#a quick sketch of them I've been using to sketch little pics from

[paisleywraith]

The boys.

[jp-nichts]

A Quick and Nowhere Near Comprehensive Guide of My Art Process

The Longest and hardest part of making art for me is the sketch and planning phase. This will include rough thumbnail sketches of poses and ideas, and an accumulation of reference images. My art is nothing without solid references for me to refer back to for shadows proportions and such.

For my recent AC artwork the planning phase has been a bit easier since I've just been collecting screen shots from the game. I took elements from different photos and sketched them together to get something I liked. (Rusty's ref photos would have been a lot easier if I just recreated his build, but no I had to follow him around in my own AC like a lost puppy XD )

Once I decide upon a pose and reference images I start to draw with pencil and try and get all the proportions and details right before I move on to inking. Usually just using microns, but will use ink and brushes for larger parts (I usually don't have photos of just the sketches. They tend to be light and rough)

Then the watercolor! I'll start to layer up the watercolor paint and TRY to be careful not to over work the painting especially in places I want to stay light. This doesn't always work out, but I try to do a little editing on the computer as I have to.

Once I'm done with watercolor I'll scan the painting into the computer. One thing I do to almost every piece is switch the black into some kind of color. I usually have this color planed in advance before I even started painting. I'll go to the "Selective Color" adjustment in photoshop and play the values as I need.

I'll also touch up the general color values and levels because photos and scans tend not to the the IRL colors a justice. (or in Rusty's case, I made all of Steel Haze blue instead of blue and grey. So I had to desaturate specific parts to get his mech more accurate)

But yeah, ART! Once I'm done editing and fine tuning I'll post and share so long as its a project I can do so. I'm really bad about taking WIP pics. A lot of the time it's because it doesn't accrue to me to do so.

[shenzaibird-art]

So here's actually the first pic I drew of Verloren after the redesign headshot! That means this pic is almost one year old now, what!! A lot of things bother me about it because this actually started as a "quick sketch", and also I still hadn't figured out his shapes back then. Also maybe it's because I've stared at this pic too much since it's been my desktop wallpaper since last July lol

---

Alone

Story-text under the cut because it's kinda long

As Verloren had killed the king and every person who would have been a candidate to replace him, the responsibility for ruling the kingdom now fell upon him, a responsibility that he did not wish to take, for he never had any interest in ruling. But if there was no way out of being king, he thought maybe he could use some help, so he turned to Sellatrix, the only person he ever trusted and the only one who didn't hate him. They had been very close, and he considered her a true friend, or perhaps almost something a little more than that. So in a move surprisingly daring even for him, he asked Sellatrix if she would like to be his queen.

Sellatrix was conflicted. It was difficult for her to deny her feelings for him, and the two of them did make quite a pair. But the pleasant moments they once had, like playing games or talking under the moonlight about the most random things, now felt like something of the past. After all this spilled blood, all the victims he made and all he was yet to make, she knew there would never be peace again. There was no place in his future for things to ever be as they once were.

So betraying her own heart but following the wiser path, Sellatrix refused Verloren's proposal. She realized then that there was nothing left for her to gain by staying around him, as he was now like a broken image of a person once dear to her. So one day, she said her goodbyes and left the castle to go live in the forest near her hometown, to be away from the rest of the world for as long as she could.

On the day of Sellatrix's departure, Verloren watched her leave in a gryphon carriage as the sun went down, hoping she would change her mind and turn back. But she never did. That night, as the moon rose into the sky, Verloren felt more lonely than ever before. In his quarters, he reflected upon all that had been happening, and all that was lost.

Verloren leaned against his desk, going over his thoughts, his claws sinking into the wooden surface. How could things have fallen apart so suddenly? This was not how it should have happened. The enemies he made, the bloodshed... none of it should have happened. But it did. And now he had to deal with what was left.

Sellatrix may have been the only friend he ever found, but he could not allow himself to lose his way because of her absence. She was just a person, and he had never needed anyone before. There was his research to be done and enemies to destroy.

But for that one night, despite how much he tried to deny it, Verloren felt an immense void creeping up where his heart should have been.

[moonshotsx]

keep painting me with more memories - sashentra (flower shop au)

here’s a little birthday gift from me to all of you for all the support i’ve received over the year 🥰

-

Sasha wouldn't call herself a nervous person and yet, she could feel an unusual jitteriness as she waited for Anetra to prep everything for their tattoo session.

Perhaps, it had to do with Anetra's hands gently adjusting the stencil over her thigh, her gloved hands carefully patting it against her freshly shaved skin.

Just, maybe.

"Got this bad boy up," Anetra let out once she removed the paper, revealing the vibrant purple lines, "You can check it again to let me know if the placement it right for you".

Sasha gave it a quick glance over the floor length mirror, she was still in love with the stencil as she had been with the sketch. She appreciated the addition of a few leaves behind the hibiscus' flowers to frame it around her thigh.

"Looks perfect to me," she simply replied, earning two thumbs up from Anetra.

"That's what I love to hear!" She walked back up to the saran wrapped leather chair and went to sit down next to it on a smaller stool, "Get yourself comfortable, and we can start".

The sun illuminated just across from behind Anetra, giving her an unintentional halo.

Sasha wished she could snap a pic to relive this moment.

She laid down, careful not to mess up the stencil as she took a deep breath.

"I know the first tattoo can be a little scary, but I know you got this.

"Oh," Sasha swatted her hand, "I'm not scared, just... nervous, yeah".

"And that's cool too," Anetra said as she dipped the pen in the ink, "You know... I almost punched the dude who gave me my first tattoo".

"What?!"

"Yeah, Sixteen-year-old me thought it would be really cool to get a massive rib tattoo as my first one..." she continued with a laugh, "Let's just say sixteen-year-old me was a fucking dumbass".

"How is that supposed to help me with my nerves?" She raised a brow, but the smile on her face was contagious.

"Well, are you nervous now?" Anetra replied without missing a beat.

Sasha shook her head, "Alright, you got me there".

Anetra threw her a little wink before reaching to rest her hand on Sasha's thigh.

"Okay, giving you a heads-up, I'm about to go in," Anetra warned her as the buzzing of the machine took Sasha off guard, "I'm going to do a few strokes, and you tell me how you feel, okay?"

Sasha nodded, she turned a bit on her side - the thigh with the stencil on fully facing Anetra.

"So, let's get this pretty flower on a pretty girl," the tattoo artist muttered before zeroing her focus on the job in front of her.

Sasha inhaled sharply when the needle touched her skin, expecting it to hurt, but she was met with just slight discomfort.

"How is it?" Anetra asked with a soft tone, "All right?"

"I'll be honest, I thought it was going to hurt much more," Sasha let out a chuckle, finding herself relax under Anetra's knowing touch. She could get used to that.

"I'll remind you of that when I'm doing the white ink touch ups at the end, then we'll see!"

Sasha let Anetra work for the next few hours without much trouble. Her skin felt sore, but she had felt worse in her life.

She loved the way the conversation just seemed to flow flawlessly with Anetra. She felt as if they could talk about anything and everything without getting tired.

It felt refreshing, new, exciting.

The conversations only briefly stopped when Anetra passed over her sensitive skin but overall it didn't impact their discussions.

"So, who else works here? Just you and Loosey?" she asked just around four-hours into the tattoo

"So far, yeah, I've been advertising around for any apprentice. I've yet to hear back from most of them though".

Anetra lifted her head from her work to glance up at Sasha, "Why? Are you already looking for a new tattoo artist?" she joked.

Sasha's cheeks reddened for a brief second, but long enough to not go unnoticed by Anetra.

"I'm just curious! I don't know much about how to run a tattoo shop, as you can tell".

"I'm just messing with you," She chuckled, lowering her head to get back on working in the color.

"Have you known Loosey for a while?"

"Yeah, she helped me out when I was first starting tattooing, she's kind of a mom to me, making sure I'm not too focused on work to skip lunch or that I'm not staying up too late trying to make a sketch work. Don't let her know this... but I'm really thankful I got her annoying ass around".

Sasha smiled softly, "I promise I won't tell. Still, that's really sweet you got someone like her around"

The room felt silence for a moment before Anetra's stomach made a loud noise as it got reminded of food.

"Wait, what time is it?"

"Almost 8PM," Sasha checked her phone, noticing a few messages coming from Marcia.

She fired a quick reply over text as Anetra spoke up.

"Ah, that explains it, this is taking longer than I had planned for" Anetra sighed, "I think I can finish it up in an hour. Is that okay with you? I can order food for us in the meantime, anything you want, I wouldn't want you to get hungry on me".

"That sounds good to me" Sasha replied, as if she would mind spending more time with Anetra.

"Alright then, the final stretch it is. Time for the white, baby. This is going to be a bit of a bitch, I'm sorry in advance".

"I'm sure it's not going to be that- Fuck!" Sasha let out as the pen went against her skin, already sore from the past four hours.

"You can't say I didn't warn you!"

Sasha let Anetra work in silence, watching as the tattoo artist zoned into her work, determined to finish everything impeccably.

After a few more strokes, she got accustomed to the new pain, occasionally letting out a few curse words.

The last hour flew by as Sasha started to doze off, the comforting buzzing from the machine lulling her to sleep.

Before she realized it, they were done.

"And... that's a wrap!" Anetra lifted her hand from Sasha's leg and went to turn off the machine before setting the tattoo pen down, "Go check yourself out in the mirror while I get the stuff ready to seal that bad boy away".

Sasha fought the urge to stretch out as she tentatively got up from the tattoo chair but still taking a few moments to assess herself after having laid down for the past five hours. She carefully made her way up to the mirror to finally get a full view of the piece.

Her mouth opened in a gasp, it was even better than she could imagine, despite the expected reddened skin around the lines.

The way Anetra had perfectly captured the different shades in the flowers - it ended up being even better than the sketch had promised.

"So? Worth all the whining from earlier?" Anetra teased as she admired her work through the mirror, smiling at the colorful language Sasha had adopted when she broke out the white ink.

"It's perfect," Sasha managed to let out, "I... I can't thank you enough for this".

Anetra's heart skipped a beat when their eyes met through the mirror, "You're always welcome".

"I'm just..." she turned around, "Can I hug you?"

Anetra seemed taken aback by the request, her heart beating faster. She didn't master a reply, but she opened her arms, letting Sasha slot in perfectly.

They stood there for a moment, taking it in - neither of them wanting it to end.

"About that dinner..." Anetra was the first one to speak up, "How does pizza sound to you?"

"Sounds just perfect".

[leia-and-cannolis]

holy shit i come back after not using tumblr for like a good year i think other than just mindlessly scrolling. now watch as i perform this really cool magic trick called “posting something, leaving, and never coming back until next year”.

anyways hi its kenji/leia... whichever you want to use lmao today was just one of those days where i revisit old ocs i know i have but refuse to draw them after having a hardcore phase for them back then. it do be like that sometimes but tbh i think its for the best of me. so here's my main OCs featured in whatever nutcracker story i have, Holle (old musketeer lady), Dolokhov (the little guy), and Roscow (the one i'm morally afraid for).

id love to get back more into them and the story i had for 'em tbh, so... idk hmu with questions or comments !! idk its been a while since i've drawn them but i have a lot of stuff planned for them tbh.

here are just some extra closeups of stuff from the main page, and a pride quick sketch for them all!!

yeah also i'm a warrior cats fan... even at 17, the series has a chokehold on me and to be honest i don't mind lmfao.

but yes as said, feel free to ask me stuff about my ocs n whatnot, i really appreciate feedback of literally any kind; it really helps with my in-general world and character building with a whole buncha things. tysm to those that read down this far... i hope i can make more content soon now that its summer and actually start this art blog lols.

(CLICK ON IMAGES FOR BETTER PIC QUALITY PLEASE)

[dawnthefluffyduck]

The day technically isn't over so I might try to get a quick ralsei sketch done before I go to bed, but unless I manifest another burst of energy out of nowhere, chances are I'm gonna have to play catch up tomorrow lol. Insteeeaaad......

We've got our final project details for our 3-D Design class and it's gonna be super fun ^-^ I haven't wanted to show my other process pics here since they've all been boring, but this project is adorable 😭😭😭

It's gonna be an automata project so those little duckies are gonna move up and down when it's all finished up :D

Instead of drawing Ralsei, I've been like, doing classwork. As of right now the one thing I can do preemptively for this project is work on the duckies. They really really should be carved from a lightweight wood because I don't want the dowels to snap off under too much weight, but as a precautionary, I went ahead and made them out of clay. They're heavy, but they work for now. I don't know how to whittle or carve, and I need to wait for the wood to come in, so just in case I run out of time, I've got a backup plan that will function at least for critique day. Here they are:

I didn't have a better place to take a picture of these, so please excuse mr shark in the background 🙏

If these don't work I've been given the green light to use actual rubber ducks but that's not as cool as handmade ducks so that's only gonna happen if tragedy strikes like it did in the last project

[20dollarlolita]

I can't believe I didn't consider using one of those "ai paints you a picture of x" sites to save me a lot of time for researching lolita.

If you're doing things where you're incorporating unconventional things into lolita fashion, it's helpful to do a little bit of research about what people who don't know lolita fashion think the trend is. For example, if I'm doing Zelda-themed lolita, it's necessary to know what Zelda is, and what lolita fashion is. However, to make it read as Zelda to lolitas and as lolita to Zelda people, it's also very helpful to know what people who like Zelda think lolita is, and what people who like EGL fashion think Zelda is.

So I've been making mood boards about this for a long time, and it wasn't until today when I realized that AI Paints You A Pic sites can get you some really good ideas of what the general internet that feeds the AI thinks both trends would look like together.

CW: AI-painted faces.

I know some people find them terrifying, myself included, so they're under the jump.

So these nine pictures show some really interesting starting points about how certain trends are expected to be represented. You obviously have to tailor everything through the lens of lolita fashion, and to add details into the gray areas for how to include Zelda concepts, but it's some pretty cool ideas as far as quick sketches go.

Here's the last time I talked about Zelda-themed lolita.

Anyway, I'm super excited about this and so I'm sharing it with you. I'll probably work this concept into something in the coming days, but I was too excited about this discovery to not share it right away.

Here's another one that I found really interesting. The main difficulty of doing punk lolita is that punk fashion doesn't think punk lolita is punk, and lolita often doesn't think punk lolita is lolita, so it's existing in a very small overlap on the Venn diagram. You just have to say no one will like it, and wear it anyway, because you like it.

Which is pretty punk, when you think about it.

But if you're working on punk lolita and want to help with figuring out what themes and details might work, this deviates from existing punk lolita standards but still kind of reads as punk fashion and as lolita, so it's a good inspiration to have when looking the trend up elsewhere.

Anyway, go have fun making terrifying faces with robots.

Here's the Ai I was using.

Now it's time to try to get some sleep.

[non-bionical-mecha-dude]

pls write a 2012 tmnt x artist reader who likes drawing them little things and self portraits. maybe even paintings or anything else!! thank you so much ur so cool

Aww, you're cooler!! Ask and you shall receive!! I apologize if you've requested something but I haven't replied yet, I've been having a lot of problems with my mental health, but I hope to get back on track, and maybe even write some stuff from the TMNT Bayverse movies (I'm obsessed with them right now)

2012 TMNT X ARTISTIC READER

💙🐢Leo🐢💙

Definitely taken a back

But very impressed

He couldn't even draw a stick figure, but he finds it so cool you can draw

Has definitely asked you to draw the captain from space heros before

Sometimes when he gets in his funny heroic poses, you like to do quick sketches of him

Definitely saw you one time, and stayed still just so you could draw him

Definitely a dork

When you drew him one time, you swear you could see stars in his eyes

He thought he looked so cool as a drawing

Definitely felt a confidence boost after that.

You've definitely used him to draw fighting poses

If you ever paint, he word remind you to put newspaper or something down so you don't get the dojo messy

He knows you'll be careful, but you never know what might happen.

You painted a beautiful Sakura tree in traditional Japanese style (which was really hard when you just have acrylic paints and not the special paint specifically made for that kind of painting.) With a light blue sky behind it.

When he walked in to check on you, he thought it was so amazing.

He had never seen an actual cherry blossom in real life, so, this shocked him (before S2)

He loved how you drew the petals, how the pink flushed against the shades of magenta and red.

He loved the simple branches

He felt as though he was in Japan just by looking at it.

He loved it so much, he showed it to Master Splinter, who was also impressed

Leo loved it so much, that he asked to keep it

He hung the painting on his wall, to stare at whenever he felt down

You both definitely have days where he'll chill on the couch watching Space Heros, and you'll be next to him, drawing whatever came to mind, wether it be a still life, figure posing, cartoons, facial expressions, or just practice drawing in general

He enjoys the quiet times together with you

❤️🐢Raph🐢❤️

Doesn't admit he likes it

Constantly says how art is dumb, but secretly, he loves your art work

You tried to convince him, saying how art can help get rid of negative emotions, and he called it stupid

But secretly, whenever he got super mad one day, he draw scribbles and circles, and harsh marks on the blank page, and even though the art wasn't all that great, he did feel a bit better after wards

You definitely caught him doing it when he went in his room mad, but came out a bit calmer and graphite smudges on the side of his hand and fingers

If you ever draw a portrait of him, he will say how you didn't capture his coolness right, but in all honesty, he thinks he looks so much cooler as a drawing, and stares at the drawing for an ego boost

Sometimes when he practices, you draw poses he does and his fighting stances, he rolls his eyes when you do this, but secretly, he enjoys it

Definitely asked you to draw Spike one day, so that he can keep a small photo with him when he goes on missions

But he'd never tell you that, he would just say that Spike would like it, and then say how it went missing from Spike's tank one day, but, he actually has it tucked away in his shell

When he walked in on you painting, he expected you to be drawing something dumb, but he actually was kinda shocked at what you painted.

A red sunrise over the black buildings of New York.

Sure, it wasn't anything major, the buildings were made with black sharpie and a ruler, and the red was just in the background going from red to a gradient yellow on the horizon, but he loved the simplicity of it

It wasn't anything to big or to small

It wasn't anything to complicated or to simple

And it was a picture he could understand the beauty of it.

Definitely complimented the painting, which left everyone's jaw on the floor since Raph would rather be caught dead than to compliment something

But, he just felt like he needed you to know he actually, genuinely, thought it was good.

💜🐢Donnie🐢💜

Very impressed.

Brags to the others that his S/O is so artistic

Melts at any drawing you may give him

Keeps all your little drawings on a cork board in his lab

He finds it cool when you draw people since he can only draw machines or blueprints

If you ever draw him doing a pose as a reference, he will stop until you're done, and then beg you to see the finished product

He thinks everything you make is beautiful

If you ever make a portrait of him, he will be so confused

He doesn't believe he looks as good as you made him look, and says stuff like "I don't look nearly as cool as that!" Or "Woah, I look alot cooler as a drawing!"

Poor baby

You definitely have to show him how cool he looks another time

Will lay his head on your shoulder while you're drawing

Very clingy

If you ever get frustrated with a drawing, he'll help you take a small break, so that you can relax, and have a better outlook on the drawing so that you can fix it later

He doesn't like to see you stressed

One time, when he's going over blue prints and ideas, he sees you painting something on a canvas on the floor

When he's done, he looks over to see what it is, and he literally gasps outloud.

It's a monochromatic purple painting of a calm library (monochromatic means it's one color, but with lighter or darker shades of that one color for those who don't know)

The painting shows dark purple bookshelves stacked way up high, and a lone lighter desk, with a lamp shining on an open book.

He thought the painting was gorgeous, considering he's never been to an actual library, that painting makes him want to go to one

Is gushing over it all day

Showing it off to his brothers

And even his father

Keeps the painting in his lab, right next to the cork board, so that anytime he may be stressed or frustrated, he can look at your art work, and feel at peace again

🧡🐢Mikey🐢🧡

Definitely a bit of a graffiti artist himself

Understands alot of art terminology oddly enough

You both give each other tips and compliments on each other's drawings

He draws more cartoons and stuff

If you ever draw something realistic, he'll say how he thought it was the real thing on a piece of paper

If you don't have a flat surface to draw on, say no more, because he'll flop on top of your legs, so you can lay the paper on his shell while you draw, so it's a win win, he technically gets to cuddle up in your lap, and you get a flat surface to draw on

If you ever draw him when he's in a wacky pose, he'll notice and do more wakier poses, to throw you off, until he does something that's super flexible like, and you give up trying, which he giggles at

Has definitely tried to get you into graffiti

But it's a lot harder than you thought it would be, your fingers got tired often, and so would your arms from holding them up above your head, the the paint seemed to be either to pigmented, or not pigmented enough, and sometimes, the paint would drip, or dry weird, so, you'd definitely leave graffiti to Mikey

One day, while he's goofing of, you decided to draw a still life of ice cream kitty

It was definitely more difficult than you thought, you had to constantly put him back in the freezer, and sometimes he'd get hungry and need an ice cream snack, and sometimes you couldn't get the colors right, but after some long long hours, you were finally able to paint the still life

Mikey had eventually came over to see why you kept staying in the kitchen and hanging with ice cream kitty. But when he saw it, he said "woooooahhhh" out loud

It was just a painting of ice cream kitty, shading and highlights and everything, you had even put a orange background behind him, so the canvas wouldn't look to blank.

He is freaking out, he's bouncing around the walls, saying how cool it was, asking a million questions per second, showing ice cream kitty even tho he's already seen it, and it just super hyper about it.

Is hugging you and spinning you around because of how much he loves it.

Definitely hangs it up in his room, so he can keep it forever.

Art buddies

[dreamingpartone]

Do you have any tips for working on sketches and proportions?

ooh! that's a good and tricky question, anon…. I’m not sure how helpful I can be without a bit more specific direction (especially sketching; there are all sorts of ways to sketch all sorts of things) but I've tried to come up with some general tips! just let me know if you were wondering about anything else in particular!

*usual disclaimer that I’m not an expert and different art strokes work for different folks*

SKETCHES:

✦ Very basic, but start light and loose with sketching — the first thing you want to get down is just gesture/shapes/positioning, then worry about refining and adding detail afterwards

Purely for personal ease, I often use a light pencil (2H) to start my sketches, and then go over it with a mechanical pencil (B). On the other hand: thicker, softer pencils (like 3B+) are really fun to work with for rougher, more gestural sketches or studies!!

(You can replicate this digitally too, by changing brush size and opacity)

✦ Try working small? I’ve never been great at drawing large-scale, but I also think keeping sketches on the smaller side helps me think about what the most important features to capture are

✦ If we’re talking figures, try sketching things in different orders to find what suits you; obviously a lot of people start with the head (including me 90% of the time), but I also like drawing in the angle for shoulders or blocking in the torso first sometimes, so feel free to experiment!

✦ Probably the most important thing: don’t worry about making mistakes in sketches, and especially don’t worry about how nice they look! Unless you have to or want to share them, sketches are just for you, and they’re not meant to be masterpieces. As long as you get what you need from them (whether that’s jotting down a quick idea for later, getting the base ready for a big piece, or practicing drawing xyz) then that’s their job done!

PROPORTIONS:

✦ I'm gonna guess you probably mean the human anatomy kind of proportions? (In which case, I am going to skip over the standard “look at and draw a lot of people” because that is obvious and not-particularly-motivating advice in my experience :’))

✦ Again, make sure to start with simple shapes, and know that it’s okay to use easy references! You're not gonna love working on proportions if you jump immediately to a really complex pose or angle and then get frustrated when you can't get it right

✦ Doing studies is great, but make them suit you. I've never been that diligent about studying anatomy and proportions; I enjoy doing quick pose sketches every now and then, but tbh I mostly took the long road of improving proportions by sketching a crap load of fanart over the years, and therefore using references that I have more of an investment in than just “random man #5 posing”

(e.g. I’m pretty sure just absorbing 45 volumes of Haikyuu gave me a little art boost because Furudate is so good at it  — but it also meant I started using actual volleyball photos for sketches and art references, which was great fun! I have also used cricket, classical sculptures, various tv screencaps, meme-y kpop pics, etc, as studies in the past, because they make me actually want to sit down and draw, which is the important first step!)

(ALSO: taking photos of yourself as a reference is 👌 very quick and useful. I have many random photos of myself posing on my phone)

✦ There are some very general but handy proportion guides that I've absorbed over the years, like: a person’s thumb is about the length of their nose, their foot is about the length of their forearm, when arms are relaxed at the sides elbows reach to the navel and fingertips reach about mid-thigh, from the front nipples are in line with the ears, eyes line up at the edge of nostrils, ears are placed between the top of the eye and bottom of the nose (actually ear placement is super handy for getting head angles to look good), etc etc !

(Obviously though, these aren't accurate for every single real life person and can be broken for interesting character design anyway)

✦ Also the Measuring In Heads trick — a classic and pretty common guide for (standing) proportions, once again not 100% foolproof, but measuring your figure in heads can get you a good basis for overall proportion. The “rule” is that a person is generally 7.5 heads tall, so in my art I usually go between 7-8 heads, with the waist at about 3 heads from the top

(I only bother with/remember those two points, but from a quick google apparently you can also measure where the nipples (2 heads) and pelvis (4 heads) are with this one!)

[harimaron]

Can you post a recap of how Drag Con went? I've never been and would love to hear how your time was spent/ if it was any fun

Yes, definitely! I’ll do it directly onto this post (cause why not?). Warning: This is way too long and wordy. I apologize in advance. Tl;dr: Drag Con was great.

Drag Con was so much fun, though very painful to the feet after a while–but when is drag not a pain in the feet? I don’t remember everything, but I guess I’ll mention the highlights (probably way too much).

Day One:

I didn’t go to drag con looking to stand in long-ass lines for two hours at a time, because I figured that would be a waste of time for me. As much as I love everyone’s faves, I’d rather get as much out of the experience as I can. So, sorry fan faves (besides Detox and Laganja).

The only ‘long line’ booth that I regret not attending was Haus of Aja because their booth looked cute AF! (In fact, I exchanged a word with Kandy on day one while I was passing by, but I was awkward af and felt like I was breaking some kind of con protocol by talking to a queen out-of-line even if she spoke to me first. (God, I wish I’d actually said something, like at least acknowledge that I knew who she was? Lol but welp.) I’d also have liked to see Shangela, but I’m sure there’ll be other chances that don’t involve an hour wait.

The first thing we did on day one was go to Sugar Pill because my friend wanted to buy makeup (and I was really tempted but I didn’t buy anything). Saw Shrinkle there and took a picture with her. (And just NOW I realize what I should have talked to her about instead of being quiet and awkward.)

I think the first two queens I saw on day one were Gia and Laganja (speaking of fan faves–assuming she’s one). I got lucky with them because we ran into a friend who was already on line for them and were able to get in pretty quickly. I felt a little guilty, but hey… Gia looks fucking gorgeous and I wish I’d talked more with her, especially since I’m helping a friend organize an event for the trans community at the moment. Unfortunately I was still in my awkward just-got-here phase at that point (not sure that the phase ever went away). Now… I’ve been on the hunt to meet Laganja for ages now, so I felt very accomplished actually!! 

Wandered around a bit after meeting Team Too Much, then ran into Jiggly’s booth. Cool, quick line, no hassle. Jiggly has the CUTEST lollipops in her merch. Highly recommend. Don’t know if I’ll be able to ever eat mine cause it’s way too cute. I’m not sure why I’m always so shy around Jiggly.

After Jiggly I ran into a drag queen named Astala Vista and she is my new fave cause she’s a crazy cat lady. (Her look won me over.)

After that I saw Ongina. Her merch was cheap on day one and more expensive on day two. (I guess cause they did well and a lot of it was almost sold out.) I also had a sketch of her that I got her to sign and she was one of the queens I was hoping to see!

After that I went for Phi Phi O’Hara, because obvious reasons. I dressed up to match her booth so this was bound to happen. I cannot stress enough how she’s like my favourite person ever?? I didn’t buy anything from her on day one and she was the first queen I saw who didn’t require you to buy something first. (Don’t worry, I more than made up for this on day two.) I gave her a bag of cookies that I baked but her husband ate them all. Dammit Mikhael, stop eating everything I give Phi Phi! (Unless Phi lied to con me out of more cookies, which I’m okay with too.) The cookies I made I designated to give to Phi, Jiggly, and my good friend CoCo De’Ball, and the rest I was going to give out at random but they all ended up going to Phi Phi on day two somehow.

Wandered around, I think my friend and I split up for a bit at some point to do our own thing. Found CoCo De’Ball and her bf took photos that I still need to get my hands on. Chatted with her for a while, then wandered some more. Walked by Ginger Minj’s booth and took a photo from outside in the passing (cause you can do that). Also took one of Shangela cause I had a feeling I wouldn’t end up meeting her anyway. Ran into some New York girls I know by the bathroom lines. Ran into Biblegirl and took pics with her.

The only panel I went to all weekend was the one where Ginger did Lactacia’s makeup. I met up with @maladymesser​ there! :) So cool. At the end of the panel, Ginger asked Lactacia to be her flower girl because she and CJ were going to get married right there and then. Michelle Visage married them right there at DragCon??? I think we were all DYING.

After the panel we split up again and I wandered around and wound up going back to Coco’s booth. Ran into some girls I hang out with at the bar regularly there and we all walked around with CoCo for a bit. I saw someone dressed AS A BUG WITH SIX LEGS, STILETTOS ON ALL OF THEM, CRAWLING ACROSS THE FUCKING FLOOR!!!!!!! WHAT THE WHAT! That might have been the best thing????? Like???

Ahem… anyway. I ran into Jade Jolie’s booth. Super easy photo op. Then I found Ivy Winters and her line was also pretty short at the time (I think there were two lines or something?) While waiting for her I saw Terra Hyman roll by on roller skates (genius) in a Pokeball dress and I stopped her cause c’mon, Pokemon! I didn’t actually realize it was her right away until she told me to add her Instagram. She’s my new friend tbh, we just bonded, okay? I shared my Starbucks with her on day two, and that means friends for life in my book.

Anyway… back to the Ivy line, cause I was still in line for that. While waiting, Manila runs up to the booth to take pictures with Ivy. (Manila and Raja’s line is like 5 hours long, so hey! Cool!)

The last two I believe we saw on day one were Vivacious and Tammie Brown. Vivacious was one of my favourite experiences of the day. Took photos with an Ornacia on our heads. Vivacious was the nicest person ever and was really concerned about my lacefront wig when taking Ornacia off (not very Ornacia-friendly). I told her it’s fine and that I can put it back on but she was not having it and said that no one’s wig was coming off at drag con. Wow. Somehow very touching that she cared so much. And it was just a wonderful experience overall, and I recommend for everyone to meet Vivacious. My friend went to another panel at six, but I decided to go home because I literally got zero sleep the night before (not even exaggerating).

Day Two:

My best friends all came out on this day and it was just an overall blast. My game plan was to hop right onto the Detox line upon entering and get the long wait out of the way. (I know, I said I didn’t want to do any long lines, but Detox is my exception.) Our group split up because two of my friends had to go to a panel. (They did end up going to Detox later, but more on that later.)

Detox has the best merch, so I’m okay with her $20 minimum purchase. She has a lot to choose from and I wouldn’t mind having most of her things. We got in for Detox, took our pics. I got to kiss her for a pic and that already made my day!! (Plus my friend got it on film for me! Exciting!)

We split up and I went (surprise surprise) to see Phi Phi again. The panel friends were just finishing at the panel so they joined me on Phi Phi’s line. :) I chatted with her husband while on line about the dogs situation, bought merch cause I like supporting her, and then met with Phi. My friend caught this interaction on video and I died a little when I played it back at home. Took some family portraits���I mean, fan photos, but c’mon… Let my friends go and then took a group shot together. (Don’t even remember who has that photo tbh.) I probably hog up too much of her time and people probably hate me for it on the line, but too bad, I love her and she claims to love me so I’ll have my moment.

(Let’s be real, I bought my Drag Con tickets after she personally convinced me to go and the thought at the forefront of my mind was always that I’ll get to see Phi Phi there.)

After that we split up again and I wandered around. Saw Dida Ritz. I ran into Terra Hyman again (about 50 times tbh, I swear she’s everywhere and I’m A-okay with that) and she recognized me from the day before so I’m officially her bitch. (Not really, but I’m okay with thinking that.) Later saw Laila McQueen. We took a quick Starbucks break and then went to wait for Pandora to return from her break. (Terra’s booth was right there next to Pandora’s so ended up sharing my drink with her and that’s how that happened.)

All five of us were in one place for the first (and only) time for Pandora. Pandora was super sweet and we all had a blast with her. She’s my best friend’s fave so I’m really happy this worked out. We took a huge group photo together and everyone was really friendly and not rushing us. After that I went with the other half of my friends to see Phi Phi (those who hadn’t gone yet) and that was my excuse to go twice. (Please, I would’ve done it anyway!)

Wandered around and found Stacy Layne Matthews in the passing, observed Milk’s booth from the outside (amazing booth but didn’t want to do any more lines), and then found Joslyn Fox.

After that I just got really lucky???? Because I got to see Detox a second time without having to wait out the line because my friends who didn’t see her yet went and I joined them when they were practically done. I actually originally intended to just chat with them while they waited, even told the person coordinating the line that I wasn’t on it, but then somehow got ushered into it with my friends and when I asked if it was alright to go in with them, they said yes. Like ????? Wow. Okay. Cool. I felt kind of bad for the people behind us cause they probably hated my guts for it? But it wasn’t like I went in there alone. So… yeah. I saw Detox again. He remembered me from earlier. Super sweet. The person taking pictures did an interesting job because there’s no normal pics of us and instead it just looks like we were making out the entire time (we weren’t! They were just cheek kisses and that’s practically all he captured, from a very convincing angle). Oh, and Detox signed the shirt that I got. We took a really cute group photo around Detox’s tub and then left. (Seriously, I started and ended my day with Detox. What could be better?)

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Anyway, 10/10 recommend. I had the regular pass. I’m sure VIP had its perks but it didn’t really interest me personally, especially with the price. (Even if it had been cheaper, I probably wouldn’t have gotten it.)