#attempt at a more digitally traditional style lol

[kozachenko]

Haven't posted any art in a while, so here are some digital sketches (plus some traditional ones under the tag) I've done recently that are sort of the test runs for how I might want to stylize my faces in the future.

Artist's Notes:

So recently I've been in a bit of a rut with my art, more specifically the way I draw faces, so one day I got kind of bored and decided to do a study of Yoshitaka Amano's art style in my sketchbook and then I kinda got obsessed with the way he draws faces (The bottom two are probably the most reminiscent to his art style outside of colouring and the hair). I also got these really cool mini statue busts of some roman statues which has also helped me a lot when it comes to facial proportions. With these sketches I really wanted to try and focus on how to apply what I learned from my style studies while also branching off and adding that to my own style (the sketches of which I put below). I also wanted to experiment with different skin colours and how they relate to the rest of the character's colour palette. I also didn't go too crazy on the lighting and rendering for majority of them, except for the earrings and the hair on the third one, as well as the blush underneath the eye on the second one, as I just wanted to play around with some ideas I had.

While I do try and draw outside of my comfort zone in my sketchbook, I haven't really done it as much in my digital art, so I used this as my opportunity to rectify that. Also, if any of you guys have advice or feedback for drawing POC please tell me, I have been drawing curly hair the same ever since I was 5 so advice on how to draw curly hair better would also be helpful, I am also not the most experienced with rendering it as I have only really drawn that type of hair traditionally in my sketchbooks.

Also, I have gotten oddly attached to these sets of faces, I might make them into some new OCs later. If I do draw them again, I'll probably change the jawline shapes of a few of them because I kept defaulting to the same round shape for half of them and I wanna kick that habit lol.

Also, here are some pics from my sketchbook of my style studies, where I really focused on trying to get a feel for how Amano draws faces. The pictures are in order of attempts btw (i.e. top left is the first one and bottom right is the most recent one).

Overall I think I did a good job, but some of them deviate a lot more from the references I used than others lol.

[reimenaashelyee]

ok, I've read your article on your website about creating a gn pitch. did you have to pitch Alexander to hiveworks to get it printed? also, was seance published thru hiveworks or another publisher?? how difficult is it to get a publisher to actually pick up your book and have it printed + distributed? sorry for so many questions lol. I have a lot more but I'll refrain for now

Feel free to send your questions but please do separate asks if they are somewhat different subtopics

Alexander

Alexander is a special circumstance because Hiveworks is actually where I work as a dayjob. Staff members and creators already part of Hiveworks can get their webcomics hosted/printed with no barrier should they choose to be picked up by the studio - though they still need to make a pitch document to check whether the content matches the editorial catalogue.

Before this though, I had shopped Alexander out to other traditional graphic novel publishers. Which didn't work out because 1) there is still no viable market for adult graphic novels that isn't political, educational or memoir, 2) Alexander is a risky book, cost-wise and content-wise, 3) I wanted it to be webcomic too, 4) pandemic

Seance Tea Party

Seance Tea Party (and My Aunt is a Monster) is through Random House Graphic, a kids/young adult graphic novel imprint of Penguin Random House - the largest traditional publisher globally. I am only stating this to situate the difference between Alexander and Seance's homes. Hiveworks is absurdly tiny, hyper-independent and almost entirely digital. Random House Graphic is part of a big ecosystem that almost all your favourite authors past and present are part of: bookstores, libraries Hollywood, TV adaptations, ads on the bus or magazines or radio, Oprah's book club, worldwide distribution...

About the difficulty, it really depends on your specific situation.

For starters, you really need to have some kind of record of being able to finish something (mini-comics, a decently sized (100 paged) webcomic)... or in the case of long, ongoing webcomics, the ability to maintain it.

This should be enough to get you to make an attempt for Hiveworks (or Webtoons/Tapas...). But then you also have to consider the genre, subject matter, "representation", length, style of the work you're pitching... all the things I talked about in my GN Pitch article. As I have hinted at Alexander failing at being picked up by traditional publishers, some comics are just not able to break in to certain markets due to a variety of factors. Adult graphic novels are still seen as risky by traditional large imprints, so you tend to see them more in indie publications - like Fantagraphics, D&Q, Selfmade Hero, First Second, Silver Sprocket... or webcomics. However, if you're pitching a kids or young adult book - especially in the memoir, queer contemporary romance, POC (tailored to Western lens, RIP) fantasy, educational genres - then you'll have a way better time.

You still have to look at the publishers and see if your vibes match theirs. Then if you're interested in opening up the option to pitch to traditional imprints (and add more credibility to your submission), you really really really NEED an agent. Some GN imprints like Ballantine or Alfred A Knopf do not accept submissions at all except through agents and known contacts. Pitching to an agent is a whole other barrier... though once you get that agent, you can almost entirely hand over the grueling work of shopping pitches to them.

I think, on average, breaking into publishing is moderately hard. But I cannot guarantee it. I know for myself and a friend of mine, we broke into it easy: we got our agents quickly and secured our first book deals through major traditional publishers - though we had almost a decade of webcomics experience and community presence to back that up. Then for most of my peers/friends, it's months and months of rejection, no answers, editors/agents telling them their work is not for the market etc. Some of them overcome those troubles. Some of them become sick of it and go full independent self-published. Speaking of, there are still options outside of the mainstream. You can engage specialised, single-purpose services like White Squirrel to distribute, or Mixam to print your comics. You can host your work online and gain your own readership through updates, festival appearances, etc.

Again, it really depends on what you want to do, what your work is about, and the fallbacks you have. Please do your research, and prepare your strategies, and approach pitching with a realistic, pragmatic lens. Hope for the best, expect the worst. Everything above your must-have is a bonus.

[turoce]

Seana’s 2020 art highlights (a thread)

(Note: this is a reupload of a thread i did on twitter a few years back. so these are really old.)

January: i didn’t draw anything complete that month.... closest thing i could find to finished is this art i made of my OC, Angelord. man. remember when i drew my OCs? [2023 note: it's..... funny you say that. you would try to start up an original comic for the entirety of next year.... not that it ever came to fruition.]

February: i finished Link’s Awakening that month. i drew Marin bc i thought she was cute. i wish i could get motivated to draw fanart of recent video games i finished more... this is probably the last proper traditional art i made this year... after this, it’s mostly digital.

March: look. i’m attempting anatomy... and i failed lol. i remember being like “how do you draw woman” after drawing this... i mean. i still wanna know how to draw woman, so i guess i haven’t changed lol. [2023 note: I STILL DONT KNOW HOW TO DRAW WOMEN]

April: wait NVM here’s another traditional piece i made this year. he was an adoptable i made... but nobody was interested in them so he’s with me for now. i’ll try and redesign them, either to sell them or to keep him. [2023 note: i never sold this guy.... i was lazy and nobody values points these days. probs for the best because scamming children with virtual coins is probably not a good idea lmao. at the same time, i wish there was an easy way to buy and sell designs+commissions without having to get a credit card or paypal or something.]

May: another month where i didn’t draw anything. buuut i did some plush sketches to reference so das dat. [2023 note: you'll probably be able to name most charas here, but who's the guy i drew the most? that's Matteo, he's a little pink vampire and i made him through Gatcha Life.]

June: ah. the month where i started digital art. this was fanart for my friend’s OC. i didn’t know a lot of features of digital art so it looks like shit LOL not the first digital art i made ever, but it might as well be. [2023 note: i actually received my tablet around 2018, but i never had time to draw on it because i had 1 hour of screentime every day. this restriction was finally lifted in 2020 (because online classes) and i finally had time to venture out into the world of digital art...]

July: i made a lot of stuff this month, but to shorten the list... i finished the plush of my OC, Matteo. i wanna make another plushie... maybe with Suitcase.

this was also the month i joined the OSC... oh hell. it’s been 6 months?? [2023 note: 2 YEARS BITCH. ITS GONNA BE YOUR 3RD ANNIVERSARY if i didn't get so tired and started to hate the community so much.]

August: ...ergh. lets get over with this month quickly... Object OCs this. Object OCs that.

occasional Algebians.

i do not like the art here... it really shows that i’ve improved. ok let’s get outta here. [2023 note: i fucking despise the person who asked me why "they were old" to my humanizations of the Dangos. this is why i refuse to join another public server ever again and might have contributed to the delay of my human drawing skills.]

September: lots of Taco II. i seriously liked her a lot. still do, but the love is a bit more spread out between characters.

oh. and i watched ONE that month. cool.

October: i finally found a style that i could weld. hooyah.

don’t ask why i drew my friend as a cat maid... i thought it was funny ok.

September: the month of gift art. nothing else to say, but i like the thin lines. yes, ‘thin’. ...god i need to think of better things to say. [i would then realize i said the wrong month, and unlike tumblr, i cannot edit tweets once published, so my only option was to delete the whole thing and start over. or just say this:] did i just say September... oh for fucks- no i am not fixing this i’m already tired of this just imagine i said November ok

December: best art of this year so far (doh) nothing to say. just... happy that i improved. can’t wait to improve even more.

[hey look! i was in the 2020 JnJ christmas video! thats me! me!!]

aaand, that’s all for this year! man, i thought i was done with improvement. i can’t believe i proved myself wrong. usually other people do that for me lol. lets see if i can disprove myself again in 2021.

[doffies]

i hope kaya’s doing alright

[haleigh-sloth]

Do you have any recommended resources for learning to draw? Any books? I've been trying to learn but just feel kind of stomped on where to start.

Ahhh I answered a question like this recently but I can't find it (curse you tumblr)

What I told the last person was:

Don't be afraid to trace things, it's how your hand gets used to drawing certain things. If art snobs say tracing is bad, just ignore them. They're full of shit.

Find art work you like, and draw it. Try to replicate it. When it comes to drawing people (cartoon or otherwise) this is a good way to check and see if you're doing proportions correctly.

WATCH. TUTORIALS. Seriously. This is mostly good for coloring but there are drawing tutorials out there for almost any style you want. If you're attempting at anime/manga style, well good lord there are so so so many tutorials to choose from.

Use references! This goes for anything. I use references when I'm drawing bodies, animals, and any scenes or objects I'm not familiar with. Use photos!

Those are my big things. I don't know any books or anything to recommend sadly, I really have been drawing since I could hold a pencil in kindergarten (I got in trouble in school so much for drawing in class lol) but I did ALL of those things listed above ^^^^^ to be able to do what I can do now.

If you're wondering whether to do traditional or digital--I highly recommend starting traditional. If you can do traditional, you can do digital. However I've learned that once I got into digital too much and stopped traditional for a long while, I had to basically reteach myself how to use a pencil and paper. I'm doing more traditional lately because it's important to me that I keep that skill, so that's just my own personal advice. Learn to draw on paper first and then move onto digital, if that's what you're wanting to do.

There's really no real right way to start, just make sure it's fun for you and not a chore or a task.

I will reiterate that I cannot stress the use of tutorials and references enough. Use them!!!

I hope some of this helped. I'm sorry I have no books to recommend, I just didn't use those. I used google and whatever popped up that looked like something I could easily follow.

I hope you enjoy and can have fun with it!!!

[barbatusart]

Howdy!!!

I'm curious of what your art inspo is, and how you formulated your style!!

-🦷

mornin! i put together a list of some of my main art influences over here for your browsing pleasure 😎👍🏻

as far as formulation goes, a lot of what my art looks like came from brute-forcing my way out of this old 90s anime snoutnose style i used to draw in that looked kinda like this:

which like objectively sucks LOL but also was super limiting by way of what i could do with facial expressions. then when i started studying & getting better & could draw a plain old face, it was too rigid & i still couldnt get my faces emoting in a way that grabbed me. so eventually i just gave up on remaining any sort of on-model & leaned back into cartoony, like i started drawing how it Felt to make an expression as opposed to drawing a 1 for 1 recreation of an expression. like id make an expression i wanted to draw & instead of looking in a mirror id start feeling out which parts of my face were tense or tight & drawing the feeling of that, idk if that makes any sense but this is why my roughs for sadsack look so fucked up LOL

anyway then all my faces were super fucked up & fun for a while but i wanna push it more cus i get bored staying in 1 place, so now these days im trying to introduce more structure & anatomy in while keeping the buckwild expressions cus the few successful attempts ive had have looked really frightening & im into it.

OH another thing that helped was switching mediums. like early on when i was strictly traditional i used to do pencil sketches & fine liners inks on white paper (very clean), & all my stuff was Stiff & Incredibly Dull & most importantly i wasnt having any fun. then i switched to straight black brushpen with no pencil sketch on brown recycled paper (already “not clean” so no more worries about ruining the paper) which was sloppy messy & Super fun. then i figured out i could successfully sketch with a brushpen if i went in afterwards with whiteout pens & just cleaned it up, so i had a period of like 2 years where i was doing this weird carving with black and white ink on brown paper where u could see all my overcorrection & mistakes & fixes

THOSE DAYS WERE FUN & honestly it got me out of my head in a major way about anything having to look perfect or be mistake-free. anyway then when i switched to digital i basically kept the same technique of straight messy inks & just carving with the eraser, i never do a sketch layer lol

i think i wandered off point here so idk how successfully i answered yr question but uh THATS HOW I DO IT LOL i like mess & speed & preserving the energy of the sketch at all costs

[watcher-ofthe-sky]

For the artist ask, 1 and 14! :)

Hey!! Thank you for asking!

[artist asks]

1. Show your most recent wip

This was suggested when I was doing sketches but I got excited at the idea of drawing Erik after a long time so I decided to make it a full art instead. ^^” I need to get back to it as soon as I get the time. 

14. How has your art changed over the years?

This was a loaded question, and the more I actually thought about it, the bigger this got. Really sorry for all the rambling!

[posting under the cut]

I have been doing art pretty much since I was a kid, all the casual drawings and painting you do as a hobby or for some creative work in school. I got into digital art during late 2018 when I joined the fandom space and came across all the beautiful fan art and the possibility of making one like that. 

So, I started with drawing on a paper, clicking the picture and then tracing + colouring it on the mobile with my finger. Needless to say, that was an interesting experience lol, filled with loads of finger cramps. All of that taught me how to use layers and some basics of digital art. These art were some of those attempts:

Around early 2019, I bought a pen stylus for my mobile--the one with transparent disc that didn't give much pressure sensitivity or anything, but it was something. Here are the attempts from that:

During summer 2019, I finally got my graphic pen tablet and using it was a daunting experience at first because of the hand-eye coordination it takes. After some months of practice, I got used to it and it was so exciting to be able to do art like that.

Now here comes the main part, the more art I did, the more I realised that I knew absolutely nothing about it lol. The thing was, till then, I have mostly been doing traditional art. Even in that, my forte--if I can call it that--was doing poster/water colours for scenic stuff and landscapes. So not only digital art was an entire new medium, I did not know any basics of art itself such as anatomy because it was a hobby that I didn't take that seriously, especially in the later years of school where I did not have time. By 2020, I realised that I'll have to start from the scratch and actually learn and understand what I am doing.

In 2021, I got invested in manga colouring and that helped too! Since man times (read: most) I am feeling too lazy to draw but want to colour something or I am having an art block, so doing manga colouring was a way for that. I got to play more around with lighting and shading. Art wise, I pushed myself to give more attention to details and take my time with things.

2022 is still in progress and so are my goals! I am trying to push myself out of my comfort zone and study different art styles. One of main aim is to practice anatomy more and allow myself to make mistakes and fuck up, because who cares if I do? (it's me. I care. lolol and that's what I am trying to get better that)

I consider myself a  beginner and there is a lot to learn. Sometimes that fact gets overwhelming. Other times it gets exciting because there is so much to do and explore so the fun will never stop. My relationship with my art changes as we both grow, and although there are times where it is a strain, it is still a space for myself to just be. And for that, I'll always be grateful to it. <3

Sorry again for the long answer, thank you so much for reading!

[bmpmp3]

i guess “wobbly” isn’t totally the right way to describe what’s going on with my art, a better descriptor might be a sort of “double vision” created through an inevitability turned into an intentionality

(sorry im very sick rn and my sick brain accidentally wrote some barely readable essay about my own artistic techniques orz under da cut)

i think a large part of the reason i gravitate towards drawing analogue vs digital nowadays (ignoring the fact that i have spatial issues and i can keep track of proportions much easier on paper than on a screen) is that like, at least in my experience (growing up on deviantart LOL) traditional art, while being less popular online (at least, growing up on deviantart it was), also allowed way more room for visual mistakes and imperfections than digital art did. i think sometimes, at least for me, having an undo button ended up putting a weird perfectionism on me instead of being a useful tool orz

YOU MAY have noticed my double/triple lines in my linework, especially in long, uninterrupted lines, that’s what i mean by inevitability turned intentionality: its a sort of “line correction” like one would do when doing a rough sketch except for some ungodly reason i do it during my very permanent inking stage LOL jk jk its actually several very good reasons: you know how many artists find their rough sketches look better than their final linework? part of that is because your eyes bring in all the competing sketchy lines together as one cohesive sort of “vibe” of a line, making it look exactly how your brain thinks it should look to be “correct”

another reason is that, going back to the spatial issues, the dysgraphia is inevitable and i will always end up strange, jerky lines no matter the sketch stage or the ink stage, no matter how careful i am no matter how careless, its something that’s stuck with me for 24 years and i can usually write my b’s and d’s without a reference nowadays (the z’s are still questionable) but it’s always present - SO i’ve found, especially in the past couple years, embracing it is vital

hold on, here’s some examples of my double lines:

THIS drawing around the legs is a REALLY clear example lol

you can see what happened, the red lines are what i attempted to draw first, my dysgraphia then caught up to me half way through bringing in those big wobbles, and then i added the blue lines as a sort of corrective buffer

this one had a LOT, the orange lines were likely what were drawn first. you can kind of tell that i tend to ink from the face first because as i get to the body i get more tired and the more corrective lines need to be drawn LOL

of course there’s exceptions: i think with this girl I hadn’t done any warmup sketching (just drawing vague circles and swirls and lines or maybe a blobby creature doodle LOL) and my hands were hashtag unsteady hjdskfjds

of course when i said inevitiability turned intentionality, i do mean that part of it is done intentionally: on purpose. that’s part of embracing it: it really does just look good and feel good to draw like this. like here i can’t remember or tell which lines were drawn first, i just know it felt right where i placed all my doublelines

i think that’s why i had to stop doing digital art for a while, it tends to not be super conducive to this style of drawing, or at least i haven’t quite gotten the hang of it (despite doing digital art since i was 10 LOL). i remember like 90% of the stuff i would draw digitally, instead of letting my doublelines through i would just ctrl+z and redraw the line 3000000 times until it was “perfect” orz a fools errand that created way more work for myself and was nawt great for my drawing health (both physically and mentally very exhausting). i hope someday i can work out some techniques im happy with that make digital art feel as easy as analogue art has become for me

my chosen medium for colouring in traditonal art also helps i think, i originally gravitated towards watercolour because it was faster and easier on the hands than pencil crayons (especially as a person with this many ocs with black and brown hair LOL my pencil crayons were STUBS while the other colours were nearly untouched) but it also allows for you to get SLOPPY with it LOL painting outside the lines feels SO good and right and not painful WOULD RECOMMEND. plus, i think you can see it in my drawing of Su up there with her brown hair, because to build up deeper colours in watercolour i find it easiest to do it in layers + i cant mimic the brushstrokes very easily, i end up with these sort of simple gradations around all my drawings which i think has a similar i-liked-the-rough-sketch-best effect that the doublelines have, the weird aura tricks the brain into filling in the blanks

of course my lineart style is not super conducive for digital art colouring, paintbucket filling this shit is a NIGHTMARE jkgdfldsjhfkds that’s another thing i gotta do a lot of experimentation with..............

anyway WHAT im trying to say is sometimes the best thing you can do for your art is let your arms draw the way they want to. (also im tricking your eyes into seeing the best version of my art with my fuzzy colouring and double-lined inking. bmpmp3′s trick hee hee)

[sleeplessandstubborn]

As I went through the (digital, no trees were killed during the making of this copy) pages of Gérard Davet and Fabrice Lhomme's book about Emmanuel Macron, Le traître et le néant (play of words with Sartre's L'être et le néant, they do these kind of things. And ah, we could translate this as The traitor and the void) I wondered if the authors attempt to do a psychological portrait of their president had not spectacularly backfired and given a not particularly flattering account of French political landscape. A bunch of obnoxious snobs, completely disoriented by the demise of traditional parties as if that was something completely unprecedented in the World (guys, stop navel gazing for a second and look at your neigbouring countries out of Eurovision week too) and nostalgic from the times they were just alternating in power. The President's true personality? Well, he keeps ellusive the whole time, the commonplace description of an habile seductor who can easily adapt to circunstances rather than having a clear ideology. Welcome to my very chaotic recap/review of this book, if Tumblr allows it. Because computer is being rebellious and this godforgotten site won't let me write long texts.

(Accurate depiction of me trying to make this site work on my computer)

First of all, who are these Davet & Lhomme (D&LH from now on) guys and why did I read their book? Are you behaving as a bad macroniste, oh Sleeplessandstubborn? Yes I am, but that's irrelevant for all us right now. So D&LH, nicknamed by their colleages Melon & Melon (Le Monde, their own workplace, lol) or Dupont & Dupond (by the one and only Canard Enchainé) are two journalists, authors of several books dedicated mainly to politics. However, their main bussiness model in the last 15 years and the thing that has made them more (in)famous are examples of the anti-presidential literature that is so mainstream in France. Since 2011 they have dedicated an unfavorable book to the three last presidents, and the three volumes have been published in the last months of their tenure. Of course they sell very well.

(Never read the one about Sarko, should I?)

The structure/format of these books is very similar. A series of personalities, many of these with an axe to grind, are interviewed about their relationship/experiences/misfortunes/whatever related to the main subject, that is, the sitting President. Personally I find their style annoying. With years, people has learned to talk less and less to D&LH because it usually mean problems. The long list (or 100 names or so) they have included at the end of their last book says volumes both about their debatable ethics as well as the distrust of French political landscape. In that list of people who wouldn't talk to them you can find members of Macron's government AND most of his potential adversaires for the reelection you can wonder with whom they are supposed to speak next time. Of these three books, the one that had more repercusions was Un Président ne devrait pas dire ça, in which Hollande was at the same time the main subject and the main source, as he was interviewed more than 60 times by D&LH.

It went horribly wrong and even foreign press talked about "political suicide". To this day the book is considered as one in a series of reasons why he couldn't run to be reelected. It angered everyone and even the right wing opposition who had been complaining because it was being written by the journalists who wrote against Sarkozy used Un Président ne devrait pas di on to trigger an impeachment process. The reason was that, during one of the interviews with D&LH, he claimed to have ordered several targeted killings. Ooops oops ooops. Of course all French Presidents do these things, but no one is supposed to talk openly about it because national security & stuff. He also insulted the judiciary, footballers, the members of his own party and/or government, told that there were too many immigrants and came across as a huge snob with the redeeming trait of telling good jokes now and then. But, as you can read on Le Traitre et le Néant, it traumatized everyone and is held as something you should never, ever, do.

It seems that Hollande didn't learn his lesson or that he hold selective grudges, since he has spoken to D&LH again, and his participation on this book has been widely mocked. He appears again under an unflattering light, everyone talked about the time his dog broke Brigitte Macron's glasses and how he should have offered to pay them instead of feigning outrage when the bill was sent to the presidential palace. He also manages to come across worse in certain anecdotes. E.g., the famous moment after Manette's death and how he failed to show an ounce of empathy towards a very distressed Macron who had just lost his beloved grandma.

I've read several accounts of this anecdote, this is the first one told from his point of view... and it's the one in which he cames across the worse; congratulations, François, you played yourself again. Then, one can smile at how the chapter dedicated to Valls starts.

The deflowering, eh? There are a few things worthy of Ao3 or Wattpad in this book. One of these is the title of this chapter, with his Angry!Valls as we learned to know in fanfic, even if they chose to tell the worst possible version of the (in)famous (verbal, but you can imagine it in other ways) dick contest at the National Assembly. No one can top Le Canard in that aspect. They have the best version of the zizigate. At least we have M. Pradié praising the presidential prostate too, it's the only quality this member (pun intended) of Les Républicains recognizes.

But, you are going to ask me, what the fuck does this book contain? Any revelation? No, not much that I haven't read previously, sometimes in worse books written by worse people. But, short story, I find the authors prententious, the politicians featured here whyny and delusional, the bunch of bitter haters that are the majority on its pages too petty and cartoonish, some of the people featured there behaving in a particularly pathetic way (the perfect example of that cathegory is Pierre Moscovici, that vents out during his interview then try to take is back). There's no allusion to economy, to foreing politics or to anything that it's not the "pursue" of the Macron Mystery (TM) that so many authors try to unveal. As if one could have an accurate portrait of a personality via the distorted mirror of people who hate him (the word hate is written often), or the kind of individual who spread rumours to damage him.

Meh; if you want to read an anti Macron book, at least read Ruffin's one from 2018 (9?). He's as obsessed as many of the guys featuring in this one, but when he's not writing about the feelings the President's nose awake in him he's capable of writing interesting and quite moving of people who have difficult lives (an then the next page he's talking about himself again). It contains less white middle age men trying to get right why their president has no children.

(The He Has No Children Brigade seems to be composed mainly from LR members).

So, you are asking, should you buy the D&LH? Nah, I don't think so. but when in doubt, go to the library and decide for yourself.

[darnell-blog-stcg]

Quick notes on influence’s (Artists)

I Essentially took all my art influence from artists I followed or Mangaka/Japanese comic artists such as Elilie maple fox https://twitter.com/elliemaplefox?lang=en

Yoshihiro Togashi (Works-Yu Yu hakusho, Hunter X Hunter)

Yu Yu Hakusho-

Some HXH fanart (not mine- i wish it was)

Junji Ito (Works- numerous- notably examples include Uzumaki, Tomie, Gyo etc)

Uzumaki official Art

Hirohiko Araki (Works- JoJo’s Bizarre adventure)

Some art from JJBA

All of these examples (save for Ellie maple Fox) Use traditional art mediums(analog). This may seem a tad out of place for someone like me who exclusively works digitally but truthfully I much prefer working with physical mediums- I'm just kind of terrible at them. As i have only being studying art and trying to improve for a little over a year and a half now, I have virtually no experience with traditional mediums and only really turned to digital art as I didn’t have years to improve  and learn the base fundamentals. To make up or this I try to imitate the textures of traditional mediums so that my work looks less “digital”. This in combination with using regular art supplies in my free time has helped me slightly disguise the digital truth of my work but now I suppose the jig is up- consider this a confession lol.

Jokes aside this relates to my work as I am currently attempting to imitate a collaring pencil and watercolour style that is stylized in a sort of “manga” way. This will hopefully be more apparent in the next few posts as I slowly figure my weird situation out

[canmom]

Animation Night 51 - Kizumonogatari

Look, we’ve gone several weeks without anything deeply weebish, I have a reputation to maintain here!

Hey friends, I have somehow avoided getting kicked off this website. I have backed up the Animation Night posts locally, though it’s going to take a bit of work to publish the archive on my giþub site!

So, what’s this week about? Studio SHAFT were in their heyday known for two things: the rightly legendary Puella Magi Madoka Magica, which we watched back on Animation Night 10, and is apparently soon to receive a new film... but mostly, the much longer Monogatari series. Starting with Bakemonogatari (2009), this stood out a great deal (and did a lot to establish the SHAFT style): a distinctive blend formal experimentation, dense literary allusions, tight blink-and-you’ll miss it editing with creative use of text, and a wry, discomforting sense of humour.

Monogatari entered the world as a series of light novels by the startlingly prolific Nisio Isin (or NisiOisiN as he prefers it!), centred on a boy named Koyomi Araragi who falls into the orbit of a long succession of supernaturally-afflicted girls. Though that premise probably makes it sound sorta harem-adjacent, and Araragi does get together with one of said girls by the end of Bake-, what I’ve seen of it primarily treats this premise more as a framing device for quite varied supernatural stories; some more horror-oriented, some more comedic. Each entry in the series is titled a pun in the template of [something]monogatari, after a traditional literary form that connotes similarly to ‘tale’. Typically these pormanteau with the kanji 物 (mono, roughly just ‘thing’), so...

化物語 Bakemonogatari (after 化物 bakemono meaning monster)

偽物語 Nisemonogatari (after 偽物 nisemono meaning counterfit)

猫物語 Nekomonogatari (not really a pun, just 猫 neko meaning cat lol)

傾物語 Kabukimonogatari (傾 meaning slope, with afaict a very unusual reading presumably to bring to mind kabuki theatre? or the flamboyant kabukimono samurai gangs? i don’t get this one)

and so on...

I can’t say too much about the light novel series, or how it compares with others of the genre, beyond that it’s reputed to be very wordy! I do know the task of adapting this fell into the hands of directors Akiyuki Shinbo and Tatsuya Oishi at SHAFT, and they evidently wanted to make something rather avant-garde!

Some of their ideas included things like attempting to capture the interiority of a character by blacking out the screen as if for blinking with ‘black’ or ‘red’ scenes:

...which along with the editing gives the whole production a distinctive rhythm. Other tricks involve extensive use of typography (e.g. flashing up a definition for a few frames), editing to kabuki sounds (each episode beginning with the an accelerating series of beats with passages from the original novel alongside them), and heavy use of geometric patterns and digital effects in the photography: gradients, stark silhouettes, a very stylised modern world yet strangely sterile and empty of people beyond the MCs. They would moreover do unusual things like using real photographs in backgrounds to create constant variation.

And while the drawing count wasn’t unusually large or anything like that - quite the opposite, often there would be almost entirely static, lingering scenes - even those static talking heads scenes would be shot with an unusual pose or composition to make it interesting. Then at key moments, they would drop some really innovative, heavily impactful key animation, such as this legendary fight scene [continued, cw gore, incredible sequence ^^] by Hironori Tanaka, Genki Matsumoto, Gen’ichiro Abe and Ryo Imamura, which made full use of the protagonist’s healing factor.

This approach proved a hit, and they were set to make many, many more adaptations of Monogatari. For a detailed retrospective on the series and its influences, kVin has you covered. (Literally I would be totally at sea without this guy lol.)

Starting in 2011, Oishi went to work on the film series, 傷物語 Kizumonogatari (which we could translate as 'Would Tale’), which was released from 2016-17, telling the first part of the story as a prequel to Bakemonogatari. Although the production was delayed years thanks to Oishi’s ambition, leaving the main series in the hands of an at first much less experienced Tomoyuki Itamura, the final result seems to have paid off, at least going by kVin’s enthusiasm...

The biggest fan of NisiOisiN’s prose is NisiOisiN himself, and so the Monogatari series is renowned for being verbose by both fans and critics. Kizumonogatari is written as the chaotic stream of consciousness of Koyomi Araragi, but Oishi decided to do away with narration and monologues entirely; he took a book that exists inside the mind of a character and tried to make all his feelings explicit and yet portrayed in an unobtrusive way. Not dropping any relevant details without outright stating anything was by all means a crazy idea. And what’s even more outrageous is that he succeeded with his elegant but thoroughly insane solution – eventually at least, I wouldn’t be surprised if he had to redraw his storyboards countless times to achieve it. The Show, Don’t Tell principle has become a bit of a poisonous idea on the internet thanks to reductive fans interpreting it as a rule rather than a powerful approach, but this film pulls it off to an extreme that shouldn’t even be possible.

For a very detailed blow by blow of the various creative things being done, you can read more here.

Unlike the more static TV series, these films are carried throughout by some frankly incredible kagenashi (unshaded) character animation, full of intense expression and inventive touches. These lively animation designs consciously contrast with the (apparently somewhat controversial) decision to set everything in realistic CGI backdrops - which do not attempt to look cel shaded or painted at all, but it seems to fit a production like this much better than the overly-shiny cars in Psycho-Pass, and fits the studio’s habit of being ahead of the curve in adopting digital tech.

So what’s all this in service of telling? In Kizu-, Araragi gets his first encounter with a supernatural girl in the form of (deep breath) the vampire Kiss-shot Acerola-orion Heart-under-blade. Moved to offer his blood up to save her from vampire hunters, he finds himself made a vampire thrall tasked with retrieving her lost limbs.

As far as content: some gore is p much a given in this scenario, but heads up that Monogatari is also known for its improbable fanservice shots. In terms of artistic intent, this is perhaps another element in drawing us into the subjectivity of a teenage boy. And in terms of what to expect, it definitely sounds like these are sometimes used, as in here, in a way designed to discomfort rather than gratify the audience.

My impetus for picking this one out is a fascinating series of staff interviews that were translated on Sakuga Blog over the past month. Something that got this much attention, and kVin’s obvious immense enthusiasm - not to mention the clips picked out! - definitely got my interest. I’m looking forward to seeing it all together.

With the density of allusions and complex typography, this series is quite a challenge to subtitle - but luckily various groups have risen to the challenge over the years. In this case we have a kind of improbably sophisticated sub by Commie, who went to the trouble of not just matching all the fonts and such but even animating the colour changes to match the typography in the series...

Luckily for Animation Night scheduling, most of these movies are pretty short - just over an hour typically - so we should easily be able to get through all of them in one night. Animation Night 51 will begin at 7pm UK time, 3 hours from this post, at the usual spot - twitch.tv/canmom!

[not-xpr-art]

Art Advice #2 - How to beat art block!

Hi again everyone!

This is the second instalment to my Art Advice tag offering hints and tips for artists of any skill level! 

This time I’ll be going into ways I’ve found that help me to combat art block or creative ruts. Of course, these may not work for you, and a big part of art is learning about what things do and do not work for you, but I hope it at least offers some advice to anyone who struggles with art blocks!

How to beat art block. 

Getting into an art block can be one of the most frustrating things as an artist. Especially if you’ve tried to dedicate a window of time to drawing something, only for your brain to ‘nope’ out and give you no motivation. I’ve found it can often make you feel worthless as an artist, particularly when you see fellow artists continuing to produce countless amazing artworks, and this kind of self depreciation only adds to your inability to produce anything. 

And I’m not about to suggest some magical cure of art block, since I don’t believe there is one, but I hope that my advice can at least help lead you towards getting out of these vicious circles of art block & self deprecation!

Tip #1 - Explore other mediums 

I feel like as artists we get incredibly ‘comfortable’ in the mediums we’re familiar with. For me, that’s digital and pencil drawing. I’ve been doing pencil drawing for as long as I can remember, and digital for a little over 7 years, so I’ve become very comfortable in using them. 

However, I think that a good way to not only help combat art block, but also to expand your art horizons, is to step out of that comfort zone into a new field of art. 

Of course, I’m not saying that I expect every artist to go from pencil drawing for 10 years to suddenly picking up a paint brush and doing some oil painting. But instead that every so often maybe just try and dabble in mediums you’ve not used as much, or haven’t used before at all. A lot of shops sell pretty inexpensive paints, pens or pastels nowadays, not to mention a quick Google search will give you tips on how to use the particular medium if you’re not sure how to start. 

A thing I want to mention here, too, is that I think it’s important to not to expect yourself to be automatically ‘great’ at a particular medium. For example, last year I did my first embroidery piece. I had wanted to do embroidery for a long time, and did actually enjoy it a lot (even if it was incredibly time consuming lol). But I found myself dissatisfied with the finale result. 

And in a way this is because I expected myself to be perfect at embroidery after just one attempt, which is ridiculous of course, since any kind of art takes years and years to ‘master’. And when I look back, I can’t help but think ‘why does it have to be good in the first place’? Why did I put this pressure on myself to be a sudden Master of Embroidery, when surely the main goal of any kind of art is to some extent the enjoyment of the process? 

This is still a mindset I think a lot of artists will relate to, and is something I’m trying to combat myself. 

Recently I painted some fake plastic eggs inspired by the Polish folk art tradition ‘Pisanki’. They took a long time, and my neck hurt a lot from being hunched over and painting little dots, but honestly I really loved the whole process of them! Painting on 3D objects isn’t something I do a lot, and I also rarely do purely pattern-based work like this, so it was a real deviation from my comfort zone.

In a way, exploring other mediums is like a creative respite. Giving yourself a break from what you’re familiar with not only helps you to be inspired by a wide range or arts, but when you return to the mediums you enjoy the most, I’ve actually found you appreciate them even more!

(Really, nothing makes me more appreciative for digital art than painting a wrong dot on the surface of an egg and not being able to rub it out...)

Tip #2 - Try different styles

Another tip, similar in many ways to the first one, is to try different styles of art every once and a while. 

Like with materials, I think we as artists can get overly caught up in ‘our style’ of doing things. Whether this is a particular stylised or cartoonish way of drawing, or doing realistic art, or even sticking to a particular colour scheme. And I think especially in the world we live in, where artists have to make themselves as ‘consumer friendly’ as possible, which often means having a ‘recognisable brand’, it can feel like we have to do our art in a particular way, otherwise people will lose interest in it. 

I think this is harmful for a lot of reasons. Partly, I feel it stifles artists creativity to force themselves to do one style and one style only. I also feel it assumes that non-artists are so single-track minded that if an artist were to post works of art that involve different styles, then they would immediately lose interest. 

So my advice to any artist who has a particular style is to once in a while try out some different styles. It doesn’t have to be big pieces, and it also doesn’t have to be the polar opposite of what your style actually is. But instead if can be as simple as doing a ‘style challenge’ (something I’ve done in the past), or even just trying a different way of drawing or painting! 

In a way, changing your medium and changing your style occasionally go hand in hand. I particularly find that how I draw people will change with the kinds of mediums I use, or even when I start using a new brush with digital art.

For example, I recently did this super quick sketch of Kiki Layne, because I really loved the reference image, and it came out a lot more stylised than my art usually is. And this is almost entirely down to the brush I used (which was an ‘ink’ style brush, in comparison to the ‘pencil’ or ‘pen’ brushes I usually use for sketching). 

This isn’t a drastic change in style for me, but I do think even trying to do rougher or messier styles of art like this can allow you to see your art in a new light! 

(A side note here, but I already pretty much change up my style with every piece because I have no interest in being ‘marketable’ lol... But I’m definitely not suggesting everyone should be like me, just every so often changing up your style I believe can be really beneficial!)

Tip #3 - Changing subject matters

This one is essentially the same as the other two, and I’m sorry if this comes across as repetitive, but I think another great way to help beat art block is by changing up the kinds of things you draw!

Being predominantly a portrait artist, I rarely go out of my way to draw things like trees or birds or cups or whatever. But I know that often when I feel myself entering a kind of creative rut or art block, it’s because I’ve been drawing too many people & my brain is sort of all people-d out lol... 

(this is a tree I drew in oil paints midway through last year because I was feeling particular people-d out at that point)

So I think occasionally drawing other things, and going out of your art comfort zone, can help to improve your creativity. And hey, who knows, maybe you’ll end up incorporating something you drew randomly into a new artwork!

TL;DR (/conclusion)

So, remember that exploring other mediums, changing up your regular style and choosing other subject matters can all help in beating art block! Of course, you don’t have to do them all at the same time, but instead just dipping in and out of them as you produce your regular work can be highly beneficial! 

I mainly wanted to make this post not to say that by doing all three of these things, you’ll magically be free of art block forever, because that’s just not true. (I’m someone who does a lot of these things pretty regularly, but still gets into art blocks every now and then). I instead wanted to inspire you to deviate from what you are usually drawn to as an artist. 

The world is your creative oyster, so don’t be afraid to explore it! 

~

I hope you enjoyed this post about ways to beat art block! I may make a part two if people are interested since there are a lot of other things that I think can help in improving creativity!

[ao3feed-lokiangst]

Oh my Fuck

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/31ArIto

by pathologic_trash

This is sooo freaky lol!! You gotta read it to believe it!!!! Comment like subscribe there’s more to come my little fandom freaks!!!!!!

Words: 43, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Мор. Утопия | Pathologic, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Wars - All Media Types, Sanders Sides (Web Series), Voltron: Legendary Defender

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other

Characters: Artemiy Burakh | Artemy Burakh, Stanislav Rubin, Daniel Dankovskiy | Daniil Dankovsky, Loki (Marvel), Loki, Self-Sides (Sanders Sides), Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders, Thomas Sanders (Video Blogging RPF), Tony Stark, Vlad "The Younger" Olgimskiy | Vlad "The Younger" Olgimsky, Hunk (Voltron), Lance (Voltron), Lance's Family (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Keith's Wolf (Voltron), Keith's Father (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt, Shiro (Voltron), Allura (Voltron)

Relationships: Artemiy Burakh | Artemy Burakh/Daniel Dankovskiy | Daniil Dankovsky, Artemiy Burakh | Artemy Burakh & Daniel Dankovskiy | Daniil Dankovsky, Artemiy Burakh | Artemy Burakh/Daniel Dankovskiy | Daniil Dankovsky/Stanislav Rubin, Artemiy Burakh | Artemy Burakh/Stanislav Rubin, James "Bucky" Barnes/Thomas Sanders, Dogma (Star Wars)/Hunk (Voltron)/CT-5385 | Tup

Additional Tags: Smut, Fluff and Smut, Eventual Smut, Shameless Smut, No Smut, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Rough Sex, Sex, Vaginal Sex, Sex Toys, Semi-Public Sex, Public Sex, Gay Sex, Original Character(s), Past Relationship(s), Original Character Death(s), Relationship(s), Minor Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Interspecies Relationship(s), Major Original Character(s), Loss of Parent(s), Long-Term Relationship(s), Assassination Attempt(s), Dead People, Presumed Dead, Talking To Dead People, Nobody is Dead, Everyone is Dead, Inspired by The Walking Dead, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Jason Todd is Robin, Omega Jason Todd, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Omega Verse, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Jeanne d'Arc | Joan of Arc References, Waterbending & Waterbenders, Water, Water Sex, Waterboarding, Watercolors, Water Balloon Fights, Angst with a Happy Ending, Sharing a Bed, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Bakugou Katsuki Swears A Lot, Based on a Tumblr Post, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, NSFW Art, Art, Digital Art, Inspired by Art, Podfic Cover Art, Gift Art, Alternate Universe - Art School, Alt Modes, Alternate Universe - Alternian Invasion, Alternate Universe - Altered Carbon Fusion, Episode: e044 Crisis of Leadership and Oatmeal, St. Patrick's Day, St Mungo's Hospital, St Bartholomew's Hospital, Bottom Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Top Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Hurts So Good, Reunited and It Feels So Good, Sobbing, So Married, Hunk (Voltron) is so Pure, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Galra Keith (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Bottom Keith (Voltron), Insecure Lance (Voltron), Top Jeon Jungkook, Top Toni Topaz, Top Harry, Top Kim Taehyung | V, Don't Examine This Too Closely, To Read, Friends to Lovers, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, To Download, To Rec, To Comment, Love, Falling In Love, Love Confessions, Unrequited Love, Friendship/Love, Idiots in Love, Boys In Love, True Love, Dorks in Love, Love/Hate, Late Night Conversations, Late at Night, Ten Years Later, Years Later, Latex, Late Night Writing, Tags May Change, How Do I Tag, Tags Are Hard, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tags Are Fun, Dog Tags, Other Fandoms Not Mentioned in Tags, AO3 Tags - Freeform, DONTNOD Entertainment, Saarebas, Sabaody Archipelago, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, WWE NXT, Where We Are Tour, We Just Love Each Other, Strong Woman/Weak Man, Wow, Reverse Ed Edd n Eddy, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Episode: s09e01 I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here, Threesome - F/M/M, Episode: s01e13 Le Morte D'Arthur, E-mail, Episode: e002 Living Pictures, Episode: e001 The Coldest Cut of All, Episode: e003 River of Night, Post-Ending E (NieR: Automata), Episode: s07e01 Makaukau 'oe e Pa'ani? (Ready to Play?), Chuck E. Cheese's, Moaning, Mob Boss Steve Rogers, Alternate Universe - Mobfell (Undertale), Park Minkyun | MK-centric, SPN A/B/O Bingo, Human E. Aster Bunnymund, Good W. D. Gaster, Scientist W. D. Gaster, Inspired by Kimi no Na wa. | Your Name., Parent W. D. Gaster, Pre-Accident W. D. Gaster, W. D. Gaster Being An Asshole, Underfell W. D. Gaster, Goopy W. D. Gaster, Face-Fucking, Fuck Or Die, Fucking, Breast Fucking, Fuckbuddies, Phrack Fucking Friday, Threesome - F/F/M, Threesome, Threesome - M/M/M, Threesome - F/F/F, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Firebending & Firebenders, Earthbending & Earthbenders, Earth, Middle Earth, Earth C (Homestuck), Homelessness, Home, Homecoming, Homophobia, Internalized Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Period-Typical Homophobia, Male Homosexuality, Homosexuality, Alex Mercer's Parents Are Homophobic (Julie and The Phantoms), Wraith, Wraith (Stargate), Don We Now Our Gay Apparel, Modern Assassins (Assassin's Creed), Leonardo da Vinci is an Assassin (Assassin's Creed), Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Assassins & Hitmen, Attempted Sexual Assault, Quintessential Works for Everyday Reasons To Yield (QWERTY), Villain Ojiro Mashirao, Song: Bitch Lasagna (Dylan Locke ft. Felix Kjellberg & Party In Backyard), Community: hh_sugarquill, community: xmen-on-lj, Episode: s09e10 Pio Ke Kukui Po'ele Ka Hale (When the Light Goes Out the House is Dark), H/D Food Fair 2018, H/D Erised 2018, H/D Fan Fair 2019, H/D Career Fair 2017, Episode: s05e02 Good God Y'all!, Pokemon X & Y Spoilers, Episode: s02e05 Smell Ya Later, Ya Dead Ya Dead (Achievement Hunter), Hydra (Marvel), Post-Civil War (Marvel), Arachnophobia, Alternate Universe - Arabian Nights Fusion, Arab Character, عربي | Arabic, Racism, Rabbits, Race, Alternate Universe - Race Changes, RuPaul's Drag Race References, Lesbian Catra (She-Ra), Episode: e045 The Great Race, Racist Language, Anti-Faunus Racism (RWBY), Racing, Fairy Tail: When We Take Different Paths, Renaissance Faires, Fabletown (Fables - Willingham), Ryuu ga Gotoku | Yakuza 0 (Video Game), Mentioned Demon Brothers (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!), Murphamy Week Winter Weekend, Cute Ed (Ed Edd N Eddy), JJ Style Week, Studio Ghibli, Butt Plugs, Butt Slapping, Butterflies, Butterfly Effect, Peanut Butter, Butt Dialing, Butterfly Miraculous, Wade Wilson Likes Peter Parker's Butt, Butterbeer (Harry Potter), Steve Rogers's Butt, Protective Star Butterfly, Butterfly Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Dick Grayson Has a Nice Butt, Ass Play, Assassination, Ass to Mouth, Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Assassin's Creed III, Video, Embedded Video, Video & Computer Games, Webcam/Video Chat Sex, Video Format: Streaming, Video Game Mechanics, Porn Video, Were-Creatures, WWE Draft, WWE SummerSlam, WWE Royal Rumble, WWE Extreme Rules, WWE Money In The Bank 2016

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/31ArIto

[crushzone]

Hi Nin! I know this might be weird of me to ask because you are an artist yourself, but I am rather new here and was wondering if you have any other artists you'd recommend? If not that is ok!

Hi there, not weird at all! I LOVE supporting fellow artists, I find their wonderful talent and dedication incredibly inspiring, seeing their beautiful works on my feed constantly reminds me to take a step back from my exhaustion and to simply remember why I love to draw to begin with: because it’s fun.

I’m usually really picky about artists I follow and their style, but when I find the ones that I enjoy, I go ALL OUT with my support. So without further ado, the following artists listed are those I am not only in love with, but those who I genuinely look up to. 

So make sure you stop by their page to show them some love and appreciation for their hard work (because hard work extends beyond the individual pieces they’ve made, it’s also for the countless hours they’ve spent on practicing and perfecting their craft, constantly challenging themselves to learn new techniques). 💛

👇🏼👇🏼 Nin’s Artist Recommendation👇🏼👇🏼

---------------------

@aku-jumbi - HQ!!, Various, You all had seen me share a BUNCH of their works on my blog, but it’s just because their art is so SOOOOOOOOO good. Your style leans toward photorealism, while still maintaining its painting-like quality, so if you had ever wondered how your favorite characters may look like irl, they’ve got you!!! Watching your speed painting is so fascinating, idk how you do it, but you’re always killing it every time (Like our process is so different, so it was really interesting to see how you approach your works you know?). This piece of Kei Tsukishima and Oikawa Tooru are two of my favorite works you’ve done!

@achieve-the-sun - HQ!!, Various, Let me start off by saying that I love Morghy’s art so much, that they are the first and only person I had ever commissioned from so far. They drew Keishin and I sooo adorably, it brings me so much joy to look at it on the daily. Your style reminds me of freshly baked cookies, or the warmth of bakeries, I can’t help but feel a sense of coziness whenever I look at your adorable artworks. This piece you did of Kageyama and Hinata was what had drawn me to you. Everything from your color choices, fluid gestures, and expressions are such a delight to look at!

@chaotickatts - HQ!! I am so in love with Katts, you all. I had never seen anyone draw like this, her style is really unique. I can go on forever about why I love your art, but one of the biggest things that drew me to your style is the way you draw bodies. I like the variation and realistic details you include, for instance, I absolutely adore the way you gave Sakusa more moles on his body, and the way you drew dad bod Osamu. Idk, I think there’s so many different types of body shapes and details out there, and it brings me joy to see you being so inclusive of them in your art.

@namusw - Hunter x Hunter. Was drawn to their Hunter x Hunter works and I don’t even watch/read that manga. Honestly, just check them out, I love everything about their works, they are also a killer at both traditional and digital styles. This piece of Hisoka, Illumi, and Chrollo was the one that made me fall in love.

@cranbearly - HQ!! I really adore the way they draw expressions and their coloring style (inspired me to attempt some flat coloring). This piece of Oikawa and Iwa made me follow them instantly. Expressions are so difficult to nail, and you’ve done such an amazing job conveying every emotion the characters are feeling, I’ve learned so much just from looking at your works, so thank you for blessing us with your craft.

@a-zebra-was-here - HQ!! Their art has a very carefree type of vibe and their coloring style brings me so much joy. I’ve really enjoyed your drawings of the Miyas’, this piece of the twin was what got me, and this other piece, the first image of young Miyas’ was so SO well done, I am in love with the way you colored that. 😻 

@erionmakuo - Various, dude....I want to cry, I don’t even know what to say, EVERY SINGLE PIECE of your artworks just BLOWS ME AWAY. The way you color your art is just so ethereal, the color schemes you had chosen, the way you mix the color of your lighting, textures, and everything in general, I can go on about this all day but just hop on to their blog and you will know exactly what I mean. I don’t have a particular piece that drew me in because I was blessed by all your works at once.

@uranarino - HQ!!, Your artworks bring me so much joy. If I have to describe your style like an experience in life, I would say it reminds me of how it’s like to fall in love with someone for the first time, if that makes sense. That sudden overwhelming feeling you get when you’re doing the most mundane things with someone you care about, only for time to stop as you realize how in love you are with them? Yea, your art captures that really well. These two pieces of Kuroo returning home with his groceries and of him taking a day nap with his cats was what had drawn me to you.

@queenoftheantz - HQ!!, Various, Their style is really unique, it kind of reminds me of an adventurous graphic novel or something you would see on Cartoon Network (idk, I thought of Chowder, but please, I really mean it as a compliment, I just really love the fun cartoon style you have.) They also do some animations! I really love this piece of Kyotani you did, the landscape and colors look SOO GOOD!!

@noodlemanjpg - HQ!!, Various, love LOVE your style and the way you draw expressions. I also really love how you color, your works “appear” effortless, but I know a lot of knowledge and precision is put into crafting it. This piece of Kuroo x Yaku being all cozy at the couch was what had drawn me to your blog, it makes me smile every time I look at it. Kuroo’s smitten expression is just...ahsdl;adjs I can’t help but smile with him.

@diabolism666 - HQ!!, c’mon, you can’t be in the HQ!! fandom without at least seeing one of their artworks. In fact, I had seen your art even before I’ve gotten into this show, and it was love at first sight, lemme tell ya. EVERY. SINGLE. THING. you had drawn are so good, it doesn’t even matter if it’s a more simplistic drawing or elaborate one, I am just always staring at it in awe. Thank you for being so incredibly active about it too, idk how, but you’ve produced so many amazing drawings and we’re just incredibly grateful for it. You draw some of best Tendou, Reon and Toshi out there. Your works have so much range, I really feel like you can draw ANYTHING hahaha.

@viria​ - Various, Viria *sobs* your works are so good. The way you draw faces and affection just gives me butterflies. I don’t even watch Fullmetal Alchemist, but this piece you did of Edward and Winry made me fall so deeply in love with your works. Your style has a certain softness to it, even when it is of an angry character, and I love it.

@nipuni​ - Various, another artist that I am incredibly nervous to tag because your works are just out of the world. You also seem so so nice and is always incredibly helpful whenever anyone sends you an ask. Just...I have the biggest crush on you and your works. EVERYTHING you had drawn is so stunning, and I mean it. The details, pose, composition, and coloring, it is just so perfect, I could pull up particular artworks, but I was really blessed by it all at once. If you are into fantasy-esque realistic looking portraits, check her out, she exudes so much knowledge and talent.

@hinamihere - HQ!!, Your artworks are soo stinkin adorable. Your color choices, expressions and the way you draw hair is just so cute, your art always bring the biggest smile to my face. This piece you did of Akaashi and Bokuto was what drew me to you, when I saw it, I “awhhh”ed so loudly, my hubby had to ask me what’s up, and when I showed it to him, he had the same reaction, even if he’d never seen Haikyuu!!

@oxxuri - BNHA, so SO good, the way you color, light, and draw is so beautiful. Every single detail, down to every lashes and strands of hair is so beautiful. You draw some of the most attractive faces I had ever seen, these drawings of Aizawa and Midoriya brings me so SOOOO much joy, and I don’t even know anything about BNHA.

@amezure - HQ!!, their comic strips always make my day, I was giving their blog a peep so I can pull up specific examples and my statement is instantly confirmed when I stumbled across their newest comic art of Kuroo and Bokuto and started laughing HAHA. 😂 Your self study sheets are incredibly informative and I find myself referencing them often, it’s so nice to see my favorite artists continue to polish their craft through endless amounts of studying, practice, and analysis. It serves as a constant reminder for myself to do the same. I love the way you draw people (check out this piece of Bokuto x Akaashi), but I ESPECIALLY love the way you draw animals. (Specifically anything that has to do with lil owl Bo and Akaashi 🥺)

@obobro - Avatar the Last Airbender, HQ!!, I am absolutely in love with the way you color and draw portraits. Your drawing and detailing has so much range; you have a series of hand drawings, and that alone already displays so SO much range. I was really drawn in by this drawing of Tsukki, Zuka + Azula, and of Sokka + Katara, you can really tell they were related and I love it so much. Your art has so much life to it, it’s truly fascinating. 

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I have a couple more artists to recommend, so if you’d like a part 2 to this, please lmk.

But yes, I genuinely stand by my recommendations, these guys are so SO good at what they do and I am currently sweating because the thought of tagging all my artist crushes in one post is actually kinda scary lol.

Hope this helps! ✌️ 

[haleigh-sloth]

I think horikoshi switched to digital during covid lockdown which make sense cause his staff had to work separately I’m not sure if he hand drawn it now I know he said it difficult but I will like to see him draw dark deku especially the last page in chapter 317 and I will like to see him draw shiggy cause that got to be so complicated I look at my attempt and just cry but I think deku just easier for me

I know he switched to digital during the lockdown but I was wondering for color spreads and stuff how he colors, and his volume covers. But his twitter sketches are all done in pencil so he definitely still prefers traditional drawing.

And really????

I have a way harder time drawing Midoriya than Shigaraki

Midoriya is so ROUND and Shigaraki looks more realistic lol (love the complete opposite styles he chose for them) but I can draw Shig easy

I wish I could draw Midoriya so I could draw them together more 😭 but Midoriya is a challenge for me so I just draw Shig by himself mostly

[duchess-of-kirkcaldy]

I thought I’d posted this before, but maybe I didn’t? I did this for a university class back in 2018 as an exploration of Stu Stucliffe’s artwork, his influences and his historical context, and how emulating his style through my own lens in the present day would look.

(Disclaimer: This was an English class. I am a mere hobby artist trying to explain art to a professor who knows even less than I do lol)

Long-form essay on art history and my process below the cut, but key takeaways:

Stu’s art conveys a lot of spontaneity and raw emotion, which I tried to do

Visual features of some of Stu’s pieces that I ran with: full canvas coverage, collage, etching through many layers, geometric totems

Instead of collage out of newspaper clippings I used layered screenshots of Tweets and textposts, which is fun

Essay excerpts below the cut if you’re feeling especially academic.

The bulk of Sutcliffe’s paintings are of the Abstract Expressionist style, produced as the Abstract Expressionist movement was in wane. Characterized by its raw emotion and spontaneity, Abstract Expressionism was a means of dealing with the grim realities of the Great Depression, and in the years following World War II, the movement evolved into an energetic, defiant response to the postwar desolation throughout Europe.[1] As a young art student in a still badly scarred Liverpool, Sutcliffe lived amid the realities that influenced the development of Abstract Impressionism at a societal level. However, on a more personal level, he also stood at a juncture for change: deciding whether to pursue visual art or rock music—and after making his choice, forging ahead to create a successful and earnest career in art. As such, Sutcliffe’s works feel particularly raw and true to the spirit of Abstract Expressionism.

To better appreciate the technicalities and spirit of his art, I decided to critically examine and emulate Sutcliffe’s art style. Sutcliffe’s art flourished between 1961 and 1962, after he left the Beatles and enrolled in the Hamburg State School of Art, where he studied under pop artist Eduardo Paolozzi. Sutcliffe’s style grew more original and assured in Hamburg.[2] The traditional paintings of Sutcliffe’s Hamburg period are composed of thick layers of paint, covering all or part of the canvas, which have been scraped away in places to reveal other colors and instill a sense of depth and presence. Sutcliffe also produced a number of mixed-media pieces during this time, often with collaged newspaper cuttings and ink printing. A great many of these pieces, regardless of medium, feature repetitive, messy geometric patterns. These features in combination often convey a sense of anxiety, excitement, or chaos in Sutcliffe’s works.

In emulating Sutcliffe’s art style, I worked with a general goal of producing the unsettled emotions characteristic of Abstract Expressionism that Sutcliffe so successfully captured in his works. I also used a few of the more specific aforementioned style techniques: thick layering, elements of collage, and totemic geometric patterns. However, my piece is purely digital, created with GIMP image software; as such, part of my task became how to translate these three-dimensional features into a strictly two-dimensional, virtual medium.

I attempted to convey a sense of nervousness and anxiety with my piece—feelings I can tap into all too well, with the swift approach of graduation and the scramble to find a job in my immediate thoughts, and the looming myriad social and political problems my country currently faces. I began with a pre-made background image that gave the texture of old paper. From there, I turned to Sutcliffe’s method of using collaged newspaper articles as part of his painting surface. Given that it is 2018, I decided to update this technique to utilize a different means of public communication: social media. I took screenshots of tweets and tumblr posts I had seen recently, but I did choose them with some discretion, selecting statements that touch on my personal worries. From there, I used a set of acrylic brushes I had downloaded to create several layers of indiscriminate colorful strokes. Then, I similarly created several layers of different shades of black atop these (akin to the iridescent black painting of Sutcliffe’s pictured above). I did not extend this black to the very edges of the image, in order to expose small parts of the underlying color and collage layers and to keep a sense of discord and chaos at the edges of the piece. To achieve the scraping effect, I actually added more layers with a technique called layer masking: I superimposed portions of the colorful base layers, in the form of scrawled shapes, on top of the black layers, to make it appear that I had scraped away layers of black. The shapes are rough and spontaneous (some resembling Sutcliffe’s typical totems, some not) to give a jittery and dynamic feeling and to capture both a nervous energy and general impulsiveness of Abstract Impressionism.

[1] Kuspit, Donald. “Stuart Sutcliffe: 1940-1962.” Stuart Sutcliffe: A Retrospective, edited by Matthew H Clough and Colin Fallows, Liverpool University Press, 2008, pp. 8.

[2] Biggs, Bryan. “A Link in Something Larger.” Stuart Sutcliffe: A Retrospective, edited by Matthew H Clough and Colin Fallows, Liverpool University Press, 2008, pp. 62.