#draw the character in ur outfit challenge or whatever

[applecherry108]

I am sorry for cursing the boys with my auntie energy, I am not fashionable.. 🙈

[theblacktiecacti]

can you walk us through ur thought process for each sow character design? im actually genuinely so intrigued

OH MY GOSH MY SECOND ASK! Hello hi yes I would love to talk about my thought process in why I draw them the way I do.

I’m gonna put this all under a cut in sections though cause. I kinda wrote/drew a lot.

General Stuff

So generally, when I’m coming up with how I want a character to look, Pinterest is probably one of my biggest tools. I usually just look up “aesthetic [item of clothing they said the character had]” to find ideas and get solid visual reference for a lot of the clothes that I picture the character wearing. I also have a Pinterest board that’s just called “interesting faces” which I scroll through to find the face that I think matches what I picture the character like the most, then hop between suggested pins until I find the right one. I’ve also got one just saved with different body types to do the same thing with. I feel like I still struggle a bit with same face/body type syndrome, but doing this has helped a bit.

Most of the time, the ideas for character appearances come from other characters who have similar vibes or from whatever aesthetic a character associates with. Also, I try to incorporate shape language to indicate character personality in their designs!

Zephrael

I really wanted to lean into the spindly spider theme for him! I tried to keep his limbs pretty thin and his outfit with a lot of protrusions like spider limbs. I might have overdone it on the spider webs a little bit lmaOooo.

Alongside that, I wanted to make him very pointy and sharp. Cause he’s always. on edge. ba dum crash.

I wanted to make sure he had a white cane to assist his blindness! Alongside that as an accessibility device, when I pictured him at first, I imagined him with crutches, but when I was drawing, I couldn’t quite figure out how to get those to meld. My thoughts were either to combine a crutch with a cane, which would cause even more stress on the wrist by having to twist the crutch to feel with the cane, or to have him in a wheelchair with the cane, which IDK how well those could combine if you move with your arms and are holding something. Though he could probably have a powered one with his status. I think if I add the wheelchair at some point, I’d want to make sure it’s still creepy crawly like the wheelchair that Sun Spider had in Across the Spiderverse.

Zeph was actually the only one whose reference photo I saw beforehand, Shout out to the bimbofication Grizzly character chart.

Argentum

When I imagined Argentum, I pictured a cross between Raine from The Owl House and Venti from Genshin Impact who I’ve seen a bunch of times but never actually knew their name until I just looked it up.

When they got described with gray hair, my mind just went “Okay, so they’re older.” Not to mention, if they’ve written a bunch of books, they have to have taken the time to do it.

I wanted to add a bunch of book shapes in their design just to show off their Writerness.

Still don’t know how to add hints to the little grimbly in their head that I do not know much about yet.

The Wall

Oh The Wall, how you challenge me to draw armor.

I wanted to go heavy on the blocky, big shapes, but I wanted to make sure he still felt comforting rather than scary. He’s a knight and a protector, but he’s on our side.

Senshi from Dungeon Meshi is all I could picture while listening to the show. Like if Senshi and Sans from Undertale had a huge knight baby.

I still need to figure out ways to hint more at his heritage rather than just having his connection to Zeph as a forefront.

Phoenix

His name is Phoenix. We have to give him wings; it's the only option.

All I could picture after the hair was described was Casey from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Who is surprisingly similar.

Scarf! I love it when characters have scarves.

He’s so upside down triangle. Just the way he says things without thinking and is kinda snooty and is very kid-ish and immature. Only placed in a position of power because his mentor is busy. He’s very imbalanced but by god is he doing stuff.

Sunder

I had the hardest time with Sunder and it’s definitely pretty obvious.

I originally pictured him more like his actual image which I've now searched.

But after listening to him talk a bit, because I’m bad at placing accents, I just went “Is he Scottish?” and from then on, Sunder was just David Tennant in the baftas, even after I was like hmmm the accent isn’t Scottish, is it.

I also gave him a hat cause his head looked boring. Probably would not have done this if I heard he had horns. Audio listener moment

[murderoushagthesequel]

returning the favour!!

hmmm

delete any three marauders era characters from existence JUST so you get to create them in ur own image go

least favourite colour and is it because it reminds you of a very you specific children memory?

describe these five characters as teachers: james potter. bellatrix black. frank longbottom. gideon prewett. lucius malfoy.

your favourite colours

r u chef xeno au or model xeno au person (yes i’m either writing or drawing the chef au) and you HAVE to chose

opinions on american girl dolls

ok sorry this took me forever to answer i got a little too into it, so here we go

delete any three characters

oooo this is a spicy one. i’m assuming this means delete them from canon and replace them with my own image? because i already do whatever i want here.

first is absolutely regulus because he would fuck the entire story up. and i love that for him. my reggie, who would find a way to band together with all of his friends and fight their own side of the war away from moldy and dumbly, who would burn the world down for each and every one of them and his brother and james, who got along with the gryffindors and hexed anybody who dared challenge him about it. regulus who’s trans and gay and depressed and dealing with it like a champ. who can get the entirety of hogwarts under his thumb with one outfit because he’s just that beautiful and that powerful. regulus who whittles baby animals for james in secret, who is a god at quidditch and always catches the snitch because he’s just that good, who joined frog choir initially because his mother made him but turned it into something for himself and never left even once he ran away. regulus who is just me in a different font because i said so. i may have gotten a little carried away with the headcanons here. but regulus is my best friend, the love of my life, my baby, my child, i love him okay?

second. hmmmm. i think i’m gonna have to go with barty. now there isn’t really any canon on him before he became a death eater anyway, so it wouldn’t so much be removing him and replacing him as much as adding in nonexistent content. i would mainly just be adding in the widely accepted fanon content: slytherin skittles, rosekiller, barty being a little menace who would kill for his friends no hesitation, etc. i’d make his gay awakening xeno idc. and then from there there’s two directions to go. there’s: let him live out his happy little life with his friends that’s not so happy because they’re fighting in a way but at least they’re together. and there’s: reg and evan die and barty goes crazy and turns into canon barty. i like both versions, even both at the same time tbh, but in the first one i think pandora and dorcas would help keep him together whereas in the second one he just goes off the rails. there’s just so much more to be explored with his character and all we really get is he hates his dad but not his mom, and he killed and tortured a bunch of people this literally makes no sense at all but moving on anyways.

third. let’s see, let’s see, let’s see. peter! omg peter. we all know i love peter pettigrew and canon peter is… well… the fucking worst. give me peter pettigrew that made a bit of a mistake, sure, but it didn’t cost his friends their lives and they forgave him. give me (this will be an icotfs moment) deaf peter pettigrew who taught his friends sign language in their first year and was so happy just to have friends because he had it rough in the past but now he has a family at school. give me peter pettigrew who was a hat stall because he’s wise and loyal and cunning and brave. give me peter pettigrew who worked so so hard for his marks in school and excelled because he worked for it. give me peter pettigrew who makes fun of his friends as relentlessly as they make fun of him and his just, happy! give me peter pettigrew who was genuinely friends with everybody, not a kid they had to look after, not an outcast, not anything else. a friend.

honorable mentions: snape, no redemption arc, no pity; lily, just, her in my mind; pandora, make her a character

now, if you meant pick any three characters to erase from fanon and replace, my answer is different and i don’t know what it is.

least favorite color / tied to childhood memory

hmmmm. probably either like a neon green or brown-orange. when i was a kid, for a period of time, my favorite color was orange but i always had to specify not brown orange colors. specifically bright oranges. also like… idk how to describe it but off white in the way medicine is. i had to take this liquid medicine for a long period of time when i was little and it was this weird white color and absolutely nasty. especially the orange flavor. completely vile. i can still taste it right now and that was like 13 years ago.

characters as teachers

oh this is a fun one. here we go.

james potter: he is struggling just a bit. he’s for sure a humanities teacher, and he hasn’t quite found the balance between being a good teacher and a nice teacher. he’s like right on the edge there, where he’s almost perfect, but he does get fooled by a dead grandma from time to time, or a student taking advantage of his niceness. but he is, so nice. and really helpful. he does absolutely everything he can to help his students, even if that means staying at work until 10pm trying to come up with a way to help this kid pass his class, he’ll do it. even if he has to tutor a kid on the entire history of the world. this man is committed to his work. he said “i wanna be a teacher” and he really meant it. sirius, remus, peter, regulus, and lily have all had to forcibly pull him away from his work on more than one occasion. regulus once just stayed the night in james’ classroom because he refused to leave.

bellatrix black: this one. this is a wild one. because that’s what bella is, isn’t she? a wild card. controversial opinion? i initially saw her as an art teacher and then it switched in my brain and now i can’t let go of her being an economics/government/finance teacher. i mean, picture her just sitting at the front of her classroom, sitting cross-legged on top of her desk and teaching kids how to topple a government instead of reading from the textbook? nobody knows how she hasn’t gotten fired yet because she basically taught one class how to money launder and another how to stage a coup. all her students both love her and are terrified of her. she’s the kind of person that can catch a bug in her hands without even looking- she makes sure to do that trick on the first day of every class, she will not fuck around, got it? but she has her favorite students who she’s so sweet to. like if they cough once during class they are going to the nurse’s office and she will march them right down there if she has to.

frank longbottom: now he is the perfect balance. the teacher i’ve always been in awe of. the one who manages to perfectly balance everything and act like it’s nothing. i could honestly see him teaching any subject and you know what? maybe he teaches all of them, who can say? he is nice, but not a pushover. a good teacher, but a kind one. he balances his personal life and work perfectly and doesn’t let them bleed too much into each other. every once in a while, he’ll get a little too caught up on one thing or the other - he’s only human, right? - but he’s usually able to get back into it pretty easily, especially with the help from his friends. his students all like him, they say goodbye sadly but don’t miss him too terribly when he’s gone, but he’s touched all of their lives somehow. he’s that one teacher whose class every student wants to be in, and everybody else is jealous when they don’t end up there.

gideon prewett: he’s a kindergarten teacher. he has one of those little town rugs in the middle of his floor, he reads all the books at story time with different voices and acts it out. he hosts little events as much as possible for the kids to participate in. plays, puppet shows, bake sales, etc. he also goes all out with birthdays, like decorates the whole classroom and everything. and he’s an amazing teacher. like those kids are leaving his classroom at the end of the year with a second grade education. some of them go to college early. he gets invited to their weddings. he randomly brings in things to make his students happy like cookies (different kinds for allergies and dietary restrictions) or plants. he always brings something in himself for show and tell. he’s the teacher everybody loved when they were in kindergarten and never got another teacher who could live up to him. except for the students that ended up with his brother as an AP calc teacher. he’s completely different but exactly the same simultaneously, but the only one who ever came close to matching him.

lucius malfoy: oof. you do not want to be in his class. this man is like an APUSH or AP physics teacher. he is strict and not forgiving. he picks his favorites on the first day of class and everybody else knows the year is about to be shit for them. he keeps a whole ass family portrait on the wall behind his desk, and he looks hella intimidating in it. he gives hours of homework each night, half of it busy work because he can’t be bothered to grade it all, and insanely difficult tests. the only reason he’s still allowed to teach is because he sucks up to the head of the school board and he’s about to be on tenure, then no one can touch him. there’s also a ton of rumors flying around about him at all times though, because the kids hate him so much. and some of them come back to bite him in the ass, so, good for you, kids.

favorite colors

ooooo how to choose. okay first definitely has to be a neutral pastel/sage green, like the one in my tumblr theme. it’s so calming and soothing and it reminds me of being in a little fairytale forest. like, i look at it and i see low hanging branches with floating lights and a calm stream running by a woodland cottage. it’s lovely.

then probably something like the blue you posted. it reminds me of the word midnight. it’s mysterious, it’s never-ending, it’s kind of scary, but in a good way. i accidentally typed “in a god way” the first time and tbh, yeah.

and then like a lavender color like this one. i can’t really explain why it just makes my brain happy.

similarly to the purple, dust rose.

chef xeno vs model xeno

nooooo i have to choose? i love model xeno, i really do. i love absolutely everything about him. but my heart goes to chef au :pensive:. especially with the brilliant alteration that it’s secretly a ratatouille au where barty and evan think xeno is this brilliant chef but they have no idea there’s just a tiny peter on his head doing all the cooking for him. i also think it’s funny picturing xeno being all cocky thinking two guys are trying to compete for him when really, they’re both trying to get with him at the same time. he would be so oblivious but so happy at the revelation and i love him for that.

american girl dolls

ok somebody fr just asked me this? but when i was a kid i wanted one so badly, not even sure why. i think it was a “everyone else has one so i need one” type thing? i also just liked dolls. i got two oof-brand american girl dolls over time, one has a brown bob with bangs and i named her emily and the other has long blonde hair and ngl i forgot her name… but i have like a whole ass closet for these girlies. i loved them with my whole heart for a while. opinions overall? i definitely don’t get the hype anymore. and the american girl puberty books and shit are weird… but dolls in general >>> (except the creepy ones).

[brinytrolls]

heyy!! i really like your work and think you're SUPER MEGA cool, and hope you get REALLY good at animating!! drawing is the first step, so making it move is the next haha. (once i save enough for a tablet i'll practice a lot!!) but i have a question: how do you improve as an artist? do you actively seek out critique or does it come with time and sub-conscious decisions to not do the bad thing anymore? what did you do? love you, keep fredding on!! ----some stupid idiot who wants to be anonymous

thank u anon this is super sweet!!! it means a lot<3 

also ive been an animation student for 5 years now so i know a little bit but probably, less than i should.....i do Not practise enough

as for tips! let me try and compile a short list of things that help me! 

• u hear it all the time but its true-practise practise practise!!! sketchbooks, digital, whatever strikes ur fancy. practising is the MOST important thing u can do 

• understand and research the basics. you dont need to be an expert on anything, god knows im not, but its good to know a bit! this includes but isnt limited to: 

colour theory! why colours go together, what colour schemes look good, etc. heres some basics on it! personally

[i also find symbolism of colour just as important. obviously symbolism varies from person to person and culture! but heres a quick guide on the usual symbolism of colour. if something sounds wrong to you though, mess with it yourself!] 

tthe form of subjects-this means drawing basic shapes, and using them to construct [basically] anything! the idea is its much easier to draw and move around a series of cubes and cylinders, than a whole human body. heres a guide on how form works. 

draw a box is a challenge recommended to me by my lecturer for improving on drawing shapes and forms! i highly recommend it!

value and lighting are important! heres an explanation on value. im not sure much can be done to cheat lighting and value, except for master studies (we’ll get to that shortly!) and observation. 

the most useful tip on value ive learned, is to turn your art black and white, and see if it all has enough contrast without colour. if not, time to work on the values! 

composition, babey. how subjects are arranged in a piece. heres a bunch of stuff on it [im still learning this one...rule of thirds i will Die for tho]

anatomy! this is the hardest shit. i still dont get it. my lecturers recommend andy loomis [heres a pdf of his figure drawing book] idt his way was quite up my alley, but u never know! 

• speaking of anatomy-life drawing is an INCREDIBLY useful reference. so goddamn useful, u dont even know. they help u figure out anatomy! this includes gesture studies, and more detailed things. i recommend googling how a typical life drawing class goes down/tips for it

life drawing classes are very difficult to access atm, so here are a couple of online resources! [all of these will obv contain nude bodies]

croquis cafe-contains free videos that simulate a life drawing class! videos are more useful than images. has a variety of ethnicities and body types, which is wonderful!

line of action- a site with a variety of images on figure drawing, animal drawing, as well as hands & feet, expression/face focus, and environmental things. you can set it to play as a slideshow for as long as u like, or set it up to be similar in timing to a real life drawing class

online stock photo artists such as senshistock, who has compiled a useful little list of similar accounts over here!

•  reference reference reference!! references are so incredibly useful, and anyone who tells you using a reference is cheating is wrong on every conceivable level. reference from photos, from movies, from videos, everything. 

something ive had to do in every level of art education is recreations and master studies. 

this means collecting artists work from professionals-be it historic painters, movie screenshots, concept artists, anything! 

it makes you focus on their compositions, how the lighting works, the colours used, pretty much everything. 

this is useful bc it can 1: get you out of your comfort zone and 2: make you use new techniques you might never have considered 

online tools such as designdoll and justsketchme have poseable models for you to pose as you please and reference from! suuuuper useful, especially for perspective poses.

• experimentation! fuck around. use brushes youve never used before, try a new medium, collect every free sample from the craft store and just Do Shit with it. 

•  absorb every goddamn piece of art u have ever come across, and save what you enjoy. 

and i mean save everything you enjoy. u like a movies lighting? a certain shot? an outfit? a random piece of fanart u came across? save it! look at it, figure out what it is u like 

make a private pinterest board or a folder on ur computer, save everything.

absorb and yank bits from art u enjoy. obviously dont imitate someones entire style, but if u like the way someone draws hands, or noses, or eyes, reference it. recreate it. see what u like, and incorporate it into ur own art

art is a big mess of taking things u like and making it ur own 

•  study professionals! animations, artists, illustrators. they know what they’re doing. 

heres a useful resource with a lot of rare concept art from animated movies! i go here a lot.

buy art books, or acquire pdfs of them, im not a cop, i dont care 

• as for critique, i do look for critique, and pay attention to it, but it’s important to know not to take it personally. and i recommend asking people whos opinions you value! 

i think thats all i can think of right now in terms of General Art....

if u want me to elaborate on anything or show me art, ask for help or just talk art stuff [character design is my fav and my speciality, ive been studying it for a while 👀] please dont be afraid to dm me or just send me another ask! 

best of luck anon, i rly hope this helps! :D

[a-little-slice-of-fandom]

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to ask or submit this, but if you haven't done Jane yet I'd like one (analysis). I always thought Heart of Stone was much more than just about Jane greiving not being with her son, but maybe also like commentary on how wives (especially in the Tudor era) are meant to bite their tongues and keep everything under control no matter their actual feelings

Hi love!!!

So Seymour is incredibly interesting to me as a character for so many reasons, and is a shinning example to me of why Six is such a fantastic show for female characters and female representation.

For Heart of Stone itself, I think it’s sort of like Don’t Lose Ur Head in where there’s loads of subtle messages and character development throughout but you maybe have to listen to the song a few times to fully get the messages, unlike say All You Wanna Do or even Get Down which are much more open about what they’re trying to say. Seymour goes through this character development (much in the same way Howard does), of realising that even though she loves Henry, he doesn’t love her in the same way and that she is utterly replaceable to him.

And while there’s definitely some commentary in there about how women were treated in the Tudor era, with Seymour acknowledging her worth is directly tied to her son, and while I would argue that that theme is discussed more in relation to Aragon rather than Seymour, it goes to explain a lot of their actions throughout the show. Both these characters are portrayed as incredibly argumentative throughout Six, which makes sense when you think that this might be the first time that they’re allowed to be argumentative and stand their ground and fight back against the horrible things that people are saying about them. Seymour (and Aragon) are no longer tied to Tudor ideals. They have a voice now and they going to use it. And while this character trait is generally played for laughs in the show, it actually becomes quite sad if you think about it too long and too hard.

My only issues with HoS is that some of the original lyrics from the student run actually worked better in my opinion, but that’s a whole other thing that I don’t have time to get into right now. AND I’m actually not a massive Adele fan/ a fan or slower songs in general so I’m usually more interested in the second half of the song than the first half. I would have LOVED a HoS that was closer to a Sia song like Chandelier or Titanium you know?)

One thing I’d also like to quickly draw everyone’s attention to is Seymour’s outfit. A main cast Seymour is the only queen (main cast or alternate) to wear a dress, while also having long hair that’s worn mostly down. While clothes and hair obviously have no gender and anyone can wear anything, Seymour’s costume is probably the most typically feminine out of all the queens and directly contrasts the more masculine coded costumes that Cleves and Parr wear. This links into Seymour representing the more traditional side of feminity, being linked most obviously motherhood but also the role of a wife or “homemaker”. Her love is unconditional...and that’s not something she needs to be ashamed about. Love is a strength, not a weakness, and it’s celebrated as such.

Speaking of which Six doesn’t ever tear down traditional ideals of feminity to bring up newer ideals or preconceptions. For example, Seymour’s more demure attitude is never frowned upon by the others in order to praise Cleves more confident and bold personality. Yes, the queens themselves argue amongst one another and bicker about who had it hardest, but the show itself (and Toby/Lucy) doesn’t seem to favour one or the other or believe women should strive to be one or the other. The show essentially boils down to telling the audience that ALL women should be respected and represented, including those who simply might prefer more traditional gender roles like Seymour. There’s nothing wrong with adhering to them or rejecting them, it’s forcing them on someone that Six frowns upon.

It’s just,,,refreshing to have a character who is celebrated for their feminity and for their pride in being a mother, rather than torn down or frowned upon in favour of other female characters who conform to more stereotypical versions of female empowerment, like the brooding/stoic woman who feels nothing (which six has none of!!! Thank god!!!)

But Seymour isn’t this goody-two-shoes queen or the Mary-sue character of the show either! She’s an incredibly flawed individual, just like the other five queens, with her main strength of her love for her son leading her to be incredibly defensive over her situation. And again, I do think this makes sense? Firstly, Seymour is written off in the show in the same way she’s generally written off in history, so her wanting to stand her ground and defend herself/her situation(which definitely could not have been easy for her. Remember Henry warned her about Boleyn’s fate after Seymour tried to challenge him...) makes perfect sense! And secondly, I genuinely think Seymour has some form of attachment issue to Edward. The way seymour acts in the show honestly reminds me of someone who has lost their baby for whatever reason and simply can’t cope with that loss. She’s practically obsessed with this concept of motherhood and of her son. Yes, that’s what she’s usually tied to throughout history but for some reason Seymour makes me think of a guilty parent who blames themself for something that was completely out of their control. I don’t think this takes away from the theme motherhood being a strength that Seymour also is a fantastic champion of, but I do think it’s a really interesting layer to her character. Maybe I’m grasping at straws with this, but I do just see Seymour as someone with an intense amount of grief that she’s unable to address in a healthy way.

So that’s my general opinions on Seymour as a character! While HoS isn’t necessarily my favourite song of the show, I do actually really enjoy Seymour as a character (as she has some of my favourite lines in the show) and what Toby and Lucy managed to accomplish with her as a character.

Hope this explains my feelings well love ❤️❤️❤️ I’ve got a few people asking me to discuss Cleves so that will be my next post!

[sparklesthedestroyer]

My Personal Drawing Challenge for October

Because im not doing inktober

I made myself a massive list of challenges to pick from each day. I’m not gonna make myself draw every day because thats how i burn out but I’m gonna try to at least doodle something. And i may come back and expand on what i drew later

So here’s The List:

Draw a weird dream you had

Draw something using all art supplies of one color

Draw a pun (e.g. beer goggles)

Draw a character by one artist in another artist’s style

Draw a room full of vampires (bonus points if you draw an over-detailed background)

Fill a page with cringe art (go on. do it.)

Draw/paint with something unconventional (coffee, burnt wood, juice, nail polish, anything)

Draw a childhood fear

Draw a character you don’t know by description only (maybe phone a friend for this one)

Animal mashup: combine two animals to make a new one

Redraw the cover art for your favorite book/movie/game

Finish a work in progress (this one is mandatory. do it you coward)

Draw a tarot card and then draw the card

Draw comforting things

Surprise! You’re the chosen one! The hero of destiny or whatever. What’s your outfit of choice?

Draw something based on song lyrics

Draw a character in a weird pose

Draw a character making weird faces

30 min art challenge GO!

Draw something creepy as cute as possible (or the other way around)

Draw something using only a ballpoint pen (no, you can’t sketch in pencil first either)

Draw the most badass person you can come up with (bonus points if it’s an original character)

Random shape challenge

Generate a random word (or a few) and use that as a prompt for your drawing

Expression meme: find a chart of different expressions, pick one at random, draw it

3 color challenge: draw something using only 3 colors

Pick a year and draw a character/outfit/something that represents that year

Draw two people interacting (hugging, fighting, wrestling, whatever. Look up “draw the squad” memes for reference if you need to)

Draw something that represents this year

Color palette challenge: pick a premade color palette and create something with it

Draw a meal (what ur eating or what you wish you were)

Recreate a well-known piece of art in your style

Draw an optical illusion

Redesign a mascot or logo

Draw yourself in the weirdest scenario you've ever been in (for me it's a tie between the shower curtain debacle and battleship with Carissa)

Redraw your favorite screencap from a movie/show

Design a jack-o-lantern

Draw a bunch of different kinds of shoes

Zentangle day

Draw a ghost fren

Draw a spaceship based on a random household object

Draw birbs

Draw plants

Draw different hairstyles

Draw some cool rocks

Draw silly hats

Draw a fancy dessert

Draw something in grayscale

Draw a random Cards Against Humanity card (e.g. A sad fat dragon with no friends)

Draw your feelings

Find a word you don’t know and draw what you think it means

Freestyle

[edelwary]

when you were first getting into art, what and how did you draw? (like did you just doodle ur masterpieces on pieces of paper and posted-notes or did you have a proper sketchbook) how did you find motivation? bc ive been trying to draw but I always get unmotivated and stop while still wanting to get better just by doing nothing.

REALLY LONG, LOTS OF ADVICES FOR ARTISTS : 

TL;DR ; skip to the HOW TO ACTUALLY FUCKING DRAW part bc i have a megaton of shit to say lol + The MOTIVATION part 

mmh… I’ll get into details with this one tbh bc it’s a long ass process ahah : 

I live by the sea ; when i was youung i used to draw TONS of boat, but like, dollhouse boats, you could see the insides and stuff ; i loved to add tiny details and stuff, and imbricate everything together !

around 8 or 9 yo, i went to the public library with school and discovered the wonderful world of mangas ! I basically… Copy pasted an entire Mermaid Melody tome x) 

For about 2 years i alternated between reading mangas and trying to copy them ! Then i just kept drawing in the margins of my schoolwork for about… 5 years ! I have a Fuck Ton of sketchbooks of that time, it was… The start. Lol. Never say it’s bad because it’s never bad, just not there yet !!

Around my 13 yo, i went every saturday, for two years, under a bookstore ; there was a cave, and drawing classes ; that teacher was mean and harsh and stuff, but like… Not really. He would take away my eraser for the class, force me to use pencil, to draw something else (bulky boys instead of magical girls). 

I’ve learned a lot, more in terms of How To LEARN to draw than to draw itself, but i still progressed a LOT !! 

Then i kept drawing by myself for a year and i really worked hard on it ; about hours a day, trying watercolors and stuff ; i have a real problem with colors in traditionnal art, but i’m much better with lines (i should scan some RAD stuff i made in the weekend, yall ive never done anything this good i stg i dont know why i always forget im so much better on paper) 

This gets us to my sweet 16 ; i have to year of advance, bc i got ‘’’promoted’’’ idk how to say it ; anyways, i entered my (current) animation school for the first year at 16; vERY IMPRESSIVE AND TERRIFYING. 

And i learned. A fuckmegaton. Of shit there. 

Now i’m going for my third year there and i can make photorealistic marmora blades and cyberkpunk decors if i want to and that’s rad, but here is

 HOW TO ACTUALLY FUCKING DRAW : 

I have one HYPER important advice, and i’m keeping it to heart since i’m like, 11 : Have. Sketchbooks. Please !!! It’s very important. Here’s why : 

You keep everything with you in one place. You have 1 sketchbook, it’s basically easy to take every where (a A5, or A4 are pretty easy to carry, i have like, 12 of those, and around 8 of A3) 

You keep track of what you’ve done. It’s super important, bc first you can cry of laughter at your old stuff bc its cute but not so good, and second, you can just be like ‘holy mama’ and see how much you’ve improved

It’s very important to be organized. I WORK in art, and trust me, if there’s something that i’ve learned this year through tears and missing files and bugs : Be. Impeccable. Now if it’s for fun, go a little loose, and just have a folder for art on your computer, and a sketchbook, no need to stress, but the better you try to keep a record of where is what, the better you’ll see whats wrong

Notebooks are friends !! You can draw, write, glue stuff, make notes, lists, everything !!! I have my life in those. It’s more important to me than any of my phones. 

Be proud of it. Like, not everything, duh ! But try to tell yourself than it’s like a RPG ; even if it’s only 2 xp here and there, one day you’ll beat level 40, and that’s super important : art is. Fuckin. Long.

I cant stress it enough. It’s soooo long !!! SO LONG !! it’s years. It’s like karate and fishing and ANYTHING. To be good at it, it takes time, but it WILL COME if you keep trying. There’s no secret passage. 

You’re gonna me it, believe in me who believes in you. 

Use. References. 

Coming from a little shit who’s got a really good visual memory, that can sound like bs, but i stg everything is always AT LEAST twice as good if you’ve used a visual support. 

I’m not saying COPY EVRYTHING (even though thats a good training) I’m saying, if you really want to do that asian tiger, please have at least two or three pictures of it nearby. Take photos of your hands, and stuff ! 

Make it harder. 

No eraser. 

Paint. 

I draw all my backgrounds on my sketchbook with INDIAN INK; no returns, no refunds. 

Ink, Ink, INK !! Don’t allow mistakes.

And if you make mistakes :

New page, restart

It’s okay

It’s for you

I once started back again a whole EXAM bc it was bad, i got one of my best grades 

You’ll improve and be more assured if you know you just have to DO IT. Trust me. It’s VISIBLE; if you can erase, you fidget and hesitate and ‘’kbeujebez hahhaaa idkkidsd’’ ; stop ; do it, and if you don’t like it ? Try again, there’s no time limit

Draw as large as you can 

There’s no interesting story here, it just helps. Bigger movement of the hand, more place for details, breathing lines

Thin lineart helps

Thinner. Make it even thinner

Break the rules, but not the ones that structure your art 

Big lineart ? Why not

Unfinished lines, vaporeous colors ? Pretty

Cubism is actually based on extensive and intense practice of classical art, it’s not wibbly wooblly ; the anatomy is more correct than you think 

Structure and composition are important, but so is movement and life ; choose your fighter ; mine is fluidity and fun, i’m like, a rogue/archer in drawing. Some people are dwarf fighter. That’s amazing and great. 

Don’t be afraid to do nothing

Pages and pages of my sketchbooks are actually just lance facing right and smiling, you know… 

Sometimes it just doesnt work : two ways :

Take a break, Kiki’s delivery service style

Keep trying, break your art until it obeys and comes back

Take breaks. Breath. 

Don’t compare. I do it, it doesn’t help at all. You’ll make it ; and if you compare, keep in mind that everyone’s different

I’m not gonna lie, it’s NOT easy, it’s even hard 

But I really, really think it’s worth it 

MOTIVATION :

My main bitch 

I’m always pumped for art because i can LITTERALLY NOT do anything else ; i love reading and writing and stuff but at the end of the day i just want !!! to draw !!!! aaaaaa-

Fall in love with it, and with the possibilities ; i have stories to tell, tell me yours ! Do your best, one day it WILL work

Actual advices : 

I have an inspiration blog where i just reblogs stuff i like to draw them later

Find a picture, copy it. Do it again. Change the characters (i have 2 ocs and Lance and Keith as default characters) in the pic. 

Like an artstyle ? Break it to its very core, analyse it, copy it, redo it, trace it and ABSORB it. Don’t copy/past, LEARN from your heroes.

Do what you like. I have 86578 pieces of voltron, this is not a coincidence. I have ENDLESS ideas for this show, wtf. 

Try new things. Buy indian ink im begging you. It’s so cool. 

Have a game with yourself, or a challenge. STICK TO IT. 

Study. When you’re bored, usually it’s because you’re stagnating. Make it harder or do hands until you cry. 

Love your backgrounds; make backgrounds, study trees, and tokyo streets, and venice’s bridges. Decor is just as cool as characters, if not more

Mess a little with everything. My roomate more than one found me stained from head to toes trying to DO STUFF 

Draw outfits. Draw what you want but can’t afford 

MAKE YOUR LIFE A COMIC. Remember those sketchbooks ? Make a comic a week/month/every full moon, whatever, and draw your life (mine’s the roomates au lol) 

Prompts blogs are cool too 

Make fanart of a fic you liked ; you have the characters and the pose already, you just have to illustrate ; double bonus, you probably will make a writer’s day, if not year !

That little movie that plays when you listen to your favorite song ? DRAW IT

Your favorite scene in your favorite movie ? Redraw each shot. On post it. Plus it looks awesome afterwards to have the infamous TREX scene of Jurassic Parks in post it

Get bored. That’s inevitable. Dance, scream, get back to it. Walk, draw everything you see. 

Make a paper google map street view : Take a walk : every 50 meters, draw what is in front of you. 

Snapchats your friends. Draw their snapchats when they answer 

Draw maps. Invent places. Invent bikes, and hovercrafts, and monsters. Make your everyday inventory. Make your life a video game, and do the concept arts of it. 

FETCH your inspiration. I have approx. 20 artbooks, full of drawings and concept arts of my fave movies/games ; take what you like and add it to the story you have since you’re 8. We all have one. 

Ask for it ; your sis, your mom, me even ! If you dont have ideas, someone will have them. 

WELL i’m gonna stop there, even though i got like, 9864567 more to say, but with this you should be fine ! Anon, i’m rooting for you ! we all start somewhere, just hold on!!!! 

[onemillioncranes]

ok ok I need to fucxking draw so

30 day art challenge thing!!! feel free to do with me just tag me bc I’d love to see ur beautiful art <33 

(P.S. if you do this challenge, you don’t have to do one every day/ in this particular order. this was just made so I would have motivation to draw! )

1. you or one of your characters in a dream outfit/your favorite outfit

2. a mermaid/merman/ other gender fish person

3. a cute couple! could be friends, lovers,etc.

4. any character from any of your favorite tv shows

5. sketch any 3 poses from this website: http://www.senshistock.com/sketch/#

6. something that you need to practice/ don’t normally draw, e.g. hands, hair, perspectives, etc.

7. someone/something you love 

8. a person with a flower/butterfly/bug on their head

9. one of your favorite youtubers/singers/artists .

10. a witch or wizardsona 

11. a background! any background! could b ur room, could b a vacation spot, could b the first thing that comes up when you search “nature”

12.  jeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeansssss

13. a person with any type of wings i. e. butterfly, angel, bat 

14. any 4 random emotions 

15. a partly robot person OR someone with a missing limb with something else in it’s place like a tree trunk, pencil etc.

16. someone in a swimsuit/beach outfit

17. a person with an uncommon pet or creature, like a dragon or a hippo

18.  either an extremely young or extremely old person

19. an outfit for extreme cold weather

20. someone holding a fruit

21. twins with a height difference

22. another thing that you need to practice/don’t normally draw

23. something/someone with no eyes/no mouth OR something/someone with a lot of extra eyes/mouths

24. 3 different unique hairstyles

25. draw something and then put a picture of a galaxy, ocean etc. to color the hair/clothing/skin  (I’ll put an example of what I’m talking about later)

26. a miniature comic/drawing sequence. can be about whatever you want it to be

27. a model or character in a weird outfit/something they would never wear

28. what you are feeling that day

29. a person in a glowing outfit

30. you/one of your characters celebrating! congrats on finishing 30 days of drawing ;P

[ganymedesclock]

can i ask ur opinion on a voltron theory?? WHAT IF all of the paladins are part ~something~ and keth isnt the only one woth alien parents/ancestors/whatever keiths galra blood comes from? maybe that's why they're the first human paladins - thEY AREN'T 100% HUMAN :0

I mean, I hate to rain on people’s parades, but, I feel like considering how closed off Earth at the beginning of the show was from the rest of space, it’d be pretty staggeringly unlikely that coincidentally five different people have some kind of alien heritage and all end up showing up in the exact same situation.

Like there’s “sure is convenient everybody was wearing mostly the color they ended up with the Lion of” coincidences which we can accept because associating the characters with those colors across all of their outfits, and their lions, helps us draw an immediate association where anytime we see the character in armor/out of armor/in a Lion we can immediately go “that’s got to be Pidge because Pidge is the Green One”

and then there’s… that, which I feel like is too strong of a coincidence with not enough of a payoff to be believable.

There’s also where I feel like… there’s a reason it was Keith. It plays into a lot of his themes as a character.

Keith fears isolation. He especially fears rejection by people that he cares about- he’s not scared of being alone as much as he’s scared of losing people.

At the same time, Keith is also driven strongly by sense of self, and having a strong, focused sense of what’s right- what he needs to pursue, and what he doesn’t.

The thing about Keith having not only Galra lineage but an ambiguous amount of it and an even more ambiguous history is that it basically hits him right where it hurts. Even if the team doesn’t really have a massively negative response, even more than their actual response is Keith anticipating it. Basically in Ark of Taujeer Keith assumed he was a burden to the team and they were better off without him!

And it also shakes up and challenges his sense of self. Especially if I’m right and that suspicious intuition Keith’s had consistently since the beginning of the show is actually some druid aptitude- because suddenly a lot of the things Keith relies on to achieve clarity, his virtue as the Red Paladin of flying by instinct- is in danger. He doesn’t know if he can trust his own instincts, or understand and rely on himself.

So it makes sense to shake up Keith’s sense of self and perception of others.

With the others? Not so much.

Coran and Allura are already aliens.

Pidge puts an incredible focus on knowing all the information and getting the information. Digging up personal history? She’d be invested in that, but it wouldn’t really create a big challenge or conflict for her the way, say, choosing whether to stay with the team or try to pursue her family does. Because sure she’d want to know if she found like. some implication she’s part Olkari or whathaveyou, but that information can wait. She wouldn’t really have a burning need to drop everything and go find it.

Hunk doesn’t have any traits I think that would interact meaningfully for or against. He was the most immediately interested in “so how’s that work” after the galra Keith revelation but also pretty much the least perturbed- even less than Keith himself.

Shiro’s issues have a lot less to do with aliens having things to do with him and more very certain aliens that kind of tried to ruin his life.

Lance has such an incredible strong sense of Earth as home and family waiting for him that I don’t think he’d be tempted much if at all by the idea of potential extraterrestrial heritage. I mean, this may sound rich considering I’m literally writing an Altean Lance fic, but, that AU does also play into Lance’s sense of home and family- so basically I don’t think you could get an interesting result without retconning Lance’s entire established backstory so far.