#Something I never draw bc I’m bad at anatomy lol

[inumbrapugnabimus-maybe]

evil artstyle challenge part 3!

Parts 1. and 2

[stephofromcabin12]

Any art tips for artists just starting out? I’m struggling big time to find my style 😀

Sure.

It got kinda long. Bc when have I ever been a person of few words?

There is no trick to finding your style other than drawing a lot, and setting a, more or less, loose goal. When I was young it was old school Disney and Don Bluth. That was my holy grail, ideal style. But it evolved to be something else, because that's how style works. You'll put your own twist on things, in time. But first focus on practicing and don't narrow yourself down to just one thing. You'll also probably develop multiple styles out of convenience. Sometimes I prefer the cartoony, simpified stuff. Sometimes I'm more into fully rendered pieces.

Experiment. Make bad art a lot. The more you expose yourself to the inherent let-down of sucking at something, the less it stings. The key is asking yourself why something didn't turn out right.

You can't get good at All Art at once. Start with something you're most interested in learning. Maybe it's anatomy, or gestures, or expressions, or colors. Start with that one thing and practice is with a specific goal in mind. Fx: "I want to get better at drawing faces and expressions, so I'm going to do an expression sheet of a character once a week, and do a little practice every day if I can" – That sorta thing. Everyone is different, though. My old music teacher used to say 30 minutes a day. If we couldn't do 30; 15 mins. So on. As long as you do a lil doodling every day that's still progress.

Learning art is sometimes frustratingly non-linear. Somedays I still 'forget' how to draw a certain thing I've had down since I was 14. Other days I bang out something I've always struggled with on the first try, then fail the next day. It's not a linear progression, it's a damn roller coaster. Best you can do is throw your hands up and try to enjoy the ride. The pipe line for me is usually: First attempt (sucks ass but I've learned to laugh at this stage, just throw ideas at the wall) -> getting comfortable (this is where you think to yourself you have a concept down but you really don't) -> Getting good (you start to draw with more ease, you're not having to 'remember' how you wanted something to look, it's just muscle memory by now) -> Actually having it down (and still having more growth to go. But this is where you get to look back on the comfortable phase and go: 'wow I really had a long way to go')

In fact, having fun is by far the thing that's made me progress. More than tutorials, more than fancy equipment. If I'm not having fun, I have no motivation to keep going. If it's not fun, try and make it so.

Get into the habit of stepping back (whether physically or more metaphorically) and really looking at your art often while you draw. When you add a line, or color, or background element etc. Ask yourself "Does this work?" And adjust accordingly. It seems like a lot of work at first, but eventually it becomes a natural part of the process. I don't really realise I'm doing it but most of the patreon screen recordings I have show the way I zoom in and out of the canvas constantly lol.

Make the things you want to make. Even the most self-indulgent stuff. We have a million artists already doing their thing, but we don't have you yet. Show us what you got! There's room for everything.

Get used to people expressing mild envy/annoyance when you're drawing near them. I've gotten the 'wow I wish I could draw, I can't even do a stick figure!' comment from waitresses, cabin crews, classmates I'd previously never spoken to, teachers, strangers on trainstations, etc etc etc. But! Learn to say 'Thank you' when people compliment your art.

Don't ask for critique if you don't really want it. Don't let people critique you if you didn't ask for it.

You! Don't! Need! Fancy! Equipment! Save your money and get the version of a medium that's affordable and comfortable for you. Look at Stardew Valley's creator's old setup. It's really not about how the tools are set up or the price of them. It's how you make use of them. Didn't FNAF's creator build the models in a moving car on a laptop?

Art takes time. There is no short cut to make it take less time. But the more fun you have the more it'll feel like it's faster. If you're miserable the time will drag on and on and on.

Look at a lot of art. Take in and analyse. I wish I could go back a few years and tell myself to analyse paintings I liked, rather than just going "Oh I like that! Nice!" and then moving on. Why is it good? Why does it move you? What captured your attention? Be the person at a museum leaning forwards to see the paintstrokes, you learn more that way.

Don't feel ashamed if you want to take inspiration from others. Everyone takes inspiration from somewhere. If you see something cool another artist is doing with their rendering or lighting or whatever, try and do a drawing or two emulating it! Maybe you'll discover a new favorite technique, or you'll not really jam with it. Either is good. Both teach you something.

You'll go through more eras than Taylor Swift. Sometimes you gotta do a lil Eras Tour of your own and go back through the catalogue. I'm currently working on reviving several projects I made when I was 13-14. Keep everything. Don't delete; archive.

Get good storage. Like, seriously, wish for a harddrive your next birthday or christmas or whatever. If you're working traditionally wish for some good ringbinders and the good plastic sleeves. Much nicer than running out of storage and having to delete things. Never delete!

You are already an artist. You became one the second you picked up a pen and put it to paper, and then decided to keep going with that. So don't compare yourself. When you find yourself jealous of someone, it's because they have something you want. Figure out what it is, and make it for yourself.

Deadass? Tracing helps so much with learning forms. But it's only helpful when you also practice drawing the same things freehand.

The trick to coloring is just that everything looks good shaded with purple set to multiply, and that if you're ever in doubt go in an L shape on color wheel. Down in brightness, inwards in saturation.

People who say you can never use white or black in drawings are jerks and you should not listen to them. You can do literally everything you want. Sure, experiment with other ways of using white and black. But art advice is just that: It's an option, not gospel. As a wise prophet of our time, Justin Bieber, once said: Never say never.

People will say you should be your own biggest critic. But fuck that. Be your own biggest cheerleader. Love what you make, even when you hate it, find something that works. That stepping back I mentioned in point 6? Sometimes that's zooming out and saying "Damn! That looks really good!" – People will often make art out to be something that should be suffering and painstaking. It's not though. In my honest experience, I've made just as much good art when I was happy and content, as I did when I had severe depression and anxiety and burnout. You're not an artist because you suffer. You're an artist because you can't just sit in that suffering all the time. You know there's beauty besides your pain, and so you'll remind yourself in the act of creation that there is always something more.

Once you realise you have the power to draw truly anything, you'll start having a lot more fun. "Oh but I've never done it before" or "Oh I tried and it just didn't work" Okay. So?

In case of frustration to the point of throwing your art supplies out the window: Take a breath. Go for a walk. Sometimes it's just not your day. Sometimes the rollercoaster gets stuck in the middle of a loop or right at the top of a hill. Wait it out. Try again.

You have absolutely got this. Let me know if there's anything else I can help with.

[celestie0]

Girl I was balls deep in my attempt to make fanart for u a couple months ago

Like I had the reference pictures collated and I sat my ass down and picked up an pencil with the intention of actually drawing something after ages

cause basically I became a lil sad cause I felt like I forgot to draw bc last year in school I took an external art subject and it didn’t occur to me that doing a hands on subject through distance study wasn’t the brightest idea

anyway that fucked me over and led to me dropping and taking up fucking legal studies 😭

Even though I’m a bit more STEM based I can still fw the wordy subjects but not this someone pls save me why am I being assessed on the bi cameral structure of parliament

saur yh I’m super lazy as is with anything so that situation just put me off drawing and art completely

congrats to me setting every world record for yip yapping and going off track

ummm yh for context it was like my 10th read through of the kickoff chapter 6 scene that compelled me to collate a bunch of reference pics that ranged from twitter smut comics to bathroom sinks and eventually I gave up because anatomy is a bitch

I changed into a dress with the same type of neckline I think reader was wearing bc of the way it tucks under her boobies and I was this close to just shamelessly positioning myself in front of the mirror to make my own references

then ofc I got distracted by a half baked portrait of Rose from titanic that I drew when I was like 15 and ended up drawing a two hour long remake of the same picture

only for my friend to tell me it looks like Mary Shelly’s ghost

Should I know who that is

To be fair it looked nothing like her but I mean it was an improvement from thinking all my ability just went poof and I drew better when I was 15

never the less I was somewhat disappointed with the product and I haven’t drawn since

wait I wanna show u actually lemme try

https://share.icloud.com/photos/0edTRG9Tb54pRh9Qe5unszRrg

the Mary Shelly in question

do these links work I’m scared I’m gonna accidentally leak personal details or my whole camera roll lol

also IM NOT AN ARTIST don’t judge me peeps I’m just a girl idek how to drive yet

I feel bad every time I send an ask I feel like I’m force feeding u Ellie babes u have the patience and commitment of a saint

also OMG IF YOU MADE ART FOR ANY OF MY FICS I’D SOB!!!!

I want to 😞🫶 but alas prospect of fanart from me will most likely never see the light of day

that crack scene in ihm was tempting tho everything u write is just so visual

♥️ mwah my gorgeous gorgeous writer wifey

hellooo my dear PLS the ramble of this ask is legendary and i found it very entertaining xD

ouuu the dress that reader wears in ch6 of kickoff is actually based on a dress that i own, here's some pictures of it!! i'm curious if the dress you have is similar!! but yea this is the official outfit reference hahah

looking at it now it's kind of a mild sweetheart neckline lol n yea def tucks under the boobs very nicely xd i was actually gonna sell it on depop a couple months ago when i did a closet cleanout but i was like nahhh i gotta keep it bc it inspired that scene

taking your OWN reference pictures sounds so badass. and its ok babe it's the thought that counts haha <3 i feel u about the losing passion/talent in art thooo aaa i used to draw too but ehh hobbies fizzle

ahh i can't see the cloud photos :(( but anywho thanks for the yap my dear!! i ate it up. also side note but i'm so glad my writing comes off visual to you!! i always worry there's not enough description in my scenes so that's reassuring to hear. much love!

[nightroo]

I’m procrastinating working on the next chapter of my comic by... sketching the main characters lol

Their anatomy is kinda off bc I didn’t sketch before “lineart”. Also on Abigail I added the legs after I finished the torso completely... I do love how their faces ended up looking. They both look very serious and cool.

I also ironed out a style for flowing fabric when I drew Abe. There’s going to be a type of entity that has a lot of fabric like that, and I didn’t really know how to make it interesting up until now. From Shep’s drawing I found a way to render liquid that makes it look magical. The liquid on their hand was supposed to be water but I... don’t know how to render water in this style lmao so I winged it and it looks nice so I kept it I would also like to apologize for disappearing, both from my blog and my comic. I have a lot of things to figure out with uni (finding a good place to stay at is hell, literally all the websites are fucking broken in some way) and that stuff is time sensitive so it takes priority. I’ve been working on the next chapter and I’m at the final stages (just backgrounds left). In general I aim to post once a month, and whenever I miss a month I feel really bad, but I need to remember that I have about a million other things I do, and the style I use for the comic is pretty detailed. I don’t want to rush it. It will take years to finish, but I’m content with that. I don’t talk about it much but (and here’s a trigger warning for suicidal thoughts)

I’ve been suicidal for a very long time now. Death is both something I’m afraid of and find comfort in. I’m afraid that I will leave nothing behind me, and be forgotten. That my death won’t have an effect on anyone. I started really getting into art when my mental illnesses got worse, and when I felt like every day is the same, and it’s not worth it for me to keep going, I told myself “there is no one out there that will tell the stories in your mind. You must keep going.�� and I kept going. And I’m at a better place, with people I care about and who care back. I have more reasons to go on now, but I will always remember the story that made me keep on fighting. And I still fight, and sometimes lose, but I won’t let the fucking illness in my head win.

I uh... don’t know why I started talking about this. I think I just wanted to say it here since I use this blog as a sort of journal, a record of my process. Maybe I wanted to leave this for when I’m gone. One amazing thing about being an artist is that you leave so much behind you when you die.

To know that I leave something behind makes death less scary. For better or for worse, considering I’m still suicidal maybe I should be more afraid of death lmao

Alright enough depressing shit. Probably shouldn’t post this online for everyone to see but it’s not as if I never talked about this lol.

[b4kuch1n]

your approach to art gives me tremendous comfort. i was always shit at art, but i kept drawing and drawing and now im pretty satisfied with how i draw, but i always hear stuff about "style theft" and "references is cheating",,,,and youre my favourite artist on tumblr atm, so like all your advice to those anons made me feel so at peace. you're so cool dude im glad i found your swsh art.

I’m very glad! this was honestly also kind of my journey with art for a hot minute? in like late middle school to first year in book school. I started using the internet right around the start of that and was embroiled somewhat in the viet art communities on facebook. I can’t judge how they’re doing now bc I check facebook like once a month lmao, but when I just got in it was. bad. for me. it was incredibly restrictive, everyone nitpicked each other’s anatomy stuff and almost nothing else, and you just. never receive any feedback on for example composition or color use or character design. some big names dominated the groups, and they were kinda set as the standard for the rest of us clownlings, and they all have the same vibe of “anime” style. 

I got out of that pretty quickly because by nature I don’t like hearing people tear into stuff I make lol, but it did have the side effect of pushing me out of the popular “anime” art style at the time (a whole tangent about that here but let’s skip), and after a while basically just making stuff for myself I realized that there really was no boogeyman in my drawing room. it’s frustrating staring at something you made and finding it not to your standards, but it’s also very very comforting to know, for sure, that those are your standards. and the noises only come in through the screen on your desk, and when you shut that off they disappear and that didn’t affect your actual real world at all. 

now of course this couldn’t apply to professional artists fully; when you make an art product you have to appeal to customers. you have to listen to them, that’s part of the transaction. but I think it’s very important that beginner artists have the chance and the environment to own their art like I got to, and to make the transition into professional work at their leisure. because genuinely I only kept drawing for this long because I got that chance, to learn that you can, are allowed to do whatever you want with your art. that words out there are guides and not rules. without learning that at age 14 I wouldn’t be drawing now. 

and to folks who worry about an audience; I don’t have papers and stuff on hand so I’m not pulling any concrete conclusion from it, but I have the admittedly anecdotal experience of definitely not fitting the mould of a “marketable” art style, absolutely not self-promoting in any way that makes a difference or at all, being basically tech-blind and googling only the utmost basic, having no art education background (I have sat in more music classes than drawing classes and that number is two) and no connection in professional art world irl or online, and somehow here you are. reading this. very possibly because you saw my art and liked it enough to follow. and I have the comfort of knowing that it’s been a stable connection, because I hop fandoms faster than TOS hops plotlines, as well as that if I actually tried to chase an audience it would end up worse because I am very very clumsy with my words, can’t keep a schedule if my life depends on it, and has the confidence of a sad snail. I know that I am very lucky to have the reach I do now, but I also know that every inch of the process itself has been rewarding. can’t speak for you on this of course, but. yknow. there’s my experience.

[dreamsafterhours]

college boyfriend!markhyuk au series: II (mark’s pathway)

a universe in which roommates!markhyuk meet each other's s/o in class

markhyuk are roommates, my/n and dy/n are roommates, mark and dy/n take classes together and so do donghyuk and my/n — how will their fates intertwine?

genre: fluff, some angst pairing: platonic!donghyuk+my/n, surprise visit from mark format: dotpoint AU universe: non idol, college best friend warning: a lil swearing (best get used to it)

masterlist

or click here to continue your friendship with eng lit!mark!

I ⇤ | II | ⇥ III

II: relationship consolidation.. it’s platonic i swear

the fellowship continues (donghyuk + my/n)

hello again

are we ready

ever-ready i’m going whether u r or not lol idc you’re COMING

aight so ;;, donghyuk,

this boi,,

to meet someone new who he sees as almost a personal challenge,, to befriend and get to That Point™ in the friendship where you can talk about anything and everything without judging each other

he doesn’t have many friends that he can do that with tbh,, , he does have a lot of friends and people he knows and has conversed with but not a lot of friends he can crack jokes with and know they don’t take it personally

lots of dark humour and sometimes suggestive ones and political jokes and all that shit ,, intellectual puns and suicidal jokes,,, the lot

the basics for gen z humour right

he just wants someone to talk to and explore different concepts and abstract meanings and philosophical questions and get new perspectives on things he’d never thought about before

but also be able to say “ah fuck me upside down” without it actually affecting the relationship bc you’re just that close

sometimes it’s hard to have that relationship with the predominantly straight boys he surrounds himself with a lot of the time

and he’s always wondered what it’d be like to have a female friend like that and unfortunately he hasn’t befriended anyone and gotten to that point yet that he can ask genuine questions for the female point of view on certain topics

so meeting you,, and finding out you’re going for the same faculty after your undergrad course ,,,. then you being genuinely comfortable with him and his jokes and openly willing to accept his humour

he’s like /exclamation point appears above his head/

will this be The One™

so he lowkey ,, unintentionally,, in the process of getting to know you

develops a smol crush on you

it’s unintentional but he can’t help the fact that he falls in love really quickly but is also capable of getting over people fairly quickly if they don’t reciprocate his feelings and seems to be okay with that

but who can blame him for liking you??

you’re really damn cute

and genuinely good company

when he hinted that you could get married and have children in the future,,

his thought process was that ahaha i’m kidding.. unless?

so yes he was flirting but like ,, experimental flirting

and over the next couple of weeks he continues flirting with you

random lines like

“hey you look familiar, have i taken a class with you before?” he literally said this on the second day of classes with you

you honestly thought he was being genuine and actually didn’t remember you so you were like wait what ??? you literally walked me to my next class yesterday../? how? do you forget that??

and then he pulls a

“really? i swear we had chemistry” hand stroking his invisible beard

and then laughing at your reaction when you deadpan

“it was biology, donghyuk”

and sometimes u keep having that thought that u had in the middle of ur first lecture together, how he’s probably like this with everyone and he can easily befriend anyone else he’s probably gonna end up being those people that you know vaguely

but then you realise he’s been waiting in the same spot outside the lecture theatre every morning and afternoon, leaning on the wall, and looking up occasionally

smiling when he finds you in the crowd, picking up his bag from the floor and making his way over to you to walk into the lecture together

and you decide hm? he sticks around, i’ll stick around

on a separate occasion in some study session he’s like

“are you my appendix because i have no idea how you work, but the feeling in my stomach makes me want to take you out”

and you’re like “wow looks like you went ahead in the course donghyuk we don’t have human anatomy until next year. but how’s tmr at 7”

“perfect i’ll pick you up wear something nice”

hold

and then he bURSTS OUT LAUGHING and HOLLERING and yelling about how that was a good one tho right

you’re both in this sort of grey area where neither of you know where this is going

the reason he’s been saying all these things is to see what you were comfortable with in conversation and trying to analyse from your reaction whether or not you were actually flirting back or not

he’s ranted to mark in his dorms about it a couple times ,,

and so have you with your roommate

you return to your dorm after a day of doing a lot of back and forth semi flirting with donghyuk and you collapse onto your bed

your roommate looks over from her desk like “u good bro”

"i’m confused”

“fair enough”

“seriously idk if this kid is actually flirting with me or whether he’s practising on me or what”

“is this the donghek boi”

“yeah donghyuk” aka your future s/o yEET

you sit up and look at her

“uk what he said to me today”

she turns in her chair to face you fully,, ready for the tea

so you tell her the pickup line he came up with that day & your response to it and then his reaction to that bc he always seems to go for it but then tap out afterwards when you actually respond

and now you’re thinking,, do you really like him as more than a friend ??

and its???

so ?confusing to you

if you can’t tell if you like him for sure then you probably don’t, romantically

but then what effect are your responses having on him

what he actually does like you and all those flirty comments are genuine??? and you’re /internal gASP moment/

what if you’re leading him on?? what if it’s always gonna be him initiating the flirting but you’re accepting it with insincerity?

you decide this goes entirely against your morals

and you tell this to your roommate and she goes hmm,,

if you don’t feel committed to the idea of that,, then you don’t have to feel obligated to keep it going,, be honest with him ,, draw lines if you have to .. yes leading people on is a bad thing and it’s gonna affect the friendship

but also maybe it really is just part of the humour and that’s the friendship dynamic he wants to build with you?

so you decide to sleep on it bc it’s 1am and significant choices should not be made when drowsy and you’ve lost a lot of sleep these past couple days anyway

not that you get good sleep that night anyways

meanwhile donghyuk is shrugging @ mark like

“idk bro do i like her?? or do i like the idea of having someone to say that to”

“and yes she returns the gestures but then also i don’t think she means it? do we just keep it at that and keep being friends like WHAT IF I CATCH FEELINGS”

and mark is just staring at him like dude idk don’t ask me

“you’re so bad at giving advice mark”

but you wake up the next morning and decide to have a serious conversation with him after class bc that day you have a free hour after your lecture

it’s all you can think about during the class so you’re kinda distracted plus the partial sleep deprivation is getting to you

and he notices so he’s like

“bro u alright?”

so you just think fuck it and go

“hey real talk tho”

“ya”

“maybe i’ve been overanalysing this so,, tell me if i am but”

“sure”

“do you ,,, actually mean all those pickup lines ,, like are they based off, , real feelings or is this just part of the friendship dynamic”

and you’re almost surprised when he gets serious with you

he’s always been so lighthearted and sarcastic about things

but when he listens to your side of things and how you’re worried about whether or not you’ve been leading him on or something

he lets you finish and just tells you his feelings as well

“i’ve always wondered what it’d be like to have that dynamic and i guess i tried it on you without being honest ,, half to see if you would flirt back and half to just joke around ,;; i’m sorry that you got confused but i guess this means you don’t have? romantic feelings?”

so you have to reply honestly

“not necessarily ,, it’s been fun to have these conversations and laugh at pickup lines but”

“nothing behind it right”

“..yeah”

and instead of putting a damper on the atmosphere

it’s actually

refreshing

it clears the air in a way you didn’t expect

“right? nah it’s fun what we have going”

and you agree

aside from the confusion behind the flirting it’s been really fun talking to him and getting to know him

half of him was a lil disappointed that it didn’t go the romantic path but then again he wasn’t sure he had romantic feelings anyway

so he settles for

The Best Friend™

and so the friendship turns into sibling-like teasing and petty arguing from that day onwards

legit you’ll catch him staring

“what” “wHat” “what u lookin at” “whAt U loOkIn At” “stop copying me” “sToP CoPYinG mE” /you slap his arm/ “oW”

whimpers a lil clutching his arm uwu babie

“you hit harder than the bass drop”

sending each other bio memes and yelling at each other to go commit lysis

“lysosomes can take you out because you’re TRASH”

“i would send a macrophage after you you PATHOGEN”

calling him a parasite when he asks u for notes that he missed in class but it happens vice versa anyways lmfao

then one morning lab class he forgets his pencil case in his dorm like he forgot his laptop on the first day

except this time you call him a forgetful dumbass

all while offering a pencil from your own pencil case

which he takes

so he calls his roommate who “has a noon class and is probs still sleeping lol” to ask him if he can bring it down for him bc he’s got more lab classes that day

so after the class you wait outside the building for his roommate to arrive

and when he does he gives you a rlly nice smile and says “ʰᶦ”

“oh hello”

“yes this is my adoptive younger sister and my/n this is my roommate the Elder”

“ah you’re overreacting” the roommate turns to you and u ,, gotta admit ,

he’s really cute ,,, “don’t listen to anything donghyuk says, all he does is lie”

“hEY i am a SINCERE MEMBER OF CIVILISATION”

the roommate points to donghyuk again and goes “see he’s even lying about being civil”

so you laugh and gang up on donghyuk like “oh i saw through him a long time ago”

“wow he even lied about how” /puts up air quotes/ “ugly you AREN’T”

“wHAT”

“HE SAID IT NOT ME”

donghyuk is flabbergasted at this point

“wHEN DID I SAY THAT MY/N WAS UGLY”

“WANNA TELL ME THAT YOURSELF MR LEE DONGHYUK HUH”

which results in a sulky hyuk and you two laughing at his reaction of being Wronged™

he regrets letting u two meet in that moment

oh but we don’t

“ok u did ur mission. u can go now”

“so mean :((”

but donghyuk’s roomie waves at you while turning to leave and you wave back ,,

trying to calm yourself bc you’re highkey feeling kinda hot ur cheeks r burning up

he said ?? donghyuk was lying when he said u were ugly?

damn

donghyuk’s pickup lines had never been direct compliments about you

but this one from his roommate wasn’t a pickup line it was just

a statement

and it made u feel a typa way

dw baby it’s gonna be a happy ending uwu

and u tell ur roomie that night abt it too

“bRO his rOOMMATE”

“what’s his NAME i gotta FANGIRL WITH YOU”

“.. idk”

“.. oh”

/short pause, lip smack/

“.. lib tomorrow?”

“.. ya sure”

the next day after classes you check your phone and see that she’s texted you asking if her friend and his friend from eng lit can come and join you guys in the lib

and, naturally, u don’t see why not

so u reply

“the more the merrier”

the more the merrier for us too sweetie hmm hmm

eeeeeeéeeeeeèeeeeee

mhm mhm mhm it’s finally getting somewhere

click here to continue your friendship with eng lit!mark!

I ⇤ | II | ⇥ III

[mirajcnks]

ah hello everyone !!! i’m jules and wowow  i am so excite 2 meet u all and interact w all of ur dope charas :’) this is my Messy intro where im gonn a scream abt mira!! ok thank u for reading if u got this far jsdjfh

[ & ; * - cindy kimberly / pansexual / she/her ] isn’t it weird how close { amira 'mira' jenkins } resembles {cindy kimberly }? damn, i heard they are a { twenty } year old { undergraduate } and a member of { delta psi delta } studying { nursing }. outside of class { mira } participates in { soccer, photography & art} and their party anthem is { good as hell } by { lizzo }. 

amira was born on January 1, 1999 in Kona, Hawaii. she is actually the first baby born in the new year in Hawaii. her parents, dane and stella jenkins, were high school sweethearts & only 20-year-olds at the time of the birth of their daughter. 

her younger years were great, her parents spoiled her by taking her on trips and buying her whatever she would want. they treated her like a princess and soon anought she sorta turned into one.

but unfortunately when mira was 10 years old, her parents had filed for divorce and were currently fighting over who would she would live with. ultimately, amira’s father got custody of her during the week and she would visit her mother on weekends. 

dane jenkins, her father, is the co-owner of jenkin bros industries, which is a construction company. dane & his brother inherited it from their father and now run the business together. after the divorce, dane turned into quite the workaholic but still made time for his daughter

stella jenkins was a college student at the time, in which she decided she would drop out of school to become a full-time mother. during her time with dane she remained a stay at home mother but once they got divorced she started taking to online classes to finish getting her degree in social work.

she prefers to go by ‘mira’ instead of amira & will def give you the evil eye and a lil attitude if you call her by that. amira only allows close friends & family to call her that!

amira is daddy’s little girl & she wouldn’t have it any other way. her father treats her with everything she wants & give her all the money she wants to make up for not being home as much as he should. obvi one she will stop taking advantage of it but she is going to enjoy it while it last.

amira’s relationship didn’t really get much better after the divorce. sometimes she wouldn’t even go to her mom’s house on the weekend bc she was “busy.” eventually amira found out the truth, her mother had cheated on her father and was seeing some other guy instead of hanging out with her. what made it worse was she found out that he had a son, it made her feel as if her own mother would rather spend time with her son. amira never let her mother know that and still holds it against her till this day.

growing up with a decent amount of money had it pros and cons on mira as she grew up. she has grown to have a very luxurious taste. always has to the best of everything lol

ever since amira was younger she was always very bubbly and outgoing. she was actually vry into school bc she would get to see her friends.

she wasn’t a bad student, getting some A’s but mostly B’s but she really didn’t mind. she knew she couldn’t be the best at everything but at least she tried her hardest.

when amira started high school, her grades did improve but she herself got wilder. she was the biggest partier & pothead in the high school she attended. but no matter how wild she was, she kept up her grades & eventually made it to the honor roll.

also during high school, amira got really into creating art, whether it be painting, drawing or taking photographs. she also joined the soccer team to keep her busy but mostly to look good on her college application lmao

in her senior year of high school, amira decided to take a risk and apply to college she dreamed of going to, yale, doubting they would every accept her. but quite to her surprise, she was issued a half a scholarship at yale. she also turned out to be the valedictorian of her graduating class.

it broke her heart to leave her family. mostly her dad, in Hawaii but she wanted to pursue her dreams and she knew that they have her back no matter what happens

in her freshman year amira didn’t know what she wanted to do until she took some biology & anatomy classes & realized that she wanted to be in the medical field, ultimately deciding on nursing as her major

amira also continued to play soccer in her college career & joined the photography & art club to help her mind stay focused throughout the year. 

amira also rushed the delta psi delta sorority & decided to join when they offered it her. at the beginning she thought it would be a waste of time but she fell in love with her sisters & couldn’t imagine not being in the house with them.

ANyways i’m totally rambling rn so i shall stop her and move on to the next thing !!

PERSONALITY

she paints liKE ALOT !!; usually having something to do with the landscapes or people or flowers bc those are all her fav things. she does draw as well but prefers to paint. amira also has a passion for photography & often paints some of her own photographs

she’s vry protective of her friends and of herself

even though she is protective af she is very open to new people in her life! never wants ANYONE to feel left out when they around her.

she def puts up a front when sharing stuff about herself and her emotions unless she rlly trusts you

she likes to think she is badass as fuck but in reality, she is loser lmao!! ( laughs at her own joke)

speaking of jokes lbr, she pretty funny and sarcastic so she isn’t the only one laughing

however sweet she seems, she can also be very manipulative when she wants to be. knowing she can bat her eyelashes and get the world.!!

she tends to try to avoid most direct confrontation even though she’s really good in social situations and appealing to people uwu

always thinking, always learning, always caring

an actual flower

loves tattoos but only has like two!!

she looks at life in terms of opportunities and has lots of wishes and goals !!

she wants to live a vry luxurious life when older even though she is now. but she wants to be able to say she earned it herself

vry romantically compulsive which can be a problem lol!!

she constantly longs for partnership; whether it’s romantic or not

when it comes to money, she can be frivolous in her spending habits one day, and frugal the next

she is a problem-solver and will spend a lot of time helping others solve problems if needed

v good at talking and well-liked

while her spirit’s lively, it is also cunning & she often acts without thinking, throwing herself into things

loves to party obvs !!! tries to go out every single night bc why tf not lmaoo

honestly she is the life of the party. whenever the party is dying down or just getting started she is the first one on the dance floor. or she is walking around making people take shots with her

she is also very open about smoking pot and is def down to try other shit even though she hasnt been offered it yet

she doesn’t have a good sense of organization but she loves life and all it has to offer <3

but some cool ass plot i’d like to see is GIRL SQUAAAD, best friend, high school friends, exes, rommie, enemies, fwbs!! , party buddies or literally ANYTHING THAT SMELLS LIKE DRAMA and just anything bc i’m plot trash!!!

[possibilistfanfiction]

prompt: leslie and/or tina’s reactions to seeing karolina and nico together! (as easy as it is to write leslie as homophobic I truly don’t think she would be, especially after watching the second season, so I’m interested in your take on this!)

[this is just basically entirely au bc honestly … idk i didnt want to write abt murderous parents lol… also sometimes i forget that karolina is in high school! so small!! just a baby!!!!]

//

all of your friends already know, and it’s not really that big a deal; gert is ready to drag you to a fucking parade, probably, and molly has already gotten you a little rainbow pin.

also, there’s nico, who is soft and so beautiful and you knew you liked girls before you kissed her—there’d been crushes and you’d definitely touched yourself a few times while you were absentmindedly watching callie and arizona during a grey’s anatomy rewatch—and then you had absolutely hated kissing chase, so. you knew. you knew even if it was hard to admit, and even if it was harder to say aloud.

it still is; you’ve only said the words to gert and that was because you were plastered and she was so genuinely proud of you, excited for you. it’s not that you’re ashamed—you’re not; you love who you are and you think you’re definitely in love with nico—but it’s still hard sometimes.

all of this is running through your head really fucking fast because you’re having a movie night with your mom and she’d ordered your favorite pizza and you know that you should tell her, that dale and stacy know because they’d caught you and nico kissing in their backyard during a dinner when molly said they wouldn’t be home until later, but they had promised that you could stay with them if you ever needed.

it’s just—you’re supposed to be the perfect church girl, and you are; you’re tall and thin and blonde and you like pretty clothes and you get good grades and you are kind; nico has told you this with all the confidence in the world, and sometimes you have petty thoughts, recently you have felt a kind of anger that you never have before—but you are kind. you are good.

you’re thinking this kind of like a mantra as you walk downstairs, and your mom is setting out plates and smiles when she sees you.

you check your phone to stop your hands from shaking; you’d told your friends in your group chat you were probably going to talk to her tonight.

gert: I support you and we all love you so much! You know if you ever need someone to protest for you I’ll be there in a heartbeat

gert: Also my parents said i can pick you up if you need, just let me know. There’s tons of ice cream and also wine, I’m pretty sure they’d let us have it without even asking

gert: but ur mom is going to be cool. You got this

you roll your eyes because okay, it’s a little excessive, but she’s just doing her best and being who she is, really, and that is why you love her.

chase: love u kar !!

it makes you smile. molly texts you just a lot of rainbow themed emojis, and even alex sends you a few purple hearts.

nico texts you in your own private messages: you’re the bravest person i know and no matter what i’m so proud of you and i’m so proud to be with you

you smile and shoot back quick texts thanking all of them, and then you put your phone down and sit on a stool at the island.

‘hi sweetheart,’ she says, slides over a plate to you with pizza and a few greens on the side. ‘how was your week?’

you can’t bear to even look at your food you’re so nervous you feel sick, and you clench your hands under the island so your mom can’t see how much they’re trembling.

‘mom,’ you say, and you will your voice to be strong and steady; logically you have a wild amount of privilege in the world so even if this goes horribly wrong you’ll be really, really fine. 

she sits down next to you and takes a bite of pizza, nods.

‘can i talk to you about something?’

she sits back and looks at you seriously. ‘karolina, of course.’

you nod, clench your jaw. you had a whole speech planned but what comes out is, ‘i kissed nico,’ and it sits in the air and you’re about to start rambling and explaining but your mom just puts down her pizza and stands, steps toward you and folds you into a gentle hug, fierce and tight and soft.

you start to cry and you’re kind of embarrassed, distantly, but your mom is steady and strokes down your back a few times, eventually backs up and frets with your hair for a few seconds before smiling gently.

‘is that what you’ve been so upset about recently?’ she asks, gently but also like it’s so normal, like she would’ve asked about any boy. ‘does she not feel the same way?’

‘oh,’ you say, and feel the heat rise to your cheeks. ‘uh, no, she does. we like each other.’

your mom smiles and sits but doesn’t let go of your hands, even though they’re shaking. ‘i love you, karolina. you’re my daughter and i’m proud of you and the gender of the person you like could never change those things.’

you give her a watery little smile and when you sniffle she stands to bring you a few tissues, kisses the top of your head.

‘i had a whole speech planned, about being gay.’ your voice is rough and kind of small but you’re so relieved you don’t even care.

‘you can still give it to me, if you want.’ your mom’s offer is sincere and sometimes she’s fucking annoying but honestly she’s a good mom.

you shrug. ‘nah, it’s okay.’

‘okay.’ she rubs your back once. ‘do you want me to warm your pizza up for you?’

it’s so absurd, you think, the normalcy of all of this, the fear that had been eating away at you for weeks. ‘that’s all right,’ you say, and take a bite.

‘so,’ your mom says, turning toward you and sitting forward, dropping her voice a little conspiratorially and you almost want to preemptively roll your eyes. ‘how’s it going with nico?’

‘oh my god,’ you groan. 

‘are you girlfriend official yet?’

‘mom.’

she grins, really, sincerely grins. ‘do we need to have the talk? you’re being safe?’

you think your face is burning. ‘not that it’s really any of your business but we’re haven’t—i’m not ready. yet.’

it makes you sound so young and vulnerable and you hate it; you know you love nico and you want to have sex with her but you also want to take your time, especially after whatever happened at that party; you want it to be safe and unhurried and beautiful, for both of you.

your mom’s smile softens. ‘okay,’ she says. ‘well, if you ever need anything, let me know.’

‘i definitely will not.’

she laughs and then takes both of your plates to the couch. you sit next to her and refuse to even let her click on the lgbt movies category. you pick salt instead because you both love that movie even though you’ve seen it like a million times and your mom just gives you a little side eye when angelina comes on screen.

‘you’re way too excited about this,’ you grumble around a bite.

she pats your thigh. ‘i could tell you were holding something in for months, now, karolina—a heaviness. i was worried.’

‘oh.’

she brushes a strand of hair behind your ear. ‘you’re my child, and this is just something about you. i support you and the church does too. mostly i’m very relieved that you’re happy.’

you nod because you’re going to cry again and you really don’t want to.

you set aside your empty plates and curl up into her side like you did when you were very small, even though you’re taller than her now. she smells the same and growing up is kind of fucking terrible but this, right now, really isn’t so bad.

you text your friends quickly when she goes to the bathroom, that everything was cool, it was great even.

and you text nico: my mom was awesome. i love you

you send it before you realize that the first time you’d told her that you love her after you kissed her is over text but it’s sent now, there’s no going back. you laugh a little but she texts you back i love you too and you decide you’ll tell her a hundred times in person, a thousand, to make up for it.

you fall asleep on the couch after you’ve eaten a lot of ice cream and your mom wakes you eventually, walks you to your room.

‘i love you, karolina,’ she says, drawing you into her. ‘so, so much.’

you take all the half-asleep comfort you can from her hug. ‘i love you too.’

[gihu]

Hello ! I’ve been wanting to start drawing but to really learn. Do you have any tips ? How did you start drawing? I love your art !! 💕

Hello friend!! So sorry for the delay, I’ve been p busy and also was a little shook that anyone would ask ME for art advice??? bc tbh i’m hardly at that level yet LOL but also maybe it’s a good thing you asked me bc BOY have I struggled and BOY am i struggling now!!  putting this under a cut bc i tend to ramble

So one thing I won’t say is “JuST pRActICE” which is what a lot of tumblr artists say and that irks me even though it’s true and valid advice it’s just…not that helpful. At least for me. Another thing I won’t say is “I popped out of the womb with a pencil in hand!!” because I can’t relate. Being from a pretty conservative Asian family/country kinda suppressed what desire to pursue art, even as a hobby, in me as a kid. I started learning how to draw in sophomore year in high school because I got REALLY fucking obsessed with One Piece LMAO. I lived and breathed OP, I was watching dozens of eps a day at one point. That one tumblr post that was like “the best way to get better at drawing is to become obsessed with something and draw it a million times”? Probably the most solid advice I’ve come across. Anyway, that obsession led me to wanting to create fanart for the first time (that was my starting point for wanting to become an artist, which eventually led me into stop motion, thanks One Piece)! I did start attempting to draw the characters right away, but I also started watching a bunch of youtube videos and using figure drawing sites to practice anatomy. I’d recommend starting off with learning anatomy! Learn the proportions of the face and body, it’ll help a TON. but you’ll have to learn how to enjoy the process of studying bc there’s so much studying to be done if you want to learn how to draw. Other tips (that helped me personally): 

-don’t aim to finish a drawing 100%. By that I mean skip rendering the details, it’ll slow down your improvement. try to aim for 60 or 70%. also, some may disagree with me on this but try to avoid using color at all when you’re starting out! you may get overwhelmed and it’s fact that drawing and knowledge of values are far more important. i’ve heard a professor compare color to icing on a cake: it makes the cake pretty but why would that matter at all if the cake base tastes like crap??

- don’t doodle mindlessly. a tip i hear often is to doodle lots and lots but…i don’t think it helped me improve at all. you need reference, something to compare your drawings to so you can throughly analyze how to improve them. nearly every single artist i know, including myself, uses reference for their drawings. it’s ok to doodle to jot down ideas and stuff, just not for learning. 

 - draw from life as much as possible!! it’s more helpful than drawing from photos or art because translating from 3d to 2d really trains your brain by forcing it to analyze more. also, photos tend to be distorted and alter reality. copying/referencing art can be helpful but only if they’re master paintings (sargent, monet, etc.) IMO. please don’t copy from tumblr artists, even for practice LOL. try to avoid their tutorials as well if you’re a beginner you probably won’t be aware of the mistakes they make, and unwittingly incorporate them into your drawing habits. there’s tons of art book PDFs out there, they’re your best bet! 

- carry a sketchbook around and just draw as much as possible. use your free time to draw from life. make it a habit. the more you draw the more you’ll add to your muscle memory and visual dictionary

- find out what interests you about the world, and incorporate those interests into your art! is it the way clothing falls across the body or the way light casts shadows? do you have a particular interest for teeth or hands?? i think hands are quite amazing 

- idk if i’ll be able to explain this clearly but whether you’re drawing comics or making “aesthetic” work, CONCEPT will always be more important than how your art looks! by concept i mean idea, message, etc. The clarity of your message is also important! it needs to be readable

- don’t blame your tools for your lack of skill. when i was starting out i wasted so much time researching and accumulating a bunch of art supplies that i didn’t even use, thinking that better tools would increase the quality of my art. the only tools i needed turned out to be pencils, pens, some watercolors and later, a basic tablet. award-winning films have been made with iPhones alone.

- lastly…JUST DO IT. technical skills are important but what’s even more important is your passion and desire to create. what’s holding you back? fear of being judged? that’s dumb! the best art-related quote i’ve heard is by andy warhol:

“Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art.”

isn’t that beautiful? this changed my whole outlook on making art! i mean, you won’t ever be able to make art that appeals to everyone but you sure can make art that some people will like! there’s an audience for everything! so don’t be needlessly burdened by what you think others think of your art and make art for you and you only. one thing that i did that i deeply deeply regret is quitting drawing for 2 years up until this past summer, and that’s only because i didn’t think i’d ever be good enough at drawing. so i just gave up. it makes me so sad because even if i drew for just 10min a day i could’ve improved so much in those years! please don’t do what i did

- some helpful websites/youtube channels: schoolism (the best and most affordable online art class i’ve come across, $35 a month but they have legit instructors from disney, pixar etc.) Line-of-action (for figure drawing) croquis cafe (more figure drawing bc you can never do enough) sycra (youtuber who makes tutorials, one of the few that trust completely. i especially like his video on iterative drawing) 

man that was long! but there’s so much to talk about still! btw it’s admirable that you want to learn a new skill! i believe that if you truly want something to be better at something, you will, 100%. if you ever have more questions, feel free to shoot me a message, my inbox/DMs are always open, even if i might take a while to get to it :)

[dramarising-replacement]

get madder :^)

hey yall remember that post where i gave a 1-or-2 sentence comment about each fanart that got featured in the community update? many people promptly took their panties and corkscrewed them directly up their very touchy buttholes, so i thought it'd be fun to do a follow-up :^)

>everyone who just said "lol bad post u suck ur opinion SUX"

it's my opinion lol deal w it

>it’s kinda cute how you think we would care about this / nobody cares

clearly u do bc ur mad fam!!! hahaha rekd got u!!1!

>perhaps… perhaps art is subjective and they wanted to make some community members happy by featuring them?

they couldve picked a little better was my only point

>"It’s people like this who give new artists anxiety for posting stuff online" / everything about how mean i am bc it will make newb artists feel nerbous :'(

hey guess what! it's the internet where literally everyone can see and say whatever they want. that's the risk ya fuckin take when u post online :^) waahhh

>"It’s called a personal art style"

its common knowledge by now but "its muh style" is not an excuse and yeah its subjective but also sometimes aspects of a pic are just bad

>"how does desnik only get a 5/10 lmao. Amazing shading, a super unique and difficult perspective that brings life to the whole piece? Ye nah that’s shit, apparently."

i said the shading (painting) was pretty good, and they lose points bc "bringing it to life" with a weird pose only works if the anatomy and perspective (which i specified) isnt so off that it takes away from the entire piece pretty significantly, which imo it does. also that pose isnt unique i can find u 10 pics of furries in that exact pose on like the front page of furaffinity or wherever. also i didnt say it was shit LOL

>"“this is anime uwu garbage” is not criticism OP"

fuck yeah it is, you ever been to the front page of deviantart? i assumed the implied "stop using super stylized shitty anime pics as a reference bc ur overall "style" is severely and obviously suffering for it" was kinda evident but i guess not

>"why the fuck do people get so butthurt when someone says their art is bad"

dude THANK you i mean i was expecting pretty severe backlash but i was as least expecting more creativity than literally just "bad post op" 20 times. tho i DID see enough to make this post i guess? this blog is fun but like in a painful way

> “not to be rude to the featured artists, good on them” pick a tone and stick with it

sorry man i really just do have a rude-sounding speaking (,,typing) voice and i dont mean any bad feelings towards these artists, my literal only point is that that one pic has some problems and maybe staff had some better pics to spotlight instead (and i don't even mean that for all of them. top, middle, and bottom left were all good choices and so was desnik's tbh. but i figured id ""review"" them too cuz they were there) i usually even pointed out something i liked about it? but i gotta move fast here cmon 100 character limit

>"dude… do you even know what a sketch is? because that’s in no way a sketch"

what do YOU define as a sketch? i guess the snapper one could also be lineart but its in 2 midtones (which people do when theyre "sketching" out values) and they used a messy brush so my mind went to sketch. and the coatl one looks like they did it really fast and slapped some flat colors on it. actually my point was literally that it looks like they did it fast, like a sketch rather than a lineart

>"at least put in some effort in writing a couple of sentences on each drawing on what, why, and how to improve the drawings. Seeing that some of the art is clearly from amateur artists, some words of advice would at least be helpful here."

yeah u right they definitely deserve better. but i was going fast cuz i just have an affinity for short snappy reviews i guess. like i tried to do cliffnotes, just "this part is good but this part is bad" and then a meaningless number score cuz i aint even addressing this to them, i posted it to a drama blog to complain about staff basically 

>the nocturne guy who wrote a lot

alright cool. you totally have gotten a lot better. i never meant to discourage you for drawing in the first place. incidentally i said u had potential bc u were obviously a new artist, but like u were OBVIOUSLY a new artist with a loose understanding of depth and shading and stuff, and again this is a front page spotlight yadda yadda. ill fuckin hit u with a review right now:

you clearly understand shading and anatomy way better, and that coatl actually looks pretty fuckin good. the lineart is more consistent, it's framed way better, the proportions are WAY better, and it's really clean and stylized. the shading is infinitely more convincingly shiny and reflective. from here, imo you could benefit from going further with shading (darker, more dynamic, leaving little to no flat spaces like the crest fluff and tongue), and maybe polishing the lineart a little more too, like coloring/highlighting it and really pushing/polishing the linewidth (there are tutorials for that). overall that coatl is v cute, keep on pushing poses & shading

>"i bet OPs art sucks ass"

fIT e ME IrL

anyway thanks 4 reading my fucking essay and i'm super high. if you read al lof this then shame on you

[edelwary]

when you were first getting into art, what and how did you draw? (like did you just doodle ur masterpieces on pieces of paper and posted-notes or did you have a proper sketchbook) how did you find motivation? bc ive been trying to draw but I always get unmotivated and stop while still wanting to get better just by doing nothing.

REALLY LONG, LOTS OF ADVICES FOR ARTISTS : 

TL;DR ; skip to the HOW TO ACTUALLY FUCKING DRAW part bc i have a megaton of shit to say lol + The MOTIVATION part 

mmh… I’ll get into details with this one tbh bc it’s a long ass process ahah : 

I live by the sea ; when i was youung i used to draw TONS of boat, but like, dollhouse boats, you could see the insides and stuff ; i loved to add tiny details and stuff, and imbricate everything together !

around 8 or 9 yo, i went to the public library with school and discovered the wonderful world of mangas ! I basically… Copy pasted an entire Mermaid Melody tome x) 

For about 2 years i alternated between reading mangas and trying to copy them ! Then i just kept drawing in the margins of my schoolwork for about… 5 years ! I have a Fuck Ton of sketchbooks of that time, it was… The start. Lol. Never say it’s bad because it’s never bad, just not there yet !!

Around my 13 yo, i went every saturday, for two years, under a bookstore ; there was a cave, and drawing classes ; that teacher was mean and harsh and stuff, but like… Not really. He would take away my eraser for the class, force me to use pencil, to draw something else (bulky boys instead of magical girls). 

I’ve learned a lot, more in terms of How To LEARN to draw than to draw itself, but i still progressed a LOT !! 

Then i kept drawing by myself for a year and i really worked hard on it ; about hours a day, trying watercolors and stuff ; i have a real problem with colors in traditionnal art, but i’m much better with lines (i should scan some RAD stuff i made in the weekend, yall ive never done anything this good i stg i dont know why i always forget im so much better on paper) 

This gets us to my sweet 16 ; i have to year of advance, bc i got ‘’’promoted’’’ idk how to say it ; anyways, i entered my (current) animation school for the first year at 16; vERY IMPRESSIVE AND TERRIFYING. 

And i learned. A fuckmegaton. Of shit there. 

Now i’m going for my third year there and i can make photorealistic marmora blades and cyberkpunk decors if i want to and that’s rad, but here is

 HOW TO ACTUALLY FUCKING DRAW : 

I have one HYPER important advice, and i’m keeping it to heart since i’m like, 11 : Have. Sketchbooks. Please !!! It’s very important. Here’s why : 

You keep everything with you in one place. You have 1 sketchbook, it’s basically easy to take every where (a A5, or A4 are pretty easy to carry, i have like, 12 of those, and around 8 of A3) 

You keep track of what you’ve done. It’s super important, bc first you can cry of laughter at your old stuff bc its cute but not so good, and second, you can just be like ‘holy mama’ and see how much you’ve improved

It’s very important to be organized. I WORK in art, and trust me, if there’s something that i’ve learned this year through tears and missing files and bugs : Be. Impeccable. Now if it’s for fun, go a little loose, and just have a folder for art on your computer, and a sketchbook, no need to stress, but the better you try to keep a record of where is what, the better you’ll see whats wrong

Notebooks are friends !! You can draw, write, glue stuff, make notes, lists, everything !!! I have my life in those. It’s more important to me than any of my phones. 

Be proud of it. Like, not everything, duh ! But try to tell yourself than it’s like a RPG ; even if it’s only 2 xp here and there, one day you’ll beat level 40, and that’s super important : art is. Fuckin. Long.

I cant stress it enough. It’s soooo long !!! SO LONG !! it’s years. It’s like karate and fishing and ANYTHING. To be good at it, it takes time, but it WILL COME if you keep trying. There’s no secret passage. 

You’re gonna me it, believe in me who believes in you. 

Use. References. 

Coming from a little shit who’s got a really good visual memory, that can sound like bs, but i stg everything is always AT LEAST twice as good if you’ve used a visual support. 

I’m not saying COPY EVRYTHING (even though thats a good training) I’m saying, if you really want to do that asian tiger, please have at least two or three pictures of it nearby. Take photos of your hands, and stuff ! 

Make it harder. 

No eraser. 

Paint. 

I draw all my backgrounds on my sketchbook with INDIAN INK; no returns, no refunds. 

Ink, Ink, INK !! Don’t allow mistakes.

And if you make mistakes :

New page, restart

It’s okay

It’s for you

I once started back again a whole EXAM bc it was bad, i got one of my best grades 

You’ll improve and be more assured if you know you just have to DO IT. Trust me. It’s VISIBLE; if you can erase, you fidget and hesitate and ‘’kbeujebez hahhaaa idkkidsd’’ ; stop ; do it, and if you don’t like it ? Try again, there’s no time limit

Draw as large as you can 

There’s no interesting story here, it just helps. Bigger movement of the hand, more place for details, breathing lines

Thin lineart helps

Thinner. Make it even thinner

Break the rules, but not the ones that structure your art 

Big lineart ? Why not

Unfinished lines, vaporeous colors ? Pretty

Cubism is actually based on extensive and intense practice of classical art, it’s not wibbly wooblly ; the anatomy is more correct than you think 

Structure and composition are important, but so is movement and life ; choose your fighter ; mine is fluidity and fun, i’m like, a rogue/archer in drawing. Some people are dwarf fighter. That’s amazing and great. 

Don’t be afraid to do nothing

Pages and pages of my sketchbooks are actually just lance facing right and smiling, you know… 

Sometimes it just doesnt work : two ways :

Take a break, Kiki’s delivery service style

Keep trying, break your art until it obeys and comes back

Take breaks. Breath. 

Don’t compare. I do it, it doesn’t help at all. You’ll make it ; and if you compare, keep in mind that everyone’s different

I’m not gonna lie, it’s NOT easy, it’s even hard 

But I really, really think it’s worth it 

MOTIVATION :

My main bitch 

I’m always pumped for art because i can LITTERALLY NOT do anything else ; i love reading and writing and stuff but at the end of the day i just want !!! to draw !!!! aaaaaa-

Fall in love with it, and with the possibilities ; i have stories to tell, tell me yours ! Do your best, one day it WILL work

Actual advices : 

I have an inspiration blog where i just reblogs stuff i like to draw them later

Find a picture, copy it. Do it again. Change the characters (i have 2 ocs and Lance and Keith as default characters) in the pic. 

Like an artstyle ? Break it to its very core, analyse it, copy it, redo it, trace it and ABSORB it. Don’t copy/past, LEARN from your heroes.

Do what you like. I have 86578 pieces of voltron, this is not a coincidence. I have ENDLESS ideas for this show, wtf. 

Try new things. Buy indian ink im begging you. It’s so cool. 

Have a game with yourself, or a challenge. STICK TO IT. 

Study. When you’re bored, usually it’s because you’re stagnating. Make it harder or do hands until you cry. 

Love your backgrounds; make backgrounds, study trees, and tokyo streets, and venice’s bridges. Decor is just as cool as characters, if not more

Mess a little with everything. My roomate more than one found me stained from head to toes trying to DO STUFF 

Draw outfits. Draw what you want but can’t afford 

MAKE YOUR LIFE A COMIC. Remember those sketchbooks ? Make a comic a week/month/every full moon, whatever, and draw your life (mine’s the roomates au lol) 

Prompts blogs are cool too 

Make fanart of a fic you liked ; you have the characters and the pose already, you just have to illustrate ; double bonus, you probably will make a writer’s day, if not year !

That little movie that plays when you listen to your favorite song ? DRAW IT

Your favorite scene in your favorite movie ? Redraw each shot. On post it. Plus it looks awesome afterwards to have the infamous TREX scene of Jurassic Parks in post it

Get bored. That’s inevitable. Dance, scream, get back to it. Walk, draw everything you see. 

Make a paper google map street view : Take a walk : every 50 meters, draw what is in front of you. 

Snapchats your friends. Draw their snapchats when they answer 

Draw maps. Invent places. Invent bikes, and hovercrafts, and monsters. Make your everyday inventory. Make your life a video game, and do the concept arts of it. 

FETCH your inspiration. I have approx. 20 artbooks, full of drawings and concept arts of my fave movies/games ; take what you like and add it to the story you have since you’re 8. We all have one. 

Ask for it ; your sis, your mom, me even ! If you dont have ideas, someone will have them. 

WELL i’m gonna stop there, even though i got like, 9864567 more to say, but with this you should be fine ! Anon, i’m rooting for you ! we all start somewhere, just hold on!!!! 

[soylante]

I honestly want to draw so many things to the point where i stress myself out and end up feeling bad when i don't do enough. Do you ever feel like this? And if you do, what helps you?

aw man i’m sorry you’re feeling so much pressure! but YES i know exactly what you mean, i think that’s pretty common?? especially if you’re in a popular fandom where there are literally thousands of content creators and it feels like there’s a new piece of art popping up every .8 seconds, the stress to feel like you gotta keep up and create something unique can be heavy af. I think all of us have been there at some point, me includedbut just remember that everyone makes art at their own pace. some people are faster/have more experience/practice and some ppl (ME lol) are slower and that’s okay! other’s productivity doesn’t mean a thing about your own, they have no correlation and you never deserve to beat yourself up over not being as fast/doing as much as someone else!

some maybe helpful things:

art isn’t a contest! you’re not being graded on how much you’re pumping out, your own pace of drawing is your own no matter what anyone else does, so pls do your best not too feel bad about it

if you’re not satisfied tho, that’s okay! just means you want to improve, and improving is ALWAYS possible and achievable, just keep practicing. set aside a specific time of day, do a little ritual to get into the groove etc, anything that you feel helps set you up for a successful drawing sesh

timed studies! gesture drawings especially, really help you to let go of expectation and greatly improve speed and efficiency so less time on your heckn anatomy and less time spent overall. favs for this are here and here

in fact just draw quickly in general. yeah it’ll be messy and imperfect at first, but that’s totally okay, just keep going. you’ll improve!

a million ideas overflowing your mind can get pretty hectic so maybe try making a list of all the things you’d want to draw, putting them in order like from NEED TO DRAW RN to eh, this can wait. writing things out, like journaling, can help clear your head and lift some stress. and bc it’s written down, you don’t have to worry about forgetting your ideas!

most important i think, is just having fun with your art. if you’re overly stressed about it, it’s kinda hard to have fun and draw freely yk? take a deep breath and draw for yourself

so that’s all i’ve got off the top of my head and idk how helpful this is tbh?? ;; but i hope you feel a bit better anon!! throws my calming drawing vibes your way

[pseudocitrus]

more (a lot of shameless) musing writing/life/etc. this year under the cut (pls check tags if needed):

by the time the end of the year came....i think i started doing....pretty well. that is to say, even right now, i feel surprisingly mentally and emotionally healthy, i think. mostly.

it’s hard for me to say this decisively because i still have moments where i jerk up and suddenly panic about something that is, frankly, kind of silly, or at the very least generally unlikely. like some weeks ago at 3am i woke up and suddenly was unsure if a certain on twitter person (who i have never interacted with!! ever!!) was still following me, and the thought that they might not be was suddenly just, the most terrible thing. for the past couple days i’ve been slipping in again into anxiety attacks that i thought (siiiigh) i “finished” with. thoughts like “disease is so scary i’d rather die now than ever have to experience something really terrible and painful that drives everyone i love into debt and kills me anyway” still pounce up despite my best efforts and curated keyword muting. when i think these things, it’s easy for me to describe myself as not actually happy. something i’m chewing through is the idea that maybe this is an acceptable form of happiness after all — that is, feeling a majority of Totally Fine Feelings, and a minority of disease is so scary i’d rather die now than ever have to experience something really terrible and painful that drives everyone i love into debt and kills me anyway.

i’m really a “words” person, by which i mean a lot of my problems are about words, and so are a lot of my solutions. did i say the right thing? why haven’t they said anything — do they hate me? when i recognize my perspective getting skewed, i try to self-correct by piling through different lenses one by one, until i feel like i can see clearly again. in this way, tokyo ghoul has been a treasure for me, a chest of healing phrases. things like Even if it’s unstylish, live; or, I can’t wish for you to be happy…it’s so easy to become unhappy. I only wish for you to live — these are my magic spells. i cradle them and feel a little warmth, and even sometimes, a little sting in my own eyeballs AAH lmao. i can take a breath and suddenly it’s ok to not have 100% Totally Fine Feelings.

i’m accepting a little more that, similar to how you have to take a shower and eat food and exercise etc. every day and/or frequently, maybe an emotional/psychological well-being isn’t also something that you “level up” and then no longer need to worry about. it has needs that must be cared for. and just like anything else there are times when it gets sick and then especially needs to be cared for, rather than beaten into submission.

i’ve relied a lot on tokyo ghoul this year. some part of me, at the thought of it ending (whether this ends up happening soon or not) feels just~ a little~ terror, lmao. i’ve become really attached. a lot of what i do creatively is related to tokyo ghoul; a lot of the little things that make me happy on a daily or weekly basis is related to tokyo ghoul. i’ve tried other manga and anime series and, at least right now, even if i like them a lot (like the ancient magus bride, vnc!!) they don’t capture my heart as completely.

(frankly, maybe that’s ok. do i really have room for something else that will consume me as much as tg?)

if i try to analyze what’s led me to having what i consider to be a more healthy outlook, i guess i would say that something that’s made me feel more free and good is writing fic the way i have recently…just, the slightly built-out ~200 to ~500 word “headcanons” without much surrounding context, lol. coming up with titles and descriptions has always been a huge pain to me and it’s nice to not have to worry about it.

i talked a little bit about how i started to feel a little less desperate for notes this year, which was a personal problem of mine that i thought i’d have to struggle with forever. frankly, it’s entirely likely that those desires for attention and love (which i did not like relying on as much as i, personally, did) might come back one day, and, i’m trying to prepare myself for it.

if i think about any actions i took concretely to get to this current mindset, however, i’d say that, unexpectedly, writing the small headcanons really helped. they helped me write without me feeling like i’d invested a lot of time and energy into a Full Story whose reception would end up disappointing me in some dumb and irrational way.

i mean.....each headcanon bit still took about an hour or more on average haha. and i still checked for notes and felt really happy for any positive comment. i guess the important thing is that my overall mentality was different. i could relish the act of writing without feeling like i absolutely needed something else other than the writing to have my basic satisfaction met.

i don’t want to go over details, bc writing can be something for me where, the more i talk about it, the less i want to write. but, my mood also took a HUGE turn for the better in november, when i started trying to do nanowrimo. ///

i didn’t finish. i didn’t, technically, even “write” anything — i was super busy, so all i did was plot-outline. but the amount of psychological reward for doing just that much was incredible. i was able to admit to myself that the only thing that kept me from writing “this story” which i so desperately desired to write was plain fear, and giving myself permission to start, was like letting out a breath i’ve held for over a decade. i was afraid of not actually having a story and of not, after all these years of fanfic-writing, being able to actually come up with characters for myself. truthfully, i am still afraid of all these things. but now i’m afraid and have something to show for it other than my own private hopes and dreams, which — after so long — had become more of a poison than a light.

it was around this time that things happening in tokyo ghoul, which sometimes had the ability to drop me into panicked and/or sad and frustrated states, also stopped having such a huge effect on me. (which was good, for me, personally.) i’m still not done with the plot of this story...actually, i haven’t worked on it in a couple weeks lol, there’s been so much going on. but once again i’m starting to some dark thoughts sink their claws into me and now i feel equipped to think, oh........even though i don’t know what to do next in that story, even though i’m still afraid of writing it, even though i know it will be hard and my failure to come up with something might be “proof” that i’m not actually good at writing......the truth is actually that trying to write it anyway is what will make me feel better.

this year is also the year that i finally made some headway into forgiving myself for giving up drawing when my schooling started getting really difficult. for a long time i was frustrated with myself for not drawing — if only i’d used those years more — then i’d be so much better now than i am! i started the year trying to do more digital drawing but just couldn’t swallow my self-loathing long enough to finish anything, so i bought a daily journal thing and invested more in pencils and pens and paint and strangely, having the physical thing, drawing the same way i drew back before i “gave it up,” made it a little easier. (as i write this i feel really stupid, lmao. when i enjoyed drawing, i did it mostly on paper...of course returning to drawing on paper would feel better! idiot!!)

anyway. still. i made myself draw and sincerely, literally hated everything i drew in the first six months. one day the person i live with came home and saw me crying at my desk and was just like, “ah, yes....let me guess....you are a terrible drawer and that means you’re a terrible person,” and i,, just,,

i drew faces over and over and also allowed myself my enraged commentary. i copied. i did it over and over and over again. and finally — just now, literally just now, i’ve been drawing and....not hating it at least 50% of the time, lmao. with the daily journal it’s easy to look back into earlier months and feel furiously embarrassed by how terrible some of my old sketches look, and also feel strangely relieved. like.....ah, ok. so all of that effort. even if all i could do was cry in the short-term. ended up leading to something in the long-term after all.

anyway, i accept i’m not an amazing drawer. in my real life i feel surrounded by artists who look at my dumb scribbles and make comments on whatever weird anatomy i did that i had five seconds prior thought looked totally fine. all i want, at least for now, is to be able to draw more of the kinds of things i like, and this year i feel thankful i had the privilege and luck and energy to do more of that.

hmmm. anyway. that’s it i guess. this year had a lot of lows, not just for me personally but for like,, my entire country, lol. the kind of special helplessness and hopelessness i’ve felt this year is something i’ve never felt before. sometimes indulging in my own self-introspection feels unbearably selfish. how could you possibly be focusing on your dumb feelings and thoughts when there’s so many other important things going on?

even if it’s a selfish belief, i want to think that allowing myself to struggle in self-love, allowing myself to have space to exist with all my flaws and failures, is important self-defense in a world that feels increasingly like it wants to snuff me out. my small relatively trivial personal struggles this year have really taught me that my bad feelings are “ok” to feel and that i always always always have the power to react in my own way. my bad feelings, as much as i wish they just didn’t exist, have, this year, have helped me understand a lot more about the way that i actually want to live my life.

ANYWAY!! BIG SIGH!!!! here’s to 2018!!! :’)

[rambamboo]

How would you balance studying and understanding art fundamental versus drawing what you love? I find that studying the fundamentals can be alittle bit boring

i mean i think all artists (especially beginners) find at least some fundamentals boring lol like i’ve never met someone who was like o fuck yea o yes mm i lov shading that ball for 5 hours to understand core shadow and reflected light on a form

but like w stuff like anatomy/figure drawing/perspective i mean .... i think most beginners will hate studying that stuff bc they don’t get it .. but ppl who have been studying those things for a long time will start to see the beauty and what’s enjoyable about it .. UMM IT’S KINDA LIKE...... if you don’t know ANYTHING about cooking and you try to start learning to cook then you burn yourself and burn your food and it tastes bad and you’re like ... wtf is the point lmao why don’t i just eat an instant ramen (in this analogy instant ramen is just self indulging and drawing the shit you wanna draw like fanart or anime or whatever lol)but like after you’ve been trying to learn cooking technique everyday for a few years you’ll see that the stuff you make starts getting rly good .. and it’s also starting to become easy like you don’t need to put effort into not trying burn your food or yourself ... and it feels rly cool and rewarding.. and then you wanna advance your technique with fancier stuff ... and you can STILL buy instant ramen but now you know how to like put a boiled egg in it or scallions to make it better so you’re not stuck eating your crappy plain instant ramen... like its the same w studying art fundamentals lol ...

so yea srsly like the more you do studies and stuff the more you expand your horizons and start to appreciate it ...... like i’m not saying im like an expert thats been studying anatomy and shit for a million years (you can tell from my drawings im not LOL) but compared to like my middle school self i rly lov studying things now like i’m not a fast learner and i dont see fast results at all but i just enjoy the process of studying ....... like it’s not abOut ... seeing fast results ... art is usually a slow learning process that you barely feel building so it might seem boring/frustrating if it doesn’t look like you’re improving but you are....!!! (do you wanna try something that’ll guarantee results .. get a sketchbook and draw real ppl in it everyday like dont even put any effort in trying to improve.... like just do it for fun but still take it seriously. and when you get to the end compare your first drawing w your last drawing DAWWG I GUARANTEE YOU WILL BE AMAZED OR YOUR MONEY BACK...)

SRY THIS IS RLY GD LONG BUT HOPE IT HELPED LMAO

[cereal-sims]

I was tagged by @simsislovesimsislife , thank youu ♡

may i just apologise for this its such a mess lol

RULES: TAG 9 PEOPLE WHO YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW BETTER

okie dokie umm @happysimmers @sim-plism @simmpler @vvatore​ @littlellamas​ @simmerinwinter​ @pixxellaa​ @justkeeponsimming​ @scarletsundae​ (ps sorry if you’ve already done it whoops)

Relationship Status: single pringle

Last Song I Listened To: I don't know the name bc my friend was showing me one of his many country playlists

Last Book Read/Listened To: I think it was Simon VS The Homosapien Agenda

Favorite Color: probably yellow it makes me happy

Top Three Shows: I genuinely can't pick only three it kills me I can only pick 6 on my tvshow time app so I'm just gonna pick three random shows but honestly my faves consist of like 15 soooo uuugghj Sense8, Doctor Who, Brooklyn 99 (so random and so unconnected but really I love so many I’m in pain okay shut up cerys )

Top Three Characters:  WHYYYYYYY omgggg Leslie Knope, Lily Evans (aka Harry Potter’s mum) and Hiccup from HTTYD (again, so random, I love so many this hurts) 

Top Three Ships: I'M IN PHYSICAL PAIN UGHHJHFdxnmz christ ok Jack and Ianto from Torchwood, Lily and James (harry potter - THEYRE SOULMATES OK) anddddd (GAGAHSDDHJD WHY ONLY ?!?!?) Callie and Arizona from Grey’s Anatomy 

Rules: BOLD the statements that are true for you!

APPEARANCE:

I am 5'7" or taller

I wear glasses (but usually contacts)

I have at least one tattoo

I have at least one piercing

I have blonde hair (naturally, but dye it red)

I have brown eyes

I have short hair

My abs are at least somewhat defined

I have or have had braces (tbt)

PERSONALITY:

I love meeting new people (ish)  People tell me that I’m funny

Helping others with their problems is a big priority for me

I enjoy physical challenges

I enjoy mental challenges

I’m playfully rude with people I know well

I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it There is something I would change about my personality

ABILITY:

I can sing well (i wish)

I can play an instrument

I can do over 30 pushups without stopping

I’m a fast runner

I can draw well

I have a good memory

I’m good at doing math in my head

I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute

I have beaten at least 2 people in arm wrestling

I know how to cook at least 3 meals from scratch 

I know how to throw a proper punch

HOBBIES:

I enjoy playing sports 

I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else

I’m in an orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else (orchestra, brass band, big band, 3 choirs...)

I have learned a new song in the past week

I work out at least once a week

I’ve gone for runs at least once a week in the warmer months

I have drawn something in the past month 

I enjoy writing

(is it bad if I don't bold this even though I’m doing a creative writing degree?? I’ve really lost my passion...)

FANDOMS ARE MY #1 PASSION

I do or have done martial arts

EXPERIENCES:

I have had my first kiss

I have had alcohol

I have scored the winning goal in a sports game

I have watched an entire season of a TV show in one sitting (soooooo many times)

I have been at an overnight event

I have been in a taxi

I have been in the hospital or ER in the past year

I have beaten a video game in one day

I have visited another country

I have been to one of my favorite band’s concerts

RELATIONSHIPS:

I’m in a relationship

I have a crush on a celebrity

I have a crush on someone I know

I have been in at least 3 relationships

I have never been in a relationship

I have asked someone out or admitted my feelings to them

I get crushes easily

I have had a crush on someone for over a year (

I have been in a relationship for at least a year

I have had feelings for a friend

MY LIFE:

I have at least one person I consider a “best friend”

I live close to my school (I go to uni but it’s like a 10 minute walk away does this count?)

My parents are still together (my father passed away but they're not split up idk i guess yes?) I have at least one sibling

I live in the united states

There is snow right now where I live

I have hung out with a friend in the past month (i live with my friends lol)

I have a smartphone

I have at least 15 CD’s and no cd player ..

I share my room with someone

RANDOM SHIT:

I have breakdanced

I know a person named Jamie 

I have had a teacher with a last name that’s hard to pronounce

I have dyed my hair

I’m listening to one song on repeat right now

I have punched someone in the past week

I know someone who has gone to jail

I have broken a bone

I have eaten a waffle today

I know what I want to do with my life (looooooooool)

I speak at least 2 languages

I have made a new friend in the past year

[ask-jungshook]

// HEYO! :D Here’s my version of the Meet the Artist meme that’s been going around! I got several admin asks as well, so might as well knock out two birds with one stone! 

Fun Facts & Q&As under the cut!

Sup! I go by Dissu! It’s my art/gaming nickname that was given to me by friends and pretty much just stuck with me to the extent that I respond to it as much as my real name haha

FUN FACTS! ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

My corgi’s full name is Lucas GNAR (the latter being League of Legends inspired-- his nickname is Lulu tho ;o) I’m a total nerd and gamer if you haven’t guessed by now HAHA

I carry backpacks over small purses because I easily lose/misplace small things. (Bags with shoulder straps always slide off my shoulders too) My other two bags are a winged backpack and a small crossbody.

I carry a pillow in my backpack so I can sleep on the bus on my commute to work (I have no more shame LOL) Lucas ate an eye off it when he was a puppy, so that’s why it has one eye LOL

I doodle on post-its because they’re easier to get rid of/scrap if it comes out looking bad. I don’t have any sketchbooks because for some reason I’m really bad at drawing in books??

I have a slight case of RBF, so I will most likely look :| even though I’m :D on the inside

I dye my hair because my hair is usually extremely oily and dyeing is usually the only way to counteract it. (But mad respect to kpop groups because holy shit bleaching your hair pretty much fries it 2/10 would recommend -- also grey hair is rly hard to maintain zzz) 

My average sleep time on weekdays is 5 hrs, but on weekends it’s 12+ hrs. 

I am a self proclaimed sparkling rock (because I’m really bad at expressing my emotions irl lol)

ASKS! ( ˊᵕˋ )♡.°⑅

BTS: JIMIN by a narrow margin, JK and NAMJOON are tied for a close second (Yoongi is forever my spirit animal though)

For other KPOP groups I follow currently:

Big Bang: TOP

Sechskies: Eun Jiwon

I mainly use SAI! (and PS for animation)

And it’s ironic because I’m like 99% sure I messed up my brush settings yesterday lol but here’s what I have right now. I pretty much use the default brush for all my sketches, lineart and coloring. (The only difference is just brush size) 

I’ve been playing around with my settings more and more just for fun/ trying out new things since I already messed up my settings /weeps (I should have had a screenshot of my original settings in hindsight . . . rip me)

Q__Q omgsjakhgsdlkg thank you guys so much (●♡∀♡) <333 You all give me motivation to keep on drawinggg! <3 (I’m also rly bad at expressing thanks but tytytytyty x100000, it means a lot)

Disclaimer: Just wanna add really quickly, take what I say with a grain of salt bc what worked for me might not work for everyone.

Don’t give up & practice A LOT!

I’ve never had any ‘legit’ art classes in the sense that the only art I got from school was one elective class in high school. The program I was in during HS and the field I’m in now are both devoid of creativity lol (Which is why people at my workplace are usually surprised to see that I draw) That being said, most of my art is mainly trial and error! But it’s a hobby that I enjoy a lot, so I don’t mind the trial and error aspect of it. I also really like the fact that you can like graduallllly see improvement the more you draw! :D Only recently, I’ve been actively trying to get better and improve since I have more time to do things now. (Legit school was probably the main reason why I couldn’t draw a lot -- exams man)

To elaborate a bit, overall I think I’m an average artist at best because there’s simply so much that I still need to learn. I feel like for me, I never fully grasped the foundation for drawing (mainly anatomy), so I’m trying to relearn that now that I have free time. (I think previously, all I drew was still-life, so I . .  . can draw fruit???? LOL) Like if you look at most of my older pieces, you can see that I have no clue how to draw clothing, body structure, or color theory. (The good thing is, that I know my weaknesses, so it’s a good starting block! haha)

But for art in general, it’s all about your foundation and how you build on it. If you don’t know how to break the body down by body parts, then there’s no way that you can free draw a person that looks perfect. So at this point, for me, it’s just a quest for learning & self improvement! :D

Another important thing is to step outside of your comfort zone! I strongly believe that you learn from failure especially for art. Like I think this year was the first time I drew a full body picture because I forced myself to step away from just drawing faces only. (LOL LEGIT I’VE ONLY DRAWN HEADSHOTS OF PEOPLE FACING LEFT FOR LIKE 99.9% OF THE TIME) While it wasn’t perfect, I definitely learned from it.

I also highly suggest iterative drawing! Which is basically drawing the same thing over and over, but changing small things with every repetition. That way, you can compare and see what worked and what didn’t and carry that forward!

Also, don’t expect like change overnight! That’s one of the things I think people have a misconceptions of-- especially something that new artists can get a bit down on, because they don’t ‘see’ improvement. But JUST KEEP ON DRAWING! Because improvement will always be gradual. (It’s very similar to working out -- like you’ll gain muscle tone over time & not overnight)

Like this is probably one of the first CG pieces I drew like YEARRRRS back (maybe 2009????) when I first tried digital art vs a WIP of what I’m currently working on right now (yes, dat’s a jimin) :

So clearly, getting from point A to point B for me happened over a lot of years and not right away, but just know that it IS possible if you’re willing to be patient -- and that improvement is there even if you don’t see it! 

Also I just wanna throw out there that improvement isn’t always going to be a upwards curve, it might stagnate/plateau occasionally and that’s OK! I think when I was still in school, I took A LOT of art hiatuses that spanned months so when I would get back into drawing, my art probably looked worse LOL 

But for me personally, what it comes down to in the end, is that:

1) You’re making art because YOU enjoy it. If you go into drawing with the intention of getting famous or having a lot of notes, then there really isn’t that much personal sense of joy if you’re basing your accomplishments by how many notes you receive. Draw for the sake of yourself instead of for the sake of others -- it’s a lot more liberating.

2) You’re basing your improvement against yourself, not against other people. Everyone is different and everyone learns things at different rates, so don’t feel discouraged if someone else is improving at a different rate than you are. I know a lot of people get discouraged when they see how fast others may be improvement-- I mean there was a point where I was like that, but ultimately, improvement will always be a battle against yourself only. (This applies to like self improvement lol not just art improvement)

3) Have a positive outlook & be patient. Basically going back to point 1, art should be something that you enjoy doing/something that makes you happy! Personally for me, I don’t see a point of calling something a hobby if you find no joy in doing it. I feel like in the past my main struggles were that I was unhappy about my art because I kept on comparing it to like REALLY good people HAHAHA & because I had like no improvement in the beginning, but then I realized that there’s not point of being sad over something I can’t control. Because all artists have their own story and all artists have to start out somewhere. (tbh sometimes, all you have to do is just change your mindset a bit) 

TLDR; Lots of practice, seek improvement, try new things, have a positive outlook (BE HAPPY!!!) & don’t give up! (๑•̀ㅂ•́)و HWAITING!

 >___> I just realized that I wrote a lot in no particular order, so I’m sorry that it turned into one very messy essay LOL but hopefully that was kinda helpful? igotlazierastimewentonthololsosorryifthelastsectionmadenosense 

BUT I THINK I’M FINALLY DONE LMFAO! (Also bless, this cleared out several asks from my inbox) :D If anyone’s curious about anything else, feel free to message me (or ask me stuff once my askbox re-opens) -- I’m always free to chat! ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ