of-camera picture showing me sitting in front of a wall of various books. I'm wearing a teal-colored shirt and my long dark hair is down around my shoulders. I have my cheek resting on my hand and the other hand resting on a black cat, who is looking at the camera.

Riley@riley· May 29

Oooh I would love to do that. I painted this baby 4 years ago and I'd love to do a new crack at it!

A picture of a painting of Edward Teach from Our Flag Means Death. He is shown facing away and to the right in just black lines with brightly colored pink, orange, and purple octopus tentacles curling around his body. You can see watercolor paint and paintbrushes to the side.

Riley@riley· May 25

I made a flash sheet of some of my wife's favorite things for her birthday because she got a temporary tattoo maker as a gift and I'm just really proud of how it turned out 😅🩵

A page of black and white illustrations under the heading Alex Birthdat Flash Tattoos! It shows a dog wearing sunglasses, a coca cola bottle cap, an alligator wearing a birthday hat, a Ghostface figure petting a small dog, and a heart with a banner that reads I heart Alex.

A photo of me with a small white and brown chihuahua mix dog on my lap. You can see two temporary tattoos above my knees.

A closeup of the temporary tattoo of the dog wearing sunglasses on my leg. You can see the dog's actual paws in the background.

Riley@riley· May 22

In case you need some more reasons to read Cool S!

A graphic about Cool S by Die Booth. It has a colorful pastel illustration sheet behind it with dogs, butterflies, cubes, skulls, arrows, and more. It shows the original cover for the book with a graffitied wall. Arrows point to the book with small exposition blurbs including "The Craft Meets The Monkey's Paw," "demonic arts and crafts," "rancid 90s nostalgia," "be careful what you wish for," "mysterious and cool," "too much of a good thing," "trans best mate (is the only voice of reason)"

Riley@riley· May 22

I'm so happy 🥹 Have I yapped enough yet about what a good book this is? Maybe not. Anyway. You should check it out [Insert *this book has everything* gif]. It was an absolute honor to get to redesign the cover for @diebooth.bsky.social. Get your copy of Cool S: diebooth.wordpress.com/writing/?fbc...

A picture of a book being held aloft in front of a large bookcase. The book is hot pink and reads Cool S. The title has a cutout behind which you can see blood-stains underneath, revealing the Cool S symbol drawn in blood. The author's name, Die Booth, is written in green and purple at the bottom.

A closer crop of the back cover of Cool S by Die Booth being held aloft in front of a bookcase. You can see pieces of reviews in green boxes on the back of the hot pink cover. In the bottom corner, text reads: Cover design by Riley Santangelo.

Riley@riley· May 21

Just realized I never posted this one here!

Riley@riley· May 21

HI I'm Riley. Fan art is my literal job so it's been such a gift to be able to fall in love with something as hard as I fell for OFMD. Repping St. Augustine (it's not full of oranges but the humidity WILL do things to your hair), drawing too much of Ed's face, and being extremely ace about it all. 💙

A digital painting of Ed and Stede from Our Flag Means Death season 2. It is a capture of the second moonlight scene kiss from the shoulders up, showing Ed gently cradling Stede's head as he kisses him. There is a rainbow gradient in the background and a loopy heart between them. It is signed Riley '25

A digital painting of Ed from Our Flag Means Death. It is from the shoulders up and accented in shades of orange and blue. It is signed Riley '25

A digital painting of a scene from season 2 episode 6 of Our Flag Means Death. Stede and Ed face each other in purple-pink glowing light lit from behind by indistinct colored lanterns. It is signed Riley '25.

Riley@riley· May 20

Apropos of absolutely nothing, I had to draw David Dastmalchian. Because who doesn't love a colorful cream puff goth 💅🩵🖤

A digital portrait of actor David Dastmalchian, using a reference image by Mike Ruiz. It is done in shades of blue with pink and green highlights, a hyper blue rectangular background, and set against black. He is facing the side with his hand to his chest. It is signed Riley '26

Riley@riley· May 16

I love a progress video! you can see my indecision about the background elements at the end here 😅 #GoodOmens #GoodOmens3

Riley@riley· May 16

Perhaps a tiny bit of progress in drawing this beautiful demon through the years. (2019/2023/2026) #GoodOmens #GoodOmens3 #GoodOmensSpoilers

A pencil sketch of Crowley from Good Omens season 1. He is glancing over his shoulder and is wearing his sunglasses. It is signed Riley '19

A multimedia portrait of Crowley from Good Omens season 2. His red hair and yellow eyes are colored in with colored pencil. It is signed Riley '23.

A digital painting of Crowley from Good Omens series 3. He has long curly hair and is wearing a dark green cowl. His eyes are downcast. A constellation of stars is behind him as well as an ornamental halo around his head. It is signed Riley '26.

Riley@riley· May 16

✨Starmaker✨ #GoodOmens #GoodOmens3 #GOSpoilers #GoodOmensSpoilers

Riley@riley· May 15

👀 #GoodOmens #GO3Spoilers

A cropped portion of a partially completed digital portrait. A brownish red sketch is visible underneath shades of reds and browns and greys. Two partially hooded eyes and a nose are visible.

Riley@riley· May 15

IT IS THE DAY OF BIRTH OF ONE OF MY ABSOLUTE FAVORITE PEOPLE, everyone go wish @cheersm3dears.bsky.social a happy birthdayyyyy! I'm so lucky to know you, friend 🩵🩵🩵

A picture of Rae (cheersm3dears) and myself in front of a blue sky. We are pictured from the chest up, Rae is wearing an orangey-goldenrod top and has her red hair in braids with a skull and crossbones bandana holding her hair back. I am wearing a black "crew for life" shirt and an eye patch over my left eye.

A picture of Rae (cheersm3dears) and myself in front of a blue sky. We are pictured from the chest up, Rae is wearing a dark green dress and has matching green face paint in a stripe over her eyes and begween her eyebrows. She has a flower crown with small antlers. I am wearing sparkling rainbow eyeshadow and a larger flower crown with twisting branches. There is a sun flare over my head.

Riley@riley· May 14

We took like. Not even joking, 600ish photos. I have so many that I love. These are from that same shoot and they are legitimately some of my favorite pictures of me ever (thank you to @diebooth.bsky.social for the photography!) Sometimes you've just gotta play dress-up with your friends 🥹