#Just think of this as reference of what NOT to do when drawing a character

[papermonkeyism]

Very sorry if you've talked about this before, but how much do you focus on/care about making the plantlife in your Dinosaur Project Thingy accurate for the time and place?

Asking both because I'm generally very curious, and because personally, every time I make it past my anxieties about not knowing enough about dinosaurs to be "allowed" to draw them, I run right up against "oh shoot, if I draw a grass in the background, people are going to kill me."

Having a cartoonier art style helps! If your style is photorealistic, the style is going to require more details that also make errors way more present and visible, but like, the way I draw trees for example you can't really tell if I'm drawing an aspen, an oak or a basswood, you know? It's just a leaf blob with a trunk in the middle. There's no identifying that.

Also, like 99% of my audience who follows my art follows it for creatures and characters, not plant life, and those more well versed on plants aren't as likely to care. At least nobody has come to bark at me because of it this far!

Considering the amount of actual, professional palaeoartists who basically use memes in their art, I think it's okay and fine for hobbyists and cartoonists to not know everything, right?

(Seriously, the amount of artists who draw theropods with no soft tissue around the jawline is wild! You know that classic look where the entire face splits along the skull all the way to the back of the jaw joint, and drawing that pink skin flap at the corner of the mouth? That's the jaw muscles. Why would a giant land apex predator not have skin protecting its jaw muscles? [Also, is that really what jaw muscles look like? A skin flap? Come on.] I've seen some Actual Professional Artists draw these giant cavities inside the cheek area of things like T. rex, that's where the muscles should be! Where do you think the legendary bite force -which this specific animal is known for- comes from? I mean, it works for animatronics, like in Jurassic Park, because it's hard to give soft tissue to robots that would hold up, but it's less of a thing for art, I think.)

I have a field guide book for Hell Creek formation that I'm gonna reference from when needed. Years ago I backed this kickstarter for a dinosaur video game, specifically so that I could get my hands on the book for this exact reason. It has plants section!

Few rules of thumb:

Trees Big. No, bigger!

No grass (if very late Cretaceous, then maybe grass? but research first!)

No flowers, unless Cretaceous. Might be worth googling "Cretaceous flowers" for specifics

When in doubt, ferns and/or conifers.

Also, finally, this is just me, but it can help to set yourself a "target audience" (with quotes). Personally, I'm making my project for myself and maybe a handful of people I know IRL. I only aim for the joy of these specific bunch of friends and family. Anyone beyond that is just bonus, and while I am very glad there are great many more people who do enjoy my work, it's less important than if my friends like it. And if there's one of the extra bonus people who thinks this one plant on the background of my art ruins their enjoyment of my work and me as a person, then that's a them-problem, not a me-problem, if my friend Satu still thinks the drawing is cool.

(Honestly, knowing these specific people, I wouldn't even have to be as accurate as I am, but unfortunately I did include "myself" in my target audience, so here I am.)

[these-detestable-hands]

It's been a bit since I've interacted with octopath so my stuff on these ships may be a little rusty but I'll argue for them anyway.

Castitio (Castti x Partitio)

Before the game even came out, I thought they'd be a silly couple. Lady who doesn't remember and guy bursting at the seems with kindness. I think they're got a neat dynamic, with Castti teasing him a bit but they get along and are friends. Some post canon hcs I have are that Partitio would help Castti set up an organization that produces medicine and teaches about it cause he loves her and he's got the funding anyway. Also I do think being exposed to the poison rain twice did stuff to Castti so I like to hc she's disabled post canon, being a wheelchair user due to muscle weakness, having very little lung capacity and CPTSD. Also not a disability but she has eczema-like purple splotches on her body. Sorry I needed an excuse to quickly mention my disabled Castti headcanons. While they're engaged, Partitio and Floyd work on completely renovating a house to accommodate all of Castti's needs, so like low counters she can reach while on her wheelchair, only one floor, wide doorways, blackout curtains so she can sleep during the day, etc. Castti keeps insisting that she doesn't need that much help and that she's navigating normal houses just fine but then she'd see all the accommodations in their new house and bawl for hours. She'd work less and take it easy post canon. Listen I just think they'd be a really cute couple. Castti patches up your broken arm then her husband comes in and starts cracking jokes and talking about affordable public transportation. I feel like I'm also forgetting a lot of stuff but oh well. I've got a few fics for them posted on ao3, account name: BigOrangeOnion

Ophikari (Ophilia x Hikari) (I also call them The Radiance (hollow knight reference and it makes sense for an au))

OKAY SO this ship started out as an au when the ot1 travelers were added to ot2 for that update last year. Basically, post canon, Hikari visits the arena whenever he's in Montwise. This time, he goes and there's some omega powerful warriors fighting ruthlessly and with no concern for themselves. He realizes it's because they've got some kinda of curse, similar to him with the shadow (I THINK that's what it was called).

So Hikari starts working on figuring out how to free them because their current existence seems miserable. The first he manages to free is Ophilia, by using light magic near her. The light magic makes her briefly remember who she was but it's enough for her to snap out of the mind control that she's been put under. She talks to Hikari and explains that her and her friends were mind controlled by a very weak but not quite dead Galdera, in attempts to conquer and gain more power so he could heal himself faster. So the two of them start working on freeing the other travelers together.

Along the way, they ofc fall in love. I don't remember an awful lot about them unfortunately but I implore anyone reading this to write stuff for them :]

Here's a little drawing I did of them together. I'd include Castitio drawings if I had any but I am not big on drawing ship art unfortunately.

H'aanit x Cyrus x Castti (in a QPR!!! :3)

So this is probably the one I've explored the least purely because I never really shared it with anyone. I keep it to myself because of the amount of hyper specific and sad headcanons. But basically it was an au where I'd just mix and match travelers n stuff. Like just putting different travelers in different continents with weird team compositions cause I'm a big fan of aus and crossovers.

One of the ones I liked the most is where Castti leaves Solistia by herself to explore post canon because she's not very close with the other travelers and self isolates a little. This au starts out kinda sad cause of the focus on my hcs for various characters' mental illnesses. H'aanit is initially traveling alone but Castti joins her and they're a relatively quiet but very effective and productive duo. Later, Cyrus, Olberic, Primrose and Ophilia join. They all have their problems to work through and get through them together.

Castti has to deal with self worth and realizing that she's more than just the team healer.

H'aanit has always had anxiety around losing Z'aanta, which is really bad throughout the entire story so Castti often ends up calming her down during panic attacks and they get really close because of the mutual trust there.

Idk exactly how to describe Cyrus' problems but he's really jumpy and nervous and a little bit angry all the time because of being accused of, y' know, sleeping with a student. Yeah no I never understood why Cyrus wasn't that angry about it, even when I first played the game at age 10.

I think Cyrus is just dealing with the new found rage he constantly has. He had anger management issues as a kid but worked through them and they're just now coming back cause he's been thrown out of his home and people he used to be friends with think the worst of him and he's got no one but this new friend group he hardly knows. You get it.

The story is the three of them (and Olberic, Ophilia and Prim, but this post is about ships so I'll talk about them another time) as they deal with their mental health issues. Through helping each other with these very personal problems, they become very close and eventually decide to be in a qpr together. I think they'd just live relatively quiet lives in S'warkii cause Cyrus is too upset to return to Atlasdam and Castti isn't too keen on going back to Solistia after falling head over heels in love with two people in Osterra.

I don't remember way too much for this au unfortunately. I think they should all cuddle and finally get a good night's sleep for once cause no way a single one of those bitches sleeps well with the crap they see and have experienced.

Sorry I wrote so much. Here is a little drawing based on an Olberic chapter 2 travel banter and the most important H'aanit fact.

I miss octopath yapping with people so uh yknow what! We’re gonna play a game!!

Explain in the notes what y’all’s favorite ships are and why you like them!!!

Only rules are

1) do not explain why everyone should think your ship is canon, as that is not the point of this post 2) do not put any other ships down bc that is also not the point of this post 3) ALL games are included (yes including cotc) 4) ANY SHIPS ARE ALLOWED!!! GO NUTS!!!!

[dzthenerd490]

The Malipherian Empire Reborn: Akitosu

Name: Akitosu

Gender: Trans Female

S.O.: Lesbian

Species: Human Noi-Bamc (Hybrid)

Job: Samurai/ Warrior/ 3 Star Exorcist

Class: Very Rare Class

Arsenal: The Witch Twin Katanas - two katanas forged with Elixualite metal allowing them to absorb and manipulate magical energy they come into contact with making the user the bane of any and all magic users. Furthermore the blades are coated with Elemental Soul steel, this and the Elixualite makes them able to destroy even the most powerful of demons and evil karma monsters.

Soul Flame Aura - Allows the user to coat themselves with Soul Flame, an element that enhances the user’s willpower and burns anything that tries to break them down such as distractions and enemies. Can be useful but also dangerous depending on the circumstances and thus should be used sparingly.

Create Blade Nanobots - Highly unusual ability to create microscopic nanobots that each have blades. Though they are tiny they can still cut and with a massive swarm will cause massive amounts of damage in no time.

Martial Arts - user of martial arts, is able to utilize any type and combo of the following martial arts: blade, fist, kick, Fire Style, Air Style, Steam Style.

Regeneration - allows the user to regenerate from any kind of wound, though regeneration limbs, organs, decapitation, curses, and mutated diseases are out of the question.

[howtodisappearcompletelyand]

20/10 stars little guy

[asher-more-like-trasher]

They're so gay and sad and just need to hurry up and talk about their feelings

Kremy(thinking): Okay...this is fine! Friends hold hands all the time! No one will know I-... We're just a couple of guys, partners in crime, a... a group of the two of us! ...I wonder what Gid is thinking...

Gideon(thinking): Man... I want some gumbo...Kremys been real quiet..?

[blood-starved-beast]

I don’t think the irony has much value. Or, I should say, I disagree that the irony should exist at all. Making Ionia such a sheltered, naive people who are violently brought into “modernity” by the imperialists is patronizing both to the imperialist and the imperialized. The former gets to pat itself on the back that it brought “the right way” to the “orientals” and the latter get their agency, culture, and history actively ignored in the narrative to center the primacy of the imperialists.

While I do agree there’s a Noxus bias in Riot in general (the Darius vs Zed video being the most egregious example) I disagree that’s what happening in Ionia per se, or that even a narrative centered on two sides of a conflict cannot draw comparisons or utilize irony therefore.

I disagree with the sentiment that having a different culture that doesn’t rely on industrialization is a “sheltered, naïve” culture when the lore even is explicit as to why the culture exists the way it does. It’s a land that is based on balance and any extreme measure is met in kind. There’s also the rather dicey implication in general that a culture in which there isn’t technology or certain advancements is seen as in the Western world these cultures are “primitive.” Like we’d have to go into the concept of “civilization” and “modernity” and the Western centric, white supremacist implications of the definition of what is “modern” or “civilization” vs “wild” and “nature” that “has to be controlled” and how “modern civilization is control over nature.”

I also disagree that this is happening here in Ionia. They are not throwing away their culture to literally become Noxus in another name. That certain characters such as Irelia (who literally says in game “Balance be damned, wipe them out!”) represent a new faction – which is the source of conflict in Ionia post invasion, does not reflect the entirety of Ionia itself. Heck we see balance as a discussion point in the Tales of Runeterra. If there was such as you say in the lore, this wouldn’t be a thing. Instead, Ionians would be too, trying to defeat the Land to use technology to fight Noxus. Irelia as such, refers to a certain faction emerging, and the irony comes from the fact that this comes in contrast to her guilt, and specifically how it relates to her family, and how they behaved different in contrast to Noxus, and died for it. Irelia and her faction meeting Noxus in the middle to fight them can be also said, ironically, as symbolically balance itself. Noxus behaves as such towards Ionia, Ionia and its people respond in kind. And we know Ionia had these technologies – the school of Wuju, Yasuo’s wind school, even Irelia’s style, are weaponized regardless of Noxus, or adapt very quickly. Suggests to me that balance isn’t simply about maintaining peace or wasn’t always so. (Case in point – the Rune Wars, the Titans War).

Which leads me-

The Meiji restoration is a good comparison but for the wrong reasons. The restoration was not the beginning of history for Japan like the invasion is treated for Ionia in the lore. The restoration was not some emotionally trauma response that Japanese couldn’t handle like the invasion is epicted in most of Ionia’s lore (in fact in Japan western studies were being embraced and calls for reform and rebellion against the shogunate were ongoing for decades at that point). For Ionia its history is threadbare, and its culture and identities are a bunch of orientalist, eco-primitivist caricatures that exist just to serve as a contrast to Noxus but not in a way that actually says anything particularly meaningful other than “Noxus did stuff so we’re doing stuff back at them. Isn’t this so tragic?”

The Invasion of Ionia isn’t the beginning of history for Ionia either. Even ignoring that we know a bit of history and lore about before (even Syndra exists from before then). That Riot doesn’t focus on before is a consequence of League tradition lore building – centered mostly around champions or skinlines (with the case of Spirit Blossom), and most of the champions are built around the Invasion because before Arcane/Ambessa novel, Riot when they added the champions would do so in a matter where they are latched onto the latest year of the lore. There is much to critique here, but I never got the impression this is the start of Ionia, only that Riot could do more to work on it.

Yes, you’re right about modernity and Meiji Japan; I did highlight however, that I was very much simplifying it. I do not get the impression this is Ionia’s first contact with Noxus or the outer world either either – Mel’s flashback speaks to as such, the Kirammans seem to come from there and maintain some contact – and they are not traditionally Ionian as such.

“emotional trauma response” – because they experienced a massive war where the land and people are destroyed, cities are leveled (genocides are even done with Wuju for example), people are left without much of anything, culture is lost – that they are not scarred by it? Scarred by the effects of the land? Do you expect them to get up by their bootstraps or something? Somehow not struggle with how they were before vs the things they are forced to be now, or even the factionalism as people come from a war differently – a war that was continent wide.

Imperialism has impacts, sure, but riot’s frame of view has always been to flatter the Noxus for their paragon-like propriety while stripping Ionia of competency and, most importantly, agency. Even the war itself is framed as Ionia having to become like Noxus, but not in some sense like specific technologies or tactics (which are more neutral things), rather in the basic sense of emotional steadfastness, violence, and societal development itself (see Sett’s bio and how it emphasized how “Ionians now have a bloodlust they can’t sate so they turn to Noxian fighting pits”). Ho Chi Minh was a revolutionary for decades and fought many wars, but he wasn’t ruled by traumas he experienced in such a way riot really likes to lean into for the Ionian characters.

“Stripping Ionia of competency” man what does that mean? Ionia defeated Noxus in the war – by the way the Noxus fanboys hype it, it should not be. Certain factions became more like Noxus to fight it on their terms – I think it would be worse to adapt technology that Ionia does not need or does not fit the culture in question or how the land functions – to adopt technologies from Noxus. Those are not “neutral things” Imperialism isn’t just genocide and murder or laws in control – it is also about the forced loss of the traditional culture to adapt to the new one. Which Noxus attempted with attacks such as the genocide of Wuju and failed.  “basic sense of emotional steadfastness, violence, and societal development” – yes, because the technology was not needed, and in the case with Noxus, they had to fight violence to violence.

About Sett – setting (ha) aside the possibility that with the new lore changes his arc might be pushed forward in the timeline, kids who grew in war (like Irelia) and under Noxian occupation are going to grow up with values aligning with Noxus. That is the consequence of imperialism again. You will not see someone like Irelia or Karma or Ahri or most of the available champions sitting in those seats enjoying those fights, but it’s no  

Ho Chi Minh was not the only revolutionary, nor the only one to do it a certain way. That in of itself simplifying as you ignore the history and context as to why his regime ended the way it did vs say Imperial Japan whose Imperial values metastasized into a glorification for violence that there was death poetry and atrocities such as in the Rape of Nanking were being documented in newspapers like it was some sort of sporting event. Again, I’m leaving out a lot of details but I’m saying that you too, are simplifying. China’s “road to modernity” is also different from Japan’s, or Korea’s and so forth.

Again, I do think Riot focuses way too much on factions such as the Shadow Order or even the Kinkou in general that it ignores the other factions that must exist. Including factions like Irelia’s, heck Karma’s who is meant by Riot to be the more peaceful faction. This I think we can agree is a very strong shortcoming of Riot’s and gives an impression of Ionia that isn’t representative of the nation as a whole.

Given the way that Noxus is so poignantly western coded and Ionia an orientalist and anime mess of tropes, I’m just not a fan of the way riot treats the dynamic. Depicting imperialism is fine but riot went an extra weird way and overly leaned into Ionia not as a civilization to be explored but as a collection of trauma caricatures who exist solely to be brutalized by Noxus again and again (with this plot soon to be repeated with the 2nd invasion but this time with Swain in charge so riot can make him and Noxus seem like a “morally grey” character/place).

Again, the concept of “what kind of civilization” – it is one, the culture is not modern, but it is one. I do think there is more to explore here, that Riot fails to explore it even with the tons of champions involved (why again, the centralization on the ninjas or even Yasuo an outcast vs characters such as Karma, Irelia, Syndra, and so forth??). I do not think they’re trauma caricatures, but I think we can agree to disagree.

The second invasion is kinda lame as a plot point. If Swain feels like his needs to centralize his power somehow, I feel like doing the same thing as the first time and expecting different results (especially when Ionia has changed from the first invasion) is insane. It’s also lame from a story perspective and I almost get the feeling it was done to justify why so many champions in Ionia were in one place in “Awaken” and their inability to not tie Irelia to being a defender of Ionia (which is itself another problem).

That being said, I do think there is something to think about how Riot focuses so much on Noxus and giving it nuance and trying to make it complex and such compared to other nations Ionia included. (I would argue Noxus is not fully Western - case in point Ambessa and her coding is very much Western African, which has its own histories in empire and to say that is a product of Westerners is itself racist and ignorant of history. Not saying you are doing this here, but speaking in general - just saying that West African history did not start with the Slave trade). That there is a bias for it, especially when we can see parallels between Noxus and even say the US today or various other imperialist nations is definitely something to keep in mind (especially with Riot Tryndamere and his political leanings to say the least). But I think Ionia itself has more to offer than just stereotypes and "orientalist and anime mess of tropes."

Thinking about Irelia and violence and how she both resents it and uses it as a balm for her pain. "Killing you won't bring them back, but it still felt good." She hates what she has been forced to become - something that goes against her family beliefs, but still cannot separate herself from it. There is a little part of her that enjoys it - the thousand pebbles to sink a warship line, the way she goads ppl into "dancing" with her - ie fighting. and so forth. She loathes it, but she can't help but enjoy it still.

And it's all a product of her being a soldier since she was 12. Something about the worse of one's tendencies being brought out in excruciating circumstances. And I say tendencies cause I still think of the line in Frostblade Irelia where she goes "Oh I just love the way blood pools on ice" which is just flat out unhinged, let alone violent. Not to mention her canonical anger issues, and there's always a link between anger and violence.

[ghoul--doodle]

What inspires/references do you use for your original designs? I'm always impressed with how unique each one looks!!

AUGHSSJD that’s really sweet of you to say thank you! But I unfortunately don’t really have any sort of process for my designs they sorta just

Appear???

Like genuinely I just

A guy pops into my brain and I have to draw them

I’m basically just coping directly what I can see in my mind’s eye- and I have no idea how my brain spawns these ideas they Just Happen

I get such a vivid picture sometimes that I don’t know what’s caused it or what’s inspired it I JUST have to draw the new cool dude who rotates in my brain

[bacchuschucklefuck]

as an artist who just wants to get to drawing the pretty clothes and is terrible at posing i am forever enamoured by your poses..... they have so much energy and movement!!!

was this via art study, a general knack for anatomy or do you just enjoy posing specifically? and do you have any tips?

(i was just wondering bc your pose work is always so dynamic :D (your lighting also slaps /pos))

this is one case where it's a secret fourth thing lol. I have never successfully studied a single thing in my life, I am not at all a naturally "gifted" artist (and as well I reject the idea altogether), and posing has never jumped out to me as its own task in drawing at all! the way I do anything art-related, and posing specifically, is a lot more mechanistic than how it's perceived I think; I've just assumed this came as a function of how narrative-forward I see art, and how much I focus on comic work.

what folks talk about as "posing" I usually think of in two terms: composition and character acting. composition is how the figures fit into the intended frame, and character acting is the actual motion that'll be portrayed. you can see how that logically works itself out! there are more words than stars in the sky written about composition already, I honestly don't think there's anything I can say that'd be more useful than words from artists like thomas romain. character acting is itself more a matter of writing than visual art to me; you've got a guy and they probably do things, you draw them do those things, that's really it. the rest of it is just, figuring out weights and accenting in a scene, shape language, line flow, discipline-specific stuff like that; since no matter what I'm drawing I always mentally think of it as a comic thing, I usually try to insist on the strong points of that medium, one of which is colloquializing shapes to imply the entirety of a movement through a single panel. I don't always succeed at this! I hope to do better in the future. but it's how I approach this matter.

I think sitting down with your art to think about like, how you're approaching it and what you're in it for would help with troubleshooting a lot of the times. it's helped me before! I'm a completely hedonistic artist, I don't draw what I don't want to draw. what is it exactly about posing that's giving you a hard time? is it something you can do without? usually it is. if it's the thinking up a pose part, you can copy poses from high fashion magazines and sewing pattern models and just photos you find. if it's the fitting a pose into a nice looking complete picture part, don't make it a nice looking complete picture, do it sketchbook style, collage a buncha stuff together. if you never want to think about posing ever again, that's what stock bases are for! make urself some or get some from an artist and just draw the nice clothes.

if ur committed to figuring out posing and wanna ease urself into it, I find prompt lists are pretty good for giving ur brain a ground to build on top of and start asking questions. it's also a good exercise to sit down before drawing a thing to ask urself what u want it to be like, genre-wise: is it gonna be a comic cover, or a family photo, or a professional photoshoot, etc. these things have their own visual languages, and keeping that in mind will direct u on how to frame and choose the movements for ur piece. or, if that's overwhelming, drawing characters running is always good! there's plenty of character acting involved in there, it shows off the physicality of the clothes nicely, and it's decently easy to frame.

(I am similarly mechanistic about pretty much every other aspect of drawing lol, lighting/shading included. fully a case of "if it looks alright I put it in, if it doesn't I don't do it". I still struggle with it every time I do colors, but what can ya do. if the piece asks for it that's what it'll get. thank you very much for the nice ask!)

[jacketpotatoo]

Hey @thehomelybadger , thank you for breaking my heart

[sskk-manifesto]

--

[sysig]

He’s my little meow meow, my darling, my bbygirl (Patreon)

[sweetandglovelyart]

Knightfall in Dream Land - Page 4

Meta Knight shares what it was like to grow up being raised by Nightmare.

[averlym]

,,, little lemmings in line...

[hydrossity-zone]

lookijg back on my art progress on this blog in reverse is honestly DISGUSTING what was I DOING back then. so weird seeing the changes over time how did I get better at rendering so fast last year how did I go from everything looking like its covered in vaseline in April-June to having actual Texture and subsurface scattering and ambient light and shadows just a couple months later.

Dont get me started on 2023 I was flopping around so bad from transitioning from using FireAlpaca as my primary program to csp (I still miss the simplicity of FA but oh my god I needed the more expansive brush engine so bad. Though I definitely prefer a lot of FireAlpaca’s features over their counterparts/equivalents in clip studio) <- has been happily married to FireAlpaca for almost 8 years

[princesjackpot]

One of the hardest parts of art for me is keeping the facial structure consistent - so that's definitely something I'm going to work on this year.

[spagheddiesquash]

oooh theyre looking at u… furrowing their brows…. im sorry that expression is like my own dreamworks face its just really fun to draw. drew this bc i wanted to test out these cool free procreate brushes that i found on pinterest.

EDIT. reblogs >>> likes!! if u like it pls reblog so more ppl see it tyyyy