#back to your regularly scheduled archer content

[spacephrasing]

alright besties

[meruz]

once again i am answering asks in a big compilation post. included is... gotham, patrick stump, tips about drawing backgrounds, tips about drawing in general, links to my faq, and infinity train

like.... the tv series? No... I’ve drawn dc comics fanart before, though. But it’s been years since I’ve been really into it. I like jumped ship like 10 years ago when the New 52 happened LOL.

AFJHDSLKGH I’m sorry I (probably) won’t do it again??

Actually full disclosure I have a truly cringe amount of p stump drawings/photo studies in my sketchbook right now LOL. He’s just fun to draw... hats, glasses, guitar, a good shape... but I don’t think I’ll rly post those until I can hide them in another big sketchbook pdf.. probably Jan 2022. Stay tuned........ (ominous) 

(ominous preview)

These are all sort of related to backgrounds/painting so I grouped them together even though they’re pretty much entirely separate questions.... ANYWAYS

a) How is it working as a BG artist? Is it hard? What show are you drawing for?

I think you’re the first person to ever ask me about my job! Being a background artist is great. It’s definitely labor intensive but I think that could describe pretty much any art job (If something were rote or easy to automate, you wouldn’t hire an artist to do it) and I hesitate to say whether its harder or easier than any other role in the animation pipeline. Plus, so much of what truly makes a job difficult varies from one production to the next, schedule, working environment, co-workers etc. But I will say that I think while BGs are generally a lot of work on the upfront, I think they’re subject to less scrutiny/revisions than something like character/props/effects design and you don’t have to pitch them to a room like boards. So I guess it’s good if you don’t like to talk to people? LOL

A lot of my previous projects + the show I’ve worked on the longest aren’t public yet so I can’t talk about em (but I assure you if/when the news does break I won’t shut up about it). But I’m currently working on Archer Season 12 LOL. I’m like 90% sure I’m allowed to say that.

b) ~~~THANK YOU!! ~~~

c) What exactly do you like to draw most [in a background]?

@kaitomiury​ Lots of stuff! I really like to draw clutter! Because it’s a great opportunity for environmental storytelling and also you can be kind of messy with it because the sheer mass will supersede any details LOL. 

I like to draw clouds... I like to draw grass but not trees lol,,, I like to draw anything that sells perspective really easily like tiled floors and ceilings, shelves, lamp posts on a street etc.

d) Do you have any tips on how to paint (observational)?

god there’s so much to say. painting is really a whole ass discipline like someone can paint their whole life and still discover new things about it. I guess if you’re really just starting out my best advice is that habit is more important than product. especially with traditional plein air painting, I find that the procedure of going outside and setting up your paints is almost harder than the actual painting. There’s a lot of artists who say “I want to do plein air sometime!!” and then never actually get around to doing it. A lot of people just end up working from google streetview or photos on their computer.

But going outside to paint is a really good challenge because it forces you to make and commit to lighting and composition decisions really quickly. And to work through your mistakes instead of against them via undo button.

My last tip is to check out James Gurney’s youtube channel because hes probably the best and most consistent resource on observational painting out there rn. There’s lots other artists doing the same thing (off the top of my head I know a lot of the Warrior Painters group has people regularly posting plein air stuff and lightbox expo had a Jesse Schmidt lecture abt it last year) but Gurney’s probably the most prolific poster and one of the best at explaining the more technical stuff - his books are great too.

e) Do you have tips for drawing cleanly on heavypaint?

@marigoldfool​ UMM LOL I LIKE ONLY USE THE FILL TOOL so maybe use the fill tool? Fill and rectangle are good for edge control as opposed to the rest of the heavy paint tools which can get sort of muddles. And also I use a stylus so maybe if you’re using your finger, find a stylus that works with your device instead. That’s all I’ve got, frankly I don’t think my drawings are particularly clean lol.

f) Tips on improving backgrounds/scenes making them more dynamic practicing etc?

Ive given some tips about backgrounds/scenes before so I’m not gonna re-tread those but here’s another thing that might be helpful...

I think a good way to approach backgrounds is to think of the specific story or even mood you want to convey with the background first. Thinking “I just need to put something behind this character” is going to lead you to drawing like... a green screen tourist photo backdrop. But if you think “I need this bg to make the characters feel small” or “I need this bg to make the world feel colorful” then it gives you requirements and cues to work off of.

If I know a character needs to feel overwhelmed and small, then I know I need to create environment elements that will cage them in and corner them. If a character needs to feel triumphant/on top of the world then I know I need to let the environment open up around them. etc. If I know my focal point/ where I want to draw attention, I can build the background around that.

Also, backgrounds like figure compositions will have focal points of their own and you can draw attention to it/ the relationship the characters have with the bg element via scale or directionality or color, any number of cues. I think of it almost as a second/third character in a scene.

Not every composition is gonna have something so obvious like this but it helps me to think about these because then the characters feel connected and integrated with the environment.

Some more general art questions

a) Do you have any process/tips to start drawing character/bodies/heads?

I tried to kind of draw something to answer this but honestly this is difficult for me to answer because I don’t think I’m that great at drawing characters LOL. Ok, I think I have two tips.

1) flip your canvas often. A lot about what makes human bodies look correct and believable is symmetry and balance. Even if someone has asymmetrical features, the body will often pull and push in a way to counterbalance it. we often have inherent biases to one side or another like dominant hands dominant eyes etc. you know how right-handed artists will often favor drawing characters facing 45 degrees facing (the artist’s) left? that’s part of it. so viewing your drawing flipped even just to evaluate it helps compensate for that bias and makes you more aware of balance.

2) draw the whole figure often. I feel like a lot of beginner artists (myself included for a long time) defer to just drawing headshots or busts because it’s easier, you dont have to think about posing limbs etc. But drawing a full body allows you to better gauge proportion, perspective, body language, everything that makes a character look believable and grounded.

Like if you (me) have that issue where you draw the head too big and then have to resize it to fit the proportions of the rest of the body, it’s probably because you (I) drew the head first and are treating the body as an afterthought/attachment. Sketching out the whole figure first or even just quick drawing guides for it will help you think of it more holistically. I learned this figure drawing in charcoal at art school LOL.

oh. third mini tip - try to draw people from life often! its the best study. if you can get into a figure drawing/nude drawing class EVEN BETTER and if you have a local college/art space/museum that hosts those for free TREASURE IT AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT, that’s a huge boon that a lot of artists (me again) wish they had. though if youre not so lucky and youre sitting in a park trying to creeper draw people and they keep moving.. don’t let that stop you! that’s good practice because it’s forcing you to work fast to get the important stuff down LOL. its a challenge!

b) I’ve been pretty out of energy and have had no inspiration to draw but I have the desire to. Any advice?

Dude, take a walk or something.... Or a nap? Low energy is going to effect everything else so you gotta hit that problem at its source.

If you’re looking for inspiration though, I’d recommend stuff like watching a movie, reading a book, playing video games etc. Fill up your idea bank with content and then give yourself time/space to gestate it into new concepts. Sometimes looking at other art works but sometimes it can work against you because it’s too close. 

Also something that helps me is remembering that art doesn’t always have to be groundbreaking... like it’s okay to make something shitty and stupid that you don’t post online and only show to your friend. That’s all part of the process imo. If you want to hit a home run you gotta warm up first, right? Sports.

I should probably compile everytime i give tips on stuff like this but that’s getting dangerously close to being a social media artist who makes stupid boiled down art tutorials for clout which is the last thing i want to be... the thing I want to stress is that art is a whole visual language and there are widely agreed upon rules and customs but they exist in large part to be broken. Like there's an infinite number of ways to reach an infinite number of solutions and that’s actually what makes it really cool and personal for both the artist and the viewer. So when you make work you like or you find someone else’s work you like, take a step back and ask yourself what about it speaks for you, what about it works for you, what makes it effective, how to recreate that effect and how to break that effect completely, etc. And have a good time with it or else what’s the point.

for the first 2, I direct you to my FAQ

For the last one, I don’t actually believe I’ve ever addressed artwork as insp for stories/rp but I’ll say here and now yeah go ahead! As long as you’re not making profit or taking credit for my work then I’m normally ok with it. Especially anything thats private and purely recreational, that’s generally 100% green light go. I only ask that if you post it anywhere public that you please credit me.

(and I reserve the right to ask you to take it down if I see it and don’t approve of it’s use but I think that case is pretty rare.)

a) @lemuelzero101 Thank you!!! I haven’t played Life is Strange but actually  that series’ vis dev artist Edouard Caplain is one of my bigger art inspirations lately so that’s a really high compliment lol. And yeah I hope we get 5-8 too...!

b) Thank you for sticking around! I’ve been thinking about Digimon and Infinity Train in tandem lately, actually. They’re a little similar? Enter a dangerous alternate world and have wacky adventures with monsters/inanimate objects that have weird powers... there’s like weird engineers and mechanisms behind the scenes... also frontier literally starts with them getting on a train. Anyways if anyone else followed me for digimon... maybe you’d like Infinity Train? LOL

c) @king-wens-king I’M GLAD MY ART JUST HAS PINOY VIBES LOL I hope you are having a good day too :^)

a, b, c, d) yessss my Watch Infinity Train agenda is working....

e) aw thank you!! i think you should watch infinity train :)

[just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi]

Where are they Now?

I know it’s like a meme at this point that I have no freaking clue how to write comfort, but that doesn’t mean that everything is always bad for my bois. 

For each one, there’s substantially more years where they’re safe and happy rather than scared/in captivity/in danger. 

They each get happy endings, I just don’t know how to write them! So spoilers ahead, but not really cause they’re in the far future and I’m not sure I would never actually write them. So I guess it’s just content, lol. 

Spoilers under the cut for.... well everybody!

Nik (this includes some things that I will write, so more spoilery than the others)

Goes home. For real. He gets out, gets human caretakers (this part will be written) and goes home. He goes back to school because the schedule and familiarity is comforting. True to his word, he becomes a teacher and is a very, very good one. 

Later in life he’s known for his critical thinking and wisdom. He keeps in contact with his Human caretakers, staying a friend to their children’s children and down their line. 

Brody

Gets help. Gets out and finds Kayla and Aries to rebuild his family (plus a couple people he picks up along the way). He gets connected to an underground ring that helps former pets, gets his chip removed, earns his GED. 

Has a steady job, gets married, adopts a bunch of kids. Like 10. Some from the regular foster system, some rescued pets that are funneled to him. Full on 7 passenger van, little league and sleepovers family. 

Full on Dad. Like, top 5 worst Dad jokes and khakis. Loves his kids more than anything else in the world. Kayla and Aries live close by and pop in often. 

Silver

It takes time, but he evens out. Goes back to his colony and ends up going into their political/governmental system. He ends up managing/running a large section of the colony, and he does a damn good job. He’s on top of things, takes no shit, makes sure the people under him are treated fairly and respectfully. 

Takes control of his life and finds a professional to help him work through everything that he’s been through. Sees this person regularly for the rest of his life, the later years shifting more towards productivity, mindfulness and self-improvement vs recovery. 

Really popular, invited to every party because he’s a good boss and has countless stories to tell from his reckless youth. 

Hilton

Goes to school online, becomes a data analyst for DIFC. Genuinely enjoys his job and the life he built for himself. Griffin and him stay close, doing holidays together with their ragtag group of friends. 

Later in life, he works with other rare mutations that have harmful sides, mentoring them and helping them take control/feel comfortable with their powers. 

Still goes longboarding every weekend for the rest of his life.

Mark

Now, this one has 2 options but with the same end result, but varies cause the BBU isn’t mine and this would be in a timeline where it breaks apart: 

He blows to whistle on the whole operation. He gives the name of each and every person that knew he was a pet and knew what they were doing behind the scenes. Even from his prison cell, Douglas Archer as to admit that they might have gone a little overboard with the media training, as he’s totally untouchable. Plays into the media perfectly, projecting exactly what they want to see to make them listen to him and take action. 

Or 

Just, goes. Media wise, he just kinda says, “I’m done being famous. Fun while it lasted. Bye guys!” Gets out gets leverage that keeps him safe. They can’t come after him, and he gets some of the royalties to his music signed over to him. 

Either way: 

Takes back his old name, moves to Atlanta to become a music teacher and vocal coach. Grows out a scruffy beard and wears lot’s of beige sweaters. All his students know that the best way to get Mr. Braishfield on your side is to bring him coffee (he’ll already have one, but he’ll accept the second.) 

Sometimes does performances for fundraisers, but he only sings Blues again. He never does another cover of a pop song for as long as he lives. 

The shows still sell out when he has them, but he doesn’t care.

BONUS - the Whumpers get what’s coming to them. 

The Sorcerer - Death comes for us all. 

Sam - Insider trading, goes away for a couple years. No one will hire him when he gets back, and is forced to become a used car salesman. He goes bald and he’s very miserable. 

Corwin - The circus is investigated and he goes to jail for crimes unrelated to Sprite-abuse. 

Victoria/Tyler/Trevor/Conally - Victoria dies in a Syndicate raid, Tyler goes to prison for life, Trevor gets turned into a lab rat after the Syndicate decides he’s more useful that way, Conally is investigated and fired with all rank/honor/pension stripped. He drinks himself to uselessness. 

Douglas Archer - Mark might not call the ethics board on him, but that doesn’t mean that no on does. Goes to prison and goes bankrupt. 

Kasey - Gets the help she needs. Like really. She writes Mark a couple years later to apologize. He thanks her for and keeps in distant contact, but never sees her again. She understands. 

[dontcare77ghj]

Snapshots

Stucky x reader

“Your stance is off again.” Bucky called from across the room. You made no sign of acknowledgement and continued to beat the red bag.  You didn’t hear him walk across the room to stand behind you, but you jumped when he wrapped his arms around your waist and held you close. “What’s wrong doll?”

“Nothing Buck.” You said leaning back into his chest. “Just tired is all.”

“When was the last time you slept properly?” He murmured running his fingers along your arms.

“When Stevie left. I just get worried when one of you goes out on missions and we get no contact. ” You replied quietly, looking down.

“I know the feeling doll.” You turned, wrapping your arms around his waist, and looked up at the man. The bags under his eyes were dark and he looked paler than normal, he looked as tired as you felt.

“I wish he’d come back sooner.” You whispered. Bucky nodded in agreeance, he held you for a few more minutes before unwinding your arms and leading you over to the mats. “What are you doing?”

“We’re going to get some sleep and stop being worrywarts.Steve will be fine, we just have to trust him and stop being stressed over nothing.” He answered as he laid down on the mats and pulled you on top of him. You were too tired to say anything in response, you feel your eyes getting heavier at the steady sound of his heartbeat. “Go to sleep doll he’ll be back soon.”

The two of you feel asleep like that quickly and didn’t register the flash of a camera coming from Clint’s nest. The two of you didn’t register Steve walking in and laying down beside you and wrapping his arms around the two of you before drifting off as well. The flash from the nest went off again and the archer stashed his phone and crawled out through the vents. He’d keep them for later.

“That’s too much sugar.” Steve scolded.

“No, it’s not.” Bucky argued with the blonde. “It’s a perfect amount.”

“It’s going to wreck your teeth.” The blonde stated crossing his arms. “Y/N back me up here.”

“It’s a cake Stevie. Live on the edge with us.” You smirked cracking the eggs. Bucky stuck his tongue out at Steve and kissed you sloppily on the cheek. “Gross Buck.” You crinkled your nose.

“I can live on the edge.” Steve pouted, you grinned at the tall man and wrapped your arms around his waist.

“Sure, you can spangles.” You agreed craning your neck to look at him. Steve smirked at you before cracking an egg on your head. Bucky laughed loudly as yolk ran down your face, you glared at Steve and leaned backwards to grab flour which you flung at the blonde.

Steve spluttered in shock as you ran to hide behind the still laughing brunette.

“Y/N.” Steve whined.

“You kind of deserved it Steve.” Bucky said between gasps. You and Steve looked at each and nodded. You grabbed another handful of flour and Steve another egg which you two soon threw at the laughing brunette.

A full-blown food fight broke out. After a half hour of eggs being launched, flour being rubbed into hair and laughter echoing throughout the kitchen, the three of you sat slumped against the wall, breathless.

“Well that was fun.” You said sarcastically with a smile.

“Definitely.” Bucky agreed.

“Well it’s not going to much fun now because now we have to clean the kitchen.” Steve said moving to stand.

“And our Steve has resumed his regularly scheduled programming.” Bucky stated with a smirk.

“I say Steve should clean. He started this.” I say with a wide grin.

“You know what doll I think so.” Bucky said wrapping an arm around your waist. “Well there you go punk, have fun.”

“Now hang on a second.” The blonde started. “No, you two get back here.”

“Hurry up Stevie and you can join us in the shower. Love you.” You called as you were pulled out of the room.

Steve hurried after the two of you trying to get you to come back and help him, and Natasha smirked from her hiding place behind the wall. She had her phone out was smiling at the photo she’d taken. Steve held you in his arms, you were slightly off the ground and Bucky was coming toward you with the bag of flour. The three of you were all smiling and looked very much so in love. Yep she’d keep this for later.

“Well this is a nice surprise.” You said as you and Steve walked into your apartment. The two of you watched as your other boyfriend looked up from the small kitchen counter.

“It sure is.” Steve said from behind you. “What’s the occasion jerk?”

“I don’t need an occasion to do something nice for you two.” Bucky said while stirring the pots.

“The last time you tried to cook, you almost burnt your hair off.” Steve commented following you into the kitchen.

“One time.” Bucky mumbled under his breath while rolling his eyes.

“Don’t worry babe.” You chirped. “I believe in you.” You added as you sat yourself onto the unoccupied counter.

“And that’s why you’re my favorite.” He said to you. 

Turning to Steve you gave him a teasing smile and poked your tongue out. “ Sorry not sorry, Stevie.” 

Steve moved over to you and stood in between your legs. He brushed the hair back from your face, with a smile and leaned down to kiss you gently. The two of you gave each other short, gentle kisses, when Bucky sai something that shocked you.

“Marry me.”

Steve and you jumped apart to stare at the blushing brunette in shock.

“Shit, that’s not how that was supposed to come out.” He said shoving his face into his hands. “It was supposed to be this whole romantic dinner and I was going to say it over wine and I was going to give this speech I’ve been working on for weeks and now I’ve gone and ruined it all.” Bucky rambled, looking crestfallen.

“Hey stop that. “You said jumping down from the counter. “You didn’t ruin anything.” You continued wrapping you arms around the tall man.

“She’s right Buck. You just shocked us.” He added hugging Bucky from behind.

“But it was supposed to be perfect. That’s what you deserve.”

“No, we deserve you.” You told him firmly. “That’s all we need.”

“Exactly.” Steve agreed. “We don’t want perfect and we don’t need it. Frankly I don’t care where I am or what’s happening as long as I’ve got the two of you.”

“Steve’s not wrong there. I just need my boys and that’s all I could ever hope for. So, if your serious about marrying you, you’re not going to get a no from me.”

“Or me.”

“Wait here then.” Bucky said moving from your arms and running into your bedroom. “Y/N, Steve, I know I ruined the moment but to hell with it.” He said coming out of the room with his hands behind his back. “I don’t care whose name we take, or how were going to do this but will you two marry me?” He finished bending down on one knee as he pulled his out from behind his back. He held two rings one in front of you, and the other Steve.

Tears built up in your eyes at the sight before you. “Yes, you dummy.” You cried.

“Of course, jerk.” Steve responded at the same time. Bucky smiled as he stood, he first placed the ring on your finger and then Steve’s.

“Oh, crap now I’m crying.” You laughed as you were pulled into a kiss from Buck and then Steve. You watched as they kissed before pulling the two of them into a hug. The three of you stood there until you could smell Bucky’s meal burning.

“Maybe we should just order a pizza?” Steve asked as Bucky rushed to the stove. You laughed as Bucky nodded sadly.

“Don’t worry Buck, one day you’ll get it right.” You laughed.

“Finally.” Tony said from behind the monitor. He had gotten JARVIS to snap a photo of the exact moment Bucky had proposed. Of course, he knew about the proposal, he’s overheard as Bucky had asked Wanda to help him with the meal and decided he needed a photo for later.

“A toast the new throuple.” Tony called into the microphone, raising a champagne glass. Your big day was finally coming to an end, after months of stress and arguments over color and best man and maid of honor the day had arrived much faster than you thought.

The wedding had gone very smoothly. With Thor officiating, Sam as Bucky’s best man, Tony as Steve’s and Wanda and Natasha sharing the role of maid of honor, the whole team had had with the wedding as much as you three had.

Steve and Bucky looked as handsome as the day you’d met them and, in their eyes, you were as radiant as ever.

“And before we conclude the toasting’s the Avengers and myself have a surprise gift for the happy throuple.” Tony added with a smirk. The three of you turned to the rest of the team with questioning glances, to which they all just smiled at you. “Bucky, Steve Y/N, the three of you have been together for a long time and over the course of your long relationship the team and I have taken it upon ourselves to personally document your journey. So, without further ado we present your story.” He concluded and gestured behind him to a screen that had lowered in his speech.

What appeared to have been a, very well, edited home movie began playing. The song ‘Perfect’ narrated the flood of photos and videos of the three of you. Various photos of memories you would always hold dear and videos of days you couldn’t bear to forget flooded the screen.

The three of you napping in, random, various places, content looks plastered to your faces.

Bucky and you laughing at Steve who was covered in flour.

The three of you laughing and smiling, always laughing and smiling.

Bucky and Steve kissing both your cheeks.

Steve giving you a piggyback as you two ran from a smiling Bucky.

You and Steve covering Bucky’s arm with magnets.

And of course, Bucky’s proposal. A full video of the moment the three of you shared.

The video ended with claps and cheers from your family and friends, the three of you were grasping each other’s hand tightly. You turned to Steve and kissed him quickly before tuning to Bucky and repeating the action. You leaned back as your boys kissed each other and when they pulled apart you three of you made sure to always be touching some of part of each other the whole night.

Those were the snapshots of your love. Moments the three of you had shared together and would continue making for many years.

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