#so i can do the sketches in the art program i normally use (the tablet one)

[catboyfurina]

i had this idea that has turned out SO well and im obsessed now

[swarmishstrangers]

Your blog, fics and headcanons always cheer me up! Your art is so neat too. Ive been lurking around here for a bit when I feel like I need my crops watered. Question, can I get headcannon of mallek x reader where the reader is an artist? somehow was able to accept commissions while on Alternia? I feel like the vibe of them just silently drawing and him coding in the background is super cute. What do you think?

AUGRHGAA TYYY!!!! I'm glad you like the art, writing, and headcanons! I've also definitely had the thoughts of Mallek being with an s/o who works a lot on computers for digital art stuff, mainly cause it sounds peaceful af.

Okay, so! Artist is a pretty loose term that could apply to a lot of things, but you specify them drawing here, so I'll go over Mallek x reader, both of them being either a traditional artist or a digital artist.

Traditional Artist:

🎨Starting with the traditional artist! Dunno if any of you consider yourselves to be fairly clean but either way if you were to stay over at his hive a lot and for convenience's sake, leave some of your art stuff at his place..it only adds to the chaos that his hive, "damn girl you live like this?" Idk! I just imagine all sorts of physical stuff traditional artist's use. Different types of paint and paintbrushes, charcoal, watercolors, colored pencils, paper, canvases, etc. Your art stuff adds a whole other thing to look at in his hive and honestly? He's here for it. He thinks art is cool. I mean..he can do tattoos, so of course he'd have some appreciation for a s/o who does artsy stuff. He also like those moments where he finds you just covered in your art supplies. Charcoal all over your arms and even smudged on your face for when you couldn't fight a itch and scratched at it, your hands and fingers smudged with paint or oil pastels...he just finds it incredibly charming.

🎨Oh also on the subject of paint uhh. May or may not be something you're comfortable with using considering that paint on Alternia is made from the blood of trolls. Depends whether or not you can get over that and just pretend it isn't to cope lmao. If you can just. Don't ask Amisia and Chahut about how getting the supplies for your paint went!

🎨Mallek would find it incredibly relaxing to listen to while he's fucking around with his husktops and many monitors. Normally he's one to either sit in quiet with nothing to play or maybe he'll have his playlist quietly playing whatever music or other things to listen to while he works on projects or contact people. Not to say it isn't still quiet while you both do your own things, but that's just the thing. It's quiet, not silent. Mallek finds he works the best when he knows that there's life going on around him. The sounds of his hands rapidly typing on his keyboard, the whirring of his husktop, sometimes you can hear him speak to someone that he's calling. You just further add on with your sounds of living, the sound of pencil sketching onto paper or canvas, the louder or softer sounds of you using oil pastels or charcoal, papers being moved, the adjusting of a canvas. It's all very comfortable to you both.

🎨You're each other's background sounds.

Digital Artist:

🖋️Being a digital artist is also so cool to Mallek, why wouldn't it be? It's tech shit! He can also help you try and traverse the different Alternian art programs. It's pretty new to him too since all he usually uses is the Alternian equivalent to Microsoft paint..and it's not super serious, just doodles, sketches, and shitposts stuff to destress. You got yourself a husktop, Amisia was jumping at the chance to help you look for digital art supplies (such as a tablet and stuff), and Mallek helped you get a hold of art programs for you to try out and decide what you like to use as your primary programs.

🖋️They're pretty much the same as Earth art programs in terms of it's functions. Though of course their interfaces can be different from program to program. Not everything works as it does on Earth? Certain shortcuts or tool locations are moved around or changed but it's pretty easy to figure out if you're experienced in digital art. And if you're stuck or can't figure something out your cool tech savvy matesprit can help you out. Mallek has his moments where he takes a break from what he's working on briefly to watch you draw...he always has to stifle a laugh when he sees you're absolutely struggling over there to do line art, having to undo do your stroke like 50 times before you get it. Like the previous one? He thinks it's cute and charming.

🖋️While you don't add a lot of new things to look at it in his hive, as you're working with more tech, it's still just as nice to listen to in the background he thinks. He can hear your fingers type out messages to friends or clients you're working with, the sound of your pen stroking against the tablet face, your mouse clicking here and then. There may not be as many sounds, but he finds it just as comforting, he likes to listen to the life around him after all.

Commissions:

As for the commission portion, thought it would be fun to get into this separately after talking about the respective art types! Being commissioned as an alien on the planet is certainly. Interesting. Which can be taken positively or otherwise.

Being an alien is your selling point to a lot of trolls online. It's where you got a huge chunk of your followers! Sure, they're very split on genuinely believing you are a real alien and those who think this is some kind of roleplay account or something but follow out of interest. Your commissions gather more interest from those who want a drawing from an alien! Real or not. Lots of odd are fun interactions.

For a traditional artist you could go the route of just, scanning your picture and posting it onto your socials and tag the trolls (or post it to the troll client privately). If you offer a shipement of the physical original drawing Mallek can help you out with getting a drone to drop it off for you so you don't have to go on a wild goose chase to find the troll client in this great wide troll world.

[tothepointofinsanity]

You might have gotten this one before but what art program do you use? I have a cheap one that doesn't work so good so I was wondering if you had any recommendations

I really like your art and I hope to make something that looks as cool as yours someday! Keep up the great work!

Hello! Thank you for the ask! I actually haven’t had anyone ask this question yet, so no worries.

I’m not sure if you’re using an art tablet or computer, because I have somewhat of an idea that those use different art programs better suited for them. I use an iPad to make my drawings, and my main art program is Procreate. However, Procreate is notably a very solid painting-based application, so depending on your art style as well, the wide set of tools provided by this program may or may not be easier to use. I lack the skills to paint, so the art you see on my page are created using the sketch and pencil tools. Some people might say Procreate is only for the professionals and “real” “serious” artists, but never let anyone put the idea that only the best can pick up a paintbrush. Additionally, there are also a lot of videos on YouTube that could give more professional advice on how to adapt to the art program. The primary drawback is that it costs…money, and is limited to the iOS bloodline.

An art program I would actually recommend is Ibis Paint X, which should run fine both on android and iOS devices. Ibis was my secondary art program [or more accurately, the second art program I started using after MediBang], and it has more options for individuals who prefer line-based “anime” creations, although I have definitely seen more than nutty creations that go beyond the expectations of normality from the app. It’s so convenient to use that people without a digital drawing pen can still draw undisturbed with their fingers alone. The main drawback, if I’m not mistaken, is that most tools require you to watch an advertisement before being able to use it, since it is a free application. It also has a wide variety of filters and not just layer effects you could apply to your works. ^^

Well, all these recommendations may be null since at the end of the day I’m not sure if they are compatible with your current device, so I apologise if what I essentially said was all a nothing burger. You should also go with whatever application you’re most comfortable using with regardless of your experience with art <- important

Thank you for the kind words as well 🙏 Keep drawing and you’ll soon develop your own beloved unique works and style!

[frogsandfries]

I was going to say something, but I'm so tired, I don't quite remember what.

I think I was going to whine about how much I wanted that dumpster fire lamp from Tumblr, but fine, if I can't have it, I'll just throw it on my tottering pile of ideas that I have that I'll probably never get around to.

I really need to figure out how to.......... something with my sketchbook. Like, this probably isn't normal, but when I'm working digitally, since I can turn layers off, I will often work like three or more projects in the same document. It's kind of vaguely a little bit like having sections in a sketchbook, or if my sketchbook was in a binder, maybe shoving similar projects into one page protector.

But then of course, shit gets even more lost and buried than it would in a sketchbook, because instead of happening to flip past it while hunting for another project or a blank page, I have to remember the project with my brain, or be willfully hunting through my digital art program files.

On the other hand, the cool thing about working digitally is, I can make copies, change colors, erase and completely redraw. If I print out sketchbook "pages", sure, I can print out my studies or mood board or whatever, maybe that's a page or two, and I can print out any tentative patterns, in the case of beadwork. I can print out sketches and linework, but when do I hit print?

I guess that's the real question. When do I hit print? And then, where do I put my work? In a binder? I guess in a binder, I could use sheet protectors, and then maybe gather up any progress? Like, going from a sketch, when I'm drawing, to linework, to color. Or inspiration for a project, an original pattern when it's ready to bead up, and then any alterations when I've beaded it?

The thing I like about sketchbooks is, they're organic. You don't really curate a sketchbook. Cutting and pasting things into a sketchbook on purpose........ feels disingenuous? My logical brain knows that a sketchbook is whatever the hell I say it is, but my gut says this is not how to make a digital sketchbook a little more analogue.

But if that's not how..... then how??

Myself, personally, if I ever end up pursuing this, a) it'll be during a depression, b) I want to do it in a spiral bind notebook. Sketchbooks tend to have nice paper that will hold up to the weight of any added media, like more paper, and I can just tear out any blank pages as the sketchbook begins to bloat.

Another idea would be, I could PoD it. This really only works for collections that I've managed to get a good bit of pieces in. I wouldn't really want to do this for a book that wouldn't have a decent enough number of pages.

Maybe trying to make my digital sketchbook more analogue and accessible to my old-school brain is a dumb idea. But really, I can't describe for you the number of ideas I've had, scrawled into my tablet and they're just gone, poof! Buried fifty documents back, never to be seen again.

Whatever. I'm going to continue weaving Eeyore. Honestly, really, I should finish the neon triangles box..... Maybe I get more pizza. I'm just about food fatigued on pizza. Burjer? But if burjer, than chimkn nugg.........I vaguely want Jimmy John's......

[ketchupkio]

Hi! I adore your art, it’s so beautiful, and was wondering how you draw heads/face shapes? No pressure to answer by the way. I just tend to struggle with getting the face shapes to look normal and was wondering how you start at least- again you don’t have to answer!

hi, thank you so much!! i use a pretty stylistic approach to faces (and my sketches are veeery rough lol) but it does have a base in knowing what structure is underneath the skin, so anatomy fundamentals will aaaalways help (and references if you're struggling with a pose). but with that said, i used Warriors as a guide for this and hopefully this answers your questions! everything under the cut.

Step 1

i start with a circle and the standard cross shape guidelines for the face on a layer with much lower opacity. the top of the circle is irrelevant and will get shaved down/refined later when i'm ready to do the hair, but i like having the full circle when i'm starting my sketch bc it just makes me feel better. if I'm trying to block out a full pose i'll usually sketch the jawline too, but i didn't this time. (note that if you're newer to drawing and not used to knowing where the face shapes go, you can use more lines! no shame in that, whatever works for you)

keeping in mind which side of the character's face will be more towards the viewer (primary side), i draw the basic shape of the eye first-- upper then lower lash line. repeat on the other side and adjust as needed by flipping your canvas, though i usually wait till later when i have more features on it to do the first flip and something looks wonky. i did a pretty decent job this time lol.

i usually use pretty short strokes when i draw because i use an ipad and i don't like to rest my hand on the screen. this was different when i used sai, i had a lot more continuous strokes then and rested my hand on the tablet, but the change in medium/program got me to do things differently. with smooth pens you're going to want to use longer strokes usually, but with fuzzier/textured pens i find you can get away with shorter pen strokes and just erasing.

Step 2

i add the irises and nose, then draw the beginning of the eyebrows and then go towards the outside of the face, indicated by the arrow. primary side first usually. the eyebrow closest to the nose should either touch or could hypothetically have a line touching the bridge. the length of the eyebrows is up to you, but usually natural eyebrows extend a little past the outer corner of the eye, so it just depends on your character. here i sketched the jawline too on the guideline layer. feel free to adjust proportions as needed.

Step 3

jawline! all my jawlines start with the same shapes, they just vary from sharper to rounder depending on the character. Wars has a slimmer, angular face with a strong jaw and chin, so his lines are usually pretty sharp and square. sometimes i put the jaw/neck/shoulders on a separate layer than the facial features, but it just depends. here they're on the same layer.

starting from the primary side, i draw one line down, then another line down on the secondary side. then i connect them to meet the chin, which should always fall in the middle of your face's centerline (or where you've put the centerline in your mind's eye bc my guidelines don't always stay accurate). i usually fiddle with the jaw a bit with the transform tools to make sure it's where i want it to be.

i've also added eyelid creases (the top, curved line is the approximate ridge for the eye socket, i just like doing that) but i'm not fussy about when i do that, i just did it here :shrug: imo eyelid creases help the viewer more clearly see the structure of the face and where things are supposed to be, but that's just the way i do it. and it's also to fill space lol

Step 4

mouth and ear(s)! i wait until after the jawline to draw the mouth just so i know how much room i have for the expression. if you're drawing a smile or something and you want it to be lopsided, the higher side should be your primary side, just trust me. when drawing the ears (or just singular ear in this case bc i wasn't feeling drawing a second one) i usually do SOOO MUCH warping and resizing. on a real person's face, the top of the ear lines up w the tail of the eyebrow and the bottom lines up w the tip of the nose. usually with my style, it ends up being the corner of the eye and the nose, but it's just depending on what looks right. poor wars' bad ear is on the primary side so he does not get the full long hylian ear. i cannot draw upturned hylian ears to save my gotdamn life.

i've also gone ahead and drawn the neck and a little bit of the trapezius muscle. y'all i BEG of you to look up how the neck muscles, tendons, and bones work bc they are so important, i think i reblogged a post about it a little while ago? or i at least saw one. everything is connected and all of the lines lead down to the divot of the collarbone. the back line of the neck should never be before the corner of the jaw and the tendon should lead up to that corner. very very very important. also the collarbones should point to the start of the deltoid muscles and that's important for posing, but i didn't draw that much for this. neck width varies depending on your character's build, so someone skinny would have a thinner neck than a chubby or muscular person.

i added the nose and cheekbone lines i always do in this step. i think they look nice and fill space well, and they can help indicate the angle/curve of the cheekbone when the face is more tilted. just my thing i've done forever tho! sometimes i wait until after i've done the hair to draw them so i know they can be seen (and i ended up moving them for this drawing bc i didn't wait vnkdsnl)

in preparation for the hair, i added a guide for the hairline and refined the shape of the skull to where i actually want it to be

MAKE SURE TO FLIP YOUR CANVAS TO MAKE SURE EVERYTHING LOOKS RIGHT!

Step 5

hair! it's always on a separate layer for me, and that has to do with how i color too. i do the little floofy thing at the swirl of the hair first, at the back of the part, then i start the first line for the swoopy side of the hair (line 2), then the other side. i guess you could call it the major side (side w the most hair) and minor side (side w the least hair).

i usually use a lot of lines to indicate hair direction, but it just depends on your style. i'd recommend identifying the major shapes of your character's hairstyle and replicating those whenever you draw that person. so for wars, it's the big bump where his part starts on the major side, the top of the hair usually stays flat, and it waves out to the side. on the minor side his hair is shorter and flips out and there are waves and stuff in the back. what i didn't draw in this step that's an identifying feature is his sideburns, which curve inward, but that's next. warp tool is a godsend for hair.

Step 6

finish the hair! refining shapes, floofies, the back, you name it. it's all about filling in space and making sure the weight is right before you start erasing lines underneath it. i lower the opacity of the face line layer to make sure there's no weird/stray lines.

Step 7

add finishing details, erase lines, and you're done! at least with the lineart bit lol. if i know it's just going to be lines, i add scars here, but if i'm gonna color it, i leave scars and other face markings for the coloring stage. and that's it!

i hope this was informative lol. thank you anon for asking, i had fun doing this!

[necro-hamster]

do you have any advice for digital artist who is just getting started with digital? i have a cheap tablet (wacom) and i use photoshop. thank you!<3 sorry for bad english

ok first of all your english is really good, dont apologize <3 second of all yeah i can give some advice! keep in mind that i am not a professional by any means, im just a 20 y/o who's mostly self taught. took a couple of classes in high school but honestly they didnt teach me much beyond what i already knew unfortunately. still, self taught is something, and clearly my art is decent enough that people enjoy it and are coming to me for advice, so! here's a list of advice i can think of.

stop using photoshop. this might be a bold one to start out with, but don't use photoshop for drawing, man. i know how to use photoshop REALLY well, i'm like taught in it. and that program is ASS even at editing photos, much less drawing. it's outdated and overpriced and really needs to stop being an industry standard. it's one thing if that's the program you've been using for years and you're comfortable with it, but if you're just starting out? ditch that shit. i personally use both sai2 and clip studio paint, but both of those are paid programs. not that i paid for them, but yknow. if you don't want to pirate or pay, some good free programs include krita and sketchbook pro ! also most programs come with a free trial you can test out.

the deform tool is ABSOLUTELY your friend, especially in the sketching phase. the face looks a little off? adjust it a bit instead of redrawing it. make it look perfect. leg not in the proper place? grab it and move it! just keep in mind that you should generally do this before you line/paint/etc. it's best to make these adjustments to the sketch, because oftentimes deforming something will reduce the quality of it. this depends on both the program and the amount of adjustment being done, but as just a general rule best to get this out of the way early on.

flip your canvas. a lot. this will REALLY help you. say you're drawing a guy standing up straight, and you're like huh, this looks kinda weird, but i can't tell why. it just looks super off for some reason. flip the canvas, and i can promise you that that drawing will be leaning all sorts of ways that will be immediately obvious to you once you're looking at it from that angle. make it look good from that angle too and it'll look WAY better from the normal angle.

on the same note, rotate your canvas! it'll really help you out just like rotating a piece of paper when you're drawing traditionally. a lot of people seem to just... not want to do this for some reason? but it's really a big help.

using references isn't just okay, it's something you should ABSOLUTELY be doing. idk why people online used to constantly cry about how using references is cheating, but it's not. using references is a great aid and will drastically improve your art.

use clipping masks !! say, you want to put some sparkles on your character, but you only want them on the character, not the background. instead of tediously going around the character and erasing the leftover sparkles from your brush, you can just make the layer of sparkles a clipping mask above your character layer, and that's it. no cleanup necessary, it'll only be on your character. this is a HUGE help.

experiment with shit!!!! play with brush settings, layer effects, textures, anything. get to know your program, and use everything you have at your disposal. nothing worse than finding out about a feature and thinking 'awh man i wish i knew about this three year earlier' but you just never found it because you never bothered clicking on that button.

i don't have much else at the moment, but if yall have any specific questions go ahead and hit me with em i guess

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

In these apparently trying times of "lack of content" I was wondering if we could get a glimpse behind the tablet and see how you write! Could you talk about your process and how you keep track of things and parse out your story? Do you storyboard or write rigorous notes? Is it all in your head? I am super curious about your system.

Oh yikes I’m about to disappoint a lot of people. 

Okay, here’s the thing - I cannot physically keep notes because I get distracted and forget to write things down. I’ve tried keeping notebooks for WD!Steven stuff and I have come to accept that it’s only for show. I barely use it. I cannot use my memory on the effort of writing notes - I’d much rather use that energy to remember things in my head.

I brute-force everything through my mind palace. My mind... house... mindshack. 

My process is simple: 

Step 1) THINK

I constantly get asks that I feel might be good for the comics. I’ve made posts on this before but the main way I decide if I’ll use an ask is:

Is the ask addressed explicitly to Steven (or another character?)

Is the ask not giving away any fourth-wall-breaking information?

Is the ask actually ASKING Steven an open-ended question or TELLING Steven to do something?

If the ask is too vague (”so what do u like”) or gives away too much (“Steven don’t u think ur actually half-human? If Rose had a baby it would be half gem half human. Wouldn’t that be the same as u? You should ask Rose about a gem named Spinel I bet she would freak out!!!!!”) or if the ask is just pushing for Steven to do something instead of asking (”go to the moon base!”) then I almost always ignore it. 

Step 2) Storyboard!

After choosing a question, I’ll sit and… stare at my desk/the wall/twitter without seeing it and instead storyboard the entire comic in my head. Sometimes this happens in a matter of minutes. Sometimes I’ll work it over in my mind’s eye for days before I like it. This includes the dialogue.

Yes, I do this while driving. I have an hour drive to work. No, I have never been in an accident. My autopilot works really well. I guess. Probably. I often have no memory of the actual drive itself but the comic gets written. 

Step 3) Sketch!

Afterwards I go into my drawing program (MediBang Paint) and sketch out each individual panel on a layer. Sometimes the sketches are detailed. Sometimes they are just sloppy action lines to remind me what I’m going for.

I script in my head WHILE I’m drawing the sketches. I try out different lines as I go through each panel and see what fits the most. This sketching process takes about 3-5 minutes per panel. 

Step 4) Lineart!

After I’ve sketched at least 50% of the comic, I go back in and start doing lineart. I will do this mindlessly - it is only at this point that I allow myself to listen to a podcast, or music, or have a YouTube video running while I draw. (I cannot sketch/storyboard/script with any sort of noise on. Has to be dead silent.)

The initial lineart process takes about 10 minutes per panel if the panel is simple like the one above. If I go through the process of adding necessary details, patterns, or have to create phone background detail, or draw a background in general, then it will obviously take longer.

If I do color comics, it takes 3 times as long which is why I hate coloring.

For the Lapis arc I also added tones. It was not as annoying as coloring, but it still took me twice as long as an average panel because there was so much layering to be done between the water/lapis’ wings/backgrounds. It was not fun. 

Step 5) Dialogue 

After I finish the lines for ALL the panels, or at least 50%, I start going back in and finally adding dialogue and details. I do the dialogue all at once because it allows me to view the flow more naturally. I end up reading and re-reading the panels several times to make sure there are no repeating words and that it flows more or less like a normal conversation would.

This takes about… eh… an hour or so for an average 20-panel comic? 

The bulk of my editing is done at this stage. I will go back through and re-read the finished comic several times and try to weed out weird details or typos. 

If I find none, I post it to Patreon, because it’s a guarantee that I will find 3 more immediately afterwards. That’s how posting art to social media works. Also, many of my Patreon patrons are usually kind enough to point out any typos I’ve missed. (MediBang doesn’t have a spellcheck so don’t judge me too harshly…)

And that’s….. it. I post to Patreon, make any last-minute fixes if I have to, and then queue everything to tapas and tumblr. 

And then I immediately begin to worry about the next comic. Because… that’s how it works. 

I understand it’s not exactly a professional process. That’s because I’m not a professional! I’m self-taught, and this comic is meant to be for fun, not for profit. If I make a Season-finale comic or a season-start comic, I typically go through the same steps, except I add thumbnailing to the mix (drawing tiny copies of the pages on post-it notes to see how many pages I can fix it to.)

Hope that was… educational? I don’t know. Either way…

[madfantasy]

Hi, I hope your day is going well :)

I'm about to experiment digital art for the first time, and I'm a little nervous... do u have any tips (maybe about the art program ecc.)?

And where should I start as a beginner?

Hello dear🌟

Thank you, and congratulations on the new experience and I hope you find it thrilling! I'm not a tech savy or hardly know enough to use the full capacity of what those programs offer. But I can tell you few things about it, specially based on my practice coming from a traditional background.

But first, talking about art software; there's alot. Depending on what device you're using for a start. My main mane is Sai paint tool 2, and Clip Studio Paint, both PC windows solo and both are not free, so I recommend MediaBang. Its the closet professional free software out there I think. Can be used on all systems, windows android and iOS, if I'm not mistaken. So if you got a pc and android phone, you can easily draw on both with a drawing tablet that works on pc and android! (I only tried it recently tho so I can't tell its a smooth working method)

I was going to recommend you FireAlpaca too as it stood as a replacement for Sai for years but now I downloaded to test and it turned out to be another 'simpler'... mediaBang 8l

I think its a very simple nice way to get you started, its not cluttered and you can find labels easily, now I spent some time on it. It has wonder stabiliser, actually the best on any other software I used. I know it can be a help to get your strokes more clean but there will be ways the debate of not over using them so you wouldn't relay too much on them, which I think its valid, but we are dealing with computers here that has to process everything we move in a certain way, and if your normal strokes on it looks much awful on screen than what you normally do on paper, than some stability tweaking is much better than continuing frustration. (But that's just me side tracking)

The easiest steps into making digital art with any app would be:

Finding a favourite Brush. You can almost use one brush throughout the whole drawing process by minding the size and the density of the brush and really keep tweakingit to your liking. But of course, it can be much neater, and easier, to use a brush for each purpose. Using a hard ege brush like ink to draw lines or sharp edges. Using a soft brush to add shade or color or blend, you can use an airbrush. For blending colors, you can always use watercolour brush, smudge, or blur.

Using layers. One of the best things about digital art is the ability to use layers. You can use as many or few as you like. The starter layer can be the sketch, you lower the opacity and add a new layer on top to ink or define the sketch, when you done you can hide the lower layer by clicking the eye icon and you got yourself a squeaky clean mess, heh. You can also using the blending mode with layers. Let's say you want to add light to your painting, you add a new layer and set ilthe blending to "Add". Then choosing light orange color you draw the sun beam or light up few areas as you like. You can experiment with all of the blending modes as each create a different results and helps tie picture together.

Using Filter. It can help you adjust the picture to the desired hue, saturation and contrast. There's all kind of ways to fiddle with these, you can always Google them to have more understanding of what you're doing. If not, do what the rest of us surely do; slide those bars mad till everything looks pretty, hehe

This is just me nitpicking, but I love to erase with my favourite brush instead of using the eraser, cuz then you keep the pictures harmonious with brush strokes even when you erase something it wouldn't stand out too much in the picture and doesn't introduce unwanted contrast within the drawing's lines, if I'm making any sense. Anyway, you can do that simply by clicking on the transparent square near the colors.

The things the software vary the most on is textures and endless ways to editing the pic, and of course, how smooth the program works with brush strokes and editing them and huge files of canvas. But it all will come in time and you can learn about them easily to find what suits you the best by experimenting on them!

Here's links to more random art tips if any could help:

Art-ing attitude +Simple colour theory

Expressions and posing

Blur and blend

I hope this is of help in any way and I haven't confused you more x'

Wish you all the best, and cheering you on🙌🔥

[kombuchaclock]

Disabled, broke/no income, offering commissioned drawings

Sorry to keep posting about this. This is related to previous posts I made but I didn’t want to reblog them to add this because they’re already long.

Currently, I have less than $30 in my bank account and no income as I’m unemployed and haven’t yet been able to receive unemployment or disability benefits. I had a job interview yesterday (it felt more like pre-interview screening but w/e) but I don’t know if I’ll get the job yet, and  if I do get the job $30 still probably won’t be enough to last until my first paycheck.

If you’re willing, you can donate to my paypal.me, but I am willing to offer commissioned drawings/sketches starting at $15. I’m not going to detail it too much because this isn’t an “official” commissions post, I just need some money. You can see examples in this blog’s art tag and my gallery website. It’ll probably be traditional (I need to fix my tablet drivers, hopefully I can soon) and for the starting price of $15 it probably won’t be a detailed full-color drawing. It’d be something like this dragon sketch or these character drawings (warning for mild body horror in the second link). You can buy one for more than $15 if you want which would probably get you more color/detail but please discuss that with me. If it is traditional, I may also be willing to send the original to you for a little extra (10% of the drawing, to a max of $5, plus cost of packaging and postage if applicable). If I’m able to do digital I don’t think I could add project files because the drawing program I normally use is very old so almost no one else uses it now, but if you have a suggestion for another drawing program that might be helpful.

It’ll be a queue, with five “slots” to start out with, technically other people can get in queue but if I draw their commissions I’ll wait until after I finish the first five. If you want a commissioned drawing, please let me know that before you send the money. Discussing the drawing would also be best before then. Probably best to reach me by emailing ewarnecoles@gmail.com, but after you first contact me we can stay in touch by Discord or Telegram if you’d prefer either of those. If you’ve sent the money and I haven’t finished the drawing yet, you can request a refund, but depending on how far I am in drawing it I might only partially refund it.

If you can’t commission or donate that’s fine, sharing or reblogging this is also appreciated. Thank you very much for reading!

[fox-guardian]

what are your biggest tips for beginner artists? or best learning resources?

based on my own experiences, watching speedpaints was always a fun way to figure out some methods for drawing in my early days. it was fun to watch the different ways people sketched and colored and rendered and seeing it be made right in front of me made it seem much more possible for me to create something like that as well

there’s a lot of lovely art youtube channels for some free education as well. jazza (formerly draw with jazza) is a classic, he has plenty of drawing tutorials, plenty of which i made use of. a more “advanced” i guess channel would be proko. they have playlists for how to figure draw and do gestures, and a whole playlist for anatomy of the human body for artists, which works pretty well for me personally, but it is very anatomical. if all those individual muscle terms are a bit too confusing, i cant guarantee itll help you, but it definitely helped me, just how my brain works. also they’re kinda funny sometimes. like the pelvis video where they slam dunked a baby doll into a cgi skeletons pelvis. but they also have plenty of other videos about like. character design and a bunch of other stuff i havent gotten around to but yeah check em out. that’s just two channels, but they’re a good jumping off point into other channels and artists you can learn from.

so that’s like, general education of how to draw, and when it comes down to making the art itself, here’s my number one rule for beginners:

TEST YOUR SUPPLIES BEFORE STARTING AN ACTUAL DRAWING.

that means make sure your liner pens wont smudge when you color over them with marker or paint (made that mistake myself and i got sad) make sure your paper is good for whatever media you’re using (i.e. maybe dont do wet media on paper made for dry media), be wary of bleeding, see how long it takes any wet-ish media to dry (that includes pens and markers)

that also means test out the brushes in your drawing program, mess around with layer modes and selection tools, figure out what shortcuts do what, and if you’re using a drawing tablet of some kind for the first time, do a good amount of practice drawings to get a feel for it, especially if it doesnt have its own screen. (digital art is less stressful in that regard cuz of the undo button so yeah, just a little note there)

in terms of what supplies to actually get, uhhhh idk much about traditional art. im not well versed in that field

digital art though? firealpaca is free and a good start for beginners. not only does it have a lot of good functions for normal drawing, but you can also make simple animations with it. it has an onion skin mode and a website where you can convert the layers into frames and make it a gif but you can also do that part on other sites, but yeah its p neat. 

another free option for animation is blender but i have yet to figure out how to use it, so yeah. there’s tutorials online tho, you can do both 2d and 3d animation, and even blend (heh) them.

but yeah, that’s my advice. and if you do digital art, SAVE OFTEN. 

[antia-calviz]

hi! i am a ridiculously huge fan of you art. just want to ask about your creative process and what advice you’d give to those trying to find an art style or start out digitally? any tips really on creating digital art! (and lastly, your most recent artwork of the handler blows my goddamn mind, the colours, the style, everything, it’s perfect)

hello! thank u so much thats so sweet! ill answer in parts!

creative process:

i think most times i think some shit up and i save an unhealthy amount of reference pictures, and based on that i try to figure out a cool/harmonious composition. i think the most important part in my process is mapping out the basic shapes / silhouettes, cuz its a “quick” way of knowing if yr design will work, like if it’s visually engaging. it’s gotta work from the silhouette stage. then i pretty much just fill in the details (face, lineart, clothes, BGs, etc).

art style:

art style comes on its own tbh. developing an art style has more to do with experimenting with stylistic and aesthetic choices so dont be afraid to try out different styles and tecnhiques! i cant stress this enough though, style is not as important as hard drawing skills like anatomy, lighting and color theory. id say start with the “boring” stuff and work your way from there! it will make your art exponentially better. master those pillars and then go crazy, go stupid.

digital art tips (ill do my best): 

theres’ a lot of hardware out there, ive only ever used Wacom and theyre really good! the simplest wacom tablet is guaranteed to do the trick and last for YEARS on end

try to not break/lose your tablet pen. theyre expensive

if you can, try out different software! tbh i only use photoshop cuz im a pussy and Clip studio scares me BUT please try different programs

WEAR GLASSES. even if you dont regularly need them, get you a pair of screen glasses cuz vision deteriorates quickly (been there done that), protect yr eyes

experiment with layers and blending modes! its really fun and you can achieve some crazy stuff by using them, dont b scared of em (i was)

if your software offers tools like 3D models, or some other stuff that will make drawing easier, USE THEM. it’s not cheating, and it will save you a lot of time and frustration

if your computer can take it, work in 600 dpi resolution at least (just learned this the hard way recently)

when doing personal work draw stuff you ENJOY drawing, pick things you can look at for 6+ hours without getting sick of it

try to practice on the tablet as often as possible, do it regularly, not only to keep growing/improving, but especially to maintain the progress youve made

draw things that scare you. most times its just a mental barrier, youll be fine even if you think its shit the first time. just keep going

progress is not lineal. sometimes youll like the result, sometimes you won’t and that normal and healthy. be prepared for that

when analyzing/critiquing your own work, pretend it’s somebody else’s. youll be more honest with yourself and less destructive

KILL YOUR DARLINGS, dont get attached to drawings. if you dont like something / a sketch is not working, it’s better to ditch it and start over

dont be too hard on yourself, and have fun!! 

this ended up being really long! i hope it helps! <3

[psyce]

yo just curious because i just got an art tablet and i think your art is really cool,, do you have any tips for a beginner or like what brush settings to use or anything . idk if its normal but i feel like such a dummy trying to use it -_-

honestly i started drawing digitally when i was twelve like eight years ago so i dont really remember what the transition was like but id honestly recommend experimenting a lot whether youre making full pieces or just doodling; some techniques working with traditional transfer over to digital but a lot dont so figuring that out is helpful. drawing on a tablet and looking at a screen takes getting used to but practicings the only thing thats gonna get you used to it so do a lot as well. there’s also not one way to do art besides just “lines with color” and “fully rendered painting” so study peoples techniques, i did lineart for sooo many years before realizing that it limited the flow of my drawings so now all i do is clean up my sketches and use that as lineart and i highly recommend trying that if youre not happy with your lines 

lineart definitely doesn't work the same and its sooo important to use big, long strokes to get a good look whether its a sketchy style or not. just drawing circles and drawing two dots and then connecting them will get your wrist used to lining too, look up inking exercises to make your lines look better. i really recommend a textured brush for lines to start out because it doesn’t need to be super clean looking. people say “brush settings dont matter its just skill” but it can make or break the look of a piece, look up “brush settings+ art program” on yt and google and pick out some you like and try them. but also brushes arent everything and you can make art look good w any brush! theyre there to assist your art and make it more polished but the form is what really matters 

look up tutorials! you dont have to copy them directly but even learning one thing from them can help you in the long run

use the bucket tool for coloring it saves soo much time. and try and learn tools in your program bc theyre there to make your life easier 

remember youre learning a completely different medium with tons of its own techniques that can produce to many unique styles so dont be discouraged starting out, rn is just an awkward stage but as long as you experiment youll be able to find a method that works for you. gl!

[midnightsilver]

Hi, I think it's no secret that I love your art, both digital and "physical" (?). I was wondering if you could tell me what art program you're using for your digital art. I've recently bought a tablet and I'm sort of taking my first steps with digital art at the moment. Also, do you have any tips for beginners? And what did you use to animate that Jared art? I works greatly appreciate any tips you can give.

Awww thank you my most excellent friend. 😄 You’re awesome!🌟🙌🏼 I don’t often get art asks and I’m happy to chat! 👍🏻😄

But, Disclaimer! I’m a beginner at digital art too! I brought my first tablet just over a year ago and have been learning as I go. So don’t use me as an expert 😋 but I’m happy to share my experience.👍🏻😄

I have a secondhand wacom tablet and stylus (the type where you draw on the pad and look at a separate monitor. I think the drawing tablets with built-in screens (or an iPad etc) are much easier to use, but I don’t have very much money so I use what I have 🤷🏻‍♂️😊) - and I draw and paint in photoshop CS6. (another secondhand copy because the subscriptions for that are expensive too! 😅) But if you want a free program to get started on I found SketchBook pretty intuitive to use and I have heard good things about Krita.

My top tip (after practice on stuff you love doing, so that you have fun!🤷🏻‍♂️😄) is that it does take time to get used to drawing in one place and looking in another. even drawing on an iPad is different. it’s a very different feel from traditional art. you need to use different speeds and pressures to get clean line work - and I’m still working on that! 😄 so don’t be discouraged if you suddenly see a drop in how cleanly you draw. Just keep practicing until it feels natural. Or do what I do and zoom in and go slow and keep your hand on the Back button 😁

And my next tip is to use layers. The more the better. Then you can draw on top of what is already there but if you make a mistake you don’t have to start over because everything before that is safe on a lower layer. So the background is it’s own layer. sketch on another layer. Do line art over it on a clean layer. Add block colour on another layer. Add shade on another, and highlights on yet another etc. so if you make a mistake in any one place your whole picture isn’t ruined. And later you can change the background easily or turn off the sketch once you don’t need it. Etc. (The Back button IS excellent for mistakes. But some programs only go back a limited number of times so layers are much easier if it takes a while to realise that something isn’t right.) l know because I make a lot of mistakes! 🤷🏻‍♂️😁 but everything is a learning experience. 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

Next: Save copies of your work and then don’t be afraid to try random stuff. Use strange brushes. Weird colours. Add some blurring or smudges. Click on a tool that you don’t know what it does. You can always back up or if the worst happens go back to the last saved version. 👍🏻

And to finish by answering your question about how I animate: Layers is how I make my animations too! 😁. I painted Jared as normal then on top on a clean layer I painted over his eye and moved the irises a little. Then over that on another layer I moved it a little bit more. And so on. you can turn the layers on and off in order like moving a flick book. This works well if most of the animation is static because you only have to re-draw the bits that move, the rest will just show through the layers. So I saved jpegs of each step that had a new layer. then put the 6 jpegs together in a gif maker app. (I’m fairly sure there is a way to make photoshop make the gif for me but I haven’t found that yet.😄🤷🏻‍♂️) I have no idea if that’s how people usually animate - but that’s the way that I did it and I’m quite pleased with how it turned out. 😊

I hope this was helpful, and if you have any questions I always happy to share my process 😄 but like I said: please remember that I’m learning too, so there might be easier ways to do things and better advice out there. But for now we can all learn together 👍🏻😄

[isabeladraws]

Hope 2020 is off to a good start for you! I was wondering if, providing you find the time, you'd give us a behind the scenes look into your creative process? I know via previous asks what tablet and program you use, but your art is so unique, I'd love to know more about what goes into it. Do you sketch first? Do you use references (e.g. for poses)? What brushes you use to get that traditionally drawn look in most of your art? The step by step process from sketch to colored art? I really love it!

hello! you too💖 thank you so much! there’s nothing really that special that i do, but i can try and give you an insight! 

i tend to sketch first on a normal sketchbook, i use mechanical pencil. sometimes, i go through a pencil phase again but it doesn’t last long lmao. i use references a lot! i do tend to draw from my head too but i find that using references helps the drawing look more natural and accurate! and you can adapt whatever pose you’re using to the vibe you want. my pinterest is at rosyumie and my inspo tumblr is at ilhxyz. there’s a ton of albums there for characters but i use it often. i tend to search for whatever i’m looking especific too. 

as for my process, as i said i sketch first. at my home, our printer has less settings so i just use x1200 res, jpeg and greyscale. at uni, i do 300dpi, jpeg, high quality. afterwards, you could use photoshop (or even csp probably has these settings) but i use pixlr to adjust the levels of darkness and brightness. i find that i don’t need this as much when i scan stuff at uni but at home is very necessary. the main reason i use it is because it makes the size of the photo smaller, like a scanned picture can be like 5MB and sai hates big files like those so i have to make them smaller. i tried switching to ps but it only made the file larger and i didn’t wanna fuss too much so i just stick to what i know. also, sai doesn’t give you much room to edit photos and i need it for the lineart to be crisper.

this is the straight out of the scanner. which looks pretty good because i took the time with the lineart haha

this is what it looks like after i edit the levels. this way makes it easier for me to clean stuff up (even tho there’s that smudge on the right. when this happens i lighten the image enough to match and do lineart on top). i clean the images by erasing. 

with this brown orange highlight i had to lighten and redo the lineart. with the greeny-yellow ones i erased to look neater (the leg/hands) and at the top i erased that completely and did new lineart. with this piece, i knew sunday’s head was something i had to adjust because it’s bit too big for her body and in comparison to beckett’s that looks a bit small. i also topped up the lineart on her ponytail. cleaning stuff is what takes me a while to do. 

when all of the lineart is clean and done, because i erased a lot of the image, i add a white layer on top of the sketch, make it multiply and transfer down the layer so it’ll fill in those erased bits. 

to add a color to the lineart i use the overlay layer with the color i want and then transfer it down. i move on to flats!

i have beck’s and sunday’s color palette saved now because of the triplets. afterwards it’s just a bunch of multiply layers and overlays and luminosity! i guess i could go on on another post since this is massive already! (if you want of course) 

as for brushes, i use the normal default pen tool to color flats. i think i might have added texture to it actually.

for lineart i use this pencil one. 

i use the default marker tool for blush, blending if i need to. it was the main brush i used for the queen of cordonia drawing i did (to blend).

and last but not least, the water tool. used to blend shadows and blush and highlights.

i have many other brushes but these are basically all i need and use 95% of the time. i hope this helps! 

[toxicsquad]

There is no better way to get to know someone than through a good question tag. In this case we have decided to make an Indie game dev question tag with the responses of our four developers. We hope that it will reveal many unknowns, but if you are left with any questions, do not hesitate to use our ask.

What part of game development are you responsible for?

Athe: I write and write, I melt in my seat, I correct, I cry and then I program. It’s an endless cycle. Occasionally I laugh like crazy while I eat Pringles.

Sam: I draw and color without leaving the lines (almost always) the sprites, the illustrations and the ravings that usually occur to us past 3 in the morning.

Illy: English translations.

Sher: I draw BGs

What tools do you use (hardware / software)?

Athe: Recently my desktop PC has passed away, so I’ve had to rescue my old PC from the garage. I also have a laptop that saves my life more times than I would like to admit. As for the software, I need, above all, drive documents, video editing programs, image etc (I have an Adobe package) and of course Renpy and Atom.

Sam: My main friend and companion is my tablet, a wacom intuos S (pistachio color, so cute). As programs I mainly use the Paint Tool Sai, because there is nothing in this life like its stabilizer. And less frequently than I would like (for details, texture brushes, effects ...) I also use Clip Studio Paint, which I only know how to use at about 2% of its capacity ... If someday I have time I would love to stop and learn seriously what can be done with it.

Illy: During the school year I live in a residence, so I use an old laptop, and when I return home I use a desktop computer that never has memory space. I translate the chapters in the same Atom where the complete script is and I keep them in google drive files where I share them with our beta reader. I also use editing programs like photoshop when I have to translate comics or procreate for when my artistic skills are required.

Sher: ipad+procreate+some final tweak in photoshop, I don't need much more

What is your favorite part of the job?

Athe: Would it be wrong if I say that is when we released the episode? During the whole production time everything is very stressful, there are times when it’s really uphill, but when we release a new chapter it feels soooo good. It's like saying to yourself, yeah, dammit, I can do it. Look at everything you've climbed by yourself. You're doing it right.

Sam: In general, my favorite parts are when the first scenes start to be programmed, and I can see the sprites with the backgrounds, the texts, and how the illustrations look. Everything always looks so much better when viewed in-game… I also really like being able to check out the script as it is written. And from the artistic part that concerns me, when I see that my hands capture the idea that I had in my head ... Especially in character designs.

Illy: Having to find a way to translate very spanish expressions into English, research vocabulary that I have never had to use and commenting on some translations with our beta reader (which we adore) to make it understandable without losing the original meaning.

Sher: I like to do the lineart when the sketch is complete, if I no longer have to think about anything else and it's just going through it, I find it very fun and relaxing

What is the most difficult part for you?

Athe: Offf, yes, I admit it, sometimes writing is the WORST. Other times I love it, especially when I can expand on the descriptions or stop at a part that is intimate or that I find interesting (for example, Hasiel's conversation from 6.3, small spoiler: P). But, I HATE having to paste scenes, often the protagonist moves between scenes and you always have to add lines to those transitions that really do not interest anyone, but that otherwise the text would be confusing. Anyway... It is a very wide world, with a lot of history, I have to deal with what I need readers to know to understand the facts, although sometimes it gets a bit boring.

Sam: What part does not... Rather who e.e Zihel and Ariel are a thorn in my side. Especially Zihel. I know it has to do with the fact that it has never been my strength to draw boys, and much less if they are more masculine in appearance... That's why I also suffer a lot from drawing muscles. Another thing that brings me a headache is the perspective of the illustrations. Every time I try to get out of the typical shot or poses a little... It doesn't work out.

Illy: Doughy’s  stuttering ¬.¬

Sher: chairs, sofas, tables... anything with four legs is my enemy

Anything to help or encourage you while you are working?

Athe: I need music, no, seriously, I NEED IT. I’m unable to focus without it. If, on top of that, I can get what I hear to act as a sounding board for what I write, the text is a thousand times better... But the muse is a pretty bad person.

Sam: Having a show/movie in the background that entertains me. The longer the better, so I don't have to stop to think what I want to put on next.

Illy: Eating sunflower seeds to trick my brain and not be tempted to do something else that distracts me.

Sher: I try to see other artists to motivate and inspire me before I start drawing, what I find most difficult is that initial push and that is where I need the motivation, then I usually have something in the background but it is not necessary

Something that’s a pet peeve or discouraging?

Athe: Some narrative climax moments. Generally, they are not important plot moments (that is almost entirely decided), they are often small decisions to go from scene A to scene B, but I can spend a LOT of time deciding which is the fastest and best way to tie those two ends. I'm the worst.

Sam: Many times when starting, I can't get the poses to fit the way I want, for example.

Illy: Finding many parts in a row that I find especially difficult to solve and that make me believe that I have forgotten how to English properly. And looking at how many lines I still have left.

Sher: When I don't know how to fill in some area, if I see something very empty but I don't know how to solve it, I can spend days looking at the screen without being able to advance, even if I have other areas that I could do in the meantime

What is required on your table or work surface?

Athe: Notebooks, sticky notes, pens… I’m a person who writes everything down, especially the tasks, but I also order the story by color schemes. The stack of sticky notes have 9 different colors, each one represents a character and I play a lot with them for a lot of nonsense. Besides, even though I have been writing on the computer for many more years than I wrote by hand, I still have a preference for the analogical.

Sam: Coffee, sweets, chocolate, cereals... And cats.

Illy: My phone, the sunflower seeds, a Capital America: Civil War 1L water cup, sticky notes that remind me of tasks.

Sher: I have nothing really lol all my things are for decoration

Your most productive hours?

Athe: Owl. Totally nocturnal. Although I have several crises a month to force myself to work at other times that always end... Wrong.

Sam: Also at night for the most part, although I can no longer stay awake as long as I endured before having a job (the good old days...) However, in the middle of the afternoon, when the zoo that I have at home is still taking a nap, I also manage to go a long way.

Illy: From when I finish eating until 7 or 8 in the afternoon, when I don't have to cook, clean, run errands...

Sher: I take over for Illy apparently, from 7 or 8 is when I start to get into the mood until bedtime

Do working hours make you forget to eat or make you eat twice as much?

Athe: It depends, in the past I ate a lot, now if I have stress I don't eat anything. If I'm in a normal productive phase and I'm not on my nerves, I'm probably eating by inertia.

Sam: They make me eat more, but especially junk food e.e And they make me forget healthy meals, especially dinner at night.

Illy: It depends on my mood, but I usually eat twice as much.

Sher: I'm generally a VERY distracted person so I don't usually get to focus on a task to get to either of those two modes but I guess when I am sooooooo much on the task, I forget. But that happens like a couple of times a year and "forgetting" is "I delay an hour."

What part of your set up would you improve / change (in aesthetics or functionality) if you had no money limit?

Athe: I'm trying to match some of my peripherals with the rest. They are all a damn different color, apparently I'm cursed... Now seriously, I wish I had a better graphic card that would allow me to make video captures, some speakers and a quality printer.

Sam: Actually, I don't think I need anything more complex than what I already have… But if I had to improve something, I'm curious about the most professional tablets, the big ones with the included screen and all that stuff.

Illy: A new laptop that lets me open 4 chrome tabs, Atom and photoshop at the same time without dying.

Sher: A pc screen that will not change the colors I use on the iPad would be nice, really

Which character are you most like? And why?

Athe: Phew I think the easy answer would be to say Akane ... But, Akane is a better person. : P

Sam: This is very difficult... They are all very different, but still I do not think I look much like any of them. If I have to say something, I could identify with Maske's tendency to avoid problems, and his more homey and calm side. And well… Since Akane has been an OC of mine for many years, surely I have something of her too.

Illy: I think I partly have Maske's instinct to stay out of trouble, and on the other hand Joe's shallowness, although tbh I wish I really did look like any of our awesome babies.

Sher: surprised because (unpopular opinion around here) is one of those who I "least care" about really but I would say that Pin because he is a little dumb, happy and probably has a Satanic room and proud of it

Favorite CG/art.

Athe: AT THE MOMENT. Maske chapter 1. It couldn't be more predictable. I know.

Sam: I quite agree with Maske in chapter 1. But I would also put Pin in chapter 5 and Akane in chapter 6.2 on the top.

Illy: Kyeran in Coco's tank ?? Is he even real? Being basic is my brand.

Sher: surprised again and disappointed but I would say that of angel Hasiel because I like pretty dresses, pretty hairs and pretty wings

Favorite BG/scene.

Athe: The Red Light District amazes me. I already liked the life of that place, its history, but the way of expressing it... Uggg Sher took it to another level. The dirt on the street, the night, the constricted buildings...

Sam: I think I’ll say Raziel’s square, I like it a lot from the first day.

Illy: I don't know if I can choose just one T__T but I would say that the Red Light District and Valefar's pub are at the top.

Sher: for not repeating the red light district that I also like very much, I really like the areas of Coco's laboratory, including the “main” area although the perspective is horrible and makes the characters look tiny, but I like how it looks :(

Your favorite chapter to date?

Athe: Ufff... The first and second one I assure you no, hahaha. I will say that the third one, but also for things that are not necessarily from the chapter, but of the production. It was a good moment. I felt that everything was flowing with ease. We all assumed a clear role, they were times that made us feel comfortable and capable of assuming what came next, I think it was a qualitative leap also, both in texts and in art.

Sam: Oh. Well let's see... Chapter 5 is amazing for me, for everything that happens but also because there are many personalized interactions and choices. I can't say I have a definitive favorite, but it could come close… Also from the last ones I really like the 6.2.

Illy: Chapter 5 has so many details, so many things happen, it's hard not to be my favorite. But the last ones with the specific routes are so great that if I stay with the 5 it’s with the  pain of my heart to have to choose one.

Sher: I would say 5 also because in the end when a lot of things happen is when you remember the most

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No hay mejor forma de conocer a alguien que a través de un buen tag de preguntas. En este caso hemos decidido hacer un Indie game dev question tag con las respuestas de las cuatro desarrolladoras. Esperamos que os aclare muchas incógnitas, pero si os quedáis con alguna no dudéis en usar nuestro ask.

¿Qué parte del desarrollo del juego llevas a cabo?

Athe: Escribo, escribo, me derrito sobre mi asiento, corrijo, lloro y después programo. Es un ciclo sin fin. Ocasionalmente me río como una demente mientras como Pringles.

Sam: Dibujo y coloreo sin salirme de las líneas (casi siempre) los sprites, las ilustraciones y los desvaríos que suelen surgir a partir de las 3 de la mañana. 

Illy: Las traducciones a inglés.

Sher: Hago fonditos

¿Qué herramientas utilizas (hardware/software)?

Athe: Recientemente mi PC de sobremesa ha fallecido, así que he tenido que rescatar mi viejo PC del trastero, también tengo un portatil que me salva la vida más veces de las que me gustaría admitir. En cuanto al software, necesito, sobre todo, documentos de drive, programas de edición de video, imagen etc (tengo un paquete de Adobe) y por supuesto Renpy y Atom.

Sam: Mi principal amiga y compañera es mi tableta, una wacom intuos S (color pistacho, muy cuqui.) Como programas uso sobretodo el Paint Tool Sai, porque no hay nada en esta vida como su estabilizador. Y con menos frecuencia de lo que querría (para detalles, pinceles de texturas, efectos…) también utilizo el Clip Studio Paint, el cual sólo se usar como a un 2% de su capacidad… Si algún día tengo tiempo me encantaría pararme a aprender seriamente todo lo que se puede hacer con él. 

Illy: Durante el curso vivo en una residencia, así que uso un portatil del año que reinó carolo, y cuando vuelvo a mi casa un ordenador de sobremesa que nunca tiene espacio en la memoria. Los capítulos los traduzco en el mismo Atom en el que está el guión completo y los guardo en drive donde los comparto con nuestra beta reader. También uso programas de edición como photoshop cuando tengo que traducir viñetas o procreate para cuando mis habilidades artísticas son requeridas.

Sher: ipad+procreate+algún retoquito final en photoshop no necesito mucho más

¿Cuál es tu parte de favorita del trabajo?

Athe: ¿Estaría mal si digo que es cuando sacamos el episodio? Durante toda la producción todo es muy estresante, hay veces, que se hace realmente cuesta arriba, pero cuando liberamos un nuevo capítulo sienta taaaan bien. Es como decirte a ti misma, sí, joder, puedo hacerlo. Mira todo lo que has escalado tú solita. Lo estás haciendo bien.

Sam: En general, mis partes favoritas son cuando se empiezan a programar las primeras escenas, y puedo ver los sprites con los fondos, los textos, y cómo se ven las ilustraciones. Todo queda siempre mucho mejor cuando se ve dentro del juego… También me gusta mucho poder cotillear el guión conforme se va escribiendo. Y de la parte artística que me toca, cuando veo que mis manos plasman la idea que tenía en mi cabeza… Sobretodo en diseños de personajes. 

Illy: Tener que buscar la forma de traducir a inglés expresiones muy nuestras, investigar vocabulario que no he tenido que usar jamás y comentar algunas traducciones con nuestra beta reader (a la que adoramos) para conseguir que se entienda sin perder el significado original.

Sher: me gusta hacer el lineart cuando el sketch está completo, si ya no tengo que pensar nada más y es solo ir repasando me parece muy divertido y relajante

¿Cuál es la parte que más te cuesta?

Athe: Ufff, sí, lo admito, escribir a veces es lo PEOR. Otras me encanta, sobre todo, cuando puedo explayarme con las descripciones o detenerme en una parte íntima o que a mí me parece interesante (por ejemplo, la conversación de Hasiel del 6.3, pequeño spoiler :P). Pero, ODIO tener que empastar escenas, a menudo el protagonista se mueve de escenarios y hay que agregar siempre líneas a esas transiciones que realmente no interesan a nadie, pero que de lo contrario el texto quedaría mal montado. En fin… Es un mundo muy amplio, con mucha historia, tengo que lidiar con lo que necesito que los lectores sepan para entender los hechos, aunque a veces se haga un pelín peñazo.

Sam: Qué parte no… Quiénes, más bien e.e Zihel y Ariel son mi espinita. Especialmente Zihel. Sé que tiene que ver con el hecho de que nunca ha sido mi punto fuerte dibujar chicos, y menos si son de aspecto más masculino… Por eso también sufro mucho dibujando músculos. Otra cosa que me trae de cabeza es la perspectiva de las ilustraciones. Cada vez que intento salirme un poco del típico plano o poses… No sale bien. 

Illy: El tartamudeo de Doughy ¬.¬ 

Sher: sillas, sofás, mesas… cualquier cosa con cuatro patas son mis enemigos

¿Algo que te ayude o anime mientras estás trabajando?

Athe: Necesito música, no, en serio, LA NECESITO. Soy incapaz de concentrarme sin ella. Si ya consigo que lo que escucho haga de caja de resonancia de lo que escribo, el texto es mil veces mejor… Pero la musa es bastante mala gente.

Sam: Tener alguna serie/peli de fondo que me entretenga. Cuanto más larga mejor, así no me toca pararme a ver qué es lo que quiero poner después. 

Illy: Comer pipas para engañar a mi cerebro y no tener la tentación de ponerme a hacer otra cosa que me distraiga.

Sher: intento ver otros artistas para motivarme e inspirarme antes de empezar a dibujar, lo que más me cuesta es ese empujón inicial y es donde necesito la motivación, luego ya suelo tener algo de fondo pero no es necesario

¿Algo que te corte el rollo o te desmotive?

Athe: Los nudos narrativos. Generalmente, no son nudos gordos de la trama (eso está decidido casi en su totalidad), a menudo son decisiones pequeñas para pasar de la escena A a la escena B, pero puedo tirarme MUCHO tiempo decidiendo cuál es la forma más rápida y mejor planteada para atar esos dos cabos. Soy lo peor.

Sam: Muchas veces a la hora de empezar, no conseguir encajar las poses como quiero, por ejemplo. 

Illy: Encontrar muchas partes seguidas que me cueste especialmente resolver y que me hacen creer que no tengo ni idea de hablar inglés. Y mirar cuantas líneas me quedan todavía.

Sher: cuando no se como rellenar alguna zona, si veo algo muy vacío pero no se como solucionarlo puedo tirarme días mirando la pantalla sin ser capaz de avanzar, incluso aunque tenga otras zonas que pudiera ir haciendo mientras

¿Qué no puede faltar en tu mesa o superficie de trabajo?

Athe: Libretas, post-its, bolígrafos… Soy una persona que lo anota todo, sobre todo, las tareas, pero también ordeno la historia por esquemas de colores. La pila de post-its tienen 9 colores diferentes, cada uno representa un personaje y juego mucho con ellos para miles de idioteces. A parte, a pesar de que llevo muchos más años escribiendo a ordenador de los que escribí a mano, sigo teniendo querencia a lo físico.

Sam: Café, chucherías, chocolate, cereales… Y gatos. 

Illy: El móvil, las pipas, un vaso de 1L de agua de Capital America: Civil War, post-its que me recuerdan las tareas.

Sher: no tengo nada realmente lol todas mis cosas son de adorno 

¿Tus horas más productivas?

Athe: Búho. Nocturna totalmente. A pesar de que tengo varias crisis al mes para forzarme a trabajar a otras horas que acaban siempre… Mal.

Sam: También por la noche en su mayoría, aunque ya no aguanto trasnochando tanto como antes de trabajar (qué tiempos aquellos…) Aunque a media tarde cuando el zoo que tengo en casa aún está echando la siesta también consigo dar un buen empujón. 

Illy: Desde que acabo de comer hasta las 7 o las 8 de la tarde, cuando no tengo que cocinar, limpiar, hacer recados...

Sher: le tomo el testigo a Illy aparentemente, a partir de las 7 u 8 es cuando empiezo a entrar en el mood hasta que llega la hora de dormir

¿Las horas de trabajo hacen que te olvides de comer o te hacen comer el doble?

Athe: Depende, antes comía mucho, ahora, si tengo estrés no como nada. Si me encuentro en un rango productivo normal y no estoy de los nervios, probablemente, esté comiendo por inercia.

Sam: Me hacen comer más, pero sobretodo porquerías e.e Y hacen que me olvide de las comidas sanas, sobretodo de cenar por la noche. 

Illy: Depende de mi estado de ánimo, pero normalmente comer el doble.

Sher: en general soy una persona MUY distraída así que no suelo conseguir centrarme en una tarea para llegar a ninguno de esos dos modos pero supongo que cuando estoy muuuuuuy dentro de la tarea, me olvido. Pero eso pasa como un par de veces al año y “olvido” es “lo retraso una hora”.

¿Qué parte de tu set up mejorarías/cambiarías (en estética o funcionalidad) si no tuvieses límite de dinero?

Athe: Estoy tratando de que alguno de mis periféricos peguen con el resto. Todos son de un maldito color diferente, al parecer estoy maldita… Ahora en serio, desearía tener una mejor gráfica que me permitiese hacer videocapturas, unos altavoces y una impresora de calidad.

Sam: En realidad, no creo que necesitara nada más complejo de lo que ya tengo… Pero por mejorar, me llaman la atención las tabletas más profesionales, las grandes con la pantalla incluida y eso. 

Illy: Un portátil nuevo que me deje abrir 4 pestañas de chrome, el Atom y photoshop al mismo tiempo sin quedarse tieso.

Sher: Una pantalla de pc que no me cambiara los colores que uso en el ipad seria bonito la verdad 

¿A qué personaje te pareces más? ¿Y por qué?

Athe: Ufff Creo que la respuesta fácil sería decir Akane… Pero, Akane es mejor persona. :P

Sam: Esto es muy complicado… Son todos muy distintos, pero aún así no creo que me parezca mucho a ninguno. Por decir algo, me podría identificar con la tendencia a evitar problemas de Maske, y su lado más casero y tranquilo. Y bueno… Dado que Akane es OC mío de hace muchos años, seguramente tenga algo de ella también. 

Illy: Creo que en parte tengo el instinto de alejarme de las movidas de Maske, y por otro la superficialidad de Joe, aunque tbh ojalá parecerme realmente a nuestros bebés geniales.

Sher: sorprendida porque (unpopular opinión por aquí) es de los que “menos me importan” realmente pero diría que Pin porque es tontito, feliz y probablemente tenga una habitación satánica y orgulloso de ello

Tu CG/arte favorito.

Athe: DE MOMENTO. Maske capítulo 1. No podría ser más predecible. Lo sé.

Sam: Coincido bastante en la de Maske del capítulo 1. Pero también metería en el top la de Pin del capítulo 5 y la de Akane del capítulo 6.2. 

Illy: ¿¿Kyeran en el tanque de Coco?? ¿Es siquiera real? Ser básica es mi marca.

Sher: sorprendida de nuevo y decepcionada pero diría que la de Hasiel de ángel porque me gustan los vestidos bonitos, los pelos bonitos y las alas bonitas

Tu BG/escenario favorito.

Athe: Me flipa el Barrio Rojo. Me gusta la vida de ese sitio, su historia, pero la forma de plasmarlo… Uggg Sher lo llevó a otro nivel. La suciedad de la calle, la nocturnidad, los edificios constreñidos...

Sam: Creo que me quedo con el de la plaza de Raziel, me gusta mucho desde el primer día. 

Illy: No sé si puedo elegir solo uno T__T pero diría que el Barrio Rojo y el bar de Valefar están en el top.

Sher: por no repetir el barrio rojo que también me gusta mucho, me gustan mucho las zonas del laboratorio de Coco, incluida la zona “principal” aunque la perspectiva sea horrible y haga a los pj parecer diminutos, pero me gusto como quedo :( 

¿Tu capítulo favorito hasta las fecha?

Athe: Ufff… El uno y el dos os aseguro que no, jajaja. Diré que el tres, pero también por cosas que no son necesariamente del capítulo, sino de la producción. Fue un buen momento. Sentí que todo estaba fluyendo con facilidad. Todas asumimos un rol claro, unos tiempos que nos hacían sentir cómodas y capaces de asumir lo que venía después, creo que fue un salto cualitativo también, tanto en los textos, como en el arte.

Sam: Ay. Pues a ver… El capítulo 5 es una pasada para mi, por todo lo que pasa pero también porque hay muchas interacciones personalizadas y elecciones. No puedo decir que tenga un favorito definitivo, pero podría acercarse… También me gusta mucho de los últimos el 6.2. 

Illy: El capítulo 5 tiene tantos detalles, pasan tantas cosas, que es difícil que no sea mi favorito, pero los ultimos de rutas específicas son tan geniales que si me quedo con el 5 es con un poco de dolor de tener que elegir uno.

Sher: Diría el 5 también porque al final cuando pasan muchas cosas es cuando mas se te queda grabado

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[frimushroom]

CATs, the thought piece

So I finally finished this piece <3

The movie of the Broadway musical CATS has always had a special place in my heart.  A few weeks ago I tuned into original cast member Jacob Brent (Mr. Mistoffelees) doing a live commentary about the film. It was a great nostalgia trip-- an evening video-chatting a friend a few states away to commence our CATs tradition.

Little me’s obsession

But this is a thought piece not a fan letter. While I doubt anyone many are going to click through to this part of the post, I did something similar with my last fan art, it’s a brain dump. So far it’s helped a bit in working through feelings I have when I see my own art. I want to be able to enjoy what I do and this is a step in the right direction.

I took my time with this piece and I’m proud of that. I didn’t let it stop me from completing it and posting it. Continuing to adjust through sketching is not a weakness. Not being able to finish this in a session like a professional live stream artist does not mean anything. This is how one practices and being hard on myself will only continue to cripple my creativity and keep me where I am. It’s ok to not be doing this full time, think of it as building my callouses back up. In the end the final product is good and no one will think less of it but probably me if they saw all the in between steps.This piece took me waaaay to long. From the idea doodle it’s taken me several weeks, and I redrew it several times. I had to futz with the anatomy and trying to match the pose from the reference image. It’s frustrating to not have the eye for human anatomy, I should have these basics down a bit better by now. The feet and hands still feel a bit off. Everything seemed awkward, especially for a ballet pose. It makes me wanna take more still life classes after this quarantine is over. I need to practice and get the fundamentals back under my belt cause it’s embarrassing.

I took a risk- that’s a good thing! It’s ok for digital to not be my prefer medium and it’s normal to feel some discomfort in working with something while still learning. It takes time and practice. I can see things that need improvement without it taking away from the joy the subject matter and progression in my skills gives me right now. I’m not less of an artist for accepting praise without appending all my issues with the piece to prove that I have an artistic eye (or whatever my current negative thoughts are). Also look at how much you learned about photo shop. Working digitally still gives me a sinking feeling as I can see the glaring gap between where my paper and pencil is to my comfort with a tablet. I feel like I’m still treating the programs like MS paint. An earlier sketch of this looked so stilted. While digital allows for helpful layers and adjusting proportions earlier, if I’m not tracing scanned line art it just doesn’t seem to work right. It’s hard to not look at this and be swarmed by the need to practice more and how I shouldn’t be satisfied when looking at it because it’ll be complacency. The lighting, the glow effect, the skin tones look a little off, white space as a possible crutch to avoid details…

PRIDE! Why overthink this. I’m sure it shouldn’t matter to me if anything thinks into this is anything but a positive light. I also can’t read minds so there is no use spinning possible catastrophic scenarios.I feel like I’m projecting my queerness too strong in this. Obviously this is fan art and the actors aren’t my OTP or something. I realized, until the last time I watched this film that I never thought about cats with any sexual undertones, cause like I was a kid so that’s fine. But this time I watch it and caught all the queer vibes these two cats and it made me giddy happy-Is that weird? Tagging them in my post makes me squirm. The same way I don’t wanna be summed up by only a part of who I am, I don’t wanna boiled these guys down to their sexuality either. I always worry about were the line between fan appreciations to let them know, in case they needed the boost, that they were part of something that meant something to me…..and being a wierdo fan.

You don’t have to be a dancer to enjoy everything it makes you feel. It just means you have a greater depth of understanding an appreciation for the art. You aren’t less for it.I wish I had stuck with dancing as a hobby. This makes me sad that I stopped in grade school and only took it again as an elective in college. This piece reminds me of the magic I saw in it as a kid. Reminds me I couldn’t cut it as an athlete, my spotty memory wasn’t going to do me favors in memorizing choreography, and the podiatrist didn’t recommend I try point at all. I miss my flexibility; it makes me feel old and tired.

I’m proud of myself for putting myself out there and making this piece. It’s a good piece! I’m thinking about this too much, that’s normal. I wanna thinking about all the possible down sides to this piece, negative reactions in the form of a polite thumbs up, or just the thought of me looking at in a year and missing the joy I had making it in my unhelpful thought patterns. Also did I mention my last post got more likes then I expected and I’m freaking out a little?

*Deeeep breaths* and so it’s time to let all the thoughts go into the night. I’m happy with this one :)

Final piece HERE. #mental health#therapy#arttherapy#theprocess