#Medibang didn't like this piece for some reason

[a-noah-nova]

Merry holidays to all who are affected

[ren-c-leyn]

Ren, random question about your awesome art - how do you draw those digital drawings and what does the process of learning drawing entail? I have never learned or tried so it's a mystery and I'm quite amazed of what people can do with digital drawings these days. @writingonesdreams

Perfect timing with the question XD I just popped in while taking a break from Silver's intro art.

So, it's important to note that I started art back when I was a little kid, because a lot of my relatives were really into art too. I started out with horses, and kinda branched out from there. Then I quit for like a decade, forgot a large chunk of what child me scribbled her heart out learning, and have only just recently started back into it. All to say, I don't remember where I learned everything I learned and use in my art or how, but I distinctly remember the change from traditionally art (I mostly used charcoal and pencils before this) to digital art, because it was painful and hands became 900 times harder for me than they were before XD

My lovely writing partner is the one that encouraged me to give digital art a try, after I complained about my printer not scanning anything properly and wanting to do art for The Dragon's Crown, and my first piece was a guinea pig I doodled on paint. Not a good guinea pig, mind you. He looked more like an alien, so I painted him teal and gave him an antenna. I don't remember if we named him or not, but that was it. That mutant, alien guinea pig was the beginning of my digital art journey. It was absolutely not at all what I wanted, but it was fun and I don't think I'm going to forget it anytime soon.

On Soren's recommendation, I downloaded medibang paint, it's a free to use program with a decent selection of tools and settings. It also gets updates every so often, too. I'm still learning it myself, but I think I'm finally getting the hang of it.

How I go about my digital drawing is first try to settle on a pose that 1 fits the character and 2 is reasonably within my skill range. I will pick ones that feel a bit out of my depth just to push myself. Then, I start with the head before working my way down. What comes next depends on the pose. Sometimes it's easier to do the torso and hips. Sometimes you need to do the legs first. Sometimes it's the arms.

When the body outline is done, I make several new layers. I then do the facial lines on the next one up, the hair lines above that, and then move onto the clothing lines. I'll erase any lines that are now hidden, merge them into one layer, and then move onto a clipping layer, using a bright, annoying color that I know will not be used in the rest of the piece. My personal fav colors for this are neon green, burn your eyes out yellow, or neon pink. But, really, anything you can clearly see when it isn't fully covered will work. A clipping layer is like a sturdy fence. Colors cannot show up outside of a clipping layer no matter how badly you mess up, and it is glorious. I do have to go back and adjust the clipping layer from time to time, but it's a lot easier to do that than go back and adjust all of the other color layers 500 times while working on it XD

Then, I move onto flat colors. Just the base tone of every part. I keep these on separate layers to make coloring easier. Like if I have a cloak, it's easiest to go back of cloak layer, skintone layer over it, normal clothes layer, then belts and front of cloak layer. You do still have to watch the upper layers covering more of the lower layers than you want, but it's overall a lot easier than when I was putting it all on the same layer and having them blend together. From there, I move onto shading and highlighting. Both have their own layer, and I turn down the opacity to roughly 60% and make them overlays so they blend with the colors below them. Some people use the multiply layer setting instead. It didn't work for me, but there's lots of options you can play with depending on your style. I play with the colors until I'm happy with them and then it's ready to go.

As for how I learned, it's pretty much how I learned to write, really. I kept practicing and mimicking styles until I started to build my own. It was rough in the beginning, but I as started to figure out how to do the things I wanted, it started to get a bit easier. For every piece I post here on tumblr, there's several practice pieces that will never see the light of day. A lot of my practice art pieces are actually @sorenfarwalker's OCs that she was kind enough to let me play with for the sake of learning, since I rarely have a solid idea of what my characters look like and hers always have good references and fun personalities. It's been a big help having that pressure free environment to draw characters, and then I could give them to her for feedback.

There are things to help make it go smoother, though. There's many pose references, art tutorials, and the like you can find on the internet. Not all of them will work for you, I know I had a heck of a time trying to find a method that worked for drawing braids for me, but they'll at least give you an idea of where to start.

A few tricks that worked for me -

Visual references - It can be helpful to have a visual representation of what you're trying to do to look at. Like, if you're trying to draw a horse, looking at different photos or other drawings of horses will give you a good idea of what shape goes where and can help you troubleshoot if something doesn't look right in your lines, but you aren't sure what or where.

The 's' curve - This is a trick I learned back when I was working with traditional mediums that works well in visual art too. If you draw a sort of shallow s shape to represent your humanoid character's spine, it'll help a lot with torso and hip alignment, particularly if you're trying to draw them at an odd angle.

Coloring - Generally you don't want to shade with the same color you're working with. For example, reds pop more when you shade them with purple than if you shade them with a darker red. I shaded Kitan's blonde hair with a shade of lavender purple. Reuven's scale bracers were shaded with a dark purple and highlighted with bright oranges and pinks. It just gives the color a richer tone. There are exceptions, though. You're lighting may be an odd color, you may want a flatter color, sometimes shading with a different color changes the color too much. So, it's a general rule, but break it as you please.

Brush correction - A lot of art programs, including medibang, have a correction setting. This will help reduce wobbles in your lines, which is particularly helpful for me since I'm using a mouse. The trade off is, drawing lines goes slower since it's processing your lines, and sometimes you need to fight with it to get the wobbles you want, like the fur trim in Silver's cloak. So, find a setting of it that works for you. I run with correction 40, but do change it around depending on what I'm doing.

The sharp pen - I don't know if this tool is in every art program or if it has the same name in them all, but it is my most used tool, hands down. I use the sharp pen tool for a lot of my lines, and even some of my shading. It thins out and comes to a point at both ends of your line, which is particularly useful for things like the hair and the embroidered roses I did on Kitan's shirt.

Label your layers - You'll want to keep different parts of your art on different layers for your own sanity's sake, and when you do, label them. Name them. Name them all. You will not remember which one is which and it has caused me so much grief in the past XD

And I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of them right off the top of my head.

So, yeah, that's it. There's my process. It may look different for you if you decide to give it a try, and that's normal. Every artist has their own way of doing things and their own style.

Thank you, as always, for dropping by with the ask. It was fun to kind of think back on my art journey and try to figure out how I got here. If you have more random questions, feel free to drop in anytime <3

[borntobewinterbyjessieb]

Winter Ruins

               -Peggy's POV-

I was so happy to see them back safe and sound. However some needed medical attention, and others needed more rest than anything else. I saw Steve leading the men, and Sergeant Barnes at his side. I could feel my smile widen when Steve looked up at me. A smile graced his features as well.

Most of the 107th infantry had come back, but their was one particular person I was looking for.

Darcy.

Steve came up to me grinning from ear to ear. Barnes coming right behind him.

'So this was the man Darcy said she had a Soul Bond with.'

"Hello Captain." I smiled. "Sergeant Barnes" I nodded in his direction.

"Ma'am" Barnes nodded back.

"Peggy." Steve acknowledged.

"Where is Darcy? I don't see her anywhere." I whispered to Steve not knowing if Sergeant Barnes knew of the current situation with her.

"She... She was shot and refused to let me carry her back to base. I argued with her until a grenade was thrown overhead. It didn't hit us but it was a close call." He said grimly.

"Does Sergeant Barnes know of the current situation? Of Darcy's disposition?" I whispered so that only he could hear me.

"Yes. He does. He is still having a hard time processing the information, unfortunately." Steve said looking at Barnes out of the corner of his eye.

"How do you feel about this Sergeant?" I asked aloud.

"Umm well... I'm still confused about the whole ordeal but she was very brave, and she did what she did for her country. I have to say that takes guts, for a woman." He said, after a moment his eyes widened, "Not that I'm insinuating anything! I meant no offense by that!"

I silently laughed. "None taken Barnes, Now to the medical tent, Soldiers!" I saluted them.

"Yes ma'am!" They responded before turning to do as I had ordered.

I couldn't stop thinking about Darcy. What had happened and if she was okay. I knew something was wrong. Yes, there was the obvious reason, that Darcy hadn't come back with the two. But there was something else as if it were pulling at the back of my mind.

There were sudden images coming to my mind and I couldn't decipher them. It was like a Code I couldn't break.

-the images-

Snow covered the ground.

Smoke filled the air.

Fire was everywhere.

No one to be found.

A white wolf walked through the fire.

The wolf's eyes had lost their original color. The irises of its eyes, were full of darkness.

They looked almost Demonic. When the wolf had made its way to the forest surrounding it. It howled, and it's eyes went back to normal.

It ran for miles.

Then collapsed from exhaustion.

Not before marking its surroundings with a hidden message.

-end of images-

I had returned to reality and found the Colonel standing in front of me. He seemed to be yelling at me and barking orders.

But the hidden message from those images were taking all of my focus.

I tried to remember the hidden message specifically, but I came up empty-handed.

-Darcy's POV-

I had just sent an encrypted message to Peggy along with images. Hopefully she figured it out in time. I had made a circle around me with magic I hadn't known I possessed. It was written in old runes.

(A/N: I used the app MediBang and google images to put this together. The Runes are supposed to be carved in the trees and Darcy is passed out in the center of it! Just to let you know! Please don't use this elsewhere and if you do, make sure to give credit where credit is due! Plz and Thx!)

All I knew was the feeling of complete and utter exhaustion. The feeling of being powerless. I knew that if someone didn't get my message, I would not last long. I used the last of my strength to let out an ear-piercing howl. Hoping, pleading, praying that anyone or wolf would hear me and somehow be able to help.

Maybe my brother, although it's been a few years since I last saw him, would come find me. Maybe Peggy could decipher my message. Maybe just maybe I'd die... alone... here in the cold of winter. I soon felt tiredness tug at my eyes. I sighed once more as I let my eyes drift closed.

-Bucky's POV-

That girl. Darcy. I couldn't get her out of my mind. Her begging us to leave her, to save ourselves. Her telling us to go, that she'd find her way back to us.

But I also knew what Hydra was capable of. Seeing as how Dr. Zola... he.. he did something to me. Something I can't explain. But with just that little dosage of Hydra's capabilities, I knew they'd be one hell of an opponent.

How did I explain to Steve what had happened in Zola's lab? Was I some sort of experiment? I just know that whatever happened, I won't let it change who I am. Steve, well.... he was another topic my mind wouldn't let go.

Steve had become Captain America now, he wasn't the small asthmatic kid from Brooklyn anymore. Always getting into fights and getting his ass handed to him.

Well he was still getting into fights and coming from Brooklyn. But the thing is, he no longer needs me. He no longer needs me to save his behind, for me to introduce him to the ladies, he didn't need my help and he certainly didn't need me.

Steve and I had been best friends since elementary school. We had each other's backs, as much as we could due to Steve and his asthma. He was like my kid brother, y'know? My sister might have even had a slight crush on him. Not that she'd ever admit it. Rebecca was always so girly though. I knew she'd be good for him but Steve just refused to be with hardly any of the ladies I'd introduced him to. He was blind to my sister and eventually Rebecca was forced to move on.

But again even after all the things that are on my mind, it all comes back to her. Darcy. The one girl who had made my heart pound out of my chest the very first time I laid eyes on her.

And now that I think about it, she had personality that's for sure. Even as a wolf she was protective of Steve and I. She was the type to fight first, ask questions later. When it came to her friends and family. But the one thing I couldn't figure out was, why did she fight her own family over Steve? Especially when her family is her pack. Aren't wolves supposed to stick with the pack and follow their alpha?

If so, why did she go against them? For Steve? What had happened in that time space for her to have gotten so protective of Steve. Not to mention she came to his rescue when that punk had been beating Steve up.

We were currently in the medical tent, my thoughts had consumed me so thoroughly that I hadn't heard a word Steve had said.

"Hello? Buck? You in there?" Steve said moving his hand back and forth in front of my face.

"What punk?"

"You spaced out on me there Bud."

"What were you saying Steve?"

"Just that, I feel like we shouldn't have left her. I should have carried Darcy. I mean it was my fault she was there in the first place." Steve sighed running a hand through his hair.

"Me too punk, me too. Even though I was mainly focused on getting you outta there. I still feel bad." I hugged looking at my hands, all the while fumbling them.

Just then Agent Carter came in the tent in a hurry. She looked shaken up and out of it.

"Can we help you ma'am?" I asked her.

"Yes, in fact you can. Both of you. What say you, to another rescue mission?"

Steve smiled and said, "when do we leave?"

"Now. It's more of a retrieve, than a rescue, but if we wait any longer we may have to rescue her." She said smirking back at us as she walked ahead, exiting the tent with us following her trail.

We arrived at Starks personal tent.

"Stark! A word if you please!" She said outside of his tent.

"What? What is it?" He said coming out with shaving cream on his face and a razor blade in his hand.

"We need two of your best snowmobiles."

"And why is that?"

"Don't you notice anyone missing from the group?" She asked gesturing to herself, Steve, Stark, and I.

"Umm no?"

"Darcy didn't come back with them! We know her location but we have to get there quick. Chances are, soon we won't be the only ones to know her location. And if she gets in the hands of Hydra, do you want that on your shoulders?!" She huffed in annoyance.

"Oh uh right away, Agent Carter." He went back into his tent, and came back wearing a shirt and the shaving cream having disappeared.

He led us to a cartel of snowmobiles.

He picked out two of his finest and gave us the keys. Agent Carter Keyed in The coordinates of Darcy's location and soon after we were ready to go.

"Be careful soldiers. And come back in one piece, understood?" She asked mainly looking at Steve.

"Yes ma'am." I nodded with my signature smirk.

Good for you Steve, good for you! My best friend's finally got himself a girl.

"Will do Peggy, will do!" Steve said and with that we were off.

Speeding through the brisk cold air, making our way to our destination. I must admit I'm still quite angry at Darcy for lying to me about who she is. But that's no reason to ignore her safety. However she had her reason for not sharing who she truly was. My mind can't help but recall the first time we met all those years ago. She had saved Steve from a beating and taken it for him. Thankfully she only came out with a cut paw. It also explains why she was so tame and seemingly domesticated. I still didn't like her, but I do understand her reasoning.

Something must have happened for Steve to feel so close to her this much. Yeah she saved his ass a couple of times but that didn't seem to be why they were so close. I just don't understand. Steve refused to tell me anything about her other than what I already know. He said that she would tell me once we got her back.

"Bucky, you go right, I go left. We circle around to make sure we don't have incoming. Then you check on her and load her up. While I keep the perimeter!" Steve yelled over the engines of the snowmobiles.

"Gotcha! Don't do anything stupid!"

"Notta chance!" He called back.

We then split up and went different directions. I circled the perimeter once, twice, three times before I stopped the engine. And approached the area. It was a snowy clearing surrounded by trees. There were small corner stones in the shape of a circle. The trees around it corresponding with the stones. Each one having a different symbol on it. I carefully entered the runed circle of stones. I immediately felt a soft pain pulling at my skull. Images, flashes, of things I couldn't comprehend.

I saw a little girl with brown hair and beautiful forest green eyes. She was running in a forest, laughing as if she were being chased. I heard another laugh. This one sounding like a young boy. Suddenly the perspective changes. I'm seeing through her eyes. It's a young boy looking to be a few years younger than her.

"Come on Nate! Catch me if you can!" She laughed looking back briefly before turning back around continuing her run.

"I'm gonna get you Ray!" The little boy laughed.

Then the scenery changed. They were a couple years older now. Another child had joined them. She had red orange hair and hazel/blue eyes. She had a few freckles here and there. The mood of the scene was grim.

"I just can't believe it. Darcy.... she's gone... she's not coming back." Said the red head.

"Iris don't say that we don't know for sure if she's dead!" The boy said.

"DONT YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?! DONT YOU THINK I KNOW THAT AUNT MAGGIE ISNT COMING BACK!" Darcy yelled at them, tears bursting through her eyes.

The girl had opened her mouth to speak but the scene changes once more.

Now there she was, a teenager, Darcy standing on a hill overlooking a town that had been set ablaze. Her brother Nate, putting his hand on her shoulder.

"There's nothing you could have done. You didn't know..."

"I may not have known what I was capable of, but it was still I, who did it..." she said over her shoulder as she looked back to the town. Tears streaming down her cheeks as the town was burning and smoke filled the air.

The girl she had called Iris came into view and said, "Come on Darcy, you didn't know... you were scared. That man was going to... to... hurt you. You couldn't have known that a scream would cause such destruction......"

Iris hugged her from behind.

The scene changed again and Darcy was walking down what seemed to be the streets of Brooklyn. She was an adult now and she seemed to be looking for someone. The sound of grunts and smacks could be heard from a back alley nearby. She has decided to go investigate. She saw Steve getting his ass handed to him. She huffed and shook her head.

She then shifted and began stalking her way to the alley. She came out of the shadows and scared the guy off. It was like I could hear her thoughts.

She looked into Steve's eyes. And something happened. It looked like a streak of electricity had tethered her heart to Steve. Like some kind of bond. Then she saw me come out and into the alley. She growled at me. And then she looked into my eyes. She immediately stopped and just stared. There seemed to be good flecks of dust beginning to swirl around us as I came closer. It was like only she could see it. The stars seemed to reflect in my eyes. As she gazed into them.

Her heart began shining gold as I got as close to her as I could. Her mind seemed to connect two and two. As two thoughts ran through her mind. She had just cast a shadow and found her light-haven at the same time.

I had come back to reality with a sharp gasp, still trying to decipher what had just happened. I heard soft winters coming from her. I soon went back to the task at hand. Getting Darcy out of there and into safety.

I lifted her into my arms carefully. And placed her in my lap between me and the snowmobile. I signaled to Steve that we were ready to head out. He signaled back saying 'copy that'.

I smiled as I saw her tail wag slightly at being in my lap, as we left behind those Winter Ruins....