andromeddog

[andromeddog]

HII YOUR ART IS SO AMAZING I LOVE IT SO MUCH! Do you take requests?? if so i dont know if you are into Band of Brothers but could you draw Babe? if not thats okay but your art is gorgeous!!

anon! you could say i am into band of brothers!and u caught me when i was doing warm ups so here is a mega quick super speedy 20 min babe

[andromeddog]

????

[andromeddog]

Hi! Thank you for responding to my previous ask about helmets during wwi. I was also just wondering if u have any tips for drawing hair? this is for working on art in general and not a project. i have tried to use references and sketches a bunch, have practiced a ton, but it is still difficult. i was just wondering if u have any tips for drawing hair, esp male hair? thank you!!

oh wow anon hi again, coming in hot w an interesting question bc i genuinely don’t think ive ever consciously considered or examined the way to draw hair/the way i draw hair…. (apologies in advance this got really long)

ig first of all when u mention “male hair” u mean short hair? given the men i draw r p much all historical military dudes they tend to have short short hair so im going to assume u mean that (bc i know men w very luscious locks.) drawing it is something that took me a while to get used to…… when i was into golden kamuy my fave had a buzzcut and i was struggling to find someway to showcase that without it looking like a helmet (i started to figure it out towards the end) i think the big balance there is trying to manage level of detail. w some styles u rly dont need much (buzzcut is mostly about hairline and shape of the head, i break up the smooth silhouette by adding a few lines to suggest that it’s fuzzy or spikey) and others require way more attention (wavy/curly hair comes in a variety of shapes so figuring out the specific curl pattern ur going for is crucial, fine line between showing that accurately and just making a bunch of visual noise)

(also also this is just a fact of the media im into and to b completely honest w myself and you - we’re talking mostly white dudes here in this specific post, this is not a catch all for any hair type but esp more curly/coiled hair textures. i would recommend seeking out artists of color who have more experience w that bc i do b drawing a lot of white guys! and they are not the only type of guy!)

genuinely hair can feel like more of an obstacle for me, slowing down the process for what i would rather be drawing (uniforms) so im always stoked when i can just draw a helmet (sometimes, as previously established helmets r also my mortal enemy). often times ill start with the face but skip everything above the forehead until the very end of the line art, which leaves behind a very silly looking half decapitated soldier (there’s no tip here, just a weird quirk in how i go through a piece lolll) hair on its own is usually delicate and ive never once in my life been able to render something delicately, so thank god for gross war dudes who’s hair is messy enough for my style to finally make sense

IN GENERAL…..watch out when doing the lines, you don’t need to include EVERY single hair or EVERY single lock, blank space can imply they’re there and trying to capture every single centimeter of hair can be too much in the finished product. this is something i suffer from and have talked a bit about BUT it especially rears its head (lol) when drawing hair. i just get too lost in details and then i zoom out and have an insanely dense area of detail right on top of the head that distracts from everything else below it (aka basically all the stuff i WANT to showcase). the eye will automatically b drawn to that spot and no matter how nice the rest of the drawing is ppl will b more focused on whatever the fuck i did w the hair… being frivolous w lines in general can look good when zoomed in but when zoomed out can just make the whole piece…… busy

idk if i have “tips” so much as kind of a reference for how i would go about drawing hair…. here r some examples of hair i’ve drawn that i think dont suck complete ass with a wee bit of analysis. u can tell my absolute fav thing to do is put a lot of detail right where the hair meets the forehead- idk why i just think it makes that intersection more visually appealing.

when im beginning to draw hair i start w the head shape and where approximately the hairline is. then i kind of block off the general shape of the hair on top of that- getting an accurate idea of the boundaries and being able to fill in the details within that space. i try to identify the big “chunks” of hair, the major shapes/flow within the entire shape itself. longer/thicker lines segment those, and then i can fill in that space w shorter/lighter lines to show more detail (if im using a brush w line weight, if im doing mono line i feel my style skews more simple to make up for the lack of line weight)

the next step is a slightly more cleaned up version, getting a better idea of the silhouette and general hair direction. then its lines! and i spend 3 million years destroying my wrist and trying to make sense of earlier sketches…. esp w curly hair oh my god. truthfully i’m still trying to find a balance between “too much” and “not enough” when it comes to curls. again, i have a tendency to go overboard with detail!

also this is a personal plea, but if that hairline is receding, PLEASE for the love of god make sure to include that hairline receding. the hairline is one of those little things that can really help capture likeness; getting it wrong will result in a certain “off-ness” that can make u confused or frustrated as to why this guy doesn’t look quite right. u can also get one of those weird style conflicts where ppl who usually draw younger “””attractive””” men try to draw an older one and it’s very clear they r unwilling to do anything to make the older man look another other than like, 25. (or, from their perspective, unattractive) (i could get up on my soapbox about ppl’s unwillingness to even consider drawing features that aren’t like iphone face hot but that’s my hot take and no one asked) one thing i personally strive for in my work is an accurate depiction, or as close as i can manage w my skills being where they are, so i push that hairline back and i do it will all the love in my heart

ALL OF THIS TO SAY…… idk. this is just my general process, what i’ve been doing and what works for me. maybe it doesn’t make sense or won’t work for you. i will b the first to admit hair is not my strongest skill! i will also b the first to admit my work in general is far from perfect, i have a lot to learn in p much any and all conceivable ways!! but i hope this small novel helped even a little???? anyway have a great day anon mwah mwah mwah 💕✨🦆

[andromeddog]

endgame

[andromeddog]

hi! i really like your wwi art! i was wondering if there’s any tips for drawing helmets? specifically german helmets (im doing an art project about all quiet on the western front)? thank you for your time!

hiiii anon ty for enjoying my work!! your question makes me a little nervous bc i am really uh not good at drawing helmets. esp the stahlhelms…. but i will try to give u at least a little bit of insight to how i approach them!

um did u know? the stahlhelm is actually my worst enemy. it’s such a fucking stupid shape i hate hate hate. the side view is p iconic and recognizable but oof that front view just kills me. u have this HUGE semi rounded dome on top and then a bit of an angle once u get to the skirt/visor. no matter how u view it u can see the distinct way the skirt pokes outward, i think thats rly important to getting the shape right. i know i sound like a broken record but reference is reaaally ur best pal. google, pinterest, books, ppl are big fans of stahlhelms (some for…. iffy reasons) so u can find a lot of them online

one thing that has super helped me has been looking up 3d models! sketchfab or turbosquid r the ones i browse the most…. its rly useful to b able to rotate the whole thing and see its full shape, not just the one angle u get from a picture! that also helps ur brain visualize it as a full 3d object, which translates into a drawing (the more u study it/look at ref the better u will understand how it sits irl)

urgh okay. and then just examples of how ive drawn them. but again! peep that distinct angle! idk some of these r more successful and others r ummmmmmm. truly u can see how i use shading to just completely cover the areas im not confident with haha. rly examining these i can just see how wack the shape of these helmets are…..

oh also i would recommend checking out @/thespookedookie here on tumblr, they do some seriously incredible work centered around ww1 and aqotwf! they r a great source of inspo i love their art and style and everything

ok thats rly all i got! i’m sorry im not more helpful, u caught me in the middle of a series of bad days so i am not at my best or most coherent. but i hope this can help with your project in any sort of way! feel free to send any more questions u have, i will try to get to them in a timely manner :)

[andromeddog]

Hey, I have a question for you, do you do any art request. If so, is there any specific rules you have when it comes to the request? And do you draw any fandoms as well as any original characters too?

hiiiiii hi thnx for asking! requests r fun i enjoy hearing what ppl want to see and doing them here and there but ig there are some uhhh guidelines? stipulations??? i’m open to almost all requests, tho i prefer to stick w franchises that are at least adjacent to what i am typically seen drawing…. like im probably not the person to go to for transformers drawings. or like. idk genshin impact. or gossip girl (sorry matthew settle). i also don’t rly do ppl’s ocs, for me that feels like it requires a lot more care/attention and would be more on the level of a commission, which i don’t rly do either. subject wise just throw shit at me and see what sticks! who knows maybe it’ll strike a nerve. also pls b nice 2 me :3c

tho im not guaranteed/obligated to do a request if i get one. sometimes i’m rly focused on getting through a bunch of my own ideas. sometimes im rly busy and dont have time. sometimes it just doesn’t rly speak to me lol. ppl have good ideas and ppl have ideas that i just have no interest in drawing! that’s them breaks. drawing this dumb shit is quite literally the only thing keeping me alive a good chunk of the time so i gotta keep it fun for myself first and foremost 😵‍💫

as it stands rn i am kind of booked up through the end of the year …. i want to finish all the requests i got the last time i asked (by the new year hopefully but that may b impossible), i have a few holiday illustrations, i have my own stuff i want to draw and then family stuff…. so right now is honestly not a great time for requests haha but thank you for asking!!!! i appreciate the interest

[andromeddog]

dudes who rock

[andromeddog]

Oooo jumping off the previous anon ask, do you have any websites/books that good for reference that you’d recommend?? Or is a simple Google search/going from there good enough to start with

I’ve always been interested in uniforms n stuff but idk where/how to actually FIND info (especially for accuracy) but idk if Wikipedia/Google is the best for that lol

i’ve talked about this (here) and (here) before, but i will elaborate a bit more (a lot more) for you!

again my first response is to ask, what kind of uniform are u looking for? bc there’s just more info on some types than others. like, ww2 american paratroopers? sooo so so much stuff out there, maybe bc there was a wildly successful miniseries that is often listed as one of the best tv shows ever made and it mythologized the paratroopers and now everyone has a big ol boner for them and their uniforms and you can’t got two searches deep without tripping over those jump boots (said w all the love in my heart). but that being said, sometimes just a google search is enough!

this is where being familiar w each of the components of the uniform comes in handy. like oh damn i need ref of that one specific small pouch the marines have on their guns, what was that called?? oh duh it’s a carbine butt stock pouch, sometimes they wore it on their belt, i can just google that and get the exact result i want

buutttttt sometimes the online sources/pics u get are undated/unlabeled, and you have to piece together what ur looking at based on ur own knowledge of a uniform. this is especially true the older you go, and ive run into this issue with ww1 stormtrooper uniforms specifically, where you don’t have an exact date and u have to be like “welllllll i can’t be 100% sure if this is from early or late war, if this is german or austrian, but it’s close enough to what i need and i can’t find any other source that even comes close and ive spent four hours looking so im going to use this” and then you get someone in ur dms like “well actually 🧐 they didn’t wear those specific suspenders/have that patch on their uniforms/use that limited issue pouch in this theater” and then you feel kind of silly. but it’s like damn dude i spent hours looking for ref and found the only like five jpegs still remaining of this uniform pls cut me some slack. ig this is just me saying that i dont get it right all the time and inevitably there will be someone out there who has a better grasp on it and will clock your tiny error from 200 yards

to stop my pointless rambling and actually get to your question, google is a pretty good place to start but u gotta know what to be looking for. wikipedia can b helpful for kind of an intro/getting names of items. pinterest is a big one for me, i mostly like that you can save pics and organize them. i’d also check out reenactment websites/forums; those guys are dedicated to being 100% accurate and can also provide some good action shots. youtube is also a resource that i forget exists haha. following artists who are into that kind of shit, taking notes from the uniforms they draw (careful w this one, as i said earlier even ppl who draw uniforms a lot still mess up occasionally). honestly any big website is bound to have some military history enjoyers and so u can do a general search and see what comes up, that can help point to users/a community that will often have their own sources/discussions that can be helpful. ive said it before but watching movies/shows about the specific era ur looking for is great, you can see how a uniform sits and moves with a person 👍

also books! there isn’t a single catch all book for uniforms, again (again) it’s all by era/country you’re looking for. ebay is GREAT for finding super specific books on topics only you and five other people care about. sometime u can get lucky at an old used book store but that’s a real gamble and only happens veryyyyyy rarely hahah

i always use these sorts of references in tandem and double check to be sure, i swear i have like 12 tabs open and two books open per drawing just so i can get everything as close to accurate as i can. but like ive said im kind of obsessive about details (negative) and can’t be chill about anything ever. what a super cool and very practical skill set that makes me very popular amongst my peers and interests everyone once i have two beers and won’t shut up about it

ending this with my standard “did any of this make sense?” i’m going to turn on my computer now and spend the next eight hours staring at reference pics and drawing my silly little war boys have a great day everyoneeeeeeeee

[andromeddog]

Do you have any tips for drawing soldiers uniforms?

hi anon! really really long, really really rambling answer for u below the cut <3

i have many thoughts! ig the first thing is, what are your intentions with what you want to draw? are you going for complete accuracy, or is it more of a vibe situation? bc you don’t always need to be perfectly precise with uniforms, sometimes just suggesting what’s there is enough. being completely 100% with them can sometimes be distracting or unnecessary…

LIKE HERE FOR EXAMPLE….. in the snafu piece i kind of only hinted at what he was wearing… the belt, the pants, theyre really all over the place. but that’s not what’s important here or what i was trying to depict, so that’s okay! u want to see snaf being crazy, which i got more w shading and color. whereas in the piece w speirs, being precise in what he’s wearing lends itself to the war dog intensity of the whole guy. he wears that helmet proudly and holds tightly to the strap of his gun, very much IN his uniform in this moment

(do i think either of these r successful? idk. looking back on the work ive made and viewing them as complete “””””art”””””””” pieces is wack. am i in art school again. these certainly are drawings, let’s just assume they are worthy of this sort of analysis and that for sake of argument are “successful”)

buuuuuuut u can also go too crazy with pinpoint accuracy haha. like this pic? maybe it was just bc i was using a monoline brush but there was literally no reason to draw every single fold. it makes this drawing incredibly busy and unpleasant to look at. i think im just obsessive and get too invested in the details and miss the forest for the trees. so u get shit garbage like this sometimes, but that’s a me problem. i would just keep an eye on what the purpose of the drawing is!

if it’s accuracy ur going for (which i usually am) then reference is your best friend. look in different places for them, collect them, caress them like a lover, they are very important. after u look at soldiers a lot u can kind of get a feel for how specific uniforms sit on them (watching shows, movies, hell even gifsets if u r extra online like me) but that varies for whatever era ur trying to draw! spending time researching is kind of a big part of the process haha. be willing to scroll through lots of pics and lots of sources, if ur really dedicated to the cause then maybe buy some reference books!

in general i find uniforms are practical, durable, and layered for utility. everything has a purpose, those fifty straps going cross body are usually attached to fifty pouches, each with their own functional use. understanding the different parts of a uniform, their uses, the WHY of an items inclusion helps build the whole look in ur head and translates to the drawing. uniforms are bulkier than i initially expected bc they are meant to fit as many ppl as possible and typically have little to no tailoring (if we’re talking ww2. ww1 was all over the place w uniforms, especially officers, but that’s another ramble for another friday night). each era and each country and sometimes even each soldier’s uniform has its own little quirks. that’s what’s so appealing about research and drawing them for me! isn’t it neat how ppl’s individual preferences shine through even when they all have to wear the exact same thing!!!!

did any of this help at all??? i am chronically incapable of keeping things succinct! but if u read all of this thank you! i love u 🦆✨

[andromeddog]

(this post)

[andromeddog]

YOUR LATEST SNAFU FANART IS SO GOOD!!! I'M GNAWING ON THE BARS OF MY ENCLOSURE AND RUNNING IN CIRCLES

THANK U ANON all credit goes to rami malek’s big ol eyes

[andromeddog]

the prompts were snafus big scary eyes + snafu with a knife

[andromeddog]

girl these Speirton-ish drawings are killing me I love them, Lip's fainting couch u will always be famous 😍

lolll ty anon, those guys r very compelling. i’ve drawn them a few times but nothing ever finished and/or nothing that should see the light of day. here r some examples. i drew them as hamtaro hamsters once???

[andromeddog]

bob requests 👍

[andromeddog]

my piece for the History is Full of Wars zine!

[andromeddog]

HISTORY IS FULL OF WARS ZINE NOW LIVE!!! 24 page full colour a5 zine for band of brothers, the pacific, and masters of the air!!!! not for profit and all proceeds will go to ActionAid's Gaza Appeal Featuring: lepinkaiset scootercatassociates redhystori @andromeddog pouncepaints @neptunes-blue @kylaym Sprigopiine meremurmurs @rotta937 @saintsupertramp jacksaton_ saturnswar.jpg @oboeonecannoli ohimart @handheldrope katsendon @iceiceicecold @stfrancisprayer @camelotcam @ghostofadragon

[andromeddog]

per request, some duck sketches