#i keep finding new art techniques i like and adding them in

[ambyandony]

i frequently wonder if i have like. an identifiable style. like does my style have distinctive traits and would someone who enjoys my art be able to tell its mine or am i too inconsistent? do i change style too much? do i use too many different formats? idk

[darksturnz]

copying/taking inspo from someone else fic/au.

i *believe* @bernardsbendystraws has an post about it (here) but apparently some people still aren't understanding it and still want to steal entire fics/au’s, so let's talk about it again 😸! 

COPYING & INSPIRATION:

they are two very DIFFERENT things.

The definition of COPYING is the act of reproducing, imitating, or duplicating something. It involves presenting the work as your own, either intentionally or unintentionally. imo plagiarism would be the 'big word" for this, but let's just stick with copying.

1 Direct copying: Reproducing text, images, or other content word-for-word without credit. EXAMPLE: Taking a paragraph from someone’s blog and adding it to your fic without mentioning the source. OR using dividers someone else created.

2. Paraphrasing without citation: Rewriting someone else’s ideas in your own words without acknowledging the original source. EXAMPLE: Rewriting a section of a fanfic in your own words but keeping the rest the same and not giving credit to the original author.

3. Using someone else’s designs or creations: Copying art, music, or inventions without authorization. EXAMPLE: Copying an entire blog layout and not crediting them. 

The definition of INSPIRATION is the process of being mentally stimulated to do or create something, often driven by admiration, ideas, or emotions. When it comes to finding inspiration from someone else's work, it means using their ideas, style, or concepts as a spark or starting point for your own unique creation.

1. Drawing influence: Appreciating aspects of another person's work-like their themes, tone, or techniques-and incorporating similar energy or ideas into your work in a way that is original and personal. EXAMPLE: You love the way an author builds suspense in their stories, so you use a similar pacing technique in your thriller but with your own plot and characters.

2. Transformative creativity: Taking what resonates from someone else's work and reinterpreting it, adding your own voice, perspective, or innovation. EXAMPLE: Inspired by a story about the going to the beach, you write a story about a secret cave they found on the trail there that explores completely different themes and ideas.

3. Acknowledging admiration: While the inspiration may stem from someone else's work, the outcome remains distinct and new, not a direct imitation or replication. EXAMPLE: In your book’s foreword, you mention how a filmmaker’s (or author) use of color inspired your vivid descriptions, even though your story is entirely your own.

Q & A

Q1: How do I know if someone’s copying me? A: Here’s a few steps I use:  1.If it wasn’t sent to you, have someone else read both materials and compare them for similarities. 2. Check the dates to see if your work came first. 3. Read their material yourself and see if it’s just a few bits that are similar or if the entire plot, structure, and timeline match yours.

Most importantly, reach out to the suspected author respectfully and clarify with them.

Q2: What do I say when I text them? How do I know if it’s the truth? A: Keep it respectful and avoid accusations. “Hey, I/someone noticed some similarities between our work. I just wanted to check if my story might have inspired yours?” It’s hard to know the full truth, but their response and attitude can give you insight into their intentions.

Q3: What if they don’t respond, lie, or ignore the situation completely? A: If they don’t respond or you feel the conversation doesn’t sit right with you, it’s okay to protect your peace. You can soft block or unfollow them, even without an explanation. Your boundaries matter, and you don’t owe anyone access to your space if you’re uncomfortable.

Q4: How do I ask to use it for inspiration? A: Most authors include details on how they’d like to be approached in their blogs or fic notes. If not, you can politely ask, “Hi, I really love your ___! Would it be okay if I used it as inspiration for my own work? I’d make sure to credit you.”

Q5: How is it considered copying if the trope/plot/pairing has been used for years? A: While common tropes or plots aren’t necessarily unique, the way they’re executed (specific details, character arcs, and dialogue) is. It’s still important to credit the creator if their work inspired you, even if the plot itself is widely used. 

Q6:What if they say no to inspiration and I have no other story ideas? A: If they say no, you should respect their decision and avoid using their AU/plot. Instead, use Google or Pinterest to search up plot/storyline/character ideas. Try creating something original inspired by the those themes or ideas, creativity has no rules.

AUTHORS NOTE: having your work copied and then being lied to over and over again is starting to get annoying and we should be *informative* louder so here's my interpretation of roses post (about copying + how giving credit helps grow your account or that's how i took it) but heavily aimed on some of the experiences i and a few moots have been through!!!

USING TAGS CORRELATED TO MY BLOG/MOOTS BLOGS HAVING ISSUES WITH COPYING.

[willowisdead345]

50 things to do instead of binging!!

coming from personal experience from someone who has lost over 11 kg since I stopped binging a couple moths ago, these have worked for me

Remember binge urges don't last forever. It's difficult to resist them, but if you distract yourself or pass time, the urge can pass without the need for a binge. Stay strong, you can do it!

crafts:

Try embroidery/cross stitching

Make friendship bracelets, even better if it’s red (like the old ana bracelet lol)

Learn how to knit or crochet

Make a pompom

Learn how to make a bead lizard

Paint a clothing item with bleach

Make something out of clay/fimo/foam clay

Learn how to make a new origami design, there are plenty of instructions available

Try macrame, there are loads of easy instructions for it online

arts:

Paint, try painting with a different medium than usual to force yourself to concentrate harder

Draw something, you can use methods like the grid technique

Doodle! Try to fill an entire a4

Try to draw with crayons, have fun. For some reasons crayons make everything lower stakes for me

Make a children's story (not for actual kids though), write it and you can add pictures (bonus points if you make it disturbing)

Make a collage using old magazines, you can include motivational quotes

Make moodboards

Try making found poetry (for example with an old book or magazine)

ed-stuff:

Draw something, you can use your fave thinspo as a reference

Make yourself a diet/weight tracker for the next month (on paper or digitally) you can choose the theme of it yourself

write meanspo/sweetspo for yourself or find some

Try bullet journalling, you can make trackers for yourself (highly recommend one for not binging!)

Make your own motivational quotes, there are lists of “ana quotes” online, or you can go the funny route instead. A tip is to use lyrics from songs you relate to and adding a motivating picture as the background (maybe one day I’ll share my folder of these)

Write down your goals, make it look pleasing to you

Measure your circumferences with a measuring tape, you can write them down and compare later

Make an excel sheet where you can log stats and calories and stuff

Play with excel to make graphs of your weight loss or weekly intake! Lots of tutorials on how to make graphs, learning to use excel is a good distraction (has been really helpful for me to keep motivated and distracted)

Write a haiku/poem about your ed

Listen to triggering music

GROSSPO (ew maggots, mold and stuff like that)

Take bodychecks and compare to older ones

Watch other people binging instead of binging yourself

Calculate the calories of whatever you are craving, this always helps shock me and reconsider

Calculate your current bmr (base metabolic rate, you can calculate it online), calculate your bmr at your ugw too

self care:

Paint your nails/clip your nails. Toenails too

Take a shower or bath (seeing yourself naked helps a lot, and it helps pass time)

Put on a facemask

Do a foot soak

Try a new makeup look, it doesn’t have to look nice, you can even try to make the most ridiculous look ever

Apply body lotion throughout your entire body (again this helps you reconsider by making you self conscious)

get out of the situation and clear your head:

Go outside! And don’t take food or money with you. Just go outside to get yourself out of the situation making you want to binge

Take a walk, motivate yourself with cigs if needed (unless you're a minor). Or go sit and breathe in a forest or isolated area of a park

Go swimming! Yea in the summer, or in the winter. Ice swimming really helps shock your body out of binging

Exercise and do a workout, there are plenty of beginner friendly ones on for example youtube

learn new things:

Learn a new language, make the duolingo bird proud

Learn the alphabet in morse code! Or ASL!

Do your homework if you have any

Play with google translate and learn random phrases in random languages, or try to see what hilarious sentences you can come up with by translating several times

games and miscellaneous:

Play a video game, solitaire and firegirl and waterboy are my faves that are free through google, but find some you enjoy

Word searches! Or crosswords, or sudokus if that’s what you’re into, there are plenty online

Come up with your own list of 50 things to do instead of binging!! making your own list with things personal to you will help better

[richarlotte]

Would you talk more about the way you styled yourself?

A good boar bristle round brush, a heat protectant + hair oil, solid metal pins, and a strong blowdryer. 

I swear by a good bouncy blow-dry no matter how long it takes me, and I’ve got the art of using the brush and blowdryer at the same time down to a T. There are cheats to get around how long it takes to do your own, but I honestly prefer the same classic method my stylist swears by. It’s my go-to style, and it looks amazing for days. If you wear lace or like styling your hair once per week, learning how to do your own bouncy blowdries, pin curls, and roller sets will save you so much time and money at the end of the day. 

Rounded pink nails with a skinny white French tip. 

Let me just say that BIAB nails rocked my world. My regular manicurist is moving away from using acrylic powder, and she began the process of transitioning her clients over a few weeks ago, and I love them. A French mani-pedi with a light pink base and a thin white tip on rounded nails does it for me every time, I keep my hands and cuticles moisturized, and I’m always getting compliments on my hands and nails (both sets). If you’re currently stuck doing acrylic overlays, transition to BIAB and be done with all the powdered products.

Simple Jewelry. 

One of the things I admire most about my Big is the fact that she always looks put together and beautiful. She wears a simple matching set of jewelry every day; she chooses very simple pieces, and she looks unbelievably money. I love overaccessorizing, but instead of wearing several heavy pieces, I’ll choose a few simple pieces and run with them. Earrings are an everyday requirement; no matter how bad I look or how dressed down I am, I’m sure to put a pair of simple stud earrings on before I leave my home for the day. 

A Natural Full Face.

I wear a natural full face nearly every day, and I have tried and true products I swear by. One of the best tips I’ve ever received is to avoid lash extensions, cosmetic tattooing, and too much filler/botox so that you can feel fresh and do something new whenever you want, and I’ve been sticking to that rule since I turned 18. I use the same (or similar) products and the same techniques, I try to keep my look as basic as possible, and I love what I end up with. It’s not supposed to be intense; it’s not supposed to be too much; it’s a daytime natural with a few classic highlights added. 

Classic Outfits. 

My closet is still a work in progress, but I fill it with high quality items and things that I love and wear, so that's okay. Finding things that fit, that go well with my aesthetic, and that wear well is my priority, and so when I shop, I shop for things I know I’ll wear often. It’s important for me to have staples as well as classic outfits for the days I don’t want to get ready because I know how to wear my clothes instead of allowing them to wear me, and I’m able to work with what I have. I buy my basics at affordable stores, I know how to shop secondhand, and I buy what I love and what works for my body, not what’s trending or *might* look good.

Richarlotte x

[pyrosomatic-metamorphosis]

rough art tips to learn and then break at your leisure.

the distance between your eyes is roughly one eye. the corners of your mouth dont extend past the middle of each eye. ears are roughly in the middle of the tip of the nose and the eyebrow. the eyes are in the very centre of the head. the neck is just a Little slimmer than the width of the head (varies with fat distribution, but fat tends to build up under the chin). hair is easier to draw when you plot out the hairline and then where it parts. leaving appropriate distance on the side of the face (cheekbone area and back to ear) contributes to making characters look more realistic/hot as hell. i dont know specific tips for that so use reference. an amazing reference/study site is lineofaction.com . if you think of the face in planes it makes it easier to construct (look up tutorials). if you draw a spiral like a tornado it can help you figure out awkward perspective for extended limbs (look up foreshortening coil technique). tangent lines are when two lines intersect and cause visual confusion (when it looks like a line that defines an arm is part of the line that defines a building, for example) and avoiding them makes your art way easier to comprehend. quick trick to good composition: choose a focal point (where you want your viewer to focus), detail that area the most, and make sure various elements of the piece are pointing to that focal point. you can use colours to contrast hue, saturation, and brightness and make certain elements of your drawing stand out. drawing in greyscale can help you figure out values. using black in a piece isn't illegal but you should know what you're doing when you do use it- it desaturates a piece and if used as a shading colour can desaturate and dull whatever youre shading too. if you use almost-black lineart and then add black to darken the very darkest areas it will do a lot to add some nice depth. the tip of your thumb ends just above the start of your index finger- your thumb also has two knuckles and all your other fingers have three. if you see an artist doing something you like (the way they draw noses or eyes or hair or anything else) you can try to copy that and see if you want to incorporate it in your style <- this is ENCOURAGED and how a lot of us learned and developed our styles. there are ways to add wrinkles to faces and bodies without making the character look a million years old, you just have to keep experimenting with it. The smile wrinkles around your muzzle dont connect to your mouth or to your nose; there should be a small space in between smile or nose and the wrinkle line. eyes when viewed in profile are like < aka a little triangle shape. think of the pupil like a disk and apply foreshortening to it (it looks like a line when seen from the side instead of a full round dot). subtle gradients can add a LOT to a piece. texture can also add a LOT. look up Tommy Arnold's work (his murderbot pieces are some of my FAVOURITE) and zoom in. find those random little circles he added and try to figure out why he added them there. light bounces. there's lots of way light bounces. sometimes it even spreads through the skin. i do not know these light tricks yet but i want you to know that they exist. draw a circle to indicate hand placement, draw a straight line between that circle and the shoulder, and then (normally at a right angle) draw a straight line on top of that line to find the placement of the elbow. elbows are normally placed Just above the hip when standing and your arm is at rest. there are no bad colour combos if you're brave enough about it, just fuck with the saturation and brightness until it works. keep playing. try new things. add your own tips to this post if you want or even expand on some ive mentioned here. good luck go ham etc

[head---ache]

New character charts!!!

Edit: Added new info to Lash's section + Added a link to Emmie's section.

They're here!!! The only new info is in the charts themselves btw, the long text under this is the same, except very minor changes. I just thought it would be better than having to go to the old charts to read all of this.

Emmie: She's now officially the one and only Tube Baby of the group!!! I imagine Tails will later use the big fucking tube in his lab, just not for any of the kids in this group (here's three posts about it: First, second, third).

Just to quickly mention it, her full name is Emily, however, everyone in her life just calls her Emmie, because, according to her, 'it goes with her vibe' (first talked about here + in universe explanation here).

She has Black Arms DNA, and although it's uncertain how it affects her, they (Emmie and her dads) know she has green Black Arms blood (shown here) and has access to the hivemind, which as a baby she used to communicate with Shadow (here), but as she grew older she stopped using it, and now finds it harder to access to it.

She also, of course, has Chaos Energy. She can perform Chaos Control (in this one) and turn Super (that second thing they don't know until she's a teenager, shown in this comic). She also has all the abilities Sonic and Shadow share (such as spindash).

Sparks: Like I've said before, Sparks is a Belly Baby, Blaze carried (here's context).

Sparks has fire powers, similar to Blaze's, though they find it a bit harder to control. They get Blaze and Espio's help to learn to use said powers, since they require a lot of concentration. Also, again, like Blaze, they can turn into Burning Sparks (here), but that form is more unstable and drains their energy pretty fast.

I am also taking this space to clarify this about the entire family (including Tulip). Since Blaze is a princess, Amy, Sparks and Tulip do acquire royalty related titles, however, they're very informal and don't hold that much power, since Blaze didn't want them to have any responsability simply because they're related to her. So they're royalty just by name.

Lash: Another Belly Baby, your local surprise baby representation.

Like is said in her chart, her main ability is acrobatics. She also has some sort of super speed but she doesn't rely much on it.

It's not said in her chart but she has both mommy and daddy issues and is often at Aim's house. The first time she stepped into that home and Tangle and Whisper welcomed she immediately felt glued to that family (here).

She also has two younger siblings, Strike and Decay (post introducing them here), and at first she didn't have that much of a relationship with, since they're younger than her and closer to each other, and since Lash spends a lot of time away from home, however, she eventually steps in and tries to be a part of her siblings' lifes as their parents' should've been.

Aim: I finally decided that he's also a Belly Baby, mostly because the timing didn't add up, since him and Emmie are the same age and there's only one Baby Making Tube.

Like it says in their chart, he does archery, which is his main fighting technique, however, during battle they also use their tail to move around faster (otherwise he just keeps it under his cloak) and teams up with Whisper's wisps in very rare occasions.

He does not speak, unlike Whisper who simply speaks quietly. Aim doesn't speak at all, but everyone around him eventually just finds a way to understand him (because I think it's funny). He very usually is the braincell carrier of the group.

Bria: Bria's a Belly Baby as well, it just felt like something Sonia would want.

They don't have any special ability, but they did learn martial arts as a way of self defense, consdering the group of people she often is surrounded by.

Even though Bria's hard of hearing, his biggest passion is music (over being a hero). She plays piano and guitar.

He's also the extrovert of the group. The loudest and friendliest there is. (Should I also add they're Emmie's cousin?)

Tulip: I was a bit more indecisive with him, but in the end I decided to also make him a Belly Baby, because otherwise it felt weird for that to be the one thing he has in common with Emmie. (In-universe explanation here!)

He hasn't shown any special ability yet -he's the youngest of the group though, being only ten years old-, so he isn't allowed to be around the other kids when there's danger, however, he's very sneaky and often gets things to work in his favor anyways. He does have an interest in tarot though, thanks to Amy, and he also shows to have an impressive intuition.

When he's not around Sparks he is often found next to Big, probably complaining to him about something.

Destiny: One and only Code Baby!! She's basically made from the same programming as Nicole, but more advanced and sophisticated.

Being an AI herself, she can hack robots and similar things, which helps during battle. They can also get into anyone's computer if they want to (they rarely do).

She usually takes the leader role very naturally, immediately making a plan on the spot and guiding the rest of the group. However, she's quite shy (even while being an extrovert. This forms a bit of a problem for her, wanting to be around people but being too shy to do it). Her more confident side mainly showing when assuming the role of the leader. She has great friends tho, who encourage to speak up and lead:]

Spades: She's a belly baby just because of the timeline, there simply wasn't a way without changing her age to make it make sense for her to be a Tube Baby -and I like her being 16-. Unfortunately I backed myself into a corner here JSKDJSKFJWKFKS I don't have many details on how she came to be because, guess what!! There's no real way for her to be the way she is the way I want it to happen:]]] So let's just use our imagination and say that it's possible for two amab people to have a kid who's biologically related to both of them because this is a world where magic color changing hedgehogs are a thing so this isn't super crazy, okay? Okay.

Like I said in this post, Spades has trajectory manipulation, so basically she will never miss her target, and can move away whatever is thrown at her, so that's pretty handy:] She also trains with Espio, so she has a lot of his abilities. She doesn't really want to be a ninja but has many of the skills.

She's the mom of the group!!! And the braincell carrier. She is very sweet and caring, but also quiet and calculating. Her strategy is the best, and her stoic appareance makes her look a bit threatening, but she's actually a total sweetheart!!

Also about swimming!! She really likes it because she finds it relaxing. You can't hear anything underwater so she likes to close her eyes and just swim around.

She gets along with everyone in the group, but is usually hanging out with Aim and Lash:)

And that's it for the individual kids!!

Here's some other links of interest:

-1. Character reference sheets for all most of the fankids, including a height chart.

-2. Voice claims!!!

-3. The old charts!!

-4. Ideas for weapons:)

[danyvhell-writes]

vere hcs? preferably for a sub reader but it's fine either way!! thx a lot :P

General Vere headcanons (Touchstarved)

GN reader - no warnings | Thanks for the ask <333 Took me more time than I planned but here it is ! (Sorry for the wait lil anon, I was quite busy this month :') Writing about him was so fun, he's just so malicious and silly ?? Hope you'll like it hehe >:)

• Anything becomes a reason to tease you ! A little smile you gave him ? A blush ? Stammering even just a bit ? He will tease you to death if he can.

• He sees everything. Think you can hide something from him ? Ah, how naive of you. If something bothers you he will know, don't try to put on a mask. "Oh someone seems upset hm..." "No I'm not !" "I just said someone, why do you think you were targeted MC ? Care to explain yourself ?" he says with his devious little smile. You don't even need to speak, he reads you like an open book :').

• Not one to talk about his feelings openly but definitely makes you know when he appreciates your company ! It might be by taking you to private operas, going to fancy teahouse, gifting you little paintings he did, inviting you for shopping and more...

• Want to know how he truly feels ? Pay attention to his ears. They tell a lot more than he does, depending on how they twitch, their angle and much more... reading him becomes way easier.

• Would 100% write you letters. Casual letters where he just writes about his life, spicy letters where he describes in various ways how he would devour you... Whenever he needs to express something, he writes to you and doesn't even expect an answer ! You'll open your enveloppe and see "I can't believe Vanessa, this absolute rotten bitch, stole my silver ring ! Can you believe it MC ? I should rip her finger off with the ring and keep it so she remembers her wrong..."

• If he can get any reaction from you, it's a win. Loves to see how you'll respond to his flirty proposition, especially if you get flustered 👀

• You know this type of people who hit furnitures/stuff when they laugh ? Well Vere does it but with his tail, tell a funny joke and you can be sure you'll get hit (gently...or not) with it !

• Would be thrilled to analyze your sketchbook if you're an artist. Trying to hide it from him ? Not an option, you will show him everything ! I just know he'll sneak it to look through every pages, taking notes of striking elements and how your artstyle translates with different techniques.

→ Drawing sessions with him omg ! At first he'd joke about needing a live model and why not try nude modeling but at the end you guys end up super concentrated in your respective art piece. Definitely wouldn't mind becoming your muse tho...

↑ Adding into this but, he'd leave little notes and cute doodles when you're not looking. You just open your sketchbook and see next to your recent stuff "The lines are timid I know you can do better ;)"or "I was there..." or even "Draw me next time ! I'll be the best piece."

• The both of you together can easily become absolute menace to society. The cheer chaos you can cause is too much for this city ! If Kuras ever finds out about your malicious plans, he'll be disappointed.

• Will let you brush his hair and tail if you're good enough. "Mess with my hair and you know what awaits you !" Please convince him to try new hairstyles, make him even prettier than he already is >:)

• As much as he is an expensive fox, he'll enjoy homemade gifts. He won't show it too much but he keeps everything you've made for him at his place. Bonus point if it's decorative pieces ! (The thought of you taking time to put effort into something for him makes him smile more than he can admit).

• This man likes to cook so don't hesitate giving him recipes you like. Not sure he'll succeed preparing them but the effort is always well put ! If you're good in a kitchen, he'll find an excuse to cook/bake with you.

• Enjoys showing you around the city, especially secret places. He doesn't just share his secret spots with anyone so you can feel privileged !

→ Talking about spots he likes, he will take you to his favourite restaurants. You'd expect fancy, luxurious place but no ! Most of them are little family business owned by the same people since decades. The food is straight up heavenly and you let him know. "I've been around this city long enough to know the best places ! You shouldn't be surprised."

• Grows really protective of you. Of course he knows you can defend yourself, but if anyone dares to hurt you, they'll have to face lethal consequences. Anyone threatening you "Do you want me to break their kneecaps ? I can also hit their sciatic nerve if you wish ! Or maybe-" "Vere no."

• If you enjoy some good gossip, you're gonna be fed just right with this guy ! We know he knows everything, he's the ears of the city. Juicy drama to shocking revelation, he's got every type of story in stock ! All you gotta do is ask and the conversation will last for hours.

• If you're in his presence, forget about personal space. Your space is his now ! His body will always be in contact with yours, even if it's not noticeable at first.

• Makeover ? Yes. You will be his personal doll. If he has to test outfits, color combinations or other stuff you'll be his subject ! He'll try a lot of different clothes on you until you look like the hottest person alive (after him). Dressing you up is one of his favourite activities and of course you guys would wear matching outfits. You two are just ✨fashion✨.

• Don't know why but I feel like he would love playing board/card games, especially if they involve money ! Think you can win against him ? Nope no chance, bluffing is too easy for him and he's an absolute beast (pun intended). Just picture him playing 'loup-garou' (The werewolves of miller's hollow in english I think ? My french ass can't remember), I know he'd kill it !

• Has a very distinctive laugh. You could hear him from miles away and recognize him instantly ! Also it's kinda infectious, if he starts bursting out laughing, you'll easily follow into it.

• This man growls. Like literally. It doesn't happen a lot but whenever he does it always surprises you.

• This is him :

[isolaradiale]

"You know, there's more to this than I thought. I was just thinking about the psychological applications of colour, but there's a real science to all this, too." "They used to teach it in art class, when it still existed." "Hm!" "Actually, go back a page? I have a new idea. They have all these wonderful hues on them now, I think that's enough for phase two." "I absolutely agree~ I'll meet you back at the lab."

And as the two Stars continue to make life difficult for the island residents pursue their creativity, Tageta continued to wheel alongside the museum curator.

. . . . .

It's hard enough to navigate a grey city with all your feelings (and even your core beings) all scrambled and assigned to all these different colours.

Let's make it harder!

In an effort to test the limit of how people see themselves in these wonderful new hues, Mimosa and Solaris have decided to duplicate some of you in a different colour palette. So you may find a duplicate of yourself walking around the city, leaving paint splatters just like you! But there's something different about your new double...

...It's entirely made of paint!

Unlike your current selves, these doubles aren't greyscaled or monochromatic. They follow a specific property, both visually and fundamentally, as listed below:

Tint

A tint of a colour means white was added to it to make it lighter. If your double is a Tint of you, it retains your personality, albeit in a lighter tone that isn't as intense as you are. (Pink is a tint of Red)

Shade

A shade of a colour means black was added to make it darker. If your double is a Shade of you, it retains your personality, albeit in a darker tone that makes your double more moody. (Maroon is a shade of Red)

Analogue

Analogous colours are next to each other on the colour wheel. If your double is an Analogue, it will act mostly like you, but as if something in your story changed and you took a bit of a different path. Maybe your Analogue succeeded in a crucial part of your story where you failed, and act a little different for it. Typically, analogous colours create harmony with one another--how you interpret that is up to you. (Orange and Yellow are analogous colours to Red)

Compliment

Complimentary colours are on opposite sides of the colour wheel. If your double is a Compliment, it will act completely different from you in every aspect it can. Complimentary colours typically clash with one another, and your Compliment will oppose you--how you interpret that is up to you. (Green is a complimentary colour to Red)

Here are some guidelines to this new colour challenge:

It is not mandatory to have a double. This is just a fun little extra--you don't have to have one if you don't want to!

Each muse gets only one double, and it cannot be changed once you make a decision. So you won't be able to use a compliment AND a shade in different threads--you'll have to be consistent!

Every double is made entirely of paint, including their clothes and weapons. They are semi-solid and keep their shape, but are fluid enough to stretch and melt into different areas. They cannot outright transform, but can fit into tight spaces or containers if need be.

Your muse is still under the effect of the Colour Theory, meaning if your double splashes a certain colour paint on you, your personality will change accordingly! You might want to bring an umbrella.

Your double cannot actually use your powers and abilities. Any powers or abilities that have a visual or physical effect will instead be... made of paint. So if you can throw a fireball, your double will also throw a paintball that looks like your fireball. It's very messy, but harmless. If your muse has an ability that has no physical component, like mind control, your double cannot use it--it simply won't have any effect.

If you feel that it's necessary, you can destroy your double by using any technique that would get rid of paint--soap, water, turpentine, etc. You could also burn or freeze them, or find something to absorb them with. Needless to say, stabbing a paint blob wouldn't be very effective... but a garden hose would.

Your double might think it's the real thing. Or it might be aware it's a fake. It depends on how you want to play.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask the Masterlist!

[allimocha]

I really love your fashion choice for your characters!!

How do you design the outfits on your oc, and what are your tips in character design?



Ooof~! I answered this one HELLA late (○ ⋏ ○)…

But here's the answer for anyone interested!

Read More ⬎

Tip Numero 1:

Have a clear description of your character’s personality and fashion sense. I guess this is pretty self-explanatory lol, but it’s very helpful! If you understand enough about how your character acts, you can get a pretty good idea of what type of clothes they’d wear~!

For example, my monster girly Amour and Peacock!

For peacock, I knew I wanted a bubbly cropped street look to match her personality. And adding rips and tears to give that quintessential zombie look added to how explosive her style and optimism can be.

Then we have Amour. She’s….. something alright! As a fallen cherub, I thought it would be cute if she wore a blazer to match the pure nature of where she’s from. But…. She is anything but pure. Despite this, I still gave her a cutesy pastel love core-esqe look, so it can be a bit of a subversion of expectations for her character. The type of person who looks like they wouldn’t hurt a fly, yet then proceeds to smash said fly into the ground with her weapon and keep beating it with a smile on her face even though the fly is far gone past tense- Ooop, got a little distracted there.

Tip Number 2:

What if you’re just character designing on the fly, and don’t have a concrete idea for this character yet? You know what helps? Drumroll please *drumroll*

PINTEREST~!

Now you gotta be careful with Pinterest since it’s notoriously known for taking people’s art and not crediting them. So if you’re using another’s artwork as REFERENCE (we’ll get back to this later) for an outfit, make sure to at least find them and give ‘em a follow. You can even put the artist’s name in the pin’s comment section.

Now back to the Referencing thing. When taking ANY pins from Pinterest, be sure you’re not straight up copying or tracing it, that’s not cool! What you want to do is find specific things that you’d like on your character, and very loosely reference it which means you’re gonna have to use that noggin and be creative~! I believe in you. Using color palettes online can also help spark inspiration

When you get your references, I usually put them in one place, using Milanote, which is an app on the AppStore. (If you can’t use that, just put the references on another canvas in your art program of choice). Here’s an example of one I made for my character Cyan:

Chippu Bango 3:

Trial and error. Look, you’re not always gonna get the winning design first try. Even to this day, there will be characters I made in middle school that I’ve redesigned 5 or more times to get it right. I mean… look at Peacock’s first designs:

Just don’t be too hard on yourself, character design is fun, but if it gets too frustrating, walk away for a bit and come back with fresh new eyes. You’re not gonna satisfy everyone with your design, but if you can satisfy yourself, that’s what counts~!

——————————————————-

That’s all I can say for now, let me know what you think of my techniques!

Byyyyieeeeee~! ( ꈍ ω ꈍ)ﾉ~ *:・ﾟ

[attyrocious]

heyyy I'm new to digital art, would you mind sharing some tips regarding programs and tutorials and etc? also on how to turn a real life piece into a beautiful and clean digital piece... really love your art

oh good luck with your art journey! my experience with digital art is pretty dated (as in a decade + levels dated) and i might be too out of touch to give beginner tips but regardless, allow me to attempt

Programs: it would help to know which hardware you have for digital but ill put down some i have experience in 1. Clip Studio Paint Pro - PC/Android/ipad/everywhere i think? unfortunately they betrayed humankind and its now a subscription everywhere but on PC. i bought a one-time license years years years ago on sale and its probably the best available on my end. I also got it on subscription on android so i can sync works between my PC and tablet. its very flexible in a way that you can draw with it in the most basic way single layer sketches or whatever but they have so many features and keep adding more.

2. procreate - ipad only never been an apple user but my friend is, and he's been a procreate user forever. he recently tried CSP on ipad though and he still claims he likes procreate better for ease of use and compatibility with tablet ergonomics and apple pen

3. medibang paint - pc/android/ipad

free forever. and out of all the free programs i recommended my other digital art newbie friend this is what he liked best.

4. adobe photoshop - dont even look at this the only reason i have one is im leeching off company license. its still unfortunately the industry standard tho but CSP is much cheaper and has the same controls and most of the basic functions 5. Paint Tool SAI - my first art program but i haven't tried it again. honestly still think this has the best brush flexibility and pen pressure control ----- As for tutorials, i find digital art has such a steep and high skill ceiling and its a challenge im still tackling and probably will forever tackle haha. I'm trying to osmosis painting techniques from splash art painters from League of Legends who most of them post complete timelapses (my favorite being Bo Chen) where you can study not just their techniques but like, art directions that make their pieces striking. Anyway, I also promised a friend I would make a simple coloring tutorial so maybe after inktober hustle, I would look for a piece there I'd use for the guide.

---- Traditional to digital is never a satisfactory process to me but if you can, invest on a scanner. I use an epson v39, had it for years.

scanned vs edited. the goal is to at least get the white of the paper as white as possible and the blacks the blackest, without whitewashing/burning the rest of the colors. Level correction function is your best friend here and most art programs have that.

Then i just clean dust and errors and slide the contrasts around until it looks as close to the original piece

If you have a decent phone camera, you can get away just posting instagram aesthetic pics with materials framing it or smth and just edit as usual. natural light tends to be a lot more forgiving than the harsh light of scanners anyway.

Anyway I hope this helps and have fun learning!

[trixieeatingpinecones]

Hey everyone, October 2024 Mike talking here. I've scoured several pony image sites, done a few more general searches, and picked up the slack from all the images I didn't post back in 2012-2014. I've scheduled posts to come out 3 times per week for almost 3 months, and now for the first time in 12 years, my Unposted folder is finally empty.

To celebrate, I whipped up this gif of 19 pics of Trixie sitting at different angles, ordered to turn from left to right. All the same idea, but such a range of art styles and ideas.

All different emotions, expressions, reactions, conveyed using different techniques with different tools. That's what it's always been about, giving someone a nonsensical prompt and seeing what it immediately conjures up in each artist's head.

Right now, this is the last post I've got queued. I think I'm finally caught up. I hope new pictures keep popping up, and that people submit them. I want to schedule more posts, and bury this one's sense of finality several pages into the blog, for people to stumble on and read with confusion on their faces.

I don't want to stop, but that depends on how many people draw, and how many submissions come in.

As intrinsically stupid as this little forced meme is, I think there's meaning in having it around, having a template to start from, having a quick pitch to motivate some creativity. And if it's something silly like this, then there's really nothing to lose with failure, so you'd might as well get experimental with it, try something new, stretch your skills.

In a broader sense, I think this applies to making brony content in general. It's fanart for My Little Pony, there's an inherent silliness underpinning all of it, and so if you do something that you'd normally find embarrassing, it's easier to laugh along with it, shrug it off, and get better for next time.

There's a fear of failure that prevents people from ever trying new creative endeavours. But this fandom is a community that feeds itself, and keeps itself alive. Content driving content, inspiration driving inspiration. The people just want more fandom stuff to enjoy.

If it's stupid, or cringe, then it'll show newbies that they can pass that barrier of entry. It'll inspire other artists to try and improve on what you've done, and maybe collaborate with you to improve everyone's skills at the same time.

If you give it your all and fail, then you've added something that everyone can use to learn and benefit from, including yourself, and you're not being any more ridiculed than before. But if you give it your all and succeed, then you can be proud that you've made something truly great, that your peers will cherish and celebrate, and that can be flaunted as a point of pride even outside of the fandom's bubble.

So, if you've got a friend who's got artist's block, or wants more experience, needs an excuse to try some dynamic angles or a new style, or they're nervous about putting themselves out there with something sub-par, tell them they can't go wrong drawing Trixie eating a pinecone, and tell 'em Mike says hi.

With Love and Tolerance since Season 1, ~ BronyMike

[mephestopheles]

So, Pinterest has pretty much killed it's web page for anyone with an ad blocker. And I know a lot of folks here don't like Pinterest, and for plenty of good reasons, a lot of art was added to it with no attribution, screenshots of popular Tumblr posts were all over the place (not nearly as egregious as those Minecraft AI voiced monstrosities). And a variety of other reasons.

The last year or two the ads on Pinterest have been getting progressively worse. Like at first it was one of two sponsored pins for every 20 or so 'homegrown' pins. Now on the app it's every 2nd or 3rd pin that's an ad for Etsy or temu, or some other fly by night scam site.

(There's a creator on tiktok who made an ADHD planner and I am being served ads for that planner on a site that is definitely not her site, and it's using her photos and her tiktoks to get views and purchases (I have messaged the actual creator on their proper site). )

When I used to use my laptop more, ublock would block so much on Pinterest that there would be gaps upon gaps in pins, it would honestly look like the site didn't load fully.

At least until today when I got an overlay that unless I uninstall my adblock I won't be able to use the web application any more. I can still use the app if I want, but the webpage with adblocker has been given the middle finger.

I don't use Pinterest for a lot, mostly crafts, I can find 3d paper houses, or quilting patterns, blogs with interesting techniques. I found a lot of free stuff through it, like svgs people have created, there's two creators I've found just a month ago that make really elaborate 3d structures that I wouldn't have found otherwise.

It was a good place to find small creators who were sharing their tutorials, their creations. I found so many homebrew DND stuff (yes a lot of reddit posts, but also dm binder and a few other more niche options).

It sucks that they're basically now saying we're just ads now. The Pinterest alternatives out there don't cut it, most of them are for designers or graphics artists who used Pinterest in a much different way than I do currently. I want to be able to find patterns and hobbies, or ideas for things and then make a decision on if I'm going to purchase it or not.

I've clocked through on several ads, and I've purchased a lot of things, and I don't mind ads that have their place. A knitter or crafter who is sharing their site or offering their product absolutely, show me your cool shit and if I like it, I'll buy it.

But I'm sick of temu ads, and the food ads, and the ads that are meant to look like pins but just take you somewhere shady.

I'll probably still use the app from time to time, but I'm on the look out for something new. And if there's a way to download pins so I can keep some of the stuff I've found over the years, that would be really nice.

If anyone knows how to get rid of the overlay that would also work, because I'll drop the site before I give up my adblocker.

[shatteredvioletnuzlocke]

Chapter 14: From Humble Winnings

The rest of the Olive Festival was spent tasting desserts, making crafts and catching up on Swords of Justice with their old friend. The day after was a moist but sunny morning in the countryside, the townsfolk's excitement simmered back a bit and their where less people crowding the streets. 

The two took one last trip to the Pokémon center before Patch’s departure from Cortondo.

“What can I get for you?” The pharmacist offered.

Patch checked their wallet, they still had 5,000 p left from their win. I should stock up on some Pokeballs while I’m at it…. 

A bright blue Pokeball with red accents caught their eye. It was a great ball, twice as efficient for capturing Pokemon than a common one but twice as expensive.

 I can pay for something that’s 600 p, they thought, just gotta go easy on the food and finish up what I already have.

“I’ll take four potions and one Great Ball please!” they requested. 

“So where are you planning to go after this” Sage asked.

Patch answered with no thought, “Catch some more Pokemon then head back to the academy.”

“Oh I ment which gym your planning on taking on next?” Sage clarified.

Next gym?! “Sage, I’m not going to fight another gym. I only fought Katy to get out of debt. The gym badge was just a bonus.” 

Patch was relieved they wouldn’t have to spend another day struggling to pay off the village. If they hadn’t known beforehand it meant fighting a gym leader they would’ve spent the next few months in Cortondo.

Taking on seven more gym leaders was a risky decision no matter how easy it was made out to be. 

Patch remembered many of their childhood acquaintances returning from a journey empty-handed. Battling with Katy taught them to only bite off what they could chew.

“So what will you do as a trainer?” Sage wondered. 

“Just raise and catch more Pokémon for now,” Patch admitted without much thought, “I’ll still take them out to battle in the wild. Maybe after I graduate I’ll go into breeding… or Pokemon husbandry? Freelance art on the side?” 

Patch realized how much of their plan sounded improvised. They did have a plan…once but they couldn’t give themselves high expectations that they couldn’t reach. Twenty years old was still young, they had plenty of time to figure something out even if it seemed unfilling.

The pharmacist traded the items they asked for 1,500p. They were ready to put their issues aside and explore what lied ahead.

“Well if you need me, I’ll be here for the time being preparing for my battle with Katy!” Sage said with spunk, “Your match gave me some ideas for some new techniques.”

“Don’t forget me when you’re on the way to taking on the league!” Patch teased. 

“Like I’d ever forget you!” Sage smiled back.

The two embraced in a tight hug that rivaled the warmth of the sun. Once they said their goodbyes, Patch saddled up Kapheria with their supplies and was off into the wild. 

The outskirts of the Village were filled with meadows. Patch knew that there wouldn’t another town for miles even with Kapheria’s speed. The sepia mountains in the horizon where now closer than they were before.

Soon they made it to a slope that led to higher grounds. Do I really want to go up there? There might be rare Pokemon to find but it could be dangerous…

As they complimented a heavily loaded mountaineer walked by carrying a backload of equipment. 

“Excuse me,” Patch alerted her, “Are the mountains ahead safe?” 

“You’re going to have to be more specific!”  the mountaineer laughed. 

“Well, what are the native Pokémon like?” They added. 

The traveler scratched her chin “I’d say… mildly harmless at best, territorial at worst. By the looks of it you seem like you can handle yourself. Just keep away from The Peak, most vicious ones live there.”

“Sounds easy enough,” Patch nodded, “Thank you.” 

“No problem, you have a beautiful-looking dragon by the way.”

As the two travelers parted, Kapheria made her way up the slope. Although the ride up chunky with gravel, it began to churn Patch’s stomach. They could feel their breakfast rising.

“Stop Kapheria!” Patch urged her, feeling a little queasy.

They took a sip from their water bottle and poured it over their head to cleanse them of any sweat. A large stain from their shirt began to grow and their hair was soaked into clumped strands.

Taking a break, the admired the view from the slope, and saw the village from above. In the farther distance they could almost make out the walls of Mezagoza.

Looking toward the peaks, they noticed a tall point rising from the rocks. Keep away from the Peak, Patch told themselves. 

As soon as Patch felt their stomach simmer, they took a good stretch “Let’s keep going Kapheria, we can hike the rest of the way.” 

“Arggras!” She purred lively. 

Placing a hand on Kapheria’s horn, the human and Pokemon made their way on foot, though it was already quite a tiring experience. Patch was not an athlete, and sweat kept rolling down their forehead like a waterfall.

They leaned against Kapheria’s metal shell without realizing how hot she was.

…

At the top of the slope Patch found the perfect place to sit down and recollect their energy. At that point they had gone through two bottles of water. Okay maybe the mountain wasn’t the best place to find a new Pokemon.

The ground beneath them was hard and stiff. Kapheria found it comfortable to curl up on. Patch needed to be wary of where they stepped, as some stones in the ground were loose and wobbly. Thankfully the rest of the way up had a wide enough path, if they wanted to proceed.

Is this karma? Patch wondered, if I chose to climb on a whim mountain how can I handle planning my own life choices? How do I know what is right? All I’m sure is that I want to be a trainer, and then what? 

As Patch pondered, a noise caught them off guard.

“AWOOOO!” 

They flinched out of their trance. Oh no, the sound of howling gave them frightening memories. Was it possible that Houndours resided on this mountain? 

Leaping from rock to rock, a small brown dog stalked the human and dragon from above. Patch immediately knew the species, Rockruff. Although they were known to travel in packs, this one was alone. But he wasn’t going to play nice and he was only nearing closer.

“Ruck, roo!” it barked trying to gain intimidation,

Patch reached their bag and instinctively threw the first Pokeball they felt. Out of all of their team, the stubborn Kombucha was brought out to defend them.

“Of course…” Patch sighed, feeling used to their bad luck.

Familiar with the terrain, the unwavering Rockruff initiated the first attack, “Rock, roooo!” his howling commanded small stones to pelt the intruders. 

“Woink!” A single stone out of the fray had struck Kombucha on the nose.

“Ooohh!” Patch cringed in sympathy for their Lechonk. “Kombucha!” they called out to him, “Try using Mud slap!”

To their surprise, the Lechonk began kicking away at the dirt. Throwing globs of mud back at the little dog. With some precision, some mud splattered on the Rockruff’s eye.

This is good maybe I can catch him! Patch rejoiced at the thought of adding a dog Pokemon to their team. Should I catch him now? No… he’s still too riled. Just one more attack! 

Despite having an eyeful of mud, the Rockruff called for another flurry of stones, “AWRROOO!” his temper caused larger ones to be tossed out.

With a little more preparation Kombucha bounced back one of the stones with his body fat.

Alright, what’s our next move? Tackle? If Kombucha could easily deflect that rock now, what would happen if he threw himself into a Rockruff? Would he only fall off the mountain? Patch tried hard to parish their harmful thoughts, and focus on the task at hand. 

Unfortunately, while they were thinking Kombucha went ahead without command, charging into the little Rockruff with full force.

“KOMBUCHA NO!” 

Patch launched the great ball in a hurry to save the poor Rockruff. The pokeball opened and the little dog carried away into its red light. As it fell to the ground it shook furiously, as if the Rockruff was fighting the capture. 

The anxious trainer wondered if a great ball’s capture rate was as true as they were promised. Horrible memories of the Inlet Grotto incident kept spiraling out of proportion. 

At last, the great ball clicked and it stood still on top of the crumbled rocks.

It worked… 

Though their was a new team member right before them, Patch couldn’t keep their frustration at bay. 

“KOMBUCHA!”  they scolded, crouching down to meet their level, “You’re not supposed to attack until I say so!” 

Immediately Kombucha kicked some mud in their face.

“Bleh! Time out for you!” Patch recalled the Lechonk back into their ball. 

Patch wiped the mud off their cheek, the wet muk staining their hand. They tried to shake as little grime as possible before picking up they’re newly captured teammate. 

They held the great ball in awe of who was inside, At least I know I’m good at capturing Pokemon. That’s a good sign. I never thought I’d be able to catch a Rockruff though, I hope it likes me…

“Kapheria!” Patch wailed with unease.

“Arg?” Kapheria jolted awake.

Kapheria will protect me, they tried to promise themselves, she’s big and strong!

Reaching their fingertips to touch Kapheria’s neck for reassurance, Patch finally opened the great ball. It’s red light materialized the dog back into the open world.

Upon closer inspection, the little puppy had a warm, beige coat with a cream-colored ruff of fur around his neck. He had unique eyebrow-like markings that made him appear as if he was always furious.  

He opened his icy blue eyes and looked upon his new trainer.

“H-hello?” Patch held out their left hand, as they didn’t want to let go of Kapheria, “I’m your… trainer now.”

The curious Rockruff leaned out and sniffed the human’s hand. Calmly he sat down, his tail completely still. 

Is he just as scared as I am? They leaned in closer and let their hand touch his fur. It was surprisingly silky for a dog who lived in the dusty mountains. He must be pretty young, still a puppy.

Patch curled their fingers back and forth, pressing gently into his pelt. His cream, bushy tail shook the more the human scratched his head, then his ears and then under his chin. 

“Rerrr,” the Rockruff whined softly. He pushed his paws onto his trainer, “Ruff!” his tail wagging infectiously. 

He licked Patch with approval, “Gross, I still have mud on my face!”, they laughed 

Their Rockruff was the perfect addition to their team, and Patch knew just what to call them. Venture.

…

As the sun bent to the west, Patch found a spot far away from the edge to have a picnic with their team. As per usual Tamarind was lying around, Flumpy played with Kapheria, and Arturo nudged his yarn ball around.

Venture on the other hand was still getting to know his new team. He still saw Kombucha as his enemy and chased him around any opportunity he got. 

“Venture!” Patch called to him, “Come here and leave Kombucha alone!” 

“Ruff!” He romped over to his trainer.

Patch sliced a piece of smoked fillet and let Venture lick it out of their hand. Slobber dripped from his soft tongue. 

Rockruffs evolve into Lycanrocs. I could have a Lycanroc like Nemona. I wonder how long that would take… 

Suddenly Patch’s Roto phone flew out of their pocket, and rang abruptly.  

In Coming call: Mom

Mom?! What could she want at this time… shouldn’t it be late for her. Knowing how demandingly fretful their mom could be, they answered her call. 

“PATCH CALLUNE WHERE ON EARTH ARE YOU?!” Their mother blaired through their phone speaker, “THAT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE SCHOOL! YOUR FATHER AND I-”

“MA RELAX! I’M ALLOWED TO BE HERE!” Patch wined, “The school is letting us do an independent study! I’m fine!” 

She furrowed her brow, “Oh really? What kind?!” 

Their body felt as if they were shrinking, “We get to explore the region to become better trainers.”

Vivelli fixed her dark, rose-magenta hair. She was always so neat and formal about everything.

“We never had that at my trainer school,” she lectured her child, “We stayed right on campus!” 

“Mom…” Patch rolled their eyes, “If this wasn’t allowed I wouldn’t be doing it.” We’re both too old to be talking like this…

“So why are you in the mountains of all places?!” Vivelli berated them. 

For Arceus' sake, she still has that fucking child tracker on me.

“I’m just making a pitstop!” They explained, “Oh you’re never going to believe this! But Sage is here! You know my friend from Icirrus? He goes to a different school near here! We decided to catch up in the Cortondo Village nearby.”

It sounded like a lie but it was the truth. Even Patch couldn’t believe that their closest friend traveled to the same region. Lucky for them, Vivelli could always sense if someone ever truly lied.

“So what did you both do, there?” she asked. 

Patch started to panic in the deep confines of their mind, Do I really tell her about the whole thing with my debt… 

…

“SO YOU PAYED OFF THE WHOLE THING WITHOUT TELLING US! WHAT WE’RE YOU THINKING?!” 

“You’re the one telling me to act like an adult all the time!” Patch excused, “Paying off debt independently is life skill right?!” 

“We would’ve helped you!” Vivelli responded trying to have a mature upper hand. 

You would’ve let me live it down either, I’m being responsible why can’t you see that? 

“Mom, what matters is that it’s been paid off, it’s over, I’m out of the woods!” They retorted for no further screaming. Now do I tell her about the gym badge? 

Kapheria padded over to give Patch a quick face nuzzle, “Arrrrgggg!” 

“ARCEUS WHAT IS THAT?!” Vivelli hollared her voice so loud Kapheria scampered away.

Crap, I thought I sent her a picture of Kapheria?! “Mom, MOM, ITS OKAY! That’s the Pokémon I’m watching… for a friend…” Does a classmate's father count as a friend? 

The worried Mother exhaled her tension upon seeing the strange metal dragon, “The Pokemon… that destroyed the orchard…”

“Kapheria didn’t mean to destroy it…” Patch admitted.

“Where is it’s actual trainer?!” Vivelli interrogated, “Why would you agree to look after something when, you haven’t had a week to get to look after your own Pokémon?! They could’ve scammed you, Patch!” 

“Look, I don't know where he is!” Patch was desperate to avoid any more questions, “He gave me his number, I’m doing my best to contact him.”

“Well if you ask me, you shouldn’t be looking after a stranger's Pokémon, especially when it got you into debt!”

Oh great we’re on the debt again. 

Patch looked back at Kapheria, Could Mom be right though… I mean Kapheria seems great and all, but I barely know what to do with her half the time when something is wrong. Saying everything will be okay could lose its meaning after a while…

“Look it’s getting late, and I have to be at the Museum Library at seven in the morning,” Vivelli yawned, “We’ll talk again when I get a day off. If you’re old enough to pay off a debt then I can expect you to sort this whole Kelia thing yourself!”

“You mean, Kapheria?” They corrected her. 

“Patch, I’m tired!” She huffed, “I love you, Goodnight!” 

As Vivelli hung up Patch saw that they’re call with her lasted for almost a half hour. They weren’t the least surprised.

“Kapheria!” They called the dragon over with warmth in their voice, “It’s okay the scary lady is gone now!”

The metallic dragon was all curled up by Flumpfy, using him as a hiding spot.

Patch tried checking their phone for any missed messages from Turo.

Yep he totally ghosted me. I don’t think calling him again will help. That Arven guy would probably know how to reach him… if he isn’t still mad at me. 

The trainer rummaged through their supplies to properly set up their picnic. As they buried their hand the bag a shiny piece of metal fell onto the gravel. 

Oh the Nectar Badge… should I really keep this thing? 

Patch held it against the daylight. The sun’s glow highlighted the golden accents of the badge. 

I’m glad I kept this from Mom.

“Oh Patch,” they mimicked Vivelli’s passive aggressiveness, “Aren’t you a little old to be chasing childhood fantasies?”

“Pft!” Patch sneared. 

They slide the finger into the grooves of the badge’s design. A gym badge was a trainer’s Medal of Honor; did Patch want more? Did they deserve more? The rest of Paldea’s gym leaders would be twice as skilled as Katy.

If they were able to get seven more badges, what would be next? Challenging the Region’s elite four, did they have to battle a champion after that?! Would they be forced to battle Nemona?! 

After a spiraling forecast, they knew the best thing they had control of was themself.

But then Patch remembered how accomplished they felt when they battled Katy. For once they felt a different yet familiar sense of purpose.

If I wanted to battle in the league since I was a kid, and it feels right to me now. Maybe I did have a plan for myself that I just looked over… 

 Patch tucked the Nectar Badge away safely into their pencil case. Even though it seems impossible, maybe collecting the next seven gym badges is a good place to start.

As Patch felt fulfilled with a new goal, they were late to notice two white bird pokemon feeding off their supplies.

“HEY!” They shouted to shoo them off.

“Bur Bur!” They cawed scooping rations into a pouch.

Venture sprang into his quick tempered disposition, howling for stones to strike them down. 

Both of them flew off with the breeze of the wind, and Patch was left with half of their rations.

“Ruff! Ruck! Ruff,” Venture barked into the sky.

Crap I paid good money for those!

“Okay!” Patch clapped their hands in frustration, “I’ve had just about enough of this place!” If I’m really going to take on the league I better find my next gym. 

They whipped out they’re rotophone, and shrunk down their phone map to find their next stop. Alfornada is closest. But they have a psychic type gym and they’re too strong for me… Casafarrafa… I’ll have to cut through dessert and that be a pricy flying taxi ride. Plus water types don’t seem like a good idea

Come on, Patch focus! Trust your decision! They scrubbed to the right side of the map, Artazon… they have a grass type gym! Yes that should work! Oh but that’s still going to be excessive if I go by flying taxi… Patch reviewed the outer reaches of the town… I’ll just cut through that canyon…

…

Patch had been on plenty of airplane rides, to get used to to flying above air. But when you were being flown by hundreds of Squawbilly it felt a bit wobblier.

“Preparing for landing!” The pilot declared raising the goggles from there crinkled face.

They could feel the taxi carrier clumsily decend, beneath the lumpy leather seat. They had to give it to the Squawkabilly for flying so in sync with each other. If one was late on a wingbeat the whole carrier could fall.

“Alright,” the pilot opened the door, “That’ll be 2,000p!” 

Gotta be extra careful this time, Patch thought handing him the money.

Patch stepped out into the dusty ground. Walls of red sandstone stood proudly along the area. Small bushes and sprigs grew out of the rock, like cacti in a desert. 

There were some wild Pawmis that nearly blended into the dust if not for their yellow cheeks. Patch wasn’t sure if they wanted to catch one since they already had an electric type of their own.

Not too far away they noticed a wooden picnic bench garnished with a purple Uva Academy blanket. A man dressed in academy attire sat down enjoying a sandwich.

“Aola,” he greeted clearing his throat. He patted his face clean with a napkin, “You off to Artazon?”

“I am,” Patch answered, “were you just there?” 

“I tried… but the Pokémon around here are… feisty,” he shrugged sounding remorseful.

Beneath the table, Patch noticed that the student's leg was poorly wrapped up in cloth with a sloppy knot. It was stained with dried red. 

You just spent most of your money on a taxi ride over here you can’t just go back. You have a mother to prove wrong, they wrestled their fears. 

“You couldn’t afford a flying taxi to Artazon either?” Patch assumed.

“You kidding?” he chuckled, “I make less working at the school store! Whoever heard of 10,000p for one ride?!” 

“Ah…” they sighed, “But this Province can’t be that dangerous if you're still here?” Patch clarified to shrink their instincts. 

The old student nodded back, “As long as you watch for Pokémon in big groups. They’ll gang up on you like crazy!” He placed his napkin down, “If you ask me this place makes up for it in valuable materials.” 

“Good to know…” Patch pondered, Maybe if I find some cool looking rocks that I could sell for taxi fair. 

“Here,” the student handed them a Deli Cioso bag, “You can’t go through the canyon on an empty stomach.”

“For me?” Patch pointed to themselves, “Oh no I couldn’t!”

“Nah it’s really okay…” he whisked his hand, “I found out I hate herbed Sausage, I’d hate it more to go to waste.” Well I needed some extra food anyway, they thanked their classmate and made their way through the treacherous canyon.

[amoebaforce]

I'm the WolxThancredxEmet anon and I just LOVED your hcs. I wanted to ask for more of the same trio, maybe more fluffy hcs? Tysm

ask and ye shall receive, dear anon! these guys are always fun to write for <3

pairing: Thancred Waters x gn!WoL x Emet-Selch tags: fluff, polyamory, established relationship

When it comes to household chores, things are split pretty equally between the trio. Everyone takes turns with the dishes, the laundry, the shopping, etc. In fact, the only task to be “strictly” enforced is cooking.

And by that, I mean… unless the WoL insists on doing it themselves, Thancred and Emet do all the meal preparation. They’ve even worked out a little system between them to keep things balanced.

Thancred makes breakfast, and honestly, he’s pretty good at it. He has all but perfected the art of egg cookery, in particular. (He first started honing this skill in the wilds of Dravania, when chocobo eggs were his main source of non-meat protein.) He’s also been working on a pancake recipe, so the WoL and Emet have been eating a lot of them recently.

Meanwhile, Emet has firmly established himself as the true King of Dinner. Using a combination of acquired technique and magical augmentation, he can churn out three-course meals in less than an hour. 

Emet is also single-handedly responsible for refining and expanding his partners’ palates to include more “exotic” delicacies. He loves to serve them expensive bottles of wine and rare fruits, if only to see the looks on their faces when they take the first taste. 

Emet is a music buff, too, so their home is often full of it. He cycles through genres like no one’s business, playing everything from Doman opera to Meracydian ballads. Thancred has been known to make fun of Emet for some of his stranger tastes, but he’s also been known to dance with him to make the WoL laugh.

In fact, both Thancred and Emet will do just about anything if it means making their lover happy. They’re both very sensitive to the WoL’s moods, and they both know how hard it is to be so in-demand. All three of them cherish their time together and enjoy coming up with new ways to spend it.

They’ve played all sorts of board games, read dozens of books and poems to each other, visited museums and galleries across the continents, and even taken a few art classes together (albeit with… mixed results).

But most of the time, you can find the trio curled up on their sofa, listening to the fire crackle in the hearth as they talk about their days. Usually, the WoL unloads the latest gossip from Tataru or Krile or G’raha. Thancred always listens and nods, entirely devoted to stroking the Warrior’s hair, while Emet laughs or gasps or clutches his pearls along to the story.

At the end of the night, Thancred is first to retire. “I’m getting old,” he claims, rubbing his back for added effect as he heads to their bedroom. “Ha!” Emet quips back. “You wouldn’t know ‘old’ if it bit you on the arse!” 

The Ascian will be up for several hours more. It’s true that Emet is prone to sleeplessness — he always has been — but he also does his best thinking at night. When he does come to bed, Emet finds his partners snuggled up and snoring, and he can’t help but watch for a while as their chests rise and fall. Slow and steady and constant, like the tides of a boundless ocean.

[not-xpr-art]

Art Advice #15 - Overlay textures in digital art!

Hi!! It's been a while since I did an art advice post like this and since I've recently been using a new technique (well, new to me lol) for adding texture to my artworks I thought I'd share some tips on how to do it!

Brief introduction into overlay textures:

So I suppose I should start by defining what I mean by 'overlay textures' and why you might want to use them! Overlay textures can add real dimension to your work, and they're especially good if you want to give your digital work the appearance of being a traditional painting! Another great thing about these textures is that most programs will come with some great pre-set texture layers that can be customised, though you can also find great downloadable textures to add to your works too!

To give you a better understanding of what overlay textures are, below are two of the same artwork, one without and one with a texture placed over the top.

This particular texture I created from MS Paint (which I'll get a little more into a bit later) and you will get completely different looks (and can drastically change the colours and feeling of the piece) depending on what blending effect you use to add the texture to your artwork! In the above example I used the 'burn' effect (which is good for deepening colours whilst keeping the highlighted areas semi-bright).

A quick note before I get into the specifics I will say that a thing to remember is that adding texture to a digital work will drastically changed the file size, especially if you are saving things as .pngs!

What types of pre-set texture layers do I use?

I have a few go-to textures that I use regularly!

First is the 'sand' and 'cloud' filter effects on Firealpaca (I'm sure other programs have similar pre-set effects).

The sand one (on the left) is the only I use the most regularly because it gives a more dispersed effect. You can change the colours of the background and the texture by using the foreground and background picker (in the examples below you can see the background is set to the automatic white).

Next selection of textures you can add to your art are from MS Paint (an example of one of these is the above artwork by the way). This is something I only really discovered recently whilst playing around with MS Paint.

These are four examples of the textures you can create on MS Paint! The way you do it is use the rectangle shape and change the 'fill' option to either 'crayon', 'natural pencil', 'oil' or 'watercolour' (the other options in the drop down list aren't textured by the way) and changed 'colour 2' to whichever colour you want the texture to be and voila!

I usually then save that texture and copy it into my usual program (Firealpaca) so I can blend it down onto my artwork. The natural pencil (top left) is my personal favourite since it's more subtle than the rest, but they are all really interesting textures and I'd definitely recommend playing around with them!

What about downloadable textures?

I also regularly use pre made textures that I've downloaded from various places over the years! These are usually either real canvas or paper textures that give your works a traditional appearance!

I'd honestly recommend just giving a quick google of 'free paper/canvas textures' and you'll find some resources. Unfortunately some of the places I used to get textures have been deleted, but I'd definitely recommend checking out Unsplash! It's great for reference images and for textures that aren't copyrighted! There are also some Flickr groups that have free textures that are pretty good!

At the moment I've got a folder filled with ones that I've collected over the years and would really recommend you do the same if there are particular textures you like to use! I also regularly layer these textures on top of each other to give the piece more dimension!

Also you can take your own pictures of canvas/paper textures to use which is just as easy as using ones others have used! Below are a couple art examples of works I've added these kinds of textures to.

How do I add the overlay texture to my artwork?

As I've already mentioned, a lot about using overlay textures is learning how to apply them to an artwork where they don't overpower it, and a lot of this can be controlled by careful use of blending options, the opacity of the texture layer, as well as how and where you layer the texture on to (or underneath) your artworks!

So for example, because I wanted the above left artwork to look more like it had been drawn onto the paper texture, rather than floating on top (which the right line art is), I used the overlay blending effect on one layer of the drawing, and then added a full opacity layer below that, which gives a sort of effect of the drawing 'bleeding' into the texture layer below. I will sometimes use a couple layers of my drawing with the overlay effect blending them into the texture layer to give it a real appearance of it being drawn directly onto the paper.

Sometimes, however, you want to leave the drawing sitting on top of the texture to make it stand out a little more! It really depends on what kind of effect you're going for to be honest. The way you keep these things separate is by putting the texture on the bottom as a background. (You can also have part of your art with the texture over it and part without, like the above artwork on the right which has the line art hovering and the colour overlaid onto the texture!)

Below are a couple more examples of artworks that I've done with some of these textured effects in comparison to the same works without the textures!

Happy texturing! ~

I hope I explained this alright, some of the techniques I talked about are a little hard to put down into words so if you ever need me to clarify anything please feel free to message me!

Thank you for reading and if you enjoy my work please feel free to either commission me or tip me/go to my kofi <3

[sugarplanet]

"Did I Draw That?" Critiquing Your Old Art and Tracking Your Growth

You’ve probably had that feeling before where nothing you’re drawing is quite up to snuff or you can’t seem to make anything you’re particularly proud of. Art blocks and creative ruts are a plague to most artists and sometimes it feels like you’ll be sick with them forever. As someone who can find it hard to draw or post when I’ve lost any sense of motivation because “my art isn’t good enough, I don’t have any followers,” I’ve made myself work harder on redirecting towards more productive means of self-critique and analysis to keep me from self-destructing over my craft. One way I go about self-analysis or finding inspiration again is by comparing myself to myself instead of to artists that are years ahead or behind me so I can see how I’ve been taking to the efforts I’ve made to improve while, where I want to improve more, and get reacquainted with my art in a more personal sense instead of looking at numbers of likes or views on post next to other people’s art.

I found an exercise I did back in 2021 where I was practicing some lighting and paint stoke techniques free hand, really experimenting with the most innocuous thing I could think of at the time; a lady holding a cat. I did the first piece on a whim, making things a little flat, and then actively revisited the piece a couple months later with some sharper brushes, a more expressive subject, and greater contrast in color and value. I even added a simple background to make things a little more interesting. I did like some things in both pieces (the color palate and understated texture I got in the first piece and the greater energy in the later piece) but I know there was plenty of room for improvement (mainly the anatomy and the blobbiness of the cats). Looking at the pieces, I tried to find the mindset I had when I worked on them and think about my approach; as flawed as they were, I liked them a little still and wanted to try one more time to see if I could make something out of it.

This piece feels more disciplined than the others with a background and stronger anatomy but does employ some of the spirit of the first two in the painterly approach.

It’s nice being able to look fondly back on your own art, but it can be a little worrying at times liking your old art while also combating feelings of dissatisfaction with your current output. There’s a belief that one mark of improvement is being able to look back on your own work and reflexively gag over how wonky the quality is. With that logic, you liking your old work at all must mean that you either haven’t improved at all or you can’t see how you’ve improved. To counteract that kind of downward spiral-inducing line of thought, understand that part of becoming a better (and happier) artist is being able to see your skill and improvement while also being able to spot your shortcomings and improving them without fixating them. I wasn’t always able to look at my own art objectively and redo an older concept or update a piece so easily but understanding the value in all of your work, even the super dated and wonky stuff, does a service to your craft (not to mention your self-esteem.)

If you feel like your work isn’t up to snuff or if the dredges of stagnation are biting at your toes, try sifting through your portfolio or sketches or psd files of over stuffed canvases with hundreds of layers (I’m not the only one that does that, right?) and see what you’ve found since before you first discovered that new brush set or around a time when you were last energetic in your work or even something from this time last year. It’s best to see if you have any files separate from social media like twitter or instagrams so you aren’t judging your work based on arbitrary popularity or clickability; look at it without bias and be fair to yourself. Is there something you found that you liked or really don’t like at all anymore? Could you see how to improve on it if you’re sure you can do better? I’d suggest a character design or portrait that you like in a way but can instantly think up a few ideas on how to make it a lot better. All the progress you’ve made is going to shine through each new detail and correction; you’ll take good care to treat something so important well!