#idk how i feel about lineless art

[wiicoded]

some quick little designs for my beautiful lovely son kevin and his ugly stupid boyfriend The Mole

[feelo-fick]

molten/molted/molded

also yes i do actually have a flamingo mug thats sorta chipped, and it is a little ugly, here it is :

its not super chipped, but i was still devastated when i found out

[lycorisicecream]

Gay gay homosexual gay

[precambrianhottopic]

fuckin finally made some art for myself....i havent had the time since school started but here's a heraldic unicorn i no longer feel like im rotting

[pleucas]

i got a few asks about my process :0 so yea i took some screenshots mid-process of my recent cliff-skk thing just for that

m gonna preface everything by saying that i did have a ref for the environment!! i avoid color dropping from the image and tracing cuz i do want to hone some digital skills. also saying i'm doing an "environment study" when i'm really just drawing skk makes me feel better abt myself

when i don't have a reference, i tend to do some thumbnail sketches in my sketchbook. here's some random stuff of past work, where i rawdogged everything:

but whatever, back to the cliff-skk. i'll also post a timelapse of it for easy ref, but detailed stuff is under the cut :)

first i did some rough sketches on an orangeish background (underpainting etiquette, i find it helps things feel brighter and keep a stable tone when choosing colors to lay on top), and I quickly lined skk :)

then I laid down some flats for the background, again really eyeballing the reference for hues. afterwards i thought it was a bit bright, and i wanted a more sepia/nostalgia feel to it, so i hue adjusted everything to something more uniform

then i lay down flats for skk + the ocean, which i both had to color adjust a lot (you might see that in the timelapse), and then i jump straight into rendering the background. when i render, i always prefer to do it over something lineless, so i turn the sketch layer off. i rarely do lineart for backgrounds.

i also used to render the characters first, but i've found that it's just not a great approach—especially for art where characters and background are interacting, knowing the hues and shades of the environment is crucial to effective rendering on the character that doesn't make them look out of place.

when i'm rendering, i really try to keep in mind tenants of contrast, perspective, form, and light/shadow. ex, stuff "closer" to us has more detail; the hill in the back is minimalist (in comparison); the shadows lean cool-green while the light leans gray-yellow. rake brushes really carried me here idk... my fav brushstyle forever

eventually i reach a point where i'm satisfied (or bored) with the background. for the last stages i usually have the subjects hidden so i can really perfect the details—but then for super duper final details, like the little leaf specks and grass strands, i unhid skk so the poppy details could work around skk. then i get to rendering the characters :)

i forgot to take ss of all the stages when i rendered skk, but here's something from... about the middle of the process? i tend to render characters with the lineart hidden as well, sometimes bringing it back just to clarify things, but ultimately i prefer to define things by form than by line. that's just me tho idk, idt it makes or breaks anything, just a preference

again rlly just thinking about cool/warm, reflective tones (the greenish shadow on chuuya's left inner leg, sky-gray blue on dazai's vest), really just slotting the subject into the environment. after i finish rendering the characters, i usually return to the background and add some stuff—in this one i defined the waves a bit and put some grass around skk

and yeah then we're done idk LOL. sometimes i run the file through camera raw (photoshop) to do some color adjustments—i find that my iPad displays colors super differently, usually making things a lot lighter than they are (u can see how dark the timelapse is...), so i find myself lightening my work a lot. i also sharpen and add noise as needed :)

i think my process has changed a lotttt even in this past year. it's kinda crazy!! it's always fun to do these and just reflect a bit on how i work. mostly just mindless insanity until it kinda works.

thanks for sending in an ask. and if u read all that, thanks to u too lolol

[prismatoxic]

talking about my art journey as of late, or more specifically how relying on 3d models actually worked out in my favor

so back in 2023, i started relying on 3d models for poses and proportions. i hated how my art looked and i was frustrated with trying to put something together, taking forever on it, and having it just turn out like ass in the end. the 3d models removed a ton of guesswork from the process and helped me focus on the things i was good at while gently training skills i was less capable of. i'd already been using 3d models sporadically before then, but it was around when i started drawing nate and ken together that i switched to using them all the time.

it's hard to find comparisons around the right timeframe... but here's a nate drawing (with a friend's oc) i did just before i made the switch, when art was so frustrating for me that i wasn't fully lining or rendering anymore, and then the first nateken i ever did, which was when i started using the models in earnest.

it gave me my confidence back. i drew nateken CONSTANTLY, and they overtook my present fandom interest (mgs) before too long.

i did lose some things, though... fluidity, namely. and i've spent a lot of time trying to make my art feel dynamic, make it flow even with the models underneath, but even when other people can't tell, i can. it's been bothering me for a long time. my art is better now, yes, but cursory attempts to not use 3d models were all the more devastating for it. i was scared. i'd grown too reliant.

i tried a handful of times to sketch simple things without models and every time i hated it so bad that i didn't finish it. the past year, time and time again, i've found the prospect of drawing freehand far too daunting to attempt.

some jokey sketches of animal characters came out recently-ish that read fine, and that was good, but... i knew the humans and humanoids i draw all the time were still beyond me.

this anniversary drawing for me and devot back in the summer made me think... maybe... just maybe... i might actually have some skill in conveying what i want in simple shapes while freehanding. not what i'd like to do in full, but i love these little doodles. it was a start. (the main part was in fact based on models.)

more recently, this joke comic i did based on something max said gave me a similar feeling. like yeah it's a sketchy mess, but it does the job. it's silly. you know what you're looking at.

a few weeks ago, i had a silly malix idea that i didn't want to bust out the models for. so i made a loose freehand sketch. and... it seemed okay. so i refined it. and honestly? i really like how it came out.

it has that fluid charm i always wanted my doodles to have. i started to wonder... has this year+ of using the models actually helped me improve my sense of anatomy and proportions? did i actually get something out of this?

the answer might be yes. here's all the things i freehanded recently:

aside from the lineless one, these were all just quick silly things, and ultimately i still intend to use the 3d models for "serious" work or things i just want to make sure have a certain refined quality to them.

idk, i'm just... excited? happy? i thought my skill to just sketch something and refine it all by myself had surely atrophied. i thought my reliance on 3d models had ruined my art potential. turns out it's just been training wheels and i'm actually doing kind of okay taking them off sometimes.

i'll keep making silly simple things this way for a while. the lineless damien one was me having a bad night and needing a major distraction, and it served its purpose alright. i'm just happy i was able to actually finish it. i don't even hate it!

i guess this is me saying, yeah, it's fine to use tools and shortcuts. i know the fear of "cheating" but here i am, having done this for ages, and i'm doing better for it. i will say i think a lot of my ability to learn has been my willingness to compensate for what the 3d models can't do (like joints and muscles) and tweak things once those layers are hidden, but i've still been relying heavily on these shortcuts. it's just nice to realize it wasn't all a waste, in a skill sense.

[strawberryshineart]

Riddle x Malleus Fanart <3

My favourite twst ship, Riddle x Malleus! ❤️💚 

I adore these two so much, and I've been dying to draw some art of them since I got into twst! Seriously underrated, these two have an interesting dynamic, and I love all the ways it could be explored. 

Riddle's Ghost Bride vignette is my favorite vignette out of them all, the trust Malleus puts in Riddle to rescue everyone by the end of their talk speaks volumes, and I love how freely Riddle speaks around Mallues, clearly not fearing him but admiring his strength. He is surprised, in Malleus's birthday jacket vignette, when Malleus admits to his natural strength and abilities but in the same vignette still dares him to try and beat him for the leadership position of Heartslabyul. Because that layer of fear that others have isn't really there with Riddle, I feel like he would talk more freely with Malleus. 

Riddle's admiration of Malleus is also really adorable, and Malleus seems to think pretty highly of Riddle in turn. I also think it'd be funny for Riddle to end up with someone who goes against his whole "I won't be with someone who can't arrive for things on time!" statement 🤣. Their personalities complement each other really well, and they have some good interactions, so I am surprised more people don't ship them!

Sorry for the ramble, I try to keep these descriptions short, but man, I could talk about these two for hours 😅. 

In regards to the artwork itself, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out as it was my first real attempt at lineless art! Otherwise, the background is still kinda meh, I spent so long trying to figure out what to do, and everything just looked too simple or busy. I landed on this background, it still feels a Lil busy idk, I really spent way too long on this, so I just decided to go with it instead of fiddling with it any longer. 

Speedpaint can be found on my Instagram reels! Link.

[forecast0ctopus]

i loveee ur art its sooo expressive and it has such a 90s feel to it.. if i may ask, how do u pick ur colours? do u have a specific colour pallete u adhere to? thanks!

thanks so much :DDD im curious what might make it feel 90s 🤔 thats so interesting

anyways stuff abt coloring below

honestly i kinda just fuck around with color, technically i somewhat understand color theory but despite that im bad at choosing the right colors straight from the color wheel so a lot of times i just hsb adjust things until theyre right

ive got two different ways i color things currently:

softish shading with a marker brush in greyscale, applying too many color adjustment layers, and then coloring a little on top of the greyscale to make things not monochrome. usually i color on top of a clipping mask bc its a lot easier, which i did in the ace attorney one but not in the merlin one for ?? no reason i guess i just didnt think abt it lmao

the other way is i decide what color i wanna cast the whole drawing in and i make that the base clipping mask layer (which ive been making like. neon green a lot lately lmao) and then i block in color on top of that, and shadow color on top of that. the cybersix ones a great representation of what im doing there but its a little chaotic since all of the sketches were meant to be cropped oops. the cowboy danny phantom ones a lot cleaner of an example haha

i really like doing the second method because it also works great with lineless and also i really like comparative colors? i know theres a better phrase for it but like. when one color looks like a different color when its put in a different colored space. like when im making things green, id color blue things in the scene green and red things in the scene a muddy orangey color. or when i was really into yellow id make the blues purple. idk usually the “blue” in the scene is first color i like to figure out im not sure if its because its my favorite color or if its because i love drawing jeans but thats just how it goes lmao

oh also putting things on a or neutral bg helps to pick colors a lot easier than keeping the default white bg, i always turn it off and leave it transparent until im finished lmao. i use procreate light mode so its still rather light but not too bad

i dont really have any palettes that i intentionally adhere to, no, but i do get kind of stuck using the same colors for a few months before moving to something different. rn im very stuck on green and need to accept that not everything needs to be the grossest greens ever and ive been stuck on it for about six months? in the past i was really stuck on yellow haha

[god-mouths]

two.

2. 5 favourites of your own work? putting under a read more for convenience :]

this ask actually came at a spectacular time as i just unearthed the motherlode of old art of mine from 2019-2020.

i'm counting all the old ones as one because i love cheating

1a. Max's extended backstory used to be very, very different. I wasn't willing to let go of him as a character yet, so instead i just like elongated his story as a whole. the two characters behind him here are Lana (blue) and Ashoka (grey). The piece takes place during the focal point of the destruction of the universe ^^ 1b. this ones just always been a favorite! i like how i did the blood 1c. I really like how i drew rhea here, specifically the smile and the gradient on the horns :]

kay now on to the more contemporary pieces!

2. this is a piece i did for artfight 2021, @/13crowsinatree 's oc, Nikola! I just love the colors and how i used traffic signs as pupils

3. another piece from 2021, i really love how i did the lineless and the shadows here, although i wish i did a little better on the mouth. it's fanart for Inside Job, which i kind of have conflicted feelings about the second season like. idk. they leaned far too much into some things and also ron looks too much like her brother it was weird.

4. also from 2021, pretty obviois its a favorite as its my current header . it was a sketch that i cleaned up (which i rarely ever did back then and still dont really do now), i just love the way the lineart meshes with the colors, and how i drew bear here!

5. 2022! the expressions, how i drew the side profiles, the colors, and the hands!! i really really like how it came out. the mouths also. basically i just love everything about this piece mwah mwah mwah

old extra joke sketch from 2019-2020 VVV

this joke is from one of my absolute favorite mspfas i read that i would go back and try to find the original of but mspfa is completely offline so i cant

[noblemalone]

I think im a pretty good artist i think I'm hot shit right so i feel like

Idk seeing artists online especially in the fanart and character illustration/OC department, seeing those newer artists who are maybe just getting in to digital art or drawing in general i feel like...

One like slooow down brother there's no need to be making stickers or doing commissions or having a patreon just yet, let's walk before we run ok? Of course you can do, people can do whatever they want with their free time but you have to understand a lot more about art, marketing online, self promotion, and social media trends to get the kind of traction you're expecting. I feel like theres this pressure for newer artists to legitimize themselves thru like, monetary means ("if ppl subscribe to my patreon, it means I'm good at art") and social media capital ("likes are nice, but they dont do much; please reblog!")

And like yeah everyone wants that but... If you're drawing solely for those reasons and are disheartened by lack of interaction or traction in the markets, what are you even doing? I been doing this a long time, 20+ years at this point. Not commissions or anything, just drawing. I been drawing a long time and I always do it for the love of the game. I do it because it keeps my mind and hands busy, it brings me joy, and i like to create. I enjoy translating the real world into lines, in stylizing, in pushing. I just like it and yk what, thats how I've had this longevity and thats how I've gotten to where i am. I have sketchbooks full of work no one has ever seen, not just studies but all kinds of work.

If your drive to to do the thing, or to improve at a craft or whatever is external, you can't keep it up. Thats nothing to say about learning to enjoy observation and the importance, even in stylized work, of learning how to look at something and how to just observe and notice the things we see. Idk so much of my growth and skill has come from an internal drive to improve for myself, because getting better is a challenge i want to overcome, and doing the less-exciting stuff like drawing a fuckin building. I've been to probably idk dozens of life drawing sessions because i wanted to grasp anatomy better. In university, i took courses where we looked at bones and skeletons so that i would by proxy have a better anatomical grasp. I learned to map my knowledge and the things I learned about applying making or working out back to drawing. Idk man i dont know how to tell you how to love something

And thats all not the point anyway cuz the point is

Two, i think some new artists don't really... They're not interested in finding a personal style? Or if they are they're not sure how to get there? They see the work that does numbers on insta and twitter and stuff and they wanna draw like that, so they do what those artists do. Admirable! But also they do it without understanding the underlying principals. This artists blocks their characters out like this, so i shall too. That artist uses lineless painterly style with heavy realistic rendering, so shall I. And idk everyone enjoys that style the idk Popular Style of anime realism or whatever its fine to look at but dont y'all ever want more??

And like idk do you enjoy the process or are you doing it that way cuz thats how your fave does it?

And idk like.... Two works can be of equal technical skill level, but the one that plays with style and understands underlying principals of lighting and colour and shape and line, the one that is bold with their vision, is always gonna be better than the one that's trying to be popular and do numbers yk?

Like if thats the style that speaks to you, go for it, but fuckin Go for it yk? Dont try and be like everybody else or the big time players cuz if you're trying to master someone else's style, you're not gonna be able to master the things that make art fun and interesting and challenging and engaging yk

And also a lot of art is about vibes and if you're not channeling the vibes its gonna look bad you gotta focus on the vibes not on being like your fave!!

And if i see one more person say "i spent so long rendering this 🥲" when its fucking cel shaded I'm gonna lose my frickin MIND I SWEAR BROTHER I'M NOT MAD I LOVE CEL SHADING BUT CHRIST ON THE CROSS USE THE RIGHT WORDS FOR THE THINGS YOU MEAN

[woolying]

!!! 2024 art summaries yayy !!!

is my handwriting legible ??? it doesnt matter this is moreso just for me lol

also i really struggled finding things to put on the timeline bc the beginning of the year i was sooo Artblocked i didnt draw at all and the end of the year all i have are wips and sketches... the struggler

regardless this was a good art year for me i think!!! lots of highlights yay see yall next year <333

(past art summaries and more yapping below if u care...)

reminiscing and revisiting:

2023

i miss u kirizono........lowk i peaked here

goal: better composition -> tbh no i havent done anything too compositionally difficult... character(s) on colored background galore

goal: let ocs be seen -> i posted One(1) Once...barely... but im working on them more than i was before so i need them to be more fleshed out before i let people see them. But i am so obsessed with them now so i think its a win regardless

goal: do more studies, stop struggling!! -> i havent done many more studies but i havent been struggling that much?? do i have a better understanding of things or have i not left my comfort zone... actually that will be another goal

2022

the last time a variety of colors were seen in my art 😔💔 may they rest in peace

"lineless/rendering! ended up being not for me lol" -> i love rendering now never give up !!

goal: artstyle consistency -> not rlly lol but its fine im exploring <3

goal: better landscapes/backgrounds -> this is once again the goal for next year we'll get it this time for sure 🙏

goal: be cringe publicly! have fun! -> i am having sooo much fun but im not cringe i am so based actually... also the move from twt to here has done wonders for me. I used to be so scared and miserable all of the time about art but its chill here

reflecting:

lowkey i feel like i regressed this year in terms of skill which is kinda sad,,,, i havent drawn a background in ages, my anatomy is still kinda bad and inconsistent, idk how clothing works, etc what ever

but maybe im just being critical bc of the skill/knowledge curve thing!! at least thats what im telling myself <3

however also im trying new things that are like not related just to just illustrations (which i used to be the only thing i drew ever). like im getting back into designing ocs and coming up with aus/stories (ive always been such a bad uncreative writer its not even funny but im trying anyway!!) and im using my sketchbook again and ive tried animation ?!? which i used to say i would never do bc it seemed so hard (it still is) so maybe im just like expanding outward instead of deeper idk if thats a good thing or not ...master of none maybe

but tbh its all good honestly im just yapping bc i really am just enjoying art!! i love drawing and i love sharing my art and i love drawing other peoples ideas and !!!! yippppeeee

soon i hope i get more confident and share more of my own ideas, i feel like the art i draw is ??? not that deep or exciting just characters Who Are There or just like mildly pretty. I wanna be able to tell stories and show emotions and such in my art ykno?? but thats so hard

i wanna share ideas more but i feel like i cant unless i have art attached to it?? (part of why i wanna practice comics, bc some of them are easier to share that way) and also im just scared i guess lol. But maybe i just need to get over myself and just do it!!!!

Any Way, i love being a drawer next year we will Grow🌱🌱🆙

[emile-hides]

“Payton’s face was so open, so apologetic, Sam felt like they were at the water tower again, Payton standing with her sisters, Sam slipping his jacket onto Miel. They had all been children then, so he’d never considered just how young Payton was, the smallest of four sisters. A girl offering to share her favorite thing with a girl she did not know.”

I don’t know what it is about the books I’m reading and making me want to try digital painting, but here I am.

[nero-neptune]

“You were right, Antsy,” he said. “I’m the tree.” “What?” “The tree. The one that falls in the forest. The one that no one’s there to hear.”

-the schwa was here by. neal shusterman

[paintersatyr]

But I still don't know what my purpose is here

I know enough to know

That what I think I know ain't clear

I just wanna go wherever my heaven is

It's far away from here

[daemonicbunnie]

Some attempts at lineless art

[ironic--neo]

“All legs, no dairy.”

--

will i ever draw sasha in something besides this pose? probably not. needed a good excuse to showcase clothes and poofy borrowed-girlfriend jackets