#TUTORIAL

[trlamnhi]

OMG YOU ARE A LIFE SAVER

First method to cleaning MERGED PACKAGES s3 cc, package files, only works for hairs, clothes, acc and shoes! By @crazysim-mary

THIS IS FOR MERGED PACKAGES

Keep in mind this is one of MANY ways I clean my cc, this method is the one I like the most but I don’t know if it is safe for all computers or easier, it is for me :)

If you want other tutorials on how I clean obj, makeup, body hair and how I cleaned my mods folder so it won’t have conflicted files, please send me a message :3 Because on how many people this helps I will make others

You need: Master controller

Open a sim in cas, choose the cc you want to uninstall and right click it. (do this with all the cc you want to uninstall but be sure to move the txt files once you have 11 to another folder because if you don’t they will be overwritten by the newest files) 

Close your game and a .txt folder named something like “ScriptError_DESKTOP-**” will have appeared (once you right clicked the cc) in your the sims 3 folder.

Open it and copy the numbers after ‘’instance’’.

Open the package that contains in this case the hairs (in your case it can be cloths or anything like that)

Click once in ‘’chunkoffset”

Paste the number on the bottom part that says instance, check the box 

Than click set and check filter activate (In this case I have 2 parts, a thumb and a casp, usually you only have CASP)

Select CASP and uncheck filter activate.

Now you have the casp and the rest of the folders, shift click the last _img (in this case, usually it has just an icon or thumb) before another casp but don’t choose that casp than just click delete on your keyboard.

After deleting you will save and it may take a while but once is saved you can check if it’s delete by doing step 6 and 7 again

This method is the one I use, it doesn’t mean it’s safe or the best it’s just the one I personally use :) You can delete the .txt folder it won’t be needed again :) 

HOPE THIS HELPED, KISSES AND COOKIES

[buzzingroyalty]

how to grub your karkat

or you can use this for any other plush or if you wanna make a whole new plush entirely or whatever

disclaimer im not a professional in any sense of the word and theres anything technical im doing wrong or you think you can do it better by all means dont hold back

Things you’ll need

sewing machine unless youre really dedicated but doing it by hand is gonna be an agonizing feat i promise. I just used a straight stitch for everything

Fabrics: for the main body i suggest a minky or something soft, for the inner lining something in the same color as the main body and ideally with some stretch, and anything black for the legs. Less than a yard of each will do

if youre using minky or anything furry get a lint roller. Trust me

stuffing, i used polyfil

threads that match your fabrics

good fabric scissors

sewing needle for hand sewing/fixes

karkat plush (optional)

Heres the pattern i came up with! They are numbered for your convenience and pieces with the same numbers are going to be part of the same row of segments. cut everything out on the black lines (Make sure when you’re printing to fit the image to the page size.) on the left we have the belly pieces, the right is the main body, and we have the foot in between

Im using a relatively thin minky fabric, im sure you can use whatever but something with some fluffiness kinda helps to mask any imperfections in the sewing. When drawing out your patterns keep in mind what direction your fibers settle in and try to keep it consistent

On the wrong side of the fabric measure out at least a half inch seam allowance around each piece of the pattern, i used a centimeter and that worked but had me sweatin a bit.

For the main body pieces fold your fabric in half before you cut so you can have 2 of each segment that are mirrored to each other, i also extended all of the #1 pieces an additional centimeter/half inch at the top so we can fold them over at the very end. I highly suggest numbering the insides of all the cut pieces, especially in a way where you will remember what direction they are each meant to sit

After you’ve numbered all your pieces, set them aside and start making your feet!

Each of the 6 legs is made of two pieces, but i because i only had a swatch of the black minky i made up for the rest with some random black scrap fabric from an old project. Try to keep your fabric consistent if you can lol

I didnt give these pieces any more seam allowance on the fabric but i recommend adding a centimeter or half inch to the base of it to extend the length and have some more wiggle room

like so

Instead of cutting out 12 individual pieces and struggling to stitch them all together i started with 6, then pinning each piece real tight with the right/furry side down onto my secondary fabric, and slowly stitching around the shape real close to the edges- DO NOT CLOSE THE FLAT SIDE as we are going to stuff the feet through here

Now cut the shape out of the fabric and repeat till you have 6 feet

Now flip those bad boys inside out, stuff up, and if you wanna you can match them to their best pairs

now grab a pair of feeties and your #1 pieces and line them up, in this picture my belly #1 piece is shorter bc i forgot to add the extra centimeter and i recut that once i realized. Line those sides up with the right/furry parts touching and with the feet in between, flip it around to make sure everything's sitting the way you want it

Note. i didnt realize until later but i sewed my feet in upside down. save yourself the time it takes to fix it and dont make the same mistake

Straight stitch these layers together and repeat with the next two segments our good friends #2 & #3

Repeat this for the #2 and #3 sections but NOT THE #4, that part doesnt need feet! just line those edges up right/furry sides together and sew

the secret to the squish of the suit is making this inner lining from another fabric and stuffing it! I used what i had leftover from a stretchy red fabric for a kanaya skirt. For this we need to make a new pattern for each section, making sure it follows the curve of the round edge but the piece itself is shorter, almost like youre removing the seam allowance you added. Mine is a centimeter shorter on the top and on the bottom and reaches to the middle

Make one of these for each numbered segment,you only need to make half the pattern and you can fold your fabric in half on a crease and you end up with one symmetrical piece (bars)

Now you need to pin these pieces right on top of the wrong side of your numbered furry sections and line up the straight edges like so (disclaimer for LOTS OF SCARY NEEDLES !!)

Admittedly i didnt estimate how long these pieces needed to be very accurately and overshot it a bit, if you start pinning it from the middle and continue outwards on either side thatll ensure its not too lose and you can cut off any excess after

The only exception is piece #1, if you recall we gave this #1 section extra seam allowance. This is so we can sew down that excess at the neck later and hide any of the inside that might show once its all put together. Do not connect the top edge to the inner lining! Since i added an extra centimeter earlier im gonna leave that hanging and pin + sew down the inner lining a centimeter lower than the top edge. LEAVE THE CURVED EDGES OPEN! DONT SEW THEM TOGETHER! those stay open to stuff

Straight stitch the lined up edges together

Now you have all these skinned pieces of little freak and we need to connect all these segments together making sure to sew UNDER the existing stitches so we dont see those on the outside when its all put together

Inside looks like a bit of a mess but thats fine bc its not the part that matters

Now stuff it! you might need a stick or pencil or something long and thin to get stuffing into the middle bits

Now thats its stuffed you can finally close those curved edges. Try not to sew over a thick mound of stuffing, push it in a little further to give yourself some space and you can fluff it back out after everythings closed. I cut off that excess lining fabric after sewing

Ough… they filleted my boy…

Finally, match up all the edges and lines and HAND SEW them right sides together. You will destroy your machine trying to work around that stuffing i promise. You also have an excuse to get up from your work desk and sew on a couch or smth. I used a standard backstitch for a tight finish and again, make sure you sew under any existing stitches so they arent visible on the outside!

Speaking of the outside, once you stitch everything together you can very gently flip this sucker inside out

This is @hatamonu’s cat Cocaina, aka Coco. Her perfectly square figure made it into my grub files somehow so shes essential to the tutorial

Check the fit and all thats left to do is roughly baste stitch down that excess neck fabric onto the stuffed lining and youre set! I gave the thread slight tugs as i went to tighten the opening a bit put dont tighten it too much

tadaaaaa

It fits pretty snug but starts to slip a bit with motion. Heres a bounce test

 If you do shake your baby make sure to safety pin the plush to the suit so he doesnt prematurely shed his exosekeleton

Now spread that baby fever and show your baby to the world

pics from the ALA 2025 homestuck meetup and supplied by para.dox.cos

Tysm for coming along this ride with me especially if you followed the prototype journey on twitter, much thanks to my more sewing savvy friend for the solution to my grub dilemma and for helping me design and build my dolorosa cosplay <3 much love and hopefully many more homestuck cosplays and meetups to come in the future!

[kosmokhaos]

I feel like my brain gained a wrinkle?

Okay, some people might know this already, but I'm sharing for those who don't! Sims 3 players, if you have @omedapixel's Sims 3 decorator Tool, you can select a OSMP (even the resizer and tipsy ones), and move your sims around with it.

Currently, the mod doesn't support moving a sim on it's own, but this is an excellent workaround. Works really good when you're trying to pose a sim and need to move them up or down or tilt and spin them a little.

So just a little psa for you because my brain felt SO unsmooth when I tried it out lol 🫶🏾

[gracekraft]

For anyone who enjoys my watercolors and has wondered about my process or any watercolor advice I have for those interested in using it, I bring you Brushtale, a zine that compiles my thoughts regarding those very things!

This 18-page digital pdf zine is available here!

[wolfbon3z]

Woahhhh that’s sooooo cool!!

A small tut on how i made my ear wings

Under the cut bcuz theres a bunch of pics and i don’t wanna clutter people’s feed

List of things you’ll need:

Foam sheet/cardboard -> for the base

feathers (i used these :

Scissors

Glue (i used hot glue)

A headband

STEP 1:

Cut out the base (i recommend using a real wing as a reference. The height of the base of the wing should be a bit bigger than the height of your ear.

i labelled them left and right, but it’s pretty useless to do that.

STEP 2:

I painted the base white because the feathers aren’t opaque, and we could see the purple of the base.

STEP 3:

It’s time to glue the long feathers on! Make sure to position them before gluing, to make sure they look ok. Make sure to to follow those handy guide!

STEP 4:

Position the second (round) layer of feathers! I fold over any feather that went over the base on the top, to keep it looking clean.

STEP 5:

Now is the time to add the fluffy feathers if you want to!

STEP 6:

Time for the back! You can either leave it white or put feathers on the back too. You can use the same template, or a reference of a real wing.

STEP 7:

Almost done! It’s time to attach them to the headband. If the one you have is made of plastic and is smooth, you should wrap some thread around it and glue it to the headband before the wings, so that the wings won’t detach

This is the pink thread i used, it’s embroidery thread. I used about the length of my arm for each side, and i then lathered it in hot glue. Not super clean, but it works.

MAKE SURE YOU VERIFY THE PLACEMENT OF THE WINGS BEFORE GLUING THEM!!!!

Next, the actual attaching. You can glue the ears directly onto the headband, or use a paperclip (this will make them move , so i don’t recommend using that).

STEP 8:

Wow! Your wings are done! Good job :3

Feel free to message me if tou have questions! I’m not the best at explaining stuff ;-;

Also, if you made these, could you reblog with your finished product :3 i’m curious to see how it turned out!

@ixekopernik , @shadowfoxink , ty for asking for this!

[otoruuvv]

Here’s a 5 Min video showing how I usually color hair as requested by Anon (●’◡’●)ﾉ!

I’ve tried my best to shorten the clip while making sure it isn’t going too fast, so if there’s any questions please feel free to ask me! 😆

[ombrathefurry]

Requested to do a body tutorial so here’s a very basic one I put together :)

[weirdusernamesuggestion]

Now is the time to delete tiktok.

If you are like me, you have hundreds of saved recipes, fashion inspiration, workouts, tutorials, etc, on tiktok that you don't want to lose. This tutorial let's you batch download directly from a tiktok users page on a PC or MAC or even Linux. If you want to download YOUR saved videos, you must make those folders public first. You can use this for your own account, and any public accounts.

Tiktok is going to become progressively more censored and influenced in the coming weeks, based on what we're already seeing. It's time to take what you need from the app, and get off of it if you can. This tool made it much easier to leave tiktok because all the collections I've curated are now safely on my hard-drive! I have my videos, and my saved folders, and everything I need to comfortably exit the app before it gets worse. You can message me if you need help with the tutorial!

[sradracela]

Tutorial on how to make your product not sell well or be forgotten quickly. I remembered the Marvel/Star Wars movies when the writers said that the movies were not for men/etc and when the movies were canceled, they said it was the fault of those same men/etc 🤔(?????). I love when these extremists do this out of nowhere in a place that is intended for selling products and not politics. The good thing about this is that I save money to spend on IFs from normal authors (it doesn't matter if it's right or left wing).

Just want to make sure people know this account is strongly anti-trump and anti right wing ideology in general. I have no tolerance for any sort of bigotry, if you are a trump supporter my writing isn’t for you.

[nikoco11]

my recipe for drawing hands!

(small note that this is a shortcut that is more abt style and ease than anatomical accuracy. it helps to take time to really properly study hands, makes it easier to bend the rules a bit like this and have it still look good!!)

(learn rules b4 u break them or whatevah)

[laboratoryrats]

Excellent tutorial to drawing cubby body types

“Some chubby guide for y’all!”

Source: paggiart on twitter

[tofupixel]

⭐ So you want to learn pixel art? ⭐

🔹 Part 1 of ??? - The Basics!

Edit: Now available in Google Doc format if you don't have a Tumblr account 🥰

Hello, my name is Tofu and I'm a professional pixel artist. I have been supporting myself with freelance pixel art since 2020, when I was let go from my job during the pandemic.

My progress, from 2017 to 2024. IMO the only thing that really matters is time and effort, not some kind of natural talent for art.

This guide will not be comprehensive, as nobody should be expected to read allat. Instead I will lean heavily on my own experience, and share what worked for me, so take everything with a grain of salt. This is a guide, not a tutorial. Cheers!

🔹 Do I need money?

NO!!! Pixel art is one of the most accessible mediums out there.

I still use a mouse because I prefer it to a tablet! You won't be at any disadvantage here if you can't afford the best hardware or software.

Because our canvases are typically very small, you don't need a good PC to run a good brush engine or anything like that.

✨Did you know? One of the most skilled and beloved pixel artists uses MS PAINT! Wow!!

🔹 What software should I use?

Here are some of the most popular programs I see my friends and peers using. Stars show how much I recommend the software for beginners! ⭐

💰 Paid options:

⭐⭐⭐ Aseprite (for PC) - $19.99

This is what I and many other pixel artists use. You may find when applying to jobs that they require some knowledge of Aseprite. Since it has become so popular, companies like that you can swap raw files between artists.

Aseprite is amazingly customizable, with custom skins, scripts and extensions on Itch.io, both free and paid.

If you have ever used any art software before, it has most of the same features and should feel fairly familiar to use. It features a robust animation suite and a tilemap feature, which have saved me thousands of hours of labour in my work. The software is also being updated all the time, and the developers listen to the users. I really recommend Aseprite!

⭐ Photoshop (for PC) - Monthly $$

A decent option for those who already are used to the PS interface. Requires some setup to get it ready for pixel-perfect art, but there are plenty of tutorials for doing so.

Animation is also much more tedious on PS which you may want to consider before investing time!

⭐⭐ ProMotion NG (for PC) - $19.00

An advanced and powerful software which has many features Aseprite does not, including Colour Cycling and animated tiles.

⭐⭐⭐ Pixquare (for iOS) - $7.99 - $19.99 (30% off with code 'tofu'!!)

Probably the best app available for iPad users, in active development, with new features added all the time.

Look! My buddy Jon recommends it highly, and uses it often.

One cool thing about Pixquare is that it takes Aseprite raw files! Many of my friends use it to work on the same project, both in their office and on the go.

⭐ Procreate (for iOS) - $12.99

If you have access to Procreate already, it's a decent option to get used to doing pixel art. It does however require some setup. Artist Pixebo is famously using Procreate, and they have tutorials of their own if you want to learn.

⭐⭐ ReSprite iOS and Android. (free trial, but:) $19.99 premium or $$ monthly

ReSprite is VERY similar in terms of UI to Aseprite, so I can recommend it. They just launched their Android release!

🆓 Free options:

⭐⭐⭐ Libresprite (for PC)

Libresprite is an alternative to Aseprite. It is very, very similar, to the point where documentation for Aseprite will be helpful to Libresprite users.

⭐⭐ Pixilart (for PC and mobile)

A free in-browser app, and also a mobile app! It is tied to the website Pixilart, where artists upload and share their work. A good option for those also looking to get involved in a community.

⭐⭐ Dotpict (for mobile)

Dotpict is similar to Pixilart, with a mobile app tied to a website, but it's a Japanese service. Did you know that in Japanese, pixel art is called 'Dot Art'? Dotpict can be a great way to connect with a different community of pixel artists! They also have prompts and challenges often.

🔹 So I got my software, now what?

◽Nice! Now it's time for the basics of pixel art.

❗ WAIT ❗ Before this section, I want to add a little disclaimer. All of these rules/guidelines can be broken at will, and some 'no-nos' can look amazing when done intentionally.

The pixel-art fundamentals can be exceedingly helpful to new artists, who may feel lost or overwhelmed by choice. But if you feel they restrict you too harshly, don't force yourself! At the end of the day it's your art, and you shouldn't try to contort yourself into what people think a pixel artist 'should be'. What matters is your own artistic expression. 💕👍

◽Phew! With that out of the way...

🔸"The Rules"

There are few hard 'rules' of pixel art, mostly about scaling and exporting. Some of these things will frequently trip up newbies if they aren't aware, and are easy to overlook.

🔹Scaling method

There are a couple ways of scaling your art. The default in most art programs, and the entire internet, is Bi-linear scaling, which usually works out fine for most purposes. But as pixel artists, we need a different method.

Both are scaled up x10. See the difference?

On the left is scaled using Bilinear, and on the right is using Nearest-Neighbor. We love seeing those pixels stay crisp and clean, so we use nearest-neighbor. 

(Most pixel-art programs have nearest-neighbor enabled by default! So this may not apply to you, but it's important to know.)

🔹Mixels

Mixels are when there are different (mixed) pixel sizes in the same image.

Here I have scaled up my art- the left is 200%, and the right is 150%. Yuck!

As we can see, the "pixel" sizes end up different. We generally try to scale our work by multiples of 100 - 200%, 300% etc. rather than 150%. At larger scales however, the minute differences in pixel sizes are hardly noticeable!

Mixels are also sometimes seen when an artist scales up their work, then continues drawing on it with a 1 pixel brush.

Many would say that this is not great looking! This type of pixels can be indicative of a beginner artist. But there are plenty of creative pixel artists out there who mixels intentionally, making something modern and cool.

🔹Saving Your Files

We usually save our still images as .PNGs as they don’t create any JPEG artifacts or loss of quality. It's a little hard to see here, but there are some artifacts, and it looks a little blurry. It also makes the art very hard to work with if we are importing a JPEG.

For animations .GIF is good, but be careful of the 256 colour limit. Try to avoid using too many blending mode layers or gradients when working with animations. If you aren’t careful, your animation could flash afterwards, as the .GIF tries to reduce colours wherever it can. It doesn’t look great!

Here's an old piece from 2021 where I experienced .GIF lossiness, because I used gradients and transparency, resulting in way too many colours.

🔹Pixel Art Fundamentals - Techniques and Jargon

❗❗Confused about Jaggies? Anti-Aliasing? Banding? Dithering? THIS THREAD is for you❗❗ << it's a link, click it!!

As far as I'm concerned, this is THE tutorial of all time for understanding pixel art. These are techniques created and named by the community of people who actually put the list together, some of the best pixel artists alive currently. Please read it!!

🔸How To Learn

Okay, so you have your software, and you're all ready to start. But maybe you need some more guidance? Try these tutorials and resources! It can be helpful to work along with a tutorial until you build your confidence up.

⭐⭐ Pixel Logic (A Digital Book) - $10 A very comprehensive visual guide book by a very skilled and established artist in the industry. I own a copy myself.

⭐⭐⭐ StudioMiniBoss - free A collection of visual tutorials, by the artist that worked on Celeste! When starting out, if I got stuck, I would go and scour his tutorials and see how he did it.

⭐ Lospec Tutorials - free A very large collection of various tutorials from all over the internet. There is a lot to sift through here if you have the time.

⭐⭐⭐ Cyangmou's Tutorials - free (tipping optional) Cyangmou is one of the most respected and accomplished modern pixel artists, and he has amassed a HUGE collection of free and incredibly well-educated visual tutorials. He also hosts an educational stream every week on Twitch called 'pixelart for beginners'.

⭐⭐⭐ Youtube Tutorials - free There are hundreds, if not thousands of tutorials on YouTube, but it can be tricky to find the good ones. My personal recommendations are MortMort, Brandon, and AdamCYounis- these guys really know what they're talking about!

🔸 How to choose a canvas size

When looking at pixel art turorials, we may see people suggest things like 16x16, 32x32 and 64x64. These are standard sizes for pixel art games with tiles. However, if you're just making a drawing, you don't necessarily need to use a standard canvas size like that.

What I like to think about when choosing a canvas size for my illustrations is 'what features do I think it is important to represent?' And make my canvas as small as possible, while still leaving room for my most important elements.

Imagine I have characters in a scene like this:

I made my canvas as small as possible (232 x 314), but just big enough to represent the features and have them be recognizable (it's Good Omens fanart 😤)!! If I had made it any bigger, I would be working on it for ever, due to how much more foliage I would have to render.

If you want to do an illustration and you're not sure, just start at somewhere around 100x100 - 200x200 and go from there.

It's perfectly okay to crop your canvas, or scale it up, or crunch your art down at any point if you think you need a different size. I do it all the time! It only takes a bit of cleanup to get you back to where you were.

🔸Where To Post

Outside of just regular socials, Twitter, Tumblr, Deviantart, Instagram etc, there are a few places that lean more towards pixel art that you might not have heard of.

⭐ Lospec Lospec is a low-res focused art website. Some pieces get given a 'monthly masterpiece' award. Not incredibly active, but I believe there are more features being added often.

⭐⭐ Pixilart Pixilart is a very popular pixel art community, with an app tied to it. The community tends to lean on the young side, so this is a low-pressure place to post with an relaxed vibe.

⭐⭐ Pixeljoint Pixeljoint is one of the big, old-school pixel art websites. You can only upload your art unscaled (1x) because there is a built-in zoom viewer. It has a bit of a reputation for being elitist (back in the 00s it was), but in my experience it's not like that any more. This is a fine place for a pixel artist to post if they are really interested in learning, and the history. The Hall of Fame has some of the most famous / impressive pixel art pieces that paved the way for the work we are doing today.

⭐⭐⭐ Cafe Dot Cafe Dot is my art server so I'm a little biased here. 🍵 It was created during the recent social media turbulence. We wanted a place to post art with no algorithms, and no NFT or AI chuds. We have a heavy no-self-promotion rule, and are more interested in community than skill or exclusivity. The other thing is that we have some kind of verification system- you must apply to be a Creator before you can post in the Art feed, or use voice. This helps combat the people who just want to self-promo and dip, or cause trouble, as well as weed out AI/NFT people. Until then, you are still welcome to post in any of the threads or channels. There is a lot to do in Cafe Dot. I host events weekly, so check the threads!

⭐⭐/r/pixelart The pixel art subreddit is pretty active! I've also heard some of my friends found work through posting here, so it's worth a try if you're looking. However, it is still Reddit- so if you're sensitive to rude people, or criticism you didn't ask for, you may want to avoid this one. Lol

🔸 Where To Find Work

You need money? I got you! As someone who mostly gets scouted on social media, I can share a few tips with you:

Put your email / portfolio in your bio Recruiters don't have all that much time to find artists, make it as easy as possible for someone to find your important information!

Clean up your profile If your profile feed is all full of memes, most people will just tab out rather than sift through. Doesn't apply as much to Tumblr if you have an art tag people can look at.

Post regularly, and repost Activity beats everything in the social media game. It's like rolling the dice, and the more you post the more chances you have. You have to have no shame, it's all business baby

Outside of just posting regularly and hoping people reach out to you, it can be hard to know where to look. Here are a few places you can sign up to and post around on.

/r/INAT INAT (I Need A Team) is a subreddit for finding a team to work with. You can post your portfolio here, or browse for people who need artists.

/r/GameDevClassifieds Same as above, but specifically for game-related projects.

Remote Game Jobs / Work With Indies Like Indeed but for game jobs. Browse them often, or get email notifications.

VGen VGen is a website specifically for commissions. You need a code from another verified artist before you can upgrade your account and sell, so ask around on social media or ask your friends. Once your account is upgraded, you can make a 'menu' of services people can purchase, and they send you an offer which you are able to accept, decline, or counter.

The evil websites of doom: Fiverr and Upwork I don't recommend them!! They take a big cut of your profit, and the sites are teeming with NFT and AI people hoping to make a quick buck. The site is also extremely oversaturated and competitive, resulting in a race to the bottom (the cheapest, the fastest, doing the most for the least). Imagine the kind of clients who go to these websites, looking for the cheapest option. But if you're really desperate...

🔸 Community

I do really recommend getting involved in a community. Finding like-minded friends can help you stay motivated to keep drawing. One day, those friends you met when you were just starting out may become your peers in the industry. Making friends is a game changer!

Discord servers Nowadays, the forums of old are mostly abandoned, and people split off into many different servers. Cafe Dot, Pixel Art Discord (PAD), and if you can stomach scrolling past all the AI slop, you can browse Discord servers here.

Twitch Streams Twitch has kind of a bad reputation for being home to some of the more edgy gamers online, but the pixel art community is extremely welcoming and inclusive. Some of the people I met on Twitch are my friends to this day, and we've even worked together on different projects! Browse pixel art streams here, or follow some I recommend: NickWoz, JDZombi, CupOhJoe, GrayLure, LumpyTouch, FrankiePixelShow, MortMort, Sodor, NateyCakes, NyuraKim, ShinySeabass, I could go on for ever really... There are a lot of good eggs on Pixel Art Twitch.

🔸 Other Helpful Websites

Palettes Lospec has a huge collection of user-made palettes, for any artist who has trouble choosing their colours, or just wants to try something fun. Rejected Palettes is full of palettes that didn't quite make it onto Lospec, ran by people who believe there are no bad colours.

The Spriters Resource TSR is an incredible website where users can upload spritesheets and tilesets from games. You can browse for your favourite childhood game, and see how they made it! This website has helped me so much in understanding how game assets come together in a scene.

VGMaps Similar to the above, except there are entire maps laid out how they would be played. This is incredible if you have to do level design, or for mocking up a scene for fun.

Game UI Database Not pixel-art specific, but UI is a very challenging part of graphics, so this site can be a game-changer for finding good references!

Retronator A digital newspaper for pixel-art lovers! New game releases, tutorials, and artworks!

Itch.io A website where people can upload, games, assets, tools... An amazing hub for game devs and game fans alike. A few of my favourite tools: Tiled, PICO-8, Pixel Composer, Juice FX, Magic Pencil for Aseprite

🔸 The End?

This is just part 1 for now, so please drop me a follow to see any more guides I release in the future. I plan on doing some writeups on how I choose colours, how to practise, and more!

I'm not an expert by any means, but everything I did to get to where I am is outlined in this guide. Pixel art is my passion, my job and my hobby! I want pixel art to be recognized everywhere as an art-form, a medium of its own outside of game-art or computer graphics!

This guide took me a long time, and took a lot of research and experience. Consider following me or supporting me if you are feeling generous.

And good luck to all the fledgling pixel artists, I hope you'll continue and have fun. I hope my guide helped you, and don't hesitate to send me an ask if you have any questions! 💕

My other tutorials (so far): How to draw Simple Grass for a game Hue Shifting

[lcb-oil]

Limbus Company Wiki Style for AO3

Note: This post contains spoilers (... can I call it that?) for Glimpsing a Certain Mirror World.

While I was writing this story, I wrote some in-game dialogue for an identity based on the text just to get into the spirit of what I was trying to capture.

Then I thought - what if I shared that in a bonus chapter, just for fun?

Then I thought even more that it kind of looked like an imaginary wiki page.

Then I had Carmen help me present a wiki page from another reality.

Seems like readers got as much of a kick out of it as I did writing it!

Now I'll show you how to style an AO3 page to look a little bit like the wonderful Limbus Company Wiki, too!

If a CSS and HTML snippet demonstration is all you need, grab them here:

🔗HTML (Inside your story)

🔗CSS (Inside a Work Skin, made on your dashboard)

Next, I'll go over everything step by step from the beginning.

Jump into the cut for the tutorial!

(Then show me your fan identity stories when you make some, okay?)

Step 1: Create a Work Skin

After logging in, go to your Dashboard.

Then click Skins

Then go to My Work Skins

Click Create Work Skin

Give it any name and description you like

Paste the following into the CSS text area:

🔗Pastebin Link for easy copy / paste

#workskin td, #workskin th { padding: 5px; border: 1px solid #810000; } #workskin td { color: white; background-color: #1e1e1e; vertical-align: middle; } #workskin td.title-column { width: 20%; text-align: center; } #workskin div.affiliation { font-size: small; } #workskin .userstuff p.carmen { color: red; }

I will explain what this means when we get to the next step so that you can tweak it if you wish. Think of this as your starter style.

Click Submit to save your skin

Step 2: Apply the Skin to Your Work

When creating or editing a work, you can set the work skin in the Associations section.

Click the dropdown, and you'll see whatever name you gave your work skin in the first step mixed in with the default ones provided by AO3.

Step 3: Format Your Story

You'll need to add HTML to your story to see any of the new styles applied.

I'll show you a few examples of how this is done.

Change the color of text

I used red text to indicate Carmen speaking through the author's note.

Here is the HTML I used in the Chapter Notes section to do this:

<p class="carmen">Could it be that you, too, wish to glimpse the mirror world these two envisioned?</p>

This creates a paragraph (p) with the carmen class applied.

If we look at the CSS from up above:

#workskin .userstuff p.carmen { color: red; }

The p.carmen section is called the selector. This tells the CSS that if there's a paragraph with the class of carmen, make it red!

You can copy this line to create classes with any name you wish for paragraphs so that you can have as many colors and effects at your disposal as you want.

Of course you can change the color from red to any other color you need, too.

Wiki Tables

This next part is a little bit more involved. I'm not sure if there's a better way to make a table on AO3 or not, but here's a snippet to get you started:

🔗Pastebin Link for easy copy / paste

<table> <tbody> <tr> <td class="title-column"> </td> <td> The child looked immensely frustrated, standing in the lobby of a most unique Fixer Office. </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="title-column"> <img src="your image URL here" alt="Sancho Story Portrait"> <div class="affiliation">Manchegan Office</div> <b>Sancho</b> </td> <td> We went over this just <em>yesterday</em> -- </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>

This creates a table (<table>) with two table rows (<tr>).

Each table row has two table cells (<td>).

The first cell in each row has the character image, affiliation, and name.

The class "affiliation" is defined in the style sheet to make that section of text just a bit smaller, like on the wiki:

#workskin div.affiliation { font-size: small; }

In the first example table row (<tr>) above, you can see that you can even leave it blank to allow for the narration portions of the story.

You'll need to copy the section between the <tr> and </tr> tags to create new rows for your table. Copy it once per line in your identity story and change the text and images inside as needed.

I highly suggest that you do this in a text editor on your own computer rather than on AO3, because it can quickly get overwhelming.

Just looking at this in AO3 is making me nervous 💦

(Fun side note, I originally spelled "Manchegan" incorrectly in my first draft all over that huge table... thank goodness for find and replace...)

Hosting Images

You'll see I left a section on the table template for "your image URL here".

You'll have to find a place to host your images on your own, because AO3 doesn't provide any image hosting...

I saw someone suggested https://imgbb.com/, so that's what I used. It seems to have held up so far.

Keep in mind if you link an image from Discord or Imgur, they could remove your image sometime in the future and then it will no longer appear properly in your story.

(Be sure to include an alt text in the image as shown - if the image can't be loaded some day in the future users will see that text instead so that they can understand what they're missing!)

Step 4: Adjust Away!

Once your work skin is applied and you have the right HTML classes in place, you can edit your Work Skin and see your story change, even if it is in your drafts.

You can use this to adjust other things in my CSS example, like colors and the padding in the table.

---

Have fun, and let me know if you have any questions!

“Would you care for some tea?” Yi Sang offered. The evening’s chill was somehow present, even inside his closed room. “Nay,” Don Quixote took in a sharp breath, “I was hoping that you might… assist me, with a look into thy mirror. For there is something that I have need to see.” Yi Sang creased his eyebrows. Unfortunately, this was exactly what he worried would occur. ——— In the aftermath of La Manchaland, Don Quixote asks Yi Sang for a favor. Yi Sang guides her through the process of glimpsing a certain mirror world.

Limbus Company leaves so much unsaid by not showing us what happens immediately after the end of a canto. But, that's a lot of opportunity space to play with in a story.

I've been working on this one for quite some time as I've always wanted to explore the dynamic between Don Quixote and Yi Sang, even though I find Yi Sang really tough to write for.

If you like mirror worlds and AUs, you might especially enjoy this one. I hope you like it! 🎠🪶

---

... Also, hmm, something strange seems to have happened with my upload?

This is a one shot story, but for some reason there's a second chapter? That's odd.

Well, if you check it out, I should note that it might look better on a PC or tablet than on a mobile phone -- though it will probably look ok either way.

[coochiekrab]

Someone asked for another hand tutorial and i once again failed to deliver the tutorial part

[cowsabungus]

A guide to designing wheelchair using characters!

I hope this helps anyone who's trying to design their oc using a wheelchair, it's not a complete guide but I tried my best! deffo do more research if you're writing them as a character