#i think being on tumblr improved my art so drastically that idk how to feel about it

[holycrimin]

some sketches i did today :þ

also dippers not there cuz hes stinky and i cant draw him for some reason

(dont tag as ship)

+uncropped below the cut!!

[thirdreverie]

valentine's weird shading not-a-tutorial tutorial

let me preface this by saying that i am not very good at tutorials, hence the "not-a-tutorial" in the title. let me continue prefacing this by saying that tumblr's search function is still shit and ass, making me incapable of trying to find the post i wanted to and forcing my hand into making my own instead. if anyone has the link to the post i'm talking about feel free to send it to me or something. anyway let's get into it

so the one thing that helped improve my art's lighting and shading drastically is, instead of thinking shadows being additive, is to think of light being subtractive instead. again emphasis on the words "my art" so this might not work for you personally + this probably also only really works in a digital medium, but like. what do i mean by that?

enlisting the help of that one sketch of ghost/ray i drew once, i've slapped together a few pics that may or may not help make the point i'm trying to make clearer. i dunno, but either way you're gonna want to decide where your light source is coming from first before you start. ok let's go

anyway, this is what i like to call "shadows being additive" or in layman's terms basically just drawing in your shadows by hand instead. this is probably how you've been taught to shade, and it works fine if you know what you're doing! however, since this pic of ghost just Standing There is pretty simple it makes shading this way relatively easy, but if your composition is more complex, you have a bunch of things blocking the light source, and/or you have weird perspective going on; then it might start getting pretty difficult. it sure as hell did for me in the past anyway

but. what if i told you. that there's a different way to approach shading

now introducing: "light being subtractive" aka drawing in your lights instead. in the real world, objects are naturally shrouded in darkness until a light source is present. this fact is then reflected in this shading style by having you begin with a layer filled with your shadow color before erasing the areas where your light hits (then refining it later). this style probably works better the more your knowledge of how objects reside within a 3d space is, but either way i personally prefer this shading style bc of how the shadows feel more organic to me + it works fantastic for dramatic lighting as well

honestly your layer mode doesn't even need to be set to multiply either. in a visual novel i released a while ago under a time constraint i chose to shade my sprite using pure black set to normal mode because it was faster to me than actually having to worry about the colors that come with using a multiply layer

but uhhh yeah either way that's how i got good at shading i guess by changing the way i approached doing it in the first place. hopefully this helps someone out there. idk man i'm not a professional artist or anything i just do this stuff for fun

[magicalbluelightning]

2018 was.... a LOT:

I dragged a friend to a furry con (AWU)

Saw P!atD in concert

Failed a few classes, despite working as hard as I could & asking my professors for help :/

Changed my major from biology to indisciplinary studies, which is effectively the same thing but now I won’t ever have to take a calculus class ever

Made a discord account, joined a few servers 

Made a Ninjago discord server that now has over 70+ people and is fairly active (come join its really neat!)

Got into RvB and HxH as well as I’m more active in Ninjago fandom

Actually made progress towards releasing a webcomic (or two. or FIVE) wrt to getting a set storyline and character designs

Had a roommate for the first time

Realized I’m genderqueer as well as realized I can be both bi and on the aromantic spectrum, and that I’m not the cisgender aroace person I thought I was

Increased my confidence & improved my mental health drastically to the point I’m comfortable going up to strangers and talking to them (asking for help at stores, talking to the person sitting next to me in class on the first day, etc). I still struggle with anxiety & I’m an awkward mess but I’m definitely better than I was last year

Started writing again!

I had art in a zine! (@/ninjagozine)

Got hit by a car last month, not so fun but I was able to walk it off so I’m alright

Started questioning my beliefs & exploring various religions & theology, and realized just how fascinating it is to learn about different belief systems and how it affects culture & tradition & all that (probably why I love world building & character analysis tbh, it’s such an absolutely fascinating subject and I want to learn more). 

Despite my pen breaking and me overworking myself to the point of being physically sick sometimes (school work being a STEM major, writing AND personal/fandom art can be a lot for one person all at once), I think I figured out which direction I want to go in wrt my art and I’m more comfortable drawing backgrounds and adding details now!

So yeah. That’s just the stuff in my personal sphere of existance, yall know all the bullshit that went down with politics & the world in general so I won’t go into that.

But anyway! I feel 2018 was an incredibly necessary learning experience for me- there were quite a few ups & downs, but overall I think I learned a lot and grew as a person. Which I think is what’s important in the end, right?

Also special thanks to @jomeimei421 for posting so much RvB on your insta that I finally went “ah fuck I need to go watch this” and proceeded to binge all 16 seasons over the course of a week during my lunch breaks at work. So I thank you for my life :) (Love your art btw!)

I was going to tag a lot of people who made a positive impact, but tumblr ate this post 3 different times while I was attempting to tag people, and there’s so many people it took 3 hrs trying to figure out what to put on this thing and I have other things to do before midnight rolls around.

[Edit: Apparently it tagged people anyway??? Idk what happened but I literally cannot figure out what the fuck is going on and I’m just gonna assume this is another tumblr fuck-up. Anyone who got tagged I just want to let you know you were a huge inspiration to me this year, you’re all very wonderful :)]

So I want to say- thank you to anyone who’s ever talked with me, I can honestly say that while it’s certainly got more than its fair share of bad, tumblr is the place I’m most comfortable and I feel most free to be myself. So for what that’s worth. Thank you.

Here’s to making 2019 the year we all live our best lives, leave behind all the toxic people, and help each other live out all the goals & dreams we can think of. As well as the year I say “Anxiety be damned” and do the thing anyway (like leaving comments on fics bc yall deserve all the nice comments).

Thanks for 2018, I’ll see you all in 2019! 

Happy new year!