#This is a messy sketch because I needed to draw it out as fast as I could

[pinterestmom5]

alien stage R7 but cinnaphos…. I didn’t sleep so I could watch it live LOL

Og image!

[comvi]

I always have to remind myself that I don’t need to push myself to make art, and I don’t need to apologize or feel bad for not making a lot of art. art is something that should make me feel happy, so if I’m pushing myself to the point of not enjoying it anymore, then I should just stop and calm down for a second. and take some time for myself. Art won’t disappear, it will always be there waiting for me again, its okay for me to take some time doing others things sometimes.

[pillowspace]

SUN: Ohh, how they grow up so fast!! Happy Birthday, Maria!!!!! // ME: Thanks, Sun. And thank you for having always been there when I needed it. You'll always mean a lot to me.

SIFFRIN: Happy birthday // ME: Thank you, traveler. / ...Did you know that the main reason I got In Stars and Time was because I couldn't stop crying for two weeks and watching you get trapped in time prison made me a happier healthier person?

SIFFRIN: ...huh? // ME: Yeah, I don't think there was a normal way to put that.

ME: Ah... wait... But isn't there something that means even more to me than the characters I love?

ME: Oh! The people I love!

ME: The world used to look so lonely to me. Thank you, genuinely, to anyone who has ever laughed with me, and shown me that the world's much brighter than that.

ME: Although messy (it's 11:58PM on November 12th), my last sketch as a 17 year old... goes to Charlie Emily from Five Nights at Freddy's. / Although I didn't know her as Charlie at the time, but merely as the Puppet, she has always been a favourite of mine.

ME: And my first drawing at the age of 18 is... ah... Hold on, this isn't working out. Let's try again later.

ME: Ah yes, that's better. // MIRABELLE: Happy Birthday!! // Me: Why thank you, Mirabelle from In Stars and Time!

ME: Happy Birthday, Me. ❤️

[fairykazu]

SKETCHES OF YOU // kaeya x gn! reader contents: friends to lovers, modern au with visions, requited love notes: the dividers were made by @/cafekitsune masterlist

you and kaeya were on a picnic date. well, not a date. it originally was going to be a hangout with all your friends like albedo and rosaria. but they all managed to bail out, leaving you and kaeya alone. "huh, i can't believe they managed to bail out so fast? i've been planning this for weeks!" you cried to kaeya as you both set down the blanket to sit on. he smoothed out the creases in the blanket,

"rosaria told me she had a shift and albedo needed to take care of klee." kaeya replied, pulling the basket onto the floor. you sighed,

"i know... im just so sad because we havent had time to hang out at all."

"hey. at least you have me here." kaeya said as you glanced at him. somehow, he always manages to look picture perfect. he's such the perfect muse. you pulled out a sketchbook from your tote bag, given by kaeya, onto your lap. kaeya picked off a strawberry from one of the tupperware, eating it. the light made kaeya look ethereal. out of this world, even.

kaeya noticed how your attention wasn't really on what he was doing but him specifically. he was about to ask you what you were doing but he heard the soft pencil strokes, and your tongue is sticking out.

oh of course, you were drawing... him?

"whatcha drawin', name?" he asked as you hummed in response. that really answers everything doesn't it.

"you. stay still please." you answered, placing your pencil down and framing kaeya with your fingers. he rolled his eyes but stayed still despite his attutude.

"if no one would eat the food, it will get cold."

"use my vision." your dominant hand stayed in the exact position of where you left off in the drawing. your other hand jingling with your pyro vision. you tossed it to the cryo wielder who just caught your vision, and he thanked the archons that it didn't slip out of his hands.

after twenty-ish minutes, he was impaitent and his bones are crunching on him. the blue haired male asked, "are you done yet?"

he moved a bit closer to you, you could feel the warmth from his face. unfortunately, he did move from his spot. you shooed him away, "no and stop moving."

"this isn't an oil painting, name. hey, do you think i'd draw better than you?"

you rolled your eyes, "sure, kae." you pulled out a paper from your sketchbook to kaeya and a clipboard. "go ahead, draw me." you were already finished with your sketch of kaeya. you picked up a sandwich that was shaped like a heart.

"okay."

"are you done, name?" he believed that you were still working on the same sketch as last time.

"yes, are you, kae?"

"yes. ok, reveal in three."

"1"

"2"

"3!!!"

one drawing was created with grace and passion and the other was kaeya's. kaeya's drawing of you was messy and he really did try his best. you snifled a laugh,

"it's beautiful kaeya. i'll frame this and put this above my bed."

"thank you." he replied, picking up the drawing you did for him. you may have made him look more charming as usual or at least thats what you think. "you even got my charms correct... i mean, it's not as wonderful as mine but i'll frame this too."

[your-unfriendlyghost]

Hiiii i just saw your Outsiders/Christine art and HOLY SHIT. When i say my jaw was on the floor it was on the floor. I’m a huge Stephen King fan (I’ve only read his books bc to me his books are good enough. I’m not a huge horror movie watcher girlie but i can do thriller/horror books. I have like 8 of his books, including Christine, on my bookshelf) and once again: HOLY SHIT. I can lowkey see the Outsiders trio as the Christine trio. Now whenever i go to reread the book, i can’t view it the same anymore haha. Another Outsiders/Stepehen King art idea for Halloween: 11/22/63. It’s one of my absolute favorite Stephen King novels. And if you haven’t read it, highly recommend it. It’s so intense and entertaining and i do get lost in that book. Anyways, HOLY SHIT. But i was also wondering if you have any tips for beginner digital artists? Like on layers, line art especially, shading etc.? I really want to get into more digital art but my tradional sketches lowkey look better than my digital ones haha. Whenever i see your stevepop or Outsiders art it just gives me a boost of inspiration. And i love them your honor.

Woah, thanks!! I’ll have to check it out- so far I’ve only read Christine and The Body (because my dad’s obsessed w/ Stand By Me), but I really dug both so I’m looking forward to it!

And as for digital art tips, I guess I’d say to keep things loose! I like to use a modified version of the Shale Brush on procreate for my sketches and lineart because it resembles a pencil, and the rough messiness makes it a whole lot easier for me to just relax and draw the way I do on paper. I don’t shy away from messiness especially in digital art- it makes things flow better in a medium that can get really stiff sometimes.

I like to do my sketches in bright colors, and I tend to assign every subject a certain color so I can tell them apart easily (idk how helpful it is, but it works for me!) Then I lower the opacity and draw on a layer on top like this:

Then I turn off the sketch layer and either fill everything in with base colors, or color it in grayscale w/ this Copic marker brush and varying levels of opacity for my comics.

As for shading, I do a combination of cell shading and painterly shading (picture for the uninitiated lol). Both have their merits, and shadows in real life usually include a bit of both.

For more simple stuff, I take a shade of either purple or sometimes magenta and cell shade everything with this pencil brush on a multiply layer, usually set to 30-ish% opacity depending on the drawing. Then I’ll blend it out a bit to soften some edges, which is what makes it look painterly. Also if you don’t know, “clipping mask” layers are really helpful for shading! You just put the shading layer over the colors and it stops you from going outside of the colors, it can be super helpful. This method is the one I usually use, and the one I’ve been using since I first started about five years ago now.

For the Christine poster specifically though I mostly just kept everything to one layer and color dropped from the reference, altering the colors as I saw fit- and just sort of guessed for Evie because she’s way tanner than Leigh and needed her own colors. The only times I used different layers were for each individual character so that they didn’t mess each other up, and also for the sketches, which I put on top of the colors but lightened the opacity on. Idk that I’d recommend this for a beginner tho, it’s taken me years to get comfortable working like this!

Sketch is set to a multiply layer here too. You can’t see it super well here tbh, because of how dark everything is, but oh well. Here’s a study I did last year with the same method tho! (Also she’s got some similarities to Evie huh?? I guess I have a type lol oops)

Anyhow, that’s probably enough for now lol- but lmk if there’s anything else you wanna know! And obviously this is just how I do things, there’s no hard and fast rules for any of this- I’m making it up as I go along, and you should too!!

[deanthe]

[open] nintendo eshop code commissions!

looking for quality, stylized commissions at a relatively cheap price? well, uh... here ya are!! (more info under the cut)

for an nintendo eshop code ranging from 5-20 dollars (usd only), you can get a commission from me!

Rules:

sfw only

no problematic imagery

one character only

can be anywhere between a headshot and a fullbody at no additional cost!

$5 - sketch

a base sketch that i make for full pieces, but less messy.

$10 - lineart

lineart! lineart! lineart! stopping right before the coloring process.

$20 - full piece

the real deal, with all the crazy colors and filters you know and tolerate!

that's about it in terms of what you're getting, but please don't skip out on the info below! it's important -- you can tell because it's in a FAQ format!

so... what's the process?

if interested, dm me either here, on twitter (@deanthebobcat) or on discord (deanthe_) and tell me what ys want! ref sheets are only needed if it's an oc. once you approve the sketch i make, you then send over the eshop code as payment and i work on the rest of the commission!

how do i go about getting a code?

you COULD go to a store that has eshop giftcards and buy one, but my customers usually just grab a code off of amazon and get emailed the code quickly.

why eshop codes?

i live with my parents, and they have a habit of sheltering me too much... they don't trust me with my own bank account. so, since i'm intending on spending the money on videogames anyway, eshop codes are the closest i can get to obtaining real money at the moment.

can i just buy you robux or nitro instead?

sorry... as much as i'd like that, eshop money is my preffered method, so that's what i'm sticking with.

why american codes/usd only?

unfortunately eshop codes are region locked, which makes sense given that, y'know... different countries use different currencies. i can't change my eshop region to get the money, because doing so will wipe the funds i have.

if you're not from america but really want a commission, you could use a vpn and buy an american code! it's a hastle, i know, but that's the best you can really do

wow, you draw fast!

i know, haha... i've been accused of rushing my art and commissions because of that in the past, but nah that's just how i draw! ^^

are you open atm?

i'll edit this post every time my status changes. check the very top!

☆

thank you for reading this. hope to see ya soon! ^^

[fantasy-anatomy-analyst]

Do you have any advice on how to go about designing monsters and animals and the like? I like the idea of creating those kinds of things but I always blank on how to go about it, like I know little facts like Allen's Rule but I don't know how to find out about something like that intentionally or even think of it for my thing. (me when I have no idea how to explain that I have no idea how to research smth lol)

first I've heard of Allen's Rule, so that probably says a lot about the fact that I'm mostly self taught lol.

here's the wikipedia page about it for anyone else who didn't know.

to sum up, it is a rule stating that animals in cold climates tend to have shorter/thicker appendages while animals in hot climates tend to have longer/thinner ones. Arctic hare vs desert hare, as an example.

the first thing to do when you want to design anything is to do a lot of studies. just in general. look up images of any animal or insect and draw sketches studying how they're built. do it for people too! you'll always be better at making new designs if you have a basic understanding of how real things are shaped and how they function.

study from videos by sketching fast gesture poses as you watch the creatures in motion! I have also done this while attending sports and dance performances. studying bodies in motion by watching olympic athletes or videos of people trying and failing to do a sport. just study the heck out of everything you can! it's as simple as putting down some lines and shapes to show the main body forms. heavier detail studies are also useful! tracing images in order to study the details is not wrong. I do it all the time, as you can see in a lot of the advice posts I make! I frequently provide traced images of the creature references I've found in order to show my process of breaking down the simplified body shapes.

my actual sketch process often looks like this:

(image description: multiple layers of very loose scribbly sketches in different colors. visible notes on two layers of sketches read "aerial silks dance" and "flying birds". the clearest and topmost layer of sketch is a humanoid figure with wings, performing a dance.

as you might be able to see if you can even begin to parse the mess that is all my study sketching, the final pose sketch I made here for my bird dude Morianon doing a little dance does not even match the poses I sketched from reference videos! This is because gesture sketch studies like these are more based on vibes than accuracy! They're a good way to warm up and practice making really fast gestural doodles that just show the form and motion more than anything well proportioned. It also frees you of the pressure to draw anything perfect! this is messy on purpose! you gotta be messy, it's how learning works.

and then once you're more confident with speed studies, you can get more specific with detail studies. all of this is essential if you want to be able to design creatures. it's all about artistic confidence and developing the skills to notice details. and then you get better at applying those details.

I have two posts on how to study and use references! one over here focused on humans. and another one here about non humans.

this is getting longer than I expected lol. I have other posts on my to-do list that will also be helpful to you I think, and you can explore the links on my pinned post to find more advice on a lot of topics! I might have to make a post on the more general topic of "how do I even get started on designing a creature?" because it is kind of the whole premise of this blog, huh? I have a lot of advice for people who already have a solid idea and just need some advice to overcome a few obstacles along the way, but I don't think I've made a proper advice post for what to do when you don't even have a starting idea.

the tldr version of creature creation is this:

pick a niche (mountain people, flying predator, burrowing creature)

study real life creatures in similar niches

start throwing ideas at your page until something sticks and then take the things that stick and build on them until it feels good

refine your design

[ayyydra]

In this day and age, it's crazy how many distractions there are.

Even as I'm writing this tumblr post, I'm thinking about how I could be using this exact same time to continue writing one of my fics, read a few pages out of a book, continue to work on my art/make messy sketches, watch One Piece, but instead, I'm choosing to write about how social media has negatively impacted my attention span when it comes to me wanting to create.

I went two whole weeks with being able to draw something for 15-30mins, to an hour maximum, each night for roughly 10-14 days. It felt REALLY good! It felt great giving myself permission to make mistakes in my sketches/studies and not overthink what I was drawing too much. I even got back to using pen out of all mediums, and then using a simple yellow highlighter.

Then I made the mistake of opening instagram after I hadn't opened it in a little while. So much information - good and bad - at my fingertips, so many art resources available, so many ways of doing things. I've managed to keep a pretty tight leash on twitter, since I know that's a place that will cause me to spiral in my thoughts (long story short, I can't look at too much art on there because then the comparison braincell kicks in, along with the constant 'why can't I create fast enough?' question is on repeat like a broken record). I have upwards of 300+ tumblr drafts of art and posts that I need (not really) to queue, which is also time I could put towards my art, reading, writing and watching One Piece/other shows. Getting back onto instagram is ultimately where I have faltered. I have definitely considered deleting the app, but it's also an app where I keep in touch with people IRL (and one online, here on tumblr, and if you are reading this post, HI <3). Life also came in the way of things, and I have been picking up more chores around the house since my parents have been away overseas, along with doing my best to manage my mental health. I haven't been able to take myself out on my little 'artist dates' where I would take myself to the library and focus on something creative, whether that be writing or drawing. An opportunity for some proper, uninterrupted 'me' time if you will.

It's normal that life gets in the way, I know, but trying to get back to that sweet spot and that flow is always difficult. And i know it takes a considerable amount of time for a habit to stick (If I recall correctly, upwards of six months or less? Something like that). Having a diary, writing lists and keeping a journal are all very useful for someone like me who has depression, it allows me to compartmentalise things and visualise what I have to do rather than just store it all in my brain and then get extremely overwhelmed. Juggling a full-time job, hobbies, exercise and cultural dancing is quite a lot, even though I have the tendency to downplay how much I do and almost always think I can do more (which is an expectation from family more so than me, I can only do what I can and I'm happy with that). I know I will get back to that point eventually (and I should try to draw/write something right after I finish this post and collect the cats for the night), but with all things, it'll take some time, planning and organisation.

It's SO EASY to scroll and watch videos, but always difficult to invest energy into the things we love, but we NEED to invest that energy to nurture the creative soul and to share such intimate parts of us in our art and writing.

[fraternum-momentum]

Okay, so let me ramble abt making the last comic, cause that was an absolute behemoth to work on, and I have a lot of thoughts in my head. Man, I don't know how those webtoon artists do it every week. They scare me now.

This is super long btw, so get cozy if you want to read :]

Starting off, I actually got this idea from my lil 'ol diary I keep by my tableside :] I like writing down what I feel so I can see it in a more concrete(?) manner, helps me cope i think. One time, I really did cry for someone because I guess I just really liked them a lot. Having crushes is fun, but catching feelings isn't.

I always get this giddy feeling of being head over heels for someone. Every interaction is so exciting. Intoxicating even. And I couldn't get enough of it, but after that few seconds of bliss I immediately think to myself that all these scenarios in my head will never happen, not in a million fucking years. I just preemptively reject myself without ever telling the person what I feel. I know what the outcome will be anyway, and I'm afraid of what will happen if I did say anything. It's just too risky.

The second half is completely made up tho, I will never ever kidnap someone... unless? (For legal reasons, I will have to clarify that this is a joke, Thank you.)

Now onto the comic itself!

The composition is probably the easiest and the most fun part. I love, love, love, how versatile you can be in the webtoon format. Figuring out how to transition the panels is super fun, and it sucks that most of the webcomics I see on tapas or webtoon, etc. are just sticking to those boring box formulas over and over again when it has so much potential, although there are exceptions like, for example, Lore Olympus. While it has it's fair share of flaws when in comes to other aspects, you can't deny the artist's talent esp when it comes to knowing how to place the character in an illustration, (again) the compositioning etc etc. (ep. 8 is p good. They stick to the box stuff during dialogue but gets more experimental in some parts. I haven't been keeping up with it, so idk any other good eps)

One of my only big regrets is that I wish I had made the space between the '...but I love it." and "And soon..." parts longer. I think it changed scenarios way too fast and your eye immediately moves onto the next piece of text,, but eh, it is what it is, and I can't be bothered to edit it so ig I gotta learn to live with it.

It's still messy in,, a lot of parts actually, and I still can't do lineart to save my life, but i kinda tried just cleaning up the sketches instead???? I mean, it kinda works, but it isn't really smooth so,, And there are small mistakes here and there that I could've fixed or colored stuff in properly or whatever. But at that point, I'm just done with it. No more. Am tired and want to draw other shit now. Maybe boobs n dicks n pussy-

Oh actually i have another comic in my wip folder that I started before the sad Kylar crying one. Here's some of the thumbnails for it:

the fucking lisa simpson looking ass face just cracks me up every time I see it LMAOQJSJQJ I just wanted to show it to u but stay tuned for that ig

I eventually want to make little comics like this for other characters as well! Like Sydney, who is also one of my favorites cause of the whole religion aspect to them, and I would like to tackle that topic with yet another super personal experience of mine that for some reason I'm comfortable with sharing with a bunch of ppl lmao

I also really want to make a full on nsfw one, like gut rearranging, carnal fucking, hardcore banging,, ok ill stop. But I do need to do more,, uh, "research" on that,, i swear it's research, i have no clue how im gonna draw it. Hell, I already struggle with drawing people fucking and imagine adding cool transitions to that. Guess even my masochistic tendencies extend to this shit too.

And I think that's pretty much it? I'll probably just stick to b and w or monotone with a few accent colors because i just know that it would break me if i did a fully colored one.

Okay, thank you for reading this ramble, I'll go ahead and answer some asks now,, Here's your prize though!

[rrtfs-official-blog]

If I’m anything, it’s a sucker for weird steam engines. This includes the ever so famous Pennsylvania T1 duplex. Ever since I found out about them I loved them, they were just so strange to me. And of course, the ever so comical wheel slip they were known for just made them all the more appealing.

Of course I had to make a character out of one, especially since the T1 Trust is working to build one from scratch, and from what I’ve seen it seems like it’s actually going to come to fruition. But, I added one of the famous T1s to my series. Not one of the two famous prototypes everyone knows, or 5550, the one that’s being built (yet anyway! I do wanna add them once it’s completed!). Instead, the first of the production T1s, 5500.

His name is Percival and he’s an easily startled anxious guy who’s very sweet and wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s also clumsy… which brings me to these two drawings. Both of which were messy concepts. I hope you like them, as I love Percival dearly.

The first drawing was just me trying to figure out how to simplify drawing steam engines and what details to keep and what to scrap. There’s some minor things I’d change now but I know better than I did back then! So it helped me learn as intended. But I’m still very pleased with it.

The second was just a silly idea that I had that I needed to draw out when I thought of it.

Percival is clumsy as I stated before, so he tends to have some accidents here and there. Usually just minor derailments, a broken brake hose, some damage on his front set of drive wheels because of his habit of trying to start too fast and the front set breaking free.

But I make that joke that he would pull an ‘Oliver’ (if you watch TTTE you’ll know), and end up in a turntable well. Instead of backwards, forwards though. So with a very quick, inaccurate, messy sketch I drew it.

And this drawing ended up, edited a little, in the short ‘Paranoid Percival’ when all that spooks and scared Percival had to endear ended up with him scared out of his wits and not able to stop in time before falling nose first into the turntable, he wasn’t hurt too badly and neither was anyone else thankfully, but he wouldn’t be living it down anytime soon… especially since that might not be the only time he has trouble with turntables.

[life-of-kalos]

I think you have some really good anatomy when it come to humans and pokemon, and really good skill when it comes to colors and lighting and even backgrounds!! I think something to work on however is consistency, i’ve noticed that your style can be super detailed one minute, or a different style the next, which is totally fine depending on how much time you have! That or it could be one rendered panel and the others are colorless. Some advice could be mayhaps simplifying coloring some asks if you’re worries about putting them out on time, or taking some extra time to ensure a style is consistent across a sequential set of panels? put your efforts into a style you can easily use for asks and save that detailed style for more important panels you want to emphasize! I hope this didn’t sound too confusing, art is hard, but don’t forget you’re doing great!! its all a journey!

You're so right. I constantly change my style. It's mainly because I'm not satisfied with how I draw now so every time I draw I try to change things up in a way I might like. I'm currently going through a "what do I want my style to be" kind of phase so things have been very all over the place. That's honestly why I'm asking for feedback OTL I really want to love my style but I get bored with it after doing the same one a few times lol and admittedly, I use this blog as a way to try new ones out.

I've only recently been testing waters with lighting. I used to only do clean line art with flat color and simple shades but It became boring to me. Now I've been trying messy lines with more detail coloring. I am quite fond of it but there's still a lot more I need to figure out.

I tend to do colorless sketches as a quick way to tell more story without taking too much time. And throw in a detailed piece when there's more of a tone I want to set. It may seem lazy but I really don't have time to color all of my sketches. And honestly I lose stamina after coloring one piece lmao. I haven't really stepped back and took time on this blog because I'm trying to tell a story within this decade haha I'm not very fast at drawing so I cut corners when I can.

But you're completely right. I need to focus if I want to improve. Find a simple style for asks that I can do consistently and experiment on the side. Thank you for your feedback!

[herrscherofmagic]

hello world

i'm still here!

i haven't posted art here in ages, not like I've made anything new in ages either, but I figured i'd start posting my older works to social media since I've finally kinda-sorta started drawing again recently, so this week I'll try and post a bunch of months-old things that I've worked on! And maybe a couple newish things too~

This is a bunch of messy sketches I worked on a while back, it's actually one of my favorite projects so far because I was getting bogged down in the details w/ the first sketch I was working on, and I was like "wait this is dumb this is going to take forever and I just keep feeling more miserable-er" so I decided to just wing it and do a bunch of super fast and rough counter sketch things and it actually worked???

so I went back over one of them a few times building it up, then I used the pose I was drawing as a guide to draw a different character in that pose, and it's the first time I've ever really done that? at least with a full-body thing, as opposed to background stuff

and the fischl painting??? actually kinda worked ngl

I really like showing off these rougher behind-the-scenes details because it's so easy to get caught up in the super fancy finished products that a lot of artists post, and obviously that stuff is amazing, but I also think it's nice to show the uglier side underneath all that, so that way newer and aspiring artists can see that the process of art is more complicated than just "have talent, make pretty picture", it's about actually screwing around and trying things out and not being afraid to make mistakes, knowing that nothing is permanent and it's better to try and see what happens instead of fearing that you won't be perfect...

anyways I haven't quite drawn like this in like two months or smth dumb like that, but I'm trying to get back on track! there's a Honkai comic I want to work on (redrawing a scene from Elysian Realm) and I still have tons of projects to get working on someday, so I need to actually draw and do things so I can actually get kinda good-ish at art, y'know??

[kaedehararchives]

pencil strokes ft. kaeya

you and kaeya were on a picnic date. well, not a date. it originally was going to be a hangout with all your friends like albedo and rosaria. but they all managed to bail out, leaving you and kaeya alone. "huh, i can't believe they managed to bail out so fast? i've been planning this for weeks!" you cried to kaeya as you both set down the blanket to sit on. he smoothed out the creases in the blanket,

"rosaria told me she had a shift and albedo needed to take care of klee." kaeya replied, pulling the basket onto the floor. you sighed,

"i know... im just so sad because we havent had time to hang out at all."

"hey. at least you have me here." kaeya said as you glanced at him. somehow, he always manages to look picture perfect. he's such the perfect muse. you pulled out a sketchbook from your tote bag, given by kaeya, onto your lap. kaeya picked off a strawberry from one of the tupperware, eating it. the light made kaeya look ethereal. out of this world, even.

kaeya noticed how your attention wasn't really on what he was doing but him specifically. he was about to ask you what you were doing but he heard the soft pencil strokes, and your tongue is sticking out.

oh of course, you were drawing... him?

"whatcha drawin', name?" he asked as you hummed in response. that really answers everything doesn't it.

"you. stay still please." you answered, placing your pencil down and framing kaeya with your fingers. he rolled his eyes but stayed still despite his attutude.

"if no one would eat the food, it will get cold."

"use my vision." your dominant hand stayed in the exact position of where you left off in the drawing. your other hand jingling with your pyro vision. you tossed it to the cryo wielder who just caught your vision, and he thanked the archons that it didn't slip out of his hands.

after twenty-ish minutes, he was impaitent and his bones are crunching on him. the blue haired male asked, "are you done yet?"

he moved a bit closer to you, you could feel the warmth from his face. unfortunately, he did move from his spot. you shooed him away, "no and stop moving."

"this isn't an oil painting, name. hey, do you think i'd draw better than you?"

you rolled your eyes, "sure, kae." you pulled out a paper from your sketchbook to kaeya and a clipboard. "go ahead, draw me." you were already finished with your sketch of kaeya. you picked up a sandwich that was shaped like a heart.

"okay."

"are you done, name?" he believed that you were still working on the same sketch as last time.

"yes, are you, kae?"

"yes. ok, reveal in three."

one drawing was created with grace and passion and the other was kaeya's. kaeya's drawing of you was messy and he really did try his best. you snifled a laugh,

"it's beautiful kaeya. i'll frame this and put this above my bed."

"thank you." he replied, picking up the drawing you did for him. you may have made him look more charming as usual or at least thats what you think. "you even got my charms correct... i mean, it's not as wonderful as mine but i'll frame this too."

[meruz]

once again i am answering asks in a big compilation post. included is... gotham, patrick stump, tips about drawing backgrounds, tips about drawing in general, links to my faq, and infinity train

like.... the tv series? No... I’ve drawn dc comics fanart before, though. But it’s been years since I’ve been really into it. I like jumped ship like 10 years ago when the New 52 happened LOL.

AFJHDSLKGH I’m sorry I (probably) won’t do it again??

Actually full disclosure I have a truly cringe amount of p stump drawings/photo studies in my sketchbook right now LOL. He’s just fun to draw... hats, glasses, guitar, a good shape... but I don’t think I’ll rly post those until I can hide them in another big sketchbook pdf.. probably Jan 2022. Stay tuned........ (ominous) 

(ominous preview)

These are all sort of related to backgrounds/painting so I grouped them together even though they’re pretty much entirely separate questions.... ANYWAYS

a) How is it working as a BG artist? Is it hard? What show are you drawing for?

I think you’re the first person to ever ask me about my job! Being a background artist is great. It’s definitely labor intensive but I think that could describe pretty much any art job (If something were rote or easy to automate, you wouldn’t hire an artist to do it) and I hesitate to say whether its harder or easier than any other role in the animation pipeline. Plus, so much of what truly makes a job difficult varies from one production to the next, schedule, working environment, co-workers etc. But I will say that I think while BGs are generally a lot of work on the upfront, I think they’re subject to less scrutiny/revisions than something like character/props/effects design and you don’t have to pitch them to a room like boards. So I guess it’s good if you don’t like to talk to people? LOL

A lot of my previous projects + the show I’ve worked on the longest aren’t public yet so I can’t talk about em (but I assure you if/when the news does break I won’t shut up about it). But I’m currently working on Archer Season 12 LOL. I’m like 90% sure I’m allowed to say that.

b) ~~~THANK YOU!! ~~~

c) What exactly do you like to draw most [in a background]?

@kaitomiury​ Lots of stuff! I really like to draw clutter! Because it’s a great opportunity for environmental storytelling and also you can be kind of messy with it because the sheer mass will supersede any details LOL. 

I like to draw clouds... I like to draw grass but not trees lol,,, I like to draw anything that sells perspective really easily like tiled floors and ceilings, shelves, lamp posts on a street etc.

d) Do you have any tips on how to paint (observational)?

god there’s so much to say. painting is really a whole ass discipline like someone can paint their whole life and still discover new things about it. I guess if you’re really just starting out my best advice is that habit is more important than product. especially with traditional plein air painting, I find that the procedure of going outside and setting up your paints is almost harder than the actual painting. There’s a lot of artists who say “I want to do plein air sometime!!” and then never actually get around to doing it. A lot of people just end up working from google streetview or photos on their computer.

But going outside to paint is a really good challenge because it forces you to make and commit to lighting and composition decisions really quickly. And to work through your mistakes instead of against them via undo button.

My last tip is to check out James Gurney’s youtube channel because hes probably the best and most consistent resource on observational painting out there rn. There’s lots other artists doing the same thing (off the top of my head I know a lot of the Warrior Painters group has people regularly posting plein air stuff and lightbox expo had a Jesse Schmidt lecture abt it last year) but Gurney’s probably the most prolific poster and one of the best at explaining the more technical stuff - his books are great too.

e) Do you have tips for drawing cleanly on heavypaint?

@marigoldfool​ UMM LOL I LIKE ONLY USE THE FILL TOOL so maybe use the fill tool? Fill and rectangle are good for edge control as opposed to the rest of the heavy paint tools which can get sort of muddles. And also I use a stylus so maybe if you’re using your finger, find a stylus that works with your device instead. That’s all I’ve got, frankly I don’t think my drawings are particularly clean lol.

f) Tips on improving backgrounds/scenes making them more dynamic practicing etc?

Ive given some tips about backgrounds/scenes before so I’m not gonna re-tread those but here’s another thing that might be helpful...

I think a good way to approach backgrounds is to think of the specific story or even mood you want to convey with the background first. Thinking “I just need to put something behind this character” is going to lead you to drawing like... a green screen tourist photo backdrop. But if you think “I need this bg to make the characters feel small” or “I need this bg to make the world feel colorful” then it gives you requirements and cues to work off of.

If I know a character needs to feel overwhelmed and small, then I know I need to create environment elements that will cage them in and corner them. If a character needs to feel triumphant/on top of the world then I know I need to let the environment open up around them. etc. If I know my focal point/ where I want to draw attention, I can build the background around that.

Also, backgrounds like figure compositions will have focal points of their own and you can draw attention to it/ the relationship the characters have with the bg element via scale or directionality or color, any number of cues. I think of it almost as a second/third character in a scene.

Not every composition is gonna have something so obvious like this but it helps me to think about these because then the characters feel connected and integrated with the environment.

Some more general art questions

a) Do you have any process/tips to start drawing character/bodies/heads?

I tried to kind of draw something to answer this but honestly this is difficult for me to answer because I don’t think I’m that great at drawing characters LOL. Ok, I think I have two tips.

1) flip your canvas often. A lot about what makes human bodies look correct and believable is symmetry and balance. Even if someone has asymmetrical features, the body will often pull and push in a way to counterbalance it. we often have inherent biases to one side or another like dominant hands dominant eyes etc. you know how right-handed artists will often favor drawing characters facing 45 degrees facing (the artist’s) left? that’s part of it. so viewing your drawing flipped even just to evaluate it helps compensate for that bias and makes you more aware of balance.

2) draw the whole figure often. I feel like a lot of beginner artists (myself included for a long time) defer to just drawing headshots or busts because it’s easier, you dont have to think about posing limbs etc. But drawing a full body allows you to better gauge proportion, perspective, body language, everything that makes a character look believable and grounded.

Like if you (me) have that issue where you draw the head too big and then have to resize it to fit the proportions of the rest of the body, it’s probably because you (I) drew the head first and are treating the body as an afterthought/attachment. Sketching out the whole figure first or even just quick drawing guides for it will help you think of it more holistically. I learned this figure drawing in charcoal at art school LOL.

oh. third mini tip - try to draw people from life often! its the best study. if you can get into a figure drawing/nude drawing class EVEN BETTER and if you have a local college/art space/museum that hosts those for free TREASURE IT AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT, that’s a huge boon that a lot of artists (me again) wish they had. though if youre not so lucky and youre sitting in a park trying to creeper draw people and they keep moving.. don’t let that stop you! that’s good practice because it’s forcing you to work fast to get the important stuff down LOL. its a challenge!

b) I’ve been pretty out of energy and have had no inspiration to draw but I have the desire to. Any advice?

Dude, take a walk or something.... Or a nap? Low energy is going to effect everything else so you gotta hit that problem at its source.

If you’re looking for inspiration though, I’d recommend stuff like watching a movie, reading a book, playing video games etc. Fill up your idea bank with content and then give yourself time/space to gestate it into new concepts. Sometimes looking at other art works but sometimes it can work against you because it’s too close. 

Also something that helps me is remembering that art doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking... like it’s okay to make something shitty and stupid that you don’t post online and only show to your friend. That’s all part of the process imo. If you want to hit a home run you gotta warm up first, right? Sports.

I should probably compile everytime i give tips on stuff like this but that’s getting dangerously close to being a social media artist who makes stupid boiled down art tutorials for clout which is the last thing i want to be... the thing I want to stress is that art is a whole visual language and there are widely agreed upon rules and customs but they exist in large part to be broken. Like there's an infinite number of ways to reach an infinite number of solutions and that’s actually what makes it really cool and personal for both the artist and the viewer. So when you make work you like or you find someone else’s work you like, take a step back and ask yourself what about it speaks for you, what about it works for you, what makes it effective, how to recreate that effect and how to break that effect completely, etc. And have a good time with it or else what’s the point.

for the first 2, I direct you to my FAQ

For the last one, I don’t actually believe I’ve ever addressed artwork as insp for stories/rp but I’ll say here and now yeah go ahead! As long as you’re not making profit or taking credit for my work then I’m normally ok with it. Especially anything thats private and purely recreational, that’s generally 100% green light go. I only ask that if you post it anywhere public that you please credit me.

(and I reserve the right to ask you to take it down if I see it and don’t approve of it’s use but I think that case is pretty rare.)

a) @lemuelzero101 Thank you!!! I haven’t played Life is Strange but actually  that series’ vis dev artist Edouard Caplain is one of my bigger art inspirations lately so that’s a really high compliment lol. And yeah I hope we get 5-8 too...!

b) Thank you for sticking around! I’ve been thinking about Digimon and Infinity Train in tandem lately, actually. They’re a little similar? Enter a dangerous alternate world and have wacky adventures with monsters/inanimate objects that have weird powers... there’s like weird engineers and mechanisms behind the scenes... also frontier literally starts with them getting on a train. Anyways if anyone else followed me for digimon... maybe you’d like Infinity Train? LOL

c) @king-wens-king I’M GLAD MY ART JUST HAS PINOY VIBES LOL I hope you are having a good day too :^)

a, b, c, d) yessss my Watch Infinity Train agenda is working....

e) aw thank you!! i think you should watch infinity train :)

[gothhisoka]

𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖘𝖍𝖎𝖕 (𝕮𝖍𝖗𝖔𝖑𝖑𝖔 𝖝 𝕱𝖊𝖒𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉𝖊𝖗)

Title: Worship

Pairing: Chrollo x Femreader

Warnings: Smut, minors DNI, 18+, explicit content

Word Count: 3116 (I promise it is worth it. Oh god is it worth it)

Note: This is from my cross-published fanfic called Hunter University! It is available if you click here on Wattpad and AO3. My fanfic is x OC, but I upload x Reader versions of some chapters here on Tumblr. In short, it is a dark academia college AU with Chrollo as the main love interest.

Background: You are an artist in college and Chrollo is your fellow classmate. You just returned from a night out at a ball, drunk. Chrollo appeared at the door to your dorm room as he promised he would after you danced with one another at the ball.

Chrollo was surprised you looked so intact. He was sure you would come waddling to the door in pajamas as you did the last time he visited your room. Although it had been an hour since the ball ended, your makeup hadn't smudged a bit. Sure, it was faded, and your hair was significantly messier, but overall you looked as remarkable as you did at the start of the ball.

Your tired eyes widened with surprise at the sight of him. He was just as unimpaired as you were. Though now he was missing his suit jacket. His hair had become slightly disheveled, losing its styled waves. He still had on those signature silver rings and little cross earrings.

You attempt to soak in his sight with your intoxicated brain. He looked even more captivating in this particular state.

“Hi…” was all you could utter.

“Can I come in?”

You realized he was waiting for your permission. He didn’t need it.

You stepped aside to let him in and shut the door. Your room was the same as the last time he saw it, with your drawings hung on the walls and lights strung above the desk. Their small bulbs reflected against the night-stained window.

Upon shutting the door, the tension noticeably rose. It was dark in the small space and you were alone. Chrollo took his black dress shoes off near the door, placing them neatly side by side.

So he plans on staying. You tried to hide a smile. The hour of his visit was surely suspicious. There could be only one thing on his mind.

"So what're you doing here?" you spoke nonchalantly, acting like you didn't just fantasize about what could happen in the next few minutes.

Chrollo opened and shut his mouth, his response escaping him. He turned back to you and used his eyes to convey a craving far deeper than any words could admit.

"I said I would come to find you, didn't I?" He said lowly.

He had begun to walk around the room, absentmindedly stopping at a piece of art from time to time. You were too tired to care. The collection included nature scenes, portraits of people he didn't recognize, anatomy studies, and...

He paused, noticing a drawing on the wall behind the place where the door would otherwise be covering.

It was a full-body anatomy study of yourself. To be specific, it would fit further in the category of a glorified nude. It was on a miniature piece of parchment sketched in charcoal. It was obviously you: the woman had your (hair color) hair and distinct mouth and nose. The paper was hardly noticeable amongst the scatter of papers. You wouldn't see it unless you had a careful eye such as that of Chrollo.

You hardly noticed when he reached the particular spot on your wall. Your tiredness had waned significantly with Chrollo's entrance, but it still fogged your mind.

Additionally, you had long forgotten about your secret behind-the-door location for your drawings that were not meant to be seen by a single soul.

Chrollo attempted to hide a mysterious smile. He turned to you, “You draw wonderfully.”

“Thanks?” you reply, with more question in your tone than you hoped to show.

The heat in the room shot through the roof. You were sure if you checked the temperature it would be well above its normal chilly state. Perhaps it was the heat in your cheeks that was causing such a change.

“So…” he began.

“So,” you replied, trying to avoid eye contact. Please, just let it happen already.

You thought you had a good idea of why he had come to your room at one o'clock in the morning after a night of drinking and questionably close dancing. You couldn't be certain, though, because that was just how he was: unpredictable and exceedingly complicated.

You didn’t think him so complicated as to not be able to admit why he was at your room, though.

You waited as he thought about what to say next. This is taking too damn long.

Luckily, you prepared an excuse. You never failed to come ready for something you could expect. And this, the direction in which your encounter is headed, is inevitable. You had been rehearsing the line in your head for the duration of their conversation like reviewing terms for a test.

This was the only way to test if your assumptions are correct.

Blame it on the champagne if I am wrong. But I really hope I'm right.

You look directly at him. Time to be daring.

You took a breath and did your best to look directly at him, "Well, I actually do need some help. You see, this dress is quite difficult to take off by myself..."

Walking towards him, you place a hand at the hem of your dress. Your delicate fingers wrap around its lacy fabric.

Chrollo looked amused. He sizes you up, looking from your hand holding the hem of your dress to your unfazed expression. Unfazed, yet your cheeks were slowly turning a shade of scarlet. Nice try, Chrollo thought.

He gestured, "Turn around."

You obeyed. You desired something far more than the unzipping of your dress, but you were not presumptuous enough to say it. The expression on Chrollo's face told you that he was hoping for the same thing. He hid many emotions well, but being turned on wasn't one of them.

Chrollo brushed your hair away from the zipper, delicately placing it over your shoulder. His fingers purposefully grazed your back as he did this, causing your breath to hitch slightly.

His hands moved to the zipper, carefully pulling it down. It went past the clasp of your bra to your lower back. There was complete silence. Both of you were still. Are we still hesitating?

Chrollo was the first to move. He pulled you close to him so that your back was touching him. His left arm wrapped across your chest possessively, holding you in a tight embrace. With his other hand, he brushed your hair back from your ear. He smelt of sweet alcohol. Clearly, he was slightly drunk as well, for the next words he said couldn't be uttered by a sober man.

His whispered breath tickled your neck, husky with the threat of sleep, "I want you so bad right now."

You tensed with a sudden surge of desire. Your impression had been right. He let his strong arm remain around you, patiently waiting for a response.

You choked out your reply, "The feelings' mutual."

Under his touch, your streak of audacity from earlier dissolved into compliance. You suddenly wanted nothing more than to submit to his words.

With complete control, Chrollo took your shoulder and turned you around. Your dress was now loose on your shoulders. He placed his hands around your hips firmly. He looked at you under his thick eyelashes and slowly leaned in. The pressure was growing to an unbearable level, but he still wouldn't go all the way.

Then his lips crashed against yours with the force of weeks of pent-up desire. This kiss didn't speak of courtesy, of patience. This was raw passion. It was furious and messy. you preferred this to sensitive steps around the intensity they both craved.

"You must still be drunk," you said playfully as you both pulled away to catch your breath. You held your hand to Chrollo's chest. His heart was beating surprisingly fast.

"If I'm drunk, then what are you?" Chrollo said with a lazy smirk.

"I'm drunk as well."

Chrollo threaded his hands through your hair, pulling the long strands through his fingers. He pulled you in close again with his hand at the back of your head.

You opened your mouth to allow for Chrollo's tongue to slip in. He lessened the intensity and slowly moved his tongue against your own tongue and lips. You couldn't help but let out soft moans that made Chrollo weak at the knees.

He pushed you against the wall to deepen your kiss. Drawings fluttered down, becoming detached with the sudden movement. Including that drawing.

Chrollo pulled away, much to your shock. You were left panting with reddened cheeks. Please don't let this end now.

He displayed a shit-eating grin. Even with his ego, in the current moment, his expression made you melt. His face was inches from yours, looking down into your (eye color) eyes.

He shifted his gaze down to the floor and said, "Nice drawing you have there."

You finally noticed what he had been so smug about. Shit. Your face flushed ten different shades of scarlet.

Chrollo leaned in as he did before and murmured in your ear, "I wish I could see the real thing."

You failed to not show your excitement. The way your eyes lit up exposed you. "I can arrange that."

At that, Chrollo leaned in again, this time moving to your neck. His lips fluttered down your throat to your collarbone. You leaned your head back and tried to control your uneven breath.

His lips reached the edge of the neckline on your dress. He raised his eyes to meet yours, asking for permission to go further.

You let out a breathy, "Yes. Please."

What you wanted to say was, Please, take me now.

It could be too soon for him. But based on how this was going, you expected it was leading to something more. Whatever that was, you wished you could know right now. The growing tension between your thighs began to ache.

Chrollo slipped his hand across your skin to the hemline of your dress, moving it completely off of your shoulder and down your arms. Your black see-through bra was now in full view. Your nipples grew hard at the sudden exposure.

At least I went with my fancy bra. You suddenly grew very shy. The last time you went even this far was years ago.

He evidently liked the lingerie for his hands immediately traveled to your breast to caress it as he continued to kiss you.

"You're so beautiful," he whispered against your neck. Your heart fluttered at his words.

Chrollo then moved his lips progressively further down as he slipped your dress off of your body. Soon your underwear came into view, then your feet. He helped your step out of the dress.

"Your turn," you said, unbuttoning his shirt. All the while he continued to distractingly leave lazy kisses upon your face, one on your forehead, your cheek, your lips.

After an agonizingly long time, you pulled off his shirt. Fuck.

You knew he would be defined. But him, this boy standing in front of you, resembled more of a greek statue than an actual human. It looked like his body had been sculpted by the finest stone on earth. He had a six-pack, defined pectoral muscles, and prominent collarbones. His biceps flexed as he leaned his hand against the wall, bracing himself. It was you who needed to brace yourself. Your breath hitched again at the sight of him.

You ran a hand up his firm body as you planted your lips upon his once again. This time Chrollo put his hands beneath your thighs, his fingers pressing into your soft skin. He picked you up easily.

You wrapped your legs around him as he brought you to the bed, kissing him all the while.

He dropped you down gently, releasing his grip off of your thighs. You took this time to look up at him and admire the beauty of his aroused state. He had a dangerous and wild look, with tousled hair and a constant smile playing at his lips. His heavy-lidded eyes were lazily focused upon you.

You continued to make out on the bed, its white silk sheets creating an angelic halo around you. Chrollo couldn't stand looking at you like this, underneath him. It was far too much power for one man to hold.

You reached to your back to undo the clasp of your bra. You threw it to the ground. Chrollo immediately began to touch your naked tits in a way that made you want to dissolve. He moved in circles around your nipples first, watching as they grew harder under his expert touch. Then he moved his mouth to the sensitive area, playing with you and biting slightly. You audibly moaned at the gesture. Damn the neighbors.

Chrollo sensed your desire to take it further. He looked up, grey eyes filled with lust, "Y/n...let me pleasure you."

It wasn't the suggestion you were expecting, but you were satisfied nonetheless. You didn't care about anything in the world besides what he could do to you at this moment, whatever it may be.

"If you say my name like that you can do anything you want to me," you said breathily. It was exactly what he needed to hear.

Chrollo smirked and moved to take off your soaking underwear. Under his pants, his dick grew visibly harder. He threw the underwear onto the floor.

Gently placing his finger at your throbbing core, he began to stroke. Upon receiving his touch your back arched involuntarily. You were beyond eager.

"Fuck... Chrollo..."

This served as encouragement for him to insert his finger deeper into you, curling it slightly. It hit your g-spot repeatedly, eliciting ungodly sounds from you.

As he was doing this, he slowly positioned himself on top of you, grabbing onto the bed frame with his spare hand. He just wanted to look at your face as you opened your mouth in delight.

He inserted one more finger which caused your arousal to heighten. God, he really knows how to do this.

Just as you felt the heat in your core escalating, he slid his finger out. You whimpered in protest.

Chrollo looked down at you with a wicked smile. "Beg for it."

Oh fuck.

You gladly would. It was more your instincts speaking than any coherent thought.

"Please... Chrollo..." you said between breaths.

You wanted to not only plead for him, you wanted to worship him.

"More."

This is what you had been missing out on all those weeks. And oh god, did you eat it up.

"FUCK please do that again," you exclaimed.

It was enough to convince him. Chrollo moved his face towards your slickened pussy.

Is he about to...

He pushed his hair back out of his face with his clean hand, his forehead tattoo revealed. For only a second, he raised his eyes to gaze into yours. You fell for him all over again at that simple glance.

Then he entered you. His tongue made you want to weep. He devoured your insides, soaking up the salty juices. You couldn't help but hold his head, pulling it closer to your body. You ran your hand through his soft black hair. There was so much heat between them that you were both perspiring.

You began to shudder." I'm going to... oh... fuck," you gasped.

You felt the sweet release of cum spread below you onto the sheets and Chrollo himself. You felt self-conscious for a moment. That is until Chrollo began to lick up your juices. He ran his tongue up your soft thighs.

"You taste so fucking good, darling."

Chrollo looked at you like he had fallen all over again as well. You grinned back at him. Your cheeks grew even redder, if possible. Your heart screamed to continue but you were too physically exhausted to move. Still, wouldn't Chrollo want his turn?

You laid there, naked and panting on the silk sheets. Chrollo flopped next to you, unaffected beside his flushed cheeks and a wide grin.

The lights were still low in the little room. Looking out the window, you saw that the sun had yet to rise. This was a positive fact because the only thing you needed to do now was to sleep. And preferably, cuddling with the boy next to you. You hoped he would stay. It was more than hope, really. Your body couldn't spend any more time away from him after that.

Damn. He was good. He was really, really fucking good.

He knew his way with words, to begin with. He said exactly what needed to be said to escalate your arousal. You wanted to worship those fingers, the way he so expertly felt around you like he had memorized a map. And his tongue was even more worthy of revere.

You flipped over to your elbows. Your breasts brushed against the bedding, noticeably making Chrollo gulp. You boldly reached to touch the front of his pants.

"You don't want a turn?" you smirked.

"This was more than enough for me."

He stared into your eyes as if he was calculating a complex math problem rather than looking at the person who just received the best head of their life.

You yawned, despite yourself. Your body ached with all the action of the night.

"Go to bed, sweetheart. I'll be here."

Those were the last words you heard before your eyes drifted shut. Exhaustion stilled your naked body. Chrollo reached over you to turn off the bedside lamp.

He wasn't nearly as tired. He could've gone for a couple more rounds, perhaps take it a step further if you so desired. But he knew you needed the sleep. Most of your makeup had rubbed off, displaying the dark circles under your eyes.

He slipped off his pants and threw them onto the floor with the rest of the clothes. He found the soft sheets and pulled them across you and himself. The bed was small but cozy. His strong chest was flush against your back.

Your (hair color) hair smelt of a summer day, like sunlight and wildflowers. He took this opportunity to feel up the rest of your glorious body. He ran his hand lightly from your shoulder to your hips, to your thighs. All of it was angelic to him.

He moved you closer with his arm, protectively wrapping it across your front. Somehow holding you like this felt far more intimate than any sexual activity. The way the moonlight graced your skin was majestic.

How had he fallen so hard, so fast? It was unlike him to act with such recklessness.

Through it all, he still had his mind. you had no way to tell the extent of his feelings. He made sure of this. His libido could act one way, that was clear from tonight. But he was an expert at controlling his outward emotions. You would never know. If you did, it would be over for him. All the planning will be for naught.

He closed his eyes before he could fall upon any more worries. He had already pondered the issue for many sleepless nights.

He fell into a dreamless slumber with you safe in his arms. You both slept soundly until the sun peeked through the window.

[dkniade]

I’ve realized a thing about my OCs, specifically in regards to Jintou

Even though I’m not sure how to execute the story (so many storytelling formats are possible) the themes are very consistant with who I am as an artist and writer.

Jintou is about creation as an artist, and the artist’s emotional bond with their creation, hence Jintou being a goat born from the Pyroceramic Arts (in a similar way Albedo is born from the Art of Khemia), and his creator Nüwa being cold and strict to him. It reflects the struggles and self-esteem issues I have with my art and drawing (the idea of “not good enough” or “not fast enough”). You can’t separate the creation from the creator, so Jintou’s struggles with how his creator treated him.

Also, recently I’ve been thinking about how the magic of the Pyroceramic Arts works in Jintou’s world! Here’s what I’ve got so far. Rambling about the magic system below.

It requires the user’s qi (气) (a Chinese philosophical concept that’s basically about energy flow in one’s body and the elements that make up life), and you use up some energy to write a character for “fire” (火，炎，烧, etc) in a magical writing square before you when using the technique.

Trivia: Chinese hanzi can fit into a square with guidelines called 米字格 / mi zi ge to help with proper form. It literally translates to something like “mi-character square” or “rice-character square” (I don’t think anyone actually calls it that though) because it looks like the character 米, which could mean “rice”, pronounced mǐ.

Then you use up more energy to activate the technique. The bigger you write the character, or if the character has many strokes and takes longer to write, the more energy it requires to to be held off until it’s activated, and thus the more exhausted you’re likely to be. If it’s just one character for fire, then it results in (a very high temperature) fire that fires the ceramic ware. For abiogenesis to occur, you need to add a character for “life” (生 or 命）or maybe “spirit/soul” (灵), which I’m gonna guess would be written in a smaller writing square in the corner.

If you write the character wrong (incorrect character, wrong stroke order) then the magic wouldn’t work, but your energy is still used up. For example, Jintou isn’t very good at writing, so if he writes 大 (dà, meaning “big”) when he means to write 火 (huǒ, meaning “fire”), then he’d be slightly tired afterwards only to realize he wrote it wrong because nothing happens. Also, it also only works for fire-related characters (hence the name Pyroceramic Arts), so no matter how well you write the character for water (水, shuǐ), you can’t conjure up water. :’)

I guess it’s like a magic system with a handwriting-based text input that draws on the user’s energy? I wonder how long it’d take for each user’s Pyroceramic Art to recognize their handwriting, haha… My Chinese handwriting is ridiculously messy and I can’t remember how to write hanzi characters very well so I don’t think I’d be able to use this technique effectively lol

What does all this mean? Well, since I love making metaphors out of my feelings and experiences, this is a direct metaphor for the energy it takes to create something. You spend lots of energy on a piece of artwork and it could end up being nice or not so nice… And since my stamina for drawing isn’t very high, I’m often tired after drawing even a sketch of something.

Essentially, my struggles as an artist is reflected in Jintou, and I want to see how he fares with that.