#Been sketching with pen lately to practice. No erasing

[olisephart]

My first thoughts on the protocol crew

[little-red-fool]

OMG YOU'RE SEVENTEEN?? (I've been following you for months and I didn't once read the pinned message beyond the line about no AI and NFTs lmao) YOUR ART IS SO CRISPY I THOUGHT YOU WERE A PRO ARTIST AROUND 30 WTF

(sorry for the yelling via text)

HOW DID YOU GET SO GOOD!! (Tips on lineart please?) WE'RE THE SAME AGE, BUT HALF OF MY ART IS SHIT AND THE OTHER HALF IS FART

ALL HAIL LITTLE RED FOOL, BESTOW THY GREATNESS UPON THOU MERE MORTAL SERVANTS

But in all seriousness, any tips on, like I said, lineart or just digital art in general? (I just started digital, and... Ten hours of work and I'm just on base colors 😎🕶️🤏🥲) I love, LOVE your style and especially COLOR! How do you tie it all together? Like, I'm 17 too, but I'm not even close to your stuff?? I'm scared as fuck from ever trying color traditionally because I spend SO MUCH TIME ON A SKETCH, so I just picked up digital and HOURS LATER IT'S STILL AWFUL

Sorry for the rambling and repeating, man, it's been a long day and it's late in the Balkans... Don't let the rambling force you into answering tho

Have a good one. ->excited fellow artist

(tip of the day: did you know that in Romanian, moon and month are the same word, with the same pronunciation, spelling and plural? It's called: lună [loonuh] and I think it comes from latin, since Romanian is a heavily latin language, with bits of french and turkish (HEAVY bits), dacian, slavic, italian)

OUAHFSHD THANK YOU SO MUCH I’M REALLY HAPPY YOU LIKE MY ART!! Also I’m sure your art is better than you think it is (we generally tend to view our own creations as worse than others because we’re the ones that made them, don’t worry I’m the same as well ajdbsjd) but yeah I’ll be happy to give you some tips and stuff! (and yeah I never colour traditionally either I just leave everything in plain biro because I don’t want to mess it up lol)

(I haven’t seen your art so these will probably be more general tips but hopefully they’ll help a bit, also keep in mind that I’m not a professional so this will be more about what has worked for me but I hope it might help you a bit)

So for stuff like lineart, avoid using chicken-scratches—it might seem easier or less daunting to do shorter overlapping lines like that but it will give your sketches and drawings that overall fuzzy look, the trick is to have longer confident strokes. It might seem a bit tricky at first if you haven’t done it before so don’t worry it happens but if you keep practicing they’ll eventually look smoother and less shaky. For the longer lines it better to draw from either your elbow or shoulder, and by that I mean keeping your wrist still and letting the larger parts of your arm do most of the work—this will also help your wrist in the long run. For things like shorter lines and smaller details then absolutely use your hand to move the pen, but generally try to use your elbow and shoulder as it will help you get those longer smoother lines. Also this is just a personal preference of mine but I generally use brushes that have a bit of pressure sensitivity which helps add some line weight. If you don’t have pressure sensitivity another way you can get line weight is by taking an eraser to some of the edges and narrowing some parts.

For colours it mainly depends on the lighting—lighting is everything and will affect how the rest of the colours will look, so it’s important to have an idea of the brightness and colour of your lighting. The background also plays an important role in picking colours for me as well as it helps provide colour context and makes it easier to pick colours by eye if you want a certain mood. If you want a more dependable way on getting colours to match up then I’d recommend having a layer that’s just colour on top of the rest of your piece—you can play around with the blending modes and opacity, I mainly use either an overlay layer with a medium colour that’s slightly desaturated or a colour burn layer with a light saturated colour; most of the time I use colour burn because if you put it over your lineart then it will also tint the parts of your lineart or sketch that’s at a lower opacity too. But with figuring out colours I’d highly recommend researching some stuff about colour theory, there are a lot of good and easy to understand explanations and art tutorials on YouTube so I would recommend starting there (unfortunately I can’t link recommend specific videos because my playlists are a mess ajdbsjdbsj but some good channels to learn from are Sinix Design, Marc Brunet and Marco Bucci).

In terms of general digital art tips, ALWAYS FLIP YOUR CANVAS. You will not believe the amount of times I’ve looked at a drawing and thought it looked pretty good, flipped the canvas and found that everything’s wonky. In cases like these the liquify tool is your best friend, as well as the lasso tool and transform tools, as well as just manually fixing them by redrawing some parts. Also use as many layers as you need, and by this I mean if you’re working on your sketch, lineart or colouring or whatever and you want to do something you’re not sure you’ll like, duplicate the layers so you have a backup in case it goes wrong and you want to go back. When I say use as many layers as you need I mean use as many as you need, these are some of mine and they’re all from just one sketch because I get really anxious about messing stuff up lol, also don’t be afraid of drawing separate parts on separate layers and merging them afterwards if you want.

Also take your time, unless you have a deadline don’t feel like you have to complete a drawing within a certain timeframe, if you want to get faster at drawing then that’s great but don’t feel like you need to push yourself, especially if you’re just starting. Practice takes time and patience is your best friend, and you probably hear lots of other artists saying this but trust the process. You might get to a bit you’re struggling with and not like it and want to abandon the drawing, but I found that rather than saying “this is bad” or “this is wrong” start asking “how can I make this work” because a change in mindset can help you a lot with art. Also don’t feel like you have to reach certain milestones with your art by certain points either, like with the age thing and comparing your progress with other artists of either the same or different ages, because it can make you feel worse about your art. Trust me there are some artists younger than me who are like 14 or 15 who’s art I envy and—again with the mindset thing—instead of getting down that your art isn’t similar to their’s or worrying that you’re “behind” in your artistic development (there is no such thing btw everyone learns at different ages and speeds so don’t feel bad if you haven’t progressed as much as you would have liked to) it helps to ask what you like about their art and what you would like to incorporate into your own—this has helped me learn and improve a lot faster.

I don’t know if I have any more tips at the moment, but I hope that answered some of your questions! (also sorry it’s a bit long or some bits don’t make a lot of sense I like to ramble a bit lol) (also also thank you for the little fact as well!)

Have a nice day anon 🧡

[dont-worry-honey]

OK

WHICH ART MATERIALS DO YOU USE?!

LIKE, HOW DOES YOUR PEN.. PEN LIKE THAT. THE LINES ARE SO AKHSOWHSIWHISJW

AND YOUR COLORS ACTUALLY COLOR

Please. I need to know.

Hi!! So I’ll be very honest I don’t use anything fancy!

So here’s the list and a funny story along with them! (You’re getting the whole experience)

INKING:

STA Pigment Liner Pack. (I found one in the street and I liked it so I went to look for more online. Almost died for picking up something from the street counter: 1)

- Pros: Waterproof! (For a while) And since it’s a pack, they come with many different sizes

- Cons: after some time the ink does erase a little, and loses its waterproof….

Sharpie Permanent Marker Ultra Fine (I was in desperate need for new inking pen.)

-Pros: Doesn’t ERASE!! Very strong pigment. Water proof. Lasts!!

-Cons: smell…

COLORING:

Royal & Langnickel 18 watercolors: (I just wanted to have something to do in school since I never had much work to do)

Pros: Very Travel Friendly

Cons: idk!! I’m not a watercolor person !! It’s the first time for me!!

Aenart 36 Dual Pens: (I was gifted this from the school!! The embarrassing part was that I sleeping when it all happened. They stormed in the classroom with a camera in my face saying: “YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED.” I practically jumped out of my chair! Apparently my teacher bought it for me!<3)

Pros: MANY COLORS!! VERY PRETTY!! White marker is perfect for shading white!! (I know nothing about shading)

Cons: none I love them

Staedtler 10 Triplus fineliner: (no story)

Pros: very fine! Very pigmented!

Cons: I don’t remember… maybe don’t put them near watercolor if not dried or applying?

Crayola Color Pencils: (I do not have a full pack. The ones I have are from elementary. I’m currently in college.)

Pros: I like them :) very affordable

Cons: idk! Maybe a professional knows…

Imperial Color Pencils: (I only have ONE! It’s the red one. Almost died for picking up something from the street counter: 2)

Pros: The red one is very nice! Very pigmented!

Cons: idk… I don’t have the full pack…

U Brands Gel Pens 30 Count: ( I got this from a secret Santa! A YEAR LATE. A YEARR!! So when I received it I was very pleased. The year wait was worth it)

Pros: many colors!! Glitter!! Metallic too!!

Cons: does NOT dry fast. Need to wait for it to dry or it will smudge everywhere. The white gel pen doesn’t work well. Get a special one for that! (Someone told me here which one but I already forgot….)

PROCESS:

So ofc sketch first!!

Inking: I use the STA pen for face and face shape. Since I draw Fukase (mostly), I use it for his face markings too. (After erasing sketch, I advice to touch up anywhere you used the STA Pen) For the Sharpie Pen I use it for the the rest. Background, body, clothes, etc.

Coloring: First I go over it with my watercolors. I put them down before I put down the markers. For example, I use the watercolor first for Fukase’s hair. Then I use the Staedtler Pens to get that bright red! For clothes (or anything else) I use Aenart Markers. For the background, I put my crayola/ imperial color pencils on top. Depends on the feeling I want. Then I usually like to outline my drawings with the U Brands Gel Pens. When I tell you I put glitter on all my drawings, I put it on ALL my drawings!! I LOVE SHINY!!

Conclusion:

I really hope this was able to answer your question! I’m pretty sure most of the things on my list are affordable! I also hope my process was able to help explain how I make coloring… well coloring (English is not my first language I apologize. I suck at my first language too, though). I also hope you enjoyed the bonus stories (I didn’t want to make this whole thing boring). If you have any more questions I’ll be happy to answer them!! Also THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I never thought someone would actually like how I color since I struggle big time with it,,, I’m self taught so I have no idea of the art basics of coloring.

Anyway, thank you so much again!!

- Honey

P.S. Due to legal reasons, not sponsored.

[millipedegf]

1, 2 & 26, 27 :-)

hehe ty !!! <3

do you prefer traditional drawing, or digital?

hmmm probably id say digital as of late, considering it's what i primarily use for my finished work. but when it comes to sketching i 100% prefer traditional, i sketch in graphite almost entirely and only sometimes use pen

2. how long have you been drawing?

since i was little, pretty much! it's always been something i liked, and i'd spend a lot of time drawing on my own as a kid -- i was a little bit of a loner in that regard lmao -- because i wanted to be able to draw in the styles of artists i found inspiring, or at least render things i found interesting well enough that they'd actually look like those objects/animals/etc (which i think is common, except for when you're little you don't really think about how you'll eventually figure out your own style, since that takes a good while and lots of practice, lol)

26. for digital artists: what program(s) do you use?

procreate's my main workhorse, i do nearly everything in it. for zines i'll arrange them in indesign + use photoshop for photo editing

27. for digital artists: how many layers does a typical piece require?

anywhere between like 5-10 sounds right i think ... there are very few pieces where ive gone over 15 cause i'm allergic to using tons of layers in my work (it overwhelms me) ... sometimes ill work on just one layer because i tend to use the eraser or brushstrokes to cover mistakes/refine my work (which drives my friend crazy cause he can't comprehend working like that lmao)

[rikiblues]

close your eyes

featuring. nct na jaemin x fem!oc contents. college!au, romance, fluff, banter, literal sleeping together

track. teddy bear, nct dream word count. 2612

note. a submission for a writing event by decelis_acvdemy on wattpad.

"You," Jaemin announces, "work entirely too hard. You skipped movie night for homework!"

Jiwon looks up tiredly at him. "You do realize I'm working on a deadline here," she deadpans. "Tell me how you expect me to sacrifice three hours for a movie."

Jaemin frowns. "Are you feeling okay?" he asks, stepping back a bit, instead of leaning all of his weight on the side of her study desk, so as to give her some space, instead of crowding her. "You haven't really been responding very well tonight."

"I'm distracted," she gestures to the papers strewn across her desk, the scattered pens and pencils, eraser teetering on the corner of the desk—which he scoops up and safely returns to its respective spot beside her pencils—one lone paint palette resting beneath a box of acrylic paints also far too close to edge of it, so Jaemin pushes that farther up the desk, too. No paintbrushes, though he knows those are still at the top of her wardrobe, drying out after her impromptu painting session yesterday.

"Too distracted," he frowns, gently prying the pencil from her reddened-from-pressure fingers. "I get it too, you know, how hard it is to stop when the urge to do something about creativity blocks, hits you. I also want you to know that there's a limit to these things."

She huffs. "I can't help it if my stupid brain won't give me a proper idea," she says, sulking as she utters the words, though she most likely doesn't realize it. Jaemin thinks it's adorable. "I've been trying to get past the stupid art block, but none of my ideas are good enough."

She gestures to the angrily-torn out, balled-up pages of paper in the wastebasket beside her on the floor. Jaemin makes a mental note to take the better ones out of the pile, if only to tease her outwardly with it but actually keeping them for her future reference. As temperamental as Jiwon is, she tends to forget in her frustration at herself that her past supposedly-failed art serves as a good frame of reference for what she can do later down the line.

"That's because your brain is overworked," he scolds. "You've been at this since before I arrived, idiot. It doesn't take a genius to realize you need rest."

Jaemin had come over earlier to her dorm at her request to bring something to eat because she was "far too lazy to drag myself down ten flights of stairs right now," only to find that she was really immersed a tad bit too much to do more than bite into her food in between sketching on her drawing block. Being the caring boyfriend that he is, he hadn't discouraged her, just nagged at her to eat in a very annoying way until she gave in.

It's been almost four hours since then, though. Jaemin has almost finished a drama series by now. It's a lie to say he isn't concerned; of course he is, he loves Jiwon. He loves that she's so passionate about all of her interests, even if they fizzle out after a short period of hyperfixation, but that's one of her quirks.

Except for art. That one is lifelong, at this point. For all of the three years that he has known her, art has been practically the center of her life. Pencil lead smudged on her hands, just like it is now, streaks of an almost-non washable paint in a swirl of rainbow colors on her arms and hands, sometimes her face, too, which more often than not earned her a scolding from her parents and teachers.

But the bigger issue is that she's overworking herself at this point.

"But it's not even that late," she protests, looking at the clock. "It's only barely eight p.m..."

"I know, but you've been working this hard all day, and you're not getting anywhere."

"But if I try a little harder..."

"Jiwon," he says, firmer. Jiwon's stubborn, pleading expression falls into one of dejection. Once upon a time, Jaemin would've worried that he went too far and said something wrong, but now he knows that it's just her being upset at herself for going too far. Even if Jaemin doesn't necessarily agree with it, he's also aware that right now, the most important thing is destressing her cluttered, overloaded brain.

"Okay," she sighs out, standing up. She wobbles for a moment and she grabs at the desk to regain her balance, which immediately has Jaemin taking her arm, holding her up, recognizing it as a dizzy spell, a thing she experiences far too often from how she forgets to eat in the concentrated haze of making art. "Oh. Sorry, sorry, I'll eat something now..."

Jaemin has to smile at her somewhat ditzy expression. She has a weird way of laughing off even a few of the worst things that have happened to her, though he supposes that it's not so concerning when they already know that having her eat something would fix the dizziness very quickly.

"Want me to get you that apple you bought earlier?" he offers as they walk out into the living room of her dorm. She used to share it with someone else, who dropped out halfway through the year. Jaemin has been taking advantage of that to pop in on surprise visits to her during the day, and sometimes he's tempted to stay over for a night, but imagining how badly that could go keeps him from doing it.

"Yes, please," she mutters, throwing herself onto the couch. "I doubt I could handle anything else right now."

While she turns on the TV and flips through Netflix (before remembering that she has yet to finish 86's first season, to date), Jaemin heads to the kitchen to retrieve her apple for her. He often does this kind of thing for his friends and roommates, which earned him the moniker of "mom," but Jiwon is really the only person he truly gets satisfaction out of taking care of. Her, and his younger friends.

She's so absorbed into the screen that she startles when Jaemin sits beside her, handing her the plate of sliced apple. "You didn't have to do that," she notes, eyebrows lifted. Her gaze turns right back to the screen, which Jaemin takes no offense at. He is surprised that she continues talking. "I get that I messed up for myself, but I can eat an apple, you know."

"I don't think you can last the next episode without falling asleep," Jaemin smirks. She scoffs.

"You wanna bet?" 

"I already know it. One-hundred-percent assured."

"Oh, you're on, Na Jaemin," she grins. Jaemin isn't quite sure whether it's from watching the young, teenage soldiers on screen interact with their miles-away commander, or his challenge, but either way, it's a cute smile.

"Bring it on, Kang Jiwon." 

***

Contrary to expectation, Jiwon lasts until two episodes before the half-season finale, and then she turns to Jaemin and says, "I want to go to bed now. You should head back before it gets too late."

"I'll stay with you," Jaemin says nonchalantly. "My roommates are going to be out until really late."

"And?" she stares at him, eyes wide.

"I don't want to sleep alone," Jaemin answers, standing up. "Come on, Jiwon, it's not a big deal. I'm just going to sleep next to you. It's the weekend, too, so we're not going to have to go anywhere, right?"

"Well..." she hesitates, seeming to weigh between her choices. "I guess..."

"It's not mandatory," Jaemin clarifies, smoothing back the hair that had gotten loose from her ponytail away from her face, rather absently. "No pressure."

"No, I want you to stay," she decides, standing up and tugging him towards her bedroom, much, much more spacious since the roommate's stuff had been taken out of there. Jaemin internally second-guesses himself for a minute, but he talks himself out of it, reminding himself that they're technically not doing anything wrong (even if Renjun will have a neurotic fit when he finds out...well, he just won't). 

He stands by the door, watching her arrange her messy bed—twisted, balled-up covers, both of the pale violet pillows she uses at two opposite ends of the bed, a few books scattered across the flower-patterns decorating her bedsheet—before she lets Jaemin near it. It's endearing to see how she frowns at herself for letting her space get so messy. He knows she usually makes a point to order everything and put it all in place before she sets foot outside of the dorm.

"Okay," she turns, exhales. "Come on. I'm beginning to feel dead on my feet."

Jaemin chuckles softly and joins her, watching her climb into her bed only for a second before he does the same, though somewhat awkwardly. It's...strange to be here, right now. Not to mention incredibly awkward. Before he can say something stupid, he says, "your bed is really soft."

Jiwon blinks at him, from where she's adjusting the covers over them. Jaemin doesn't object, since she's got the air-conditioning turned on at twenty-six degrees. "Uh. Yeah, my parents got this for my brother when he moved into the dorms but he disliked the way it's so soft, so we traded mattresses." 

"Good call, I guess," Jaemin returns. A silence falls over them as Jiwon lies on her back snuggled under the comforter up to her chest, Jaemin sitting up leaning against the headboard with the comforter only covering his lower half.

Their eyes meet and they stare at each other for a full ten seconds before they burst out laughing.

"Jeez!" Jiwon wheezes, sitting up. "We're ridiculous, acting like a pair of teenagers on their first date!"

"Right," Jaemin snorts, pulling her closer the way he always does. "This is literally no different. We're a bit too nervous for just literally sleeping together, seriously."

Jiwon lets him essentially cuddle her. Jaemin doesn't look like it, but he is actually rather affectionate in many ways, and physical affection is one of his love languages. As such, Jiwon is the subject of quite a lot of hand-holding, random hugs, and just being affectionate in general. Jaemin is aware she doesn't mind at all, so he doesn't feel uneasy about doing things like that.

"I don't think I can fall asleep any time soon now," Jiwon admits softly, her voice just a whisper. With Jaemin's arm thrown loosely over her stomach, her head pillowed on his other arm, they're somehow in a closer position than they have ever been in before, but it's...comforting, to say the least.

"Shall I sing for you, then?" Jaemin purposely whispers in her ear. She shrieks in surprise and hits him.

"Jerk!"

Jaemin giggles, not releasing his grip on her. "Sorry, sorry!"

"Sure," she lightly pinches his arm, freezing a little bit when Jaemin starts running her hand through her short hair, a little bit longer than the absolute minimum required to tie a ponytail. She claimed it was for aesthetic reasons, though the bigger reason, he knows, is because she can't be bothered to take care of such long hair, practically waist-length, all the time. "What do you propose singing?"

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star—" 

"God, no."

"Rockabye baby, on the treetop—"

"Na Jaemin!"

In response, Jaemin starts laughing, which sets off Jiwon, too. They devolve into laughing so hard, tears form in Jaemin's eyes. His own ridiculousness and how there's still a thin barrier of awkward tension that they have yet to break.

So, he hugs her closer, and says, "tell me something I didn't know about you."

"Huh?" He can't see her face, but he imagines her frowning in concentration. "There's a lot that you do know about me. As for what you don't know..."

"Anything is fine, really."

"Huh." this time, it's more of a contemplative sound. "Do you remember when your mother said that I would make a good teacher?" Jaemin does not, but he hums in response anyway. "I laughed it off back then, but did I ever tell you that when I was a kid, I really wanted to be a teacher?"

"Really?" Jaemin is surprised. "What kind of teacher?"

"I don't know. Kids don't think too deeply about those things, you know?"

"Why did you? Want to become a teacher, I mean. You've always said you don't have enough patience to handle a class of children."

"There was this teacher when I was in the first and second grades," Jiwon's voice is soft, almost sleepy; a very in-character thing, for her to get sleepy just as they start properly talking. "She was always very nice to me, never stopped me talking when I got going or had an idea. There was an autistic kid in our class, too, and she never treated him differently. In fact, he and I were the favorite kids. When I finished first grade, I actually cried about having to have a different teacher."

"Awh, that's so cute."

"I was seven," Jiwon says with an intentional sulky tone. "So, when my brother started the first grade in the same year I started the second, he got the same teacher. You know about his ADHD, so you know how difficult it can be..."

Jaemin does. When he first met Jiwon's brother, he was quite hyper and excitable, and understood lots of things differently than most of them did. According to her, he was like that but ten times more hyper in his childhood, and it didn't help that most adults in his life treated him like he was a bad kid.

"She was the greatest teacher he ever had," the smile in her voice is evident, blooming like a sunflower in the sun. Jaemin finds it beautiful that her pride in her family and loved ones take precedence over much else, much like how Jaemin puts his mother before everyone else. "He was her best friend by the end of the year, and what do you know, he cried, too. I mean, have you ever known him to cry about saying goodbye to someone?"

"Never," Jaemin finds the idea alien. But he knows her brother has feelings, too. "That was what made you decide?"

"Yeah. Until my mother, ever so practical," there's a teasing hint of fondness there, "convinced me that I would die penniless and stressed out because kids are hard work and teachers don't get paid enough."

"I mean, my mother survived?"

"She had a husband to support her. I was in my 'die a single woman' phase."

"Ah. That explains so much."

"Shut up," she laughs, hitting his arm. "I wasn't upset about it ever, actually. I was cycling through a lot of professions at the time, so it isn't too big of a disappointment that it took a day to get talked out of it without much effort. Even if I do think about it sometimes."

"Imagine me dating a teacher."

"Your mother would approve. Now tell me something about you."

"I never drink because my mother said she doesn't like to drink and would prefer it that I did not drink, either," Jaemin says the first thing that comes to mind. Jiwon snorts, clearly disbelieving. "I'm serious, I really don't like doing it! It tastes weird, too."

"Such a momma's boy," Jiwon teases, but her voice is slurred now, beginning to sound more sleepy and tired than anything.

"That is my pride, Jiwon," he says very seriously. He can't stop the yawn that escapes his mouth after he says it, though. "Now I'm sleepy."

"Then sleep," she mumbles, shifting so that her legs aren't twined together. "Good night."

When it's silent for almost a full minute, Jaemin realizes that she really isn't joking; she's actually fallen asleep. Her soft breathing is the only sound in the room now, aside from his own.

With a fond sigh, Jaemin closes his own heavy eyelids, still hugging Jiwon.

yes, i still hate it. but thanks to all of you who reassured me it's okay haha ilu guys.

[penkraft123]

Difference between Hand Lettering and Calligraphy

Writing and illustrating words is a type of art. Creating words on paper with neat and clean designs, stroke is a well-crafted and patient art. There are many such art forms which promote writing into THE ART Here is a list of the most famous: Hand Lettering Calligraphy Typography

They are all beautiful art of writings in their own way. It has been noticed that people are often confused between them, especially between hand lettering and calligraphy - due to a few similarities. What is Hand Lettering? Hand lettering is an art of illustrating letters to give them a dramatic effect by shaping and drawing them in various characters and patterns. The best part about this is that there are no particular rules to be followed, except for that they should be readable. This art of illustrating letters was developed a hundred of years ago, majorly in the early 1800 with the rise of industrialization worldwide. Gradually, it became very popular and was vastly used in signage advertising. and lettering was thought to be a dying art in the late 1900s to early 2000s due to digitalization. But on the contrary, thanks the digital age, hand lettering has now become a famous art, spurring it into various commercial fields of art forms. To practice hand lettering these the tools would come in handy- Pencil - You can sketch and erase your ideas easily off the paper unlike with the pen. Roller scale - Roller scale is a great tool when you've to draw grids. It is otherwise also a very tricky tool to use and if not managed can spoil the art. Miscellaneous - The other things required are water colours, acrylic colours, brushes, palette, etc.

What is Calligraphy? Calligraphy is the art of writing beautifully in the tweaking pattern while writing the words. Calligraphy is an ancient and globally popular art form. It has been in continuance since 600. B.C., where it was originally invented in Rome. Since then, with the rise of modern calligraphy, calligraphy has undergone many major changes. As mentioned before, calligraphy is an art of writing and does not speak just one language. It is adaptable in various languages, which has given birth to doing calligraphy in many languages as below-

Chinese Calligraphy Indian Calligraphy Western Calligraphy Arabic Calligraphy

Calligraphy is immensely popular and requires practice and concentration to master the art. Calligraphy unlike hand lettering, has set of rules to follow for each pattern. It can be freely used in any shape too.

The tools required for Calligraphy are

Dip pens  They are the traditional calligraphy tools and are used for scripts such as copperplate, etc. Brush pens  They are also used for calligraphy and they are usually cheaper and a more approachable tool for beginners. Brush lettering can be done with brush pens. Flat nib pens They are used for calligraphy scripts such as gothic calligraphy, italics, uncials, roman capitals, and many more. Fountain pens They are more suited for penmanship as (most of them) don't have a flexible nib by default which is necessary for creating thick and thin lines like with the dip pens.

The conclusion is that it is important for artists to understand the work that goes in two different art forms.

Penkraft conducts classes, course, online courses, live courses, workshops, teachers' training & online teachers' training in Handwriting Improvement, Calligraphy, Abacus Maths, Vedic Maths, Phonics and various Craft & Artforms - Madhubani, Mandala, Warli, Gond, Lippan Art, Kalighat, Kalamkari, Pichwai, Cheriyal, Kerala Mural, Pattachitra, Tanjore Painting, One Stroke Painting, Decoupage, Image Transfer, Resin Art, Fluid Art, Alcohol Ink Art, Pop Art, Knife Painting, Scandinavian Art, Water Colors, Coffee Painting, Pencil Shading, Resin Art Advanced etc. at pan-India locations. With our mission to inspire, educate, empower & uplift people through our endeavours, we have trained & operationally supported (and continue to support) 1500+ home-makers to become Penkraft Certified Teachers? in various disciplines.

[thriller-roads]

Shoplifting Leads to Romance

Rohan Kishibe x artist!reader

Fluff, hurt/comfort

Summary: Rohan has trouble making sense of how he feels about you, and ends up upsetting you in the process. Don't worry though, he's trying his best. Basically Rohan makes you sad then realizes he was an asshole.

It’s true that Rohan Kishibe is a skilled manga artist. His artistic prowess is something he’s gifted with and has honed to near perfection. Something he’s not so great with though, is people.

As an artist yourself, you've always admired Rohan’s talent. His work was an inspiration to you, so how amazing was it that you were now acquainted with him, and also receiving an internship?

After approaching the eccentric man, he agreed to take you in as an intern. He only did so because you helped him out when he was accused of shoplifting at the Kame-Yu department store that one time. Since you worked there, you saw who the real culprit was, and vouched for Rohan’s innocence on the matter.

Rohan appreciated the fact that you gave him his space and didn’t demand anything of him, even after recognizing who he was. He also appreciated the compliments you gave him on his work. The level of detail you went into intrigued him, such as noting the improvement of his art style over the years, or the technique he uses to study a spider's anatomy.

The two of you soon became more than mere acquaintances, with you coming over often to admire his process. Rohan actually enjoyed the time you spent for a while, until it began to gnaw at his mind. Lately, he found himself getting too distracted by you. He was thinking too much about you, even when you were gone. He found the whole thing to be rather infuriating.

Rohan surveyed you from across the desk, eyes intent on watching you sketch. He should be looking down at your paper, but instead he found himself unable to look away from your face.

You momentarily glanced up at him, and that alone was enough to drive him insane. He quickly tried to cover up the fact he had been staring at you. "Quit looking at me and focus on the paper," he scolded, as if he hadn’t been doing the exact same thing. As long as you were unaware of that though, it didn’t matter.

Returning your eyes to the paper, you continued the sketch without a word. Rohan on the other hand, couldn’t seem to shut up. "Now Y/n, you must be quicker with the sketch. Don't spend too much time on it. You still haven't managed to cut down the sketch time since the last attempt, don’t forget that."

"Sorry Rohan sensei, I'm really trying to-"

"Well you're not trying hard enough!" He suddenly snapped. The pencil in your hand slowly came to a stop. Looking down at the figure on the paper, you realized you were pressing down so hard with the tip of your pencil that it had made a small perforation on the eye of the drawing.

You lifted the pencil to brush off bits of eraser. "Hey, my wrist is starting to hurt a bit. Maybe we should take a break, and I could just watch you for now?" You suggested, and awaited his response.

You, watch him? With you watching him, he'd fumble over his pen. He would make a mistake somewhere from being too distracted by your presence, he knew it. He could feel the heat on his cheeks begin to radiate just at the thought of it. Knowing your eyes would be on him, his mind would wander off to nothing but the thought of what your lips might feel like against his. No, this simply could not continue. He couldn’t allow himself to further slip into this predicament.

“No, that isn’t what you’re here to do right now. Now take your pencil and paper back up, and start again,” Rohan ordered, resetting the timer on his desk.

You rubbed at your wrist, trying your best to brush off any soreness in your arm. The grooves of the pencil were practically engraved into your palm by now as you started up again when Rohan exclaimed, “Begin!”

You went as fast as you could to get the basic shapes down, and then the details. It was coming along well enough, and you thought maybe this time you’d actually get to-

The sound of a timer went off, and Rohan slammed his hand down onto the table. “Time’s up! Did you finish?”

You scrambled to keep the papers from falling. “No, I-”

“Then I don’t wanna see it!” With that, Rohan reached over to take the sheet of paper from your grasp, ripping it to shreds. That wasn't something you expected, so you weren’t sure how to react as the pieces of paper sailed down to the surface of the desk. You knew he could be intense, but was this really necessary?

Rohan crossed his arms. “Y/n, you are here to improve your art skills. You're nothing but an amateur, and at this rate you'll never be on my level if you keep slacking off. If you’re just going to waste my time, I suggest you take your things and leave.”

Hearing this out of nowhere confused you even more. If ripping your paper wasn’t enough, his words made your guts drop to the floor. Were you really doing that badly? Perhaps Rohan just wanted to be left alone. You thought he had been enjoying the time you spent together, but you were beginning to doubt that now. Then again, he never asked for you to come by. It was you that insisted, thinking he'd be fine with it. Turns out that wasn't that case.

You stood from your seat, grabbing your bag as well. Your throat suddenly felt dry, but you still managed to say something. "Okay then. Goodbye for now, Rohan Kishibe." You didn't even mean for the words to come out so cold and bitter, but they did. Rohan noticed this too, and he didn't know how to feel about it as he watched you walk out the door.

Well, it had to be for the better that you left, right? No use in staying if you weren’t cut out for it.

Looking down at the scraps of torn paper, Rohan thought perhaps he went a bit overboard. Gathering each piece, he assorted them together like a puzzle. Once each piece was in the right place, he didn’t expect to see his own face looking back at him. Well, it wasn’t completely realistic nor intact, but it was very much meant to be him. Was this why you kept looking at him, for artistic reference?

Rohan rested a hand against his chin as his eyes traveled across the image. “Hmm, this is actually quite good…” Observing the drawing, the guilt hit him like a big freight train. If that Tamami fellow was around, he’s sure that lock stand of his would be very effective on him right about now.

Well, it doesn't matter now. The important thing is that Rohan could finally resume his work, unbothered at last. Placing his pen down on the paper, he began his usual process. As the drawing progressed however, he noticed the image on the paper was starting to look a lot like you. He brushed the thought aside. No, it just happened to look like you. He continued to rapidly scribble across the paper, and when he was finally finished, the results horrified him.

Who was he kidding, it was you. Down to nearly every last detail, it was you. Any mole on your skin, any curve of your face, any direction of the way your hair swept, it was all you. Well, there was absolutely no denying it now. Rohan had fallen madly in love with you. “Great, just what I need…” he grumbled out.

Groaning in frustration, he set his pen down and turned back to your torn up drawing. He needed a break. He gathered the pieces of paper into a neat pile before leaving the room.

After that day, he didn’t see you for a while. He called you a few times, but you didn't answer. It had only been a couple of days, but still. He never even managed to catch sight of you around Morioh by chance. Despite that, he’s sure he’d get to see you today; for today you have a shift at Kame-Yu department store.

Walking into the vast space, he navigated the aisles until he caught sight of you. There you were, stocking items onto the shelves. Rohan clutched his bag and took a deep breath before approaching you. “Hello, Y/n. It’s uh, been a while.” He internally cursed himself for being so nervous in front of you.

The sound of his voice startled you a bit. You weren’t expecting Rohan to be here. Regardless of his presence, you resumed to pile items onto the shelves. “Hello Rohan. Yes, it has been a while,” was all you said. There was no warm smile like you usually gave him whenever you greeted him, nor a nod of recognition. Heck, you barely even looked at him, much to Rohan’s despair.

The main reason you were so upset over it was because Rohan’s opinion meant so much to you. You wanted his validation, his approval. Getting the exact opposite wasn’t exactly the motivation you were looking for. If anything, it made you want to take a break from art altogether. You knew it was stupid to care so much about what he thinks, but that’s romance for you. Utterly stupid.

Seeing as you made no further attempt to interact with him, Rohan struggled with what he should say next. “So…how’s that painting coming along?”

You knew the painting he spoke of. You had shown it to him about a week ago, before the last time you spoke. That same painting remained untouched on its easel, with not a single stroke of paint added onto it since then. “I haven’t really worked on it,” you responded, your attention still not fully on him.

“Why not?” Rohan knew why, but still asked nonetheless.

“I guess I kinda lost my motivation.” At last, you turned to properly face him. This actually made it all the worse for Rohan, because your dull expression pained him. “I am just an amateur who’ll never be on your level after all.”

The words he spoke to you days before flooded over him like a tsunami. He was a prisoner to his guilt, and he needed you to set him free. In order to gain this freedom though, he’d have to do something he rarely ever did.

“Y/n, I think some apologies are in order. My actions and what I said the other day...It was too harsh. I honestly do think you’re a talented artist. I just said all that because I wanted you to leave. You weren’t the one getting distracted, I was. All because you couldn’t leave my mind…and I just wanted that irritating feeling to go away!” he spoke the last bit in a frustrating tone.

Your unmoving face told him you were confused, so he elaborated. “But now I see that what I was feeling was attraction, and I should just accept it rather than push it away even if it bugs me.”

Although his explanation helped a bit, you were still unsure of what he was getting at. “What?” You questioned stupidly.

“Damnit Y/n, I like you!” He finally admitted, and it was then he took note of just how fast his heart was racing. If this was love, he detested the feeling. Why did it have to be so damn nerve-wracking? Rohan tried his best to disregard all of this. The only thing that mattered now was your response.

“Oh. Really? Well…I like you too,” your voice snapped him out of his worry.

Rohan was in a state of disbelief at first. “You do? Well, of course you do!” Rohan played off his relief with a shaky laugh and smirk. His smirk soon faded though, remembering he still had something to be sorry for. “And again, I apologize for my behavior. Your drawing, I truly am flattered by it. You have commendable talent. It’s very good.”

“Was very good,” you corrected, crossing your arms to emphasize you were still upset, regardless of the feelings you admitted for each other. At this, Rohan shuffled around in his bag, pulling something out and holding it up for you to see. You were a bit surprised to see it was the drawing you thought was ruined. It looked as good as new, no tape or glue anywhere in sight.

“But how…Is that really the one I made?” you asked, reaching out to take it from him.

“Yes, it is. I asked that punk Josuke to fix it with his stand.” Rohan very much disliked dealing with that boy, but he did it for you. He had to. “I hope you do forgive me, Y/n.”

You gave him a small smile in return. “I’m glad you apologized. I thought maybe I was just being too sensitive about the issue...” You mentally scolded yourself for not handling Rohan’s criticism well that day. The man was just doing his job after all, and you should’ve known what you’d be getting into when seeking his guidance.

Rohan looked away in shame upon recalling his behavior that day. He then walked over closer to you, clearing his throat. “No, you had every right to be upset. Even if it was criticism, there are better ways I could’ve handled it. So don’t go thinking you had any fault in the matter, understood?" He narrowed his eyes down at you.

"Yeah," you smiled, now relieved. His emerald eyes made you weak for a moment, but you felt more at ease now that everything was out and dealt with in the open.

In a similar way, Rohan felt his eyes soften when you looked at him the way you did. He wanted to experience more of that.

"If you’d like to come by my studio after your shift today, I’d gladly welcome you," he offered.

“Well then I gladly accept your invitation.” With that, you grabbed ahold of his collar to pull him down for a kiss. Rohan barely had any time to process it. All he knew was that he felt you put an arm around his waist, and that he finally got to know what your lips felt like against his. It was you who opened the door to this heavenly feeling, and it was wonderful.

Pulling away, you couldn’t stop grinning at the dumbstruck expression on the manga artist’s face. You felt like getting a pencil and paper out right then and there to capture the moment forever. Scratch that, pencil wouldn’t be enough, you’d need rouge watercolor to capture the color on his cheeks. Even when Rohan tried to compose himself and clear his throat, the heat on his face didn’t go away.

Rolling up the sheet of paper in your hand, you lightly hit Rohan on the head with it. “You can keep this at your place for now. I can’t exactly take it with me right now during work hours. But careful, don’t rip it again, or I’ll be sure to rip out your vital organs in return,” you joked. The fact that you threatened him with the sweetest smile made it all the more intimidating.

“Trust me, that won’t be a problem," Rohan said with a nervous laugh. "Well, I suppose I’ll be seeing you later. Until then, Y/n.” He quickly walked away, and you couldn’t help but let out a chuckle before resuming your work.

As he exited the store, Rohan felt like screaming out to the heavens. Once he was far enough away from people, he let out an almost maniacal laugh as he slumped against a wall. Wow, that really happened! He thought he'd only ever get to kiss you in his fantasies, or if he commanded you to do so with Heaven’s Door. But it did happen, and he was looking forward to doing it again and again.

After his little fit of giddy laughter, Rohan noticed a small box falling out of his bag. Picking it up, he realized it was a box of tea assortments, one of his favorites in fact. Where did that come from? The price tag on it told him it was from the department store. He didn’t even pay for it though, so how did-

Oh. Rohan recalled that you were stocking tea boxes onto the shelves. You must’ve sneaked a box into his bag when you were kissing him. The irony of it all made him smile. The great Rohan Kishibe would be wrongfully accused of shoplifting, yet again. One thing he did steal from that place though, was your heart.

Realizing how cheesy that line was, Rohan nearly threw up on his way home.

[flipomatic]

Peace and Quiet

Summary: When Mafuyu went to the Sekai to work on her lyrics, she was the only one there. That's what she wanted, peace and quiet. 

The Sekai didn't stay that way for long

Word Count: 1100

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Mafuyu leaned against one of the tall spires, resting her back against the flat edge. Her legs were angled straight out in front of her, covered partly by her skirt. A notebook sat upon them, with a variety of words scattered across it.

The white void stretched out ahead of her, without an end in sight. Not even a breeze disturbed the silence. Tall spike like structures were scattered around, the only occupants accompanying her.

This was what Mafuyu had been looking for, when she stepped into the Sekai that day. Her parents had been up late, talking loudly in the hallway. They seemed to be arguing about universities, though Mafuyu could only hear one in every few words. They were too noisy. Mother had always told her to focus in a quiet environment while she studied, so when working on her music she practiced the same habit. It had been easy to play the song on her phone, to vanish into the other world away from the sound.

Now all was quiet.

Mafuyu hummed a short melody to herself, imagining how a lyric might fit into it. She added a few words to the page, before erasing and changing one. It was slower like this than on the computer, but that was fine. It would get done either way, it didn’t matter how.

As Mafuyu turned to the next page, to rewrite it all cleaner, she glanced up at the other spires. She had an inkling that someone was watching her, the clue being a hint of a tickle at the back of her neck. It appeared she was correct as her gaze met the newcomer, a figure dressed in white who hovered near a spire to the right.

Miku’s mismatched eyes blinked slowly at her, practically peeking from around the other pillar. The virtual singer didn’t speak, merely moved around the pillar and took half a step closer.

Mafuyu watched her, expression unchanged from her usual neutral. When Miku paused after that step, her eyes locked onto Mafuyu’s with a homed in focus.

It would be easy for her to return to her writing, to not pay Miku any mind. Miku would leave and she would be alone again then, to work on her lyrics in peace.

She didn’t do that. Instead, Mafuyu found herself dipping her chin once in a small nod. She looked back down at her lyrics as Miku walked closer, taking a seat on the side of the pillar to her right. She was just out of sight, but Mafuyu knew she was there.

Neither spoke. Mafuyu resumed rewriting the lyrics.

Silence once again reigned over the Sekai and Mafuyu was able to make more progress. That was until another guest arrived.

“Mafuyu, I thought you’d be here.” This guest wasn’t one Mafuyu had to look for, rather she appeared in front of her like a warm ray of light on a cloudy day. Kanade carried a notebook of her own tucked under one arm, practically bulging with sheets of loose paper. “Mind if I join you?”

Mafuyu considered it, deciding that she didn’t really care. “Go ahead.” She gestured with one hand to the ground in front of her. Kanade smiled softly as she sat down in that very spot, feet close to Mafuyu’s as she opened her notebook. Now Mafuyu could see that it was full of handwritten sheet music, all piled upon the others.

Kanade flipped through it for a moment, then started to write. She tapped her pen occasionally against the paper, breathing a rhythm into the world.

Mafuyu began to write once more, now adding to her lyrics. She only made a little progress, as she didn’t write for long.

“Hey, I’m glad you’re here!” Another familiar voice, another familiar face. Ena took a seat to Mafuyu’s left, between her and Kanade. She seemed happy for once, with light glinting in her eyes. “I wanted to show both of you this sketch.” She didn’t even ask if it was okay to join them. Mafuyu almost told her off for being rude, but what did it matter?

She looked for a few seconds at the offered image, before returning to her lyrics. Ena huffed in what Mafuyu clearly recognized as irritation, then began to draw.

The scratching of Ena’s pencil as she drew carried its own beat to it, a gentle back and forth.

“Aww, having a party without me? I’m hurt~” Mizuki appeared not long after, filling the final space with their face stretched in a Cheshire grin. They also had a sketch pad, but kept glancing up to make contorted expressions at Ena as they drew. They chatted with Miku and Kanade about their drawing, giggling over something Mafuyu didn’t understand. There was a flow to their speech, a melody to their voice.

It was noisy now, too loud and distracting. Hadn’t that been why Mafuyu came, to get away from the noise? To write her lyrics in peace and quiet?

And yet, Mafuyu didn’t move. Why not? She asked herself that, frowning down at the lyrics she’d written.

Why stay when she could focus better elsewhere? What was it that was keeping her here?

It wasn’t social propriety, not with the N25 members. No, it was something else, something on the long list of things Mafuyu couldn’t understand.

She didn’t know the answer to these questions. All she knew was that she didn’t want to leave, couldn’t imagine getting up and walking away from her circle members here. Even with the noise, she couldn’t tear herself away.

It had been so easy earlier, to leave her house to come here. Now, to move again would be incredibly difficult. Even if they were distracting, her legs wouldn’t move. It came down to something complicated, yet so simple that she should’ve been able to understand it.

Mafuyu wanted to stay.

She glanced around the circle, from Ena to Kanade and then Mizuki. She didn’t want to make music where it was quiet; she wanted to make music with them.

Mizuki looked up from their notepad, likely feeling Mafuyu’s gaze, and winked at her. Mafuyu merely turned back to her lyrics.

She lifted one hand to press over her heart, which was thumping louder than normal in her chest. She wondered if that was the noise her presence provided.

What kind of feeling was this? Mafuyu didn’t know.

Her lip quirked up, ever so slightly. What mattered right now was that she wanted to hold onto it.

That was something she knew for sure.

[carpisuns]

Hi!! I love your art! I remember a little a while ago, you mentioned you wanted to get more comfortable with quick sketches and posting drawings that weren’t as precise, and I just wanted to say that it seems like you made that transition super quickly and flawlessly so yay congrats! I’ve been loving the sketches and I am so happy to get to see them! (also, speaking of your more perfectly finished art, the ladrien spider man kiss was just breathtaking still have not recovered)

i've been thinking about this ask so much, it's so kind of you to say!! 😭 yes, speed has been one of my biggest frustrations with my art since the very beginning and it's something i've been consciously trying to improve (especially because i have limited free time and it bums me out that i have so many ideas i can never get to bc i'm such a slow creator, haha)

part of my issue has been that I have a hard time letting go of the urge to nitpick and make everything as perfect as I can even if my intention was to do something quick/loose/silly. so I’ve been trying to practice that a lot more lately—like, just drawing things and living with whatever came out of my pen and not sweating too much about it if it’s kinda ugly lol (or in some cases, Very ugly). instead I’ve been trying to focus on 1. Does it communicate what I wanted it to, warts and all, and 2. Did I have fun drawing it

@ladybeug has been a huge source of inspo for me on this! She gave me some really great advice here and also invited me to draw daily comics with her, which has been a total blast and a HUGE help. i feel really lucky and grateful to be able to learn from an artist I admire so much!! and also just loosen up and try new things and make ugly art and be silly in what weirdly used to feel like kind of an unattainable way to me? it’s strange to think that something like that actually takes practice but it does and I think I’m getting better at it as I go :) I’m still pretty slow, but I’m definitely getting faster, and doing a lot more doodles on paper—in pen so I can’t erase!—has been a really helpful approach and a nice break for my brain. sometimes i wonder if my art is actually getting worse but in a weird way it still feels like progress haha. only problem is that now I’m like “when will my desire and ability to create nicely rendered art return from war” djsksks sometime soon I hope 😂

Anyway, thank you so much for this kind comment! It means a lot that you enjoy my art and also that it you remembered what I was trying to improve on and noticed my efforts 😭💜💜 bless u 🥺

[plush-rabbit]

Shigaraki Dating An Artist Headcanons

A/N: I made it more focused on traditional art because that’s what I do so… yeah. There’s hints to digital but idk how that works so!!

Shigaraki always sees you buried deep in a black notebook with a pencil scribbling over and throwing eraser shavings into a trashcan. He isn’t interested in it at first, brushing it off but when Toga starts to clap and praise on well you draw and how you bow your head and shake your head rapidly, his interest is peaked.

He often comes in when you’re drawing Toga. Despite how bubbly she is, if you ask her to do a pose, she’s more than willing to stand still for a while, as long as you let her keep the portrait that is. He tries to take a peak but you brush him off, telling him you’ll show him later but surprisingly Himiko already took the portrait and you’ve already put away your journal and it’s so late. Well, good night Tomura and you place a kiss on his cheek and snuggle close to him.

He’s a bit peeved that you won’t share your artwork but he’ll roll his eyes and push down the bitter feeling rising in him. That is until Twice and Mr. Compress take a peak and suddenly they want to pose and it practically takes away all of the time, you two have together! No, he isn’t jealous; he just doesn’t want to be waiting ten minutes for you to never show up. He’s not jealous, really!

But then you go up to Spinner and you shyly ask if he’ll let you draw him. You just got these new colors and he has such pretty scales and in somewhere you hear a door slam. Okay so he might be a bit jealous that you’ve shown practically everyone your sketchbook and you’ve been drawing them too and you haven’t asked him but whatever. You also haven’t asked Dabi so it’s fine.

But then Dabi pops his head into his room and holds up a rolled piece of paper and pulls it down so your signature is visible and he has the audacity to smirk as him and give him a peace sign as he leaves the door open. Okay so everyone has seen your sketch book, whatever. He’s not gnawing on his lips and looking at the desk where you tuck away your sketch book.

You’re not home. You’re out doing something- Shigaraki thinks he heard you say you had to get new nubs or pens? He isn’t entirely sure, he was only half listening as his mind was somewhere else. You’ve been gone for a while so you probably wouldn’t be back if he were going to take a peak. He gives a glance at the door, checks his messages and then he’s off the bed and on his knees, pulling out your sketchbook and he feels a bit bad but his curiosity wins over.

You’re drawings are detailed, some have color, others don’t. The texture of the paper is a bit thick and it’s until he comes across a watercolor painting does he realize why. You have different styles of everything, some are sketches of the League together, most separate and with different symbols around some. Others are of people he doesn’t know, some anime characters he presumes and maybe a few original characters with the notes doted on the side. You have different styles, different shapes and things all around.

They’re really good. You’re really good. He likes the colors you use. He likes the imagery and wow, you’re really good. He reaches the end quickly, given each work a glance and appreciative hum. But he frowns. Where was he? You drew everyone from the League and even people who weren’t real so where was he? Surely you must have drawn him at one point. But he keeps flipping and looking in the back of pages and there’s not even a doodle of him.

“Tomura, what are you doing?” You hold a plastic bag of art supplies in one hand and a bag of snacks in the other.

“Where am I?” He gets right to the point, rising to his feet and holding the sketchbook carefully in his hand, pushed outwards to you.

Your mouth is pulled into a thin line and you walk past him to drop the bags on the bed. He follows you with his eyes and you grab the sketch book from his hand and put it against your chest. You can’t meet his eyes and your leg is bouncing.

“You’re not in this one,” you mutter.

“Yeah, I know so—”

“You’re in my other one,” you look up at him and quickly avert your gaze. “I- I like drawing you- a lot- so I have on mainly just for you.”

“Really?”

You roll your eyes. “Yes. It’s embarrassing. So—”

“Can I see it?” His eyes are wide and he takes a step closer to you.

“Tomura, it’s embarrassing!”

“We’re dating,” he deadpans, holding his palm out to you. When you look at him shyly, he rolls his eyes. “Please.”

“Admit you were jealous,” you pipe, bouncing on your heels and a slow smile curving onto your features.

“I was not—”

“Then no.” You turn around and begin to rummage through a plastic bag, pulling out the contents and dropping them on the bed.

“Ugh, fine. I was jealous. Now let me see.”

You stand up straight and flash him a grin. You kneel down and pull out a smaller sketch book, holding it out for him. He takes it quickly, going to sit down on the bed and he begins to flipping through it carefully.

As you said, there are drawings of him there. He’s asleep in a few, in others he’s eating, smiling, in a few he’s wearing outfits he doesn’t own and when he looks at you, your head is bowed and you’re clutching the sides of the desk until your knuckles pale. They’re all really good. In a few, you’ve only colored his eyes, other’s you color his hair. He wonders if it holds any symbolic meaning.

“They’re really good.”

“Yeah?” You ask, head still turned away from his. “You mean it?”

“Of course I do. Why didn’t you show these to me before?” His finger runs through the edge of the pages.

You shrug. “It’s a lot of pages of you. ‘Fraid you were gonna get a big ego or something,” you joke lightly, face flushed when you look back at him. “Sorry.”

He nods slowly and closes the sketchbook and hands it back to you. “Well, if you ever need to draw me again,” he scratches the back of his neck, “well, you know.”

You rise and press a kiss against his cheek. “I know.” You lean on his shoulder and run your fingers against the back of his hand. “And I will.”

[pileoftrashsstuff]

Fic because I felt like it, mainly dialogue tho

"Pile what are you doing?" "Doodling."

James curiously peeks at the sketchbook in their hands. "Designs?" He wonders aloud. Seeing messy sketches and little phrases filled with little concepts.

The colorless humanoid nods. "Yeah been doodling a lot lately and hopefully it pays off, ya know?" They pick up the eraser next to them and erasing a little mistake. "I wanna make a little world through art. And hopefully, I'm satisfied with the designs I have created."

James huffs, he twirls the end of his black curly locks between his fingers. "Speaking of designs, how come you haven't drawn anyone other than me?" He smirks. "Am I your favorite?"

"Well you are an easy design choice. " Pile says, chuckling at the offended gasp their design gave them.

"Easy? Well I'm taking offence to that good sir!" He crosses his arms with a huff.

Pile continues drawing, flipping across pages to compare and contrast designs. Numerous pencils (that are most likely stolen) and inking pens (that are stolen) littered the area next to them. An empty pencil case sits next to Pile.

"Can you summon an engine?" James asks, getting bored with the sounds of paper and clicking pens.

"James you know how hard they are to summon right?" Pile huffs as they start another sketch. Messy linings and vague ideas slowly coming out as the pencil moves.

James rolls his eyes. "No not that, I meant the small ones. I want little James Junior."

Pile takes out a different pencil, this one having little gold markings and seems to be made of silver. They draw a little lively shape, the lead seems to be a glowing white.

"Two beady little eyes, a cute little nose, a lovely red livery, and a big personality. There we go." The drawing glows brighter as a little red being floats from the light. It grows to the size of a cylindrical pillow and drops itself on James' lap.

"Hiya there, little bud!" James affectionately pets it, laughing lightly at the little squeaks he gives him. "Been so long since you have used the other sausage engines. How come?"

Pile sighs, putting away the pencil and organising the mess a little. "Well, it would be a hassle having to deal with multiple sausage engines. They look like they can't move but trust me when I say that you will find them in the most unlikely of places."

"Eep!" The sausage engine squeaks as his cheeks are squished. James silently mulls over his thoughts. "You know... This is weird."

"Well what is weird?" Pile asks. A little note written above the sketch and a close up of a design not far from it is messily assembled.

"We are not in any setting, Pile."

Pile looks up and sees nothing but white. Stretching endlessly throughout. "Huh..."Pile shrugs. "Seems like it."

"Why are you so nonchalant over this?" James asks, calm for someone asking such a question. Little James squeaks as his nose is lightly flicked.

"Well, you are a humanized design of a red engine from the classic series and you are currently petting what we like to call a sausage engine as well as talking to a colorless humanoid figure like me who has the ability to summon beings from a sketchbook." Pile breathes heavily after the long tangent.

"Seems like it." James scratches the sausage engines underside, feeling him relax into his lap. "Is this the work of an artist or an author?"

"It depends really." Pile flips to another page. "An artist can draw their design on anything they want, a blank canvas or a drawn room."

James looks back at the sketchbook. Drawings of moving figures and various arrows littered the page. "And an author?"

Pile shrugs. "I'm not an author, bud. I'm merely an amateur artist so take what I say or said with grains of salt." A different pencil is chosen, this one having a stubbier lead for thicker lines.

"It depends on what the author is writing, fanfiction or their own world. They can give you vague ideas or let you explore the world through their own concept art. Some would describe the room to you in detail or the setting they chose is already familiar to you."

James just realized something. "Wait so are we both vaguely clothed or naked?"

"Well it's up to who ever is reading this I guess." Pile shrugs. "We don't even have genitals nor clothes when we were first introduced. Hell, my design does not have a mouth yet I'm still talking aren't I?"

"Huh, never knew that writing can kick your imagination into an overdrive." James faces them. "How was your first experience to writing your own world?"

Pile feels a shiver down their spine as they remember their early days of writing. "It was interesting when I started writing stories of my own. Having to struggle with a lot of dialogue and info-dumping on occasion. Grammar can be your worse nightmare if your don't thread carefully. Especially since I wrote everything down through paper and pencil so one drop of liquid could ruin hours upon hours of work."

"But you enjoyed it very much?" James huffs as his companion wriggles off of his lap. He moves to Pile's lap, wriggling until he relaxes into a comfortable position.

Pile pets the little thing on their lap. "Yep, the countless other little fanfictions and stories say that much. Can't believe I dedicated actual time to the little worlds but it proves to be an exciting adventure when I feel like returning."

Pile looks at the endless white. "You know... I am actually glad that I used to write so much. It helped me revisit countless worlds and works that other people made, from which I have drawn so many inspired ideas from." They look at James.

"And you are now part of those endless worlds. As a humanized engine that is."

James puffs his chest out. "Of course I am! Aren't I very memorable? Practically the first problematic fave everyone seems to have."

"I should bring the others back but I'll save it for a different time." Pile gives the wriggling sausage engine back to James.

"How many did you write?" He adjusted his hold on the little thing, chuckling at the indignant squeaks.

"A lot but we can trudge down the lane when we want to."

"When you want to." James laughs as Pile lightly shoves him.

"Oh shut it you. I want to go home and work on the new designs now."

"Well..." James pats their back. "See you then."

"Alright."

[justcourttee]

And They Were Roommates-Pt 2

Marinette woke to the piercing ring from her alarm clock. With a groan, she blindly hit her nightstand, trying to find the snooze. 

“Marinette! If you snooze, you’ll be late again! Professor Brookes may like you, but she did threaten that one more tardy to the meetings and you’ll be fired!”

Tikki pulled at a strand of Marinette’s hair trying to pull the girl from her bed. 

“Tikki it’s just five more minutes, please!” 

“Dupen-Chang, Tikki wanted to wake you the nice way but if you don’t get your ass out of bed in the next five seconds, I will dump a cup of ice down your shirt.”

Marinette’s eyes flew open as she sat straight up, scowling at the sight of Chloe and Tikki high-fiving. 

“I hate you two.”

“Mhm, now go shower. You look and smell like you just wrestled with pigs.”

Chloe’s nose scrunched up as she threw a towel at the girl. Marinette rolled out of bed with a heavy sigh, trudging to the bathroom. 

“Chloe, will you pick me out an outfit?”

“Already done, now hurry up!”

Turning on the water, Marinette noticed the dark ink covering her skin. A beautiful robin stretched from her wrist to her elbow, every last detail drawn with care. She sucked in a sharp breath as she allowed her fingers to trace over the artwork. As she stepped into the shower, her eyes never left the picture, scared her soulmate would erase it before she had a chance to photograph it for later inspiration. 

Turning off the water, she wrapped her towel around her body tightly before racing back to her room, almost diving for her phone. Her tongue stuck out of her mouth from the pure concentration of capturing the art at the right angle. Once she was sure it was photographed properly, she fumbled for the pen on her nightstand. 

“I love waking up to your artwork, would you mind leaving it for the day?”

She stared intently at her hand, waiting for his response that couldn’t seem to come fast enough. 

“Dupen-Chang! If you want a ride, you better be dressed in the next five minutes!”

Chloe's voice echoed through the apartment, snapping Marinette out of her trance. Within three minutes, she pulled on the dress Chloe had laid out and managed to pull her hair back in a messy bun, sticking a pen through it just in case. She was working on the heels when she finally felt the tingle. 

“Sorry Angel, important interview today. I’ll leave you something tomorrow though. Promise” 

Marinette let out a defeated sigh, but tried to push it out of her mind. After all, she couldn’t be mad, he had a life too, one he didn’t want to publicize and she could respect that. Putting the final touches on her outfit, she grabbed her purse, leaning down beside the dollhouse to allow Tikki to fly in. 

“Dupen-Chang!”

“Coming Chloe!”

Tikki let out a giggle as Marinette rolled her eyes. It was going to be a long day. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

“Ms. Dupen-Chang, can I see you in my office please?”

Marinette internally groaned as she plastered a smile on her face. She picked up her design book, throwing a cover over the mannequin before she turned to walk toward the professor's office. 

“What can I do for you Professor Brookes?” Her smile was sickly sweet as she stared down at the woman. 

“Sit, please.” Brookes didn’t even look up from her paperwork, just made a vague gesture to the seat in front of her desk. After several minutes, she finally looked up, making a show of clicking her pen shut. 

“Do you know why I called you in Marinette?”

“Because you were lonely and wanted someone to talk to?”

She offered the woman a pity smile, but Professor Brookes was not having it.

“You have refused every offer I have arranged for you in the past three months. Marinette, what did I tell you when you accepted this position in my work field for young entrepreneurs?”

Marinette let out a sigh, her eyes falling to the ground. 

“It’s easier to work under a big name and break away than it is to build your own empire. But Professor-”

“Exactly. So tell me, why exactly have you refused not only Giorgio Armani and Karl Lagerfeld, but now I hear that Audrey Bourgeois has been after you for years now and you’ve refused her as well!”

Marinette bit her lip, trying her best to level her breathing before she snapped at the woman. 

“With all due respect Professor Brookes, they don’t want my name on the designs. I can’t make a name for myself if everyone else is taking credit for my work. If there’s any way you can find me an internship under someone who will let me be myself I’d be more than glad to take them on.”

It was Professor Brookes turn to sigh as she slipped off her glasses, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

“You’re a talented girl Marinette, nobody is denying that. But you just don’t understand how the business world works. This work field is for entrepreneurs who will listen to my advice, not do everything in their power to ignore it.”

“I understand if you want me to relinquish my position Professor Brookes. I’m sure you could fill it easily.” 

The professor looked up, her face unreadable as she stared down the designer. Several minutes passed and a sinking feeling began to settle in Marinette’s gut. 

“Ms. Dupen-Chang, what you’re asking me to do is to find you a sponsor. They’ll put their good name on the line for you, allow you to take credit for your work, and in return you’ll give them a portion of your profit. That’s anywhere from 5%-25% depending on how the sponsor operates. If I do this for you, you are going to have to up your production levels from one outfit a week to three, which means you’ll need to be here for three days instead of just one. Is this something you really want?”

Marinette’s heart pounded in her chest as she felt her body flood with relief. 

“It is. I really want a sponsor.”

“Then it’s settled, I’ll need you to complete a portfolio including pictures of models wearing your designs and at least three test designs that I can send to possible contenders. The test designs allow them to view your work up close and personal to look at stitchwork and such. I’m assuming you already have models in mind seeing as you live with two of them?”

Marinette nodded, her heart feeling as if it were about to explode with joy. 

“I won’t let you down Professor Brookes.”

The designer stood hastily, practically running back to her workstation. 

“I’ll need all of that before the first day of spring semester Marinette!”

The professor's voice echoed in her ears but she was too stunned to care. She was getting a real chance and that meant she had to put everything into the next month. Sitting on the spinning chair, Marinette pulled out her phone to view the picture she had taken earlier. Admiring his sketch, an idea began to form in her head as she cleared the workstation, laying out her various pencils. 

After a couple minutes of sketching, her phone began to buzz. At first she ignored it, trying to focus on her design, but after the third time, she finally gave in. 

“Chloe, I’m sorry, I know I said 3 but it’s looking like 5 or 6 instead, I finally got the break I was hoping for.”

“Well that’s great Dupen-Chang, but you see, I have a guy here responding to the ad placed this morning and I just wanted to ask if we could interview him without you.”

Marinette sat down her pencil, her eyebrows furrowing in concern. She distinctly remembered emailing Julia for the spot, but she never sent in the ad. So either Julia’s newest boyfriend was applying or someone from the news team was.

“He’s not dating Julia is he?”

“I don’t know, let me ask. Hey! You! You’re not dating Julia, right? No? He said no.”

Marinette shook her head as she looked up at the ceiling, trying her best to send apologies to the boy. 

“So?”

“Go ahead Chloe, that’s assuming you haven’t chased him off already. I’ll be ready to go in an hour.”

“Great, you’re the best. Congrats on your break, I’ll order some food from that italian restaurant near our apartment to celebrate.”

Before Marinette could even respond, the line went dead, leaving her to stare at her sketchbook in slight despair. The poor guy would be scared senseless before she even got a chance to meet him. With a sigh, she returned to her sketch, determined to finish at least one design before she left for the day.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Marinette waved bye to Professor Brookes before she made her way up the stairs to her apartment. She had texted both Chloe and Adrien several times, but neither came to pick her up, something she was going to lay into them for. 

“Hey guys what’s the deal-”

She stopped in her tracks as her eyes couldn’t process the sight in front of her. Adrien was playing Ultimate Mecha Strike V, but that wasn’t the problem. No, the problem lied in the fact that some guy she had never seen before was battling him using her lucky controller. 

“Hey Mari! Meet Damian Al Ghul, our new roommate!”

The guy stood up, offering his hand, but Marinette’s eyes weren’t focused on his. Instead, she watched in horror as he tossed her control backwards onto the couch, the force sending it flying to the floor.

“Damian huh?” She pushed past his outstretched hand to pick up her controller, examining it for any cracks or chips in the paint job.

“Yes?” He moved his hand to awkwardly rub the back of his neck, trying to figure out what he had done wrong.

Marinette sent a sour look at Adrien who only shrugged. 

“Damian is a double major as well Mari, history and business, sound familiar?”

“I hear you are quite competent in both subjects.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, setting her controller on the coffee table before standing to face the man.

“I’m more than ‘competent’, I excel in both with a perfect 4.0 GPA.”

Damian scoffed sending a wave of fury through the girl. Just who did this guy think he was? Adrien watched the interaction, amusement clearly written on his face. 

“So Mari, you want to play the winner of this round?”

“No, thanks. I’m going to study. My first final is on Tuesday, just ask Chloe to leave my food in the microwave, I’ll get to it later.”

Without another word, she marched back to her bedroom, shutting the door harder than she meant to. She pulled out her sketchbook, opening it to her unfinished design from earlier. Her pencil hovered over the page as she tried to remember the feeling she had earlier. 

“Tikki, how did I manage to let him get under my skin in less than five minutes?”

She let out a groan as she fell backwards onto her bed as the kwamii let out a giggle. 

“He’s got a unique personality, very straightforward Marinette. He almost reminds me of Chloe when I first met her.”

“That has to be it. PTSD from when I was 13 and Chloe was still a menace. I just don’t think I’m going to be able to get back into this design tonight.”

“That’s okay Marinette, let’s work on the last essay for your Grad school application!”

Marinette sat up to reach for her laptop, pulling up her browser that never closed. The Metropolis University website was still up, her application reading 95% complete. She clicked on the textbox and attempted to zoom in on the final question that had been bugging her for a week now. 

‘How will you use your education to benefit the world?’

“Why does my degree have to benefit the world Tikki? I just want to do something I love, can’t that just be enough?”

“You’ll think of something Marinette, you always do!”

“Yeah,” the girl huffed out a puff of air, leaning forward to reread the question for the hundredth time. “I always do.”

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Around 10:30, Chloe stumbled into their room, tearing through her closest.

“Marinette, come clubbing with me and Adrikins! He needs a distraction for the night or two if you know what I mean.”

She let out a giggle as she pulled out her favorite dress, not even bothering to shut the bedroom door before throwing off her top. 

“Chloe! We’re living with another guy now!”

“Yeah yeah Mari, you’re the only straight one here so there’s no problem!”

“Just because you’re not straight, doesn’t mean he can’t oogle at you.”

Chloe stood up, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the girl. 

“Oogle? How old are you? 75?”

Marinette rolled her eyes as she stood up to pull her dress over her head. With her help, Chloe finished touching up her makeup. 

“So you gonna come with us?”

Marinette shook her head at her, earning a pout from the blonde. 

“Boo, you and Damian are both lame.”

Picking up her clutch, she opened it long enough for Pollen to fly in before shutting it tight. 

“You losers have fun tonight staying home.”

“I think I’ll just barricade myself in here instead.”

“Whatever.”

Adrien appeared in their doorway, equally tipsy as he offered Chloe his hand. Marinette watched with worry as they made their way to the front door, both stumbling over their feet at every other step. 

“Are you guys taking an Uber at least?”

“Yes mom!” They both looked at each other in shock before dissolving in a fit of laughter. Marinette rolled her eyes, waving goodbye as they slammed the front door shut.

With a sigh, she made her way to the microwave, hitting the reheat button for her pasta inside. 

“Is that an every weekend occurrence?”

Marinette jumped, whipping around to find Damian leaning against the kitchen counter, his face expressionless. 

“How about next time a warning like ‘Hey Marinette’ or ‘Whatcha doing?”

He didn’t reply, just remained stoic as he waited for her answer.

“No, it's not, just an occurrence whenever Adrien gets his heart broken. So try a monthly thing.”

He nodded in response, watching her carefully. Marinette shifted under his gaze, trying to keep her cool and not melt into a puddle. He may be a jerk, but he was still a hot jerk. The ding of the microwave severed the tension between them as she opened the drawer beside her, pulling out a fork. Sliding out her pasta, she didn’t even check to see if it had heated all the way through before she rushed past Damian and back to the safety of her room. 

He didn’t follow, but she heard him let out a thoughtful hum before he made his way back to his room, shutting his door. Letting out a sigh, she stirred through her pasta, reaching for the pen beside her bed. 

“How’d your interview go?”

She was halfway through her pasta when she felt the tingling. 

“Aced it. How was your day Angel? I apologize for not writing sooner.”

She rolled her eyes at his formalness, trying not to let her smile get the best of her. 

“I finally got my break. I’ll be getting a sponsor!”

Finishing the last bite of her pasta, Marinette weighed the risk of running into Damian again if she went to put up her dishes. Deciding it was too great, she set the plate on her nightstand, mentally preparing herself for the backlash she would get from hungover Chloe in the morning.

“That’s fantastic, I hope it works in your favor habibti.”

A shiver ran down her spin as her cheeks flushed red. She had used google translate a few times of the names he gave her and was surprised to find the Arabic traces. When she asked him about it, he just brushed it off to being from his mother’s side, never bringing it up again. Picking up her pen, she etched a small Robin on her arm, leaving a space beside it to write;

“Your pictures always inspire my designs. I can’t wait to see what you leave me tomorrow.”

A minute hadn’t even passed before he responded. 

“If you wash your arm off now, you won’t have to wait.”

Her heart picked up pace as she rushed into the bathroom, scrubbing furiously at her arm. She returned to her bed, toweling off the few wet spots as she watched in awe as pen strokes tickled her skin. 

“He’s so talented Marinette!”

Marinette smiled as she watched his delicate art slowly cover her arm, her mind drifting from the stress of the day. 

“He really is Tikki, he really is.”

Tag List:

@damianette-is-life @ladybug-182 @fusser90 @thestressmademedoit @dast218 @thezestywalru @jardimazul @olynix @dorkus-minimus @xahriia @kris-pines04 @urbanpineapplefarmer @moonlightstar64 @itsmeevie01 @little-lady-bird @alexandriamw @lozzybowe @emmdaenovice @loysydark @toodaloo-kangaroo @jessigurl-design @aegyobutpsycho2 @stark-morgoona @kris-pines04 @rebecarojas07

[shadowed-artist]

Hi there! I really love your animatics and I hadn't realised that you had a Tumblr until today. Your art is freaking gorgeous! It's kinda messy and cute and it's just really great all around, awesome work. And your colouring is really pretty do. What do you use to draw/make your animatics? I want to make one as well, but I am *very much* an amateur with no digital art programs, tablets or pens. So what do you use and how did you go from art to animatics? Thank you for your time.

Thank you so much! This made my day

I use firealpaca for drawing and iMovie for putting the animatics together. I regretfully don't know the name of my drawing tablet because I got it as a Christmas present a few years ago and have since forgotten what kind it is (I also lost the box. whoops)

That's awesome that you want to make an animatic! They are time consuming, but it's honestly really fulfilling to look at the finished product and say "I MADE that!"

How I made the switch from art to animatic? Honestly, they are very similar (at least, the way I do animatics). My animatics are just many pieces of art stitched together in time with the song, so there wasn't really a technical process I had to switch from. I treat each frame as a simple sketch, then I just draw a lot of them

The biggest challenge of doing animatics is simply how time consuming they are and how many drawings you physically have to do. My "Defying Gravity" one used 218 drawings, not counting repeated frames, whereas my "Must have been the wind" animatic only took 79 drawings. The more details you want (and the longer the song), the more frames you have to draw.

If I were to do polished frames with proper line art it would probably take longer, but like you said, my style is "messy and cute" so I can get away with not being very precise. (Pro tip: it is much faster drawing hands if they are just vague hand-like shapes lol).

You say you have no digital stuff, so I'm assuming you'd want to use pencil and paper? I'm not gonna lie, doing an animatic that way is hard. I tried doing it a while back (before I got my tablet) and I never finished because I got impatient. (The benefit of working digitally is that you don't have to redraw extremely similar poses. You can copy layers, erase expressions, redraw an arm, and boom. New frame. It saves a ton of time)

That being said, try your best and see how it turns out! If my guess is correct and you're going to use pencil and paper, I suggest starting with something short (maybe a tiktok or vine audio?) just so you can get a feel for the process and see whether you can handle doing a longer song using that method

Most important advice I can give: Your style will evolve as you get more practice, so be kind to yourself if your first attempt doesn't look the way you want it to. I'm STILL figuring out how to shade properly, and that is something I will only learn with time. As they say, practice makes perfect

Did this help at all? I've been very sleepy all day and it's kind of late, but I wanted to respond before I went to bed. Hopefully something here is useful, best of luck!

(And if you DO end up making an animatic, feel free to send me the link or tag me in it! I'd love you see what you come up with!)

[loganscanons]

uf short fics 2

Context: Some more UF short fics! The first is Ursula and her servant/house girl Gisele; the second is Wisteria, Xena, and Joaquin; the third is the 7-11 gang.

The girl was never late, nor inconveniently early. She unlocked the apartment door and let herself in precisely when Ursula expected her to, then began whatever tasks she’d been assigned with quiet and efficient deliberateness, only speaking to ask for clarification. The ideal house girl, in Ursula’s opinion. 

Today, Ursula had neither greeted her at the door, nor left a note out on the antique chest in the foyer, so the young woman approached the bedroom at the end of the hall and knocked once. 

“Come in, Gisele,” came a voice from within. 

She pushed the door open and stepped into the room, her hands clasped behind her back. Sitting at her vanity, Ursula watched in the mirror as the house girl gazed into the room impassively, her eyes moving over the bloodless, lifeless body laid out on the bed, the sheets and lingerie stained with blood, the pile of men’s clothes on the floor. If she was at all taken aback, she concealed it well.

“Would you like me to wash your sheets, Madame?” she asked in French.

“Yes,” Ursula said. With a fountain pen, she wrote a series of looping letters on cream-colored stationary, then held out the paper to the house girl. “Here’s a number for a man who can take care of the body. I wouldn’t expect you to take care of it yourself.” 

“Thank you, Madame,” Gisele said. She took the paper, bowed her head, then turned and left the room to gather supplies for one of the most thorough clean-ups Ursula had ever seen. 

—

As she pushed her key into the lock of her apartment above the library, Wisteria heard a shout from behind the door, followed by scuffling and swearing. She smiled to herself and shook her head before pushing open the door and letting herself in. 

“Take it back!” Xena yelled. 

The young woman was on the floor, on top of Joaquin with her knee pressing against his back as she twisted his arm. The Quijada, for his part, seemed only mildly inconvenienced, and further taunted Xena.

“No! It would be a lie to take it back.”

Wisteria placed her grocery bags on the ground, shrugged out of her coat and hung it up, all the while ignoring the scuffle happening. At this point, she was used to Xena and Joaquin fighting like siblings half their age. The fights were good for both of them, she thought. Xena needed somewhere to direct her pent up aggression and energy, and Joaquin needed someone to get him used to speaking up for himself. They were unlikely to actually hurt each other, and if they did, they always worked things out. 

“Would either of you care to help a poor old woman put groceries away?” Wisteria asked, bending down to pick up the grocery bags. 

“You’re hardly an old woman. You don’t even need help,” Xena said, rolling her eyes as she released Joaquin from her grip and stood. 

“Hey, respect your elders,” Joaquin said. He rolled onto his back and rubbed the arm that had been pinned behind him. 

“Bite me,” She said as she reached out to take the grocery bags from Wisteria. 

Had Wisteria not just given them a task to do, she was sure Joaquin would’ve obeyed the taunt and the scuffle would’ve started anew. Instead, he made a mocking expression before beginning to help Xena unload the grocery bags. 

--

Rafa sat on the floor with his sketchbook in his lap, periodically glancing up to assess the reclined figure in front of him. His dark brows would furrow and he would bend forward again to resketch a line, perfecting the study. The past couple pages of his sketchbook were covered in various studies of the young man reclining on the couch.

Rafa jumped, his pencil flicking across the page as the apartment door suddenly swung open. 

“Hel-lo!” Paz greeted in a sing-song voice. Rafa scowled and erased the stray pencil line. The door slammed behind Paz.

“Whatcha doin?” she asked, practically skipping across the apartment to where he sat on the floor. 

“Sketching,” Rafa grumbled. Paz bent down and leaned over him, examining his sketch. Her hair tickled the side of his face as she cocked her head to the side, paying no attention to the interference of his personal space. He jerked his head away and batted her hair out of the way. Paz looked from the sketch to the couch and back to the sketch.

“It looks almost just like him!” she said.

“Almost?” Rafa said.

“Yeah, you need more dirt,” Paz laughed. “He looks way too clean to be Rott.”

Rafa looked at the drawing for a moment, and then at Rott passed out on the couch. “You’re right,” he said.

[kuuhaiyu]

hey!! may i ask for your brush settings? or is it a clip studio brush? ur lines always look so clean!

hi, sorry for the late reply! this got lost in my drafts. thank you for asking! i’m glad you enjoy my linework :-) 

i use clip studio paint’s default brushes, i’ve never been a very fancy person when it comes to brush settings. my 3 main brushes:

1. G-pen (under pen subtool) -- this is my favorite brush! i use this one for my serious pieces, such as day 2, “a losing game,” and most of my poster-like pieces of art. it’s a pen but it’s got a rough edge that still gives it a papery feel that i like. :-)

for a more sketchy or pencil-like feeling, you can put it to 90% opacity! that’s what i did for a while, although eventually i went back to 100% because it made coloring+filling easier. i just do sketches in a lighter color if i’m not feeling too confident in my drawing skills that day.

2. milli pen (under marker subtool) - this one is fun and smooth and is really good for blocky lettering! its particular quirk is that it’s thicker at the end of a stroke and thin in the middle of it. i tend to use this one for lettering, and occasionally for sillier and more cartoonish drawings. 

i also practice with this one occasionally because this marker makes it REALLY apparent when your lines weren’t drawn in one stroke, which is a good motivator to practice controlling longer strokes, and drawing more precisely / close to what i have in my head. it is a fairly punishing brush to use and i find myself using ctrl+z and redrawing lines over and over again, but it is still great for practice and quick doodles as well. :-)

3. binary tool – sometimes i just want a good old fashioned ms paint style brush, this one is very good. :-) 

general notes: 

these pics were drawn at 1080px width, sorry for the crunch :( click on the pics to see them at their best

i usually have my brushes set on low stability because 1) it makes lettering easier, 2) i want to practice having a more stable drawing hand 

i use the fill bucket liberally which is also big motivation for me to connect my lines properly. :-) 

if you have the default keybinds still, pressing ‘c’ will let you use your current selected brush/tool like it’s an eraser! pressing c again will go back to color mode. i use this a lot! very useful.

flipping the canvas is also very helpful! 

doing warm ups can help with getting better at linework also! 

[doodledrawsthings]

This may sound weird and I apologize for if it does but how do you sketch so quickly and cleanly/loosely??? You seem to do art quick in general but also when you post sketches they're so loose and clean. When I sketch they're not clean or loose at all and I have to erase a lot... I guess I'm asking what your process is??? I know you definitely have a lot of experience and it's probably mostly that but do you have any specific tips or anything? I'm sorry, I'm not sure how to word this right.

TBH, I also usually end up erasing and moving stuff around A LOT when I do more complicated poses, but that’s probably because I’ve been getting too comfortable drawing digitally, lately. But, like, as I’ve said before, learning gesture and figure drawing really helped out a lot. It kinda forces you to learn how to get the idea across in as few lines possible and teaches you things like line of action and anatomy so things look smoother and more proportionate. I usually go to a nearby art studio that does nude model sessions which helped me with getting practice in. But even just like… goin’ out and drawing people at coffee shops helps A LOT. 

Go outside and draw real life, yo. It’ll help you draw imaginary life better. And also if a community college or some nearby studio offers figure drawing lessons or drawing sessions and stuff, I HIGHLY reccomend looking into it.I took one class at my community college and it helped me immensely.  (And if you’re not in college, yet, I’ll probably RB this post with some good books on the subject, later) 

There was also a point in time while I was in high school where I only drew in pen. Like microns, le pens, brush pens, ballpoint, sharpie etc etc. And that’s also a good way to force yourself to get used to not having to erase as much. And if you’re worried about wasting sketchbook pages on messy drawings or something, don’t sweat it. That’s what sketchbooks are for.