#practicing drawing at different angles so I can improve

[the-painted-siren]

First Lloyd doodles of the year :)

[lemon-lime-behavior]

Do you have any tips for drawing noses? Sorry this is out of nowhere but I'm wanting to improve on my art, specifically the faces, and it's always the nose I find myself struggling most with.

I really struggle w making it fit the face if that makes sense? Every time I try to add it it just throws the whole face off, especially the eyes, not to mention how to make different nose types and the angles </33

I love your art style so bad, it's so smooth and satisfying to look at and the way you draw noses like it's nbd (and anatomy in general like damn) baffles me so I was just wondering if you maybe had any tricks or not, Ty either way for sharing your art in the first place <33

@extravagav Well I can try! First off thank you very much, I often feel like I still have a very long way to go in regards to proportions and anatomy so I really appreciate your kind words <3

Hokay, so, noses. I do love noses. To start off when it comes to drawing noses I'm afraid I'm going to have to give you the most annoying advice in the world which is just to practice a lot. Find a lot of pictures of noses in a bunch of different shapes from a bunch of different angles and just draw them until your brain melts out of your ears. Pay particular attention though to the nose as a 3D object!

It's of course trickier to do than I'm making it out to be but the more you practice at imagining the nose as a 3d physical form the easier it becomes to make a nose model in your mind that you can rotate like a microwave.

This is my personal very very basic understanding of the nose's construction:

it's like three circles and a taco shell.

Okay so now that you've got a basic understanding of the nose's construction, how to put it in the middle of the god-dang face??

So the funky thing about noses is that they tend to change shape the least out of all our facial features when we're making expressions. Our eyes change shape, our mouths move, our eyebrows, our cheeks, our jaws, they all go all over the place. the nose, however, tends to be pretty stationary and doesn't deform much (save in one important way I'll get to later). So because of all this, and here's my biggest piece of advice when it comes to making the nose fit in the face, I like to draw the nose first! I do a very loose head construction, draw the nose, and then sort of "hang" the rest of the features off of it:

Two very different expressions, same nose!

Now when it comes to noses interacting specifically with the eyes the greatest thing to remember is that the part of the nose that sits between the eyes sticks out farther than you might think, and will likely be obscuring one of them, the extent of which depending a lot on the angle and how pronounced the nose bridge is.

for someone with a pretty flat nose bridge you'll be able to see most of the eye except in a more extreme angle, while someone with a protruding ridge might obscure the eye entirely. but the nose will likely be interacting with at least one eye if we're not facing the character head on. Really making your brain think in 3d is gonna most helpful here.

Finally! The nose being expressive! So the main way the nose plays in to expression is by wrinkling. the muscles that pull up your top lip and the muscles that pull down the middle of your forehead are almost all connected to the nose, so the nose tends to develop a lot of wrinkles whenever brows are furrowed or teeth are bared.

Adding those wrinkles can add a lot of impact in the expression! And not just angry ones neither:

Sooooooooooooooo yeah! noses! They're weird and they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and they can do a lot to add character to a face and they can also make you want to tear your hair out in big clumps! I'm still learning myself when it comes to noses (and most other things) and I'm faaaar from a master at it, but I hope I've been able to provide at least a little bit of help. If you do use my advice going forward please let me know! Good luck!!!!! (And here's all my nose "headcanons" for the strawhats. The ones who actually have human noses, anyway):

[eclipixels]

😭 hey i read your isagi works and found it quite humorous if u dont mind can i request smth like if u have seen horimiya s1 u saw how hori was into miyamura becoming rude towards her and she liked it lol kinda weird but like can u pls make smth like that but with the soft characters like isagi, bachira, yukimiya (my bae could never but pls include him) and kunigami plsssssssss

Pathetic

Characters: Yoichi Isagi, Meguru Bachira, Kenyu Yukimiya, Rensuke Kunigami

Content: How they react to overhearing you on the phone saying, “He is sweet, so sweet. But I don’t know, sometimes when he gets a little mean, it’s kinda hot”

Warning: Slight masochism, ooc

Isagi

      His face flushed with heat as he absorbed your words. He knew you relished those moments when he took control and was a little mean. Did you crave even more of that commanding presence? It seemed like there was no harm in exploring further.

      That very day marked the beginning of a gentle experiment. The two of you were nestled on the couch, absorbed in a lively session of FIFA 23. You found yourself underperforming spectacularly, selling so much so that you began to wonder what was happening to your usual skills. Embarrassment crept in as you noticed your consistently poor performance.

      "Y/n, why do you actually suck at this?" he deadpanned.

      "Huh?" you responded, caught off guard by the blunt remark.

      "A potato can play this better," he added with a casual shrug, his honesty cutting through the playful banter.

      "Babe, what the hell," you muttered, a mix of frustration and amusement in your tone.

      "I'm just being honest," he insisted, his expression unrepentant yet mischievous.

      A curious flutter stirred in your stomach.

      Later in the day, he called out to you, inviting you to join him for an activity. Feeling a bit languid, you initially dismissed his call, silently daring him to maintain that teasing attitude.

      "Y/n, don't make me come over," he said, his voice laced with both challenge and amusement. You couldn’t help but laugh softly at his persistent frustration. You heard his footsteps as he came to where you were.

      "The fuck is wrong with you? Don't you hear me calling for you?" he barked, his gaze sharp and tinged with anger. You fell silent under his intense stare. With a shake of his head, he strode over and, without warning, manhandled you back to the bedroom with a firm grip.

      "Brat," he muttered, a mixture of exasperation and affection in his tone. “Listen and do as you're told," He growled, and you couldn’t help the squeal you let out as he threw you onto the bed.

      “Make me, pretty boy.” You teased, hoping he’d take it further and he was about to, but he faltered once he saw your happy cute face. How could he be mean to that?

      “Noooo, come back.” You wrapped your legs around his waist, drawing him in.

      “I feel bad.” He slouched onto you, hiding his face in your chest. He couldn’t keep it up for even a day.

Bachira

      Bachira had always been a little devil in his own right—a whirlwind of playful mischief and irreverence—but when it came to you, he softened into something entirely different. To him, you were his cherished honey bee, the one soul who had managed to capture his elusive heart. In a world that seldom understood him, you were the singular beacon of warmth and acceptance in his life.

      Every afternoon, you would watch him practice, your eyes filled with admiration and a longing to be a part of his world. Slowly, Bachira began to teach you the subtleties of the game. The art of a well-timed pass, the perfect angle for a shot, and the dance of footwork that made him seem almost untouchable. Though you improved with every lesson, you never quite reached his effortless level of mastery.

      Bachira was not one to wound feelings or cast harsh words at you for it, though. So when he overheard snippets of your conversation with a friend, confusion crept into his usually confident demeanor. How could someone ever enjoy being treated unkindly? After all, he had experienced his own share of judgment and odd looks from those who failed to see beyond the surface. The thought of inflicting that same cold treatment on you, his precious honey bee, was unthinkable.

      “Meg, can you teach me?” You asked, walking up to him as he was dribbling on the field.

      “Sure, hun.” He smiled. Okay he was already failing at this, but how could he resist you when you asked so sweetly?

      "Come on, I know you can do better than that," he said, watching as you missed the mark with your kick.

      "I don't know, Meguru," you muttered, frowning.

      "Pathetic," he remarked, and you shot him a surprised look. Wait, why did that kinda…?

      "I know you can do better, so stop acting like you can't," he added, his frown deepening.

      You adjusted your footwork, trying again with a more precise angle.

      "Again," he said, his tone firm. You raised an eyebrow, confused. "Don’t make me repeat myself, wasp."

      You nodded, following his lead, though a strange feeling tugged at his chest. He couldn't deny that part of him enjoyed pushing you, even if the other part felt a twinge of guilt. His monster ego versus his guilty conscience.

      That wasn’t all, though.

      As you strolled casually past him later that day, his hand darted out unexpectedly. He slapped you. On your ass, of course. He thought it was the most fitting spot for such an unconventional gesture. The sound echoed softly in the space between you, and you yelped in surprise. Spinning around, your eyes widened in a mixture of shock and undeniable delight, your cheeks blooming into a blush.

      Bachira, ever perceptive, studied your reaction. In that split second, as your surprise melted into a spark of excitement, his signature grin began to spread across his face.

      “Meg…” you whispered, your voice a blend of desire and joy.

      He tilted his head with a playful arch of his brow. “Yes, hun?” he replied, his tone light yet loaded with an unspoken promise.

      “That was hot,” you confessed.

Yukimiya

      Yukimiya had always been the calm and collected one. He had overheard your phone call earlier with your friend and wasn’t planning to do anything about it. But tonight, he was in a mood, one that didn't quite align with his usual demeanor. You could tell by the way he was glaring at you across the room. So, he didn’t quite feel as bad as he would’ve for the way he was about to treat you.

      It started innocently enough, with you attempting to cheer him up with some snacks from the convenient store. You set the bag down in front of him.

      "What’s this?"

      Your heart sank a little, but you bit your lip, trying to hold back a smile. "I... I thought you'd like it."

      “I do, but I was kind of expecting a meal.” Yukimiya muttered, shoving the bag aside. He stood up, towering over you, his gaze hard and unfeeling.

      You shivered at the sting in his words, feeling a rush of excitement flood through you. You knew what kind of mood he was in now—he was in one of his dominant, mean-spirited phases. And, much to your surprise, it made your heart race.

      "Kenyu..." you whispered, unable to suppress the thrill coursing through your veins.

      "What?" His voice was cold, and his eyes were sharp as he glared at you.

      "You’re not mad at me, are you?" you asked softly, your voice shaking with anticipation.

      “No, I just–” He took off his glasses and rubbed his temples before continuing, “I’m frustrated.”

      “Can I help?” You looked up at him all innocently.

      “I just wanna be left alone.” He grumbled.

      “Are you sure? I can make you—”

      “Did you not hear what I said?” He raised his voice a little, surprising you both. He was about to apologize but he saw the look on your face. You were liking this?

      You swallowed hard, but your pulse quickened. The more he acted like this, the more your body responded. You were into it, the way he could reduce you to nothing more than a trembling mess with just his words, the way he could make you feel both desperate and satisfied at the same time.

      Yukimiya froze, his breath catching in his chest as the reality of the moment hit him. What was he doing? His gaze softened, as he realized what this was between you two. He exhaled slowly.

      “I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice barely audible as he looked at you, regret written across his face.

      “No, no, it’s fine, Kenyu,” you reassured him, stepping closer. “Really. You can take your frustration out on me if you need to.”

      He blinked, clearly caught off guard by your response. “A-are you sure?” His eyes flickered between uncertainty and something deeper, something darker. He hadn’t really thought about that as an option.

      You nodded, a soft smile curving your lips as you met his gaze. “I’m sure. I want you to. Just... let go. Whatever you're feeling, take it out on me.”

      Kenyu took a step forward, his hand lifting as if to touch you, but he hesitated again. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he murmured.

      “You won’t,” you said firmly, your voice steady despite the thrill running through your veins. “I trust you.”

      He let out a shaky breath, clearly struggling with the conflict inside him. After a long pause, his eyes darkened with something unreadable. He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming as he gently gripped your wrist, pulling you toward him.

      “Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he muttered

Kunigami

      Rensuke Kunigami was a man of discipline. He didn’t believe in playing games, and he definitely didn’t waste time on things that didn’t serve a purpose. So when he overheard you on the phone, he didn’t overthink it.

      If that’s what you wanted, he’d deliver.

      But he wasn’t going to fake it, and he definitely wasn’t going to coddle you afterward. Kunigami didn’t do things halfway.

      The shift in his behavior was subtle at first. You noticed it when you were out together, when he stopped softening his words for you.

      “Y/n, stop dragging your feet,” he muttered one afternoon as you strolled beside him, struggling to keep up with his pace.

      “I’m not dragging my feet,” you shot back, slightly out of breath.

      Kunigami barely spared you a glance. “Then why are you so damn slow?”

      Your stomach fluttered at the bluntness of his tone. He had never spoken to you like that before. You bit your lip, resisting the urge to grin.

      Later, at home, it escalated. You were sprawled on the couch, absentmindedly flipping through your phone while he stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his broad chest.

      “You’re wasting time,” he said flatly.

      You blinked up at him. “What?”

      “I’ve been calling you for the last five minutes. Get up.”

      You hesitated, testing the waters. “Or what?”

      Kunigami exhaled through his nose, then strode over to where you lay. Without another word, he grabbed your wrist and pulled you upright with zero effort, dragging you toward the bedroom.

      "Hey!" you yelped, but the rush of excitement shot through you before you could think twice about it.

      He didn’t slow down. “I don’t like repeating myself,” he said simply, his grip firm but controlled. “Next time, move when I tell you to.”

      Your heart was racing now, and you didn’t fight him. You liked this side of him. Kunigami had always been intense, but he had never turned that intensity on you. And now that he had, you felt like you were standing too close to a flame, burning up in the best way possible.

      “M’sorry, Ren.” You responded, and Kunigami melted at your look. Did he go too far?

      Kunigami studied you for a moment, his sharp golden eyes taking in every detail. The way your breath hitched, the way you looked up at him, expectant and eager. He exhaled through his nose again, shaking his head slightly. All of his guilt washed away from your reaction.

      “Yeah whatever. Shut up and do as you’re told.”

      And who were you to disobey?

[remidiy]

We Don't Gatekeep Art Resources | A Comprehensive List

Here's a list of some of the tools/sites I currently use or have used previously for works/studies. I'll separate it into Software/Utility, Reference, and 'Other' which will be just general things that could help you map out things for your experience with art. **[Free highlighted in pink, paid highlighted in green. Blue is variable/both. Prices Listed in USD]**

Software/Utility:

2D

Krita Painting app (PC) (my main digital art software on PC for 5+ yrs)

Clip Studio Paint [PC] [CSP 2.0+ allows for 3d modelling within the painting app and a lot of other cool features] [apparently allows up to 6 months free trial]

Procreate (12.99) [iPad/iPad Pro] (the GOAT)

Artstudio Pro [iPad/iPad Pro] (An alternative to Procreate if you enjoy the more traditional art app layout) -- I find this app handy when Procreate is lacking a feature I need, or vice versa. (you can easily transfer files between the two, but keep in mind Procreate's layer limit)

2D "Collaborative Painting/Drawing apps"

Magma Studio

Drawpile

Discord Whiteboard

Gartic Phone (Pretty decent for 2d animation practice, but has a hard limit on frames)

3D

Blender [3D Modelling, Sculpting + Layout] (PC)

Sculptris [PC] (it's an old unsupported version of Zbrush, but can help to get ideas out, and functions better than browser sculpting apps

Nomad Sculpt [iPad/iPad Pro] ($20) Works pretty well if you prefer a mobile setup, but it is a bit intense on the battery life and takes some getting used to

References + Study

Magic Poser [ PC and Mobile ] Has both free and paid versions, I've made do with just the lite version before

Artpose ($9.99) [Iphone + Steam]

Head Model Studio [IPhone] A 3D head, with both a basic blockout version for angles, and a paid version with more detail

Cubebrush [simply search "[keyword] pose reference pack"], they usually have good results + they frequently have sales!

Line of Action [Good for Gesture practice + daily sketching], also has other resources built in.

Quickposes Similar to Line of action, more geared toward anatomy

Drawabox | Perspective Fundamentals Improvement modules (Suggested by @taffingspy )

Sketchfab, this skull in particular is useful, but there is other models that can help you study anatomy as well.

Pinterest can be good, you just have to be careful, usually you're better off just finding reference pack if you have the money, sometimes certain creators have freebies as well

Artstation Marketplace can be decent [make sure to turn on the Aye-Eye filter so it doesn't feed you trash], a colleague of mine recommended this head model for practicing facial blocking, there is also this free version without lighting.

Local Art Museums [Unironically good for studying old "master work" if you're into that, or even just getting some inspiration]

Brushes + Other Useful software:

I personally have used both of these brush packs before making my own

(I actually don't know how to share my daily brush set because I frequently switch between Krita, Procreate, and ASP, but once I figure that out I'll be sure to do that lol)

Marc Brunet's Starter brush pack [Technically free but supporting him for this if you like it is ideal, there's some good brushes]

Dave Greco Brush Pack [$3]

Gumroad in general is a good place to find brushes and art resources. *Note; for Krita specifically, brush packs are a bit weird, so it may require you to find different packs, or import them in a particular way

PureRef [PC] - Reference Compiler/Moodboarding

VizRef ($3.99) [iPad] - Moodboarding/Reference Compiler

Artist Youtubers/Creators that helped me improve/guide me along as a self-taught artist from when I first started digital art to where I am today:

Proko

Marco Bucci

Sinix Design

Sycra

Hardy Fowler

Lighting Mentor

Winged Canvas

Moderndayjames

Swatches

Chommang_drawing

Marc Brunet (YTartschool)

+ Observing a lot of speedpaint art by people whose work I enjoy on social media/youtube, trying to dissect their processes

If you've gotten this far, first of all, congrats, you can read a lot, and second of all, thank you for reading and I hope this helps! I'll continue to come back and update this if I find any new resources in the future, or if my processes change :)

Much Love,

-Remidiy

[h0n3ym00n333]

for someone interesting in learning ancient greek, what would u recommend to start with :) ? tips and tricks? thank U!

how exciting that you want to learn ancient greek!! it’s a challenging but oh so rewarding language to learn :) i’ve put together a mini guide on how i would approach learning ancient greek for the first time, hope it helps! <3

mini guide to ancient greek ౨ৎ

✩ the most important thing to start out with is learning the alphabet. get familiar with how each letter looks (both lowercase and capitalised), its name and how it’s pronounced. practice writing the letters of the alphabet several times until it feels natural (especially lowercase letters, since these differ the most from our own).

when it comes to writing, i like to think of a specific line written by greek grammarian Dionysios Thrax, that goes something like this (loosely translated): “Pythagoras strove to appreciate the beauty of letters, drawing each stroke with a geometric symmetry of angles and curves and lines”. it is my goal to write in ancient greek with as much love and care as Pythagoras did. romanticising it in this way makes the process even more enjoyable!

✩ once you have the alphabet down, i would recommend learning about so called breathing marks - little characters that show whether or not there is an h-sound at the start of a word. example: ἡρως (hero) - that tiny c-shaped character above the first letter indicates the presence of an h-sound. i wouldn’t worry too much about the other types of ancient greek accents when you’re a beginner.

✩ after all of this, i’d start to dive into some basic ancient greek grammar, as well as learning a couple of common words to start building my vocabulary. try to learn more and more words as you progress, and focus on the most commonly used ones. i could keep writing in excruciating detail about each aspect of learning ancient greek, but this reply is already very long so i’m going to try to wrap it up lol.

✩ just a final tip: remember that ancient greek is a complex language, but don’t let this intimidate you - let it inspire you! there is a whole new world for you to discover! and it can feel comforting to know that everyone who studies ancient greek finds it challenging sometimes :) with time you will notice your improvement and feel so proud of yourself. the key is to simply keep practicing, and to have fun with it! write your own name in ancient greek and admire how beautiful it looks, read texts in ancient greek out loud even though you can’t understand most of it… it’s all about giving yourself time and practice.

i am still a beginner myself and have much to learn, but these are some of the tips i would give to somebody who’s just starting out. let me know if you have any other questions about ancient greek, my study methods or even general questions about uni life! i’m happy to answer it all to the best of my abilities. good luck <3

yours,

S

[buf309]

Pose Reference Resources

I promised Dia (aka aerequets) that I will make a collection of pose references in the reply of one of her art posts, and then I completely forgot about it. Until now. I'm sorry for my bad memory.

So, yeah, better late than never I guess?

The pose collection I use the most is no longer free. They used to let you download a whole album (more than 8GB worth of data) to use offline, but now you have to pay $40/package or $200 for full sets. I still have the zip file for a very old version of theirs, but I can't legally share it. So, let's skip to the other options.

1/ First, you heard of those 3D dolls program that let you model your own reference pose? This one is an online one and for free, the whole ordeal. Of course since it's online and free, you can't save your model for next time, and it costs quite a lot of time to set the model up. So, you should take as much screenshots in as many tricky angles as you need once you done with the setting. Best using for complicated scenes where those below don't have what you need already available.

2/ This one is free and in 3D, you can rotate the model to any angle that you need. The only set back is the numbers of poses are quite limited. This one is best for using as a basic blocks then build up what you want to draw, or just as a practice to improve your understanding of human anatomy.

3/ This one is free for personal uses and the pose collection is massive. The setbacks are the language barrier (it's in Japanese, English is sometimes tag-a-long) and you have to search through their pages for what you need. The pics for each pose is static but they are in different angle in almost 360 degrees. There are many 2-person and 3-person poses too. Great for illustration inspiration.

4/ This one will only show reference photos of human head, at whatever angle you rotate the model. The web interface is easy to use. There are options like searching based on gender, ages, emotions, glasses, facial hair or not, etc. Good for practicing face drawing.

5/ This one will show reference photos for human body parts, at whatever angle you rotate the model, read the instructions for how to do it. The web interface is quite hard to use at first, just tinkering around for a bit, and you will be fine. There are options like searching based on gender and which particular parts that you need refs for. Good for that moment when you go "huh? how is this <body part> will look in this <situation>????"

6/ This one will only show reference photos of animal heads, and only the head, at whatever angle you rotate the model. The accurate skull refencence list is their best point. There are enough common species in the drop down list. Tbh, I don't use this much because I often need refs for the whole animal most of the time. But it's best for furry artists, I guess?

7/ Real model photos. They sell pose reference in themed packs, but there are enough free packs to use as drawing practice too.

8/ This is the best for general background reference. Lots of options. Not really good for very specific location results, but good for random background in drawings.

9/ Lastly, for specific objects or background references at strange angles, I often search for 3D models on this site then take screenshots of whatever I need.

That's all, folks. Hope this list can help ease some of the struggles that we will encounter on our quest of learning the art of drawing things 😂

[scimagic]

Any tips for artist tryna improve their art? Love ur art and would love to some tips and tricks of yours! ^^

BOOHOO;; THANK YOU!! THAT'S SUCH A NICE COMPLIMENT TO ME;; Like what do you mean you like what I do enough that you want to hear some tips from me!! DON'T MAKE ME CRY FHDJKSA

I really really tried to make things short for you but I don't think I was very successful dkhkdh but I hope you find them useful!! <3

Tracing (not the stealing kind):

Tracing is not bad when it's used to study, some of my college assignments were copying renaissance artists' sketches! Hell, when I was a kid I used to trace Undertale fanart I liked and look where I'm at fhjkads

When you study other people's styles, you can actually gather a lot of information like line weight or proportions, colors, even stylization. So get your favorite artists' pieces and really look at them for a long time, draw them, then apply what you learn into your own art. Just be careful to not steal or claim something as your own!

Focus on one area at a time:

Now you have to chose one area to practice on. You could tackle on many at a time but I find it easier to pinpoint what I would like to do first and then move on to the next thing.

There's a lot of subjects you can go into like anatomy, rendering, backgrounds, but you just have to find one area in them and get a lot of references.

For anatomy you can go into: muscle movement, figure drawing, body parts in different angles.

Rendering: Shading, lighting, color theory.

Backgrounds: Point perspective, different camera angles, landscapes or detailed room scenes.

Don't overwhelm yourself either! Take one thing at a time!

Dear god get a reference board:

Pinterest really helped me find styles I wanted to study and anatomy tips to incorporate in my art. It really relates to my first point but having an actual compilation of how things look next to you really helps. It also helps keeping them organized like so:

Do The Thing™️ anyway:

I know it's repetitive but it genuinely works you have to trust me, practice does make progress. Stop letting fear hold you back on compositions you think are great or believe you don't have "enough skills yet" to work on them. You will never get enough skills if you don't try.

My college classes forced me to pick up watercolors and paint backgrounds and I learned a lot just from trying it out. Make mistakes!! Have fun! That's how you truly improve on your skills!

Be patient and loving with yourself (and your art!):

I cannot stress enough how important it is to love your art in order to grow. You NEED to learn how to be patient with your art AND your journey because it will never compare to anyone's!! Art is not a competition nor a race, it's a medium to express yourself through a process you like. That's why there's millions of art styles and why each of them cater to a different audience!

Once you do, you can actually ask important questions like "Did I like the process? What can I improve on next time? What's something I liked I want to continue incorporating into my art?", and it helps with self esteem too.

And last but not least:

Have fun!!

Art is a journey of self-discovery, it's not meant to be something that weighs you down or makes you feel bad when you're not working on it. Take constant breaks! No matter how short or how long! If you get tired or incredibly frustrated at it, then it's probably best you take a break from it!

Thank you for listening and supporting me!! I love you!!

[whoslinger]

I just became a part of the rdr fandom, and just started to follow you recently as well, but still you’ve really inspired me. I adore your characters, rendering, and style, genuinely amazed. I want to improve upon my own and was wondering if you had any studies you might suggest so that I can one day reach your level of skill.

Welcome to the yeehaw madness! It makes me so happy to hear that akjdkajdksjds, thank you so so so much!

As for studies, what worked for me was to grab any reference I liked the most and drawing it. Draw anything that catches your eye, don't worry about making it perfect at first, just draw. Draw every day, even if just a small doodle, seriously, drawing every single day helped me improve like crazy in less than a year. (I don't mean this obsessively, I mean like, whenever you have time, doodle somethin').

And to feel more comfortable with anatomy, there's a website called "posemaniacs", it's awesome to learn muscle anatomy from any angle (you can rotate the models around). It might be a little boring, but try to imagine you're drawing your favourite character in a different angle or pose, it becomes more interesting.

I think the best tip I can give is that don't limit yourself, as in, don't feel like you CANT draw something because it feels too complex or hard or whatever. It might be harder than what you're used to draw, but just give it a try. This helped me a LOT, like, if I was scared of drawing hands because it was "beyond" my skills, I just went and doodled them. Even if they looked weird, crooked, funky, the fact I gave it a try made my next attempts a little easier.

So like, when you're practicing, every attempt is important, no matter how it looks.

For colours, i suggest studying values first, if you get the hang of them, you can paint with literally any colours and it'll look good. You can try finding a reference with colours you like and then try to paint it in grey scale. And then do the opposite.

Aaaaand for some resources I think are nice and might help, the website "line of action" is great too to help loosen up with anatomy of all sorts of body types and sizes and heights. It also has animals, hands, expressions, it's real good.

Google also has a gigantic library of art from artists of ALL COUNTRIES, and you can download them full resolution too (and it's a great source of references if you're sick of AI stuff on Pinterest), you can find that by googling "Wikipedia Google art project" and clicking the first result, and then clicking "Google art project works by artist".

If you do digital art, you can find brushes on gumroad, some artists offer AWESOME packs in there for free.

I might add more stuff here as I remember, right now this is all I can think of.

I'M SO SORRY THIS IS HUGE, and sorry if the English sucks, I don't speak this darn thing.

[whiteraven90]

hello, I hope you're having a good day <33 I saw your recent post on my dash and I was STUNNED at the animated scene! It's insane to me I get to see your characters animated. Feeling blessed to be alive to see it, I am not exaggerating. You know, one of these times where you wake up and things are a little bumpy in your life but there's one thing that shines brightly you didn't know it could give you so much excitement? Yeah, that kind of thing ((:

I took my time for the past hour to reminisce over your blog again. It is one of the places I really love scrolling through and reading your writing. I had a question, if you don't mind me. The way you have improved is truly admirable. I know this might not be an easy ask to say "hey, how did you learn how to paint", so I'll ask this instead: I don't know how long you've been working full-time in art, but when do you make time for studies / drawing for fun? If it's not too much to respond to, how do *you* study? I remembered your posts with your redlines and wanted to ask how do you go about those, or if you switch your routines based on your needs (sketches vs speed painting backgrounds etc). The notes there were very interesting, seeing the mental exercise.

Pretty sure you have a fKTON of stuff on your plate, so please don't feel obligated to respond quickly or even at all. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my message and for all the time you take to respond in general. Love reading your responses <3

Take care, ok? <3

I'm glad the animation made you feel better! I'll put the answer under the Keep Reading thingy.

I'm not entirely sure... I think I don't study as much as I should/could. I mostly learn as I go. Standalone studies are helpful, I'm just drawn to doing things that are more fun/satisfying to me or things that actively progress my creative goals. Imperfect illustrations for my stories, and incomplete research for worldbuilding! Many people learn faster than I, and those people do a lot more studies than I, but I have no info on whether they have more fun than I. Dopamine is rocket fuel, so it's important. :)

I'm always on the lookout for reference pictures, but I study almost only when I have a practical goal in mind, I guess. Studying is part of my job too, I think? As an indie concept artist I'm supposed to build a hoard of references and pull several new/sensible things out of them, and I think part of this process is understanding the material, and revisiting even what I already know. Illustration is similar. If I'm commissioned to draw an anthro alligator, it's time to study gators. It's not separate from work.

I mean, straightforward version: I wake up at 03:30, make coffee, and start working for myself until the paying work starts, lol. Brain is fresh before noon, and tired late in the evening just like everyone else's. It also helps that the city more or less shuts up at 4am.

The studies with the redlines... I do them when I fancy drawing characters or creatures but feel out of shape. I can get discouraged, feel like I forgot how to draw. I sketch if I plan to sketch, and paint if I plan to paint or want to study colors Drawing live models helps. Studying videos of people and things in motion. Hopping down rabbit holes about how/why things work (e.g. flintlock, Davy lamp, mansard roof). Drawing from refs. Hoarding refs. Trying different mediums (e.g. charcoal, 3D, etching). Small screenshot of one of my ref boards for the animation; I'd say I studied it a lot. How clothes move, what are good clothes, how do good clothes move, lion/tiger + human + eagle anatomy (from specific angles during specific motions if/when possible), how to dive roll, proper sprinting form, how to survive falling from a great height, spearfighting, pole vaulting, poledancing, lighting, colors, environment, kicked-up sand in motion, spear types, emu/cassowary/griffon vulture feet, etc. I didn't draw studies, unless you count the animation itself (I would).

[thefaiao]

Hi, firstly I just wanted to say that I love your art, especially with the way you use dynamism and angles in character sketches. It's really beautiful and I always look forward to seeing more black and white pieces from you.

I just wanted to ask, as a beginner artist whose been drawing on and off from 2017 onwards and hasn't seen much improvement, are there any resources or books you would recommend for someone still trying to grasp form and shape? Especially in creating 3d forms with line? I'd love to be able to draw characters in a similar way that you do but my cubes and cones never seem to come out correctly and humanoid shapes are even tougher. Thanks again for sharing your art.

Hello! Thank you very much for the compliments. Up until somewhat recently the B&W pieces were my favorite things to draw, so I get you. I did fall in love with coloring eventually though.

Alright, there are lots of things that can be done. I have had some classical training, and done human figure studies live, but honestly not nearly as much as I probably should have. You definitely should still do figure study as much as possible, especially in person. I'm just prefacing to say it may not get you to draw the way I draw I suppose, as its only part of what I've done to improve my drawing ability.

There are a few good resources to start with, notably the Loomis method, which a lot of artists use as a base. That's how you should use it too, ideally. It's not about copying his work exactly, it's about understanding just how the human body is proportioned, and adapting it from there. It doesn't have to define your thinking, it's just a good guideline. It's possible to structure a body quite differently than Loomis (and there are many many books for that), but the truth, which is, the proportions of the human body, is still there in all mindsets. Once you understand that, you can understand the reason for each approach, and even forego them to express something more unique, abstract and visceral.

The biggest thing you should do though, is always be observing the world around you, both online and offline. Figure studies are nice but they remove one of the most important things, and that is context. I find that people who will use those large libraries from people who pose professionally with bows and swords and the like will often draw technically impressive images, but they still feel like a fake pose. It doesn't feel like the person is holding onto the weapon like their life depended on it, or like they have a relationship with the object, that they pose and move in a certain way that reflects their personality. Live study with strangers helps rectify this somewhat.

Online you should also be following lots and lots of different artists! Don't limit yourself, pay attention to how they construct their drawings, how they go about things. It's important you follow a lot of people, see how they evolve. They are not only a point in time, they are also learning and evolving just like you. It's especially good if you can have artists friends to draw and share stuff with. I have a deep-seated belief that we draw art for others, to express ourselves to them, so they need to see it.

It may sound weird for me to say if you want to draw like me try to draw unlike me, but I'm just saying what I've done. I follow a lot of people and draw from a lot of places. Ultimately the main appeal of my forms is their dynamism and volume as you've said, but it's good to be versatile so you can always explore new avenues!

Now, you've done all these things, you are practicing them constantly. Now is the most important part. Keep drawing!!! Just keep drawing no matter what, no matter how bad you think it looks. You have to believe you have something to say, to express, no matter what. You say you haven't improved, but I don't believe you! Maybe you are faster, maybe your technique is better, maybe you have better habits, maybe you are a little more patient. There are a million ways to improve which don't even appear in the image. You have to keep drawing, NO MATTER WHAT!!! You have to believe you were born to do this and you will do it well, don't worry about what others think.

I can only draw such dynamic forms because I have kept drawing and masticating and elaborating this idea that is called my style. When you are drawing you are developing your own little language, and only when you are fluent you can start writing good books with it. Being fluent will take many years, you must accept that. If you take breaks, take breaks so you can keep drawing later. Take care of your health so you can keep drawing. You will only get to see your drawings become beautiful if you live long. To live a long and healthy life is to keep drawing.

That is my ultimate advice really, let that frustration build up, but keep drawing anyway. You will force yourself to find solutions to release that frustration as you do so, and improve. Maybe it's simple, but it's the only thing that is true no matter what. Don't worry about AI or whatever, none of that matters. Just keep drawing!

[ephemii]

I absolutely ADORE your art style!! I've really wanted to draw my own twst OC, but I can't draw, and I'm trying to learn how. Do you have any tips on how to get started or any anatomy bases that I can try to learn? No pressure! Have a great day!!

hello! Thank you so much for the kind words! 🩷

And as for your question, I'll try my best to explain, as I don't really have the time or resources to give a visual explanation. I hope that's alright! ^^;

as a basis I would suggest you start from the very basics in order to be able to get the hang of anatomy. A good way to do that is by practicing how to draw mainly cubes and cylinders in different angles. You'll also find many tutorials or free websites from esteemed artists that teach you how to add flexibility to these otherwise static shapes, like how to draw a 3d rectangle as if it was twisting— which you will then be able to translate into a person's torso later on!

References are also important, obviously. You can go to websites like Line Of Action or Bodies In Motion for dynamic poses, or even just search on Pinterest for some poses to practice with. Break down the bodies into simple 3d shapes atop each other, practicing on how to angle them or implement them into the line of action needed to draw whatever pose you want (the line of action being a dynamic line that helps you determine the movement of the body and the flow of the captured motion iydk)

You will need to practice with this a lot until you gain the confidence to exaggerate the movement and master how to make the flow of movement look natural and dynamic, the confidence in your lines will improve with time as well. Another suggestion is also seeing archives from animation studios like Disney or gobelins to see what their sketches look like and imitating them to get a good idea on how their lines were drawn— the facial expressions and their exaggerations will also help you gain a primary idea of how expressions can be presented, and in the future you can make it more natural if you'd like, depending on your preference.

Aside from that, the internet also has no shortage of tutorial videos on art basics and anatomy tips— just know what to watch first so that you don't stress yourself out on things you still haven't mastered :) (let it be known that "mastered" doesn't necessarily mean that it has to be art museum levels of perfection— what's important is what you are comfortable with and consider to be your favored result or style) :]

I wish I could have given a more in-depth advice, but I'm self taught and half of the things I picked up or learned were from more than a decade of practice and under my belt,, I pretty much grew up on the internet, so i would always try and copy drawings that I really liked so I can try to the best of my abilities to reach their level, and the more I practiced, the more the basic idea gets fixed in my mind, and I can implement it in a different way in my own original drawings!

I'm still personally re-learning drawing basics as I'm now in my first year of fine arts, so even I have some room for improvement. It's very cliche of me to say, but the more you practice and the more resources you look into, the more opportunities you will have for improvement and learning :)

[cokoweee]

okay, I've been following your account and loving your art since the Mikey vape comic days-- probably about a year or so now? and. holy shit. your art improvement has been absolutely INSANE.

can I ask if there was anything specific you did to improve so much and so quickly? was it, like, a quantity thing-- just drawing a TON very rapidly, doing lots of little sketches, going insane over an au and knocking out like thirty comic panels in a few days, etc etc-- or a quality thing, like doing a lot of specific studies in anatomy and environment or genuinely practicing at some particular skill? I feel like I've been very stuck in terms of improving my art lately, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to get myself out of the rut. Just curious to know how it's worked out for you!

if you have any specific advice for how to improve in making comics, that would be super helpful too. i feel like you're very good at posing/rough anatomy (as in, you draw forms from a lot of different angles and with very slight variations that really sell the poses for me), and that's something I would LOVE to get better at. also, the way you draw environments!! i've never been good at background or situating characters in a particular frame, but it always looks so natural whenever I'm reading your comics-- the layouts make sense, they're never under or over detailed, they feel appropriately cluttered or clean, etc etc. Any advice for something like that? or, more relevantly, any recommendations on how to get better at something like that?

thanks! love your work <33

I’m still not here

Uhhh I didn’t do anything real fancy? I looked at a lot of homies art along with actually using references for bodies to understand them better. Not entirely sure what I did other than I draw a LOT

I spend any minute I have at work and home pretty much drawing. It’s actually a lil unhealthy with how much I do. I ignore what my body wants/needs 90% of the time

Uhmmm read some comics. Use references? Oh I stopped using a pencil so much which somehow works?

I know you u want like an actual answer but I’m pretty terrible at that. Best I got is just expand ur noggin on stuff. Use references, read different kind of comics and get a feel of them. Chomp out the things you like. Be goofy with what u doodle even if it don’t look right.

Don’t try to make a masterpiece every time. It’s okay to be a lil sloppy

[crumplstiltskin]

Big fan of all ur art☝️☝️i just wanted to know how you approach anatomy? Like with poses and just general shapes? Have a good day :D

hii thank you so much! i’m happy to hear that ☺️

this is kind of a broad question for me to answer but personally, using a lot of photography as references and practicing observational drawing helps me a lot. i’m not picky about what pose i practice with as long as it’s dynamic or helps me understand how muscles, skin, and clothes look in different angles. my goal is always for my work to look organic and natural, and not stiff! i can always always improve on that.

breaking things down in shapes can help a lot if you get stuck but you have to study what they look like in the first place. it’s like cooking a recipe. if you don’t know what it’s supposed to taste like, you’ll never get it right, even if some variation (within reason unless you’re trying to make it unnatural) is to be expected. but that’s the charm i guess.

i’m rambling a bit! but circling back to my first point; when it comes to picking poses, i do my best work when i’m making comics i think. because the dialogue and interactions already give you a place to start, like i’m capturing a moment. and those are the most fun to draw 🙂‍↕️ i think about the characters’ personality, how they would move, or express themselves, etc. so really…the character should be the one that determines most things for me.

i’m sorry for such a long reply…i tend to get sidetracked…but i hope you found the answer you were looking for. if not, feel free to send another!

[lynxgriffin]

Sorry to bother you again but do you have any tips on improving my art?

I always imagine stories that I can't animate or draw because I'm not skilled enough and I always feel discouraged.

Thanks!

There's a couple of different things you can do, depending on what angle you think suits you best! Although the truth behind all of them is that the way to improve your art is to do it, and just to keep doing it. Time and practice will always get you closer to where you want to be!

If there's something specific that you feel needs improving, spend a few weeks focusing just on that. Whether it's something like faces, hands, expressions, backgrounds, values/grayscale, or what have you, actually buckling down and studying just that thing for awhile can help you take a big step forward with it. The downside is that it can become tedious, and requires a lot of actual study and focus, which can be hard to maintain on your own.

If there's not anything in particular you want to improve, honestly just doing a completed comic or animation project (especially a short one) from beginning to end will help a lot. Doing any kind of sequential art forces you to tackle a lot of different things at once, but also teaches you how to handle them all, and to do so coherently. Even finishing a five-page comic or a 10-second animation can do wonders for the next thing you do!

If what you're worried about is how people will perceive your art, especially online or with social media, remove that aspect from it and just make something you don't plan on sharing. It can be very freeing to make something for just yourself, and can help lessen any discouragement you may feel.

When in doubt, you can always go back to the well...see comics or animation that inspire you, since for me that's often a good kick in the pants to want to try and create myself. Instead of comparing yourself, see it as a sort of thing where you go, "That looks really fun! I want to have fun, too!"

Hope that helps, and good luck!

[ssalballoon]

i wanna get better at art but dont know how to start ^^' whats a good way to get into studying anatomy and improving as an artist? tysm 💗 love your art soso much

more art converts 😼 yay!!

i think these asks were sent by different people but they're pretty related + a lot of my advice is the same! so i'll answer these together under the cut (it's so long oh gosh)

ok first of all i'm very flattered that people are asking me for art advice but i'm really not the most equipped person to ask TTOTT I've never been deliberately studious with my art so I feel bad offering advice when I've mostly gotten by with just drawing fanart and ocs a lot... my rate of improvement has therefore been slow, but I've still had an enjoyable learning experience so perhaps from that angle my input may help! i'll mainly refer you to external resources that have helped me

For anatomy + drawing humans:

1) I know I'm not diligent enough to sit down and study muscles, so instead I make it more enjoyable by drawing my favorite characters in a pose that targets the muscles I want to practice! (i default to drawing ppl naked because of this lol) This isn't the most efficient, but it serves as good motivation to get practice in. (honestly a lot of my general art advice has the undercurrent of becoming so obsessed with characters to drive your motivation to draw even when artblocked/ struggling with doubts!)

2) I want to refer you to Sinix's Anatomy playlist! Although Sinix focuses more on digital painting, he gives simplified anatomy breakdowns that include how muscles change shape under different movements/poses, which is crucial for natural human posing. the static anatomy diagrams from Google don't really help for that

3) What's just as important as anatomy is gestures! (especially important if you're used to drawing non-human objects I think!) Making figures look like they have flow to them will sell the "naturalness"(?) to your anatomy. If you have in person life drawing sessions accessible near you I'd recommend trying those out, or if you prefer trying it digitally there's this website!

This helps you not only get a sense of human proportions, but also natural posing! I'd limit the time taken to draw the poses from like 10 seconds to 1 minute(?) for quick gestures, and maybe 1 minute to 5mins(for now!! typically they go much longer) to study human proportions. I'd say don't spend a lot of time on them, repetition is more important!

4) I've also picked up on useful anatomy tidbits from artists online! Looking at how practiced/ professional artists stylize a body helps me focus on what the essential details are to convey a particular form (looking up "human muscles" and being hit with anatomy diagrams full of all the smallest details can be overwhelming! what do you even focus on?! so these educated simplifications really help me) Like Emilio Dekure's work! Look how simplified these figures are, and yet contain all the essential information to convey the sense of accurate form (even though it's highly exaggerated!)

(shamefully admits I've never studied from actual anatomy books so I can't recommend anything in that sense TTOTT)

For general improvement:

1) I highly recommend Sinix's Design Theory playlist and Paintover Pals! (+ his channel in general) You don't have to put them immediately into practice, but I think these are good fundamental lessons to just listen to and have them in the back of your mind to revisit another day. Plus these videos are just fun and very approachable! Design theory fundamentals are essential to creating appeal and directing a viewer's attention, and critiquing others' work/ seeing his suggestions are a good way to practice noticing areas of improvement+ solutions yourself!

2) If you prefer a more formal teaching resource, the Drawabox YouTube course covers all the basic fundamentals of drawing in short lessons. But honestly if I were starting out, this would be a little intimidating for me (and even now it still is! I haven't done all of them) But even if you don't watch them, the titles should give you an idea of the basic concepts that are valuable to pick up. I think it would be nice to keep in mind and revisit once in a while as you learn!

(One lesson I do encourage you to watch is the line control one! A confident continuous line conveys motion and flow much better compared to discontinuous frayed lines which I think is good to practice early by drawing from the wrist and shoulder)

3) As a universal piece of advice: Please please please use references! Use a reference for literally everything, observing is how we learn! You'll find that a lot of things you thought you knew what they looked like are inaccurate by memory alone. Also, trace! This is solely for your practice, tracing then freehanding has helped me grasp proportions when I was struggling! (of course don't post these online if you traced from art)

I've found that being able to compile references into easy to access boards has been very helpful in encouraging me to use references more. For PC, I think they use PureRef (free/pay what you want), and for iPad I use VizRef. VizRef is a one time purchase (which was definitely worth the $3.99 USD price imo)

4) On that note, try building up the habit to observe from media + real life and make purposeful comments about what you see! Like hey, when I bend my knee, the muscles/fat in my thighs and calves bulge outwards, I should draw that next time. Purposeful observation carries over to your overall visual library, and it's a little thing that adds up over time

5) For motivation, get into media you really enjoy, or make your own characters! The way I started art more seriously was by drawing fanart + OCs from anime that I liked ^^ For OCs it really encourages you to draw more because you're the primary creator of their art! Also you gotta see a lot of good art to make good art! Watching visually appealing media (like animation with appealing stylization/simplification) can passively help you learn just by observation.

ok wow I could go on but this is already a lot of information TTOTT my main aim for this reply is basically: don't let anything discourage you from learning to draw!! drawing is so fun and brings me a lot of joy ^^ practicing often will of course help you improve, and the way to incentivize that is by having fun with it! i hope this could help!💞

[spacedlexi]

how do you improve on capturing the essences of characters in fanart? like your twdg fanart looks SO good. but when i try to draw fanart of the characters i end up with something that looks nothing like them. any advice?

hmmmm ive never articulated this so hopefully i can answer this well enough

most importantly i did studies of them. and by studying i mean really paying attention to and breaking down the shapes AND proportions of their faces. both are equally important to capturing someones likeness. its why i did this lineup. just really breaking them down

ask yourself what features make this character identifiable. what makes them look like Them? aside from their shapes, its usually in the proportions of features relative to each other (size of chin/distance of eyes/width and height of nose/features relative to the size of the face/stuff like that). knowing proportion rules will help you here (distance between eyes=one eye length=width of nose. corners of mouth line up between inner and center of eyes. ear length between bottom of nose and center/tops of eyes (theres a lot of rules but these are the ones i consider most)). even if a character has close features they will still averagely be in proportion to each other and same goes for a character with wide features. let the rules guide your eye

when i draw a character i usually start by drawing the shape of the head First (i also do this when doing regular portrait studies). then add the features. it helps to keep things in proportion when you know your boundaries

when i break down the shape of the head i pay attention to these areas: forehead to cheekbones, cheekbones to jaw, jaw to chin. also cheekbones to upper lip if im drawing them from an angle. is their structure rounder and softer or harder and angular? a wide jaw or a small one? wide chin small chin? lower cheekbones higher cheekbones/general prominence? long head or short head?

then i worry about the features themselves. aside from using rules to plot them, this is where shape become important again in capturing their likeness. clem and aj both have larger eyes but weighted differently (clem rounder on the outside. aj rounder on the inside). louis' are more almond shaped. violets more hooded. are the eyebrows thinner or thicker? do they have shape? (clems have a triangulation to them (specifically S1-3) but violets are more simple lines. louis' are thicker and taper off. aj's are pretty small and not too thick). shape of the nose? shape of the mouth? the lips? are they fuller or thinner? wide? pout?

another thing for likeness when drawing characters like.. Actually Living is to consider what emotions drive their reactions/expressions. characters express feelings differently. how does this character express anger? sadness? happiness? are they more open with their feelings or reserved? are they unimpressed? do they get shy? what embarrasses them? what excites them? are they mischievous or more serious? its about the overall behavior of the character and the cumulative average of their emotional reactions to create a sort of baseline to work from (does this make sense? 😭)

UUHHH.. im sure theres more i could say but thats the gist of it. just takes time and practice. use references!! dont be afraid to trace them either if youre stumped itll help 💕