#could use a redraw or do it yourself your way

[getthrawnin]

Something done a LONG TIME AGO and somehow it got flagged for sexual content. Let's if this one does not get flagged.

[meanbossart]

Hi, I've enjoyed your art for almost a year now but now I'm curious as to how you come up with what you want to draw. I've been struggling with coming away from using references, especially when drawing people lately and was wondering how you could do it.

Hello!

If you mean how do I come up with the poses, I will usually "doodle" my way into them and fix things along the way to better match whatever it is I'm seeing in my head. I think the secret is really not overthinking your very first draft - get it out as quickly and messily as possible so you can better access what you want the final pose to actually good like.

Here are some examples of my first pass vs final art:

Sometimes something only takes 1-2 sketches before I start lining and sometimes the sketch process is a convoluted mess with more layers than the final render, either way I ALWAYS change things up to some extent, either through redrawing, re-scaling/moving things around, or even messing with the liquify tool.

As for how I actually come up with the scenes themselves in the first place, I'd be negligent to not mention the several hundred comic pages I've drawn throughout the course of my career 😅 it's a muscle that's been exercised nonstop for over a decade and hence a non-issue for me at this point. Between art, film, and every-day human interaction I've developed a great love for human expression - the meaning behind posture, hand-gestures, micro-expressions, minute word-choices - that definitely wasn't there when I first started drawing as a teenager, but that I picked up on throughout my life.

I think getting into film is especially good for learning how to frame a scene. If you have trouble coming up with them at all, try becoming the type of movie nerd that says things like "wow, this composition!" in the middle of movie-night, or someone who knows what a "dutch angle" is. I can't tell you how to do that, unfortunately. Maybe you can watch Inland Empire and ask yourself "why the fuck did David do that" every 3 minutes? We all have a movie nerd in us, we just gotta find the movie that pisses us off enough to find them 😔

[petday]

Do you think that it is okay to be "slow" at art? I have problems with ADHD and I can never get things out very quickly... while I still improve, learn, and end up finishing things, it often takes me way longer than it should. It ends up being a little stressful because my friends can output drawings a lot quicker, even in doodle format, whereas even for just doodles it can take me at least an hour at times. This makes things like drawpiles a bit hard to do as well.

Yes, it is okay to be "slow" in art.

"Speed" is relative. You are quite fast in movement speed in comparison to a different person.

Going further, there are infinite points to compare your speed against. "Was I the fastest I could possibly be when depicting this character with these series of lines?" Well, there are infinite different series of lines you could have drawn, infinite influences that any one person can have, infinite life experiences, thus no two people will ever draw exactly the same. A person can draw faster than you, but their drawings are different than yours. Even when people emulate each other, there is something about each person that makes their differences clear eventually – attitude, subject matter, tendencies, choice of material... "Would my friend draw this picture faster than I could?" You can ask yourself such questions but it would be impossible to answer, because you are the person who made the drawing, thus whatever 'speed' was required for the drawing was exactly the 'speed' at which you made the drawing, otherwise the drawing would not exist at all.

If you wish to draw 'faster', you can avoid some actions. You can paint without use of the undo button, you do not have to flip the canvas, you do not have to spend time reading color theory, you can just draw. You can qualify even the messiest drawing as a 'finished' drawing. That's what I enjoy.

However, if you avoid actions that you enjoy for the purpose of 'saving time', you may end up desiring such actions, and you may regret your faster pace. Contrary to the belief that 'fast is best', being 'slow' can be preferable over being 'fast', because you are enjoying the actions that cause you to work at a slower pace.

In this world, I particularly dislike the focus on "high speed" as if it is an innately positive quality. It is a neutral quality. Of course, you should be fast in some emergency scenarios. But there is no 'perfect' future, so I do not see why humans rush towards this imaginary 'perfect' future. There are no 'perfect' pictures, so there is no rush to reach such a 'perfect' state. I was happy to refresh an artist's blog in 2006 and see a new picture once every few months. Also, there were some websites in which you could view the time-lapse video of a person's drawing, and some people spent hours and hours. There was no ability to edit the video, so you could watch people redraw things over and over, scrap various ideas, focus on different parts of a drawing, and so on. Even if the 'completed' drawing looked 'perfect' to me at first glance, the person might have taken a lot of time. I had fun watching their videos. Others would draw quickly, so their videos were short. That was cool too. I didn't feel either was superior over the other.

I like a slow pace. My speed varies because life and thoughts vary. I have spent weeks on some of my favorite works. I have spent months thinking about something before finally drawing about it. In artwork, you can spend an eternity. Ideas can mutate into different ideas if you leave them alone for a long time. There is no pressure to act immediately. That is great.

Perhaps you can make things with friends who do not usually draw. You may find that they have a fun insight in comparison to the friends who are experienced at drawing. 'High experience in drawing' can also result in 'doing things only in the way that we are taught is the correct way' which can result in 'repeating the same ideas and techniques.' That is fine, but 'low experience in creating art' can result in great art because they do not follow the common 'rules' that are popularized in various art communities, so they can make awesome, surprising artwork without consciously thinking about making something 'good'.

I am 'slow' in comparison to my friends. Drawing with friends was difficult to enjoy. "Well, I will just doodle fun things at the bottom of the page. Oh, others have already painted complex things." It's alright. It became fun when I stopped thinking much while drawing. You can doodle at your own pace, true friends will not judge you. Also, if you do not enjoy drawing with others, even if you make great effort to enjoy it, it is OK. There are other activities to enjoy with friends too. I can enjoy drawing with others sometimes, but other times, I prefer to draw alone.

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Mad Season 3

Warnings: non/dubcon, social anxiety, chronic illness, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Character: Bucky Barnes, Peter Parker

Summary: a class project gets messy. (short!reader)

Note: happy weekend.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging ❤️

“Hey, how’d you get in?” Peter rushes in, a tray of drinks in hand. 

You pop up on the stool, broken from your trance. Uncertain what else to do, you spent much of your time trying to distract yourself with his schematics. You twist to face him. 

“Um, Bucky,” you answer and cringe at home dumb you sound. “He helped.” 

“Bucky? Helpful?” He nears and puts the cardboard tray on the table, ���I guess he can be.” He picks at the edge of the tray, “I got you a blueberry matcha. The place I hit didn’t have strawberry in season anymore.” 

“Oh, sounds... interesting, but you--” 

“Didn’t have to. I know, you always say so but I felt bad for being so late. I told may to get an airtag for her wallet. She can be so--” he stops himself and chuckles. “It’s whatever. She’s got a lot going on.” 

“Mhm,” you accept the cup he offers. “I was just looking over the plans. I think we could probably just go with yours. Makes more sense.” 

“What? Oh, no way,” he takes his iced whatever. It just looks like layers of sugar and cream. “I think we could easily bring together both. Take some of your features and mine. I don’t want to take over.” 

“Yeah, but...” 

“But nothing. Really. It’s a team project, not my project,” he insists as he hops up on the stool next to you, “so,” he swipes his hand in the air and a holographic screen appears. You flinch. “Let’s compare and redraw.” 

You gape as another floating rectangle appears before him. No wonder his look so much better than your Paint hack job. You want to sink down and disappear. You always figured you’re not interesting enough to be his friend but now you’re certain you might be too stupid and poor for him too. 

“So, I’m going to get logged in...” he mutters. 

“Um, Peter?” You murmur, “are you sure you wanna be my partner?” 

“Why... wouldn’t I?” He hovers his hand before the screen as he looks at you. 

“I dunno. I don’t... I don’t have much to offer. Not a lab, not all these cool computers...” 

“Oh this? No, it’s not—it's not a big deal. Dude, I'm so lucky Mr. Stark is letting me use this. I’m not ignorant, you know? I just thought it would be easier. I don’t think your roommates like me much and mine are so loud.” he explains as he lowers his arm, crossing both over the table as he leans on it. “Do you not want to be my partner?” 

“Nnnooo,” you drag the word out. “No, I do, but I want to contribute to and I don’t know how to use any of this.” 

“That’s cool. I’ll show you.” 

“Um, okay,” you nibble your lip sheepishly. “I guess...” 

“Did you try the tea? Is it good?” He changes the subject. He does that a lot. Pivots around before you can finish your thoughts. 

“Not yet,” you look down at the bright pink lid, “where did you get this?” 

“Some place called Berry? I don’t know. Everything was bright. You’d hate it,” he laughs again. “Oh,” he snaps his fingers as you blow into the lid cautiously. “Before I forget, I’m having a party. I know it’s not really your thing but it’s ‘my turn’,” he makes quotations with his fingers, “and I don’t really wanna but I also thought I'd invite you in case you wanted to not be there with me, too.” 

Your blink in surprise, “a party?” 

“I know, too much. Well, I didn’t wanna leave you out.” 

“Mmm,” you drone nervously. It is really nice of him to think of you and after everything else, you hate to say no. “No one ever invited me to a party.” 

“No?” His brow furrows, “really?” 

You shake your head, “I’ll come. Yeah. I’ll try. You know, it’s college and ...” you take a sip and clear your throat, “should I bring a dessert?” 

He laughs and gives you a playful grudge, “wow, I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone ask me that except my aunt’s friends. Nope, you can just come as you are. You can always bring some drinks for yourself but I’ll have more than enough to share.” 

“Oh, okay,” you nod. 

“The tea good?” He asks again. 

“Yeah, sweet,” you put the cup down. 

“Awesome!” He grins. “I really didn’t think you’d come. I’m so excited.” 

“Really?” You ask. 

“Well, duh. You’re so fucking cool. Like all my other friends, they try so hard. It’s all ‘let’s go do shots’ or ‘watch me do this dumb shit’. You don’t even try, you’re just you. It’s like people don’t realize they can just be nice and be cool for just that.” 

“I... yeah,” you don’t know what to say.  

It’s like he’s calling you boring but not. You know you are and you don’t mind but you can’t ever remember when you just felt like everyone else. Where you weren’t the odd one out. Despite trying to include you, Peter still manages to push you to the edges. 

You wince as you notice how he stares at you. You fidget and pick at the button on the front of your corduroy skirt. His eyes flick down to the nervous movement. 

“I like that,” he reaches to touch the ridged fabric, “blue. Oh, thick.” 

Your leg twitches in surprise, “uh, yeah... found it at the student thrift shop.” 

“Really?” His fingers brush over the hem and touch your coloured tights. They linger for a moment before he pulls away. “Cute. I’ve never been there.” 

“It’s not bad...” you cross your legs as you knee tingles from his touch. That was strange. 

“Well, anyway,” he waggles his fingers as he turns back to the table, “uh, where was I?” He squints at the screens and taps in the air. He pauses and looks at you. “Here, I’ll show you how it work, alright?”  

He reaches over again and you brace yourself. He grabs the underside of the stool seat and drags you closer. He it so easily, you gasp. He’s a lot stronger than he looks. He slides his hand around so his arm is diagonal around your back. 

“Right, so...” his shoulder presses to you as he points with his other arm, “you can just use your finger. I’ll have to add your prints to the program. Put your hands up.” 

You obey as he stays close. You’re overly away of it. The way he’s pressed to you. He doesn’t seem to notice at all. You try not to think of it and focus on his instructions. The project. That’s why you’re here. 

[tibbycaps]

Do you know have any tips on how to draw a comic? As in simple style and easy to draw and consistent in redraw? I love your style and I can't help but wonder how you got here and if you could help. Thank you

okay sorry i left this in the inbox for a bit because. where to start lol! there's a lot of thought that can go into making comics i think. but i believe you're specifically asking about having a consistent art style and being able to draw the same character a lot over and over again, so i'll try to focus on that

i think a lot of consistency is just playing around with character designs and getting something you feel comfortable with. ill use grian as a good example because it took me a while to come up with a grian design that i liked. once i liked it, i was able to draw my grian a lot & very consistently. every time you draw a character, even if it's a little doodle, you gain that muscle memory for ur lines a little better, so you should doodle always as much as you can and never be afraid to try something new and experiment with your style

the pipeline

i think a good way to establish a character design that you really like to draw & can familiarize yourself with is by defining some key features about them. like in this image for example, my older grian designs don't really have anything about them that stands out to me. he wasn't rlly that fun to draw. but nowadays i think i have a distinct hairstyle & expression & glasses shape i give him, which are fun to draw. even if it's a tiny doodle with like, 15 strokes, you can still identify it as my grian design i think

something that i noticed (i didn't consciously do this but it just sort of happened as i was trying to make them all look different from one another) is that i assign different shapes to grian, cub and scar. these guys are good examples because 1. they're the three characters in my hotguy comics part and 2. they're the three guys i draw the most often

grian i tend to go for more rounded shapes, cub more squares/rectangles, and scar is more pointy and triangular. little things like this can help them stand out from one another and makes them fun to draw in my opinion. when i draw grian's hair i always have the hair come to a rounded point and is more neat/tidy. when i draw scar the hair is more spiky and wild. cub is sort of in the middle where his hair is more pointy, but is kept neat, which gives it those straight lines and right angles

TL;DR how i draw characters easily and consistently is make key features & shapes that make them fun to both draw & look at. and then draw them a lot

i hope that makes any sense, i like yapping about character design so hope you don't mind the long response lol ^_^

[sgiandubh]

Americans' approval of Trump rose from 7% to 45% after his meeting with the Ukrainian president.

Let's see what the Europeans will do to Ukraine after the support tweets

NATO is nothing without America, This is the reality.

Dear Approval Anon,

I have no idea of your sources - you should be so kind and come back with substantial evidence, since I was not able to find anything remotely related to what you are so gleefully writing.

[Source: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/polls/favorability/donald-trump/]

I know the troubles (the 2024 bitter Silver vs. Morris pollster feud comes to mind) Project 538 has been through lately. I am merely using this as a very recent poll aggregator, and it is nowhere near the illogical, tragically idiotic 'Americans' approval of Trump rose from 7% to 45% after his meeting with the Ukrainian president' you so confidently seem to tout.

On which planet would a recently elected POTUS start his mandate with 7% approval rate? You do the math, you answer this - to yourself, because you'd understand I am not really interested by your flimsy justifications.

But let's break it down a bit, shall we, and follow the latest 10 day-trend, for the sake of fine tuning - same source as above:

I see extreme polarization. I see self-cannibalization of polls, depending on their Red/Blue funding. I see a slightly unfocused domestic context, in which emotions are not settled yet - and how could they be, since lack of predictability seems to be in fashion?

I could go on and delve into it. I am not going to. I am just leaving these figures here, as a testimony of your tremendous liberty with facts. By the way, your champion is not doing so badly overall (pretty stable even, at the moment), so you did not need to lie like a 5 year-old. You're not helping him and make a fool of yourself, in the process.

However, allow this European to answer your insinuating assertions. Thank you for the concern, I think we'll be just fine. You are perhaps informed that, along with a long standing Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has a fully operative Common Security and Defense Policy. Both are solidly enshrined in our Treaties and both had very tangible results, already.

I doubt you closely followed the results of last Sunday's London summit. On that particular occasion, the EU has been joined by other non-EU, NATO members, such as the UK, Norway and Turkey, along NATO and the EU Commission's Chairpersons. What we will collectively do in order to help Ukraine is exactly what we collectively did during the COVID-19 health crisis: pooling our resources in order to achieve a common goal. Some will perhaps send troops. Others will probably help with their infrastructure. All will pitch in and fund the defensive support mechanisms. It is in the making. It is going forward, like it or not. I will not further speculate.

I also think you are exceedingly naive to think NATO would not survive without America. It might morph, it might limit its geographical scope or redraw its security goals and means of action, or it might very well be replaced by some other alliance of like-minded countries. It happened before. It will happen again. While it would be regrettable, it would not be unheard of, nor fatal. But ask yourself if isolation is the right path for your country, many of us know and deeply love, when faced with a complex counterpart (I hesitate using a stronger vocabulary, given the recent evolutions), such as Russia. How is this going to agree with USA's Manifest Destiny foreign policy doctrine and its long self-perceived exceptionalism is yet another complex issue I do not have the will to further discuss.

I will simply say this: your view is biased by your own, news' consumer focused perception of Time. You think everything will happen right now, as we speak, because your habitual media outlet told you so. I will probably disappoint you, but diplomatic time is running much, much slower than your perception shaped by endless breaking news moments would ever comprehend.

And remember, Anon: your reality might not be my, or hers, or his, or their reality. The world did not start with Columbus. It will not end now, because of a tantrum on a couch.

[tomlinfonda]

"Why are artists so butthurt about AI art? Horse carriage drivers didn't complain when they invented the car, they were just grateful that the technology evolved and made it easier to get around."

Art is not a carriage, it's not a vehicle. Its purpose is not to be efficient, to do a practical job with as little effort as possible. Art is not something that can be automated, because its artistry lies in the humanity of its creator. Art is wonderful, from a baby's first drawing, inexperienced and unskilled, to the paintings adorning the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

If you consider yourself an AI artist, I ask you: are you proud of yourself when the computer has completed another image that you will claim as yours? Do you look at it and feel the joy of having created something?

Does the generative process teach you how to see the world better? With every image created, do you evolve? Do you understand the planes of the face better now than 1000 images ago? Do you know what rim light is, and where to put it? Do you understand light sources? Tones? Could you take a piece of paper and shade a portrait by yourself?

"AI software is just like Photoshop or Blender, the next step in artistic technology".

It's not though, is it? A digital artist uses a pen to put colors on screen, chooses where to put each brush stroke, when to smudge or use the liquify tool. A 3D sculptor manipulates basic shapes into characters just like a traditional artist molds clay. An AI "artist" doesn't make any of the thousands of choices that lead to the creation of a real piece of art.

"But art is hard, and I'm not good enough."

Neither am I! Man, I'm not the worst artist in the world, but I'm not great, still not at the level I would like to be. Sometimes I draw something and I look at it and realize that it sucks ass! Sometimes I post a drawing online and realize that I drew a character out of proportion, that the light source is not consistent, that I've shaded outside the lines! And you know what's great? That I get to have an understanding of what I did wrong! I get to evolve! I redraw something from 5 years ago and realize that my composition is much better, my shading more believable. And I know that in 5 more years, I might redraw it again and pride myself in how much I've evolved.

I've been drawing since I was a baby, and I still have a long way to go. And that is also fine, because art is a lifelong pursuit, growing, changing, just as I am.

It's okay to not be good. Hell, it's okay if you don't even try to get better. By drawing, you WILL. It's inevitable that, by practicing, you'll learn.

You know what will not make you a better artist? Software that will generate your "art" for you. The result might look more complex than what your skill level allows you to create right now. But it doesn't look better. You could draw a crooked circle on xerox paper and it will look better than all the AI art in the world. Because you made it. Have some faith in yourself. Your vision has more artistic value than what that computer generated.

"If you're afraid that AI will steal your job, learn to draw better!"

I'm trying. Are you?

[ohcorny]

hey corny. so i always see people recommending to outline their story before starting it, but could you talk a little bit more about what that means? what is an outline and how do you structure one? how long are the ones you write, depending on the project? do you focus on plot beats or feelings? how specific do you get? can u recommend any readings for learning more?

up front i don't have any resources for this, only experience. and outlines feel like one of those things where it's like... there are a million ways to do it and the way that works for me might not work for you. i have a friend who writes out all his ideas on index cards and that, for me, is insane. but he's also a better writer than me so who can say what is right or wrong.

anyway an outline is essentially a sketch but for a story. you go through the whole thing, start to finish, and figure out what goes where and what happens when. the idea is that this is the stage where you work out all the big picture stuff and make sure it all fits together, now, and not after you've drawn twenty pages and suddenly go "wait shit that doesn't work" and have to do it over. it is much easier to delete and rewrite a paragraph than to redraw several pages.

doing anything more, ie including dialogue or feelings, depends entirely on how useful that information is to you at that point in the process and whether the purpose of the outline is for your own guidance, or so somebody else can tell what you're trying to achieve.

this got really long with multiple examples

here is an excerpt from the original outline i used to pitch Hunger's Bite to publishers. this one had to be polished to a professional standard, because somebody else was going to read it and decide whether they wanted to give me thousands of dollars to tell this story. (also several of the details are no longer accurate. for instance it now takes place 9 years earlier lmao)

this paragraph represents the first eight pages of the book. the final book is 264 pages long, and the outline was 12 pages of paragraphs as dense as this one.

it establishes where we are, who's there, and what they're doing. i describe their conversation, but i don't commit to the dialogue. i will occasionally include snippets of literal dialogue, but usually only if it's Important Dialogue, or i just don't want to forget a good idea i had while outlining. it's not expected at this step.

an outline written as part of a pitch to a publisher should tell the whole story, with all the important details, and leave nothing ambiguous. they need to know the tone, shape, and the arcs. no secrets! all the spoilers. outlines for yourself should do this too, but outlines for others need to be as clear about your vision as possible. again, an outline like this exists for the purpose of getting you paid thousands of dollars. you should write it like that.

in comparison, here's an excerpt from the outline i wrote for revisions to my WIP prose novel, so i could show it to my agent (who already read the draft) to be like "do these changes sound good?" i'm not selling it to anyone yet, just making a guide so i can have a conversation about it. so it doesn't need to be neat, it just needs to be functional and clear. the first chapter was entirely new stuff. the second bit was just writing down what was already in the chapter that existed.

i have historically been very bad at outlining things when i don't think i "need" to, and only wrote this one after having written like 60k words of the book without any overall plan. i gave what i had to my agent for feedback and then sat down and figured out how i could apply it. it's made the whole revisions process significantly less daunting. now i have a checklist for things i need to do! this one was a paragraph or two for each chapter, with the ones that needed a lot of rewriting given a bit more detail.

lastly, here's a bit of the outline for the first roger crenshaw book. i was the only person who had to see this, and since the story was planned to be very short i didn't have to worry about a whole lot. as long as i knew what was supposed to go where, it would work. honestly it's not a whole lot different from the previous example.

this one was like five paragraphs and it did the job, and this story was like 15k words. you only need as much or as little as will actually help you on the page.

basically if you take nothing else from this, it's that there are multiple ways to write an outline, that it does not need to be perfect if you're doing it for yourself, and that it only needs what you think is important (unless it is for other people. then it should have everything). and also it's a good idea to do it earlier in the project than after you've written 60k words or drawn--jesus christ i got up to 12 chapters in never satisfied? it's amazing i didn't quit sooner

[anshiiiiin]

How do you come up with the composition for your comics? You really inspire me, but I tend to struggle with the natural flow of a scene. I love the way you go from a wide shot to then a close up of someone's eyes– it is all just very good!

What is your process?

heya! i hope it's not a disappointing answer, but i am generally just winging it. Before every big comic i create a storyboard, and it's a very difficult part of the work for me, most of the time i just sit and look at the page, stressed ꉂꉂ(ᵔᗜᵔ*)

during the storyboard phase i switch frames places, think about the perspective of the shots, expressions etc. i often scrap pages, redraw frames etc etc

i feel like on this stage it's very important to have a friend or forum/discord server whatever where people can critique and give feedback about your work. not only what they think should be changed, but also it's important to point out what they like!

btw just to add, i am very happy to inspire you, because the way i am doing comics paneling was (and still is sometimes) a big source of doubt for me. i would feel insecure about not using flashy view angles, feel insecure that i refuse to use anything besides the rectangular frames, and feel like i am making a mistake by placing so little panels onto every page. it's especially bad with this last comic of mine with nikolay and valya :D so many huge frames and pages with just 1 or 2 frames

i am sharing this because i want you to know that a person who inspires you has insecurities of their own! so it's totally ok to feel doubtful about what you do, it's part of the creation process and just signifies that you always strive to better yourself!

if i could recommend something to better your storytelling in comics, i would reccommend this book: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Making_Comics i read it many years ago and it really inspired me to try comics and gave me some fundamentals!

and just for fun, here's my storyboard for the last comic :D

cw: guro, torture, amputation

[kiiirtiiiniii]

I love your lineart, how clean and expressive it is! And your little Riebeck comics, they always make me so happy to see

Do you think you could talk a little about your process? I’m working on my own style right now, so I’m asking some of my favorite artists how they create, and how they learned how to create the way they do! Practice, but what kinds? How do you get such lovely doodles and art with such simple shapes?

WOW AAAAHHH thanks for the sweet ask!! I can absolutely do that!

The big overarching answer is exactly what you said & the answer no one wants to hear (I get it lmao): practice, straight up, preferably in a way you can sustain interest in so you can keep it up because inefficient is better than nothing.

I've been drawing since I could smear toddler fingerpaint on a page, so more than 25 years, and I took art classes all through highschool plus a few college level art classes. The things I think I'd recommend specifically over anything else are 1) exploring different mediums and methods (like charcoal on large paper & acrylics on actual canvas, and realism & abstract), even if you use dollar-store tier stuff (nothing wrong with that babey, that's what my fiance and I use for therapy painting!!) and 2) making sure you practice life drawing from photos at the very least, or live models if you can get yourself into a situation where that's an option.

To not just give you what is really common advice that almost feels canned at this point; the reasons I recommend these things specifically! Under a cut so this post isn't 300 years long. lol.

Even if you don't stick with charcoals or paints, trying them out a few times will give you the physical knowledge of how those mediums feel in action. Then, going back to mediums you prefer (maybe pencil and paper or digital like me), you'll understand better how to use the tip of the pencil at different angles, or the weird painterly brushes in your toolbar, and what things they can achieve for you re: sharp lines, gradients, gestural effects, blending, etc.

And again, even if you don't do abstract or realism or whatever style very often or at all, you'll know how it feels to slap shapes and colours down quickly and emotionally (nothing like capturing a raw feeling in colour), or the process of studying a photo so thoroughly you see and draw details you never noticed before (the way shadows are tinted by light bouncing around, for example), and you can apply that to something you find more engaging, like maybe character art (that's my MO I love drawing little guys lol).

Finally, life drawing, literally the most important way to practice and also quite possibly the most booooring. You have to find a way to apply it that makes you interested. I love making fast, sharp, innacurate lines, and I love taking my time drawing a perfect shape. I combine those by getting the essence of a pose down from a photo or my fucked up lil brain with gestural lines, then erasing and redrawing with more careful strokes until it looks right.

THAT specifically, is bad advice. Just erasing and redoing until something "looks right", but that's what I do and it's why it takes me 6 hours to sketch a comic page. But I'm not doing this for money and I probably never will, so it works for me. If it works for you, too, that's sick!! It's the lazy way to do it lol. You're SUPPOSED to do studies until you KNOW how things are shaped and how the lines should fall, so you can get it in a couple tries. More work for more payoff, right? That's how comic artists spit out like 2 or 3 pages a day.

A couple more things I found really helpful while I was learning (i say as if im not still learning and will be until i die): youtube tutorials (not joking) and blind-trace-reference-blind studies (I'll explain).

I don't have any reccs for you with the youtube tutorials because I did all that when I was younger and I cannot for the life of me remember who the hell I was watching, but it was a lot of different artists from professional to amateur to beginner sharing tips and tricks they found helpful. Top ten tips for artists kind of stuff. It's why I draw lightning bolt limbs and other sketch skeleton stuff like ball heads and guidelines to orient facial features. I hated that shit before I realized how much it actually genuinely helps.

Blind-trace-reference-blind studies are not called that but I don't know what they're actually called so whatever lol. It's really simple: you pick some specific thing (like a great white shark) and draw it 4 times: First blind, without a reference, purely from memory. Then, directly tracing a reference image (if you can). Then drawing normally from a reference. Last, drawing blind again without a reference. Then compare the first and last drawings for fun :3c

It's a good way to reassure yourself that you can improve and the studying and practice isn't useless, and it's also a good way to actually learn very specific stuff. The process can also be simplified down to blind-reference-stylize, where the last step isn't blind but instead drawing the subject in your style/simplified for speed and ease. I did this recently with hearthian mouths because they were pissing me off lol.

Very last advice: DRAW SHIT BAD AND OFTEN

Draw your favourite characters, draw your prescription bottles, draw your friends, draw your breakfast, draw them all really bad but try to capture the details even if it looks like shit, especially if it looks like shit. Fill a fancy sketchbook you got for your holiday of choice with garbage-tier doodles and never let it see the light of day. Scribble in your art program and then delete it!! Art isn't sacred, it's human, and you have to do it the way you do other human things like cooking and socializing; badly, often, and eventually well enough you can enjoy the results :D

Thanks again for the ask, hopefully I answered in a way that helps you figure things out and improve :] This was fun to answer <3333

[konaiiro]

★ Art Tag ★

thanks for tagging me to play @doshiart @spookygingerr @michellemisfit

Have you always been interested in creating art? Kinda? No? Not sure. I think I've always been interested in art in the 'wow, thats cool' way, not really creating though.

What's your favourite medium to use? If digital, what programs do you like? I taught myself to draw on digital (wacom intus medium i still use) and have the free program firealpaca - im too lazy to change now. I've owned sketchbooks to take with me and it's good but I don't think I'll ever really get over not having the command + z tool.

Do you create outside of fandom? A little, I've got ocs who I draw occasionally.

Share something you haven't finished and/or never got around to posting OH so many, its not funny. But here's a more recent piece which was initially for AFTG pride zine. It was so good, I just couldn't make it work for WEEKS. I ended up switching up and doing something else.

Favourite piece you've made? OH well, i've got a few but this would be my pick for 'konaiiro wrapped'.

Draw your icon in a minute or less - pass!! :,)

An underrated piece you've made in your opinion

you lads slept on this one (forced to screenshot from instagram bc its old and i can't find the file and, as established, im lazy). So much wrong with it and yet i fuck with the vibes and texture and expression and pose- UGH

Do you do art in a professional setting? No, not really. I've done comms in the past and I was going to go do animation in uni, but found that i like to keep my creating up to me. I would be open to run comms again, but under a different structure I think.

A piece you don't like but did really well on social media

yall flocked over these two idk. i like them enough just,, i'm so aware about all the mistakes lmao.

Post an old piece and compare it to your most recent, what are the similarites? I've done some redraws so NOW is a perfect time.

Ian and Mandy (March 2022 vs September 2024)

i think from a creation perspective, i know my base lineart is much cleaner and rendered.

Background is,, actually there lmao. It kicked my ass to draw but it happened.

Style has changed a tonne to more realistic (?), proportions are less all over the place.

effects are just better

I can actually draw hands huzzah!

They actually have a skin tone (+freckless!!)

Have you ever collaborated with another artist/s?

Yeah! A tonne; for events, challenges, zines, charity art calendars (hint hint aftg 2025 calender sales end 31st of Oct, all profits go to help those access gender affirming care.)

What piece has the most notes? Are you surprised?

I've been active on tumblr from around the start of the year, but I think its this one?

Who/What is your favourite subject matter?

honestly i think my blog name summarises better than I ever could.

Show us something not from fandom you've made

old oc art

Where do you like to create?

Desk in my bedroom! I like facing my window so I can look out like some tortured artist when my eyes need a break.

Give yourself a shoutout, where can we commission/buy/follow you for more pieces?

I'm on twitter, tumblr, instagram all are @konaiiro !!

Any mutuals, if you've made it this far, this is me tagging you lmao

[nina-rosa]

Hello, sorry if you got this question already, but what kind of process do you have for drawing on your sketchbooks? And what tips would you recommend?

Your sketchbooks are AMAZING. Deeply fascinated and impressed by all your work!

Hope you are having a wonderful day :D

Hiii!!! thanks for your questions!! <333

I think everyone has their own process when drawing in their sketchbooks, but for me personally I'd say I use it to experiment, mainly! Sketching for me is for having fun, but I also use it to do studies and finding/exploring ideas! I really love studying from existing material too, like redrawing characters, cool outfits, photos, interesting poses, etc...

I try to vary the tools I use, it might lead to a new appreciation for a tool that I wasn't used to using before, or the discovery of a new way of drawing.

It is also important for me to keep a sort of routine, I try to draw in it a little bit everyday if I can, or at least every other day. Sometimes I'm more motivated and I'll do more, or I feel less inspired and I'll do less, but I always try to not put too much pressure on myself. The drawings don't have to look good, they just have to exist. Sometimes there's a nice surprise and there's a sketch that I really like, and that's great! But that shouldn't be the priority.

Another thing about pressure too - I've been sharing some of my sketchbook pages lately, but before that it was something I kept for myself only because it put less pressure on me, and that's totally fine! You shouldn't feel like you HAVE to share it afterwards, if you don't feel like it. It can be your own personal space of experimentation, and it doesn't have to be shared at all if you don't want to. I've only recently felt comfortable sharing SOME of it, I'm still picking and choosing what to show and what not to show.

So I guess the things I've described up here could also be the tips I'd recommend - experiment, explore, study, try new tools, make mistakes, don't pressure yourself and most importantly HAVE FUN !!!! ٩(^ᗜ^ )و ´-

Having sketchbooks is really cool and it makes you progress a lot as an artist, so if anyone reading this has ever wanted to start drawing in one, go for it!!!! It's awesome!!!

I hope this answers your questions! <3 Thank you very much, I hope you're having a wonderful day too!! ♡✧˚ ༘ ⋆

[perfectlovevn]

Heya! I like Eris a lot, the way you wrote her character really intrigued me sincwe I love manipulative and mean characters like her, do you have any fun facts about Eris?

-💫

Heeey, mean and manipulative character lover! Good tastes.

Here’s some facts about Eris.

Eris technically doesn’t have a gender since it is something that you can choose for yourself. I normally go by they/them just to be encompassing but you can call them whatever you want. I probably could have made them more of their own established character instead of being able to name them, but since I wanted to learn how to code that, they became more self inserty.

Eris’s hair is based off of John Doe, though it’s not as curly and more blockish. It’s supposed to show the discord around them.

Eris’s hair will curl around Milo and other characters in some of the scenes. This along with the sound of rope tightening is generally the motif of them being able to take hold or control those around them.

Eris’s clothes are really simple. Just a long shirt and pants. This is mostly so I don’t have to redraw clothes all the time, but I think it fits them.

Eyes are a pretty important motif in the game, so much so that Eris has heterochromia. This is for two reasons: one is to make them stand out from other default MC designs and the other is because of the Wedding Ending where the two change eyes. I wanted to make it obvious that Milo had swapped the two of theirs eyes.

The name tag for each of the characters has a symbol of an eye on it. Milo’s eyes are always closed or not fully open, alluding to the fact that they’re never fully aware of what Eris is doing or what they have done. Even the eyes on their Manipulation and Violence designs are not fully open. Eris’s name tag on the contrary is fully open. You’ll see that characters with the same design of the name tag as Eris like Ryan and Poison also have an eye on their design somewhere. This is to symbolize that they are fully aware of what Eris has planned, even if they are unable to stop it.

Supposedly Eris does have an earring in Manipulation route that matches Milo. I kind of forgot it actually since I basically never draw Eris’s ears lol.

Whenever I update there will be four side stories that feature Eris talking to another character, specifically Ryan and Poison. There is one more character that Eris talks to and he is from the same story Desmond is in. The last one is related to Milo.

A lot of Eris’s backstory is pretty vague just so people can theorize it and to make it a bit more self inserty ( I say as if people just don’t make their own MCs lol). So we don’t actually know how many people Eris has dated, what their backstory is like and what exactly they mean by Perfect Love.

Every time I write Eris, I write them as like an overdramatic villain. I pulled the way they manipulate off of another character I have. He’s a lot more sympathetic and usually uses blackmail though. Eris basically never uses violent techniques throughout the story and mostly focuses on how they can control others. I have another mc I want to make that’s more about the violent and sadistic side that’s not explored as much but that’s for another game.

Similarly, it’s not really known if Eris actually feels love for Milo or love at all. It’s hard to say since Eris is so focused on making Milo into a perfect love. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. Who knows.

Eris is still human of course so they can still die. However if they are killed, it will never be in the way that is satisfying. Somehow it always feels haunting in a way, or greatly dissatisfying. At least, that’s what I think.

Eris very seldom is or acts genuinely surprised. The True Ending is one of the few times where Eris feels genuinely terrified and surprised at what Milo has become.

In theory there can be multiple types of Eris. There are a lot of ways to make your perfect love after all. Doc coined this as Erisona.

That’s about all I can think of for now! I might have more in the future.

[stargirlie-sharon]

Would you redraw this screenshot but with the rescue team as yanderes?

Could you also do some yandere headcanons?https://www.tumblr.com/stargirlie-sharon/732048389323309056/twcw-mentions-of-murder-and-yandere-ness-some

this has been in my drafts for way too long sorry 😭😭 also apologies but i don't do art requests, but you can have these headcanons! hope you like them. ^^

without further ado, let's get to it!

Yandere Rescue Team Headcanons

Fandom: Robocar Poli

Ft. Poli, Roy, Amber

Content: Headcanons, yandere themes, obsesssion, romantic, but can be read as platonic. Mentions of murder, murder cover-ups, violence, manipulation. Gender neutral darling (and it's not explicitly stated that it's the reader, so feel free to imagine them as whoever you want!)

A/N: Helly will be excluded from this (since he is a child/teen), and I'd prefer to not to write him here. I'd also like to point out that if you're not comfortable with reading something, then you don't need to read it! It's totally fine if a certain genre of something isn't your cup of tea! Dividers by dollywons, and RT headers by me.

Poli

Oh, how he adores his darling. They're simply the cutest thing to him!

He likes being around them, often standing by at a close distance, or watching his sweetheart from afar when they don't even realise it. He wants to make sure they're safe. As long as they're with him, no one will hurt them.

And if they try, they'll certainly regret it.

A guard dog at heart. Devoted to its owner to death, and will fight to keep them safe.

If he senses a threat that could put his darling at risk, he'll neutralize said threat with whatever method he can get his hands on. With a gun, blade, or if he's really feeling enraged (or just doesn't have anything left), he'll just use himself as weapon (and i'll let you interperet that for yourself). Regardless of how messy the scene is, he'll clean up the crime scene spotless, and to the best of his abilities. However...

If Poli happened to miss a spot, and someone reports to him that there's a blood stain somewhere or a lone weapon, he'd pretend to go investigate it, and then play it as a misunderstanding or prank by someone.

But honestly, he would rather let the world burn if it meant keeping his love in his arms forever.

He'd go out of his way to break the law for you, ignoring his job as an officer, just to see you aafe and happy. Even at the cost of someone's life.

Roy

He puts his love and their needs before himself. He would lay down his life for them, and is just so fiercely loyal when it comes to his dearest.

He knows that his obsession has gone over the roof, but he shows no sign of stopping it. It's unhealthy and he's aware of it, but he can't help himself.

Wants to show his love in whatever way he can. Expect sweet gestures or gifts from him often. At first, it would seem really nice of him, but as time goes on, it starts to seem like he's seeking for their validation and love at an obsessive level.

Roy's world revolves around his love. They are the center of his universe, and nothing else matters to him other than his sweetheart.

He is the least intense yandere compared to Poli and Amber, so you could say he leans on the soft yandere side, but he can be dangerous if the time really calls for it.

In contrast to his usually gentle nature, he can get very violent if his darling is hurt, and whoever messed with them will be damned.

Amber

Amber knows the most effective ways to eliminate someone. And cover up the murder. After all, nobody would expect the sweet Broomstown medic to be the one behind such incidents.

She may seem like the most sane and normal of the three... but no. She is nowhere close to it. She is outright insane for her darling. She just does a very good job at concealing her unhingedness.

She showers her sweetheart with as much affection they can handle. She cherishes every moment with them, and savors every smile. They're practically Amber's reason for living.

Also, they get hurt, not only will she treat their injuries, she's bound to kiss the pain away.

With her being a medic, she's probably had to deal with certain substances and poisons, so she knows her way around things like that. But not only does she know how to treat it, she also knows how to use it on others.

She'd try to stray from messy, more bloody ways of elimination, and aim for more cleaner tactics. Poison, toxins or drug-infused drinks or foods, anything that doesn't leave behind a trail of blood.

But if she really wanted to, she isn't afraid to get her hands a little dirty.

Amber being angry is scary enough. But her being mentally unstable too? Her insane side really shines through when mad. Also, she laughs. She laughs when she's absolutely livid, and you already know that's a bad sign.. (and I personally hc her to possibly be the most terrifying of the yanderes here. also i love insane medics)

i. am. SO SORRY this was literally here since last year holy cheese sticks. i was putting this in my drafts so when i got the spark of motivation to continue writing this came back i'd post this. and i have finally posted it, even though i could've already finished this months ago. thank you for reading. bye

[drill-teeth-art]

Hello! I really love your art and animations! Though, I was wondering what you use to do the animation and still images? I'm getting a better drawing device soon so I was wondering what you use so I could perhaps try to animate like you! (If you don't want me to try to animate in your way that's 100% fine, please just let me know!) Please and thank you for the info! Have a good day/night!+

Oh, sure! So the software I use is Clip Studio Paint EX. There's a cheaper version called Clip Studio Paint Pro, but it has a lot fewer of the animation features so I use EX. And I can pull back the ol' curtain to show you a peek at my process!

So take Pharma here! This is a pretty simple walk loop. How I do a lot of my animations is I make pretty simple 2D puppets and then animate those puppets frame by frame by moving bits and pieces around or redrawing body parts entirely for some frames if necessary.

Pharma's puppet has quite a few layers as you can see here, but this isn't even the most complex one I've built and worked on!

And in the timeline here you can see each frame for the Pharma puppet's walk and then also the frames on the littler details like the lighting and cast shadows most of which are just edits of the original walk frames. If you wanna get into slightly more nitty gritty details, this animation specifically moves at 12 fps instead of the standard 24. I do this to force myself to capture movements in less drawings. It saves time and is challenging. And I like the deliberate choppiness it can add to the motion.

I really like this animation method because (at least for me) it's a lot lot faster than hand drawing every frame. And though I do like to do a good bit of more traditional 2D frame by frame practice as well, this method is faster and also easier to clean up so I use it a lot for animations I want practice animating with and that I also want to look polished for posting. Because animating by yourself is...a lengthy process. And I don't mind others using this method! Have at it!

[greensagephase]

So!!!

I haven't tried to draw Miguel in a while, and I'll definitely redraw it in the future, but here is a sneak peak of what my Miguel may look like.

I struggled so, so much with his features, you have no idea. Seeing him in 2D was... different. I had to learn to love him, but after closing my lap and then coming back to it after a break, I just couldn't stop thinking about how cute it had turned out! Especially the eyes, which were the most difficult part.

Now I just want to kiss his forehead! Look at him! He looks so soft, I can't

Also, I finally caught up with your story and ??? The most beautiful fic I've ever read for sure. I'm literally defending fanfiction as a literature genre with your story. Catching up was in my to do list alongside reading The Player (Fyodor Dostoyevski). I swear to you, I was skeptical of fanfic being an actual genre before because I grew up reading "classics" and I didn't have much exposure to more recent literature up until a few years ago. Most of the things I read in my free time are still at least a century old, but now, thanks to you, I'm the most avid defender of fanfic among my friends. I even used to be shy or even ashamed of saying I read fanfiction, but now, every time someone mentions Miguel O'Hara, I speak about this fanfic I've been obsessed with and how it's long enough to rival published novels. I even have a top of favorites moments of Miguel being vulnerable in your fanfic that made me say :

(Una disculpa por la grosería)

Anyway, enough rambling lol

I'm so happy you decided to take a break during the holidays! Everyone deserves a break during this time of the year. I promise I'll finish my drawings soon.

Take care!

Bye!

Omg, pookie!! YOUR MIGUEL LOOKS SO SWEET, SOFT, AND TENDER!! SUS OJITOS TIENEN TANTA TERNURA 🥺🥺 You drew him so well, coralskybunny!! And I understand what you mean 🥲 I drew other things before because I used to do bullet journaling when I was in school, but Miguel gave me the urge to want to learn how to draw people so I could draw him (his chokehold on me is unreal), but omg… This man is so HARD to draw! And, his eyes especially are one of the hardest (and beautiful) aspects to draw!

But you captured them so tenderly 🥹🥹 ALSO, I love the way you drew his hair, too!! He looks so soft and cute, and I also want to give him a forehead kiss (if I may). Your art is so, so amazing!! I hope that if you continue drawing, that you feel comfortable enough to share your progress in the future!! 💖💖💕

Also, omg!! I’m happy you caught up with NC and that you’ve enjoyed it. There was a lot to catch up on, so thank you so much for reading it!!🥺 And also eeeee, hehe!! I’m glad that my fanfic changed your mind about that. I know there’s people who have their personal opinions, which they’re entitled to, but what I don’t agree with it is how some people look down on it as if it’s the worst thing to exist when there are fanfics 100 times better than published books, like modern fiction books that get a lot of hype with not only bad writing, but also problematic elements. I’m not going to get into more detail, but I’m glad that my story has given you a newfound appreciation for fanfic writing❤️ Hopefully, you find other fanfics that you enjoy in every fandom you find yourself in because each fandom has great writers to support!!

SFEIJFIEFJHIDJFIE THE MEME (no te preocupes por la groseria)!!! 😭😭 Me, too, pookie, me, too!! I hope that Miguel in ATSV gets to show more vulnerability than we’ve already seen. I can only hope, and beg Sony! 😭🙏🏼 But thank you so much for that lovely comment! I’m touched that you have favorite moments from the fic that you wish became canon — that’s one of the best compliments I’ve received!! 🥹

And thank you!! You’re so right. Everyone deserves a little break this month to unwind, spend time with friends and family, and celebrate. I hope you’ve had a break yourself, and if you haven’t yet, that you soon have one before the year ends! I look forward to seeing your completed art and progress, which btw, is inspiring me to start drawing again! :))

Thank you for the ask and for sharing your art!! Pls take care, pookie, and I hope you have a fantastic New Year’s!!💖

Alondra❤️