#all this for some procreate and illustrator practice

[chilling-seavey]

Finally finished this weekend’s poster design. Better late than never ❣️

[ki1ldeer]

Uhhhm I can’t think of a snappy caption relating to the drawing… quick pose study (I stress QUICK!)

[y-rhywbeth2]

Lore: Dating, Marriage, Sex, etc

Part 1/2

Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Index [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. There's a lot of lore; I don't know everything. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest, etc etc etc]

DnD isn't exactly a dating sim, so most of this lore comes from mining Ed Greenwood's answers to questions, but since his answers are apparently canon unless and until contradicted in published realmslore, here you go.

It's mostly in regards to human culture (and the Heartlands, Waterdeep etc at that) but I'll throw in some demihuman stuff here and there.

So sexuality, and the norms and moral values Torilians build around it: More tolerant and kinkier than Earth, for the most part, and still not a perfect bed of roses. (You won’t face legal oppression; you can get called slurs.)

Attitudes in the Realms

Dating

Sex (and a bit about contraception and conception)

Sexual Orientation

Polyamory

Cut for space and expected in the follow up: marriage, sex work, religion, and the absolutely deranged shit going on in some noble families.

-

Attitudes about relationships in the Realms

The long and short of it is that the root of Toril’s mainstream attitude towards sex and relationships draws from the sexual revolution of the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Cultural variations on and subversions of these norms occur, but the rule of thumb, especially as it applies to the video games is as follows:

Sex is not a terribly big deal nor innately taboo; pseudo-puritan attitudes are solely the province of some old high priests on a few religions in a minority of a minority. Virginity and the loss thereof is meaningless unless you're nobility.

Pretty much anything is legal so long as all parties involved are capable of giving and gave consent on most of the planet (though legal isn’t the same as ‘approved of’).

Of course TSR, and later WotC, fell very much on the side of ‘we can’t publish that!’ So it got massively obscured. It only really came through now and again, usually in sly little hints that could get past the radar/editors, becoming more obvious with 4e and 5e (Although Sune and Sharess were flat out stated even back in 2e to ignore gender when they’re in the mood to seduce mortals, and we'd already had Mystra saying that gender is basically just a costume for gods (which Mask illustrates.))

The Realms itself still has bigotry to go around, of course, but generally it's the clergy of a select few gods and the nobles who'll make a fuss about such things, and the latter only in regards to their own social circles and inheritance shenanigans. A traveling merchant who encounters a culture that practices forms of relationships he personally disproves of was probably raised to be polite and keep the slurs unsaid; diversity encourages trade, offending your neighbours does not.

What is and isn’t morally acceptable to an individual is determined by church doctrine and dogma (which determines many of life’s aspects, including love and sex and what's good or bad (chastity vs promiscuity, monogamy vs polygamy, whether procreation is mandated or not or even a sin, if loving people instead of despising them is a sin or not, and what acts are taboo))... and all that as interpreted by the local priests, who may not agree with their fellows’ interpretations. Some gods declare chastity a sin and want you to engage in as many romantic and/or sexual relationships with as many different people in as many different ways as humanly possible. Loviatar mandates BDSM and Ilmater doesn't frown on it either.

Most deities probably aren't going to discriminate. Gods see the universe in terms of their portfolio: what aids it is good what opposes it is bad. Most portfolios aren't terribly impacted by mortal love lives and hormones so I suspect the vast majority of gods could not care less, and, as per Faiths and Avatars, the gods 'generally try to be as liberal as possible to try and attract as much worship as they can.'

With Toril being polytheistic all of these gods are due respect and conflicting dogmas are just a fact of life. Several times a day a person is likely to be confronted with a choice – usually a minor one – where one action will serve some gods and be a sin in the eyes of others, and the rule of thumb is that everybody accepts you can’t please all of them all the time. You live according to the gods you favour above all others and respect the faiths of those you don’t: you expect that people will mind their own business and do them the same courtesy.

In the majority of the realms, including the cities and realms of the Heartlands, Silverymoon, Waterdeep and etc, at least, people are open minded and tolerant. A rule of thumb is that cities are more liberal and rural areas more conservative, but even then their norms and values don’t necessarily match the modern earth norms that might spring to mind; the nuclear family unit is not necessarily seen as default and polyamory is very common in some villages.

Largely, there’s not a whole lot of emphasis put on identifying your sexuality or making it a big part of who you are: most Torilians wouldn’t understand the point of drawing attention to sexuality outside of occasions where it’s actually relevant. If you were visiting Baldur's Gate and pointed out two men getting married at the temple of Tymora the people around you would be utterly confused about why you felt the need to single out the gender of the couple.

‘Individuals may find [queer relationships] too much for themselves to handle, but the laws and general attitudes of society don’t frown on it.’

You may have to ‘pick your neighbours and friends’ to live comfortably, but that’s significantly easier to do on Toril than Earth especially because you should have no reason to worry about persecution or discrimination under the law for deviating from whatever moral code a particular priest might be espousing.

Bastard children and wedlock don't cause a fuss so long as you're not a highborn (or found to have cheated on your partner, one assumes).

Contraception is widely available and family planning is emphasised; you are firmly encouraged to use it in a dangerous world where famines and disasters mundane and supernatural mean babies at the wrong times can lessen the chances of survival (for you and them).

-

Dating

Somebody who catches your eye is 'glim,' as in 'oh no he's hot' or 'she's well fit' or whatever. A Torilian who's very attractive is 'right glim.' As in they're 'glimmering.'

A term for a pair of lovers is 'brightbirds.'

Your 'fancyman,' 'fancylad,' or 'fancylass' is what your disapproving relatives will call your lover that you insist on seeing for reasons that escape them.

Waterdhavians call the target of their affections their 'rose,' which may get confusing as in other dialects a 'rose' is the slang term for a submissive woman in a Dom/sub relationship.

Red and black are considered the erotic/'sexy' colours. Garments featuring black lace and leather in particular.

Many priests, curiously, seem to find potential partners more attractive if they get a tattoo of their deity's holy symbol.

You can advertise your interest by wearing an artificial rose pinned to one shoulder: red signals that you're looking for a long-term romantic partner and black shows you're looking for sex. If the rose is made of steel then it indicates you're looking for a partner of the same gender. Wearing multiple roses indicates you're looking for multiple partners, but you might expect some raised eyebrows or comments if people think you're being overconfident. It's very rare to see women doing this looking for men, since it's thought of as a 'man thing' (wlw doing this to seek each other out apparently don't count to said men).

Sunites, as devotees of the goddess of love and beauty, are available for matchmaking services, advice and make overs.

Dancing - especially erotic dancing - is a large part of courtship trends across the cultural board. Which might tie in to the fact that all the goddesses of lust and love - Sharess/Zandilar, Sharindlar, Sune, Sheela Peryroyl, and to a certain extent, Lliira - are dancers or have dancing as a thing within their faith. Lliiran clergy give dancing lessons, and Sharessans and Sunites probably don't mind teaching either.

The only description of what a one might wear if one is feminine and wants to dress up and look fancy in human culture - the equivalent of a 'little black dress' - is a simple black gown with a high collar and plunging neckline in the front (the latter of which is optional). It's matched with a sash and boots and some small jewellery. If you want to 'dress down' the gown is pinned open to expose either bare skin or the underlying chemise (if you're going for a 'classy' look it'll be lacy and white).

Dwarven courtship involves a slow exchange of crafts made by ones own hand (this can be tools or physical artwork or things like poems and songs, the point is to illustrate your skill and the care you put in). You send it to the dwarf you're interested in, and hopefully they respond in kind. You then spend years doing this and slowly getting to know each other, eventually moving in and seeing if you can settle into something that can last past the initial spark before tying the knot.

Elven courtship apparently involves poetry, songs, and yet more erotic dances.

Drow have courting games called 'spider hunts' usually played at festivals by young drow, which are basically hide-and-seek.

-

Sex (and a bit on procreation)

You can't just fuck somebody right in the market square, but borderline public sex hidden on a rooftop, or ducking into an empty alleyway is pretty common and tolerated behaviour. You are, however, encouraged to keep your shenanigans off the streets lest you 'scare the horses,' take yourselves home or to the nearest festhall/brothel, and keep your 'public displays' limited to appropriate festivals (Greengrass, for example, which is a fertility festival and usually involves dropping all inhibitions for the day).

Lingerie comes in black and red and lace clouts (underwear) and dethmas (bras) which can be readily bought in most cities. Lace-up boneless corsets and shapewear are available as unisex garments.

Sex toys named as existing include whips, dildos, clamps and 'tingling creams.'

I've heard something about halfling orgies, but have found no details beyond 'exotic food.'

And in the Realms you're more likely to say 'rutting' rather than 'fucking' when being vulgar/casual about sex. Unlike 'fuck' it doesn't seem to double as a curse.

If you're considering bedding a priests be warned that as gods are said to derive power from having their name said aloud priests tend to call their gods name in bed. Fervently. The enthusiasm and emotion behind it is supposed to have a positive effect.

Elven foreplay involves sensory deprivation and ear nibbling.

Contraception, as mentioned, is stressed upon. People are concerned about plagues, famines, monsters and other concerns that lead Faerûnians to place a lot of importance on family planning. Contraception is generally delivered via divine magic - a cleric or druid can render you temporarily barren/sterile, guarantee conception or freeze a pregnancy at its earliest and least detrimental stages to be resumed at a safe date. People can ensure that their children will be born in times when it's best for them to be born. Elves have apparently mastered birth control, and it's basically impossible to get a child from an elf when they don't want one.

You can also ask the gods nicely and if you make sufficient offerings the deity can also rearrange your organs a bit to change the way you procreate (or possibly allow you both methods). Generally people will ask the deity they have the most positive relationship with, but Sune and Lliira are the favoured choices in the pantheon. Of the gods not recommended are Bane, Shar, Malar (whose idea of the perfect transformation is lycanthropy) and Selûne (who gladly supports you, but she's considered too mercurial and everchanging. She's not one transition she's eternal, ever shifting transition beyond the human physical endurance or mental comprehension.)

Arcane magic can manage physical modification via transmutation and glamours, which people often play with either as part of exploring their gender identity or just for fun, but transmutation via divine magic is vastly superior at allowing you to be fertile after the change if that's a goal. Arcane magic struggles with that. Arcane magic that allows for surrogacy and sort of IVF apparently exists, having been invented by a pair of liches that wanted a child for whatever reason, but I don't know how commonplace that is.

-

Sexual Orientation

Most people freely experiment in their youth, working out their preferences. Heterosexuality is the default, with bisexuality making up a sizeable second place and other sexualities constituting a fairly sized but unremarkable minority.

Obviously, the Isle of Lesbos does not exist and so neither does the world ‘lesbian’; Toril doesn’t have Earth’s terminology, it has its own words. It should be noted that some can be used in a derogatory fashion, although, considering reality, they could very well be reclaimed or have been stolen terminology twisted into slurs. The given terms, in Common, are:

Thruss - Lesbian Liyan - Gay man (elvish slang loanword) Praed - Gay man (gnomish slang loanword) Tasmar - Bisexual (masc.) Shaeda - Bisexual (fem.) (elvish slang loanword) 'No-thorn' - Asexual

Butches (‘harnor’) and effeminate mlm (‘dathna’) are liable to get scorn for their gender presentation more or rather than their sexuality.

-

Polyamory

In some lands (unspecified which ones) it's unremarkable and even expected for a relationship to be open by default.

While obviously it's not socially acceptable to jump into anybody's bed with no consideration of your partner's feelings on the matter, it's not a foreign idea to see love and lust as separate concepts.

In rural areas one can find villages that definitely don't follow the nuclear family model with mixed families living under one roof, and symbolic polygamous marriages may factor into the traditions of some seasonal festivals. For example in Turmishan a farmstead is traditionally inhabited by a family consisting of four married people, usually two men and two women.

[cattocavo]

Full artwork of Baz in the bonus content room for @thewholelemon ! Go read Chapter 3 of their fic “Just Remember Me When” https://archiveofourown.org/works/57161218/chapters/145389706#workskin

This piece holds the record for digital painting I’ve spent the most time on, just 20 minutes shy of 50 hours! It definitely felt longer, somehow😅 i practically painted the whole background with the knowledge that i would blur it in the end. I felt if i didn’t draw it all, the blur would look incredibly unrealistic and weird.

Jenny and I talked extensively about how the composition should look. Or rather, originally i wanted to fit all 5 people from the scene into the drawing, but just couldn’t not make it work. Jenny was incredibly nice and flexible, and told me that i didn’t need to, since Baz looking at Simon was the important part. Thats how we ended up with this composition

We also talked about how we wanted to represent the bonus content room, and settled on drawing inspirations from long exposure photography. I tried my best to get the effect via combining procreates different blurring options, using a bit of perspective blur and motion blur. Perspective blur was used to keep Simon’s face as a sort of focal point in the blurring, making sure his face was still intelligible. Im not quite sure i actually managed to make the blurring look specifically like long exposure photography though😬 maybe in the future if i get to draw something like this again, i might try some different methods!

Im incredibly happy i could be part of Carry On Big Bang this year! Ever since i read the books in November 2021, I saw fics written for the project and thought it was the coolest thing. Since i adore this project so, i knew i had to give it my everything (something my mother was really unhappy about. At the same time i was in this project, i was chosen for a project to illustrate one of many stories for a book about loneliness, one that would be published, which my mother thought i should prioritize and basically shit on this project🙄 safe to say i didnt agree. In the end i managed both. Take that mother.) (although i did actually put way more time into COBB whoops… but the carry on fandom deserves it)

See you next time, when i might post an artdump of all the art i did for artfight this past month!

[swollenbabyfat]

Hello! I saw you were taking asks about anything (with bonus pictures of Mr. Haku?? bless) so I was wondering if I could politely pick your brain about your illustrative process. I've been tearing my hair out over rendering practice lately and your studies always blow me away. I know you've had some training and I think we both use Procreate, so I'd love to hear about how you use layers and/or layer blend modes, but also general process, thoughts, tips, etc. hope you're well, have a nice day :-)

Thank you so much for the ask and kind words!

I don’t cross promote it as much as I should probably but I upload a lot of speedpaints to YouTube, such as this study that might be helpful. Depending on how complicated the piece is, I’ll either break it down by putting shapes down (typically darks first) or do a more formal sketch if I don’t think I can easily eyeball it. After the sketch, I do an under painting on a layer below the sketch, set the sketch to multiply and then I render everything on one layer. It really depends on the brushes you use, but I prefer to build opacity slowly with a brush that doesn’t blend, lowering and upping the brushes opacity as I see fit. This creates a more complicated, kind of glowy effect that I think works particularly well for skin rendering.

I’ve been exclusively using leatherwood under “artistic” in procreate recently. You have to use a pretty big canvas to make it work (I’m usually working on 8000px+ 300dpi) but I really enjoy some of the unpredictability of the brush, makes things feel more natural. Not sure if I altered the brush at all but if there was a multiply or stabilization on I turn those off always, basically.

As for layer modes, I don’t tend to use them a ton for paintings except maybe for maybe throwing a slight multiply layer to bring tones down if the key gets too high. I’m more likely to mess with curves and color balance to experiment with color. I do this especially for my lined illustrations, I use layer modes also for them too and just go to town trying a bunch of stuff. My tip for this is to duplicate your file, flatten everything, duplicate your flattened layer and just mess with it until it feels right. Color editing to this degree is kind of new to me, but since I’ve begun it’s really upped my game I think.

Before/after color editing. I know sometimes people think of this as a cheating tool in digital art but honestly that is a silly take to me.

I hope this answers some of your more specific questions. Thank you again!

This post is already long as shit so Mr. Haku under the cut

[charon-cries]

Hiya! Hope this message finds u well :3 I absolutely love your art; found you from insta! Quick question also; I’m not sure if you’ve answered this before, but which brushes do you use for ur digital art? I love the textures they’re so crunchy (endearing)!! Have a lovely day!! :D

hello!! here's a little brush tour ft. this half rendered martin.

also, a great app for ipad artists who really want to dig into texture is art set 4. i swear by it and i've been using it for about two years. none of my more recent art uses it, but that's just because i'm experimenting with my process rn

so here's a list of my most used brushes lately, and there will be links to all of them at the bottom of this post.

the two labeled "custom pencil" are both my own personal modified pencils (both sourced from the 6b pencil) but the narinder pencil and the vanilla 6b pencil are both very similar to them. i use these two for sketching and flat color specifically, and if you do specifically want these two brushes then i'd be happy to upload them somewhere for you to download, but they're not really necessary for texture

i also use G&B halftone brushes sometimes! but i greatly prefer the RSCO sample pack, and i cannot find the link to the G&B brushes no matter how hard i google, and pretty much any halftone brush set will do the same job

and here's what they look like in practice!

(i like to set these halftones to color burn. color burn is my most used blending mode, even for shading)

and then i hit "copy all," paste, and duplicate it. so you should have two layers of just your entire canvas. then import a paper texture

i'm partial to the set i'll link down below, my favorite is #5. you should absolutely check out the rest of the free texture packs on their website if you're wanting to diversify your texture process btw, all of their stuff is fantastic.

to use that texture, your layers should look like this!

on the layer set to the linear burn, i also like to go into the adjustments menu and bump up the brightness until all of the colors are at similar values to what they were before. and the normal layer on top is just to control the intensity/opacity of the paper texture!

after all of that, sometimes i'll go in with brushes like MM rake follow, or more from COFE's weird pencils, on top of all of those layers for finishing touches.

definitely play around with it, try new free brushes all of the time (i heavily recommended subscribing to Manero. they have a lot of free stuff and it's all fantastic) and see what works for you <3

here are the links to the brushes in this post, as well as some extras! some of them are paid and some of them are completely free. + it wasn't mentioned here, but i use the tatyworks linen fabric brush for blending! for any of the paid brushes, i'll try to link some free alternatives

paid brushes:

alternatives to paid brushes:

free brushes:

extra goodies:

[souglz]

Art learning resources 2024

It's been so long since I've posted anything at all. I've been straying away from pixel art since I'm learning digital illustration so I haven't really had anything worth sharing. One of the most challenging parts of being mostly self-taught is to find proper resources so I'll share some fo the ones that have been helpful for me

Courses ---------

Drawabox (Free w/ paid options): Art foundations, perspective, construction etc.

Ctrl Paint (Free w/ paid options): Basics of digital painting.

Proko (Free w/ paid options): Different courses for everything art

Marc Brunet's art school (Paid): Digital art complete course

Youtube Channels ---------

MarcLeone's Drawing DB: Art fundamentals, traditional art

Alan Becker: Animation basics and tutorials

AngryMikko: Digital painting, procreate, tips and tricks

Art by Anabelle: Vlogs, procreate tutorials, artist lifestyle

Art by Caro Oliveira: Speedpaints

Art with Flo: Procreate tutorials

E F F I: (Spanish) Art talk, speedpaints, art theory and basics

Erikathegoober: Digital art, tutorials, speedpaints, tips and tricks

Flasho-D: (Spanish) Tips and tricks, speedpaints

FZDSCHOOL: Concept design for videogames and film industry

Gretlusky: Speedpaints

HABOOK: HowTo's for digital art, procreate, character design

Likelihood Art: Speedpaints

Love life drawing: Traditional art, tips & tricks, HowTo's

Marc Brunet: Art tips & tricks, do's and dont's, fundamentals

Marco Bucci: Art fundamentals, tips & tricks

Procreate: Official Procreate yt channel, procreate tutorials

SamDoesArts: Tips & tricks, do's & dont's

The Art of Aaron Blaise: Animation, HowTo's, tips & tricks

Other resources

Save Loomis: All Loomis' books free

Artbooks drive: Drive with different art books (reference, perspective, lettering, etc.)

References ---------

Bodies in motion: Body poses

Anatomy.app: Anatomy 3D models

Character design references: Huge database with character designs, artwork, challenges, etc.

Line of action: Random reference for daily practices

[twitteringthings]

Thank you @itwearsadress for your lovely response to my ask! And @z1leaf for wanting to see some of my art as well :)

I’m kind of all over the place when it comes to art honestly! I face-paint at events, have done some children’s book illustration, and do some commission work here and there! I don’t really have an art style I kinda just do whatever and mostly draw or paint.

I love traditional black and white portraiture, I just think faces are fascinating.

And sometimes I like to add a little color :)

I grew up being taught more traditionalist and academic art practices but I’ve been wanting to break out of my shell with more dynamic/experimental pieces - *COUGH* fan-art *COUGH* Saezuru edits *COUGH*. Being on tumblr and seeing so much amazing digital art is making me want to dust off procreate and photoshop! I’m inching my way into it :) It’s cool to share this with everyone, thx :D

[lilaeleaf]

I love your art so much! Do you have any of your brushes for sale, or any tutorials, especially on colour?

Hi!! Thank you so much! 💕

Honestly, my go-to brushes are all procreate brushes with slight adjustments (like stabilization, etc.) my personal preference is brushes that kind of mimic graphite pencils. The best thing you can do is find a brush that suits you & get very comfortable using it! Specific brushes won’t necessarily improve your work, it’s all about practice! (But yes, a nice brush does help!)

I do have a video on my favourite brushes:

I’ve never really made any tutorials, but I’m happy to try and relay what I know and what I’ve learned so far!

Colours are a big part of illustration! I could probably ramble on for hours, honestly—in any case, it’s always helpful to know fundamentals of colour theory. Once you learn and apply it, it becomes intuitive! I’m gonna stick to RGB colours because CMYK is it’s own thing (printing!)

There’s a handful of basic terms like hue (pure colours), shade (adding black to a colour), tint (adding white to a colour), tone (adding gray to a colour) and also opacity (transparency) that help us understand and define the complexity of colours.

My colour choices are more often than not a gut feeling—but that does come from practice! There’s loads of colour palettes available online like this one, but if you wanna come up with your own, there’s some neat ways to do that using a colour wheel! Colours can broken down into primary, secondary and tertiary colours. We can also categorize them as warm or cold. With this we can make colour schemes!

Some basic schemes!

Complimentary: two colours, opposites on the colour wheel

Analogous: three colours side-by-side

Triadic: three colours that form a triangle, evenly spaced

Monochromatic: using one colour (using different shades)

(Bonus) Monochromatic with accent colour : using one colour as a foundation and having an accent colour (similar to analogous, but one colour is used for a majority of the piece while the accent colour is used sparingly)

It’s also important to keep in mind that values (a colour’s range from dark to light) will look different on different colours. Sometimes, you’ll put two colours together and think “huh, something about this feels off” and it turns out, the colours just happen to be very close in value and melt together. Switching your piece to grayscale just to check on your values every so often can help with contrast and muddiness! A light tone on a darker tone will look brighter than it really is. Colours can also influence each other and trick your eyes.

Environment is also a big part of choosing your colours for a piece. Determining what the setting is important! A sunset will make a drawing warmer, while a scene set in the night will usually have colder tones. Using only local colours (true colours, like green grass or blue sky) vs non-local colours (atmospheric perspective, accent colors that give depth, etc) can help enhance your drawing too. Don't be afraid of artistic interpretation!

Also, there’s always the option to use gradient maps (at least on procreate & photoshop but I’m sure it’s available in csp and other programs) where you draw in grayscale & apply a gradient map. The gradient map basically applies a color to every value (e.g all the shadows become blue and the highlights become orange) it can look really nice (and help out if colours just aren’t working that day yk)

Another thing, when I’m drawing (and this is specific to me!) I tend to start with pretty desaturated colours. Once my illustration is done, I’ll duplicate & merge my layers to do colour edits. Most programs give you the option to play with curves or colour balance—menus that allow you to play around with the hue of the shadows, midtones and highlights. I tend to make my shadows more cyan-blue, my midtones a little warmer and my highlights warmer as well. Of course, this depends on the mood of the piece, whether it’s warm or cold, lighter or darker, etc!

You can always make adjustment layers on top of your work; a low opacity yellow, magenta or blue (or anything your heart desires) overlay to tie all the colours together.

I hope this helps a bit!! Happy to answer more questions to the best of my knowledge :^)

[draconicdeityarts]

Hey there! I love you’re semi realistic, semi cartoonish art style bro! I hope you don’t mind me asking but what software/mediums do you use? I am trying to work on my lighting and shadows and textures but I have no clue how artists like you achieve such detail

First off- thank you so much! I truly appreciate it. And second- oh my goodness I am so sorry for how long this ask has sat in my inbox! I hope some of this can still help you :’D

As far as software goes, I’m almost exclusively working in procreate as of late. There’s plenty of great programs- if you need something free and desktop based, I highly recommend Krita. I have a few brushes from different packs that I often default to. You can see them all and links to said packs through this answer I gave to someone asking about my brushes earlier:

As far as detail in my work goes, that’s just through a loooot of practice and doodles and drawings. I’ve been drawing since I could pick up a pencil, so I’ve had a lot of time to figure out the way I like to do things- but even then I have so much to learn!

I do, however, work in many traditional forms of media as well! I haven’t done so as much lately since digital doesn’t require cleanup, but I honestly believe that working in traditional for my entire life up until 5 or so years ago has a hand in how I approach things digitally as well. I’ve done pen and marker illustration, pencil and colored pencil, acrylic painting, as well as 3D work. I’ve worked in a lot of media and I want to get around to trying as much as I can when I have the energy to! If you have questions specifically about what traditional media I use or work with let me know!

When it comes to improving on rendering, doing small studies of images you really like the lighting in helps a lot for me. Learning how to break light in a photo down to simple, blocky shapes helps to figure out getting an initial layer down to refine later when doing full pieces! When rendering a character, especially if drawing something that isn’t in a scene, I always recommend marking out the direction the light is coming from as well as color of the light before even starting, so that you can determine where highlights and shadows would be placed in an initial blockout. Keep in mind there’s different kinds of light in a piece- I would recommend looking into tutorials about direct light, indirect light, reflected light, etc to get a better feel for how it works- while I do my best, I don’t think I am quite skilled enough to explain those nuances.

When approaching most textures, especially unfamiliar ones, references are my best friend always. It might be a good idea to just do test sheets/practice making the textures that would be useful to you on occasion! And in the end, textures also tie into lighting as well, since a lot of what makes textures super distinct is how light hits them, especially when it comes to things like metal. It may be a bit of a hot take, but in a lot of cases I tend to avoid a lot of digital texture/object brushes, especially those meant to simulate natural textures like leaves, and I do those textures manually instead. I just personally like having more control over those shapes and feel it looks better when each texture is made intentionally by hand! Sometimes I do use texture brushes especially for backgrounds, abstract work or subtle layers, especially if I’m working on something very fast, but it’s not my first choice. However I do know there’s plenty of artists who use texture brushes in ways that look great, so that’s just personal preference. :)

I do apologize it took me so long to respond! But if you have any specific questions, my dms are open and I want to start replying to y’all more!

[the-colourful-witch]

I absolutely adore your art style.

It has such a cozy vibe and it just fits with how the characters are described, I dunno am I making sense? I just feel like it fits in my head with how I’ve thought about them. But I think my favourite is your ginny. I love how you make her outfits and designs so warm and comfy but still make her facial expression a little hawk like. It just suits her.

the other thing I love is you Yule Ball series you did for Ginny, Hermione and Luna. I was wondering if you would be willing to draw the Patil Twins? Because the movie absolutely ruined their outfits. You don’t have to.

I really love your Art Style so I was wondering if you had any tips for people who wanna start digital art in a style similar (but not exactly the same obv) to yours? I really suck and I cant get over the ick I feel when it doesn’t look like what I want it to, so I don’t actually feel like trying again and practicing.

Sorry this was really long haha. :)

Hiya! Thank you very much! That means a lot! I am definitely going to do the Patil twins at the Yule Ball. I want to do a series for the Ball. The Patil twins, Cho Chang, Angelina Johnson, and Katie Bell, etc. They all deserve their moment in the spotlight. To answer your question, I don't know a lot about digital art either. For most of my illustration work, I use traditional techniques. I use my iPad and Procreate for these artworks because I draw them when I'm all cozied up on the sofa :) But, if you want to try some more art digitally, I can tell you this: I try to draw the same as I would in my sketchbook. I sketch out the character, then create a new layer for line art. I keep that sketchy as well, otherwise, I get pretty stiff poses. Then, I just colour them like a colouring book. You can play around with some layers with special effects, like imported textures or overlay layers, etc. Just play a bit with your effects and try to find something you like working with. It also helps to study some digital art guides on Pinterest, for example. I did that a lot when I just started out. And remember to keep having fun. Improving your drawing skills can be really tough, but as long as you still love doing it at the end of the day, you'll be grand. I really hope you found this helpful. Love XXX

[animeniac]

The Ballad of Bird and Bunny

Fandom: BNHA MHA

Pairing: Miruko x Hawks (BunnyBird)

Genre: Romance and Comedy

One Sentence Story Summary: An encounter between the prodigy Hawks and the rising star Miruko ignites of a spark of long forgotten past lives, but only one remembers.

Disclaimer: Soul mates. I don't usually do this sort of thing, but it seemed fun for this pairing.

A/N: It's mentioned in Rumi's profile that she likes design so I just kind of ran with that. The song featured is Promise (Get Down) by Kohmi Hirose. Look it up!

"The beginning of our love, this continuing dream. I'll surely spend it with you."

Rumi's brow furrowed in concentration as she hunched over her tablet, the bustling city of Musutafu just white noise around her. Her worn travel bag sat beside her. She sat focused on Procreate artwork - pursuing the pleasure of illustrative designs.

A shadow covered her, briefly disrupting the intense flow of her creation. Glancing up and behind her, she caught the sight of a golden haired man with messy eyebrows. Familiar enough, but who cared? 

The swagger of his steps echoed down the paths of her mind. 

"Hey, I just wanted to take the time to congratulate you on your well-deserved debut as a top hero," he said with a casual bow. "I have been following you for a few years now."

Oh, a fan. She'd have to get used to this.

Rumi's default response, a forced softening of her voice, kicked in. "Hey there, autograph?" 

Just like she practiced. 

"Miruko," he chuckled, a hint of exhaustion masking the amusement in his glistening eyes. "I'm Hawks.”

And? 

Not to be rude, but... 

Wait. 

Her brow furrowed. A burgeoning headache gnawed at her. She didn't keep up with the competition, focusing solely on her own relentless pursuit of battle. 

But. 

If she were being completely honest, then maybe something about him felt at least a little familiar. 

Then, it clicked. The jolt of realization popped through her head like a bullet. Her mind had cleared the headache. 

"Oh, right," she replied in a monotone, her gaze flickering back to her tablet. “Weren't you the one cozying up to Endeavor, right?"

He chuckled again, waving a dismissive hand. "Work stuff, y'know. But I still had an eye on you. Just hadn't mustered the courage to come say hi."

The audacity of his statement, laced with a subtle arrogance, sent a silent scoff through her. Didn't he realize he was coming across as condescending? Still, a smirk tugged at the corner of her lips.

"Does Birdie want some crackers with that cheese?" she quipped, her voice laced with amusement.

Hawks' laughter filled the air, a genuine sound that resonated deep within her. Their eyes met, and for a moment, the world around them seemed to fade away.

"Birdie and Bunny - sounds like a good collab," he mused, a playful glint in his eyes. "Might have to tell my agent about it."

Rumi shook her head, a playful smile replacing the earlier smirk. "Me? Collab? You haven't heard of Miruko? It takes a life or death situation."

Hawks paused, his gaze locking with hers. "I have," he replied, his voice taking on a deeper, more serious tone. "But I think I can find a way to convince you."

Rumi felt an inexplicable urge to blurt out the question, "Have we met before?" It fit the flow. 

But. She bit her tongue. 

By that annoyingly cocky smirk on his face she'd think he was just another fan boy. 

"Maybe it's just my parasocial relationship with you," he continued, his smile turning sly. "Being a huge fan and all."

Her left eye twitched. Was mind reading part of this guy's quirk, or was she reading too much? 

“Uh, sure. I am the greatest,” smirked Rumi. “It was only a matter of time before everyone caught on.” 

Most men didn't dare approach her as boldly as this... hawk. He was probably looking to conquer her like a challenge or maybe he was just on the hunt for a good time. 

When the flustered waitress came by, Hawks waved and winked. “At least, somebody recognizes me,” he noted, making the girl swoon. 

“Hawks? You're the number two hero! Who wouldn't know you?” said the girl with hearts beating in her eyes. 

His eyes flitted to Rumi - knowingly, as if to say something. 

With a flicker of amusement, Rumi leaned back. This guy was a show within himself. But what was his modus operandi? 

Thumbing the menu, he looked down and pointed at a dish. “I'd like a cheeseburger with fries,” he requested before the waitress left. 

Rumi slapped the table a few times in a spirited fury. She clenched her jaw into a snarl. “Hey, what makes you think you're invited to sit here?” she barked. 

Hawks folded his arms behind his table and looked up at the ceiling. “What's wrong, madam Miruko? Is there an issue?” 

“You're breaking my concentration,” she said, hugging her tablet to her chest. Because she just knew he'd jump at the opportunity to see what she was working on. 

“I never would have thought that Miruko the Miraculous Rabbit Hero would be such a shrinking violet,” he mused, taunting her. 

Total misread. Complete misread. Her blood boiled, heat rising to her cheeks. “Hawk...” she growled. 

“Hawks,” he corrected with a smile. 

“I keep my circle tight,” she said. 

He quipped, “Tight?” His eyebrow raised subtly. 

“But if you wanna stay and eat in silence, then,” she said, pausing for a much needed breath. This was going to be a mistake. “You can stay. “

“Good,” said Hawks, leaning forward in his seat. “I know I seem like I'm coming onto you, but-” 

Rumi sharply interjected. “This is going to have to be a really good ‘but.’” She shifted forward in her seat. 

In a beat of silence, the music filled the air like liquid filling a cup. An old Japanese Pop song called Promises. 

His plastered smile faltered for a moment. “I'm just getting a feel for my fellow heroes. We're part of the same flock now,” explained Hawks. 

“Same flock, aye?” Rumi asked before slamming a hand on the table. “I've been in a league of my own before I even became official.”

Smiling, he sighed, “Former vigilante, right?”

No comment would be made on that for contractual reasons. 

In a beat of silence, the music filled the air like liquid filling a cup. An old Japanese Pop song called Promise.

“Besides, you can't deny the obvious. You're...” Rumi began before her heart throbbed. Her breathing became rapid, climbing at the rate of the song. 

Hawks studied Rumi's distress before reaching forward. “Hey, you okay there? Need a water?” he asked, offering her the ice cold glass on the table. 

Water. Yeah. 

Reaching forward, Rumi's hand grazed Hawks's hand. Their touch was accompanied by a symphony of memories and universes colliding like a big bang. Their eyes locked onto each other. Fragmented memories came crashing down onto her like sand in a sundial. 

This was unlike anything she'd felt before. This was...

Laughter. 

Love. 

Loss. 

All at the same time. 

Hawks's hooded gaze lingered on Rumi. They fixed onto each other, unable to tear apart. 

“Taka...” softly cried Rumi before the words jumbled in her mind. Her voice was soft and trembling - completely betraying her ferocious strength. 

What was happening to her? 

Hawks jumped up. He pulled her to him.

The heat of his body with the scent of his sweat all came crashing down on Rumi.

The world faded - dissipated into the blank space of eternity.

[ducktracy]

sorry if this has been asked before but you’re a huge inspiration for me! i am just wondering what would you recommend to start animation? like videos or books

THANK YOU!! that is VERY sweet of you to say so!! i’m so glad to hear that!! 🥹🥹🥹

admittedly, i don’t really have a laundry list of resources to give… i taught myself how to animate as a kid with the joys of Flipnote on the DSi! for example, i was a really big fan of Ojamajo Doremi (still am!) and remember looking up videos of their transformations and trying to copy each frame by meticulously pausing and clicking through.. i can’t remember if i’d substitute my own characters in or just copy directly. a mix of both is probably most realistic.

then, once i had access to a personal computer, i’d spend hours making little animations in MS Paint and Windows Maker.. that evolved to Fire Alpaca and WMM as a teen.. and now the most animating i do is in Storyboard Pro for work! i’ve been itching to test out Procreate’s animation feature, though. (i was actually going to do an elaborate looping animation for Daffy’s birthday, but was wiped out by jet lag… some other time)

my best advice i guess would just be to study what’s around you! look up some of your favorite pieces of animation and see what makes it crack—try to copy it, or even slip a different subject in so you can actively apply those principles! muscle memory isn’t to be messed with!

i have Richard Williams’ animation book that everyone hails, but i never actually really applied anything with it… is it sacrilege to say i use it as a stand to prop my laptop up so it can meet the height of my Cintiq for work??? oops.

this is more on the topic of like.. personal approach? but i’ve discovered with my fragmented ADHD brain that jumping around is how i’m most productive nowadays. i’ll illustrate the key poses i can see most clearly in my head first as a sort of layout, and then fill in the missing blanks later. here’s an example of that discombobulation with a WIP i’d been stewing away at for over 2 years now (😬)—stuff like lipsync would all be added later when i had a more fleshed out idea as to how it would look, which is what i did at the very beginning

i’d just say patience, practice, and studying are the key! i’m sure there are a lot of wonderful tutorials out there on YouTube. i don’t animate much for myself, which is something i’d like to change—it was something i used to be really hard on myself about! at the same time, being a storyboard artist (and on a show that’s very reliant on its animatics) i’ve honestly taught myself to animate more and more completely by accident through that work! i’ve done a lot of my best animation work within the past few months… it’ll be a hot minute until i can show it, though 🥲 but once you get into the habit of doing it repeatedly, it’ll come more naturally! references have been super helpful in that regard

[anon-bunny]

I love your work! Do you happen to have any tips for artists looking to get into digital art using procreate?

Sure! I absolutely love using procreate. For whatever reason it’s considered a lowbrow art tool by major studios and companies??? But I can do pretty much anything I’d want to do in Photoshop in Procreate at a fraction of the cost. Plus working on an iPad means portability— If I want to draw in the car, on a plane, in a cafe, etc. I totally can. Glad to see more people are getting into using it! 💖 Alright, onto some tips.

The best way I can think to give tips is leading by example and offering points of reference through my own work and process. If you have follow up questions or are looking for something specific definitely send them my way. ✨😊✨

1. Know Yourself; Know Your Art Style

Whether you’re a long time digital artist or a traditional artist porting over to the digital medium it’s very important to know your work, your strengths, and your personal style. For example, I was very much a traditional artist who delved into digital artwork to keep up with career demands. For a LONG time there was stylistic dissonance between how I drew on paper and how I drew on SAI (the desktop paint tool where I got my start) because what I was subconsciously doing was keeping my style to myself traditionally and just mimicking the artwork I saw online when trying to make digital art.

Here are two pieces I made back in 2018, one traditional and one digital. They're both nice pieces, but if someone was asked which one was definitively one of my pieces they're much more likely to say the traditional piece because it's consistent with my style: limited colors, lineart heavy, etc. I kept trying to divorce from my traditional style when what I should have been doing was taking the extra time to learn how to do what I could already do traditionally in a digital program.

It's especially important to know your style and practice maintaining it regardless of media because the next tip is

2. Invest Time In Watching Others

In nearly every hobby, profession, skill, or interest one of the best ways to hone your craft is to see how other people do it. Hozier said in a recent interview when he's not writing or performing his music he's listening to someone else's music. It's very important to our ability to learn to see how a task can be done to help influence how we ultimately do it. I of course do not mean try to copy someone else's work, which was something I had to learn the hard way when I was starting out in digital art. One of the things I frequently did early on was tried to copy someone's painting technique as closely as I could which resulted in some less-than-inspiring artwork that didn't look much like my usual body of work.

Which is again, something that is easily prevented by just knowing your style.

Some places I go when looking to see how other people draw are YouTube, Tiktok, Artbooks, and Pinterest. Youtube and Tiktok are fabulous sharing platforms usually dealing in quick media where a single search for "procreate" or "speedpaint" yields THOUSANDS of results. Artbooks require a little more financial dedication, but they're great visual references that frequently come with some kind of tutorial in them. Some in my personal collection are Gothic Lolita Punk, Japanese Comickers, and The Complete Masters of The Poster. And Pinterest is frequently painted as a digital piracy war zone, but searching "art tutorial" or "digital art techniques" yields lots and lots of valuable information.

I've been professionally illustrating since 2017 and I STILL go back to these points of reference to see how other people are drawing, painting, etc. Who knows? I may learn something new that takes my art one step further.

3. Explore Brushes!

There are literally Tens of Thousands of brushes that are available all across the internet and I highly recommend taking the time to search google for packs of them. For the first year or so of working with procreate I ONLY used the default brushes that came with the program and while the art was decent I definitely could have used more experimentation to make more cohesive pieces.

As of right now I use a Frankenstein pack of lining and painting brushes that are a mess of brushes I made myself, brushes I got in art packs I found on itch.io or etsy, and some default brushes I've heavily modified to match my style.

I highly recommend playing with brush settings, searching for new brushes, and trying literally every brush you come across to see if you can find a use for it.

I've mentioned it several times throughout but it deserves its own bullet point, so my final tip is

4. Don't Ever Be Afraid To Google It

No artist knows everything. No one who claims to be an expert on Procreate knows absolutely every function, every application, and every trick all on their own--- but between all of us you can find practically anything just by googling it.

I have found super specific pattern brushes, youtube tutorials for pattern creation, configurations for pressure sensitivity, ideas for color palette building, templates for sticker making-- whenever I personally can't figure out someone else likely knows what to do. That's what community is all about!

You are not beholden only to your personal knowledge, so remember google is your friend!

I hope this helped! I tried to pair down the tips as much as I could but I just love getting asked about how I draw. 💖 If you or anyone else reading this has any specific questions you're more than welcome to DM me or send another ask. 😊 Have fun! Good luck drawing!!!

[miranhas-art]

Hey there! I've been loving your digital art journey (your art journey in general to be honest!) but as someone who is also trying to move to digital art, do you have any advice like what brushes you've found best to work with as you get used to changing medium or any other advice would be helpful!

Hello!!!

Sorry for taking too long to reply!

First of all, thank you so so much!

And second, about digital arting (lol) I've started all knew because I've never done ot before. My friend suggested me try the app "Sketchbook" (the one thay the icon is a pencil), because it's free and have a good ammount of brushes!

I still haven't tried procreate, so I can't talk about it, but most of people say it's really good and has shared some brushes with me! I still need to get confident enough to change to procreate, because I'll have to pay for the app and right now it's not very ideal lol

I use this set of brushes on sketchbook and the one selected is the one I mainly use! (Excuse the low quality pic!)

I have an Ipad and an the apple pencil, I got them from my friend. She was selling her boyfriend's and they were in a good price! I can't compare the Ipad with a tablet, but to me it's very easy to use the Ipad!

Now tips I think helped me learn how to draw on digital:

1. Start with simple cartoonish drawings. If you start with simple stuff you get used to the feeling and also can try as much technics with them as you want, without worring about anathomy, and making a polish drawing.

I spend a long time doing stickers art for an Artist Alley I worked at and it helped me practice a lot!

2. If you're more comfortable with pencil drawing, I think it's a good idea to sketch on paper (or even get a finished drawing you already have) and finish/trace it! I did it while illustrating my book (the little rat I posted a couple days ago)!

I still have a lot of difficulty on sketching digitally, so it helped me with time and also gave me a boost of confidence because I didn't have to take so much time in the beginning of the process.

3. Avoid using black! My sister is a designer and she told me black is a difficult color to use in colored pieces, so try to use other colors for sketches and line art. You can use whatever you want I think... I use dark redish brown, it works for me!

4. Use as many layers as you want! I was so afraid of drawing digitally that the first time I drew on it (a small Rey head) I used 20 layers. I felt secured that I could make an error and erase it without fearing to ruin everything!

I think that's basically all I have to share! But feel free to seend me amy questions specific or not! I'm always happy to help!!

[mistysblueboxstuff]

Hello! First off I absolutely LOVE your artwork!!! The way you manage to get SUPER REALISTIC faces, yet use these beautiful splashes of color to tell a story, you have a wonderful style that I absolutely adore and admire greatly! Secondly thank you for sharing your work, it inspires me as an artist, and fuels my love for fandoms! (Which btw you also excellent taste in fandoms :-) And thirdly if you don’t mind me asking: I was curious if you have any advice for other artists out there, based on your experience? Are there certain programs you favor? Or classes/videos you watched or took? Any life changing secrets of the trade you wish you had known? … I am currently learning the digital fields of art; starting with Procreate and now beginning Photoshop. I would love to learn Z-Brush someday as I have a passion for concept art. And prior to this I normally worked in Acrylic, WaterColors, Ink, or Pencil. I would love to learn how to do such realistic yet artistic and colorful art, and use these programs (and any others you might recommend) more efficiently. So any advice would be appreciated! :-) Once again THANK YOU!!! I hope you have a wonderful day, and this message brings a smile to your face, as your art has brought much joy and many smilies to my own.

hi! I'm so sorry for being so terribly late replying to this! i left it in my drafts and i got distracted so it just sat there for ages 😭😭😭 (adhd ftw)

thank you so much for for your kind words about my art, I'm so happy it inspires you!

I don't really have a proper advice, it's mostly just a lot of practice until you get better :') I use Photoshop CS6, but sometimes i use Corel Painter and Artrage and Rebelle for some tiny touchups. I'm trying to learn Procreate but i suck, would love to get better at illustration :') I never took any classes and i don't really watch video tutorials but i wish i could, i rarely have time for them so i just paint until i learn xD

I wish i could be more helpful but i think one of the most important things I've learned is to paint what you love. just paint what inspires you and makes you happy, paint faces you like looking at, if you see a photo you think might make a good painting just go ahead and paint it. if you like experimenting it's always good to be on the lookout for some interesting new brushes to try out (my favourite brush pack is by Greg Rutkowski - it's pretty much all i paint with these days!)

thank you so much again, you're very kind, and again I'm so sorry for replying so late. i hope you have a beautiful day and i wish you all the luck creating beautiful art 😊❤️❤️❤️❤️