#I should really use my watercolors more often

[solroskajan]

can you draw Cyn?

Kay.

[steddieas-shegoes]

Chapter 4

Chapter 1  / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3

Steve arrived home to Robin anxiously pacing.

“Steve! Oh my God. I thought you died.”

“Robin, I literally talked to you an hour ago.”

“You could’ve died in the last hour!”

He smiled at her dramatics. She had his location the entire time, and she easily could have called him any time in the last hour if she was that worried.

She wrapped him in a hug, which was shocking enough on its own, but Steve couldn’t help his confusion when she also kissed the top of his head.

She held him for over a minute and Steve started to wonder if someone had died and she didn’t know how to tell him face to face.

“Robs?”

“Dingus?”

“Is everything okay?”

“Are you okay?”

Steve realized Eddie had probably told her everything. Oh for fuck sake.

“I am begging you to never bring anything of this up to me ever. Like, even if you think it’s okay to talk about it, assume it isn’t. I am never going to talk about this with you. Not ever. Not even on my deathbed. Not even when I’m drunk.”

“Eddie said you should.”

“I will. With Eddie. Not you.”

Steve turned to walk to his room and ignore Robin for the rest of the day, but he could hear her footsteps following him.

He sighed and turned around.

“I’m fine. Eddie took care of me. I’m going back there tonight so we can talk. I’ll keep my location on and you can check in with both of us, okay Mom?”

“Wait wait wait wait. You’re going back there tonight?” Then, she seemed to remember how he even ended up with Eddie. “WAIT! Your tattoo! Show me!”

Steve could do that much at least. He’d been talking about this tattoo for so long and he was really excited about how it turned out.

Eddie had unwrapped it and done the first round of cleaning and moisturizing, making sure Steve was paying attention so he could do it by himself today.

He hadn’t been able to look away from it for nearly ten minutes, the colors more beautiful after the redness of his irritated skin went away.

He held his wrist out to Robin, unable to keep the smile from his face as she looked at it and smiled up at him.

“He did great with this. Will is gonna flip.”

“I hope he likes it. He has an appointment with me tomorrow so I’ll be able to show him.”

Will was one of his best kids. He never had to actually worry about his future, Will knew exactly what he wanted, got good grades, had nearly perfect attendance, and worked towards his goals without any help from Steve. He’d been through a lot though as a child, and his mom had insisted that he regularly meet with Steve just to talk.

He came to appointments once a week, but him, along with his two best friends Dustin and Mike, would often spend their lunchtime in Steve’s office. They weren’t exactly popular, and bullies targeted them often for their size and their interest in more nerdy things. Steve let them, even though the principal had told him he was setting them up for failure in real life. Steve always said this was real life and feeling safe wasn’t a failure.

But this tattoo would really mean a lot to Will. He hoped so, at least.

“When are you going to Eddie’s?”

“7.”

“Bring protection.”

“Nothing’s gonna happen.”

Robin just gave him a look and walked away.

Nothing was gonna happen. Eddie said so.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

When Steve got to Eddie’s place, he was already home, and…cooking?

“Something smells good.”

Steve made his way into the house, brushing past Eddie and looking around. He hadn’t spent much time noticing things earlier, but now he could.

There was a lot of art on the walls, but none of it looked like what was at the shop. This looked more abstract, with a few random watercolors sprinkled in. He noticed pictures frames along the shelves and bookcase that held more records than books. The coffee table looked cluttered, mostly books and sketches spread out along the top.

The couch was old, but looked comfy, and the armchair in the corner seemed mostly unused. A few hats hung from the corner it was placed in, none of them looking like anything Eddie would wear.

Did he have a roommate? Is that how he could afford a house?

“You can set your stuff in my room if you want. You remember where it is?”

Eddie’s voice being so close behind him startled him, but he immediately relaxed when he felt a hand on his hip.

“I remember.”

Eddie squeezed his hip once before letting him go, walking towards the kitchen instead of following Steve.

Steve took in the pictures hanging up in the hall, but didn’t get a close look at any, already rushing to get back to Eddie so they could talk. Robin had given him another look before he left that said there’d be more than talking happening tonight, but he really trusted Eddie when he said they’d be taking it easy.

He dropped his bag on Eddie’s bed, smiling to himself when he saw that the bed was made.

Eddie didn’t seem like the type of person to make his bed, so maybe he was trying to impress him?

Steve shook the thought away. Nothing is happening tonight. He may not even want you in his bed after you talk.

He made his way back out to the kitchen, where Eddie was closing the oven door and placing a casserole dish of something that smelled like heaven on the stove.

“What did you make?”

“Breakfast casserole.”

“Breakfast? For dinner?”

Eddie smirked. “No laws can hold me down.”

Steve resisted the smile he felt trying to creep onto his face.

Eddie really did a number on his whole “I don’t smile for anyone” exterior.

“What’s in it?”

“Well, normally I do a french toast one that has fruit and maple syrup, but you didn’t seem like the type to enjoy that.”

“Excuse me? That sounds amazing,” Steve crossed his arms across his chest and stared at Eddie.

“We can have that next time.”

Next time, next time, next time.

“This one is hashbrowns, cheese, eggs, and bacon with biscuits as the base.”

“That sounds…heavy.”

“We can eat heavy. We don’t have any physical activity to commit to later.”

Steve couldn’t help it, he started pouting.

A small part of him had hoped that maybe after they talked, something would happen. Not necessarily sex or even subspace, but some making out, maybe some handjobs? Yeah, he’d hoped.

But he recognized the boundaries Eddie was setting, and he respected him for sticking to them, even if he really wished he didn’t.

Eddie poked Steve’s bottom lip playfully.

“No need to pout. If our discussion goes well, maybe next time?”

“Promise?”

“You’re gonna be trouble, aren’t you?”

“I dunno. Am I?”

“And a brat. Noted.”

Steve had never, not even at peak spoiled rich kid, been called a brat. Not even jokingly. He was a little offended, but he could see the hint of a smirk on Eddie’s face letting him know that would be part of their discussion.

“Are we gonna talk during dinner or after?”

“That’s up to you. I’m happy either way, sunshine.”

Steve felt warmth spreading in his chest at the nickname. He’d never been called sunshine either. Being terminally grumpy since your teenage years kind of eliminates that possibility.

“I have some questions so maybe we could start there during dinner?”

Eddie nodded and turned to grab plates and forks for dinner.

“Before you start though, I wanna make sure you know that I will always be honest and do my best to answer your questions, but there are some things I don’t know. I’m not a professional. I’m certainly experienced, but there may be things you want to know that I’ve never done. I don’t want to mislead you, so if there’s stuff you still need to know after this, I have contacts who can probably help.”

Steve felt so out of his depth here. Eddie had fucking contacts for this.

“Stevie? You okay?”

Steve shook himself out of his thoughts. He couldn’t let himself feel nervous about this. Eddie was kind and wanted him to understand and wouldn’t expect anything of him. He could do this.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Sorry. Just feels a little overwhelming.”

Eddie paused mid-scoop and glanced at Steve. He set the serving spoon in the dish and walked the few steps over to Steve, wrapping his arms around him gently and hugging him to his chest.

Steve quickly found his spot, nuzzling against his collarbone like he belonged there.

“That’s why we’re taking this slow, having discussions first. You can’t go into all of it the way you did last night. It’s dangerous.” Eddie rubbed his back slowly and Steve fought back the noises trying to escape from his chest. “I won’t feel comfortable doing anything at all with you until we’re both comfortable, okay?”

Steve nodded against his chest.

Eddie pulled back and tilted his chin up to look at him.

“You have to use your words, sunshine.”

“Okay.”

“You understand what I said?”

“I understand.”

“Good boy.”

Steve couldn’t contain the whine he let out. Jesus Christ, what was happening to him? He’d never been like this. He’d never made that noise before in his life.

“Alright, sunshine. Let’s eat.”

Steve didn’t want to separate from him, but Eddie didn’t go too far. He made sure Steve was right next to him as he grabbed their plates and walked to the table, setting them down next to each other instead of at the chairs across from each other.

“Don’t want you too far,” Eddie said with a fond smile.

Steve hated the way his heart skipped a beat. Eddie was going to send him into cardiac arrest if he kept this up.

But he did his best to ignore it, take a deep breath, and sit down in the chair.

His anxiety was high, and he was worried he may not be able to even eat, but Eddie took a bite and looked at Steve expectantly.

Steve picked up his fork and took a bite.

“Damn, this is good.”

“Thanks, sunshine. It’s hard to fuck this one up, but I’m glad you like it.”

Steve smiled at him and took another bite.

Where to begin?

He knew Eddie would let him lead, acting as more of a guide for the conversation than anything else, but Steve suddenly didn’t know where to begin.

“Um. I guess I kinda wanna start by saying something?”

Eddie nodded, smiling softly at him and showing him that he could be patient with whatever Steve needed to say, even if it took him some time.

“I’m not, like, a virgin. I mean I know when it comes to this stuff I kind of am, but I’ve had a lot of sex. With women and men. I mean, I almost got engaged once. I’m not new to that.” He ignored the amused look on Eddie’s face and continued, though his voice wavered. “And I’ve seen some stuff in porn or whatever. I’m not completely oblivious to how this works.”

“I don’t think you should go off of what you’ve seen in porn.” Eddie cleared his throat. “Sorry to interrupt, I just didn’t want you to think that’s accurate at all. Most vanilla porn isn’t even accurate, let alone any type of BDSM stuff. I don’t want you to think I have a dungeon or something with whips and chains attached to the walls. That isn’t what this is about for me or most anyone, really.”

Steve felt himself flush.

He’d said he wasn’t a virgin, but he’d never talked so openly about sex with anyone. He reminded himself that Eddie was still very much a stranger to him, and this kind of talk is something that close friends or significant others might have.

“What is it about? For you, I mean?”

There. That was a good start. Learning more about what Eddie did might help Steve understand what he was trying to accomplish.

“I mean, for everyone it’s about power and control or submission. But everyone has different ways of accomplishing those things and things they’re comfortable with.” He took another bite and chewed while he seemed to think of his answer. “For me, it’s about being in charge of someone’s release, whether it be sexual or not. Making someone feel good in a way they can’t experience on their own or with someone else. Having the power to know exactly what they need and give it to them or hold back. Find what makes that person tick and use it to make them feel better than ever.”

“That’s what you like? Seeing someone else get off?”

Eddie let out a small chuckle.

“I guess in a simplified way, sure. But that doesn’t always happen. You didn’t get off last night did you?”

“No, but I was dropping apparently.”

“Before that though. You still got to subspace, and you stayed there a while, even though you never got sexual gratification from it. You just felt good. Sometimes feeling good just means a plateau, not a peak and then fall, ya know? I like to help someone maintain that plateau as long as possible.” He took another bite and nudged Steve to do the same. “I love helping someone peak, too. But that isn’t always on the table.”

“What if I want it to be?”

“Getting ahead of yourself, sunshine. How about you have a couple more bites while I talk?”

Steve nodded and took another bite, watching Eddie as he formed his thoughts.

“Sex is obviously a part of this. I won’t say it doesn’t end that way most of the time. But there are parts of this that aren’t sexual at all that are still just as good. Your tattoo wasn’t sexual at all, right?” Steve shook his head. “Exactly. But you got there. Sometimes, it’s more just giving up the control. Some subs don’t even like the sex parts, you know. They like someone to give them rules and tasks to follow and punishments for when they don’t. I have a friend who is a sub who doesn’t even take off his clothes during his sessions. It’s different for everyone and it’s usually trial and error. That’s why safety and trust is such a big part of it.”

Steve felt like his head was spinning.

“Is that why people use safewords?”

“Yeah or the stop light system, or in some cases, just physical signs. That has to be agreed on before you ever go into a scene, even if it's someone you’ve done scenes with before and trust. You may love being spanked until you bruise on Saturday, but end up hating it on Monday if you’re not in the right headspace for it. It’s not just the sub trusting the dom with everything, it’s the dom trusting that the sub will use their safeword if they can’t keep going. Sometimes that’s hard for people to understand. It goes both ways. Both parties have control, just in different ways.”

“You know a lot about this.”

“I’ve been in a few serious relationships with the dynamic and all my friends have been part of the scene for years. What I don’t know firsthand, I’ve heard plenty about.”

“Okay, but what if I do want the sex stuff to be part of it?”

“If you do, then you have to be open about hard limits before you start. You have to have a safeword and use it if things start to go bad. You have to let yourself test the waters, but not jump into them if that makes sense.”

Steve nodded. It did make sense. He was probably jumping the gun a bit, but he felt like maybe he could trust Eddie to find and test his limits.

“So you wouldn’t wanna do that with me?”

“I didn’t say that, Stevie.” Eddie turned to him and placed his hands on his knees, massaging them lightly. “I’m not a jump right into anything kind of guy, even with just plain vanilla sex. But I’m really careful about starting with sex stuff right off the bat. Oh, stop pouting, sunshine. I’m not saying no.”

“But you’re saying no now.”

Steve knew he was still pouting, and maybe being a bit unreasonable. He normally took things slow too, at least when it came to more than random handjobs or blowjobs at the club. It still made him feel like Eddie might not be interested in him the way he was interested in Eddie.

“I’m saying not yet. There’s a difference. I’d love to be able to do that with you. But you need to experience more first.”

“Like what?”

Eddie studied his face for a moment. Steve felt like he could see right through him, which would have alarmed him more if he wasn’t certain that Eddie was going to be able to make him float again.

“You like to be praised.”

It wasn’t a question, but Steve nodded. He’d figured that much out at least.

“That’s a good start. You can be praised for a lot of things. Sometimes just being told to sit still and being told you’re doing good can make a person float, you know.”

Steve didn’t think he could do that. He certainly believed some people could, but he figured it would take a lot more for him.

“I don’t think I can do that.”

“Do you want to try?”

“Now? I thought we weren’t doing anything tonight?”

Steve was suddenly overwhelmed with nerves again. Despite the fact that he’d wanted something to happen when he first got here, he was now wondering why the hell he thought that was a good idea.

“It doesn’t have to be now. But it would certainly be a good start when you’re ready. Simple, non-sexual, easy to safeword out of if you get uncomfortable, unlikely to drop from it. It’s just an idea. You can always say no.”

Steve didn’t want to say no. He was nervous, sure, but he wanted it. He wanted to try. He wanted to make Eddie proud.

“Could we try tonight?”

“If you finish your supper and we talk about a safeword, yes.”

Steve took three more bites and ignored Eddie’s laughter at his clear excitement.

“So, what can we use for a safeword?”

“Up to you, sunshine. Mine is Metallica.”

“Can I use yours?”

Eddie thought about it for a moment.

“For tonight, yes. But you should have your own in the future.”

“Don’t like sharing?”

Steve smirked at Eddie, who rolled his eyes but smiled fondly back at him.

“More like you may not want to keep doing scenes with me and having your own safeword is best.” He got up and brought their plates to the sink while Steve waited patiently in his chair. “You can go sit on the couch. I’ll be there in a couple minutes.”

Steve sat on the couch with his hands folded in his lap, trying to push away any nerves he had over what they were about to do. If all went how he hoped, he’d maybe go to subspace again. Eddie sounded like he could get him there, but he didn’t know exactly what Eddie would have to do.

He didn’t have to wait long.

Eddie came into the room and sat down next to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him into his side.

“Alright. We’re gonna relax for a few minutes first. You’re tense and you won’t be able to just go right into it.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for, sunshine. Just let me hold you for a few minutes, okay?”

Steve wanted nothing more than to never leave Eddie’s side, his arm wrapped just tight enough around him so he felt like he couldn’t escape, his body warming him up just enough for comfort.

He didn’t know how long they stayed like that, and he didn’t really care, all he knew was the next time Eddie moved, he had to open his eyes.

“Alright, sunshine. Gonna move you a little so your head is in my lap, okay?”

“Mhm.”

Eddie adjusted him so he was laying with his head in his lap and his legs out along the length of the couch. He had a hand in Steve’s hair, scratching at his scalp gently, while his other hand was tracing circles on his arm.

“Mmmm. ‘S good,” Steve mumbled against Eddie’s thigh as he let his eyes slip closed again.

“Good.” He felt a gentle tug on his hair and his eyes shot open. Eddie was smirking down at him, but went back to gently scratching at his scalp. “Just testing. You remember the safeword?”

“Metallica.”

“Good boy. You use it the second you feel like you have to.”

Steve ignored the flutters in his stomach at being called a good boy again.

It went on like this for a little while, nothing new happening. Steve started to wonder if Eddie understood what the purpose of this was, when he suddenly felt Eddie stop all movement.

He whimpered, then felt Eddie’s hand tug at his hair harder.

“You have to stay quiet, sunshine. Keep being a good boy for me.”

His tone was different. Not quite stern, but not as soft as before either. Steve didn’t have to know him better to know that he should listen to him.

“I’m going to watch a show. You just sit right there for me and look pretty.”

Oh. Jesus Christ.

Steve was already hard. From that? Really Steve?

He managed to stay quiet this time, but he knew the second Eddie touched him again he would moan.

But Eddie didn’t touch him again.

He turned on the tv and casually looked for a channel. When he found one, he watched with his hands by his sides, not even resting against Steve’s skin.

Steve knew this must be part of it or they wouldn’t be doing it, but he felt himself growing frustrated at not getting any attention.

Minutes passed like that. Steve wondered when Eddie would acknowledge him again, but didn’t want to risk saying something.

Then a hand was in his hair, playing with the ends as if Eddie had never stopped.

Steve let out a content sigh and closed his eyes again.

“Being so good for me, sunshine.”

Steve smiled to himself, keeping his eyes closed so he could relax fully against Eddie’s lap.

The noise from the tv turned distant, but the fingers in his hair felt like fire. Or maybe ice. Both? Could be both. They just felt nice.

Steve drifted, not realizing he was going until he was already gone.

Eddie knew the moment it happened’ Steve’s entire body relaxed entirely against him and the couch, and he let out a sigh that could’ve been held in for years with how loud it was. He didn’t open his eyes, but Eddie didn’t need to see them to know they’d be glazed over.

“So perfect, Stevie. Feeling good, huh?”

“Mmm.”

Eddie smiled down at him, even though he wouldn’t see it.

He wouldn’t let him stay down for long, just for the rest of the show.

Not that he was watching the show.

Not when he had Steve in his lap, floating away because of his gentle touches and words.

Chapter 5

TAG LIST:  @invisibleflame812 @inmoonywetrust @captain-daryn @carlyv @lillemilly @spectrum-spectre @raisedbylibrarians @estrellami-1 @gregre369 @mightbeasleep @imhereforthelolzdontyellatme @bornonthesavage @loguine-linguine @bejeweledbaby @bisexualdisastersworld @eddiemunsonswife @sadcanadianwinter @messrs-weasley @i-write-stories-not-sins-bitch @maya-custodios-dionach

[charon-cries]

Hiya! Hope this message finds u well :3 I absolutely love your art; found you from insta! Quick question also; I’m not sure if you’ve answered this before, but which brushes do you use for ur digital art? I love the textures they’re so crunchy (endearing)!! Have a lovely day!! :D

hello!! here's a little brush tour ft. this half rendered martin.

also, a great app for ipad artists who really want to dig into texture is art set 4. i swear by it and i've been using it for about two years. none of my more recent art uses it, but that's just because i'm experimenting with my process rn

so here's a list of my most used brushes lately, and there will be links to all of them at the bottom of this post.

the two labeled "custom pencil" are both my own personal modified pencils (both sourced from the 6b pencil) but the narinder pencil and the vanilla 6b pencil are both very similar to them. i use these two for sketching and flat color specifically, and if you do specifically want these two brushes then i'd be happy to upload them somewhere for you to download, but they're not really necessary for texture

i also use G&B halftone brushes sometimes! but i greatly prefer the RSCO sample pack, and i cannot find the link to the G&B brushes no matter how hard i google, and pretty much any halftone brush set will do the same job

and here's what they look like in practice!

(i like to set these halftones to color burn. color burn is my most used blending mode, even for shading)

and then i hit "copy all," paste, and duplicate it. so you should have two layers of just your entire canvas. then import a paper texture

i'm partial to the set i'll link down below, my favorite is #5. you should absolutely check out the rest of the free texture packs on their website if you're wanting to diversify your texture process btw, all of their stuff is fantastic.

to use that texture, your layers should look like this!

on the layer set to the linear burn, i also like to go into the adjustments menu and bump up the brightness until all of the colors are at similar values to what they were before. and the normal layer on top is just to control the intensity/opacity of the paper texture!

after all of that, sometimes i'll go in with brushes like MM rake follow, or more from COFE's weird pencils, on top of all of those layers for finishing touches.

definitely play around with it, try new free brushes all of the time (i heavily recommended subscribing to Manero. they have a lot of free stuff and it's all fantastic) and see what works for you <3

here are the links to the brushes in this post, as well as some extras! some of them are paid and some of them are completely free. + it wasn't mentioned here, but i use the tatyworks linen fabric brush for blending! for any of the paid brushes, i'll try to link some free alternatives

paid brushes:

alternatives to paid brushes:

free brushes:

extra goodies:

[watercolorsam-arts]

Why the Minecraft Movie looks so bad

Okay, let’s see if I can make this work

Hi, I’m Watercolor, currently a student learning animation and visual effects. I’ve got some more technical explanations for why exactly the trailer looks god awful

I’m gonna do my best to explain this in simple terms, but if I don’t explain something very good, let me know and I’ll explain more. Alright, this is gonna be a long post

Starting off with the obsession with backlighting. See how it doesn’t really match the environmental lighting? That’s one of the major things that makes it look so weird to a lot of people. It could have been done to better distinguish the actors from the background, but it does that a little too well and makes them look way too out of place. The environment has a very nice constant (most likely singular) light source, which is most likely an HDRI.

An HDRI (or high dynamic range image) informs the animation software on how the scene should be lit, and is often a weird panoramic image of whatever physical area you want to replicate.

In a reverse case, adding a CG character into a real set, you could take an HDRI of the physical set, and use it to apply similar lighting. Adjustment will most likely have to be hand adjusted by the lighting team (and tbh they add a lot of extra lights in anyway. It just needs to look right) but it’s a fantastic starting point for the compositing and lighting teams.

However, the McM’s live set has way different lights set up then what is seen in the environment.

Here, for example, the live set is most likely being lit by standard 3 point lighting, which are not only the wrong color (the lighting on the environment is much more yellow) but also washes out any shadows that would help define the actors. If this movie wasn’t obsessed with backlighting, you could fix that by lighting the actors and environment from the front, but because the sun is in the back, they have to make the front of the actors unnaturally brighter to see them more properly. I have a slight idea on why the kid in red looks especially “photoshopped” in, and it’s mostly because his hoodie doesn’t have a similar reflectiveness to everyone else’s outfit, and his hair is a more neutral color, causing the highlight to be even more washed out. Also, while we’re here, the cube is a physical prop, but it was not lit up during filming, and all the light output was tossed on after. And it’s really inconsistent and honestly, lazy. For the most part they just hit it with a blue blur effect in post, it doesn’t actually cast any light.

Another major issue is the color difference between the actors and the environment. The color balancing on the actors is particularly garbage, they’re somehow desaturated while also being too saturated, I don’t know how they managed that. But the technical issue on why it looks odd, is because the physical camera cannot physically pick up the same vibrancy as the “camera” in the CG world. You might have seen an example of this when trying to take a photo with your phone, especially of a very colorful event like the sunset. It’s also why “ugly sonic” looked particularly out of place, he was 10x more saturated than anything else around him.

Having the actors on a very low effort green screen stage also completely ruins any chance of getting the proper ambient light or ambient occlusion.

Ambient occlusion is basically the bounce light from other objects in your scene, gamers might know this as a form of ray tracing (ray tracing is live changes in ambient occlusion, games without ray tracing bake in ambient occlusion to get a similar result)

When everything is CG, (again art style aside) looks pretty darn good actually!

I attempted some edits to see if anything could make it look better (left is original, right is mine), and I don’t think proper lighting or anything could actually fix what this movie has wrong with it. They should have made the whole thing animated, I don’t think any amount of bullying would fix this, the studio basically has to scrap the actors, and make new CG characters from scratch in the same style as the rest of the world.

All of this is not the fault f the animators, or any of the vfx team, they did their absolute best with what they had, this is 100% the fault of the higher ups on this project. I have no idea how this good this far into production without ANYONE saying that it was a bad idea (Either that, or a lot of people got fired, which is unfortunately a likely possibility)

[i-need-a-slurpee]

You guys already know I love spreading my akekita besties agenda

I saw someone post a video about a little porcelain figure they found and it was a crow in a big straw hat and a sweater and behind the crow was several different easels. The person filming the video dubbed the porcelain figure 'vincent van crow' so you see where I'm going with this. (Btw this is an AU where Akechi lives and he works with the phantom thieves because they can see he needs help and they're going to give him that help whether he wants it or not. Canon be damned.)

Akechi and Yusuke walking around different shops because yusuke needs new art supplies and guess who they find sitting on a shelf tucked away behind some miscellaneous items like mason jars and small vases of different dull colors. Vincent Van Crow. Akechi saw him first and thought Yusuke would appreciate the little porcelain figure, unaware of the artist's terrible spending habits. Yusuke would feel the same connection to Vincent Van Crow that he did with his lobsters and abandon the original mission just to buy him, insisting it was destiny. A crow that was a fellow artist, the only one on the shell and who better to point it out to him but Akechi himself.

Despite Akechi's protests that Yusuke's funds are limited and he should focus on finding the supplies for whatever new piece he was working on (it was a watercolor painting, several paintings, of the various different places in the backstreets where lebanc resided) Yusuke insists on buying him. Akechi doesn't quite understand how Yusuke can have such a sentimental attachment to an object he doesn't own yet but he can't afford to argue any longer because he'll lose his cool.

It isn't until they've finished their shopping and are walking back to the train station that he starts to really get it. Not because he had given the porcelain crow any thought but because Yusuke declared that this small, breakable and frankly unimpressive (to akechi at least) figure was a sign of their bond. A representation of different facets of their personalities and how despite the fact that nobody really understood it, Yusuke and Akechi made sense together.

On paper it was strange, an aloof artist and the famous detective prince but looking past the surface gave a glimpse into why they worked so well together. Yusuke was honest, brutally honest he never censored himself because he didn't see the point in doing so, he looked for a deeper meaning in everything which made sense since all art has some meaning behind it. It's second nature for him to evaluate everything he saw on a deeper level. Akechi appreciated having someone like Yusuke in his life because he never worried that Yusuke was using him like everyone else had. Yusuke's unrelenting honestly was a breath of fresh air for akechi, and no matter how hard he tried to convince himself in the beginning he could never fully believe that Yusuke's honesty was an act. He was too genuine and his perceptive abilities made him see past the act Akechi would often put on.

In turn Akechi was very critical, he had to be as a detective, and he was constantly aware of his surroundings. He always kept a look out for any danger and covered all his bases to make sure he could keep himself safe. Which was something Yusuke appreciated because he would often get lost in thought and wander off to various different places because they piqued his interest, he couldn't stay on task like Akechi could.

They helped each other and the time they spent together was time well spent, numerous discussions of various topics being viewed from two different lens. But they still managed to consider the other's position in their discussions, Yusuke would consider the analytical mindset that Akechi had and Akechi would pay more attention to the finer details and emotional aspects of a situation like Yusuke did. It was an odd but wonderful friendship they had.

So on the train ride back to their homes, Akechi considered the porcelain crow and his porcelain easels, the shine of his feathers and the way his beak twisted into a sweet smile and he felt a small warmth fill his heart. Warmth at the thought that his friend, his real friend that he had made on his own, would keep that small crow on a shelf or a table and think of him whenever he saw it. Warmth because he wasn't alone anymore, he was wanted by the people around him. Wanted enough for his friend to buy an insignificant trinket that put an extra expense on his limit supply of money just because it reminded him of the detective. Warmth because he was loved.

Your honor that's their son, they coparent him for tax benefits

[ask-artsy-oncie]

Need advice, I feel extremely stupid and insecure about my art. Feel like I never progress and don't know how to draw from down below the chest cause when i do it seems really static. I've been drawing for years now and it keeps looking exactly the same, I'm an adult and my drawings look like made by a 14 years old. What should I do?

You need to study some fundamentals.

"Years" is unfortunately too vague for me to really deduce where you "should" be at, but I also want to emphasize that everyone grows and learns at different rates and you really should be patient with yourself. If you're an adult and the amount of "years" you've been drawing can be described as "a couple" or "a few", then don't beat yourself up for drawing "like a teenager". Most teenagers that draw the way they do have also only been drawing for a few years.

That's step one. Be patient with yourself. Like bitch all you want, honestly, please do that, because it helps get the frustration out if your system, but then take a deep breath and do your best to remind yourself to be patient. It's all part of the long process of refining your skill.

Next step, based on what you seem to be complaining about, is to study anatomy and realism, and do so loosely (I mean this literally, loosen up your wrist and you'll get much more fluid drawings). Sketch with pens, or colored pencils, stuff you can't erase and just have to roll with the punches when using. Layer your sketches - when I was doing figure drawing for my animation class, I would get the rough shapes down in a light orange and then add more detail with blue. You might also want to consequently work with paper that can withstand that, like multimedia or watercolor paper.

If you're a digital artist, try drawing traditionally to get the wrist movement down. If you're a traditional artist, try using a different drawing tool to exercise with different utensil weights. If you feel stagnant then you need to switch something up!!

I don't know you so I don't know your style, but since you came to me, specifically, I assume you have some degree of interest in cartoons. I regret to inform you that you'll build a better foundation if you study realism first, at least the basics of anatomy, because Shape (literally how something is shaped and the silhouette it creates) and Form (how something moves) are the two most important elements of cartooning, and you'll get that foundation from studying anatomy and real life. Line weight is another very important element of cartooning, so you'll also have to learn to balance that and what you want to go for.

Also? Don't be afraid to just change your medium. If you're feeling impatient with yourself (often what's going on when people describe themselves as "feeling stupid") then maybe your brain will pick up on a different medium faster. Papercraft, pixel art, sculpting, painting, 3D modeling, fucken, I dunno, wood carving!! There are many ways to create visual arts and a lot of ways to find fulfilment as an artist!! None of these are "easy" persay, but you might be able to learn some mediums faster than others depending on how your brain works, that's all.

I wish you good luck. I know how hard it can be (I mean, hell, I was literally just complaining about being out of practice drawing humans, and so I'm slowly crawling my way out of that hole). I hope I could be of some help.

[crazysodomite]

artist quastions

1. Art programs you have but don't use

Probably CSP. It's one of the few software I actually legally bought. But their new monetization policy is just not for me. It's a genuinely good program for artists and I may use it again in the future (especially for the 3D functionality. If that hasn't been priced out yet...). I also have SAI installed. It's fun and runs very smoothly. I should use it more often. I also have krita if i want to do frame by frame animation.

2. Is it easier to draw someone facing left or right (or forward even)

I usually flip my canvas often so it's kind of a 50/50. It depends on the character if they're easier to draw facing forward or to the side.

3. What ideas come from when you were little

Man... I honestly don't know. As a kid I wanted to make a pet game (similar to neopets I guess) where you could earn currency and buy stuff and dress up your pet. I still really like pet games and collection games and trinkets. I would love to make a trinket collection game.

4. Fav character/subject that's a bitch to draw

Industrial landscapes and scenes. Painting a factory or trains or roads being repaired is fun. Until you actually have to do that....

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

It used to be maybe 90/10. Now its probably 40/60. I used to just. Start a painting and always finish it and post it. I didn't really sketch or doodle stuff without finishing it or give up on paintings and discard them.

Now I like doodling and exploring stuff on my own more. I have a ton of files that are just 20000 layers of different sketches. I also discard artworks much more often.

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

I honestly can't tell. People don't compare my work to anything often. I can't tell if it looks like anything...

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

Traditional art. 3d art. Animation of all kinds. Fibre arts. Sculpture. Film. Writing. Theatre. Music. I mean yeah. All. Art. Very broad very vague answer but it's trueee. I appreciate and am inspired by everything I see

Less broadly... Watercolor painters...

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

I am starting to not be interested in anything....... When I was a child I used to have an 'ask blog' of sorts for my characters. I don't really have anything like that anymore :(

9. What are your file name conventions

Gibberish unless it's a commission. Comms get labelled with the customers name.

10. Favorite piece of clothing to draw

I like drawing the nude figure 💯💯💯. Mmm probably gloves or hi-vis gear. Work clothes. Overalls. Rubber boots. Belts and harnesses.

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

Usually music or youtube videos. I often get anxious and scared so I draw with a single song on repeat to keep my mind off it.

12. Easiest part of body to draw

Arms and legs... Probably... Maybe breasts also.

13. A creator who you admire but whose work isn't your thing

I can't tell. If I admire someone's work I consider it to be 'my thing'. I think there's certain people whose work ethic and drive to create I admire while not really being interested in the subject matter.

I admire artists from dA or FA who draw 'weird' things or their gallery is filled with the same thing over and over, or just people who are laser focused on their subject matter of choice. I'm fascinated by 'widely known in narrow circles' type of thing. I love extremely niche communities 👍

14. Any favorite motifs

Industriallllll..... Concrete. Grime. Rust. Metal. Sparks. Pipes. Wires. Blood and gore. Dilapidated and abandoned places. Small places and things not always noticed. Scary and cute things ^_^

15. *Where* do you draw (don't drop your ip address this just means do you doodle at a park or smth)

Usually just at my desk.

16. Something you are good at but don't really have fun doing

This is a hard one.... I usually choose to draw what I enjoy.

I guess rendering if I was forced to render something I don't like?

17. Do you eat/drink when drawing? if so, what

It depends. I drink tea in all circumstances.

18. An estimate of how much art supplies you've broken

As a child I broke a wacom intuos tablet I got as a gift. Still not over it because it was quite expensive. Don't think I broke anything else unless breaking my computer also counts. I broke several laptops as a child...

19. Favorite inanimate objects to draw (food, nature, etc.)

FACTORY 💯💯💯 Nature and plants too but the prize has to go to industrial infrastructure. Even if I'm not good at it.

20. Something everyone else finds hard to draw but you enjoy

Hands 🙌. Animals ? Various textures ?

21. Art styles nothing like your own but you like anyways

I can't list them all 🥲 I love to be inspired by artworks that are nothing like mine. I really admire dynamic and expressive cartoon/simplistic styles. Artstyles well adapted for hand drawn animation are also amazing.

22. What physical exercises do you do before drawing, if any

I need to be actually doing this more. Squats, wall angels and just rotating my joints are my usual go-to. I also like to twist myself but idk if that actually does anything. I like hearing my spine crack 😄

23. Do you use different layer modes

I used to use multiply for shading but I don't anymore. I like using gradient maps and Hue/Lightness/Saturation layer modes. I also tend to just cycle through all layer styles to see if anything looks good. Overlay, darker/lighter color, add are useful on occasion. I try to not rely heavily on layer styles because it quickly turns into me agonizing over 2% opacity changes and shifting colors over and over. Instead of actually painting.

24. Do your references include stock images

Yeah. Sometimes. I just google or go on pinterest to find stuff I need.

25. Something your art has been compared to that you were NOT inspired by

I can't tell. People don't compare my works to anything.

26. What's a piece that got a wildly different interpretation from what you intended

I honestly don't know... Everyone has a different interpretation of any work and I enjoy hearing about people's opinions. I can't really recall a 'wild' interpretation...

27. Do you warm up before getting to the good stuff? If so, what is it you draw to warm up with

I try to! It's good practice. Usually it ends up in me hating the first iteration of a painting and re-doing it from scratch. But usually I just draw the pose/composition I want over and over until it looks good enough to proceed.

28. Any art events you have participated in the past (like zines)

Probably. I can't remember though.

29. Media you love, but doesn't inspire you artistically

I have no idea. I think I'm inspired subconsciously by everything I ever experience. It probably doesn't immediately show in my actual artworks but it's there.

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

All of them 💯💯💯💯💯

I don't really pay attention to how pieces are received. There's pieces I'm proud of and pieces I'm not. Other people either get it or don't...

@gothglam now its your turn ❗

[mistakeofnature]

WATERCOLOR COMPARISON/REVIEW POST

provided by this dumbass

!!!!PLEASE READ FIRST!!!!

these are MY PERSONAL OPINIONS and you can feel diffrently about these paints and i actually encourage that you voice your own opinions in the comments/reblogs. Same with brands that you yourself recommend. I am restricted in the paint brands i can get my hands on due to my location so i cannot speak for other countries really so i hope by this post may encourage other people to speak out about their favourite brands That being said please reblog this if you found it helpful i wanna help as much people to make an informed purchase since watercolor isnt cheap and it pains my heart when i people loose their money due to buying an overpriced shitty set

!!!!INFO!!!!

- this is based after usage on both very good watercolor paper (100% cotton 300g/m^2) AND a "decent" sketchbook (sakura/talens sketchbooks, which arent made for watercolor)

TO THE ACTUAL COMPARISON/REVIEW

1. WINSOR AND NEWTON - COTMAN (+one professional) Personally i feel like its one of the best options available for beginners and more advanced artists. Here where i live its one of the most easily available watercolors and i consider it the "safest" option It can be rather expensive with one half pan costing around 2.8~ euros and 8ml tubes going for around 4.8~ euros but i can assure you that they come a long way like most watercolors (and you can often find them cheaper) POINTS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT IF YOU BUY (PTTIAIYB) - you dont need to buy a full set unless it really comes out cheaper and you plan on using the full range of colors - i recomment buying tubes instead of halfpans if you are on a budget and want to take this seriously. it will get you far more paint especially if you manage to find them on sale. YOU CAN BUY HALF PANS SEPARATELY - if you dont have a box dont worry! make one yourself and tape the halfpans inside it with something like nano tape 2. RENESANS - EXTRA FINE WATERCOLOR This one is a mixed bag for me. The value is amazing as they cost ~1.3 euro per pan and are very pigmented but they are mostly only available in poland and are rather thick. I would say they are person specific and you should give them a try if you can PTTIAIYB - INTENSE AND EF ARE NOT THE SAME PAINTS there are no tubes for EF. only pans 3. SAKURA - KOI WATERCOLOR

if you have no other watercolor supplies and you plan on taking your set places this is a great place to start imo. you get everything you really need and its really nice. the watercolor can be a little grainy at times compared to COTMAN for example but its still very good Its a very good student grade watercolor if youre just starting out! (they will fade in sun after some time as they are not as lightfast as the brands above from my research) PTTIAIYB - if you finish a color refills are hard to get and are more expensive than what its worth. try finding a nice tubed paint that is similar instead :) 4. NEVSKAYA PALITRA - SONNET These are great paints in my opinion, very smooth and nice to paint with and you get a lot of paint in the set. They are student grade and some colors will fade after a year in the sun PTTIAIYB - these paints are russian and i know some people would rather not buy any russian products at all due to world events. from what i gathered the best substitudes for them are Ukrainian ROSA watercolors and paul rubens student grade colors [i was not aware of either of these existance before buying the SONNET watercolors] - no refills available from what i gathered 5. KURETAKE - GANSAI TAMBI Personally i dont vibe with these at all. they are hard to work with, they are weirdly glossy and come out patchy on less luxurious paper which i know is a pain to get cheaply. they arent very cheap either! >:[ but they are definetely special compared to other paints! if you like them maybe give me some tips! PTTIAIYB - only available in pans BUT you can buy them separately - pans are VERY BIG. might be hard and inconvenient if you 6. DERWENT - INKTENSE

I have the biggest love-hate relationship with these ever. On one hand they are something way diffrent than what any other watercolor can offer, they have some colors not available in other sets and are generally weird af BUT ON THE OTHER they are very hard to work with and dont really hold up on the promises made mostly the "pernament when dry" claim That is kinda bullshit ngl. even my swatches which have been drying for like 6 months at this point still lift up from the paper IMO unless you REALLY want them and get yourself educated on them DO NOT BUY. Especially if youre just starting out PTTIAIYB - get educated on pros and cons - technically NOT watercolor (rolls eyes)

That was the last set of better watercolor i own heres a picture of all of the sets mentioned and how they look in action! (scanned and in picture)

GUIDE ON HOW TO READ

spread test

blend test

test to see how easily it reactivates with the layers below

on top of pen and pencil

eraser test

and then little faces painted with the watercolors

IF YOURE READING THIS

know that watercolor is not for everyone and you might not like it, but in some cases if you dont have the correct supplies you might get discouraged early :( please dont give up but also dont force yourself to do something you dont want to (i for example will not pick up a pastel ever lol) no matter on what art level you are your art is special so feel free to share your watercolor paintings and thoughts on paints that you use in the reblogs i will try my best to see all of them :) Have a great day and have fun creating Mistake of nature

[pigswithwings]

since art has been brought up what is your process and brushes you use?

the gist of it is: i use my phone, my index finger, and the app IbisPaintX to draw! also my brushes are the Digital Pen and the Fade Watercolor (Opaque). my general process is making sketches and focusing on the energy of a piece, then sticking to that

long stuff and more detailed stuff under the cut... i put a bunch of images in there for reference

overall its not very fancy!! mostly i make art when i feel very inspired by something (which is to say, not super often). i usually start with a very rough sketch which helps me figure out how i want the art to feel. so for example this piece

was originally this sketch

basically the purpose of the super messy sketch is to outline ideas and stuff. i say "i think this would be cool, it looks cool in my head. this is what the finished product should emulate" and then i roll with that. also usually i have multiple sketches based on the same idea, but more often than not there will only be one sketch that i want to work with.

i tend to pick colours based on the feeling of the piece! so for me, the idea of plants gets the colour green, the "i have no mouth and i must scream" art gets a lot of red and orange. it's basically colour associations.

although very simple, my backgrounds tend to be developed around either the concept or the sketch. for the plant one above, i tried to use more flowing shapes in the background to emulate leaves, hills, and vines. for my first few "factory pomo" style pieces i wanted to get a sense of contrast, so i designed the background to be almost split into two colours/two parts, etc.

other examples

you're probably noticing how similar my sketches are to my final pieces. it's basically because i treat sketches like lineart. i pick a sketch and enlarge it so that it takes up most of the frame. then, i set it to a low opacity and draw on the layers underneath it. oftentimes i turn the layers on and off to get a sense of how the whole thing looks, and the finished product will not include the original sketch layer. but a work in progress for me usually looks something like this

it's a whole lot of going back and forth! zooming and out, erasing and redrawing and turning off layers and zooming out again. it can be messy sometimes but i stick to it and enjoy it a lot. i am not always faithful to the sketch, either; i usually add whatever i think looks cool. for the piece above i did Not originally intend to have glitching effects on my sona's body. but then i thought it would be cool to add some!! so i did :]

as for Brushes i work in IbisPaintX and i use this bad boy the Digital Pen (set to various thickness depending on whether i want very small and fine lines or just want to cover a Big Area). its basically just pixels so thats how i usually get very crisp lines!! also you can turn it all the way down to just 1 pixel if you want to be really precise. eraser tool and ruler tool are my best friends. also the Fade Watercolor (Opaque) that is right underneath the Digital Pen is what i use to sketch sometimes.

um hope this helps or satisfies your curiousity!! yeah. not a formal tutorial to my art or anything, this is just how i do it. which is in a silly way

[jeida-chi]

What brush do you use for your artwork? I’ve been trying to create texture on my paintings, but my circular-tipped brushes just have more an amateur looking, grade school swoop.

Also, do you know any good guides on mixing paint to make better colors?

Ok so the basic answer is: you will usually get more texture with square brushes, while the round one give a more blended look-

Though I’ve found that when it comes to brushes, the most essential part is not the shape, but the texture! The ideal texture will vary depending on the medium and personal preference, but for the ones I use:

For acrylic: now with acrylic, I like to have a brush that has a bit of body to it, while still being supple and not as rigid as an oil paint brush - my absolute favourite model are the Snap! Brushes by Princeton, I’ve found that they truly have the perfect consistency for me - they also come in a wide range sizes including very fine ones for detailed work!

For watercolor: for watercolor, you’ll want a brush that has more of a flow to it, a brand I really like are the Windsor & newton Cotman brushes, though a lot of brushes will do, just look for something that is labelled as suitable for watercolor!

Finally, for gouache: I like to have more body than even my acrylic brushes with this medium (while still not as rough as an oil brush); now I have Himi gouache, so I use the brushes that came with the palette I bought, but for finer details I use these Raphaël brushes!

Overall there’s no right answer, I recommend just trying different types of brushes/texture, and you’ll find what works best for you! I also think that if you have the option, buying brushes at in person art stores where you can touch the bristles is the best way to do it! Getting a feel of the brush, it’s much easier to tell if you’ll enjoy working with it rather than just blindly buying something hoping for the best -

Good tools can be so essential when it comes to producing artworks you like, before I figured out my brushes were the problem I HATED acrylic paint, so hopefully you’ll find something that works for you!

For mixing colors, unfortunately I don’t really have any tutorials to rec :( I have been winging this shit for as long as I can remember LOL - one piece of advice I’d give is;; if you’re using a reference, stop trying to mix the color you think you need, and instead, actually LOOK properly at the colors - we often have erroneous preconceived notion of what things look like! Looking out for undertone is really important as well!

Speaking of - an important tip I wish I knew earlier is to put a color wash on your canvas! Gives a glow from underneath the color that gives a really nice effect + getting good colors is much easier when you’re not working on blinding white!

also an unpopular art opinion of mine would be: don’t listen to the people who tell you would should only ever use the primary colors and bla-bla-bla;;; that can be a good way to learn mixing, but if it frustrates you to the point of getting discouraged, what has been gained, really?

also these people always forget to mention one crucial thing: saturation! One thing to know about mixing paint is that the color out of the tube is the most saturated you can get - every time you mix up colors, you will lose some saturation; that can be a very good thing if you want a more natural and organic palette; but it’s important to remember it’s impossible to, for exemple, mix up an orange that’ll be as bright as one you’d get from a tube

There’s also some pigments that can give really interesting results, for exemple, making this portrait, I used this color while mixing the skin, and while it is pink, it has a really interesting purple undertone, which I think gave super cool results!

Anyway, this was a really long winded answer, but I hope you’ll find it somewhat useful! Good luck on you art journey, friend! 💕

[braisedhoney]

please tell me about the pigments i would love nothing more than to hear you talk about that one shade of red you like and the process it took too recreate it

... oh, op. you have no idea what you've unleashed.

alright. here we go.

OKAY SO THE RED PIGMENT. pr206. my beloved. my dearest friend. it was an absolute bastard to find because there are so many of these. however many you think there are, there are MORE, and that's only if you don't count the many many scenarios where colors are known to be multi-pigment mixes, usually varying in tone/shade/intensity depending on the brand and manufacturing style. some colors are more consistent than others, but there are situations where a color can be named the same and contain the same pigments and STILL look wildly different depending on the ratio, binder, and paper you use. and that's not accounting for the way the pigment is processed. some pigments (like pv19 for example) can come in so many shades it's frankly kind of ridiculous.

anyway, my quest begins when i am, admittedly, in an edgier phase. i want a blood red, but not specifically because of that—no, i want it because it is THE IDEAL COLOR (to me) for a perfect, warm, slightly muted but still intense shade to add to a muted autumn watercolor palette. and... if you look at my whole theme, you probably know how much i love warm colors. i want to paint mushrooms. i want to dim down some of the brighter greens to make them autumnal. i want the perfect red to put as an undertone.

the search starts in earnest.

the immediate issue is this: reds (and purples and pinks) have horrifically bad lightfastness. not all of them, mind, but many are NOTORIOUS for fading under uv light, which means they will also fade if exposed to sunlight even in passing should it happen often enough. and—in especially bad cases where they're essentially working with dye and not pigment—they can even fade inside your notebook. inside of a drawer.

so not only are we working with an unfortunate pigment base (i'm simplifying here, there's way more nuance to this but shh) but we are working with one that skews heavily toward floral pinks or oranges. the red i'm searching for is warm, but not orange. dries dark but not brown. is transparent, not opaque. that last part is agonizing, because i also desperately do not want a color that will fade on me or generally destabilize, and most of the stable dark red pigments are EARTH pigments like red ochre (pr101) or the like. which, while fascinating because of their historical usage in things like pottery and even cave paintings that last to the modern day, are VERY OPAQUE. this is an issue with my preferred style of watercolor painting specifically, because opaque pigments tend to lift easier off the page and limit layering.

the search continues. pigment after pigment breaks my heart for one reason or another, drying too close to the cooler purpleish-red tint of wine at best. i think i find it in perylene maroon, but the drying shift (the difference between how a color looks wet vs after it dries on the paper) is so extreme that it loses the luminosity AND it's more opaque than most. i languish.

for a while my search turns to creation. i try and mix as many of my single pigment colors as i can into something that vaguely resembles what i'm looking for—so i take quinacridones and mix them with napthols, with nickel azos, with dashes of ultramarines and burnt sienna. everything turns out either just a bit too opaque, just a bit too muddy (that happens with multi-pigment mixtures, and is why so many people swear by single pigment colors. it's personal preference, really, great art can be made either way.)

still, nothing works. failure haunts me. i sit before a pile of used up watercolor paper that is literally covered edge to edge in nothing but similar red squares with various gradients and blooms as evidence of when i tried and failed to convince myself my efforts were close enough. i admit defeat.

in the meantime i shift my focus. i try and appreciate different color palettes and profiles, experimenting with things like fully transparent palettes (personal favroite) to fully opaque ones that function more like gouache. but despite finding appreciation for it, i still think about the damn red that i could never recreate. it kills me.

and then one day, a youtube video. a pigment is being discontinued, and the watercolor community is distressed. this happens a lot, because pigments are actually not always popular because of artists—sometimes beloved colors are put out of production because larger markets like car companies no longer find them popular enough to invest in. this time, the casualty is pr206, aka brown madder, aka quinacridone burnt scarlet.

let me tell you a little about quinacridones. they are genuinely remarkable colors. they have their own cult followings because of how bright and abnormally stable they are under uv light. they're transparent. they're luminous. they come in mostly shades of red and pink and purple, though there are a couple oranges and yellows in there. (there are no quinacridone blues, as far as i'm aware, but the phthalo blues have that category covered.) they also rewet beautifully, so you can put them on your palette and let them dry and not worry about it turning into a useless little rock of color that you can't get any pigment from anymore.

quinacridone magenta (pr122) is probably the most popular of these, the most often used besides maybe quinacridone violet (pv19). a few years prior we suffered the loss of quinacridone gold (po49) and since then people have been On Alert when it comes to losing these colors. i am one of them, because i never got the chance to even see po49 in person, and now the tubes are so stupid expensive that even the student grade versions go for Ridiculously High Prices on ebay, and the professional brands are being hoarded like (ironically) gold by anyone lucky enough to have a tube left over.

but back to our main character. not me, the pigment. pr206. i have legitimately never heard of this one, which to be fair is probably because i try to limit the random colors i fixate on since the hobby can easily get VERY expensive if you aren't careful. but it's a quinacridone, and that catches my eye.

i open the video.

now, i'm sure any artist out there will be familiar with the fact that screens don't display color consistently. it depends on your device, but most can agree that something that looks cooler on one may be warmer on the other, it's just what happens. but i see this color being swatched, and my brain implodes.

it's almost a perfect match.

it could work. it could. years of thinking that same thought have left me bereft and mistrustful of this specific quest marker, but the thought refuses to leave me. probably because the 'discontinued' label flashes like a neon sign.

i resist for about six months, and then i cave. at this point i have genuinely been trying and failing to find this color for upwards of five years. i am desperate, and the color might not be available anymore soon anyway, and apparently i am weak to sales pitches. (note: the color IS now unavailable in some brands, but others bought a decent supply and should have it available for at least a little while, alongside po48 which is quinacridone burnt orange, a favorite of mine and probably one of the only oranges i use regularly. both are discontinued officially, but they'll still be on sale till those supplies run dry.)

the color arrives. i grab my favorite brush. i pull out my stash of paper that i save for special occasions.

it's almost perfect.

i mix it with quinacridone burnt orange.

the result is, i swear, a perfect match for what i have been searching for.

it's warm. it dries dark but not dark enough to look brown. it keeps its luminosity (thank you quinacridones). it's fully transparent (thank you quinacridones). i genuinely feel the urge to weep, but i don't because i am clinging at last to the dredges of my sanity and also salt makes watercolor pigments behave differently and i will not risk this glorious moment. finally, after all these years, bill cipher has a gun i found the goddamn COLOR.

i mix it with warm yellows and with my favorite blues. with the pinks, just to laugh. life is beautiful and i am painting its sunsets, and i do not care if they look ridiculously messy. i have won.

the moral of the story is to never give up. or maybe it's to remember you never actually know everything about even the fields you love the most, because this color totally blindsided me despite being much more common than i expected. or maybe it's that i seriously needed to chill out for a while.

but yes. that is the tale of one (1) of the colors that has taken up residence in my soul. i hope you don't regret asking now lmao.

[only-mostlydead]

Hello. Today is my 30th birthday, and I am in bed recovering from surgery. To entertain myself, I wrote up a list of 30 things I'm glad I learned before I turned 30, and now I'm sharing it with you. Take what resonates, leave what doesn't.

30 Things I'm Glad I Learned Before I Turned 30

You can decline to be weighed at the doctor's office. Seriously. Unless they're dosing meds or need to report it to your insurance for something, you can say no thanks. And if they have to weigh you, you can request that they don't tell you the number.

Fed is better than not fed. There are days when my stomach won't tolerate anything except cheese puffs, so I eat the damn cheese puffs, without judgment. Feed yourself the best you can, and know that this will look different every day

Eventually, people will always tell you who they really are. Believe them the first time (this one comes from my mom).

Not living up to family expectations is very often a good thing. Your life needs to make you happy. You are your own person with no obligation to be what they want you to be.

Having a creative hobby that you're not "good" at is important. For me, it's watercolors. I do them because they bring me joy, not because I'm trying to be good at them. That's not to say that I don't love what I paint - I do. But there's no pressure for it to be anything other than fun.

Your job doesn't have to be fulfilling - it can just be a fundraiser for the things in your life that do bring you fulfillment.

Mental health is every bit as important as physical health. Don't neglect either.

When you have nothing to be sorry for, say thank you instead. Thank you for listening instead of sorry I bothered you, thank you for helping me instead of sorry I needed help. I'm not always good at this one.

Throw away the clothing with holes. You deserve clothing that doesn't have holes.

Your clothes are meant to fit you, not the other way around. Your body is the thing that carries you through your life. Clothes that don't fit are just scraps of fabric who aren't meeting their performance goals.

Everything is figure out-able. This one also comes from my mom.

Laziness doesn't really exist; it's almost always a response to something else (burnout, low self-esteem, etc).

Being your most authentic self is scary. It's also 100% worth it. Life has gotten better every time I've been even a tiny bit more myself.

There is no timetable for when you should hit certain milestones. You are not behind. You are on your own time.

Femininity means whatever I want it to mean, not what society tells me it means. Everything I do is feminine because I say it is, and no one can tell me otherwise.

Your job doesn't care about you. If you disappeared from the face of the earth, they would replace you immediately. You should bring them the same energy. You're the only one who will look out for you.

Use your PTO. Every damn second of it. When I started my current job, I was told that no one used all of their time off. I do. Every year.

Dieting literally does not work. Scientifically. Reading up on the Minnesota Starvation Experiment, Famine Response, and why BMI is literally sexist, racist bullshit changed my life.

Doctors might be experts in their respective fields, but they are not experts in what it's like to live in your body. Whenever possible, find one who makes you an active participant in your care plan.

Wear whatever the hell you want. Life is too short to worry what other people will think.

Live theatre, good meals, and beautiful tattoos are always worth the money.

Anger isn't inherently bad. Most of the time, it's your signal that something is wrong. This is the most impactful thing my therapist ever taught me as an ex-vangelical who grew up hearing that anger was a sin.

Don't put down the things that bring others joy. If they're not hurting you, themself, or anyone else, why waste your energy?

You cannot miss out on the things that are meant for you. If you miss it, it wasn't meant for you, and you should probably be grateful you missed it.

If I'm too much, go find less.

You are always responsible for your actions. Diagnoses, negative life experiences, and the like might explain bad behavior, but it doesn't excuse it. You are responsible for you.

Your feelings are always valid, but they are not always correct.

Go outside. Every day if you can. Even if it's for 30 seconds. Go get some fresh air on your face and look at a tree. If you can't make it outside, open a window, even just for a minute. Your brain will thank you.

You can leave. Hate the fitness class? Leave. Party too loud? Leave. Doctor not listening? L e a v e. As the famous tumblr post goes, if it sucks, hit da bricks!

You need nothing days. Days where you intentionally do absolutely nothing and feel zero guilt for that. Sit in bed, binge a Netflix show, eat some snacks, and don't think about all the things you're not doing. Let yourself rest, dammit.

[boofindoopin]

Hey there! I've recently decided to start practicing Hellenism with Ares as my deity. However, as I've never been religious at all until recently, I'm very new to it all and was wondering if you had any advice? Any specific things I should be doing? I've been researching, but would love some insight (especially since Ares devotees are tough finds, it seems)!

WE’RE NEW TOGETHER POOKIE 😭

I was the same way. I was an atheist almost my whole life before I started practicing Hellenism. I do have some advice though!

You don’t have to buy wildly expensive and new things for your altar, and your altar doesn’t have to be extravagant. If you can afford to buy things, and you have the space for an extravagant altar, good for you!

My altar for Ares is a statuette I bought of PRE Hellenism, a dog statuette thing I’ve had since I was seven, Kuromi (because she gives off Ares vibes), random jewelry, a candle, and a nice spelling spray I spritz for him sometimes!

Try to pray as often as you can. I pray every night, or at least try to. The gods understand that life can get busy.

I really recommend travel altars if you want to pray more often! Mines an old watercolor tin,but lots of people use Altoid tins!

Theoi.com IS A LIFESAVER! THE GODS MUST’VE SENT IT DOWN FOR US. OH MY GODS-

You said you’re starting on Ares, which is amazing I am too. But, Hellenism is typically a polytheistic religion. Currently, I’m a devotee of Ares and Thanatos. There is no limit to how many gods you can be a devotee of!

Some general thing you could do are:

Make your wallpaper Ares

Make him a playlist

Learn about different wars in history

Support your local veterans

Exercise (if possible)

THANKS FOR THE ASK! ♡♡

[yurissweettooth]

My Typical Art Process✨🌈

Was gonna reply to anon with this, but figured it was a bit too unrelated so I'll make a separate post! I do kinda wanna share my process anyway for anyone curious. I made something similar for twitter once but I no longer use twitter and my style has changed since then so here's a new one!

Tl;dr I draw for fun only and I have learned that textures and overlays and post-processing can do a LOT when it comes to making something look more "complete" while also not taking a lot of additional time. This is just my personal style spawned from my laziness and my love of harsh colors😆

I'll put it below the cut because it's long!

So to begin with, when I doodle (as opposed to a proper drawing that I take my time on) this is my typical "lineart":

I just draw the… what do you call it? The under parts… Like the circle and shapes, etc. to get the pose. Then lower the opacity and do another sketch on top of that. Then I lower the opacity of that and do ANOTHER sketch on top. 😆 I do that as many times as necessary until it looks like something. I don't worry a ton about anatomy or messiness or stray lines, it's just for fun to get an idea out of my head :)

Sometimes I also leave the under-sketches in or sometimes I turn the layer off. For this one I left them in.

Then I turn on all my textures, overlays, and H/S/L correction layer and crank the saturation up. The selected colorful layer was something I made once and saved it as an image material so I can just slap it on any time as an overlay. You will see it in almost all of my art, she's my beloved crutch and also I just like it lol. Other than that, I sometimes use paper textures that CPS came with and sometimes I make a perlin noise layer with the smallest grain size and set it to 'soft light'.

I also have recently been using a manga screentone overlay that comes with CSP.

Then I start coloring underneath!

This is how it looks without all of the blinding colors and textures I put there to distract you from the mess lol

Even in ones where I DO put in effort and try to use better anatomy and clean up a lot of the scribbles I pretty much never use clean lineart simply because I cannot be bothered 🤷🏾‍♂️ I don't really do anything different here, I just spend more time one it:

Also, even then the overlays and textures do a lot of the heavy lifting. Some of the overlays and effects I draw myself like the rainbow boarders around them and of course the doodle hearts. I don't draw backgrounds very often but I don't like an empty background so overlays or little doodles or text effects typically go there.

I should also mentions that I use the lightroom mobile app to further enhance all of my art, as shown above in the before and afters. I don't really have much to say on this point. I used to use lightroom mobile a lot when I did doll photography and I pretty much just wing it based on what I learned doing that. I like to mess with the texture settings and do masking edits to change the foreground and background independently to get better color balances. Like a bozo I pay for the subscription but I bet you could use any old editing app.

Oh, and I do pretty much everything with these brushes here. I got them a while back when they were free for 48 hours but unfortunately they are no longer free and cost 80 clippy now :( Should also warn you that they saturate any color and idk how to stop it from doing that so I just adjust the color accordingly before using or edit in post. Very nice though!!

Some other (free) things I like and use a lot:

Warm color set

Watercolor paper texture (free)

Cloud brushes

Watercolor auto action

Real paper textures

Prism brushes

Freckle brush

Aaaaand that's basically it!

[artsinus]

NEW ART POST!!!

Here, I drew Wanshi(or Banji Idk), member of the Strike Hawks in Punishing: Gray Raven.

Really like how this one turned out!

Yes, this was more practice than serious because if it was serious, the pose would definitely be better.

I used lots of brushes and experimented with a lot of functions. Main brushes I used were watercolor and blurring marker.

However, the sole reason I was even able to reach this result is one function that is severely under-looked…

Blending modes.

You may have noticed this little thing while drawing and glanced over it, but trust me, it’s a game changer!

It’s never explained or anything, so i’ll help you get used to it.

There’s a lot of blending modes, but there is only two you will mainly use, add and multiply.

Now, i can’t exactly explain this, so I’ll have to just show you visually.

Multiply is for shadows and add is for light/glow

Let’s start off with multiply

I’ll just be using my drawing of Nishi as an example.

Alright, you must create another layer on top of the layer you want to blend on. You can clip it for efficiency.

Just choose any color you’d like and fill in the area you want to shade

Turn on blending mode to multiply and you should see that the color has turned darker.

Don’t fret, because you can always adjust the opacity! This mode is best uses for shadows.

Adding time

Do the same but this time, turn on add for blending mode.

Boom! Easy glow effect! You can use this as your lighting tool for highlights and etc.

Play around with the blending modes more often! It’s really worth it! Hope y’all learned something.

As for the background, just used a crap ton of filters.

P.S, totally didn’t forget to add the mole and had to edit this post.

[emeritus-fuckers]

Hello! This is my entry for the match-up event:

1. I use she/her pronouns and I am a cis woman. I am also straight both sexually and romantically (I just think men are neat)

2. I would like to be paired up with one of the Papas, please

3. For my physical appearance, I am 5'6, my body type is average I'd say, I'm more flat chested/thinner around my torso and thicker around the thighs and bottom. I have blue eyes, chin length brown hair that's oftentimes up in a ponytail whenever I go out and an undercut. Style wise, I really like wearing vintage/more formal wear, such as blouses with big sleeves (even better when they go higher up the neck), high waisted pants or ankle length big skirts, vests, and some nice dress shoes or boots. I almost always have a necklace and a dangly earring on one ear to go along with my outfits.

4. I'm more on the quiet and introverted side. Especially around people I don't know and haven't met before. I can tend to be socially awkward at times. It takes a bit of time to warm up to and really express myself around others. Once I am comfortable around someone though, I love spending time with them. I like being kind and generous to others and I am very loyal to those that I am close to. I like to see my friends happy and to make them laugh and I'll easily do anything for them if they ask.

5. For hobbies, I am big on music. I am passionate about the bands/artists I listen to and I love to share music with others. Genre wise I like rock from all different decades and funky indie music, though I listen to all sorts of different genres. I also like to create traditional art, and the mediums I use are pencil, fine line pens, and I'm now starting to get into watercolor. I like to do more realism type drawings. I like to read a good book every now and then I enjoy playing video games if I have a good enough amount of free time to do so. I also have a few little collections of different things and I'm always on the lookout to add onto them. I also like to watch movies, especially with others so we can make comments on what we're watching.

6. I have a big sweet tooth, especially when it comes to fruit juices/smoothies and ice cream. My love languages are quality time and physical touch (I am a bit touch starved, unfortunately). I'm not the best gift giver, but I really like to create or handmake something for people as a gift. I tend to get stressed and anxious too easily and overthink and it's something I'm trying to work on. I also really like uncommon pets, it's so cool to get to interact with animals I don't see all that often in person.

Thank you so much! (Apologies if it's a little long)

This post is part of the 1000 followers match up event. Entries for the event are now closed.

Your match is...Papa Emeritus IV

The first things Copia noticed about you was your blue eyes, shining bright like the Morning Star and how your smile would make his heart flutter. You’d only met a few times briefly, but during those times you’d both talked about movies and video games.

That evening you strolled through the cloisters on the way to get food, your breath hanging heavy in the crisp winter air. You paused to look through the arches onto the lawn and then up. The dark night sky glimmered with small pin pricks of light, the sheer depth of it entranced you.

“Beautiful isn’t it cara… it would be easy to just look at it all night sì?” You looked accross to see Papa Emeritus IV, he looked stunning in his glittery red jacket. He had his Papal paints on and you just stuttered some kind of response. He gave you the warmest smile you’d ever seen. “I err” he added, then he too fell silent.

A small little nervous rat noise escaped him before he said “It’s okay, I am err how should I say, not the best in social situations either. But I’ve been meaning to ask… would you like to come with me to get some food? A date perhaps?” His shifts a little waiting for your response. You happily agree and he smiles broadly.

You can relax around him, despite him being Papa you can see the man underneath it all and he is very easy to get on with. He makes you a mixtape of his favourite music and when you do the same for him he gets very excited. He’ll play it when you aren’t around and he misses you, mainly when he is stuck at work.

He adores your art, he finds it interesting to watch how you go from a blank page to the finished work. He asks if you can draw him and his rats, that becomes slightly tricky as even his favourite rat won’t sit still.

He understands what it’s like to get stressed and anxious. He’ll do anything he can to support you with that and he’s really easy to talk to about it. If he sees you getting anxious, if it helps you, he’ll wrap his arms around you and hold you close. “I’m here for you cara” he’ll kiss the top of your head. “Just tell me what I can do to help and I will”

You spend evenings together snuggled on the sofa playing video games or watching movies. When it’s a movie night Copia will sneak into the Ministry kitchens and take the largest and nicest tub of ice cream he can find back to his rooms for you two to share.

~

Written by Nyx