#my anatomy improvement is gonna be INSANE I’m telling you

[sunnibits]

I may not have had a hyperfixation for like a whole year but by god I swear to you all, with the power of art school by my side, when I finally get a hyperfixation again I will come back drawing lustful images of shirtless old men bigger and better than ever before baby ‼️‼️

[kiwinatorwaffles]

you know, i used to really hate it when people asked me “why are you so good at art?” because how the hell am i supposed to answer? it’s such a broad question! what part of “good” are you referring to? my anatomy? my colors? my faces my expressions my composition my posing my What?????? and clearly i am not the best artist around; i wouldn’t even consider myself truly good until i’ve gotten to a point where i can draw anything i want without being limited by my skill!

but then i thought about it more when more people asked me that question. clearly they mean no malice by it; they think i’m considered a “good artist” and just want to know how i got there. while the vagueness of that question does hinder some proper responses i can think of, i think i have a pretty solid answer:

practice.

well, it’s not That simple. of course everybody tells you to practice if you want to improve. but How do you practice? the way to do that is pushing past your comfort zone! the first time i tried to draw perspective in 2019, it fucking Sucked Shit. i mean, look at this!

the foreshortening is very lacking, the body is too long from an angle like that, and the background doesn’t match very much. but guess what? i tried something new, and that’s already progress! now the only thing left to do is keep trying. i went through trial and error. i traced reference images (yes, tracing is insanely useful and should be utilized as a tool for references). i tested what worked and what didn’t, and over the course of three years, significantly improved in 2021! if i simply gave up with perspective and left it at that, i wouldn’t have been able to draw these in 2023.

and more about pushing past your comfort zone, i was forced to improve at anatomy when i started watching jojo’s bizarre adventure. before jojo, all of my characters looked like flat pancakes on the screen with noodle arms. but after seeing my blorbos we’re now buff men, i had to adapt! i had to learn how to draw different body types and muscles! i had to find a way to actually draw five fingers! after jojo, my anatomy significantly improved because i had to change how i did things. that did mean significantly altering my style, but i bet if i went back to try and replicate my old style now, i’d have a much better grasp on anatomy and all that good stuff.

here’s a comparison my art directly before jojo and directly after (they’re both very old, but you can see a difference!)

so yes, the short answer is practice. but the longer answer is practice what you’re not good at. it’s gonna suck for a while. it’s gonna look goddamn awful for the first few attempts, but if you trace reference images and try to replicate them time and time, you’re going to get better. art is not something entirely supported by talent; it can take you so far, but the rest needs to be carried by brute forcing practice.

and here is my best example of art improving through the years!

(and tutorials on youtube are a godsend. personally, i recommend winged canvas and moderndayjames for useful tips!)

[peachymess]

hi! your art is fantastic! i was wondering - how long does it take for you to finish an art work?

Thank you! ^^

And it varies greatly. Speed is my biggest obstacle when it comes to art. I could lie and say I doodle out stuff in an hour – or I could call half bad drawings I spent hours on, a “doodle”. Sometimes I think I do – but for me, “doodle” is more about how seriously I took the job. If I throw down lines and squiggles and do some line-arting on top without really caring about the details, that’s a doodle to me, even if I then proceed to spend hours on correcting lines, getting the colors right, and trying out different filters for every experimental shadow.

Over all, I spend a lot of time on drawing, and I mean a lot. But I’m getting better! They say you’ve gotta make 50 bad pieces for every good one (simplified, but you get the gist), so you’re best served not spending days on every piece. What I’ve found helps, is to not get overly invested in every piece. It’s a little sad, because you gotta have your heart in the art, right? Yeah. But that heart should be in your love for the craft and your enjoyment in performing it; not in one specific piece and its need to be perfect. Sure, some pieces are special, but if you can’t distinguish between your magnum opus and just your average drawing, every single drawing will feel equally important to you, and that will slow you down from the sheer weight of it. 

Pro tip I wish someone would have told me a long time ago: nobody looks as closely at your drawings as you do (talking about the general public; loving friends might).

In other words, painfully slaving over details you find only when you zoom in,… ant nobody gonna tell the difference. Unless you’re insanely good and got 50K on insta, aint nobody gonna zoom in on all your work and look for the easter eggs you put in there (@me, lol). Learn what’s important to spend time on, and what can be left alone. If I had been given back all the time I’ve wasted on details that nobody even sees… I could have made a lot more art lol. 

Learn what matters – like general proportions, interesting expression, big things that people could pick out from a distance. And story! Oh boy, don’t get me started on story! Unless you’re really good, people usually won’t be impressed with just a head shot with no story. Armin smiling generically into the void in ¾ view, no background? 

“Cool. But I’ve seen a million generic Armins like it. Why should I be invested in this one in particular?” 

Say something with your art, make me feel or think something. Because with so many good artists out there, it’s hard to get ahead on just the aesthetics alone. Make a joke. Show something mid-action (like someone slipping on a banana peel; instantly more engaging than a static pose that tells no story).  

Why am I being so harsh? It all ties back to speed… Once you realize that your pieces, generally, aren’t that big of a deal, you can hopefully put aside some of that anxiety over it having to be perfect. It doesn’t have to be, and the details you spend an extra two days on will rarely matter to anyone but yourself (which is ok, I just want you to be aware. If you’re very proud of something, maybe point it out to invite people to pay attention to it. But otherwise, they probably won’t look at your drawing for that long before deciding to reblog or move on). If you enjoy making those details, please go ahead! Art should be about what YOU like to do, at the end of the day. But if your speed ties into your perceived self-worth, like it does with me,… well, I got a lot faster once I realized that nobody really cares all that strongly. (Though, I’m in no way discrediting all the support and love I receive, guys, thank you – truly. I’m talking in the grand scheme of things. Art is a lot more personal to the artist, than to the random scroller-by). 

How many of you would stop being my friend or suddenly dislike me just because I draw Armin with a wonky nose and disproportionate arms sometimes? Yeah, no, if I put out an unfortunate piece, so what? (Hell, if I can tell a funny joke with it, you might even enjoy it all the same!) Once I learned to understand that every piece is not a blaring spotlight on me where all eyes will be on me and my mistakes, I got faster. 

… and with that insanely long prologue, here’s how much time I generally spend:

The first art I started (in 2016), took over a year to finish. 

Though, in the meantime, I think I put out a “doodle”. I call it a doodle because I intentionally simplified the anatomy so it would be easier to make – but this one still took me four months to finish! 

(The above images took me a year, and 4 months respectively). 

In other words, in 2016, my average was MONTHS – on just one drawing! Keep in mind, I quit art for ten years before this, just from how much anxiety is gave me over my self worth (if I made one bad line, it meant I was worthless). 

In 2017, I think my average was weeks. I had to take breaks between sessions a lot just to cope with the building anxiety. I look at the finished products now and I think “look how few steps this needed. With how much time I spent, I must have averaged one single brush stroke an hour”. And it’s probably about right. Although, I did manage to finish one drawing in a single day, and I remember being really proud of that!

(Above, the first one is an example of stuff I’d tinker with for weeks, while the second one is the one I completed in a day due to it being his birthday and the pressure was on to get it done)

In 2018, I think my average was 2 or 3 days. I put out more smaller pieces, stuff that doesn’t need to be as elaborate. At my peak, I think I could do two of those meme-things per day. Looking back, though, I can see a clear difference between time spent on “doodles” and time spent on projects I put my heart into. I spent days on the eremin week entries, for example. This was the year I started to learn to tier my projects.

(The above shows an art I admittedly spent over a week on, much thanks to the needless details in the bottles, while the second is one of two pieces I completed during one day)  

In 2019, I don’t think I shortened down my average a lot, but looking through my gallery now, I see that I started doing more elaborate pieces. So… if I spend as long as before, but get bigger and better content out of it, that’s improvement too! 

(Above you’ll see an art that probably took me a couple of days - 4 or 5 maybe? - and the second once which took me an hour I think? A good example of how much better i’ve gotten at tiering projects and not being afraid of making sloppy art just for the fun of it). 

So far in 2020, I’ve only drawn for Armin week, and I spent an evening to a day on each one of them. After finishing one, I’d uploading it to my drafts, then lie in bed and scrutinize it, zooming in, looking and looking. Then the next morning, I’d get up and spend an average of an hour fixing/editing them because I was getting increasingly displeased with them. So I think on average… god honest truth, even if I’m a little self-conscious about it, I think I spend an average of 8 - 18 sitting hours on anything. This includes the revisions.  

(Above you’ll see the entry I spent the most time on first - I’m guessing probably 12 sitting hours - and the one I spent the least time on - I’m guessing 5 hours)

I love drawing, but it’s very hard for me. I’ve used drawing as my main source of personal self-improvement for the last couple of years - for many reasons; it has a lot of lessons to teach me. It’s not always fun, and it’s rarely easy. But.. uh. It’a been worth it? I don’t know what your art journey is, but I hope this gave you some help, inspiration or comfort. Good luck and draw with heart, not fear. 

[taaroko]

Post-IW MCU Rewatch: The Incredible Hulk

Okay, time for The Incredible Hulk. This is only my second time watching it. The first time was during my pre-Ultron marathon. I remember basically nothing.

I really like the way the origin story is covered in the intro montage. Universal figured out what Sony did not: if we’ve already had the origin story within the last decade or so, we don’t need it again. Plus the montage is just good visual storytelling, and I’m always on board for that.

He’s watching Sesame Street to improve his Portuguese!

Holy crap that dude can do really unsettling things with his stomach.

Part of me feels like I’m watching the story of what Oz was doing after he left Sunnydale to learn how to deal with his wolf side. This is great.

The intensity with which Bruce tries to make sure none of his blood gets anywhere is really interesting. This is all continuing to be very visual, which is awesome.

Hey, there, Mr. Blue. (I have no idea who Mr. Blue is.)

Loving all this science.

Aww, it was the Stan Lee cameo who got Bruce’s blood-spiked soda?

Oh hey, Tim Roth. Forgot he was in this.

Man, a city with this kind of layout really is perfect for parkour.

Ooh, nice use of shadows to conceal the full Hulk reveal as long as possible.

Is it...cold in this rainforest?

Hahaha, he’s deliberately finding the stretchiest possible pants.

Tim Roth’s character is scary.

Bruce is such a Ravenclaw, guys. None of the other houses are this quiet for this long.

Nice trick with the pizzas.

“Dr. Elizabeth Ross” is her username? That’s not a username. That’s a name.

Whoops! Betty saw you! Sucks to be her current boyfriend. That is some intense emotion.

ARGH THEY DID THE RUN AND HUG THING!

What the heck is this serum? Is it anything like the one that made Steve Captain America?

The shots of them in their separate beds reminds me of this.

Wow I am not okay with those bone marrow sample sound effects.

Bruce has such soulful eyes.

Holy crap Tim Roth definitely got an upgrade.

Hahaha, nice place to store the data. Gross, though. And...wouldn’t his stomach acid ruin that drive?

Ooh, father/daughter confrontation, Tiananmen Square style.

Nooo, don’t break this school! It’s too pretty!

I definitely prefer the way the Hulk looks from Avengers onward.

After all the effort Bruce went through to acquire stretchy pants, these sure look like jeans.

Wow, Tim Roth is insane. (Yeah I’m probably never going to remember the character’s name.)

Ooh, sonic cannons?

Aww, Hulk’s gonna fight through it for his girl.

Blonsky. Emil Blonsky. Okay. And dang that was brutal.

HE ATTAC HE PROTEC

Hahaha, even the bland new boyfriend won’t help Betty’s dad.

*lightning strikes Hulk* Hey leave him alone, Thor. He’s had a bad day. You’re being a really bad friend.

I guess it’s a good thing that USB drive didn’t make it farther than his stomach.

I really like all these quiet soft moments between Bruce and Betty. Stupid heart rate.

Okay, Blonsky healed creepily fast, but at least now I don’t have to listen to the sound of his burned, broken fingers clenching.

Dang, SHIELD has creepy effective servers.

My least favorite thing about both Arwen and Betty Ross is Liv Tyler’s tendency towards being overly breathy when she talks. So it’s super refreshing when she shrieks at that horrific cabbie.

Tim Roth’s supersoldier body is really creepy and weird. Was that a mo-cap suit and CGI? I feel like they went for the wrong physique. His head’s too big compared to his torso. They should’ve gone more barrel-chested, I think. Also EW HIS SPINE.

ARGH THIS IS SO PAINFUL TO WATCH. I do not like this movie’s sound designers. They are far too good at their jobs and my ears are not enjoying it.

Kinda bitter that General Ross is the only one who got to be in another movie. He’s the worst.

I have some...anatomy questions about Abomination. I mean, I know steroids can make certain things shrink, but this stuff took it a step further and turned Blonsky into a sexless golem. They really should’ve just given him improbably stretchy pants too so I wouldn’t have to think about it.

Poor Harlem.

Oookay, they should not have let him talk. That makes it so much dumber.

Man that would’ve been a really horrible death for Bruce.

OWWWW. Sharp elbows!

Whoa! That was a cool way to douse the flames!

Wait since when does Hulk actually call himself that? I thought it was just those college guys who came up with the name. I feel like that needed to have been established better before he started using it as his own name.

Seriously, Betty? You’re telling him to stop? This would definitely be a case of justifiable homicide, and he’s the only one capable of doing it. What the heck are they going to do with a live Abomination?

Wow, is that a real location in British Colombia? It’s beautiful!

Okay, I like that ending. It helps tie in with “That’s my secret. I’m always angry.” He’s learning how to access the Hulk at will now, not just suppress him forever. But that doesn’t mean there won’t still be involuntary episodes.

“That supersoldier program was put on ice for a reason.” Rude, Tony.

I tend to dismiss The Incredible Hulk purely out of a bias in Mark Ruffalo’s favor (I saw Avengers first, so he’s Bruce for me). I’m not sure his Bruce is quite the same character as Norton’s. I can’t even imagine Norton’s Bruce chumming it up with Thor in Ragnarok, for instance, and I’m not sure I can imagine him being Science Bros with Tony either. But this is actually a pretty good movie, and I do like this Bruce. My only real issues are with Abomination being able to talk and Betty stopping Hulk from finishing him off. I like Bruce being carefully on the run, I like Betty helping him, I like the conflict between science and military. Science cannot surge forward unfettered because there are people who would use that to wage war. It’s almost like Bruce is both a nuclear bomb and the guy who first created them. He has to live with the consequences of his research trapped inside his skin, and he’s only barely beginning to come to terms with that.

I’m pretty okay with this being the only MCU Hulk movie. And not just because I have no interest in seeing where things might go with that scientist dude whose brain gets bigger because Bruce’s blood landed on him. That’s a step too far towards comic book silliness for me. The main reason I’m okay with it is that Bruce has managed to have a good character arc just being in ensemble films, and his personality type lends itself well to making the most progress in these group settings. He can’t just hole up on his own; that’s how he ended up stagnating for five years while he was in hiding. It’s a shame Betty Ross got benched, though. I do think Bruce/Natasha is cute, but he and Betty were really intense and sweet, and I prefer Bucky/Nat for her.

Anyway, I liked this enough that I might cave and actually buy the DVD to complete my set. It’s the only one I don’t currently own.

[othernecessarythings]

back on my bullshit again

and once more!! if you happen to stumble across these posts of mine, please just ignore them.. they’re a way for me to reflect on my life (and improve my english), and while i can’t stop you from reading them, can i say that you probably wouldn’t benefit much from it lol. anyways let’s go

1) Put your iTunes on shuffle. Give me the first 6 songs that pop up.

my lots of songs list: the love club-lorde, river en vacker dröm-håkan hellström, living dead-marina, why we ever-hayley williams, snälla bli min-veronica maggio, take this lonely heart-nothing but thieves

2) If you could meet anyone on this earth, who would it be?

oof um the person who will be the love of my life? no lol but like zendaya would be pretty cool ig

3) Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 23, give me line 17.

“... and the top was red-and-white striped, and it all zipped up in the front.”

4) What do you think about most?

hmm my friends maybe?

5) Ever had a poem or song written about you?

not that i know of

6) Do you have any strange phobias?

nah i feel some trypophobia (?spelling) sometimes but that’s it

7) What’s your religion?

i’m kinda christian, but like i choose which parts to believe in and not, like i believe in the message of doing good and love, but not like homophobia or an actual god lol

8) If you are outside, what are you most likely doing?

sitting in the sun, listening to music

9) Simple but extremely complex. Favorite band?

ah probably paramore, yeah it must be them

10) What was the last lie you told?

eh kinda basic but “i’m fine” i guess

11) Do you believe in karma?

ooh that’s a questioning worth discussing, no i don’t believe in the actual the-universe-is-constantly-judging-our-actions, but like that people who do good tend to get good things back? yeah that makes sense

12) What does your URL mean?

my main (neon-places) is from perfect places by lorde, and just neon bc it sounds cool

13) What is your greatest weakness; your greatest strength?

oh god if i only knew,,, i really need to improve my empathy, but my systematical skills are quite good

14) Who is your celebrity crush?

hayley williams

15) How do you vent your anger?

i don’t get mad😌😌 no but like when i get irritated do i just close my door to my room and like listen to music in headphones and solve a puzzle or something lol

16) Do you have a collection of anything?

i kinda collect things that mark an important/memorable event in my life, like my first pride bracelet, my favorite jeans from when i was like 15, lots of birthday cards,, yeah it’s not so unique, but they’re important to me

17) Are you happy with the person you’ve become?

yes!!!! me a few years ago would’ve never thought that i’d be like this now, but i’m proud of myself and what i’ve become!!

18) What’s a sound you hate; sound you love?

fun fact i HATE sleeping to the sound of rain. it makes me really anxious,, i love the sound of waves though, or my little sisters pure laugh :,)

19) What’s your biggest “what if”?

what if i’m just faking everything, what if this is not actually me but something i put up to please others around me

20) Do you believe in ghosts? How about aliens?

not ghosts really, but there must be some sort of life in the whole fucking space,, while maybe not what we traditionally would categorize as “life”, must it exist something, somewhere

21) Stick your right arm out; what do you touch first? Do the same with your left arm.

i’m in my bed so like. my nightstand to the right, my wall to the left

22) Smell the air. What do you smell?

absolutely nothing, i’m so used to the smell of my house

23) What’s the worst place you have ever been to?

oo idk??? i’m usually quite content with wherever we’re going, although fotografiska in stockholm was shitty though

24) Most attractive singer/s of your opposite gender?

oh um like tyler joseph maybe? gerard way, frank iero? yeah i’m an emo slut

25) To you, what is the meaning of life?

no don’t go there,, thereisnomeaningoflifesoitsallaboutmakingasmuchaspossibleandliveashappilyaspossiblyuntilourfleetingexistenceonthisearthisover

26) Do you drive? If so, have you ever crashed?

.. yeah you could say that i drove, i have a driving license after all, and i’ve never crashed but i’ve been stopped by police a few times lol

27) What was the last movie you saw?

no idea, i never watch movies... or wait!! we had legally blonde on at my friends house a few days ago when we got home from a party, i didn’t exactly watch it but it was playing

28) What’s the worst injury you’ve ever had?

i’ve had some bad allergic reactions in form of severe eczema

29) Do you have any obsessions right now?

‘the devil and god are raging inside me’ by brand new, doing my makeup a special way

30) Ever had a rumor spread about you?

yeah, that i’m gay and together with my earlier best friend (we were not)

31) Do you tend to hold grudges against people who have done you wrong?

not really,, i’m really fucking scared of conflicts so i simply forgive and move on, it’s easier that way

32) What is your astrological sign?

pisces baby

33) What’s the last thing you purchased?

a blue skirt second hand!! v cute

34) Love or lust?

um idk i’ve never really experienced any of them, but maybe love

35) In a relationship?

nope

36) How many relationships have you had?

a whopping amount of zero

37) What is your secret weapon to get someone to like you?

I DONT KNOW someone tell me please how to get someone to like me,, but like more friendship-like is it usually to always choose my words very carefully to not upset anyone, it usually gets me quite far

38) Where is your best friend?

where? i hope she’s home? well like we took the bus home together a few hours ago, so i guess she’s home

39) What were you doing last night at 12 AM?

aha ha funny,, i was having a small mental crisis so i sat and did math (by free will, school has ended for summer) while listening to melodrama.. yes

40) Are you the kind of friend you would want to have as a friend?

i don’t know, this is so hard.. but like. no? or it wouldn’t really work to have someone like me as a close friend, i’m to introvert, i tend to surround myself with extroverts who bring me with them to do stuff

41) You are walking down the street on your way to work. There is a dog drowning in the canal on the side of the street. Your boss has told you if you are late one more time you get fired. What do you do?

oh um i call 112 (the swedish 911) and make sure someone else notice the dog too and help it while i hurry to my job

42) You are at the doctor’s office and she has just informed you that you have approximately one month to live. a) Do you tell anyone/everyone you are going to die? b) What do you do with your remaining days? c) Would you be afraid?

a) yes, i think so. only my closest though, to give them a chance to say goodbye properly, but i wouldn’t really like other just acquaintances to reach out just bc of the circumstances

b) i try to travel as much as possible, party all i can, tell everyone i love how much they mean to me and just. live

c) of course, i would be scared to death (see what i did there) but i wouldn’t have any other choice but to fully live my last month

43) What’s a song that always makes you happy when you hear it?

hard times by paramore!! it always makes me want to dance

44) In your opinion, what makes a great relationship?

no

45) How can I win your heart?

show any whatsoever interest in me lol

46) Can insanity bring on more creativity?

i guess,, i’m like the opposite of insanity though, i’m constantly numb and completely lacking any creativity, so it may work the other way too

47) What is the single best decision you have made in your life so far?

hmm maybe my school application? i’m so fucking happy with my choice

48) What would you want to be written on your tombstone?

hmm nothing too special i guess, just the usual loved and missed and so

49) Give me the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word “heart.”

like the anatomy and stuff,,, i really like biology, more than romances lol

50) Basic question; what’s your favorite color/colors?

usually different shades of blue, but right now all pastel colors, especially purple

51) What is your current desktop picture?

my locked screen is two of my best friends, and my home screen is paramore ofc

52) If you could press a button and make anyone in the world instantaneously explode, who would it be?

trump would be pretty nice

53) What would be a question you’d be afraid to tell the truth on?

oh um like “name a few things you don’t like about me” or something, bc as i said, i hate conflicts

54) You accidentally eat some radioactive vegetables. They were good, and what’s even cooler is that they endow you with the super-power of your choice! What is that power?

the ability to change the probability!!! it’s the ultimate superpower!!!

55) You can re-live any point of time in your life. The time-span can only be a half-hour, though. What half-hour of your past would you like to experience again?

my tøp concert maybe? i was really euphoric then, and i haven’t really felt like that since, but i’m afraid i’ll destroy that memory if i could go back so idk

56) You can erase any horrible experience from your past. What will it be?

i’ve had quite a happy life yet, there’s no big thing i’d like to erase,, no i feel like every experience in my life has leaded me to where i am today, so i wouldn’t like to erase anything

57) You have the opportunity to sleep with the music-celebrity of your choice. Who would it be?

hmm idk maybe alex turner. idk i feel like it would be pretty nice

58) You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere. You have to depart right now. Where are you gonna go?

italy maybe? my friends and i planned to go there this summer before the corona hit, so i’d like to go there lol

59) Ever been on a plane?

yeah several times

60) Give me your top 5 hottest celebrities.

idk idk i’m not really.. attracted to anyone rn? it’s kinda weird but there’s no one where i’m like wow this person is HOT,, nah i don’t really feel anything like that at the moment

[kurogoesinthedas]

hi there!! i just wanted to say i really love your art and your art style! i'm trying to get a similar style myself (semi-realistic?? i guess???) and i'm struggling terribly with faces and general anatomy. do you have any tips? i really respect you as an artist so i hope this doesn't come off as creepy or rude! you do great work

Hi nonnie! First of all, thank you so much ♥ Second, I’m definitely not an authority on the subject, but I can share what I’ve learned in school the past couple of years (which isn’t of course the Truth™, I’m sure others will say different things and there isn’t a “right one”, but you asked me so I’m gonna share my experience).

Under the cut because it got… long

The first thing I’d tell you to improve your human figure drawing skills is to study anatomy (of course). But when I say anatomy, I don’t mean the general, proportion-blocks-curves kind of thing. I mean study anatomy. The bones of the body, their most prominent feature and how they appear on the surface. The skulls and its parts, you’d be surprised how easier it becomes to place the facial features once you know what lies beneath. Also studying the muscles and how they move and overlap, in terms of groups or one by one, that’s your choice, is extremely important. And I’m about to tell you why. 

This is an example of the kind of study I did. Every muscle is on a separate layer with its name, and I did the same for all the body districts 

If you have a very basic knowledge of anatomy, you’ll look at a reference and copy it for what is it, without really thinking. Which is good and all, but then you’re using the reference as a crutch, and not as a learning tool to become better. I mean, you can become better using this method, but it’d probably take more time. And since I tend to favor an analytical approach to things (and honestly I have no patience for searching for the right reference all the time), I use what I’ve learnt to basically dissect the body part I’m looking at on the reference. This allows you to actually understand what’s going on beneath the surface of the skin, and eventually also adapt it to your needs. And the next time you’ll need to draw the same pose, you might be able to do it without looking at an exact reference. How useful is that? And so, for example, you draw the ridges and cavities in the collarbone area not because “I think there’s a hole here”, but because “there are specific muscles here and skin dips between them.”(note: I’m not trying to say drawing without references is a good thing. It’s not. But I’m lazy, so I try to make the best of it when I use them). 

Now, as for the semi-realism part of it. There’s a whole discussion on what to call realism and what not (I got into some myself with my teachers, with one saying I draw cartoony and the other one saying I draw realistic… and of course each one wanted the other thing lmao) but, what I wanted to say is that after you learn the “scientific reality” part of it, you gotta actually apply that to drawings. And unless you’re an insane genius, you’re not going to draw skulls and muscles and bones every single time. And that’s when the stylization, and the shapes, proportions and such come to play. One thing my teacher used to tell us is that you need to ingrain the shapes into the muscle memory of your hand. 

And so we drew 100 head structures (the old “circle cross triangle” thing that you find in every anatomy tutorial ever existed) copying from photographs and paintings. Same with torsos, and arms. and legs. An endless stream of naked bodies on my screen. 

(not kidding)

(I’m actually realizing I should do more of these lol)And the same thing applies to the features! Dissect them in shapes, and find a way to make it simple.

so…. in the endtl;dr: study anatomy. draw a lot. (don’t shoot me)  Practice. And find a way to have fun!

[hale-of-stiles-heart]

Prompt: Bamf tattooed doctor Cas & shy nerdy cute patient Dean (bamf cas is my undoing 🙈🙈🙉) Please and thank you!!!!

Not sure if I really managed the BAMF Cas or the shy/nerdy Dean but I hope you like it anyway! (also on ao3!)

Dean may or may not have had a doctor kink.

He blamed it on all of those hours he had spent binge watching Dr. Sexy. And the few times he had watched Grey's Anatomy out of curiosity.

And House M.D. Even Scrubs once or twice.

Okay, so he definitely had a doctor kink. But it wasn't his fault. Really!

How could anyone not find those white lab coats and ties and scrubs not ridiculously hot? No one that's who.

So when Doctor Novak entered the exam room with his sex hair and the dark stubble peppering his jaw, in his pristine white coat, it was no surprise that Dean's brain promptly went offline. Especially when the doctor turned his unimaginably blue eyes on him.

He ended up just gaping at Doctor Novak as he read off the clipboard in his hands, reiterating the information about Dean's injury. His voice was low and intriguingly gravelly as he read off the description of the injury, Dean focusing on just the sound of his voice instead of his actual words.

He was too busy running his eyes over the bow of Doctor Novak's plush pink lips as he spoke, watching the way he formed his words. His lips were chapped, Dean noted, only slightly but enough to be noticeable.

His hair, thoroughly disheveled as though he had just rolled out of bed and thrown on a lab coat, looked extremely soft, almost fluffy. It curled behind his ears.

His eyes, narrowed as he squinted down at the clipboard, were a startlingly clear blue, like a cloudless spring morning. They were so beautiful that Dean briefly wondered if Doctor Novak was wearing colored contacts.

His eyes strayed further down the doctor's body in a purely curious manner, idly wondering what the insanely good-looking doctor wore under his lab coat. It turned out that he was wearing a white button up and black slacks. His tie, a deep blue one a few shades lighter than navy, was backwards.

"Mr. Winchester? Mr. Winchester?" A voice called, but Dean was too busy admiring the definition in his doctor's thighs through the fabric of his slacks. "Did he sustain injuries that affected his hearing?"

A second later something jabbed him in ribs, hard enough to drag a rough front from him. He whipped his head to the side to glare at his giant of a brother, snapping, "The hell, Sam?!"

"You were spaced out, dude," Sam informed him, rolling his eyes as he folded his arms over his chest. Dean had a mind to reach up and yank his too long hair.

The only thing that stopped him was the sudden realization of where exactly he was, the day's events running through his head.

He had been driving in to work, Bobby calling him in early to help out with restoring an old '69 Mustang, when he had noticed a car pulled over on the side of the road. A woman had been trying to use a jack, a lug wrench lying on the pavement beside her.

Figuring he could help out with the easy task of changing a tire and get his good deed for the day over and done with, he had pulled over. Flashing a charming grin, he had explained that he was a mechanic and offered to help out.

It had been going perfectly fine until he somehow managed to cut his right hand open on the car jack. The woman he had been helping had nearly fainted at the sight of blood so Dean had to calm her down while wrapping a dirty rag around his hand.

He finished up with changing the tire much to the woman's delight, earning him a kiss on the cheek before she flounced back into her car and drove off. With a resigned sigh, he had called Bobby and explained that he had to run to the hospital for his hand.

He managed to drive one handed to the closest urgent care that was conveniently a few blocks away from the law firm where Sam was working. In the waiting room, crammed between an old lady who hacking up a lung and a shaggy haired teenager who had a weird looking rash on his arm, he had texted his brother and asked him to come over to the urgent care.

Sam walked in right as the receptionist called Dean's name and handed him off to a nurse with dark hair and horrible people skills. She had muttered under her breath about him being an idiot as she poked and prodded at the cut on his hand, ignoring his grunts and groans.

When she had left the room after jotting something down on a clipboard, announcing that Doctor Novak would be in soon, Dean and Sam had exchanged shared looks of incredulity. Then Doctor Novak had arrived, putting McDreamy to shame.

"Oh. Uh, sorry," Dean apologized, scratching the back of his neck as his cheeks heated before holding out his hand to shake Doctor Novak's. His palm was a bit rough, slightly callused but not as much as Dean's own hand. "Dean Winchester. Uh, you already knew that."

"Doctor Castiel Novak," the gorgeous doctor introduced himself, smiling brightly enough to take Dean's breath away. Still smiling, he turned to the side and started shrugging out of his lab coat, nearly making Dean swallow his tongue.

He coughed a few times, curling his left hand into a fist to bang against his chest. He pointedly ignored the look Sam gave him, recognizing it as the one he used whenever he noticed that Dean had the hots for someone.

Swallowing heavily once the coughing fit passed, he watched with wide eyes as Doctor Novak unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, the action revealing tattoos covering his forearms. If Dean's mouth hadn't gone dry at the sight, he would have started drooling.

On the inside of one forearm, a statuesque angel robed in white stood, its large wings spread as it raised its hands skyward. A cluster of brightly colored flowers served as the angel's backdrop, making the monochrome figure stand out in stark contrast.

The other forearm bore a scattering of bees, striped and furry as they buzzed around on the lightly haired skin. A banner was stretched across the inner forearm, running perpendicular to the veins in his arm. Dean couldn't make out what was written on the banner.

And if Dean had a doctor kink the size of Kansas itself, which he definitely did, then his tattoo kink was the size of Texas.

He wasn't proud of it, especially since his little brother was in the room, but he was suddenly sporting a semi. Just at the sight of some tattoos. So much for him being a cool, suave Lothario.

Doctor Novak crossed to the sink and washed his hands before taking a seat on the wheeled chair by the counter and moving over to sit directly in front of Dean. He caught of whiff of some sort of cologne as Doctor Novak said, "You're definitely going to need some stitches but there won't be much scarring and you'll have full function of your hand."

"Good, that's the hand I use to jerk off," Dean hummed in response. He regretted the words the second they left his mouth, squeezing his eyes shut and wincing as Sam groaned aloud.

"Jesus, Dean," Sam complained in a whine, scrubbing a hand over his face. "I'm gonna go wait in the car."

Doctor Novak chuckled as the door shut behind Sam, smiling as he claimed, "Your boyfriend seems very nice."

"God, no! Eww," Dean immediately balked, sticking his tongue out. At Doctor Novak's confused expression, tilting his head to the side, Dean rushed to explain, "Sam's not my boyfriend. He's my brother. I don't have a boyfriend. Not because I'm straight or anything... I'm bi!—" he groaned and facepalmed "—Why can't I shut up?"

"Pain has a way of inhibiting our brain to mouth filters," Doctor Novak announced as he spread some numbing gel over the cut on Dean's hand. "And that is, of course, the medical term."

"I'm sure," Dean laughed, relaxing a bit as the edge of pain lessened. He followed the gentle path of Doctor Novak's thumb as he rubbed in the gel. "Y'know, you're a lot gentler than your nurse."

"Yes, I suppose Meg's bedside manner could use some improvement," the doctor conceded as he finished applying the gel. He leaned in closer and lowered his voice to a whisper, "But everyone here is too afraid to tell her."

Dean chuckled, conceding the fact that Meg was, in fact, a little bit scary, as Doctor Novak picked up forceps and some surgical thread. He winced as he turned back to Dean, explaining, "This part won't be too much fun but it won't hurt."

"This when you tell me to close my eyes and think of England?" Dean quipped as he took a few deep breaths. It wasn't the first time he had gotten stitches but it was never a pretty sight.

He may have had a pretty strong stomach but the sight of flesh literally getting sewn back together? That was enough to make him lose his lunch.

"If it helps," Doctor Novak intoned as he started the sutures.

Dean tipped his head back, squeezed his eyes shut, and hummed "the Memory Remains". He reopened his eyes when he heard Doctor Novak chuckle under his breath. He quirked a brow at the doctor, wondering what was so funny about stitches.

"Metallica?" Doctor Novak asked, his lips curling up at the corner. "Interesting choice. Though I would've picked Enter Sandman."

"It calms me down," Dean admitted with a one-shouldered shrug. He offered a smile as he inquired, "So, you like Metallica, doc? Bit of a badass?"

"My brothers would beg to differ but I like to think so," Doctor Novak answered easily, continuing the stitching. "I have the tattoos and the motorcycle to prove it."

"Whoa, you ride a motorcycle?" Dean whistled, impressed. A motorcycle explained the windblown hair, though he was sure a doctor would wear a helmet. "What kind?"

"Harley-Davidson. Softail Slim S," Doctor Novak relayed as he finished the stitches. Setting down his forceps, he beamed over at Dean before suggesting, "Maybe I could take you for a ride sometime, if I'm not being too forward."

"Really?" Dean asked a little breathlessly, feeling his face heat up again. When Doctor Novak nodded, he blurted, "Hell yeah!"

Laughing softly, Doctor Novak stood and quickly washed his hands before grabbing something out of his lab coat pocket. He scribbled something on the business card he had pulled out before handing it over to Dean.

"The receptionist will give you instructions for your hand," he explained as Dean stood, turning over the business card in his hand to look at Doctor Novak's cell phone number. "And you can call me whenever you're up for a ride."

Tucking the business card into his pocket, Dean smiled and returned, "Sure thing, Cas."

Send me Destiel prompts!

[glysaturn]

Glys, I know, your feelin down. But I wanted to tell you, how much of an inspiration you are. You have the, cutest style ever. With soft and fluid lines, with plenty of emotion showing from every character you draw. You have a very good grasp of anatomy, and different poses and honestly, it's very admirable. I look up to you in a whole heck of a Lotta ways. Your my favorite artist, and if anyone, even yourself, says you ain't good, we gonna fight 👊��

ah thank you, that really means a lot (even though some parts are so far from the truth, i do not doubt for a moment that you think that way, it's just hard for me to see it like you do). despite everything, i'm still trying and i know that my art has changed and improved a lot in the past few years (i need a really good smack in the face so i could work harder, honestly). and hearing that it even can be an inspiration to someone is still so insane, in a good way, i'm glad to hear it