#also can you tell I used a completely different brush that my other drawing

[junipers-insects]

I don't actually remember what his eyes look like under his glasses I just improvised

Also I said I'll start putting my name on my drawings and then I forgot to do that completely

ALSO Human Fresh ! B )

I need to go to sleep..

[junnieverse]

BOYFRIEND HABITS ➳ ZEROBASEONE

➙ little things zb1 do as your boyfriend

pairing: zb1 x gn!reader

genre: fluff, slight crack :3

warnings: not proofread, lower case intended, bestfriend!yujin (scenario is platonic), implied short reader under yujin's drabble, collegeboyfriend!gunwook

a/n: *sighs in a daydreaming manner as I scream into a pillow while I'm kicking and swinging my feet*

a/n (2): you can also check out my txt and enha versions of this :3

🖇️ — 성한빈 ; SUNG HANBIN !

↳ buying you flowers

having found out you loved flowers, hanbin made it his mission as your boyfriend to buy you flowers whenever he could, which was almost every other week

most of the time he would gift them to you himself but on the days he couldn't, he made sure they were delivered to you

your home was slowly turning into a botanical garden but you loved seeing the colourful flowers brighten up your home

hanbin somehow always knew when to get a new bouquet for you and when you asked him, he had said the owner of the local flower shop he buys from was kind enough to tell him how long they would usually stay alive for

"What sort of flowers should I get you next week? We did lillies last time, how about tulips, perfect for spring." he suggests showing his whisker smile that had you weak

your boyfriend tried to get different flowers each time and would even go as far as seeing what they mean and writing a little note on that

" Lavenders for you my love. I know how hard your week was so I hope they bring you a sense of tranquility and good luck. I love you <3 " the note in the bouquet of lavender flowers he delivered read

having told him it wasn't necessary to constantly buy you flowers, he ofcourse insisted because he enjoyed buying them for you

small things like this made you realise you had won the boyfriend of the year

🖇️ — 김지웅 ; KIM JIWOONG !

↳ kissing the back of your hand

holding your hand was mandatory to jiwoong

if you were around him, he had to be holding your hand in some way or form

he has always been a complete gentleman to you too

from the day you both had started dating, he grew into this habit of kissing the back of your hand whenever you were holding hands

this little display of affection melted your heart each time you felt his soft lips place a short kiss to your hand

winter had come in and you and jiwoong decided to take a walk to a nearby park to enjoy the snow a bit despite how incredibly cold it was outside

"My hands are freezing." you pout trying to get some friction in your hands rubbing them together but it was no use

grabbing hold of your hands, your boyfriend rubbed his hands with yours in an attempt to warm them up before laying a delicate kiss to both of your hands

"My poor baby, I'll keep you warm angel." he coos at you softly as he proceeds to then put your hand in his pocket with his hand

🖇️ — 章昊 ; ZHANG HAO !

↳ brushing your hair out of your face

you could name a thousand reasons as to why hao was absolutely perfect and what little things you liked about him

one being how he had this habit of brushing your hair out of your face and then just smiling at you

it made you want to scream how he could just look at you with little heart eyes

"And so I told the supervisor-" you abruptly stop mid sentence as your boyfriend brushed your hair out of your face

hao was an attentive person and whenever you spoke he made sure all his attention was on you whilst maintaining eye contact

you had been telling him about your day at work and ofcourse he made sure to listen to you but a stray hair falling into your face distracted him from admiring your beautiful features

raising his hand, he delicately brushed the hair out placing it behind your ear

"Continue talking, I was listening. Your beautiful face distracted me." he says as he smiled warmly making you blush

zhang hao was the cutest boyfriend ever

🖇️ — 석우현 ; SEOK MATTHEW !

↳ playing/drawing on your hands

matthew tended to zone out alot sometimes or just have a short attention span when he wasn't interested in something which would lead him to busy himself

he always thought your hands were the the perfect compliment to his and constantly complimented how pretty your hands were

this brought in a new habit of his where instead of playing with his own hands, whenever he was holding yours he would gently just play with them or the rings you had

sometimes if he gets bored he starts doodling little shapes or words on your palm with his fingers

on certain occasions he would mindlessly hold your hand in his and start drawing cute things on your hand using a pen and you were happy to let him do so because you loved seeing him happy

"(Y/n), look. I drew for you." he brightly smiles showing you the little rainbow and fox drawing on your hand

for all you cared, matthew could draw on your face but seeing his smile and how happy he got, you could never stay mad at him

you were able to proudly show off the doodles matthew did because happy matthew = happy life (yes it rhymes)

🖇️ — 김태래 ; KIM TAERAE !

↳ singing you to sleep

it wasn't a secret that one of your favourite qualities about taerae was his voice

it always a source of comfort for you and he knew you loved it too

you weren't the biggest fan of thunder and your boyfriend knew that so he always tried his best to be with you whenever there were thunderstorms to help you sleep

this night was no different, it was heavily raining and you couldn't sleep with all the commotion of the loud thunder outside

curled up into a ball, you cover your ears with your eyes tightly shut silently praying for taerae to come quicker, as if on cue, you feel him hold you as he rubs your back comfortingly

"I'm here angel, shh." he says softly laying you both down as you lay on his chest

he soon starts singing to you and you immediately feel yourself relax in his arms as he sings to you

just like that you feel your eyes get heavier and you fall asleep in your boyfriend's arms

his presence was enough to make you feel less anxious but his singing was a comfort space he always had open for you

🖇️ — 沈泉锐 ; RICKY SHEN !

↳ buying you (expensive) gifts

ricky was not the best at using his words to express how he felt about you, hence he used actions to do so

this is where we came to learn one of his top love languages is gift giving and he would constantly buy you something new despite your protests

you grew to accept his gifts knowing he would get sad whenever you rejected his gifts claiming they were far too expensive but he would assure you that he would buy you the earth if he could

"Hey baby, I have a suprise for you." ricky tells you pulling a black neatly wrapped gift from behind his back

sighing, you accept the gift not wanting to see your boyfriend upset

inside was a valentines limited edition necklace from Tiffany & Co that you had looked at slightly longer than usual whilst shopping together the other day

pouting not believing him, you can't help but hold back tears seeing as how he was able to even notice you eyeing that necklace

"Ricky, thank you so much for this gift baby, but this is the fifth one this week- and it's only Wednesday." you tell him as you laugh softly seeing his shy smile as his ears go red in embarrassment

"I know but you deserve to be spoiled. And that's final." he tells you leaving a short peck on your cheek before helping you put the beautiful necklace on

🖇️ — 김규빈 ; KIM GYUVIN !

↳ ruffling your hair

you had been childhood friends with gyuvin for as long as you could remember

but during the course of your friendship, you both realised you had more than platonic feelings for one another and decided to pursue a romantic relationship

he had always had this habit of ruffling your hair ever since you had been friends and it was just an affectionate thing he had picked up

whenever he thought you looked cute or after complimenting you, he would either pat your head or ruffle your hair

"Okay okay, you win Gyuvin." you surrender to your boyfriend's heartless tickles as you try calm yourself down

reaching for your hair, he ruffles it before gently patting your head as you pout

"You're messing my hair up."

"Well you still love me because I'm the best boyfriend ever."

he leaned over and placed a chaste peck to your forehead and displayed the most heartwarming puppy like smile

you were undoubtedly whipped

🖇️ — 박건욱 ; PARK GUNWOOK !

↳ leaving you cute notes

this had been something gunwook started doing ever since he had a crush on you and would send you notes as your secret admirer

" You seemed quite sad today :( here's some strawberry milk to hopefully cheer you up. " the sticky note read with a small strawberry milk and straw next to it

it was small things like this that made you fall for him even before you knew who he really was

and when he did finally muster up the courage to ask you out and things were official between you both

he still made sure to leave you little notes complimenting or motivating you in any way

" Well done on doing so well this semester! I'm so proud of you babe. I'll reward you with cuddles and kisses after your lecture :) "

he would leave them on your class desk in the morning at school to even your bed side table for you to see once you had woken up and he had left prior

" Good morning darling ♡ I had to leave early for a lecture but enjoy the breakfast I made for you, see you later. " the note read

he could've left you a text message but he also knew how much you liked the cute notes and this was a special thing in your relationship

🖇️ — 한유진 ; HAN YUJIN !

↳ balancing his arm on your head

feeling a strange weight on you head, you exasperate knowing it was your best friend bothering you once again

"Ow! What was that for?!" yujin yells out as he pouts rubbing the spot in his arm that you had pinched

"I told you to stop putting your arm on my head. I'm not your human arm rest." you glare at him warningly as he sheepishly grinned

ever since his growth spurt, yujin developed this habit of resting his arm on your head

sometimes it felt like he was silently mocking you for being shorter than him

despite your attempts to stop him, yujin once again rested his arm on your head and you let him do so as you continued reading

you had also grown into this habit of pinching his round cheeks because they were just very soft and he allowed you to do so

and for that, you sacrificed your head to become your best friend's personal arm rest

[eggyolkguzzler]

mod, how do you edit your portraits? aka what program do you use :)

Hey!!! So glad you asked! I was actually talking to some friends on discord about this exact topic.

I'm gonna write the best tutorial I can for you anon. Other ask bloggers feel free to reference this!!

KEBBY'S STARDEW VALLEY PORTRAIT/SPRITE EDITING TUTORIAL!! 💪💪💪

Personally, I use Medibang Paint pro. It's a free art program that you can use to draw pretty much anything. Normally, I use it for regular, un-pixelated digital art.

(If you'd like to see some of that, my art sideblog is here!)

However, Medibang Paint also has a dedicated pixel brush! It comes in handy a lot with sprite editing.

Another suggestion is getting Aseprite. It's a program entirely dedicated to making amazing pixel art. If you want to specialize in pixel art, then you might prefer Aseprite over a more generalized art program like Medibang Paint. A lot of professionals highly praise it. The one catch is that Aseprite costs money.

Though I've been told that it's worth it, so it seems like a good investment to me!

Anyways!! Onto the sprites.

Here's every single one of Alex's sprites and portraits. I got this image from Spriter's Resource's website, where they carry high quality sprite sheets for every single character in the game. Clean and crisp 1x1 pixel ratio.

So for a lot of my custom Alex portraits, all I did was copy different facial features and paste them onto his face.

Take his happy portraits and his surprised portrait, for example.

Stealing the eyes from the surprised portrait and slapping them onto the happy portraits, we get these rather insane looking boys here.

I tend to use these edits whenever Alex is excited about something!

Though sprite editing can also get a lot more complex. There have been many instances where I've had to add something completely unique to his portrait.

Like these edits, for example!!!

What I'd usually do is choose which basic portrait I'd like to use as a base, and then start to draw over it using Medibang's pixel art brush. It's actually a lot easier than you think, as long as you study the portraits!!

Take a second to really analyze ConcernedApe's pixel art style. What do you see first? Well, the colour palette is already there! I already know what colour his skintone is, what colour his hoodie is, what colour the shadows are, etc.

I can also see that his hoodie is shaded with little specks of darker and lighter pixels. This gives his hoodie an interesting texture, so I tried to mimic it when drawing his sleeve for the facepalm edit.

I can also tell exactly where the light source is. It's off to the side! so I knew where to place the shadows and highlights when shading his hands or that egg he's holding.

I encourage you to mess around and do some practice edits until you get the hang of it! Again, it's a lot easier than you think. Most of my edits take either a few seconds or a few minutes.

Here's a collection of every single Alex sprite edit I've made so far!!!

Now, keep in mind, every Stardew Valley portrait is drawn on a 64x64 pixel canvas. That's teeeeeny tiny. If you posted your edits at that size, it would look a little silly. It would be hard for people to see!

So once I've completed a portrait edit, I'll resize it!! Luckily Medibang's got a handy resizing feature.

I go to the top of the screen, I click "Edit" , I click "Image size" , and right beside where it says "Set size to 200%" I click "Apply" , and then I click "OK!!"

Ta-daaaaah!!! Now you have a high-quality, high-resolution sprite of your goober!!! You can resize it more if you'd like it to be bigger, or you can size it back down by setting the percentage to 50%.

That's basically it!

I hope this helps somebody else in the community!! Thanks for the ask, anon. It was really fun to type this out and show off some of my work!

Wow... That's a lot of clones! Where'd they all come from!?

[doscharolastras]

I was lucky enough to be able to commission @kenobiwanx to draw my beloved Dandie for me, and I thought I was inspired by one specific scene from Curls but it turns out I was inspired by a completely different one.

“I mean it,” she said sincerely. “Dee, we like each other. We get along. We’re going to be raising this baby—Charlotte—together.” She chewed on the side of her lip, which couldn’t decide whether to rise at the soaring feeling that came when she said the name of their daughter, or fall at the nerves of the absurd situation. “Nate is right. It’s better for her, at least in the long run. And if it doesn’t work out, we’ll—I don’t know, we’ll figure it out. But we’ll be together, and we can do what’s right for us.” Dieter lowered his lips to hers and kissed her softly, briefly, but with all the emotion he had stored in his heart. “I want you to know, Andie,” he murmured, slipping his hands up to her cheeks. “I do love you. For her, of course, but also for you.” He felt her tremble a little and he shook his head. “I’m not saying it to scare you, I promise. And I’m not saying it so you’ll say it back. I just… If we’re doing this, I can’t let you say yes without you knowing how I feel.” She reached up and brushed an errant curl off his forehead. “Thank you for telling me,” she whispered, tilting her chin up to press a kiss to his. He smiled, leaning his cheek into where her palm rested. “So you’re really okay with naming her after my mamá?” “Yeah. What do you think of Luna for her middle name?” Dieter searched her eyes. “I don’t need her to carry my name, Dee. I don’t want her to.” She pulled her hand from his face and pointed skyward. “Let’s name her for that instead. Name her for the moon that was so big and bright the night we decided to be a family.”

If you ever get the chance to work with her, please, please take it. I’m so unbelievably pleased and happy with this beautiful piece. 💜

[cymk8]

I can't stop looking at your Shadowlach art. Any of it. All of it.

- One cos of your artistry: beautiful and soft and the negative space?? Hello??

- Two cos HELLO?? you draw them so soft and sweet and it is just so peaceful to look at your art. (The kitties in the hair brushing one are *so* cute, and non-ship friends are also enamoured with them :3)

Tell us more about your headcanons, please!

Some prompts if needed: How did things progress from platonic? Was it romantic from early on or primarily physical attraction? Were they on similar pages throughout their relationship or did one fall harder?

General invitation to word dump: what thoughts have you most crazed? Why don't you let them out ;)

(thank u so much...for your compliment and also the fact you sent this ask in the first place has made my day)

God I have so fucking many thoughts I'm going little insane about it and I'm literally so happy you asked because. I have been w a i t i n g HAHA

Your prompts:

We have all heard That Line™; I'd imagine that having both been so pent up, they would immediately jump each other's bones given the opportunity — Shadowheart is absolutely unsubtle and Karlach is Karlach

I actually think it would be one sided for a while!! But not in the piney way. I think Shadowheart attempts to rizz the shit out of Karlach only to fail because Karlach's situation with her engine essentially made her exceptionally good at Resisting Temptation (I find it absolutely hilarious that most of Karlach's in-game responses are so purposefully obtuse when it comes to her)

That in particular pisses Shadowheart off since she would be so used to being able to finesse her way through things like this (because of her background as a professional 'spy' — because otherwise...she's an absolute dork); it makes her try extra hard and eventually come to the conclusion that her attraction is greater when in fact Karlach has had more experience living like a Nun™ than she does

(cont.)

As for the development...I think they would be on similar levels of attraction, but tackle it differently — Karlach would immediately embrace the feeling and Shadowheart will try her fucking hardest to rationalize it away/deny it (queen of repression)

They would probably be fast friends (Shadowheart rizzing Karlach), then actual friends (because Karlach is so earnest Shadowheart feels like she can be earnest too), physically involved, then romantically involved — it only outwardly seems fast, but they definitely have things to work through before they can actually really be honest and feel that they can rely on each other completely

Random headcanon/general thoughts that have going FERAL IN THE CLUB:

I think they work really well together — they balance each other out in the sense that they have very different ways of handling their own stresses and trauma; they have a lot of opportunities to grow even just by being around one another (for example, Shadowheart is so Repressed™ even other characters feel the same way — and Karlach is the opposite); restraint and freedom go hand in hand 😌

They both have a love for adorable things...once the all of the shit with Karlach's heart gets sorted and they FINALLY get to live that cottagecore life, I think their farm would have so many more animals. Like. So many...Karlach would honestly just be so excited to be able to care for things again — and Shadowheart would be excited because she's finally allowed to be just as loud about showing that she DOES care

The idea that Shadowheart's hair could be a signifier for how closed off she is — so throughout the acts, she slowly lets it down/get messier figuratively and literally in front of everyone...AND KARLACH gets permission to touch and braid it as a sign of true trust and vulnerability; it becomes something of a ritual (Karlach is obsessed simply for the fact that she isn't seen as dangerous and is trusted to be able to be gentle about things) (thanks @kanobies for giving me that sweet, sweet psychic damage)

To add to that: they like physically pampering each other — Karlach finally internalizing that she can be 'pretty' and deserving of gentle care and Shadowheart internalizing that she is allowed to want/ask for things that aren't strictly necessary or used towards a greater cause (I don't think she's ever had a strong sense of bodily autonomy in the sense that she was gaslit into thinking every aspect of her life was for Lady Shar)

I'M OBSESSED WITH THE FACT THAT THEY RADIATE DOG ENERGY IN VASTLY DIFFERENT WAYS: thank you Isobel for immediately clocking Shadowheart on sight by calling her a feisty little terrier and for Karlach being literally Clifford the Big Red Dog and

The difference in lifespans...FUCK. KARLACH WOULD TRY SO HARD TO MAKE THEIR TIME TOGETHER WORTH IT/MEMORABLE since she knows her life is comparatively short; Shadowheart would never take it for granted; they make each other keepsakes...🫠🥹🥹

And I still have so much more but I gotta seem like I'm at least somewhat classy (pls...if anyone wants to talk about any of them or both of them I am so mcfucking ready)

[hockeyforlife]

Here's an honest curiosity, although I'm probably asking the wrong audience based on my page content. If you're a straight guy, and you get your oil checked, what effect does it have on you?

Do you feel sick and violated?

Do you brush it off as part of wrestling?

Do you get him back?

As a gay man, I'm used to touching there and being touched there, so while not sexual in this instance, it's also not a shocking feeling.

Maybe it's different for me because the first time hands explored there on me was with a boyfriend. I was hyperfixated on remembering that feeling for days upon days, getting more curious about it. Curious about being on the giving and recieving ends.

If an opponent violently digs a couple fingers into your anus, do you explore your own hole afterwards? Is this what makes you ask your girlfriend to let you give her anal? Do you want her to return the favour? Do you hope she says yes, but only if she can do the same to you?

I wrestled in my early teens until I knew I wouldn't be able to hide among you. Your sweat, your scent, your fit body, and the physical contact. If you were fat or had a pizza face, I was okay. If I found you attractive, it was even worse for me. It made me give you an advantage because I was vigilant to not touch you anywhere personal, while to you it seemed like it was whatever.

Not exactly an oil check, my last match ever, I took 2nd place in my city championship to a guy I could beat if he fought clean. A guy that thrust his envious cock in my crack every chance he could, using it to his advantage because early on he saw it completely threw me off my game. I spent almost the whole match with a raging hard-on, defending from the referees position with his half hard to fully hard cock pressed between my cheeks, fighting my way out of it, but only to have to start from that position again. I lost on points, and my coach had a lot to say to the ref about that, calling the whole match one big sexual assult with clothes on. I quit wrestling in humiliation and closeted-gay-man-self-hate that day.

I finally learned later in highschool waterpolo to give what I got. I quickly learned and accepted that under the waters surface, hands went to all those places for an advantage. Squeeze the nuts to hurt him, feel the guy up to throw him off, tickle his taint, and just like in this picture, dig for oil. A repressed, closeted, hormonal gay teen with an excuse to touch other guys in their personal places, I did, or attempted to, do it all. I had this done to me once, had my oil checked through my swimsuits, and that's when I was informed by a senior teammate that it's the reason we all wore 2 speedos during matches. More than once, my team or an opposing team, I saw a previously whole speedo finish a game tattered and torn. I clearly remember one time a teammate had a hand down his speedos with a finger trying to penetrate him like these pictures, like I'd had done to me through a doubled-up speedo, and like I sometimes tried to do to an opponent. It was all violent reaction, not strategic, but he managed to draw a ref's attention to it by pushing off the guy enough to get his ass above water level, exposing a hand stuck deep in the back of his swimsuits. He says the finger was still a knuckle deep when he broke the water, his speedo waistbands below his asscheeks for all to see. Of course, a straight guy, he could get away with telling the story exactly as it was, proving his manliness and disgust by uttering the words fag and homo repeatedly as well as a bunch of profanity.

So, yeah. I'm not looking for erotica. Straight, gay, or however you identify, I'm very curious what a wrestlers' honest thoughts on this are: absolute dirtiest move in contact sports, or fair game?

[sharpbutsoft]

So I know you do digital art, but The Hanged fireMan looks like a watercolor. Do you work with watercolors as well, or is it the program you use?

(please brag about your art process, basically)

Yeah! So I do all my (fan)art in everyone’s favourite innuendo of an art program, Procreate. (Specifically on a 2019 ipad pro with a 1st gen Apple Pencil, both of which I would tentatively recommend if you can get them 2nd hand for less than 200euro like I did)

I did a lot of painting as a teenager, and still paint often to this day. Though I mostly worked in acrylics, I have been known to use watercolours (like, when I was in college I bought a little 3euro paint set and would use the inside of cardboard cereal boxes as diy watercolour paper and paint wild little Irish landscapes… and Winter Soldier fan art, sometimes. 2017 was a different world)

So in summary - I ‘paint’ digitally using some very traditional techniques I picked up over the years, and I kinda prefer digital art now, which I will elaborate on below the cut as I detail how I created The Hanged fireMan…

I’ll start with my favourite digital art ‘cheat’ which is that I use So Many Layers. Like seriously, pretty much every new colour goes on its own layer because I am a control freak and love being able to tweak them all as needed. So for this relatively simplistic piece, I’ve still got something like 20 layers all together.

I’m also usually better at grouping layers but in this one I gave up at some point and it felt dishonest to group them nicely before showing you guys lol

So yeah layers is my biggest hack, but the other is using specific texture brushes

I spent a while playing around with various brushes before finding this Tarraleah one which has just the most delicious watercolour-y texture and a really fun edge to it (and it’s got pressure sensitivity, so I can really control the amount of colour I want to put down on the page)

This background was painted entirely with the 1 brush & colour, and I think it turned out pretty cool. For this particular piece I did have a reference on screen to work off for the most part, but those clouded were just painted with my heart

Next (or maybe before, it’s a while sinceI drew this and sometimes I mix it up) is the lines, which are always done with my best friend, the Procreate Pencil!! I love her, she’s so fuzzy and textured and also if you tilt the tip on the pencil you get a broader line (like with a real pencil) which is just the coolest thing!

When it comes to lines I just sort of go for bigger shapes 1st and details later, and basically always with some kind of reference. I also use a very old & well known trick of putting the most detail into the object of most importance, and leaving the background more loose and vibey

Artists will tell you that this is to draw focus with details. Artists are lying. It’s cause we got lazy after drawing he fun part & phoned the rest of it in lol (I know this because I am an artist)

Also I love this pencil because I don’t have very steady hands and I actually cannot draw straight/smooth lines to save my life! If you’ve ever seen anything resembling a smooth line in something I’ve drawn, it is almost certainly a whole bunch of lines over each other and then erased at the edges to make it look neater

But who needs straight lines when sketchy sketch lines are so fun!

Next is flat colours (the 3layers in the middle with check marks beside them)

I used the same colours as the background, which you can tell from where they completely blend together right down the bottom, and what I genuinely do is use the Tarraleah brush to generally block out he shape, and then go back in with an eraser and smooth out the lines

Why do I do this? …good question

Next is one of my favourite parts, which is adding the lights! Procreate has some really fun -glowy- layer effects - my favourite is probably Add (A) though Colour Burn (CB) is great too for its vibrancy.

Also those 2 layer 11s are there because I duplicated one and then used the ‘Gaussian Blur’ feature to ‘fuzzify’ it (yes, that’s the technical term) It’s a pretty quick and easy way to add a more diffused light effect around something. (I did the same for the yellow reflective strips on the turnouts too!)

Last step now! So full disclosure - I absolutely traced that writing from a photo of a tarot card lol. I actually always trace writing, as, much like drawing straight lines, I’m bad at handwriting on a screen

I also stumbled upon the Exclusion (E) effect by accident - Originally it was going to be a plain cream boarder like a traditional tarot card had, but I wasn’t fully happy with it, so I just flipped through a few layer effects and as soon as I got to this one, I knew it was the right choice

I love the dreamy contrast of the pinks and purples to the dark navy and grey & how it makes everything looks kinda unreal and outer-spacey

And yeah that’s about it! Everything else comes from my 15+ years of Practical Art Knowledge but these are the specifics of how I utilise it digitally!

This was a lot of fun to write out, and I hope that if you’ve made it all the way here, it was fun to read too!

[turuin]

Inktober

So, in a few days it will be Inktober again.

Many (ill-informed and arrogant) people think Inktober is a silly thing, a show-off, a stupid challenge that has nothing to do with art, and generally despise those who partake in it. We will not talk of such people: they are just another specimen of the archaic "internet troll", and we know well one should not feed trolls. They are only expressing themselves to grief others, or to spoil their fun, and this is pretty much their top aspiration for their internet persona - and I think this speaks volumes of what kind of people they might be in real life.

I'll tell you this instead: Inktober was the very reason why I started considering my stupid office-time doodles something more than that; and, potentially, the very thing that made me understand a couple of important things about art in general.

So, it boils to this: you have a list of verbal prompts, one per day, which you pick from many lists. Yes, there is an official Inktober challenge, set up by Jake Parker and normally available on Instagram and on its own website. Parker was part of an internet controversy, a couple of years ago, about having stolen the idea for an Inking Textbook from another very good artist, Alphonso Dunn; whether you choose to use Parker's prompts or entirely different ones, though, is entirely up to you. I have skipped them, back then, and then I started using them again a couple of years afterwards. They are handy, and you can use them without sponsoring Parker at all, if you feel like it (he has trademarked the Inktober brand for sketchbooks but you can't really trademark a challenge, so hashtags are still free to use).

List controversy aside, the fun thing is that it asks you to draw once per day, possibly with ink (but not solely, and rules are entirely up to you about the medium you want to use whether it is digital or traditional) for a total of 31 days, the whole month of October.

Back when I started, I didn't think myself capable of doing this until the end, and surely my skill was much lower than today. And yet, Inktober taught me many things:

stick to the plan, but if you skip a day, or multiple days, don't worry! Nobody is paying you for that, and there are many people who will keep drawing from the list well into November, but when you decide to draw for the day, put yourself into it - don't do it just because. Inktober is not about speed or skill, it's about challenging your brain and hand on interpretation and execution.

share your art. It is basic? Share it. It is made at the top of your abilities? Share it. People are insulting it? SHARE IT. You have to be able to disconnect emotionally from your art when it is done. You like it? Fine! You don't like it? Fine! I've made it. It is there. Do what you will with it. I have already accomplished my goal: the process.

It will be an occasion for you to learn. You never used ink? Try! You never used ink pens? Try! You never used an old brush with dried ink on it to create strange effects? TRY! Inktober might as well be about trying anything that crosses your mind. Also, you don't need expensive tools; a sheet of paper and a ballpoint pen can, and often will, be enough.

People mock you because you do Inktober or are stressed out because you post Inktober updates? That is a perfect time to remind them of the existence of the "unfollow" button. It does wonders with people who live in troll caves.

You feel like you need to vent? You feel like you're being left behind and stress because you think you will not complete it? First of all: VENT. Your blog / page / online space is yours and you should keep in mind that whatever you post has to do with YOU, not others. People may not like what you post, it's fine. They can unfollow, or start their personal rant in their online space about you - at the end, we are all passing by, if people want to live their life in anger or ranting about your art or your blog, it's their liver, not yours. No, that's not a typo: I'm actually referring to their liver, which probably will not be in very good conditions to start with.

People give you unsolicited advice or opinion on your art? Gracefully nod, and forget about it one fraction of a second later. When you will need advice, you will ask for it, and welcome it. My suggestion is you stick by that rule for pretty much everything in your life: you should be asking, that is of paramount importance, and learning how to ask something is at least as important, but nobody should force you into their opinion. TL;DR: fuck'em opinons.

Again: don't fall in love with your art. It's a piece of paper; you can burn it afterwards. You already possess that art within your hands. It is lost forever? It's ok. You have made it. It existed. You ceased caring about it as soon as it was on paper. Let it go. It is not yours anymore. Let people make what they will of it. You are already unto the next one.

So: I will partake in Inktober, and vent, and chat about it, and post art. I will also do this in our community, https://www.tumblr.com/communities/ars-gratia-artis , and for the time being, I will allow people who want to share their art, participate in the community and not be toxic about it, to join with a link. I would also very much love for community members to attempt Inktober, even with a little doodle whenever they are able. It's fun, I promise!

If you want to join our community, Inktober or not, here's the link:

[crackerzaf]

how do you make your lineart so neat? it's super cool and your art is amazing!

Ooh thanks for asking

Tldr: Practice is the key to getting clean lines

Ik thats not what some people wanna hear someone say. i get it, but it's true.

I currently use an iPad with the pencil it came with, and I think that helps with the line art being so smooth.

I know not everyone can afford that, but before i got that ipad, i used to just draw on my phone. I didn't even have a stylus for phones, so I just used my thumbs for it. It's all about practicing and using what you have available. Don't give up on your line art it might not be where you want it to be right now, but I swear if you practice enough, you can do it

Example: When I first started drawing on my phone, I used and still use ibis paint. My line art wasn't that good it was more wonky and all over the place, but I kept practicing with the program and started to pay attention to my strokes and what brush gave me the lines I was looking for so don't be scared to experiment with different pens.

(How my line art started back in 2018 😵 ew burn this, please 😭)

I dont mind telling people what pens I draw with cause gate keeping art from others is a big ick. But heres the pen i use the most when drawing in ibis paint. If im drawing on procreate, use a standard brush called Baskerville with a stablizer completely off no specific brush size it's whatever fits the drawing I'm doing

Also, dont be afraid to do sketchs first on line paper. That's what i do cause I can't draw on blank digital canvases for some reason, so I always import a lot of my sketches, and i use that as a guideline to help my make line art look cleaner . I hope this long explanation helps.

[iztea]

Maybe you have some drawing tips for beginners?

Your style is incredibly beautiful and it just inspires this thing inside me to grab my iPad and start drawing but unfortunately I have no idea where to even begin

Or maybe you have some recs where to look to learn how to draw stuff?

But I understand completely that it’s your thing and artists should never feel pressured to share all their techniques and secrets, you worked hard on it!

I just really really love your art to the point where I just look at it for 30 minutes straight with this big feeling in my chest

<3

ah it was never about being secretive, i'm pretty open about my drawing process since gatekeeping knowledge is a big pet peeve of mine. It was more like,, laziness because writing a cohesive and helpful drawing tutorial is pretty difficult and i wouldn't even know where to start; i'm afraid i'll get maybe too technical and what have you.

As for tips for beginners, i've shared plenty on my couriouscat so you can scroll through the answers there, i also have some drawing timelapses on my twitter account as well (albeit you'll have to scroll a little)

I'm very flattered you feel that way about my art, it really means a lot to me and i'm glad to have inspired you to draw as well that's awesome and i wish you best of luck!

I actually don't know how different drawing on an iPad is compared to a graphic tablet+desktop, so I am actually pretty clueless in that regard. I think Procreate is the most used digital art app for iPad so you can start by getting it and familiarizing yourself with the UI. I think this step is often overlooked. The brushes and the chosen program can make or break the drawing experience. If you simply find yourself not enjoying Procreate, experiment with other apps or maybe try switching to a graphic tablet, maybe that feels better and is more suited to your tastes.

To be completely honest, one "bad" piece of advice that i should probably keep to myself is to draw something you actually enjoy: fanart, Pretty Girl Portrait(tm), your cat, landscapes etc even if it's above your skill level (becoming obsessed/ fixated on some character from a piece of media also works wonders i'm just gonna throw that out there). The main point is to actually care about your chosen subject in order to get inspired and to have that inner desire of "doing them justice" aka drawing them well. The traditional art learning route probably involves studying the fundamentals, shading spheres and cones and simple 3D forms blablbablah which. Yeah ! sure that's probably better advice but i'm telling you what will make you want to keep going and not get discouraged after a few failed attempts.

As for the drawing subject, I highly recommend having photo references to guide you.. you always need refs it's a recurring thing. My fastest artworks are the ones where I have the right references. the less references the more difficult it is to draw something

As a beginner it is also a good practice to draw OVER your photo reference to get the proportions right ( i'm not talking about literally tracing the contour of a face or limb ( just an example ), but moreso identifying the Main shape which makes up that body part and observe how long is it in respect to the other components, how does it connect to the other parts etc - big difference. Tracing won't help you in the long run).

Another thing you can do is to study your favourite artists and see how They tackle whatever it is that you like in their work. how do they simplify facial features? what about anatomy? color/ light etc and kinda reverse engineer your way through their process. ( but i highly recommend to just keep these practice sketches to yourself, and to not share them on social media- unless you get the artist's permission)

This is how i got into drawing and what i did back then, again, for more technical hands-on information i did answer similar CCs before so with a little bit of stalking you'll find them in no time

I wanna finish this with some resources that helped me:

>youtube guys - sinix, ahmed aldoori, marco bucci, and also just speedpaints in general i highly recommend watching those

>for simplified anatomy i found @/ taco1704 's ref sheets to be very helpful but ........... I'm pretty dry here i just look up refs on Pinterest tbvh

speaking of, here's my pinterest i have a bunch of art related boards board cool stuff overall maybe they can help guide you towards some direction or inspire you in some way idk

ok i kinda suck in the resource department listeN. im starving too just.................. watch youtube speedpaints ok

SORRY IT'S SO LONGGGBGGG i hope it was at least a bit helpful? this was all over the place... I'll try to come up with a tutorial as well but i really gotta be careful with how i go about it. I'll leave you with this for the time being. Again, thank you a lot for the kind words, I really am very grateful and touched esp by that last part about staring with the big feeling stuff eeeeeeeeeeeeee really wow T T that's so lovely and a big compliment thanks ty ly

[cosmos-dot-semicolon]

An unhealthy basis for enjoying media

Rewatching one of my favourite video essayists' take on Avatar, and how a lot of people seem to be so emotionally invested in it to a almost religious degree. I have little investment in that show beyond its representation, but it kind of got me thinking about the times I've done the same with my favourite media. Luckily with smaller fandoms and hence with a far less toxic feedback loop, but still.

The main point she brings up is that people remember the show for what it represented, as a big, mature turning point for cartoons rather than the actually good themes about friendship and diversity in it. And I think that actually extends to worse fandom obsessions generally.

Something like Steven Universe can't be a show with legitimately great episodes next to some really terrible ideas we don't talk about. It has to be the most beautiful thing ever that will bring true art and social justice to the world.

...This probably goes for like half of left-wing YouTube and adventure fantasy shows now I'm typing it out, actually. She covers those a lot.

I don't have a point to make on those media, though. Their fandoms just reminded me of the past hyperfixations I've had that turned unhealthy: how it always ended up with deifying them into the greatest thing that ever existed in my mind, how I felt the need to vitriolically defend them against any differing takes because they were my personality.

They were a reprieve from the worst times of my life. But in retrospect that's not completely a good thing - I was using them to cope, but also avoid thinking about my issues at all.

The one I feel comfortable namedropping is the most recent one on Ninjago. I kinda just brushed it off as a result of academic pressure, but as I was reading more critique on it (and since was in therapy at that time), it eventually clicked that I'd been using it as a vector to escape thinking about my relationship with being Asian.

But it doesn't only happen from flawed media. My other major example was a game that is damn near perfect in its execution, but my interactions with it - absolutely mining it for as many ideas as I could, and spending all my time on it were just the only way I could think of to escape the crushing changes happening in my life at that point. It also lead to me having really weird headcanons and intrusive thoughts about it and not acting as considerately as I should've been around my friends at the time, both IRL and in the fandom.

I think you can almost always tell the difference between healthy and unhealthy attachments though. It just requires one moment of clarity and a bit of introspection away from the media in question.

My main advice would be... well, first consider therapy if you know you've dealt with a lot of stuff in your life. But barring that, my advice is that no one piece of art can capture the entire human experience, or even your personal entire experience. Or beliefs. Or fantasies. You should not rely on them as such.

Have multiple, varied things you like going into a hyperfixation, so you can draw on them if you need. It'll probably feel less immediately rewarding, but it stops you from feeling that you're eating yourself months in and being the living incarnation of the Boss Baby Problem.

It'll also feel more fun if you're a creator, because you can get some really original ideas by pulling totally different media together.

[pokemon-ash-aus]

Heyyo! Hope this ask reaches you well nwn. I have a couple hundred questions about ur art style and storytelling methods if you don’t mind :3

Most important one: How do you draw Mewtwo fingers so well 😭😭😭😭

Also, what program(s) do you use? Canvas size for different projects? What brush settings? And how do you sketch, line and colour? Which step is your favourite? How long do you normally take from piece to piece?

How do you come up with your different AUs? Any particular inspirations? What tips would you give someone just starting out a comic on tumblr?

And uhh any general tips on getting around tumblr? Blogs you really like?

Sorry for all these questions, really big fan if you can’t tell :’D I actually really love the pride art piece you did~

So i tried answering this before and it doesnt post so uhhhhh heres to hoping it works?

1. I base Mewtwo's paws as hands, worked without the rounded digits first then moved to rounded digits so... Take that as you will?

2. I use Clip Studio Art and Procreate! Mostly, anyways XD i also sometimes default back to Paint tool Sai, or Fire Alpaca if i want a different brand lol.

3. I vary in size for different projects. My animations are different than my sketches, my sketches are different from my completed art and my completed art is different for my comics! It also helps my brain not get tired XD

4. I tend to favor my lineart and rendering! Though both of them take equally long times, i render less But i love it more.

5. Depends on the project. I can typically churn out colored pieces in like an hour or so! Sketches are faster.

6. A lot of them are inspirations of something else. Shiny AU was just cause i liked Shiny Pokemon. But Dead AU was based off Danny Phantom and Mimikyu au was a "What if" scenario of the dead au!

7. Oop, Danny Phantom for the Dead AU. Legendary Mew was based off the whole Chosen one BS XD False Twins was slightly based off of TC but was actually based off another AU where Ash and Mewtwo were sorta close friends.

8. Tagging is your best friend~ don't be afraid to interact with other blogs. If someone is being mean, just block em and move on!

9. Getting around Tumblr? I'd say reblog, follow peeps, go to your favorite fandoms/tags! You'll get mutuals in no time!

10. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh a lot of peeps but i dont wanna bother then with tags XD so nontagged peeps!

Phlurri

XxTC-96xX

MewtwoAndMe

Bluesues

DistortionMewtwo

Mewtales/Mewdump

Penumbra

Loupy Mongoose

Ask-Mirage-Twos

TazerPones/MegaMew and Crew

The Mew Crew

And a few more but i cant remember tumblr names djdbdb

And thank you! I have one more peice i want to finish before i forget- its a peice i didnt get to do last year XD

[theartisticintrovert]

Double: Initial Thoughts (Pre-VD)

ok this beat slaps

MY BOY THERE HE IS!!!

i was right this is 90% a Niko song

(longer, more involved theory-crafting under the cut)

I WAS RIGHT he WAS meant to protect mikoto!!! and the fact that he calls himself the "newborn other you" supports my theory that he's new, probably forming either right before or right after the murder.

"I don't even know the reason why I'm here" and "[He's a liar,] you said, and made me out to be a scoundrel, why?" sounds a lot like even Niko doesn't fully remember what happened. Also, I looked into the lyrics (as I do), and I found some interesting bits in that second line. Take this with a grain of salt, I'm not a native Japanese speaker, but I did my best to look at resources from fluent speakers (like Japanese dictionaries) to explain nuances.

I find it interesting that they chose to translate 悪者 (warumono) as "scoundrel", rather than something else. Literally, it means "bad guy" (warui = bad, mono = someone/person), and thus could be translated a number of ways. Villain, bad guy, ruffian, rascal, etc. So why scoundrel? Is it another case of strange translation, or does it mean something about Niko?

Also....considering how clear the first MV was with 1) WHERE the murder happened, as well as 2) the Kotos whacking an Actual Human Person, I strongly doubt that the implied Subway Rampage happened here. In fact, the entire thing feels like it's happening while Mikoto is having a mental breakdown and lashing out. None of it feels real, not like MeMe did (at least, the parts taking place outside Mikoto's brain).

I think Mikoto is (or at least was) suffering from the culture of overwork that's common in Japan: karoshi, or "death from overworking". Obviously he's not dead, but he definitely wasn't looking so hot in that MV. Eyebags, dark circles, exhausted posture, and bedraggled appearance were just a few things I picked up on my first run-through. His clothes, while fashionable, are loose, baggy, and cover his body completely. For someone like Mikoto, who's so meticulous about how he appears to others, to purposely dress like this? It contrasts so much with his flashy hair and piercings that one has to wonder why?

It's a ruse. Just like how peacocks have false eyes on their tails to deter predators, I think Mikoto's flashiness is meant to draw attention away from everything else. Any inconsistencies can be explained away with a makeup mishap (because you can't tell me this man doesn't wear foundation and concealer at a minimum), and having stylish clothes distracts from how otherwise baggy they are. Baggy clothes in themselves are a smokescreen, too. They hide your physical form, making it so it's harder to tell the true build of someone underneath.

Kotoko uses this to disguise herself in Harrow, which leads to the police looking for a bulky, middle-aged man instead of a 20 year old female college dropout. Mikoto uses his clothes differently, meant to distract from anything "concerning" about him that can't be brushed away with a laugh or a smile. I think he's trying to hide being too thin or malnourished, since stress and overwork can lead to fatigue, poor nutrition, and a host of skin problems. Hiding that behind baggy clothes and a layer of makeup means his ditz mask works better, and anyone sharp enough to look past it....well. I'm not actually sure he's met anyone like that, if his phone call with his mother was any indication.

The point is, I'm worried about him. I think his murder was a result of a mental breakdown but not, as I thought earlier, from anger, but from stress. Stress from overwork that led him to the point of death, and it was just bad luck that meant it was someone else's rather than his own.

Again, this is all just a theory, and I haven't listened to the VD yet. But I will say this; I've been there, and while I haven't killed anyone over it there were times I got damn close. I may not agree with him, but I understand, especially if he has nobody who knows the Real Him. I was lucky enough to be able to vent to my friends about my job and school before my stress breakdown consumed me, but I don't think he has anyone like that.

Godspeed, Mikoto. Lord knows you need it.

[not-xpr-art]

just wanted to share a few comparisons to show how my digital painting skills have developed over the years!

(these were all done with the same brush type on the same program btw!)

see below for a mini kinda Art Advice post where i go into each of these comparisons!

wanna start by saying the brush i used for all these pieces is the 'watercolour' brush on firealpaca... essentially just a default flat brush that usually comes with most software!

the first two are to show unintentional messiness vs intentional messiness. a lot of my early art had a pretty messy quality to it purely because i was still unfamiliar with the mechanics of digital! (though i will say, i think i was going for a more painter-ly style in the 2015 art anyway because i was basing it on pre-raphaelite works)

i think once you become a lot more familiar with certain mediums, you allow yourself to be a bit more confident with the brushstrokes you make! the 2022 piece is one where i wanted to create a sense of texture, almost like a digital version of impasto (aka thick layers of paint), and i know better now how to use digital software to create this kind of effect!

and you can see with the next row & the 2016 piece that i managed to create a much smoother, more blended appearance whilst still using the same brush! a part of my improvement came from me allowing myself to spend a little longer on pieces, especially in those first few years. i think a lot of beginners to digital (or any other kind of medium for that matter) think that if they spend the same amount of time on a piece as they would in another medium that they're more familiar with they'll get the same results, but it doesn't really work that way lol... especially if you're very new to digital... my advice here, then, would be to allow yourself to be slow at figuring out the medium (and let yourself make mistakes!)

going back to the 2016 vs 2022 comparison, i wanted to include this to show how sometimes you can keep things still messy, but still controlled and complete looking! also, remember that in digital most programs will let you adjust the 'colour mixing levels' or another similar 'blending level' option, which essentially just means how much the strokes blend or don't blend into what you've already painted... (knowing this would have made blending a whole lot easier back in 2016 lemme tell you lol.....)

(i also wanted to include that comparison cos it looks like they're looking at each other and i find it funny pfft)

the final comparison is, again, to show how controlled brushstrokes can give a piece a simultaneously painter-ly and smooth appearance! in both the 2015 and 2023 pieces, i wasn't super precise in my painting skills. but the 2023, to me at least, doesn't look as messy purely in the way i've been able to use the brush!

i mainly wanted to share this because i spent a long time trying to make my paintings look smooth, and i definitely do still do this in some artworks (particularly if i'm using fluffy/textured brushes), but i realised that i really enjoyed being able to create messy works that overall feel more finished due to the painting skills i've developed over the years!

i also just want to say that i'm not saying that either of these sides are 'better' than the other, they're just a few different ways i've approached art in my years as a digital artist! my observational drawing skills have grown a lot since the left side pieces, but i still think there's a lot to like in my early works and i'm definitely still very proud of them!

~~

thanks for reading & feel free to check out my other art advice posts and consider tipping me here on tumblr or heading to my kofi if you wanna support me! (no pressure ofc!!) <3

[aspisera]

10 things I've learned as an artist

(Resources below text)

Take a step back - I know we all get a lost in the sauce but if you look at the bigger picture, you can pick up on things that look strange or that you don't like.

You can criticize your art but don't hate it - I've said this before but hating your art is hating your progress. The only way to grow is by learning the things you liked/disliked about your older pieces.

Listening to music helps you more than you think - Every art teacher I've ever had always played music in their classroom. Classical, alt, rock, pop, etc. ever since I've noticed my art had more emotion tied to it and (imo) was sharper.

You're only able to draw anime? That's not a bad thing - Drawing anime can be very helpful when it comes to drawing human profiles and it can also help with proportions. No one can tell you how to make art. That's the whole point of it. It's subjective.

You can totally have multiple art styles - Of course you would hear this come from me. Having multiple art styles can help you find the one you like and it's fun to do. I usually take all the sketches I've done and take bits and pieces i like outta them.

Never be afraid to use a reference - Reference models/artist put their pictures on the internet for people like us! The their whole thing is to help young/inexperienced artist to get a grasp of anatomy, creases, and gestures. Never be scared to use one.

If you're working on the computer, give your eyes a break - This doesn't just go for artist, this goes for everyone. I know I'm gonna sound like a parent here but looking at a screen for hours really can make you tired. It can fuck up your melatonin production because of blue light from the screen.

Don't just give your eyes a break, give your hands a break, too. - For the love of fuck please don't spend 4 hours on a huge piece and not give yourself at least one (1) 30 minute break. Carpal tunnel and Arthritis are artist killers. Rest yourself.

Avoid burnout - (This goes for everyone too) Feeling burnt out can take you out for years if you let it get bad enough. I know your art is important to you but remember to keep an eye on your mental/physical health. Being well rested, having good nutrition, and going on a walk every so often can make you feel amazing.

Show your family and friends your art (if you're comfortable with it) - I like to show my mom and siblings my art sometimes. Even though my mom doesn't get it most of the time, she's always happy to give me pointers and compliments. My brother really likes my art and was super excited when I got confident enough to show him. He thinks the way I draw Kris (Deltarune) is incredibly gender and loves it when I send him my pieces.

Here are some apps and websites I use to help with my art:

Pureref - This is an app I use to keep an eye on references while drawing. You can set it to remain open even when in a different software. It's free but they accept donations.

Krita - This is the art program I use. It's reminiscent to Photoshop (something I'm familiar with) but it's completely free and you can get it through their website (Or Steam... if you wanna pay $15 for it).

Krita-Artist.org - Krita has a forum for their users to help other users and give news/updates. There's hundreds of resources, free brush packs, and tutorials on there to help you out.

CapCut - Video editor that's mostly used for Tiktoks but it's easy to use, free, and has it's own copyright detection system. I use this for animatics.

AdorkaStock - Reference photo website that allows you to choose poses from angles, objects, number for models, and positions. All the models are clothed, it won't jumpscare you. They all also have different body shapes so if you're worried about having to draw a chunky character with a slim model, you're all good on that front.

[wastelandhell]

Thank you so much @bokatan and @h3raklion for the tag!

I can tell this is going to become a patented Furby wall of text™ so I'll just throw in a cut now. tl;dr: I love you all and i draw danse way too much

This has been an interesting year mostly in that its my first time posting personal art online in, what, 7 years? I stopped doing this kind of drawing shortly after high school. I picked up painting flash and have been focusing on my tattooing since then. In that time I never did any digital drawing or character drawing until 2 years ago this month, when I drew Val for the first time.

I was terrified to post anything anywhere, I think I posted one piece to reddit, but besides that I kept everything pretty private until April of 2022. I originally made this blog as a place to silently post my drawings and screenshots while providing a sort of devlog of my mods for my own records, and didn't think I would be noticed. I didn't realize people tracked the paladin danse tag, lol!

I'm really glad for all the people I've met through here, I never would have kept this blog up if it weren't for the wonderful messages from all of you guys. So much of my art, both in subject and execution has been influenced by the other users I've had the pleasure of interacting with and I hope to keep it up this year!

You all know I mostly just draw Val and Danse, and this is the palette I use for most things:

These are all pretty drab, I use different of blending layers and photoshop adjustments to get the colours how I want them at the end.

I usually try to use different brushes in each of my drawings, but these are the ones I come back to most often. The first one is a variant of one of these brushes, I modified it to change size based on direction and tilt. I used the brush almost exclusively until august and its still my favourite for quickly laying out forms and values. I use this one for freckles. The rest are some of my top picks from True Grit Texture Supply, mostly from Chromagraph and Monomania.

I'm glad I was able to really get into drawing this year, and going through my folder I'm pleased with how my anatomy and faces have improved. However I am disappointed in how much of it is just the same ginger fuck. I'm really stunting my growth by not varying my subjects, and now that I'm more comfortable with the tools I want to push myself to actually. uh. try. Put in the effort to make art that says something, tells a story. Less single characters floating in blank voids. More people interacting, scenes, environments. I also really want to get back into digital painting, I used to be really into digital painting and in theory know how to do it. I'm going to try and dig out that old knowledge lol.

Despite being bit bland, and having some glaring errors that still bug me, that Danse drawing is still one of my favourites. I think I spent at least 8 hours on it. I was dealing with some personal issues at the time and just really wanted to scratch that brain itch that the bos knight uniform gives me. It's stupid, I hate it, I can draw it nearly completely from memory by how often I'm looking at it.

The 'tried something new' panel is difficult because I feel like a lot of my recent work has been pretty stagnant. It's all done with the same technique, same palette, same boring cel shading, same layer order, boring. This is one of the few times I did any proper digital painting, and tried to adapt the looser style that I use when I'm drawing in analogue mediums to my digital work.

I just talked about art here and not mods because that would be a whole other wall of text. But it would boil down to: love to do it, no time, and expensive.

Also, if anybody is interested, I do my drawing in Clip Studio Paint and Photoshop on a Surface Laptop Studio.