#my style is so different all i did was use a different brush 😭

[iyagato]

aziracrow as david tennant kiss from richard ii

[mouwrites]

Ninjas x reader with a pixiecut?

I went threw a bad slump and didn't brush my hair for months and now it's so matted I have to cut it all off if I can't get it done by Monday 😭 I just really love your writing and i wanna see how the ninjas would react to a reader with long hair chopping it all off into a pixiecut ♡♡♡

I'm so sorry friend; but I know you'll look gorgeous no matter what you do with your hair! And the ninjas think so too ;)

Ninjago - Ninjas' Reaction to You Cutting Your Hair

Kai

I am a "Kai the hair expert" truther

So of course he's always concerned about your hair and its health

When you had long hair, he was always reminding you to take good care of it, but he never really enforced his reminders

So when you turn up one day with cropped hair, he's just like :O

"What happened?? Did you not take good care of it? Was it matted?"

He runs over to you and starts feeling your hair for himself, probably deducing exactly what went wrong in his little head

He just runs his hands through your hair for a while, and he finds himself already getting used to the new cut

He tells you that it doesn't look bad; no, it looks pretty great actually!

But if he suspects that you cut it for hair health reasons, he's going to start cracking down on you taking care of your hair

Don't worry, he has an arsenal of tips and product recommendations

And styling tips, now that it's shorter like his :D

Hair care night becomes a weekly ritual for you guys, and Kai always looks forward to it

Even if/when your hair grows out again, you keep this tradition going because you both love it so much

If not for the fabulous hair that results from these nights, then for the intimate feeling of applying products to each other's hair and brushing it out and stuff :)

Jay

I feel like Jay's the type of guy to be enchanted by big changes

He was absolutely enamored by you when you had long hair, but when you turn up with short hair...

It's the night he first saw you all over again: love at first sight

That's not to say that he loves you any more now, he just falls in love with another side of you (if that makes sense)

He asks why you cut it, more excited than condescending or anything

Whatever you say he just nods (was he even listening??), telling you how amazing you look

Get ready for him to be staring at you nonstop for the next..... forever probably

And he loves each new style you try as it grows out again (if you let it grow out)

He just adores seeing you in different styles; it's like having a whole array of Y/ns to love

He definitely surprises you with new accessories and clothes that he thinks will look nice with your current style

And he's always on the hunt for more.....

He can't pass by one clothing store without looking at the mannequins like "hmmm, Y/n would look good in that!" or "that would really complement Y/n's eyes when they do [x hairstyle]"

Even if he doesn't buy it, he'll take a picture so he can send it to you imagine you in it

Cole

Okay this is going to sound bad but. I don't think Cole would notice right away

He's not so much a "looks" guy

Don't get me wrong, he thinks you're gorgeous, but he's more holistic in his love for you

He loves your personality, your voice, the way you carry yourself... your appearance is just another item on a very long list of reasons he loves you

So when you turn up with short hair one day, he just smiles at you and asks if you did anything interesting today

"Pfff—Cole. Look at me and ask that question again."

"Oh.. OH!! Your hair!!"

He tells you it looks great :)

I don't think he'll say much beyond that; like I said, your appearance is just one reason he loves you

And he always thinks you look fantastic anyway

He always tells you you're beautiful, and he's not going to stop just because you got a haircut

He'll be pretty oblivious if you grow it out again, too, though

One day he'll just be like "hmm hang on... Oh! You've grown out your hair again!! Looks great babe :) <3"

Zane

He'd notice right away

And in the most non-judgemental, completely unbiased, solely curious voice, he'd ask:

"Why did you cut your hair?"

He's not disappointed or excited or anything, just genuinely curious

And he listens quite intently while you explain, nodding along agreeably

He liked it when it was long; he loved to play with it and try intricate styles

Just to keep his hands busy, y'know?

But that doesn't mean he was sad to see it short

If anything he just sees it as a challenge to try new hairstyles!

He LOVES playing with your hair, long or short

Be prepared to try out like 50 different styles within the first month

It's usually late at night when he tries them out, so you don't have to wear them in public if you don't want to

But he thinks you're beautiful in every style, and he will be very proud if you actually sport one of his styles out in the world

Though he likes the way you style it better; he thinks that it's just so... you

And it doesn't need saying that he can't get enough of you <3

Lloyd

It takes him about two seconds to notice, then he just freezes like a deer in headlights

And he's not subtle about it either, if you don't see him staring, you can definitely feel it

He won't say anything—you'll have to break the silence

"So, uh... what do you think?"

He blubbers for a moment, words failing him

He was just so surprised, and he didn't know what to make of it

He doesn't actually even have an opinion at first, he's too shocked

But he comes around to the new look pretty quickly

He decides that you're so gorgeous that you can rock any hairstyle

So he'll just look back on your long-haired days like "huh. they killed it back then, too. dang."

If anything the change has made him more conscious about the fact that you literally always look beautiful, and he starts reminding you more often

Especially when you try out a new way of styling it

Get ready to be called beautiful 100x more often, even as your hair grows out again

Nya

She is ECSTATIC when she sees your hair

Literally squeals:

"Oh my—! YOUR HAIR!!"

She runs over to you and immediately starts messing with it

She loves it!!

She loved you with long hair, too, she's just so surprised that you'd do something so radical and have it look THAT GOOD

She was, like... smacked in the face with beauty

She jokingly asks why you don't do such drastic changes more often

But then when the excitement wears off a bit, she'll ask if there was a reason you cut it

She'll be understanding no matter what you say, but if there was a problem she's going to help you fix it 😤

She's a do-er like that

I also think that she, like Kai, knows a thing or two about hair

Maybe not to the same extent, but she'll know how to help you if you need it :)

And she knows all the little tips and tricks for dealing with short hair, which she's more than glad to share with you

I also think that she'd be able to give you a little trim every now and again if you want to keep it short :)

Thank you for this request! And thanks for reading, take care doves <33

(divider by saradika)

[kokoasci]

I LOVE YOUR ART!! <3

I'm sorry if this bothers you but is there any tut for lineart?

Have a nice day!

hello!! no there isnt, but i can talk about it quickly!

Let's talk about how I did the lines for this dazai drawing below:

I acutally don't do lineart, I just clean the sketch 😭 All my lines/sketches are done using the regular hard airbrush and just erase using that same brush to create different line widths.

First, let's talk about pen pressure and line width. To create depth, I like to make certain parts of the lineart "heavier" in pen pressure:

You can see in the lineart above that stuff like where the hair meets other roots, creases in the jacket, etc. all are heavily lined, while other stuff is left more detailed. I think it helps draw the eye in to parts you want to focus on?? just something I've picked up from habit and i liked it so i kept doing it hahsdh

I usually just start with a really rough anatomy sketch, and make a new layer to start the actual drawing:

Looks nothing like the finished drawing (or my usual style), right?? And like, yeah that's normal, at least for me. I approach lineart as a way to refine something I've drawn into my own style, it doesn't just like. pop straight out as soon as I start doing lines 😭 (also probably why my art looks so inconsistent lmao)

Then from there I refine the sketch! Because of this, I'm working all on one layer, by erasing and redrawing portions of the sketch using that like pen pressure variation technique:

Usually I just make a mental note of how something looks, erase it, and redraw it. At this point I'll also start adding more detail or fixing posture/anatomy etc. as I go to make something closer to what I want.

Eventually this refines into what you see as the final lines!! Because this process is probably not the best. it takes me a long time to sketch, but I actually really like cleaning the lines! I find it refreshing to put so much detail in them :D

This is probably an incredibly wrong process in professional work, but I'm self taught and this is just what I enjoy doing :D I wouldn't recommend really doing this if you're trying to sketch quickly, but it's just what works best for me!

Happy sketching!

[siphoklansan]

500 followers milestone event….

You Attack My Heart♡︎

The day we first met inside my quiet heart, as if a new world has opened. Accelerate particularly, move.

Even my hidden secrets that I only knew, that mood that I wanted to tell you all about.

The fact that I took a step towards you first…

It lets me find myself that I didn’t even know

Pounding more and more…I’ll give it all, take my heart. Surely you’re my destiny. It shines fully in my heart.

This must be what thrill feels like, darling, eventually I fall into you…

you attack my heart♥︎

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THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR 500+ FOLLOWERS🎉🎉 I am SO sorry for taking this long for the rendered art! And if you noticed the art style changing, yes, it did change.

I was planning to post Floyd’s pic a longggg time ago. It wasn’t even finished until I came up with the idea for the milestone event. Leona and Rook’s pic is also a bit different, since I used a different brush for sketching (I planned to not do the line-art and go straight to rendering, so).

Rook’s photo is my least favorite, to be honest😭 I feel like I did him a bit dirty hjsjdhsk same for Ruggie, since I can’t draw a back view💔BUT MY FAVORITE IS….drum-roll please…CATER!! Surprising, I know, but I think it looks so good and I did a great job on it!!!

It was a bit difficult for me to select which character for each scene, so if your faves aren’t here I apologize(;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`)

(forgot to mention, Yuu is GN in this post)

That’s it and THANK YOU SO MUCH AGAIN♡´･ᴗ･`♡

[fima11]

how'd you develop your art style? it's so yummy i want to draw like you 😭

thank youu <333 (a lot of text under the cut I am so sorry I answered as I could)

Try to surround yourself with artists that fit your tastes. I started to monitor everything I consume online, creating this "taste". I cleaned my environment from things that don't inspire me and which make me doubt what I want and it helped me to focus more on improving & creating a stable artstyle.

To me it's important to have a an example to follow, such as existing artist or a big mangaka, a person who knows what they draw and how they draw.

(but everything I've said up there is only from the aspiring artists point of view. In reality I respect every artist regardless of style they use and I enjoy their works same way.)

Also study a lot on real photos, but don't try to recreate it hyper realistically and just draw how you see it, that's a very nice way to find out what style suits you best. Sometimes it's good to collect some examples of artstyles you like and just try to recreate it too, use it as study as well. Artists of all times did the same.

idk. To me the greatest way to develop an artstyle is to find yourself artists who inspire you and to try to recreate their style, breaking it out piece by piece, from brushes they use to the way they start their sketching.

It sounds strange when you say it, but when you try it out you can never recreate it 100% in the same way, you always have something unique, something yours that will make difference anyway. And that's the way you develop your own artstyle, in my opinion.

[gemapples]

im so sorry it took me so long to answer these oml but YES i'd be happy to show how i draw and color :)

— SKETCHING

please note that i almost always sketch traditionally first lol it's just a lot easier for me to determine how the drawing is placed that way, but i always go over and re-sketch it digitally

for magolor i always start with a basic egg shape (lmao) and then i add his ears. then I draw the scarf; it's easy to determine the shape and dynamicism based on where the bottoms of the ears are located

then i usually add the cape and hood together. where and how these are placed and what these look like in general are very important because they're the main area that perspective is directed to (the ears and everything else is important too ofc!! but the hood and cape usually help demonstrate where he is looking and how he is moving the most). then i add everything else, usually his hands last!

— LINEART

ohhhhhh god my worst enemy. Hope youre sitting down because this will be embarrassing LMAO

lineart is easily what i struggle with most and is more often than not the most time consuming and grating step for me. If i had a choice i would drop it in a heartbeat, but my style is so dependent on thick lines and shapes that it's difficult to 😭 a hole i dug myself into unfortunately ITS FINE THOUGH. ANYWAYS I'm getting sidetracked

i use my finger to draw all my digital art, which means i usually have to use a Heavy stabilizer to avoid shakiness and staggered lines. Unfortunately ibis paint's stabilizer is actually dog water and doesn't even stabilize more than half the time (in which case i have to repeat lines over. And over. And over again until i get it right) but when it does like me and works properly it's very helpful!

i always use the soft school pen bleed brush as my main tool for lineart. This brush has been my best friend for everything, i even use it for sketching idk it just really like the way it looks lol. sometimes i change the aspect if i want the lines to look more ,, chalky?? or smoother depending on the work

i don't really use this tool much but for this specific piece, force fade was my partner in crime

also i think i need to mention that i use so many layers for this. So many layers lol like to the point it's embarrassing. and at the end i merge most of them (except for the gear patterns, rings on his ear, and eyes + hands, which usually need to be by themselves as they're colored separately) Thank you for layers

and i end up with this!

— COLORING && SHADING

yippee yahoo the fun part !!! the part that i love the most

at this point, if i havent already, i always create a folder for convenience in organization because this is the part that i stress the most about what details are on which layers lmao

then i add ANOTHER layer below that for the color, then i put every single color used on their own separate layer!

now, for shading, if im working on larger pieces with more complex shading, i'll usually plan it all out. normally when just drawing magolor, i don't really need to do this anymore because i'm so used to it lol, but for funsies i did it here anyways

then i use the bucket tool to fill them all in

i usually have a set color palette for all the characters i draw (though the way i shade white differs. A lot between my work as you can probably tell fhdfgf). For every color, i have two specific tones that are associated with the shading. for example, indigo + violet are shaded with my blue, pink + light orange (or lighter pink depending on my mood lol) are shaded with yellow, etc.

so, i shade the other areas with the 2nd shading color

a big tip i can give for coloring is to look at a color wheel when you draw. i know that sounds like. Such basic advice LMAO but that seriously was a huge help for me when developing my shading and something i learned while studying — if you notice, in all of the shading in my work, all of the colors used are analogous on the color wheel. note that not ALL combinations will work together like others obv !! but it's a huge step in knowing where to go with it

then i add other extra details like extra lighting, halftones (if i feel like it // if it fits the work), glow to his eyes, and color the lines and ta-da!

another tool i use a lot especially with my more recent art are blending modes, especially multiply. i use a clipping layer to add a dark color (usually a dark blue or purple) and set it to multiply, then erase the areas that emit light

and this is the end result! this is a very very basic demonstration of it fhdjg i was a pretty messy with the lighting and erasing in this example but you get the general idea right

and that's how i draw :) i hope this was helpful, and thanks for asking and being so patient with the response!

[femme4ngel]

If your requests are open could you write Erling Haaland x hairstylist reader

Reader making a video of washing his hair (in the salon) and he tries moving his head so she pulls him by the hair back. Maybe in the background of the video you hear her voice "just a reminder i.do.not do this to my clients I'm kinda dating him and he did annoy me a lot this weekend"

-🍷

i kinda took it to a different direction im sorry 😭hope u still like it tho mwah

~ erling haaland x hairdresser reader

it was media day, everyone running around the place, photographers, makeup artists and the players of course. you yawned as you sat down for a second, you just did half of the teams hair, you felt exhausted. it took you a good two hours, styling everyone, working together with the cameramen, the makeup artists, it was a mess. ( plus jack kept complaining about the amount of gel you used.. in the end you let him drench his hair in it just so he would leave your chair) you yawn in the chair, rubbing your eyes, trying to get some strength into yourself when out of nowhere you feel hands on your shoulders. you know its him without looking around, you can smell his cologne and the way his finger’s slowly massage your back is way too familiar.

“ are you tired baby?”- he asks, leaning close, his chest pressing against your back, his lips dangerously close to your neck. you get goosebumps from his presence, how tall and huge he is, how he stands behind you.

“mhm..”- you stand up from your chair, facing him with a blush and a smile on your face.

“ is it your turn to get your hair done or are you just trying to distract me erling?”

“its my turn promise!” - he looks at you shocked, his brows furrowed, why would you assume he’s there to mess around with you?.. distracting you? oh he never would do such thing..

you hum as a response and push him down into the chair. his hair is beautiful but its getting so weak from him tying it up all the time.. you brush it out, running your fingers through it.

“ erling. i have a crazy idea.”- you look at him in the mirror, with a huge grin.

“ oh oh. and what’s your idea”?- he looks at you in the mirror, his eyes sparkling from the curiosity.

“ will you let me braid your hair? you know like i did on friday, but i would put some hair oil in it now.. and and it will look so good trust me! i think it will go with the new jersey so much more than a bun..! you look so good in that jersey….”

you can see it on his face that you already convinced him, he loves wearing his hair in braids, and he trusts you with it totally. ( plus that comment of him looking good in the new jersey gave him such an ego boost, he wouldn’t let you do anything else with his hair) he nods enthusiastically, staring at you and your eyes, he’s mesmerized.

“mhm okay braids it is” - you say, leaning closer to him, acting like your brushing through his locks, and quickly pressing a kiss on his cheek. he lights up, his face turning bright red. you smile coyly to yourself, you love the effect you have on him. you get back to his hair, brushing it again, then grabbing some hair ties as you get to braiding. you decide on two strands of dutch styled braids and everything is going smoothly and well until erling starts hissing.

“ouch ouch, y/n your hurting mee, you keep pulling on my scalp” - he complains, sulking in the chair.

“ i’m not pulling! just tilt your head back more!”- to these demands ( the himbo he is) he manages to tilt his head forwards, getting completely out of your hands.

“ oh god”- u sigh, taking his head into your hands and directing him towards the angle you need him in.

“ oh damn, i think my hair is actually fine as it is”- you hear as kevin enters the room, his snarky comment making you blush and the camera crew bust out laughing.

your embarrassed, you almost forgot how many people and cameras are around you.

“ i didn’t.. its okay, trust me he’s the only one getting rough treatment, cuz he doesn’t know the difference between forward and backwards!”- your explanation gets erling to spin around in the chair, looking at you with his mouth open.

“ no i know! i was just escaping you and your hair pulling! i swear i know the difference! - he looks around upset, hoping that he convinced the crew of his knowledge of positions.

“mhm okay okay sure.. whatever please lay back now i have to do your hair”- you roll your eyes, softly pushing him back into the chair, ignoring the giggling around the room.

(…)

his hair of course ends up gorgeous, and it holds together so nicely (thanks to your talent) that he wears his hair in the braids at tomorrow’s training.

[nightsdreamgates]

I absolutely LOVE your au and your writing ✍️ for it.

Can I ask for some general dating headcannons for reala and nights? It can be the main game or your au, whichever you prefer

To make it much easier for me, since I'm STILL sick 😭😭 I will write general Headcanons for both of them from the main game! Pretty summarized too to not make it seem like a cluster giggles

# ;. NiGHTS Romance Gen. HCs:

" Despite his carefree, troublemaker and anti-hero perks, NiGHTS never always been just reduced into being ``goofy``. He is a nightmaren with many layers, that he hides it under his playful nature. He can be quiet, as the full moon night, can be snarky, as a serpent, yet caring as well... Not afraid to show how he really feels, yet intriguing when he chooses to simply observe and keep his own points to themself. How?... How could be so frustrating yet so adoring at same time?! Whoever manages to get inside this maren's mind, things gets more clearer."

NiGHTS never expected much to be in a relationship, but they also always had curiosity on it!

In a romantic sense, NiGHTS would be the funny bf/gf in the relationship, sometimes teasing you to a point that it's annoying, only to see your grumpy face and angry huffs

Their way of love communication, is gifts, quality time and touching. Giving you little trinkets that made them think of you, spending time on Nightopia while slowly holding your hand without you even noticing

NiGHTS like the way your hand feels, how your skin is smooth or so delicate with his - To a point that when he carries you in a bride style, they rub their cheeks into yours as a form of affection

NiGHTS from the game itself, we notice that he speaks on his own language - althought I think he also can speak in any language you are native of!

About the languages, if you teach them a few accents from your native language and it's meanings, NiGHTS will start using them correctly as he can, even creating few new words just for you to make fun of him

He is an attention seeker and pretty petty when he wants to, so when you ignore him or slightly brush him away, they start to become dramatic and cling onto you, just to make you feel guilty or bad for it (never in a harmful way, since he cares about your feelings too!)

If he would have a favorite memory, one that they find the sweetest, it would be one night, you and him started to talk about your own future, your problems and fears... The way that you looked at him once he admitted his mistakes and even fears, he felt like the world had turned merciful to him... to give someone he can trust on, without worrying much.

Now one silly and last that I thought, is that sometimes when you have to rescue him out of the ideya palaces, when he had made you upset a day ago, you would tease on him and even prank, making him to have to say the magic words so you can help him!

NiGHTS still has his ego and pride... But the way you manage to break it by simply being kind, fair and gorgeous to their eyes, is what gets him more lost in knees for you ♡

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# ;. Reala - Romance Gen. Hcs:

" How could I even be choosen by this sort of feelings? Love isn't made for someone like me, althought it gives me a sense of admired by inferiors - loved in a sense of being cared, sounds stupid. And if it does, then I'm a fool for had fallen so easily in your schemes. I never truly cared about anything besides myself, since I am the only one to trust. Say whatever you want, my devotion to my purpose is still loyal, but I don't trust my creator. If what you say is true, if I can have the dignity to deserve `love`... Then show me. "

During the time he had spent with you, all you did was nothing but show him respect in a different way.

With his power, mighty and fear he brings upon his own kind, you seemed to not fear him. Which intrigued him as much it annoyed him.

Now that he understand your fearless nature, is nothing but respect, the way you act merciful, kind and caring to him, was enough for this tough maren' soften in your arms.

His way of showing love, is words of affirmation, praisings, touching and gifts. Ways that he can dedicate on now this relationship, on how he deserves your love as much you deserves to be felt special.

You always reassured him that they don't need to do that to proof something that you already see, but Reala tends to be a bit stubborn, insisting, until he promised to at least `tone it down`.

He never been a cranked up boomer, he also got some humour, and find himself pleased hearing you laughing at his salty attitude.

Their sarcasm is pretty clear, but if you aren't used to it, he would be surprised seeing how innocent you are to a point of not getting sarcasm most of the time. (Dw he'll teach u how to be salty)

His ideal partner always had been someone who are capable of controlling and helping the relationship grow, someone that takes it and compromise it deeply, not just a night stander or a simple girlfriend/boyfriend thing.

He loves when you kiss his face tenderly; this face that many people screamed and ran away of it, being held and kissed, praised on too, by their darling.

If you ask, Reala would let you sit on his lap while they are on the throne. Specially if you give him pats and bunch of affection. The sense of being praised like that makes his stomach tingle.

Dating Reala also means `watchdog` or `bodyguard` benefits, he will destroy anyone, the whole WORLD, if he sees you crying... Then they would compliment and keep you so close.

Ty very much for the request and the patience, hope ya like it!

[koa-z]

Nagito Color Study | Please do not repost, reblogs are welcome though! Brushes & Techniques & a progress pic below the cut

Uhhhh okay, how to explain this one. I was rereading “Logically Lucky” by PinkSweetSmoke and some of the visuals in the earlier chapters really struck me. The way that they write this relationship is pretty dynamic, and I wanted to see if I could use colors to talk about how Hajime and Nagito feel for each other and what they’re going through emotionally? So this is fanart for that fic, directly inspired by that fic based on the established vista(s) and also the style of writing their relationship, but it doesn’t really make sense unless I say all of that lol? But it wouldn’t exist if not for that fic, so I’d feel weird not mentioning it.

Brushes used (Clip Studio, Free):

Main: “ラフペン” from gyuukotu’s “Fill Set (塗りセット)”, content ID 1695210 Fill: Default India Ink brush pen - the rough pen is a little unpredictable, so I used this to flat the image and make sure that there were no gaps Cloud Flat: "荒筆" from gyuutoku's “Fill Set (塗りセット)”, content ID 1695210 Cloud Blender: I downloaded it from the internet instead of the app 2 years ago and cannot find, with certainty, where it came from, since I get rid of everything on my hard drive that's not art every year :( there are lots of good cloud blending brushes out there for free, though, and I typically use the gouache blender Misc. Techniques: Screen Distortion: I used CSP's free cloth texture clipped above the "blue" layers and then liquified it in places for the screen distortion effect Gradient Mapping: I cannot overstate how helpful gradient maps were for minor color corrections, you guys PLEASE try them on a finished piece of your own if you haven't used them yet. Click Layers > New Correction Layer > Gradient Map and then choose from the premade gradients before adding your own so you can see how they worked. I used a few different ones clipped to specific areas w/ lowered opacity & hard/soft light settings where I felt like the color was falling flat and it was SO helpful at giving it just that little bit more depth. Hearts: I've discovered that you can cheat at hair and clothing rendering by just making hearts. Try and see how many you can find lol Color Theory in General: The whole point of this piece, after it stopped being fanart (lol rip), was to be a color study focusing on the contrast between shadow and light and what I could do within the blues & the yellows to make them appear as if they're actually different colors. In the blue section, everything is p much blue, nothing is any other color. In the sunny section, a lot of the stuff is warmer variations of the standard colors, since I wanted it to be more vibrant and didn't feel like I could achieve that if everything was shades of yellow and orange. That being said, I stuck as closely to that as possible. But ANYWAY, juxtaposing the two starkly different color profiles also helps the blues in the blue side read as colors that they aren't, which was part of why I did this study. Sneaky sneaky: I just modified the diner a bit in order to get the colors I wanted, i.e closing the blinds bc I can. As an artist it's important to remember that YOU have full control over every single part of the piece, you just should ideally have a reason to create inaccuracies/ break rules or else it can end up being a bit messy and disorganized & details/ your vision can get lost.

Aaaand finally, the sketch from TWO AND A HALF MONTHS AGO:

#trusttheprocess 😭😭😭

[taeiris]

if I’ve already sent this ask before I’m so sorry, I’ve got adhd, but how did you find your art? (I’m in my questioning phase)

hihi!!! no problem! i think i have some kind of glitch with asks bc when i go look for them it says i have 3, but when i check it, there isn’t any so im sorry if any of u have ever sent asks and i havent answered them it’s probably bc of that😭

but anyways lets get on it!

finding you art style is not smth simple at ALL. ive been drawing my entire life!!! and ive had a bunch of different styles until now, they kinda used to change every few months or so, i was always happy with them but it never really lasted??? and i always had at least one part of the process of it to dread doing, for example, coloring.

it wasn’t until recently i FINALLLYYY found a style im 100% comfortable in.

it really takes experimenting and finding what elements of creating art you love and enjoy the most. for me, i used to mostly do traditional art, just pencil or ink sketching and i would OCCASIONALLY color them. so i really used to enjoy kinda the messiness of the pencil on trad mediums and stuff? and i never rlly found a way to translate that element to digital art which is the one i enjoy the most now.

brushes are very important! it depends on the look you like. since i like that pencil feel, i use a pencil looking brush! (softy from esbenlash’s procreate brush set) and i also got a paper feel screen protector for my ipad to enhance the experience🔥

i found i mostly enjoyed doing lineart and didnt rlly look forward to coloring, i didnt find my past styles enjoyable bc they kind of felt restricting in that area? since i didnt find a way to make it more abt the lineart and less abt coloring that i liked (ofc theres plenty! i just didnt find one for me)

so tbh i think what mostly influenced the style i enjoy the most now is film, and baroque art!

i had recently seen:

Crimson Peak (2015)

The Shape of Water (2017)

and ofc

Stranger Things DUHHHHH

and i fell in love with the way the lightning was, heavy dark shadows and moody lights, and tried to match my style to it and found that it highlighted all the things i enjoy doing the most while drawing! so thats where i am now

special mention to the one movie im obsessed with currently

The Crow (1994)

also has the similar style

all that + experimenting, studying other’s art i liked and finding elements to integrate to my art, ANDDD music also played a huge part in it. so as you can see for me its about kind of combining aspects of every single piece of media i like 😭

its not gonna be the same for everyone, but its always good to have a guide so i hope this was useful for you and anyone else! im always willing answer any art questions :)

don’t worry too much about speeding up finding your style, it’ll come to you eventually, so focus on enjoying the moment and learning, take mental notes of what you like and don’t like!

sorry this is kinda long as hell… but i like rambling

[your-unfriendlyghost]

How'd you end up discovering your art style?

Well, it wasn’t much of a discovery- it’s just how I draw, I guess! It evolves over time and changes based on what artists I’m looking up to and what styles I’m into

But I can give ya a (recent-ish) evolution of my style/a break-down on all its influences over the past two years if ya wanna see how it all happened!

-

Some stuff from July-October of 2022

Two-three-ish years ago, for instance, it was more classical painting inspired. I was real into Over the Garden Wall and also just…general American history back then don’t judge I was coming off of my first American history class since elementary school and I thought it was so cool So my art had more of like…that going on yk? It wasn’t as good as my stuff now at all, because I’ve since improved my anatomy skills, learned how to draw fabric folds (sorta), and learned a bit of color theory lol. But they’re ok for what they are, I guess.

I think my main problem back then was the fact that I did not fully know how to use references- and a lotta my references were like. Cartoons. And stuff that was very much not meant to be painted in the amount of detail I aimed for at the time.

(Even here, you can tell I was dissatisfied, because they all look pretty different from each other yk?) (and you can see how hardly any of the fabric has folds and how little I understood lighting 😭)

-

January-March ‘23

Anyhow, after this, in uhh early 2023, I had a 80s-90s comic book/pop art phase, which was a pretty drastic swing in the opposite direction. I still rendered things sometimes, but things were less soft/warm. BUT I was starting to use real photos as references which was vital

I was also watching a lotta tmnt with my kid brother, which is what I blame for why the proportions got so stylized- folks in the 2012 version of that show were just kinda built funny, which I think subconsciously impacted my art. My posing did get a bit stronger in this time as I practiced more, and I think things got less stiff

-

June-August ‘23

Next, as the summer months came, I had a lotta changes in inspo and also just in life lol. I had temporarily moved to my neighbor’s place, and I didn’t have a car yet/any friends who I liked enough to hang around with, so all summer long I rewatched a lotta 80s movies, fell in love with the first season of Stranger Things (not the others as much tho 😭), skateboarded, and watched a lotta art tutorials online. (I specifically remember Jackie Droujko’s yt shorts saving my assss- I loved her stuff so much. Definitely check ‘em out she explains things real well)

I improved slowly, but I DID IMPROVE a HELLUVA LOT. I focused a lot on trying to draw people who looked recognizably like themselves, but also stylized because realism (usually) bores me. I also got better at coloring- the first two here ain’t great in terms of colors, but I was learning. Plus, back then I was very into oddly saturated color schemes. (I mean it is a solid vibe. I may not do this a ton anymore but I can dig it still)

-

October-November ‘23

As autumn came, I was pretty enamored with all the like…✨fall vibes✨ that time around. My life was goin’ well, so I had a lotta optimism and a re-ignited love for nature, forests, and fantasy. Plus I was dating this girl who was really into vintage-y Wes Anderson stuff so I think some of that uhhh twee-ness rubbed off on me lol

My influences here were mainly old storybooks, a hint of Lord of the Rings (as you can probably tell by the hobbit), and a decent amount of Fantastic Mr. Fox. And for faces I was mainly using the Laurenillusrated Brushpack at the time I think? I don’t use the “Sketchy” brush in it as often anymore as I did then, but I should. It’s a great brush, and I actually am really liking all the little sketchy lines. It adds a nice touch.

also don’t look at my goddamn long hair in that self portrait on the left. I hated it on me then and I hate it now too. I cannot believe I ever let it get that long it was really bad

-

December ‘23-April ‘24

I honestly did like a total of like. Seven drawings in these four months. As opposed to my usual…uhhh I wanna say 25 every four months. Idk what was up- art just wasn’t fun at the time. I mean, it was also just a lousy few months in general, so I’m sure that’s a part of it lol, but yk. This style is pretty close to my current one- my inspiration just came from x-files-ish sci-fi and American gothic stories/images as opposed to nowadays’ Beat generation and greaser inspo.

May-Now (October) ‘24

The Outsiders kinda dragged me back into enjoying drawing again honestly. I’d read and loved it back in 2023, but upon rereading it/watching the movie in February of 2024, it just sorta…entered my headspace and stayed this time. (Still, I didn’t really draw any Outsiders/greaser-y things till May)

Lately, I take artistic inspiration in 2d animated films, like the ones by Disney with the real nicely drawn fabric folds. And also just a lotta inspo from real life. I also do a lot of black and white comics, because I find that I generally have a “Go big or go home” mentality about most things- which can be a LOT of pressure! By allowing myself to draw simpler doodle-y things, I’ve regained that love for drawing. I think for a while it just felt like work, but in letting myself take it easy, art’s become a good time again :))

[holycorrupt]

if you have the time/energy to elaborate, what's your process like for coloring stuff you ink traditionally? i've figured out a few different methods over the years, but i generally stick to fully digital or traditional for a piece, so i'm curious to see how you do it! :0

This is such a fun question for me because I get to both ramble about my art process and have an excuse to throw some colors on this Breloom I drew ages ago.

I use Clip Studio Paint and an Ipad for my digital stuff so I'll be referring to the processes on that but I'm sure there is a work around for other programs as well :^)

I scan my traditional art at 400dpi because it's always easier to work bigger with digital stuff and resize it smaller then the other way around :^)

So here's our raw scan, which already looks very decent but when I want to color something I like for everything to be much cleaner/sharper/more contrast-y and to get rid of the noise from the paper texture lmao. A well lit photo will also do the job because that's what I did for many years before getting my scanner but tbh if you're a traditional -> digital artist like myself a scanner is like a best friend you can buy HAHA

First things first, I apply a Gradient Map Layer > New Correction Layer > Gradient Map

Clip has a really nice black and white map preinstalled but I made myself a custom map just by pushing the black and white a little closer, it completely clears up all the noise and makes everything really crisp! Make sure you check on your lines when adjusting things because super fine feather lines can sometimes be lost if you make the contrast too high. Extra tip! If you want to make Graphite Pencil or Ball Point Pen really nice looking as well, just add a dark grey point in the gradient map closer to the black then middle...works perfectly :^)!!

This is the point I look for stray pixels, cat hairs, ect and make sure to erase any surrounding doodles or sketches I don't want included.

GOD DAMN Those lines are CRISP-Y!!!

Next up we're going to want to go Edit > Convert brightness to opacity

Tbh If I didn't have this method idk what I would do with myself.... I've tried the whole "Lineart on top layer set to multiply" Method and ...ehh....

Now that I have a nice transparent line art I'll stick a new white layer down below it because the checker pattern hurts my eyes LOL

I'm going to add a read more here since this post is getting lengthy haha

I'm going to quickly go over the style I use for MTE! It has been refined to be quicker and easier to do since you know...I have a week time limit per page ... 😭 I have a completely different way I do colors for other things I want to spend more time on but I might explain that one in the future...I'm running out of steam tonight LOL

I use this really awesome brush pack that has a pencil like texture and I love it to bits...here's a link to it if your interested!

At this point I might add some overlay layers or play around with an airbrush but I think this guys done for now :^) I tend to stay away from highlights with my shading for MTE..My biggest goal is to make sure everything is clear and readable! That being said I break my own rules all the time for special panels that need the extra 'oomf!'

Slap a lazy square background and yay!! He's done!

Hope this was interesting aaaa Thank you again for the ask!!

[sevazh]

OH MY GOD ME TOO..... i DESPISED the new chibi style of gacha life which is why i just kept using gacha studio even though everyone had forgotten about it im surprised someone else even remembers gacha studio considering how it like disappeared from the internet after gacha life came out.

at least ONE cinderella recreation?? that boys made at least TEN. hikaru when he stumbles upon kaoru's hidden gacha life folder in their shared computer watches one and then watches the next cinderella one only to confusedly note that it was mostly the same like still just cinderella. he looks at the next and skims through it and its..... still mostly the same?? with like no plot differences?? he then incredulously looks at 3 more of the cinderella and its all JUST CINDERELLA. like no plot differences this boy just RECREATES cinderella over and over with him and kyoya. hikaru is genuinely confused on how he can make like 500 different AUs of himself in the weirdest fucking situations and yet for cinderella he just keeps doing the same story over and over. its cathartic for him ig.

the thought of them LOSING ACTUAL STORAGE on their pc because of kaorus gacha animatics is making me giggle help 😭 like actual GIGABYTES of storage being occupied because of the sheer amount of this unhinged 15 year old's gacha fantasies......... also kaoru gaslighting him over it is so real. hikaru is still thoroughly offended that out of the fucking WAREHOUSE of gacha videos he stumbled upon that fateful day, he was a background character in like majority of the videos. what angst potential does kyoya senpai have that he doesnt

in honor of gacha studio i downloaded it again and tried my hand at kaoru and kyoya (angel and devil forbidden love style)

my older sibling discovering me hunched over on my phone on creating gacha characters (that sounds familiar..) was very humbling and the app was promptly deleted as soon as i finished

i can imagine hikaru being sent into some sort of crisis upon finding the hours upon hours of videos. he discovers a folder full of videos while going through their pc in the early afternoon and binges them into the next morning. why are there so many? why are they so intricate? why is KYOYA a more important character than him? how did he make so many of these WITHOUT HIM EVER NOTICING? WHY IS THERE SO MUCH CINDERELLA?

however, hikaru lacks the ability to think and consider something seriously for any extended amount of time and eventually just brushes it off and starts laughing hysterically over it

later when kaoru comes back, hikaru tells kaoru what he found.

kaoru is as white as a sheet. he sputters.

“so, you know about my feelings for kyoya senpai then?

dead silence.

“YOU LIKE KYOYA SENPAI??”

poor stupid hikaru. bless his heart.

[battleslippers]

do u know how to render...

lol i mean ik u do but can u teach me?????? (only if u want :3)

HERE WE GO. I am by NO means an expert/professional, so my process isn’t perfect nor is it the most efficient (😭), but here’s my process + some time lapses.

added a border because this post is so damn long

1. sketch — I try to make sure it’s accurate if there is a ref, and the proportions are right in this because the sketch determines how good the rest of the piece is and how much tweaking you’ll have to do in the future. Think of it like the foundation: if it’s wonky, everything else will be wonky and it’ll be a HUGE pain to fix later (speaking from experience). The purly painting is probably a great example of what NOT to do in this case! That thing took so much time because I didn’t have a good enough sketch and I didn’t really have my colors down, so I did a bunch of tweaking, which you’ll probably see in the time lapse.

2. Base colors/undertones/blocking in: this 100% differs depending on ur style, preference, and goal of the painting. If I’m doing a photo study for value or color, I’ll simplify it down as much as possible (basic colors or 3 values). Undertones are there if you’re REALLY working a traditional method I think.

I think this is one of my best examples of this type of painting. This is purely copying a photo to the most accurate, and if I had to do anything differently, I’d block in the shapes and shadows THEN go into all those details (I feel this would be more efficient but, again, preference lol).

3. Shadows — this really goes hand in hand with the previous step, but I like to establish these with usually a cooler tone depending on the environment and lighting. If your piece is outside on a clear day, the shadows on a lot of things will be blue due to the light from the sky. If you look at enough pictures and pretty much anywhere around you, you’ll see how light and shadow interacts with colors of the environment, which is really cool!!!

4. Messing with it — with those undertones and shadows, I might add in extra colors like redness or blue for things like skin to get that layered feel (especially considering how skin isn’t totally uniform due to its mild transparency). Then I’ll color pick those in between tones and block in stuff and do it until it feels right. The Angela painting is probably my best example of this, which I’ll reblog with (plus two other ones) For Curly’s jacket, I used a few different brushes to get that texture and the whole process was basically scribbling until it looked right. Hatching is one of my favorite methods to get a little texture in, so I do that a lot too.

5. Finally touches/technical settings — once everything is totally done, I’ll usually mess around with the Hue, Saturation, and Brightness along with Color Balance and Curves on the overall painting until I’m happy with it. Then I’ll probably turn up the Sharpness a little and maybe add some chromatic aberration.

Overall, I usually do these steps going from background (if there is one) -> skin -> clothing -> hair, but I hop around a lot. I usually establish the flats overall then render each individual one.

Also, lighting does NOT have to be warm and shadows do NOT have to be cool; it all depends on the context. As long as your values are right, your colors will probably look good. Of course, it’s still worth knowing how to make them harmonious or contrast and allat, but values are the main foundation. Online resources are also awesome (my favorites being Proko, Marco Bucci, and Sinix among many others) and just observing things around you and others’ art is an incredibly powerful tool. I usually like to check my values by making my painting black and white by coloring in a luminosity layer with white. This method isn’t universal due to different programs, but if there’s a setting to turn ur drawing black and white, I def recommend it.

A side note: my rendering style is basically just painting 😭 At most I have like 5 layers max (sketch, flats, background, subject, hair or anything else I’m afraid to fuck up) but I end up combining flats and sketch most of the time and just paint over it. Most of the time, I have 2-3 layers and combine them all by the end. For the (currently) black and white Johnny one I’ll reblog with is just one layer, but I’ll probably make layers to overlay color and another to add variation/detail. My process isn’t very uniform or clean 💀

I am SO sorry this turned out to be such a long post good god

EDIT: I realized the paragraph I thought was deleted actually just moved so I erased it lmao

[ashipiko]

random ahh q but how did u develop ur artstyle? :D

HIYA!!!! oh yeeeesh this is gonna be such a long answer 😭😭 it’ll be under the cut…… but um. warning for old Ashi art HAHAHA it’ll basically just be me guiding you through my gallery from all these years <3 I HOPE IT CAN HELP A LITTLE!!!

old Ashi Art JUMPSCARE

BUT BASICALLY. YEAH! this is me starting digital art in like? 2020 and getting into a3! <3 as you can see. this is my kind of sad attempt at replicating the style ??? you can tell from the way I colored my eyes, hair, and copied the way the hair is drawn!! it’s not OVERLY obvious but if you look you can see that I REAAALLY referenced it. which is kind of a big thing for creating an artstyle

and queue in my art around a year later!! 🤔 kinda more used to drawing the a3! characters (which mind you were the ONLY characters I drew for like. a whole year) and so naturally I adopted the artstyle more into my own art. learnt more about airbrushes would reference the original art a LOT. redrawing really helped me 🙏 once again. lots of referencing and looking at character references. and while I didn’t always redraw it exactly, looking at the character designs themselves made me pick up quirks of the original artstyle to better display the characterization and charm of the characters!!

then 2022 rolls around and I start getting more into proseka. start finding little things about this artstyle that I liked— whether that be finding that out through redrawing the art or trying to replicate the style. started picking up things like the smaller face shapes (as compared to twst and a3! which I was focused on previously) the way they drew the hands, the bodies, etc etc!! along w softer brushes and rendering 🫶

at around the same time I return back to a3! and make attempts at replicating the artstyle (left) or making edits to the predicting art to try and make it blend in (right). as you can tell I start playing around more w hair highlights and the rendering and all that stuff!!! 🤔 sort of like picking up new skills that I missed out on the first time. starting noticing more of the little details

and SO then I returned yet again and begin redrawing a3! cards!!! but you can tell that there’s more of a concrete style w the squisher faces and more experience the rendering 🙏🙏

and I did a LOT of redrawing. 😭😭 a3!’s artstyle is soooo dear to me because it has so much charm despite not being insanely rendered or having too much detail. and I LOVE that. so to try and add it to my own art I redraw and redraw and MIMIC in attempts to gain that exact same energy.

🤔 and though it’s not twst art…… this is when I started replacing the twst style and picking up on it’s quirks, then adopting what I thought was fun about it. most notable the varied opacity rendering. and you might notice that my lineart is more see though!! I MUST SAY!!! THAT WAS JUST BECAUSE OF A LITTLE EXPERIMENT I WANTED TO DO and I enjoyed it SO much that I dropped solid lineart sketching IMMEDIATELY!!!!! I think developing an artstyle is really dependent on you being willing to step away from your “art style” and look at others. maybe try some new things. pick up smth else and try to mimic it, and see what ingredients are used to make that artstyle succeed in the way that it does. between these three images you see such a change because behind the scenes I’m trying all of these different things, and seeing if I like doing them!!

🤔 sorta like….. oh I like this ingredient. so I’m gonna take them and add it to my own food because I like it. if that makes sense?

AND SO YADDAH YADDAH. you follow my blog you know my art and where it is now

A SNEAK PEEK FOR ASHACE ART SINCE YOU READ THROUGH ALL OF THIS….. and like. as you can see my art really is just a mutant combination of all of these things that I like from the artstyles I enjoy. slowly it came together w no rush and I’m sitting here now satisfied with a signature artstyle that everyone can recognize.

!! I REALLY DONT THINK YOU NEED TO WORRY TOO HARD ABOUT HAVING AN ART STYLE especially if you’re a beginning or learning artist still. and don’t think that art styles just come out of nowhere!!! art is a combination of stealing parts of things that you like and putting them together. as all things are 🫶 but yeah!! the Ashi gallery HAHAHA

[letitiaslabyrinth]

STAY WITH ME

warnings: fem!Riri x black! fem OC (cs we need for fem on-fem representation), fluff, pampering, nicknames

OC: Novalie Pierce(Williams) — no-va-lee

word count: 1.3k+

A/N: ignore any and all mistakes in this, I've changed the POV like three times 😭😭. And the way I wrote this is it's in second person but instead of Riri saying "y/n" she'll say Novalie, Nova, or Novs

You stare at yourself in your bathroom mirror for a few seconds, figuring out how you were gonna style your braids today. You settle on a low bun just to get your hair out of your face for now. You turn on the faucet, wet your toothbrush, put toothpaste on it, wet it again, and then start brushing your teeth.

Riri comes up behind you, wrapping her hands around your waist. "Morning, ma." She kisses your neck then your cheek, "You sleep good?"

You hold up a finger and finish brushing your teeth and rinsing your mouth out with water then mouthwash. You hiss softly at the tingly feeling the mouthwash leaves but ignore it otherwise. "Didn't go to bed til four," you say, turning around.

Riri lets you go, now leaning on the door frame with her arms crossed. "I thought we talked about that, Nova. Ion care how much work you got, you shouldn't be messin' up your sleep schedule over it."

"Baby, I know, I do, but I needed to get it out the way so that we could have this weekend off, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember but still. We can't have a good weekend if you sleep durin' the day and you awake durin the night."

You take Riri's hands in yours and kiss her on the lips. "I'll be okay, ri." you say softly, "I promise."

"Okay. Okay, I believe you. You want me to cook us some breakfast before we take a shower?"

"Uh uh, we gon clock out on the couch after we eat, so shower now."

"Yes ma'am." Riri takes two bonnets out of the small bin full of them while you turn on the shower then hands one to you.

"Ma, you want pancakes or waffles?"

"Waffles, please."

"With chocolate chips on top?"

You smile at the fact that Riri remembers. "Yes ma'am."

A few minutes go by and Riri hands you your plates. One with a double stack of waffles, the other with cheesy eggs and bacon. She puts down a tall glass cup and fills it with apple juice.

After Riri makes sure you've got everything, she sets her food down and sits next to you. She made herself the same thing with the same drink, but a different main dish, french toast with strawberry syrup.

"You ready to eat, baby?" You ask.

"Hell yeah. You got everything you need?"

"Yup." You press play on the remote, the T.V. now playing Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

The two of you eat silently but you find yourself staring at Riri once she's finished. Riri's a slow eater, she pays more attention to whatever she's watching instead of the food itself.

The sun was almost up now and the light from the windows bounced off her, giving her face the most perfect glow you had ever seen.

Riri does a double take from you to the T.V. and catches you staring. "What's wrong? I got somethin' on my face?"

You shake her head, "I'm just staring at my beautiful wife. I can't do that now?" you ask with a smirk on your face.

Riri snorts and rolls her eyes, "Oh, shut up. You're so corny," she says, but you can see her smiling.

You lean over and kiss Riri on the forehead when she turns her head back to you. "I love you, Mrs. Williams."

"I love you, Mrs. Williams." Riri stops eating completely, her attention on the T.V.

"Eat, ri." You remind her, and she does.

"Food was good?" Riri says, "You ate but didn't drink til you were done."

"That's cause if I did I wouldn't have finished my food, you know that, ri."

She hums softly, finishing the food on her plate.

As she was about to pick up the dishes, you stopped her.

"You cooked, lemme clean up."

Riri smiles and holds her hands up in defense, "Aight." She finishes the juice then hands you the cup. "Thank you, ma."

There wasn't much to do since Riri cleans up after herself when she cooks, usually only leaving the dishes you guys ate out of.

When you came back to the couch, Riri was laying down on her back, her eyes dropping and opening.

You get the blanket you put under the coffee table and place it over Riri.

You sit down slowly, not wanting Riri to feel the dip in the couch. Gently, you pick Riri's head up and put it on your thigh, watching as her chest rises and falls peacefully.

You put your hand on Riri's cheek, caressing it softly, and eventually falling asleep alongside her.

When you woke up, Riri wasn't by your side anymore. But she was still in the apartment.

You can hear the shower running in the bathroom.

You pick your phone up off the coffee table and lay down on your back, scrolling through Pinterest, trying to find new nails to show your nail tech.

"Whatchu doin', my love?" Riri asks, coming out of the room. She wears her natural hair more than you most days, today being one of those days. She has on a spaghetti strap singlet with shorts. "And so much for not falling asleep early, huh."

"Lookin for some new nails. I need somethin' new to show my nail tech also, you fell asleep first, remember?"

Riri makes a fake thinking face as she walks over to you and sits down, "Ion remember that happening but whatever you say. You find anything you like yet so we could get our nails done?"

You pause and look at Riri. "We? You're getting your nails done with me?"

"Yeah, ion wanna leave your side today."

You giggle and kiss Riri on the lips, "I love you."

"I love you. Now, find something you like so we can get going."

You stare at your nails once they're fully dry, loving the way they look.

Riri wolf whistles behind you, grinning. "You look good, mama."

"Shit, I feel good." You laugh and get up, thanking your nail tech.

Riri pays her and the two of you head out.

You open the car door, smiling at the red and pink bouquet of flowers on your seat. You look over at Riri, who also has a smile on her face.

"Ri, when did you have the time to get these?" You finish your sentence while getting in the car, the flowers on your lap, "They are literally stunning."

"I got em while you were napping during your foot massage. Figured it was the only time I had to disappear for minute without you noticin'."

"Well, you were definitely right."

When you guys reach home, Riri tells you to freshen up because she had a surprise for you.

"Ri, can I open my eyes yet?" You ask, hesitantly moving around the apartment, Riri's hands covering your eyes as well as your own.

"Just a few more steps, Novs." She stops you, taking her hands away. "You can look now, ma."

You open your eyes slowly, letting yourself adjust to the low setting lights. Finally, you take in what you're looking at. More flowers on the dining room table, they're blue orchids, the only flower that both you and Riri like. The plates of food with the half full glasses of wine next to them. It smells amazing, you know this took Riri hours, maybe. Despite acknowledging everything, you can't fathom how real this moment is, how real everything is. You and the love of your life are here together-

"Novalie?" Riri using your full name snapped you out of your thoughts.

"Baby, you completely outdid yourself with this," You say in a whisper.

She smiles and you kiss her on the lips. "I love you, Ri."

"I love you."