#tbh the drawing process was two hours

[gigason]

There's more evo poolverine art on the way but I needed new nails so I made them poolverine themed because yes

[cj-the-random-artist]

Is this my best comic ever?? Nope. Do I think I characterized either of these two particularly well in this comic?? Not really. Did I spend an unreasonable amount of time on it to the point that it would be a waste to not post it?? Yes, yes I did.

I really committed to this one, spent a lot of time on those backgrounds and treated myself to ample suffering with the perspective, which is not my strong suit but I am happy with how it ultimately looks. Yay perspective and background practice!!

(Tbh I shouldn't talk like I think this one sucks, I think I've just been staring at it for so long that my brain has decided it's not good and it's actually way better than I think it is, and honestly I am quite happy with it. The artistic process really is something, isn't it?)

The inspiration was basically me reminding... myself... to take breaks sometimes... by drawing for several hour stints during my only little bits of free time. Which totally tracks. Probably. But I've been rolling around in my brain this idea that Lambert is a very uptight people pleaser and anxious workaholic, but Narinder, at least since adjusting himself to the circumstances (which probably took at least a century, maybe two) has discovered the joys of self care, and has made an active effort to chill tf out. This has not made him any less terrifying to the cultists (save for Lambert's closest disciples), nor has it made him friendlier to really anyone but Lambert (and maybe his siblings), but he sure has found some serious peace of mind. That said, I can't place what his motivations are here. Perhaps he is secretly concerned about Lambert's sanity, because he doesn't want them to turn into what he was, or maybe he's just trying to steal away some quality time with his one and only friend, but regardless of the reason, I spent too much time on this for nobody to see it, dang it.

That said. Enjoy this silly little comic that I spent way too much time on, and I hope this silly comic brings you some joy today.

[foxyfexyll]

the rest of my af attacks for this year!!!!

first part here lol

for ( in order of appearance, left to right top down, listing af user if not tagged) *deep breath* @/Zenitsuwu, @tokou-loid, @ryugure, @doodledrawsthings, @bugg-bones, @/Angelwithashotgun699, @/Chanacabra + @witheringblooddemon + @/strikixit, @/vampiric_ashes, @/FaL_, @gato1528 + @/miimoki + @/everlastingkira

phewwwwww now i don't have an excuse to put off summer stuff lol. this was such a blast! THANK YOU to all the ppl who attacked me it's such an honour <3 <3 <3 orz

(stats + more thoughts under cut)

i reached my goal (from jul 15) to at least double the amount i had then! next year (CUZ IM TOTALLY DOING THIS NEXT YEAR) i want to reach at least the same amount! ik some ppl out there got upwards of 40? to maybe a hundred ish? i know my limits sorry. this was after a long period of art block so overall i'm rly proud (and also rly thankful of the cool dudes who drew for me aaaa )

(overall stats = current stats for obv reasons)

i ALMOST did two little quicky doodles for some tumblr folk i didn't realize were also on af in like the last hour? and it wouldve broken me past 2k points? but i missed the chance. 18 still looks nice on the site page tho

if i learned anything it was how to be a bitty itty speedier at the drawing process. i streamlined my strats and made colouring a less daunting task. tbh my quality did decrease near the end (sry to the people there) but i did get okayer at not exhausting myself for every piece. also i learned that i gotta get better at lighting and figuring that out before starting the comp,,,

[tickle-bugs]

Stupid in Love

Summary: Nick Miller is completely, 100% normal about all things Jessica Day. Including her smile, her laugh--ah, fuck. He's doomed. NickJess ft. pining!Nick

Anon: I just saw you write for New Girl! I am in my yearly rewatch of the show so I am so happy you write for it! Maybe the loft gang and CeCe can be playing a game of true American and somehow during the game it comes out that Jess is incredibly ticklish. Everyone is too focused on the game to use it to their advantage at the moment, but nick remembers and maybe later when him and Jess are together, he decided to test his new found knowledge and see just how ticklish Jess really is.

While this isn’t set during a particular episode, I was thinking HEAVILY about s2 ep15, Cooler. One of the greatest episodes of the whole show, hands down. I just wanted to write pining Nick tbh.

True American is the best goddamn game ever invented. It defines a man at his core level. Everything that’s ever mattered to Nick is on the line in this game. His dignity, his pride, his dignity…

He honestly can’t remember what they’re playing for. Something involving the sink. Or a drink? Unclear, but irrelevant. Nick is the king of an aluminum can palace and his citizens will thrive under his leadership. This is his birthright. 

They’re playing True American: Catan Edition tonight. Each player defends their own small nations and attempts to crush the others, throwing their leaders to the molten lava below. It’s the smartest thing Winston’s ever come up with. 

“Duel for my amusement,” Nick slurs, waving his paper towel roll scepter around. The cardboard crown on his head slips down over his eyes. Cece blows a raspberry at him. He lobs a balled-up piece of paper at her. 

Jess plays a fanfare into her backup kazoo—Schmidt threw away her main one—and draws angry eyebrows onto the smiley face of her country’s flag. A declaration of war. 

Sober Jess is all for political progress and human rights, but Drunk Jess? Maniacal, power-hungry, and so very hot.

Focus, Miller. 

“Two, four, six, eight! Who do we appreciate?” Jess climbs onto one of the kitchen chairs and puts a colander on her head. A warrior’s helm. Nick smiles at her. 

In their corner of the living room, Winston and Schmidt whisper furiously. At some point in the last hour, Winston had ascended to Grand Advisor of Schmidt’s Creek. Schmidt had lost the ability to speak after can number two, when Cece had flirted him out of all of his natural resources and a third of his land. Nick had been trying to think of how to poach Winston to Nicklandia, but he couldn’t think of a plan that didn’t involve saying ‘please’ until he passed out. 

“Schmidt’s Creek will not challenge today!” Winston crushes his beer can against Schmidt’s forehead. Schmidt doesn’t even blink.

“Ruth Gader Binsburg! I challenge your weird little colony, Jess,” Cece shouts, messily hopping onto the chair next to Jess. They start some combination of swatting at each other and clutching on for dear life. Schmidt looks up at Cece like a drunk, lovesick puppy. Nick rolls his eyes.

Thank god he doesn’t look like that.

Does he look like that?

Shit. He’s missing the game. 

“Yeah? Guess what—” Jess knocks her knuckles against the colander helmet, winces, and then points at Cece— “I’m the Queen of England, bitch.” 

Nick’s not sure what’s elapsed in the apparently three years since he was last paying attention, but he knows by the way that Cece gasps that someone’s dying on the living room and/or kitchen floor tonight. Jess cackles and puts her hands on her hips. They start yelling, but even if they’re saying real human words, which he’s pretty sure they’re not, he’s not processing it. Jess looks so stupid in that little holey hat—someone should invent a word for that thing—and she’s adorable. 

Nick leans his cheek on his palm and smiles wider. Does she know her nose scrunches when she’s annoyed? 

Nick leans a little too far and loses his balance. Half of his aluminum fortress tumbles down. When he looks back up, Jess and Cece haven’t budged. Or blinked. Cece squints at Jess and it’s clear the conversation has ascended to psychic levels that even Drunk Nick can’t access. He tries though. Mostly gives himself a headache. 

Something in their eye conversation must shift, because Cece gets this look on her face. Like pure, concentrated mischief. The aura off of her is so powerful that everyone scoots back a bit. Cece starts stretching and cracking her knuckles. 

“Waitwaitwait, Cece, you don’t have to do this.” Jess holds her hands up in immediate surrender, but she’s smiling hard enough to brighten the room. A little nervous giggle picks up in the back of her throat and she starts to turn pinker than the boxed rosé that forms her section of the living room. 

“Oh, but I do. Surrender. Now.” Cece points to the floor. Which is lava. Cruel way to go. 

Jess looks at her best friend with the kind of profound resignation only possible when piss drunk. She sighs deeply, staring at the floor…

And then launches herself at Cece with a war cry. 

Cece doesn’t even flinch. She catches Jess, smirks, and starts tickling her sides with vicious precision. Jess lets out a giggly shriek and crumples, sinking right down into the lava. The colander tumbles off of her head and rolls into Nick’s fortress. 

The sound worms itself into Nick’s brain, taking up residence alongside all the other little Jess things that drive him nuts. It distracts him hard enough that by the time Winston arises as Supreme Leader of the Loft, Nick can’t even trace the path of his defeat. 

………

Even when sobriety beats them over the head the next morning, Nick can remember nothing but the sweet music of Jess’s laugh. And the shape of her smile. 

God he’s hopeless. 

The slow march of the week brings some relief in the sense that a) Nick remembers that he really doesn’t do the whole ‘feelings’ thing and b) alcohol makes anyone look like an angel walking the earth. He is a grown ass man and Jess is an annoying little craft goblin. He can be normal. She’s normal. No need to get worked up over her.

“You look like Mr. Rogers’s grumpy cousin.” Jess snickers, fiddling with the sleeve of Nick’s hideous cardigan. 

“You done? You finished?” He pulls his sleeve away from her. It’s really Schmidt’s, which she very well knows. Nick’s only wearing it because Schmidt’s being weird about Cece again, and the only way to survive that is to bend to his will. Schmidt’s already dehydrated himself twice this week trying to show off his muscles more, Nick doesn’t want to add to that by making the guy cry. He’d never stop.

Jess, however, doesn’t seem to understand the magnitude of this manly sacrifice. She’s too busy laughing at him. 

“Mmmm, no, I don’t think I am. You look like a Muppet.” She pinches his cheek. He rolls his eyes. 

“Well, that’s just a compliment.” 

“No, no. You look like the bird. The bird with the eyebrows—“ Jess pauses as her giggles overtake her— “You look like Sam the Eagle.” 

Jess folds over into his shoulder with laughter and smacks his chest. The warmth of it almost distracts him from the comment. 

Almost. 

“Yeah, laugh it up, Jess. C’mere—“ He drags her across the couch by the ankle and latches onto her sides. She makes that adorable sound again, that giggly shriek, and flails like a worm on a hook. She tries to push his face away. He swats her hands aside like it’s nothing. When reaches for him again—futile, really—he snatches her wrists in one hand, pins them down, and tickles with the other. 

Her whole face burns. He chooses to ignore it for both of their sakes. 

“Let me know when you’re ready to apologize. Take your time.” He does a little pinchy thing with his fingers and Jess lets out a high-pitched mess of syllables. She throws her head back and cackles, arching up into him. 

“Hmm, yeah, see none of that sounded like ‘You’re the best, Nick Miller’. Try again.” He pokes all over her torso, fast and wild. He lets go of her and adds his other hand into the mix. Every time she tries to talk, he speeds up, making her laugh at his silliness along with his hands. She kicks her legs and lets out a little giggly growl. Nick smiles so wide his cheeks hurt. 

“Nick!” She grabs his wrists but doesn’t stop him. His stomach flips. She’s so overwhelming. 

“That’s my name.” He skitters his fingers up her ribs to distract himself from the lump in his throat. 

Jess flails and nearly takes them both off the couch and into the next life. Nick catches himself before he collapses on top of her, but it puts their faces mere inches apart. The space of a breath. He can see the faint freckles across her nose, all brought forth by the pink flush down her cheeks and neck. As she catches her breath, lips parted, her laughter simmers low in her chest. He brushes her hair out of her face. His hand lingers on her cheek. 

Her eyes crinkle when she smiles. Does she know that? 

Nick gets the deep, burning urge to kiss her senseless. To download all these embarrassing, vulnerable thoughts from his brain to hers. To show her how deep this goes. To drink of her like the wine at restaurants he can never afford. 

No. Not like this. She deserves better than this.

Than him.

He starts to pull away, awkwardly clearing his throat. Jess surges forward and Nick’s stupid little monkey brain gleefully claps its hands together, shouting this is it! It’s happening! Nick’s brain activity screeches to a halt. He stares at her mouth and freezes. 

Jess flips them over and starts tickling his ears like some kind of insane supervillain. 

“No! Jessica!” He turtles and attempts to fling himself to safety. All he accomplishes is hanging off the back of the couch, leaving his knees in reach of Jess’s evil nails—

One day he will be smart about Jessica Day, but he concedes that it won’t be today. But as she destroys him and Schmidt’s stupid, hopefully inexpensive cardigan, he secretly hopes the day never arrives. 

[mazeinthemiroh]

So I'm currently stuck in the airport due to weather delays (and have been for the last two hours L.O.L. 🙃). How would the members of Stray Kids handle this situation/help pass the time?

stray kids waiting for their plane

genre: general

warnings: not proofread

a/n: sorry ✈️ anon this should've been done first out of all your requests but hey-ho, here ya go

bangchan

you can't tell me this man is going to do anything other than sleep

like.... oh my plane has been delayed? okay then, wake me up in 3 hours ig...

that's so him

he's got his travel pillow wrapped around his neck already so he can pretty much fall asleep at any given point if he feels like it

so who's gonna stop him?? cos i ain't???

minho

he will go on a little walk around the airport

grabs a good ol' starbucks frappuccino and goes about his business, gazing around the shops for nothing in particular

might get some cute little gifts for his friends or his cats while he's at it

but overall he's just walking around like the model he is, probably stealing a few people's hearts in the process

like you can't tell me he won't be your airport crush if you saw him in that setting fr

changbin

gets a meal for himself because he's been waiting so long and he still isn't on the plane yet??

ain't no way he's paying for that overpriced stuff of the plane, nuh-uh

so he gets a takeaway and likely spends the rest of his time on his phone, texting someone and ranting about his delayed flight on the internet

but overall his mind is preoccupied. he keeps checking to see if it's finally time for his departure after waiting so long

hyunjin

might just whip out his sketchbook and start drawing the pretty people he sees when waiting in the seating area

either that or he's hititng th eshops

and it's not like he needs any new stuff, but he ends up buying new clothes and accessories for his trip just because he can

and honestly, i don't blame him. it's a bit of fun!

might also buy a book, for good measure

jisung

another sleeper

he's already done. like he doesn't wanna be there and is frustrated that he has to wait more time for his plane to arrive

so he might have a little snooze if he can

either that or he's popping his headphones on and walking around, seeing if there is anything that could possibly peak his interest while he waits for his plane

felix

plays game son his phone most of the time

i mean

he's got enough games on there to last him the whole day anyway so why not put them to good use!

but if he gets that bordd he might do a lil shopping spree, definitely getting some sort of croissant or other baked good to keep him going

i also see him buying little knick-knacks and gifts for people because my boy loves giving <3

seungmin

he's got a few books packed, so he might grab one and dig into it while he waits for the plane

but if the book isn't grabbing him, he might go for a walk around the airport, earphones in as he window-shops with no intention to buy anything

he is also a keen people-watcher, which is a great habit to have at the airport because there is so many different people from every walks of life. it's safe to say he's going to have fun observing people and lowkey judging them lmao

jeongin

hits all the shops

and the food hall of course

to pass the time, he wants to eat different types of food

1, because he's hungry. 2, because he's bored. but 3, he thinks that if he fills up on food that when he does get on the plane, he if more likely to fall asleep, making his plane ride ultimately more quicker. that's pretty smart tbh

[lixenn]

OCtober 2024 day 19: palette challenge #1

So. For this prompt I decided to try something a little bit different. I have never drawn anything where I truly limited myself to just one colour palette and I honestly didn't know if I could figure it out with my current art style. Which means in Lix terms: OVERHAUL YOUR ENTIRE ART PROCESS IN AN EVENT FOR THE LOLS!

Which resulted in my first proper drawing of Trix, Val's sucessor and a true spitfire 🫡

More yapping under the cut.

Okay.

New art style tried out.

It was certainly and interesting experience because I completely winged the entire thing. I drew a rough sketch of her features and then just... messed around. I scrapped my intial try at the face and redid it and I'm not a hundred percent satisfied with it yet but I'd say for my first try this turned out pretty damn good.

And honestly while the face was a struggle the hair... My guys this was probably the easiest hair I have ever drawn digitally and I'm not exaggerating here. I could skip the entire lineart process by default so I just... layered the strands added some shade and highlight and it turned out so fucking good I'm still baffled by it. Like... I wanna draw here like this all the time but I also want the hair to match the rest of the drawing and it's jarring if I skip lineart with hair but have it with the rest of the piece. So either I just figure out how to properly draw without lineart entirely or I maybe adjust the way I do lineart I don't know what yet. Also I will need to experiment with different hairstyles just to see if this wasn't a fluke.

Btw this entire thing took me one and a half hours and six layers. SIX FUCKING LAYERS!!! THIS IS INSANE I NORMALLY NEED AT LEAST TEN FOR A FULLY RENDERED PIECE LIKE WHAT THE FUCK????? I had: background, face, eyes, hair plus two layers for light and shadow rendering. This seriously blows my mind like... dude... And I mainly used just one brush for this with just a bit of airbrush at the end for the rendering. I haven't touched any other tools either, I didn't even use clipping mask (which tbh i have maybe one for some of it but I just went: fuck it we ball).

Anyways conclusion: This is fire and I need to figure out what to do with this newfound power in the future 🫡

[osatokun]

Hello! How are you today? I hope you’re getting lots of commissions :) when I have the money to contribute I REALLY want to commission you! :)) I love your artwork so much, it feels so magical and full of love! I actually had a question for you, if you ever have the time to answer!

I feel very inspired by your full scene illustrations, the perspective is so cool and each illustration feels so intricately detailed. I was curious about your process for these illustrations! How you work out perspective, colours, shading, etc… thank you for your time and I hope you have a lovely rest of your day!

- From a big fan :) <3

Hello! I do not, but I'm okay today! Hope you're ok too! Thank you!

This is a big question to answer and tbh I'm not sure how to properly answer. Because I just..draw..I don't think too much. But first of course I pick an idea. Then I make doodles or, if picture in my head is clear but I can't get the angle for the composition, I make a simple 3d model

then I make a sketch

Clip Studio has a very handy perspective ruler that helps A LOT. I didn't figured fisheye one, but regular one is saving my day! Then I make lines and basic colors. It's already 16+ hours on this pic at this point XD

And then.. well I do shading, idk how to describe this process T_T Currently I try to learn how to make minimum shading, but it worked out only once. I add details along the way, depending on the story on the picture and collecting refs. And often change stuff on the layers above the line!

(last two are location our DM used and collar sent by character's owner)

and the final The details here- Peacock dress and picture, because Glinda has peacock nature. Little note - Charlie bought her a hookah with raspberry taste because her soul smells like raspberries. "for my birdie" the note says, because he calls her bird, telling her stories about brave little robins with wounded chest ( she has wounded chest so it's usually covered).Her changeling name is also translates as "little bird". Glinda and Chris ( girl in white) was in the process of ordering clothes, because Chris got his body changed from male to female and he had 0 idea what to order. Snakes on the pillows as symbol of Glinda's changeling house ( Balor)

[anotherbluesunday]

✨15 QUESTIONS FOR FRIENDS✨

.

.

.

I was tagged by the lovely Sindar @remusjohnslupin (fight me, I’m ready 👁️👄👁️🔪). So excited to do one of these “get to know me” threads again. They’re always so interesting to read.

.

.

Are you named after someone? Nope. I’m named after a project my father worked on (the Mars rover missions) and my mom’s favorite day of the week, Sunday.

When was the last time you cried? A few days ago. It was for a role though so that doesn’t really count (?). In a non-acting capacity I’d say a week ago when I had the wonderful realization that a 40 hour work week isn’t condusive to my creative process and school schedule and cried in relief as I put in my two-weeks notice.

Do you have kids? Nope and I don’t want to have any theough pregnancy. I don’t like the idea of being physically pregnant and my family has a few things genetically that I wouldn’t want to pass down to my children like breast cancer and ovarian cancer. But I want to adopt three kids someday—preferably preteens or teens because I hate knowing that there are kids going through life in foster care and are phased out of the system at 18 with no experience and they’re expected to either sink or swim. It’s pretty heartless tbh.

What sports do you play/have played? Oh gosh, okay, there’s a lot. I was captain of track for all four years, swim and dive for three. I was the ace pitcher of my HS’s baseball team. Played volleyball. Did tennis for a year but didn’t stick with it. I surf, skateboard, snowboard, and rock climb and I’m thinking of picking up dirt biking because my friends from my work won’t leave me alone about it.

Do you use sarcasm? I’m a writer. The answer is pretty self-explanatory. lol.

What is the first thing you notice about people? Their tells and mannerisms. I always notice if someone’s words match their mannerisms and behavior and that tells me half of what I need to know about the and what they won’t say aloud.

What’s your eye colour? Dark brown.

Scary movies or happy endings? In the words of Tulio and Miguel, both. Both is good.

Any talents? I can write and play a mean fiddle/violin solo. I also have a talent for injuring myself but bouncing back quickly and with little fear toward repeating the same mistake that got me hurt in the first play (broke my nose twice snowboarding, still go up to the mountains every winter).

Where were you born? The forests of North Carolina. My family has since moved.

What are your hobbies? Writing (the love of my life), going to the gardening center for more plants because there’s no such thing as too many, hiking, biking, running, rock climbing with friends, annoying/teasing my friends while they’re rock climbing, discovering something new in the city on my days off, camping, calling @remusjohnslupin a Sindar and cackling like a bog witch when she scolds me for it, etc… The list is endless.

Do you have any pet? I have a monster named Mitzy who claims to be a chihuahua but I know she’s a gremlin larping as a dog.

How tall are you? 5’10��. Idk how many centimeters that is exact. I think it’s ~178cm.

Favourite subject in school? English, geology, and art. I can’t pick so it’s a three-way draw.

Dream job? Writer-Director that moonlights as a contributing writer to Scientific American.

.

.

.

Now to tag! I tag @tastethesetears @broken-everlark @frnotelise @the--lysine-contingency @semifontos @angelicangelx @woefullysomber @wednesdayandherhyde @resisting-moonlight82 @thelovelybookworm @you-can-hufflefuck-right-off @imdonessentialk @insomniac1994 @perpetuallyvvperplexed @vadacore @michiganstray @mistressvera @allamericansbitch @hippydippyloser @karrrrrliiita @leavesdriftinginthewind @darling-gemini @darlingfuego @dark-visitors @darklinaforever @certaindreamchopshop @poisonivy13blog @trashy-stargazing-captain @shadowofthesun123 @osnapitzmel1 @slaanesh12 @starlemoncb @josette15 @pey0805 @crimsonnsstuff @gardenoblues @justonemorewallflower

[archenemyintellegence]

"Prince" (15/2/2024)

I saw a photo of him on Pinterest and he's so fucking beautiful. I have to draw him even if it's mean I have to figure out the shiny pieces one by one.

This drawing was much more challenging than I expected, even when I draw it with a reference photo. I tried doing this because I want to use this as a warm up for me to go back to drawing (as I'm going through a hell lot... That's why the updates are so delayed here uggh), but literally everything in this drawing is a challenge.

First, the face. There's a shadow on his face and I seldom draw this kind of shadow on face. I have to figure out the colors to express the value + not making it look too spooky/ like blood dripping on the face. Also the beard. I NEVER DONE BEARD. It's so challenging because I don't see much beard irl so there's so little data in my head for me to work with. And the hair too. It's just black in the photo, but it can't be too dark or else it cannot match the fabulousness of his jacket.

And next, THE JACKET. Oh My God. This takes forever to draw. So many times I just wanted to trace the whole things but I resisted the temptation. I figured out the placement of the discs, one by one. It's not super accurate but it's good enough to work with. The rendering was like an endless boss fight. I had to zoom in so closely so I can do the details but at the same time not lost track of the big picture. It's also so challenging to figure out the colors, as I want to capture the rainbowy effect on his jacket, which caught my attention on the reference photo.

The guitar strap is literally the easiest thing in the drawing but still it's not that easy, as it's gold on purple, which two of the colors are both quite warm. I put lots of cold colors in the gold part so it won't stick to the purple part, but at the same time it has to have warm colors so it looks gold + reflections of the purple strap.

This drawing took me 42 hours to finish, and I didn't expect it to take this long at all. But tbh I didn't even think that I could finish it at the first place lmaooo. It's a fucking boss fight and I learned a lot from the drawing. I can see my improvements during the process, and I am also blown away by the improvement I've made, when comparing this to my other drawings. I've heard that color is the most difficult thing to master in drawing. I always agree with it and I am so feeling it in this drawing. I feel that every time I draw, I'm learning a little bit about colors, just enough to motivate me to finish the drawing. There're still so much more to explore about colors.

[rui-drawsbox]

hey dude

how did you develop your art style? ive been drawing for years and I cant seem to get a handle on ANYTHING

4 almost 5 days late sorry dude you shot right into my inability to put thoughts into words properly HAHA

alright so first of all, i don't even think a style is something you need to do art. I'm a hobbyist apologist and as long those people enjoy creating it doesn't even have to look "good".

That aside i'm assuming you want to take art at least a little seriously so i'm just going to be straight forward and say that the only way is ping-pong between styles/techniques/themes and just stick with the stuff you feel more comfortable doing.

Now going into my personal experience, that's what you asked after all lolol (from now on this is just yapping so feel free to ignore it)

alr soooo im skipping my first steps into art and going into the humanoid phase. I actually started with sonic! Specifically the show Sonic X, of course i picked up mannerisms from the anime when it was time of doing comedic doodles (and cuestionable taste on fashion)

(im going thru my big inspirations so bear with me here)

2015 came and i discovered my two main inspirations for a long time: fnaf and Ed00chan! (link to her abandoned deviantart so yall can see the style of the time). As i was completely enamored by her anime-yet-cartoony style i was also hyperfixated with fnaf and those two things combined perfectly into (the infamous in the spanish side of the fnaf fandom) fnafhs! bing bang boom there it goes my personality for the next 5 years!

sprinkle a few power puff girls z too why not

anyway at that time i wanted to become a pro like ed00 so i had to understand anatomy, and my go-to channel was Bgm94! But the elders said that to broke the rules you have to understand them, so i just kind-of started doing more "realistic" bodies while maintaining the cartoony-ness i liked so much. Which to be fair, didn't last long before i got bored and jumped straight into cartoon/chibi again

also since we're entering my digital era i'm including some drawings with wild style changes since the experimentation never ends owo9

anyway that was 2018 and before! it was around 2017-18 that i dropped the general tutorials and just started experimenting on my own style/anatomy and trying to improve my skills (im ignoring my sketchbooks bc from now on they just become- well, sketchbooks, instead of doing full drawings i just doodled in classes and leaved the detail for digital stuff)

i would love to include all my 2019 folder bc i consider it was a year full of love for my silly doodles but tumblr has a limit for images HAHA. Hopefully you can see how i go trying out stuff and pick little stuff from every stage with me lolol

2020 hits and you can *see* my hyperfixation with twisted wonderland here, at least my folder is 60% twst drawings i made for my fanfic at the time LOL. Not so many style jumps here tho so let's keep going

2021 and 2022 here! at the second half of 2022 i found my oh so beloved crunchy brush and i also fell hard for Arashi Narukami, so basically my tumblr became an arashi fanpage lol

stuff at 2023 keeps pretty the same until now tbh, the only highlight would be the re-inclusion of noses bc of spiderverse 2. My style also has been pretty well maintained since i started doing commissions so i don't really do so much experimentation anymore, at least not with proportions and such.

alr so that was my journey on artstyle! Of course it's not like you're gonna guess all my process just by looking at the images so i'll say what type of stuff i feel influenced my decisions.

i'm very lazy and for a log time i just abandoned my projects if it prolonged more than a day or two, that obviously made me lean into the cel/plain shading rather than spending hours and maybe days rendering (not that i don't try rendering every now and then but i don't enjoy spending so much time in a single piece)

everyone around me always has been extremely supportive so i had the privilege of dedicating all my soul to drawing silly characters haha, i feel like since i never felt the need of comparing myself to others i could actually experiment so unapologetically with my style until i was satisfied

finding an actual brush that i like is always crucial to me tbh, even in traditional i'm pretty picky with how the ink and type of pen i'm using. Of course, i also tried multiple traditional art techniques (watercolor, acrylics, crayons, pencils, pastels, my favorite are pen+markers)

i dont like feets. that shows until today.

in general i think an artstyle is something extremely personal that every person has to shape themselves and that it can't really be a permanent thing, it's gonna fluctuate with the artist whenever they like it or not.

[grelleswife]

I get the feeling some of the staff have no idea what goes on with those kids too tbh 💀 like someone lied to them too.

Hi, anon! Based on the pattern established by the previous two mission arcs, my guess is that the F.O.L. staff are at least partially aware of the orphanage’s true purpose, even though most of them probably don’t know the full details.

During the maid arc, Jane wasn’t privy to why Heathfield manor was collecting blood, but she knew those illicit activities were going on as soon as she stepped through the door, since she was hired to act as a bodyguard and keep the operation under wraps. Other servants were also active participants in the scheme, including Abbie the housekeeper, depicted below showing Jane where the unconscious maids were held.

Likewise, Ada was complicit in drawing blood from her patients, even after making the connection between the dark underbelly of Sphere Music Hall and Athena Sanatorium. Of course, unlike Jane (who didn’t give a damn about the victims and only had her own pecuniary interests in mind) Ada sincerely cared for her patients, only continuing to collect blood under threat of losing funds if she disobeyed orders.

Based on the events up to Chapter 200, I think the F.O.L. staff acknowledge that there’s shady business afoot but keep their heads down and focus on the job—if the orphans are hurt in the process, that’s not their problem. 🤷‍♀️

As Theodore told Finny, “the forest that surrounds F.O.L. Orphanage is filled with countless traps, the guardhouse is always staffed, and they’re on watch twenty-four hours a day to keep an eye on us.” Even if the adults were kept completely in the dark, surely some of them would find these excessive defenses and constant surveillance a little suspicious (Assuming Yana isn’t making them obtuse for the sake of plot convenience 🤪)!

There’s also an undercurrent of tension (not the fun kind) among the ladies that occasionally rears its head. For example, when Doll begs these characters to let Snake stay at the orphanage just before Finny and him are booted out, their discomfort is obvious. This doesn’t look like annoyance at a child’s whims, but apprehension about crossing someone with a degree of power over them.

Later on, when a minor change is made to the menu for the Pomeranian class’s afternoon tea, the staff flies into an all-out panic. And when Snake has the temerity to question their overblown reaction, one of the workers is so shocked that she involuntarily drops the plate she’s carrying. It’s almost like the grownups have the threat of dire consequences looming over their heads if they put a toe out of line. 👀

Also, consider how sinister the paneling is when the chief of staff informs Susan of Ginny’s fledging day. Pitch-black backgrounds, shadowed faces. Not the reaction you’d expect from blissfully clueless women who assumed they worked for a Nice Normal Orphanage that Definitely Does Not Kill Kids.

Speaking of fledging day…anyone with an ounce of common sense would hear alarm bells ring when all the orphans who attempt to escape or fail to meet the class system’s rigid expectations are sent packing. Again, the workers are either blind to what’s right in front of their noses, or they’re in on it.

Moreover, the staff make it their prerogative to keep the children ignorant. The newspapers given to the orphans are regularly censored to filter out any information—such as the uncovering of Sphere Music Hall’s crimes—that might clue the kids in to the grim reality in which they’re trapped. It’s possible that the adults are told they’re removing such content for the kids’ own good, to avoid upsetting them…but why be so assiduous in controlling the orphans’ perspective of the outside world unless you know there’s something to hide?

While it’s unclear if they’ve been told who (and what) Doll actually is, they apparently know enough to cover for her when those pesky bizarre doll traits start peeking through. After Doll has to excuse herself following a woozy spell, Susan rushes to placate Snake with a bullshit excuse about her period (because everyone with a uterus turns into a fragile fainting flower when that time of the month rolls around. Didn’t you know? 🤡) and quickly changes the subject before they can ask too many questions. To me, at least, this read like a blatant attempt to conceal Doll’s episode from Finny and Snake, even if Susan isn’t completely aware of what these occurrences entail.

And finally, there’s no way these workers sincerely believe that they shave orphans’ heads on their fledging day TO “GET RID OF LICE AND FLEAS” when F.O.L. Orphanage is supposedly such a prestigious establishment. You’re lying through your teeth, Susan. (If those poor babeys aren’t having their hair clipped for surgical purposes, I’ll eat my shoes)

While I doubt the workers have the whole story, they’re far from innocent.

[monstersinthecosmos]

so idk if you've talked about this before but i was thinking about how some of your sheith fics take place in the same sort of headcanon universe where keith and shiro first got together when shiro was actually kuron and ttsr! majorly diverges from that! i love the flavor of both possibilities LOL but i'm just wondering in what ways this timeline difference changes how you view/choose to portray their relationship in each scenario! and i don't think we'll get that far in ttsr! (I'M SCARED TBF) but just in your mind palace i also wonder how you think it plays out when shiro comes back as a clone! does kuron even know they're a thing? does keith notice any differences in how he acts? IS HE FREAKIER AND MEANER IN BED LOL? sorry i feel like i send you so many asks abouy ttsr! BUT I GENUINELY THINK ABOUT IT EVERY DAY LMAO. literally it's the sacred texts!!!!

Fgkjfdlg OMG I haven’t actually talked about this at length before because a lot of people don’t notice or don’t comment on it and I don't think anyone has ever asked! 😊

(This is going to contain some mild spoilers for my fics but THE CLUES ARE ALL THERE if you’ve read them before! Proceed with caution!)

SO YEAH LIKE. Not ALL of my Sheith fics fit these two timelines but I have a few versions of how Sheith hooked up that all live in harmony in my mind so sometimes I draw on these and it’s fun to play with them by adding more at different points in time or from different points of view.

One of them is STAR EATER timeline which started with Star Eater and includes Zero Hour and another fic called The Alternative that I wrote for a zine but I haven’t posted it on AO3 because tbh the zine process upset me so much that I don’t want to look at it anymore to make it AO3 ready lol.

The other is TONIGHT THE STARS REVOLT timeline which includes TTSR -> Minuit -> and the Femsheith fic as we circle the moon which is FEMSHEITH TTSR. (This is the order they were posted in, but chronologically it would be TTSR -> as we circle the moon -> Minuit).

And like, when I first started writing Sheith fic, I’d just spent like 2 years writing VC fic full time, and for the most part I try to keep all my VC fics in the same timeline. Mostly just for fun! It’s become like a creative challenge to me to like keep continuity between fics or hide Easter eggs. So I had written Star Eater as my first Sheith fic and then when I wrote Zero Hour I just thought it would be fun to keep it in the same timeline the way I do with VC. But idk I feel a lot freer writing Sheith than I do VC so it was also inspiring to branch out and not stick to the same formula every time.

Something about Sheith too is there’s SUCH a wealth of fic in the fandom and we’ve read so many hundreds of versions of them as a couple and how they got together and everything and like, you gotta understand that I have like 100 fic ideas on deck at all times and I know I don’t have time to write all of them, so I tend to like weed out ideas to prioritize and budget time for if I think I can say something interesting and maybe subvert some of the common fandom tropes. So yes sure, Sheith are soulmates, yada yada, but WHAT IF THEY WERE FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS AND IT WAS AWKWARD ! Or WHAT IF SHIRO NEVER MADE A MOVE UNTIL IT WAS KURON DRIVING BECAUSE KURON WAS LESS INHIBITIED? Listen I’m a slut for angst, too, so like. I’m not really good at writing fluff and it’s not my first choice as a reader, either, so I wanna ask, like sure yada yada soulmates but what if it hurt, or what if it was messy? How can we make this dark and fucked up? Lol

So these two premises are like, places I’ve put a lot of thought, and I think a lot about how that affects their relationship long term and what it says about them. And I think they offer a different flavor, so when I have an idea or I’m in a certain mood, sometimes I think “this would be really nice in whichever timeline.” And a few of my fics they hook up after the war, too! So it really depends like what flavor I’m going for that day and how badly I want to traumatize Keith LOL

But for example, like, TTSR was born in my brain as like misc smut prompts but I thought “It would be subversive if they were FWB" because at the time I never saw canonverse fics where they were FWB, I’d only seen it in AUs. And then when I wrote Minuit it was for the prompt party and my prompt was about Keith nursing Shiro to health after he gets his body back, and I WANTED it to be crampy and uncomfortable and awkward, and I WANTED Shiro to feel guilty and self conscious, and so I thought setting it in TTSR timeline would add to it because it adds that element of like, IS THIS TOO INTIMATE? IS IT TOO SERIOUS? It also includes some flashbacks to when Kuron first shows up, and how he and Keith navigated being around each other, but his memory is sort of fuzzy and he’s disoriented.

I REALLY love thinking about the sort of like, dubcon aspects of Keith fucking Kuron, too, because neither of them are truuuuuuuly consenting. Keithisn't fucking the person he thinks he's fucking, and later on Shiro is bound to be kinda violated knowing that his identity was stolen for it. And would Kuron want to fuck Keith if the Galra wasn't telling him to? I also like the idea that Kuron is not a perfect copy, and maybe he’s bolder, maybe he’s more aggressive, etc. So maybe he did make moves that Shiro didn’t, and Shiro comes back and can’t believe what went on while he was gone. In Star Eater universe it’s sex and in TTSR universe it’s the ilu confession. It's quite violating to everyone involved!

And in both universes I’ve tried to float the idea that Keith could tell something was wrong, or different, but he just assumed it was The Trauma ™. Like Shiro comes back a little bit off, he’s getting migraines, and Keith GETS IT. Keith has also (canonically) made Shiro’s safety his own responsibility, so I wonder if he feels so guilty that he fucked up that he’s not going to push on it. In Zero Hour this takes the shape of Keith not wanting to talk about Kuron at all to real Shiro because he feels so fucking embarrassed that he didn’t notice, and in as we circle the moon (s)he’s struggling the entire time trying to figure out if Shiro needs space to get better or if this is going to be the new normal and how tough the love should be.

One of the reasons re: Kuron why I decided I wanted a clean slate after Zero Hour too is that I kind of regretted the way I interpreted the Kuron lore when I wrote Zero Hour; canon is a little bit unclear about how it works and whether or not Kuron is “dead” or gone from the body. I decided afterwards that I liked the idea of them having to share the space and sort of integrating with each other, which is why I wrote it differently in Minuit. In Star Eater timeline, Kuron’s entire personality is basically AI programmed on what the Galra could map of Shiro’s brain, and WITHOUT GETTING INTO JUNK SCIENCE EXCUSES FOR THE WHY, I just thought maybe it might leave sort of “impressions” in the body, which is why Shiro can sense residual, disjointed memories. I imagined these things like imprints or phantom sensation in his brain, perhaps in the vein of epigenetic trauma.

But in TTSR/Minuit timeline, Shiro is in there WITH HIM and it’s a matter of trying to cooperate who’s in the driver’s seat. I haven’t written this further but I imagine that Real Shiro will one day simply become New Shiro which is him and Kuron sort of integrated as one person; this is why I wrote the scene about him dreaming about a cherished childhood memory except that he’s inserted a twin into it. He will learn to share and accept that Kuron has all his same memories and his own soul, whatever that means.

AND TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS LOL SORRY FOR MEANDERING but I do imagine Kuron being freakier and meaner LOL. Is this grounded in canon or am I making excuses to be kinky? Reader’s choice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can justify it by, again, asking if the Galra made an imperfect copy. Because like he IS different! The show communicates this to us by the subtle changes to his character design. And I think about like, the Galra designing him and programming him for a purpose, which is GET CLOSE TO THE RED PALADIN, and I wonder how that might push him in areas where Shiro would’ve been more reserved.

And like what might the Galra get wrong about human psychology and American culture? WHAT ARE GALRA MATING RITUALS? As the BIG BADDIES of canon they come off as being aggressors—even Lotor, who believed he was acting for a greater good, was committing atrocities LOL—so how does that change when they try to build a human personality and human intention? WHAT IF IT’S LIKE JURASSIC PARK WHERE THEY PATCH DNA GAPS WITH GALRA SO KURON IS LIKE AN ALPHA OR SOMETHING HAHA. But no really like what if he’s more virile, what if he’s more confident, what if everything he does is based on some soul-crushing subconscious instinct to BE CLOSE TO KEITH at any cost!!!

These ideas take many forms in my mind, which is why I need multiple versions with multiple answers LOL.

But TTSR Kuron knows they’re a thing, because I think the Galra were sort of downloading/studying Shiro’s consciousness through his arm the entire time he was alive, right? So up until the very end he’d have Shiro’s memories. He will know they hooked up, and he will know how Shiro felt about it. In as we circle the moon (s)he breaks the ILU to Keith in the pilot’s log because she thinks she’s dying and her entire soul is crushed that she never saw her relationship with Keith through, not just for the half of her that shares Shiro’s feelings but also the other half that exists solely to get to Keith.

Star Eater Kuron knows that Shiro has been pining for a while and is the one who is brave enough to make a move!

ANYWAY THIS WAS QUITE LONG AND RAMBLING but I hope I answered your questions LOL.

I think TTSR exists as a trilogy in my mind, and I hope that the huge gaps between updates don’t leave anyone DYING because I’m going to follow canon so there's not a huge mystery where it will go. You can also get an idea of where they’re going by stitching clues together from the other fics. I have no idea if or when I’ll find time to WRITE A WHOLE TRILOGY (please just let me finish TTSR first LMFAO) but I always imagined TTSR ending around when Shiro dies, the middle fic being about Kuron, and the third as the post-S7 story that I have to make up myself because I don’t accept S8 LOL.

MAKE OF THAT WHAT YOU WILL but that’s basically the questions I ask about these guys and how it informs where fics go and if I’m in one mood or another or think one timeline or the other will serve a story I want to tell, I’ll set it there!

and OMG don't apologize for sending Sheith asks, I think all this stuff is like bursting at the seams of my brain and I'm always happy to yell about it!!!

[ulabewriting]

Skyh Foreman-McGuire.

she/her.

TW : mention of drugs/smoking.

– Polish-American, adopted in Oregon.

– Cancer woman.

– Game developer.

• don’t even try to understand what is going on inside her head. Many have tried… they all failed and left very disturbed.

• her thought process is so unpredictable, it’s entertaining. You don’t even question it anymore, you just follow its groove.

• always has flawless eyeliner with the prettiest little details.

• doesn’t really care much about fashion; she just throws on whatever she finds most comfortable.

• wants to live in the woods, become a fairy and never interact with anybody ever again.

• when you met her, you genuinely thought she was on something – but no. You really couldn’t believe it when she said she doesn’t smoke/use drugs of any kind.

• though when you hang out with her, you feel like you’re under substances lmao. Skyh is a whole hazard–

• has a lot of ear piercings. You wonder how her ears haven’t fallen off yet tbh.

• put a pen or some paint brushes in her hands and she becomes someone else – it’s without a doubt the only moment you get to see her focused expression. She creates works of art like it’s natural to her, like she doesn’t even have to think; she just does.

• sometimes karter and her meet at his place just to sit in his room and draw or paint in silence for hours. That’s how they bond.

• strongly rejects her parents’ desires and ways. They don’t even try to argue with her anymore. They, just like everyone else, abandoned the idea of ever being able to grasp what she’s thinking about.

• though people seem to view her as an alien (you do too, kind of), she gets you like nobody else does and, for some reason, she feels like you get her too; like you somehow always find a way to see eye to eye with her.

• for this reason, you’re her alien. That’s how she calls you.

• you’re saved as ‘my little UFO´ in her phone–

• you’re her first love. Nobody really ever understood Skyh or even managed to grab her attention long enough before. You’re very special to her.

• frogs and bees and spiders are her besties.

• absolutely obsessed with bugs of all kinds.

• big fan on skinny dipping. Her favorite activity is undressing herself, undressing you, then jump into any icy lake she finds.

• likes to lie on the ground. in the snow, grass, cold parquet; pretty much anywhere.

• only gets talkative when you two are alone. She doesn’t like crowds and doesn’t bother to try to interact with people in general. She usually remains quiet when her siblings are around.

• has a very hard time trusting people (she has more faith in bugs than any human ), but she does trust the good hearts of her siblings and you, of course.

• into journaling. Whenever she gets the chance, she sits down and draws and writes about little things that she likes, new insects she discovered, random(like, very random) thoughts and cute stuff you did during the day. <3

• brutally honest. like. brutally.

• a human gremlin. that’s the best skyh description.

• addicted to tea. strongly believes that tea is a remedy for everything. Not once has it happened that you visited her house and she didn’t offer you some warm, relaxing, delicious tea.

• girl was born tired lmao.

• has a huge collection of buttons. They kind of look like eyes; she likes it. She won’t care about how cute or how well-made a shirt is…. but if it has some interesting-looking buttons, oh lord–

• could live her whole life only eating donuts.

• one thing to love about her is how open minded she is. Definitely not the type to judge or make faces at concepts or ideas she doesn’t know/doesn’t like. openness&understanding 🤝 skyh.

• loves when it’s raining. she insists to go outside and dance until the sky is dry again. (don’t worry about her getting sick, her system is as mysterious as her, she’ll be fine)

• changes her nail polish everyday. She loves to paint your nails – if you’re into that, of course.

• suuuuuper clumsy. You can’t trust her with a glass, she’ll break it. No matter how; she’ll find a way to break it.

• plays minecraft 24/7.

• started coding at 14 out for boredom, ended up creating games for a living and becoming one heck of a hacker. i mean- you didn’t see that. uh–

• « You ever think about what a playmobil would look like running ? Cause, like… they don’t have knees. How do they go in the movie, hold on–»

• yes, she did watch the movie to have an answer.

• very good at baking, she learned it by watching Oliver hurry happily in the kitchen when they used to live together.

• doesn’t drive, by choice. never even learned how to – she doesn’t see the appeal.

• « I’lllllll…. take the bus? that works just fine? »

• thinks about going mushroom hunting with you at least twice a day.

• goes limp in your arms when you braid her long, pale blue hair.

• pretends she doesn’t like when mickayla forces her to go thrift shopping together, but she’s living for the intriguing rings and necklaces she might find.

• stubborn as hell. and if she says no, then it’s no.

• unintentionally funny. accidental CLOWN.

• not jealous at all. like at ALL.

• « uh ? you’re going to a party ? yeah, cool. uh ? other people ? ok. me, worried ? what do you mean ? well, you’re my partner, aren’t you ? then we’re good. »

• love languages : (silent)quality time & physical touch. She’ll grab your hand to walk around the forest, hug you when you’re both resting under a tree, brush your hair out of your face when you’re not paying attention… and it’s always a shock when people see her be so fond and delicate with you. because she never gets near other people, EVER.

• heck, her siblings were mortified when she said she was dating someone. like. how did you even manage to– never mind. they’re all very happy for you two.

• basically in her own world and oh lucky you, she lets you in too.<3

• « I wonder what color is your soul… will you let me see ? »

[foxlin-fantasia]

💫　14 associations : Hanaka Houjou

tagged by @archaiclumina & @reconditerune !! ty!

--

🌸　animal: red squirrels. ( i genuinely couldn’t think of anything & asked my gf. it’s canon now ig /shrug ) for a ff based creature, she’d be a red chocobo or a tabby coeurl kit. 

🌸　color: pink! coral & rose pink are p distinct on her, but i also think pearlescent white, warm-toned colors, + gold accents are also fitting.

🌸　song: fellow feeling by porter robinson ( most things made by porter are a vibe tbh but THIS song?? oof from the lyrics alone; almost like i could hear the words being said as her own. the sound itself is v modern, but the initial calm that turns into chaos all contrasts so well against with what is being said in the song & kind of silhouettes what i imagine it must feel like for Hanaka to use her Echo / aetheric abilities?? it’s intense, maybe a bit scary to witness. she is incredibly strong when her power is wielded deftly, but it’s a painful process. also her h/c’d english VA* *subject to change is doing the speaking in the song! it’s all v good!! )

🌸　number: 2. She likes multiples of two. She usually prefers to go second in most things in her life, letting someone else take the lead so she can learn from their example. She is the kind to observe first, then act; always preferring a one-two step kind of plan.

🌸　day or night: she is the early morning, specifically the hours of 3~5 AM, when the world sleeps & the stars shine brightest. She is like dawn break over the horizon, shooing the stars to their beds with her sun-like smile. She is the comfort of knowing you’ve survived another night, the bleary sky a meld of purples & pinks into new day blues or early morning golds, dotted with flickering stars who will soon rest behind the fluffy clouds. Hanaka loves the night skies, but she herself is very much the dawn.

🌸　plant: victoria rose forget-me-nots; felt like a fitting plant, as a lot of her WoL narrative deals with remembering / seeing / sharing memories with others. pink flowers for bonus points!

🌸　smell: initially, she smells like the plum & cherry blossoms she likes to use as her daily accessories. Her true scent is of Othardian poppies, Doman black tea, ginger root, natural musk, & a touch of something sweet akin to a marshmallow. ( it’s my headcanon that Hanaka just… always smells good lol because of her ability to sprout flowers from her body to heal herself & she is also just very well-groomed when able! )

🌸　gemstone: angel aura quartz, pearl, or argyle ( pink ) diamond!

🌸　season: late winter to early spring, right after the deep winter frost thaws; still cold outside but the snow is melting, maybe an occasional snow flurry. The plum trees have blossomed & warmer seasons are on their way; bird calls return to the mornings again, signaling the end of hibernation. The crisp air smells of rebirth & sweetness.

🌸　place: Yanxia. She was born in a small farming village beyond the Glittering Basin, now lost to war & time.

🌸　food: hanami dango ( her favorite dango flavor is azim strawberry! )

🌸　eorzean deity: i associate her with Azeyma ( mostly due to aesthetics ), though her patron is Althyk! Althyk makes more sense for her narratively imo.

🌸　eorzean element(s): earth, the element of substance & endurance. Her abilities draw from this element the most!

🌸　drink: maehwa-cha ( plum blossom tea )

--

i tag: @uldahstreetrat , @crowdsourcedloner , @cindernet-explorer, @petitfarron , @gatheredfates , @evuniel & whomever else is wanting to! ( also no obligation to those tagged do this either ofc )

[sovonight]

Hi you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, I just have a question! You know a lot more about charms than I do, I was thinking about opening custom charm commissions and ordering the charms from Vograce. I think production, if I had 6 charms/slots, would be around 40-ish dollars if I include shipping? Maybe 50? I’m wondering if you have suggestions on how much I should price per charm. At first I was going to charge just $50 per charm, $65 if someone wants two characters, but then again, I don’t want to undersell myself at all, I’ve seen artists charge from $90 up to $105 per charm commission. but I wanted to ask your opinion first. I’m always afraid to price high because a lot of people complain if anything is over $50 when it comes to artwork, but then I have this habit of underselling. One time I only charged $10 for full body full colored artwork and I really burnt myself out making almost 30 of those, it took me eight months to complete them all... and I’m afraid of repeating that mistake with charms too. I’m experienced with drawing and ordering charms and experienced in drawing commissions, but I’ve never done custom commissions for physical items before. Thank you for taking the time to read this!

(disclaimer that i haven't done charm commissions before either, but i've been thinking abt it a lot so i've been paying attention when it's discussed on the art discords haha)

to establish a starting price for the art alone, just time yourself and multiply your hours by at least minimum wage as usual (i'd start with $15/hr). then add in production/shipping cost, then consider adding in extra based on other time factors (in the bulletpoints)

in the end i'd expect at least a $100-$200 starting price for charm commissions, especially if you're drawing the charm fully custom each time. the exception is if your process is relatively quick and easy, like if you use a simple style that's quick for you or a pre-posed base that you only need to make adjustments to. in this case i could see the starting price go down to $50-$100. so if it turns out that the price you calculated based on your hours is higher than what you think your clients are willing to pay, cutting down your hourly rate should be a last resort; i'd suggest first trying to see if you can make your process shorter and faster by offering a more simple or limited design. or you can offer designs that utilize art assets you've already drawn beforehand, and just cleverly select the customizable element of the charm

other things to think abt:

consider adding to your initial time estimate by accounting for time spent formatting your files, placing the order, quality checking, etc. plus the normal commission stuff like time spent on revisions. charm commissions also often mean extra time spent messaging the commissioner compared to digital commissions (explaining choice of clasps/finishes, communicating production/shipping status, etc) so you may want to account for that extra correspondence time too

personally i wouldn't heavily discount multiple characters. maybe a 10-15% discount, but tbh no discount is normal too. if the characters are separate, they're as much work as 2 commissions, and if they're interacting, that interaction takes extra effort to plan and pose, so it's still the work of 2 commissions

bc the difference in cost is small and it adds a lot of value, i'd definitely offer the charms as double-sided. it'd be no extra work, just the same image on both sides, where one side's flipped. you could offer an alternate expression for the other side of the charm for an additional cost

if the character is asymmetric and the commissioner wants them to be correctly asymmetric on both sides of the charm, charge extra (or alternatively don't even entertain this as an option, some silhouettes are difficult to flip for this)

you could consider offering a discount if the commission is of a character with enough demand that you can reprint and sell the charm separately

remember to update your tos to cover the details of physical charm commissions 👍

and on the production end of things, these are what i immediately thought abt:

how many copies of the charm will you give commissioners by default?

how much will you charge for additional copies of the charm?

how many copies will you actually order? (do you get extra to account for flaws, or order exact amounts)?

do you cover shipping cost to the commissioner, or does the commissioner cover it?

what happens if the package gets lost or damaged--either on the way to you, or on the way to the commissioner?

what happens if the charms come in and they're flawed?

can your pricing setup cover the occasional need to order replacement charms for the scenarios above?

[jojo-schmo]

On average, how long does it take to make a page of the roleswap?

I do understand that people tend to stress out because of deadlines and other things.

But if you pushed those to the side... How long?

Oooh, good question!

I work full-time on weekdays so I usually only get drawing in for 30 minutes during my lunch, and evenings where I can fit it in. Weekends are when I can get the most done but sometimes I help out with the family business and that takes more time. I try to work on it with whatever free time I have- but only enough so I don't burn out. (Which I am doing successfully so far-!!)

But sometimes I get frustrated because I JUST WANT TO TELL A STORY but I have to take the time to do it!! My impatience is one of my biggest vices tbh. I've tried to streamline the creation process as best I can but I can get carried away with my ideas sometimes, haha. And sometimes the pages come very very easily to me and they don't go through a lot of revisions!

The process for an average page (pushing all the breaks, deadlines, and real-life stuff I have to do aside):

Fleshing out the action and rough dialogue on the plot outline I have on my Notes App (Done over the course of several weeks before I begin work on any given page since I'm about a chapter ahead. I write when inspiration strikes which can be anywhere, really!)

Thumbnailing a few pages at a time on a rectangular sticky note. Plenty of revisions (Takes an hour or so?)

Whipping out the iPad and roughly drawing about 3-5 pages at a time so I can get a sense of the pacing with dialogue and such (several hours worth. See next step lmao)

Lots and lots of revisions. Sometimes I end up deleting entire extraneous sections or inserting entire pages to focus more or less on a moment which means I have to refer back to the previous steps (A painful amount of time's worth)

FINALLY, the actual lineart and finishing touches (Maybe an hour or two per page)

Stare at my finished pages for anything I missed until I decide that I'm satisfied (Several minutes)

POST.

A long-winded way of answering your question, but that is my fairly chaotic process in a nutshell!! 'Tis a labor of love, but my love for this is very much present. :'D