#I'm going to try to do a sketch like this each week and I already have some ideas

[lilliancdoodles]

Week 1 MerMay!! Roughish sketch of Life is like the ocean, it goes up and down (by @tastytoastz) Jaiden and Foolish chilling on the beach before everything goes to shit

[bweirdart]

#mARTch 2024

text version (with more info!) under the readmore! please check it out if you're confused about anything <3

F.A.Q

do i have to draw every day? no!!!! there are skippable days built into the event, please use them whenever you need them! i really don't want anyone getting a wrist injury!

can you share my art? yep! i try to share entries to @bweirdevents daily during the event!! the tags can get busy tho so i might miss some posts OTL sorry

what are the tags? #mARTch is the main tag, but this year you might find posts in #mARTch2024 too!

wait, i'm confused about a prompt... full breakdown of all the prompts below ↓ with helpful hints if you're stuck!

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INTRO WEEK

this week is all about your artistic identity ... technically, you don't have to draw anything new this week if you have some art that already fits. the starter days are:

1 ⭐ self portrait who are you? it doesn't have to be you IRL .. if you feel more comfortable drawing a fursona or mascot, that's fine too! if you don't wanna draw, you can also just share old self portraits today and talk about why you drew yourself that way!

2 🤍 inspirations see how this day doesn't have a star? that means it's optional and you don't have to do it at all! but if you really wanna- tell us all about what inspires you to create art! this could be anything from the people that inspire you, the shows you like, the pins on your big messy pinterest board, or concepts that you're drawn to! you can draw something about it, talk about it, or just post your inspirations! anything is fine

3 ⭐ fav thing to draw what do you like drawing most? backgrounds? animals? one specific animal? bust of your oc facing left? cars? the same anime boy over and over and over? no judgement!! show us :)

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STUDY WEEK

this is the week we actually start drawing from reference! polished art is not required at all, quick sketch studies are fine! please don't burn yourself out

4 🤍 plant

5 🤍 body

6 ⭐ animal

7 🤍 object

8 🤍 food

9 🤍 face

10 ⭐ hand

these ones are pretty self explanatory! you can do them as realistic studies, or adapt them into your own art style, it's all fine! you can reference from your own photos or from resources on the web.. have fun!

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COLOUR WEEK

this is the week for playing with palettes and working on your colour theory skills! if you're really struggling with these ones, don't worry about drawing scenes or characters, you can just have fun splashing colours around on an abstract canvas!

11 🤍 RGB a set or primary colours typically used in digital/screen art - red, green and blue!

12 🤍 CMYK a set of primary colours typically used in traditional/print art - cyan, magenta, yellow ... and key (black!)

for both of these days ↑ you can add in black and white. and feel free to combine the two days into one, if you're struggling with a three-colour palette! use all six!

13 ⭐ WARM COLOURS the warm side of the colour wheel, reds oranges and yellows!

14 🤍 MONOCHROME monochrome doesn't mean black and white ... it means one colour! that can be any colour at all- shades of red, shades of purple, shades of green .. or yeah, grey if you really want!

15 🤍 COMPLIMENTARY complimentary colours are the ones opposite each other on the colour wheel! they're kinda married

16 🤍 YOUR FAV COLOURS pick any palette that works for you! where's your comfort zone? what looks nice to you? what colour combos do you always go back to?

17 ⭐ COOL COLOURS the cool side of the colour wheel, purples, blues and greens!

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CREATIVITY WEEK

this week is all about vibes! try to create something that matches the mood of the prompt .. they're vague on purpose! don't overthink it, just draw from the heart!

18 🤍 SMALL you could draw something that's really small, like an ant .. or draw on a canvas that's really small .. or use a really small brush .. get creative with it!

19 🤍 DANGER try to capture the adrenaline .. the rush .. the fear that you associate with the word danger!

20 ⭐ SOFT soft colours, soft textures, soft vibes ... whatever makes you comfy!

21 🤍 MIDNIGHT darkness and secrecy .. spooky witchy vibes .. the tranquility of a forest at night .. the fun of a late-night party .. there's lots of ways you can take this!

22 🤍 POWER what does this word make you think about? superpowers? control and oppression? literal electrical power? something else?

23 🤍 CHILL chill as in calm? or chill as in cold? who knows .. it's up to YOU!

24 ⭐ LOUD try to draw something that feels LOUD! BRASH! IN YOUR FACE! how can you convey sound through art?

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FUN + GAMES WEEK

this week is just for enjoying yourself! take it easy and have fun! also .. another reminder! there are skippable prompts! if you're tired and struggling to get to the finish line, please don't hesitate to skip a day!!! or multiple days!! as many as you need!!!

25 🤍 TRY A NEW ART STYLE copy the art style of a show you like, ask a friend if you can try their style, draw the eyes a new way, develop a totally new style on the spot... whatever you want!

26 🤍 DRAW WITH YOUR NON-DOMINANT HAND righties, draw with your left! lefties, draw with your right! ambidextrous nation ... our time to show off!

27 ⭐ DRAW WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED don't peek! try to draw something without looking! if you really want, you can colour it with your eyes open after you draw the lines/sketch with your eyes closed... but please try not to cheat with the actual drawing part!

28 🤍 RE-DRAW SOMETHING OLD find some old artwork you like, or something you feel like you can do better on now, and give it another go!

29 🤍 RE-DRAW A MEME find a silly picture on the internet to redraw .. do you have any in-jokes with your besties?

30 🤍 DRAW A GIFT FOR A FRIEND create something for someone you love <3

31 ⭐ FREE CHOICE final day! you can draw anything you want today! show off your skills! draw something you've been meaning to draw! whatever!

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please refrain from reblogging this post after march ends - next year's prompts will be different, thank you! if you have any additional questions, don't hesitate to shoot me an ask!

[pinkworldone]

Hidden Feelings

yandere! Genshin x reader

characters: Cyno, Wanderer, Diluc.

Idea: you always say "good morning" and always talk to them, even if some do not say anything or just insult you back, you were in love, so you refused to realize that they were "evil", however, hear comments from other people and their friends saying that it was not worth it. You opened your eyes, stopping talking to them every morning and always being on they side, but what you didn't know was that these little moments were adorable for each of them.

tw: yandere content; mentions of aggression and death; not too much yandere here, but it’s okay

+Cyno Art! Sorry, I was having trouble drawing the part of Diluc and Wanderer...

CYNO

–You were just another worker who had been saved by him, you also heard comments from the incredible General Mahamatra, leaving you with an exactly delusional idea of what he was like and making you fall in love slowly. Initially, you always greeted Cyno out of politeness, smiling sweetly and saying "good morning" or other depending on the time.

– However, Cyno barely answered back, just a quick answer and walk away, not giving you much room to start a more normal conversation. However, you had not yet given up and continued, even trying to have lunch and learn that card game that he seemed to like.

– Still, his reactions continued... few. No right smile and I also didn't come to you, always waiting for you. Exactly for this reason, your friend decided to try to open your eyes and adding to the comments you heard from your colleagues - calling him an idiot for looking for an impossible love - you finally understood and decided to walk away.

– Cyno noticed the change quickly, it started with you passing by him and not greeting him with his cute and gentle smile, he thought you were just busy on the day or with something in mind; however, he continued for the rest of the week, you no longer had lunch with him or tried to play TCG.

– He didn't sketch that much reaction abroad, but he was extremely confused, did he do something wrong? Did it hurt you? Maybe he was too hard while teaching you TCG?! It was not possible, Cyno still remembered your smiles while you carefully learned the game and your cute scream when a character died or lost!

– So, he decided to go to you, observing that you were playing tcg with someone else, a strange feeling took over, seeing that person so close and still touching you to teach how to play. your reactions are so adorable, but it wasn't him who was making you have those cute expressions, but another person!

– Everyone noticed the change in the General's tone, Cyno tried to act cool and pretend that none of this had affected him, maybe you were just training to surprise him? Like: "let's fight again, this time I trained a lot and I'm going to win!" Saying all this with a confident smile that he loved.

– Days. Weeks. 1 month, 2... All right, Cyno had already been angry enough, it was not possible that you were trained for so long, he would challenge you to a TCG battle and win!

– Your dear friend was on your side while he watched you play against Cyno, he expected another reaction when you lost, of course your surprise was cute, but seriously you had to call your friend so sweetly asking to train more?!

– Cyno played against his coach and won, hoping you would realize how amazing he was!

– You didn't.

– Now Cyno didn't understand, he has an immense moral compass that could not be corrupted by killing a person out of jealousy, but making him disappear was a great idea. So the plan was made, now that your coach has disappeared, your only coach should be him!

– and no, you didn't go to Cyno. The man was almost giving up! But no, no, no! He simply starts to get closer to you, trying to show the small (giant) passion.

"Let's go out today" Cyno simply said on his side, did he have free time? You just nodded with a smile, maybe he just wanted to play some TCG with you...

– After a while, you began to be titled as "General Mahamatra's partner", everyone whispered when you passed by and also feared a little talking to you. Did ignoring him for two months cost that much?

WANDERER

– Being his partner in class was quite fun and irritating, but you still fell in love with his good looks and intelligence — even more so because of his looks, but don't tell anyone that! You always greeted him with a kind smile even when he grumbled and didn't say anything back, you sat next to him every day, trying to talk and even managed to, always with a smile that it’s too cute.

– You also paid attention in class, but sometimes, Wanderer would disturb you and take your attention, making the teacher fight with both of you, and Wanderer would continue, it's not like he cared!

– This lasted a long time, until one day he was a little meaner, calling you annoying and insulting you with all the horrible things possible, telling you to get away from him and you actually did it, with your head down. Wanderer was surprised, he just expected you to insult him back like always and sit next to him without caring! "Just being an idiot, come back tomorrow..." he thought, but it's been two weeks and you haven't come back to him, hell, you even stopped greeting Wanderer, you ignored his existence.

— Do you want to play this stupid game? It's okay, he's going to play this stupid game... He doesn't last, he's simply used to your cute smile and seeing you giving that smile to someone else?! your cute greetings to another?! no way.

— Wanderer is sitting next to you this time, making sure no one comes closer and leaves you two alone as it should be. disturbing you in the middle of class, pulling you to have lunch with him and spend the day with him; Even speaking for you, but not in a cute way, Wanderer sees the others approaching, asking if you are free, he simply replies "no" and insults them until they want to give up on life.

– — If Wanderer observes someone being too kind and silly by your side, that person will "give up" the next day, with a few bruises here and there. Forces you to hold his hand and act like a cute couple, are you uncomfortable? He doesn't care, you were always his from the first moment.

DILUC

– You were fighting indirectly with Donna, a woman who also likes Diluc, your passion for him grew so fast and strong, look at him, so strong and incredible, owner of his own industry! You were lucky that your friend always drank and all his get-togethers ended up at the tavern, always giving you the opportunity to admire the man from afar.

– You took the opportunity to sneak away and be close to him, not your drunk friends, you shared the same drink, neither of them drank wine or alcoholic beverages, you thought it was destiny! So I almost always stopped by and visited, hoping Diluc would be there. He wasn't there, but that's okay, you had fun talking to Charles!

– Then you started hearing the nasty comments, commenting on what an idiot you are, how impossible this relationship would be and that he didn't deserve you. You were just another delusional person blinded by love. Such comments made you stop visiting the tavern frequently, going only when your friends invited you.

– Diluc was quick to notice the change, you sat in the corner, just waiting for your friends to get tired or most of the time, you got up (this always made his heart warm, preparing the words he would say to you thinking about how he memorized your favorite topic), however, you just walk towards the door and leave the tavern without even saying "goodbye".

– He ends up hearing the gossip from his friends, some even told him that you forgot about him and that you didn't love him anymore, even calling him an idiot! It's okay that Diluc barely showed any reactions or happiness when you greeted him, but it always made his day better.

– You had returned with your friends, drinking your juice while listening to them chatter about something, you were still surprised that Diluc hadn't kicked them out; some fainted, others were very focused on a side conversation, you got up and headed towards the door. Only to be stopped by Diluc asking you to sit down and have a talk with him.

– Diluc could see you nervous, how sad your look seemed every time you left, he was happy when you accepted and sat down to talk. Wow, how long has it been since he talked to you? see that cute smile and clumsy mannerisms?! He loves you, damn it!

– It was just a contract, his parents would never deny him a marriage, so why not bring up the topic? And… Your answer hurt him, "no", Diluc had to accept it and just let you leave. He tried to ask for your consent, but it seems like you rejected him, it's okay, he can ask your parents for your hand!

[wolf-and-raven-dreaming]

Hey, love your work! How long do you typically spend on each page or does it vary? Could you tell us more about your process? Thanks!

Great question! Let me see if I can be somewhat coherent in my explanation.

Pages vary depending on what the scene shows. I try really hard to take a week for each page, only because of my work/life schedule and doing other adult things can be a challenge. If I'm lucky, with all my rendering, coloring, adding shadow/light and dialog, I can pop out a finished page in a few hours. Others, like one that is *hopefully* going to make an appearance soon, had taken a few days.

Some pages are already done long before we even got to that particular scene. One example would be page 115, I had that one sitting for 2 years before we finally got to it. I have many others either completely finished, nearly finished, or just sketches.

Sometimes, I follow my original rough sketch exactly as I saw it in my head, using post it notes or scraps of paper. Other times, I changed the scene completely when working on it, and the whole scene took a whole new turn.

It's still going in the direction I want, but let's face it, there's A LOT of WORK.

I hope this answers some of your questions!

[circus-clangen]

Hi!! Fellow clan gen comic creator here, i check your blog regularly and you are so fast with updates! And nothing looks rushed or messy (well, messy in a bad way, i know your style is sketchy and sort of glitchy which is why i like it) how do you keep everything so updated all the time?? I struggle makeing one comic in just a week.

ArE yOu A wIzZaRd???

HAHA so FULL disclosure for everyone reading this: My upload schedule is about to change because I'm moving in a week and am going to be searching for a job 😭

BUT to answer your question: I have ALWAYS drawn fast. From when I started art some 8 years ago, I had no trouble whipping out 4-5 drawings every day, sometimes more. DOESN'T MEAN THEY WERE GOOD but I just hit the ground running when it came to art. AND because of that, I've built up more line confidence, and have been able to teach myself to draw cleaner even as I draw faster. In 2021 I even made 1+ finished drawings every single day 😭 (here's that if you wanna see it). Also last February I drew one OC 69 times in like 20 days.... TLDR: I've always been this way, and so I've just kind of adapted to it. PLUS it helps that cats are faster to draw than people (in my mind; people are my primary subject matter) Here are some tips, if you Do wanna draw a little faster: 1. Nail down an art style, in general, and for each individual character. It's WAY easier to draw quickly if you already known how each part of the drawing is going to look (i.e. You draw eyes This way and you draw bangs This way and you shade skin This way and you use These colors)(I personally have one color pallet I use in every drawing)

2. If you can't clearly picture a drawing in your head going into it, let it marinate for a little longer, and come into focus. If you know down to the linework how you want your piece to look, you don't have to hesitate as much going into it.

3. FORGO the sketch, even if its just for practice! Try to draw your character starting with the lineart, thats what I do for my asks especially

4. Take breaks! Don't always force yourself to make art. Some of my best improvement happens after I've quit art cold turkey for weeks or months at a time. You draw faster when you're inspired and have a fresh, clear picture in your head Hope this helps!

[lolitakirstein]

Hey Neighbor

Part one

Part two

Don't be a stranger

Those 4 words rattled in your brain as the days and weeks passed. You kept busy (and subtly avoided toji) by finishing up moving in and picking up a job at the local bookstore. The hours weren’t great but it kept you away from your house and your neighbor. Yes, you felt kinda shitty. He was only trying to be nice. But the look on his face as he purred, “Don’t be a stranger” with a smirk on his face made you ten times more intimidated by him. I can NOT get involved with him…wait he probably didn’t even mean it like that… I’m looking too much into it…still…no not I can’t do it. I don’t know him and he has a child I’m sure he’s not even interested. These thoughts consumed you. 

As much as you tried to avoid confrontation with toji, it was practically impossible seeing as your houses were so near. Luckily, the interactions were in passing, a quick wave. A smile from you…a smug grin from toji. It seems Mewsy wasn’t one to avoid them, you would catch her strolling across the yard between your houses when Megumi and Toji would arrive home in the evenings. Megumi would light up and giggle as she'd once again perform her act of rolling around. 

Although you avoid one one-on-one confrontation with Toji, you don't avoid…looking at him… especially when he is outside with the garage door open, music blaring as he does pull-ups in his make-shift gym. Sweat streams down his rippled abs that contract with each heavy breath. It makes your mouth go dry. God, what it would be like to lick up those chiseled muscles, to cling on to those broad shoulders as he'd thrust— stop no bad bad bad, you scold yourself every time you started fantasizing, shaking your head as if it was an etch-a-sketch and could erase the images. 

You knew you couldn’t avoid him forever, the time would come that you would have to speak to him…and this evening seemed to be just that day. As you sit on your porch reading your book, Mewsy on your lap, you hear that sensuous voice that makes your knees quake. 

“Hey, neighbor.” toji stands at the bottom of your front porch steps. Megumi toddling up the stairs, excitedly, “Y/N!,” he climbs onto the wicker lover seat with you, Mewsy perking up and stretching. 

“Megs,” toji sighs, shaking his head. “You have to wait to be invited onto a girl's porch, son.”

“It's fine,” you say, patting megumi's leg as he settles beside you like. 

“How’ve you been,” toji asks, shoving his hands in his pocket. “Not seen ya much. You avoiding me?”

Shit! Was I that obvious?

“Oh…n–no just been trying to work as much as possible,” you stammer, wringing your hands in your lap. 

“I see, “ toji responds. 

“Yeah…” god, you wanted a hole to swallow you up, he clearly wasn’t convinced. “You can come sit if you want.” you try to change the subject. 

“Nah, we gotta get going I'm about to drop him off at my boss’s house while I run some errands out of town .”

What kind of boss watched their employee’s kids? You didn’t know it you were relieved or bummed that he couldn’t stay. 

“Ohh, dad let’s stay with y/n pleaseeee,” Megumi whined. 

“No bud we gotta go,” Toji replied firmly. 

“But Shiu’s house is so BORING, UGH” he groans.

“Ugh,” toji mocks. “You’re not even a teenager and already giving me such attitude.”

You can’t help but laugh at the back and forth, how similar the two were, how good of a father Toji seems to be….what a dilf.

“Blah blah blah,” Megumi teases, causing you to laugh harder.

“For real, Megs we gotta go. It won’t be for long. I promise.” Toji says. 

Megumi starts groaning, “But I wanna stay with y/n.”

“Im sure y/n has things to do.”

Megumi curls his little arms around yours, clinging to you.

“I don’t mind,” you suggest. “He can stay.”

“YAY!” Megumi cheers. 

“Y/N you don’t have to. I don’t want you to think I came over here just to drop him off on you,” toji stammers, clearly thrown off by your offer. 

You shrug. “I don’t have anything else to do. I’ve babysat before. As long as you trust me with him.”

“Well,” toji sighs, running his hand through his messy hair. “AS long as you ok with it. I won’t be back til after dark.”

“Thats fine,” you assure. 

Toji stalks up the porch steps, squatting in front of Megumi on the seat beside you. “Listen you, little man. Behave for y/n. I mean it. Do what she tells you to do.”

“Ugh ok dad,” megumi rolls his eyes.

“Again with the bratty attitude,” Toji sighs standing up before leaning forward, bracing one hand on the back of the seat by your face to kiss his son’s forehead. “Love you.” 

You swallow at the closeness, his scent dancing around you. Pure male a hint of aftershave. He reaches into his pocket, handing you a set of keys. 

“Here’s the house keys. It’ll be after his dinner before I get back and I doubt you have the right kinda dinosaur chicken nuggets for him to eat.” Toji laughs. “His bedtime is 9, but nothing strict.”

“OK,” you say. “Uhm what’s your number in case I need to contact you.”

“Ha, so this how I get your number, huh? My son. Jeez, he’s got more game than me.” he shakes his head, getting his phone out and swapping numbers with you. 

“I’ll text when I’m on my way back. Thanks for this,” he says as he makes his way off the porch towards his car parked on the side of the street. 

“Bye daddy!” megumi wave. 

You both watch as he speeds away. 

“So what do you wanna do megs,” you ask.

“Let's have fun!!!” he shouts. 

[rc-writes]

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐰

𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨 | 𝙩𝙖𝙜𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢 || 𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙩𝙬𝙤

pairings: jj maybank x reader

warnings: none that i’m aware of

a/n: this is a bit different then what a have been writing, but the idea popped into my head and i just had to write it down. this may or may not just be a writer insert tho lol. i feel like i’m allowed to do that at least once lol. but anyways, i hope you all like this!

Spring was a beautiful time of year on the island. Garden flowers and wildflowers alike all began to bloom painting the town in a rainbow of colors. And while it was very pretty, most people in the Outer Banks on weeks like this could not wait for summer to fully hit so they could go swimming without having to freeze. While the air was getting warmer the water seemed to stay at the same freezing temperature. The spring air made it too hot to wear a nice hoodie, but too cold to jump in a pool.

You on the other hand could not have been more grateful for the cool temperature.

Less than a month ago a local restaurant on the higher society part of the island put out an ad looking for artists willing to paint a mural on the side of their building. It was to be a paid deal and they would throw in a few free meals. Normally many more known artists would jump at the chance to have their art featured on such a well known establishment, but the very short timeframe of two weeks deterred many away. It normally takes a while to come up with an idea good enough for such a big project. And it takes just as long to actually paint said idea.

And while the strict time restraints deterred many away, the offer of money and free food brought you in. That was why you were currently halfway up a ladder, paintbrush in hand, after coming up with a design two hours ago. The design in question being a giant version of the restaurant’s menu with a little painting of each dish next to its name.

“I'm all for defacing public property and all that, but I gotta say that is a weird way of doing it.” A voice from below suddenly called out making you jump and nearly drop your brush.

“What?” You called out, currently trying to catch your breath from being spooked. When you looked down you were met with blonde hair and blue eyes. Now you might have been catching your breath for a different reason.

“Most people just use spray paint if they want to cover the side of some building.” Oh he thinks you’re vandalizing or something.

“Oh, no. I’m actually getting paid to do this.” You correct the guy.

The blonde’s eyes looked around on the wall and spotted very purposeful sketch marks. “Yeah, yeah that makes more sense.”

“I don't think most people would want to spend all day on a ladder painting an entire wall without getting paid.” You joked.

“Definitely not with all those details and stuff. Possibly without the ladder part many would without a second thought if they were just using spray paint. Not that I have much experience with that.” The way he said the last sentence made you think he did in fact have much experience with it. “Anyways, how long have you been at this?”

You pulled your phone out of your back pocket to see what the time was. “About two hours-ish.”

The blonde shook his head in disbelief. “You did all of this in two hours?”

You shrugged, “The building already has a flat color on it, so I only had to mark out where I want to paint and what I want to paint in thin lines of white. It’s a fairly easy design so it didn’t take much effort.”

The blonde looked at you like you were crazy. What do you mean it didn’t take much effort? You drew an entire outline of the place’s full menu in two hours! Never in a million years could he have understood how anyone had enough talent to do anything besides draw a few stick figures.

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just say that, that looks easy.” You laughed at this. “But how long do you have to finish the whole thing?”

“Two weeks.” You sighed, nerves setting in when you remembered again just how quickly you have to do this.

“Only two weeks? To paint an entire wall? Man, rich people are just plain weird.” He then remembered that school was still in and you looked about his age. “Wait, don’t you have school or something?”

“Yep, but I moved a grade ahead so I only have to go half a day now.” You replied. “So I’ll spend half a day in school and the other half here working on this.”

So you were smart and talented, were you sure you were even human at this point?

“Can I help then? You know, to speed up the process?” He had absolutely no artistic ability but the offer just kinda slipped out.

You were taken back by the sudden offer. Why would anyone want to spend hours on end just painting the same wall if they’ve never had any interest in art. Which from how taken back the blonde was by the whole ordeal you assumed he didn’t know much about painting.

“Well,” You began after taking a moment to think. “Considering I'm getting paid to do this and kinda need all the money I can get, I'm going to have to decline the offer.” It was true, you did need the money.

“Oh I'll do it for free.” Normally those words were only reserved for doing something stupid shit like jumping off of something but now he found himself wanting to spend more time with you.

“You’d really want to help?” You questioned. “Have you ever even painted anything before?”

“Well no,” He admitted. “But really, how hard can it be? Since you already have the outlines it's just like coloring in a coloring book, right? Just stay within the lines.”

You laughed at the naivety but decided to give him a chance anyway. Worst case scenario you just have to go over what he did. And even if that had to happen you still potentially made a new friend.

Over the hour the two of you talked about any topic that came to mind. You found out each other’s names, that you both grew up in The Cut, you had dreams of making a living making art, JJ was more of a “living in the moment type of guy” so he didn’t have a big dream as of the moment, you both had the same mindset to go wherever there was free food offered, etc.

By the end of the hour JJ decided that the little area he was working on was as good as it was going to get and looked up to see what progress you had made. Any and all confidence in what he did went out the window once he saw what you were working on. You didn’t think what you had painted was much of anything but in his eyes, it was absolutely amazing.

“How the hell did you get yours to look like that!?”

“My entire life’s worth of practice.” You laughed.

“Yeah, that's just a little bit more time that I have.”

“Just a little?” You questioned.

“Wow, that obvious?”

“Well…” You noticed that the chicken he was supposed to be painting didn’t exactly look like a chicken. “Just a little.” The both of you burst into a fit of laughter at this.

“Well anyways I should probably get going.” JJ spoke up once the laughter between you two died down. “Sorry for wasting your paint on this… uh, abstract chicken.”

“Oh don't worry, it's not mine. The owner had all of this paint and more just sitting in the back room from when they thought they could paint this themselves. They said it's all free game for me to use and that they'll get more later if needed. Well actually that very last part depends entirely on how they like this.”

“Well If they see even half of what I can see I’m sure they'll love it.” The both of you held similar shy smiles at this. “Anyway, I'm glad I got to talk to you before you go all kook with your paintings in those fancy museums in the mainland. Remember who ‘helped’ you paint your first wall when you're rich and famous!” The last line was yelled out as JJ made his way down the street.

You only hoped for one of those things to be true. Having your art hung up where so many people could see was a dream, but you hoped to see JJ again long before that became a possibility.

[oc-poll-tournament]

So, I'll Try To Make This A Thing!

There is enough interest from the poll on my other blog that I want to try and see if this will work! I don't have tons of time because of school, but I already go on Tumblr anyway, so might as well have something to host while I'm at it, lol. So, I'll try and host this thing.

Rules: Whoever is interested, please submit 1-2 original characters (from fanfic or original writing) for the tournament (if you want to group them together, please let me know, if not, I'll just have them be separate), either by messaging this blog, submitting to this blog, sending an ask to this blog, or reblogging this post and putting the information there! I will ask that you also submit your introduction to the character that you want on the poll post at the same time, and that once the poll is live, you can submit propaganda via ask or submission that I'll publish.

Since I do have school, I ask that everyone be patient. I might not be able to respond right away to everything, but I'll try to be as on time as possible! You'll have a week to submit, so submissions close January 16 at 12 pm Central time! I'll try to have a preliminary post with the characters in their brackets (if I use brackets) by sometime the next day. Also, please, if you have any ideas or suggestions, please let me know! I have never done this before, lol. Would you rather have the polls last one day or one week?

I'll try to update this post with links and extra things I think about, and this post will be pinned so it'll be easy to find! Also, I am planning on having a character in this as well, so I hope that's ok!

Here are links to the active polls:

Final Poll: (Chess vs. Crislie Crimsworth vs. Nat Finch)

Answers to questions I have gotten:

Characters can be from anything you've worked on: fanfic, WIP, or finished/published work, as long as they are an original character of yours!

Submissions should include some information about your character, preferably name, pronouns, any unique features, and backstory, but it can be as long or short as you'd like! I'll put that information on the poll post for voters to see! And if you have a picture (picrew, drawing, etc.), please send that along with your submission so I can put it on the poll post as well!

Propaganda will be allowed to submit for your character when the poll is active, but bribes will not be allowed.

So far, I am thinking of having the polls be random, where I put the characters in a random wheel spin and put them in polls against each other based on that. So, probably no brackets. I just like the idea that it'll be completely random!

For a prize, @somealienquill graciously offered to draw a portrait sketch of the winner!

Blogs who showed interest on the poll post are tagged below the cut:

@albatris, @maple-writes, @pen-of-roses, @waltzshouldbewriting, @lux-scriptum, @ibuprofen-exe, @your-absent-father, @abalonetea, @grailfish, @jfictitional, @drabbleitout, @izzyspussy, @flannelandsarcasm, @gailynovelry, @inscrutable-shadow, @sevenscreaminglizards

[jezmmart]

#AMaY Commentary

Wanted to give a little commentary on the #AMaY project but needed a couple days breather haha. This mostly focuses on how I created each day with the full hidden final image in mind, but I also talk a bit about like "Why Amy???" on a personal level at the bottom.

So firstly, worth revisiting this old popular music video if you have the time, it was pretty viral back when it came out. This will become relevant shortly - not a huge deal if you don't want to watch it, but the reason I'm bringing it up will spoil said music video a bit so yeah, mentioning it and encouraging a watch now without context.

So yeah, #AMaY! It really came down to the wire on finishing it due to work, and I had to eat into my 2-week comic buffer that I'm now due to rebuild to keep up in the end.

It was basically the result of just REALLY enjoying drawing Amy and joking with friends and such to the point of being like "do I really enjoy drawing her that much that I could do a whole month of it? I think I could". Wasn't wrong!

I didn't have any set prompt list in mind, my idea was just to draw what idea grabbed me on the day. Then, inspired by various things I've seen do this but particularly that aforementioned music video which does the same reveal at the end, I had the idea of "what if I make it so they all make a picture of Amy when connected up". I had already sketched out this idea for the first day:

But started over after having this moment of inspiration.

What I didn't factor in is how this sort of effect is MUCH easier with simpler, larger pictures. I really should have just done her head or something, then most of my backgrounds could just be vague geometric shapes but didn't realise the practicality of it until it was too late, which is why we ended up with so many backgrounds of strange patterns and twisty pipes and such that I would try to mask by putting in additional patterns and pipes and whatnot as red herrings that were lower contrast than the ones making up the Amy picture.

I drew out what the final secret picture was going to be across a grid representing the days in the month, then each day I would start with a canvas of one square and figure out "now what sort of background can I turn this into, and what kind of Amy would belong in that background".

Naturally I had some ideas I was already leaning towards - goth Amy was one of them. When I looked at this portion of the image, the only sort of background thing I could see was some kind of cartooney medieval tower with a rim at the top. From there I realised the skirt could be bushes or walls around some dramatic graveyard hills, the creases in the skirt could be a path as long as Amy is positioned to hide the fact that they aren't actually connecting in the context of the hidden image. In some cases where it wouldn't make sense for a background element to suddenly stop, I instead used foreground scenery, such as the gravestone directly behind Amy here, to turn the element into the shape I wanted. These pipes that are going behind metal panels in the Chemical Plant background in order to turn them into eyelash shapes are another example:

Then when I got the idea to turn the lineart of of hidden Amy's skirt rim and chest into long wispy spirits escaping from the earth or something, it was just a case of adding a bunch more random ones of those to the rest of the background with lower contrast so they don't stand out as much as the important ones do. The one in the foreground also does the job of cutting off the path that makes up the tiny bit of Amy's leg lineart. Within the context of the graveyard background, the path continues, but at the zoomed out view, it can't be distinguished at a glance.

This was the kind of thought process that went into the more elaborate backgrounds. Naturally there were some where the Amy idea COULD come first, because what was required of the background was so simple I was kind of free to turn it into anything - or just take a day off and do simple geometric backgrounds.

(Again though, you can see here that I did all the circles as red herrings to imply that the little blob in the corner is another one - but the corner one is a deeper colour than the others).

And of course there were some days where I just COULD NOT think of anything that wouldn't be completely conspicious, so I just made Amy take up as much space as possible so I only had a few background lines to deal with, trusting that the grand context of the final hidden image would solve it in the end.

The final note is that I didn't JUST draw from these segments - I was steadily building up the full collage as I went, so I'd always have a "bleed" area I'd draw into with the existing surrounding days to make sure that the final result DID all connect up.

So yeah, that's the broad strokes of it!

To end on something more philosophical, I did sort of end thinking to myself as I spent all these hours drawing her - "Hey though, what is it about Amy? WHY do I love drawing her so much? Why is this one my blorbo?"

Humour me as I get all deep about cartoon pink hedgehog but I think it comes down to a few factors.

Let's address the elephant in the room first - unless I'm specifically looking to evoke her canon-self, I draw her with a more anthropomorphic sexy figure compared to the blobby, noodle-limbed body she has in the actual series, don't I. You see, in Sonic Adventure 2 there was this one promotional 3D render of her where they gave her one heck of a rack and also once I was on the internet as a teenager and partaking in the fandom, I saw other fanartists do the same with thighs to match. This was all during a vulnerable time in my development and it all made me a little unwell about Amy permanently, I think. Like, that cute haircut, the knee-high boots, the shiny short-skirted dress, this is all stuff that looks really attractive when you slap it on a human body!

Sonic himself is like... peak character design. There's a reason he's lasted so long and holds such mass appeal as a cartoon character. The only way to improve on that perfection is to make a girl version, and that's pretty much what Amy is. So no wonder she's so fun to draw!

And tailing off that - as an aspiring femme NB person who has not always been so, I do think I've always had a particular interest in the hyper-feminine aesthetic, which Amy has in spades. I think that's also a big part of her allure to me as a character. Much like how I live a lot of my feminine interest vicariously through my pin-up art, dressing up my OCs in cute clothes and such, I think that extends to Amy as well; a kind of obsession with the youthful hyper-feminine aesthetic that I just never got to openly enjoy in any real way earlier in life because I hadn't figured all this NB stuff out yet. I just love cute girly pink stuff!!!

That'll do it I think. I could probably waffle on about each individual day's art if I really wanted to but this is long enough as is. Check out the alt text if you like as I often mention easter eggs and costume details in those to try and make sure those with eyesight issues are getting the same experience as those without.

Thank you again one and all for enjoying or at least putting up with the month!

[More: #AMaY | Art Insight]

[mask-of-prime]

TLG: As You Move Forward

So I went a few months thinking about how I'd forgotten to include Makini to my past depictions of Kion's Guard as adults (1, 2), so I decided to celebrate the 4th anniversary (albeit 2 days late :p) of the Journey of Memories episode by finally showing off the adult design I have for her!

Because I'm still salty about TLG's last-minute decision in making Makini the Mjuzi of the Night Pride instead of Kiara's bestie like Season 2 hyped her up to be, I made a compromise by headcanoning that she frequently journeys back-and-forth between the Pridelands and the Tree of Life, especially when she's called over by each land for a ceremony of some kind.

Design Process:

To avoid making her look too much like a clone of her mother Fikiri, I figured that Makini would develop her dad Kitendo's features as she grew older (I think she's about 20-something in this image). It's kind of a thing for TLG to erroneously depict animals without their distinct sexual dimorphism (see: Mbuni the ostrich), but this time, I felt like embracing Makini's unusual bright colors for a female mandrill and make her look a little androgynous. I feel like it would fit her role as a Mjuzi for some reason lol

I figured the Bakora Staff she received at the Tree of Life would be her last new one as she's since learned to keep better track of it. I like to think that it symbolizes not only growth and learning, but it coming from the Tree of Life symbolizing that her true place is there.

In all that time she's owned it, being the crafty artist she is, she's put years of customization and souvenirs from her back-and-forth Pridelands/Tree of Life adventures into her decorating her staff, selecting just about every pretty flower and naturally-occurring bead she saw. I mainly sought out the idea of people bedazzling their canes for reference, she seems like the type to do that, making just about anything she owns pretty lol

Drawing Process:

ngl I got to work on this very much like that episode where Makini procrastinated on getting started on her portrait of Simba's family. I just, like... really struggled with the composition until I was hit with sudden inspiration to just go wherever my hand took me.

I grabbed a thumbnail sketch of my adult Makini design that I was the most happy with and rendered it digitally and was happy that it got me somewhere... then I ran into the background that I didn't put any thought into.

Because of the cropping and composition I already had going on with Makini's standalone model, it was very hard to come up with something she could be surrounded by, until I decided to insert some headcanons about a certain new TLG-related short Disney released. Basically: I headcanon Makini made those Circle of Life paintings that Kion shows to those younger cubs as I think the style they used in those paintings looks WAY different from Rafiki's (I mean the whole video looks different from the whole TLK art style). You can't tell me those purple pigments and cutesy flowers aren't something Makini would draw everywhere lol

Sources of Inspiration:

Sadly not pictured due to the angle and cropping is the headcanon that she paints her nails all the time, and she's always trying different color combos basically every week lol. I adopted that headcanon from iceflowerglow, who depicts Makini with painted nails in their comic "Shining Above Your Head". Other artists I drew inspiration from were Vtoony's "TLG: Kion's Guard" and tango_fizz.le's "Where'd all the time go?" when it came to designing her fully-developed mane.

[shelandsorcery]

Astronomics Game Art : Designing Mining Equipment!

Gonna talk this week about designing mining equipment for the sci-fi game Astronomics - demo on steam right now! - And I thought I'd start with a little conversation about research and process (...that doesn't really have on a much art in it but just stay with me) and maybe get to tap in a little bit into how someone like me who doesn't do a lot of technical design learned a lot about how to get excited about that whole field through the research stage of this game.

So when I say research I really do mean fairly old-school research — and this is probably gonna be a theme with a lot of the posts about this game in particular, because I don't think you can build sci-fi without some understanding of engineering systems and current scientific realities to then play with, you know?

As you may gather from the trailer, Astronomics is a game about asteroid mining, among other things. Which meant that we had a lot of need for legit industrial feeling props and tools for the player to use, things that felt functional and believable without feeling complicated or delicate. I really enjoy the challenge of adding appeal to something that maybe people don't always think about being appealing or fun or cute (this is never an absolute statement — there's always somebody already able to see more appeal in any given subject and I could ever imagine) so part of the research stage is going and looking for that appeal. So above you can see a sheet of loose rough sketches I did in clip studio paint from reference that I gathered with the rest of the team and by myself that seemed relevant to some of the designs we were pursuing.

If you've had the chance to play the demo, you'll know that it's not just surface mining but we are going to be letting you mind gases and liquids and underground mineral veins as well — these are all things that people do in the real world of course, so process one was taking a quick look at those actual industries and then figuring out how I could condense that activity down into a pretty simple and easy to understand machine.

So turned out what we needed was something that drilled and dug, something that pumped liquids, something that sucked air, and all of these things needed to then produce some sort of container to hold what they had collected.

In a videogame you really need to communicate to the player why each act they do is significant and different from the others, and as the art director it was my job to figure how to do that through visual design of the tools they're going to be using. So that meant that even though you could certainly store liquid and gas and solid resources in the same kind of box, I wanted to try and find ways to keep each thing feeling different. Best case scenario is that you're able to look at a prop we've designed and know in a split second which of these three states of matter it will be containing; in the research stage one of the things I'm looking for is any existing visual language that we have (in this Western English-speaking North American videogame audience culture) that already solves this problem.

The great thing about industrial design is that they indeed have very intentionally tackled this problem. Part of it is purely physics optimization that the field of engineering has been working towards for human history. For example, when you're storing liquid and you want to remove all of it from a container you probably don't want something with corners — that's how you end up with cylindrical liquid storage. When you're storing a gas you're likely keeping it under pressure, which means you need a shape that will withstand pressure evenly, which means you're looking for something with literally no corners or edges ideally — and that's how you end up with bubble-shaped gas storage like a propane canister. And then when you're storing something solid and you want to use the space most efficiently and be able to stack whatever it is that you have packed it into, you have a box.

Real good news is, a box and a cylinder and a sphere are all wonderfully visually distinct shapes in a fantastically strong place to start when it comes to solving the question of storage. So then we get into the challenge of the machines themselves — what distinguishes a drill from a pump from a vacuum?

So that's the beginning of some of the questions that you have to answer when you're designing props for a game — in the research stage is only one of bunch of different ways you start figuring out these answers. But I want to talk for just a second a little bit about how I personally wrangle my research, because I am definitely not telling you this is the only way to do it. It seems like it may be worth explaining what I get out of this process and see if anything here make sense for you!

One of the reasons that I have this huge page of sketches, big and detailed or tiny and loose, all laid out in one place for me to look at, is because I personally learn and remember things more strongly by taking notes. With my hand holding a pencil ideally. And when they're abstract concepts or verbal or numerical then I'll use writing and I won't have a problem with it, but my job at this stage was not to figure out abstract concepts or to find themes — my job was to solve visual problems. So my first order of business was visual research specifically. Now for me, that involves lots of things — I have a Pinterest board for any sort of subcategory of stuff I'm researching to just do enormous broad research with; then I probably bring most of those images into a huge working .PSD file and move them around to create groupings. And then I start drawing.

I really think that drawing is integral for me at this stage. I don't think I could do this without drawing as part of my research. There's so much that I just don't bother noticing if I'm not going to be drawing the thing that I'm looking at; even the worst, fastest, sketchy as drawing makes me pay infinitely more attention to something then I do when I am simply collecting information mentally. I'm phrasing this in a somewhat exaggerated, self-deprecating way, but I really can't exaggerate how much more I get out of things when I sit down and draw them. They talk about drawing is a way of seeing, and for me that's a practice I've intentionally pushed and explored in my life.

The other thing, though, is that visual problem that I need to solve. Sometimes solutions to the problem aren't obvious until they are visualized — it can be very easy to get distracted by things like surface details and miss the silhouette language, or vice versa, but when you are doing the drawing you have to wrestle with the silhouette and the details and make decisions about them. Visual trends appear way more clear when you are drawing something for the 10th time as opposed to simply seeing it for the 10th time. And all of the layers of cultural meaning and context that clutter up a photograph can be simply ignored as you transfer only what you need to a drawing, where you might discover something that everything else hid until then. Beyond that, one of the things you may notice about the sketches is that they are somewhat cartoony — I'm certainly trying to capture important details and be representational to a degree, but much like gesture drawing the human figure, researching this way lets me start finding out what the gestures are of these different sorts of subject matter. This is something that I knew about creature design, and about flora design, and one of the real joys of this game in particular was proving to myself that this gesture approach applied to industrial machines and technology as well.

I mean, I knew that there were cute trucks out there, but gosh.

I think if you are in need of something to reinvigorate a particular piece of subject matter for you — if you're designing something that you are just not that excited about, or if you don't feel challenged by the work in front of you — I really think sitting and sketching from reference can open up the complexities and help push you and your work farther. It certainly works for me and I know that the learning I did on this game is something I carry with me to future projects as well.

That seems like a pretty strong place to leave this post in particular, but I'll be back later this week with more breakdowns and screen caps of the actual design process of all of our adorable mining equipment!

I would really love to hear from folks if you also engage in similar research processes before going into full design mode — or if you have a completely different way to get your mind revved up and ready to go, I would really enjoy reading about it!

In the meantime, if you're curious about mining asteroids but it's cute please feel free to check out the Astronomics demo on steam, I made an awful lot of visdev art for this and handed it off to some incredible game creators who have done some really impressive stuff taking their ideas and my ideas and running to honestly some pretty new and exciting places with them.

[mcalhenwrites]

Life update: This doesn't give me a home once I'm out, but I have a few more work hours each week at my current job, at a different location. In November, I likely will also be assisting with baking tasks for both stores. (I already am doing some of that, since apparently I'm known as the person who keeps selling all the birthday goodies LOL) My boss has been understanding that I have upcoming surgery in mid-December and have restrictions until then. I still need more money to live in the apartments I found and get my car the new battery it needs before winter, but things are a little less tricky now. I also filled out a form for a bookstore that isn't hiring right now, but if they have open positions, I showed my interest in having one. It's also on the side of town I want to move. It would also save my gas money to live over there. But I need more income. I am going to ask for help. I know I ask a lot of it. I am willing to work for it. I am willing to take on commissions, and the good thing about all this is that my commissions can be worked on while I'm at work. So if you want an OC drawn, or you have any interest in a plush, please let me know. (I'm really debating whether or not to store yarn until I have a place.) Also, if I had more patrons, that'd really help. If anyone could spare $1-3... The $3 tier is imo the best deal since you get to see some sketches and excerpts both! The $10 is where the dragons come in, but I understand that's a lot of money per month! Between tiers and commissions and such, that'd really boost my monthly income. This doesn't mean I'd stop writing, but right now, yes, stuff is on hold because I'm in survival mode so I don't end up homeless. But if you want to see the rest of the revised Seasons, please support my other works. I can publish more books too. Any little bit would be fantastic right now. I'm afraid I don't deserve it, that no one likes my work enough to help, or that we're all just simply so bad off that it's impossible to help each other. I really hate that I'm not in a position to do more than panic about my frequently shitty situations. I want to have faith that maybe this is the beginning of something good, though...? My other option started off as "I can kill myself" and that persisted for days, despite that I was working and job hunting and searching for housing resources day after day until I was exhausted. (So far, I have not had much luck, and some of the assistance programs have massive waiting lists.) Anyway, if I could get on my feet, someone else who needs the help more will have it. I'm capable of working, even if it's not the kind of day job other people have. I am trying. So if you can help boost my work or w/e, I'd really, really appreciate it.

[muserryy]

LIFE OF REVA (H.S)

chapter 2 || LIFE OF REVA MASTERLIST || main masterlist

read chapter one here.

Reva D'Souza

It was another evening and we had just finished our takeout dinner. Now, we were lounging in the living area. I was sitting near the balcony, on a barstool at the counter table. I kept the sliding door open, letting in the wind and sounds of traffic commotion. Harry was sprawled on the couch, busy on his phone, wearing his grey sweats and a black tee.

It had been a week and a half since I started staying in this flat. and I had noticed that Harry usually spent his evenings out. However, today, he decided to stay in. I usually stayed in, went for a short walk around the block or nearby streets, or talked to my family. 

Our apartment was a 2 BHK on the second floor of a building that accommodated families and students. Upon entering, there was the living space. To the left of the entrance was a wall, with the kitchen on the other side seamlessly flowing into the living area. A large glass sliding door, in the front, led to the balcony, which provided the main source of natural light. Directly across from the balcony, at the end of the living area, were two rooms; Harry's on the left and mine on the right. The bathroom was located to the right of the entrance, just before my room. 

I was pleased with my room; it was boxy yet not too sophisticated. There was a single bed in the corner by the door, a weary wardrobe, a study table, and a window where I had a small potted plant that I watered from time to time. I had yet to decorate my room and was searching for ideas. I brought some of my sketches to stick on the walls, but it was certain that I was not going to keep my room plain like vanilla.

The grey paint on the walls was peeling in some corners, but it was bearable. I was satisfied with the bathroom. It was big enough and had bright tiles; everything was at a strategic distance. 

It wasn't congested at all, maybe because of the fewer chattels. Overall, it was worth the half rent I was paying. 

We had been sitting here for 10 minutes. At first I thought about saying or asking something but my mind was blank. I kept trying to figure out what to say because the silence was starting to feel a bit awkward. However, when we both became engrossed in our screens, I didn't care. 

Eventually, Harry decided to break the silence. 

"So, when do your classes start?" Harry asked, looking up from his phone. His voice was soothingly deep, with a british accent.

I looked up from mine, meeting his gaze. "Next week," I cleared my throat as I had been silent for a while. 

He nodded, getting busy on his phone again. I leaned forward on my chair placing my arms against the marble counter and continued scrolling on my phone. 

"You nervous?" 

Our eyes met again. I nodded, mentally slapping myself to use the words. "A little, it's my first time in college, so. .. " 

"Understandable," He smiled sympathetically, "but don't worry, you'll be fine. I remember my first year of college was nerve-wracking too."

I gave him a small smile.

Oh god what should I say now? Should I ask him something about it? Why the hell am I like this?

"What's your major? I didn't ask you about it before." 

We had already had a conversation about the university when we realized that we were both attending the same one. It was a brief exchange, neither of us asked about each other's majors or courses. We had a small introduction— the where's and the why's. I learned that Harry was from Holmes Chapel in Cheshire and had come to pursue his undergraduate studies with his friends. I shared that I was from India and that my parents, especially my father, had encouraged me to pursue higher education abroad.

"I'm doing a joint major in literature and sociology." I answered.

"Actually, I'm also doing sociology. so we have one subject in common." He said, a grin spreading across his face.

My eyebrows shot up. Oh now that's a great coincidence. He might help me with the subject.

"Oh! and what else are you taking?"

"I'm doing a triple major in psychology, sociology and music." He responded as he locked his phone and put his arms behind his head, focusing on me.

"Wow. I considered studying psychology too, but not to that level… you know, studying for the sake of grades and all the practical stuff..." I admitted, fiddling with my phone. "I just have a deep curiosity about human behaviour."

"Well, I have been interested in it for a long time, pretty intense." 

"And what about music? You like to sing or–" He interrupted me before I could finish my question.

"I like singing," he nodded, a sly smile appearing on his lips.

I gave him an impressed look, curious to know more, but couldn't bring myself to ask further questions about it. Maybe it was simply a matter of mood. 

"That's great! It's your final year, isn't it? What are you gonna do after that?" I found myself asking.

I have always been interested in knowing what people will be doing once they graduate and all those future plans.

"I'm not sure yet," he shifted, sitting straight. "Masters in psychology or music, maybe. Or maybe working in music therapy." He shrugged.

And I like such answers. I like when people are unsure and still figuring things out. It makes me feel relieved and reassured, less alone. It reminds me that they are humans. We are just humans ౨ৎ. 

I hadn't really given much thought to my future beyond college, but whenever someone asked me I tried to appear as if I had some kind of plan.

"Literature, right? You must enjoy reading a lot, then?" He inquired, his fingers idly playing with his soft, messy curls. 

Oh hell no. I mean I do read but that's not why I chose literature. To be honest, I'm not sure why I chose it. I read mostly for myself when I feel like it. I'm not the type to be engrossed in books and texts all the time. I prefer writing. 

"Actually, I don't read that much." I said, pursing my lips, knowing it must be confusing to him. A lit major who doesn't read, well— that much. "I prefer writing. I either write poetry or just… whatever comes to my head."

He raised his eyebrows at my words. I had a feeling he might be judging me, but he didn't question it.

Instead, he asked, "You write?"

I gave him a simple nod of confirmation. I wanted to mention that I was currently working on a small project but I didn't want to disclose it to anyone until I was sure it was progressing.

"Could I maybe read some of your writing sometime?" He asked, almost eagerly. I blinked.

Nobody had ever asked to read something I'd written before, not even my close ones who were aware of my writing. Harry was a near-stranger, I wouldn't mind sharing it with him now that he had asked, but something held me back. I didn't want to be judged for what I wrote. People often make assumptions about our worth as writers, after reading a few pieces. They may not say it to our faces, but the facade of appreciation and praise still scars and bothers me just as much.

Oh gosh, it's always those people. 

My mind was racing with a desire to scream 'YES, YES, YES', but the word 'no' was on the tip of my tongue, to keep my writing personal and hidden away.

"I'm… I'm not sure," I muttered. "I'm not used to sharing my writing with anyone."

"Oh, no, I mean it's completely up to you. I was just curious." He smiled, favourably. I let out a breath. 

Girl, you should apologize to him, at least, for being dismissive especially when he showed interest. He was curious and you said you're not sure? Really?

I could smell his probable disappointment, but I didn't bring myself to say anything. Instead, I felt an urge to confess my secret work in progress. Was I feeling this way because I refused to show him my work or—

"You know," he spoke, "I used to write poetry too, back in high school." 

Woah!

"Really?" 

"Yeah, I tried to, at least." he chuckled, looking down at himself and picking at the fabric of his t-shirt. "Nothing too great, mostly just teenage angst and emotions."

I chewed my lips, staring at his relaxed figure. I often found myself pouring my own emotions and thoughts into whatever I wrote. It was a way of expressing myself, especially because I couldn't verbalize my feelings.

"Looking back, some of my poetry was absolutely ridiculous," he admitted, slightly shaking his head.

He chuckled, gazing up at me, "I was a classic teenage drama queen." 

"I know the feeling, I've written my fair share of corny stuff too." I couldn't suppress a titter as I said that. I leaned my chin on my hand.

"I think we all go through that phase, no?" The tiny smile never left his lips. 

"Yeah, I suppose so." I concurred with a nod.

And the conversation died. I took another glance at him before averting my gaze down to my phone, seeing my reflection on the black screen. My hair, pulled into a ponytail, had somehow managed to look untidy and loose with strands of hair almost sticking out from the sides. I grimaced at my state. My hands quickly reached up to readjust it and make it somewhat presentable. 

Great, I had been looking like this the entire time and it wasn't even a cute, loose ponytail. 

A ring echoed in the silence, grabbing my attention— Harry's phone. He glanced at the caller before standing up and securing his door key in his pocket.

"I'm heading out," he informed me, walking to the door with his phone in his hand, still ringing. "I'll be back in about half an hour." He flashed me a quick smile before opening the door and stepping out.

"Aye, count to 20!" I heard him giggle into the phone as the door shut.

I exhaled a huff and pulled the elastic band off my hair, letting my mid-back length hair fall loose.

Time to oil my hair. 

chapter 3 soon!!

[goodluckclove]

good evening monsieur clove i have realized in the past two weeks that i drag my feet when it comes to writing because words are not my preferred medium for communicating stories, much like how a prolific painter might not enjoy doing a full, detailed charcoal sketch. this said, should i or should i not turn my current fanfic ideas into comics/storyboards rather than written prose ?

Oh yeah! Absolutely!

I think different ideas are best for different mediums. That's something that I only recently had to learn wasn't common knowledge amongst artists here. There seems to be a weird preconception on certain writing communities that something has to be a novel, that you have to specifically turn this idea into a novel.

And that's - I mean, it's a noble thought to want to make any effort at all to make art. But if it isn't working and you're stuck in perpetual writer's block - perhaps even to the point where you start to assume that a fundamental part of being a writer is not writing - maybe it's time to expand your idea of Things You Can Write.

Maybe your idea isn't a novel. Maybe it's a play, or a movie, or a comic, or a short story, or a collection of short stories. Maybe it's something else entirely. Maybe it's a fucking ARG. Contrary to what other people seem to think, a novel isn't the only barrier to entry to be considered a Real Artist.

Short stories don't take less effort because they're shorter. If you think they do, maybe you're just naturally good at short stories (Which is very lucky because they're way easier to publish and sell so like why not lean into that?). And scripts for theater, film, and comic are each separate structures that have a ton of room for artistic flair and structural skill. Have you ever read the script of your favorite movie? It's really interesting how much it expands on the experience!

So yeah, different ideas require different homes. If you think your idea would work as a collection of storyboards or like a formatted script you can share with other artists, fucking do it.

I commonly adjust medium and structure for an idea if it isn't flowing the way I want it to. This mainly looks like going between prose and stageplay, because those are my two main realms. But if you only work in prose for now, you can also try switching POV or setting. Change the perspective of what you've already planned. Stephen King had a fun reoccurring bit in his writing where he would briefly hand over the perspective to what was essentially a walk-on player who would observe something spooky and then never be seen again. It can be fun for the reader and refreshing for the writer to play with different angles, you know?

Whatever you got to do, man. No Gods No Masters and shit. I would just truly love if we got rid of the weird ongoing generalization in communities like this that it's the norm for all writers to hate writing. Like, I'm probably the absolute wrong person to counter that thought, but that. Doesn't seem right? Or good or healthy?

[morimakesfanart]

Sweetie are you alive?????

Somehow??? ;0;

I know I disappeared and I've been trying to figure out how to explain it when I post the next chapter. I have been unwell in multiple ways ;-;

I'm going to use this ask to try to figure out how to say it

First, the day after my birthday (yes the day after posting the last canon chapter) I went through something extremely scary that I don't want to talk about. I thought I was okay, but I'm the type to compartmentalize until I am actually safe enough to feel which turned out to be a few weeks after the event. I was actually so shaken up by what happened that I couldn't write or draw or do anything for fun for nearly a month. I was like a robot

Second, just as I was getting better emotionally, I got very very sick, had to see many doctors and specialists to figure out what was wrong. I had 3 conditions making each other worse. I won't get into the details here but it hurt to open one of my eyes for a long time and then I developed sever vision fatigue in both. Last week I was finally diagnosed as being infection free after months of treatments, but it went on for so long that I'll probably be having symptoms for at least another month as my body calms down.

The biggest saving grace is that I now I know I've been fighting an infection for who knows how long and got cured of it, maybe I won't get as sick all the time for a while???? ((Please🤞🤞🤞))

I started working on the art for the next chapter 2 weeks ago as the pain started fading enough that it didn't hurt to look at my art tablet. Not sure how long it will take because I keep getting vision fatigue very quickly. Patreon got to see the sketch version already. I'm practically desperate to draw and write at this point so as I'm slowly able to do so it's rushing out of me like tsunami. I have chapters 40&41 mostly done being written now too

Medical TMI for the morbidly curious :

(not a lot of details, but I wanted to hide it because I know eye stuff can be scary for people)

I learned that I had an ongoing eye infection in my eye lids and around my eye lashes for the past several years that was misdiagnosed (that doctor definitely didn't like me so I'm not surprised tbh). It only revealed the truth because my immune system couldn't keep up anymore and the infection started spreading under the skin in an extremely huge and painful way. The past several months I've been doing treatments. It was only last week that I was diagnosed as cured of both infections, but it will still be a month or more of living with the after effects. It has hurt to use my eyes and keep them open for most of the past several months. It doesn't hurt much anymore at least. I have another appointment coming up to see if the current symptoms were from the infection+ meds, or if all of this was so bad that I have glaucoma now. It runs in my family so I'm at risk. Also, it looks like I will need eye drops for the rest of my life, and developing dry eyes was most likely a big factor in why I got the first infection.

I'm so done with being sick

[iraprince]

any advice for starting sketches? once i have a coherent foundation it's easier for me to work on the drawing but i struggle SO BAD with actually making my initial sketch something that makes sense. when i try to start the sketch it feels like im just trying to get lucky with something i can actually work on. it's like i cant transfer what i want to see in my head to the actual work and it's insanely frustrating. it's like i can only know what i want to do when it's already there, not when nothing is there. ive been drawing for over 10 years and this is something I've never been able to change no matter how many different ways I've tried to go about this and it's why ive gone everywhere from drawing multiple times a week to not doing it at all for months/years at a time. i never want to try because the process of attempting a new sketch is so frustrating a majority of the time and i wish i could enjoy it or know why i cant get my sketches started. it's fine when i do get lucky, it's just the blank page that torments me

hmmm this is a really good question. it's something i have an easier time with digitally than traditionally, somehow -- like, i can't tell you how many stacks of paper i have sitting around that are full of, like, 20% of a floating head because i keep getting that far on starting something and then deciding i hate it, vs with digital sketches i do still often scrap/give up on sketches very early but somehow there's less friction irt just making a new layer and trying again, over and over pretty quickly. maybe it's that digital feels faster + more ephemeral, vs w traditional i'm faced more confrontationally with the paper i'm "wasting," etc

also i think just like. "what's in my head will not show up on the paper" is just the universal problem forever, it's the tide we're always swimming against and we'll go through waves where it feels more or less true depending on the current development of our technical skill vs our critical eye, but i don't think it ever fully goes away

this is just what's true for me but if it always feels like you're just trying to get lucky, the fastest brute force solution for that is leaning into quantity, imo. draw a LOT, draw FAST, and -- easier said than done, but -- try your best not to CARE if they look bad. even in the shittiest drawing there is often something you can salvage for later. i can't remember where i saw it but i once saw it said that drawing is like a clogged pipe -- there's a bunch of shitty drawings stuck in there and you have to get those all OUT before you can expect the real stuff behind it to start flowing

lower the stakes, in whatever way you can. in my experience, it's not that drawing itself is really that hard or taxing -- it's that the emotional toll of doing drawings and then not being happy with them is hard, it's disappointment and being down on yourself that's hard. if we do our best to strip away all the emotional baggage, that's that part that can actually make art so grueling and difficult to keep up with imo. so try the best u can to just make it, like... not that serious. remind yourself over and over again that there's nothing actually wrong with making drawings you're not satisfied with. it's not doing anything bad to anyone. i literally mumble it to myself sometimes -- when a drawing is coming out shitty or i just can't get where i want to be on an illustration i say to myself "it's okay, that's fine" and try to pump the brakes on the negative thoughts before "ugh, that's not what i wanted" somehow internally transforms into "you SUCK and you're a HACK and there's no point to ANY OF THIS!!!!" lol

in terms of more concrete stuff to try -- one of my fav exercises to loosen up is song sketches. i put a huge playlist (usually like literally all my music, i have it all in a folder on spotify) on shuffle and then draw a bunch of quick sketches only for the duration of each song, and usually trying to match the drawing to whatever the song makes me think of -- so if it's a 2 minute song, i literally only have 2 minutes. if i hit some 7 minute club edit, then great, i have 7 minutes to bang out something slightly more polished. depending on how fast you're used to working, you may find that at first you struggle to get ANYTHING coherent down in 2-3 minutes -- that's OKAY!!! another point of this exercise is to acclimate yourself to making unfinished, incoherent, dogshit drawings without it being a big deal. the point is that if you're limiting yourself this much (in terms of actual drawing time AND in terms of not being able to overthink/plan, you have to hear the start of the song and decide what ur gonna draw IMMEDIATELY), you will end up churning out a lot more drawings without individually agonizing over each one as much, and there WILL be something salvageable in the pile.

i hope some part of this is helpful!!!! good luck!!!