#me vs a consistent art style…
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bettytheteenagewitch · 2 months ago
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small pre-canon misunderstanding there ladies
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starrypawu · 2 months ago
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puts this on the ground and leaves
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raiiny-bay · 1 year ago
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art dump from last month
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morninkim · 1 year ago
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MARK MY WORDS. I'M GONNA WORK ON ROTMMPR AGAIN. AND DO DESIGNS FOR THE FINALE MOVIE POST.
i also have another pr-related idea i wanna work on on the side + gonna flesh out neo toku a lil more (and give it a proper title too probably)
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ly-pleiades · 3 months ago
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posted the damn thing 🫡 time to sleep
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ousamars · 4 months ago
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Please teach me how to draw like you omg your style is chefs KISS
Thank you for your kind comment!!
honestly speaking I still have a hard time figuring out my own style and often just do whatever I want so I'm not the best at giving advice haha, but I take a lot of inspiration from and do plenty of style studies of my favourite genres of work and artists! I am especially in love with 80s-90s and early-mid 2000s era animanga/games because that's what I grew up with and what got me into drawing in the first place, and I've become a lot happier once I started embracing those old influences again 😊 so don't be afraid to get a little self indulgent with it
In terms of general drawing/colouring style, some of my bigger inspirations are Arina tanemura, clamp and mutsumi inomata!
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fishtrouts · 22 days ago
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I couldn’t resist the art vs artist trend!!! What a whirlwind of a year 2024 has been!
So many moments of joy and excitement, challenges to face! I feel like I’ve grown so much, both artistically and as a person. To me, this year feels like a breakthrough!
Art-wise, I got more comfortable with backgrounds, and they started appearing so much more often in my comics. It’s wonderful to look back on them and still feel proud of those panels. This year also saw the introduction of new dragon characters with diverse personalities and shapes! We witnessed Hopper and Swordfish slowly growing into sliiiightly more regal-looking wyrms, both in appearance and personality. My style has definitely shifted to a more mature and refined place. This feels only natural, and I can’t wait to see how my art and dragons evolve in the year to come!
In 2024, I also launched my very own store, a pin pack of Swordfish and Hopper, and a dragon plushie! I posted more often than I did last year, but it’s my hope and goal for 2025 to share even more consistently.
Creativity isn’t something to force, so I won’t be too hard on myself if I fall short of this goal. Instead, I want to keep working on finding a balance between my art and life. It’s an ongoing journey, and while I know I’ll never achieve a perfect balance (because life ebbs and flows), I can keep moving closer to a version of it that feels right for me.
Here’s to 2025!! And lots more dragons!!! Thank you for sticking with me on this journey!
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oraclereadsandreviews · 4 days ago
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on comic artists:
i’ve found that a lot of times the art in my comics matters almost as much to me (sometimes more) than the stories. there are certain comics that i am willing to buy simply for the art, and others that i love the story of, but i don’t purchase because the art doesn’t stick with me. for this reason, when people are looking to start comics, it’s important you start with comics that have compelling art to you!
my personal favorites:
- dan mora (very famous in current dc art, does JLU and B/S World’s Finest currently)
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very popular! i love dan mora, such a fun style and every panel feels like something you could frame!
- dustin nguyen (robin and batman)
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gorgeous watercolor style, super unique, and i love the proportions he uses on faces!
- jorge jiménez (failsafe, supersons, joker war)
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incredible, probably my favorite consistent art style. i like the mix of intensity and cartoon style in his work, and just overall iconic work done here!
- simone di meo (dc vs vampires, batman: urban legends)
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very unique, love the brush strokes (i’m not an artist don’t come at me) and the light styling! i feel like no space is unused in his art!
- overall, art is what makes comics different than books and we need to be giving artists their flowers! if you have female artists that you recommend please let me know, or others that i’ve missed! comic art is so special and enhances the story! don’t be embarrassed to buy comics for the art!
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crooked-wasteland · 2 months ago
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It's been so odd seeing Ghostf*ckers currently sitting at 7.9m views two weeks later despite the boost of Hazbin's launch and the other episodes not doing anywhere near as bad; anything you feel might've factored into it?
I've mentioned it before, but I am happy to explain my perspective again. I obviously don't have the complete picture in front of me, so it's really only a grain of salt. More of a thought experiment than anything else.
For starters, the spike in views following Hazbin was a predictable boom and bust situation. There is a give and take with different styles of streaming, specifically around the trickle or binge models. More people will watch a series that is available to be binged vs one that is still in progress. Like some people who wait for the entire season to drop before picking up a new show. These sorts of drops see huge initial views, but people stop talking about the shows much faster.
The overlap of cultural impact as well as financial success makes Binging content appealing to the finance people, but the real money comes from maintaining cultural relevance. Which is why binge releases are generally criticized, especially by artistic people.
On the flip side, episode by episode releases, especially those like webcomics and web series need to maintain a sense of consistency to retain an audience. There must be deadlines that are achieved relatively consistently. It's even more important for content that is hosted on algorithm-heavy platforms like YouTube. It's why most content creators have an upload schedule to maintain their algorithms and promote their channel being recommended.
This is especially important on social media platforms because, generally speaking, only 10% of your audience are actually subscribed. While YouTubers don't get paid based on their subscriber count, it's used similarly to viewership. A channel like Mr. Beast has deals with mainstream studios like Amazon because of his subscriber count, in junction with the number of views he accrues.
The 10% active subscriber count is actually seen as a general positive so long as your views stay around that number, because it means others are being recommended your channel outside of your base. Once you get stuck in your "base" you're waiting for that thing ice to finally break. It means no one is discovering you and your legitimately risk losing everything. Most often from stale content, people becoming bored or disillusioned with what a creator is creating. And having no fresh eyes on your content, you will disappear in the algorithm eventually. For some people it means they can still survive just fine doing the same old things, for others (usually those who see the money before the art) it means the loss of everything.
The issue with inconsistent uploads is a major one that Medrano actually beat in the first season. The Vivziepop channel was so infrequently uploaded on, episodes being posted essentially the moment they were done, and yet Medrano maintained 35 M - 50 M views an episode (until Ozzie's which topped out at 28M before Hazbin Hotel, Medrano's first attempt at writing for the series).
So what I mean to say with that information is Medrano actually succeeded against the odds for the first season. She should have faded into obscurity, but the support for her show was legitimate and beat the odds of an inconsistent uploads schedule. I was never subscribed to her channel and didn't have Twitter until this year, but I would search Vivziepop every 3-5 months and usually saw a new episode had been uploaded in the last week to a few hours prior.
So while this is anecdotal, I'd argue that it was the general norm at the time. Reaching 35M when you only have 8.6M subscribers necessitates genuine effort of the part of the watchers to seek out the content themselves. And that's a good thing. You want people to be motivated to seek out your content on their own volition.
With that said, it explains all the possible, and probably, issues being had.
1) Upload Fatigue
Since viewership has fallen, Medrano has been posting more frequently to her channel. Mostly low-effort Vlog content that her main base is legitimately not invested in. People who love musicals and Broadway would recognize the low quality musical fodder Medrano creates. Animation fans, meanwhile, are not interested in celebrity actors being friends with Medrano.
That sort of content is what you see on Adin Ross' channel. If you don't know who that is, think Andrew Tate, but somehow more pathetic. The TL;DR is that his claim to fame was playing a video game with LeBron James' son. That's not what most people are really interested in, unless they carry the same fundamental psychology of the 'Man-osphere" or conservative grifters.
Additionally, these videos don't hit that 10% subscriber base. With 10.4 million subs, her lowest performing videos should still hit at least 1.4million views. Her major sale videos (Halloween and Valentine's mainly) still see this proper 10%
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But the Vlog videos...
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It isn't surprising that the video focusing on the fans being seen with Medrano and her friends would be the most watched, because of this mindset of piggy-backing self-worth off of someone else's name.
So for the fans that actually like the show, or at least want to support the series, are now being hit with a ton of videos they don't care about. Which can and usually does result in a loss of subscribers or your subscribers turning off their notifications for your channel.
2) The Show Left it's Base
Hazbin being aired on Amazon introduced many people to Vivziepop. There is a sense of quality that one expects from a big name like Amazon, regardless of how most of their shows they directly fund are not that great. But with the series leaving it's base, it offers new fans while threatening, and definitely delivering, a complimentary spike in criticism. Many people who would have accepted a subpar web series are going to be far more harsh of a show with a studio behind it.
With more voices discussing the issues of the series, it teaches people how to identify sub-par content and a lot of those people will lose interest in it once they realize the show isn't actually quality.
There are far more videos discussing the issues with Hazbin than there are of Helluva Boss for this reason, but once the luster is removed from one, inevitably it will impact the other.
3) The Story Sucks
This is obvious as we see more fans becoming less enthusiastic about the story. A badly written show can and will still be loved by those who love it. But it has become more obvious that the writing isn't subversive, just negligent. The characters aren't complicated, they are puppets. The creators aren't creative, they are regurgitating tropes without substance. The emotions are hollow.
But worse than any of that is that the show is contradictory to itself. Which makes the show feel unreliable, but that leads to the last point:
4) Medrano Exposed Herself as an Unlikeable Person
Medrano's description for Apology Tour exposed her to her YouTube base. YouTube is a place that craves authenticity, to the point they have manufactured it. There is a right and wrong way to be on YouTube, and the right way requires a ton of accountability, even when you probably don't owe anyone it. But accountability is something you must have on the platform, and Medrano was a bit too personal in how she made excuses for Stolas while not playing an even hand towards her main character.
That sort of attitude, fictional or not, will result in people turning their back on you. People have lost their whole channels over the same attitude. And the way Medrano handled it was responding to her twitter fandom criticizing the show, letting everyone know she doesn't see anything wrong with the behavior being expressed.
And that doesn't really sit well on YouTube. Not in the communities she's trying to cater to.
And like I said, this is all with a grain of salt as I can't say for certain. To be safe I believe a little of all of these play a role in Medrano's decline, but all of it is just my opinion.
With that said, to see such a steep decline of almost 50% of your audience, while knowing that many of those who are still fans are viewing each episode about 1-2 times a day for about a week, that means 2 in every 5-7 views are the same person. So 8M, while respectable for the platform, is a huge blow.
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wordsnstuff · 7 months ago
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Hello! How are you? I have a question:
Should I focus on what I'm good or what I'm bad at in writing? I like to think that I can write poetic stuff rather well, but I can't write dialouges to save my life. So should I just focus on writing the stuff I'm good at and ignore the rest or should I focus on getting better at dialouges and such?
Leaning into strengths vs focusing on improvement...
I'm very well! Thank you for asking.
I think that this is an important conversation to have with yourself as any sort of artist, and I don't believe that it needs to end with a choice between practicing a skill you could improve at or the sticking to what you're good at.
A writer's brain is a muscle, and as you gain experience honing technical proficiency, you become more informed as to what strengths and weaknesses are apparent in your work. The first step is to examine how you approach different parts of the development of a story. Take the time to observe how you personally think through the process of writing dialogue and how that differs from your process writing poetic prose. Harmony between different parts of your writing process will make writing easier and lead to a more consistent style and quality. Your aim is to bring one skill to the level of another, so until you understand why prose comes more naturally to you, it will be challenging to identify why dialogue doesn't.
Perhaps dialogue requires you to exercise imagination in a way that isn't as consistent with the way you process the world around you. For me, dialogue can be challenging because my inner monologue centers observation and my thoughts occur to me in a more abstract way, leading me to be more adept at skills like articulating metaphors. However, this way of thinking makes it challenging to frame my ideas literally, as you must do to imagine a scenario and then predict a chain of events or interactions between elements. Identifying how your imagination functions organically will help you understand where your ideas come from and why certain ways of expressing them come more easily.
I think it's important to incorporate experimentation and practice into the routine of any art medium that you aim to improve at. Designating specific time to stretch the muscles, experiment with a new exercise, and broaden your skillset will always have a positive effect on your work overall, and when you identify a weaker area it's even easier to focus your time and energy to practice that. Alongside any large project, there should be a separate area for practice and play, because regardless of how skilled or passionate one is, there is always room to learn something new and expand one's ability.
I highly recommend installing time in your writing routine for specifically practicing the skill you are least confident in without pressure to contribute that practice to your primary project. Utilize whatever exercises motivate you. Personally, I like the idea of selecting a simple writing prompt and challenging yourself to write a scene entirely composed of dialogue, but you might prefer to set a short timer and try to imagine and record an organic, simple, and believable conversation between two people about something like choosing a paint color for a kitchen.
Always make time to better your craft. It will always deliver results.
Best of luck,
x Kate
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Masterlist . Ko-Fi . Patreon
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spacemonkeysalsa · 9 months ago
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Whenever someone refers to Astarion as a corrupt magistrate (or mentions anything else from EA that was taken out like it's still canon) I lose a little more hope for our collective media literacy.
And it's not because I don't think he was a corrupt magistrate, because he totally could've been, it's consistent with his character. I mean everything is consistent with his character that's a big part of his point but that is a whole other...
I think the reason it bothers me is because there is something so clear and intentional about the editing process at work here:
"Astarion was a corrupt magistrate"
vs
"Astarion was a magistrate"
Removing content is the simplest part of the editing process.
What could the intent possibly be???
WDYM? They intended for it not to be there, mystery solved.
Like I think the only bit that survived the purge of Astarion's backstory is from the digital extras, which are a) not part of the primary text and b) developmental materials that have loads of other bits of removed content, like old stats, character concept art left in the cutting room etc. Is that where Minthara is still an elven cleric? I can't remember where I saw that, but the font and art style looks the same in my brain and to force myself to move on here's a mostly unrelated anecdote:
I've been in a writing group for like 10+ years and in that time there's another member who has submitted draft 1 & draft 2 of a manuscript in which I began to casually refer to one character as "the cannibal" because I thought that this character had eaten another character.
I turned out to be wrong about the cannibalism, not because they hadn't eaten anyone but because they weren't human, so it wouldn't be cannibalism.
On draft two, she had reworked large sections of the story, and the character never eats anyone, but my entire writing group still refers to him as "the cannibal" including members who are new, never read draft 1 and she sighs every time and in fairness, it's really really funny.
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patchdotexe · 22 days ago
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oh my god i nearly forgot to post this. here's my art summary for 2024! customary brick of text (including links to individual pieces) under cut.
i drew.. a lot of mcyt this year! as in "everything but April is mcyt". this is awkward because that means i dont think any of this actually ended up on this blog. i dont think i posted my pngtubers either. um. hm
pushing that aside, im really happy with how my art has evolved. ive gotten very comfortable with lineless art, and have been playing around a lot with shading, colors in general, and new brushes. (most of the brush testing didnt make it on here.) more than that, i feel like im getting better at anatomy and proportions and drawing people in general. sameface syndrome is always going to be a problem for me, but i like to think i can at least pull off different body types and thats something im going to continue messing with.
ive also been doing a lot of style switching. obv theres lined vs lineless, but also level of detail vs simplicity. i kinda do it based off mood so its not very consistent, but im fine with that rn.
the thing im most proud of is that i have a finished stand-out piece for every month (and some of them were actually hard picks). ive gotten down on myself before about whenever we hit an art slump, but even in months where we didnt draw as much we still had something that was cool we could show off.
im sorry we havent been as active on here-- again, we've been on mcyt lockdown-- but im looking forward to whatever happens next year. Rescue is still coming together, even if slowly, and we'll hopefully be able to post character design concepts. we're also considering maybe doing adoptables? we'll see.
thank you everybody for sticking with us this year, and thank you to everybody that fueled our art with their amazing stories. you're the best.
JANUARY: The Dark Descent FEBRUARY: SLEEPWALK MARCH: warning: this escalates quickly APRIL: P▽TCHtuber (no link, sorry!) MAY: right on time JUNE: bare your teeth JULY: Goldfish (and doctor lore is here to start crying) AUGUST: JAILBREAK SEPTEMBER: THE CONTRACT OCTOBER: and the walls are closing in NOVEMBER: Crossing the Rubicon PMV DECEMBER: Accelerate
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gunnrblze · 5 months ago
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what do you think the ghosts would be like as fathers?
Ooh the Ghosties as fathers, this is a good one. Prepare for me to get maybe a little too in depth below the cut, cus this got too gahdamn long lol
Hesh- peak dad/husband material. giggling kicking his feet ‘n crying when he finds out he’s gonna be a father lol. he’d be as involved as possible and I see this being something he’s the most proud of in his life. i think a bit of cycle breaking would be going on with him as far as the way he and Logan were raised (looking at you Elias, yea🤨), he’d do things a little different but in a good way. would still model his parenting style quite a bit after Elias’ though in many ways. def a worrier too, and may be a little overbearing sometimes bc of it
Logan- similar to Hesh, he’d be an enthusiastic dad I think. would brag about his kids consistently, regardless of what they do/become. type to be like “my kid made macaroni art at school the other day, it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen” lmao. i see him also being veryyy supportive in general, like do/be whatever you want, as long as you’re a good person. would also parent similar to how he and Hesh were raised, but i almost see him being more lenient in some ways. def the kind to let his kids learn from their mistakes and learn good, though.
Elias- ofc we saw a lot of how he was as a father in the game (lots of debatable choices being made💀), but i think he honest to god, like most parents, did the best he could. doesn’t necessarily excuse certain things, and i think Hesh specifically prob has a lot of baggage from that, but he was also a good dad in many ways methinks. generally solid father material alongside the easily criticizable behavior LMAO
Merrick- first, he def gives me girl dad energy lol. but regardless, i see him being very very loving to his kid(s) actually, like “this is my heart and soul, everything is for them, I live breath and die for them” type shit. I can see him being a bit strict at times, mostly due to his protective nature. under the personality we see from him in the game, I think his kids/kids in general would probably bring out a goofier side of him too, the dad jokes would be unlocked immediately lol
Keegan- I see him being like a mix of Hesh ‘n Merrick tbh. Very very proud to be a father, like “I’d put it on my resume if I could”, and would love unconditionally. i think he’d be the type to maybe be a bit overbearing/intense at times like Hesh, mostly due to how much he cares about his kids wellbeing/success in life. also very supportive, and i could see him struggling a bit with how to juggle his fatherhood vs his career (like a lot of military parents tbh). he’d be the kinda dad that his kid(s) really respect i think
Kick- i honestly can’t see him being a father too much, i think he’d probably be the one here to not have kids. however if he were a father, he’d take it very seriously. i think he’d be the loving and goofy kind, his personality would really shine as a dad methinks. in his kids early years, I think he’d be tweaking out a lot like “what if I’m not good enough, what if something happens to them”, but as they get older i see his attitude almost changing like “oh yea, they love to swan dive off the back of the couch, we just let them” lol.
Rorke-pre fed here cause let’s be honest…🫥. i see him being a great dad, probably struggles with balancing that vs his career like Keegan might. he’d also be a bragger when he could like Logan, but in a more “yea my kid is on the honor roll…literally got all A’s, wtf can your kid do?🙄”proud type way lmfao. i see him being very dynamic as a father, a bit strict but a bit lax. sometimes he’s more present, sometimes he’s not. I think he’d value teaching and guiding his kid(s) like Elias. also a “you’ll learn your lesson” type of guy. you fuck up and complain and he’s like “hmm, tough shit, better luck next time” after he imparts his fatherly wisdom about it lol
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oc-ology · 1 month ago
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How to make a good character reference
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First and foremost, a good character reference is one that clearly and concisely tells you about an OC. Not only are they helpful to keep your art or descriptions of them consistent but if someone else will be drawing or writing about them, then a reference is typically a necessity so they can draw the character accurately. I’ll be going into how to make both a good visual and written reference, as well as tips that apply to both of them.
Special thanks to Lotus and Calico for giving some additional perspectives for me to think about, as well as anon for suggesting this topic!
Good Visual References
A reference sheet is a way for artists to easily see a character’s design for drawing them. At its simplest, this can be a simple, full-body illustration with little embellishment but some people will do full turnarounds (front, side and back views) or additional outfits for a character with props and other illustrations for a more artistic reference sheet. Regardless of your approach, your reference should clearly show a character’s basic features and, typically, the clothes they most often wear (whether that is a single outfit or multiple).
Adding notes to the sheet can be very helpful, such as a character’s height, specific facial features or a description of the kind of clothes they wear (like colours, aesthetics, fashion style and clothing preferences). If a character is often seen with a prop or item (such as weapons or mobility aids), then it’s important to also include those in your reference and make a note on the frequency of their use. Finally, if your design has pieces of clothing or props that have specific terminology, it can be helpful to include that terminology so it’s easier for others to search for more references.
Flat Colours vs Shaded/Rendered: I’ve seen some people complain about references that are shaded or rendered as it can often make it hard to colour pick from the reference. This can easily be remedied with a colour palette that is clearly labelled for what colour is used for what part. Using two of my own references as an example, you can see that my reference sheet for Eren doesn’t have any shading, making colour-picking easy. Comparing that to my reference sheet for Vex, the art for him is shaded but this is remedied with a clear colour palette on the left with labels saying what that colour is primarily used for. As a final comparison to a reference sheet that I feel fails in this regard, my sheet for Eris (nudity warning) has several outfits that are fully shaded but do not have a full colour palette outside of their basic features. However, since this character would be drawn in many other different outfits and the sheet was for personal use only, this doesn’t bother me too much.
Complicated designs: For designs with complex elements such as lots of accessories or intricate tattoos, it can be helpful to draw a larger version of these on the reference. This makes it a lot easier to draw them consistently in future as they’ll be clear and you won’t need to spend time zooming in or around your design. Additionally, if you character has a tattoo or very specific fur markings then it can also be helpful to create a transparent version of them. This way, anyone drawing your character can use that transparent version rather than drawing it by hand or, for those that do want to draw it by hand, they again have a very clear design to reference. Also, it can be helpful to have a simplified design for people with art styles that work better with less detail or for animating purposes.
Mannerisms: This is more so for references that will be sent to other artists for commissions, requests, gifts, etc. It can be helpful to have a small section on what a character’s mannerisms or way of holding themselves is like. This gives artists a jumping off point for ideas on poses or character interactions as a blank slate can be hard to come up with ideas for. It’ll also mean that if, for example, you have a shy character then they won’t be mischaracterised in art by being drawn with an overconfident posture. It’s best to use simpler words (such as annoying vs vexatious) as it can become confusing for people for who English is not their first language.
Good Written References
A good written reference can be split into two types.
The first is for describing their appearance, typically used for sending to artists when you don’t have an existing visual reference. For this, it can be helpful to go over the points of what I wrote for a visual reference and just translate that to a written description. Bullet points are the easiest way to do this as it gives artists something quick and easy to reference but it can also be helpful to link to images to give a better idea of what you want. 
Pale skin with light freckles.
Lavender hair that gets slightly lighter at the tips and slightly darker at the roots. It is mostly-straight, shoulder-length and covers some of the face. Two small horns poke out of the top of his head.
Grey-blue eyes. Should look sleepy or lidded.
Thin-framed glasses with a simple, silver glasses chain (optional)
Black cassock with a black pellegrina and white collarino/tab collar.
For formal occasions, Vex may wear a purple ferraiolo with black, embroidered trim.
Purple stole with a symmetrical design.
At the bottom of the stole is the Leviathan cross.
Around the chest, there are the five alchemical symbols for fire, air, spirit, earth and water (in order from top to bottom).
Has a rosary with dark, wooden beads and small ivory beads in an alternating pattern that ends with an inverted cross (also known as the St. Peter’s cross).
Wears platform boots with metal toe caps.
Without the boots, Vex comes to 5’3”. The boots make him a lot taller, around 5’6”.
Sometimes wears half-palm gloves made of black leather.
This is the basic written reference that I had for Vex before I drew him a reference sheet. It makes it clear what they look like and any artist working with the description would be able to draw him semi-accurately from this alone. It can be hard to balance the necessary amount of detail with keeping things concise - large paragraphs can be overwhelming and even off-putting to others.
The second type of written reference is a reference specifically used when writing. While a lot of the same principles apply, you’ll often want to go into more detail regarding the character’s mannerisms, way of speech and dynamic with other characters. There are numerous great guides on how to write a good character reference or profile, all using different approaches. Personally, I like to use these five categories for writing a character’s reference.
Basic Details: This includes a basic description of a character, as well as their name and any other surface-level details about them such as age, date of birth, gender and sexuality, basic personality traits, etc. If the setting is fantasy or sci-fi, then I would also include anything that would fall under this category in-universe, such as species or magical alignment. This section is not for digging deep but more to give an overview on the character.
Personality: It can be really easy to boil down a character’s personality to a few simple traits like in the first section. However, characters will often act differently in different scenarios and have specific reasons as to why they act a certain way. How do they act when they’re alone vs when they’re around others, both those they trust and those they do not? Do they mask certain parts of their personality? What fears does the character have and how does that impact how they go through life? These are all things that can heavily influence how a character behaves and talks.
Mannerisms: Here, you’ll want to describe your character’s body language and demeanour such as how they walk and carry themselves, as well as first impressions from strangers. You can also go into any habits a character has, including whether they are aware of those habits and perhaps try to hide or overcome them.
History: A character’s past will usually define a lot of how they conduct themselves in the present. Here, you’ll want to include information on their upbringing, influential moments (or “canon-events”) in their life and their caregivers, if applicable. This can add context to certain behaviours or actions from the character.
Relationships: Finally, go into important relationships for the character. When I say important, I mean write about relationships to characters that are either contextually relevant (such as to the current scene or overall plot/story) or characters that have had a large impact on them. For example, the barista that you character always gets coffee from probably isn’t going to be relevant… unless you’re writing a coffee-shop romance where the barista is likely to be a recurring character. A character’s family that doesn’t appear in the story may not be relevant now… but the way that they influenced the character’s upbringing is relevant when it comes to establishing their backstory and foundational relationships.
General Tips
Non-human/original species: If your character is not human or is an original species, make sure to include any key features that are unique to that species and link to any relevant design documents for them. It’s a lot easier for someone to use your reference than it is to go searching for that information themselves.
What actually makes your reference good? This is hard to answer because what I think is good is probably contradicted by countless other people. Also, some advice for one kind of reference won’t necessarily be helpful for a different kind of reference. A good foundation for a reference will always be what you find helpful.
Keep it concise: Oftentimes, there’s so much information that we hold about an OC in our heads and it can be tempted to include absolutely everything into their reference. But remember that the key purpose of a reference is to make it easy to understand the main points about a character or design. Regardless of if you go further in-depth, always make sure to have a clear overview of them at the very beginning that can be easily referenced.
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parisoonic · 8 months ago
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Hello! I have a question, how do you draw lineart weight? that is, how do you understand where to make the line wider and where narrower? I've been trying to figure this out for about 2 years now lol. (Sorry for bad english)
hiya!!!
I touched on this in a previous ask here !
I am...not an expert and am very much still learning ;; I ocassionally have little revelations but as I go to write them down or share them I then realise that it fundamentally breaks another 'rule'...so in order to explain one little revelation you need to explain the rule. I tie myself in knots over this Saying that, lineart weight TO ME is fundamentally all about 'rhythm'. human eyes love contrast...lines being thick in one area and then thin in another area is very 'stimulating' (or has high levels of 'appeal', to use the proper term). there are a few rules or guidelines you can use to help you determine where to place your thick and thin such as: - thick lines represent shadow or occlussion...therefore place them on the underside of objects or planes - by an extension of that logic...thick lines can represent gravity or weight or contact between objects (ie: if someone is sitting on the chair...make their bum line thick to represent the 'gravity' of their arse against the chair**). Likewise it feels more natural to render a feather in delicate thin lineart vs super chunky thick lineart - thick lines can represent movement / action / force - thin lines can represent something distant....almost blinking out of the capabiltiy of your eyesight. this means you can use thicker lines to make the object feel closer to the camera **this is actually the rule i've learnt most recently you can really break. if you're drawing a heavy rock on the ground...it makes sense to go 'okay the underside of the rock is shadowed and the rock itself is heavy so i'll draw a nice thick line on the bottom of the rock against the thin lineart of the ground'. BUT maybe....the rock is SO heavy that it is literally compressing its own lineart meaning that you get a thin line between the rock and the ground??? maybe...the THINNEST line?? as it's so heavy that the rock and the ground are almost becoming one? bah sorry i should really be providing images with these concepts Even in consistant-width lineart styles there's still a respect for the concept of 'rhythm' although it becomes the rhythm and harmony between high density and low density areas of detail. Moebius and other 'ligne claire' style artist are often really great examples of this :) learning by studying is always the best though! i spend a lot of time just looking at art i like and trying to understand what is providing the appeal / rhythm within the image and why. my favourites at the moment are: Grant Alexander, Esther Morales, Kerascoet, Hergé and a lot of mid- -century-modern illustrators haha hopefully...this vaguely helps...it's a long path that we're both on but we can do it!
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me vs having a consistent art style for people challenge (impossible)
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