#don't have a grasp on anatomy or posing or FACES?? do you know how hard i just want to draw anime but it's impossible once youve been stuck

[john-barkston]

ah, my bi monthly mental freak out where i want to give up on art completely forever because i suck so bad uggghhhhh

[fr-wiwiw]

well, to indulge myself i'm writing this post to ramble and share a bit of my Gahan barbarian!au. it's going to be a bit of a long post i think, we'll see.

i saw noel's post about their gladiator!yohan & prince!gaon (check it here!) and it makes me miss writing the arranged marriage barbarian!au i have, it only has what.. 3 or 4 chapters I think. you can read it here.

i've always been fascinated by the visuals of medieval, historical, period era. even post apocalyptic future settings like Horizon Zero games franchise.

i think i started au bcs i've played too much Assassin's Creed Valhalla— i haven't finished it yet, too preoccupied with Monster Hunter World— but i have sketched my female Eivor several times in my sketchbook. this was when i'm curious and interested enough to draw human but haven't fully grasped the gesture, anatomy, shapes and all. i usually draw what i take interest on and it helps me tremendously, to keep on learning and push through my frustrations.

and of course.. my Gahan brainrot picked it up. hence the barbarian!au for TDJ born

i have sketches of Gahan in this au, i think i've shared them here too but i'll re-share here. it doesn't catch many eyes, i admit it's a bit of a bummer but I like the idea anyway. I used to imagined them before I went to sleep, now it's idol/celeb!gaon x mysterious husband!yohan that's occupying my mind. but anyways! here are the sketches.

1st sketch is me trying to see his body proportion in viking/barbarian attire. the upper left sketch was me wanting to see modern Yohan stripping off his clothes ig haha.. anyways, between Gaon/Jinyoung and Yohan/Jisung, it's VERY difficult to nail down his face. less lines doesn't resembles him at all and add some more lines he looks too realistic to my simplified version of Gaon/Jinyoung. it was hard trying to find the balance for these characters to be in the same picture and look like they belong in the same style. i want to do Yohan/Jisung's pretty face justice but i still struggled in this sketches. i think this was 2021? 2022?

2nd sketch— his long protruding neck lmao i haven't fully grasped how a person can pose naturally but it came out as if he has turtle neck syndrome going on. well done Yohan! you are a turtle apparently according to my hand. all jokes aside, this was me attempting to paint his face bcs i never really attempted to paint gahan. i doodled and sketched more than i paint/rendering and i'm on my way to learn more of rendering daily if possible, alongside with my daily sketches. you can also see i've tried to give some color to his attire and some medallion or such. do you see a braid there? i will get there, the braid is something significant in this story ;)

3rd sketch is basically me planning out his character design as a barbarian/viking chief. you can see bits of references cuts here and there, took me quite some time bcs i just started to really try my hands on concept character design properly— i love cloaks and capes and vikings has exactly just that, and the winter times are especially my favorite type of attire on them so i thought why not give Yohan polar bear fur as his official formal attire while still flaunting his wonderful body to the world be it summer or winter lmao. here's where you know it's fantasy. i'm sure people back then drink ales and what not to keep their body warm so they can go bare-chested in winter even but i'm sure the day after that they will regret it. but i make Yohan and his clan to have special abilities for living in cold places. doesn't mean i don't make them wear winter attire but this is only bcs i want him to be bare-chested xD the one I post here was before i dabble on the sketch a bit more. hopefully one day i can share it again with more updates for this au.

now.. onto Gaon's sketches.

he's a Prince in this story. his parents, the King and the Queen, arranged a marriage for him for political reasons. but they have special reasons as to why they pick Yohan, aside from political purposes, to be their son's betrothed and gave him away to Yohan's barbarian clan.

1st sketch (ignore the upper left, that's Jinyoung from his other drama). i want to see him in medium and long hair length. there's a purpose to this. he has his canon Gaon hairstyle when he was the Prince in the palace. but with time and some adjustments living with Yohan and his barbarian clan rubs off on him. perhaps it's due to that, or he's grown tired to cut it off again and again (he has no one to groom him properly now unlike in the palace), practical reason is to maintain heat around his neck while in winter, or it's his idea of adapting and blending in with the enemy. you can't blame him for being wary. he's whisked away from his comfort place and home and married off to a fearsome and famous barbarian on the land at that time, almost willingly got raped by Yohan on 1st chapter (yes, you read that right). other reasons why he grows his hair, as i mentioned the culture rubs off on him, is something to do with the hair braiding too. and personal reason is that i want to see pretty Gaon in long hair lol

2nd sketch on the left was him on early days on Yohan's fur beddings. the right was him perhaps laughing out loud by some surprising and amusing thing Yohan said after living with him for some months, you can see the different hair length there. gosh he looks unalive in here lol idk why.. my sketches were still rigid here

3rd sketch is them after establishing a genuine intimate relationship and Yohan has to be away to fend off some unexpected visitors. unfortunately it cost Yohan some of his men's lives. but he made it back to his clan and his betrothed. i make it as if Gaon was anxious waiting for him and one of the barbarian shouted for Yohan's arrival and he ran immediately. lunged at Yohan perhaps, the barbarian Chief managed to catch him but didn't quite have the strength to carry them both upright as the weariness sinks into him post battle & adrenaline wearing off of him. he's home now, in Gaon's arms.

now.. the hair braiding.

barbarians/viking has long hair and braids on their hair. styled cascading down or up into a pony tail or a mohawk and such. idk if this is historically correct but i'm winging most of this anyway but the idea of braids in this story is that it's significant to lovers. it's a mark between special intimate relationship (like lovers, spouses, soulmates). one can have a braid or braid their lover's hair should they wish to, it's very intimate and special for them. jeweleries might have certain status symbol for them and their ranks but I also prefer these barbarians have something simple to symbolize their intimacy. something that can get overlooked but enough for their significant other to know (and some people) what it means.

I like the idea of Yohan having accessories for his attire but his hair is clean from braids. clearly it's saying something if you've read this far and seeing my sketches for their different stages of relationship. over the years of them finally developing feelings and genuinely established a relationship, despite already being married an Gaon almost got raped by Yohan, they are lovers.

yet Yohan never really initiates anything about him wanting to have braid(s) or braiding Gaon's hair. he might have explained about what braids are to Gaon when the bambi was curious or off-handedly commented something about it. Gaon really finds out the real meaning from Yohan's ppl and he wonders why Yohan never asks or wants braids from him. then he realizes Yohan has always been respectful to him, even years after that night he almost raped him. always keeping healthy distance, outside of their sex and other intimate physical affections, he usually waits until Gaon ask first regarding intimate things. not that he never initiates things, he figures something as serius and committed as this is something Gaon wants to have an option to bail out from. they were arranged to have marriage for political reasons after all, Gaon has the freedom to not have feelings for him as long as he stays within the wedding pact rules Yohan make with the King & the Queen ( for Gaon's sake too). He never expects to have feelings for the Prince and he always keeps the option of Gaon falling out of love of him one day. it is only fair, he thinks.

but then Gaon asks him if he wants Gaon to braid his hair. the Prince never ceases to make him falter. it still shocks and amuses him, to have someone have this much effect on him. even with nervousness and blushing state Gaon is in now after uttering those words.. Yohan wonders what he has done to have this kind of luxury to have someone this precious in his arms.

and if his people noticed a single braid just near the back of his neck when wind swept his hair or if he pulls his hair into a ponytail on hot summer days? they will all grin smugly.. Yohan likes to keep it a bit hidden from view mainly bcs it's practical and he doesn't want ppl to accidentally graze it off when he's having friendly wrestle matches or axe practices. or even having people cut it off when he's at war. he doesn't hide it per se, it's visible when it's visible. Gaon smiles sweetly and adoringly when he finds this out bcs to him, it feels as if Yohan is unconsciously protecting it. protecting their relationship, protecting Gaon.

and if Gaon walks out of Yohan's tent, that days when he asks if he can braid Yohan's hair, with a braid or several on his hair? visible to everyone? the people cheer and roar in celebration. they throw a huge feast and toast to their relationship, congratulating the power couple. wishing the gods to give these two their blessings and to protect them. they're finally able to see their Chief have a partner that is equal to him. it's a memorable day

but if you think this story doesn't come with heavy angst, tears, pain and betrayal.. well think again ;))

i will stop here. thankyou for reading! i hope i can pick up this au again in my drawings & writings

[thelettergii]

How does one even learn how to draw the way you do? Like, this is not just (deservingly) complementing you, I genuinely want to know because your sugarplum ladies and sailor moon art are everything! The colour and texture of your art are so unique!

Wow, thank you so much! <3

The nice answer is that if I could share 3 tips that shaped my artwork:

Get a really good understanding of anatomy and proportions. Some people memorize every muscle, but imo you don't have to. I grew up with foervraengd's anatomy tutorials and took those proportions to heart. I wouldn't try to stylize (that is, find your own unique art style) until you can grasp the basics, because you have to understand the basics before you can exaggerate them.

Learn to reference without tracing exactly. I often look for photo references for poses I'm not familiar with drawing. I think it's ok to layer a ref on top of your drawing to check if proportions are correct or something like that, but I've learned what looks lively IRL can look pretty lifeless when transferred directly to a canvas. An artist I like @/almakrowan suggests blurring the reference to help you interpret it in your own way; I would also suggest exaggerating the placement of body parts a little - look at the direction the arms, legs, shoulders, and hips are facing and make that angle a little more extreme.

Analyze your favorite artists! I'm an analytical person by nature so I'm biased, but I think it's fun to break down exactly what I like about a specific artist's style or art piece. Maybe it's their line textures, or the way they capture faces in an elegant or cute way, or the composition or layout of their pieces. It's very likely you enjoy more than one artist, so I think if you can take all the things you like about different artists and combine them together somehow, that's what creates your unique artistic voice. (This works for fashion design too!)

The less nice answer is that truthfully I am pretty hard on myself when it comes to art, unhealthily so. In my old art I see nothing but flaws, so I'm always trying to get better with my latest artwork. This is not a healthy learning mechanism and I do not recommend it, haha.

I used to lurk on deviantART as a kid and there was always this huge emphasis on "accept constructive criticism and always improve yourself" and a lot of art drama stemmed from artists who refused to take critique and you could see their art stagnating. So even though I was just a lurker without an account at the time I took that philosophy to heart, maybe a little too much...

[honeysucklebuttons]

just dropping by with some questions if you don't mind , for how long have you been drawing and do you have any tips for drawing humans ? (i've been drawing for a while but i am used to only drawing animals , but your's and others art has insipired me to go out of my comfort zone and try to draw humans)

Hello!! I apologize for the delayed response, I hope you don't think I was ignoring you! (Mother's Day at a flower shop is insane haha)

But!

I have been drawing basically my whole life? What started as stick people slowly turned into chubby chibis with enormous heads, which turned into slightly more human-looking people in a mix of cartoony anime style, and then taking art classes and majoring in art helped grow my style into still more human-looking people (lol), which is a general mix of cartoony-anime and somewhat realistic?

I'm gonna sit and think really hard and long on good tips for you!!!

Draw from pictures: Still photos have the advantage of allowing you to focus on something unchanging, so you can study one thing in unwavering detail

Draw from life: Watching how bodies shift and move, how muscles contract and stretch, how emotions change the whole posture - all of that will train your eyes to grasp a more loose gesture of the whole picture, the body as a whole

Study human anatomy: bones, muscles, skin - how does it all connect? Knowing what's inside an arm will help you understand how to build an arm from nothing

People watch!! So many body types! So many ways people hold themselves and walk! So many hairstyles and clothing styles! People with walkers and wheelchairs and prosthetics!

Break it down: Basic lines turn into basic shapes, which build up into more and more complex ideas until you have planes of a face, muscles weaving in a thigh

Gesture drawing: Quick studies of the way the body fits in space! Exaggerate it like animators do, stretch and pull the body to make it more fluid and expressive! Practice mode: Time yourself. See a pose, scribble it down loosely in 10-30 seconds. NEXT!

Figure drawing: Drawing a real person in front of you is probably the best way to get used to drawing bodies (I know it can be awkward, but they don't have to be naked, although that does help if they're cool with it! You can even watch your roommate or family member from across the room and go from there.)

Get obsessed: Sounds silly? Well, if you get seriously invested in someone cute you know, or a character you really like, then take it to the next level and DRAW THEM OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

Draw yourself! In the mirror, your hands, from pictures, the way other people see you

Get models: You can totally hire models, or go to a local school who has figure art classes, but you don't have to! There are people around you who can model for you, poseable art models in plastic and wood, you have options!

Watch cartoons/anime/animation: Watch what the animators/character design team choose to accentuate and highlight in a design, what makes them look more human or not

Similarly, study other artists' work (in general): See how art has evolved over time and how different artists express the human body visually! Every artist does things differently, and there's stuff to learn from everyone!

Be okay with literally learning all the time. No experience is wasted, no piece "trash" just because it doesn't replicate what you see. Artist eyes are always working and creating things in our heads, and little "oh!" moments will hit you when you least expect it. The way someone's collarbone curves suddenly. The way someone's smile is shaped, but you never noticed before. Little things.

Websites: There are websites for quick pose studies, for expressive movements, for manipulating your own little model, for all sorts of things!

Literally the bottom line is to draw. Like. The more you draw, the more you will find what you want to change about your style, or what you really like about it that might make it unique! Draw lots of people! Don't get discouraged! Draw scribbly people and mystery people and people in colored pencils only and old people and people made out of shadows only! The hardest thing is choosing what to draw first, but if you're already an animal artist, translating that over to people might be easier than you think!

Also, I know the list is long but I'm chatty and want to help! I hope it's not overwhelming, and don't expect things to change immediately. Let yourself grow and bloom organically and over time.

Draw on, friend!! :D