#my work is so cartoony you also REALLY have to know what it is to understand

[luck-of-the-drawings]

so REVENGE, HUH? or justice, if that makes you feel better. it tastes the same when cooked just right. 'I REALLY WANTED A BROTHER.' such a shame to burn a bridge you so desperately wanted to keep, especially when it wasnt even you who started the fire. especially when you hope that not a single fragment of that bridge ever washes ashore.[MAY IT ROT FAR FROM MY SIGHTS] an unfortunate loss! atleast he has his friends.

[essycogany]

Sonic And Amy Are A Unique Couple

This is a quick Sonamy rant /ramble session. With a few added clarifications too. Enjoy!

This couple is more unique than you’d think. It’s cool if anyone disagrees. I'm all for a polite debate and respect your opinion. But if you're willing to hear me out, I'll be willing to explain myself as clearly as possible. Great? Awesome! Let’s get started!

Amy doesn't want to change Sonic. I will scream this until I'm not able to speak any more that Amy loves Sonic for who he is. She always has but it wasn't until IDW that she expressed it out loud. Still one of my favorite moments between them.

Does that make their relationship unique? Not really. What makes their relationship unique is what Amy loves about Sonic is kind of the reason they're not a couple yet. Sonic is an ongoing force that can’t be stopped or changed. Of course, he’ll allow someone to join him on a race, but he still keeps going. Not to say Sonic won’t stop to smell the roses (pun not intended) but he’ll do it on his own time. Amy always likes to take advantage of those moments and best of all, Sonic doesn’t mind. Even during their old chases, he’d slow down for her. Says a lot about the connection they have but there’s more

Their chemistry is…something for lack of a better term. Their back and forth is so interesting to me. Sonic does like Amy back. Notable examples here but to put it shortly, Sonic doesn’t know what he’s doing when it comes to romance. Sometimes he’s not into it and other times he’s chill. Sometimes Amy is ecstatic and other times she's bashful. I'm looking at you Sonic X.

Every time Amy’s occupied, is when Sonic wants her the most. Amy on the other hand wants Sonic to enjoy his freedom. Neither of them stops to think about how maybe they can have it both ways.

I'll also mention romance isn’t about “being tied down.” That paints romance as if it’s some kind of chain being rapt around your neck or being forced to be with the person. That is not romance. It’s keeping someone hostage. Something Amy would not do. Every time she’d joke around about marrying him Sonic didn’t take it seriously. Heroes included.

Sonic’s line in Heros: “Amy, knock it off. There's no time to play!” Dude knows Amy was messing with him. She was written to be girly, childish, adventurous, and cartoony. No, it wasn’t always executed well. Hello, Sonic Freeriders Amy! But I think this scene summons it up the best.

Important thing to mention as well is Sonic is an outspoken and honest character who rarely lies. It’s either you get the truth or you get nothing. He’s not the type to spare people’s feelings either, so if he had a problem with Amy in the past, he’d tell her directly. I do think she'd also stop if he genuinely told her to. The last thing Amy would want is to tarnish their friendship because of her actions. This loyal girl is so sweet.

Not to mention this is a popular trope in Japan too. The trope was what their relationship was based on.

Back to my original point Sonic and Amy aren’t a traditional couple. That’s a good thing. If they became canon their relationship wouldn’t change if they got together, but also they don’t need labels either. Romance isn’t or shouldn’t be a burden on you. That’s not how love works and that’s not what Sonic believes Amy to be. If that’s the case he wouldn’t be friends with her. Whether you ship Sonic with Amy, someone else, or no one, there should be no doubt Sonic values her friendship.

I’ll also add that Amy is just as up for an adventure as Sonic is. It’s why she loves him so much. They’re a power couple and love going out to travel, so there’s no staying in one place for these two.

In Sonic Adventure 2 you can tell Amy’s intuition when it comes to Sonic. Close to the end, she saw him looking a bit down and noticed his mood shifting a bit. “What’s the matter, Sonic?” “Oh, it’s nothing.” She knows him so well. I don't know what connection they run on but it’s inspiring.

These two don’t have a typical girl/boy relationship. I know some people say, “Well, why can't Sonic and Amy stay friends? Not every male and female relationship needs to be romantic.” You're 100% correct. Here are some examples.

The difference between other relationships is that Amy was created to be a Minnie to Sonic’s Mickey. Which is why these two are treated differently compared to others. Including in merch. There are more examples but I digress. The point is this specific pair is always going to have nuance even if they’re only friends. It doesn’t stop until Amy doesn’t love Sonic and even if it shouldn’t define her, it should still be a part of her. She might work without romance, but we already have other amazing female characters for that.

No one’s obligated to ship them because of this of course. Again, your opinion is still valid, and I will always stick to that point.

Last but not least is their friendship (or situationship) as a whole.

The funny thing is their friendship is what makes their romance the most compelling. The appeal to Sonic and Amy’s dynamic is how much platonic energy they have. Romance doesn’t always mean you need to be lovey-dovey. With Sonamy it’s their powerful friendship that makes the (somewhat not platonic) interactions memorable. You don’t have to choose romantic or platonic. It can be both. I wouldn't be a Sonamy fan if I thought their relationship was plain. I'm here because of how different they are.

And I love them to bits. Look at this panel and tell me it isn't running with situationship fuel.

Another fun detail is in recent years despite knowing Amy still loves him, Sonic hugs her back. Even the moments in Sonic X he carries her are moments he offers to. Even when it wasn't necessary.

Can’t forget about the recent asking Amy out to a dinner panel in IDW. He's never done that before. There's a familiarity between the two of them however you look at it. I LOVE them for it.

His moments of genuinely being excited to see her are not due to some development but because Sonic’s passion for Amy has noticeably increased. Why am I bringing these up? It’s because one thing that hasn’t been talked about when it comes to romance is actions. Sure, Sonic doesn't fully confess his feelings to her outwardly. But why do you have to be obvious and in people’s face when it comes to loving someone? In Japan, love is mostly shown through what you do more than what you say. That stuff can happen there but it doesn't always have to. The “Sharing an Umbrella, Amy,” line in Frontiers carries a lot more weight when you think about the implications.

Please read this post by @egalitarian-tomboy if you're interested in the implications of Sonamy in Frontiers.

The up-to-interpretation view of whatever they have together is the main reason I and so many people ship them. It’s not the fact that they are close, but the progression of their closeness. To make a long story short, the appeal of Sonamy is the fact that they don’t have to be traditionally romantic to be an interesting couple. Amy represents expressive love and Sonic represents emotional love.

Stay creative! 💜

[papermonkeyism]

Very sorry if you've talked about this before, but how much do you focus on/care about making the plantlife in your Dinosaur Project Thingy accurate for the time and place?

Asking both because I'm generally very curious, and because personally, every time I make it past my anxieties about not knowing enough about dinosaurs to be "allowed" to draw them, I run right up against "oh shoot, if I draw a grass in the background, people are going to kill me."

Having a cartoonier art style helps! If your style is photorealistic, the style is going to require more details that also make errors way more present and visible, but like, the way I draw trees for example you can't really tell if I'm drawing an aspen, an oak or a basswood, you know? It's just a leaf blob with a trunk in the middle. There's no identifying that.

Also, like 99% of my audience who follows my art follows it for creatures and characters, not plant life, and those more well versed on plants aren't as likely to care. At least nobody has come to bark at me because of it this far!

Considering the amount of actual, professional palaeoartists who basically use memes in their art, I think it's okay and fine for hobbyists and cartoonists to not know everything, right?

(Seriously, the amount of artists who draw theropods with no soft tissue around the jawline is wild! You know that classic look where the entire face splits along the skull all the way to the back of the jaw joint, and drawing that pink skin flap at the corner of the mouth? That's the jaw muscles. Why would a giant land apex predator not have skin protecting its jaw muscles? [Also, is that really what jaw muscles look like? A skin flap? Come on.] I've seen some Actual Professional Artists draw these giant cavities inside the cheek area of things like T. rex, that's where the muscles should be! Where do you think the legendary bite force -which this specific animal is known for- comes from? I mean, it works for animatronics, like in Jurassic Park, because it's hard to give soft tissue to robots that would hold up, but it's less of a thing for art, I think.)

I have a field guide book for Hell Creek formation that I'm gonna reference from when needed. Years ago I backed this kickstarter for a dinosaur video game, specifically so that I could get my hands on the book for this exact reason. It has plants section!

Few rules of thumb:

Trees Big. No, bigger!

No grass (if very late Cretaceous, then maybe grass? but research first!)

No flowers, unless Cretaceous. Might be worth googling "Cretaceous flowers" for specifics

When in doubt, ferns and/or conifers.

Also, finally, this is just me, but it can help to set yourself a "target audience" (with quotes). Personally, I'm making my project for myself and maybe a handful of people I know IRL. I only aim for the joy of these specific bunch of friends and family. Anyone beyond that is just bonus, and while I am very glad there are great many more people who do enjoy my work, it's less important than if my friends like it. And if there's one of the extra bonus people who thinks this one plant on the background of my art ruins their enjoyment of my work and me as a person, then that's a them-problem, not a me-problem, if my friend Satu still thinks the drawing is cool.

(Honestly, knowing these specific people, I wouldn't even have to be as accurate as I am, but unfortunately I did include "myself" in my target audience, so here I am.)

[circus-clangen]

Can u tell us about ur process woth designing Candy and Peanut?

Absolutely! This goes hand in hand with this ask

So here’s kind of an all-encompassing “how Lynx designs these freaks” guide.

FIRST OF ALL

The name of the character almost always reflects and influences the design of the character. RNG assigned Tigertoe’s kits the names “sandykit” and “nutkit”, so honestly I didn’t have to do ANY thinking to decide what to name them.

I didn’t have to change much from Candy’s sprite as far as colors go, because she ALREADY was just built like a box of conversation hearts

For Peanut, I at first considered desaturating and warming his colors up to make him more peanut colored, but ultimately decided against that. Instead, I interpreted his spots to be like the shape of the indents on a peanut shell

SECONDLY

I know this isn’t always possible but I also pulled a lot from the designs of Candy and Peanuts family members for their designs.

Candy, for example, I wanted to strongly resemble Marquee but with a lot of Trapeze mixed in. Her face shape and eye shape are directly taken from Trapeze, whereas the shape language of her fur and her coloring is directly taken from Marquee.

For Peanut, I wanted him to strongly resemble Tiger and Ringstar…. (🦅), so he has Tiger’s face shape and goatee, as well as shape language, but he has that kind of weaselly hunched lankiness that Ring has.

These are both VERY OUTDATED because I designed them as adults to de-age to kit designs OVER A YEAR AGO but the general shapes and body types hold true… plus you can see me trying to make Peanut beige which I ultimately decided against

THIRDLY

I tend to have a very strong sense of what I want a character to look like, even if I don’t quite know what it is and have to do a ton of drafts to get there.

For candy and peanut, I knew I wanted her to look like she’d experienced nothing but horror and agony since before the womb

And I knew I wanted Peanut to look like this

Very dorky and unserious, so I gave him big ol front teeth and big round mouse ears

And LASTLY,

Design your characters and with what you like and what works for your story! You can see my designs change as my preferences and story needs change!

the designs start off very goofy and bright, because the story started off as a joke and something I did for fun, never intending to share

Once I put Circusclan on tumblr and it started to not only gain attention because become a scarier, more puzzle oriented story, I changed their designs to still be fun and silly and cartoony but also flexible enough to fit in with more serious scenes

And more recently, after deciding I wanted to go FULL scary beginning with moon 20, their designs changed to not only reflect the increasingly serious nature of the story, but also to reflect with some degree of realism the lore of cats who were really sentient enough to make similar stylistic choices to humans. Colors changed to show dying, hair changed to show cutting and styling, and accessories changed to reflect a more practical handmade nature, not to the mention the period the comic is set in.

And… most importantly…

Accept feedback, practice a lot, but ultimately trust yourself! Only you truly know what kind of design you want and what kind of a design fits your story. Don’t sacrifice your favorite design elements just to please others or just because it ‘doesn’t really make sense’. You want people to love your designs because they’re YOUR designs, so take whatever it is that you specifically enjoy about the design process and run with it! Make it your own! Don’t be afraid to really take your time and really pour your heart into a design.

ABOVE ANYTHING, you want your characters, your designs, and your story to be meaningful to YOU. Mess around, try things out, have fun, and all the while you’ll be building a design style that is markedly and distinctly unique and your own.

[ikimaru]

when and how did you find your art style? has it changed much over time?

I'm gonna go on a tangent here bc it's pretty interesting for me to look back on aksjd

I don't think it was really linear in a point A to point B kinda way, I still got it more or less where I wanted it to but I can't say it felt streamlined

my first fandom was pokemon anime, so I was 100% set on learning that style first bc that was fun to me, instead of learning basics or anything I went right in and learned how to draw humans in that style, then I got into Death Note so I had to learn an entirely different style bc the previous one didn't help at all, I didn't stick with it very long tho because THEN I got into vocaloid and various anime and more colorful characters so it was pretty much the huge eyes - dot nose style for a while

*then* I got tumblr and this site was very.. overwhelmingly cartoon-oriented so I quickly took an interest in cartoony styles and learned the style which I used between 2011-2016 pretty much, I think that was the first one where I could be like "it's mine" bc I was actively figuring out things I liked and putting my spin on them and it was so fun

but by the time I got into vld I wanted it to be more more complex so I was focusing more on learning lighting, anatomy and making the faces less cartoony annd I really wish I tackled the style of faces differently and I didn't end up hating drawing for several years in the process without even realizing it BUT Anyway

with gnshn last year is when I finally started compiling all the things I liked about drawing again from past styles and also new things so I can all combine it together at last, which is something I haven't done in huh 6(??)+ years.. ughhh lmao I really had to stop and be like "what do I WANT my art to look like?" and I'm still working on it

but yeah basically, it IS a lot more streamlined if you pick tutorials and go like that's a good™️ style to learn and go from there, instead of learning/unlearning things over and over like I did, I don't regret learning the previous styles tho, each of them were what I wanted out of it at the time, but there was a learning curve every single time

anyway your art path is your own whether you choose to get better in the faster way possible or do detours or something else, once you have a set of things that feel personal to you in how you draw them and you can comfortably use that to draw whatever u want to, you'll just know, it doesn't have to happen asap c:

[redfeatheredreptile]

Here's my piece for @creatingblackcharacters' Black History Month Challenge! She's one of my sci-fi story's main OCs, Zola! (That's why she's Afro-Polaran, Polara 5 is her home planet) I had a ton of fun working on this, and I really learned a lot! But, of course, let me know if there's anything I can improve on with how I depicted her.

(copied from the replies)

Ice's question: What do you want to tell your Black viewers, through this character or the effort you put into her?

A: Thank you for asking! I’ve seen this come up repeatedly in my readings on Black women: the general stigma and disapproval around Black girls and women being feminine or girly, especially in a ‘loud’ way— without being sexualized. With Zola I really wanted to show that she loves who she is; fashionable, pink and cute things and all, while still enjoying her Blackness as well, which I tried to show with her hair and her accessories. I would love it if she inspires women (or anyone Black!) to express themselves the way that feels good, whether it’s girly or not.

More info under the cut!

I challenged myself to listen to only Black artists while working on this piece, and to read poems by Black women and find ones I think fit Zola. It's been good to broaden my music horizons. My 'Black Artists' playlist is still growing. Things I learned:

1) Don't blindly color-pick for skin tone, especially dark ones. The ones I got were suuper washed-out. I changed her skin colors maybe 4 or 5 times just to get it right =.=; I'm still learning, so I hope I didn't overcorrect and over-saturate her. I went back and re-read lessons 3 and 4 and that helped me figure out what shade I actually wanted for her. If I were to draw her again, I would change the lighting to something better, too. 2) Black hairstyles are FUN to draw! I've only drawn a few specific ones from reference so far but they really force me to think about the shape and texture of the hair, how light bounces off it, etc. I also like doing curvy lines, detail, and drawing hair in general, so it was a treat. I learned a lot from the lessons on Black hair types and styles, as soon as I learned about twists and looked at the different styles for them I knew it would be Zola's favorite. I need to draw her in a twist-out, next!

3) For writing them, reading Ice's lessons helped a lot too! She's still not had much time yet in the story (she gets introduced later) but it helped me develop what kind of character I actually want her to be. She got more of a sensitive side rather than a generic 'strong woman'TM. She's still very confident and self-assured, but I've planned moments in the story where she doesn't have to be and gets to be emotionally vulnerable. She's also got a larger role in the story that involves her backstory and her family, and not just helping the other members of the 'party'. Hope to flesh her out a lot more as I continue writing!

Misc: Her 'face claim' is technically Mirakela Love, but between making her fatter than the model and my cartoony style I don't think it ended up looking much like her. Still helped to have reference, though. The color scheme for her outfit is meant to evoke the Lesbian flag. She gay and proud. Zola's meant to be both girly and fashionable, but I'm not a super fashionable person, so I just did my best and combined some outfits I liked. Then I added Jinx-style boots for funsies. Do hoops go with the rest of it? I don't know!

[impishjesters]

I’m devouring the nonsexual intimacy with Jax dawg- oml we eatin good

How would Jax be with an s/o who enjoys leaning on him? I adore physical touch but sometimes if I can’t use my arms it feels like I’m trapped, so it’s nice to just glomp people lmao (s/o is ticklish too- Jax would have a field day with that one)

If you need a little more substance, maybe s/o like randomly serenading Jax in private! Like those old 80s jazz love songs (complete with slow dancing)

Thank you and have a wonderful day/night!

Leaning on one another

warning(s): none unless you count jazz note(s): I joke about it but I actually quite like jazz, maybe not all jazz but it's definitely not the worst type of music. I'm looking at you country music.... A/N: I included a bonus because I thought the idea of cornering this man in his room with jazz music was absolutely hilarious lol

Jax doesn’t have a physical battery per say, but there is definitely a limit to how much he can tolerate at a given time—whether it’s in public or private.

He doesn’t like sitting still for long periods of time and there’s a limit to how vulnerable he’s willing to be at any given time if at all.

So having a s/o that understands this and goes for physical touch like leaning on him or something that’s not inherently seen as romantic and mushy is a win in his book.

Don’t get me wrong, he loves you but it’s a lot and he’s not really used to it. He’s still trying to wrap his head around the fact you two are dating, that you like him.

He’s all for being leaned on or having you loosely hang off him in public, sometimes regardless of what side of him you’re leaning on, he might lean back.

Little shit might only catch himself though if you can’t hold him/he catches you off guard and/or lose your footing, he’ll make the attempt to stick an arm out and catch you—but whether you crash or not depends on your own reflexes. (he doesn’t make the rules, sorry babe)

If you wanna be held but not feel restricted, as long as he’s not doing anything he’ll let you stand in front of him, lean back, and drape his arms over you—totally not to just lean on you and be an absolute menace.

In fact, that’s probably how he found out you were ticklish—and that knowledge is far too much power in his hands.

Sure he can do it whenever he wants, but he tends to save it for other unsuspecting situations—like if the two of you get into a little spat and you’re not speaking to him—two can play that game.

He won’t completely restrict your arms but he’ll throw his arms around you and tickle you, it doesn’t always work to ease whatever the spat was about.

That said Jax doesn’t do it when the situation is serious and calls for an actual discussion, he knows at least that much when it comes to reading the room. (That and you’ve probably gotten onto him about it at least once before…)

He also may or may not have tickled you to get you up, you don’t need to sleep but you can still lie down and whatnot. And if you aren’t budging? Tickle time baby.

Bonus

Jax isn’t a dancer by any means, so when he opens the door to his room to find you standing there with music that’s—very much not the repetitive cartoony music that usually plays in this hellscape—he’s a little surprised.

The first question out of his mouth is:

“Is that fucking jazz?”

“No, just normal jazz.”

That response gets a good hearty chuckle out of him.

When you try pulling him in for a dance he’s a little nervous though it comes off as looking irritated, he’s uh, never danced to jazz of all things let alone with someone else.

You’re gonna have to take the reigns on this one, regardless of whether you can dance or not, you started this.

Despite the fact it is jazz playing, he enjoys the situation as a whole, your weight leaning on him the subtle holding one another. And the fact it’s in private? He can comfortably(ish) let himself feel a little vulnerable around you with no risk of having an audience.

Regardless of the fact it’s jazz, if you happen to sing along he considers himself impressed and will jokingly (read: obnoxiously) comment how he feels utterly serenaded, completely wooed, absolutely swooning—it goes on until you stop him, please stop him he’ll just keep going.

[sharksandsquirrelsandsnakes-ohmy]

I have recently realized that when I write about adult Stiles, he sounds a lot Deadpool and/or Dean Winchester...

Here are my favorite examples (most of which are from a draft I'm working on):

~~~~~~~~~

Stiles twisted the knife, making a face when he felt the bloody, torn flesh rub against his finger. The guy let Stiles go, shoving him into a stack of crates.

Stiles gasped in lungs full of air. “What,” he asked heavily, “not into fingering? Why didn’t you say pineapple?” Stiles huffed a laugh.

~~~~~~~~~

“You’re not helping my reputation by showing up in uniform,” Derek said in a tone Stiles knew to be his approximation of a joke.

“Being friends with a cop who happens to also be the sheriff’s son is hurting business,” Stiles asked with a smirk, leaning on the hood of his car. “I didn’t know you kept that clientele, Der. I mean, I’m all for ACAB, especially when the Feds come poking around but…”

Derek shook his head, standing in front of Stiles. “You really shouldn’t say that while in uniform,” he said, trying not to smile. “I meant because of my history with the department.”

~~~~~~~~~

Derek walked into the loft, completely covered in dirt, and slammed a similarly mud crusted backpack on the counter. “We have a problem,” he growled.

Stiles didn’t even bother to look at him, pulling his chicken nuggets out of the oven. “Of course we have a problem! When don't we have a problem? There's always a problem.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Corinne,” Stiles said as some form of greeting.

“Hello Stiles,” she said in that evil tone of voice. Classic villain, kind of cartoony to be honest.

~~~~~~~~~

Derek: Does everyone understand the plan?

Cora: Uh, ya, but I have one quick question. So, you've explained plans A and B but, since plan A never works and plan B usually goes to shit, what are plans C through, I don’t know, F?

Stiles: I'm so glad you asked. Plan C is when I yell 'pizza's here' which is your sign to hit the deck so Allison and Chris can shoot anyone standing. Plan D is Lydia going full banshee scream on their asses. Plan E is some spontaneous magic by yours truly and Plan F is to just mountain ash trap everyone in and hopes for the best.

Derek: There’s plans A through F?

~~~~~~~~~

Stiles: And Plan G but that involves some coffins, a nice plot at the cemetery, and a very heartfelt rendition of the Independence Day speech from Coach Finstock.

Scott: I didn’t even know there was a plan…

Stiles heard the person behind him inhale deeply. “McCall,” the guy growled, sounding more animal than human.

“Stilinski actually,” Stiles corrected, “but thanks for the smell check, wolfy. Glad to know eau de alpha is still strong.”

~~~~~~~~~

Stiles: I hate you.

Peter: You can hate me if you want.

Stiles: Good because I do.

~~~~~~~~~

The werewolf wrapped an arm around Stiles's throat, shoving a gun against his temple.

“Kinky,” Stiles rasped, finding it hard to breath.

~~~~~~~~~

Stiles walked, led by the gun at his back and the new addition of a hand on his neck.

“Ya know, this is kind of nostalgic,” Stiles remarked, feeling the sharp pain of claws against his neck. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Might get a reaction you aren’t expecting.”

~~~~~~~~~

Stiles was shoved onto the floor. It was disgusting even for a warehouse. There was blood splatter and mud on the floor. Which was also nostalgic in a sad, fucked-up kinda way. Like, who gets nostalgia from high school because of a crime scene?

~~~~~~~~~

Stiles grabbed his knife and pulled it out of the guy. The werewolf was shaking, not dead yet. "Enjoy Hell," Stiles patted his cheek roughly. He was crouching in the open to retrieve the knife. You’d think he’d know better by now.

~~~~~~~~~

Blood had utterly ruined Stiles’s suit. He was hardly able to apply pressure to the wound. He was bleeding out. Again. He wasn’t getting that deposit back. He tried to pull his eyes open but he was tired. So tired. If the gang didn’t hurry, he’d be on the fast track to a dirt nap and he wasn’t sure he could stay still that long.

[ejoym]

Continuing on the last ask about learning to start drawing OCs, do you have any tips on developing styles? I find it really difficult to “let go” of the need for things to be proportional or physically accurate, but I really want to start developing a more cartoon style.

Hi! In reference to this last post. I'm going to site a lot of stuff from a book called Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud. It's a great resource for anyone interested in cartooning, visual art, and comics as a unique storytelling art form.

Cartooning, whether it’s for comics or animation, is a very utilitarian art form. Cartooning skills and an artist's style are often forged in the hellfire of a deadline. For example, what my art style looks like when I've drawn an 80-panel comic in one week looks very different from a single illustration I’ve done in that same time frame.

Cartoonists simplify for the function of needing to draw everything by hand over and over and over again. But we also simplify for the emotional universality of the cartoon image! As stated by McCloud in the following three images.

Technically all 2D art is a form of caricature because we are reducing our 3D reality onto a 2D plane - which inherently abstracts form. Anytime someone sits down to draw (or write), they're engaging with a level of representation within pictorial space.

As an artist, we inevitably work in all modes at some point or another. But I think most artists will show a preference towards different corners of this diagram and that influences their style!

Ask yourself: where would you place the style you're seeking to achieve on this triangle? There's a more detailed version below with many cartoonists and styles for more examples.

I like this diagram especially because it shows the wide variety of cartoonist's styles. That's why this ask has been particularly tricky for me to answer. It's hard to give advice on becoming more cartoony without knowing what that specifically means for you, anon!

That said, I can still give some general good practice tips that hopefully anyone can utilize in their cartooning journey!

Figure drawing. Short poses (1-5 minutes). Figure drawing from life is ideal because life very rarely sits still. If you don't have any figure drawing studios in your area then go to libraries and coffee shops. You can also ask friends or family to sit for you. And finally there are figure drawing resources online that often include timers. Tip: Try drawing only with ink so you can’t erase. You won't have to do this forever but it's a great way to live with the "happy accidents" and then move on to the next drawing!

2. Gesture lines and S-curves. The gesture line captures the initial motion of the pose and will often follow the direction of the spine! S-curves are the alternating "S" shaped curves that represent the distribution of weight across the body. Exaggerating the S-curves is how cartoonists and animators often push the expressive form of the figure. When drawing the figure try to find the gesture line first and then build the weight of the pose on top of that!

3. Give yourself a deadline. Set a timer. Stick to it! Even if all you manage is a quick line gesture. Just move on to the next pose!

Finally, I really recommend reading Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud! It's a wonderful resource that anyone interested in the visual arts could benefit from reading. I first read it 17 years ago, back in my high school film class.

Phew! That's a long one. Hopefully, there's some useful info in there for you. But do feel free to ask any follow-up questions. And good luck on your cartooning journey! 🖤

(There's also another ask in my inbox about drawing cartoonish expressions. I'm working on a response but it may take a little bit. But don't worry, I'll have a detailed answer to that in the coming weeks!)

[ckret2]

QUESTIONS BECAUSE IM TRYING TO DRAW YOUR BILL!!!

A, would you consider bill to have sharp or soft features (talking about facial features mostly I know he's chubby)

B, what is your fav thing about Bill fanart/what would you like to see

C, what is something you would like to see people emphasise most when drawing your bill?

🌹🌹

A. Soft features overall, although I also tend to give him a pointy chin and very straight pointy nose. ("Why?" Triangular.) But if it's too difficult to mix & match those traits without looking too weird (idk what style you're working in), then err on the side of softer.

B. idk, I'm happy to get anything. I'll come back to this one.

C. I feel like recently folks are doing a better job of drawing him fat, but one thing I still don't see much of is people drawing his ridiculous proportions. Probably because his proportions are ridiculous. He's got a really goofily exaggerated pear shape—wide hips and really narrow shoulders—and unexpectedly noodly limbs, because... that's how he looked before he was a human: a torso shaped like an equilateral triangle, with thin noodle limbs. irl his body shape would probably look a little uncanny, so idk if it's possible to draw his body shape in any style more realistic than the cartoony GF style without it looking TOO uncanny; but if it is possible, that'd be neat to see.

But again, just like the first question: if that weird mix of thin bits and fat bits is too tricky to pull off, then err on the side of fat.

B, the sequel: okay I thought of some things I'd like to see.

When my Bill's drawn with other characters, it's usually Mabel or Ford. I'm ALWAYS delighted to see him with Mabel & Ford (I keep writing him with Mabel & Ford) but it'd be cool to see him interacting with some other characters too

I always love it when people put him in new Bill-ish outfits

it's heartwarming seeing people, like, imagine a future for him or imagine where he's going

it turns out it's really fun to find pulp romance novel covers and stick him in one of the poses. Try it out. It's great. The more dramatic the pose the more fun it is

[dismissivedestroyer]

Hi! So I want to make a Spooky Month OC but I suck at drawing, do you have any tips or advices about drawing characters in the Spooky Month artstyle?

Okay so, I might not be the right person for this, cause I also am not all that great at drawing in the Spooky Month artstyle, but I did some character design at school so I might be able to give a few tips! Please do take everything I say with a grain of salt tho!

Spooky Month's strong suit is definitely character design. It's SO expressive and well done it's genuinely unreal. You might want to know exactly what your character is gonna be doing, or how their personality is gonna be like, because character design in Spooky Month cares a lot about things like these. For example: Radford works at a cinema, so of course he's wearing 3D glasses, but also his HAIR IS LITERALLY SHAPED LIKE A POPCORN.

So maybe decide on a job for your character, and try to start from there, get crazy with shapes and have fun! Spooky Month characters have designs that are both extremely simple to draw, since they use mostly basic shapes, but also are extremely thought out and meaningful. Another example of great character design is Pump

Now, I have no idea if you already had an OC in mind, but make sure to choose the right shapes to represent it. Something I see around in the fandom is people making these OCs that are like, serial killers and dangerous people and stuff, but then give them the "Lila"-like oval head. And honestly, nothing wrong with that, that's a choice you can use! But still, shapes allow us to understand a lot about how a character is just by looking at them. So you might want to experiment around a bit!

Ovals in Spooky Month are the "good" shape, let's just say. Most character with an oval head are sweet, helpful, kind-natured! It's often paired with oval eyes, so it's mostly a shape that's used for not villainous characters.

Circles are a bit more complicated, because Spooky Month subvertes the Circle Characters. While yes, they're also used to draw children, such as Skid and Pump, so they may come off as unthreatening at first, most main villains, such as Eyes, Bob and Dexter Doll (which is meant to represent the likes of a child, so that's a nice contrast), are mostly circle-shaped.

There's a very wide range of Square characters in Spooky Month. Square characters are usually bulky, big and strong. They often come off as threatening (such as Moloch), but there are so many other fun things you can do with them. Like, take Frank. EVERYTHING in his design should alarm us, him being square-shaped, the black eyes, the wide smile. Yet, he has a shape of the eyes that's very relaxed and chill, so we end up trusting him. As for Dexter, he's a mix of circles and squares, so we can't really understand his intentions right away, because he's shaped in the most confusing way possible. He's just made to be unsettling and leaving us to wonder if he's a bad guy or just an oddball.

You can do SO MANY fun things by mixing up shapes of faces and eyes it's INSANE. Also, you can mix up other characters' features to create a new one, if you're planning to do a fankid or stuff like that. Look at Ross, he's literally a mixture of all his parents' features!

My main tips for drawing in the Spooky Month artstyle are mostly

1) Play around with shapes. Be as cartoony as possible.

2) Try to be consistent with proportions, because, based on personal experience, if you draw the pupils of the eyes slightly off it changes the whole character's expression drastically

3) don't worry too much about details, Spooky Month has a very simple artstyle. You don't have to draw a perfectly anatomically correct hand, just whip up some cartoony three-to-four fingers and you're good to go

4) try to redraw some pre-existing screenshots from the serie to get familiarity with the way Pelo draws expressions. It helps a bunch.

So yeah, that's all! Good luck with your oc :)

[hollowed-theory-hall]

Just how scary are Voldemort and the Death Eaters exactly? Because when you look outside of it [the story] and sort of disconnect with it, they [V & the DE’s] seem sort of cartoony and unserious.

But if you really dig deep into it, and connect yourself with it, just how chilling and sinister are they?

Well, I tried to get a grasp on how much damage the Death Eaters actually caused in the books for my analysis of Voldemort. After all, he was giving them the orders (at least in the first war). So, I detailed the evidence for how many and who was killed in the two wars and the difference between them here.

As for how scary that makes them, honestly, the Death Eaters are probably scarier to me when they don't have Voldemort at the helm. As I explained in the post I linked, when Voldemort’s around and controls their movements, less people die. When Voldemort actually cares to be involved we don't get muggleborns randomly being rounded up. Voldemort is more strategic about waging war. He aims to harm only whoever he needs to harm. He isn't sadistic or cruel for no reason. If Voldemort orders something done (especially in the first war before he kinda gave up), there is a reason for it that runs deeper than: "I felt like it".

I mean, the majority of Death Eaters aren't incredibly competent, intelligent, or magically powerful. That's not the risk with them. The risk with them is their number combined with cruelty and lack of any form of control.

In book 7, we have Snatchers who get paid for bringing in witches and wizards who say Voldemort’s name, we got muggleborns being rounded up, Amycus and Alecto Carrow are at Hogwarts torturing children. In book 6, it's mentioned they destroyed a muggle bridge — all things that just didn't happen in the first war. They clearly act as terrorists and don't put too much effort into making the government now in their control actually competent for its people (even pure-bloods) but only good for those they like.

Basically, in terms of government, they just exasperated the shitty nepotism already there. In terms of actual acts of terrorism and battles, we don't see much, but we are led to believe more are happening than what we actually see on page. With characters mentioning repeatedly throughout the final two books how people are disappearing.

So, I don't know how I'd rate Death Eaters terror from 1 to 10, mostly because they really aren't that competent on an individual basis. But with Voldemort being off after the Elder Wand in books 6 and 7, you see how they lack control. They aren't competent because they don't care to be, they are just collectively lashing out and that makes them dangerous. It makes them as a group hard to predict and practically impossible to negotiate with.

With Voldemort, you can convince him not to kill you in certain circumstances, he can be convinced to show mercy (unless your name is Harry Potter), then he'd give the order and you'll be fine. Even if he kills you, you know it'll most likely be quick and painless (killing curse). The way we see it in book 7, you need to convince each new individual Death Eater to leave you alone, and even then there are no guarantees. The majority of them could promise you one thing and turn back on the promise in a heartbeat if they can gain even scraps from it. And they are more likely to torture and make it a humiliating experience.

They also don't share information with each other, like, barely at all. Each one of them is trying to climb up over the other Death Eaters, so without Voldemort coordinating between them, they're not working effectively as an organization. Voldemort practically made sure they wouldn't be effective as an organization. He encouraged exactly this kind of environment among them; not trusting each other, not knowing who everyone is, only sharing important information with him. And this works well for him for micromanaging them, not so much when he just leaves them for their own devices for months on end.

What we see them do in book 7 is a mess and if the Wizarding World's government wasn't a joke the Death Eaters would've failed to take over on their own and Voldemort wouldn't actually want to take over as he shows again and again he doesn't actually care for ruling.

Basically, the Death Eaters are dangerous because you have a group of bloodthirsty violent people with a superiority complex and nuclear weapons (wands). That's terrifying. Not because they are competent or effective in battle or government or anything, but because someone who isn't the brightest and has no self-control is not a person you want threatening your life.

(Obviously, some Death Eaters as individuals aren't like that. Snape is incredibly competent, the Malfoys aren't particularly bloodthirsty, etc, I'm talking about the average nameless/name-dropped Death Eater)

[isosceles-is-never-here]

I've been playing Hades, and it’s got me thinking about if Danny Phantom was in the game

This is rough concept art, trying to best translate Danny into the Hades world & art style. I plan to refine these into finished pieces that look like they r from the first game! (if the art gods r kind to me T_T) I'd love to hear any ideas on how Danny would be a part of the game! Would he have his own boon set? or his own chamber with 3 options for the player to pick from? I also like the idea of him randomly showing up like Thanatos to help kill enemies for a possible reward. And the idea of him showing up in the lounge sporadically after you get enough hearts with him! or in the halls being surrounded by shades!

He's definitely gotten mistaken for Zagreus with his spikey black hair, I could definitely see Alecto attacking him because of it rip

My Designs Explained:

I'm taking a page out of the hot glowing feet of the Hades bloodline book and giving Danny frozen glowing hands representing his ice powers

I snatched Pariah Dark’s cloak and skull details (just like Danny snatching Pariah's Ghost King status), which really translates well into Hades fashion. Might add Pariah's belt buckle? I know a lot of people do fresh takes for Danny's Ghost king forms, but this works so well translating it into the art style & setting.

Danny is the King of Shades: Danny’s ghost form is designed after the Shades (who r the ghosts of Hades!) I'm really leaning into Shade vibes with the built in robe and hood, with his face in shadow and cartoony features. but he is the King and only half Shade, so he gets more accessories and has a more distinct form.

Danny is a God/Immortal (i.e. human form): Keeping a lot of design elements from his Shade form, but I'm gonna invert the colors & metals. I want him to be swarmed by little shades! Any ideas on what he should be holding? Probably will keep the ice crystal..

[transformersconfessions]

I think tf one is a lot worse than the fandom is willing to admit and it makes me feel disappointed that people can't criticise it without being attacked .

I don't think it's a bad movie to introduce new people to the fandom or that it's the worst piece of media Hasbro has released. But it has many weak points that few talk about and the rest are blinded by the fact that we're getting new Transformers content.

Aside from the graphics (which is one of its redeeming qualities), it lacks depth in world-building. (Everything happens in Iacon (not counting the surface). What's 50 cycles in this continuity? How are transformers born that makes it so easy for Sentinel to take their cogs?? There's more examples, but these are the ones at the top of my head).

The characters are hardly fleshed out. Especially for Orion, it's weird that we don't really get a good explanation as to why he's the way he is or how his motivations came to be. And why is he so different to everyone else?? Surely not everyone is just happy to play along with the system?? We never got to know why Bee was in the sublevel 50 or how long he was down there. Elita could've been a much more appealing character if she was allowed to break from the angry and strong woman persona for longer than a few seconds. I have less complaints with D-16, but that's still a few things that bother me about his character. (This is more about personal taste, but I think the name "Megatron" has a lot less impact when Dee was more of a fanboy of Megatronus rather than someone who respected and aimed to be more like the old Prime. Imagine you kill the president and become the leader of an army and the first thing you do is change your name to one inspired by your celebrity crush. How can I take you seriously???)

The pacing was not the worst, but it could've been better. Thing after thing after thing— basically no breaks for you to process everything that happened. More quiet moments, pauses and suspense would've been nice.

The villain trope for Sentinel was a bit too cartoony for my taste. Evil guy whose motivation is power but is also a pathetic coward who bends his will to those stronger than him, and is defeated by the hero after his evil monologue exposing all his crimes gets recorded and forecasted for the whole world to see.

Not exactly what I would call an engaging and intimidating villain.

And speaking of Sentinel, how did he defeat the thirteen Primes that are supposed to be strong and almighty?? Sure, he was aided by the Quintessons, but surely it would've taken more than that?? It's like a case of telling instead of showing except they're showing without telling you how any of that is possible.

The movie was full of conveniences, too. Orion being known by the guards in the Hall of Records yet he was never arrested by them. They literally know how he looks and what his designation is??? Elita happens to be in the right place at the right time. What a coincidence. Bee knows a way out of sublevel 50 yet only could go out after all this time when Orion and Dee arrived? Why not. Gotta wait for the mc's. Bee has a recording from Alpha Trion that we have no idea how it even got there in the first place?? Alpha Trion somehow survived but not the rest of his siblings? The Royal Guard decides to help Orion because Elita is "scary"? That was one of my least favourite scenes because they could've come up with a much better reasoning. How remarkably good all these cogless bots happen to be at fighting? I'll take Orion's agility for his escapades. I'll take the strength for the long hours of work in a harsh environment with heavy compartment to carry. But you're telling me they actually know real combat moves when there's no reason for them to?? Unless Cybertronians come programmed with it (or their borrowed cogs provide them with those skills), I'm not buying it.

This and many more things could be said if we weren't afraid of admitting this film wasn't perfect. I really liked it because of the concept and the new ideas it brought with it, but that's why I'm sad the fandom doesn't do more than just settle for what we have.

I won't claim all my criticism is objective or that it's all correct (I haven't rewatched it recently to assure that I remember all the details), but that's why I invite to be more open to different opinions (even if they're negative), so we can expand on this idea the movie offers.

(I apologize for any typos or grammatical errors. I wrote this in a rush and I have no time to edit it)

*

[thetriggeredhappy]

"a few tweaks to better fill in the implications the comics seem to have for how the respawn system works." oh my god i definitely missed the Implications (tm)…. what did the comics imply about the respawn system?

based on the way characters reacted to being in straight up hell and such, and scout’s dialogue about suing teufort for bodily harm and gross negligence, i would say the implication is probably that… they’ve never fully died. or, maybe that they didn’t know they’ve ever fully died prior to the comics. if we want to assume that the engineer knew about australium’s full potential the entire time, the implication might be that whenever anyone dies out in the field, he goes out after the battle, takes an injector, and doses them on enough australium to get them back to life until medic can finish healing them. but with how valuable australium is, death would probably be really uncommon, and only double digits of injuries and concussions would imply they don’t even actually get badly hurt all that often. the mann vs machine comic seems by far to be the one with everyone most heavily injured, and also to be around the same time that medic canonically invents anything close to a “revival” mechanic. so… sorry, gang. kinda seems like “respawn”, as in the actual game, isn’t canonical to the world itself, it’s just a thing you need to have in a functioning FPS.

and honestly, that does track within the story. they’re not very good mercenaries. it seems like most of what they do, according to the Expiration Date SFM, is go to places and shoot people a bunch and skedaddle. maybe thefts, maybe blowing up buildings, but by and large they just sort of aren’t being sent to do anything of substance or value. they’re the mercenary equivalent of a garbage disposal - just crunching down the crumbs and scraps left after the other five teams have done their jobs. necessary, sure, burying bodies and destroying empty buildings they don’t need and housesitting abandoned locations for a while, but not… difficult.

removes a little of the cartoony nature of it, i think.

[rivvyribbons]

can you do seperate headcanons first qiu and tam with a masc reader who gets injured quite easily? (step 1 or 2 doesnt matter :)) kind of like the talk qiu has with mc in the prologue if they have bandages on?

thank you and have a wonderful day / night

Tamarack and Qiu with an easily injured masc reader ! Set during step 1 !

A/N at the bottom <3

QIU

-> Qiu is, to say the least, always worried.

-> Even with his ‘cool and laidback’ demeanor, his worry manages to slip through.

-> There are times where he pulls you aside and asks if you're really okay.

-> Every time, you reassure him that you are. Takes a while for him to believe, but as always, his trust for you triumphs over his worry.

-> He always gets this relieved look whenever you reassure him. He's just glad that you're okay.

-> When all of you are on wheels, you always get a scratch or two.

-> He is immediately protective, always volunteering to be the one to patch you up.

-> Obviously, Qiu isn't happy that you're hurt, but he is happy that he managed to convince you to ride with him on his bike.

-> Mostly because your safe, but also because the feeling of you against his back is.. nice.

-> If you break your arm, he will not let you carry anything.

-> “Qiu, it's fine. I only broke my right arm, I can still carry my bag with my left.” “Too late. You were too slow to grab it.”

-> He backs off if it makes you feel belittled, but he's immediately there if you ask for his help.

-> Same thing if you break your leg! He's a considerate kid, after all.

-> “Guys, make some space for MC, he's injured!”

-> He's struggling a little with trying to please everyone and trying to make sure to pay extra attention to you, but he cares. He cares a lot.

“And then after that, I dec-” Qiu was quickly cut off by the sound of your head hitting the ceiling of his hideout.

You winced. Ow.

Immediately, Qiu is at your side. His hands hovered around you, wanting to help but not knowing how.

It was a little funny to see the guy who always knew what to do being a little dumbfounded.

But you didn't like seeing him worried.

“I'm fine, Qiu. I swear.” You said, touching your head. “Well. I might be bleeding a little, but I'm used to it!”

Qiu looked at you, worried. “I think that's worse. You see how that's worse, right?”

You pointedly ignored that.

“C'mon, lets go down.” Qiu said. “My mom will check if you're injured.”

TAMARACK

-> The band-aids that Qiu patches you up with? They came from Tamarack’s bag.

-> She makes sure to pay attention if you like the Hello Kitty bandaids more than the Spiderman bandaids, or vice versa.

-> After you're all patched up, she always kisses it better, no matter what.

-> It helps, surprisingly!

-> You get injured a lot trying to impress Tamarack and Qiu. While this makes Qiu worried, this makes Tamarack inspired.

-> She thinks you're the bravest boy on earth!

-> “You're so cool, MC! That was so awesome to see!” She says, a few minutes after you fell on your face while attempting to do a trick on Qiu’s bike.

-> This girl looks at you like you hung the stars, alright?

-> But she does worry. Sometimes you get injured infront of her, and if she thinks it's her fault, then she's immediately begging on her knees for your forgiveness.

-> “I'm so sorry! I didn't realize you were there!”

-> You better hug this girl with all your might.

-> She always steals some candy from her house so she could give it to you when you're hurt.

-> Sometimes you feel like you're being given a lollipop from a doctor. Dr. Tamarack wouldn't be such a bad idea.

Tamarack leaned in, giving a small kiss to the cartoony bandaid just placed on your right knee.

“There! It should feel better by now.” She said, a smile on her face. Somehow, you were smiling too.

“It does feel better.” You said, fondly. “I don't know how you do it, Tama.”

“I don't know how either!” She giggled, as if she revealed her deepest secret. “My omi does that to me sometimes, so I thought it would work!”

“Oh. Does your omi also give you these bandages?” You picked at the corner of the bandaid. Tamarack gently guided your hands away, a determined look on her face.

“Oh, no! I just figured, since you get injured a lot, I went ahead and bought some bandages at the pharmacy!”

“All by yourself?”

“Yeah.” she leaned in to whisper. “I can't have omi and opa going out to buy stuff for me. I can do it myself perfectly fine!”

Before you can say anything about that, she cut you off.

“Oh,” she searched through her bag, and after seconds of what seemed to be aimless ruffling, she held out her palm.

A small piece of wrapped candy was placed on it.

“Here, you deserve it for being a very brave boy!”

A/N: SORRRY FOR TAKING SO LONG ANON!!! was originally going to play the game againvut add bandages to my mc so i could see what would happen but unfortunately time itself hates me

so, i just based this off of my perception of their characters! qiu cares for everyone, but he especially cares for you, so he worries a lot. tama is an independent girl, who probably knows how to patch up small wounds. she doesnt worry as much, but she does tend to ur wounds!!

as always, this is author rivs, bye bye gay people in my phone!!!