#digital lineart is so hard my dudes

[sleepy-pigeonn]

[inkats]

fuck yeah snow!!!!!!

the pastel noise materials i downloaded made the colours cuter too... but they only help if it already looks presentable

[the-heaminator]

I think my biggest critique for your art is that it feels disproportionate and messy? Which, the messy isn't bad, i keep the sketch as my linework when i draw but with yours it makes it a little hard to read, but honestly it might just how dark the lineart is? as for the disproportionate-ness, my biggest recommendation is tracing references to get the basic feel (like redlining), then practice drawing it by just looking, and practice just from memory (drawfee drawclass vods on youtube are a huge help for me with my art). I also find that drawing on paper and then taking a picture and tracing and then coloring it digitally can help because you have almost more control when you're drawing that way. But all in all, you're doing great so far and I think you're going to keep improving!

Ayo thank you dude, thanks for all the advice too!

[budderball]

Commission for @bbtheraichu !!! your girl is so lovely and fun to draw… ty for commissioning me dude 🥺

[hueningkoi]

What's your top 10 drawing tips?

Ohhh!!! Yes okay!!! This is gonna be long. Be prepared lol also keep in mind I'm a traditional artist so these may not work for digital artists!

1. Draw as often as you can. Don't over do it though because you'll burn yourself out and then it'll have the opposite effect and you'll not want to draw anymore. But the only way to get better is to put the time in which is hard because most of us want to be good immediately but it doesn't work that way! And trust me if you put the time in you'll one day look at your work and just go WHOA I IMPROVED HOLY SHIT like it'll slap you in the face and it will make you feel so good about the hard work you put in. Basically my first tip is is keep trying, take breaks, be persistent but don't over do it. never quit art though please! always make art. The world needs it!

2. Use reference pictures!!! Don't be afraid of reference pictures! All artists need reference pictures!! Even the most talented artists need reference and its actually pretty fundamental to learning how to draw. That's why art classes make you draw bowls of fruit! To teach you to draw from life! So find stock photos, take pics of friends and yourself and of objects, google image search and USE DAT REFERENCE!!

3. Try limiting your color pallet. Use a color pallet generator and make an artwork only using like 3, 4, or 5 colors. Limiting your color pallet helps you learn to think about the placement of colors and how to choose the right colors for an artwork. It helps you avoid the mistake that lots of people make where you use too many colors and your art looks like a tacky rainbow mismatchy mess!

4. Try doing ballpoint pen art!! Drawing without an eraser forces you to slow down. It forces you to think about the placement of each line so when you go back to pencil you feel much much much more confident and honestly it helps me sketch in pencil much faster and just makes me a more confident drawer overall. Like if I can make something look decent in ballpoint I'm like damn imagine what I can do with an eraser!!

5. It's okay to take tidbits of other people's style and work it into your art style. Don't outright copy someone but if a particular way they draw like say... eyes or something just really vibes with you then try drawing eyes like that! Everyone's art style is inspired by other art styles like my art style is partially inspired by ben 10 and I ain't about to deny it 😂

6. Try shading skin with lavender/purple. it looks fucking rad as hell try it do it like put the skin color down, shade with purple, then go over the purple again with the skin color. Try it and tell me how it goes

7. When doing lineart, if it fits your style, try outlining the silhouette of the character in a thicker line than the rest of the lineart.. it gives the lineart some cool line weight variation and makes the art look polished and more finished

8. Tracing art is okay and really helpful in learning how to draw! Just make sure that you either don't post it to social media or make sure you have explicit permission from the original artist to trace it and that you credit them

9. Try different mediums! Sometimes you think a medium is the one for you but sometimes you're wrong. Lol I thought I was going to be a digital artist for a long time but dude. Digital and I do not mix. I remember when I one day was like shit let's try these prisma colored pencils fuck it! This was after trying digital for like a year and when I worked with those pencils it was like the sun finally shown down on me and Angel's were singing and damn I haven't touched my tablet in like a year 😂 and that doesn't mean I couldn't get good at digital it just means you should work with the medium that makes you happy! I honestly hate digital now lmaooooo so ya! Try painting try pencils try markers hell try digital! Try it all!! Art is so fun omg I'm getting wild Haha

10. Don't let other people's art make you feel bad about yours. Like this one is hard because its difficult to not compare your art to other people's but I just know from experience that it's better to think "wow they're art is great I need to practice drawing like that style more" rather than like "wow their art is great I'll never be that good I should quit" because that artist was where you are once and the only reason they're at the level they are now is because they didn't quit!!! This is like my first tip lol I just get so heartbroken when people stop drawing. Art is so beautiful and everyone should make art always 💖💖

[lutrain2020]

Meet the Creator!

Introducing: Roane or Mangoisee!

Commission:  I've never done commissions before, but I am considering opening them in the future!

Social Media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mangoisee/

What's your artistic process like?

I tend to sketch, and just clean it up from there rather than using a separate layer for the lineart. I like doing interesting poses, and digital art makes it super easy for me to move certain parts of the drawing around, much more so than traditional. I really like using earthy and warm tones for the colouring too!

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

I like to play the ukulele and violin in addition to drawing, as well as play sports like volleyball! I love space and quantum physics, so I'm hoping to do some sort of research into that as a career! Some may call me a nerd, but I like to think of myself as having a diverse skillset. :)

What kind of mediums do you like to use?

I mostly doodle traditionally, and do finished pieces digitally. I really want to get into sculpting and embroidery as well!

What got you into art? what inspires you to keep creating art?

I think it was Gravity Falls that really got me into art, and once I started doodling a random classmate in middle school (who tended to be very critical) said that I was really good! That was sort of the spark that initiated me being open to sharing my work. Now, it's mostly fandom that keeps me drawing, but I am hoping to work on a webcomic soon!

What's your favorite/least favorite subjects to use in your art?

I enjoy drawing people and scenes with characters I like in them. Backgrounds are often the bane of my existence, though. Animals are pretty hard for me, too, but I'm working on getting better. I really like drawing people with fluffy hair, too, to the point where I'm incapable of actually drawing people with non-fluffy hair!

What's the worst thing you had to draw?

I had to draw a rabbit a while back for a birthday gift, and the anatomy absolutely. would. not. work. with. me.

Is there something that you struggled with that made you grow as an artist?

Definitely it was trying to branch out into drawing dudes! I went through a phase where I absolutely would only draw girls, and any guy I tried to draw just looked like a girl with short hair. Zelda (and LU in particular) definitely helped, because there are a bunch of dudes who I really really wanted to draw, and it really forced me to broaden my skillset!

If you have any fun stories about the pieces you made, please do share!

Most of my art comes out of me getting hit by inspiration and staring at my computer for hours while I complete it! Generally, if I split the work between two days, it ain't getting finished.

[lemongogo]

“...why would you make me the leader?”

    “because I know what you’re capable of”

[comicteaparty]

July 20th-July 26th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from July 20th, 2020 to July 26th, 2020.  The chat focused on Ring Spell by Artem Ficta.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Ring Spell by Artem Ficta~! (http://ring-spell.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until July 26th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Feather J. Fern

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? I like how it seems lighthearted at first, but knowing Artem it's going to drop the ball on us really soon haha.(edited)

Also I always love how the backgrounds are, they look great.

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

Hahah, it's a shame I didn't get one more update up XD Thank you so much, Feather~!

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

well, the CTP is gonna run for the rest of the week...

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

I can't finish the next 8 pages by then XD

My guess is they'll be up the week after next

RebelVampire

For the beginning, I'm with Feather and I like how quickly the comic transitions from just lalala happy school to oh wait there's weird shit going on. I really like stories where the status quo is quickly ripped out from under your feet. My favorite moment in the comic so far is probably the most recent scene when we get to see Lyall's apartment and ya know, Claire starts dropping all these bombshells on us. The scene is the epitome of "Well that escalated quickly" and its just loaded with so much info to unpack. My favorite character right now is Claire. One because she seems the most sensible and mysterious, and two because I love Claire's hair so much and I'm so jealous and want such floof beautiful hair. ;3; As for characters I like see interacting the most, probably Claire and Lyall and they have some really good banter and a relationship, insofar, that's just kind of hilarious in its brutal honesty. A close second for me is Claire and Tasha as it quickly switches from happy smiles to probably most likely to have a catfight in the hallway.

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

Catfight in the hallway, lolol. Makes me want to draw them dressed like cat girls XD

RebelVampire

No not that sort of catfight

probably

O_O

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

comic turns into a catgirl fetish comic

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

1. I like how the first word is Zenchav which was the title of the comic this is a hard reboot of XD 2. My favorite moment was Lyall sticking his hands up Damon's shirt XD I really like how it was drawn and it's the most Lyall thing ever to do. 3. My favorite character overall is Damon, although it's probably Lyall at this point in the story. But I like them all of course XD 4. Damon and anybody, lol. I like when I get to draw him XD 5. I've been trying out a new shading style with this since I almost exclusively just hard shaded before, so it's nice to be branching out a bit and trying some new things. The Intro page is probably my favorite atm.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

Theory: Lyall sticking his cold hands up Damon's shirt is how he drains Damon's energy, because secretly he's the witch.

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Oh no! XD that would be a twist!

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

Oh snap!

mathtans

Hmmm, so we ship Claire and Tasha then?

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

I don't not ship Tasha and Claire >v>

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

Drew that picture of them

RebelVampire

We should indeed all suspect Lyall. I mean no parents, lives alone, yet somehow affords everything? That's witchery.

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

How does he afford all that stuff

does he sell drugs on the side or something XD it is suspicious

mathtans

1. I'll mostly echo everyone else here in terms of the start seems pretty straightforward and makes one wonder how the teaser page fits into it all. I'll add a remark on the subtle details of world building, like you've got your digital alarm... and dude straight up has a TAIL, and it's like, no comment, that's normal too.

2. Favourite moment was probably recruiting Claire into the cosplay skit. It's like, hello new person, oh you want to associate with us? Then you need the proper accessories, and Claire's all 'Um, I'm not sure... prop weapons? Uh, okay then...' Cosplay is a force to be reckoned with. (nods)

3. Fave character... yeah, may have to echo Rebel here and go with Claire. Possibly because she's the first chapter name, and like the reader is coming into this new situation, so can get behind her trying to figure it out... but also because I'm big on the time/space bureau stuff and that sounds like a cool job to get.

Damon has a cool cane and has the mysterious ailment afflicting his cosplay though, so he's my fave guy at the moment. (Werewolf blood? Moon thing? Dunno.)

4. I honestly do like the Tasha/Claire interactions the most, because each of them seems to have something to hide, and so you're kind of wondering if and when one of them might slip up. The other girl interrupting with the paint was classic, and I felt it helped break tension. The ship picture (which I imagine won't show in the log) is kind of representative of that with the chessboard too, like they're making moves against the other (though I'm not yet convinced that one is a witch, could be a setup).

Of course, I'm very biased towards the yuri, so grain of salt for my opinions and all. And while the ship was a humour comment at first, I think I'm more into it after seeing a "catfight" could play out.

All that said, the Lyall/Damon interactions are equally good. Lyall's perversion sometimes saying the quiet part out loud.

5. I recognize the art style, have read some of the work before (under different name). Always find the hair impressive, like here you get the impression of each individual strand except that's not actually what's drawn... you can still see the neat ears, Claire having some strands that fall in front of her too. The shading is really good too, like definitely shades of grey, not just black and white.

Kind of echoing the author there, but I can see it.

I'm so bad with themes and need to charge computer, will be back later. o.o

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

I love all this input Math, thank you ;3;/

RebelVampire

@mathtans You have no idea how happy I am that someone noticed the tail that nobody seemed to comment on.

RebelVampire

What I like about the art is how clean and crisp everything is cause mmmm that sexy lineart you can just paint bucket when needed. <3 I like that the comic explores the idea of having someone you've known your entire life possibly be evil. Cause it opens up a lot of questions. Like should you doubt? Should you trust? And at which point have you hit the point of betrayal? So I'm glad we'll get to see a bit of this tackled as Lyall and Claire look for evidence. As for the overall story, I like that there's just lots of questions going on. It's a theorists dream. But I find the more mysteries a comic has, the more engaging it is. Because even when you know the answer, it's interesting everytime to see the characters reach that answer. As for the comic's strengths, see the above and the art. It's super pretty and clean to look at, has some fantastic emotive faces during the more comedic moments, and there's just lots to theorize and look forward too. ;3;

Now I will proceed to weep as someone who beta read the script and actually can't theorize cause I just know .

mathtans

Others may have noticed but not been sure what to say? (Does the tail turn into the cane?)

6. Ok, themes... could be a theme of belonging in there. Like Claire being accepted into the group, like Lyall wondering if she's only talking to him to get to Damon, that sort of thing? Then there's the idea Rebel raised of thinking you know someone but not necessarily knowing them.

Of course, there's also credibility, like maybe Claire is simply an escaped mental patient with really good hacking skills to get herself in the school and apartment. Because that's quite the tale she spins. (Though Lyall had heard of the organization? Or he's pranking her, bit hard to know for sure.)

7/8. The story's been setting up a number of things in the background, I feel. Which can be a strength, as we're learning more character items first. Though Claire's latest revelation I'm really jazzed about, because the idea of time travel (times when demons weren't supposed to be) and personification (Earth as a female entity) are right up my alley. So that's cool.

Also Lyall apparently has a strange aura to go with Tasha's strange energy? Maybe the witch is jumping bodies. Maybe we should ship Lyall/Tasha.

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

Oh my gosh, loving these ideas!

I don't want to give spoilers but I think I'll answer the tail thing cause I never really meant for it to be a mystery It's just tucked into his pants when he's in public is all. That's why he's wearing the track suit for the school and not the standard school uniform, cause the pants are looser.

although it turning into the cane could have been hella cool(edited)

now I'm a little bummed I never thought of that

But the cane has other purposes

mathtans

I didn't really think it was a big mystery, and that explanation makes sense. (So I suppose it could be not normal, only normal for Damon's friends... demon prejudice otherwise?) Ok, so the cane is where he hides his stimulants to keep awake until the full moon.

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. What are your theories about Damon’s past? Why is he concerned about when the full moon is? Additionally, what do you think was meant about Damon and Xerfonos being the same age but not being twins?

10. Do you think Claire is right that Tasha is the witch Cadence? If so, how will she prove it? If not, who else could it be? Also, what might this all have to do with Tasha’s concern about Claire being the mysterious Draco’s student?

11. What do you think Cadence ultimately wants from Damon? Why would this compel the Earth, and by extension Apus, to protect him? Also, even if the characters find Cadence, can she actually be stopped?

12. Why do you think Lyall reacted so strangely to Claire mentioning Apus, and why do you think he’s so sure Apus wouldn’t care about protecting Damon? Do you think Lyall can trust Claire even for the long term?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

mathtans

9. I mean, Damon seems to be a demon, but he's cool with being in our world, so... maybe he was born of a human/demon pairing? Or he was adopted by humans when he was a baby and simply given the same birthday as Xerfonos. I'm guessing the full moon has more significance than merely to werewolves (unless Damon needs to bite a werewolf to regain strength idk) and so it would help him.

I will say that initially the "same age" thing didn't phase me because there's more than 9 months in a year, plenty of time for having a second kid born in the same year. But now that I'm debating the adoption angle, maybe there's more to it.

They're not twins... they're TRIPLETS! Dun dun dun. Anyway.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

they could also just not be twins due to a date technicality like one was born right before midnight and one was born right after

but yeah the adoption angle would explain a lot

mathtans

10. I don't think she's right about Tasha, or if she's right, not in the way she thinks. Because we've seen some from Tasha's perspective and she didn't seem to be the person in charge of whatever. In terms of proof, I guess she could see if Tasha would cosplay as a witch? And if the shoe fits? But yeah, maybe the witch is jumping between people like I mentioned earlier, or is not actually there yet, like APUS got the date wrong or something. Maybe Tasha's also trying to protect Damon from the witch (hence trying to give him that new name) but it's a rival organization?

I mean, technically still twins in that case, just not having the same birthday. (If Feb 29th enters into it, it gets even weirder.)

Actually, why wouldn't Claire use Damon's given name? Maybe her organization doesn't know everything it thinks it does?

Anyway, just had time for some random thoughts. Back later tonight.

mathtans

11. Cadence may just want him to keep living so that she can keep siphoning off energy. (Thus perhaps APUS wants him dead, it's not about protection?!) Or maybe Cadence wants a sweet cosplay. (Probably not.) Of course, it might be that if she's a free floating witch, she wants his body. Maybe she can't be stopped, but could be redirected?

The Earth aspect is one I haven't really been able to figure out yet. (Are pavonis a type of pasta?) But maybe there's a destiny or something that Damon needs to fulfil first.

12. Lyall could have been pranking, but maybe he knows a different organization like that... or maybe that's the name of some mystery file on his computer that he hasn't been able to open because the Cadence inside him hasn't revealed the password, oooh. I think Lyall can trust Claire (assuming she's not a raving lunatic) and she might even need him to provide better cover (she didn't seem to even know what apartment she was in)... but that's short term. Long term is another question, if she starts getting Apus directives saying to do things he wouldn't agree with.

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

This is all so interesting ;3;

Pavonis as a type of pasta, lolol

mathtans

I'm glad it's more interesting than rambly.

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

Nah, I love it XD I'm afraid I'd give spoilers if I said anymore lmao

RebelVampire

My theories about Damon's past are that he's a werewolf. And that something about being a werewolf has changed how he ages compared to Xerfonos - thus why they're the same age but not twins. Granted I guess they could also just be half brothers who have a shared father who said, "Man I should knock two girls up at once." But werewolf sounds more interesting. No I think we've established Lyall is clearly the witch. He is too suspicious. Tasha probably is a super secret agent or something, hence the suspicion. Maybe Apus is into some shady shit that Tasha knows about, especially Draco, so she doesn't want them jumping in on everything. As for how proof, she won't. Cadence will reveal she's Lyall when the most damage can be caused and Claire will weep her career as a detective is through. Cadence might just think Damon is hot. Although I think Damon has a grand destiny ahead of him, and Cadence wants to interfere with that destiny while also bulking up on some of that tasty werewolf energy. Also, can Cadence be stopped? Probably. But definitely not by these chumps right now. XD Lyall reacted strangely cause that was the Cadence in him going oh shit and kind of taking over. And sure, Lyall can trust Claire to never figure out its him. Sorry Claire, you hot, but clearly aren't noticing some stuff.

mathtans

I hadn't considered the "same father different mothers" angle. O.o Maybe it was a sperm donation sort of thing though?

As to Claire, maybe Tasha will be nice enough to buy Claire ice cream and give her snuggles once she realizes the error of her ways.

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

Tasha and Claire will get to snuggling at some point I'm sure XD

The same father with different mothers sounds most probable

of what's been mentioned at least

mathtans

I mean, time travel could also be involved. What with Apus.

Maybe Claire is Damon's daughter and she's trying to protect her own existence.

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

Maybe Claire is Xerfonos' mother

Wait, I don't think that'd work out lmao

Daughter would be way more probable

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

I look forward to getting a bit further into the story XD it's still pretty early on atm and there's a lot of really good scenes later. I don't feel like we've really gotten to know Damon yet either

RebelVampire

I am looking forward to seeing people's theories as the story continues and pieces fall into place. It will be interesting to see the routes people take with the ideas of what the answers are going to be. My final words are just read the comic. O_O

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I didn't end up having any brain power to write responses over the week, but I really enjoyed Ring Spell. Damon and his brother are cuties, Claire seems very capable, and I can't wait to find out what Tasha's motives are. I'm real excited to see how the themes of magical marital vows come to the forefront :3

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

Thank you~!

mathtans

Busy weekend was busy. Looking forward to seeing how the Apus thing fits in, like is Claire even from their time period? Will Lyall spill all the secrets? Will the ships happen? I'm so behind in all my reading but I've flagged it to check back when I can.

There was also the bit at the start implying knowing people from other lives, but the time travel possibilities make that weird. And I guess there's also the question of whether a Ring will have a Spell on it. Like, maybe the witch doesn't know she's the witch while she's wearing a ring? Or they have to get her to wear a ring? Here I am guessing again. ^^

14. To conclude, all the best with it, looks like a good setup. I do enjoy the art style too.

Also I guess congrats on being the finale CTP? Nice that you got it in there. Good initiative.

Artem Ficta (Ring Spell)

Thank you so much Math~!

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Ring Spell this week! Please also give a special thank you to Artem Ficta for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Ring Spell, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://ring-spell.com/

Artem Ficta’s Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/artemficta

Artem Ficta’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/ArtemFicta

[caesarsbuddy]

your art is fucking amazing! any tips for people trying to learn? things like shading and sketching or whatnot that you can think of!!

((Hahaaa I wrote the longest reply and then my worthless laptop crashed :) Round two!))

Thank yoouu

A quick note before rambling on (again) that if you only see art as a hobby and fun thing to do once in a while, don’t feel the pressure that you *have* to improve, there is no one way or correct way to create art. Some people might argue with me on that but, who made the rules? No one, there are no rules. Just have fun!

I’m no professional, this is a hobby of mine that I can’t live without, and had I followed my own advice I would have come further. I highly suggest you do anatomy studies, whether it’s humans or animals, and even separate body parts to better understand how they move. A tip is to draw what you see and not what you (already) know. Might not make sense now, but it will! Don’t be afraid to use references when actually drawing, if something feels off about maybe an arm, do some google searches and odds are you’ll find out what’s wrong and fix it and you’ll remember for next time how it’s supposed to look! I still do this, it’s a never-ending learning cycle.

Shading comes down to how things are shaped and how light bounces off of it. You usually get some shading/lighting practice done while doing anatomy studies, but it’s always good to look at photos with harder lighting to better see how things are shaped/built. Pay attention to hard and soft shadows! And don’t start off with multiple lightsource photos, start simple with a single lightsource, those can be hard enough.

There’s no correct way to sketches, just work how it feels right to you. The sketch is the most important part of a piece, so if it takes an extra three hours, that’s fine. With digital art you get a million do-overs, so there’s no harm in experimenting and trying different things. If you want to feel more confident and perhaps be able to sketch faster I’d suggest you do those anatomy studies with a ballpoint pen on paper, or any other pen you can’t erase, so you can see the errors and prevent them the next time.

If you don’t have a naturally improved or highly observing eye when it comes to colours I’d suggest you do colour studies from photos and movies, and study colour theory. I’ve never done this, but I don’t know if it’s because of either two options or that I’m stupid, but I’ve been doing fine I think, by looking at other artists and how they do it, picking out small details and using those techniques myself.

General tips:- If you’re drawing/painting digitally, don’t shade with pure black unless you’re doing like a stylized and high contrast piece. Use blues, reds, purples etc of the darker values. - Shade with a cool dark colour and highlight with a warm light colour, or vise versa for a I guess more natural look, but don’t make them overly saturated.- Explore with brushes, what works for another artist might not work for you. The skill is not in the brush itself, but the use of the brush.- Do the other eye- Don’t hide the hands… no not the feet either- You don’t need to have one singular style, I mean look at what I do, it feels like every single piece is in a different style, depending on my mood and what I have time for- Eyeballs are not pure white- You can make something highly contrast-y without using pure black and white or really dark and really light, it’s all about  what the colours look like next to each other

Here’s some neat-o sources;Anatomy360ProkoExpression practiceFigure drawing onlineVishstudio (male bodybuilders, great to see how muscles work and look)Blender Guru colour theory (there’s a bunch out there, this is just one)

Always good to kinda like sit down and look at the artists you like and ask yourself ‘why do I like this artist’ and go into detail. Like how they use colour, how they do lineart, hair, anatomy, whatever, and then you can study their techniques and try to implement that into your art (without copying their style you know).I think the most recent time I did something like this I was wondering how an artist made the seemingly blue reflective light look so good but when I did it it looked too saturated and I just couldn’t get it to work. I simply used the eyedrop tool and checked what the actual colour was and who woulda thunk, it’s not blue at all, it’s grey! It only looks blue because of the colour it’s next to. I took that shit to heart my dude.

This got extremely long and I couldn’t possibly have included everything, so if you have any more questions, please feel free to send me another message!

[many-gay-magpies]

MAGS YOUR ART IS SO GOOD WTF. WTF. YOUR SUNGHOON ART I AM SCREAMING ON THE FLOOR IN TEARS. THAT JUNGWON PIECE FROM RECENTLY OH MY GOD. i love how soft your artwork looks !! and VERY NICE WOLFBAT I THINK HE IS VERY NEAT

i actually used to hang upside down from monkey bars and things bc it felt nice on my back tbh its so nice and my posture is ALSO shit! my friends tell me i look like a human question mark! THE IMAGE OF SOLON STARING DOWN AT THE PILE OF LIMBS AND TWIGS AFTER JAKAH AND NOA FALL DOWN IS PRICELESS. HED JUST “i don’t believe in god but i believe that’s karma”

truly pretty privilege is So Real because exactly the boys would get pardoned for so much weird shit just bc they’re cute- see the previous headcanon of jino with burn scars. if we’re being honest that would freak the hell out of anyone (i wish it didn’t, people should be more accepting of scars </3) because it’s jino suddenly he’s got a tragic heroic past that makes him ~so romantic.~ no one questions that noa is literally draped over the rafters in the hallways. solon just straight up disappears for a week every month bc of the full moon (he’s under the blankets trying to not go full wolfy all week). jaan literally bodyslams his brothers when they get annoying like these bitches are WEIRD

i love the idea of them having glowing eyes as they pace in the hallways at night- i can see it creating an urban legend that decelis’s administrators hires these Creatures to catch students who leave their dorms past curfew. i wonder if anyone would be able to figure out one of the “phantoms” is solon- since he’s odd-eyed, it can’t be That hard to put two and two together

-vrvr anon

AAAAAA THANK YOUUUUU I AM. ALSO CRYING. i really like working in that sort of color-blocky, soft, lineart-less style, so it makes me so happy that you like that about it shfjbfjfng ;v;

im vv proud of that jungwon one i think (conceptually and process-wise at least) it may be one of my favorites ive ever made .. it was just so FUN and i made it in a complete creative fever at like 2 am or something after very suddenly drawing a connection between that jungwon shot and the fallen angel painting. like i wasnt even planning on doing anything artistic that night but then all of a sudden i Had To Make Art Out Of It.

also ill tell you a secret (that isnt really a secret because ive told multiple people and made several posts about it already): i am currently working on a far more detailed heeseung art piece ... its coming along very well so far and im very happy with it !! all the facial features and clothes are done and im just stuck on the hair now—im determined to actually FINISH it and not just abandon it like i have some pieces in the past (theres this one sunoo piece that i started and got pretty far into last year in may after carnival era... and i have not touched it since. i WANT TO. but i was new to digital art at the time and used a strategy that took, to put it plainly, Way To Much Fucking Time, and in order to complete the piece with consistent style id have to keep using that same strategy and im honestly going to avoid that for as long as possible)

okay now on the subject of vampires . omfg LITERALLY the vamps probably do so much shit that would not fly if they were your average growing, acne-ridden teens... they are, fundamentally, the weird kids of decelis, but nobody notices because they're both jocks and attractive and i bet it drives all the people that ARENT attracted to them up the wall to no end. like maybe theres a scenario where a new student transfers to decelis like sooha does, except theyre some variety of aroace and completely immune to the brothers' "charm". and they come into the school with basically all their classmates aggressively simping for this group of seven dudes and it piques their curiosity a bit, because what's so special about these guys to get the entire school population in love with them? then they actually SEE the brothers and theyre just like. what. because yeah they ARE objectively pretty attractive and theyre good at sports and stuff but also theyre just. DORKS. and the student is like these guys? really? yall are simping for these guys? damn. okay

in a world where the decelis authority ARENT aggressively anti-vampire and actually let the brothers into the school to PROTECT THEM... maybe the staff are all perfectly aware of who the "phantoms" wandering around the school after hours ARE but they dont do anything to stop it because it discourages the other students from breaking curfew. and i imagine someone figures it out at some point—either a student comes across one of the "phantoms" for the first time after only hearing rumors of them and screams a little out of fright, only for heli to step out of the shadows and be like "omg im sorry i didnt mean to spook you im just taking a walk." or yeah like you said a student sees a phantom with one yellow eye and one blue... then sees solon in class the next day... and cue the "oh yeah, its all coming together" meme LMAO

[enbies-and-felonies]

i have no theoretical or philosophy thoughts at the moment bc i'm doing schoolwork but also bc i'm procrastinating i Do have art tips!!! i know autodesk pretty well at this point dvdbdhnsbd so!! hopefully these ones help

mess around with brushes and textures!!! if you go to the advanced settings on a brush you can change the rotation/image texture/pressure etc, and even aside from that autodesk has some fairly solid brushes!!

use layers liberally (but also if you've got limits on the app like mine does watch out for those dbhdnd)! there's different types of layer blending that you can use for lighting, shading, lineart effects (for me: overlay and color dodge, multiply, and color burn respectively, but there's definitely a lot of fun to be had). there's also a few things you can do to correct colors- like to make your colors warmer or cooler (like this one below!). in general definitely mess around with blending layers and brushes and stuff

also!!! color theory is your friend and ik there's a bunch of stuff out there for learning it, it's really simple and Will Help you if you want to think of conveying emotions through your colors (mostly bc of the showing you warm and cold colors! complementary and primary colors are not related to expression but they're helpful if u don't already know them)

no wait let me go on a tangent abt color dodge, it's my favorite blending layer ever it has such a good effect for both hard and soft lighting??? ross draws uses it a lot in his art and it makes things warmer and much brighter (and plus! helps with lighting practice).

ok and!!! something fun is textures which is like. you can look up paper textures/high quality noise and just do multiply or color burn and adjust it so that it has a slight texture which is so much nice sensory (here are cronch (noise) examples!! i looked up chinese parchment on the song twins' wearing hanfu one but it's really bad quality texture and i like these better bdhsnd)

also!! if you want to work on lineart 1. mess around with the like. ruler and symmetry and those tools in the toolbar thingy and 2. u can use bg lock (it's a lock icon on the same popup as blending modes) to color your lineart easily!

ok that's it i have to run and go somewhere again bdhsndbnsd but i hope these help!!! i had another thing abt lineart and also am here for questions if u need anything!! also if you have any artists you like look and see if they have any tips and techniques for digital art bc they often apply broadly over programs!! and there's so many ppl who do speedpaints on youtube that you could watch as well for their processes and tips if you have it!! i learned a bit from tacodemuerte (that's their instagram handle tho i forgot their yt) and hummingfluff there!!

holy shit dude thank you

[dryangon]

1-30 on the artist asks do it

jesus h fuck alright

gonna put this in a readmore

Do you prefer traditional drawing, or digital?

only recently ive been preferring digital, i think it has more to do with the fact that i dont usually do my own style when drawing traditionally cause art class

How long have you been drawing?

since i was like 3 my dude although i only seriously started trying to get better in fifth grade so about 5 years

How many classes have you taken?

ive taken four? so far? depends on whether or not digital media counts

Do you have a DeviantArt, personal website, or art blog?

do not have any of those things except art blog, youre looking at it

What’s your favorite thing to draw?

people

What’s your least favorite thing to draw?

b a c k g r o u n d s

How often do you use references?

not that often unless im trying to nail down a specific background or someone requests something that requires a reference

Do you draw professionally, or just for fun?

just for fun, ive been thinking about commissions but idk if ill ever set that up

How much time do you spend drawing on an average day?

really depends on the day. since schools out i spend a good four hours drawing (not consecutively)

Are you confident about your art?

wiggles hand uncertainly

How many art-related blogs do you follow?

uhhhhhhhhhh like 70ish

Is it okay for people to ask you about your process?

yeah i dont mind! i probably am not the best person to ask for help tho

Do you prefer to keep your art personal, or do you like drawing things for other people?

theres a line between personal art and public art in my head, i dont mind drawing things for others but i dont like people looking at the stuff that ive done for my personal use

Do you ever collaborate with others?

i would if i was asked

How long does an average piece take you to complete?

usually what you see on my blog are sketches and lineart and those take me anywhere from 30 min to an hour, colored things take me like 2 hours

Do you draw more today than you did in the past, or do you draw less?

i think i draw more, just because when i was a little kid teachers and stuff would take away anything i was drawing with even in art classes if i was supposed to be paying attention or some shit

i remember in sixth grade my social studies teacher took my notebook away from me because i was doodling in her class while taking notes

there was also once that a substitute yelled at me for drawing after we finished a test

Do you think you’re justified in giving other people art advice?

i mean i guess with lines and stuff but with color im completely hopeless

i can tell you what i think looks good but other than that 

What are you currently trying to improve on?

backgrounds

What is the most difficult thing for you to draw?

backgrounds

What is the easiest thing for you to draw?

hair

Do you like to challenge yourself?

i do but its really hard for me to do sometimes because often ill get distracted and forget to focus on this one piece of art

Are you confident that you’re improving steadily?

mnot really

i guess i can sort of see it in my older pieces but i really dont know

the other thing is sometimes i like the way my style turns out but then i progress and i cant revert back to what i liked

Do you draw more fanart, or more original art?

fanart on this blog, original in my notebooks

Do you feel jealous when you see other people’s art, or inspired? (Be honest!)

i dont really get jealous, but i guess sometimes i do get sad just because they found this really cool style and im still trying to find mine

Do you like to draw in silence, or with music?

i like drawing with music but a lot of the time i end up drawing in silence bc my playlist ran through entirely

For digital artists: what program(s) do you use?

artrage 4

For digital artists: how many layers does a typical piece require?

sketches: 4-5. colored: 10+

For traditional artists: what medium do you like most? (Pencil, charcoals, etc)

pencil

For traditional artists: How do you usually start on a big piece? (Light sketch, colored lead, sketchpaper, etc)

light sketch

What inspires you to not just make art, but to be a better artist?

i have a lot of fuckin ideas and i want to be able to put them on paper goddamn it

[blackthornass]

Do you have any art tips?

Uhhhhhh Funk im not The Greatest Artist ™ but I’ll try to bestow some Wisdom on you. Keep in mind Art is Subjective and I’m no expert and all that so take everything with a grain of salt but that being said I’ll try to give u Tips and Tricks

-listen so if you have a boring class at school just draw in it. School is great because you have 1. Access to paper at all times 2. Incredibly boring lectures. If you have a study hall that’s the Drawing JACKPOT. Basically what I’m saying is practice all the time when you have energy but like that’s such boring art advice. It’s important but “practice! uwu” is like what people with Natural Art Talent say when they didn’t have to figure everything out from the ground up so it’s kind of aggravating

-There’s gonna be people better than you. Chances are you have a friend who’s better than you because this is Tumblr we all draw. Try Not To Compare Yourself ™ which idk how to do but it’s bad don’t do it

-unless you find a terrible person with worse art than you in which case FUCK DUDE COMPARE YOURSELF TO THEM! THEYRE HORRIBLE AND THEY CANT DRAW FOR SHIT LOOK WHOS LAUGHING NOW!

-“work until your idols become your rivals” is absolute bullshit because your idols are working at it at the same time you are. You fool. You imbecile. I feel like this works better for writing when your idols can become irrelevant or straight up die between you being an aspiring author 8 year old and a tired 30 year old who just wrote The Great American Novel ™ or just kind of. Leave the fandom if you’re writing fanfic. Anyway

-ok that’s all the preachy shit, time for Real Art Advice ™. Keep in mind I do digital cartoony shit with Strong Lineart and cel shading for the most part and I pretty much only draw people so my knowledge is limited to that. if you wanna be a professional artist maybe do other things and Expand your Abilities ™

-Ok first off if you’re using Gimp or Photoshop please love yourself and download Firealpaca or illegally torrent Paint Tool Sai or something. I swear by Firealpaca it cured my depression but like. Photoshop is Trash for drawing. Get Firealpaca it has Line Correction ™

-Keep Line Correction ™ at like. A 5 when you’re sketching and at a 19 (the maximum) when you’re lining, coloring, shading, highlighting, doing literally anything that isn’t sketching

-Sketching digitally can be hard if you’re used to sketching on paper and I find it easier to do a sketch on paper, take a picture of it on my phone or scan it, and line/color it digitally. You do you and figure out what works best

-speaking of which I refused to use sketchbooks until I was Worthy ™ of not drawing on notebook paper and uhhhhhh that’s dumb just get a sketchbook they cost a little more than a notebook at Target it’s not super expensive. Although if you’re not financially in the position to buy a sketchbook anyway, just hoard notebooks from school that you didn’t use much. Bam, that’s your new sketchbook

-the Head Circle Cross Thing and the Spheres For Shoulder, Elbow, and Wrist Thing are good and important and will save you

-hands are hard so use references but bullshit your way through it. eventually they’ll look good (I haven’t gotten there yet)

-HAVE FUN WITH NOSES OH MY GOD. Noses are super fun and cool because there’s, like, infinite variety with them, they can be as long or short, thin or thick, rounded or pointy as you want, you can make them be, like, triangles or circles or more squareish or diamond-shaped, the base of the nose can be about as high or as low on the face as you want, you can make the nostrils prominent or not really there at all, they can add another Layer to a character’s design, oh my goodness noses are so fun. They’re like, severely underrated and oh my god I could gush about how fucking fun noses are

-same with facial expressions. Where you put the pupils and how big they are, how much of the eye is covered by eyelids, the way the eyebrows are, the mouth, tons of other shit. There’s loads of variety and so much you can do and honestly having fun with the facial expression is The Best Part. There’s tons of Face Art Chart Memes floating around, you know the ones, save it to your phone/computer and practice those on your own time it’s fun

-if you don’t know how to do something, avoiding it won’t help you. Just kind of draw around with it in your sketchbook or in a “I’m not posting this” file until you feel confident enough to do it in your Real Projects ™.

-Ok for lining did you know..… it isn’t illegal to erase parts of the lineart to clean it up.… just be careful and draw it back in to the best of your abilities if you erase too far and use a smaller eraser brush/lining brush for this… I know it’s tedious nobody likes lining it’s okay you can do this put on some good music

-use mcfucking references

-eyedrop character’s official colors but adjust said colors based on the color of your background to make them look less funky is my general rule for clothing, I usually pick the hair/skin by myself or from something I’ve already drawn though

-for flats, make sure your lineart is all closed off and there aren’t any “holes” cuz that’ll mess up your coloring

-so how I do flats is I use the magic wand tool to select whatever I want to color, expand selection 3 pixels (in firealpaca you can set it to do this automatically), pick the color I need, turn up the brush to as big as possible, and color it in. It saves the time you’d spend with cleaning up where the color gets outside the lines

-you can do the flats on one layer, but I personally like to do every Object on a different layer so when I do shading, I know what goes on top of what

-if a color is darker than the lineart it looks ugly so pick your line color with caution (or just use black! Unlike shading black lineart tends to go with pretty much everything)

-SHADE YOUR GODDAMN ART. Like, what makes people go “wow holy shit that’s good!” is the shading + highlights, don’t be lazy ya fuck.

-I’d take a break before shading to Refresh Your Eyes ™ but also I constantly forget this is a good idea

-don’t shade with black oh my god. Unless you’re doing Strong Punchy Dramatic Stuff or monochrome black and white stuff, don’t shade with black, and if you’re doing that it’ll probably be drawn into the lineart. Don’t shade with black please we can tell you’re doing it and it looks bad

-highlighting with white isn’t too bad though, especially with the eyes, but it might look too strong in some places

-As a general rule, shading is darker and more saturated, highlighting is lighter and less saturated. Whether it gets warmer or cooler depends a lot on what color or thing you’re shading or what you want the feel of the picture to be and I’m not 100% sure how to do it myself so uh. Trust your gut and change the color if it looks wrong I guess.

-where exactly the shadows or highlights fall depends on lots of things, just kind of. Look at how things work irl maybe? This is the kind of thing that you just have to practice, and it’ll look like shit until suddenly it doesn’t sorry I’m not sure what to say

-One Medium Sized White Dot on a layer above the lineart where the pupil borders the Iris (or the whites of the eyes if you’re like me and you make the pupil and Iris one thing) works for a glint in the eye that makes a person look less dead and more cute. How big you’re gonna make it depends on how adorable you want the person to be

-SMOOTH BORDERS FOR THE SHADING ARE REALLY IMPORTANT IF YOURE DOING CEL SHADING which is why firealpaca is my best friend thanks line smoothing. If you’re doing like. Soft shading or painterly shit or other kinds of shading it’s less Super Important but like. Still be sort of neat. Unless being really messy and sketchy is what you’re going for but even then you still need to be sort of careful

-for simple backgrounds, it’s like. Easy to make it interesting. Add polka dots to the background or a big old square or a gradient or a cloud filter or something the possibilities are endless. Another option is to straight up make it transparent and write a secret message in white on the side. But uhh never do a blank white background at the very least fill it with a solid color

-ok style is kind of hard because I never had to struggle to find my style? I just “drew in my handwriting” so to speak and then if along the way I realized something looked shitty I just changed how I drew it slightly? I guess a thing you could do if you’re in tune enough is look at the styles of things you do like and things you don’t and figure out why you do and don’t like it. “I like how *2010s cartoon* does Eyes!” great take that general concept. “I hate how this shitty yaoi has enormous hands!” great then don’t do that. It’s all Personal Preference my dude style is Your Own Thing

-notes aren’t everything but fuck do they feel nice. Self reblogs are fine but don’t overdo it, I’d say reblog it Twice to account for time zones and tag it as self reblog so as to not be a dick

This got long whoops. That’s all I can think of but I hope this helps it’s All I Know