#I used the manga as inspiration for style and poses

[alicenpai]

the shadow and her living doll 🌹🌼 print for montreal otakuthon! come see me at next week from aug 11-13 ✌

you can grab it as a print here if you so wish ! WIPs & other thoughts under the cut

shadows house is such a fantastic series & i wholeheartedly recommend it... the story delves into super dark horror elements but doesn't present itself as a story with no hope. hope must be found and then tenaciously gripped with all one's heart, much like pandora's box. it tickles the victorian gothic part of my brain forever imprinted on me since i was 14 haha...

in the first draft i had marionette strings hanging above the characters (kinda reminds me of Erased.. since I just finished rewatching that ahaha...) & shadow puppet hands on the sides, almost as if gripping each character. i decided against it in the end, to let the characters shine in the spotlight (literally).

i also wanted a more active or lively pose, but kept in line with the stiff victorian portrait style, caused by long camera exposure times. i'm not sure if that worked out better bc i'm unsure if this drawing is interesting to people wahahaha.

initially i also wanted more of a dollhouse theme, but each draft got more and more muddy, so i decided to save it for another day (i'm around ch 90 in the manga, so probably a good call to save a more complex idea until i'm all caught up)

^ quick 5 min style test i posted recently! in that post i stated that i wanted to streamline and simplify my art style more, especially after the recent bunch of illustrations i did in the past winter that took way too long to complete, at the sake of my health.

im continually looking for areas to simplify more in my art, but one of the areas i will NOT skimp on is depicting fabric!!!!!

what also helped was working on my sense of structure in my spare time, so that i could be better at depicting form without relying so much on shading to show 3d forms. i love colouring, but i need to be working smarter, not harder from now on. using 100000 shades and highlights is just not feasible anymore wahaha.

in this drawing i loosened up with the bg and kept it rough, inspired by the wonderful xeroxed bgs of 101 dalmatians, and only implied details, rather than actually rendering all of them.

the tldr is that i draw too slowly i just would like to be able to make more drawings more often!!

[darrengrave]

Hot take, but this internet digital artist thing about freaking out over "copying" similar compositions to your pieces is a completely new phenomenon born from internet use, and it's frankly antithetical to how art even works.

Literally every single artist I personally know over 25 learned to draw in the first place by copying other artists' pieces in magazines, artbooks, manga, etc. Every. Single. One. No exceptions. Art itself is an imitation and we've always learned techniques and styles of imitation by copying others. Art has always inspired art. It is like this in every art form and has been for all of human history.

"Copying" dynamic poses is actually SO accepted and even EXPECTED in the professional comics industry that it has an industry name - lifts. I've yet to see any court case over this or anyone even upset by it in over 100 years.

Imitation is simply how human beings learn and create, I'm sorry. It is a brand new phenomenon that people get so upset about this. I'm obviously not talking about ai art which is void of any human labor, of tracing or lifting line for line and making a profit off a near exact copy of a piece, of reposting a piece and stealing traffic. I'm talking about simply a similar composition like use of color, or pose, or framing, etc. Y'all are weird for that one. Like first-time-in-art-history weird. I promise the first person to paint a greek spiral vector on their pottery wasn't as pressed about the thousands of imitations after, to the point where it now defines a cultural style, as you guys get about someone lifting a pose you drew.

Capitalism and the scope of freedom to search for references that the internet allows, which is a luxury no one else has had before, have grifted you out of understanding one of the bare-est, most fundamental and beautiful realities of how art even works and has worked since the dawn of time.

It is literally impossible to create something without copying something else. It is too inherent to what art is. Art is communal. Even the most solitary arts are communal, drawing inspiration from other works. It's one of the most beautiful things about art, and if you can't see that as an artist that's reason to be deeply concerned.

[saccharinescorpion]

4 Things You Can Try Now That You’ve Read THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR

(technically 5 things)

Mabel - a podcast by Becca De La Rosa and Maybell Marten.

Anna Limón is a home help worker currently looking after the elderly Sally Martin. When Sally has a bizarre and frightening reaction to a box of letters Anna finds in her attic one day, Anna attempts to seek answers by contacting Sally’s only known living relative: Mabel Martin.

“A podcast about ghosts, family secrets, strange houses, and missed connections,” Mabel is a story that is difficult to describe, but one of the most important points is that the vast majority of it is an epistolary narrative between Anna and Mabel, just like how This Is How You Lose The Time War is an epistolary narrative between Red and Blue. It also has a very distinct writing style- dramatic, flowery, and a little bit intimidating. However, if you loved the writing style of TIHYLTTW, I personally think that Mabel is a perfect match for you.

And I’m not just saying that because Mabel is a story about two extremely overdramatic women who are somehow both frighteningly caustic yet almost adorably useless.

The Honey Month - a book by Amal El-Mohtar 

I certainly hope I don’t have to tell you this, but Amal El-Mohtar is one of the authors of This Is How You Lose The Time War, and The Honey Month is a short book she wrote several years ago.

The Honey Month is almost more of an experiment than a book- in its introduction, a friend of El-Mohtar explains how she sent her several small samples of honey, leading El-Mohtar to use the gift as in a unique way. For one February, every day she used a different vial of honey as inspiration for a small piece of writing.

The Honey Month contains 28 short pieces of writing, poetry, prose, and some things in between. It’s a small book full of things with big impact, and contains the lyrical yet meaty writing I enjoyed from El-Mohtar in TIHYLTTW.

Otherside Picnic (裏世界ピクニック) - A series of novels by Iori Miyazawa (illustrated by Shirakaba)

College sophomore Sorawo Kamikoshi longs to find an escape from other people, and in trying to find it discovers the Otherside, a strangely beautiful yet unfathomably dangerous parallel world inhabited by the-once-fictional creatures she knows from net lore. She also meets Toriko Nishina, another young woman with a knowledge of firearms and a desire to find her missing mentor. Together, these two girls explore the Otherside and find themselves changing little by little, both due to their adventures, but also due to their relationship with each other.

If you know me you probably aren’t surprised at this reccomendation. Otherside Picnic is a truly odd beast- it’s sci-fi, it’s horror, it’s comedy, it’s yuri. It’s about trauma, it’s about Japanese creepypasta, it’s about useless lesbians, and it’s about how the scariest thing of all is being vulnerable with another human being. I think fans of  This Is How You Lose The Time War  will enjoy it- Otherside Picnic’s writing style will likely feel almost spartan compared to TIHYLTTW, but in my opinion there’s a similar level of poetry in it. There’s also a similar level of women who are “badass” yet kind of messes. You’ve heard of “Enemies to Lovers,” get ready for “Accomplices to Lovers”!

(there’s also a manga adaptation by Eita Mizuno, as well as an anime adaptation directed by Takuya Sato)

The Handmaiden (아가씨) - a movie directed by Park Chan-wook (written by Park and Chung Seo-kyung, based on the novel Fingersmith by Sarah Waters)

In Japan-occupied Korea, the pickpocket Sook-hee is recruited by a con-man to aide him in his scam of a Japanese heiress, Lady Hideko. While the con-man poses as “Count Fujiwara” and woos Hideko, Sook-hee will play the part of her maid and subtly push the heiress towards him. But as time passes, Sook-hee begins to realize there are things occuring in the mansion that are even more sinister than her and the Count’s scheme, and there is much, much more to Hideko than meets the eye.

This is a list of recommendations for “people who have finished “This Is How You Lose The Time War,” but I try to recommend The Handmaiden to as many people as I possibly can. I’ve described it in the past as the cinematic equivalent of running a marathon: with a 144 minute runtime full of gorgeous direction and set design, dark machinations, twisted yet romantic writing, often troubling themes, and so, so many plot twists, it’s a movie that nearly feels like too much of a good thing. But for fans of TIHYLTTW, I’m sure what will intrigue you most is the relationship between the two main characters, one so complicated that “Enemies to Lovers” can’t hope to capture the roiling feelings of pity, guilt, hatred, desire, annoyance, sympathy, and everything in between. 

It’s also just really hot.

The Handmaiden is a movie that is best enjoyed going in knowing as little as possible. That said, it is also a story with dark and often upsetting themes that are absolutely crucial to its narrative. If you are concerned about that statement,  I reccomend looking at the movies’ entry on DoesTheDogDie, which I have looked at and found to be a pretty comprehesive list of content warnings that can be examined in a way that doesn’t spoil the twists of the story.

Fingersmith - a novel by Sarah Waters

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I swear I’m going to get around to it!! I can’t technically recommend the book that inspired The Handmaiden since I haven’t read it yet, but I have at least one friend whose opinion I trust who sings its praises, so it’s good enough for me. Besides, if the recent popularity of This Is How You Lose The Time War has showed us anything, it’s that people constantly crave stories about complicated women, so it certainly can’t hurt, right?

[nalonzooo]

Hi you’re very kind in always answering people with their art questions i appreciate you so much!! I wanted to ask if u have any books/videos that helped you on your art journey? Love your art so much ur an inspiration 😘😘

hi!! this is so nice of you to say and you’re very welcome 🥰 - books and videos under the cut!

videos

what helped me a lot when i started with art is to watch time lapses or draw-with-me sessions so i can kind of copy how artists draw or paint. however it’s "Level Up your Portrait Drawings" by Chris Hong (ETA: sorry the link doesn't seem to be working, so i've included the title of the class) that was like a turning point in how i drew faces. it’s available via membership on skillshare but i think you can sign up for a month free. i can’t recommend it enough! the quality of my portraits changed after this especially with regards to anchor points—i learned how to tweak my art with this video and i do feel it carried over and improved the way i drew very visibly <3

another video i feel created a huge improvement in my drawing is this class by Lexin Yuan (qrbits). this is a lot more rigorous and thorough than the previous one and also included feedback from the artist (!!) and it’s available via subscription to Class101 but lexin has since made a free version on their youtube which i HIGHLY recommend as well (actually i would recommend their entire channel) - from here i learned how to make characters stand and pose properly, i learned to draw from dance videos, i learned about boxes and anatomy in a very approachable way.

another artist i’m subscribed to and whom i enjoy watching draw is likelihoodart. i love looking at their art bc i feel like they have the perfect blend of semi-realism and stylization - plus their OCs are amazing (the general art rule for teeth is don’t fill them out, but i’ve never seen anyone draw teeth a good as them! i mean look at this work in particular). i picked up some rendering styles and tips from watching their draw-with-me videos.

i’m also currently subscribed to Loish’s patreon where she has very useful and in-depth tutorials and guides. she explains it so well and i also see a lot of the artists in their patreon community sharing their improvements and it's SO cool and encouraging. she has accessible tutorials here you can check out :)

books

comic books/graphic novels - i think i mentioned before but when i first started drawing (again, after living artless as a corporate cog), i was in my marvel (mcu//stucky) phase and one of my fav comics back then was matt fraction’s hawkeye. i liked david aja’s style and i would copy entire panels from the comic in ink into my sketchbook. so i would recommend copying whatever art style comic or manga or graphic novel you like into your sketchbook as personal practice (not for public sharing). re-draw your favorite panels! copying directly from the source also helps you figure out how the artist might have drawn their works.

figure drawing by michael hampton - if i were to recommend just one figure drawing/anatomy book to you, it would be this one - this is also a direct recommendation by lexin yuan and i found this book to be easy to follow and the concepts are understandable. i am at heart more of a gesture drawing artist so his emphasis on line of action and dynamism is something i really appreciated.

ART BOOKS! in particular: spider-verse 1 and 2 art books - everyone knows these and for good reason; ami thompson's character expression sheets alone are worth the price. seeing concept art is always very special--you get to read how a team of creatives come up with ideas and you can learn how to incorporate them into your own art. these two are currently my favorite art books, but i also like the art of tangled (glen keane's sketches are in the inside of the covers and that alone made me want to weep they're so beautiful). and sometimes i go into the japanese section of my local bookstore and see what art books they have - i got this one last year which i really enjoyed, and i got a copy of ryoko kui's doodle book for dungeon meshi and i just love it SO much. their character designs are varied and top-notch and it's just so FUN to go through (if you're interested in this, they'll be releasing an english version soon!)

i also draw a lot of inspiration from artists who make and sell zines of their own art or sketches or sketchbooks - some of them even offer it for free! it seems to be a lost art nowadays because people think zines have to be like big collaborative productions, but it can just be a pdf of your sketches. i literally have a page from one of my fav artist's digital zines printed and taped in front of my desk for constant inspiration, and it's just a sketch of theirs. there's nothing quite like seeing an artist's work in zine format <3

my gawd sorry that was so long BUT i hope these are helpful to you in any way!! <3

[stepmarchen]

okay i know that you said you're not the greatest history buff, but i realy wanted to know your take on the Safavid kingdom as a representation of a middle eastern community..? if you've read enough manhwas you probably have seen some stupid stereotypes and it realy sucks. god i feel like i'm bothering you asking this i mean we don't know much about safavid .. you don't have to answer this :D

of course! i'll try my best to speak about it! the floor is also open to anyone who has their own additions!

So. We all know that ASM borrows inspiration from existing territories and conflict from the 1700s all the way up to the late 1800s, right? Well get ready for this.

If we use this same research model, we'll come to find that the Safavid Dynasty also existed in Iran back in the 16th century. Which means we have a direct reference point we can compare the (manhwa) Safavid Kingdom to! (just remember to take it with a few grains of salt. We're dealing with 400+ years of history here!)

In my humble opinion (as someone who isn't part of the middle-eastern community btw), I feel like ASM does a pretty fair job at representing the middle east via Safavid/Pasha Family. The biggest hurdle just comes from the fact we haven't seen much of them yet.

The first thing I noticed was the architecture. During Halima's trip back home to Safavid we get to see ORKA's depiction of the Kingdom. As you can see below, the inspiration behind the Bahjat's Palace is pretty directly linked to the Meidan Emam in Isfahan, a royal mosque from the Safavid Era!

Unfortunately, the establishing shot of the city isn't as easy to compare, with the introduction of modern architecture. But if we look at Yazd, an untouched city in Iran, we can see the traces of inspiration with just a few minor discrepancies: minaret, domed mosques, earthen town houses.

We also get these small fleeting moments that really make the characters feel like they're from another country. For example, Nasir, Ali's escort can be seen wielding a curved sword as opposed to a European broadsword. Later, Nora mentions that it is a shamshir, a type of Persian scimitar.

even these small details really make for great world building. Honestly, I'd love to see these props make a comeback in future scenes. Like can you imagine seeing one of the rugs Ali brought in the Neuschwanstein Castle?

Now to finally get to the part you've probably been waiting for. The clothes.

Unfortunately, I'm not as well versed in royal fashion in the Middle East so I had a hard time identified the style of dress.

When we compare the real Shahs of the Safavid Dynasty, we'll see that their fashion of choice changed greatly over the course of the ruling. I couldn't pinpoint exactly who, when or which specific culture ORKA is referencing here. But we do see some elements from Tahmasp I (feathered turban, ornate belt, embroidered textiles). Please correct me if I've made any errors here. I'm totally not confident in my Middle Eastern fashion history.

But above all else, I really just enjoy how the Pasha family is written and designed. I think we've seen stereotypes in all forms of media where middle easterners are portrayed... not so well.

In ASM, they're just the Pashas. As a foreign kingdom, they pose a threat against the Empire, but they're not evil. The King seems to be as tired with Halima's bullshit as the Empress is with Theo. Even Nasir has his own occasional dialogue, exasperated by Ali's behavior. And if you've read the same comics I have, we're all too familiar with the "dangerous and stoic middle-easterner" stereotype.

IMO, we've seen "foreign" characters in manga/manhwa that are usually boiled down to one of three types: the socially insensitive clowns/perverts, the murderer, or the alien that somehow has white skin and hair. but I personally find it a breath of fresh air how ASM leans full into the concept of darker skinned characters with dark hair and actual rounded personalities.

This shouldn't be such a high bar to reach, but ORKA has one again reached it.

[syaolaurant]

Hello hello, I love your work and was wondering if you'd be open to making a little breakdown of your art style?

It's really interesting to me and I love taking bits of different artists art style elements and incorporating them into my doodles to get better

Totally okay if you don't want to! 💜💜💜

Take care and have an amazing life 🤗💜☺️

Hello!! Thanks for asking 🤗 I'm not making a little breakdown of my art style I already WROTE A WHOLE ESSAY ABOUT IT!!

Sorry I exaggerated it a bit🥲🥲...

I was very happy to receive this ask, but at the same time I felt worried. Honestly, I didn’t know how to give you a relevant answer because  I don’t even think I have a consistent art style 🥲. Except for my usual chibi style which I feel most comfortable with, I feel my style constantly changes. So after going back to review my old paintings, I think my style is a combination of children's book illustrations and Japanese anime style. Many times I have received comments about my paintings looking like they are from children's books, and I agree haha, maybe because I mostly draw small characters in big settings and I usually use bright colors. 

My favorite artists:

My drawing style is mostly influenced by my all time favorite artists Heikala and Koyamori, I stumbled across their Insta accounts during my 1st year in college (that was 10 years ago) and from then my drawing style gradually took shape. I also admire Paulina Cassidy, mostly because I like her whimsical nature sprites theme. Recently I’ve been investing in Stephanie Law’s artwork, her coloring technique is so god-like that I hope one day I can reach that level…

Ideas and Inspirations:

Japanese anime/manga culture has had a great impact on my childhood. It was a dream come true for me to be able to pursue my college study in Japan. I think this journey greatly affected my current style. I draw lots of things from small doodles to funny comics. I'd describe my drawings as “silly and cute” since I love to make people laugh and I also live for the fluffs (Sometimes I drew angst too but it still turned out cute haha..). Aside from that,  I prefer making “storytelling” illustrations with colorful backgrounds. My favorite things to draw are tiny characters in big scenery, I like to create peaceful static moments that when looking at them help warm my heart and calm my mind. 

When making game fanarts, I usually take screenshots as references for background and imagine how the character will act in that setting. I just do what I feel comfortable and use my own judgment for composition … which… sometimes results in weird perspectives (and you know what I’ve just discovered the rule of third recently 😅…). 

Characters:

When it comes to drawing characters, I honestly don't know how to explain my style. I think chibi is my most recognizable style, apart from that I usually draw characters in semi-chibi (is it the right way to call it??) or simple anime style. I don’t usually draw characters with dynamic poses or movements ( that’s why I still suck at anatomy and expression 😩😩). I think I’m shifting from anime to a more cartoon style since I kinda have same face problem and  I’m trying to practice face shapes.

I think my character drawing style is most influenced by Akihiko Yoshida (who is behind many FF/Nier/ bravely default concepts), as I always draw my characters with chubby round faces and dreamy eyes. I made an example of how I usually draw my characters below.

Technique: 

Watercolor technique is quite complex so I’ll explain how I always do my paintings in another sharing post. I’ve posted part 1 of my sharing here. Generally, I love using bright, saturated tones and black ink brush pen or color brush to paint line work. 

. I hope I could answer your question. I’m definitely no expert, all the things about art I've learn was self-taught but I'm happy to help anyway I can. 💕💕

And you 🫵🫵 yes you dear sweet anon! I wish you a happy life too!!!! 💕💕

[simmerianne93]

[Simmerianne93]Simblreen2023_03

Hello!! How are you today?

This is the 3rd simblreen gift and, if you are into manga and anime as I do, I have to tell you that i had a little bit of inspiration from Jujutsu Kaisen's Gojo and Toji's fight from season 2, episode 3 to make this specific posepack.

Of course I did not do a copy and paste pose. I made some adjustments to make them fit well on a sim, avoiding some typical anime exaggerations, and I also made some other poses that has nothing to do with that Gojo vs Toji fight but just "normal" spellcaster poses.

When I saw the fight, animated in the anime, I was amazed and, although I know that in no way do I do justice to the wonderful animation that the Mappa studio does in each of the chapters of the serie, I needed to do at least something similar for the sims as action and fantasy poses for some spellcaster sims.

Personally, I'm someone who plays a lot with spellcaster sims and I like poses where the sims do magic but don't do exaggerated movements, so I tried to include some poses where with just the movement of one hand they can exert great force with a lot of power.

I think I will do more poses of this style because I feel like I need them and there aren't enough, but that will be in the future.

I have to say that even when my cover model sim looks a little like Gojo, I did not made him with Gojo in mind XD I made him waaay before I knew Gojo existed, but what can I say? I have a special attraction for unreal albino boys haha xD. Tho I did choose him for the poses because of his similarity with Gojo... So, I'm a half guilty haha.

Anyway, I hope you like the poses and I'll leave you with the posepack description:

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What is on it?

16 solo poses for a sim + 1 all in one.

What do you need?

Andrew's poses player 

Teleport any sim by Scumbumbo or Mccc by deaderpool.

OPTIONAL: Igor's magic effect

OPTIONAL: Natalia Auditore's ball of light

Instructions on the original post.

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TOU

Do not claim my creations as your own.

Do not re-upload or modify my creations.

Do not make money of my creations.

Do not include my creations in Mods folders to download.

Please follow my Term Of Use.

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⬇⬇⬇

Download it now here --- AS ALL MY SIMBLREEN GIFTS, THESE POSES ARE FREE FOR EVERYONE.

⬆⬆⬆

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If you want to support me:  Patreon | Ko-fi

For more poses: Pinterest |  Wix

My socials: Twitter | Instagram | BlueSky

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I really hope you like them and I will say on advance: Thank you so much for use them.

@ts4-poses

[scwambledeggs]

hey egg, hope ur com grind is going well :)

have you ever thought of doing any tutorials? Ur art style is super cute I'm so jealous kskskksskjk

Thank you!! <3 :D Also i get this question alot, and i havent answered bc im unsure how to do a tutorial, but!! I'll try! <3 I'll start with a list of brush packs I personally love! I use Procreate on the ipad :3 *100+ Manga/ComicBook Brush Set for Procreate ($4.99USD) *Ghibli Inspired Brushes 2 for Photoshop and Procreate ($8.80USD) *Sinix Procreate Set (Free) And, not a brush pack, but one of my favourite resources! *3D Posable Skull Ref For sketching/lining, I like to use a square brush! I like the sharper edges :3 I don't really line anything anymore, I prefer cleaning up sketches. While cleaning up, I like to clean up the edges as well, manually adjusting line weight. You'll see what I mean in this speedpaint here! (mild flash warning)

For my rendering, i block out my shading (i try to use colours complimentary to the bg colours, or one's that compliment the character's colours!) Shading set to Multiply and lighting set to Add or Colour Dodge! And then I use the syrup brush (in the default inking brush set) to do my blending. I can't rlly give any real tips here, I just try to make my brush strokes work with the curves of the pose ^^; I also don't try to clean up my brush strokes, as I prefer the messiness of them :3 I'm still learning more about art, myself, and I frequently try to watch tutorials when I can! I highly encourage artists of any skill level to freshen up with tutorials from time to time! Here's my personal playlist:

My works are incredibly inspired by the following artists, as well! They deserve all the love in the world, and I wouldn't be where I am without them :3 Fivel , Purrmaows , MilkQween , ItaParu , ActuallyRea , TwistCMYK , Lushminda , Moowsie (Jim Davis as well!!)

I'll try to post more in depth stuff regarding my work in the future, like posting speedpaints and progress shots! I hope all this makes sense aaaa :'3 <3

[kozachenko]

I've crawled out of my cave after playing Final Fantasy IX for a long ass time what have I missed?

Artist's Notes:

I'M BACK BABY! A while back I made a post with a new style experimentation thingy but I ended up deleting it because it was just kind of a boring face thing, I was planning on doing more art but then I started playing Final Fantasy IX and uhhhh yeah so that game has kind of taken of my brain for the past two weeks and I am 20 hours into the game because I love it so much. I wanted to draw Vivi because Vivi is just really fun to draw ok? I've kinda been feeling really burnt out with my lineless style, mainly because of how hard it was to do lighting. I'll show one of my initial art style tests on the bottom of this post. Again, used to have it be an individual post but it was just one face so it was kinda boring, so might as well include with this one on the subject of art styles. I wanted to kinda mix some aspects of my older style with the sketchy shading lines with a more painterly way of doing the lighting (mainly in the shadows). All in all, I think that's my favourite part about this drawing, it feels nice to finally be able to do some proper lighting again, and I want to experiment even more with my lighting and rendering in future pieces. Also, part of the pant shading got kinda lost in the sketchiness, so for next time I'll probably focus on the clarity of the more sketchy parts of the drawing, since I did go with my initial sketch for the final drawing. I also gave up on the background since I had no idea what to do for it, and I didn't put too much detail into the staff as I forgot which one I gave him in my current playthrough and I didn't want to risk spoiling myself via looking up references, but that's ok I like how the singular yellow circle on it matches Vivi's eyes. Also I was having a bit of trouble figuring out how to draw his body and how to pose him, but I like how the pose turned out a lot. It was inspired by his idle animation when in a battle in game where he does a little shimmy.

Ok I need to talk about Vivi's design because I love it so fucking much oh my god-

I absolutely love how his face is just in complete shadow and only his eyes stand out, it's so cool and unique and I love how they recontextualized the original black mage design from the classic Final Fantasy games. How they did it I won't say because I don't wanna spoil the game, but someone give this poor baby a therapist because he goes through a lot. Actually, same can be said for all of the FFIX cast, they all need therapy (again, I won't spoil anything, please go play the game for yourself).

While I do love almost all the characters in the game, even though Vivi is most fun to draw, my favourite character has to be Zidane (the main protagonist of the game). He's a really fun protagonist, and they could have easily written him as a misogynistic jerk who doesn't respect women but they didn't, and I really appreciate that. He's just an overall cool dude who's a really nice older brother figure to Vivi and also just has a cool character design (who I also want to draw eventually). Initially in the game I was planning on grinding levels for Vivi to make him the tactical nuke of the party, but then that title went to a different character (who was initially multiple levels behind the group since I grinded the party in the starting area way to much before they joined, but now they are two levels ahead of everyone and have pulled the team through a lot of tough battles, again I won't say who it is because it is kind of a spoiler and the way the gameplay actually ties into their character arc is just so good omfg). Once I eventually finish the game I'll probably write a full review on here, so no spoilers until then lol

Also, I've kinda been burning out a bit with making Touhou art, which also made me a bit burnt out with Touhou stuff in general (although I will continue keeping up with the manga) so getting into other things (i.e. Final Fantasy and even Fallout since I've watched the first season of the TV show which is a whole other post for another day) has helped me refresh and given me something new to think about. I've ended up in the exact place I feared ending up, where I would start drawing fanart for it not because I wanted to but because I felt like I had to, so I'm taking a bit of a break. When I do draw Touhou fanart again I'll try to draw for the sake of myself, and to all the other artists and fanartists on this platform (and on any social media for that matter), take care of yourself and don't forget to take breaks when you need to!

(Ok part of that last paragraph was definitley influenced by the good ol' "it's 9:00pm and I need sleeb, but the message at the end still holds up, always take care of yourself)

Oh yeah, and here is that one style experiment I did btw

Man I really fell down the "Yoshitaka Amano art enjoyer" to "Final Fantasy fan" pipe line didn't I?

[asmilethatshines]

More pixel drawings coz last time Bel praised me <3 (and I love cell shading! It hides most of my flaws and easier and quicker for me)

1/ Safety first: Initially I wanted to draw something simple inspired by this specific part of the fanfic "In Roger's office"

But then what's the point in wanting to improve while I keep drawing simple things. So I changed to this =v= Hard poses for me, the stupid helmet, and Near's expression. I fixed it like a million times and I am still not happy yet ==

2/ Kick in the head: This is a very hard theme for me although the name is very clear! Who is gonna kick who?? I was clueless for a while until I related it to the fanfic "Getting a second chance". There is a scene where Mello stood in front of Near to block the view of Light so that he could not see Near's face. And here is my drawing

Yeah Mello kicks Light in the head (well more precisely the face lol) for trying to write Near's name on the Death Note xD Silly I know lol I even had to use my chibi style for last resort. Oh I referenced their facial expression from the manga so even my chibi Mello looks scary ._.

[thesoulspulse]

How you draw hands? Just curious, they are very well done

Thank you! I really appreciate the compliment!

Now to answer your question I've actually always been pretty good at drawing hands tbh even as a kid, but it took me a while to get used to the more simplified art style of Danny Phantom since I'm used to drawing in more of an anime-like art style that's heavily inspired by Clamp Manga such as Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles. I used to doodle or trace hand poses I liked all the time when I was younger to practice too. I'd show you an example but I have like, thousands of scans of my old art/doodles so it'd take forever to find one of them so instead here's some examples of the art from this manga series:

Anyways, basically how I did it is I took screenshots of various body poses from the show to use as a reference and then after a while I learned to recognize the subtle differences between the hands drawn for female characters and male characters. At first I kept my version of the art style pretty sharp and blocky just like in the show but eventually I started softening the edges and adapted my drawings until it became a lot more comfortable to do. And here you can see the literal progression of my take on the Danny Phantom style over time going from left to right:

Of course, I did look up a lot of official character design references too like this one:

Hope that answers your question anon!

[blackrosesinthestars]

Character Creation Challenge, Day 6: Dawn

Believe it! (idk, i haven't watched Naruto)

The tagline of this game on Itchio is "A Shonen inspired TTRPG" and you can tell. The art is very manga inspired action shonen style, not only by the poses and action scenes but also by the character design of the characters shown.

I found this game like every game i found lately: i was bored and scrolling through itchio physical game page. I like my shonen anime, they are not my favorite genre (my favorite anime is a comedy slice-of-life one) but i still like them, it's a good time and they are fun, so i was, at least, a bit interested in this game. Now that it had its 1.0 release, it's a good time to try it.

Now, the character sheet is another excel one, found here. Still not used to it but hey, if it works, it works. So let's get to work.

Anima was granted the power of the flame unwillingly when she was little, a "tradition" of her family. Yet this flame has been consuming her slowly, making her more erratic, more violent. Fight, Break, Repeat. She was trained to control it but it is never enough. Fight, Break, Repeat. Maybe one day, she'll break the cycle. If she's willing. If she wants to.

This character is basically my take on the Orochi cursed from King of Fighters, I was set to make Iori Yagami in Dawn, so i think i managed to do it, or at least a good attempt to it.

This game reminds me of a fighting game, and sure enough, if you see the list of inspirations, Arcs System (creators of fighting games like Guilty Gear) is in there. The character creation is very flexible, you can make a lot with it, and the gameplay vibes i get reminded me weirdly of Masks, the superhero ttrpg, which i get it but mechanically is wildly different. But honestly, i would give it a shot, i would like to play Anima, or another character that fits the GM's world better. It would be fun.

[mrsketchy]

What inspired your art style

I find it unique the way you draw shapes and line art!

-cracks knuckles-

The recipe for my particular flavour of art is quite obvious once you know the ingredients, please follow below:

I’m a 90’s kid first and foremost, YuGiOh was the first big inspiration.

You can spot Kazuki Takahashi’s solid black shading and white highlights on reflective surfaces are a staple in my current style.

Look at this beautiful Millenium Eye, don’t you just wanna lick it?

Another specific technique: fabric folds. I love how Takahashi uses solid wedges of black to carve out the wrinkles in fabric (or in some cases, solid white on a black fabric). No blending needed! I apply these shapes both in the lineart (with solid black) or the shadow layer (on multiply) without softening/blending on the edges.

Next up is Jamie Hewlett, most known for designing the Gorillaz characters. This heavily influenced my aesthetic away from pure anime/manga and into a wider culture of pop, punk and graffiti.

On the technical aspects, I started thickening my lines and squaring/rounding off my shapes to have a more blunt, chunky feel.

On the Character aesthetic side, it also made me realise that characters don’t need to be conventionally attractive to be appealing. Bad posture? Crooked teeth? Baggy eyes? Hewlett is 100% responsible for all my ocs slowly turning into gremlins and tumblr sexymen.

I absolutely have to highlight how he draws hands, there’s an almost uncomfortable level of detail and realism that feels out of place on a cartoon character. The tendons, joints and wrinkles wouldn’t be out of place on a zombie, but all the gestures and poses feel very familiar. Like these are people I could have passed in my day by day.

That could just be me projecting - as someone who rarely looks people in the face, I tend to watch peoples hands the most; They give the lions share of body language and help humanize a character.

And now we have colour, which is a bit tricky since I still haven’t quite managed to figure out.

So instead I’ll point towards what I’m wanting to do more.

BrotherBaston: his use of bold shades, constrained colour palette and a light touch of gradients are something I aspire to use more.

There’s a level of clean, knowing when to embellish, and when to hold back on an artwork that I still struggle to balance. The ability to clearly visually communicate a character’s pose, design and intention.

This kind of precision and restraint is something I wish to learn, both in linework, colouring and character design.

Luckily for us he makes tutorials on youtube for anyone else wanting to check out his techniques!

And that's about it~ I've got a few honorable mentions to throw in at the end here: Banksy: Their bold stencils further influenced my use of solid shadows and strong shapes to build volume in an image, as well as being my introduction to graffiti

Mike Mignola: More amazing solid shadows and fantastic blocky shapes! I love the chonk.

Zdzisław Beksiński: Whenever I'm drawing more detailed body horror, this guy lives rent free in my head. A real chaotic layering of skeletal limbs twisting together into knots.

H.R. Giger: On the more erotic side of body horror spectrum, not much more needed to be said there

[alena-draws]

Hello here! First, i'm feeling kind of shy because this is my first time using the ask option on this website so thank you for being the one to make me want to do it. Anyway, thank you for sharing your wonderful art. I always had like warm tea in my body whenever i see it. Since the beginning, i found something charming in the way you draw eyes and nose and it was scratching on my memory. I finally found what it is make me remember. There are french BD I read when i was a teen, "l'enfant de l'orage" by Bichebois &Poli and "la quête de l'oiseau du temps" draw by Loisel. I love Loisel way of drawing faces and your art make me feel the same warm, nostalgic and cocconing way as him. Do you know them? So I was wondering if you had some big inspiration for your art, some major artists or if it just... like that? (idk how to make the emoji who is shrugging -_-") Idk how to finish so I will just write a funny (to me) french word : Esperluette!

Hello! Thank you for taking your time to write such a sweet ask! <3 I'm glad my drawings can evoke this feeling in you of nostalgia. Sadly, I don't know these series- my home village in germany only had the classical comics like Lucky Luke, Marsupilami and Asterix & Obelix which I read over and over. I guess thanks to that I missed on a lot of great stories, because those two you mentioned look really good, full of live and creative setting. I think I'll try to remember to look those up again to have a read!

Inspirationwise, as a kid and teen it was mostly different mangas that influenced my style. But these last years I've started studying the old disney masters more and more, because I adore their way of simplifying a pose to its most quickly readable and dynamic core...that is coming through in the way I draw eyes and noses I guess. And, there might be a slight influence from W.I.T.C.H., which is kinda from the same time period as L'enfant de l'orage, and similiar in style!

Esperluette! I put that into the dictionary, and I guess that's some vocabulary knowdlege I'll probably rarely need but is inscribed into my brain now :D

Have a nice day!

[psi-arts]

Hello!

Your style is amazing and I think it looks unique. Three things stand out to me: thick expressive lineart, fluidity of the character's poses etc (they don't look stiff I guess?) and variety in shading (JP dots, gradient, and cel). ❤️

Are there any artists or works that inspire you? Or rephrased how did you come about your personal art style?

Thank u :D

What inspired my style most is probably persona q 1/2, @.ionicisaac's.style (thats their twitter idk if theyre on tumblr) and the style used in the anime cutscenes for persona 3 fes!! Though its been years since they had any direct influence on my art its what led my style to go in the direction it did

a lot of my style is just random aspects i decided to add over time !! Not really direct influence from anything (i think)

Though originally i wanted the dots and lineart to be different but the way they come out now im really happy with

I wanted to have pressure sensitivity in my lineart (similar to ionicisaac) , but since i draw on my phone i couldnt get that to work so i tried making a brush that gets thinner as you go faster and though its not originally what i wanted ive been using it for like 5? 6? years at this point !! I cannot live without it

And the dots were actually originally meant to be a rounded halftone brush (kinda like manga halftones) but they acted a bit wierd sometimes and sometimes did what i didnt want them to so i changed them to be square and thought wow this is cool and unique and awesome

[jordan-a-v]

Record of Ragnarok: Thor (Berserk pose reference)

First time working with proper ink... Very affirming to finally be using ink like this, given that my inspiration from drawing began with reading Berserk - an inked manga. It makes me feel closer.

I decided to draw Thor, in the style of a manga panel from Berserk (vol. 33, episode 290, 'A Howl from the Darkness') fairly unusual, but I like how it turned out.