#definitely less shading and contrast

[the-networked-wild]

a thing for @randomhuman-bean’s DTIYS

original v

[socially-awkward-chocobo]

Happy Kagepro Day!!!

[xitsensunmoon]

HOW TO GLAZE YOUR WORK WITHOUT A GOOD PC(or on mobile)/TIPS TO MAKE IT LESS VISIBLE

Glaze your work online on:

Cara app. It requires you to sign up but it is actually a good place for your portfolio. Glazing takes 3 minutes per image and doesn't require anything but an internet connection compared to 20-30 minutes if your pc doesn't have a good graphic card. There IS a daily limit of 9 pictures tho. Glazed art will be sent to you after it's done, by email. It took me 30 minutes to glaze 9 images on a default setting. Cara app is also a space SPECIFICALLY for human artists and the team does everything in their power to ensure it stays that way.

WebGlaze. This one is a little bit more complicated, as you will need to get approval from the Glaze team themselves, to ensure you're not another AI tech bro(which, go fuck yourself if you are). You can do it through their twitter, through the same Cara app(the easiest way) or send them an email(takes the longest). For more details read on their website.

Unfortunately there are no ways that I know of to use Nightshade YET, as it's quite new. Cara.app definitely works on implementing it into their posting system tho!

Now for the tips to make it less visible(the examples contain only nightshade's rendering, sorry for that!):

Heavy textures. My biggest tip by far. Noise, textured brushes or just an overlay layer, everything works well. Preferably, choose the ones that are "crispy" and aren't blurred. It won't really help to hide rough edges of glaze/nightshade if you blur it. You can use more traditional textures too, like watercolor, canvas, paper etc. Play with it.

Colour variety. Some brushes and settings allow you to change the colour you use just slightly with every stroke you make(colour jitter I believe?). If you dislike the process of it while drawing, you can clip a new layer to your colour art and just add it on top. Saves from the "rainbow-y" texture that glaze/nightshade overlays.

Gradients(in combination with textures work very well). Glaze/nightshade is more visible on low contrast/very light/very dark artworks. Try implementing a simple routine of adding more contrast to your art, even to the doodles. Just adding a neutral-coloured bg with a darker textured gradient already is going to look better than just plain, sterile digital colour.

And finally, if you dislike how glaze did the job, just try to glaze/shade it again. Sometimes it's more visible, sometimes it's more subtle, it's just luck. Try again, compare, and choose the one you like the most. REMEMBER TO GLAZE/SHADE AFTER YOU MADE ALL THE CHANGES, NOT BEFORE!!

If you have any more info feel free to add to this post!!

[0pancake-mix0]

I just recently remembered that one of my first posts to get any attention was made on Jan, 1. So it’s kinda poetic to re-draw it to see what changed in a year.

Art style analysis is below the cut

God I love her

I have mixed feelings, for one looking at it I’ve definitely improved my anatomy, shading, and colour theory, the technical skills are definitely better.

For example if you look at the neck of the old one it doesn’t connect well at all and is entirely covered in shadows as I didn’t understand the anatomy there. The facial features also feel off to me now, however I believe that’s an art style difference and how my headcannon for Yosano has changed.

My art style definitely changed as well, the lines are more sharp and high contrast and the colours are less saturated, the silhouette is also a lot more high energy despite using the same reference.

When I first did this is didn’t realize my art style was different at all, I just wanted to see the technical improvement, so it was a bit of a shock actually 😂

But I’ve definitely lost some coherence and I think the new one is too busy, a problem I have a lot. I think I either need to dial it back or lean into it more, overall I feel pretty equally about the two of them and I think I want to start figuring out what I lost in my old art style. However I’m very happy with the progress in my technique even if I’m not too happy with my art style change.

I can see how in the first one I referenced a lot of BlueBiscuits and LavenderTowne as well as Hollow Knight, all those inspirations remain with the new one except I really began to replicate the feeling of 90s photos with the high contrast and bright highlights.

I have very fond feeling towards the 2024 drawing as it was my first drawing that I made that was entirely my own style, rather then just imitating the artists that I liked. Having is simultaneously being my most popular drawing at the time was my first taste that people wanted to see what made my art unique rather then how close I could get to others, and that realization helped my art fa more then anything else could have. The same applies to all of you who are worried about how your art style is progressing, or are get popular by imitating popularity.

Feel free to tell me which one you like more! I definitely made some changes that I’m proud of and some I consider bad habits and I’d like you see your thoughts <3

If anyone even sat through this, I’m surprised I even stayed still long enough to type all this.

[cosmicalily]

'you paint my love' with stray kids, ot8 headcanons by @cosmicalily

author’s note: ‘vermilion’ is one of my favourite songs by wendy; the lyrics are so meaningful and full of emotion, and i love the use of colour as a description of love. using this as inspiration, i picked a colour for each member that i feel resonates with the way that they would love someone. bit poetic and definitely me using my knowledge from art class! also incredibly self indulgent for seungmin since topaz is my birthstone and i have a full set of blue topaz jewellery handmade for me from greece (minus the ring, that's gonna be the final piece when i get engaged!)

Hex Code: #334970 - Chris paints your love admiral.

A shade of blue that’s strong in tone, but soft in saturation. Deep, intense and stormy, yet calming to the eye. The colour of the ocean at dusk, Chris’s love for you brings you warmth amongst the cool water, and like the sea, is limitless. It is fluid, shifting and changing with the tide, as the two of you grow together, but will always remain present, full and awaiting for you to dive in.

Hex Code: #590535 - Minho paints your love burgundy.

A deep purple-red, more mature and intimate than its lipstick-coloured counterparts. Dark and whimsical, yet comforting. The colour of red wine, Minho’s love for you is full-flavoured, sweet and dreamy, sending soft tingles throughout your body and bringing you to a dazed, giddy state. It is offered in small glassfuls, but every sip is a reminder that your taste buds could never settle for any less.

Hex Code: #FFD3C3 - Changbin paints your love peach.

A warm yellow-pink, a colour that is bright in saturation and on the lighter end of the spectrum. Bright and tangy, yet mellow. The colour of its namesake fruit, Changbin’s love for you brings softness and sweetness, gentle fuzz contrasted by a strong, addictive flavour. Each bite is flavourful and syrupy, but not overpowering, bringing you warmth, vulnerability and endless comfort.

Hex Code: #BF7088 - Hyunjin paints your love rosewood.

A cool toned brown-pink, relatively balanced in terms of tone and saturation. Luxurious and unique, yet soft and familiar. The colour of the sky at sunset, Hyunjin’s love for you brings honey-sweet warmth that melts through your windows every evening. As the colours of the clouds change and blur into each other, you look out for the soft mauve that lingers until the sky fully darkens.

Hex Code: #39190C - Jisung paints your love walnut.

A dark, warm shade of brown that balances warmth and depth. Whilst lower in brightness, it brings warmth and comfort. The colour of dark chocolate, Jisung’s love for you melts at the touch, bringing sweetness, balanced out by a depth and bitterness that doesn’t make you recoil, but leaves you longing for more. Each square melts across your tongue, bringing you warmth and comfort.

Hex Code: #E5D4EF - Felix paints your love lavender.

A soft, cool-toned purple, whiter toned but still bright and enticing. Whilst gentle to the eyes, it is enticing and dreamlike. The colour of its namesake flower, Felix’s love for you is sweetly scented and has the power to send you into a dazed, dreamlike state. Each tiny petal is each confession, every sweet word, and as you drift closer, your plant grows towards the sun.

Hex Code: #CFD9F1 - Seungmin paints your love forget-me-not.

A gentle, familiar shade of powder blue, bright and exciting yet calm, cool-toned yet far from cold in the comfort it brings. The colour of blue topaz, Seungmin’s love for you is sparkling and rare, something that can be attempted to be replicated, but could never be the same. It glitters in the soft sunlight, from the sunrise till the sunset, and stays with you from the beginning until the very end.

Hex Code: #FAAB42 - Jeongin paints your love clementine.

A warm, bright yellow-orange, energizing and forgiving. Bright in hue and saturation, yet warm and not overwhelming in any form. The colour of your favourite knit sweater, Jeongin’s love for you is cosy and comforting, something you search for in every pocket of your day. Whilst unobtrusive and familiar, it is far from boring, constantly exciting and pushing yourself and your love for him.

[hexwhore]

HIII BRIIII I’m so excited you’re doing this AUGHH Smooch kiss

How about 148 + trans Viktor? 👀

Yee-haw baby, your wish is my command 🧚‍♂️🤠

Tags/Warnings: 18+, Trans!Viktor x G!N Reader, modern flavored, public sex, shotgunning the devil's lettuce, frottage. Terms used for Viktor: Tits (pre-op, pierced), cunt.

The split vinyl groans as he levers himself up, felt more than heard. Sounds get lost beneath the mixtape of chatter and heavy reverb, bass like a second heartbeat. You catch the raw hem of his sweater, tugging, shouting, asking: “Where are you going?”

“To smoke,” you read off his lips, invited to slide out of the booth and follow him through the humid churn of darkly dressed bodies. He leads you deeper into the bar, shouldering into the drop-ceiling, checker-tiled bathroom. But this isn’t new, and while you may snort, there’s nothing to say. It’s not as if he’s going where you won’t follow. 

In the second stall, farthest from the door, Viktor props open the inset window like a nimble-fingered expert. And he is—at avoiding the aching cold. He’s considerate about it, nonetheless; convinced that the scent of his vape is present enough to be off-putting, though you hardly ever smell a thing. 

Music melts through the plaster walls, the pulse running through your companionate silence. There is only you, hitched on the sink’s edge, ankles crossed, and him, leaning neatly against the wall, taking a meditative drag from the pen between his fingers. 

You watch his head fall back against the tile and have to wonder: “You wanna go home?” 

“No,” seeps out with his exhale, angled out the window. “I only needed an intermission. This is… fun.”

Your brow lifts.

“I’m having fun.” And his lithe little smile is earnest enough that you believe him. 

Your eyes drift to the door, returning a smile of your own—this one wry. “Not as much as them,” the undisputed champions of PDA, of course. Last you saw, Caitlyn had her hands in Vi’s patchy black, spray-dyed hair, and they were getting hot and heavy in front of the sound booth like the main characters of emo night at The Last Drop. 

“Mm.” He offers out the vape, drawing you off the sink and into the stall. “Their definition seems somewhat different.” 

“Not that different,” you shrug, plucking it from his cold fingers. “Just less subtle.” 

The shade of interest that darkens his eyes certainly is, something warm sparking to life between your bodies inching closer. You meant it to be heady, but your slow pull, holding his stare, is not as pretty and graceful as his had been. It tickles at first before the burn in your throat, your lungs, registers. Makes you sputter into your arm like you’re green as he takes the pen back—the cheap one that runs too hot—with a soft laugh.

“I forgot to charge the good one,” he apologizes, touch soothing over your shoulder. 

With one final cough and your watery eyes wiped, you begin to step back and grieve the ruined moment. (Which, yes, is completely his fault.) 

But his hand fits to the curve of your jaw. “A solution,” he murmurs as he shapes his mouth around the intake, and you follow the intimate thread of his logic. He breathes in, you breathe out. He leans back, you crowd closer. And when he seals to your lips, in accordance with this tidal push and pull, you drink deep of that earthy vapor and let his breath pool in your lungs. 

You pull away, barely able to exhale, before he’s hauling you back by the jacket and licking into your mouth like he wants to taste your teeth. You have the good sense to fumble the door closed, catching a split, smudged second of yourself in the mirror, framed in the stall, tangling into him.

Viktor pants into your mouth, and your hands grope beneath his sweater, eliciting a breathy, “Fuck,” out of him. His tits are subtle and sensitive, malleable in your hands like supple dough—a  harsh contrast to the ball-capped bars lanced through the center of each.  

“Don’t make too many noises or we’ll get caught,” you hush, as if thumbing his steel shot nipple helps. 

His jaw falls open, throat cinching around a fractured sound. Still, licking his spit-slick lips, he manages to chide, “That’s part of the thrill,” urging his chest into your hands for more. 

But you want more too. 

More takes shape to be his long, bird-boned arm draped over your shoulders, his pants shoved down and the thick, crude smell of sweat and slick in your nose; it is your grip on his narrow hips, at once setting the pace and letting yourself be used. His dark hair bobs starkly against the white tile, silver earrings glinting—all in the periphery of your focus. Because when you’re not watching him rut bare against your thigh, his swollen cunt catching and dragging when it meets skin through the rips in your dark jeans...

You can’t stop looking at his hand, clapped over his own mouth.

[patheticbatman]

I haven't seen any posts about this yet but l've seen some fan art that makes me feel this needs to be said:

Don't forget Leah Sava Jeffries has darker skin when making Annabeth Chase fan art!

She is much closer to Lupita Nyong'o than Zoe Kravitz when it comes to shading, reflection, and complementary color usage :).

Lighting for dark skin is different on light skin. Light skin gets changed by lighting, and dark skin reflects the lighting. Below is a lovely shot of Nyong'o's character from Wakanda Forever in mourning. The filmmakers emphasize the umber qualities of her skin in contrast to the funereal white and (arguably harsh) light across her shoulder below.

Try to pick spots that aren't directly in or near the light, and try mixing 3 or more! You can put it into a color mixer online, or even color pick, lower the opacity, and lay the shades over each other until you find one that fits. And of course, the more 'realistic' you want to go with shading and lighting, the more shades you're going to want to be able to explore vivaciously :D.

Let's take a look at the same 3 beautiful actresses I mentioned at the beginning, with a bad color picked area and a better-ish color picked area. (Please keep in mind, these are not perfect comparisons, as I was not able to find pictures of all 3 actresses under the same kind of lighting.)

Kravitz's has a clear difference between the two, but they aren't too far apart, in comparison to Nyong’o’s and Jeffries’s. Note the dullness in the poorly picked shades as opposed to the better ones. Also keep in mind that while Kravitz has a rosy undertone (at least in that picture - it’s from The Batman, which has stylized coloring) Nyong’o has a slight cool undertone (I can’t pin down quite what, but the picture is definitely not stylized like Kravitz’s).

Jeffries runs more ochre or russet, but neither of those are pink. They are more red than terracotta or umber, but to call Jeffries’s face rosy would be wrong. Err more towards the golden when drawing her.

^^saved an image from a writing tutorial long ago, but can’t seem to find it. If someone recognizes it, I’ll link it. EDIT: it’s from this post. Thanks @autumnrowancollector ! <3

And also, the darker skin gets, the less likely warm undertones are going to appear. Don't be afraid to use blue or purple or even green on occasion!

Additionally, cool lighting on dark skin is always a win imo.

(I was going to use that picture of Jeffries as Annabeth by the lightning bolt, but then I realized the lighting on her face doesn’t quite match up with where it should hit from that angle, and I realized they kind of just turned everything bluer, so screenshot time!)

(Also if you want another really great live action example, check out anything Aldis Hodge is in, like Leverage and Black Adam)(and of course there’s Spiderverse <3 but I want to post pictures of Hodge)

Now, to here’s a list of more experienced people’s advice:

Black facial features & hair

Shading digitally for a (somewhat) monotone Black character

Stylistic choices and places to start looking for inspiration (besides a search engine).

Coloring Black people’s lips

A better coloration tutorial

Also a nice tutorial for Indigenous skin tones, just in case yall want to draw Piper or use this information for other dark skinned characters :).

EDIT: Some actresses who are closer in skintone to use for Annabeth, provided by the lovely @blackfemmecharacterdependency ! If you can’t find a reference for Jeffries in a specific lighting, maybe check out these ladies’ pictures! It’s a reblog, so scroll down.

TLDR: Don’t make Annabeth pink and pale, make her dark and golden.

[conkreetmonkey]

trick or treat

You reach out and knock on the rusty old bulkhead, yelling "trick or treat!" as you do.

It produces a hollow, resounding clang that echoes around you, a vibration you feel in your bones.

Wait, where exactly are you? How did you get here?

Looking around, you find yourself in what could only be described as a "facility." You seem to be at the bottom of a rusted metal stairwell you have no memory of descending. The walls are of a rough, filthy concrete, skirted in decaying institutional white tile up to about your shoulders. The floor is of much worse-off dark green tile, accented with the occasional aquamarine one.

Everything is covered in a layer of dry dirt, building up in the corners and missing tiles, save for where the criss-crossing pipes snaking up and down the walls and ceiling drip foul water from corroded fittings, supporting pockets of green algae and moss, and the occasional unnatural-looking mushroom. A completely rusted drainage grate sits in the middle of the room, revealing only darkness beneath.

The air is stale and musty, with an acrid chemical tinge to it. Motes of dust hang languidly in the air, illuminated by buzzing, half-dead flourescent tubes. Wait, this place looks totally abandoned, why is there still electricity? You have no clue what purpose this area could possibly have served. There isn't even an indication of what floor you're on, let alone who built this place and for what.

The door in front of you is all there is down here, save for a few strewn-about pieces of trash, and some ominous neon yellow barrels in the far corner. You don't even want to know.

The door is odd, clearly old and abandoned, yet at the same time bearing evidence of regular use. The valve that presumably opens it is well worn, darkened white paint rubbing away to reveal fresh, unrusted steel. One of the hinges looks newly installed, its gleaming metal surface starkly contrasting its dull surroundings. Shoeprints not matching your own cover the dusty floor, most saturated at the base of the door.

Most damning of all, though, is the laminated piece of printer paper taped to it, reading "NO SOLICITORS" in calibri bold. Somebody definitely lives here, in the rotting guts of some Soviet-ass brutalist hellhole, and you just knocked on their door and yelled "trick or treat!" Uh oh.

As if on cue, the moment you think this, the valve begins to turn with a mechanical squeak, and the bulkhead opens outwards just a sliver, a seemingly gloved hand curling around the edge as somebody peeks out a-- what.

"Ah! I was starting to think there wouldn't be any of you this year!" a nasally male voice says as the door is heftily shoved all the way open, forcing you to take a step back.

Standing before you is some sort of freak.

The man(?) before you is slightly above-average in height. His baggy avocado green t-shirt obscures his midsection, as do his maroon pants, but based purely on the way they hang off his form and the look of his hands and forearms, you subconciously clock him as scrawny to skinnyfat in build, clearly no athlete. His worn black and white sneakers peek out from under the cuffs of his too-big pants, whatever's holding them up obscured by his even more ill-fitting shirt. Both seem to be scavenged from scraps, repaired over and over again with sloppy hand stiching and the odd strip of duct tape.

This is where the normal aspects of his appearance abruptly end.

His hands were never gloved, it turns out; rather, they, along with the rest of him, is a deep, unnaturally saturated bondi blue, seemingly the actual colour of his skin. Even his battered fingernails are a tealish cyan, his lips and lower eyelids fading to a darker, comparatively less ostentatious shade of catalina blue.

A thick, wild mop of taffy pink hair hangs down to his shoulderblades, and would likely reach down to his mid back without its fluffy, springy texture. It looks coarse and unpleasant, but at least not greasy.

A pair of inhuman eyes stare excitedly into yours, neon yellow scleras clashing against red-40 irises in tones typically reserved for candy or tropical fish. They seem far brighter than they should be in this light, and his pupils glint in the industrial gloom like those of a raccoon or similar nocturnal garbage animal. His boyish face sports a five o' clock shadow of pink facial hair, implying it's his natural hair colour, which wouldn't be too surprising considering the rest of him.

He overall looks rather scruffy, yet at the same time clearly at least somewhat takes care of himself. His stubbly face and tangled hair bring up imagery of some sort of basement gremlin, and your surroundings do little to contest this. He smells like sour fruit gummies an-- Wait, what's that on his lip?

Some sort of ooze is trailing from his mouth, luminescent neon green, looking like the liquid inside of a green glowstick. Before you can get too good of a look at it, he licks it up. Then he speaks.

"Here ya go, little guy! A li'l snacky-snack for ya!" he says, plopping something cylindrical and heavy into a plastic bag you just now realize you've been holding. The blue man, despite looking like somebody rubbed magnets on a TV screen tuned to a documentary about homelessness, clearly means you no harm, even if his demeanour is a little eccentric, his scent a little unusual. Before you can thank him, the door slams shut with a "Happy Halloween!" and the squeak of the valve. You're alone down here once again. You look into your bag and remove a strange object:

Huh, weird. It seems metallic, and your hand tingles against its lukewarm surface. What kind of candy is this? Wait, is it even Halloween?

You look around yourself, weighing your options. You don't want to disturb the blue man, him having been so kind as to give you this... whatever it is. It's not like there's anything else to do down here.

With no other directions avaliable to walk in, you start up the rusty industrial stairs, your strange gift sitting heavily in the bottom of your bag.

[valentine-cafe]

could i ask for takara with kitsune darling? reader is clearly less into causing mischief, but so, so very excited to be with a fellow fox!!

˖⁺. “ foxes in love ” : 

﹙ kitsune partner x gn kitsune reader ﹚.𖹭 ݁

. . . verse 9948e takara x gn reader !! 🍓 : ﹙ kitsune  ˖ mercenary character ﹚

some headcanons of takara with a kitsune lover!

﹙ cws ﹚: none !  | wc : 0.4k 

﹙ receipts ﹚: takara with a kitsune lover is my FAVOURITE hc 

꒰  other treats : guidelines ˖ m.list ˖ characters ˖ our lore  ꒱

admittedly, takara was a bit cautious about this relationship when she first entered it. she’s had a kitsune lover in the past — and it didn’t end too well. your general personality however, did calm him down quite a bit. he loved you after all, but sometimes they found themselves nervous at the notion of it all. you made sure to tear down all of their fears with your love and your calm care for them.

the fact that you were so excited to be with a fellow fox - takara almost felt bad for comparing you to the ghost of their path. you were just so sweet! sure you weren’t as chaotic as she was. but the contrast to his general personality was certainly appreciated.

you could calm her down when she was being a bit too much. furthermore - you helped to ease that darker side of their mind. what surprised takara the most was the fact that you were able to decipher her own mind. pull her out of it and show her that she was stronger than her own nature and those urges that plagued her.

she loves having late night walks with you through the spirit realm. linking your tails up as you lead them through to different stalls and vendors. trying out new foods with them ; their favourite pass time. the both of you look like a match made in the divine realms.

one of his favourite things is burying his face into your lap while you play with his hair and ears. they either fall asleep or try to cause mischief by nipping at you tummy or the tops of your thighs. until you give them a little bap and rake your claws through her hair gently. she always lets out her signature fox laugh and pokes the tip of her tongue through her canines at you.

they enjoy merging both of your fox fires. curious of the different magics and what illusions they might manifest. it’s another pass time they enjoy with you whilst the two of you sit at the roof of his treehouse in the middle of the night.

takara definitely tries pulling you into all sorts of mischief. whether it be getting into trouble with them in the society of shades of causing chaos in the spirit realm. they like seeing how far they can push you ( without crossing your boundaries of course ). most of the time - you manage to pull them out of all the shit they try to stir. with promises of treats and sitting along the ledge of his treehouse to watch the forests.

﹙ taglist. ﹚: | get tagged for specific posts

��� tip jar. ﹚: like our work? consider suporting us 𖹭 

[starrysharks]

OK heres zeno coloring tutorial 2.0 !!!! i'm gonna do it kind of in chapters i guess?

chapter 1: choosing base colors

when i'm choosing base colors i always pick everything based on a specific off-white! my 'default' off-white is this kind of very light cyan color but i change it regularly based on character designs/environment/lighting whatever,, examples here!

for callie in this piece, i based everything off of this pinkish color! her skin tone, tentacles, outfit etc are all chosen to harmonise/contrast with the pink color

and with this piece, i used a slightly darker blueish color as they're in space but there's still a lot of light... and the lighter colors in the background (the explosion) make a sense of depth i guess? i used that blue color and chose similar cool colors to harmonise with it!

so i more or less base the tone of the colors in the piece off the off-white! warm off-white = warmer colors (like the nova valentine's day art) and cold off white = cooler colors (like the explosion nova and paro art). but i switch up this formula often !!

chapter 2: coloring specific things

here i'll go over some specific textures and stuff like skin and hair ... skin first !!

for skin, i like to use a variety of tones! there are different ways to draw cooler and warmer skintones that other people have gone over way better than i have but basically for skin i use this part of the color wheel and pick the darker tones of oranges/reds/pinks etc. (for darker skintones, i go to the middle of the color square thingy, and for lighter tones, i usually slide down the upper-right side)

when it comes to shading skintones, it's pretty straightforward, just a darkish-purple and a pinkish color on 100% multiply, and i always add a little shadow on the nose and blush becuz i think it's cute

(also i like to add reflective spots on darker skin tones sometimes because 1. darker skin tones reflect in real life and 2. it's fun)

next up is hair... this is very specific to my artstyle but i like to add 3-6 long oval line thingies to the hair to mimic reflection ! it looks cool, it's a good way to show off different colors in the design and i like to switch it up sometimes based on a character's personality!! (like how the frye pic above has a lighting bolt shaped hair thing, or how my teto design has a wing shaped hair thing to mimic her wings in her chimera form!) (note: it doesn't always need to be lighter than the actually hair color and it usually isn't)

for other materials like metal, screens, etc etc... i just add random X marks lol... and reflections!!!

(also, just a general thing, but adding little saturated lines to shading really adds depth and color imo!!)

i would put more tips with refs but tumbles only allows 10 images per post ;w; so i will simply close off by saying don't be afraid to add overlays and filters to your art!! overlays can really help harmonise colors and filters like brightness and contrast can help colors pop... try not to completely rely on them for color choice tho!!

and that's basically it !!! this is not a definitive 'how to draw/color' post... i am not a color theorist... i just wanted to show people how i choose colors cuz a lot of people say they like my color choices! honestly i don't know much myself but i hope that this and the philosophy of 'do what looks good' will help you all o_ob thank you and goodbye

[astral-herald]

my arcane hot takes/predictions

i believe all of these things but! it's all in good fun. there isn't a character i genuinely dislike; every one serves their purpose, their motivations are fully realized, and every dilemma they endure/represent is morally complex and super fascinating!!

i love reading/talking about this show :)

If we had to nominate a single character as the show's villain in s1 (rather than the enforcers as a unit, or silco's shimmer operation, etc.), it would be marcus. if he hadn't taken silco's blood money, none of this would have happened.

jayce is "worse" than viktor in season 1 morally; "worse" comes with a lot of weight, ofc. i think season 1 follows jayce's story especially closely, from starry-eyed genius, to political initiate, to chess-master-in-training. the narrative indulges and displays his darkest traits and contrasts his narrative of moral emptiness with viktor's story of lonesome self-sacrifice. this is why i think it's VERY interesting that jayce allows viktor to break the news about his deal with silco for an independent undercity.

BUT! viktor will completely flip this dynamic next season, and viktor fans like myself will find ourselves in jayce's shoes! i can't wait for this!

relatedly, i am eager for a complete villain arc for viktor. it's mostly agreed upon that his story is incredibly sympathetic, but i'm hoping that the writers push him a few steps too far. i don't want to be comfortable - i want to watch a true degradation of morals to complicate what it means to redeem or condemn someone with such a tragic past. it'll blend very nicely with our initial impressions of vi's s2 story.

jinx is the main character of arcane and i love that for her.

vi's alleged enforcer arc makes Perfect sense, especially when contrasted with her dialogue with vander in act 1: "i grew up thinking that i am less than them." she can't be less than them if she's one of them.

mel hates viktor and was worried that jayce prioritized his relationship with viktor too highly. this comes from the scene where jayce confides in her that viktor is dying and her first remark is: "i didn't know you were so close." not long after, she silently belittles viktor when convincing jayce that the hextech weapons are a necessity by looking down upon him and refusing to consult him. i also want to be So Clear that i adore her character and that this is NOT a criticism; both scenes are phenomenal and are integral into their tripartite dynamic.

caitlyn was way out of pocket for her aggression in ep 9 and it definitely revealed her character's darkest tendencies that i think we'll see more of in s2.

viktor will be the sleeper-agent for s2. i know i'm projecting here but think about it - even visually, he has his own shade of purple amidst shimmer's fuchsia and hextech's blue. much like how powder's stealing was the initial conflict in s1, i think viktor has the same catalyst potential.

the worst things s2 could do are a) killing off a champion too early (save the deaths for ep8/9!) and b) giving viktor a love interest.

[siblingshuffle]

Day-017: Partner

Lore:

Dr. Light’s idea was for robots that could grow, change, and think for themselves. However, he’d had to win over the committee before he could make that dream a reality. Feeling bad after he’d told the committee that he couldn’t support Wily’s double-gear system (especially because Wily had been there to witness it), he offered that they could build the first Robot Master together.

Wily had always been better with hardware and mechanical design. It was something of his specialty, even. With his skills with hardware and Light’s skills in artificial intelligence, the two could be basically unstoppable.

Wily had initially refused - the salty man he is, he definitely interpreted Light’s gesture of goodwill as some kind of condescension. However, eventually he accepted. Light (mistakenly) took to mean he’d been forgiven. Wily would design a lot of the hardware and design, including, eventually, the prototype Megabuster and the Variable Tool System.

Dr.s Cossack and LaLinde weren’t officially on the project, though they did contribute their thoughts and ideas. When Blues’s core failed in the middle of the Military demonstration (because they built it with Blues the unarmed child in mind and forgot to compensate for the weapon attachment, and it turns out it couldn’t generate enough to power both Blues and the buster. The event damaged his core, making it more inefficient and unbalanced.), Light made sure to consult Dr. LaLinde to help him design the solar cores for Rock and Roll (she’s an environmental scientist and he figured she would probably be able to help him and Wily design a more efficient environmentally-friendly solar core.)

————————————————————————

Notes:

Their overall appearances are based on their young designs from Megaman 11. Their shirts are colored that way as a reference to their young selves from the Ruby Spears cartoon.

Wily’s hair color came from blending the shades of yellow of Piano, Bass, and Zero together (& then lightening it because 11’s Flashback Wily has LIGHT blond hair). With Light, I blended Rock, Blues, and X’s hair colors and darkened it. ✨ Contrast ✨

Light and Wily were roommates. They couldn’t exactly escape each other. After ignoring Light for a week, Wily told their shared friend group that he was getting sick of having see his "stupid, traitorous face" every the morning and afternoon and LaLinde & Cossack (he was doing his thesis at the time) individually suggested that he should try talking to Light about how he felt. He basically said "screw that!" but did take their advice to at least try to get along. It was the first crack in their friendship and he never actually forgave it.

Dysfunctional Besties <3 (/hj)

Also I think it would be kinda cute if Light was inspired on a subconscious level by Dr. Cossack talking about Kalinka & how she was growing up. She might be like 2, if she is even born yet tho. Still working out the timeline there. It’s a little fuzzy.

Blues took quite a few years to build because they had to do everything from the ground up. The Robot Masters built after him used modified versions of Blues’s base code and designs, so they took comparatively less long.

The idea was presented before the committee as just the base code, which they determined would probably work. (I assume the committee would reach out to investors or something, but I’m like the furthest thing from a roboticist so I have no idea.) By the time Light founded Light Labs and obtained military funding, he’d gotten like. parental-levels of attached. He didn’t set out to make robot children but boy did he want robot children now—

and then he made 4 that were "children" children and like a bajillion that don’t stay at Light Labs

[lesbianvaljean]

this is definitely a digression, but in addition to everything else, 1.2.13 seems very much like a tale of two priests: Bishop Myriel and the nameless priest on a horse.

Priest-on-a-horse is not an actively malicious guy! He just sort of doesn't care. He says, offhand, about Petit-Gervais: "He is a little stranger. Such persons pass through these parts. We know nothing of them." And when a hysterical Valjean says something that alarms him, he races off. He wants to "know nothing" of strangers passing through; he is unwilling to risk his own comfort or safety to help.

This seems like a pretty deliberate nod to the Bad Priest of the parable of the Good Samaritan, who "happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man [in need], he passed by on the other side." Not a man he knew; unpredictable and distressed; ignorable. (Hugo is really not subtle on this point; see also Jesus, saying "Depart from me, you who are cursed, [because] I was a stranger and you did not welcome me.")

Myriel is only present in Valjean's memory. But the memory of Myriel's care and mercy toward him, a stranger, a criminal, is so transformative for Valjean that Myriel is raised into the place of Christ in his mind. Parts of this chapter read like the very best of conversion literature — Saul blinded, Augustine turning — with the Bishop quite literally acting in persona christi.

"As the Bishop grew great and resplendent in his eyes, so did Jean Valjean grow less and vanish. After a certain time he was no longer anything more than a shade. All at once he disappeared. The Bishop alone remained; he filled the whole soul of this wretched man with a magnificent radiance."

compare Colossians 3:3: "For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

just an extremely neat contrast here, the nameless erasure of the priest who knew nothing of the stranger, the hagiographic elevation of the priest who, despite all his faults, welcomed and fed and forgave Jean Valjean.

[melonisopod]

Limbus Heathcliff definitely is meant to have shades of Hareton in him. Between how often he is considered crude and stupid (the OG Heathcliff was more of an evil genius lol) and his character being about breaking the endless cycle of abuse that plagued him through the multiverse this Heathcliff is clearly more Hareton-like. Bonus points for the ways he compares and contrasts Hindley.

I don’t think being more Hareton-like makes him any less “authentically” Heathcliff, because Hareton was essentially Heathcliff 2, with the next generation of kids being a redux/repeating/breaking of the cycle that started in Part 1. Given that Erlking is clearly meant to embody Book!Heathcliff more it makes sense that “our” Heathcliff is more Hareton.

He is definitely more heroic than his book self but still feels faithful to the book.

[queercoshon]

So this next story I'll be posting in 2 parts. The second part will definitely be racier. Based very loosely on a prompt given by @bigtobiggest Sorry if it's not exactly what you were looking for! The story ran away from me lol.

Without further ado, I present

A Kept Play Thing Pt. 1

CW: teasing/name calling, intox

Life has been a blur since you moved in with your girlfriend. It had been at least a few months, but less than a year of living with Olivia. However, you aren't exactly sure how much time has passed.

You remember moving in. You remember feeling exhausted hauling all those boxes in, and your girlfriend telling you to sit and rest. You remember Olivia giggling, but still concerned, as you huffed and puffed, trying to help lift the new couch up the few front steps. You remember feeling like your little pot belly was getting in the way. You remember finally collapsing on the couch and the celebration that followed.

Everything was moved in, but not unboxed and certainly not organized. Olivia had lived in the house for a few years already, so there were kitchen utensils, but she claimed exhaustion as well and put in an order to your favourite pizza place.

While waiting for it to arrive, she grabbed a box of craft ciders from the fridge and plopped them on the floor between you. She handed you a cherry one, which you chugged back gratefully. God, you were thirsty after all that exercise. You let out a belch, and she smirked and patted your belly, shaking loose a few more burps. She handed you another can while she went and got your housewarming present; a brand new gorgeous bong. It was different shades of blue and looked almost like stained glass. By the time she had ground the flower and held it to your mouth, the second cider was gone.

A few bong rips and you were soaring, and so hungry. By the time the pizza arrived, you'd consumed half a bag of oreos and another 2 ciders to deal with your cottonmouth.

Olivia handed you your large pizza and kissed your forehead, making you blink your eyes and smile dumbly.

"Eat up, baby. You're starving."

And you were. So you dove in, swallowing so fast and chewing so little Oliva was afraid you would choke. She kept interrupting your hoovering with the bong and endless cider sips, which you accepted every time.

She finished her personal sized pizza as you got lost in a haze, freely hiccupping, burping, and letting out little moans. Her hands fondled your belly, now sticking out of your shirt entirely.

You both knew the other person was very into this. Part of moving in together was influenced by your desire to let go, and your girlfriend's desire to blow someone up into an obese play thing. She already loved the contrast of your plush, curvy body, now just a little too big for size L clothing, up against her lithe and visibly muscular physique. She held the last piece of your pizza to your mouth, desperately eager to make you so much bigger.

You don't remember anything else from that night. You don't remember much of anything since then, really. Day blends into night and back into day for you. You wake at random times. Sometimes Olivia is home, sometimes she's not. There is always food for you, and always paired with booze and weed.

If Olivia's home, she helps you gorge by feeding you when you lose momentum, holding your chin up to take another swig when your head starts to lull, lighting your bong and countless joints, and rubbing your expanding gut to make some room and ease the ache. She makes sure your mouth is never idle. Often, you'll pass out in a drunken food coma mid-chew.

If she's out, either at work, the gym, out with friends, or shopping, she's set the expectation that everything she set out better be gone when she gets back.

You'll often crack open your eyes, and belch as you try to roll over, still drunk and/or high. But that won't stop you from reaching over to the night table and popping the tab on a beer or chugging back whatever mixed drink Olivia left for you. Your head spins as you light a joint, and even though you're still stuffed from when you previously passed out, you salivate as you look at the push cart beside you.

You're not sure, but you think the amount of food on it is growing. When you started this, she would leave enough food for 2 people plus leftovers, like an extra large pizza or stack of pancakes with bacon and sausage on the side. You would of course do as you were told and devour everything, rendering you speechless and breathless, temporarily beached in your bed or on the couch.

As the amount on the tray grew, so did you, though you were barely aware of it. You knew you were gaining weight, but you didn't register just how much and how quickly it happened. Your pot belly grew into a rounded gut, always taking up real estate on your thickened thighs. Your arms fattened up and stretched all your sleeves. Your chin quickly grew into three that shook and jiggled with every bite. Your chest sat on top of your belly, little mounds of sensitive flesh Olivia loved to play with to get you riled up. You wore just your underwear, or constantly new sweatpants and t-shirts. Olivia never sized up any of your jeans or nicer clothes. You never left the house so there was no point.

[adobe-outdesign]

Best and Worst Jelly Neopets? If this has been asked before, Apologies!

Jelly would be a hypothetical tie-in colour to Jelly World, if Jelly World existed (which it doesn't). It's kind of one of those weird niche colours that only makes sense in the context of Neopets, with there already being a huge amount of jelly items available on the site.

As for the colour itself, the designs are pretty standardized across the board—the pets are rendered to look like jelly and given a semi-transparent look, though the "flavor" (color) of the jelly can vary. Part of me wonders if more could been done with it—like, you could have pieces of fruit in there, change up markings and round off pointy fur to look more jelly-esq., have whipped cream accents, etc.—but I do appreciate the consistency, with the colors adding just enough individuality per pet.

This color is a Lab Ray exclusive (unless you count the Rainbow Fountain, which I don't). While getting Lab-exclusive colours is always a pain, it does at least make sense here given the somewhat odd nature of the colour to begin with.

This color should've been unaffected by customization, as it wasn't very dependent on poses. However, for some reason a lot of of the converted Jelly pets have less shading and transparency effects compared to the originals for reasons I can't hope to understand. There are plenty of good-looking post-customization Jelly pets out there; it's just the ones that got converted that seemed to get the short end of the stick. Thankfully, pet styles do exist.

Favorite Species:

Chomby: A tasty green lime color, the Jelly Chomby has some nice highlights to it that give it that all-important jelly texture along with a subtle bit of transparency. While the converted is fine, the UC/styled version is extra nice—the shading, highlights, and transparency are even more pronounced, which really gives it a good sense of depth. This is also helped by the fact that pre-conversion Chombies were just kind of lumpy to begin with.

Kiko: There's nothing all that special about this Jelly pet specifically I suppose, but I really like the light orange shade used here. Once again, the shading and highlights are very well done, and the transparency gives the body a really good sense of depth in areas like the arms. There's a tiny bit of tone variation in there, not enough to make it look un-jelly like but enough to give it a little bit of contrast.

Chia: You could argue with this one that it's a missed opportunity—considering all the fruity Chia colours, it definitely feels like this could've been done as a giant jello mold or something instead of just being the usual fair. That said, the rendering here is really good—subtle gradients are used along with a bit of transparency and layering at the bottom to make this thing look very jelly-like, and I love little details like the air bubbles. Only complaint is that the tongue is way too normal-looking.

Least Favorite Species:

Quiggle: I am giving this one the coveted dung award solely because it has regular non-Jelly eyes and that disturbs me. Also, while the UC/styled version has some decent enough transparency, the converted version's shading makes it look like rock-hard candy.