#me while i was drawing this: save me leyendecker... save me...

[coelapso]

i think i never posted this nanami?? well have him

[thedeafprophet]

#1 and #7 for the art asks? (from @neathyingenue btw ;D)

1.When did you start creating art?

I would argue that everyone, always, and forever is making art in their own invidual unique ways. while we may have certain perspectives on various art forms, i think to create is simply part of being human.

....if u wanna know when i started drawing i would say maybe around 13/14 was when i frist started sketching? I was never one of those kids who's been 'drawing since they could hold a pencil' or whatever. I never really had any natural inflication towards drawing - as a younger kid i spent more of my creative time building structures out of popsicle sticks and whatever else i got my hands on.

When i was in my preteens/early teens, i mostly started trying to draw because my friends at the time were all doing it and i felt left out 😅😅 it was a bit of an uphill climb starting from a place with less experience and no natural talent for it.

I sorta clawed my way up from there, trying and failing since then. The real skill of an artist isn't drawing in my mind; its continuing to work at it even when you feel like it sucks.

I only really have my digital art saved back to when i was 18, but i started doing it a bit before then. And it was only in the last few years that I really feel like ive gotten a handle on how I draw, where i've ever felt solidly good about things i create, even if i still struggle with self esteem. Its funny what having a muse, so to speak, in your own characters will do for your art.

hmm. this. turned into a ramble. apologies lmao

All that is too say: For awhile and with determination to not back down from it.

7. Who are some artists that have inspired you?

So when I was 13 I was like, really really into Skyrim. Like. A lot lmao. (And one of the first things i really tried learning how to draw was my skyrim character. )

Anyway, the point of this is that my biggest art influence when i was a kid was Kayla Marquez/thewickwheat on tumblr, who used to do a lot of skyrim oc art, and was very inspirational for me learning how to draw. I feel you can probably still see remenants of that past in the way i draw now. I still seriously recommend checking her stuff out, her character design and linework is phenomoinal to me to this day.

I would say one of my current inspirations, of which im sure is no surprise, is J.C Leyendecker. Specifically in the way he draws clothing. While we obviously have quite different styles, i found our form when it comes to cloothing folds to feel somewhat similar, so i find using his stuff to be very inspirational when it comes to how i approach clothes now, especially suits and shirts.

Beyond that its like... so many artists. Honestly i'd need a whole seperate ramble of a poss just for that alone, and i've already rambled. I have hundreds of photos done by various artists i like saved and sorted across different artstyles on my computer to look at and Be Inspired By. I would say now adays i take a lot of inspiration from Edwardian and Victorian era paintings in general, as im drawing the topics of those contents quite a lot.

Ask Game From Here!

[aizandoesstuff]

I did a thing.

I was initially inspired by a the Draftsmen Podcast (can't remember the episode anymore) where Stan talks about his painting process (sort of). He mentions that when he makes a piece and along the way he starts to not like it, he doesn't just stop and start a new one, he finishes it and then starts a new one. So that's what I've been doing.

In my free time I've been drawing this woman:

and every time I don't like the painting I've finished, I start a new one. And here are the horrible paintings and the one that I deem a success, with some of my comments : D

If I didn't know what this women was suppose to look like, I would have probably said this was good enough.

This one

this one I hate the MOST out of all my attempts. The only thing it probably gets is shadow placement.

It is absolutely horrendous

This might have been because by this point I got lazy and I just wanted this painting to be over with cause it was taking me like a week to finish. I wasn't even halfway done when I already knew that I hated it. I was still desperate to save it that I even used the blend tool on pretty much everywhere.

By the time I was done I was like, "Okay, how do I not do that again?" So I looked some of J.C Leyendecker's artworks (one of may fav artist) and some art analysis vids and a tutorial on his style, as well as videos about measurements, and at the end made this:

Looking at it now and comparing it to the last painting, the one true success, I still really like this piece. To me it has so much character and charm because of the coloring and the brush textures. You can see it very obviously on the nose and right cheek, and it's there because I was a only a little bit lazy this time.

But I'm sure you could probably tell why I had to restart.

The measurements are off.

And this was a personal thought but the painting really is too orange. As much as I do still love the colors, it just deviates too much from the reference. Although many of Leyendecker's works have this warm look to them, that's more because of the warmer, orange undertones he adds, but if you look at his work it doesn't particularly look orange.

I did the whole thing again, this time started using the ruler tool in my drawing software to really get the colors right, also looked up some tips for shading and ended with this:

I didn't mention this before but this one probably used the most layers out of all the attempts. The eyes, brows, hair, hairband and skin are all in separate layers while other attempts only used one. My third attempt used like 3, for the hair, hairband and skin.

This last attempt also took the longest (mostly because of school and my teachers dumping a bunch of work on us cause it's almost the end of the semester). But because of that I've been working on this for about a month.

I think in total I've been drawing this women for about 3 months now. And no offense to her but I'm absolutely sick of looking at her after having to look and paint her for so long XD.

Here are the speedpaint TikToks for these attempts (yes I even mad one for the worst attempt)

the title of the song here very much captures my feelings when I was finishing and finished this piece

The vibe of the song very much represents how I felt when I looked at this piece. (honestly would have preferred Judy Garland's version but TikTok didn't have it)

[rendevok]

i just found your account and wow i love how you color your pieces!! do you have any tips for coloring? especially clothes? im having a hard time myself (◞‸◟；)

Omg i hope im not late to answering this (it's been a while since I've been on here)...

First of all, thank you! I'm flattered and honored you enjoy my work so much! However, I'll be honest with you and say that anything that i do that you think is good is really just me searching for those same answers, especially with regard to clothing!

I started studying Leyendecker because i was trying to improve my skill with drawing clothes and when i saw his work i went absolutely bonkers! Obviously, along the way i found a way to make it really fun for myself, but at the heart of it this has always been about studying - im trying to better my skill by studying the masters and gleaning what i can from their techniques. So, that is one way i would recommend!

I've also found on my journey, just how valuable it is to have references. I know you always hear it but it really is true. On works that are not direct studies, i often have that one limb or angle that just makes me turn my head like an owl all topsy-turvy trying to understand how it works. When it gets like that i run to Uncle Google and search like nobody's business for any kind of pictures that suit my needs. Also, it might just be my taste but i never trace my refs because i think it helps me with my skill in drawing what i perceive (plus i think it makes it fit in more naturally with my work since it's technically coming from me)! Some of my favorite references for clothing are from miyuli, but i actually have so many from so many different places it's hard to name them all. In short, save refs and hold onto them! They will be useful!

The advice i think i can impart in regards to color in painting is that i have a palette that i try to stick to when i work on a single piece, and i work in phases (layering*).

I find base colors that i like before i start, and then as i go, i start to add shadow, make the colors agree more and more, so by the time im adding highlights I'm usually pretty satisfied with where ive gotten. But the starting palette is never the exact same as the finishing palette. The beautiful thing about digital painting is that i can just color drop to modify my colors, so if i think it looks better with a different shade of brown then so be it! In the end, you just want to make sure your colors agree, so the best thing you can do is give yourself parameters to work within (a palette!) so as not to overwhelm yourself.

The phase/layering part i was talking about is actually something i picked up from studying so many paintings - i work in phases. I start with flat color, then shadows, then highlights and i am blending ALL throughout, so in theory im layering* all of these colors together. BUT!! it's important to note that *they are not separate layers! All the work I do is for the most part on a single layer. You might think "Julie you're mad for doing that" but i will argue that separating your colors is the easiest way to make them not agree with one another. Throughout all of my process i am blending, and that is all a part of what makes things mix together and agree so well, i think.

Alright, this has been quite a lot of blabbing on my part, but i hope this helps a little. My last piece of advice to impart is... be kind to yourself and remember that growth takes time. So long as you keep at it, you will definitely improve! ♡ ^u^

[thecoveninarticulate]

Meet our featured artist for January: @eliestela​!!

Name/Age/Location! My name is Eli Estela González, I'm 30 years old (OMG! I'm one of the oldsssss!) and I live in Mexico City. Favorite VC Book? Definitely Interview With the Vampire. I used to think that it was The Vampire Armand, but I read Interview again a while ago and God, it is a GOOD book. Favorite VC character? Armand. Totally.

What made you start drawing and sharing VC art? I didn't used to make much fanart, just sometimes with my friends I'd make some superhero stuff, but last year (2018) I decided that I didn't have to make only "serious" art, or art for clients, that I could (and should) draw whatever the hell I wanted and made me have fun, just for the fun of it. So, I started to really draw VC fanart, you know just for the lols and because I love these characters. Do you have a favorite scene (from the books or movies) to draw? Not really, I think I have favourite eras: the 80s is always a win, but even though I do not draw it, the 18th century really has a special place in my rococó heart. Also modern times. How would you describe your personal drawing style? Simple and comic-like. ?? I think. LOL. Do you listen to music while you draw? And if yes, what? I usually listen to a lot of classical music, and for focusing in something, my go-to music is the Goldberg Variations (the 1955 version, played by Glenn Gould). But lately I'm OBSESSED with the Diablero soundtrack and this specific song by Café Tacvba. Biggest artistic influences? I started making fashion illustration (thank you Fashion School!) and I have always liked the early 20th century aesthetics so Erté, Leyendecker, Dana Gibson and Léon Bakst, were some of my first influences. For contemporary illustration I love David Downton, Kevin Wada, Jordi Labanda, Judith van den Hoek, Sterling Hundley, Sam Spratt... Other influences: Julio Ruelas, Saturnino Herrán, Egon Schiele, Sandro Botticelli, Singer Sargent, Nicky Philipps, Toulouse-Lautrec, Greco, Thomas Gainsborough. Yeah, I'm totally into portraits XD How do you get inspiration? Do you re-read the books, or take suggestions/commissions from other fans? I usually listen to others, I don't think I've made art directly from the books (no reason, but I just have not). I love to take suggestions, especially when they are funny and jokes. I have a ton of posts saved with funny stuff, like incorrect quotes and stuff, that I plan to eventually draw. Something you’d like to learn/get better at like a skill or medium? I'd love to make landscapes! And I wanna try gouache again (my Schiele inspiration is strong lately XD). Favorite classical artist that gets name dropped in VC? Botticelli. I just love him and his big eyed boys. Fav VC era to draw? I think Queen of the Damned. But I love the contemporary stuff as well. What VC character would you want to hang out with the most? Daniel! He seems to be quite fun! Other fandoms you draw/any sideblogs we can promote? I don't make constant fanart of other fandoms, even though I make other stuff, from Spider-Man to The Song of the Cid, it's not really constant, but it's on my usual blog. I have another Tumblr of all things 18th century (@my18thcenturysource) totally not related to my art, it's just that I love the 18th century art, and fashion and stuff. Favorite part about the Dark Gift? Long long lives. Being able to get through centuries and be a living historic source, sound really cool.