#You selected that colour palette

[no-time-machine-available]

It is sad how many artists call the work they put blood and soul content, while image AI generators call their work art without shame.

[ricoka]

there are art supplies where it genuinely doesn't make much of a difference what kind of price point they're in but there are art supplies where it makes so much of a difference

[marie-m-art]

Good Animated Omens - Behind the Scenes

Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the walk cycles I animated of Aziraphale and Crowley (original post here).

I'll reiterate that the character designs are @lookitsstevie's creation! I made builds in Toonboom Harmony based on their designs, and then animated the builds.

Long post under the cut, organized into four parts. Feel free to jump around or just click through the images and gifs to get an idea of the gist. (At least take a look at Part IV, where you'll see a version of Aziraphale without his jacket and a closeup of Crowley's torso!)

Hopefully this is interesting even if you don't know the first thing about animation. It's not a step-by-step-from-scratch tutorial, but it might give animators some ideas to think about when trying this software!

I'm happy to answer questions about what I cover here - comments, DM's, or ask-box questions are all fine by me. If you like any of the new gifs and want to reblog it on its own, I can make new posts for those upon request! (I'd prefer you don't reupload them, but if you do please at least credit me with a tag to my account - thank you!!)

Part I: The interface and some basics

Above is a screencap of the software interface.

In the centre is the Camera window, where all the drawing and animating is done. 

To the left, the Node View. It's a representation of how the pieces and layers that make the characters are grouped and connected to each other, which is what makes a character "build". Every piece in this window is called a node, and there are different types. Light blue "drawing nodes" contain the drawings themselves. Each drawing node usually has a green "peg" attached; the peg is used to move and rotate the drawing piece; you set a pivot point on each peg. Light grey nodes are groups that have more nodes within, and dark blue nodes are added effects (eg masks, the blur for the halo, etc).

Below, the Timeline - it's where keyframes are set and tweened. The red square dots indicate there is a new keyframe on a particular frame; the white dots indicate keyframes are on layers nested somewhere under the topmost visible layer. All the pieces of the characters can be found in the timeline and correspond to the pieces that exist in the Node View (and Camera). Typically you work with a collapsed view of the build layers in the timeline, which allows you to set keyframes on multiple layers at once.

To the right, a few tabs in this window - Tool Properties, Colour Palettes, and, shown on top here, the Library. The library is where you store your builds, so that you can bring in a fresh copy when animating a new scene. This library tab also has the Drawing Substitution window, which shows thumbnails of every drawing contained in a drawing node when that node is selected.

A second of animation is 24 frames long. Finished animation will often have keyframes on every second frame with the tweens removed, to help simulate the look and feel of traditional animation - this is known as animating "on twos", and saved time, money and paper in the old days. If you leave the tweens on, and/or have keyframes on every frame, the animation is "on ones".

My walks are on twos - it's the look I prefer.

When I say "tween" I'm specifically referring to the software feature that will automatically calculate and interpolate the path between two different poses/keys of a peg. An inbetween could be the result of using a tween, a new drawing, or both. On twos, an inbetween will look the same as any other keyframe on the timeline when you're finished - its relevance as a concept is during the process, not the end result.

Quality animation is achieved via a combination of moving/tweening pre-existing drawings using their pegs, and adding new drawings as hand-drawn inbetweens when needed. Toonboom Harmony also has nodes called "deformers": they offer a way to tween the shape of a drawing without needing to redraw inside the drawing node. (Part IV has the explanation for which pieces I used them for, and why.)

Part II: Navigating the builds

This is what their default poses with no animation look like.

Animation using builds is sometimes colloquially referred to as "puppet-style animation" because the way you can connect body parts to each other feels like making and handling a 2D digital puppet: you can connect a hand to a forearm so that they can move as a unit, and you can connect that unit to an upper arm to move the whole arm as a unit, and that arm gets connected to the torso, and so on.

When you want to connect two pieces, like a hand to a forearm, then you create another peg in the Node View and attach the two body parts together under that new peg. The screencaps below show the nodes that make up Aziraphale's and Crowley's entire builds inside their respective groups:

Things got a bit sloppy ... It looks extremely complicated, but once it's set up, you don't have to think about it too much when you're animating!

And I've zoomed in on the nodes that make their arms so you can see how there are pegs on top of pegs (all the green nodes), with wires connecting everything:

As I explained in Part I, new drawings are added and contained within a body part's drawing node (the light blue ones under the green ones), and the Drawing Substitution window is where you can see all the drawings that exist in a particular node. In the timeline, you set keyframes for moving the pegs, and you also choose which frame the new drawings will appear when applicable. You might have a lot of drawings stored in the nodes, but only what you set to appear in the timeline will be visible in the final animation.

You can select a body part in the camera view, and then find the corresponding layer in the Timeline or the Node View by pressing the "o" keyboard shortcut. If you select a body part by clicking on it, and then press the "b" keyboard shortcut, you will jump up to the next peg it's connected to. You can hide and unhide pieces using "d" and "a" respectively.

In the first capture above, I'm showing that the arm pieces can be moved separately or together, and you can see how the pegs in the Node View light up when I select them in the Camera window (hiding them turns them red). In the second capture, I pop down to the timeline to step back and forth between the poses - the light grey row (it appears between the rows of red dots) represents the hand's drawing node in the timeline.

Part III: Summary of animation process

In my head I imagined how their walks would differ from each other - Aziraphale bouncier but with very straight posture and limited arm movement, vs Crowley slinking and swaggering all over.

I also knew that I wanted the animation to look good for both a walking-on-the-spot version, and as a version walking across the screen (both versions are at the top of the post!).

Then I started doing some rough animation.

I set aside my finished builds for the roughs. For each character, I made a few drawing nodes and two pegs; a peg for the up-and-down upper body motion, which I tweened, and a peg for moving them across the screen. The legs and arms are drawing substitutions.

With these extremely rudimentary rough "builds", I worked out - how many frames long the walks would be, - how far the characters would move across the screen each step, - how much the upper bodies would move up and down, and - the key drawings of the legs and feet.

I didn't worry about animating clothing, hair, or Azi's arms in the rough stage. For those elements, the drawings would be spaced really close together and would be easier to figure out with tweens. (Note: this rudimentary setup would be sufficient if you want to clean up and inbetween characters by hand frame-by-frame instead of making full builds; my preference is build animation because the process is more fun for me)

Then I started working with the finished builds, using the roughs as a guide, and established the broadest motions first: the up-and-down motion in the upper bodies (I set a keyframe at the lowest point, a keyframe at the highest point, then tweened between them) and how far they'd travel across the screen. Then the feet were done.

I went back and forth between viewing them walking on the spot and walking across the screen to make sure that both versions worked. I also made sure they crossed the same amount of ground relative to each other.

After those crucial parts, I moved on to animating their arms, hair, torsos, clothing details, and finishing the legs, not necessarily in that order. I simulated twisting/rotating their torsos in 3d space by moving their waistcoats and lapels.

The first gif switches back and forth between versions (imagine a background scrolling by when they walk on the spot). The second gif is an example of bad "footslip" - they're moving at different speeds, and if you pay attention to their feet, Aziraphale appears to slip on ice while Crowley appears to slide forward on skates.

"You go too fast for me, Crowley!"

Part IV: Extras and details

Here is a version of Aziraphale's walk without his jacket, and a closeup of Crowley so you can see his swaying hips better:

One of the cool things about animating with builds is they lend themselves well to small modifications; the jacketless version took all of five minutes to make.

I'd be remiss not to include a close-up of Aziraphale's hair, the real star of the animation :) (Crowley's hair is also animated but I purposefully kept it understated since it's a much different texture.) And a closeup image of Crowley's snake tattoo:

The biggest unit for both of them are their upper bodies, which includes their pelvises. The up-and-down motion is only on one peg instead of on every single piece, which is handy because it means I can hide just that part of the animation when I want to work on the clothing details:

During the process of animation, I am often hiding then unhiding pieces like this so I can see what I'm doing.

Their clothing ended up being a lot of separate pieces, which I kept adding during animation rather than before, as it was hard to predict everything I needed. Their clothing also incorporates cutters (aka masks), and deformers (see explanation in Part I). In the next set of gifs the deformers show up as green outlines with handles and get turned on and off.

Aziraphale's torso functions as a mask for his clothing. The shape of his torso subtly changes via deformer. His lapels and waistcoat have V shapes that are masks/cutters (they cut a V shape out of those pieces); the same pieces that make the cutters also are used for the black lines of those V shapes via a special layering setup. The main shapes of his lapels are animated with deformers, and you can see how far beyond his torso shape they extend when I turn on the deformers in the second gif.

Deformers work best for shapes that change a little bit, and/or slowly. The minor shape changes in his and Crowley's clothes ended up being a great use case for deformers, because they pretty much tweened perfectly.

The reason I didn't use them on Aziraphale's legs was because those shapes change significantly between keys; I predicted I'd have to re-adjust every frame of a tweened deformer, so I drew the inbetweens by hand (halfway through, I realized I probably should have used them after all, but I was in too deep by then; hand drawing was fun though!). Deformers worked well on his bottom jacket:

Crowley's pelvis is layered above and below his thigh pieces and has a deformer. Also take a look at all the drawing substitutions for his hands:

And lastly the deformers on the hair:

Epilogue

I'm hoping the gifs all play at the same speed for everyone as they play for me. Hopefully the demo gifs are at least watchable, if not super clear... (I'll listen to feedback on the presentation of the information, for if I do similar posts in future!) Don't hesitate to ask questions about anything I covered, or about any details you noticed that I didn't elaborate on!

ko-fi.com/marieanimate

I'm shy about mentioning it, but I set up a Ko-fi account in case this post compels anyone to leave a small "tip" (but reblogging and sharing is just as good)!

Thanks for reading, and have a nice day!

[odoraful]

𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐄𝐘𝐄

it was one of the few days zayne had returned home earlier than sunset. he opened the door to the apartment to find you painting your nails. after a shower and some short pleading on your part, he was seated in front of you, hands laid out on the table for you to do his nails.

content: zayne x fem!reader; established relationship; small banter! ; greyson apperance; ~1k words a/n: i've been dipping in and out of writing, so i thought i'd make something short to get me back into practice :)

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

“Hand tremors aren’t good for dexterity, you know,” Zayne quipped, gazing at your expression as you applied the polish.

You looked up at him through your lashes and he smirked at the flat stare you gave him. With a slight tilt of his head, he enjoyed how animated your reactions were to his remarks. Towel-dried hair brushed past his brows, framing his discerning hazel eyes. Did he always need to be this handsome while poking fun at you? Your hands weren’t shaky before, but they certainly felt so now.

“Oh hush.”

Putting the brush back in the bottle to collect more polish, you reset your focus.

“Just ‘cause you’re a surgeon, doesn’t mean you’d make a good nail artist,” you retorted, bringing your eyes back to your work.

You were currently on the last nail, painting it a navy blue to match the others you already finished. Zayne’s nails were well kept and trimmed short, making for a perfect canvas for you. Whilst it was rare for surgeons to wear polish, he assured that it wouldn’t be an issue so long as it did not chip. He wanted you to do it for him, anyway. Having your undivided attention on him was a perfect way to unwind after a long day at the hospital.

“And what other qualifiers need to be met besides a still hand?” he asked, teasing giving way to curiousity.

You finished up the last nail with a few glides of the brush. “An eye for aesthetics,” you declared, moving the blue nail polish aside and selecting two more colours among your collection.

“Now, pick the colour for the design.”

You presented two colours to him. A cool silver embedded with fine glitter, and a rustic gold. His eyes flicked between the two. Mind having been made up almost the second you asked.

“Silver.”

You hummed. “An excellent choice.” Shaking the polish, the glitter dispersed throughout. “Perhaps you might consider nail tech as a side job, Dr Zayne.”

Waiting for his nails to dry before you could begin the next layer, you lightly fanned them with both your hands. He chuckled—both at your comment and your cute attempt to try and speed the drying process.

“My primary job keeps me busy enough,” he replied. “Besides, I don’t have much of an eye for aesthetics.”

You were reminded of the palette of his closet. Blacks, greys, browns, and the only splash of colour being a deep green shirt. Though somewhat monotone, it did suit him well.

He continued, “I think I’ll leave that expertise up to my girlfriend.”

Your breath caught in your throat. Mouth opened ever so slightly, not wanting to reveal the way every use of that nickname slipped under your skin and made your heart skip.

You began to draw tiny snowflakes on each of them with the silver polish. Zayne admired the furrowed concentration on your face as you were locked into this task. When the design had dried, you finished by squeezing some cream onto his hands. He let out a soft sigh as you massaged it in, feeling the tension of the day release under your gentle touch.

Once you were done, you stretched your arms out and twisting around to crack your back. You held his fingers in your hands, inspecting them.

“Look how pretty they are!” You bubbled.

Zayne was honestly floored. The level of coordination it took to paint something so small was incredible.

“They’re very pretty indeed.”

You were too enthralled by your own work to see the warm smile on his face at how satisfied you were.

“Now, that’ll be sixty dollars,” you said, looking up at him smugly, placing your hands on your hips in waiting.

Zayne lifted a brow. “Do you accept payment in desserts?”

“Hm… an interesting offer,” you placed a hand on your chin in mock thought. “What kind?”

“Will each flavour of macaron at the shop that just opened suffice?” he replied. The sparkle in your eyes signalled that it was more than enough to cover the cost of your service. Promptly, the two of you went outside to resolve his payment. You walked hand in hand, matching one another with freshly painted nails.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

EPILOGUE

At Akso Hospital the next day, peoples’ gazes lingered a little too long on Zayne. As he handed out folders to nurses and gestured to screens when presenting, eyes trailed on his hands. Now, it wasn’t unusual for doctors to wear polish, but it was unusual for Zayne to have it. Another layer of mystery to unravel about the cardiac surgeon.

Greyson entered Zayne’s office to drop off some documents, sliding them towards him on his desk. “Going to some fancy event later?”

Zayne adjusted his glasses, not looking away from his computer screen. “Unless you consider a seminar at the university as fancy, I’m not sure what you’re implying.”

He gestured towards the keyboard Zayne was typing on. “I’m talking about your nails! Don’t tell me you really just got them done for fun?” Greyson asked, incredulous.

“I did.” Zayne splayed his hand out. “Is that so strange?”

“No! Not at all!” Greyon reassured, shaking his head fervently. “They do look nice though,” he admitted. “Maybe I should get their number so I can get mine done too.”

“She doesn’t take up new clientele, unfortunately,” Zayne said, resuming his typing.

At such a quick defence, Greyson immediately clocked who this person was. He was one of the few that were privy to the relationship between you and Zayne, and he knew only you could make Dr Zayne change up his style.

Exaggerating a sigh, he turned to leave. “A true shame! She sure seems talented.”

“I’ll make sure to pass that on to her,” he heard Zayne reply. Though his back was to Zayne, the smile in his voice as he answered was undeniable.

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[mead-iocre]

A Girl Just Wants To Be Spoilt | Leah Williamson x Reader

synopsis: just leah handing over her gold amex card. yep.

warnings: none :)

wc: 860 words

“This is such a waste of time” You hear your girlfriend mutter to herself from behind you, but you pay her no mind. You were far too interested in choosing which lip gloss to get. Leah and you were currently in Sephora because she had to go shopping for a new outfit for an event she is invited to attend later that week. After a quick lunch, you all but dragged your reluctant girlfriend into the beauty store. 

Leah didn’t mind makeup, and lately with the media and events that she had to do, she was almost used to sitting in a makeup chair and having a makeup artist work on her face. However, outside of the events, Leah kept her face bare and makeup-free. You, on the other hand, were makeup obsessed. You spent an hour longer than your girlfriend when it came to getting ready in the morning because you had an entire skincare and makeup routine. 

“Oi! Quit it!” You playfully slap your girlfriend’s hand away when you see her reach for the open samples of eyeshadow palettes. Knowing how bored your girlfriend was getting, she was probably going to try some shit like wipe the eyeshadow on your arm or something. The blonde pouts, but follows dutifully behind you when you move over to the other section. 

“Oh this one’s quite nice” Untwisting the lipgloss sample, you glance the back of your hand only to frown when you see that there is no space to swatch the product. Checking the other hand, you see it’s already full of other lipstick and lipgloss swatches too. 

You were just about to put the lipstick down when your girlfriend practically thrusts her own hand out in front of you. “Use mine”

“Thanks, baby” Giving her a sweet smile and a kiss on the corner of her lips, you happily swipe the lipgloss wand on the back of her hand. You tilt your head, inspecting the colour before you shake your head. “That’s a nice colour…but would I wear it often?” You mutter more to yourself.

Turning back to the wide selection of lipglosses, you pick up another tube only to swatch the sample on the back of the blonde’s hand again. Leah rolls her eyes. “what, am I just your personal tester now?”

You turn to your girlfriend, patting her cheek lightly before kissing her right on her pouty lips. “you did offer, baby.”

Leah rolls her eyes at you but you can see a smile forming. “Whatever. Make it quick”

“Which one should I get, Lee?” You hold up two lipglosses. Instead of an answer, Leah only looks at you with one sharp eyebrow raised. “Is that a trick question?”

Your eyebrows furrow. “What is?”

Your girlfriend gestures to the lipglosses in your hands. “They’re the same fucking colour, darling”

You wave the two very different colours of lipglosses in the air. “They are not– this one’s more peachy and this one is more pink. Now pick one for me, please! I only want to get one since it’s so bloody expensive”

The blonde groans, and runs a palm down the side of her face like this is the most tedious task in the entire world as if she doesn’t chase a ball for a living. 

Before you could say another word, Leah grabs both of the clearly different lipglosses from your hand and then turns to the selection of lip products on display. She grabs a few more of the tubes in different shades, chucking them in the basket without even a second glance, and then makes a beeline straight to the checkout counters.

You jog to catch up to her, just as she greets the lady at the counter. “Lee, I only wanted to get just one–” You reach into the basket, intending to pull out the other twenty products that weren’t the ones you came into Sephora to buy.

But Leah grabs your hand, halting your actions. She brings out her wallet from her back pocket. "Nothing to worry your pretty little head about, baby. I've got it– and since I'm paying, we’ll take it all” She smiles at the lady at checkout, nodding at her to continue scanning what was probably the ninth lip product by now. 

You didn’t even want to glance at the screen as it totals your purchases– it was probably close to half of your monthly rent. You suddenly found the floor much more interesting.

“…the lady needs your card, darling”

Your head snaps up. You stare at your girlfriend, eyes wide in bewilderment. Did her shiny gold amex card ayment not go through? Is she making you pay for— a quick glance at the screen— £400+ worth of lip products? Is she playing some sick joke by making you pay for it after realising she doesn’t want to spend four hundred pounds on lip products that weren’t even for her—?

but it’s as if your girlfriend can read your mind, because all she does is chuckle and pull you close with an arm around your waist. Leah leans in right by your ear and whispers “your Sephora rewards card, baby. wouldn’t want those points to go to waste”

(also i might’ve changed ending after posting lol so if you read the OG ending, lucky you but shhhh!)

bro leah in a suit lately got me feeling some type of way. she's definitely the type to spoil her partner in every way thanks to that dyson headphones check 💰

might start doing these shorter blurbs more often :))

-- kisses, butter.

*This work is my original creation. Please don’t copy, share, or translate it without asking for my permission first. Thanks for respecting that!

[dalishious]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Q&A Notes Part 2

There are "fade-touched" enemies in Arlathan.

The detonation combos are meant to create a feeling of teamwork.

You can select both your pronouns and gender separately. The character creation is extremely deep. There was a focus on skin tones done respectfully!

They are actively looking into developing a photomode for the game.

The ability wheel does have a capacity. You can choose three abilities for Rook, and three for each companion. This means strategizing is important before the mission. There will be an "ultiamte" ability associated with your class. There are also runes that can be used as temporary buffs.

There are "Frost Nova" and "Meteor" abilities similar to "Cone of Cold" and "Fireball" in the past.

They have spent time on accessibilty features, but will not share details until closer to launch.

It's been about ten years since the events of Trespasser. Solas's ritual has taken time to set up, and Rook is coming in at the end of that.

In Thedas, ancient elves go bald after a millennia. Solas was not always bald! "If you see Solas in the past, he will look different."

Companions have specific colour palettes and styles, but you can modify them.

[cgtg]

has this ever happened to U?

sometimes when ur working on a drawing in mspaint, it will start to inexplicably consider a colour u have used as a new, separate colour, even though its exactly the same. i don't know exactly what will cause it, but i figure it might have to do w/ transparency. it never happens right out the gate, typically happens if i've been working on a drawing for a while.

its worth noting any colour can be added to the third palette row again even if it already exists in the default palette so that alone isn't an indicator that this is ur issue. if you use custom colours a lot, double check their values too.

anyways, its anoying ... as f*ck. thankfully the solution is rlly simple.

select your entire canvas, cut the drawing and re-paste it back in. this should get rid of the problem for every colour on ur pic. saves a lot of wasted time fixing each individual area.

this will work regardless of what colours u have selected as col1 and col2. it will also work regardless of whether you have transparency on or off.

[taylorswiftstyle]

Eras Tour Film premiere | Los Angeles, CA | October 11, 2023

Oscar de la Renta 'Cutout Floral Gown' - $11,990.00 $5,995.00

In my predictions post for this premiere on the TSS Patreon I selected a different dress by Oscar de la Renta (a longtime favourite designer of Taylors) and noted that my ideal styling with said gown would be a "red lip and pinned faux bob with tons of bangles and chandelier diamond earrings ... for an old Hollywood glam feel."

Needless to say, I support and love this outing.

It's dramatic and ladylike while also honouring and extending the #1989Blue precedent she set during the final stages of the U.S. 2023 leg of the Eras Tour. Dressing to a colour palette is a perfect connector and reminder to bridge both the event at hand of the concert tour movie and her most pressing upcoming record with 1989 (Taylor's Version) set to release on October 27.

All in, this is a beautiful gown and perhaps one of her best appearances ever. The elegant styling (dainty rings and eye-popping matching diamond tennis necklace and bracelet) were the perfect choices. And maybe I'm just jealous that Taylor is someone who can pull off blue eyeshadow (any other brown eyed girls who were told that blue makeup would make your eyes pop and subsequently did not look like Taylor Swift when you tried a powder blue shadow look? anyone? just me?).

Designer Fernando Garcia also noted during the Resort 2023 collection's presentation that "cut-outs have become a go-to for our customer". The ones on this gown feel like an organic nod to the spliced crop tops that were signature to the original 1989 fashion run in 2014. But here, they're more organic and integrated into the design - a natural part of fully blossoming some might say. And if you missed the subtle cut-out nod, there's always the faux bob that might double take you into believing you were back in 2014/15 and also nods to the messy, slightly undone style seen on the 1989 TV cover.

As backstory, it should surprise no one that this particular collection happened to debut on June 13, 2022 at (where else) the New York Botanical Garden.

Worn with: Cartier necklace + Anabela Chan bracelets, Cartier studs + Cathy Waterman + Akillis + Anabela Chan rings, and Giuseppe Zanotti heels

[inkykeiji]

⋆₊˚⊹♡ alastor + dressing you

character: alastor warnings: 18+ for mature themes (no smut) minors do not interact, fem!reader, pet/master dynamic, toxic relationship (possessiveness; reader is nothing more than a silly little doll for alastor to play dress up with), implied size difference, a hint of blood words: 1.1k

Alastor is a creature of habit, a man of routine. He has his daily rituals, his rigorous schedules, his lists of tasks, all performed to perfection each and every day. 

And Alastor likes to begin his mornings in a very specific way. 

You know the procedure by now inside out, upside down, could recite it backwards, if he so desired you to. 

By the time he wakes you, he’s already laid out your outfit for the day; intimates, dress, socks, accessories, all spread in an immaculate flat lay on his seldom-used bedspread. 

You are always expected to adorn yourself with the garments he’s selected, to pull on each and every piece all on your own, fabrics lovingly caressing your exposed flesh as his gaze slithers after the material, leaving burning smudges on your skin.

But, of course, you can never do it all completely right—not like Master can. 

Because it always ends the same, this little morning sacrament: with Alastor fussing over you—straightening out a bow, smoothing out a wrinkle, tugging up a sock, readjusting a sleeve.

There is always something wrong he has to fix, to make perfect. 

And the finishing touch, the finishing touch is always for Master to add. 

A leather collar, as red as his eyes and adorned with a heart-shaped tag, his name in an elegant scrawl engraved in the platinum. He’s always so tender when he fastens it around your neck, after he has thoroughly approved of your dressing for the day, more tender than you’d ever thought him capable of; more tender than he ever is otherwise. 

It’s all just another way he claims you, degrades you, announces that you are his—his to decorate, his to desecrate, his to do whatever the fuck he wants with you. 

That pretty little silver heart that rests so daintily against your clavicle, that rises and falls and glitters with each of your gentle breaths, will never let you forget that. 

Today, as it is with most days, he has chosen a white colour palette. 

Sitting in his usual armchair with his legs crossed, folded hands resting in his lap, he watches as you undress in front of him, left vulnerable and raw to his gluttonous glare. It stings, his gaze razored and slitting into your skin, prickling as it rakes over your unprotected form, leaving you feeling hypersensitive, overexposed, like he’s stripped away some fundamental layer and left you barer than bare.

Yet to the untrained eye, he would appear only mildly interested, possibly even teetering on indifferent, but you know him better than that.

You are not the untrained eye—not anymore.

You know that the glowing in his gaze is brighter, bolder and more brilliant than normal as he sharply catalogues every action—pretty silk slipped off, dainty lace sliding on. 

You know that his pupils are abnormally large, having gnawed away at his irises in their attempt to consume the scene in front of him—a scene he’s witnessed a hundred times before; a scene he never tires of nonetheless. 

You know that his smile, usually sharp and stretched, is a little bit softer around the edges, a little bit sweeter as it seals hungry teeth behind curled lips.

His chest swells and deflates with calm, even breaths, his unblinking gaze holding yours for a moment—in, out, in, out—and you stand still as a statue, waiting.

Such a good little pet he’s got himself. 

He lets the moment linger for a little, basks in the exquisiteness of your obedience, allows that sweet suffocation of your compliance to grow until it’s nearly unbearable, until you’re struggling to keep stationary under his unrelenting stare, until the weight of it is crushing, compressing your ribs, flattening your lungs as you anticipate his approval.

Finally, he nods, and then, you begin.

First, the intimates; pure snow-white lace encrusted with tiny crystals, dainty material skimming your flesh in a faint caress, clinging to your supple curves as you fasten hooks and adjust waistbands. 

Next, an ivory milkmaid dress, complete with cinched puffy sleeves and a sweetheart neckline, the corset top outlining the natural lines and bends of your torso, skirt flaring slightly at the hips and flowing into loose pleats around your thighs. Little white flowers detail the garment, embroidered in silk across the linen, blooming with each of your graceful inhales. 

Then, a pair of white thigh-high nylons to garnish the outfit, adorned with tiny white polkadots, sleek and sheer as they hug your legs. 

He doesn’t miss the ripple of chills that follow after his eyes as they glide up your body, trailing the curled knuckles hooked in the band of your stockings. Nor does he miss the delicate shiver that dances up your spine, or the tensing of your muscles as you linger in limbo beneath his stare, anticipating his next order.

No, he witnesses it all.

And he smirks, huffing out an airy snort, your frame flinching with the sound.

“Does my gaze make you uncomfortable, dear?”

“No, Sir, of course not,” you respond immediately; well-trained, obedient. 

“No? Then why has your body gone rigid beneath my eyes?” 

“I just—” you begin, faltering a little, a small frown on your face. 

Suddenly, he rises, stalking toward you calmly, both hands clasped behind his back. That infamous collar, held securely in his grasp, jingles with each of his steps, such a delicate sound for something so sinister. 

Stopping an inch or two from your face, your head snaps up, the motion instinctual, eyes wide and subservient—searching for guidance, awaiting your orders like the good little girl you are. 

A palm wreathes around your jaw, points of his claws pressing into your cheeks as he forces your head up further, revelling in the soft pained yelp that hitches in your throat, tangling on a gasp.

“Do you feel like a piece of meat, on display for your owner?”

“Y-Yes, Sir.”

Crimson searches your face, slow and scrutinizing, lids narrowing slightly as his smile sharpens.

“Nothing more than a pretty little prize to be paraded around on my arm, proudly and in public?”

“Yes, Sir.” 

Leaning down, he grinds his forehead into your own, inhibiting your gaze from fleeing his, neck bent at an unnatural angle as he looms over you. He stares at you for a moment, scarlet so bright it hurts to look directly into, so brilliant you’re sure it’ll leave sunspots blotting your vision when you finally look away, but you don’t dare to blink. 

Slim fingers flex around your jaw, tightening, and his claws pierce your cheeks—shallow little pricks that’ll be unnoticeable in a few minutes, dots of blood rushing to fill the tiny dents. His tongue laves over each in a single, slow drag, wide and wet as it cleans the wounds and streaks his tastebuds with copper, sealing them with a thick salve of saliva before pulling away. 

“Good,” he finally murmurs, the word a puff of breath wafting across your face, warm and woodsy. “Because you are. And Master likes for his things to look presentable.” 

[hisui-dreamer]

Can I have orange blossoms with jade leech for eternal love and marriage please? Thankyou!

is it love or just really nice flowers?

Pairing: Jade Leech x gn!reader

Synopsis: jade likes giving you flowers, it probably doesn't mean anything special though... right?

Tags: fluff, pining, slowish burn, eels are cowards, mentions of marriage, reader likes flowers

Word count: 1.2k+

Notes: thank you for requesting anon!! i had a lot of fun squealing when writing this one hehe

Masterlist

flower of choice: orange blossoms

orange blossoms symbolise eternal love and marriage, and they are often used in wedding ceremonies as symbols of purity and eternal love

You suppose it all started on your first Valentine’s Day in Twisted Wonderland.

As a member of the Mostro Lounge staff, you found yourself amidst the bustling atmosphere of the Mostro Lounge, where Azul's ambitious plans to capitalize on the love-filled holiday were in full swing. The lounge pulsated with the presence of couples occupying every available table.

Soft, dim lighting cast a warm glow over the space, enveloping everything in an air of intimacy and mystery. The gentle hum of conversation and laughter filled the air, mingling with the smooth melodies of jazz music drifting from hidden speakers.

Couples nestled into plush velvet booths, their faces illuminated by the soft light, lost in each other's eyes and whispers. Waiters moved gracefully between tables, delivering trays adorned with exotic beverages and plates of delectable meals, their steps silent against the plush carpeting.

But what caught your eye the most were the bouquets given to significant others, adorning the tables like precious jewels. Each one was a masterpiece in its own right, meticulously selected and arranged to convey the deepest sentiments of adoration.

"It must be nice receiving flowers…" you murmured to yourself, lost in thought.

“You would like to receive flowers?”

You snapped your head around at the sound of Jade's voice, finding him with a curious expression on his face. Surprise flickered in your eyes at his question, but a smile bloomed on your lips as you considered receiving flowers from someone.

“Yeah," you replied, a hint of longing in your voice, "who wouldn't? Receiving gifts makes you feel so appreciated. Plus, who wouldn't be happy looking at something pretty?"

Jade took a moment to mull over your words, his gaze thoughtful. Eventually, he nodded in agreement. "Hmm… I see. That does sound quite lovely," he acknowledged.

The conversation was quickly cut short when new orders and tasks arrived. In the whirlwind of never-ending tasks, the conversation had slipped from your mind almost entirely, until he appeared later that week, returning from a hiking trip with a delightful surprise in tow.

"Here, Prefect," he began, his voice gentle as he produced a bouquet of orange blossoms from behind his back. "These are for you," he offered with a soft smile.

The bouquet was a sight to behold, a delicate ensemble of ivory-hued blooms that exuded an ethereal beauty. Each flower boasted star-shaped petals, arranged in a symmetrical fashion around a central cluster of stamens. These stamens, adorned with tips of yellow to orange hues, stood out like tiny flames amidst the pristine white petals, adding a touch of vibrant colour to the otherwise pure palette. With their intricate details and subtle fragrance, the orange blossoms seemed to radiate a quiet elegance, captivating all who beheld their serene charm.

You couldn't help but notice the faintest flush of pink tinting his ears, and your own heart skipped a beat in response. You were well aware of the symbolism behind orange blossoms—eternal love and marriage. But surely, Jade couldn't mean that, could he?

"You brought these for me?" you asked, a mix of surprise and delight colouring your tone.

Jade nodded, a warmth spreading through him at your delight. "Yes, I thought you might like them," he admitted softly.

As you accepted the bouquet, a rush of emotions flooded over you. The delicate scent of the orange blossoms enveloped you, filling your senses with a sweet, intoxicating aroma. Mesmerized, you found yourself unable to look away from the vibrant blooms, each one a masterpiece of nature, without a single flaw in sight.

Jade's gaze remained fixed on yours, his expression tender and sincere. It was as though he was studying your reaction with unwavering attention, and a flutter of anticipation stirred in your chest at the vulnerability he revealed.

"Thank you, Jade," you said, your voice barely above a whisper but filled with sincerity. "These are beautiful."

A relieved smile spread across Jade's face, his eyes alight with a mixture of joy and relief. "I'm glad you like them," he murmured, his voice tinged with warmth.

Though you’re not sure why, Jade had made it a habit to always bring back a bouquet of orange blossoms for you from his hiking trips.

"It doesn't really bother me," he'd say with a closed-eye smile, "since it's on the way."

Each time he presented you with the blooms, your heart fluttered with joy. Yet, you hesitated to believe there were underlying intentions behind his gift. After all, Jade had always been kind to you, and you couldn't fathom the idea of him harbouring romantic feelings.

As the end of his third year at NRC approached, a bittersweet anticipation filled the air. The impending farewell weighed heavy on your heart, mingling with a sense of melancholy. Although Jade promised to visit during breaks and holidays, the thought of no longer seeing him every day stung with loneliness.

Summer break was nearing, and the campus was buzzing with students bidding farewells and exchanging hugs. Amidst the flurry of goodbyes, Jade sought you out, as he always did, with a bouquet of orange blossoms cradled in his arms. His smile was tinged with a hint of sadness as he approached you, and you felt a lump form in your throat at the sight of him.

"These are for you," he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper as he handed the flowers to you.

You accepted the bouquet with trembling hands, the weight of the moment settling heavily upon you. The sweet fragrance of the orange blossoms enveloped you like a comforting embrace, but it did little to dispel the sorrow that threatened to consume you.

"Thank you, Jade," you managed to say, your voice choked with emotion.

“I... I don’t wish for this to be the last time I give you flowers,” he confessed softly, his eyes searching yours with earnest sincerity. “Will you really not consider marriage with me?"

A heavy silence hung between you, each moment feeling weighted with unspoken words and unexpressed feelings. Then, Jade reached out to cup your cheek, guiding your gaze to meet his.

Caught off guard by his heartfelt plea, your eyes widened in astonishment. "Jade, I... I never realized... You…"

"But you knew, didn't you? You must have..." Jade's voice trembled with vulnerability. "Every flower, every gesture—it was all for you."

Your mind raced, memories flashing before your eyes like a vivid tapestry woven from moments shared together. Each bouquet, each flower—he had poured his heart into every gesture, his feelings hidden in plain sight all along.

Tears shimmered in your eyes as understanding washed over you like a gentle wave crashing upon the shore. The pieces of the puzzle fell into place, and you realized the depth of his devotion, the sincerity of his love.

“Yes, Jade," you whispered, your voice barely above a breath but filled with certainty. "Yes, a thousand times, yes."

The next thing you know, his lips are pressed against yours in a tender, passionate embrace. In that fleeting moment, the world around you faded into insignificance, leaving only the warmth of his touch, the sweetness of his kiss, and the promise of a love that would endure through every trial and triumph.

Masterlist

if you liked this post, don't forget to reblog!

[tofupixel]

I've been meaning to find a way to render pixel art over higher resolution images so that I can sketch in different programs, or go through and make pixel art versions of my art, is there any way you'd recommend doing that or is it just a look at it and eyeball it kind of thing?

there are a few ways to do it! the way i'd do it is to draw it bigger in the software of my choice, then take it into my pixelart software and reduce the size.

from there you can reduce the colours by hand or palettize it. in aseprite this is done with indexed colour mode- select a palette you want to try

then choose this option

and it will swap all the colours in your image to the closest available one from your chosen palette

i would probably choose my colours by hand though just because i don't work with palettes usually!

after that it's just cleanup work and rendering things to your liking

[sanctus-ingenium]

hi im so sorry if youve already answered this but how do u go about selecting the colors you use for your works!

hi! i've had this question a few times and every time i've only been able to answer with a vague sort of 'ehhh i just pick them'. but i think i'll actually talk some more about it now since a lot of my art actually takes a lot of beating before i decide on a final palette. but with a lot of them admittedly i already know what palette i'm using, and i organise the whole composition around those colours.

i use like two main palette methods and here they are (once you see it in my art, you won't unsee it). It mainly involves picking one main hue, and then a contrasting secondary colour.

So the most basic is to have a drawing be mostly a small range of hues, in this case the reds and oranges, and adding a single contrasting shade. Here it is the bounce light on the metallic metal parts, and doesn't appear anywhere else. It looks blue but it isn't - if I used actual blue, it would be too jarring and the colours would not appear unified. This is a warm and nice scene. So instead I pick that strong blue and blend it into a small swatch of the base colour. Then I pick from the blended portion, and what I get will be more blue than the base, but not actually blue. In fact it is yellow-orange :) The entire drawing looks warm as a result.

When working with marginally stronger contrast, here I have a cream unicorn on a green background. The main shadows on the unicorn will be the colour of that ambient room temperature bg - green. So I use the same test swatch method to pick a shadow colour which LOOKS green without being too disruptive of the cream unicorn. I increase the saturation and darken the value (moving the colour dot diagonally to the lower right hand corner of the box) and also spin the whole wheel towards green just a bit. Then I blend into the cream and colour pick a shade in the middle. But for the bounce light, I chose to use a common contrast of green - pink. It looks like pink in the drawing but in fact it is a low saturation orange! Using that real pink would be disharmonious. I do the exact same thing - I blend the pink into the bg colour and come up with that orange shade. It looks harmonious.

Now (top example) I am using two contrasting hues side by side. I decide the shadows will be warm, and the highlights in that contrasting zone. That means that for every colour i pick - Islin's skin, hair, his glasses, his shirt collar, his coat - every colour gets slid around the colour wheel until it falls inside that narrow band. And when I am highlighting his skin, I turn the wheel towards green. When I am shading his skin, I turn the wheel more red. I do this for every single element in the drawing.

It's the same for the Rua cover but this time I am not using such a wide band of available hues on the colour wheel, it's much tighter. I did this to replicate the look of a faded print, intentionally lowering the available contrast I had to work with by removing black as tool. It's all in that small cream to red window but it LOOKS purple - it looks like Pascal wears a purple shirt and that the smoke in the bg is lilac. Well, it isn't. That's all red and orange. I pick those colours by, again, choosing my goal "look" - a low-saturation purple, and then turning the wheel into the red range.

Okay so! for this it's just... the exact same thing again. Literally it always is. But since this one is recent I still have the process fresh in my mind. I envisioned it in the car, and I wanted this empty sort of desolate blue bg and a cold, distant overall tone. I ended up making the white on the chessboard & white pieces warmer, cream instead of white-grey, which worked out great. I wanted the blue, I wanted the pale cream/white, and the black of the chessboard. I didn't envision a colour for Pascal's shirt. but when the time came it was an obvious choice. It has to contrast with the bg both in value and hue, without falling outside the cream range already established by the chess pieces. So it's shiny salmon pink :) or orange, whatever you think it is. The only disharmonious part of this palette is the red velvet under the black knight piece - it works, but if I'd taken more care I might have spun the wheel more into orange and it would stand out less. But I don't mind.

[tomatoart]

how do u choose ur colours omg

OMG hai. Okay so I will be honest I do eyeball it just from my muscle memory on the color wheel bc I’m so used to it by now, that it’s not rlly a thought out choice even tho it should be and I definitely need to study color theory, but these are the ways I help find the right colors for me :]

Aside from that I recommend not getting caught up in “realistic” colors, skin can be saturated, white can be any color you want (blue or green… even pink!) black can be navy, etc. and also I used to look at color pallets religiously for fun, I don’t rlly use them anymore but they rlly helped shape my eye for color scemes! Just don’t get caught up in using ONLY those colors, sometimes it limits you and the characters details. I recommend this blog https://www.tumblr.com/color-palettes

Scrolling thru it used to inspire me w ideas!

looking thru art that inspires you too helps so much! For example I liked how jojos and one piece manga’s colored renders looked and I tried to study them! Finding good color combos and eyeballing them rather than using a color select tool helps so much. It gets you into the habit of finding the colors yourself and knowing where they fall on the color spectrum, making it an easy habit to know what u wanna use without grabbing an image and picking it off from it each time! I hope that makes sense T_T

I pray any of this was useful for yew!!!! I wish u luck on color picking :] 💙🐡

[jeleynai]

Hey there, I adore your art, thank you for sharing it and joining us on tumblr. Your Ghoap art makes me feel so soft.

I am curious about your rendering process. I like how your pieces are textured and coloured and the 3 dimensionality of it, is there a chance you'd be open to sharing some of the steps you take to get from sketch to the finished product? For example what methods (if greyscale, selection tool, etc.) and brushes you use? How you pick your colours?

No pressure in answering this of course, I am just glad to see what you'll be up to in the future.

Hellooooo thank you so much for your kind words!! I've actually been getting so many nice notes from people, I'm so sorry that I haven't responded to them much, I promise I read every single one and shed a little tear of joy at how nice you all are!

Now to the question!!

I made a little step by step image of one of the portraits I posted here for you with a bit of commentary underneath! I'm sorry if it's the ramblings of a mad-woman I'm a bit all over the place sometimes haha (I'm so sorry if there's typos, please ignore them)

I'll also answer the direct questions here since I don't think I addressed them TOO directly in the image.

Methods: I work with soft brushes and the lasso tool for 90% of my process! I introduce textures as well obviously but I try to let my soft brushes do most of the work. A lot of that 'soft' look people tell me my art has just comes from subtle colour shifts and general softness achieved that way over working with harsher textures. I generally like to limit my layers somewhat, especially with simple pieces like the one above. That image is actually just a single layer after step 2! It helps me not get too stuck on one area but I also just... draw on the wrong layer very frequently even if I name them so I don't use them unless I'm working on pieces with different layers of depth (fore-/mid-/background etc.) I do check my values *constantly* (I use the colour-proof setup in photoshop) but I don't work directly from greyscale. I go straight into colours from the sketch.

How I pick colours: I do try to keep my colour palette cohesive and a bit more neutral to start with. I try to avoid extremes at the start so I'm not locked into that too early since it makes that 'subtlety' harder to achieve otherwise. For those colour shifts I talk about I just pick whatever base colour I put down and then shift the colours accordingly! Brush modes/layer modes can also help but I definitely recommend looking a bit into colour theory before relying on them TOO much! Otherwise using them will also end in strange results. There's no direct 'formula' I use when choosing colours since every light scenario is unique and will affect colours differently. I would definitely recommend James Gurney's book on Colour and Light!

Last but not least! If you're more of a visual learner and my rambling is a bit much in written form (I'm so sorry, I'm very chatty I know) I also have a few painting processes up on YouTube c: So if you want me to shut up and just watch me struggle instead then here's a link to the painting that started it all, the OG ghost soap piece I did over a year and a half ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D76X0MT4W5U

I hope that all makes sense!! I'm still super new to Tumblr but I'm always happy to ramble on about art so! Thanks for reading my rant haha

[hazshit-hotel-hater]

Cherri Bomb Redesign (Bonus!)

Surprise!! It’s her!

I refuse to believe Cherri doesn’t have bunch of scars or injuries from using explosives and fire all the fucking time. There is no goddamn way. Also shes like running and jumping all over the place constantly she’d definitely have a running blade like 90% of the time. (Don’t walk on running blades you will probably trip) Her pant leg is ripped to look cool and also just for easy access to her leg.

I wanted this to be kind of sloppy with the colours; show how a lot of sinners dont have just a select few sins and note how often people participate in almost all of them. Ik it may not be the most pleasing colour palette to look at but that’s kind of the intention. Jumbled colours and asymmetry is really just Cherri’s thing in my head. I wanted it to look like she made or thrifted her clothes as well or like just stole them.

The bomb and cherry in her hair are supposed to kind of look like those hair bobble things that fucking HURT when you snapped them but they were cute so I feel like utilising hair bobbles is something I need to do much more

You could kill a man with these I swear to god.

Her tattoos and stuff are just basic cherries and vines and the little bomb and the bisexual symbol thing. Also bellybutton piercing is some I’ve only ever done once on an OC I have named Angela/Angie which is… kind of ironic?

You even get a little redraw for funsies! This was done for my friend helping me with my rewrite ideas so this is like the least I can do as repayment. You can see heaven up in the corner too :3

I don’t actually have a bunch to say about Cherri’s redesign, I want her to just be this “Oh wow! Thats definitely an outfit!” kind of design cause I love those. Oh and she definitely did the raccoon tail masking bits with craft tape.

I told my friend the dumbass stick figure on her arm is put there because I was thinking of her asking Angel to draw on her and she’d get it tattooed and he cannot draw at all so he just did a stick figure and was like “this is so cool.” and it was not cool at all/j

I wouldve added more stickers to her running blade and stuff but her colour palette is already VERY full so this is the price to pay. Still not sure if I’ll continue doing these but we shall see!! The next design post is likely going to be the lineup and some side by side comparison things ;P 📺

[iravaid]

Remaking and reopening my commissions :} Am offering three different kinds: character art, faux magazine cover, and character sheet. Feel free to enquire over Tumblr DM, or on ko-fi, which you can find here, alongside commission tickets.

I also take special pokemon commissions.

More information below:

Payment

Payment is taken either through PayPal or Ko-fi. If through PayPal, then an invoice will be emailed to you. If through Ko-fi, then you take a commission ticket with the appropriate selections made.

My process for payment in exchange for the art goes that we chat for a little bit about the piece you'd like me to create (feel free to show pinterest boards/playlists/other art/moodboards of the character), and I draw up drafts based on this chat. Upon agreement of a final draft, you pay the full amount of the commission. I then finish the commission and send it to you via your preferred communications path (eg. email, DM).

Character Art

Typical digital art commission, this time divided into two styles.

Style 1: Black and White, with an accent colour such as red or blue.

Bust - £35

Half-body (typically above knee) - £45

Full-body - £55

Style 2: Full colour render

Bust - £45

Half-body - £55

Full-body - £65

With both styles, included in the price is a solid-colour background + foreground, as well as held accessories and/or equipment, within reason. Simple text can be included. Transparent backgrounds also possible.

For both styles, I'm happy to include an animal/simple non-humanoid (such as a slugcat) companion for £15, and additional humanoid or complex non-humanoids (such as a large/detailed dragon) for £30/£40/£50 depending on if they're a bust/half-body/full-body.

Faux Magazine Cover

Flat rate of £60

We chat about the character (including their story, colour palette, vibes, etc.) and what kind of magazine inspiration will be taken from. We will discuss the text and other elements included in the cover, and what the character themself would be wearing/posed/how much of them is seen.

Magazine examples can be seen via this link

Character Sheet

Flat rate of £100

Similar to the faux magazine covers, involves us chatting about the character to get an idea of what to include within the sheet.

Combinations for size includes: 2x Bust + 1x Full-body, 1x Half-body + 1x Full-body (different pose, different clothing), and 2x Full-body (same pose, different clothing). We can discuss variations on this, but can incur additional charges to make up for extra effort.

Included in this price is text (eg. name, pronouns, height, nationality, descriptors, stats, small abstract), colour reference, a solid-colour background and foreground (can be divided up into different panels), and additional details such as an important accessory, or tattoos.