#but maybe if i draw something in my sketchbook that i like i'll digitalize it

[monotone-artist]

[id in alt]

been drawing in my sketchbook a little bit idkk

[screwpinecaprice]

I woke up feeling like I was crying to sleep when I wasn't??? And my dream was about Mei from Turning Red riding a snow sleigh. Um There's nothing sad about that??? Lol

Anyway, the warm up sketches. The colors were added in Medibang. It was pretty fun, might do that technique some other time. My body still refused to recover from being bummed out throughout the day so I did house chores instead of commissions. 😅 Will try again tomorrow.

[chaoticke-rambles]

I don't post art much, but the Dead Boy Detectives characters have done something to my brain. Ergo, have a Charles

[typhos-c-dragon]

finally found a guide for the 8 million different rotomblr terms (like pelipper mail and eebydeebies and whatnot), and i'm once again considering making a rotomblr blog.

[impossiblenightmarenerp]

Recently got into Starlight Express and I have decided I NEED to see the Bochum performance at some point in my lifetime. Anywhere here's some doodles I've done since seeing it. I will not have any false accusations that I have a favorite character, no siree.

Some Caboose and BV art. First image was my first time attempting to draw him, second image is my current Discord pfp. Third image is from yesterday when I was like, yeah I should draw BV too, I enjoy his characters.

Made a Rusty design after only drawing Caboose for a few days. Second image is a close up of his face design I landed on. Scrapped sketch in the corner was the "You're no engine" scene. Will probably reattempt later.

Doodle pages. First image is the second time I drew CB. Second image is a close up on the funny haha I drew on the Rusty design page.

Transcript:

Rusty: I hate you

Arrow pointing to Caboose: Something has gone horribly wrong (Crush on Rusty)

Pearl and Electra designs. I have a digital vers. of Electra I'm currently working on, but I'm not done yet.

There's definitely more doodles in random places in my sketchbooks/iPad, but I wanted to share these :}

Will probably be drawing Greaseball and Dinah as well, and probably Dustin, and totally not more Caboose, I'd never draw him in a million years. mmm-mmm nope. Either way I will be drawing more characters. Maybe I'll have a finalized version of some art at some point.

[yawningcat07]

OMG hi!! First of all—your art?? Literal perfection?? I’ve been following since like… your third post (I think??) and I scream a little every time I see you upload. ANYWAY I was wondering!! How do you do your shading?? Like what brushes? What app?? How many layers are we talking?? I’m nosy and also in awe and trying to learn from the gods pls help

AWE IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY TO KNOW MY ART CAN MAKE SOMEONE SQUEAL AND KICK THEIR LEGS XD!♡ have a little sketch as a thank you 🫴

Ok- I'm so relieved to finally have someone to teach the little things I've learned over the years! ! Everything under the cut!✂️

●A big thing I think with doing shadow and lighting comes from understanding your art style, there's actually a lot of different ways to shade or highlight, and sometimes the way can match the style! With me, if I'm doing traditional drawing on paper, I'll either go realistic with shading or I'll do cross-hatching, basically a bunch of scratches where shadow should be, search it up, it's interesting to see the different types of shading!

●With my current art style on digital, I actually don't do much shadow! It's a bunch of layers of highlights! And only in places where I think it's of extreme need for shadow, I'll do a light layer of shadow! (These places being places like under the head where the neck starts, under the arms, where skin touches skin or something, and just little crevices here and there.)

● For the app I use: I use Sketchbook! I've used this app for over three years now maybe? And I've yet to find a better one, I love this app! And for the highlights and shadows, I'll actually use one of the sharper edged brushes, like one of the ink pens, instead of using a brush with a faded or soft edge, but this changes for highlights if I change my style, the shadows usually stay sharp!

●And lastly, for number of layers I end up with- the max of layers I usually end up with is around 3-4 layers! One for the line art, one for the basic color, one for (sometimes) both highlights and shadows, so that I can erase a tweak them without having to worry about messing up the color, and one for any more effects, like making the eyes glow or something!

OK! That's it I think- You don't know how flattering it is to have someone come to you for advice, you make me feel like it looks like I know what I'm doing lol! :')

AND HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY/NIGHT!!

[moonlit-mus3]

GUYS I'M ACTUALLY GOING INSANE..... There are so many thing I want to do 😭😭😭😭. Like I have so many ideas for different things. I wanna do a rewrite or my inner demons and write oneshots,I wanna make silly little edits, BRO I STARTED POSTING TO THIS DAMN YT CHANNEL I HAVE AND I AM WORKING ON ANOTHER VIDEO THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO GO OUT LAST MONTH 😭. Yes I am infact a cringey ahh gachatuber or whatever tf you call it 😞. Anyways if y'all wanna see my designs when it comes to the main 6 I'll gladly show 😋. Ima start posting little wips too maybe. I have fallen deep into the clutches of tweening and attempting to animate. I'm not going to start on that again though untill I get some writing out. Anyway yeah sorry for the rant, its like 2 in the morning and I can't sleep. I'm have so many ideas for content for this fandom and I'm just writing it down lol. Ima start writing again for the requests. :3 Also drawing digitally is actually killing me rn. My cheep ahh $1 stylus broke and before that the rubber tip it's just getting stuck on the screen and made it so much harder. Like I've been using my fingers for the last two I posted. I know that I can't really becomplaing but geez my hands hurt from after that 😓. Anyways yeah.😭

Here's a drawing of Asch I did today ❤️ It was originally just a like head to shoulder drawing, but I got stuck in the car while my parents went into a store for an hour. (I hurt my leg 3 weeks ago and I didn't want to go in lol) it was so late lmao an hard to see. I tried doing a bigger drawing since I never draw like that... And yeah. 😟. I need to work on my proportions and hands 😟😭😭😭😭. Also can you tell I gave up on the drawing in the top right corner? It got so darkni couldn't draw anymore lol. ALSO I FORGOT MY SKETCHBOOK AT HOME YESTERDAY 😞😞😞😞. I wasn't able to doodle in it. Ima just tape this drawing to my wall though or something idk.

Can someone tell me how to make heads that look the same. I can never replicate what I have previously drawn and they all look so weird 😞😭.

[emry-stars-art]

what platform/materials do you use for your digital drawings? I used to use an iPad + procreate + Apple Pencil but didn’t use it a lot because I didn’t like the feel of it. I much prefer the feel of pencil and paper, but I want the versatility of being able to do digital art. Just trying to take suggestions before I make any big decisions and purchases, as my iPad is so old it’s pretty much on death’s doorstep. Thank you!

Hi! Sorry I'm a little late but i gotta tell u I also just use procreate/iPad/apple pencil 😅 I'm not a fan of apple but it really did end up being easier and more user friendly to an artist who'd done almost exclusively traditional up until I got the iPad, so I'll take the L this time. I also miss the paper and pencil feel, I tried a couple paper-feel screen protectors but they usually ended up causing issues with the screen sensitivity so I stopped using those. Tbh the feel of it is something I got used to, now my main problem is like... the everything else of digital art lmao

The only other program I can personally speak for is Autodesk sketchbook which I used before procreate, but I think that program has been largely discontinued/abandoned, it should still be around and it worked fine for my not-serious explorations with digital art. I do definitely prefer procreate though. If you haven't asked Crow fortheloveofexy, I believe they mentioned going back to other programs than procreate?? Clip studio paint if I remember. Maybe they'd have more info on that one if you're curious

[tinycrescent]

do you have any tips for learning how to draw? your art looks so free and expressive even in rough sketch form, and the colors are absolutely gorgeous, but i don't even know how to color normally and don't have the means to do it digitally, so i'll leave that for later haha. anyway just wondering if you did anything in particular to practice or to learn your skills. your art is just so good. sorry if you've been asked before. thank you for sharing your art with the dn fandom!!

thank you for your message!!! ♥︎ you're very kind. I hope what I write here is helpful, but this is sort of a complicated one for me to answer!

in all honesty, I struggle deeply with seeing my art as good enough. my relationship with my creative process is something I’d consider unhealthy more often than not– though I’d like to think it’s getting better as of late. :')

I wasn’t formally taught how to draw, but I was obsessed with hand-drawn media from a young age, whether it was comics, 2D animation, illustrations, etc., and growing up, I would try to emulate the artists I loved as practice. I was just using a cheap yellow pencil and notebook paper, but it was all I needed at the time. and I think that's a really good place to start! don't worry about buying a bunch of art supplies all at once; you'll naturally accumulate tools as you go.

I’d say look at art, a lot of different types of art, and study it to discover what you like, and equally importantly, what you don’t. drill into why. if an artist you love shows their works in progress or sketches, really take a look at those. it’s so much easier to understand a rough image and how it was drawn/what marks the artist used rather than dissecting a polished piece. 

if you have friends who like to draw, spend time drawing with them! make up stories and characters together. I drew all the time growing up. all the time. I was a super quiet, well behaved kid in school because I was terrified of getting in trouble, and yet I was constantly reprimanded for drawing during class. it was the one thing I was willing to get yelled at for. my point isn’t to get in trouble (lol), but more so– draw whenever you can, wherever you can. even when it’s mindless. keep paper nearby. doodle. draw what you see around you.

these days, it’s my perfectionism that really kills my love for drawing. it stops me from drawing at all sometimes, because I’m worried (before I even start!) whatever I make won’t be “good enough”, whatever that means. it got much easier when I stopped trying to keep a neat sketchbook and allowed myself to let go. draw quick, draw messy, draw “bad”. you have to make art you aren't satisfied with to get better. and it sucks! you might try something new and feel like, damn this looks so incredibly amateur, but it's an unavoidable part of the process. if you can look at what you made, accept it for what it is, and then keep going, you’ve already jumped the biggest hurdle.

when I’m stuck in a mental feedback loop of oh my god, I don’t know how to draw, why is my art so bad, I compare something I made this year to the year before. even if the differences aren’t immediately apparent, chances are you learned something between then and now– whether it be a better understanding of your personal taste/drawing style or composition or, like, how to draw ears. it gives you concrete proof that you’ve improved.

⬇ this is a Light I drew in 2022 compared to one from early 2024. even now, I look at the more recent image on the right and think, yeah I would probably draw that differently. but I'm also proud of the me back then who did her best.

really, truly, I’m still learning how to draw all the time. part of the reason I made this account and started posting Death Note fanart was because it was a low pressure way to be creative and let go and have fun. and maybe that’s my biggest piece of advice, simple as it is. enjoy it! draw self-indulgently. strive to improve, but also be lenient with yourself. if you find the love in drawing, it'll pull you through the times when it’s frustrating.

♥︎

[rainbow-journalist]

I know no one has asked before, but are you okay?

Oh, sorry if I seem kind of inactive, the last few days have been bad for me, but I'm kind of okay now, I'm still active here, on Twitter/X and on Discord. I hope you guys are doing well, by the way.

Tw: 🎭⚠️

Rain code continues to be my current obsession, and Makoto still hasn't left my head to not draw him anymore, lol.

I made these doodles in my notebook after I finished the English test for my computer science course. XD

I used to draw in my sketchbook during my high school days, and surprisingly, my classmates liked my drawings. I used to draw a lot of Danganronpa, but mainly Your Turn to Die, maybe I'll show them someday. Taking pictures in my cell phone camera is terrible at night, I had just gotten back from class. It's still very hot here. I was practicing Makoto's hair, and I think that drawing him in the notebook is a little different than drawing him digitally, The first image is literally the nerd emoji and I wanted to make him with short hair, he looks... different, to say the least.

I don't draw much like this, because taking pictures with a cell phone camera is bad, the quality is lousy, and I don't even have the characters' colors in real life, so I prefer digital. I'm also a bit unmotivated and too lazy to do something, but I'm still thinking about some ideas.

[periwinkla]

Your art is so soft and lovely and I am always stunned by the softness and the colours and everything T_T. If you don't mind sharing, do you have any tips for someone who has just started drawing?

Anon!!!! ;-; !!!! Thank you so much!!! ( ˶°ㅁ°) !!

Well... that's a hard question, so I'll divide it into points: -First of all, HAVE FUN!!! If you don't have fun with it, it's pointless! Stressing about 'getting better' will hinder your growth. And you won't *ever* be able to make what truly feels like 'you'. Also, when you LOVE something, the strong and positive emotion will help you remember what you learn (it's a psychological fact - I actually used it when teaching kids, I acted silly while I was explaining things because laughter would help them remember). -Observe the world around you. How things are made, how and why they have the shape they have. The way colors transition into one another in a sunset, or on a leaf, or even on your own skin. -Your art grows with you. As you experience new things, your art will grow. As you meet people, visit places, observe the world. As you grow as a person, you will find new things, new ideas and emotions you want to express via your art. -Your hobbies/the things you like influence what you draw. This is something I only noticed lately, but when I was a kid (elementary school age), I used to watch my sister play videogames. One of the first ones was FF X, and if you know the suteki da ne scene, you will get where my sappiness comes from. It's still my favourite animated cutscene of all time... just... the way the bodies move, it's so so beautiful.

-On that note, just because you're an artist it doesn't mean you can't get inspiration from things that aren't visual. Writing, music, etc... get inspiration from those also!

-You know the idea called 'consistent art style'? Well, hold it in your hand, look at it, and then defenestrate it. Outta the window it goes. Right now. -Keep a sketchbook! Why? Because that way, you can easily look back and see all the progress you've made! Your sketchbook can contain not only drawings, but also notes about stuff you learned, or maybe a cutout from something that inspires you... or even outfits, or swatches of color that you think look good together, etc. If you draw digitally, keep a digital sketchbook also (just make a folder and name the files p.01, p.02, etc. - maybe make a folder each year so that it doesn't 'burst' lol) In a way, a sketchbook is like a diary of your artistic life. -Keep a folder in your pc where you keep learning material, notes, or even art inspiration. Back it up every once in a while in case your pc goes kaput! NEVER forget to back up stuff.

Now this is for the technical stuff:

-Learn the fundamentals. Proportions of the body. Color theory. Perspective. <-these are the most important for now if you have just started drawing. There are many resources online, this is a list of useful links for artists of all skill levels, compiled by a wonderful soul: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_gg5Sdern2bn6wgfOh2xRrV8CwaVMIVBYvwSRfI6RCc/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0 Personally, I used the following a lot: Figure drawing for all its worth by Andrew Loomis - book about how to draw the body (archive.org is your friend to find very useful pdfs) Proko and Marco Bucci - two artists on youtube I used to watch a lot during art school. I also used posemaniacs (a website) a lot. -Don't brush off traditional art. It's important you learn how real materials work. Especially with color! Pick three colors: magenta, yellow, and cyan (the primaries). Mix them up. Have fun playing with colors like kids would. Again, have fun! You'll learn lots. (Actually when I taught kids I did this. Also I picked a random colored pencil and asked them if there was more cyan or yellow or magenta in a color. That was particularly fun for them for some reason haha. And it's very VERY useful. Side note kids are so sweet I loved teaching them ;-;)

-On the topic of traditional art, please keep in mind pencils have different kinds of hardness (some draw bolder, some draw fainter) THAT MEANS that some might feel bad in your hand. As a general rule, I suggest not pressing hard because you might strain your wrist/arm, so I suggest something above a B (I personally like the 2B or 3B) but it depends on what feels comfortable for you. This might seem foolish but if it feels uncomfortable, you might draw worse than your potential if you use the wrong pencil for your hand. So experiment and see what feels best.

-Also if your body gets strained because you sit too much, consider drawing while standing up. It might be better. I personally only draw that way these days because of my health problems.

-Use references. Study them. Draw on top of them to understand the shapes of the body / object. Draw the subject again using those shapes. This is easier if you have a tablet obviously, if you don't you could either print them or use a fashion magazine or something like that. Sports magazines also, because you can learn how dynamic movement works.

^if this all seems overwhelming, do the following: get a reference, from anywhere you wish, and draw it with your favourite characters. There's nothing like obsession over some characters to learn how to draw. Trust me! :3c

Thank you again anon! And happy drawing! ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡

[qaanngi]

being economical and borrowing my art summary template from 2019 lol. notes under cut

I did want to do something similar to my 2020 art summary which had notes/thoughts on each digital piece baked into the image itself (and is also the prettiest lmfao) but I haven't been as proactive or even content since then sdfhsdkflds but I'm also of the opinion that artists should talk about their work, even if I still struggle to call myself one T_T

I met my monthly quota of one digital piece per month + one coloured sketch per month except October, which tends to be the month of exceptions since some sort of art challenge crops up. This year I opted to meme countdown loosely for Veilguard, and was the most free and loose I've been with drawing but also kind of burnt myself out a little on that front.

I do appreciate that there have been a few style experiments in the monthly things (March/Sept./Oct/Nov). I always found my style to be pretty generic but able to emulate other styles a little as a result. Except anime/manga evidently. But that means I can evoke different tones with different styles and do really left field stuff, which is always fun and leaves a lot of room for experimentation and a diverse body of work, which I prefer.

Managed to land LNY piece, which is a tradition I want to keep. I think my favourite piece is probably June's, the Lumine/Paimon/Osse/Scylla piece, which I referenced a screenshot because the location in-game was too pretty for me to not draw it. The Lumine/Girl With a Pearl Earring piece I'm pretty fond of, only because it was a genuine study of an old master, and I think it turned out well. The Lucanis minimalist piece is also a favourite, and it was me doubling down on the things I'm better at instead of trying to aspire to whatever the fuck I've been trying to do. Improve in some way I haven't defined yet, or operating on the notion that there is always room to improve (which is true and healthy to think), but also I guess a sense of dissatisfaction that my work is Objectively Broken in some way and desperately needs to be fixed. What's it like being content with your style and process?

The 2019 art summary had a template for Honourable Mentions since I actually managed to do more than one piece per month throughout the year (tho admittedly a lot of those were schoolwork). That's kind of been a struggle since 2021 for Reasons I still haven't fully recovered from, but I did manage a few extra things this year, chief among them the 19/20 Day Countdown mark for Veilguard, which I really wanted to do since I did one for Inquisition 10 years earlier, and I'll probably do one for the next Dragon Age game lol. I'd also like to probably redo the Inqusition one, and do full illustrations for both since I can actually draw backgrounds now. Something for 2025 I guess.

Others among the Honourable Mentions include a twt xlmi event piece I got a ton of "omg it's giving Sailor Moon + Tuxedo Mask" comments which makes it sound derivative as hell 🙃 The concept, was the moon (Lumine) and her night sky (Xiao). He is often associated with darkness and depicted looking at the moon pretty regularly. Also he is literally fading into black in the piece. My interpretation was that the night sky is quiet, and it darkens the sky so we can see the moon. The moon sits in the night sky's embrace. I actually quite like this one, the more I look at it. I've also used Giant Moon in the Middle of a Drawing a lot throughout the years, so that absolutely tracks. Maybe I should do one every year.

Other Honourable Mentions are my friend's commission (she was so patient with me), a noir Neve piece I did around September-ish too (was supposed to be a comic, might revisit the idea. I picked up reading comics again and was inspired to give one of my greatest inspirations a run - comic art, specifically the way they ink), and a quick lineless illustration for the xlmi zine I helped with.

For daily sketching, I only filled about 4-ish sketchbooks this year, all about 30-32 pages, but I've started to double up on pages so each is filled with more than one thing. Some sketchbooks were lazy in terms of what I did than others. Some were great, and had a lot of stuff where the things I practice (people in environments, action-oriented things, foreshortening, the bane of my existence) were abundant and pretty well executed. With the exception of one Lumine sketch that was so very in my own style that I really love and an adapted sketch of an OC, the favourites are all very action-oriented, and I'm glad. I really love the ones with Lucanis and Rook since there's genuine contact and an energy to them that feels very alive, which is something I've been working desperately towards, so it's nice to see it pay off. In a little daily drawing no less~

Around June there's a huge shift in subject and I all but ditched Gnshn immediately, which I think is healthy. I spent an inordinate amount of time in the months leading up to June and throughout with my daily sketches trying to force change my style to be more anime-esque since the gnshn fandom isn't particularly fond of western art styles, of which mine is painfully so. I have a lot of uncoloured sketches of Lumine that I'd like to get around to, but feel like a waste of time now. Leaving trying to make it in the gnshn fandom behind has been good for me, and it's been really nice to go back to the shit I love, which is just fights and blood. It's funny, since I ended my Cybird Ikemen run with swords and blood to jump into soft, cute shippy art for xlmi only to return to swords and blood.

Appropriately, I started my art blog ages ago for my silly little Dragon Age doodles, and I've returned to that. So: thanks, Veilguard. I hope I'm still fixated on you throughout all of 2025 because I have a loooot of ideas. And hopefully the patience and skill to get them out there.

[rui-drawsbox]

hey dude

how did you develop your art style? ive been drawing for years and I cant seem to get a handle on ANYTHING

4 almost 5 days late sorry dude you shot right into my inability to put thoughts into words properly HAHA

alright so first of all, i don't even think a style is something you need to do art. I'm a hobbyist apologist and as long those people enjoy creating it doesn't even have to look "good".

That aside i'm assuming you want to take art at least a little seriously so i'm just going to be straight forward and say that the only way is ping-pong between styles/techniques/themes and just stick with the stuff you feel more comfortable doing.

Now going into my personal experience, that's what you asked after all lolol (from now on this is just yapping so feel free to ignore it)

alr soooo im skipping my first steps into art and going into the humanoid phase. I actually started with sonic! Specifically the show Sonic X, of course i picked up mannerisms from the anime when it was time of doing comedic doodles (and cuestionable taste on fashion)

(im going thru my big inspirations so bear with me here)

2015 came and i discovered my two main inspirations for a long time: fnaf and Ed00chan! (link to her abandoned deviantart so yall can see the style of the time). As i was completely enamored by her anime-yet-cartoony style i was also hyperfixated with fnaf and those two things combined perfectly into (the infamous in the spanish side of the fnaf fandom) fnafhs! bing bang boom there it goes my personality for the next 5 years!

sprinkle a few power puff girls z too why not

anyway at that time i wanted to become a pro like ed00 so i had to understand anatomy, and my go-to channel was Bgm94! But the elders said that to broke the rules you have to understand them, so i just kind-of started doing more "realistic" bodies while maintaining the cartoony-ness i liked so much. Which to be fair, didn't last long before i got bored and jumped straight into cartoon/chibi again

also since we're entering my digital era i'm including some drawings with wild style changes since the experimentation never ends owo9

anyway that was 2018 and before! it was around 2017-18 that i dropped the general tutorials and just started experimenting on my own style/anatomy and trying to improve my skills (im ignoring my sketchbooks bc from now on they just become- well, sketchbooks, instead of doing full drawings i just doodled in classes and leaved the detail for digital stuff)

i would love to include all my 2019 folder bc i consider it was a year full of love for my silly doodles but tumblr has a limit for images HAHA. Hopefully you can see how i go trying out stuff and pick little stuff from every stage with me lolol

2020 hits and you can *see* my hyperfixation with twisted wonderland here, at least my folder is 60% twst drawings i made for my fanfic at the time LOL. Not so many style jumps here tho so let's keep going

2021 and 2022 here! at the second half of 2022 i found my oh so beloved crunchy brush and i also fell hard for Arashi Narukami, so basically my tumblr became an arashi fanpage lol

stuff at 2023 keeps pretty the same until now tbh, the only highlight would be the re-inclusion of noses bc of spiderverse 2. My style also has been pretty well maintained since i started doing commissions so i don't really do so much experimentation anymore, at least not with proportions and such.

alr so that was my journey on artstyle! Of course it's not like you're gonna guess all my process just by looking at the images so i'll say what type of stuff i feel influenced my decisions.

i'm very lazy and for a log time i just abandoned my projects if it prolonged more than a day or two, that obviously made me lean into the cel/plain shading rather than spending hours and maybe days rendering (not that i don't try rendering every now and then but i don't enjoy spending so much time in a single piece)

everyone around me always has been extremely supportive so i had the privilege of dedicating all my soul to drawing silly characters haha, i feel like since i never felt the need of comparing myself to others i could actually experiment so unapologetically with my style until i was satisfied

finding an actual brush that i like is always crucial to me tbh, even in traditional i'm pretty picky with how the ink and type of pen i'm using. Of course, i also tried multiple traditional art techniques (watercolor, acrylics, crayons, pencils, pastels, my favorite are pen+markers)

i dont like feets. that shows until today.

in general i think an artstyle is something extremely personal that every person has to shape themselves and that it can't really be a permanent thing, it's gonna fluctuate with the artist whenever they like it or not.

[catacamacat]

OMG your art is so good!!

do you have any tips? painting apps sugestion? I'll take ANYTHING!!!

have a nice day (er... night)

Heyy

Thank you so much! Means a lot <3

(Literally a lot, like… you ask me? Me of all people?)

I’ll try my best, pls keep in mind that i’m not a professional or anything, I’m talking about my personal experiences. I hope I didn’t forget anything

(Edit: IM SO SORRY IT’S SO MUCH, I’ve been yapping for the past one and half an hour since 4AM ToT you don’t have to read everything ofc, I still hope that everything makes some sense 🥲)

I’ll put most of it under a cut :)

Painting apps:

I have always used procreate for my digital drawings, but there are many good cheap/ free alternatives.

Since our school uses IPads to work it installed “Sketchbook” on our devices, and even though you can’t use all of the pens without paying there should be more than enough for free (I’ve never used a digital pencil that has been so comfortable to draw with for example)

But my favorite is and will always be procreate

Time:

I’ve been drawing for a bit more than 6 years, and sometimes I’m still very insecure about most of my drawings, I mean that when I look at them I’m just not happy or I think it’s not good enough…

But I always keep in mind how freaking horrible, like for real horrendously bad my drawings were in 4th grade when I started, and then I’m pretty happy with how far I’ve come ^^

Just know that this feeling will probably always be there, no matter if you’re a beginner or a pro, idk it’s just from my perspective, everyone has their own experience.

Inspiration:

For me one of the most important/ helpful things is inspiration. I personally am often very energetic when it comes to drawing something that plopped up in my head, it just brings the fun, you know?

For me my biggest inspiration so far to draw is TMNT. And I mean it, I don’t just say that because I’m hyperfixated to them. Ever since I’ve discovered the turtles far more than a year ago, drawing has been the most fun thing in the world.

For me the turtles are incredibly fun to draw, there are so many possibilities since there are so many different versions of them, and four of them. I don’t think I could ever grow tired of drawing them, and I think nothing has ever improved my art as much as them since they are so much easier and fun to draw than humans (imo)

There was a time period that last until around three weeks ago where I didn’t really was in the tmnt fandom anymore, idk how that happened but I hope it will never happen again. Anyway, I was trying to draw in anime- style or something like that, and as far as I can remember it was really hard and for me not really fun/ felt forced. The turtles always look how they are supposed to look, but humans… nah —~—

What I want to say is that you should also find something that’s fun for you to draw and that fills you with inspiration and energy.

Quantity:

A tip from me: draw every day

(but include breaks when you need it)

Of course it’s not always possible, but since I heard that tip somewhere on YouTube (also a really good way to improve) a couple of years ago, I was never able to forget it. I mean I didn’t do it of course, but somehow it still helped… in a way…yk?

I mean there are always times where you don’t draw, maybe over weeks and even months during art block or other reasons, but the more often you draw, the better you become at it.

(Btw I personally believe it’s impossible to draw every day, for me at least. But i don’t know, that sentence never left my mind and I think there has to be some reason for it)

People:

It can be really helpful to have people you look up to, especially in the beginning, for example was I a really big fan of Skottie Young (still am) and that guy who drew some of the TMNT idw comics (forgot his name rn), and trying to draw somewhat like them for practice really helped me to get better. It also can be good to have people around you that are artists. Can be

And now something somewhat more complicated:

Be careful about the people you are surrounded with, because according to what kind of person you are, they can really, really make you feel shitty about how you draw, or maybe bring you to a point where you don’t feel joy when drawing at all

Here’s what I mean:

For example take me. I don’t know how many people feel this way, but I’m for some unexplainable reason completely “allergic” to criticism. I know it’s not a good thing, but I also know it’s not really my fault.

Every time I’m drawing something, I just want to have fun with it, and for me it’s the most important thing when I draw. And having people around me all the way that have studied drawing, criticizing my work and telling me what’s wrong, maybe even make fun of it it something I really, really can’t live with. Of course it can be a really good thing to take those criticisms, but for me it was/is just annoying, like REALLY annoying.

For a long time I couldn’t really draw anymore when someone of that people was sitting next to me, and there have been quite a few of them. It completely took the joy of drawing away from me, no one should let that happen to them. (Luckily it’s better now)

Idk if that what I intended to say was said… 🤷‍♀️

One last, the most important thing:

Always have fun with and enjoy drawing <3

Good day/night/or whatever 💜💜💜

[citrus-cactus]

Citrus' Art Summary 2023!

The year is almost over, so here's my art summary for 2023! I got this template from here. This is my third year in a row being able to populate every month with a finished(/digital) piece (and really, I did a LOT more than what's shown here!), so that feels like something to celebrate!

Technically some of these choices don’t match up with their post dates; I counted some months as “when I was primarily working on them” and some as “when I actually published them,” but the sentiment remains. Like I said, it was a busy year! :)

Some more rambling + links to all featured artwork beneath the cut:

I remember last year I was quite worried about/was actually teetering on the edge of artistic burnout. There were definitely some months during this year that I felt a bit overwhelmed (particularly during the summer, when I was working on a 5-illustration series in a style that was DEFINITELY outside my norm, PLUS a bunch of other stuff), but I also appreciated the stylistic variety, and doing a lot of sketchbook drawings/marginalia that were(/are) just for me, so they never had to be "finished” or even "good." Even though almost everything pictured here is Digimon(/anime) art, I did experiment with a more "realistic" style for the Dracula Daily series (Aug/Sept), as well as trying to relearn the "Disney" style I started drawing in waaaaaaay back in high school, only now with a LOT more understanding of facial structure and anatomy. Largely, this style shake-up has been incredibly freeing (these are still sketchbook-only studies at this point, but I'm planning on some digital illustrations in the Disney style in 2024). I'm sure they still look pretty anime-influenced, and I'm not sure I'll ever truly be able to escape that, but honestly I don't mind; the anime aesthetic IS a part of my preference/style!

Let's see, the prevailing fandoms for what's shown here are Digimon Survive and Adventure 02. I really want to draw more Survive art next year!! Really happy with the collabo between @vidramon and myself (July), and honestly most (if not all) of these pieces. I worked hard, I branched out, I took on some really ambitious projects, and finished a ton of things (looking at you, March! That Knight drawing was a WIP for an entire year, but I finished it instead of abandoning it, which is what usually happens when things sit around that long!). Ultimately, I believe I told (and helped tell!) some great stories through my creative projects and art this year, which is my true goal forever and always.

Honestly I'm happiest with April's drawing. That one was a ton of fun to do, but I would have to work really hard to replicate that coloring style because I don't remember my brushes/settings, ahaha. Sadly this is how it usually goes with coloring for me; I make it up as I go almost every single time, which is why series are so difficult for me. I am nothing if not inconsistent -_-;

I would be remiss to mention that a huge part of my productivity this year was due to setting and tracking monthly goals for myself. I gotta thank everyone on the @campdigimonth server for their help in keeping me organized and motivated throughout the year! I plan on continuing my creative check-in posts in 2024.

Next year, I want to a) make more Survive art (particularly with Survive Week coming up), b) draw some more flippin' gargoyles (CRIIIINGE, but no, cringe is dead, I'mma do what I want!), and c) keep working on my personal project! And I am, once again, thinking about bookbinding. That's a "maybe" for next year as well!

Descriptions and links to the full artwork pictured for each month:

January: Survive Week, Day 5

February: Survive Gang Aromantic Week

March: Knight Unryuuji and Friend

April: “Rose-Tinted” fic illustration

May: Happy Birthday Vi!

June: Happy Birthday Haru Shinkai!

July: Happy 1st Anniversary Survive! (aka BEST SOCK FRIENDS)

August: Dracula, September 13

September: Dracula, September 20

October: Adv 02 Countdown Event, Day 7

November: “Boo!” on the Cob

December: Digimon Secret Santa 2023

[vonlipvig]

random question time, what art supplies do you usually use/like using when drawing on paper? is there any drawing medium you haven't tried but would like to?

hi! honestly, i'm not that much of a traditional artist anymore, so for any doodles that i wanna do i'm pretty much set with my decently smooth sketchbook, my mechanical pencil for sketching plus some thicker regular pencils for shading, and my trusty 0.05 mm + 0.1 fine line drawing pen for lineart!

shading is optional, of course. if not, i just leave it blank and scan it to clean up digitally, and get something similar to what i do with my tablet, with some added texture for those shaky lines, which sometimes can be quite charming lmao. if not, i just scan it with the shading and color that digitally (less work, pretty good results), or just edit that pic and call it a day. all depending on the level of effort i want to put into it lmao.

as for what i'd like to try, i'd definitely want to be better with markers and pencils, which i have a lot here since that's what i used to draw with before i got my tablet. but i'm truly terrible with them, i don't know how to blend well and it always seems like such magic.

i also feel like i'd want to learn how to properly paint. like, old baroque masters type of thing. but maybe i'll stick to digital painting for now, i don't do too well with actual physical materials!