#testing out a different shading technique

[miscellaneousrenaissant]

[mintycitrus]

grace! ✿

[maniakminis]

What techniques do you use to get your T28 guys to look so magnificently dirty?

I wish you asked this a week ago, I had just finished painting a bunch of Fodder. Luckily for you the backlog is never ending, so I painted some more guys and took pictures!

The short answer is: Texture Paint, Drybrushing, and Oil Washes. But here's a more in depth tutorial with pictures. For this technique none of the specific colors or brands matter so I'm going to be very general about what to use.

Before priming, I applied texture paint to the the model's coat, and his rifle. The dirt texture on the rifle will help sell the rusty appearance later. For pretty much every different color on the model I will paint it a dark color, then drybrush/rough highlight the same color in a lighter tone over it. Since the majority of the model is his coat, I paint the entire thing dark blue, then drybrush a lighter blue over it.

Next I paint all of the base colors for the rest of the model. Dark Grays for the boots and hat. Brown/Beige for the sash, skull, and hands. Dark brown for the leather and rifle. Dark gold for the shoulders and tassel on the hat. Once dried, I drybrush or dab rough highlights on these same spots with a lighter tone of paint. Light gray for the hat, bright gold for the shoulders and tassels, light beige for the bone. For rusty metallics, I drybrush silver over the brown painted rifle.

Grass tufts are carefully superglued onto the miniature. Do not overglue and be sure to let it dry properly before continuing. Too much glue will fog up the surfaces and ruin the paintjob! The miniature is then varnished with gloss clear coat. Wow, look at that shine!

Now its time for the turnip oil! I have a shade wash I created by mixing Brown, Red, and Black Oil Paints with Mineral Spirits. I mix it thoroughly and test a small drop on a paper towel to make sure its not too thin or too thick. If you've ever spilled Agrax Earthshade, you know the consistency of the wash you're looking for! This is applied over the model to pick out the details like any other shade wash would, as well as give it that really dirty look.

Again, make sure the model was covered in Gloss Clear Coat first as it helps the Oil Wash spread out on the miniature and get into all the recesses. After the model dries, you can dip a cotton swab in Mineral Spirits to reactivate the oil wash and move it around as necessary. If you're happy with how everything looks, apply a final coat of Matte Varnish (Or Gloss or Satin, whatever your preference) to seal your miniature and done!

Ready to die an unglorious death for the Roots! Thanks for the ask, I hope all this makes sense, I've never done a tutorial before. Happy Hobbying! :D

[cosmermaid]

Mewtwo's cloning machine colored became my most popular post so I'm making a tutorial with it.

I know I only colored it but I did use some pretty important techniques when doing original art too so I'm hoping it helps.

Okay so let's say you have a sketch, or in my case an image you want to color. Rule of thumb, you don't want to leave that in grayscale.

If you have a color scheme in mind you'll want your starting point to reflect that. Most art programs have ways for you to do tonal correction.

I like using levels for cleaning up the brightness and making lines sharper, and color balance for adding colors. Gradient map works nicely too. Generally you want to pick contrasting colors for light vs shadow. I did yellow for lighting and blue for shadow because I wanted to catch that oceanic underwater feel. But you CAN do cool lights with warm shadows!

2. If you want to color under your image or sketch, set it to multiply. Lower the opacity to help you see better if you want to do linework over it, or leave it as is if you just want to color your sketch.

3. Block in your colors to get a feel for the lighting. You'll want to make sure you have a CLEAR sense of foreground/middleground/background. Which means you need to pick colors that are bright/medium/dark shades and assign them accordingly.

In this case my foreground is darkest, I chose to make middleground (the machine) my light source, so it is brightest, and background is my medium shade. You don't have to do it in that order, but just keep those rules of three in mind. Foreground, middleground, background. Light, medium, dark. Assign accordingly as your piece needs.

A great way to test your composition is to set your image to greyscale, or even remove your sketch. If you still have a clear impression of depth and where everything is, you're on the right track.

4. What's your focal point? What's the main subject of your piece? What do you want to draw the viewer's eye, to stand out, to be the whole point of what you're drawing? Because that's the part you're going to focus on rendering now.

For me it was the shell.

This was three different layers on different blending modes where I just played with textures, colors and brushes until I got an effect that I liked. In fact I liked it so much that these layers are actually above the base image, so that the texture is untouched by the manga scan texture and the yellow-tinted multiply effect.

5. By this point, if you're applying these steps to any art piece you're working on, you should have a pretty good basis. You should have your colors mapped, your composition, and your focal point for your work. You can continue to render the details, but try to stick to your composition.

None of these steps are particularly complicated. It's just a matter of coloring within the lines, staying true to your chosen color scheme, and remembering where the light source is.

6. If you have a secondary focal point, (in my case, Team Rocket) you can give it a little bit of special treatment to help it not get lost in the image.

I went as far as to copy and paste them, adjust their levels separately from the rest of the work so they looked sharper and cleaner, gave them their own colors separate from the scheme of the main peace, and only tied them into it with their shadows. I painted some rim-lighting around them true to their colors (like Jessie and James's hair) just to help them pop. They're not the main focus of the image, but they're somewhere that they aren't supposed to be, so they need to stand out a little in their own right. 7. Add some finishing touches.

This can be things like adding soft glows to your light sources (I keep mine simple, just a few strokes with a watercolor brush set to the add blending mode) and some shines to shiny objects.

And that was about it.

Coloring this piece was just an excuse for me to play with color composition and textures without having to worry about my own line work for once. But I still used some pretty important principles in illustration to catch what I saw in my head while looking at the original uncolored page. (Especially step 3!! Try that in your next work!)

[tendelusionalrats]

One of my biggest regrets is that I never drew as a kid. I did draw a little, but never really outside of an art class or anything better than a stick figure. Luckily for me, I can just start now! So, I'm going to slowly learn to draw. I'm thinking of posting some of it occasionally here as a way to keep a record of my progress and to just put some of my thoughts down.

I don't have a lot to say about this one except that shading is pretty nifty and it feels so much easier to draw a character without hands, hair, and a face. (All I have to do is just never draw a character with any human features!)

Drawing expressions is so fun! I have a lot to learn about it, but something about it just fills me with joy. I was testing out different small changes and I think the big smile is my favorite, though I like most of them.

I can draw Siffrin! It's not great, but I can draw the silly little guy. The bottom half is a bit rushed because it was 12 at night. There's a ton of things I want to do differently and better next time, but for now this will do.

I don't want to talk about it...

It was more about trying the technique and I'll get better at it eventually...

[dca-generations-au-official]

Thanks for 1K reads guys!

It really means a lot to me!

And just as I promised, I bring to you a drawing in honor of The Superstar Miracle reaching 1K reads on Wattpad! I call it: "Mini-Sun, the Daycare Phoenix".

For context in case you don't get the symbolism: in The Superstar Miracle, Mini-Sun rose from the ashes of his father (Sundrop) without him even knowing until Mini-Moon came to be... but then in the actual FNAF fandom, he rose from the ashes of what I like to think was the golden age of the DCA fandom, as a fankid of the pride and joy of modern FNAF... think about that for a second... in both his story and in the fandom he's for, he rose from the ashes of his predecessor, just like a phoenix rises from its ashes in a more powerful form!

This was also kind of me testing out different shading techniques ^^

[holly-natnicole]

My Canon-Compliant Headcanons 'Bout Nohara Rin:

Her Number 1 most Favourite colour is black. She even befriended Uchiha Obito & Yūhi Kurenai initially coz of it. Rin saw their hair on the 1st day of school then instantly went to go tell them "Your hair is pretty!!" as soon as break-time started. Rin likes pouring black ink onto white sheets of paper & shift the paper around, watching the ink spread as she tilts the paper. Her 2nd Fave colour is shades of violet, but she's allergic to all flowers in the genus Viola and doesn't particularly care 'bout flowers nor flower language at all (Rin doesn't dislike them, though; she's fully neutral).

Rin fidgets with her hands a lot; whenever she's not doing so, her feet move instead. It's basically impossible for Rin to stay still unless she's unconscious or under the influence of a genjutsu. Even when asleep, Rin keeps moving the entire time; sometimes she falls off her bed as a result. The red headband Rin wears on her wrist is a 5th birthday gift from her mum since her fingers messing with it helps Rin concentrate when someone is talking to her.

She feels an ache behind her eyes each time Rin makes eye contact with someone, so she tends to look at people's noses or foreheads when trying to indicate that Rin is paying attention to someone who is speaking to her and she openly stares all over her surroundings if she thinks the person won't get angry at the incorrectly assumed lack of listening. Rin's eyes also are sensitive to light, so she carries sunglasses with her everywhere in a pocket or in her weapons pouch. Regardless of whether indoors or outside, she puts them on to give her eyes a break from the pain brightness causes to them.

Rin loves strawberries and sea turtles!! She ever since infancy is always eager to eat the former and ever since age 3 adores any strawberry or turtle themed item she can find. Her biological parents' 4th birthday gift to her is a strawberry (Fragaria × ananassa) in a pot suspended from the ceiling of her bedroom. Rin's dad works as a gardener, so he helps her take good care of it. Her bio fullsister Nohara Ren's 4th birthday gift to her is a shuriken in the shape of a sea turtle (Chelonioidea).

Ren & Rin are very different from each other. Where the former is good at interacting with other people, the latter is fully socially incompetent. Where Ren easily wakes up early & enjoys sunlight, Rin can sleep through anything & anywhere and likes moonlight. Where the former can't use medical ninjutsu & is skilled at using genjutsu, the latter is skilled at using medical ninjutsu & can't use genjutsu. Where Ren can read a 205-paged textbook in 5 minutes and remember & understand everything she'd been reading, Rin needs to take a lot of breaks for the same book & give herself practice tests then revise before she manages to learn anything. The former is energetic, the latter is mostly quiet. Ren has zero issues with her eyes and can sit still without moving at all, Rin (as mentioned earlier) struggles a lot. However, despite all of these differences, the 2 sisters love each other and Rin (who is 5 years younger than her big sis) respects Ren a lot.

Until tragedy strikes. Ren graduated at 6 years old then was recruited into Root by Shimura Danzō (who secretly had the jōnin whose apprentice she was assassinated). The mental strain eventually caused 12 years old Ren to murder her loving bio parents and spare Rin (who witnessed the whole thing) solely coz her sisterly love had turned twisted. Ren knocked Rin out with 涅槃精舎の術/Nehan Shōja no Jutsu/Nirvana Temple Technique then snuck out of Konohagakure and lived the rest of her life as a nukenin, travelling all over the Human World 'til she died from microscopic polyangiitis at age 17. Rin started learning medical ninjutsu and how to identify & resist & break genjutsu due to her trauma from Ren's betrayal & their caring, civilian parents' death.

Rin usually is genuinely nice, but her social incompetence & her bluntness often get Rin into trouble. She dislikes arguments & so tries to be the peacekeeper between Obito and Hatake Kakashi, but often fails at it since Rin lacks diplomacy skills. She respects Namikaze Minato a lot for having the same background as her – a kid with civilian parents and no kekkei genkai – yet growing extremely skilled thus Rin develops a fascination for fūinjutsu.

Rin's most Fave word is friendship (in Japanese yūai which is written as 友愛 in kanji). She's a lonely person who holds tight to the very few friends (her parents, Ren, Kurenai, Obito, Kakashi, Minato, and Uzumaki Kushina) she manages to gain; although Rin doesn't always forgive them if they wrong her in some way, she does always give them a second chance and never holds grudges. It's not that Rin is unable to hold a grudge or incapable of spite; she feels those emotions, but they fade away as soon as Rin sees her loved ones since she's grateful that her family interacts with her at all. She's bad at setting boundaries and a hypocrite whose morality vanishes when her friends are the ones who do something she'd never tolerate from anyone else (not even if the person has always been sincerely nice to her). If she had lived past her suicide at 14 years old, Rin coulda grown out of these traits with some help from her family and a competent therapist. She also woulda bit by bit befriended Isobu the Sanbi (as Rin at the time of her canon death is the Three-Tails' jinchūriki).

Rin likes following her usual routine and dislikes it being interrupted (she's not a spontaneous person). She hates the taste of tsukudani and feels conflicted 'bout kids, in her teens wanting to someday become a bio or legally adoptive mum yet her whole time as a ninja up to that point always being utterly terrible at D-rank missions which involve babysitting (Obito is good at those and Kakashi relies on books to be at least semi-competent at them, her teammates' success lowering Rin's self-confidence since she sometimes compares herself to them, Kurenai, & Ren).

Ren & Rin's parents are civilians who were born in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, their respective bio parents having been civilians who were born there too to a few of the first civilians to join Konohagakure after the Village Hidden in the Leaves was founded. As stated above, the cisgender girls' dad Nohara Daisuke works as a gardener; he also grows as much of the family's food as he can. The girls' mum Nohara née Terada Ran is a housewife who (after a talk with her husband to figure out what they'll do) upon finding out she was 3 months pregnant with their 1st kid quit her job as a waiter in favour of focusing on raising the couple's children, Daisuke raising their daughters whenever he wasn't busy with work or his garden. Ran has the same violet filled-in square tattoo on each facial cheek her daughters have, getting the 2 tattoos on her 5th birthday same as her children do. The tattoos are a tradition started by Ran's bio mum Terada née Ōkan Ruki who at age 4 got them for herself; upon 3-year-old Ran wanting them, she told her only kid: "If you still want them next year, you can have them." Ren & Rin got the same choice too.

Her hobby is collecting sea shells, coz she ever since age 3 loves how pretty they are.

[progenycursed]

Progeny Cursed Chapter 9

The Pure Vessel learns what that painful procedure was meant to do. Once they stop panicking after some help. The Pale King misses a developmental milestone, and has to figure out how to explain how to do something that the body usually does on its own. 

{that} test for reactions thus don’t react  <Itchy> Don’t react  Don’t scratch <itchy>

<irritating> Don’t feel Stop feeling Think tactics  <ow> <itchy> Pain stop itch Weapon could stop itch Can’t be seen 

<prickling> Tactics Can’t be seen  Yes!

<itch> *content* *startled*  Stop time, can scratch Why- no. No ask why. Can scratch  <itchy> *shock* <itchy>

<itchy> Floor bad *awe*<itchy> *nervous* <itchy>

<prickling>  But can scratch? Can’t scratch? {rest} <I T C H Y> Don’t feel itchy ITCHY!

<scratchy> itchy Need better! Need better! <crawling> itchy! *shock* Bad {don’t hurt yourself} should heal&lt;scratch> should heal <scratch> <CLAW> <RIP>

*nervous* *scared*  ~frantic~  Skinned self! Claws cracked! Mask cracked! Bleeding! *panicking* ~hyperventilating~  [terrified scream]

~*panic*~Going to die Must heal Heal fix ~*panic*~Mask cracked, claws cracked, dying Dying  ~*panic*~Don’t want to die <[pain]> Dying, healing can’t fix Dont want die Bleeding. Mask cracked, body cracked

*hysteric* Help Heal can’t fix [help] *surprise*  (You) have cracked claws?

Not bleeding? what mask crack? Mask break kill? Do (you) broken mask? (People) all have fractured claws *<grossed out>*

Mask crack spread if lay on Itchy stop is great

<hurt> <half asleep> <pain> <exhausted>

*nervous* stop time, {that} again and {that again}

{drink}? <mask dry?> ~chocking~What is?! ~hacking~ stop this ~sputtering~ can’t stop this ~cough~

*content*  Can have another?

First | Previous | Next

Void Translations: Quick guide:  () is referencing a person and due to the nature of void speak, don’t have direct translations.  {} memories. Recalling past moments ** emotions. Little particle effects floating around or on their head <> physical feeling/reaction.  Lines/arrows in speech: single line=direction. Double line=a word/part of the sentence.  Solid line=present tense. Dotted line=future tense. Hollow line=past tense 

Imagine how terrifying a molt would be if no one told you anything about it. You suddenly just peel off you own skin to find the body underneath isn’t the same. Different size, new parts, and and extremely delicate.

Tried a new shading technique this time around. Went a little faster than the usual. I think…

[liimonadas]

I’ve been peeking in your art for a bit and it’s absolutely lovely ! Specially your hades fanart? It’s so so good, I wanted to ask what brush you use for your lineart? It gives such a nice touch to your art I’m curious haha, so sorry if you’ve answered this already

thanks a lot! and i don't think i've said what brushes i use before so i might as well give a full rundown. i use CSP with a mix of default and downloaded brushes

i'm assuming you're talking about my chaos drawing? for the lineart here i used the default milli pen with anti-aliasing set to minimum. this is basically just a round pixelated brush with no pressure sensitivity so i think you should be able to get a similar effect on other software pretty easily. (this specific illustration also used the technique of copying the lineart layer, setting it to a strong saturated color (eg bright pink or purple), blurring it a little and setting the layer to reduced opacity. this adds to the crunchyness and might be the effect youre looking for!)

this pixelated effect is one i find really fun personally. the optimal brush size in my experience has been 5-9 with this brush, with occasionally 3-4 for detail lines

as for other art, sometimes when i'm not feeling the pixel effect i used the same milly pen brush but with the second anti-aliasing setting. it keeps the lines crisp but not pixelated (example)

although recently i found the wiggly brush on the asset store that can work as an inbetween alternative. still in progress with the drawing im testing it on and while i think i'll stick to the milli pen it adds an interesting texture

you didn't ask about rendering brushes but i'll say anyways. my other three main brushes come from the arubrush set i saw someone mention on tumblr i believe? theyre by knight zhang the link is in the faq section. i downloaded a the motherboard set and experimented until i found a few i liked, though there's a lot of stuff worth checking out in there!

i used the painterly and alector brush for any painting and rendering. the chaos piece was done using a mix of both (mostly the alector brush) for the shading.

this oc painting was done almost exclusively with the alector brush, while this melinoe piece was done with the painterly brush, if you want to compare the textural differences.

and i use the last one for sketches occasionally! its more textured than i prefer for finished works but its really nice to draw with

that's about it! hopefully this helps

[awakeagainstmywill]

Art Log - 06/2024

It's been about 3 months of using Procreate for me!

Would have never happened if it wasn't for my good friend who's an incredibly talented graphic designer. She let me test drive Procreate on her iPad. Back in the day we bonded over being weird artsy kids in school and now we're being weird artsy adults together 🤝 Best friendship dynamic.

According to tumblr, I posetd my first digital painting on April 4th (over on my other blog). I think I made a bit of progress since then, even though I didn't make a lot of paintings in the meantime.

For every single painting I'm still making a traditional pencil sketch, upload that to Procreate and then start coloring on top of it. Not sure if I'll ever get fully confident sketching directly in Procreate.

I started liking the process and the result more around the third painting when I started using a combination of soft and hard shading with some hatching for texture. So that's the 'technique' ended up using more deliberatly for this portrait of Aziraphale.

Gotta stop drawing side profiles, that's way too many side profiles 🙈

I'll post a more detailed making-of of that portrait to document my process a bit.

The trajectory of the stats is a little concerning: 1st painting (3hrs 50min, 16 layers), 2nd painting (5hrs, 21 layers), 3rd painting (9hrs, 23 layers), 4th painting (23 hrs, 62 layers). Yeah, probabaly not a sustainable trajectory. I need to learn how to make some quicker illustrations. I tried here, but did not like the result that much.

I will forever love traditional drawing and painting, but. Digital art ... it's nice! There's no extra space needed to store paints, no brushes to clean later, fixing mistakes is easy, trying out several different color variations not a problem.

It's a goal of mine to make more complex paintings some day. It will be hard for me, I just love portrait drawing too much, it's my happy place, you see? Right now I'm working on another portrait. And then I have another planned after that. So. I'm definetly not going anywhere fast with those plans, that's for sure 😅

[minttyghost]

Fireworks (≧▽≦)

Gonna be testing out some different shading techniques for my next couple posts

CLICK HERE FOR BONUS SKETCHES 👇

(Disclaimer: I use reference and inspiration for ALL my art. If this makes you uncomfortable, kindly block)

[glovedcourtship]

First finished project since I started doing digital art a couple days ago. I’m really happy with how it turned out and it’ll be a great base to test out different shading techniques!

[richrdjones]

Mastering 3D Modeling: Expert Solutions to Complex Assignments

Welcome to our domain of expertise, where precision meets creativity, and challenges transform into triumphs. At SolidWorksAssignmentHelp.com, we pride ourselves on being the beacon of guidance for students navigating the intricate realm of 3D modeling. Our mission is simple yet profound: to offer the Best 3D Modeling Assignment Help Online, equipping aspiring designers and engineers with the tools they need to excel.

Today, we delve into the depths of two master-level 3D modeling questions, providing comprehensive solutions crafted by our seasoned experts. These challenges epitomize the complexity and nuance inherent in the world of three-dimensional design, demanding a blend of technical prowess and artistic vision to conquer.

Question 1: Designing a Complex Mechanical Assembly

Imagine you're tasked with modeling a sophisticated mechanical assembly comprising intricate components with precise interlocking mechanisms. Your goal is to create a fully functional representation of the assembly, allowing for realistic movement and interaction between parts.

Solution:

To tackle this challenge effectively, we employ a systematic approach, breaking down the assembly into individual components before integrating them seamlessly. Utilizing SolidWorks, our preferred software for 3D modeling, we start by sketching the basic outlines of each part, paying close attention to dimensions and tolerances.

Next, we proceed to extrude and revolve these sketches to give them depth and form. For complex components, such as gears or cams, we leverage advanced features like lofting and swept cuts to achieve the desired shapes. Assembling the parts involves employing mate relationships judiciously, ensuring proper alignment and movement constraints.

Through meticulous iteration and refinement, we fine-tune the assembly, testing each component's functionality and addressing any discrepancies or interference. Finally, we add realistic textures and appearances to enhance visual fidelity, culminating in a stunning rendition of the mechanical marvel.

Question 2: Sculpting a Lifelike Character Model

In this challenge, you're tasked with sculpting a lifelike character model, imbued with personality and depth. The emphasis lies not only on anatomical accuracy but also on conveying emotion and expression through the subtle nuances of form and gesture.

Solution:

Embarking on this creative journey, we leverage the power of digital sculpting tools like ZBrush to breathe life into our character. We begin by blocking out the basic proportions, establishing the skeletal framework upon which we'll build intricate detail.

Layer by layer, we sculpt the finer features of the character, paying meticulous attention to anatomical landmarks and surface contours. Employing techniques such as dynamesh and subdivision sculpting, we refine the model's form, adding depth and definition to muscles, facial features, and clothing folds.

But our focus extends beyond mere anatomy; we strive to capture the essence of our character's personality through subtle cues and expressions. Whether it's a wry smile, furrowed brow, or quizzical glance, each detail contributes to the narrative richness of the model.

To further enhance realism, we incorporate texturing and shading techniques, adding depth and dimensionality to the surface. Through the judicious use of materials and lighting, we create a visual narrative that invites the viewer to engage with the character on a profound emotional level.

In conclusion, mastering the art of 3D modeling requires more than just technical proficiency; it demands a blend of skill, creativity, and intuition. At SolidWorksAssignmentHelp.com, we're committed to empowering students with the knowledge and expertise they need to excel in this dynamic field. With our guidance, you can navigate even the most challenging assignments with confidence and finesse. Experience the difference today and unlock your full potential in the world of 3D modeling.

[mithclearwell]

Just out of curiouse, do you have any tips for beginner artists? I would really appreciate one

Of course! ^-^ I'm more than happy to help!

Let's see...without the ability to have a conversation, I'm not sure where exactly you are in skill level, so I guess I'll start with some basic quality-of-life tips.

General:

You don't have to go to college to get good at art. I didn't go to art school!

Watch youtube videos from good artists, or those you admire!

What kind of art do you ultimately want to produce? This isn't an instance of "I can only pick one thing", it's more like...each type of art requires different skills, and if you know ahead of time what you want to do FIRST, you can narrow down what you have to learn.

learn proper sketching and use of circles and other shapes to build the figure, don't just jump in making the final lines right away! It's not a "cheat", it's proper technique. It's "caring about your work".

Same for references. Google up some images of what you want to draw and look at them while you draw your own picture. It's not only okay, it's what professionals do. You need to train your EYE as well as your hand.

It's okay to mimic styles you like! But be aware that each artist may stretch or squish or exaggerate proportions to fit what they personally like to see. This is why it's IMPERATIVE that you learn realism alongside any manga style you want to try. Once you learn where the eyes sit on the face, the different facial planes and what bones they relate to, and different sizes and builds for the face, you can then manga them up to any style you want!

For real paper:

Use a protector sheet, or wear a glove on your drawing hand. You want to make sure you don't get graphite or colored pencil on the side of your hand, and then smear it on your drawing. Placing a piece of paper under your hand will protect your work!

Don't touch your art with your fingertips. Fingertips have oil and gunk on them, and will smudge your drawing. (If you're working with charcoal, this could work to your advantage! But you're probably not using charcoal. It's messy and usually limited to college art students.)

Get the right tools! You can buy a small eraser set in the art section of Wal-Mart for like $3 -- it has a polymer eraser, a smaller white eraser, and the all-important KNEADED ERASER. This thing can be squished and torn apart and it'll pick up graphite like a champ! Do not bother with hard pink erasers, they're trash.

You don't need special paper to learn. I used to draw on the backs of my dad's extra math photocopy papers. Copy paper is smooth and not too fussy and I like it. "Sketch pads" usually have a rougher grain, and I hate the way the paper feels. Also there's a lot of ugly white spots when you try to shade or use colored pencils. Only use that if you're keeping a cute little book or using pastel crayons or something (or it's all you have). Don't fuss over it too much while you're learning. It won't make much difference until you're ready to specialize!

Blending stumps are cool and even pros use them.

Get a small electric pencil sharpener. They're less than $10 at places like Dollar General, and those stores are literally everywhere.

If you get a manual sharpener in an "art set", that's fine, too, but it hurts my hand to do it manually. I like the ones that have little covers.

It DOES matter what kind of ink pen you use. Gel pens will smear. Most markers are washable, and you better believe they will run at the first hint of moisture. India Ink also smears and runs with water. I recommend Sakura Micron pens, Zig Mangaka pens, or my favorite --- the Kuretaki Bimoji felt tip brush pen. You can get all that on Amazon, and it's like $6. I got the superfine tip.

LET YOUR INK DRY BEFORE YOU PUT MARKERS OR WATERCOLOR OR ANYTHING AT ALL OVER IT. It takes maybe 20 minutes.

If you don't plan to color it, you CAN draw with a ball point pen and it'll look just fine.

Do a tiny little water streak test with any markers you plan to use with watercolor. Just brush a tiny bit of water over the mark after it's dry to see if it bleeds. I use that bleed to my advantage sometimes, but you just gotta be aware of what's what.

Digital:

You can buy a small, cheap tablet from HUION for less than $40. MAKE THE INVESTMENT. IT'S WORTH IT.

Clip Studio Paint is EXCELLENT. Well worth the $50-$60 price tag. I think you can try it before you buy it, too. It gives you access to the Asset Store -- which is the single greatest artistic sharing tool I have EVER seen, and I've used SAI for ...probably a decade... I've used dozens of custom brushes and even made my own, and I just can't even believe what is available with CSP. Do yourself a favor and get it.

"But I can't use a tablet! I can't look at a screen while I draw!" Yes you can. YES you can. Yes you can, if you'll just try it. "but I tried once and it didn't work" Well YEAH, if you only tried a handful of times, OF COURSE it didn't work. Do you know what practice is? HUION screen tablets are over $300!!!!! Do you have that kind of disposable income lyin around? (plz donate some to me if you do lololjk =u=; )

Start saving a folder full of refs.

Ask people to tell you what to draw. Let them request something for free. This makes you draw things you wouldn't normally draw, and there is INCREDIBLE value in stepping outside of your comfort zone. You will level up in no time.

Whew...that covers most of the basics, I think. If you have something specific you want me to go into more detail on, please let me know! I love helping ;w;

[ash00112]

Flareon today, stealing sausages. Tried out a whoooole lotta new things I've been meaning to today, and I really should've waited because I got the eyes off so it's not great to start (I think the head shape is slightly off too, and the proportions aren't great. Things to work on, but it's annoying I couldn't catch them when I could correct them). Main things were reverse shading in color (seems alright, need more practice still), blending with orange instead of the colorless for the main body (bad idea), going over things with the eraser to desaturate the color (might need a different eraser to do that properly, more testing needed), and a few floof techniques I sorta tried with the Absol yesterday (they seem to be good).

Last year is a Ninetales, a pretty good one too, I need to remember the tails on this one since that's always one of the hardest parts...

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

NASA completes spacecraft to transport, support Roman Space Telescope

The spacecraft bus that will deliver NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope to its orbit and enable it to function once there is now complete after years of construction, installation, and testing.

Now that the spacecraft is assembled, engineers will begin working to integrate the observatory’s other major components, including the science instruments and the telescope itself.

“They call it a spacecraft bus for a reason — it gets the telescope to where it needs to be in space,” said Jackie Townsend, the Roman deputy project manager at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “But it’s really more like an RV because it has a whole assortment of functions that enable Roman to accomplish its scientific goals while out there too.”

Those goals include surveying wide swaths of the universe to study things like: dark energy, a mysterious cosmic pressure thought to accelerate the universe’s expansion; dark matter, invisible matter seen only via its gravitational influence; and exoplanets, worlds beyond our solar system.

The mission’s science wouldn’t be possible without a spacecraft to transport the telescope, point the observatory toward different cosmic targets, provide power, communicate with Earth, control and store instrument data, and regulate Roman’s temperature. Nearly 50 miles of electrical cabling are laced throughout the assembly to enable different parts of the observatory to communicate with each other.

The spacecraft will also deploy several major elements that will be stowed for launch, including the solar panels, deployable aperture cover, lower instrument Sun shade, and high-gain antenna. It’s also responsible for collecting and beaming down data, which is no small task for a space observatory that will survey the cosmos like Roman will.

“Roman will send back 1.4 terabytes of data per day, compared to about 50 to 60 gigabytes from the James Webb Space Telescope and three gigabytes from the Hubble Space Telescope,” said Jason Hylan, the Roman observatory manager at NASA Goddard. “Webb’s daily downlink is roughly comparable to 13 hours of YouTube video at the highest quality while Roman’s would amount to about 2 weeks.”

A Goddard Grand Slam

This milestone is the culmination of eight years of spacecraft design work, building, and testing by hundreds of people at Goddard.

“Goddard employees were the brains, designers, and executors. And they worked with vendors who supplied all the right parts,” Townsend said. “We leaned on generations of expertise in the spacecraft arena to work around cost and schedule challenges that arose from supply chain issues and the pandemic.”

One time- and money-saving technique the team came up with was building a spacecraft mockup, called the structural verification unit. That allowed them to do two things at once: complete strength testing on the mockup, designed specifically for that purpose, while also assembling the actual spacecraft.

The spacecraft’s clever layout also allowed the team to adapt to changing schedules. It’s designed to be modular, “more like Trivial Pursuit pie pieces than a nesting egg, where interior components are buried inside,” Townsend said. “That’s been a game-changer because you can’t always count on things arriving in the order you planned or working perfectly right away with no tweaks.” It also increased efficiency because people could work on different portions of the bus at the same time without interfering with each other.

The slightly asymmetrical and hexagonal spacecraft bus is about 13 feet (4 meters) wide by 6.5 feet (2 meters) tall and weighs in at 8,400 pounds (3,800 kilograms).

One reason it doesn’t weigh more is that some components have been partially hollowed out. If you could peel back some of the spacecraft’s panels, you’d find superthin metallic honeycomb sandwiched between two slim layers of metal. And many of the components, such as the antenna dish, are made of strong yet lightweight composite materials.

When the spacecraft bus was fully assembled, engineers conducted a comprehensive performance test. Prior to this, each component had been tested individually, but just like with a sports team, the whole unit has to perform well together.

“The spacecraft passed the test, and now we’re getting ready to install the payload –– Roman’s instruments and the telescope itself,” said Missie Vess, a spacecraft systems engineer for Roman at NASA Goddard. “Next year, we’ll test these systems together and begin integrating the final components of the observatory, including the deployable aperture cover, outer barrel assembly, and solar panels. Then we’ll finally have ourselves a complete observatory, on track for launch by May 2027.”

TOP IMAGE: This enormous piece of space hardware is NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's spacecraft bus, which will maneuver the observatory to its place in space and enable it to function while there. It is photographed here in the largest clean room at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where engineers are inspecting it upon delivery. The bus rests atop an aluminum ring that will temporarily protect its underside. The two copper-colored flaps are Roman's Lower Instrument Sun Shade –– deployable panels designed to help shield the observatory from sunlight. Credit NASA/Chris Gunn

CENTRE IMAGE: This top-down view shows NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope’s spacecraft bus from another angle. It rests atop an aluminum ring that will not be part of the observatory and is surrounded by an enclosure used in testing to ensure electromagnetic interference will not affect the bus's sensitive electronics. The bus is covered in gray bagging material to prevent contamination –– even tiny stray particles could affect its performance. Credit NASA/Chris Gunn

LOWER IMAGE: While it may look small in this photo, the spacecraft bus for NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is 8 feet (2.5 meters) wide by 6.5 feet (2 meters) tall and weighs in at 8,400 pounds (3,800 kilograms). In this photo, it rests atop an aluminum ring that will not be part of the observatory. The bundles of wires on top are part of more than 50 miles of cabling laced throughout the assembly to enable different parts of the observatory to communicate with each other. Credit NASA/Chris Gunn