#sharpie on notebook paper. what a combo

[florenceisfalling]

the most scrungly harlow to ever exist from one billion years ago

[magma-paint]

Tutorial Tuesdays--Getting Started

Tutorial Tuesdays is a new block on my blog in which I give art advice and tutorials for anyone looking to improve their art. But before we get into the good stuff, a quick obligatory background.

I know it’s tempting to look at my art and the art of people you look up to and come to the conclusion you’ll never get to that level no matter how hard you try, but it is possible to get to that level. You just gotta practice regularly and before you know it you’ll have it down-pat.

These posts will be pretty long, so to save Dashboard space, I’ll put the meat of things under a Keep Reading link so you can visit them in full. Alright, with that out of the way, are ya ready kids? Let’s go get some art tools!

I only say this because I’ve seen people make fantastic things with very limited materials and people with some of the finest tools but don’t use them to their full capacity. Again, it’s not what you use, but how you use it. When I talk about art tools, I’m mostly going off of what I use since those are the tools I’ve worked with a lot.

Pencils. Your most basic writing and drawing tool. For sketching and drawing, I use a 0.7 mm mechanical pencil with a good eraser. It’s quick, it’s convenient, and I often stick it in my ponytail when I’m not using it so I have easy access to it. They’re also pretty cheap. For commissions and grayscale shading, I use drawing pencils that come in various hardnesses. The hardness of your pencil will be noted by a number and a letter. A pencil with an H stamped on it will be harder, won’t smudge very easily, and has a very light load when the graphite is on the paper. A pencil stamped with a B will be softer, smudges very easily, and has a darker streak on the paper. The number on the pencil following the letter lets you know how hard or soft it is (4H is a very hard pencil, 8B is a very soft pencil). Your typical No. 2 pencils from school are in the HB category, which is middle of the road. You can find them individually at art stores or in packs. Walmart in my town offers a package of 6 drawing pencils bundled with two animation colored pencils, two markers, and an eraser for about $9. Pretty good deal. Speaking of...

Erasers. A pink rubber eraser will do you just fine, though make sure your pencil has a nice one on it for finer details and while you’re drawing. You can use a kneadable eraser if you have one, they’re squishy, you can mold them to how you see fit and they don’t leave any crumbs to clean up, but I’m not quite fond of them.

Markers and ink pens. Let me tell you, once you use a pen like one of these, you’ll never go back to ballpoint, which often has far too many broken lines to be practical to use and make your lineart look like trash. I use a Fine Tip Sharpie Pen, preferably in the no-bleed variety so the lineart doesn’t sink into the opposite side of the page. Recently I’ve been using Brush and Bullet tip Prismacolor Scholar markers for comics and good drawings. They’re a bit erratic to use at first, but it takes practice.

Colored pencils. Now these are my go-to for coloring since they give a wide range of color, combinations, and effects. For best results, I stick with Crayola or Cra-Z Art since the color tend to remain consistent from box to box and you can get a big box of them for a pretty good price. Prismacolors would be nice, but they’re pretty expensive and I don’t quite like the feel.

Sharpeners. Electric ones you can just keep at home, but for on the go I recommend a small manual one you can throw in your bag. Bonus if you get one that has a shavings catch so you don’t have shavings making a mess of your space.

Ruler/straight edge. You’ll want one of these for comic panels, perspective guidelines, and, well, straight lines, though in some cases you might want to practice making straight lines without the use of it. I use a metal one, but a plastic will do you good as well.

And now, the most important thing of all, your drawing canvas!

For starters, I recommend you get yourself a good sketchbook. Nothing too fancy, just one of those spiral-bound ones ideal for sketching. For your really good art, copy paper will work just fine. Really any kind of paper (or even cardboard!) will work but I implore you to avoid using loose-leaf notebook paper. I cannot tell you how much it hurts to see something so beautifully drawn wasted on lined paper. Not saying you can’t doodle in your notebook and show off something silly you sketched, but if you’d count a drawing as your magnum opus, your drawing probably deserved being on blank paper where it can shine.

I was considering making this an entry for Digital Art tutorials, but I’ll put these here just in case.

I do a lot of digital art using my HP laptop built with a touch screen. It can’t stream for sh1t but it runs single player Steam games alright and I use it for homework a lot. Before this, I had a desktop computer and used a mouse. I would like to own a Wacom tablet in the future, but until then this setup is nice enough. Remember, it’s about how you use your tools, not the quality of tools at your disposal.

Now this is a scanner that’s used only for pictures/documents. You can’t print or fax anything with it, but it’s good for just pictures. I own an HP printer/scanner combo, but it is pretty finicky and no longer prints. Alternately, you can just use your cell-phone camera to take pictures of your finished piece, but I do not recommend doing so for comics unless you’re giving previews of one panel.

For my programs, these are the three that I use:

Good for doodles, already on your computer (probably), and I use this program to make authentic looking Homestuck drawings (like, you could mistake it for being an actual panel in Homestuck).

My primary art program. Operates much like Paint Tool SAI and photoshop. Very good for general art and comics.

Still learning this one, but it’s just like Medibang and is equipped with tools for animation.

And yes, these three programs are downloadable for free. I do want to try out Clip Studio Paint EX, but the cheapest I can get it is $80 when it goes on sale during the holidays. Normally, it costs $250.

Next time, we go over some drawing basics and some tips that will save your sanity while sketching. Stay tuned!

[ichimacchus]

Love Essay - Chapter Five: Bottom Roots under the cut!

I’m mad bc Wattpad keeps unpublishing this so I’m just gonna write the chapters in Sta.sh writer on DeviantART until Wattpad’s functional once more.

PS: I’m proud of this

A few days had passed and Karamatsu's sickness had seemingly vanished overnight. Todomatsu had gotten used to the days of rest and now he had to start stalking again. He just wished Choromatsu had picked someone else, but he knew deep inside that he was the only one capable of doing this in secret.

At the moment, however, it was the middle of class and Todomatsu had lost track of how much time it was until lunch. He just slumped on his desk, resting his head on one arm and scrolling through things on his phone with his other arm. Karamatsu was sitting next to him, holding a textbook open with both hands. Todomatsu kept glancing out the corners of his eyes at him, watching as he used the book to hide that he was looking at Chibita. The room was, as per usual, filled with the sounds of the other students talking and laughing.

Todomatsu made a small, catty grin. Time to act.

"Oi, Karamatsu nii-san" Todomatsu said softly, looking at his brother. Karamatsu jumped a foot from his seat, startled. He put the book down, and glanced over at Todomatsu. "Eh?" he asked, dazed. "Why do you keep looking at Chibita?" Todomatsu asked, preferring to get right to the chase instead of beating around the proverbial bush.

"Ah! I am merely looking beyond him, out the window at the beauty of this campus!" Karamatsu responded, closing his eyes and placing his fingers under his chin in the shape of a gun. Todomatsu stared at him with narrowed eyes. And pigs can fly, Todomatsu thought to himself, knowing that what his brother was saying was complete and utter bullshit.

"Why do you go pale when you see the outside, hmm?" Todomatsu asked in a smart ass way. The color drained from Karamatsu's face faster than you could say "glitter". Gotcha, Todomatsu thought with an internal smirk. "I-I-I..." Karamatsu stammered before sighing. He held the book up with both hands again. "You do not need to know." he said, proceeding to flip a page.

You sneaky motherfucker, Todomatsu thought. As if he wasn't already suspicious of Karamatsu's actions! Todomatsu went back to looking at his phone. When he looked out of the corner of his eye again, Karamatsu had finally put the book down, and he was now writing something.

And Todomatsu highly doubted it was notes.

Suddenly, Karamatsu got up. "Where are you going?" Todomatsu asked him, his stomach starting to spin. "Bathroom" Karamatsu replied calmly, walking past him and to the door, leaving the classroom.

As soon as Karamatsu was out of the room, Todomatsu looked around him and looked over at the paper Karamatsu was writing on. "My dearest Chibita..." were the only words on it, and there were tiny hearts scribbled in blue ink. Todomatsu's stomach turned. "Geez, does he have to be so mushy..?" he said to himself, going back to pretending to mind his own business.

He sent a text to Choromatsu about Karamatsu's obvious lie when confronted, as well as the paper. Todomatsu noticed his professor writing something on his computer. Todomatsu looked back at the door of the classroom. Had he even noticed Karamatsu leaving? Probably not. The professor was really lax, and unless he needed to teach something or review something, he usually let the class do whatever.

Guess that's why so many people like him, Todomatsu mused.

He got a text back from Choromatsu. "Send me a photo so I know you're not lying?" his brother had texted back. "Sure, just hold on" Todomatsu replied, exiting what he was doing and pulled up his phone camera. Taking a picture, he sat back in his chair as Karamatsu returned. Todomatsu sent the picture to Choromatsu, adding "Painful just returned" to his message.

"That could be a love letter.." Choromatsu replied. "Maybe." Todomatsu replied.

The bell rang, and Todomatsu quickly typed "Listen, I'm going to lunch, ttyl", then rushed down to the cafeteria, or whatever they called it.

---------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Karamatsu was done for the day, and was heading out to the dorm. He felt strange, harboring a letter of such emotion inside his bag, but no one else was going to see it YET. He would make sure his brothers would never see it. They'd mock him endlessly for it. Which was why he put a lock on his backpack zippers, so no one could open it except for him. He'd stashed the combo somewhere in the front pocket, and he had the key around his neck like a necklace.

Arriving at the dorm, he shoved the door open. Choromatsu and Todomatsu were on the couch, and appeared to be studying. "Oi" Choromatsu greeted him, not even looking up from whatever he was doing. "My brothers! I'm heading off campus to a store! I will be back in a few hours!" Karamatsu announced, tossing his backpack to the ground. Todomatsu stared at him.

Karamatsu turned and left, palming the key around his neck.

As soon as the door was shut, Todomatsu threw his notebook across the room. It hit the microwave, which was above the stove in the kitchen. "What was that for?!" Choromatsu blurted out, staring at the younger brother.

"Dunno." Todomatsu shrugged.

"Now that he's gone, we can talk about the letter." Choromatsu said, gently setting his supplies down on the coffee table and straightening himself. "It's in his binder. I watched him put it in" Todomatsu blurted without thinking.

Choromatsu hesitated. "Anyways, from what we've seen from his behavior, he's definitely in love. Right?" Choromatsu asked. "Whaddya mean, 'right'?" Todomatsu said, curling his fingers in quotation marks when he said "right". "I mean, from what Osomatsu told us about his chat with Karamatsu, he's been feeling lightheaded, he said his heart was skipping beats, his stomach filled with butterflies. You've been in love before, like, actual dating love. Those are some of the ways to tell you're in love, right?" Choromatsu explained.

"Yeah, those are some. I mean, I know I felt those when I fell in love with Atsushi-kun" Todomatsu said, feeling his face grow hot at the thought of his boyfriend. "Right. We can connect those feelings to the book, and it ties in to say he's fallen in love with someone. But, who?" Choromatsu mused, putting his fist to his lips.

"I wanna say Chibita so badly" Todomatsu murmured. "The letter you saw him writing does seem like a love letter, since he DID say 'my dearest Chibita'.." Choromatsu said. "That doesn't really say much. He called everyone dearest." Todomatsu reminded his brother, flopping onto his back.

"We need to read the letter" Choromatsu said suddenly. Todomatsu shot upright. "You're kidding..." he gasped. Choromatsu stared back, his pointed frown plastered on his face. "Nope. I feel like we should read it." Choromatsu replied. "But his backpack is locked!" Todomatsu protested. He was willing to snoop on Karamatsu, but not through his stuff. It was like reading someone's diary!

And the unspoken rule was to never read someone's diary without permission unless you want to have your intestines ripped out.

"He must have a code." Choromatsu said, hopping off the couch and picking up Karamatsu's bag. It was heavier than he expected. Todomatsu turned around and grabbed the arm of the couch. Choromatsu sat back down on the couch, Karamatsu's bag on his lap. He studied the lock. It was black, and the silver metal of the curve fitting between the zippers. On the side of the lock were three, small wheels with numbers on it. A code lock.

"Oi, Totty" Choromatsu said, causing his brother to turn back around. Choromatsu put the bag between them. "Can you pick the lock?" Choromatsu asked, fumbling with the collar of his dress shirt that he wore under his green hoodie.

"Yeah. I can try" Todomatsu said, grabbing hold of the lock and moving the little wheels with his thumb. The first combination he tried was 002. When he pulled down on the lock, the metal curve stayed in place. Todomatsu tried more combinations. None of them seemed to work. At last, out of desperation, Todomatsu tried 524, the digits of the sextuplets' birthday. When Todomatsu pulled down on the lock, it came off the zippers in his palm.

"Are you shitting me?" Todomatsu murmured.

Unzipping his brother's bag, Todomatsu opened the pack wide open, and started digging through its contents.

"Oh my fucking god" Todomatsu exclaimed.

"What? Did you find it?" Choromatsu said, leaning forwards. Todomatsu shook his head. "Nope. I did find something much, much worse" Todomatsu said, his voice dropping. "What?" Choromatsu inquired, dread rising in his chest.

Todomatsu stared Choromatsu dead in the eyes, pain and horror in them.

"He has a jar of glitter in here" Todomatsu said softly, pulling out a small jar with a black screw on cap. It had a white label with "Sparkles" written on it in black sharpie. Inside it was a mound of painful, blue glitter.

"Oh my lord..." Choromatsu murmured, slapping his face with his palm.

Todomatsu pulled out a blue binder from the bag. "Is that the one it's in?" Choromatsu asked. Todomatsu nodded and opened the binder. It was the top thing inside it. Choromatsu scooted over to sit beside his little brother. Together the two took in the words written on the lined piece of paper.

"My dearest Chibita,

You are like the sun to me. You are the light in my life. I wish we weren't floating apart. My heart has started yearning for your touch. I have been feeling like I am walking on air when I see you around. You have a charm many would desire. It is a shame I'm the only one who has noticed. I know my brothers are literal demons, but I assure you, I'm not like them. You may disagree, but can they notice your beauty? Can they be as romantic as me? The fire you ignite in me longs to be fueled by your kiss. I want you to notice me like you notice your amazing skills in cooking. One day, I hope to be more than just mere friends.

- Your dearest songbird, Matsuno Karamatsu", the letter read.

Choromatsu and Todomatsu stared at each other, eyes wide. Then, they stared back at the paper.

"Okay, he's definitely in love with Chibita." Todomatsu said. "What now..?" Choromatsu asked. "I'll put it away. You think of the next step in our plan." Todomatsu said, returning the letter to the binder, and then placing the binder and glitter back in the bag, locking the zippers in place where he'd found them. He moved the wheels on the lock to random numbers.

"I think you should casually bring up the subject of love and try to get him to spit out that he loves Chibita." Choromatsu said out of nowhere.

"Who loves Chibita?"

Todomatsu and Choromatsu jumped as Osomatsu walked in. "Long story. We'll explain only if you promise not to say a word to him about it." Choromatsu said. Osomatsu let his bag fall on top of the pile. "Sure. Now, spill" he said, lifting his hoodie over his head, unveiling the grey t-shirt he had on underneath.

Choromatsu took a deep breath. "Karamatsu. We've been spying on him for over a week because he's been acting off. Totty's been gathering notes on his actions. We connected the feelings he described to you to being in love, and the dating book is solid proof. We found out he's in love with Chibita by snooping in his bag." he explained, standing. Osomatsu, who'd gone into the kitchen to make ramen, looked over his shoulder.

"So you've been spying on him and found out he has the hots for Chibita?" Osomatsu asked. "Yeah, pretty much" Todomatsu replied.

Osomatsu was silent. Choromatsu walked to the bathroom. "Don't tell Karamatsu we're doing this." Todomatsu said. Osomatsu nodded. "I won't." he said, turning back to the noodles.

Todomatsu sighed. They'd gotten this far. Now what were they gonna do? They couldn't just confront Karamatsu.

This was going to be harder than Todomatsu had anticipated.

And Todomatsu didn't always like challenges.