#jo.tutorial

[ratcarney]

jo! do you have any advice about drawing eyes?

i can show you how i do it!

now here’s some specific tips:

EYELASHES:

eyelashes are optional and you can do whatever the hell you want with ‘em! here are some examples:

here i have them on the bottom. usually i use bottom eyelashes on men. idk it just looks cute

here i have them on the top lid. i just think it looks pretty on nabiyah here. you can see i drew them curled up on the left eye so you can see the lash outside the outline of the brow + cheekbone.

here i have eyelashes on both the top and the bottom, mainly because beast is wearing makeup and i want to create the illusion of mascara!

EYE...SHINES? SPARKLES?:

you know the cute little white dots? the little sparkly things? yeah here are some tips + variations on those:

on haruhi, eurydice, and tamaki i used a little open oval as opposed to the usual dots. sometimes i do that when i really want to emphasize the glitteriness of the eyes. no particular reason. don’t @ me

PUPILS:

obv the traditional pupil is a circle, but lately i’ve been getting a little spicy with it...

HEARTS! i’ve been making pupils HEARTS! because i’m ADORABLE! and it brings me JOY!

SHADOWS:

hamlet’s eyes are shadowed underneath AND above because he’s fucking TIRED and it’s been a really rough few hundred years for him. i put a faint line of lighter color in the middle to evoke some depth in the shadows and make the ones in the corners darker. for eurydice, she has some very cute makeup on because she’s pretty and chic. i did eyeshadow by putting some dark paint strokes over her top lids and turning on gaussian blur on procreate to “blend” it. i also blend gray on the top of the white part of the eye to give the eye some sexy depth (as seen in the video).

i hope these tips helped!! i LOVE drawing eyes. it’s my favorite part of the face!!

[ratcarney]

holy fuck this is incredible!!!!! i love it!

hey @ratcarney i hope you don't mind but I did a thing with ur tutorial

[ratcarney]

jo! any advice for a beginner artist? specifically improving human drawing skills?

ooh yeah!! i went years thinking that i was Too Good for the things that are like this:

but the thing is... i am Not. they help IMMENSELY. using references is not cheating!!!! use references!!! use all the references!!!!! i still use references all the time and they slap!!! they’re amazing and SOOOO helpful. look at art from artists you like. take from them, it’s not a crime. as long as you’re not tracing or stealing art, taking some little details from artists you really admire is really good and can be instrumental in helping you develop your own unique style. also, draw fanart!!! draw fanart all the time!! it’s such a good developmental skill and mastering specific character design elements by drawing fictional characters is amazing. most of all, though: have fun. have as much fun as you can. art is not supposed to be stressful. draw self indulgent pictures, draw pictures for people you love, draw ALL the time. good luck !!

[ratcarney]

do you have any tips on drawing Persephone?

yes! first and foremost, look at this. so many people whitewash seph so i made a guide on how to find her skin tone.

persephone is very expressive, so i look at pictures of amber playing seph and try to emulate her expressions.

i always try to put an element of fun and joy into my pictures of seph because she’s a fundamentally joyful character.

her color palette always has green in it, so i make sure to use colors that compliment green. the flowers in her hair are always a fun opportunity to add a pop of color.

i made a little palette for her back in january and i still use most of the colors on there currently:

honestly just have fun with her. seph is very fun to draw!

[ratcarney]

have you ever struggled to capture the starving poet Vibes that our dear orpheus exudes? then this post is for you! earlier today, @meetthefatess asked me for tips on how to draw orpheus, and here are a few KEY THINGS that i came up with.

1. HAIR

the top + sides of his hair can vary, but his bangs are usually just something like this:

swoop!

2. FACE

he is a sharp boy with a soft soul.

his face is sharp, but his expressions are not. sharp chin, jaw, nose, and cheekbones are essential, but his eyes will always be kind-even if you’re drawing him in an angsty situation, his eyes will betray the tumultuous emotions he’s experiencing.

2b. NECK + FRAME

as we ALL know, orpheus has NO BRAIN! his frame is so slight and fragile because 1) he was NOT AN ATHLETIC CHILD, and 2) his head is VERY LIGHT!

it’s not difficult for a tower of twigs to hold a balloon.

narrow-ish shoulders and a thin neck makes for a DUMB GOOD ORPHEUS.

REFER TO MICHAEL REIDEL’S DESCRIPTION OF REEVE CARNEY WHEN PLANNING POSES FOR YOUR ORPHEUS.

3. OUTFITS + STYLE

orpheus is, as we all are aware, a BIG FUCKING NERD. and his style reflects that.

he usually sports an off-white, short-sleeve shirt, a red bandana (THIS IS ESSENTIAL) and brown suspenders (ALSO ESSENTIAL, BUT TO A LESSER EXTENT THAN THE BANDANA).

(variations of the shirt include but are not limited to: a three-quarters sleeve shirt, a long-sleeve shirt, and a shirt with two or three buttons at the collar or below the bandana.)

play with these outfit staples and have fun. refer to the way reeve carney dresses for inspiration.

4. COLORS

here is a palette for all of your orpheus needs.

here, you will find colors for your orpheus, including the ones for his canon costume.

5. EXTRAS

here are some extra things you can add to your orpheus to make him really pop.

a fun and sexy cut on his cheek! spice up any drawing with this classic staple. it goes with any orpheus, wherever he is. wedding? yes. funeral? you betcha. the underworld? absolutely. the bar? yep. the bedroom? 100%. you can never go wrong with this one.

a red carnation! whether it’s in his hands or in his hair, it’ll brighten up any masterpiece.

additional rosiness to his cheeks and nose, just because it’s cute.

his guitar/notebook! your orpheus is very creative and will want to express himself.

TL;DR

orpheus is a complex character whose essence is difficult to capture. here are the five key things i have shared with you:

swoop hair

sharp boy, soft soul

stupid fashion sense

simple colors

extras can’t hurt

and ONE MORE THING!

don’t be afraid to project onto your orpheus. isn’t that the reason we’re all here, anyway?

i wish you the best of luck in creating your very own orpheus! enjoy!

[ratcarney]

could you make sheet music or a video tutorial or smtn for the batb intro?? i wanna play it...

aight here goes:

for the first part, you do this four times:

then this two times:

and then for the cute little higher part:

then repeat!

notes:

G C E C G C E C G C E C G C E C

G# C Eb C G# C Eb C

C Bb G# Bb G

and repeat.

[ratcarney]

I love love love the way u draw curly hair, if it isn't a pain could u do a tutorial?

I KNOW YOU SENT THIS A MILLION YEARS AGO AND I’M DREADFULLY LATE AND FOR THAT I AM SORRY. i got this ask after i posted the girlpayne drawings last month, so i assume you were referencing her hair. i wasn’t quite sure how to explain my process in words, but i took the procreate screen recording and slowed it down by 75% so that it’s clearer.

while lining the sketches, i draw the curls on the outside first before filling in the empty space. left girlpayne’s hair is a little more springy and all over the place, so i had a lot of fun making it big and bouncy, but right girlpayne is a lord, so i figured angelica wouldn’t let her hair be half as fun as it was when she was just doing the puppet show.

part of the way i draw curls is the brush i use. i think i used the “dry ink” brush in the procreate “inking” folder. it tapers at the end, so all of my lines came to a really sexy little point, so it was easier to get the illusion of springiness. i don’t really have an order of operations when it comes to drawing curly hair, mostly i just play it by ear.

i hope this kind of helped? drawing curls doesn’t have to have a technique to it, you can just have some fun.

[ratcarney]

how do you shade properly on procreate?

what a question. there’s no One Way to shade on procreate, but i use the blending tool on either the “my paint tool sai soft blend” brush from haze long’s blending brush set OR the “salamanca” brush from the procreate painting brush set (it comes with the app).

here’s what shading with salamanca looks like:

the edges are rougher, it’s almost like painting on a canvas.

here’s what shading with haze long’s sai blend brush looks like:

it’s very smooth. the colors blend into each other seamlessly.

i made a more comprehensive shading tutorial here, but feel free to ask me anything else you want to know.

[ratcarney]

how do you shade faces and do fabrics?

good question! i only just started shading faces the way i do, and it’s a very trial-and-error process. most of the time, i’m just like, “there should probably be a shadow there!” and then i add it. but if i’m using a reference, i consult that before deciding where shading should go. the default spots for me are always:

- sides of the face/cheekbones/forehead

- eyelids/underneath the eyes/in the corners of the eyes to show that there’s depth there as the nose starts

- under the nose or on the sides of the nose

-below the bottom lip

highlights are similar! i usually put them:

- along the middle of the nose, then on the tip of the nose

- on the cheeks if they’re on the fuller side

- on the bottom lip

below are two examples of face-shading in my usual style, then in a realism study, and then a profile example in which the same “””techniques””” apply.

as for coloring fabrics, i use whatever procreate has to offer. in this picture, i used the “rad” brush from the vintage brush collection that procreate has.

then for the fabric of her tights, i used a new layer to paint those parts of her legs black, and then decreased the opacity a little. then i drew a lighter stripe down the middle and blended it, giving the illusion of tight, almost-opaque fabric.

for these two, i’m not ENTIRELY sure what i used, but i know it was either one of the glitter brushes from haze long’s glitter brush set for the fate dress, and either the “heavy metal” procreate brush or something from the “textures” procreate brush set for eurydice’s sweatshirt.

now for khaila’s jacket, i painted every little stroke myself. you don’t always need a fancy texture if you know that what you want can be achieved by yourself, you know?

thanks for asking! i hope this helps!

[ratcarney]

How did you go about the linelessness on the face?? I always end up with my face looking flat and without detail

in the video, you can see that i went under the pencil lines with a very light sketch brush, then erased the pencil lines completely, and then i blend the sketch lines so they look natural. it’s a lengthy process, but you get a very smooth finished product. it works best with portraits and clothing!

[ratcarney]

orpheus’s first set of lalalas on the piano!

[ratcarney]

how to play lover’s desire on the piano!

[ratcarney]

i played the beginning "la la la" on a kid's keyboard that allowed you to do animal sounds. it was cursed.

you can’t just TELL me that and NOT swing me a VIDEO

[ratcarney]

Hey!! so I just stumbled upon your blog like... today, and I’m already loving it!! Thank you for your cute little piano tutorials!! I do mallet percussion and I’m so excited to try these out on my marimba later :)

OMG WHEN YOU FIGURE OUT THE LALALAS ON THE MARIMBA SUBMIT THE VIDEO OR POST IT SO I CAN REBLOG IT!!!! THATS SO COOL !

[ratcarney]

here are the notes for those who have expressed interest:

D(5) D(4) G A# C# E

D(5) D(4) G A# C# E

D(5) D(4) G A# C# E

D(5) D(4) G A# C# E

if only i had a theremin