#also the shading is a bit off (as in not like the reference pictures) because I just used blue on multiply lol

[autism-swagger]

Any other artists go through phases where you're so uninspired that you can only do scene redraws of your favorite character

^ reference images tee hee :3

[kimeoshi]

hello it's me again! Your biggest fan (LMAO) The one who asked for tips on coloring...

Another question has came up on me while I was coloring (finally aughhh). How do you shade hair? Without it looking unnatural?

Thank you for your help before!!! 😊

Hello and welcome back! I'm glad my previous advice helped! That is a difficult question as I do admit it is a bit challenging to me as well. It is guesswork + studying references, adjusting tid bits until it looks right, my own process relies on a trial and error approach.

Therefore, I suggest you pick some pieces you like where you find the hair gorgeous, and figuring out how the artist does it, or how might they do it, per active learning principles. Try to deduce it. While the following guide can be good for your starting concepts too, it's important to adapt it to your style and preferences. And I even encourage you to go against it, as creativity thrives on experimentation.

That said, I'll guide you through my own thought process, however. (With a quick Ratio sketch, because I really love to shade his hair; fluffy hair is very forgiving.)

Let's start off here (I'll be skipping the black and white part for simplicity's sake from the previous guide. I'll also be using a white environment with a pale overlight):

For highlights, I begin laying down a Glow Dodge layer with a hard brush that doesn't have full opacity, and draw a halo-like shape. After that, I refine the shape by erasing parts of it with a rough eraser to get the desired effect.

Alternative to the Glow Dodge layer, you can use pure white, or other layer types such as Lighten, Screen, Add and Overlay, etc.

In the following pictures, note that I adjust the layer's opacity freely.

Above, I simply blended it a bit to my own liking.

With an airbrush I softly start introducing shadows (Multiply layer, dark purple/blue color).

Then, I start introducing sharper shadows in a separate layer.

You can use a lasso tool for this to map out a jagged like shape which should remind you of mountains. You can blend this out too at certain segments.

(Sidetrack: if you feel like, I suggest reading up on the balance of hard and soft edges in painting, the topic is very interesting and I am still trying to grasp it as well, yet I find it immeasurably useful. This can come in handy upon rendering principles. A very skillful master of it is the artist Yuming Li.)

Furthermore, I add reflections. I've used a Lighten layer with a subtle blue color. As this is subtle, I want to point it out that it appears on the lower parts.

For a final touch, I pick out the skin's color and airbrush, shift the picked color to a more saturated one and apply it near his face/to the bangs, with an airbrush.

For the fundamentals of hair shading I usually wrap it up here and go off to rendering. I use a painterly brush to do this and pay attention to the jagged shape I mentioned earlier. The brush I use is already tilted, so it's easy to manipulate to make such shapes.

Additionally, I experiment with Overlay, Multiply (or any!) layers with either airbrushes or hardbrushes— as I said there isn't a specified way of doing this. Go wild; for such is the nature of hair. Add any shapes or lines you find appealing, introduce new colors from the environment nearby too to make it moredynamic and interesting as well.

EDIT: An addition! On Rendering tips and advice

(apologies on leaving this out initially! I only realized I should include this now )

Including astray curved lines to simulate how hair flows also builds to the hair-like quality. I also prefer to use it closer to the silhouette of my character as it adds further detailing and a fluffier look in the end!

Attempt to render each strand according to this diagram in mind, note the parabole-like(?) shape for the light, and note standard 3d spheric shading for shadows.

[princesssmars]

unexpected

an ellabs x black!streamer!reader

some times your viewers expect you're in a relationship, and one time you spell it out clearly for them.

wc : 1.860

contains : reader is feminine ! the picture is more lightskin but all shades can read <333 ltlvc reference

a/n : coming up with chat usernames is so hard what the fawk??? but yeah while i ignore trolls the ones under these tags were pissing me off so i wrote this for my fellow black girlies <333 i hope u enjoy :)

lets get one thing out of the way, you loved being a streamer. now that you had a good following of a few thousand regular watchers, you were more than financially stable, got to do something you enjoyed as a job, and even made a few new streaming friends.

but when it came to those friends, every content creator knew simple friendships could stir up drama. you had heard of many cases of friendships being strained or ruined because of this job. more specifically because of the fans.

which is why you took an oath to leave finer details like relationships out of your work. if you did tell a story about that time you and your friends nearly got kicked out of a local mall's journey's, you would keep descriptions of friends brief and blank, even resorting to calling people "friend number one, friend number two..."

luckily most of your fans were more than understanding that you wanted to keep some of your life private.

most of them.

●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘

case one : the first p.o. box

it was another po box opening stream you decided to start early in the day, wanting to show and appreciate chat with the things they got for you.

lululemonsz : babe i hope its a new keyboard urs is on a iv drip !

wariolover96 : open it open the box OPEN IT

shelovedantee : damn is there a bomb in it hurry up

you laughed looking at all the people in chat begging you to open the current package in your hand.

"everybody chill out. look, im gonna open the first one now."

you quickly got a pair of scissors to cut off the packing tape on both ends, hurrying to pull the cardboard from its place.

the chat started speeding up when your mouth fell open in shock, slowly reaching in and pulling out the keyboard. it was sleek, mechanical, and your favorite color.

biiiigpoo : omg isnt that thing like $250?

lululemonsz : this as the first gift is CRAZY

ilovestardewmc1237 : one of your viewers is in love with you

you couldn't even respond, turning the keyboard over and back again to admire the details of it. out of the corner of your eye you spot a little yellow sticky note at the bottom, bringing it up to read it without letting the camera see. once you got to the end, your eyes widened and you quickly moved on to the next gifts.

but the light reflecting from your window and monitor was enough for chat to see a few letters on the note. after that, your fandom quickly began talking of a person named "A" who had not only the money to get you crazy expensive keyboards, but was also able to fluster you with a small note.

●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘

case two : the search history.

every so often, your mods would host little events on your stream. these could include giveaways, shitty chat therapy, and little games for everyone to play. today it was a challenege : the more bits people donated, the crazier stuff you had to do for them. it was all pretty tame, and the end goal was one you didnt think you'd manage to hit.

never doubt the power of charisma and a pretty face, because after only three hours you manged to reach that two thousand dollar mark, and chat was raving at what you'd have to reveal next : your search history.

ariagatorr : damn this lowkey invasive 💀

devonchcgo22 : and we dont give a fuck

plantsnparsnip : right open that shit up

"i hate yall, do you know that? like genuinely." you groaned, slowly movied your mouse to open your chrome history.

there wasn't much for chat to bully you about thankfully, just some light teasing about how much you use pinterest and asking what it was you bought on etsy. and just when you thought you were done, someone had to open their big damn mouth.

pian0picass0 : wait a minute why did you open ellies stream THREE times ????

chat started moving faster as they read the comment, everyone asking you to open the stream and show them what was going on. sucking your teeth and denying them as you had shown them what they wanted!

after quickly wrapping up the stream and giving your thanks and goodbyes, a portion of viewers went on a manhunt for any ellie who was streaming at the moment.

once clicking on the stream, they found it was just a casual stream with ellie. she was obviously pretty, but was super laid-back in her jeans and converse as she strummed some songs on her guitar.

"oh hey, welcome to the stream i guess. any requests? i was gonna practice some radiohead because my friend asked for it."

pian0picass0 : hey ellie! do you know who (y/u) is by any chance?

"'sup casso. uhhhh no i dont think i do. did she send yall over here? maybe ill check her channel out."

●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘

case three : the enhanced dm's

"everybody shut the fuck up and lets start this stupid thing."

this was it, one of your biggest streams of the year. and also the most fun. and most aggravating.

the gist was simple. you and 5 other streamers were thrown into a discord call and whoever lasted the longest through the sleep deprivation and challenges won a heap of cash.

what the hell was it with you getting screwed over by challenges?

it didn't seem that bad. the host, a close friend of yours, told you to share your screen so everyone could decide something to tweet from your twitter.

now, your friends in the call didn't notice what was on your screen when you shared it, and if they did they didn't say anything. but never doubt the perseverance of your crazy ass viewers, because one took the liberty to see exactly what you were saying in that split second they could see your dm's, because they swore they knew that profile picture...

abby : don't worry you'll do fine

abby : you're not gonna get embarrassed by any of the challenges

abby : i hope

y/n : seriously

abby : come onn you know i'm rooting for you &lt;3

y/n : aww thanks bee

abby : yup. for the whole event i'm gonna be your personal cheerleader ^3^

y/n : oooo you gonna put on a uniform for me?

abby : don't push it.

●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘

case four : the voice chat slip up

at this point, there was no point in acting like you didn't know the two streamers.

the first was abby. mostly posted fitness, health, and lifestyle videos on youtube, but would occasionally go live on twitch to talk with her fans or stream herself working out at the gym.

(you may or may not have admitted live that you found her by watching a few of her workout streams. whoops.)

and then there was ellie, a gaming streamer who was known for being chill and quiet when playing music but as loud as a plane engine when playing cs:go. don't even get her started on cod.

but luckily you'd manage to convince her to play some games with you on your latest stream! some stardew, maybe some overcooked. even if she kept burning all of the damn food.

leave it to ellie williams to always surprise you, though.

when you hear the du-dum of the discord join noise, your face lights up and your mouth opens to greet ellie before she beats you to it.

"ok, babe, which game we playin first?"

to make a long story shot, your chat went ballistic and you gave a stern talking to the red head after the stream ended.

●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘

case five : the instagram post

most of the time you leave most of your notifications off to avoid your phone sounding like a constant alarm. but you're guessing your recent endeavor of babysitting your cute but horrifically grabby nephew screwed you over, because before you know it the sound of dozens on instagram notifications are waking you up and pushing your bonnet from where it slipped down your eyes before unlocking your phone.

at first it seems like a normal picture abby posted, standing in front of a mirror in her living room , flexing her arm and covered in a thin sheen of sweat after an apparent workout session. ever the show off.

but when you zoomed into a blip of color in the background, your eyes almost pop out of your head when you see it.

its you and ellie, you sitting in her lap while she showed you some stupid meme on her phone she said reminded her of you.

the post was only thirty minutes old but already had a few thousand comments, the previes of 'OMG?????' and "no fucking way" giving you a hint to what people were thinking.

you turned off your phone, tossed it back on the nightstand and went back to sleep.

●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘●∘◦❀◦∘

case six : the joint stream

y/nsstan69 : not an unscheduled stream ??? is it judgement day ???

onlycuntz : "ft surprise guest" girl we aren't stupid

you had to hide the smile from appearing on your face as you read through the comments of your chat. you knew some of them were probably smart enough to know what was going on. the three of you hadn't really been discrete in the days following abby's slip up post, and viewers jumped at the chance to point you out in the background of some of her workout videos. and to point out how you were staring at her.

assholes.

so, here you sat in the comfort of your cute gaming chair ready to tell chat the big news with your special guest.

"so, i bet some of you are wondering why im streaming off schedule, but i had something big in my personal life that i wanted to tell you guys! in a few minutes my gest should be here..."

your voice trailed off as you kept your eye on chat, seeing a bunch of comments that you werent expecting from this big announcement.

motionpickers : lmaooooo are they serious

lululemonsz : she's gonna be so pissed

you begin to turn around in your chair when two pairs of lips press a kiss to each of your cheeks.

"you guys are so unserious."

"and you are so bad at hiding things." ellie pulls up and extra chair and rolls it up to yours so her knees touch yours. she tugs your hand into hers to sit on her lap, ignoring when you pinch her with your nails.

"ignore her. we could tell what you were doing and figured we should all do it together," abby is on your other side, resting her hip on the arm of your chair. "so, go ahead. it's pretty obvious already."

"wow, thanks for the support you guys."

"anytime, hun."

uhuhstasia : i literally cant tell whos luckier

niatargaryen : IS ANYBODY ELSE FREAKNG OUT

ilovestardewmc1237 : is it appropiate to say i called this

[friskafriskito]

Charity Commissions 🇵🇸

Hello guys, it's been a while!

To cut to the chase: I would like to help spread both awareness and support for those suffering in the ongoing genocide in Palestine. So, in light of this, I will open up some commissions where rather than paying me, you simply provide proof of your donation.

I know this blog is mainly just for my art, but if I can use my art for any good I would like to do so. If you cannot donate, please reblog!

Here are some recommended links:

E-sims for Gaza: https://gazaesims.com  

Palestinian children’s relief fund: PCRF

Women for women (hygiene kits, blankets, food): Urgent Support for Women in Palestine Women for Women International

Anera dignity kits: https://www.anera.org/stories/gaza-emergency-aid-includes-dignity-kits/

A website for vetted fundraisers: https://gazafunds.com/all

But of course you can donate to any related organization and fundraiser you like, even if it’s not included here!

If you are Egyptian you can also donate to any of the organizations listed under the Instapay, Talabat, Fawry apps, or your bank app under their ‘donations’ services with the equivalent price in EGP (based on the bank rate). Just provide a screenshot.

For a written list of the prices, the do/don'ts, and so on, please look under the read-more for more details!

How Does this Work?

Send me the idea you have and I will let you know if it’s good to go or if it’s not appropriate (or if I can’t do it due to time/work)

When you get the okay, I will ask for more details (references, colour schemes, poses, which charity you plan to donate to, etc.)

I will draw you a basic thumbnail for your confirmation (these are very vague sketches to just pinpoint the pose).

Once you confirm the pose, I will ask you to donate and I will get to work

Send me a screenshot of the e-mail confirming your donation (blur out/colour over any personal info!), or the “Thank you for your donation!” screen if there is no e-mail

You get your drawing in exchange!

NOTE: I will likely post them on my artblog and Instagram, so if you don’t want them posted there or would like to remain anonymous, please let me know!

Also bear in mind I have a full-time job, so they might be a while! But you WILL get your commission.

HALF-BODY

$5-$9: Lineart $10-$14: Monotone $15-$19: Colours, flat $20-$24: Colours, shaded Above $25: Colours, shaded, with background

FULL-BODY

$10-$14: Lineart $15-$19: Monotone $20-$24: Colours, flat $25-$29: Colours, shaded Above $30: Colours, shaded, with background

Yes-es:

Fan art is fine (I won’t be getting any monetary profit from this)

Characters from original stories

Personas/self-inserts/fan characters/Tabletop RPG characters

Real!you, family members, friends, etc. (at the risk of them not looking like them at all :’D)

Animals (they might be a bit less cartoony as I'm not used to them but yes)

Personifications/anthropomorphic/strange creatures in general

Nos:

No discriminatory content

No religious figures, symbolism or content (I am Muslim so… Cannot Really Do That)

No extreme gore or suggestive themes, or characters from media that feature a lot of either (this is because my art blog is PG-13, and I’d rather not anything off-colour for a charity commission anyway)

No using these with AI or NFTs

Do not use for commercial purposes. These are for charity!

I reserve the right to decline your commission if I feel like you have insincere ulterior motives, or if an emergency comes up.

Generally, keep this PG-13/grandma-friendly!

Pleases:

References (preferably image based, but text is fine if there is no visual depiction/canon design)

Colour you associate with the character if monotone

Poses (just not lewd or rude)

Context (like description of their personality, what they like, their setting, etc.)

Ask first:

You are free to repost the artwork on another platform as long as you credit me as the artist. Absolutely use them if you need a picture for something like an RP account!

If from your original work, you may use them in non-commercial projects, just please credit me (and give me a heads up so I can go check it out! :D).

If an original character from an original story, you are free to use the artwork to help with things like visual development (let’s say, you are creating a game, comic or pilot, and you want a reference for the artists on your team to use), just once again give me a heads up and credit me as the artist.

If you've made it this far, and can't donate, thank you so much for your interest anyway. At the very least, this reached someone.

[gattnk]

Working with Irene is a dream come true! Now Igor on the other hand... talk about a nightmare...!

This is it folks, the last of the Golden School teachers! We still have some other Eternals left to go, as well as the humans, but I feel like this is a good milestone to start the year with. Now, Irene and Igor are very particular: they only show up in what the fandom refers to as the "Russian saga", a self-contained story based on the show where Raf, Sulfus and friends briefly go to Russia for some lessons under these two. This context informed my design choices a lot, and they go as follows:

I chose Irene and Igor to be in charge of the Oneiric Compositing faculty, that is, dream-crafting. The concept came from Uriè's digi-dream camera: I thought it would be interesting if angels and devils also influenced humans in their sleep by either inspiring goodness or tormenting with fear respectively.

Irene's canon dress threw me off a bit: I could tell it was a Russian noblewoman's dress thanks to all the gold embroidery and red fabric, but I couldn't pinpoint its exact influence other than it was not a common sarafan. I scrapped the nobility aspect in favor of something more homely, inspired by traditional Eastern European clothes and the Matrioska doll (sorry, no detailed embroidery, I have to respect the design philosophy I've kept so far).

I chose the Matrioska doll as my key inspiration to homage the Russian saga, but also because of its ample symbolism. Some believe these dolls grant wishes and bring good omens; others find them to represent the layers of the mind and the self; they can also be seen as a mother figure, a symbol that embraces and protects generations to come. There's so many ways to look at Matrioska dolls and interpret them, just like dreams!

Igor also had to depart from his canon counterpart: I could tell the original design was inspired by Rasputin, and I see how his infamous reputation could enrich a devil character, but that same infamy could be brought into the picture in other ways. I kept the body complexion, the beard and the long coat as key elements so he would still be recognizable, but I fully departed from the real historical figure and instead focused on making him look like a nightmare that instilled fear and terror.

When I think "nightmare", I think boogeyman, bugbear, Krampus. A spindly, crooked old man that uses his walking cane to punish more than he does for walking, who will stuff you in a sack and take you away if you misbehave, his glowing eyes being the last thing you see before everything goes dark... His only mercy comes from his victims shuffling in the bag, thus ringing the bells tied on top, so now the other children know to beware! >:D

Irene's colors are the traditional primary colors: red, yellow and blue; red and yellow are warm colors and are naturally very eye-catching, so for contrast I used more shades of desaturated blue in her design. Her design is very curvy and full of semicircles, which inspired her halo's shape.

Igor instead has the traditional secondary colors: green, purple and orange; since green is very versatile in terms of warmth and coldness, I used it to highlight certain elements while keeping the rest of the palette more muted and dark (thus the orange became brown). His ram horns are very angular like the rest of his design, and they're the biggest devil horns yet, signifying his age.

If math serves me right I'm only missing three more Eternal designs for the central cast of characters (if you guess correctly which ones, you earn a cookie), but then again I was never great with numbers so I might surprise even myself down the line, hehe. We're done with the Golden School staff! Huzzah! :D

I'll Fly With You (rewrite fic) Art Masterpost

[rex-rambles]

➤ How F1 Drivers Would React to You Being Lightning McQueen and Sally for Halloween

featuring: liam lawson, lando norris, max verstappen, logan sargeant, oscar piastri, daniel ricciardo, and charles leclerc

wc: 1.1 k

warnings: none :)

➤ MASTERLIST

➤ Liam Lawson: 

↳ Obviously very, very down with the idea. Probably has already planned it at some point, hell, you might have just barely beaten him to bringing it up.

↳ This man will not skimp out on some Spirit Halloween nonsense, he is going all out, from a professionally made rust-eze jacket (that he may or may not have had already on hand for this exact situation), picked out the right shade of blue for your outfit, and got the hats done professionally.

↳ When it comes to actual Halloween? Will not leave your side so everyone can see that you are, in fact, Lightning McQueen and Sally, and will force you to take a hundred pictures of him and then the two of you together to post everywhere and show everyone.

↳ It's going to be hard to get him to take off that jacket once all the fun is over, but he will keep it tucked away until the next costume party or the next Halloween, in which he will beg you to repeat it. 

➤  Max Verstappen: 

↳ Reluctant but a good sport. He's not a big Halloween guy, nor does he understand the need to dress up as an adult, but for you, he'll do it, with a few exceptions. It's just a red t-shirt and the hat with the eyes, no extra logos or anything flashy. He wears the hat backwards all night, so people only really see him walk away get the outfit.

↳ He'd picked out some nice little blue dress for you to wear as Sally, something practical that you could wear out again, because if Max is paying good money for something like this, he wants you to be able to wear it more than once. 

↳ Would probably get drunk enough that he'd start saying 'Kachow', or make fast car noises. 

➤  Logan Sargeant:

↳ Seeing as he's one of the few drivers who probably grew up celebrating Halloween, Logan would go all out. Much like Liam, he'd get you both proper costumes, plan a Cars movie night, and load up on Halloween candy to hand out for the actual 31st. 

↳ Now, if he was back on an F1 team (I miss him on the track), he would hesitate to wear a costume to a race. Being the only American has already made for some difficulties, so he'd feel a bit silly about going in costume, even if the race was in America. If you really pushed him, he would and play it off, but he'd rather not. 

↳ I also feel like he'd be a great Halloween party host. He'd decorate, he'd get great snacks, and he would curate a great Halloween playlist for everyone. Cozy night-in vibes, but still happy to have people around. If this occurred during his F1 days, he would absolutely enforce a costume rule, and encourage everyone to show up in costume, or get the teams to come in group costumes.

➤  Oscar Piastri: 

↳ Into it. As one of the younger guys on the grid, he not only grew up watching Cars, but he also has absolutely no qualms with dressing up for Halloween. Would, however, probably just DIY it rather than pay for the costume. He'd help you find printouts for the eyes on the hats and the different logos, all while watching the different Cars movies. 

↳ If a race ended up being on Halloween? I can guarantee he would walk into the paddock in costume, and he would play it up all day, much to Liam's jealousy. If he were to win said race? You would never hear the end of it, and he would probably refer to his trophy as his Piston Cup.

 

➤  Lando Norris:

↳ Less enthusiastic, but still more than happy to go along. His couple costume ideas I feel would be a bit basic, so when you suggest Lightning McQueen and Sally, he's happy to play along. 

↳ Orders everything online a week ahead of Halloween and then stresses that it won't arrive on time, even though he paid for the extra shipping. May not wear the hat on Halloween if he's having a good hair day. You'd feel weird wearing the hat when he isn't, so if you also abandon it, Lando is more than happy to be wrapped around you all night so people can still figure out what the costume is. 

↳ The Rust-Eze t-shirt would become a regular in his workout cycle, weathering it just enough by next Halloween that you'd consider repeating the costume, but Lando would argue since you picked Lightning McQueen and Sally, he gets to pick the next costume. 

➤  Daniel Ricciardo:

↳ Would make you go as Lightning McQueen, and he would be either Mater or Sally. He would argue that you'd look better in red, and he would teasingly suggest getting one of those revealing costumes online, but he'd never actually order one. You'd want to DIY it, and Daniel would try and help, though I feel like his arts and crafts skills wouldn't be as good as Oscar's.

↳ Confuses everyone with the costume, considering he's walking around in a pale blue t-shirt and a backwards hat of the same colour, like Max, until he shows you off in your red dress and Rust-Eze jacket.

↳ Would make a ridiculous amount of car jokes/puns the entire night about you 'revving his engine' and things like that. 

↳ Of the racers, would be one of the ones who wants to spend Halloween handing out candy, watching the reactions of kids at the door to both of you dressed up. You cannot tell me this man wouldn't go all out for it, either: he would be one of the full sized chocolate bar houses, and he probably would let the kids take as many as they want.

➤  Charles Leclerc:

↳ As a Ferrari driver? More than happy to dawn his red fireproofs and pretend to be Lightning McQueen, but when you tell him that it isn't a real costume, and he needs to actually dress up? Less enthusiastic. You finally settle on him in his fireproofs and a red hat that has the eyes on it, but he surprises you with a pale blue fireproof suit decorated to look like Sally, only if Sally were with Ferrari. Refuses to have you go around advertising a 'competitor', and almost calls off the costume when he finds out Sally is supposed to be a Porsche. 

↳ Wears the hat to a race if it's on Halloween, and it ends up getting passed around the Ferrari paddock for multiple photoshoots.

↳ Leo goes as Mater, because Leo obviously has to be included in the costume. 

a/n: it might be January, but there's always time to think about Halloween.

[quibbs126]

So I also ended up making this this afternoon

So basically the story behind this is that I decided “eh screw it, I said I’d try making that megop kid idea, might as well try making some helm designs to start out with”. And I made a bit of one for TF One, though specifically inspired by their cogless designs since I’ve drawn them a fair bit

But then it dawned on me that outside of TF One, I haven’t actually drawn that many Megatron and Optimus designs. Like I drew Animated Optimus like a couple times when I was starting out, but that’s it. And also the idea itself doesn’t really work with TF One, since as it stands the war hasn’t technically even broke out yet. It works far more in a series where it’s actually been happening

So I figured, I should start at the basics and get myself some practice on g1 Megatron and Optimus, since you know, they’re the classic designs

Also side note on g1 that isn’t really related but I wanted to add in anyways, today I got the complete set of the g1 cartoon (minus the movie but that’s okay). It was a Christmas present that was supposed to come earlier but finally came in today. And I learned my PS4 can play Blu-Rays (which really shouldn’t be a surprise, I’m aware that’s what made the PS2 sell so well, but I didn’t realize they kept doing it), so that means I am now able to watch g1 on an actual TV, legally, with presumably higher quality, and possibly even subtitles

So you know, I’m doing pretty good right now. I’m glad my dad is supporting my Transformers fixation and the fact that I’m insisting on using a DVD player (for the movies at the library, but still), which means actual DVDs

Anyways, side tangent aside, back to the drawings

I think they turned out fairly decent, they don’t really bother me. I do kind of wish I added shading/lighting so the drawings weren’t so flat, but regardless

Admittedly I think I do need to work on actually doing poses and things with these designs, I’m doing a whole lot of nothing with them right now. I need to pose those cubes

Also there’s some colors shared between the two. I don’t know if this is something actually done in the show, and maybe it makes the colors look inaccurate, but I think it’s neat to use the same colors elsewhere

Now on to random things about the characters’ designs I just wanted to mention

First off, this isn’t really a character design thing, but these were the pictures I used for references, outside of some concept art I have for full body basic anatomy (getting screenshots from the show is my preferred form of reference), and I gotta say, it took a fair bit longer to find a picture online with a proper look at Optimus’ head than Megatron’s

Like it didn’t take that long, like 1-2 minutes, but I just noticed how a lot of screenshots don’t really focus on his face, unlike Megatron. I assume because in g1, he doesn’t really have much of one, given his mask covers half of it

Also while Megatron’s helm itself is relatively basic looking and doesn’t really have a lot going on, the rest of his face has got a fair amount of details

Like he’s got defined cheek bone lines (I think), but he’s also one of the few (again I think) characters to have the shadow around his eyes that becomes more common later on

Then there’s also that whatever he’s got going on above his eyes. I’d say it’s eyebrows but I don’t think that’s what it’s supposed to be, given these characters don’t really have those yet

I saw someone, aka the person who makes Transformers Until One, granatu888 (idk if I should tag them here or not), turn the thing into a battle mask that drops down onto his face, and frankly I think that’s really cool, and that’s what I now choose to believe it is. Hasbro, make that what it is

Anyways, moving on. I don’t really have a lot to say on Optimus other than his helm being a lot more simplistic in its shapes than I’m used to, as well as very triangular. Like compared to TF One Optimus, who’s got a lot of details going on, his is super simple. I also didn’t make his antenna full triangles going down because I thought it looked weird, now they’re more like TFA Optimus

Also one last thing, but I swear the way I drew him looks just like that how one artist does, the one who draws Sparkplug (sorry, unlike the last mention I don’t actually remember the artist’s name, probably because I don’t follow them. Which tbh I should probably rectify, I like their Sparkplug stuff). Sorry it was just something I noticed afterwards and can’t unsee it. This also applies specifically to the face, they draw the actual rest character much better than me

Anyways, back to Megatron. Random thing, but he’s got a whole control panel on his torso. I’ve known he has it, because he has it in TF One, but why does he have it?

This kind of goes hand in hand, but random other thought I had today that connects, his design in general is a bit off compared to other characters because in g1, he doesn’t transform into a vehicle, he turns into a gun. Like that’s not to say he looks out of place (I mean I still think his helmet looks weird), but like, he doesn’t have a lot of kibble because of it. Like he’s one of the characters with no glass on his body because guns don’t have glass

Also does he have two guns? One on his shoulder, another on his back? I don’t know, I’m only now realizing that. They probably combine together when he transforms. Also I think his fusion cannon is just supposed to be his scope in gun mode, which ironically I’m pretty sure aren’t actually involved with the damage part of shooting. I don’t know, random observation

And uh, I think that’s it. It was mostly just random design details, and honestly not as many as I was expecting. I didn’t really have much to say on the art itself, mostly since it was just me trying to draw the g1 designs

But yeah, it was neat, I think I have a better understanding of their general designs, at least here. Now to actually use them in any way

[elyssaarts]

Literally haven't posted in years so here's a picture of some folks from Arcane and a single one of Anya because I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. The first two were without reference just for funsies. Sketches done with ancient dried out Stabilos (Jinx, Anya, and Vi are only Stabilo), color with ohuhu alcohol markers, black is acryla gouache. The graffiti is done with Gelly Roll Moonlights, shout-out to the orange one who decided he'd never been used and never would be.

Some things I learned from this one:

* Daniel Smith Watercolor Ground can protect crappy paper from alcohol markers and make a somewhat toothy, impermeable surface that's excellent for blending. It does take 24-48 to dry completely. It WILL smudge water based media underneath. Not as bad if you swipe it on really fast (not recommended)

*Sakura has been saying for years that you just need to scribble with a jelly roll to fix it. I decided I wasn't giving it my all the previous times I'd tried, and used a full sized sketchbook page scribbling as hard as I could to get ink out. I also tried water, alcohol, and wd-40 to get the ink to flow. It did not. This was the last set of Gelly rolls I bought probably more than five years ago. I was angry because 2 of the pens I bought did not work when I bought them. They still don't work. I'm frustrated because they either work flawlessly and beautifully, or literally not at all.

* I already knew this one from previous mistakes but do NOT layer Gelly Roll over water based media (including regular gouache) unless you're ok with the colors possibly blending. They probably will. Hence, acryla gouache.

* I did something different for each portrait, so each one has some positives and negatives for me. My favorite in terms of quality is Ekko, which was done with an off-white colored pencil for the sketch. I think that worked best.

*Caitlyn's is a little disappointing to me because the lead-pencil shading looks like a five o'clock shadow. Good to remember for future.

*just fyi there's a bunch of other sketches that got covered up. You can see a bit of dog snoot up/right of Ekko. Just thought it was a fun little thing.

[angelizs]

[Octopus piercing - Jade Leech]

Summary: Hand slipping down from his cheek to his chin, you pull away to take in the whole picture. Jade, octopus piercing covering his whole ear, skin flushed a delightful shade of light pink, eyes looking at you the whole time, entranced. 

Notes: gn!reader, based on the early concept of punk Jade, in this household we like flustered Jade who's down bad while also being a tease, now I'm certain he had a punk phase at some point and still has the piercings!

"Oh? What's this?"

Your voice rings out in the otherwise silent room, being quickly replaced by the sound of clinking metal.

Jade turns his head around your direction, tilting it to the side in interest. If you had been looking at him, you might have noticed the ever so slight widening of his eyes as he realizes what you found (you always do, as attentive to his expressions as he is with yours), but alas, something else had caught your eye.

It's as if the air in his bedroom stilled and time had stopped for a moment as you lift up your hand to look closer at your finding. He watches attentively, wanting to drink in your reaction.

You don't disappoint (you never do). Your lips part as you let out a breath of amazement, your eyes shining as they reflect the light of the jewel. Something so simple managed to mesmerize you. Your fingers delicately, as if afraid they could break it, toy around it, spinning it from one side to the other, taking in the texture and the coldness.

Jade gets so deep in watching you he almost forgets his comeback. Almost.

"Prefect, you shouldn't mess with other people's things, it's not very polite."

You turn to him, making him feel exhiliration tickle down his spine from having your attention on him, your humorous smile directed at him and only him. 

"You didn't seem to share the sentiment a few months ago, huh?" You refer to the little... incident with Azul's contracts at the end of the year. It was all water under the bridge now, but you still liked to tease them about it.

"These were very different situations, wouldn't you say?" 

For emphasis, he lowers his voice and slides to the side you're seated on his bed, his leg touching yours and his face close enough you could count his eyelashes if you wanted to, but not enough for his nose to touch yours. 

There's a hitch in your breath, so quiet that if it was anyone else they would have missed it. Jade doesn't. His smile turns more genuine at the corners.

"No, I don't think so." 

Instead of trying to get away, you stay where you are, attracted like a moth to the flame. Your hand comes between your faces, putting the object of your fascination in display.

It was an octopus tentacle piercing, one that would curl around the top of the ear and pass through the earlobe. It was quite detailed, with all the suction cups carefully craved in silver.

"It's beautiful. I didn't know you had other earrings."

There it is, that curious look in your face, the one that promises to deliver endless entertainment. He decides to indulge you to see where you're heading with it, although he already has an inkling.

"That must be because I only use this one nowadays." He touches the signature scales earring he's using. "But there was a time I was still experimenting with my appearence. I suppose I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them."

"It's a bit hard to imagine you using anything other than this one, but..." Your gaze turns to the octopus earring, evaluating it, before sliding to his face again. Jade feels as if he was being examinated from the inside out, as if you could investigate his very soul from the intensity of your stare. "I think this one would look pretty good too."

"Shall we check?" 

His fingers do quick work of taking off the backing and pulling his current earring away from his ear, leaving it bare. He puts it on the nightstand and turns around, exposing his side to your ministrations.

You stare for a second, caught of guard. "May I?"

"Of course, go ahead."

You hesitate for a second longer, hearing him let out an amused huff of laughter, before your fingers approach him. You tuck the longer strand of black hair behind his ear to give you space to work. In the process, your warm hand brushes against it, making him shiver. 

Taking your time, you let your touch ghost his cold skin, captivated by such a rare chance to be so close to his space. You notice, for the first time, that there are more little holes alongside it, where other piercings might have been before. The image you conjure in your head is charming enough to make you smile.

The pad of your thumb strokes his earlobe before you insert the post and screw the back, holding it in place and sliding the cuff to hook it on his upper ear. 

Your hand stays in place as you admire your work, rubbing the helix absentmindedly. You hum, your other hand cupping his cheek to turn his head in your direction so you could see how it looked.

"Something's wrong?" You whisper, noticing how he feels warmer under your touch.

Jade's pupils look slightly blown when his eyes meets yours. "Go on." It comes out in a rushed breath. 

Humming once more, your smile widens. "As you wish." 

Hand slipping down from his cheek to his chin, you pull away to take in the whole picture. Jade, octopus piercing covering his whole ear, skin flushed a delightful shade of light pink, eyes looking at you the whole time, entranced. 

"What's the veredict?"

"I was right, you know. It does look good."

"Is that so?" There's something to his tone, something you can't quite name.

You turn his head around, enjoying the thrill you get when he complies and lets you do as you please.

"Actually, maybe I wasn't."

At this, he turns around by himself, a calculating look on his face, trying to guess what you where going to say. He catches up just before the words leave your mouth, but it doesn't make them any less enjoyable to say.

"It's more than good. You look lovely."

The sincerity in his answering laugh is elating.

"You flatter me, prefect. If this is the reaction I'll get, then I might change around my looks more often."

"There's more, right? I'd like to see them too!"

The pleased glint in Jade's expression turns into mischievousness as he pulls away from you, moving to get up.

"Perhaps another time. This would take time I can't afford without risking running late to my shift at Mostro."

"C'mon! Just one more!" You hold his arm before he can move out of your reach, looking through your lashes at his towering form. "Please?"

Sighing, he concedes. "If you insist so much, I suppose we could look at another one." You cheer, pulling him back to where he was, already looking through his other piercings in the drawer. "For a price, naturally."

You only deadpan at him, earning an amused chuckle.

"My, my, what's with that face? Can you say you weren't expecting it?"

"Of course I was, it is you after all. What will it be then?"

A sharp grin exposing his teeth blooms. Most would be scared by it, but the only thing passing through your mind is how this expression goes quite well with this new piercing.

"Not backing down? Very well. How about you participate in this week's Mountain Lovers Club meeting?"

"Deal." There's not even a moment to blink before you agree. Truly, you didn't mind going on his club meetings. In fact, they were very enjoyable most of the time, and if that would make him happy you could sacrifice a few hours from your day. Besides, you were having a lot of fun with your new discovery. "Now, how about this one?" 

You show him the piercing you chose, a little fish skeleton that looked cheaper than the other one. You thought it would look quite cute.

"This was a gift from Floyd, so I'm rather fond of it." You can tell it's true from his softer tone. "We have a deal, you can go ahead."

Letting you have full access to his ear once more, you explore the options where you could put this new piercing. Since the other one covered a good part of the available space, you decided to insert it on the helix, where they wouldn't clash.

You carefully hold it on one hand while your other supports his ear. It's almost reverent the way you insert it, treating it like it was a precious jewel, watching intently as it pierces the skin and appears on the other side, nimble fingers screwing it in place.

Like before, you take his chin between your thumb and index finger, taking in the sight of him. Your lips pout as you think, his eyes darting to stare at them as if in a trance before quickly glancing back to meet yours.

"If feels like there's something missing..." You mumble, thinking out loud. "Oh! Maybe if I just..."

Without further explanation, your free hand combs his hair backwards, messing with it enough to get a spiky look that could rival his twin's. The strand of black hair you had tucked behind his ear gets loose, only half of it staying in the place you left.

Thumb gently rubbing his skin, you push his face away. The messy hair alongside the piercings made him resemble a delinquent. If it wasn't for his awestruck expression, Jade would look quite intimidating. 

"There you go! You look great!"

A second passes where he just stares at you, as if taking this moment in and commiting it to memory, before there's a signature smile adorning his face.

"I trust you did a good job then."

"Nah, you already did before, I just tweaked with a few things here and there."

The amused huff of breath he lets out warms your fingertip. You feel your cheeks getting hotter. 

"I see. In this case, thank you for your assistance. Hopefully Azul will be able to appreciate this new look as much as you do."

Imagining Azul's reaction to his usual put together employee going to work with such a carefree look makes you chuckle.

"I have no doubt that he'll love it. Not as much as I do, but close enough."

"That's a relief, seeing as I have to go now in order to not get late." 

He gets up again and extends his hand to you. You take it, letting him help pulling you up to your feet, standing so close you're pressed against his chest. You can feel his hum resonate through it. Your arms embrace his torso to keep you balanced.

Before you can make a comment, his hand holds your chin, mirroring the position you were in minutes ago, while his other tousles your hair.

"I enjoyed our time together, it's truly too bad it had to be cut short. Let's meet up another time for you to look at the other piercings, yes? There are quite a lot of them, after all."

"I'd like that." You close your eyes to enjoy his touch, leaning into it.

"I'm sure you do." Jade's teasing actions turn softer as he starts to stroke your hair affectionately. "I'll look forward to our next meeting, prefect." 

His tone makes you open your eyes to peek at him. It sounds far too tender, far too sincere. His smile betrays nothing of his thoughts, but you know he said the truth. 

"Me too. Make sure to prepare a special activity for the club meeting since you'll have a special guest!"

"I'll do my best to keep you entertained, don't you worry. I'm sure you'll enjoy what I have planned."

"You sure know how to make someone curious." You tease, hoping he'd give you a hint at what he had planned, but no luck.

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait and see."

You sigh exaggeratedly. "That I'll do." 

"I promise it'll be worth the antecipation. Now, I truly must get going." 

Leaning down while his hand combs your hair backwards, his lips leave a fleeting touch on your forehead, an almost kiss that leaves you wanting more.

"Until we meet again, dear."

With that, he leaves the room in quick strides, leaving you alone to process what happened. Your hands shoot up to your forehead as you splutter, trying to get your thoughts in order. 

Just what was that?

Sighing, you decide you'll have to wait until the mountain lovers club meeting to confront him. It's shaping up to be quite an eventful day and you can feel your excitement bubbling up.

Jade sure knew how to keep someone on their toes.

Glancing one last time at the nightstand, the light catching on his scales earring laying there innocently, you leave to go to your dorm.

Your thoughts turn to the mental picture of Jade, flushed face and blown pupils, messy hair and piercings on his ear. Involuntarily, your lips shape into a giddy smile. 

There was a jewellery shop at the island's city, right? Maybe you'd take a look at which piercings they had next time you go run errands.

BONUS SCENE!

"Azul! Jade's here!" Floyd's excited giggle rings out in the otherwise silent office as he opens the door with a bang.

"Finally! I was starting to think he forgot about his shift..." Azul trails off as he takes in the sight before him.

Right next to a smiling Floyd was Jade. His outfit was in perfect condition and his posture was as formal as always. Still, Azul couldn't stop staring at the different hairstyle and piercings he was using.

There was a time when they were first years and very new to living on land in which Jade decided to experiment with his appearence. He got a lot of piercings and cut his hair in what could be known as a "punk hairstyle", contrasting terribly with his buttlerly personality. He seemed to find it very amusing, but after getting in trouble with the teachers for breaking the dress code and getting bored of the usual reactions he'd get from the other students, he decided to take them off and let his hair grow, going back to his usual look.

So it was quite a shock to see them making a comeback, although in a much tamer way than how he used to be.

"What... what has brought this back?" Truly, Azul thought he'd gotten used to the twin's antics by now and couldn't be surprised anymore, but they always found a way of surpassing expectations. 

"Yeah, I wanna know too! When I asked you to put them back you just ignored me." Floyd pouts, crossing his arms and slouching dejectedly.

"It's a long story, but it started when the prefect and I were studying in my room..."

"Wait, you know what? You can stop right there, I don't want to know. Please just get to work." Azul sighs, massaging his temples.

Whenever Ramshackle's prefect was involved, there surely was some crazy story following, and they were already behind schedule as it was.

"Of course, as you wish." Jade agrees with his usual polite smile, but no one in the room was fooled by it. They both knew he was extremely amused by their curiosity. 

"Awn, I wanted to know." Floyd complains, whining. 

"Perhaps I'll tell you another time. Right now, let's get to work, shall we?"

With a groaning Floyd in town, Jade walks out of the door as if nothing was amiss. Azul simply accepts that he'll have to deal with this new development and decides to have a talk with the prefect later. Not that it would change much of anything. When Jade had his mind set on something, he didn't stop until he was satisfied, and for some reason or other he seemed to be interested in experimenting again.

The Octavinelle dorm leader could only wonder what had caused this sudden interest.

Masterlist

[mus-xpart-a]

Biology in Evangelion: Angel blood is blue, so why is Tabris’ red? - A theory

To start this off: 

This is about the original series + EoE, so any Lore or Explanations added or changed by the rebuilds is not acknowledged. 

This heavily relies on my interpretation, which does slightly alter the meanings of certain terms

My knowledge on biology ends at 8th grade so I’m sorry if any of this is painfully wrong / explained very poorly.

I have never had any training when it comes to writing in english so this is all over the place and has many grammar errors

Introduction

The other day I thinking about the difference between lilim / human and the seed of Adam. Specifically their blood. Beings of Adam (angels) have blue blood and beings of Lilith (humans/Lilim) have red blood.

Sooo… why does Kaworu / Tabris have red blood? We know he has red blood because of his eyes (red eyes are when there is no pigment and the light reflects the blood cells), and after unit 1 squishes him and is being cleaned off we see her hand is covered in RED blood. (Like I said earlier this is just about the original series & EoE, but I find it important to note that there is no ignoring the fact that his blood is VERY red in the rebuilds as well)

Tabris is of Adam, shouldn’t his blood be blue? If his blood is red, does that mean he’s less of an Angel? Is he really an Angel at all? I thought about these questions for far too long, and actually got quite frustrated at some points due to what seemed to be inconsistencies, until I realised it all makes sense.

Tabris does not have the biology of an angel, but that doesnt change the fact that he is one. Why is that?

What is an Angel?

Before I get too into it, I want to define what an Angel is in Evangelion. What an angel is, is defined by the characters in the show without knowing the big picture. The definition being the 15 children of Adam are Angels. In my interpretation an Angel is any and every being directly related to Adam. So Lilith isn’t an angel, and its offspring and clones aren’t either. They are Humans / Lilim. As an example following this logic, Evangelion Unit 1 (clone of Lilith) and all Lilim (offspring of Lilith) are not angels, and Adams children (Sachiel, Ramiel, Sandalphon etc) as well as Unit 0 and Unit 2 (clones of Adam) are.

I am very aware that Lilith is referred to as an Angel (specifically as the second Angel), but that is only because, like I said earlier, the characters that defined what an angel is didn’t really have the big picture in mind, nor did they have much information to go off of. Lilith isn’t of Adam, so it doesn’t make sense for it to be called an Angel. The humans found it after finding Adam, so they just assumed they are the same.

About clones

We know clones inherit the biology of their source body, even if the clone itself isn’t a 1to1 copy. So for example Rei is a clone of a Lilim (Yui), so her blood is red. As seen in her eyes and the bandages covering her many many injuries throughout the series are stained red. There’s no denying it, reis blood is red. This makes sense.

And this isn’t just for Humans / Lilim, it also applies to beings of Adam. We see this with unit 2 (a clone of Adam) in her fight with Zeruel and in EoE when she fights the mass produced Evas that her blood is also the lovely shade of blue associated with angels. (Note: To my knowledge we never see unit 0s blood, but if anyone has some scenes from the original series where we do see her bleed, let me know). 

The blue blood is not something unique to Unit 2. We never see Adam bleed, however we do see that his offspring (not clones, but still related) do in fact have blue blood. Unit 1s fight with Sachiel in the second episode shows and confirms this best. This is why angels are “Pattern Blue”. It’s for their blue blood type. 

Clone "genetics"

(We get a bit more into my personal interpretations here, but bear with me.)

Everything related to Lilith has red blood and everything related to Adam has blue blood. 

…Right? Well, not always. 

An example of this not always being completely being true is the same example I used earlier. Unit 2. Unit 2 is also related to Lilith.

Yes, she is a clone of Adam, but her soul is from Asuka’s mom, a Lilim. Unit 2 in my opinion is better described as being related to Lilith because of her soul. Who you are is determined by your soul and not necessarily your body.

So, she is related to Lilith and Adam simultaneously. But is better described as of Lilith despite being biologically of Adam.

So Clones biology is determined by the source BODY and not the biology of the original souls host, despite the souls source being better used to describe who / what the person or being is.

Where am I going with this? 

Personally I believe that Kaworu is also clone of a Lilim. Which is why he can pass as human, and looks so similar to Rei. Both having red eyes, pale skin, light hair, a thinner body, and looking rather sickly. Now, I do not know if this is canon or not, but if it isn’t ever outright stated it’s pretty heavily implied in my opinion. 

Tabris says that Rei is “like him”. And he isn’t referring to the fact he’s an Angel, because Rei isn’t an angel. She has Liliths soul. Lilith isn’t an angel. But she also isn’t really Lilith. Yes, she is the Vessel for its soul but they are still referred to as different beings. Just like how Kaworu is the vessel for Adams soul, but Tabris and Adam are seen as seperate beings, seperate Angels even.

So, he must be referring to the fact that they are both clones of Lilim housing the souls of other beings, Lilith and Adam respectively. 

Who Tabris is a clone of is a mystery. I personally like the theory that it’s Dr. Katsuragi (Misatos dad) but in the end it’s irrelevant. What’s relevant is that he is a clone of a Lilim. And like i determined earlier, clones inherit their biology from the source of the body, and not the biology of what originally housed their soul. 

In conclusion:

Despite his soul being (of) Adam and being an angel, due to the fact that he is a clone of a Lilim, Tabris’ blood is red, and not Blue.

[animalsalvationassociation]

Tunip & Tomminow

[ DO NOT REPOST, ALL ART & CONCEPTS WERE MADE BY ME ]

Illustration Time of All Vegimals: 13hr 54min

Hello I am sick so here is a Tunip and Tominnow redesign . . . You are welcome.

Headcanon:

Tunip is the oldest of the Vegimals and tends to take the role of “leader” out of the bunch. In fact he aspires to be just like Captain Barnacles when he is grown up.

He does his best to take care of his younger siblings and makes sure that they stay safe and out of trouble. He’d never admit it but deep down all he wants is to make his Papa Shellington proud, even if that means putting himself in harms way for his brothers and sisters.

Adding to this you may often find Tominnow following right behind her big brother with a plush copy of her favorite Octonaut held tightly in her arms. Tominnow, unlike Tunip, is pretty shy and actually takes after her big brother Hilbeet. She is the youngest of the Vegimals aside from her twin brother Pikato, and wants to be just like Kwazii when she is older.

Notes:

Decided to tweak the picture just a bit, I really wasn’t sold on the shading. Something was just off, even though I spent a long time on it. So I just covered everything with a base layer and kept the shading beneath it for future reference. This was one of the pieces that ended up accidentally getting deleted alongside the other Octonauts so I’m just glad it’s finished.

(It would’ve also taken too much time to shade ALL the vegimals so I did this to all of them. Honestly I think they all look better this way)

I would also like to thank past me for taking a picture of the original line work and coloring to show to my friend before they all got deleted, because if I didn’t I wouldn’t have anything to show for this week sooooooo

Now if you’ll excuse me I’m still extremely sick so I’m going to go lay down.

Next Characters on the Lineup: Barrot & Pikato

The Other Vegimals:

Halibeet & Codish / Grouber & Perchkin / Sharchini & Vegi-Bot

[ This is an Octonauts AU, in no way is this canon to the OG storyline. ]

[anzuhan]

im super interested in knowing how u get such vibrant colors & draw ur faces,,,, also ur art is super cute and awesome !! :3

-🎀

thank you, and i'll try my best to answer this but !! i dont think i'll be much help in trying to explain either of those 😭

for colors i actually pick them manually (insanity); though i draw fanart most of the time and have refs in hand, i pick out colors close to the originals, then simply match them to a tone i want for the picture (if this makes sense; i often use color palettes too to see how i can match them. if there is an odd color that wouldnt match, what i do is i also simply pick a brush on half or lower opacity and place the general color of reference over; for ex below: asuka's hair was a bit too bright and unfitting, so i picked the pure violet shade the lineart had as well and applied it over on 30?40?50% opacity)

for picking colors, theres tons of color palettes online to pick from, but there's also tons of artists with colorful styles like these i like to look for for examples (my best picks are rourow (one of muse dash's artists), onono imouko* (dohna dohna's lead artist; @ _himehajime on twitter), mochizuki kei (@ key999 on twitter), ohisashiburi* (some of the more colorful works of theirs at least. the colors in majority of theirs even if more dark in tone are still super pretty and you can work around with them too; needy girl overdose's lead artist, @ imlllsn on twitter)

*beware nsfw content. onono has no nsfw in his own media tab but rts it; dd is an eroge ; ohisashiburi may have art with sensitive topics, and nsfw or thinly veiled nsfw in both media tab and rts.

—

for faces i still struggle with them actually ! 😭 not that i cannot draw faces, moreso sometimes struggle to draw them as i want. for piece above i feel like i got it exactly as i'd want to always do them (i.e for years on end i've always wanted to draw eyes larger than i usually tend to do); but most of the time especially on eyes i try to match the face closer to reference even if it goes a bit overboard with the style, and then try to make it match more either by line weight or etc. (i also tend to exaggerate expressions at times because i personally think it either better shows them off or it looks cute) (probably best example below because its a redraw of a figure)

i hope the ... not extensive ramble was helpful in any way. good luck with your art journey!!!!

[knockknockitsnickels]

My Personal Best & Worst Skins for Each Don't Starve Character bc I love to yap

Based purely on personal opinion, though if anyone wants to share their own thoughts pls feel free. I'm going to be basing these mostly off of the in-game sprites, which tend to have more vibrant colors than the portraits. I'm sorry for not including said sprites, but I was unable to find good pictures of them all. Also this won't be including the Culinarian/Challenger skins, since those are pretty simple and same-y.

Wilson: Imo the quality of Wilson's skins vary from pretty good to just kind of mid. Nothing stands out as a skin I really want, but there's nothing awful either. My personal favorites are a toss-up between the Verdant, Victorian, and Mad Scientist, but for now I'm going with Verdant because I like the vibe. Worst is between Survivor and Merrymaker - Survivor probably deserves the spot for being bland, but I decided on Merrymaker just because I hate the berries in his hair. I think the holly leaf motif is a cute idea, but the berry placement feels kind of random.

Willow: Willow's in a similar situation to Wilson where there are no skins I really love or hate. Best is probably forlorn doll - all of the details on her head make her in-game sprite a little busy, but the yellow eyes and red dress are cute. Honorable mention to Snowfallen and Victorian for also being cute though. Worst goes to Woeful because a) I have no idea what concept it's going for (Lizzie Borden???) and b) I hate whatever's going on with her hair.

Wolfgang: I recognize that the reference to Hulk Hogan has perhaps aged poorly but I can't not love the Giant. Look at his sick sunglasses and try to tell me this skin is bad. Worst is Incredible Strongman (mostly because of how his hair is drawn. It looks like he's wearing swiss rolls on his head).

Wendy: Best is the Moonbound - I like the hair color change (though the washed out portrait colors don't really do it justice), and the markings under her eyes which resemble tears (like runny mascara, if that makes sense) are a fun detail. Wendy doesn't really have any skins I hate, but my least favorite is Survivor - it's just a little bland, and I don't care much for the "bone" motif (her flower & the ones around her neck).

WX-78: WX is the first character discussed in this post where I think that almost all of their skins are fantastic. It's difficult to choose a favorite - I think using a nutcracker motif for the Christmas-themed Merrymaker set was an inspired choice, Snowfallen gives them this cool, ice-themed supervillain look (literally, I think it was inspired by the character Mr. Freeze from Batman), and while I get why people don't really like the color scheme, I can't not love the super sentai theme of the Midori Roboto (it also just appeals to me as a fan of cheesy 80s rock). With all of that said - I'm sorry, I adore their Guest of Honor outfit, it's so dumb. I think objectively Experiment is probably their actual best skin but I have to be true to myself. Worst goes to Gladiator - it doesn't look so bad in the portrait, but in-game all of the different colors - red, gray, & multiple shades of yellow - around the face area make this skin really busy. Concept's cool, but the execution's flawed.

Wickerbottom: My girl. She's got a few nice skins - Snowfallen gets points for making her look like an ice queen, & I think I like her Moonbound skin more than most other people (I just think the 3rd eye is a cool idea for her). That said, I think the Bewitched is the best one - it looks lovely, the witch theme is fun, & it's the only one which significantly changes up her silhouette. Worst is Volt Goat (a lot of the early Halloween skins were kinda bland, I'm surprised this is the first one I've mentioned).

Woodie: I was surprised by how many good skins Woodie has, since I remembered them being a bit underwhelming. I like his Roseate, Merrymaker, and Snowfallen skins quite a bit, and the last shred of Canadian patriotism in me really enjoys the Hockey skin, but his stupid hippy Halloween costume is too conceptually funny to not include. Sorry I'm really predictable at this point. Worst goes to Masquerader - it's way too busy, and on his in-game sprite you can barely see his mouth.

Wes: Triumphant is hands-down his best skin but shoutout to Lover for that smug lil pose he does in the portrait. I honestly don't think Wes has any bad skins - even the ones I personally think are ugly make really fun use of the clown scheme - so the crown goes to Mandrake for being boring.

Maxwell: Poor Maxwell, man. He's stuck with some of the worst skins in the game. Klei, please PLEASE stop trying to give this man facial hair it does NOT look good. Anyway his best is Gladiator for looking cool (though the portrait colors are REALLY washed out) and making way better use of the "dark magician" theme then some of his other skins dark wizard. Snowfallen is also pretty cool however it DOES lose points for the facial hair. Anyway everyone hates Dark Wizard and while it DOES look goofy as hell Moonbound is worse. I don't know why ppl don't mention it, Moonbound is way worse. #StopTryingToGiveMaxwellABeard #ShaveThatMan

Wigfrid: Like WX, I think almost all of Wigfrid's skins are really good and im gay. Moonbound wins the prize bc she looks like a magical girl and I love that. If I had to pick a worst one I guess I'd choose Guest of Honor. I still like it, the outfit's just a little plain.

Webber: Webber my beloved. I love the Rebel on concept alone & the Victorian for making him a lil sailor boy, but Snowfallen has my heart. I love the way he's colored to look like a snowman (the legs on his head being the "twigs") and that the fluff on his body resembles a sweater. Survivor is probably the worst, it's almost identical to the original aside from some messy hair and spiderwebs. However even the worst Webber skin still belongs to Webber, and is therefore adorable.

Warly: Warly my also beloved, who's also got a lot of great skins. I really like the Candyman, but Roseate is probably the best one - I like the little rose shape in his hair. Worst is ABSOLUTELY Carrat, but shout out to Head Chef (the chef hat in the portrait isn't actually part of his sprite) and the Triumphant for being disappointing (come on, "evil chef" is such a fun idea. Why didn't you make him Bobby Flay).

Wormwood: I probably should've used the in-game sprites for this post, since the coolest part of his skins (the blooming) isn't shown on the portrait. Case in point, my favorite Wormwood skin, Triumphant, looks really bland in the portrait, but when it blooms it opens up into this really cool & striking red eye. I tried to include a picture but it was really big & this post is long enough as it is so you're gonna have to trust me, it's cool. I again don't think Wormwood has any bad skins - I guess I'll go with Roseate since the leaves on his head look Uncomfortably like hair, but it's still good.

Winona: I am EXTREMELY gay All of Winona's skins are really hot fantastic and no I am NOT biased. I want to gush about all of them (SNOWFALLEN! VICTORIAN! THE FIXER! THE ONLY GOOD SURVIVOR SKIN!) but the best is the Swashbuckler. She's so good I'm going insane. I guess her worst is Moonbound? I like some of the ideas but I think it just looks kind of messy, esp whatever's going on with her hair & shoulders.

Walter: WALTER MY BELOVED! I mentioned earlier that Wigfrid's Moonbound skin makes her look like a magical girl, but Walter's actually IS a magical girl skin - his portrait even has him striking the Sailor Moon pose! I think some of his other skins are probably objectively better, but this one's still my favorite. Honorable mention to Triumphant just bc I like the idea (turning a boyscout into a dennis-the-menace style troublemaker). I'm going to give worst to Bee Costume just bc the eyeballs on his head freak me out (but I do think the idea of him dressing up as a bee for Halloween bc he's allergic is fun). Side note, a lot of Walter's skins have hats in the portrait but not in-game? I dunno what's up with that, I guess it's so they don't interfere with equipment?

Wortox: Unfortunately none of Wortox's skins really stick out to me in a positive or negative way. Favorite is probably a tossup between Survivor & Masquerade - went with the former based purely on vibes. I also kinda like the sea-serpent theme of Swashbuckler & gargoyle theme of Victorian. Worst is going to Draconic for being kinda bland & similar to the original. I guess you could make a similar complaint about Uncorrupted, but it's that way for LORE reasons so I wouldn't want them to change it.

Wurt: I really like aquatic monster designs, so i enjoy a lot of Wurt's skins, but the best is Victorian bc a) it's cute and b) deep lore. S/out to Merrymaker's cute sugar-plum fairy motif tho. I will give the worst to Verdant because I don't really like the colors (purple, green, yellow, cream, & brown are a lil clashy).

Wanda: Finally, Wanda. I really like the star motif in her Masquerader fit, and while Tinkersmith is super cute, it looks a little too similar to her original outfit for me (I'm also not a fan of Triumphant's sunglasses, but I like that her hair looks like a shadow hand).

Anyway the moral of the story is don't give Maxwell a beard. Thanks.

[floatingxendlessly]

Day 22? Day 22, flirty

Lookie, I made a background! This piece has caused me trouble, and I'm not fully happy with the end result but I'm still so proud of it!

I'm not happy in the sense that it's not what I envisioned in terms of shading, lighting, rendering, yada yada yada, but I'm so proud of myself regardless because I've got a ways to go with this medium (but also i got lazy and its been three[four] days.) (>◇<)/ I prefer my traditional art but it just wasn't coming out the way I wanted! First I couldn't find decent references so I fused two pictures of myself, made the sketch on Ibis, tried recreating it on paper but in the end I got frustrated and I liked the digital sketch so! This is the end product :3

Anyways back to the boys, I wanted Fuyuhiko to be the one holding Kaz's chin, but I like seeing Fuyuhiko blush so please, accept the alt

I think it's so cute when people blush and their ears turn red <3

This piece is super indulgent for me. All of my art is indulgent but still! Here's my headcanon for it: Kazuichi would be more nervous to initiate touch at the beginning of their relationship, mostly for fear of crossing a boundary, so Fuyuhiko ends up being the one to initiate hand-holding, do a side hug or place his hand on Kaz's waist to encourage cuddling, any of the standard 'couple' or 'romantic' gestures. It wouldn't take too long for Kazuichi to find the confidence to be more affectionate but since they'd likely keep their relationship hidden for a while, any PDA that can't be passed off as regular, friendly interactions are off-limits.

Which means they'd wait to be 100% alone in private to be affectionate, so this would take place a year or more later, when they're out and give less of a dam. Kazuichi would be more touchy but not exactly flirty, and when he does attempt to, it falls a little flat from either his awkwardness or lack of confidence. So the times he does flirt successfully are very impactful. As for Fuyuhiko, he also isn't super flirtatious by nature but he's got more confidence to pull it off. And Kazuichi is a bit more easily flustered by words than Fuyuhiko is, so most of what the blonde says to Kazuichi ends up with him blushing and feeling fuzzy. But that's my personal headcanon, what about you? :v

[your-unfriendlyghost]

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[tamelee]

Hello Tamelee! Do you have any advice to give to beginners regarding drawing? Maybe some exercices that helped you to make progress? I’ve seen that you learn to draw all on your own, and that’s really impressing (and inspiring)!! ❤️

Hi!! 🧡 thankyou so much (ノ・∀・)ノ♥︎ Ah yes of course!!! I wanted to make this earlier but I waited until I finished a few drawings to see if I could come up with more tips and find out what really helps for me.

✍️;

 I did learn to draw by myself, but I watched a lot of speed video’s for guidance ^^ I used to slow them down a lot and really tried to study what artists that I liked did, but I wouldn’t recommend this for beginners. Especially when you don’t really know the program and you won’t understand why they do what they do.

I used to copy the greyscale method even though I knew nothing about color so I heavily relied on values only which made everything look very muddy.

It’s actually only recently that I’m understanding the things that I do and I feel like my anatomy/coloring is improving slowly because of it. 

So, first, I’d highly recommend to instead of copying only as a study method, (like faces for example) to understand why things are the way they are. If you know how planes of a face work, it’s much easier to remember why a certain perspective is like that, when something feels off and how to fix it or how to lay down shadows. The ‘Asaro head’ is a favorite for many, the free version you can find HERE a video on the topic is HERE and learning how to shade is explained very well HERE. Sinix Design has a great video that goes beyond that and it may help you for different kind of faces which you can find HERE. If you're more interested in Anime faces (though the planes work the same), you can find and manipulate 3D models for free HERE or HERE that you can use as a reference. Of course you should always make it your own but they can help with perspective. In fact, you can find many different kinds of models on Sketchfab. Your character holding a cup and you aren't sure how to draw it in that angle? Find one, manipulate it, screenshot and study the perspectives ^^ (I don't recommend tracing or copying.)

Learn about environmental lighting and color temperatures instead of value's (light and dark) only!!! Trust me, the earlier you learn this, the better >*chants* color temperature, color temperature, color temp-

Anatomy is interesting. A lot of tutorials recommend you use photo's to learn it, but it confused me a lot. Pictures aren't always clear enough to see how the body parts are connected and I always thought it was a bit pointless to learn muscles, but it really isn't. I'm not sure how to explain it well, but a picture is often too complicated and you have to narrow it down to find its foundation. I personally think it's helpful to find an artist you like and look how they do anatomy if they have shared any sketches.

Not sure if that makes any sense xD but what I'm trying to say is that for me, looking at pictures alone didn't help me understand much of anything else at all and in some cases made it even more confusing. Clothing makes much more sense in drawings when they're simplified, but this also depends on style!

You can use a napkin around you finger and bend it to get a quick fold reference for a sleeve or something!

Studying the body means... well, studying the body. Naked, in underwear or swimwear. You can find many free references! But there are special anatomy reference packs that are being sold like these.

I don't really do drawing exercises because my ADD just won't allow me to. My motivation immediately drops to zero. So I can't say which ones are very helpful but always feel free to try anything you want and see what works for you! But if there's anything you should exercise always... it's your hands.

Trust me on that one. The pain for ignoring your pain is a consequence you don't want ;-; and sometimes it even leaves you unable to draw for a long time. Avoid issues with carpel tunnel or RSI as much as possible. There are many video's but you could use THIS ONE for example.

I do practice though with everything new that I create. I always try to learn something.

I think the thing that helped me a lot in the beginning was by getting the habit to save everything that I liked. An expression in a movie? I saved it. Favorite art styles? I saved them. Naruto looked particularly adorable in that panel? Saved. Sasuke's hair spikes flawlessly there? Saved it.

If you're quickly overwhelmed though (like me lol) then it's not a good idea to save a bunch of screenshots in a folder because you'll have no idea what to even look for. If you do this then try to keep things as organized as possible so you actually have some use for it and even narrow it down as much as you like. Some panels for Naruto and Sasuke for example I have saved in several folders like 'expressions', 'manga style' or 'outfit' for example. I don't want to spend too much time looking for things, because unlike some of you think, I don't have that much patience xD

INVEST IN EXTERNAL SSD('s) and BACK UP REGULARLY!! Like, everyday if you can, but at least 3x a week. Once a week at THE VERY LEAST. You'll thank yourself one day. Save your art-files so you have access to full versions always but post smaller files if you're drawing in large 300DPI (or more) files. Whatever program you use you can learn to reduce sizes, you don't need to save every layer always when you've finished a drawing, but in Photoshop for example you can 'merge layers 'duplicate all visible layers' as a copy and put it in a progress folder in case you ever need it, like so;

Some other things that helped me a lot also was to create my own short keys to flip the canvas and making the current layer I'm working on visible or not. Personally I have the flipping on 'command+§' and layer visibility on 'command+1'. If you're working with Windows you can switch command key or pick anything else you think would be easy! Flipping your canvas horizontally helps a lot to find mistakes and layer visibility.... I don't really see anyone talking about it, but when I'm rendering over a sketch and get lost in it, I often use this short-key to see if I'm not overdoing it or losing the original perspective which can easily happen!

I hope some of these are helpful, I can't really think of much more right now, but feel free to ask anyway if there is anything in particular! 🌷