#still hate shading X'D

[aealzx]

I want to watch the universe expand.

---

“Hey.”

Leo’s voice was uncharacteristically soft to anyone who didn’t really know him, dragging Donnie out of his dusty fog of a mood just a little bit. He didn’t have a response, just looked over at Leo while wrapped in a cocoon of his favorite blanket, an empty mug held loosely in his hands. He would say he wasn’t in the mood, but he was almost begging Leo to antagonize him, make some snide remark, pull him out of the slump he was feeling, get him to retort back.

Instead it was the other side of Leo. The softer side.

“You look tired. Have you eaten yet?”

Leo looked sympathetic. Gentle. Leading with a light touch on the elbow instead of his boisterous grip on the wrist dragging his poor victim behind.

Donnie’s gaze fell as his shoulders raised in a shrug. He didn’t remember. Did he eat today? He remembered crackers at some point, but that obviously wasn’t enough. Another heavy weight on his already sagging shoulders.

Leo was quiet for a moment too long, just watching. Then he moved forward, cupping his hand under Donnie’s mug and trying to slide it away from him. “Are you-.... Willing to trust me, for a moment? I want to show you something.”

The obvious change in method of technique made Donnie’s eyes narrow, lips pressing together for a moment. Any other, regular moment he would have declined. Any other moment that wasn’t the quiet of the night smothered by smog over everyone’s mood. A smog that didn’t seem to want to leave. But this moment, Donnie just nodded and relinquished his grip on the mug.

A flash of teeth betrayed Leo’s smile as he quickly moved to the kitchen. “Stay right there, I’ll be right back,” he bid.

And Donnie complied. Fingers tugging the blanket a little tighter as he watched the empty space where Leo had gone. It took about twenty minutes before Leo returned with two mugs in his hands steaming with the smell of chocolate. “Hold this,” Leo directed, handing Donnie’s full mug back to him. “I already sent the other two ahead to get their wiggles out sooner.”

The comment made Donnie furrow his brows, confusion replaced by reluctance as Leo drew a katana and sliced open a portal. He didn’t want to go anywhere noisy right then, and pulled back to express his wariness.

Leo just chuckled, and held out his once again open hand. “Trust me. It’s a perfect night in the middle of nowhere.”

Okay, that was even more confusing. But at least it held the subtle promise of solitude. So Donnie graciously took Leo’s offered hand and let him pull him through the portal.

He hadn’t been expecting the ocean. The soft rush of waves crashing against the sandy beach below his feet. It was warm despite being night, and Donnie could hear the faint laughter of Mikey and Raph in the distance. Not quite out of view, but far enough to be quieter. Leo’s hand in the corner of his view caught Donnie’s eye and beckoned him to follow it, a finger silently pointing up and bringing Donnie’s gaze with it.

The salty air prickled his tongue as Donnie drew a slow gasp as the sight before him. The middle of nowhere indeed. No light sources were even close to the area to drown the sky in their pollution. Which meant the stars were free to shine the glory of the night sky as far as the eye could see. He barely felt Leo’s hand resting under the mug in his hands again to keep it from slipping from slackened fingers. The soft chuckle turned into a quiet whisper as Donnie’s mind tumbled from its confines to stretch towards the galaxies in view.

“Take your time.”

_____________________________

I had to get this out of my head |D There’s a bunch of songs by Sleeping at Last that are titled the numbers 1 through 9, and correspond to the Enneagram personalities. The text in the pic is the first line of Five, which I feel like fits Donnie well. And since I don’t think I’ll get to drawing anything for the others, these are the songs I feel fit them:

Raph - Six

Leo - Two (this one partially inspired the mini story)

Donnie - Five

Mikey - Seven

[scrawlinginthespicebin]

I know literally everyone & their brother draws n/s/f/w Shannons but listen mom says it’s My Turn Now so--- x’3

[gb-patch]

I am very bad with colors. so, in step 4 of OL1 baxter has the hair dyed? because in OL2 when he was a child it was more gray. It's something I just thought X'D

You're right, the shades are different. Step 4 Baxter is still dying his hair, it's just not as wild as the striped look from Step 3, haha. But his natural color is a dark dusty gray, which he hates.

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[kirame90]

I love your comic! I just been wondering how is the procedure to make one page? Is there a lot of writing and sketching? Or is there any secret method to your drawing? You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to. I’m just really amazed by how constant your posts are, they never disappoint in making my day better whenever I see them.

ashjsdfjhnscjsvbowhkf thank you QuQ

There is some writing, I usually write the dialogue first so I know how many panels I'll need for the scene. I write my scripts on leftover cash receipts ;)

About the drawing itself...I wish there was this super awesome secret method, but there really is not. I draw the sketch first...

...then lineart and dialogue

then flat colours,

and finally shading and backgrounds

I'm probably going to receive a ton of hate mail from comic artists who actually know how things should REALLY be done x'D

The more panels and characters, the longer the page takes. While I do enjoy making longer pages and get people enjoy them more as well, I'll need to balance the consumed time with shorter ones with less characters.

I prefer staying ahead of the schedule (you can see all the posts have been finished like 2 months before posting) because I am genuinely terrified of having to one day make an announcement that says "Sorry, the page is still in the making". I broke my right pinkie less than 2 years ago and drawing was VERY slow back then, but since I had plenty of finished pages in stock no one knew about it ;)

Soooo yeah, that's pretty much it. That's how I do it, not sure if it's anything special compared to how others are drawing their comics.

Thank you so very much for your message and feedback, it truly makes it all worth it to know people like what I'm creating. Also that they appreciate the consistency, that's a very important thing for me as well.

I hope you'll enjoy the story in the future as well, especially when we have our beloved chaotic mother-in-law in the game again ;)

[dear-mrs-otome]

Hello again X'D Please do "Mamihlapinatapei" with Toshiie, please and thank you~!

This is closer to an actual drabble, for once. Enjoy

Tagging: @fooljshgirl

Want a drabble? Send me a word. Want to be on the taglist? Let me know.

Horses stamped out a restless drumbeat, running counterpoint to the impatient rattle of armor and swords and spears all around him, but all Toshiie could hear was her voice. Small and thready, but it shattered his heart like no blow could.

“I hate this.”

It wasn’t a new sentiment from her. Just like it wasn’t the first time he’d left her behind as he went to fight Nobunaga’s battles, and it wasn’t the first time he’d nearly been seized by the urge to toss all of it aside and hoist her over a shoulder. To run with her far away from the constant war and blood and bowel-twisting fear, the fear that something would happen to her while he was gone, while he wasn’t by her side.

But even that was wishful thinking. Even that would never really be his place to claim.

He reached out a hand to brush aside the curtain of hair that had obscured her face when she bowed her head, but the strands simply snarled in his gauntlet and he let it fall away aimlessly. “I know. I’ll be back soon, though. Remember what I showed you?”

She lifted her gaze and offered him a tight smile, the one he’d loathed since the moment he’d met her. Brittle and temporary, just plaster over a hole. “I remember. Stomp, then an elbow.”

“Good girl.” He stared down at her, holding her eyes. Her face lifted towards him, and he let himself imagine for a moment that she was a flower. That he was the sun.

That she’d always turn to him.

“And…” he began, but never finished.

I love you.

The words were there, where they always were. Burrs caught in his throat, refusing to go either up or down. Barbed hooks in his tongue, tugging him always, always to her. If he pressed his lips to hers, to that softly parted mouth, could he finally pass them along that way? Would they leave him in peace for once, at long last?

She didn’t blink. Didn’t free him from the depths of her gaze, dark as a pond beneath the shade of the woods, nearly as still. The moment stretched, and he didn’t dare break the silence. Couldn’t bear to see ripples spread in that stare.

“And?” she murmured, at long last, sounding almost lost, and he shook himself.

“And nothing. Just this.” His hand fell atop her head, ruffling her hair, leaving her squeaking indignantly.

The familiar, familial motion tightening his leash once more.

[nekomakino-artblog]

So... I wanted to do a TBT and decided to put up some of my drawings from around 2010 to 2012... It’s been a long journey towards getting better, and I am still learning a lot!

I started drawing digitally and making it a hobby around 2007, didn’t really get better until 2015-2016, which is pretty recent actually.

So what I want to say is that no matter how you do in the start, if you are not satisfied with your actual skills keep learning, keep practicing, keep drawing until you start to feel better about it. 

I am never satisfied with my current self, I always want to go further and get better... there isn’t a single day where I am completely done with what I do... Even if I finish a piece... I always find something that could have been done better. But that doesn’t mean I am not at peace with my skills, I admit my progress and I can be at ease that someday... I will reach the goal I set for myself and then I’ll set another goal... and another and another and so on until the day I die!!!!!

Don’t give up... just keep going! ;)