#the artstyle i use is based on my mood lol

[kandidandi]

Kandi are you trying a new art style /gen

hmmm not really? i just like playing around with brushes and shapes sometimes

[nadianova]

how i do my visual novel filtered photo backgrouds

ive had some questions about this so i figured i'd put together a quick post on my process and what goes into it.

this isnt really a tutorial and instead is just a ramble of how i do stuff with a ton of examples and pictures lol

read more below. this is a long post and you probably want to be looking at these images on your computer instead of your phone

step one is that i find CC0 photos or otherwise easy licenses to use because I'm lazy and don't want to have a list of credits of random photographers caue i used one of their images but also i don't want to use stuff without crediting

because they have a general lincese that just wants you to mention the site i prefer unsplash or pixabay but there's other public domain type photo sites too obviously

so like okay heres a random picture

i have a photoshop CS5 from 10 years ago. but these can be done with gimp or krita and whatever. theres even photopea that has photoshop in the browser

basic stuff is that i start by cropping my bg into my renpy resolution (i use 1920x1080) this is also the part where sometimes i might rotate a bg. it is a good way to add some chaos vibes to a scene

i tend to add some mild blur effect since i find that having too sharp photos as backgrounds clashes with the artstyle of my sprites. like just a couple pixels worth of blur tends to do it

the next part is called fuck around and find out

i like to play with the values to just get random results. hue/saturation for tinting the picture, messing with the curves to get some really sharp effects, or channel mixer to add more of a color

this part is just purely vibes based but i personally think reducing the colors of the background is the simplest way to create something that feels coherent. especially if you make backgrounds based on moods. like having a blue tinted bedroom vs a red tinted one really changes the atmosphere

you can get some pretty intense effects but its always important to remember that its meant to be a background and there's a risk it distracts from the sprites

in this case im not including the effect for the curves. after the colours look fine the final step i tend to have is apply some sort of effect.

i really like changing the colour mode to indexed colour since i like crunchy pixels. (had to zoom in to 100% to show the actual effect) downside of indexed is that it doesn't look ideal unless its displayed in the exact resolution it was made in but i like it

here is the images before indexed mode:

after indexed mode(i think you have to click the image and open it in full to see the actual effect):

another thing ive been playing with recently has been grain+chromatic aberration combo. it makes things feel surprisingly lively with just this simple thing so you'll probably see me overusing this effect in the future

you have to mess with the numbers to get the effect you want but for me these were the parameters I've been using

ignore the preview missing idk why it does that.

heres the image (the non indexed version) after these krita effects

one random special mention i have is that playing with layer blend modes is great

in this example i just copied the same background, mirrored it horizontally and set the layer blend mode to color and it lowered the layer opacity slightly. it just adds some.... idk what to call it visual noise? itj just fucks it up a bit. i used overlapping images and screen modes in some of the hopeless junction images i did for some pretty nice effects

i dont really know waht the blend modes do i just scroll until something looks good lmao

theres a ton you can do with these. like for example just adding a single air brush dot of a bright color on a separate layer and setting it to some blend mode to add a tint to a background

i used these both in malmaid and in the second one i just brushed on some color on a separate layer to give it a moodier vibe

i think having variations of the same background is an extremely easy way to add some life to the bgs without having to do new stuff. like here was the hotel lobby when entering, and here is the hotel lobby when they ran away from the place. i added a radial blur with photoshop

i think theres some beaty in artifacts that come from low resolution images too. sometimes i intentionally use images that have clear compression artifacts cause i think it looks neat. i don't really worry about the details too much as the vibe is the most important thing

its honestly just a matter of knowing these tools exist and just fidgeting around with combinations to find what you want. it also helps to look at other backgrounds or images in general that you come across and just be curious. how was this done? how could i recreate it? that's the type of experimenting that has led me to these.

idk thats all i have to say. ty for reading and play malmaid on steam like and subscribe for more gay puppies

[duckmine]

Hi, first off your art is absolutely stunning, it’s quickly taking over the “Bobs Burgers” folder on my phone. I love your art and your improvement is absolutely phenomenal, do you have any practices or exercises you did to improve your art skills? Thank you!!! 🍔

hi and thank you!! that genuinely means a lot! i’m honored to have my art taking over your bob’s burgers folder lol.

also yeah! i actually do have some methods that i used that really helped me improve my art! idk how much it shows but lately i’ve been trying to add more dynamic and perspective into my art! the help i got from getting that skill was through using the “box method” -

i don’t know if that’s what it’s actually called but it helps me build the body into placement when working with different angles. it’s also helpful to break down poses or whatever you want to draw into simple shapes- i learned this from watching a LOT of ethan becker’s tutorials since he’s worked in the animation industry and understands how to work with poses.

a more personal and not *widely* talked about practice that i’m actually kinda surprised about is that, i never draw in one style. and what i mean by this is, i’m not talking about artists who have like two or three artstyles based on mood or whatever; i draw in LOTS of styles that are not my own.

it doesn’t matter if it’s not perfectly accurate or by any means good at first, but it’s a great way to identify shapes in different molds of drawing. and it also helps you build on your ACTUAL style in the process and imput all the things you like seeing in others art into your own! however this is probably only a helpful trick if you’re more confident in your skills regarding basic anatomy and such. you don’t need to be a realism artist but if you struggle a lot with certain body proportions or identifying shapes in art in general then it’s better to practice that before you start experimenting with styles.

also, and this is more from an emotional well-being standpoint but, i think it’s important to put yourself in a good mood before drawing too. i think lots of artists get frustrated when drawing because they feel a big lack in confidence with their skills and in my eyes this may cause some of the stagnation that occurs when trying to improve. if you focus only your love and appreciation towards your art and forgive yourself for not always getting certain things right, you’ll feel a whole lot better and your mind will be much more clear and focused when trying to work forward instead of backward. and you’ll feel a lot happier drawing in general.

so yea, those are the main things that helped me in my art progress! i hope these help you, and if not then don’t feel bad. some techniques work better on others and the best you can do is keep experimenting and to just have fun!

[silent-dragon]

Before you make that oiran-themed house explain to me what oirans are. Quickly. I don’t think you know what oirans are. It’s fine if you can’t explain though, I think we can all tell you don’t know anything about asian cultures based on how you draw asian ocs.

Normally i don't answer these but..welp got me in a mood.

Ah anon you just going to judge me solely on my awful artstyle?

Jokes on you..

I've been RPing a oiran based character in final fantasy XIV for 3yrs with a group of others who are from varied backgrounds.

My oiran themed idea isnt for twst if your thinking that..its for a monster au of my own world. I'm sure demons and monsters won't take kindly to you saying they don't look normal..lol. I'm not making a place with rl looking people with 100% accuracy thats boring..

I adore many cultures and do research..alot of it its possible to do you know? I asked my friends,deep internet searched,read books,absorbed everything.

Can we stop adding rl race to fandom ocs unless its stated as far as your concerned all my ocs are African cause I made them so boom what now? But really thats so stupid i dont make ocs based on race...I make them based on a character or a number of characters/ideas.

If you see my ocs as just a certain rl race you are mistaken cause last i checked places like Sunset Savanna or the Shaftlands are fictional places in a video game. The game doesn't have people labled by race so I do no either.

I also do not make the effort to draw my ocs in a style that I can't do. They all look the same blocky,flat,big eyed look cause thats just my bad artstyle ok? If want to know I practice using the utapri and love live artstyles as like guides and they do no have accurate features. I am not the person to look for such things im still a beginner at art and prefer having others who i commission from art for my ocs then my own.

NONE OF MY OCS ARE BASED 100% ACCURATELY TO A RL RACE OR RELIGION.

I rather make 100 demons then make a oc that is that. Inspiration and basing are different depending on the person.

Now if you come back to my askbox try without bringing up race cause by now its the lowest jerk card this fandom can throw at people your like the 4th person who has come at me like this...

Ive been told im terrible for making so many male ocs,dark skinned ocs,tanned skin ocs,and now this. It's getting old.

Im sorry im not poorly drawing your babygirl alpha...Ive long since stop catering to your hide behind a anon button kind..