#and procreate in general! progress!!

[maream-zaream]

I had a sudden urge to try drawing a bear. The sketch you see is the result after heavily referring to a bear reference photo. More study is needed.

[scallopi]

this is so funny. who tf is that in the reference picture 😭

[solareias]

…Not dropping the full piece for reasons (altho maybe once I’m done and add some..covering) but… Starscourge Radahn. As a treat. He’s holding his swords in the full piece too <3

[crimsonglow-art]

The gloves look a little latex-like. I might use another brush in procreate to make them look more comfortable and spandex. Does anyone have some procreate tips they'd like to share or know where I can get some?

[milliewilloarts]

Next-Gen Vic and Teddy on Valentines Day

[ragrfisk]

WIP 🚧 Napping dog dad before I add the background and these details get lost 🥲

[thespacesay]

ID: a tweet by @theLiamNissan from 26 Jun 23.

Republicans will tell you "the gays are coming for your children" and then immediately turn around and pass a law making it legal to marry 13 year old girls in Kentucky.

/ end ID

Republicans demand trauma and abuse.

[eobe]

Captain Rex 💙

The one and only 🙌 I'm getting more and more into focussing on eyes and emotions in my art and I'm not gonna do something against that 👀 I love to stare in eyes, I love the feeling of it, I want to do more and I want to share. 🎶 Follow me down 🎶 🫠

This wasn't planned like so many of my current artworks. And actions. And thoughts. I’m feeling like out of the world at the moment – maybe because of all the portals the life gives me to decide if I should dare to go through 🚪💫

Haha 😂 From television to conscience ramble in under one parsec! 🪐 But this is legit, because what is it, letting us stay and drown in tales? Our own growth, the desire to process and progress is natural, so our nature attracts what our mind and soul needs to do so. Finding pictures, comparisons and related feelings to carry on in life. That’s the magic in a nutshell, isn’t it 😌 

Marni said „DO IT DO IT“ (in exactement those capital letters, thank you so much for the dopamine 🤩) and so here’s Captain Rex 🤷‍♀️ Somehow out of my wrist into Procreate before I could even gasp and again I have to see, there are moments where I’m only a pen on a surface bifrœsting art into this world 🖊️🌈

Is the Captain embarrassed? He is. Here (<-) you can see why. Not my fault, I was just staring, enjoying the show 😁🙌 But it's more. There is also some weight in here. He's on duty, he doesn't know if he's allowed to let go even for one second. Ah, my heart 💔

So, Rex came out of the beautiful art and inspiration CHAOS (I love chaos, it’s creativity soil) started by @ghostymarni, @lonewolflupe and @jetii and I saw it, felt it and I surrendered blissfully and hands up the incoming ORM ✨ (do you know what orm is? It’s basically a link to the ultimate creativity force from Walter Moers’ Zamonia universe, especially ‚The City of Dreaming Books‘) and I didn’t had any choice I just had to do this. golden. glance. in a slightly blushing face full of contradictory emotions and drowned in my own art the second time yesterday 😱 

Enjoy a closer look into golden embarrassment Oh Captain my Captain 👀:

Before Rex invited himself I was actually already done from another unplanned uninvited clone 🙈 What is the whole brainrot doing to me and I love it

My little drawing Padawan self already owling (flying, fluting, screeching, being artist crazy inspiration orm drunken 100% getting on my husband's and my cats' nerves) 🦉 in the woods because of him (<-) ignoring my yesterday's initial drawing plans with his whole intimidating attitude!

And this was so much more intense, because I accidentally listened to this song and now I set it on continuous loop to savor and drown in the energy surrounding me in these days ✨ For me and my current cinematic mood quite fitting for both artworks.

My personal ALT text mission (1 additional ALT-Text for a previous artwork with each new art posting!): 

Another clone Captain. Absolutely not insecure 😏

Taglist: @eclec-tech @bixlasagna @returnofthepineapple @sunshinesdaydream @covert1ntrovert @general-ida-raven @vrycurious @dystopicjumpsuit @chaicilatte

[pien-art]

-FAQ-

Hello! I've gained a whole bunch of followers lately and I've been getting a lot of questions about commissions, what my setup is, what brushes I use, etc, so I thought I'd make a post about it to answer everyone's questions at once !

Putting them under the cut <3

Commissions:

Commission prices are listed in my pinned post. You can send me a private message about your commission idea and we can get to talking :) It is helpful to have enough references handy (character, outfit, descriptions etc)

I am generally a fast drawer but I also have a job and a physical disability so there might be moments I can't work on your commission. But that is never longer than a few days at most.

Payment is upfront, the full amount and via paypal only. I know this might seem a bit scary but unfortunately there are a lot of people who end up not paying for commissions and I want to avoid that.

During the process I will send you frequent updates and will ask for input, to see if it is going in the direction you want. You can ask for changes during the sketching progress but once I've started on line-art and coloring, no big changes will happen. (You can for example ask for a different color for a shirt etc, but not for a different prop or pose or expression)

When it is completed, I will send the drawing to you via email. The drawing will remain mine and it is not to be sold or profited of by the person who commissioned me. If the commission is for something commercial/for selling, that needs to be discussed. I prefer to do drawings only for personal use!

For more questions, my dms/asks are open :)

How long have I been doing digital art:

I've been drawing digitally for about 5 years now i think? But before that I've been drawing and painting traditionally literally since the moment I could pick up a pencil.

Set-up:

It's just me and my ipad and apple pencil laying on my bed. I wouldn't even know where to begin for those whole multi-monitor/screen setups ;-; I draw only with Procreate

Brushes:

I tend to play with different brushes from time to time to get different textures, but generally i use the same few for most of my drawings/styles. My favorite one is the Peppermint Brush, for sketching. I use it in every drawing i make! I always sketch with it, and often do the line-art with it as well! And it makes for a nice textured brush for rendering as well! (i used it for a lot of rendering of the armor in this drawing)

The (procreate) brushes i use a lot are

for medieval style: inking - Ink Bleed (for line-art) artistic - Quoll (for coloring)

for general style: calligraphy - Chalk (coloring/rendering) sketching - Peppermint (line-art/sketching)

for realism: calligraphy - Shale Brush (full rendering) Also using the shale brush for smudging and erasing when drawing realistic

for lineart: smooth pencil from this pack by Heygiudi

How/why do you choose a base color:

I tend to look at a few different things when deciding on a base color/color palette.

the overall color of the reference pic

the color i associate with who or what i am drawing

the feeling/vibe i want to give off with that drawing

color has a BIG impact on the vibe of a drawing, so it is something i keep in mind when im drawing.

Using a color as a base to start, helps a lot with my drawing process. It helps me pick out other colors so they match better. It helps me get light/dark values right. And the chalk brush i use, has gaps between the strokes, so the base color will always come through a little. Having the same color come through in the entire drawing, helps pull all the colors together if that makes sense? I always start with a solid base color when i am painting traditionally as well!

Advice:

PRACTICE!!! just keep drawing and practice. I know this is such generic advice but truly practice is The Way. Learn from other artists but don't compare yourself to them. Everyone's artistic journey is different and there's no "good" or "bad". And most importantly make sure that you have fun when you're making stuff :3

I also learn a lot by studying art I admire and love. Figuring out what it is I like about it. (for example, the line thickness or the shapes or texture etc), and try to incorporate that in my own style in a way that is not directly copying or stealing.

[lets-try-some-writing]

Friendship and Intimacy

A slight update to my personal headcanon regarding Cybertronian habits and relationships, at least the physical stuff.

━━━━━━ ⊙ ❖ ⊙ ━━━━━━━━━━━━

Even before the war, friendships have always had unspoken rules amongst Cybertronians. There are differences depending on city state, function, and caste. But as a general rule, Cybertronians follow the same sets of guidelines when it comes to close connections.

Unlike organics, Cybertronians do not biologically procreate. Yes, they are capable of cold forging and even creating new life from their own spark if they try hard enough. If they truly feel like fighting against the natural order, a Cybertronian can use technology to go through a similar process to create new life. However, as this is not a natural act and considering there is no biological function that allows for reproduction, there is no instinctual need to have close connections. Cybertronians will travel in groups instinctually if certain criteria are met, and they do have pack bonding abilities, to a limited extent. However, there is absolutely no immediate desire to touch one another, not even in the slightest. Touch is a dangerous thing. For a species that is all but functionally immortal, one of the only things that can effectively kill them is another of their kind.

Their coding recognizes this, and thus Cybertronians simply do not touch often. It is not even a high caste or an Iaconian exclusive mindset. All Cybertronians are not fond of being touched unless it is specifically agreed to by both parties. Touching is dangerous, especially with outliers and various frame types having unique abilities that can make touch even more dangerous on any given day. Generally speaking, the only places a mech is allowed to touch if absolutely required are the shoulders. This is due to the fact that the shoulders are one of the most armored locations on the body, and thus touching there can allow both parties to accomplish whatever must be done without invading the other's space more than required.

This makes friendship and interesting subject.

Touch, due to its rarity, has a great deal of symbolism behind it. Co-workers and acquaintances only touch the shoulders and strangers try not to touch at all. Cybertronians, even once they consider each other friends, can still remain at a distance physically for extended periods of time. But eventually, a sign of trust will come into play through touch.

The closer two mechs are, the more touching is allowed. It always starts small, usually with the servos. It is completely normal for two individuals, regardless of weather their relationship is platonic or not, to hold hands. For them it is a show of trust. By limiting themselves to one arm each and allowing the tactile sensors on their digits to touch, they are expressing trust in the other and their belief that their counterpart will do them no harm.

Regardless of relationship type, individuals move from servos to other heavily armored parts of the other's frame when it comes to touch. It is completely normal for close friends to sit close enough to touch shoulders and legs. Rubbing each other's backs is widely accepted as another form of showing trust. Running digits along arm guards and messing with external kibble is all perfectly normal behavior. These things show the closeness of a pair, and usually the type of touches are unique to every single duo. Romantic partners may begin to get a tad more touchy during this phase, but platonic and familial relationships can do the same depending on the situation.

Usually companionships do not progress past this point of general body touching. Even familial relationships can remain in this limbo for vorns upon vorns if neither party feels comfortable making a move. This is largely because the next step is one that most cannot back out of. Protoform is the most sensitive and easily damaged part of a mech. In order to really show absolute trust, a pair must allow each other to have access to said protoform. This is when things can begin looking strange to other races.

Once a pair have moved to this phase of absolute trust, it isn't at all weird to see them behave in ways that would otherwise appear VERY scandalous to species that reproduce organically. Before the war, Megatron regularly stuck his digits into the gaps in Soundwave's hip plating to touch the protoform there. It wasn't romantic at all, merely a way of assuring that they trusted each other. Jazz was very comfortable sticking his servos into the gaps around Orion's vents to prove his loyalty. Ratchet wasn't all that much better and after so many vorns at war, it is totally normal for him and Optimus to be found in a strange cuddle pile with their limbs entangled and digits in places human would see as very much NOT appropriate.

Touching is a sign of trust, and by the Allspark humans simply do not get it. They read everything WRONG when they catch bots interacting in similar ways. Optimus wrapping his arms around Bumblebee and resting his helm on Bee's shoulder is familial. Ratchet randomly sticking his digits into Optimus's hips is just a fact of life. Arcee periodically sticking her little claws into Bulkhead's various kibble is just their way of playing. Wheeljack and Bulkhead are extra open about being touchy. More than once June has ushered the children away when they get a bit too much for the adult humans in the room to be comfortable.

Touching is a way to bond. Nothing more, nothing less. Humans look and see things they shouldn't. Cybertronians witness a pair who are close enough to allow one another to come near their vital systems.

[showrunnerihardlyknowher]

@showrunnerihardlyknowher I know you said Anthony isn’t canon to the story.. but how could I pass up the opportunity to draw more humanoid creatures?

so have some art ig

Firstly, the more human-looking stages

Then the more monster-y forms as bro matures

Also, due to his human DNA, he can stand slightly upright! He’s much faster in bipedal form. BONUS: My headcannons on how Anthony just kinda showed up:

(my speculative biology brain making up cool things, none of this is canon) (unless showrunner approves it ig)

AB299’s species utilizes its inter-reality dimensional plane as a means of reproduction. It’s actually a large basis of the species’ survival; the location also serves as a secondary safe home and a fast travel system. At some point in time, while Serena was disoriented in the void-like place, it took a bit of her ‘genetic material’ with her completely unawares. (This phenomena only seems to occur while a being of interest is in that species’ specific dimensional plane, leading my research to the theory that AB299 can trigger the event somehow, or at least tries to by dragging her in so often). Later on, it adds its own DNA to the mix.

The beginnings of a new creature begins as an egg-like embryo forms around the newly growing body. The little child is left to grow and mature floating inside the void, where it is constantly checked upon by AB299. Some time later, (I’m not quite sure how long it takes for the child to grow, because I don’t know how time works in that dimension. I assume it’s much shorter than human time, though) the child is ready to ‘hatch’ at about the human age of 7 or 8 years old.

Tearing its way through the embryo, the child is deposited into the void. However, similarly to how newborn sea turtles know how to find the ocean the moment they hatch, an offspring of AB299’s species can sense where it’s parents are, and will follow that scent out of the void. AB299 will stay very close to Serena once the child is close to ‘hatching’, so as not to confuse which parent’s scent it should follow. The offspring will immediately imprint on whoever it sees after exiting the dimensional void, so it’s important that they’re together.

Thus, when Anthony comes crawling out of the void — seemingly from nowhere — Serena becomes very confused about how the child came to be.

BONUS BONUS: some lineart

[thecutestgrotto]

question! im considering doing dividers as gifts for my friends and I was wondering if you had any tips? is it a better idea to hand draw the designs to avoid any potential copyright issues or is using free to distribute clip resources okay?

I know how to draw and do edits just fine I’m just not sure what other graphic artists do in this regard

Hi anon!

Okay, so this is going to be a little long winded and maybe stuff you might know about the process, but I hope it’ll be helpful as a guide for others too maybe? Tips under the cut otherwise everyone’s gonna have to scroll through it.

1. Personally, I LOVE Canva because it has a library of pre-uploaded elements and its super easy to use. Like if I search stars hundreds of individual elements come up as results.

(I know some people also use Visme, which I don’t have any real experience with, but it’s an alternative with good reviews.)

As long as you are not claiming each individual element is your own creation, you’re in the clear. People making graphics like these almost always use premade elements and combine or edit them into a unique piece. That being said, if you claim that an individual element is your own, you’ll probably be called out. I don’t know how familiar you are with the community so forgive me if I sound condescending: the graphics/digital art community is a wild place when it comes to plagiarism but it’s good that artists look out for each other.

Anyway. Creators that upload designs/elements/templates to Canva are aware that they can be changed/edited. If you have Canva pro (which I recommend because you can do transparent PNGs so easily) some elements are only available via pro subscription and you’re compensating the creator for the use of the element and however you change it.

Basically, the divider/graphic is yours, but the individual elements are theirs. You don’t need to give credit because it’s like using stamps or stickers. For example: You wouldn’t typically use Lisa frank stickers on a coloring page and then credit Lisa frank in the corner of the paper. ⚠️I strongly urge you to stay away from AI art. Generators steal from artists to create what the user searches for!⚠️

2. Hand drawing can get a little tricky. You have to be careful with your dimensions and even file size sometimes. In my personal experience, if you’re new to this type of graphic art you should wait until you’re comfortable with it. It can get confusing. I’ve had MANY graphics come out a blurry, frustrating mess and I’m by no means the best divider maker/graphic artist on the planet.

An extra example: my Cute Coquette set vs my Dark Siren set. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with the coquette ones, but they look fuzzy/blurry. I made them when I was first starting out and I struggled with how to line up the right dimensions. I keep them up because as much as I don’t like how blurry they are, it shows my progress and I’m rather fond of them. It’s not even close to what I do now, like the Dark Sirens, which even zoomed out have a lot of detail but are clear and defined. 🤷🏻‍♀️

3. To avoid said blurring, I recommend using these canvas sizes:

Banners and headers: 1055px x 500px, I’ve also done 3000px x 500px.

Standard Size Dividers: 3000px x 240px

Thicker/Thinner Dividers: Basically you can go as thin or thick as you want as long as that first number is 3000px. I added a screenshot of ones I’ve used recently that might help.

I think if you’re using software like procreate, the canvas sizes are the same but you’ll have to go through some extra steps if you want to get it into canva or whatever graphic editing software you’re using.

4. Lastly and most importantly, just have fun. Play around with the settings and figure out what works best for you!! You of course can DM me with more questions, but I hope this at least helped a little bit.

🩵🌸

*Edited 2 hours after posting to add personal examples, and this little guide can now be found in my navigation post!*

[starry-miki]

I did the three comfort characters that was trending on twitter, I don’t have a 3rd character so uhhhhhhh we just going only to these two, old man also decided to be a goofy goober and crash my program and restart my iPad, while he was deleted in the procreate program (which I was also almost done), I accidentally deleted the layer of old man when I was cleaning my layers and if you didn’t know once your deleted something and you get out of that canvas you can’t get your deleted stuff back. So I did the second best thing, I got some inspiration from one of the older post for luck on exams from @nevvn, old man really like testing my patience as if I’m not busy and have a schedule I need to keep up, especially if I want to start posting semi often. 😵‍💫

But Obey me in general is my comfort characters and I wouldn’t trade them for the world 🥰

For those I need to make Chibi’s for if you see this I will get to it but I need to balance with posting and progressing so it might be a little while but I hope to be able to finish all by the end of January. So don’t worry I didn’t forget about you if you see other people with their Chibi’s 😘

[mellosdrawings]

You mentioned once you use an Ipad Pro... 11? To draw

Would you say that's beginner friendly? Not beginner in terms of art, but in terms of Ipad. Or both. Mainly I've never used an Ipad for art before. Tryna upgrade from using my thumb and phone for cheap

IPad Pro 11' 3rd generation

It's my first IPad and I got the hang of it pretty fast, so yeah I'd say it's fine even for someone who's never touched anything from Apple in their life.

I got to try it from a friend who let me draw on his own IPad for a couple days while he was busy and it immediately clicked for me.

App store and settings are mostly the same as for android tablets (or sometimes even easier to access), there are frequent updates that keep the system working just peachy, and other than that it's just like having a big phone.

I'd say the one mildly annoying thing is that downloading stuff that isn't from the app store is a nightmare and a half. I got Twst and other games on my phone that I never managed to get on the IPad because it's just a hassle to get unofficial stuff on there.

The other problem might be the price. It's an expensive investment, I had to save for almost a year to get it and the pen, but once it's bought it's durable and high quality. I'd say I've more than made it worth it with my 80Go worth of art on there.

Other than that though, it's pretty easy to get used to, and there are a big quantity of tutos online to help if you ever get stuck on something.

As for art, there are a few free apps you can try before deciding. For me it was a revelation, never had done digital art so easily before and I loved it (I used to fight with my tablet, my computer, and that godsdamned Phot*shop).

I got to try Procreate immediately thanks to my friend and bought it as soon as I got the tablet because it was simple to use and there were enough stuff on there to have fun. It's not as complete as Phot*shop but it never bothered me. Plus it's just a dozen euros once and then you have it, not a subscription that will bleed you dry (yes I hate Phot*shop, thank you for asking). And it saves on its own so no need to worry about losing hours of progress because it crashed :D

And once more, a lot of tutos online to learn to use Procreate. I'm still learning to use it to this day because I've never needed to use its full potential.

(Also there are a few 3D conception programs and other room planners that are soooooo good and practical for artists who can't be bothered with backgrounds or accessories. I do 3D models and then take screenshot to retrace in Procreate, which saves time when those are backgrounds and accessories that come up very regularly. And they haven't yet crashed on me even though I used to fight with my computer and Blender 3D to make chairs before. The full version can be pricy (or subscription based, yuk) but the free/trial versions tend to be enough for me)

TLDR: I personally got used to it very fast, and I never got much to complain about. It's an excellent tool for creating that is very stable.

[kristenplescow]

Took an old unfinished painting, redrew it, then finished it up. This shows my general process pretty well — Rough Sketch > Sketch > Rough Paint > Less Rough Paint > Final Paint. 

The original composition (not shown here because it's old and bad) had the creature in a half-zombified state... and although that’s theoretically dope as hell, it didn’t really tell a story and (as a consequence) was kind of boring. “Local Commuting Monster Surprised By Meteor” ended up working better.

The background is simple — I made an initial lasso tool shape (liquified to give it a fish-eye lens look), then used a fuzzier graphite-textured airbrush with low flow to paint the bulk of the sky. The meteor was painted on top, with some Hard Light layers and regular paint on top to make it “feel” bright without getting too white. The creature brightened up significantly as I painted, because... well, a more “realistic” look for the lighting isn’t always the best route (as much as I like the darker look, in hindsight). As a consequence, the BG had to be mildly desaturated to prevent my eyes from bleeding out.

Waffled a bit on if it should stay portrait, or make it a more standard 4:3 size... ended up going with a 4:3 proportion midway through, as well as changing the background land to dark clouds. I painted it with about an inch of margin (you can see this in the last WIP) to give me wiggle room for displaying it. Sometimes I'll add notes on top of my painting when I'm down to the wire (in the last WIP again) to help remind me what I need to focus on. For optimum progression, I added the finished painting at the end — no idea if new Tumblr will loop it to the beginning.

Starseeker, 2023.

Used Photoshop for the initial rough sketch, redrew it in Procreate, then took that back to Photoshop to do the heavy lifting. OSX as always, with a Wacom Intuos 5 as my trusty tablet.

[foolsocracy]

i wanna know how you learned how to render, it's so yum 😞💔

thank you!!! I'm glad u like it. I can try my best to explain my process but its very much a 'feel it with my heart' experience. This is gonna be long and incomprehensible but I'm gonna try:

If we're talking about the (above) garth & baby arthur jr pic or the bloody pete pic, I'd say i started to actually render like that in maybe high school art class (they were much worse then ofc because i have years more practice now)? Obviously my process now is different than it was back then, but before I actually started physically painting canvases with acrylics I usually just did line art and color without the blending-painting pizzazz.

Thats actually where I get my weird random interspersed colors in my coloring as well. Acrylics dry super fast and a high school art class is like 45 minutes so I'd have to totally mix a new pallet the next day. Not that I couldn't color match, but its annoying and having variations with colors or just mixing something up to fill in gaps looks neat if you get it right. If it looks bad just paint over it, but its worth it to try.

My process with these is almost exactly like my non painterly rendered ones, just with steps after. Also, you can get away with a lot when not fully rendering, but when i do render PHOTO REFERENCE is to die for. Specifically for the lighting. I can't emphasize this enough. By the time i'm done with a drawing my search history should be like "knees. Knees sitting. Knee anatomy. Harsh light photography. Curly hair. baby. J. C. Leyendecker new year baby" + 8 pictures of u doing whatever pose you're trying to do.

Anyway, the process for me is usually: vague sketch > carve out the lines/neater sketch > flat colors > basic shading/rendering > color adjusting sketch lines (usually from black to dark red) > collapse everything into one layer & get to WORK

I know the 1 layer thing is scary, but thats life. Its easiest to adjust things that way (for me). No need to worry about layers and blending modes cause its all right there. I usually duplicate the layer the drawing is in before I start on something crazy just to reassure myself that if I fuck it up I can go back. So a lot of the time my layers in procreate are progressively more rendered stages of the piece lol.

Now that Im here trying to explain this im blanking on how to actually express it. Lets see. I can run through some general stuff:

For both of those artworks (baby & pete) they're 100% made with HB pencil on procreate (a default brush! I've never downloaded any new brushes cause im lazy). I actually made a brush explanation for someone a few months ago I can put that right here:

hopefully those are readable. sometimes tumblr flops lmk if my writing is illegible

the eraser tool is your BEST FRIEND!!!! The way I get my lines and shapes and whatnot is by making big ass strokes and then erasing until whatever I'm looking for reveals itself. Here's a video of that process from the aquababy pic. Ignore the jerky pauses lol. also there's the reference photo!:

rendering itself is really hard to describe. Basically just throw color at it until it works out. (just tried to add a video but tumblr says only 1 video allowed

I hope this is helpful somehow! Just threw a ton of stuff at you. If you want anything more or the actual video or smth just let me know!