#just trying something new with photos because i don't want to draw traditional backgrounds

[deathtodickens]

Temptation is a dream to which Conscience has lost herself far too many times. Far far too many times.

[archenemyintellegence]

Reflection (rant) on art...

Had a chance to look back at the progress I've made on art while making an art summary post for this year. I am so surprised to see the improvement I've made in this year!

The biggest outcome from this year is seeing myself developing an artstyle that I truly love, which can express myself and also combine ideas in my mind. Here is some rant about the artstyle...

Last year, I invested some period of time to draw fanart for Yuma Uchida with his photo as reference. It was cool to replicate the photo with my drawing, but I wasn't satisfied with just that. I wanted to add warmth into his portrait. So I started to go beyond drawing something that makes sense. I started to add colors that I see and can never explain where they come from. Maybe they're extensions of my emotions, or maybe they're illusions formed by my thoughts, or maybe my eyes are built different. A thing that I can be sure is I always see those colors, but I always pretend that they never exist so I won't be "weird", like the way I hide those unexplainable ideas from people. I really don't remember why I believed that adding those mysterious colors can help adding warmth to my drawing but it worked. My raw, intense emotions have been added into the drawings, and they give warmth to the drawings.

This year, I tried to use this method of coloring without the reference that is exactly the same thing that I am drawing. It was trickier than doing it when drawing with photo reference because things can get really really wrong. The biggest L this year is that I scrapped a drawing that I took 120+ hours to draw because I found it impossible to manage. But I learned a lot from that drawing, including the relationships of colors, which helped me to learn more when observing the colors in real life. I went back and forth with my style and finally settled on the style that I yeeted the airbrush and all those layers with different effects, and only use one side of the color "square". An inspiration of the artstyle is Julio Reyes, a god-tier artist that I saw on instagram. I really don't know how he draw his works as I have little knowledge on tradition art and I have zero idea on egg tempera. But in his drawing it looks like he is weaving the colors together to form a picture, and I want to do the same. Another major inspiration is glitch art, which kinda explains the saturated colors in my drawing. I used to make a lot of zepeto edits back in the day I wasn't comfortable with drawing (you can view them here). This kinda explains why my drawing works well with glitchy stuff lol. Also, something my father told me has inspired my coloring choices too. I probably distorted the words of what he said to me heavily because it's from a long time ago but what I remembered is don't use black to shade. With this idea in mind, I discovered that there are actually lots of colors in "black" that I don't believe there is real "black" in this world. So I pushed this idea to the extreme and even avoided grey. This makes coloring becomes a braincell-burning activity for me but I really enjoy the results as it can truly reflect my ideas on my drawings.

I really can't believe that I used so many words to talk about coloring but I did. Another part that makes my new artstyle is minimalistic background. A reason for this is to strike balance in my drawing. I used to do background but I believe that it'll be too much going on if I color the subject with crazy colors. So it needs to be blank or very minimalistic. Also, I believe that blank contains strong meanings. First, with the blank, the subject can fill it with their aura to make their presence stronger and own the drawing. It's very vague so I probably won't explain more lol. Another meaning that the blank contains is that it is the opposite of everything that has been drawn on the canvas. Instead of trying to fill the canvas with details, it is better to perfect the subject that contains the part of the message that I am able to convey, and let the blank finish the rest of the message. I believe this way I can produce a fuller drawing.

The new artstyle reminds me of fashion magazine, which inspires me to start learning more about fashion and accessories recently. I'm really new to this kind of things but I can feel that it's already giving me a lot of inspiration. I believe keep on learning more about them can help me enrich my drawings. Also as there's now less distraction on my drawing, I need to improve in my anatomy and especially perspectives. The sense of 3d is always a weakness for me that I have zero sense of direction or even struggles to tell left or right. I hope it can be improved by a little bit so my drawings can look cooler. And I hope my colors can be improved next year! I really have no idea how it can be improved for now but I believe that I can do it, just like how the colors improved throughout this year. I hope my drawings can be better that I have the confidence to earn a living with them! (And yeah the lack of confidence is a problem I want to solve too...)

So many ranting lol. Here's a full (digital) drawing lore of me. I started to focus on drawing seriously when I started doing digital drawing so you can actually take it as my full drawing lore haha. One is 2021 and the other one is 2020.

[lozislaw]

HELLOOOOO, I LOVE YOUR ART 💗💗💗💗 but I want to know if you have some tips for anatomy??? CUZ I WANNA LEARN TOO, or do you know some artists that may have some tips for anatomy? 🥺especially HANDS cuz omg they’re a total pain 😩😩

I love you btw 🖤

Oh god oh jeez. I have no idea what advice I could possibly give that wouldn't sound like a goose trying to learn English with a parrot translator. But goddammit I'm gonna try my way.

This is embarrassing because I'm literally in art school and I'm lacking fundamental advice for anatomy like those incredibly clever art-tips you see online. But I've picked things up along the way I swear. Maybe not exactly what you're asking for (probably definitely not - so I apologise in advance), but I think they're good to know anyway. Bear with me as I vomit them out.

Firstly, I'm gonna play a broken record to you on repeat here, which is the most important thing when it comes to improvement. You guessed it: PRACTISE (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

I know - Trust me I know it sounds tiring, and the idea is much easier than actually picking up your tool and doing it. But there's no way around it. Not even the most talented and incredible artists in the world become that way at the moment of birth; they're spending their lives practising and learning new things. Whether professionally or not, you don't become amazing overnight. It takes effort; and whether you want to treat that effort as work, or fun, is completely up to you. Being one or the other doesn't change your skill - it only changes the way you view your practise. Personally; I view my practise as fun, because it feels like more of an achievement when I make something I'm proud of. It's a win-win. Also because fanart is extremely fun always XD

If you keep practising - even if you hate your work at first and want it burned, I fucking promise you it'll pay off, even if it takes years. The best part about it is looking back on your progress and thinking: wow, I'm so proud of myself. For example here is my own evolution, one from August 2020 - to September 2021

(I was brand new to digital art with a purely traditional background, so I was extremely naive about the whole concept. Looking at multitudes of fanart is my only education XD)

This is the evolution of practice and studying the shit out of other peoples art; experimenting like crazy and teaching yourself from the basics to the advanced. Spend one week practising curls and nothing else. Spend another learning how to render skin. And another doing nothing but hands and fingers and wrists galore. Draw a hand using a photo, even trace over it. Learn your shapes first and then you can advance to the next step. Dip your toes in and you won't get overwhelmed <3

I know this isn't exactly nitty-gritty anatomy tips, but at the end of the day any advice is just more education; it helps all around. I'm gonna give you something else - a much more specific tip; an exercise. It's fun I promise, because there's no such thing as a bad result, they're all equally bad XD Shit - I can hear my teacher scowling, I meant good.

You can do this digitally if you prefer, but I like using simple pencil and paper, it feels more fluid. There are two ways to practise accessing the right-side of your brain (the creative side). Or in a less pretentious way to say: how to stop giving a fuck about being perfect.

The first way is called blind continuous line-drawing. It’s pretty self-explanatory: you either use a reference in front of you or just on memory, and draw it without ever lifting your pencil up. But you don’t look at your paper at all, you’re letting your hand and your memory guide you. The more you practise this, the more you stop worrying about making it neat and perfect, you can fucking let loose. Make music that sounds like cats shoved into a washing machine. This exercise will follow you on your other art pursuits, even if you don’t realise it. Remember, practise baby~

Next exercise, and my personal favourite is loose line sketches. They’re similar to continuous line in the way that you’re encouraged to let your inhibitions go and make a mess. You can lift your pencil, and you can look at your paper, and essentially it’s like sketching... if your sketching was like an ice-addict having a seizure. Which is beautiful! And unique, and dammit you don’t need to feel embarrassed, but none of these are meant to be perfect.

See the heavy loose lines that I use sparingly in the sources of light, and condensed in the spaces of darkness. I put away that little devil telling me to be perfect and concise, and just have fun and go bonkers. It teaches you about form and light without spending 5 hours trying to make it photorealistic. These all took less than 5 minutes, that’s how little I gave a fuck about making them perfect. And goddamn it helps. Give them a try, spend no more than five minutes on them, and see how you go <3 It works digitally too!

Okay this answer is so long and I’m so sorry, I don’t even know if I’ve answered your question at this point, I’ve gone off the rails. Hands... okay hands. Hands are the most difficult thing for me to draw, which is just cruel irony because they’re also my favourite aside from faces. The most I can offer at this point is that practise will save your life. Observe other artists and how they draw, take the time to notice things about their art that you wouldn't at first glance. The highlights and source of light? The length of their fingers? Are they thick or delicate? Are they anime hands and fucking massive? Is that body slender or thicc? Where are they putting the curves, fat and muscle on their person (or furson, furries are welcome here ❤). Decide through this observation and your own practise what kind of style you aspire to have out of your art. Do what makes you proudest, what you find the most enjoyable, and as I've said, stop giving a fuck about anyone, including yourself. You have your own unique take on reality and it's beautiful <3 You can draw blob hands and it's okay, because they're your blob hands :3

And anon? I love you too ;3;

[cringeyvanillamilk]

Yoo~! Your modern au series is pretty entertaining. Please do one for Gordon (and Grey and Gauche too if you don't mind; I love this trio) in the future! 😊❣❣

I finally finished your request!! I’m happy to finally draw these three, especially Gordon! I hope you enjoy~! <3 

Gordon Agrippa

Loves reading various types of books, specifically ones about the power of friendship

Has a lot of knowledge on pharmaceutical drugs and medicine due to family background

Current Career: Freelance Writer, but currently works at Black Bull’s cafe

Was part of the book club and knitting club at Clover academy

Performs poetry every night at the Black Bull’s cafe

Fashion: Gordon has a love for gothic victorian inspired fashion. He finds this type of fashion to be aesthetically pleasing, which is greatly inspired by his family who also loves this particular clothing style. Any clothes with chains, belts, and studs will most likely catch his eyes. He also loves wearing his signature cap with his outfit. The colors that he usually wears are mostly black, grey, and red. He likes to wear gothic jewelry where he sees fits and completes the look with dark eyeshadow, black lipstick, and black nail polish. Despite this dark image, Gordon loves to decorate himself with cute and bright buttons to make himself more approachable. The buttons include a happy face, a pansexual flag, and a strawberry. Overall, Gordon’s fashion is goth with a sprinkle of cute accessories.

The Agrippa family had an infamous reputation of owning a pharmacy store that was rumored to secretly provide immoral people with drugs that could potentially poison those they want dead. While this rumor was true generations ago, Gordon’s father, Nathan, wanted to turn their family’s reputation around and become a pharmacist that helps people with their health. But due to the lack of proper communication between Nathan and Gordon, Gordon assumes that his father wants to continue their family’s sick tradition and left to live on his own near the capital. While Gordon successfully attended Clover academy through achievements and awards in writing, he spent the majority of his life in isolation. Even though he joined  a lot of clubs in the academy, people still didn’t want to befriend him. And despite getting his English degree, Gordon has trouble getting jobs due to his intimidating appearance. After being rejected by a lot of jobs, Gordon decided to stop by the Black Bull’s cafe to rest and find more jobs to apply. This is where he met Yami who noticed that Gordon was looking for a job and offered him a spot at the Black Bull’s cafe since they are short of staff. Yami also commented that his creepy appearance would be perfect to bring in more customers. This was the first time Gordon experienced someone wanting him to be a part of something and was overwhelmed with happiness. He now works happily at the Black Bull’s cafe while also looking for a job that fits his passion.

Random Fact: Gordon is an amazing cook. He is part of the cooking team at Black Bull’s cafe along with Charmy and Gauche. He specializes in desserts and can make any types of sweets (e.g., cake, cookies, etc.). Gordon usually makes cookies for the staff to eat with each cookie representing each one of them. Gordon isn’t good at designing people in his baking and so they look very creepy. He’s really good at making Halloween themed desserts, even when he isn’t trying. Since strawberry shortcake is his favorite food, you’ll always see him make it every day. His love for strawberry shortcake is the reason behind his strawberry button.

Gauche Adlai

Owns a mirror that was previously owned by his deceased parents

Had a bad reputation from stealing from stores and getting into street fights when he lived in the streets

Possible major: Photography

Has a room full of photos of just Marie, but he has a secret stash where the photos are of the Black Bull’s cafe employees being happy (don’t tell anyone)

Has won many photography competitions with each photo being related to Marie in some way

Fashion: Gauche doesn’t pay too much attention to his daily clothes, but he does know how to dress himself for any occasion. He prefers tasteful and simple clothes, nothing too fancy. You’ll usually see him with a collar shirt, jacket, and slacks. He also likes wearing vintage shoes because he finds it aesthetically pleasing to his eyes. He generally shops at any thrift store nearby, unless it’s Marie then he’ll shop at an expensive clothing store. Gauche’s fashion may lean more towards hipster if he spends a lot of money on himself. Overall, simple but somewhat stylish.

When Gauche and Marie were young, they had a healthy relationship with their parents who loved and cared for them with all their heart. Their father was a respected and rich businessman and their mother was a famous war photographer. Each time their mother would come back home from her trips, she would usually share the happy photos she took to Gauche and Marie. Seeing these happy pictures inspired Gauche to follow in her footsteps in becoming a photographer. Gauche specifically wanted to take pictures of people who are happy because seeing people smile makes him feel good. But one goal he hopes to complete is creating a photo album of his family being happy together. After receiving his first camera from his father, Gauche was ready to start his photo album once his mother came back home from her trip. When Gauche’s father went to pick up their mother from the airport, Gauche and Marie received terrible news that they both died in a ‘car accident’ on their way back home. This accident was actually orchestrated by his uncle who wanted to inherit their wealth and kicked Gauche and Marie out of their mansion. After being left on the streets, Gauche decided to take it upon himself and take care of Marie like how his parents would’ve wanted him to. Acting as a reliable older brother and the only family Marie has, they frequently moved to different locations to look for food and shelter. They were later taken in by an orphanage led by sister Theresa. Gauche had a talent in photography and was pushed by sister Theresa to compete in various contests where he won 1st place in each one. These great achievements led him to be chosen by Clover academy, but quickly rejected the offer since that would mean he’ll have to dorm at the academy away from Marie. During their walks, Marie found out about Gauche’s rejection to the academy and was upset that Gauche would decline such a great offer. Gauche argues that he doesn’t want to leave her alone which made Marie feel even more frustrated and ran inside a nearby cafe. This is where he met Yami, who happened to eavesdrop on their conversation. Yami reasoned that if Gauche really cared for Marie, he’d bring in more money to support her if he managed to graduate from the academy and go to college. Then when he’s financially secured, he and Marie can live on their own with no need for outside assistance. Yami’s words were able to convince Gauche to proceed in attending Clover academy which made Marie happy. As a way to show thanks, Marie said if the cafe needed any help, Gauche would be happy to work for him. Gauche was about to disagree but Yami was quick to accept Gauche into the cafe and promise Marie that he’ll keep Gauche busy. Gauche had no say in the matter since Marie already sealed the deal with Yami.

Random Fact: Gauche has a talent in art. Whether it’s sculpting, drawing, painting, or knitting, Gauche can replicate anything he sees. Even in baking, he can replicate any object or person as a cake. In fact, Gauche’s extraordinary skills would’ve been perfect for the recent cake cutting trend. However, Gauche mainly uses his younger sister, Marie, as a model for all of his artistic creations. If you go inside his room, you’ll see a shrine of sculptures, drawings, paintings, and dolls of Marie.

Grey

Likes to cosplay and attend conventions

Finds comfort in watching Cinderella

Possible major: Acting

Was an exceptional actress back in high school and would get chosen for lead roles but always decline these roles because of her sisters bullying

Has a great singing voice and likes to hum whenever she cleans

Fashion: Grey is incredibly shy and so her fashion reflects this. Grey’s casual attire is very modest and rarely shows a lot of skin. She likes to wear sweaters, long pants or skirts, and blue flats that her father got her as a birthday present. However, whenever she imitates a character for a cosplay or theater play, she becomes a completely different person and could wear very revealing clothes if it fits the character she’s impersonating. Grey likes showing off a lot of skin when she’s in character because this gives her an excuse to be confident in herself. Outside of her cosplays, Grey rarely wears jewelry since she thinks she doesn’t deserve to decorate herself with pretty things. Grey does value her belt since it was another gift from her father. Overall, Grey’s fashion is modest and warm.

Grey came from a middle class family where she used to live with her father, stepmother, and two elder stepsisters. Her father owns a small boutique store and her stepmother co-owns the store with her father. While her father showered Grey with love, her stepmother and stepsisters mistreated her and forced her to do all the chores in the house. They frequently lied to her father saying that she always wanted to do all the chores and didn't like going out with them since she prefers to stay at home. Because Grey’s father was oblivious of his daughter’s struggles, he never questioned it whenever they would go out without her. Grey was too meek to speak out and so she would go along with what they said in silence. During her time alone, she would always watch anime or DVDs of musical plays whenever she was done cleaning the place and making food. Grey always dreamed of being an actress in a play or show, but would get ridiculed for wanting to pursue such a career. Grey still tries to participate in various plays or get into cosplay where she gets to act like a completely different person. Grey finds herself comfortable as another character and still yearns to be an actress and so she auditioned for her school’s plays. She would get chosen for major roles in the plays, but when her stepsisters found out, they bullied her into going for a minor role instead. After graduating high school, Grey was ordered to stay home and not go to college to continuously be a servant for the family. Despite wanting to go to college to be an actress, Grey obeyed and continued to take care of the house for many years. It wasn’t until one day when Grey wanted to find a way to get closer to her stepsisters where she decided to dress up and perfectly transformed herself into looking like one of her stepsisters. Her stepsisters were outraged by her impersonation and threatened her which made Grey run away in fear. While on the streets, Grey was jumped by three muggers, but was saved by Gauche by Marie’s request. Gauche said if she’s running away, she should try and live for herself which inspired Grey to follow Gauche into the Black Bull’s cafe. With no courage to go back home, she was told by Vanessa that she could live at her place in the meantime while she gets back on her feet. Gauche commented that she should also start working at the cafe if she wanted to make enough money to support herself now that she’s starting fresh. Grey gratefully took Vanessa and Gauche’s offer and so now lives with Vanessa at her apartment, attends the same college as Gauche, and works at the Black Bull’s cafe.

Random Fact: Grey is great at doing makeup when she wants to replicate another character or person for her cosplay or costume. Whenever she attends anime conventions, she is complimented a lot for perfectly imitating the characters she cosplayed as. Even during cosplay contests, she would always place 1st place for her high quality clothes, wigs, and makeup. Grey thanks her father for teaching her these skills when she was young.