#and i do have one thing sketched out but currently i dont have the time to learn how to make custom prosthetics

[pepperpixel]

Both love and hate the absolute DELUGE of ink a fresh sharpie unleashes onto the paper the instant it makes contact…. I have complicated feelings towards the deluge lmao

[sirpeppersto]

i glued a bunch of flowers to my face at school and everyone went so crazy 😏 this is only a percentage of what im capable of

[arolesbianism]

Man oni can't do this to me I'm supposed to be preparing for artfight but all I can think abt is Them™ from the second I wake up to the moment I go to bed how am I supposed to prepare in these circumstances 😔

[duskerot]

maybe i will stop lining my art . maybe i will just color under my sketches after cleaning them up alittle

[ganondoodle]

(new totk rewritten - super rough concept)

so this was a super rough sketch for retrieving the enigma stone of the zora- im currently redoing it since im not happy with this one-

but i have run into a bit of a problem; see the reason why theres monsters causing trouble everywhere is bc ganondorf is trying to keep the stones out of raurus hand(s) thus creating all those bosses to hopefully stop link from reaching them, or at least to slow you down BUT i cant seem to decide whether it makes more sense if the whole reason they are split up among the other regions is because the ancient .. 'sages' wanted to ALSO keep them away from rauru, or if they were instructed by him to do this and await his return (which would be a good reason why they are wearing that sonau helmet still .. if they werent completely in on it i doubt they would do it lol)

(the thought being, would rauru be more likely to not give the stones away at all or he was too afraid that gan could wake up earlier/break free and get his hands on them first- so he sends his trusty servants- sages out to construct big temples and await his return but to stop gan if he were to seek them out first ... also possibly so all the stones arent in one spot, since they, in my rewrite, are the highest concentrated version of spirit energy and would emit an extreme amount of energy likely to attract something... yeha its all based on luminous stoens containting spirit energy and that also powering the shiekah tech .. made a diagram (?) about it once actually, though some parts arent true anymore bc im omitting the whole dragon transform stuff)

(im also using this concept for the skyward sword comic btw, the mining of the timeshift stones being the reason the lanayru region becomes a desert bc the lands been robbed of life energy meant to go back into the system over time edit: i mean this as in an environment was drastically altered from its natural state in an extremely short amount of time, which is generally a bad thing, not as in desert areas just being dead sand filled wastelands, theres plenty of life there if meant to be like that/given long enough time to adjust or turn into it)

while i want to make rauru a villain i also dont want him to be too overtly evil since ... thats kinda boring and just pushes that role onto someone else, im aiming for more nuance overall (which is also why gan isnt some goody two shoes perfectly fine with hyrule, like yeah .. the calamity was his doing still)- so im leaning more towards the latter- though perhaps the gerudo did so more with the intent to keep it away from rauru

(also, i am including mineru after all.. but only as a mummy like so (sorry) but her stone is gone when you reach it bc its been taken by the yiga- for which you have to tract them down and fight koga (and possibly supah/sooga) )

[paper-mario-wiki]

i'm loving seeing you post more of your art!! out of curiosity, how long have you been drawing? is there anything specific you do to practice or do you just pick something and draw it? (i've been trying to learn to draw myself for the past year or so, and seeing your art more often has become somewhat of an inspiration for me!)

ive been doodling all my life! thought when i say "doodle" i mean "as an unmedicated youth i was unable to focus on a drawing for more than 45 minutes at a time"

here's some posts from an art blog i had in middle school, and the first year of highschool.

what most critically separates this art from the art ive been doing recently is that i NEVER used any refrence. ever. i looked at stuff to make sure i knew what it looked like, but the rest was always roughly estimated based on what i thought would look good (which was largely based on cartoons).

but i only ever started trying to "learn how to draw" over the past year. here's the thing: spending a bunch of hours practicing drawing cubes and cylinders is like. all you have to do to see yourself start improving in real time.

draw a bunch of cubes and cylinders, and learn how to make them look realistic in proportion to each other using references to guide you. practice drawing stuff like basic buildings, cans of soda, maybe a cake (3 short fat cylinders on top of each other) if you're feeling daring. then try to draw slightly more complicated shapes, like spheres and cones and stuff. layer these shapes on top of each other to make more complicated shapes. you're gettin the picture.

infuriatingly, basic shapes is like 40% of the "getting it to click" work done.

after than, move on to 30 second sketches of nude models using this site. yeah, only 30 seconds. it doesnt matter if it comes out looking like shit, the point is learning how to simplify complicated shapes down into their most basic lines. dont waste time erasing. dont waste time pressing ctrl-z. erasing is your enemy. you arent learning how to erase, you're learning how to draw. (you'll get your eraser back later).

do this hundreds of times. yeah, hundreds. put on a podcast or something. get in a voice call with your friends. but ya gotta practice this one. that's the next 20% of making it "click".

now, unfortunately, the last 40% is just a matter of slamming your head against the wall of art until things slowly start to look better and better. it's sort of like a chemical formula, in that the closer you get to 100% purity, the more and more difficult it becomes to distill it.

the key is to ALWAYS use reference. you cannot learn how to realistically draw something you've conjured from your mind if you cannot depict something that's right in front of you realistically.

im currently in this valley, as most artists are. in fact i dont think it's possible to make art "click" in your mind 100%, but it sure is fun to inch closer and closer!

below is a bunch of art in chronological order from april to now. you'll see that it's not really a straight road of getting better and better, but you'll see my lines slowly getting more confident and details becoming more clearly defined!

[werewolf-girlfriend]

ive been enabled so let me share some of my thoughts on how to get ur art noticed online

if u want Engagement on ur posts then i believe that its critical to make people care about ur art. the easiest way to do this is to appeal to something they already care about, like fandom, aesthetics/subculture, current events, having fun (people love humor!). a harder but perhaps more fulfilling route is to talk about ur own ocs and projects enough until people start caring about them too

theres an infinite amount of topics people care about out there so id suggest picking something u already care about urself and channel ur art energy there. trying to make art for the most popular things out there regardless own interests is an exercise in misery, id advise against it..! if im allowed to get superstitious for a moment, i do believe that even untrained eyes can tell whether a piece of art was fun to work on or a chore. and besides! if ur having fun then its easier to create more, and the more u create the more chances ull have at getting lucky and having a post seen :)

on a very related note, art is a way to communicate ideas so the quality of the idea being presented in a piece of art is paramount to how popular a post will be. what i mean by this is that technical skill isnt the primary determinant of a posts popularity. if all your posts are portraits of original characters then people will have a hard time connecting with your posts and theyll keep scrolling, even if those portraits are masterpieces! the major exception to this is probably other artists, who ive found usually have a greater appreciation for the technical side of art (we can only speculate as to why..!)

lemme finish by saying that making popular posts and being good at art are two entirely different skillsets, ive seen many incredibly skilled artists with jack shit for notes because they dont give people a reason to care about their stuff NOT TO MENTION its a huge game of luck whether a post will get seen. so dont go insane in pursuit of recognition!

(i dont want to make this post too long so ive included examples from my own art and their note counts with my analysis after the break)

hello and welcome to the extracurricular segment to this post :) i bring yall two pieces from my art blog @werewolf-artfriend:

here we have a portrait of my fursona that im still proud of and a sketch suggesting "what if sniffers (from minecraft) were the size of mountains?" (let it be noted that the sniffer sketch was posted right during the minecraft mob vote = peak interest in the subject of sniffers).

the portrait at the time of writing has a crisp 30 notes, whilst the sniffer sketch has over 2000 notes. from the same artist, on the same blog, posted only a few months apart. i believe this is a good example both of the power of a piece of art having an interesting idea at its core AND of a piece appealing to the interests of the masses

this is of course just two convenient example posts, but i have experienced fan art of popular topics getting thousands of notes a couple of times now, amidst my other furry shit that these days get around 200-300 notes in comparison

this may sound like a really long winded way of saying "fan art make the world go round" but i just want to point out the nuances that

1) it matters what u make fan art of: if a fandom is small or dormant (waiting on new canon content for example) then clearly less people will be excited about the fan art you make. dont expect 10k notes on ur post if the average recent post in the fandom gets around 200 etc etc

2) it doesnt have to be fan art! ive also had some of my bird art get thousands of notes because people simply like birds :) and this applies to ANY topic people care about! the world rly is your oyster on this one

anyway i think ive started rambling dhgdjhgd thanks if u read this far! i hope i got my point across! and if ur feeling down about ur art not being seen then just keep at it okay! keep creating and keep having fun! keep sharing ur ideas and perspectives with the world and ur audience will eventually find u! i love you!

[bebackthen]

ROLEPLAY ADD || dandys world!! (adventure time, and more)

-----------

im once again looking for roleplay partners!! preferably long term. ive got worldbuilding and headcanons and plot ideas for most fandoms and other things if that'll help. i can write three discord messages per reply if you like longer rps, but if youd prefer shorter rps i can do that as well (though i probably will write more anyway!) i have plenty of fandoms (adventure time, object shows, and little nightmares, warrior cats) but right now im looking for dandy's world roleplayers!! i can do alternate timelines, AU's and OC's (within reason of course)

while i am mainly looking for dandy's world roleplayers at the moment, i do have a couple other fandoms i will list after this. for dandy's world, i main shrimpo, and would be ecstatic if i could find someone do to an angst angryhug (goob x shrimpo) roleplay, (i also like boxten x shrimpo, but i dont know the shipname for that one ;o;) ive got a design for shrimpo (canon and alt) that ill be adding to the end of this post !! i love infection aus or just general zomie-like worldbuilding, and general horror themes !! and if i love the rp ill probably draw alot of the scenes...

for object shows ive got plenty of ocs, or i can do canon characters from (ONE, TNM, ITFT, or AB) most of the characters can be negotiated and talked about in pms.

for adventure time i main iceking (and simon), and can do AU's and AT's and have plenty of AUs and alternate timelines! and headcanons.

i like angst roleplays, slice of life, and probably more that i cant think of. i have been roleplaying for years so im willing to communicate with my rp partner and figure something out that we both enjoy !! triggers and stuff can be discussed in pms.

-----------

to give this post some substance beside an rp add here is some shrimpo drawings !!

first off we got some general sketches (angryhug mostly..)

then my shrimpo ref!!

below the cut is spoilered for horror/implied violence !! they are both scenes from a roblox rp i did >O<

.

.

if youve red this far im also looking for gravity falls roleplayers.... specifically for post-weirdmageddion aus that involve bill loosing his memories... i live for that stuff. currently watching the show for the first time rn too so 😏

[gaylordscooter]

logofthehebmultivese: ENTRY HELP

im writing this down tottally calmly and

yknow what im not even going to do a bit

so fresh is currently in my general vicinity and normally ink and i would get the fuck out of there immediately. GUESS WHERE INK IS??

OR SHOULD I WRITE FRESH INK? GOD THIS IS SO GREAT AND AWESOME IM GLAD IT'S HAPPIENING

so im hiding until dream senses my anguish and decides to head over.

i didnt even know he COULD infect ink on the account of NO SOUL.

then again, no one knows how he does it.

i just realized i haven't written an entry on fresh yet. the lack of info on him is exactly why.

basic gist: parasite-virus kind of deal. there's a "main" host which more often than not is what people are referring to when they say "fresh". little known fact unless you've encountered him. he's a hive-mind. and i wouldve appreciated a warning from ink instead of finding that out MYSELF

when he infects someone, they become a "lesser" host which the main host draws magic from.

now i said—

i hear him

.

[there's a bunch of illegible scribbles]

ok. he walked away my hiding spot's good. seems like all those times i played hide n seek with my brother paid off...

so as i was writing, i call him a parasite-virus now im no biologist (unlike most sanses i majored in psychology, and i totally got my degree, yeah) so i dont know how accurate of a term that is but it sounds right to me because he's a parasite (that resides in a main host) that spreads a virus (that infects people and allows him to control them and draw power from).

and no one knows how he infects people. i dont know if it's airborne, through touch, magic-related no one knows. the logical conclusion tends to be through close proximity but even then who knows what he does to spread the virus.

it might have something to do with those shades that all of them wear

did i mention this very dangerous thing larps as a dude from the 90's. it would be funny if it weren't for everything else. did i mention he's emitting music from the 90's right now and that's how ive been able to tell when he's near? (i can never listen to wannabe by the spice girls the same ever again)

hang on

ink seems to be wasting all his paint. i know what he's trying to do. he still has some control

his paint is more viscous than usual, it's clumping together in gross globs. i think something's in it

it's distracting fresh. i think he's trying to calm him down. failing, of course, ink doesn't listen to anyone (except well, the creators)

the virus targets the soul. ink doesn't have a soul so the next best thing is his paint

now people think when he runs out of paint he becomes a lifeless husk and

thats not. that's exactly what happens

but give him paint again he'll be back to normal, that's my job, sometimes. it's not formally my job, ink wouldn't want to depend on someone to that degree but the few times it's happened��im getting off track

there's paint everywhere and im trying my hardest to not touch any of it. there's petals in it, gross is that what fresh uses? petals or flowers?

hang on ink just slapped fresh with his scarf i need to sketch this out

im not that good at drawing. i'll ask ink to do a true artist's interpretation of this.

oh my god he knocked his glasses off. oh my god that's a huge ass flower in his sockets. that

ok it's time to go

[thedistortedfroggit]

FANART DROP RAHHH💥💥

My latest fandom craze: Lego Monkie Kid! Especially after Season 4.

season 4. I'm not the biggest fan of Season 5, but slowly im easing into it.

(HE SAID 'DONT MAKE ME DO THIS'HFJASJK)

coughAnyway.

With this new obsession, naturally comes obsessively reading fanfiction. AND GUESS WHO FOUND A GEM.

Or, perhaps.. an Emerald? (wink)(kill me)

The Green Eyed Macaque is a fic written by ChristyKitty

TOTALLY CHECK THEM OUT!!

As of writing this, 15 chapters are currently out, and the tail end of the 15th one is what finally drove me over the edge to draw them silly!!

Had to practice drawing Macaque and the Mayor, so it'll explain the shitty quality n lil unfinished mayor head lmao/

Now, I know what Author PROBABLY meant with the tail is probably just.. the tip of it nudging the Mayor up. BUT I JUST HAD TO HAVE IT CURLING AROUND AND CHOKING HIM. THE VOICES.

Nobody can convince me that the Mayor wouldn't act smug even with a tail wrapped around his throat.

(Rip Macaque's children, I had to cut them outta the scene to draw these two mainly.)

The right was more of a practice sketch for Macaque, n thats why its kinda shitty- BUT YOU CAN TELL WHAT KINDA POSE I WAS IMAGINING FOR THE SCENE RIGHT??

Here's some progress pics I took of em!! I had sm struggle with the hand placement.

Like, I KNEW it where it was supposed to be?? but idk how to connect it properly???

Here's a little extra, if you've reached all the way down here! A little WIP of my current sketches. YES!! I am not done!! But I decided to just throw what I've got up to feed em something!!

Clearly trying to redo the hair thing (this time w a proper reference..)

The right one is more a personal hc-but-not-rlly scenario. Like, just imagining it. (I.e: What if Wukong could see Reader through Gold Vision? [Mac: "Look at me, do I look like the Six-Eared Macaque?"]) Since I'm too lazy to go reread ALL of the 1st part of the series for Reader Lore, I skimmed through the last chapter to jog any memories and went from there

Reader can't shapeshift, only cast illusions(which I'm assuming is the same thing as glamour just more widespread). Which would mean they're still the same person underneath all that. Gold Vision.. uh, well idk exactly what gold vision can do(didn't exactly finish JTTW) but if hypothetically it COULD see through illusions...

Could Wukong see through mac's illusions? What would he see? The Six-Ears Macaque, or Mac's ACTUAL self?

[beebundt]

Self rec time <3 TAKE TWO

Rules: Share five of your own works (OF ANY KIND CUZ I WANT TO SEE YOUR HYPE). Then, tag five more people to share the things they’ve made.

1. Something you absolutely adore:

2. Something that was challenging to create:

3. Something that makes you laugh or smile:

4. Something that surprised you (how it turned out, how other liked it, etc.):

5. Something you want other people to see:

THANK KEW UR SO KIND FR!!!! THIS SOUNDS FUN SO I LOOKED THRU AND TRIED TO PICK THE MOST FITTING THINGS.......... they're all within a year, maybe 2 or so bc i have very little pieces i still like past that point 🥲

1. i made this during my first year of college, i wanted to do something kind of warm and sweet as a submission for my club's art magazine. i dont think anyone cared abt it too much bc the lgbt population there is. Small to say the least lmao. but i still liked how it turned out! i cant discredit myself for trying to experiment!

2. WHEWWW this one was an art trade and it took 2 months (i felt so bad and still do) and was the first time in a long time doing a big rendered piece so i was super nervous and unsure how i wanted it look. but i think it turned out ok!

3. i love looking back on the very first art from 2 years ago i made of my first active (and still) dnd pc, mimyr!! i still didnt know how i wanted to draw firbolgs' ears yet so you def see a transition there. shes grown and ive grown. i love her 🥺 old on left, newest on right for reference

4. the post these 3 are in is currently sitting at 39k+ notes which is just. so bizarre 😭 i do like how these sketches turned out but i feel like tumblr users will see a titty and go rabid. woman lovers unite

5. I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO FOR THIS ONE SO ..... I CHOSE ONE OF MY FAVS IN RECENT YEARS TO SHOW OFF .? this was just a mindless doodle in a group canvas session but i still look back on this all the time bc its one of the most fun ive done in a Long time. been really trying to push myself to experiment with color/brushes that im unfamiliar with and be more sketchy again bc over-rendering makes me so miserable..... this is my happy place for sure

TBH IDK WHO WOULD BE OKAY WITH BEING TAGGED SO . i will leave this open for anyone who wants to join in on it and @ me so i can see too!! 🫵

[wrongchose]

I was going to make a post writing ALL the plot that inspired these sketches but it got too long for a little post IM CRYING KANDJ so instead have a little context for every single one (*・ω・)ﾉ

All in the same story Post-Apocalyptic scenario under cut!!

Some Julian design sketches, i changed little about his appearence as i think he would not need to, he knows how to hide very well from the rampaging monsters and hes kinda inmune to them anyways. Finds Randy unconscious and takes him as his talking companion (even if he doesn't talk) 'cause being alone in the apocalypse can't do you very good, can it?. He is actually admiting to know his secret for a while so he wakes up (he doesn't).

A concept i dreamed of; when the Ninja needs it, the suit will protect its user so basically it helps him when hes to tired to fight, (doesn't matter if hes not conscious). It is also capable to show the Ninja see content from the Nomicon without directly accesing to it. The appearence of the suit is directly linked to the state of the Ninja, it resembles bandages as a consecuence of the injuries and mental burden the he currently has. with them being the most simple form of the suit (only for healing, not fighting). Randy is not 100 conscious and cannot take the mask off until he completely heals. Gosh i love sketching edgy scenarios.

MORE peopleee, this time Theresa and Howard (i can't draw any of them ugghhh), Neither of them even have an idea of whats going on, so they team up to find their friends (Debbie and Randy specifically) and at the same time figure out a solution to this crisis, or at least thats what Theresa thinks, in reality Howard is trying desperately not to break a promise he made to Randy "help everyone in case the worst happens" (dude just wants to help). They get to know each other better and since Randy is missing Howard just likes to assume hes Ninja-ing, to not think of "the worst case scenario". Eventually they save Debbie later and find out what happened to Randy and his new "thing".

Edit: I UPLOADED THE UGLIEST PHOTOS EVER I EDITED THEM A BIT AJVDBA

Crutial points of this story but i dont know how to write for my dear life, i could make a mini comic but i dont want to know anything about thAT mmmm ლ(¯ロ¯"ლ)

[spiderprincess-suffet]

⚠️ARTSTYLE RANT INCOMING⚠️

So for the past few weeks and honestly even longer I've really been struggling with my artstyle, not in the way that I don't like it though more so IT TAKES WAY TO FUCKING LONG TO FINNISH ANYTHING!!

Before my current one I used to have an art style I called the Hazard style, because it was basically stolen from an artist called Hazard Girl (They were a Frans artist so I figured they didn't deserve their artstyle lol) well anyways I original switched to that style because the one BEFORE that (I've had a lotttt of styles-) was like the current one IT WAS WAY TO COMPLICATED!

So I switched styles using a more simpler one because well

I have Hdhd like really really bad BUT I do have meds for it but those meds have a time limit..a very short one even taking it twice a day leaves me in a panic trying to Finnish the stuff I wanna draw because I know as soon as it wears off I'm basically useless any time I attempt to start or Finnish any drawings when it wears off all I end up with is like 25 more wips I'll never finish.

And so I switched to the Hazard style, it was soooo much faster I could get stuff finished and hell sometimes I coule even fet multiple things finished before my meds wore off!

And the same things happening now and honestly worse, my meds wear of so fast to me I've been trying to finnish stuff all week and ive gotten hardly anything because it takes so long by the time I even get to the coloring my meds have already worn off and I'm left unable to finnish it, or worse and the most frequent thing to happen lately it takes me so long to decide what I wanna draw or i do know what i wanna draw i just cant get it to look right and next thing i know my meds have worn off and i dont even have a sketch done!!

That's honestly why ive been debating going back to the Hazard style but like..I really like my current artstyle and yes I do like the old one to but the current one is what I always wanted ESPECIALLY for my Undertale comic it gives the exact feels that I want it to and it's perfect for that sort of art, but I literally can't do it i just it takes soooo longggguhh to the point I literally can't finish anything I start.

Not to mention I'm almost out of my medicine for the month and I don't usually get refilled right away i have to wait WEEKS until my next refill so I end up not drawing at all for weeks Wich I hate because I have so many ideas but literally CANT do them, so now I'm stuck

I can't Finnish literally anything

I don't wanna change my style because I love it

And I'm very quickly running out of my Hdhd meds

WHAT THE HELL DO I DO 😭

And no I can't just not take it for a day it causes MASSIVE headaches and dizziness if I don't take it twice a day like I'm supposed to 🫠

..anyways here's some Hazard art of clockwork i managed to do 🥲 sorry for the rant even if I don't get any answers I at least wanted to get it out there...

[beesmygod]

i only read tumblr once a day because i [try] to stay sane so only just caught up with the art discourse, which I do have some bits n shit I want to add: a bit fasile for one but, dont you as an artist have upkeep and resource needs to produce? even if its just like...computer, tablet and necessities to continue existence because art takes time to make, those are real, and cost money. "art" in an absolute sense can be made for free with minimal time through just thinking, but like, a webcomic that is a physical thing made of electronic patterns and hosted on a server, takes time and takes stuff. "Webcomics" isnt a free infinitely repeating resource, and you are more than a machine to create webcomic, and none of us are infinite as a resource! at worst, art hits public domain eventually. that said even from that place of survival in capitalistic society it DOES make sense to at least have free public facing art as PROMOTION even if its just idk downtime sketches, doodles, memes, fanart etc so like im not 100% disagreeing yknow, and I am not and artists cant be a paying consumer my/their own art, art has to exist for the self too, the self that isnt a "paying class", or i just start making marvel movies and then its time to find my cool wet hole in the dirt and express my creative individuality like im a mathmatician of statistical analysis of fluid dynamics.

now that im awake i was going to answer these point by point, but this kind of flies past my point that making art exclusively for those who pay is abysmal and treating your audience like they're thieves is a poisonous and off-putting response to one's perceived "loss of income" (which is not even theft because the item being "stolen" can be reproduced infinitely. im talking about like a digital image like a comic page and not a physical item where there's limited copies lol). people either want to pay you or they dont; you can't force people to pay you by making access to your work harder, worse, more inconvenient, and more degrading to your audience. you can't induce artificial scarcity and be a good person.

like yeah obviously art production takes money. that's why most artists work desk jobs instead of trying to make it a solo venture and just expecting the world around them to pick up their slack. i didn't come out of a lotus blossom with a tablet ready to go, i worked desk jobs from age 15-24 in order to have enough savings to cushion myself if need be and pay for base supplies. i use tablets and items gifted/sold to me at a steep discount by my friends. i lived really poor in order to have the life i wanted. and i really loved it lol. i still think of that time so fondly.

once the comic is produced and posted, it is free for my audience to look at and the reproduction costs of the finished image is 0 dollars. it can be copied and reposted freely without charge. it costs me basically nothing to host. the production costs are currently covered by patreon donations. if they were no longer covered by patreon donations i would get a desk job instead of making my choice to go into the financially unsuccessful field of the arts my audience's personal problem to solve. if i don't make things people want to buy, that's my problem and not my audience's.

yeah, it would suck to have to stop doing this because its no longer financially viable (it is really financially hard right now; the state of the world around us is not conductive to the patreon life), but i wasn't entitled to it anyway. i get to make art for a living bc i have an audience that permits me to. why would i start treating them like dogshit or lying about value of my work to squeeze extra money out of them after what they gifted me?

[deerspherestudios]

How do you organise the process of creating a character? like, to me its too confusing, i dont know what i do first because there are TOO MANY THINGS TO DO, like backstory, personality, looks, what they like, so what would be the “steps” to make them?

(Since @isabellaswork asked the same thing recently I'm tagging you here, hope that's okay!) Omg I'm flattered I'm the person you'd wanna ask such a big question ;v;!!? Honestly the process is different for everyone, but I'll give it a go <3 This is how my process usually goes:

Personality first, backstory later. Flesh out the concept of the character before deciding their origin story if that makes sense.

Build a moodboard for your character! The more ideas the better!

Time for visuals! Sketch out multiple iterations, looking at the moodboard for inspiration. Colors go last.

Finalize! Once you've got your final sketch + colors, draw a proper illustration and see if you vibe with the design. Repeat previous steps if necessary <3

Extra: Since you've got the design and story down, add some fun facts. This is where interests, likes and dislikes go!

I'll use my VN characters as examples below in case someone wants it in more detail! Mychael (Mushroom Oasis) and Alma (Lift Your Spirits spoilers!! + horror imagery) process ideation under cut:

Usually I start with personality first. Because for me, when you first meet someone, you see what they're like in the present; their past doesn't matter as much until you get to know them. I can decide the backstory later so it doesn't limit the personalities I'm playing around with. Of course I must have gotten the idea from somewhere so these two things work in tandem most of the time.

Then it's just a matter of how they look!

After deciding on personality traits, I start by collecting references from everywhere, even the smallest of things. I think of how I want them to look plus how they would dress. Anything goes at this stage, so just go buck-wild gathering ideas!

Here's a moodboard for Mychael:

This one was for Alma, from their normal self to their monstrous self:

Then it's time for drawing and doodles. As I sketch, I look back at the moodboard I've made and pick out things I like, while drawing things really loose. Copy paste if I need to!

I've shared the ones for Mychael here, here and here! Here's some sketches for Alma from last year:

This part takes the longest but is always the most fun! Don't feel limited by what you had initially, just test out ideas! Here are the final designs!

Mychael(s):

Alma(s):

Then once I'm happy with the design I can flesh out the backstory as much as I like!!! so long as it fits the presentation of the character in current time. Of course this process can differ when you already have a story in mind and need characters to carry out the plot, but I'm definitely not big-brain enough to make an all-out story like that </3 I just enjoy designing characters visually haha

Oh and just for fun, I like to sprinkle in some extra (but kinda unnecessary) background info. It can be the most mundane thing but it gives them more life (to me at least!) Maybe they drink flat orange soda, or enjoy riding trains at night, or hate the smell of french fries, or think apples are disgusting etcetcetc.

Of course there's like, tips for professional character designing like silhouette, shapes, proportions but I assume this ask was for a more casual approach <3 That's all I could think of if I were to describe my process,,, I hope that answers your question!

To recap:

Start with personality traits and decide backstory later. Or work them together as one. It's more concept than visuals at this stage.

Assemble a moodboard for inspiration. The more ideas the better! Look up anything that might relate to your character if it helps.

Sketch, sketch and sketch again! Keep things loose and free. I usually start from the face, to clothes to accessories. Colors go last.

Finalize! Put everything together in one rendered drawing, and see if you vibe with it. You can always go back to previous steps if you're still not happy with it.

And you're done! :-)

[ganondoodle]

Kinda in regards to the Empress & BodyGuard 2-

Is Zaphira (sorry if I spelled her name wrong) an elf or do humans have pointed ears in your universe? If no elves, how do the pointed ears happen? Are there different length of ears and if so do they mean somethin?

Love your art & use of colours!

Thank you! and thank you for asking! (this sketch took me way too long .. and the colors still look washed out on my desktop screen but im not editing a third time ..)

Zaphira is human, there are no elves, as such, in this world, though humans tend to live longer than IRL and have differently shaped ears-

the shapes are rather diverse (example above) and culturally (so far) they have no significance, they are merely a trait just like different nose shapes or fantasy hair colors

the worldbuilding reason is that these are extremely diluted demonic influences- in the past demons were frequently in the human world, though largely in secret/disguised, and long time exposure to demonic presences can have varying effects, the most immediate and common being a longer life or wounds healing faster than normal; there might have been other long time effects but the only trait that stayed even after their disappearance is the ear shapes

(there was a mass extinction event of demons that wiped out all above a certain age, since demons generally dont die of natural causes their life neither depends nor revolves around reproduction so there were extremely few left and those were too young to keep most of their knowledge and culture alive, as they rarely wrote anything down; Shargon is of the current oldest generation and witnessed it happen, just like most now adult demons, Thor and Eadrya are both a bit older than him and thus the oldest living demons, which doesnt mean much considering the technically endless lifespans of them)

and to explain me including Shargon in a human appearance- hes the only demon that spends as much time in the human world as at home, largely to escape the others since they are not interested in going there and would otherwise attack him any chance they get (the human world is rather uncomfortable for demons to be in and they have better things to do than to chase him that far), while hes generally very weak compared to them, something he is very good at is shape shifting, mainly the speed of which, being able to shift between full demon and the smaller more humanoid form extremely quickly, or even mid forms that are a mix of both - even in motion! while for the others it takes them quite a bit and forces them to stop which is the main reason he keeps escaping them not able to keep up with his rapid shape shifting (though it does take its toll .. also a reason hes so skinny)

he is the first (only?) one that at some point will learn how to shift into a much more human looking one (depicted in the sketch) too, but its rather dangerous since it involves supressing and compressing his demon heart and system... which is what keeps demons alive (its somewhat like holding your breath for way too long) so the only time he would make use of it is in extreme situations, like avoiding detection by maschines that can pick up demonic energy or escaping shackles made of celestial silver (which drains their energy and can scar/hurt them permanently, like silver to vampires(?werewolfs?) in a way)

....the point is that if he shifts into a human form he has very long ears, meaning that is basically the extreme form that doesnt occur in humans and hints at the origins for those ear shapes being demonic exposure in the past