#and you don't have to do background perspective “correctly” you can just make it look wonky

[shabbyshoebox]

Redrawing a Gravity Falls shot in the style of Danny Phantom (Bill appearing to Dipper the first time in Sock Opera) and trying to figure out design changes is KILLING ME

[creaman]

Hi there! I apologize for taking up your time, I am just so curious: When you tackle a comic, what does the process behind it look like?

Asking because I found myself scrolling through your blog once again and couldn't help but marvel at all the beautiful effects you use, at how flawlessly the structure guides the viewer's eye across each page, how the graphic weight seems to always be in just the right places…, and wonder how you learned doing this. Everything you put out looks incredibly professional and I aspire to reach your level of skill 😌❤️

Thank you Finz!! You're no bother at all, I'm an open book. This is such high praise for a guy that really doesn't have a set process, I feel like a hack. Ha. Rest assured my style is still developing. Besides the referencing of the linework and composition of official comic books, (practicing by redrawing panels for fun), explaining the process makes me feel like a serial killer but I will do my best.

(WIP Riddler panel, scrapped Scarecrow composition)

My comics usually stem from a single panel or concept — I like to focus on/emphasise particular panels of my pages, the heavy hitters, the main piece that catches your eye. I know I'm not a profoundly technically proficient artist so I prefer visually interesting elements and formatting, i.e. drawing characters outside their frames, negative space, notation, perspectives etc.

(Kung Fu Panda 4 sketch god I hate Kung Fu Panda 4)

I like to establish 'main focus' panels, the bits of the comic that really, well. make people want to chew on it. This is where the technical effort is concentrated, really, and the rest of the comic is generally build around these concepts.

('Restaurant Balthazar' focus panels)

Textures and effects are done on individual panels first, then the entire page as a whole to even out the unity. Generally, blocking in shadows, hatching for visual interest + middle tones, then textures/half-tones, then highlights.

(Script excerpt WIP)

I'm not a writer per se, but having a vague 'script' in your pages helps with pacing and direction. Comics are a versatile story-telling medium. I only really do scripts for comics longer than 2 pages. An optional but recommended strat is to send your script to a friend for a second opinion.

(Script excerpt — 'Restaurant Balthazar', annotated by @vincepti0n I don't know why he drew a face in the middle)

With the script crudely slapped together, I rough out the thumbnails and composition with the text, prioritising coherence and clean integration of previously mentioned 'main focus' panels.

Settling on a composition sucks the hardest. Drawing is fun, thinking makes brain hurty. Variety is good! Close-ups, wide shots, visual metaphors. Every panel is its own artwork.

The text bubbles are usually added in post, yes, but I'm just one guy and I don't have a writer to call me a good boy for doing things correctly. Bite me.

(Early 'Restaurant Balthazar' drafts)

In addition, keeping the text graphics in mind help create a sounder composition wherein even if the panels don't read cleanly left to right + top to bottom, the text can stagger and create the same reading order effect.

Panels and concepts are constantly tweaked, and my comic process is still highly experimental. A lot of industry standard comics aren't illustrated to their full potential due to deadlines and such — I strive for visual epiphany by treating each panel as its own artwork, and every page as a a bit of a mural.

(Old art hurts the soul)

Constantly experimenting allows you the insight of looking at your current art in comparison to your older works. In more recent works, I've been blocking in more shadows wiht lineart with thinner lines and more line weight, and learned to integrate the subject characters with less plain, abstract backgrounds.

TLDR: I have no idea

[jaegermonstrous]

So I've got Thoughts on Worf. Disclaimer, these are all heavily informed by own experiences and background, ymmv. Also disclaimer, I haven't gotten around to watching PIC yet. It's on my list, but I'm not there yet. But anyway.

So, Worf in TNG is pretty much our biggest exposure to the Klingon culture so far, and he's pretty consistent with the other Klingons we see. He's a big and tough warrior guy with the Stoic Warrior Thing going on. He's constantly getting his ass handed to him to show the audience the bad guys of the week are Serious Business. He's a pretty awful father, but we have no reason to believe other Klingons are much better. He's apparently got enough of a soft/personable side that he dates Deanna Troi for a bit [no shade to the actors here, but the logic behind that pairing has never worked for me, or at least the writers never did enough legwork to make it believable to my ace and autistic self]. But mostly, he's a Big Stoic Warrior Man from a culture of Big Stoic Warrior Men.

But Worf in DS9 is much less isolated from other Klingons, and it's here where - to me - he becomes incredibly interesting as an example of someone trying to reconnect with their heritage as an adult, especially someone who's either felt pressured to perform their culture "correctly" to an outsider [Federation] standard, or who's never had significant contact with the huge diversity of their culture and kind of internalized the idea that "this is how you perform my culture correctly" from a very limited amount of sources, and therefore become kind of an asshole about it when people [other Klingons] don't do or be as you expect them to.

From the doylist perspective we can just say "well, the DS9 writers really diversified the Klingons," but I find the watsonian perspective far more interesting; here you have Worf, the first and [so far] only Klingon serving in Starfleet, who was removed from his culture as a young child and raised by Humans [no shade to the Rozhenkos here, I think they did their best to raise Worf with an awareness of his origins]. He's been aware most of his life of being the only Klingon in a room full of Humans and other Federation species, most of whom have Expectations of what Meeting A Real Klingon would be like. So Worf, with his mostly second-hand knowledge of Klingon culture and a huge wall of Expectations surrounding him at every turn, becomes what he thinks of as The Ideal Klingon. He's stoic, he's gruff, he barely ever cracks a smile, and when you put him in the room with a bunch of diverse DS9 Klingons, he comes across as a caricature.

Let's look at some of the DS9 Klingons, and I think you'll see what I mean.

First up - Kaga, the Klingon chef. I personally love Kaga, and I wish we had gotten to see more of him. He's our first real indicator that Klingons in DS9 are Built Different. He's cheerful, he doesn't dress in a warrior's armor, he plays that Klingon accordion thing and sings to his patrons. He's a glimpse of what Klingons outside the military are probably like. I love that the DS9 writers did this, showcasing that Klingons [like so many of the non-Humans we get in DS9] are just people.

Next, we have Kor, the Dahar Master. Again, I adore Kor. In some ways he's a throwback to TOS Klingons, who were conniving, and mocking, and just generally Untrustworthy and would 100% stab you in the back if they thought it would get them what they wanted. But he's also a fantastic example of a DS9 Klingon. Kor is old, and tired, and kind of a drunk, and beginning to lose touch with his abilities and reality. But he's also clever, and cunning, and you can really see the intelligence and the ferocity that made him so formidable to Kirk and the TOS crew back in the day. And he's also charming and kind of a sweetheart, and he genuinely loves Dax like family. He's well-rounded in a way we don't get to see Worf be for a while. And even when we contrast Kor with Kang and Koloth, two other Klingons from the same era who align more with the TNG Stoic Warrior Man stereotype, you can see where their characters are much fuller. They have a history and a familiarity with each other and with Dax that really shines through. I mean, they swore blood oaths with a Trill. Yeah, Dax had to work really hard to be accepted by the Klingons, but once Curzon crossed that line, Kang, Koloth, and Kor were ride or die for Dax.

Third - General Martok. Martok is IMO the best foil to Worf, and sort of an example of who Worf might be someday [again, I haven't seen Worf in PIC yet]. And I really love Martok as someone who's very like Worf in a lot of ways, but also highlights how Worf has really made himself into a caricature of what Being A Klingon is all about. Yeah, Martok is big and tough and stoic, but you also see in the prison camp and later how that's not all of what Martok is. He has faith in and respect for his fellow prisoners in the camp, even the Romulans [who you'd think would be the last people a Klingon would ever trust or respect]. He's a Wife Guy, which I just adore. He's got a sharp sense of humor, he's got trauma from being held as a prisoner of the Dominion for so long, he's friends with Local Twink Julian Bashir.

Martok is also the one who talks Worf down from being such a hardline asshole. When Alexander comes aboard the Rotarran, it's Martok who helps them start to build a better relationship. When it looks like the Worf-Dax wedding is off, it's Martok who encourages Worf to soften his stance [yes, it's also implied Dax is pressured into apologizing to Sirella, but that's another post for another day]. Martok is the example of being a Stoic Warrior Man while also being a rounded person.

This isn't to say Worf doesn't grow on his own, but a lot of his growth happens in DS9 in ways that [to me] read as someone who's really only engaged in their culture in a vacuum or in an abstract way, and now he's hanging out with other Klingons, he's Making Friends with other Klingons, and he has the space [and is actively encouraged by other Klingon characters] to soften his stance and be a little more rounded.

I could also talk about Dax here, and her interactions with Klingon culture and how those affect Worf, but I think I'm done for now.

[anshelsgendercrisis]

I appreciate learning from your blogs (both transmasc stuff and Jewish stuff), so if it's not overstepping, I am interested in your thoughts on something. Knowing that the terms Zionism and Zionist are being misused so frequently, I did some introductory reading from a few sources, one of which was the ADL. I've found their Hate Symbols Database helpful in the past, and I was looking into their anti-bias training resources since the school I work for has been failing (spectacularly) at such training. Reading their page on Zionism answered some basic questions, and their Myths and Facts about the ADL page also mentioned that "anti-Zionism equates to antisemitism".

Knowing that you (if I am remembering the specifics correctly, sorry if I'm misremembering) are an anarchist and against the existence of all states (including a Jewish one, thus you have explained you are neither Zionist nor anti-Zionist), I was wondering what your general thoughts are of the ADL's perspective on Zionism, and on the ADL as an organization. I hope this question doesn't come off negatively; I know I'm lacking a lot of knowledge, so I'm very grateful to be corrected on anything I said that's wrong/hurtful/ignorant/naive.

Once I get my recent medical stuff figured out, I look forward to signing up to your Patreon and giving more consistently than here-and-there Kofi donations :)

a little background on the adl: it was founded after the conviction and lynching of leo frank. its original purpose was to pressure media and businesses who engaged in antisemitic discrimination or defamation (hence the name). some of the things they engaged in early on were boycotts, demanding prior review of theater productions to screen for antisemitic content, and pressuring advertisers who relied on antisemitic stereotypes. this was in the time leading up to the holocaust, when violence and discrimination against jews was surging all over the world, so it makes a lot of sense why an organization like this was founded.

in terms of the modern organization, i have mixed feelings. i think their hate symbols database can be helpful, and i think some of the data collection is good as well, but there are a lot of stances they have and statements they've made that i really do not agree with, and some of which i think are harmful. that, for me, is why i don't generally use the adl as a primary or sole source for any news or info. i always double check multiple sources and try to use pages like myjewishlearning for educational things.

the adl is also very explicitly pro israel, as in supportive of the current state and government of israel, which is something i'm very much not. as you mentioned, i am an anarchist so i oppose the concept of states in general, including israel, and i'm also highly critical of the current israeli government.

their page on zionism is...accurate from their point of view, and from a lot of progressive zionists' points of view. but i think it paints a rosy picture of zionism that avoids any of the problematics or history of political zionism, which is just not helpful at this point. they're correct that for most people, zionism means advocating for jewish statehood in eretz yisrael, and that there has absolutely been a sort of "yearning for zion" in the diaspora for hundreds of years. and they are correct that there are many zionists who do not support the current israeli government or who advocate for a two state solution.

i also staunchly disagree that antizionism is in and of itself antisemitism. i think it is an ideology and movement that does very easily and too often fall into antisemitism, just because of the nature of how intertwined the conversation is with jewish identity and the jewish people, and we have seen many examples of this over the past month. however, because of the nebulous nature of the definition of zionism, the definition of antizionism is also going to be nebulous. if someone says "i'm a zionist", unless they elaborate i'm not going to know if i'm talking to someone who thinks that jewish people should be able to live peacefully in eretz yisrael alongside other indigenous people or to someone who wants a sovereign jewish state where jews are the ones in power. if someone says "i'm an antizionist", unless they elaborate i'm not going to know if i'm talking to someone who opposes the current state and government of israel and the occupation or someone who thinks (((zionists))) control the media and the banks and that jewish people as a collective are killing palestinian babies for fun. so for me, the terms "zionism" and "antizionism" are kind of useless unless the person i'm talking to further explains their stance, which means trying to label either zionism or antizionism as entirely inherently Bad is counterintuitive to any goal.

so to wrap this up, for me, an unwillingness to tackle the problematics is why i tend to clash with a lot of zionists and zionist institutions and organizations, and it's why i don't generally trust the adl on anything related to israel without other sources to verify.

[artist-issues]

I know you have kind of commented on this topic in one of your posts, but what do you think of the fact that Tolkien hated Disney and thought of Walt as a "con-artist" (if I remember correctly) because of how much would be changed? Even though I very much love Disney movies, considering how Tolkien studied mythology, folklore and history from other cultures in-depth, particularly those of European background, I do understand why he was not fond Walt's work at all if we view it from his perspective. Other people seem to share a similar sentiment. I ask you because you often analyze Disney movies and their themes quite in-depth. This whole thing is interesting.

Well, I'll preface by saying I'm not much of a Tolkien apologist. I don't connect with him or his mentality as well as I might flatter myself by saying I do C.S. Lewis' mentality. C. S. Lewis had this beautiful way of blending genuine good-faith enjoyment of something and careful, intentional critical thinking. He could be a reasonable analyzer of media, and a childlike consumer of media, at the same time. Don't know if I've mastered that myself, or if I ever will, but I really admire it.

Which is besides the point, sorry! 😂

But Tolkien was different. First off, Tolkien said some things about interpreting the meaning of his own stories that I don't agree with. He keeps insisting he wasn't trying to "say" anything with Lord of the Rings, or infuse it with any particular "meaning." Truth of the matter is, though, that is not true of any good storyteller. What they believe about the world bleeds into what they create, if they're creating genuinely. So Lord of the Rings is about how small decisions matter, doing what you can with what you're given instead of trying to control everything matters—whether Tolkien likes it or not, whether he was always conscious of it or not, that's what his story says.

He also criticized weird things to criticize about Lewis' works. For someone who was Lewis' friend, I don't know how he could've looked at what Lewis was writing and been surprised, or disgruntled, at the hodgepodge of mythology in works like Narnia. I don't know what made him think a "children's story" would feel like anything other than...made for children.

But anyway. All that to say, I don't always agree with Tolkien, or feel like I understand him. His response to Disney movies is just one of those things I don't get. I can speculate, but I don't know.

Like I said, I think he was so used to thinking of fairy tales and literature in a way that is much...higher, and more layered, than how the everyday layman thought of them, that when a Kansas cartoonist started retelling fairytales without any apparent grasp of that layering, it really rubbed him the wrong way.

I guess it would be like if someone came along twenty years from now, pointed at Disney's The Little Mermaid, and said, "look! A cartoon about fish! I'm going to make an TikTok dance about fish and call it 'The Little Mermaid,' and retell it that way!"

First of all we'd be like "IT'S ABOUT SO MUCH MORE THAN FISH, it's not just an CARTOON, are you BLIND?!" And then secondly we'd probably go, "and what? A TikTok dance?! Are you kidding me? You want to take this beautiful pillar of traditional animation and living color and musical mastery and drag it down to the level of middle school girls flapping their hands around cringily??"

That's probably how Tolkien felt Disney was treating Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Because back then, the medium (TikTok dances, animation) was just associated with sort of lowbrow humor and silliness. Walt was still inventing the whole "animated film to be taken seriously" thing. And back then, Tolkien would've seen the comedy characters of the Dwarfs and their character development as very shallow in comparison to the mythos of Dwarfs in literary and oral-tradition history. He had the most background knowledge. So what he was comparing Walt's movies to was, for him, like comparing grape Gatorade to aged Italian Wine.

As far as Disney being a "con artist..." yeah, I think that's a little bit of a stretch. He was definitely selling something, but if you can look at Walt Disney's life and see dollar bill signs, instead of a guy who genuinely made what he liked because he liked it, you don't know much about Walt Disney. He didn't adapt fairy tales because he thought they could make him money. He adapted fairy tales because he adored them, just like he had a train in his backyard because he adored them. Ask his brother Roy how much Walter "Let's Invent Smell-O-Vision and Drop Flowers on the Audience of Fantasia" Disney was thinking about exploiting the public for financial gain.

Like I said, Tolkien was responding to Walt Disney because he was Tolkien, and it would've been like asking a Bird to relate to a Krill. They were way too different to ever understand each other on the level that either of them preferred being understood at.

[risunsky]

I am sorry for bothering you, but if you don't mind, can you tell the tips for the very very begginers. I really want to start learning how to draw, but it is overwhelming and I don't no where to start and feel a little at loss

ha! One of these days I'm going to have to write something detailed and well-constructed to be able to answer these questions properly. ^^"

In any case, you're not bothering me at all and I'll try to give you a clear answer, but I apologise in advance if it's too long or if my English isn't good at times. In short version I would just quote Lorenzo from How to think when you draw : source

My long version:

It's hard because everyone functions differently, but I'd say that first of all you need to define a goal or a project that will be your driving force so that you don't lose your motivation. It could be a personal comics project or doing fan art, it doesn't matter as long as you're enthusiastic about it. If you have to choose between academic seriousness and fun, choose fun, because fun make you practice and practice make you progress anyway so you'll be less likely to get discouraged.

It's important to practice as regularly as possible, because your ability to draw is like a muscle that you need to maintain. If you don't practice enough, your progress will be slow, and if you don't practice for too long, you'll lose what you've learnt.

Having said that, learning fast is not an obligation - it depends on your goal.

For the technical aspects that you still need to learn between two sessions of fun, the order that seems logical to me is :

shape and volume || light and shade

anatomy

colour theory

perspective

composition

That's assuming you start by doing just characters before getting into complex backgrounds. And bearing in mind that certain parts are connected together and can be learned simultaneously. For example, I've put perspective towards the end, assuming that you come to the backgrounds last, but it's useful for drawing characters too.

To make each of these parts easier, they need to be broken down into stages.

Shape and volume || Light and shade :

Shape and volume :

Basically, it's useful for everything else. understanding shapes allows you to decompose complex subjects so that you can reproduce them more easily. Absolutely everything around you and everything you want to draw can be decomposed in this way. It will then help you to know how to apply light and shade. A good article here. Light and shade : not knowing how to sum it up in a few words, I found some useful links :

[link] [link] [link] these three articles talk about the same thing, but maybe if you look at what else their authors have in stock you'll find something different or explained in a way that suits you better.

Anatomy :

Once you know how to build a human being with tubes and rectangles, you can go into more detail about anatomy. You can start with the head alone, practising drawing it from all angles, with different characteristics, different expressions etc, then arms, then torso, etc and then gradually moving on to the whole human body. Study the skeleton and musculature, it sounds annoying but it really changes everything. Even if it's possible to know how to position a character correctly without it, the result will inevitably be better with it and it'll make your task easier and drawing skeletons is great fun! This doesn't mean that you have to learn every single piece by heart, just that you know enough to be able to place the bumps and hollows in the right places. a good article for beginners, giving the balance needed to avoid being overwhelmed by the study of anatomy. I suggest as an exercise : with the help of references and tutorials, draw a character 4 times in an identical posture, except that first you only do the skeleton, then the musculature, then a normal nude, and finally with clothes to familiarise yourself with the behaviour of the fabrics. (The folds and drapes are, I think, a sub-chapter of the anatomy part because clothes.) about folds and drapery [link] [link]

Colour theory :

Basically, it's what colour you get when you mix these two together, or which colour is best for shadowing this other one, or to produce a certain mood over the whole illustration, I have to limit my palette to these colours and so on. Again, I can't summarise this easily but it's a big important part. Just type colour theory in google or pinterest and you'll find so many good tutorials. Note: again I think that, colour and light / shade are connected and should be learned simultaneously.

[link] [link]

Perspective :

For this part it's easy to broke it in steps. Start by practising with a single vanishing point to understand the principle, then two points, then three, then the fish-eye effect. I forced myself to do the spiral staircase exercise with the perspective, it was terrible but once you've done it and understood what you've done then you're good. Better, you can test your understanding of perspective by having fun reproducing Escher's impossible constructions. I love his work. 1 point [link][link] 2 points [link][link] 3 points [link][link] [Escher]

Composition :

It's one of the last things I learnt and I can really guarantee that there was a before and an after to it. Composition is one of the fundamental that will make you say: I'm an illustrator, in the sense that I know how to tell a story, evoke a feeling with a single drawing. [link] [link] [link] [link]

To come back to more general things, accept that it can take time, it's OK if it's not great at first, we've all been there. Don't put pressure on yourself and don't make yourself feel guilty by comparing yourself to others. Be curious too, look for new challenges, and always do it for fun. Finding a community in which you can make artist friends with whom you can share projects can also be great, because you feed off each other and that helps to keep you motivated. Don't be afraid of failure, failure is good, failure is your friend. Because once you've identified the reason why you think your drawing is a failure or not good enough, you'll remember to pay attention the next time or it'll motivate you to do more training on that point. Knowing things is good, but turning them into reflexes is better.

Here it is, I hope it helps, most of the resources I learnt with were in French so I quickly tried to find the English equivalent, I checked them quickly, but I think it's ok. And, the links I've found are just entry points, in some cases you'll need to find other resources, like anatomy for example, but just type anatomy tuto on pinterest and see what seems easiest for you to start with. aaand this is the end, I think.

[mauesartetc]

Here's a comic strip I drew, featuring a crossover between two vampires from the video game Vampire: the masquerade-bloodlines, and professor Polidori from the cartoon "school for little vampires". I drew it for a comic strip contest. Can you criticize it from the perspective of comic strip formatting and art in general?

Cool! I whipped up some notes and will elaborate further on each panel.

Panel 1:

We have a decent angle for an establishing shot, but there's so little detail in the background that there's not much to establish. By the look of the booths, the vampires appear to be in a diner of some kind, but where are they in the diner? Is the booth located against the wall or against the windows? For that matter, is this table the only one in the diner? Where are the other tables? Where are the other customers? I'm not the biggest fan of drawing backgrounds either, but a bit more specificity and clarity would be nice. Also, if each panel had more detail, it would help if the gutters dividing them were thicker so they didn't just blend into each other.

I also noticed that the bottoms of the seats don't line up in perspective, and neither do the tops, making the left seat look way shorter than the right.

For the rest of my panel 1 notes, here's a visual explanation:

The long-haired vampire's attitude didn't appear to fit his words at all. His dialogue seemed to express boredom, but his pose and expression gave him a more alert, mischievous look. If we removed the speech bubble, viewers wouldn't be able to correctly guess what he was talking about. Thus, my version displays more visual clues that he's bored.

In addition, it can help to write out text before sketching a box around it, and sketching an ellipse around that box, making it big enough so the corners don't touch the edges. This ensures the text has enough space to "breathe" inside the bubble. Once these guidelines are established, it's easy to type comic text and create clean outlines on top of it.

The same principle applies for the speech bubble in the next panel.

Panel 2:

In the initial notes, I suggested using a different camera angle for this panel, and the above image is what I had in mind. The perspective the original Panel 2 uses is nearly identical to Panel 1, and I don't see the point of hiding the professor's face here. It'd make sense if the big reveal of his identity was the punchline at the end, but the punchline appears to be that the vampires finally found some entertainment in beating him up.

I kept the professor in the center of the frame since it visually draws attention to him, but he's much smaller than the vampires in this perspective, indicating that he's not much of a threat to them. I made the bubble outline jagged to make the implied volume of his voice "louder", and shortened his dialogue to omit the final three words. Panel 3's existence shows some time passing between what he says here and him getting beat up, so it doesn't make sense to abruptly cut off the end of that sentence. If you want to keep the dialogue as it is, you could cut out Panel 3 entirely. But if you want to keep that panel, let's take a look at it.

Panel 3:

This version of Panel 3 is still a straight-on view of the vampires sharing a smile, but because I drew the table outside the panel, they're more believably spaced apart. Their faces could only be as close as they were in the original if they leaned across the table.

Alternatively, you could go with a different perspective:

The characters' faces are still visually spaced close together, but the size difference caused by the perspective adds more visual interest, and we see that the table is still separating them.

Panel 4:

Not much to say about this one outside of the initial notes I took, so here's a refresher.

Hope that helps!

Important: New policy for art asks

[gascon-en-exil]

If I understand Intys gave us another romance option that is not incest but vaguely looks like it is ?? oh shoot. And the FE fandom still don't know how parallel universe works and that the Sombron are different people, right ?

A collection of anon perspectives, presented without commentary.

I am no expert in multiverse but the DLC is a no win situation if we consider that Sombron is the same as another Sombron as it would mean Alear can marry people they killed... oh no it's Awakening all over again

Alright, If I understand the whole family situation is a more elaborated scenario of "even if you marry Lucina, Morgan is not Chrom's grand daughter" but it's canon and it involves doubts on being siblings ? ok. Time to move out to a quiet place.

"My point is not that there isn't a non-incestuous explanation, because regardless of any ambiguity that would be covered by the playable Alear and Nel being from different dimensions." yes you forgot to add the fact that each time someone use that said explanation, they are regarded as a degenarate for genuinely liking the shipping while being freaked out by incest even fictional and not wanting to embrace it so using the deniable argument * cries in Leocorrin offender*. But hey if the game say it is, it means it's canon therfore... i am siding with the game sorry fans.

I think I will stand to my reading of "Alear is by no strech of the imagination related to the twins" but not because of shipping, but because it would give me a headache if the game began to treat them as such.

"Pointing out that fictional characters aren't real never leads to anything". so we are doomed aren't we ? we are doomed because people loves to take suspension of disbelief too far ?

That might not be that much of a problem after all, we all know that the vocal minority of anti is thankfully deprived of making the morality complaints more vocal. Thankfully because we are talking about a damn video game. Geez, just wait till they discover about mythologia

I feel like the localization team completely bought the father counterpart excuse because Nel keeps saying "I love you" without it being toned down or stuff.

My God, there is so many way to make those ships ok with the power of headcanon and fanfiction. You can ship them with the Alear of their dimension, rewrite their background, heck literaly anyhting you want. Just to give an example, some people who shipped Robin/2nd gen made their Avatar being a 2ndgen too <ith the power of fanfiction. Just do that and no more war.

Me : * looks at the twins*

Me : Au exist for a reason.

Alright if I understand correctly, Alear and the twins are both children of Sombron but it's different Sombron ?? What is it like how Lucina is the daughter of Chrom but not the one we play with in Awakening but a dead version of Chrom and Chrom's daughter is still a baby ?

The game does work on me personally. Like if you ship Alear/Veyle, Alear/Lumera, Alear/Sombron and Nel/Rafal, you do you but I am feeling sick imagining me doing this while I am perfectly fine with Nel/Alear and Rafalear....I dunno, those seems just a bit weird due to the story while Alear/Veyle seems just downright gross and immoral to me (but if you like it don't worry, I don't view any fans of this ship as a creep just dont like it at all)

There is this serie called Malcom in the Middle where at some point the main character makes up a list of all of his schoolmates dirty secrets and read those info loudly in public to make them stop mocking and bullying his brother, and it did work. Maybe we could do the same with the FE ships to have some peace and make the anti realized that moral shipping doesn't exist. (and why is it even necessary in the first place ?)

This whole thing is going to become a witch hunt where players who do play the game and accept to suspend their disbelief will get accused as if it was a crime to ship Alear with the twins for simply explaining that in canon they are not related, the same way players had to face rage for explaining that Anna and Jean's S support was intented for the youngest player demographic and not the adult playing engage... because if i put my head into the devellopers shoes obviously no reasonable adult would assume they put kid here to be for adult rather than others kids because guess what ? teenagers are generally attracted to teenagers !! crazy right ? just like the whole excuse for Alear and the twins to not make them siblings because people are rarely interesed into incest ! Who would have though that ?

"I can't imagine being that uncomfortable with IS being as carelessly tasteless as they always are while still playing these games."

why are you so right ? like ? come on the ship are most of the time weird but last time I cheked weird doesnt equal to immoral or unethical. There really is no need to be THAT upset about things. moreover i like it when game make things being messed up in a way that makes me laugh (* kof, kof Avatar/2nd gen and the Alear/twins*). I'd say the moment I would be creeped out is if there is Valter x Eirikia or stuff like that but I can only avoid those and I can see a fanart of it without fainting. My good Lord

"You know that there will be people adding Alear/Nel and Alear/Rafal to their lists of pairings you're not allowed to ship, alongside all those I mentioned earlier as well as any Avatar/2nd gen, Azurrin, Dimigard, Byleth/their students, and all of the eyebrow-raising Pact Ring options in base Engage"

How about the make it their "I am not allowed to ship" rather than making it every one's problem ? I don't even like those ships, I just find it stupid to fight over the fictional relationship of make believe characters.

FE fandoms crybabies : "NNOOO!! You can't marry Nel and Rafal they ArE TecHniCALly yoUR sIbLiNgS"

Meanwhile the game : Nel to Veyle " My Sombron is not your "papa". And Rafal has been my only sibling for a long time"

Nel to Alear "That said, though we are not family, we share a heritage"

Rafal to Alear " if you had been born one of my siblings, your disposition would have led you to a quick death"

Nel to Sombron (yes they have a special dialogue) "I am the daughter of another Sombron, in another world. If you know my face, then you merely recall a child who is dead"

Rafal to Sombron " I am a fell dragon from another world. Our relation is theoritical at best".

Sombron to Rafal " Surely you are not my child. No more of them remain"

(The fe wiki including Nil, Nel and Rafal to the list of Sombron's kids while in both Nel and Rafal's relative list, Veyle and Alear are nowhere to be found)

I dunno about you but at this rate it feels more like they deny it for the sake of wordlbuilding rather than to appease the fans

That's funny how Sombron in game have kids normal way while alternate Sombron has kids only by pair of twins. No matter the universe, the Sombron are rabbits.

According to the FE wiki pages for the fell kids, they are Sombron child but they don't count as sibling to Alear because the admins themselves don't know how to call their relationship.

Alright so the whole DLC is a what if scenario about what if Alear was a divine dragon from the start right ? then why do we have the alternate gender thing ? I am starting to wonder if it's not just another "alternate dimension" thing

[tarot-by-e11e]

Hi, Elle. Thank you so much for the reading, I really appreciate it. Another long feedback from me haha 🤍

I think having my own YouTube channel on my own feels like a burden on me because I grew up watching YouTubers and admiring them so I feel a pressure, but like the knight of swords card, I need to rush forward. I need to keep a beginners mindset and be ready to learn, not have high expectations but keep learning about all the different things. I have always had an interest in film and photography since I was younger. Learning about cinematography, learning about b rolls, a rolls, angles, colour grading and perspectives are exciting to me. I am going to look for cinematography classes or guides on YouTube and take notes while practising, again I need to charge forward to this and also be consistent - track my progress. I also have been hesitant uploading for that reason but you’re right, I need to keep learning different things as I go.

I laughed a little when you mentioned background music because I’ve been downloading so many and experimenting to see which matched my video in progress. I’ve been looking at the music my favourite YouTubers use and seeing how those go with my videos and how I can use them in the future, like envisioning what type of my videos they would go well with, The favourite YouTubers are YouTubers that have a similar style to the content I want to create and most importantly, am also capable of producing. Despite putting pressure on myself, I am also being realistic or at least trying my best to.

I especially love how practical it is - consistency is something I struggle with often, so keeping a diary to be consistent with my efforts is a habit I will definitely make. I have a diary that I will use. I also like that you said that one percent is 37 percent in a year. I recently read a book called Atomic Habits which said that and it really inspired me.

In my own readings about my YouTube chnnael, 2 of cups (alongside 3 of cups has also been popping up, so it's nice to see the emphasis on collaboration and having a team or support behind me. I hope I can one day collab with YouTuber friends and also YouTubers that I look up to!!

YouTube is something meaningful to me and I am aiming to create a warm community for people into the things I like and also success, so hearing your practical advice is helping me put things into practice. Sort of bringing me back down to earth.

I hope I correctly understood your message.

Thank you so much for the advice and thank you for the time and energy. Your advice is always really helpful.

Have a good day Elle 🤍

Hi dear,

I'm sorry for not getting back to you sooner.

Life is kinda hard on me yeahhh, but I needed enough time and sanity to properly respond to your thorough and heartfelt feedback.

For starters, don't do yourself the disservice of comparing yourself to people who've down it for years. That's unfair for you, my dear~

The creators you see online were beginners before! They didn't start fully equipped and perfect, you know?

Don't expect yourself to be perfect and amazing; you're still figuring out what works for you and what your preferred b-rolls are.

The more you let yourself be paralyzed by perfectionism, the more you'll feel stuck and never want to start. So instead of saying, "oh I'm not good enough because this isn't my masterpiece", try thinking, "Now I know what I can do better next time"~

I actually love how, by the time I got to finishing my response to your feedback, I actually re-blogged a post about free background sounds samples online. Go check them out if you get to see this!

Personally, consistency isn't my current strong suit but I am actively working on it myself. So don't beat yourself up for not being super consistent immediately. Just try to do something for 2 days straight. Once you feel that it's ingrained in you, try adding it to being 3 days straight. As much as possible, try to keep showing up, even if it's little by little~

If you can find someone to mentor you about this, even better~

So what I'm saying is, by the time you're reading this, I hope you don't feel discouraged about not being where you want to be right now in your progress. A lot can happen in just a few days, how much more in weeks and months or years; so if you do want to be consistent with something, be consistency kind to yourself on those when you don't feel your best. The fact that you woke up and got out of bed just to show up for yourself today is more than enough. You have done what most people at their worst couldn't do.

So, as always, stay kind to yourself, take it easy and try again~

[hertwood]

dts s5 e1-2

e1: -oh my god i was so hyped for this ep yet completely forgot it starts with mattia and gunther's lunch date LMAO -'we like to think of this a documentary' 'its not a documentary' see if yall just LISTEN to toto you could be having some fun here -red mercedes rollhoop was so UGLY at least it looks better against the black now but i cant stop thinkin abt it when i see the car -also seb looks so fluffy. miss him need him etc etc -if max doesnt interview for next season i'll be So Upset i love him sm -LOVE the kevin return he deserves it SO MUCh -damn they rly set ferrari up here. starting with the highs so the lows hit correctly later. damn -LOVE every alex cameo hi baby :) -LISTEN. the first race i ever watched in full was bahrain 2022. i knew max won the championship, but i didnt know any of the details of the races, and i think this was such a GREAT start for me. the max&charles backnforth, the last minute max dnf, checo dnf in final lap had me GAGGED i'm so glad dts gave it justice. this race has such a special place in my heart -also red bulls don't have mechanical dnfs like they used to!!!! bring this back!!!!

e2: -unfortunately dts does charm u to like toto. he is charming. i am charmed. sorry -pre-fluffy hair george is a jumpscare honestly -lewis wont have to remember the full mercedes team name next year :/ -seeing old pre season testing is making me INSANE its so close i need it NOW -i forgot how widespread the porpoising problem was at the start. i know mercedes struggled the longest but it really seems like a legitimate oversight regulations wise if it happened to EVERYONE -'you cant overstate how much trouble mercedes are in' cut to them in THIRD in the rankings god even when they're flopping theyre on top thats how iconic they are~ -HI SAM COLLINS -the way they just let the bouncing cockpitcams play in silence is so effective. makes me wince. poor bb. -unrelated but i cannot even look at baku turn one without thinking abt the f2 pileup there last year. like 6 dnfs at once insane. anyway -HI ROSS BRAWN -this whole team principal meeting is so goofy and staged as fuck. parent teacher association core -silverstone is simply a banger of a track sorry. not overrated, perfectly rated actually -if dts is good for anything its good for these slow motion shots. the way the roll hoop just disintigrated is insane -so i've noted in previous season they've done a good job of setting up background info before big moments. i think they really dropped the ball here and should've introduced guanyu before the crash. not a big amount, just a lil bit would've done WONDERS -i will say, in the grosjean episode there was this talk abt how he wanted to walk to the ambulance to show he was ok. from a medical perspective that is such a bad fucking idea. it looks scary but i'm glad zhou and the medical team got him outta there on a brace like that. turned out not to be necessary but rly could've been -I LOVE U FORMULA 1 MEDICAL TEAMS BTW -i know merc are bitching but i do think back to grid starter order was the right call. sorry lewis ily -every time i get worried abt ferrari's history with pit fuckups for lewis i need to remind myself that mercedes is just as bad lmao -"i think lewis will win" i dont EVER wanna see anyone saying britcedes dont love eachother britcedes antis dni unfollow me i hate you -THROUGH GOES HAMILTON UNBELIEVABLE STUFF -the lil trick they pull.....the ~ferrari~ wins the british grand prix...... so they can rehash this all again from a carlos v charles angle next episode...... i see u

[abitmischievious]

I seriously think religious private schools shouldn't exist, specifically high school and below. I've really always thought this but after yesterday I just cannot stop thinking about it.

I was going to a play with my sister-in-law at her high school and when we entered the building it was so overwhelmingly non threatening. I don't really know how to explain that but one of the first things I noticed in the school was posters with pride flags on them!! And I shit you not they were everywhere which made me so happy. But anyway, we took our seats and looked at the little cast list paper. There were a ton of trans kids in the play but what stood out the most to me was that one of the nonbinary kid's preferred name was literally Knife and the school still printed it out and put it on the little paper out of respect for this person's identity. This made me sad and even somewhat envious, because at the school I'm forced to go to, and probably at several other private religious schools, young people are told that their only identity is being religious. I am not even kidding when I say that one time my principal told the school "We're all a slave to something; so we might as well be a slave to god." And this could just be seen as an argument against certain interpretations of religion (and it is) but I think the private school aspect makes it so much worse. Because the majority of private schools consist of similar people with similar mindsets, families, backgrounds, and beliefs. And although I know there are religious private schools that teach kind and helpful beliefs, they still usually deny the student of any other perspectives. When I saw that many public school kids, they were like a kaleidoscope of different ideas and backgrounds and religions. Only the background thing is SOMETIMES different for kids at religious private schools. I also think it's terrible that many of them don't teach about, don't teach about correctly, or even condemn other cultures. It's so sad that similarity is the only thing so many students are taught, because they genuinely do not know a thing when they meet different people later in life, and a lot of times will judge them for their differences. Another thing about religious private schools is that they can be fucking insane and teach the weirdest shit as long as they follow certain school standards. There are so many things said regularly by professors at my school that a public school teacher would get fired for teaching. These are things that people in college and in the workforce will actually think you're a terrible person for saying. And it's not even entirely the school's fault. It's the government that should make sure every school is safe for everyone, not just physically safe. And it's a parent's fault for keeping a child in a small, like-minded bubble that can teach the most unhelpful and hateful things. The reason I said that this mainly applies to high school and below is that literal children are being taught that there is only one correct way to act, talk and view the world. And while kids are smart, it's hard to have a different opinion from everyone and everything you've ever known. I think that collegians have enough life experience to feel free to form their own opinions, and the huge difference about college is that the students can choose where they want to go. While I think private religious high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools could be improved upon instead of entirely eradicated, there are simply too many aspects to improve.

[kasarawolf]

STORY UPDATE

Welp. I can honestly say that I hate the villain character in my story. Usually with the baddies I create, they have some sort of redeeming feature to them that makes me go, "you are awful, but I still like you!" But nope. Not with this one. Firsts. IhatethemIhatethempleasestopexisting. I hate writing them, but in a good way, not in a "OMG you're so stupid I should replace you way" but in a, they are just...awful way. Everything about them...lets just say they are...something alright. And I can't even upload their design or info on toyhouse either, I can only share what they look like with close friends ;o; The urge to draw spoiler heavy material this week has been strong please send help!!!

IN OTHER NEWS. Chapter 1 looks like it may be finished sometime this month! But it won't be uploaded till I at least finish most of Arc 1's writing.

Why wait to upload? I tend to let a chapter sit a bit then I go back with a clear mind and make sure it flows correctly/dialogue is not clunky/plot holes are erased/further editing/characters stay IN CHARACTER, important stuff like that. Yeah it's slow going, mostly because I am working on at least 50 chapters at one time. Everyone gets fresh perspectives and it depends on what my mood for writing that day is lol (Do I want to write sad? Happy? Chaotic?) and those are ones with titles, the others you don't want to know lol But when writing like that, it definitely gives a higher chance of other chapters being finished all around the same time :)

PAGE COUNT thus far: 378 Pages (not including the 21 pages of removed parts, that may be added back in for different chapters, (or maybe NOT who knows!!) the 34 pages of super roughs and the additional content still on my phone that I have yet to transfer over and page count)

A lot of the side/background characters, still have temporary names. Same with attacks and forms. I am so bad at naming things lol.

Annndd I think that is it for now!

[barbiegirldream]

So let me see if I can wrap my head around this correctly. From the perspective of a Queer POC boob:

Ranboo can look at a bunch of threads of, essentially, a non issue of POC twt fans whining and pissing their pants because a closeted Queer person chose to actively help a community he was more familiar with than a community he would no absolutely NOTHING about (and would probably have some horrid ass takes like Tubbo/Phil did about the slap shit, eugh), but somehow feign ignorance and even JOKE about the rapant Queerphobia going on in his community, especially towards one of his supposed "close" friends- not even at least TRY to say to be kind towards him or others, even if you don't like him (Thank You Wilb, god bless) AND have the audacity to ignore the countless people sending him the thread, when it didn't even take HOURS for him to notice those threads by Pissbaby POC, and even address it not once- but THREE TIMES (Discord, Twitter, and Twitch).

But somehow. Someway, Dream's fans (I'm not even gonna dignify with Stans because at that point, this term is just derogatory for me) are the ones who bend over backwards for a white man who what? Isn't labeled? Doesn't even know where he falls on the spectrum, but still tries to at least acknowledge the hardships- no marter how minor- that his fans go through w/ the rampant Homophobia/Queerphobia going on in the world? Even taking pot shots at Chic-fil-A? A company who was outted for actively funding Anti-LGBT groups????

"BUT THE KKK/ISLAMPHOBIC EDIT-" At least that edit was years old and Dream- whether he made it or not- owned up to it and apologized to both groups one way or another.

"BUT THE DRUGS DRUGS TWEET-" Was made months ago and wasn't even making fun of Black People, let alone even targeting a specific Group to make fun of- but he still apologized for anyway.

I feel like I've been a huge fan of the wrong mf, I'll take the white prev. conservative Queer man who actually knows when shits fucked vs the White Queer man who actively was teetering the lines before activing his "Queer" trap card (not even an exaggeration either).

mhm I think what's different mainly is Dream had to put in the work. He was raised with no background in how to be supportive of the type of community he ended up fostering. That being poc, women, nd people, queer people, jewish and Islamic people. But he wants to be so he listens to his fans and he has an open line of communication with them. If you dm him a concern about something serious it's really likely you get a reply directly.

And Dream does respond to everything like literally everything he responds to. And if he thinks an apology is in order he gives one. He did address the edit for eight minutes and apologized for it directly. With the drugs drugs tweet he said he had no intentions of fostering harmful stereotypes so he deleted his tweet he got what people were worried about. Because he listens one thing Dream has always advocated for is the opportunity we as an online international community have to listen to one another and learn from one another.

But Ranboo doesn't want to put in the work. He thinks recognizing that he's white is enough to be anti racist it's not. He thinks being gay means he can't be homophobic it doesn't. Ranboo is 18 and I think he absolutely can grow and improve but it's a little upsetting to see he's so opposed to actual criticism he would let a friend and fellow cc be harassed by his own fans. Like someone tell Ranboo that Dream isn't responding to things because they're being spammed at him but because he wants to foster a better community and knows open communication is the best way to do it.

[cathleen-mcallister]

I'm currently going to school for art foundation, but I'm also at the same time pretty new to it. I love background design (I should have really started this off with I LOVE LOVE LOVE your work) and I'm currently grasping the concept of perspective. How do you go about using perspective... do you use guide lines? Are you loose with your guide points? Whats your favorite point amount to use (1, 2 or 3)? I've tried to imagine where your point perspectives lay, but I lack in figuring it out. ^_^;;

first of all, you can do it!!! hang in there <3

I use a lot of tricks depending on the image! for loose sketching, I don't usually use guides, I just eyeball it. if you're drawing from life you can hold out your pencil with one eye closed to figure out the angle of something, then try to imitate that. I make a mental note of where the vanishing points are but I don't draw them. if I'm doing architecture design or a big painting, I use this plugin for photoshop by Sergey Kritskiy (I think it's built into procreate?)

I don't really like 1 pt perspective because it looks a little flat, BUT there is a time and a place for it! I pretty much always have some kind of 3 pt perspective, but I pay the most attention to the horizontal vanishing points. the vertical ones, I can mostly eyeball.

but the primary way I learned perspective is from building block mesh in 3D! it teaches you more about the camera. it also teaches you about focal length which can REALLY change the mood of a painting. more extreme focal lengths like 16mm can be used for action or intensity, and 200 mm is very flat, and a bit less dramatic. the human eye sees something like 40-50mm if I remember correctly

also these aren't hard rules! tons of shows break perspective. the best way to break the rules is to know the rules first though. at the end of the day if your perspective looks mostly correct at a glance, no one is gonna bring out a ruler to check :)

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

Hello,

Love reading your posts. I find your views refreshing.

This has really been bugging me about Jimin lately. Please note that I love BTS and all the members so I am sorry if I post comes across negative but what is up with Jimin? I feel like his sense of style has gone down significantly. Pre COVID he used to dress amazingly but I don't see that anymore. None of his sound check outfits have been that appealing. His airport pic was pretty blah. All the other members have stepped up their game and he has chosen to go the other way.

Also, what's with the new hair cut? Don't the members have any say in what their hair cut looks likes? It looks so bad. Like they are performing in front of so many audience and will possibly get more fans but Jimins hair does not suit him at all. Plus his face looks a bit rounder at the moment especially with the hair cut. He is hardly noticeable. Don't the members know what works for them? Like for someone who has such a striking face, it seems like a terrible choice.

Lastly, he in so unnoticeable at the moment. I feel like his screen time and everything had decreased since COVID but it's been worse since AMAs. Like he was just so quiet during the AMAs and always in the background. Same at the Grammys. All the other members seemed like they were making an effort but he was just floating in the background. At the Grammys or at AMAS, the members were taking photos with other but he just sits in the back. I have noticed the same at concerts. I went and saw their live at the movies and hardly saw Jimin. They also don't honestly give him much centre considering he is extremely good at dancing. Is this some sort of a weird strategy?

I don't know I am finding him lost in the crowd at the moment. Like he is hardly visible on social media or is hardly ever seen on any of the members stories/photos other than once or twice. Just kind of worrying in a way. Like the other members are gaining fans nonstop and he is just in the background. That hair cut just doesn't work especially for a performance like Black Swan.

Sorry it sounds like I am bitching about Jimin. I don't mean to be. I am just confused about this all.

You see anon, I think this is a matter of perspective and some may reach certain conclusions if their focus is a bit narrow. I don't really mind or care if you're bitching or not, if you like Jimin or not. I'm not dismissing your ask, but I will try and explain what I personally think about all this.

There is nothing wrong to not like certain things about a member or the decisions he takes. See, you mentioned the haircut. From the tone, it seems that you actually see it as a problem (I may be completely in the wrong here, but we all know how difficult it is sometimes to correctly get it). I made a post about that subject as well, using some Ross Geller gifs cause I'm ancient. To me, that was me trying to be funny and fake crying about it, all just for a laugh because it's not like I was actually staying at home crying, drinking a margarita and mourning the loss of Jimin's long hair. So you see, these are two different approaches to it. I for one do not take it that seriously.

About his fashion choices, you're totally entitled to your opinion and I'm not going to criticize it. After all, it's a matter of taste. I also made a comment in passing yesterday about JK's clothes and one anon thought it's best to scold me because they couldn't read the room. But, despite being a matter of personal taste, that doesn't mean there is no such thing as being able to actually make some criticism, especially if one has some actual knowledge in that field. We have fashion critics after all. But this is not about that. Personally I don't see some significant change post Covid and I also wouldn't say that all members except Jimin stepped up their game. The only way we can seriously talk about this would be to search not only all Jimin's outfits in the last two years and then compare it to what he wore before, but also to put it side by side with that they other guys wore and make another comparison. And that assesment would need to be backed by arguments and evidence.

Lastly, I think the reason why you might think that Jimin was just floating in the background and everyone else made an effort is because you had one thought at some point and then each time you tried to confirm that thought by looking specifically at Jimin's behavior in order to confirm that you're right, aka confirmation bias. Because it's not like everyone else was taking photos with other people at these awards shows while Jimin isolated himself. More than that, Tae is actually the only one who actually goes up to others on his own. BTS usually sticks as a group, all of them take photos with a celebrity if they're approached. I don't see any complaints about Jin or JK or others, who also weren't social butterflies, so your argument is failing here. Even in interviews, all of them except RM talk very little because they let him do the talking because he's best at English out of all 7 and has the leader position. And how is Jimin lost in the background at concerts? Come on, this one I find really absurd.

I also think your opinion is heavily influenced by BTS getting their IG accounts and their behavior on that platform. Jimin hasn't been active on social media in quite some time. He didn't change that when he got a new account. As opposed to him, JK is using IG, despite being more inactive than Jimin in the past. That's because he enjoys using it. Doesn't mean everyone does or cares. You say he is hardly visible on any of the members stories/photos. I would argue that most of the time, each member keeps their IG account filled with stuff that it's mostly about them. Hobi is usually the one that shows other members on his page, but the others don't. JK posts his interests, music recs and does Q&As. It's not like he regularly shows or tags every member except Jimin. Same with the other members as well. Jin only posts photos of himself. You would think he has no friends or he's just some background member? You don't have to worry about Jimin not gaining fans, that's absolutely ridiculous.

I don't know what you're intentions are with sending me this ask, if you 're genuine or not and if my response would be helpful to you in your confusion. Take from this what you want.

[subjectnumberx]

Thumbnailing: Subject's Way

Thumbnails are an important workflow tool artists use to make creating their works more efficient. They are essentially tiny, low detail versions of the idea you may have in mind, and save time by helping you catch potential compositional errors, clashing colors in palettes(if you blob some colors on), and poses that simply might not.. work in character art as well as many other things not mentioned.

I am a very visual person and sometimes putting ideas to paper really helps me focus better on the task at hand. Organizing things into steps on the page really helps me not get overwhelmed. It might prove helpful to you as well.

In this tutorial, I'll take you through my workflow process when planning paintings and simple character illustrations.

I start off the process by doing a ton of sketches of whatever thing from many angles, poses, etc. Usually if I have a certain image in mine I simply sketch that and adjust little things like angle, placement of limbs, etc. Work teeny tiny, you can enlarge it later. I,t really depends on what the goal is for that piece what the process looks like. Here the goal was to just draw a character, so I have many options.

environment sketches look a bit different for me, as I will sketch them in literal cubes. I am still working through the technique. I just haven't gotten good enough at them yet to consider a tutorial by me would be helpful to anyone though.

Like with piece D, it's good to plan compositional elements here too. I added the moon that would go in the eventual background, swords in the hands of B and E, etc. Had I had more time, F would have gotten rough roses, but I digress.

After I have base sketches, I do very rough lines so I know what I'm looking at, and it primes me for what I could possibly have issues with in doing the final. I keep it VERY loose and don't dwell too much on details. If I'm drawing a character, I'm not even going to look up references, unless their silhouette is very complex. There is not much need for accuracy here. Just to nail down your subject's silhouette.

At this point, you can start eliminating which poses you don't want. Here I was very indecisive so I went through with sketching all of them.

At this step ill also take the time to plan variants if I feel like I would be indecisive about them/need them for certain platforms (optional).

Here's where things start to actually take the form of thumbnails. I work large and draw most of the anatomy of the subject so that things are positioned correctly in the frame. Draw the whole of something, even if you know it's going to get cropped out. There is nothing worse than trying to draw in a way that is already cropped, it messes up your anatomy bad, and you'll spend more time trying to fix it, especially if you are just starting out as an artist.

Physically drawing a box around them to help with framing is really good to help plan the composition of the final piece. Again, you can eliminate stuff here as well if they don't make interesting compositions. Consider the rule of thirds and how much breathing room you want or need in your piece. The one not in a box was eliminated because I didn't like the pose nor would it make a very interesting piece.

I also use different colors on the boxes so I can overlap them and keep my eyes from getting confused where one "drawing" ends and one begins.

If I'm planning portraits/art in my painterly style, I'll take the time to block in some colors just to see what I should shoot for in the final. I will also do several pairings of colors in their own sets of thumbnails if the piece needs it/i want varients. I highly suggest blobbing so that you can see how potential colors will play with one another. Learning the teeniest bit of color theory will help, I promise, but for now, i'lI'lll refrain from the mini-lecture.

these three two (you'll see), I figured would make better cel-shaded/quicker pieces due to how zoomed out they are, any true details I would want to focus on don't exactly work for my current style faraway. Be sure to tailor compositions that suit your style. I will be keeping these sketch ideas for future reference.

It's important to remember that just because an idea doesn't get used in this piece, that doesn't mean it can't be used in a further piece down the road. I actually have a horrible habit of deleting my thumbnails after I'm done with them, but if I'm thumbnailing in a sketchbook? I find myself browsing back over them for future pieces to get some rough ideas of what could work later.

One last thing, you don't have to plan as many thumbnails as I did, but I do suggest at least 3 or 4 to really stretch your creativity.

Thumbnails also make for a good warm-up. If you're curious, I did the initial sketches in this order: A C E D B F. I think it helped me loosen up a bit, but you can be the judge of that.

I went back and tried another approach for a painting, but now I have the base for 3 paintings I could pursue, albeit rough, but it's good to learn how to paint like a sculptor, I digress.

That's all there is to it. the key is being clean enough to get the idea down, but rough enough to save time. work small, using basic shapes to create silhouettes. You can enlarge it later and use it as a base sketch.

Last two cents: I've also learned that sometimes if a piece is just not working, it's probably more than likely a compositional issue, anatomy, or perspective, Which is why thumbnailing can help you catch these issues early.

happy drawing :)

a/n: this is my first time really creating a tutorial. this might not be groundbreaking information for some of you and that's okay. this tutorial was initially created for someone in an art server I'm in on Discord, hence the slide-text-slide format. I have taken the images and text from that and compiled them here to make it easier to pick up the tips. I do not consider myself a pro on any of the things mentioned by any means, merely my take on it all. Get multiple sources, educate yourself, practice, and find what works for you. - Sub