#improve what u ask?

[winepresswrath]

I think it would be an improving experience for the writers who think surprising their audiences or leaving them sad and unsatisfied is the pinnacle of artistic achievement and have not noticed that the easiest way to bring that about is in fact to be bad at your job and the fans who think it should be illegal to write an ensemble or fail to clearly signpost the endgame couples or whether there's a happy ending to spend some time together, creatively speaking. Hand in unloveable hand.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

no more fan-ta-sizing about it! everything's already changed~

[perfectlyfrosty]

*throws this at u*

I think he’s funny

[t0bey]

I've been following you since 2020 (can't believe that was 4 years ago, time really flies huh) and I wanted to say it's really fun to see how much you have improved as an artist, especially when I'm looking at your older art. Your colors, lineart, anatomy, etc. have improved so much and it's fun to see you continue getting better

Hearing stuff like this truly makes my day anon, esp because i know back then i was suuuuuper unconfident w my art 😭 even if i get frustrated by my own perfectionism sometimes like any other artist, im very happy with the path my art’s taken since being a teenager drawing sorta cringe danganronpa stuff and it really means a lot to know people feel a similar way, thank you sm 🫶

[conkreetmonkey]

yk what. Maybe I will hop on the trend and take a break from American political news for a while. I don't even live there so it won't affect me, unless it does in which case Canadian news outlets will report on it. I trust my muties will let me know if the shit really hits the fan. There's no way I won't hear, anyway, my housemates are all pretty into the news anyway. I really don't stand to benefit from any of it, and in the situations where I genuinely need to be informed of something, I'll still find out. All it'll do is make me upset, and I really don't need that in my life rn. thx @gummy-worms-in-my-brain for suggesting it last night. I thought about what you said, and you were right, so. Blocking some tags, setting up some filters, all that jazz.

[alukaforyou]

Hi! I was wondering how did you learn how to draw? You’re so talented !

hii i just started when i was a kid & never stopped 🤔 everyone starts out drawing bad / wrong whatever but all it is is training ur eyes to see and ur hand to replicate what you see :3 like ur gonna make a drawing that doesnt look right, and you go hmm what about this is off, and compare it to reference photos / whatever it is you are trying to draw and try to figure out what is different between ur pic & the original thing / ur ref photos etc and thats the whole constant process of learning 😅 and u can also google tutorials like "how to draw hands / cats / cars / whatever." i also went to art college which was a ton of life drawing / model drawing / naked ppl drawing / skeleton & anatomy drawing etc.

to improve at drawing u gotta just keep doing it constantly long term, like get obsessed with something (anime characters, for me) & go to town. find art that looks good to u and try to figure out what specifically u like about it (line quality? color? shapes?) & u can practice emulating it, maybe it will show up in your own art style as you develop it.

im still learning obviously, and i feel like theres sm i dont know how to do yet, so using a boatload of reference pics is key, sometimes i take my own ref pics lolz good luck :') just keep drawing ah

also if you look thru my #art ref tag theres some helpful link stuff, i feel like 80-90% of the tag is me saving reference pics lol but every time i find resources or guides or a helpful site i also put it in that tag 😵‍💫

[yippee-optimistically]

yall havent experienced peak until youve read tmnt unleashed and its sequal wolf hunt IM SOOOO DEADASS this comic was genuinely so much fun to read. redrew some of my fav panels bc i couldnt think of anything else but ougghhhhh

i love you anya tmnt unleashed... ouuu.... also little hakuro doodle. i wish we couldve seen where his arc went. pls pls pls read this comic. i love it so much

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

do you have any inspirations or people you look up that influence your writing? pls share your wisdom with us ari 🤲

LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS . i take inspiration from every single book i like and game i play and song i listen to and fic i read on here ……. every single thing. my standouts are probably richard siken (i fear his writing has influenced mine in ways i cannot explain) + (mainly) disco elysium!!!!!! :3c probably my fav written source Ever even though it is . a game. its writing is just gorgeous and if you play it i think you can definitely tell there are traces of it in my own ….

in general i feel poetry has always been my biggest source of inspo which is prob why i focus on imagery sm.. but truthfully all writing i consume inspires me!!!

[iztea]

Something about my drawing feels off , i only got into digital drawing few weeks ago and I'm stuck at the same point and lost .. any advice?

mmm okay first of all this is really good- first impressions-wise, the proportions and anatomy look very solid so there are no major glaring issues so to speak

if you were to ask me, what i think this artwork needs is that sort of 'volume' or depth that most beginner digital artoworks lack. You can achieve this sort of volume in two ways depending on the style you are going for: either by improving the lineart, or by treating the lines just as part of the sketch and painting over them for a more.. ''painterly/rendered'' look if you want to keep the lineart in, what i suggest is adding some "line weight" so that the artwork doesn't look so flat. What i mean by this is to thicken the lines where body parts would naturally overlap (like the neck and shoulder, the nostrils area, the corners of the mouth as well as the tip of the lips etc) and where shadows would normally be for the illusion of volume. After that, i'd also add more shadows and color variation in the colouring layer so that the skin looks more lively and again, for that volume. You can do it with some dark blue or orange on a multiply or an overlay layer, just experiment a bit with colors and blending modes. If you want a more messy/painterly look (which is more down my alley or in line with my artstyle), what i'd personally do is i'd create a new layer on top of everything and just paint over the lines with broader strokes and a darker color in an attempt to add some volume to the shapes and to make the artwork look more cohesive and less "digital" because at the moment, i can tell that it is made up of a Lineart layer, then a Colouring Layer below, that very religiously follows the lineart layer and then maybe a layer on top of that for the other colors and the hair. This is a very common digital art process and a good one to keep in mind but a little secret i can give out that i've noticed in 80% of the artists who have this sort of drawing process is that they will always, always merge everything in one layer at the end and adjust things as they go. They will not keep the layers separated and just never revisit them in the process, despite what it may look like. There will always be something that needs fixing and they will fix it as they go so i suggest doing the same and being a bit more "freeform" with your layers

Anywayss, besides that, I'd also introduce some color variation like in the previous method. As a general tip, try to move the color slider around and don't just shade with a darker variation of the base color. I like how the hair is painted and the shine and everything, it looks very good and everything is pretty much set in place, i'd just render it even more, make it More voluminous. It's just missing a little pop a color: i'd add some blueish gray hues in the brown hair and for the purple hair i'd make it more rich by adding some deep dark blue hues and some faint yellow highlights (bc purple and yellow are complementary colors blabla) As for the shape, think of the hair as chunks of volume that reflect light and that are also affected by gravity.. or as spaghetti if u like flat hair like me bsjsjd That's all i could think of; Again, it's very good and promising considering you started just a few weeks ago, so keep going at it! I hope it was at least somewhat helpful and that i wasn't being too technical with the wording (and that it made sense)

[maskedchip]

I am looking thru files rn and take a lot of pictures of my own art for progress, bc I think like many creatives, it's hard to explain or describe how i get from point A to B in art. im a horrible teacher but this piece for example: (explained under cut)

i tried drawing their little cafe outfits really fast but i just didnt vibe with it. idk what made me want to redo the whole thing. i like the attempt at cooler colors for asougi though. so then we move onto these and:

the first pic looks like an absolute MESS, but what i generally do is get a sketch down, and COLOR out of the way first? I assume it's to set the general tone/ vibe for the piece, which is why you notice a lot of plain color blocks in the bg. then i go back and do lineart and merge all the layers to paint! :D

tbh it's a very back and forth process, and the best way someone described it to me is "you put down blobs of color and then go crazy" which is very, very true.

I think i like the aspect of "carving" in traditional art, where you kinda play around with paint so you go over it again and try something new. so i try to apply that to digital. i think in a lot of my pieces you can see i teeter on the line of messy lineart with color to full blown painting.

anyways there was no point of this, but this is why i always wanna keep track of old art and why i go and revamp old concepts. like i can always try again! also why thumbnailing is very. very. important. but my main goal in art is to have fun when u can, so that's why i play alot.

[bl-inkstone]

changed my tune so fast just bc of youtube autoplay lmao ok here have some sagau diluc thoughts

the player, diluc thinks, is an incredibly endearing being.

he's come a long way from the curt and wary attitude he used to put on around the traveler (and by extension, you), and today is one of those days where he finds himself privately thanking whatever powers there may be that allowed your paths to cross, with him staring at the reflection of you hidden deep within the traveler's eyes in the wake of his fight with the abyss that fateful night in mondstadt.

as one of the first people to have their constellations manifest in the sky of teyvat, diluc is more than aware that the fact that you still choose to ask for his company in your (or, well, the traveler's) journey is a gift he must treasure deeply. he knows that it is your presence in this world that gives vision bearers a chance to become something greater than they presently are. he also knows that he is no longer as impressive of a companion in battle as he used to be from back when the sky wasn't as bright as it is now (when the world you knew was smaller and he was still a figure that you could look to and proudly call "your main").

but you always come back to him. when he least expects it, you invite him back to your party and diluc can't help but privately think, privately wish, that it's because you're as fond of him as he is of you.

standing in silent prayer while you bestow upon him artifacts that thrum with divine power is an experience he can never tire of. the claymores you give him, the food he eats, all the materials he needs to reach a breakthrough in his capabilities... he understands that you aren't teyvat's creator, but this world and everything in it seems to exist just for you. you, the provider, the sustainer, the beloved of all. sometimes, diluc feels that everything he has and ever worked for have all been for the sake of one day meeting you.

he's not a religious man by principle, and he loathes people of absolute power. the only exception to this, however, is you. he's not foolish enough to believe you're some omnipotent, omniscient being that lords above all. no, you're not like that. he knows this because the longer he journeys with the traveler and feels their bond strengthen, the faint whispers he used to strain himself to hear grow clearer and clearer until finally, one day, he hears you.

you're both nothing and everything he thought you'd be. you view the world of teyvat with so much awe and joy that it's infectious, and he finds himself smiling more often than not to the privilege of finally hearing you. the traveler always looks at him with an understanding smile when diluc slows down in their travels to listen to you. he lives for the moments when you talk to yourself or to someone else (a companion of your own, maybe? from your place beyond the stars?) because this is how he learns. your favorite food, your favorite nations, your favorite "characters" and more. he holds every morsel of information you unknowingly give close to his chest where all his affections and wishes hide. he likes to think that this way, he can be closer and better for you.

but he knows he's not the only one who hears you, and it is the traveler that is closest to you out of all them. even so, diluc harbors no ill will to the avatar you chose to see and travel the world through. you're so fond of the traveler, and how could he ever come to loathe anything graced by your love?

he knows how to play nice. it helps that most of your other chosen are people he can find himself enjoying the company of as well. diluc understands that as much as he wants to be the sole holder of your attention, the world does not function that way. he's willing to extend an olive branch so long as they can all work together to keep you present in teyvat. he can worry about his more aggressive competition later when they aren't at risk of being caught in such an unsightly state by you — all that matters to him, right now, is how to keep your gaze on him for just a little longer and keep you from leaving him again.

it's a daunting thing to be so close to your grace. you take diluc to lands he'd never thought he'd visit again, to ruins of civilizations long past, domains with unimaginable horrors and have him run, claymore and vision burning at his hip, into fight after fight at your command. it's tiring at best and painful at worst, but you always take care to heal him and his companions before leaving, and you always lead them somewhere safe to rest until teyvat brightens and you come again.

his current companions (his "supports", he inwardly preens) rest and talk amongst themselves once they feel your presence leave. it used to be something they, your chosen, would panic over, but now that they've gotten more used to you and all the signs that pointed that yes, this is your will, they've grown to be able to tolerate the harrowing chill that comes when your warmth leaves them. diluc leans back on his chair in front of good hunter to observe them. they're all people he's come to grow fond of in time: diona was prickly, yes, but ha become pleasant to be around once they grew past their misunderstandings. the young master of the feiyun commerce guild, xingqiu, was also a reliable companion both in and outside of battle, and for all his faults, venti has proven himself to be a devout believer, unwilling to be a burden to you or the party you've guided him towards.

under normal circumstances, he never would've met and forged such strong bonds with these people. if not for your own interference, he never would've bothered getting to know any of them at all. though he may have his own gripes and complaints at times of how their dynamic works when you're not around, diluc is still fond of them. he's grateful for the opportunity to grow close to people again, and traveling the world alongside them and the traveler has become one of the few things he's begun to look forward to outside of his duties as "diluc, master of dawn winery." when the day is done and he can sit and relax with them in the tables in front of good hunter, he can rest in the company of others who understand the near-maddening pull in his chest that draws him to try and get closer, closer, to you.

it's days like these where diluc quietly thanks whatever it is brought you to them, and prays that one day, he will no longer have to search through the traveler's eyes to see you.

[bacchuschucklefuck]

as an artist who just wants to get to drawing the pretty clothes and is terrible at posing i am forever enamoured by your poses..... they have so much energy and movement!!!

was this via art study, a general knack for anatomy or do you just enjoy posing specifically? and do you have any tips?

(i was just wondering bc your pose work is always so dynamic :D (your lighting also slaps /pos))

this is one case where it's a secret fourth thing lol. I have never successfully studied a single thing in my life, I am not at all a naturally "gifted" artist (and as well I reject the idea altogether), and posing has never jumped out to me as its own task in drawing at all! the way I do anything art-related, and posing specifically, is a lot more mechanistic than how it's perceived I think; I've just assumed this came as a function of how narrative-forward I see art, and how much I focus on comic work.

what folks talk about as "posing" I usually think of in two terms: composition and character acting. composition is how the figures fit into the intended frame, and character acting is the actual motion that'll be portrayed. you can see how that logically works itself out! there are more words than stars in the sky written about composition already, I honestly don't think there's anything I can say that'd be more useful than words from artists like thomas romain. character acting is itself more a matter of writing than visual art to me; you've got a guy and they probably do things, you draw them do those things, that's really it. the rest of it is just, figuring out weights and accenting in a scene, shape language, line flow, discipline-specific stuff like that; since no matter what I'm drawing I always mentally think of it as a comic thing, I usually try to insist on the strong points of that medium, one of which is colloquializing shapes to imply the entirety of a movement through a single panel. I don't always succeed at this! I hope to do better in the future. but it's how I approach this matter.

I think sitting down with your art to think about like, how you're approaching it and what you're in it for would help with troubleshooting a lot of the times. it's helped me before! I'm a completely hedonistic artist, I don't draw what I don't want to draw. what is it exactly about posing that's giving you a hard time? is it something you can do without? usually it is. if it's the thinking up a pose part, you can copy poses from high fashion magazines and sewing pattern models and just photos you find. if it's the fitting a pose into a nice looking complete picture part, don't make it a nice looking complete picture, do it sketchbook style, collage a buncha stuff together. if you never want to think about posing ever again, that's what stock bases are for! make urself some or get some from an artist and just draw the nice clothes.

if ur committed to figuring out posing and wanna ease urself into it, I find prompt lists are pretty good for giving ur brain a ground to build on top of and start asking questions. it's also a good exercise to sit down before drawing a thing to ask urself what u want it to be like, genre-wise: is it gonna be a comic cover, or a family photo, or a professional photoshoot, etc. these things have their own visual languages, and keeping that in mind will direct u on how to frame and choose the movements for ur piece. or, if that's overwhelming, drawing characters running is always good! there's plenty of character acting involved in there, it shows off the physicality of the clothes nicely, and it's decently easy to frame.

(I am similarly mechanistic about pretty much every other aspect of drawing lol, lighting/shading included. fully a case of "if it looks alright I put it in, if it doesn't I don't do it". I still struggle with it every time I do colors, but what can ya do. if the piece asks for it that's what it'll get. thank you very much for the nice ask!)

[4phonemen]

I am about to throw several different wet sponges at you people as hard as I possibly can. Watch out.

>"Please- don't, maybe..-" "I have exposed wires...."

[juniperhillpatient]

old zucest fics that always make azula a one dimensional psycho & zuko as a sadboi crybaby my beloathed I’m so glad we’ve grown since then….. (girl who was randomly scouring ancient stuff on ffn for some reason when ao3 exists)

[governmentmandatedryujinstan420]

I regret to inform everyone we're back in the white space. Expect the fire alarm to go off periodically in typical fashion of whenever it detects a steaming pile of garbage on the way. Like me! [i'll give a cookie to whoever recognizes where the sfx is from!!]

[insomnya777]

hi! how do you. describe characters so you don’t just use pronouns like 37 times in a row

(Especially when characters all use the same pronouns 😭)

omg ok wait this is one of the hardest things ever. i hate using like descriptive words like "the blonde man" "the taller one" etc because it just like icks me out for some reason so usually i just use character names often and then switch to pronouns. it can still get vague or confusing sometimes so then i try to just reorder the sentence/phrase it differently