#the pains of getting used to drawing a new character in your style

[kyarycn]

More Nier auto brainrot

‘Cept idk how to fashion, so 2B’s outfit, while it looks cool, is basic af

[wildglitch]

I have this headcanon that Billy ages slowly right? Born like 100 years ago and still a child bla bla bla-

Anywas-that is kinda just a base for many diferent concepts I come up for Billy. One of them being the "Whiz Kid Conspericy"tm

Basically it gose like this. Whiz kid is a special thing the station dose every few year at the turn of every new decade. The character of a child reporter is played by many diffrent little boy's through out the years all playing the character of "Billy", each one lasting for a few years before leaving for his birthday party and coming back a few years later replaced by a new kid and now one year older and a persona shift to match the new decade claming "I got a new style on my break". The catch? Its actually just Billy pretending to be a new person everytime.

Sure, some people know like Mr. Sterling and maybe a reporter or two, but no one else knows its the same kid. Which leads to a lot of conspiricy theorys about who the actors where or how the station picks their kids or hiw rye heck the kids look so similar. This end up being one of the things that bring Billy the most joy and pain, cause everyone knows of his exsistance with it being so ingrained into Fawcetts culture, but Its also super fun for him to disapear and come back as a new person every decade. Sure fhere where a few times where the station was handed over to a new owner and they tried to make the "Whiz Kid brand" more active with merch and dirty profiting schems, but and adult Cissie and Billy managed to take care of that quickly.

This idea works best if the people of Fawcett aged normally but if you want, you can also just imagien half of the city is in on it while the other have no clue.

Its even funnier imagening the JL's reaction to what Billy has been doing for almost a centry.

Batman: let me get this straight, you convince multiple generations of people you where different people playing the same character?

Billy: It Was Funny!

Superman a.k.a Clark the reporter:...Yk, I used to listen to your radio segments back in the 80's

Billy a.k.a the teenager emberrassed about past works: Nooooooo, the 80's was such a bad time! My mircophone was horrible and my script was terrible

Superman: But it was so good!

Thank you for indulging my bullshit, I might draw Billy during the diffrent decades or maybe a time line later.

[ckret2]

Loved the comic above the chapter. It was glorious and this is now my headcanon XD. The art is great too! What's the new programs you got? Had to ask before I dive into this chapter!

-🥸

new program is Affinity Designer, for vector art. My hands are shaky as hell (it's amazing how many weird-ass symptoms ADHD has that you don't hear about until you dig deep) and that makes it a pain in the ass to get my lineart looking as smooth as it does—i'm hoping using vector art for lining will speed up my workflow.

Right now while I'm still getting the hang of it I think it's slowing me down lmao. Got to learn how to deal with entirely new problems from the ones I used to have, like, "why does this damn program keep randomly switching between clicking on the layer I want and clicking on some totally different object group, when i choose a layer in procreate it stays on that damn layer until I tell it otherwise" and "why does drawing a new line sometimes apply the line style I wanted and sometimes apply a line style I used like twenty layers ago for no reason"

But once I've worked out the bugs I'm hopeful it'll speed things up.

Like, this! Look at this. I made a Bill and saved it as an asset. Have a generic Bill.

And now I never need to draw Bill again in my life.* (*this is hyperbole.) I can just slap that asset down, bend some things, rotate some things, and turn it into...

... whatever pose I want.

His body and hat are always the right shape and it's easy to deform them however I want and then instantly un-deform them with one button; his bricks & tie & eye are already applied; his limbs are always the exact same thickness, his feet are always the same shape, it takes one click to put his joints into perfectly smooth swoopy curves at the joints, and even the glow effect is always already applied

and man, I know stuff like an automatic glow is no big deal to people with fancy-pants high-end art software like Adobe Whatever, but I don't have Adobe Whatever, I have Procreate and you have to manually make your glow layers and if you redraw the image you've gotta redo the glow from scratch. Never again!!

You wanna know what I had to actually hand-draw to change the first image into the second image?

That's it.

My two issues are—one—because I'm so new at this, it takes a lot of time twitching around individual nodes and figuring out clever little ways to layer objects to get the right effect that a pro wouldn't have to spend on it, and—two—because vector art is SO precise and smooth, it tends to drain some of the personality and "character" out of the art. Like,

the angry Scalene on the left "looks better" just in terms of having clean consistent lines and pixel-perfect gradients and no sketchy corners—but the one on the right has a better angry face, it's more visually appealing and more intense. There's a lot more rage in those scrawly uneven fists than there is in the smooth flawless fist. I spent a lot of time fussing over her expression on the left and still couldn't get it to look as good as the one I did months earlier with Procreate, because in procreate you can just draw the lines but with vector art you manipulate the curves in strange and esoteric ways.

So I've gotta work to bridge that gap.

and then by god I'll be unstoppable.

[echo-bleu]

Disability pride request? Two characters of your choice hanging out, maybe one using two forearm crutches and one using two canes. They can be friends or partners - I just generally love seeing disabled characters interactng with one another!

How about three disabled characters?

Once upon a time @camille-lachenille sent me a prompt about Míriel having Ehler-Danlos Syndrome. I had already sketched a disabled Celegorm with EDS in mind and, thinking about how it's genetic, had an epiphany about Celebrimbor (and the meaning of his name) and I drew him as well. So I wrote a fic about all three of them dealing with chronic pain, but I still hadn't drawn Míriel. That oversight is now fixed!

They have more in common than just chronic illness xD.

This is still titled "The EDS gang" in my files, I'm going to stick to it. Set sometime in Fourth Age Valinor, when most things are good again...

Disabled Tolkien characters series

(Feel free to send me more disability prompts! I love drawing them.)

More ramblings about disability aids that devolved into bullet-point headcanons under the cut. ID and transcription at the end, but they're also in alt text.

[CW: this is all fairly light but discussion of death and trauma and you know, everything that comes with these three.]

I do not know how to make comics. I'm sure that's very obvious but, you know, learning new things and all that. One thing I learned was that my usual style of rendering does not work with it as well so I rendered them entirely twice.

It was meant to be day 21 and 22 of my October challenge, because surely I can draw and colour a full page in a day (spoilers: no). In the end it was a combined 15 hours of work over 3 and a half days because I made it as complicated as I possibly could 😭 Still, I had fun and learned a lot.

Note: Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is a connective tissue disorder, affecting basically how your cells are glued together. There are a lot of different symptoms (and different types of EDS) but a frequent one is joint pain and hypermobility, and it's at least partly inherited.

Míriel:

Red was Míriel's colour first. She's not into gaudy things and rarely wears vivid colours, but almost always something red. She barely wears any jewellery since reembodiment, mostly for sensory reason (She is very autistic. That's something she gave Fëanor, Curufin, Caranthir, Ambarussa and Celebrimbor, at least.)

She died of post-partum (and general) depression and energy depletion from childbirth or something, but the chronic illness that was taking all of her energy and keeping her from her craft certainly didn't help.

Also pregnancy was horribly rough on her, partly because EDS can be affected by hormonal changes.

She's actually been better since reembodiment, because she has better accommodations (Finwë did his best but he was very lost) and also a Vala on hand who makes her very good painkilling tea.

She wears knitted compression gloves that she designed to help with hand pains.

Her wheelchair is of Noldor make, but I'm sure Celebrimbor will have suggestions for improving it.

The tapestry that she is weaving is actually this painting of Finrod that I did a while ago. I figure that she's representing calmer, nicer things now that she doesn't have to weave her grandchildren's downfall and deaths.

Celegorm:

He was in a relationship with Oromë before the Exile. After his reembodiment, it took them a while by they talked it out and forgave each other. Oromë doesn't quite get elves, but he's really supportive.

He has a pair of wolf-head canes carved by Nerdanel. He alternatively uses both, just one and sometimes none depending on activity/pain level.

He wears bandages as compression garments because this is a world without elastane. His leggings have reinforced knees for support.

He's always heard about Míriel having the same thing as he does from Finwë, and he knew that when he started showing symptoms, Fëanor was terrified that he'd fade too. So for a long time, Míriel's story was kind of hanging above his head.

That's why it takes him a while to go seek her out after he's reembodied. Celebrimbor understands why it's important to him and he pushed him to it a little bit, so Celegorm dragged him along.

They're going to get along great. Míriel is both the quintessential grandmother and also she has a twisted sense of humour that Celegorm will just love.

Celebrimbor:

Celegorm was always his favourite uncle, and they became very close when Celebrimbor started having symptoms in the early years in Exile, and Celegorm stayed with Curufin in Himlad for him.

It took Celebrimbor a while to forgive him after Returning (not as long as Curufin but still) but they've gone back to being really close.

He was really unlucky with reembodiment: while he wasn't reborn with the physical aspect of his torture, the memory of pain and the trauma made his chronic pain a lot worse than it was before, and he can no longer walk unaided.

He designed the silver ring and wrist splints back in Eregion with Narvi's help, and ended up literally living up to his name (which means "silver fist/grasping hand").

Paradoxically these were a great motivation for him to work through his trauma and go back to the forge, because he couldn't find a silversmith in Valinor who could make good enough ones for him, even with all of his sketches and specifications.

A lot of his work since reembodiment has been designing and making disability aids for people.

He uses platform crutches to spare his hands as much as possible. He invented and designed them, of course, as well as the KAFO brace that he wears here. He's also a part-time wheelchair user.

He is still wearing dwarven beads in his hair. He obviously didn't bring anything back from Middle-Earth but he asked Gimli to make them for him in remembrance of Narvi. His tunic is also dwarven-inspired.

He is pretty chill about Sauron here. I don't know if there was a redemption (I have feelings about @chthonion's The Harrowing and @mynameisjessejk's Otter Mayhem) or if he's just been through enough elf-therapy to be able to joke about it. Celegorm's sense of humour is just Like That.

Celegorm and Celebrimbor are about to try Vairë's special painkilling tea for the first time 👀

Between all of them they should really open a disability aids shop or something. They just might! Míriel doesn't really ever leave Vairë's house but I think Celegorm and Celebrimbor will keep visiting her a lot, and eventually all of the grandkids will as well.

Image description and transcriptions:

Two digital comic book pages.

Image 1: The first case takes the whole width, showing two pairs of feet with each two canes/crutches on a tiled floor, with a speech bubble saying "Do you think she'll want to see us?"

The second line has two cases in 2/3 and 1/3 format. The first shows two hands in red fingerless gloves working on a tapestry on a loom. The second shows part of a light-skinned face in profile, with curly white hair. Three speech bubbles say "My love?" "Um?" "There are people here asking for you."

The bottom part has one case off-center showing the same hand undoing the brake of a wheelchair, with a speech bubble saying "Your grandson and your great-grandson." above and one saying "I'll be right here." below. Then a full-length off-case portrait of Miríel, a light-skinned elf with shoulder-length curly white sitting in a wheelchair and pushing herself. She's wearing a pale pink embroidered dress with red accents, red fingerless gloves and elbow pad and brown boots and smiling.

Image 2: A single large case shows two elves standing in a room with a tiled floor, with a large door and two tables behind them. There are thread spools on one table and a tea set on the other. One elf, Celebrimbor, is brown-skinned and slightly chubby, with long black hair in a braided bun, wearing a red tunic and dark green pants. He is leaning on two decorated platform combo crutches made of wood and metal, with a KAFO brace on his leg. He wears finger and hand silver splints. The other elf, Celegorm, is pale and has long white hair in a high ponytail with small braids, he has tattoos on his neck and arms and he wears bandages on his shoulders, elbows and wrist. He wears a green tunic, leggings and wrap-around gaiters. He is leaning on a cane and holding up another cane, pointing at the first elf. Both canes have handles carved in the shape of wolf heads.

The speech bubbles are arranged around and below them, giving this dialogue, with the speakers distinguished by the shape of the bubble (the parts in parentheses are smaller text in the bubbles):

Celegorm: "My lady, my name is Tyelkormo, and this is my nephew Tyelpë." Miríel: "I know who you are, my wonderful children. Come sit." Celebrimbor: "That would be nice, thank you." Miríel: "Vairë, my love, would you make us some tea?" Celebrimbor: "My lady!" Celegorm: "A Vala who can make tea! (I could never get Oromë to do it.)" Miríel: "It was a long domestication process." Vairë (off screen): "Hey!" Celebrimbor: "Instant hot water! That’s nice. (I wonder if I could replicate that.)" Miríel: "She makes wonderful hot water bottles." Celegorm: "Oromë just uses his hands as hot pads." Celebrimbor: "Ew, I didn’t need to know that." Celegorm: "What? Just because your Maia burns everything he touches–" Celebrimbor: "Shut up." Miríel: "You must both tell me everything about yourself. And your partners!"

[dere-yanyan]

Rosé Misfortune

↬ m. yanderes x gn. reader

It was an accident. You should never have decided to create that.

With all your desperation to gain mutual feelings, you brewed a love potion. Now, imagine your horror when the wrong person drank that very potion.

An original story introduction post.

Welcome, welcome! Thank you for taking interest!

As you can see, the cover art is... just a sketch. I'm an artist as well as a writer, but my drawing skills are buffering [it's stuck in 16 yo me's style]. I'll finish that art someday.

Right now, it's a concept. Which is the very thing the story, Rosé Misfortune, currently is.

WARNINGS ;

This is a yandere story.

Obsessive, possessive, manipulation, dubcon, stalker behaviors.

HOWEVER, I will not write pure smut.

Tension & suggestive, yes, but never explicit.

MC (reader) is morally gray/stupid. They used a love potion without consent.

I should say they might get annoying at times, depending on you tbh 😭

There are two (2) yanderes, so it's a love triangle,, or a love corner.

Rosé Misfortune—in which you, a college student, are working part-time in a cafe.

No partner since birth.

And having to watch all those couples have a date in the cafe? It's painful. Your chest hurts, literally, and you don't know if you should be concerned.

Rosé Misfortune—in which you, the protagonist, find yourself head over heels over your co-worker.

How convenient that your world has living witches in it.

In fact, your best friend is a witch who specializes in brewing potions.

How very convenient.

Rosé Misfortune—in which despite your best judgment, you decide to brew a love potion. Trix, for some reason, helps you with your wish.

Then the wrong person takes the horribly-made potion.

— MEET BEATRIX !!

Or, for short, Trix. Your best friend and current roommate.

Coming from a line of magical witches, Trix doesn't exactly know how to cast a wand. Instead, she learns to brew potions and decides to make it her life's work to engineer new ones.

Her ancient family heirloom, a whole book of potions, can finally be used with her very hands!!

A big responsibility, indeed.

— MEET GRANT !!

The guy you're crushing on. A barista just like you. Newest recruit, actually.

Grant's unbelievably basic. But also very gentlemanly, kind, warm gaze, soft spoken, patient, and chill. His adorable freckles and thick eyelashes— wait, who's talking?

Some would say you only like him because you're desperate.

— MEET RIVER !!

a/n: btw he's tall, and has a much darker skin than in the picture 😭 limited colors of skin, sadly. will change soon

The baker in the back of the cafe. You barely see him, and you barely speak to him. Sometimes, he'd act like you don't exist.

You don't mind. There's probably something going on with him. Or, at least, you hope his glares aren't intentional.

But... for such a dry guy, he sure makes the best sweets ever.

THE STORY IS NOT FINALIZED.

It has a three-chapter book in Wattpad [click the underlined for link], but I will not deem it canon. Although it's close.

This post is only a summary of the story—a premise, a gist.

I am still exploring the potential of this story, so some may be different from other depictions.

➵ Requests are open! 💌

Feel free to ask about the story, the characters, and the scenarios itself fr!!

PICREW LINKS:

Trix ; https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/1787745

Grant & River ; https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/2151243

altho the pictures were created a long time ago,,,

[evilbihan]

reading through your page. do you have any random headcanons of mk characters that aren't bi-han?? i'd love to hear them.

Thank you for sending me this ask. I won't lie, it was a difficult one to answer since Bi-Han is the only character I care about in the entire franchise. (Him being back as Sub-Zero was the only selling point of MK1 for me and his fate in the dlc is the reason why I stopped playing the game by now.) You could say, Bi-Han is MK to me.

I dislike most of the characters on the MK1 roster and I'm indifferent towards the rest of them, so I never bothered coming up with headcanons for any of them or trying to understand and analyse them on a deeper level. However, I still wanted to properly answer this ask, so here are some headcanons I came up with on the spot. I also posted a Kuai Liang headcanon a few days ago that you can read here if you want.

MK1 random headcanons:

Kitana and Mileena:

Being twin sisters, Kitana and Mileena used to often wear matching outfits when they were younger. They even wore the same hairstyle until Mileena entered her rebellious phase and shaved her hair. While Mileena's outfits became bolder, Kitana maintained a more conservative and traditional style. Sometimes it makes her sad that Mileena and her drifted apart so much, but she's still determined to support her sister wherever she can.

Li Mei:

Li Mei loves flowers, specifically lilies, but she has a soft spot for all kinds of plants. Her home in Sun Do is filled with potted plants in all shapes and sizes. Caring for them helps her unwind after a stressful day at work and she loves coming home to her own little garden too. She spends a lot of her free time there, tending to her plants or meditating.

Liu Kang:

Liu Kang is very lonely deep down. He misses his old friends, especially Kung Lao, and it pains him that he can no longer be a part of their lives in the same way he used to be before he became a god. Of course, he's happy to see his former companions thrive in the new era he created, but he can't deny that it hurts to no longer fit in. The people he once shared playful banter with look up to him for guidance now. He doesn't speak to anyone about his loneliness, only Geras knows since he became Liu Kang's best friend as well as his closest confidant over time.

Ashrah:

Ashrah adjusted to her new life as an Earthrealmer pretty quickly. She's grateful to have been offered a home and she's determined to prove worthy of it. She knows she still has much to learn, but she enjoys studying Earthrealm customs and traditions. She hopes that Earthrealm can become a home to Sareena as well, but she's also aware of how Sareena's nature as a demon still draws her to the Netherrealm. Her biggest fear is losing her last remaining sister to evil too. Despite her dedication to her search for absolution, Ashrah is unsure if she could ever bring herself to kill Sareena if it came down to it.

Sareena:

Sareena still hasn't fully forgiven Ashrah for the deaths of Kia and Jataaka. A part of her wishes the four of them were still together in the Netherrealm. She doesn't know if she will ever be able to call Earthrealm her home in the way Ashrah does and she's afraid of inevitably disappointing her sister by returning to her old ways.

Johnny:

Johnny still keeps a couple of handwritten letters to Cris that he never had the courage to send buried somewhere in one of his desk drawers. No matter how badly he misses her and how much he regrets that so much was left unsaid between them, for once in his life he doesn't want to be selfish, so he respects her decision to move on. It takes him a while to get over the divorce since he really loved Cris and although he continues to be his usual flirty and playful self, he's not sure if he's ready for a new relationship yet.

Tomas:

As a former hunter, there is a part of Tomas that enjoys the thrill of hunting and killing. To him, it's almost like a game, which is unusual for a Lin Kuei since they only fight for duty and to protect the realm. That side of Tomas is possibly owed to the Enenra and it's also the reason why Bi-Han is wary of him and doesn't consider him a true Lin Kuei.

Kenshi:

While he wouldn't necessarily call himself a sports fan, Kenshi has developed somewhat of a fondness for football since he became friends with Jax. Whenever Jax goes to watch a football game, Kenshi is happy to tag along. He enjoys the stadium atmosphere and finds it interesting to listen to his friend ramble about the teams and their strategies.

I hope you like these! I did my best, but you can tell I'm awful at writing anything non-Bi-Han related. Regardless, this was fun to write.

[valzhanginator]

HOO CHARACTERS BIG THREE PLACEMENTS

~by an aspiring astrologer♡

pls keep in mind that these are my personal opinions, if you don't agree with these that's completely okay. this is based on my experience and knowledge not their canon birthdays. sun sign is our ego, moon sign is our emotions and relationship with our mother and rising sign is our physical appereance and how people perceive us at first glance.hope you enjoy!!`

-percy- leo sun cancer moon leo rising

sun: confident but insecure at the same time, extremely stubborn

moon: very good mother figure, mood depends on other people or the vibes, introvert but thrives with friends, hides feelings a lot

rising: charming presence, luscious hair, captivating eyes, gets attention without even asking

-annabeth- virgo sun aries moon cap rising

sun: needs structure and reliability in life, plans everything 5 years in advence bc "just incase", very understanding to others but too hard on herself

moon: dominant mother figure, resentment towards mother, good at making new connections, needs physical outlets for anger, jealous in love

rising: mature and reserved look, serious case of resting b face, doesn't realize she looks scary and gets offended when pointed out

-hazel- aqua sun scorpio moon aqua rising

sun: stands out and good with people but not very social

moon: very traumatic childhood/parent, very observant, hates being lied to or being deceived

rising: you'll notice her immidiately bc she looks like she doesn't belong, very much alien energy, ppl will say something's "off" about her but can never pinpoint what it is

-leo- sagitarius sun pisces moon gemini rising

sun: very fun, adventurous and energetic,

moon: really funny and good with words, prone to romanticizing toxicity or his pain, needs to feel loved to thrive, hard to really get to know him very good at acting/pretending

rising: fun and charming demeanor, amazing smile, long limbs short torso, really funky and uniqe sense of style

-frank- taurus sun taurus moon cancer rising

sun: extremely chill, avaoids drama like the plague, very reliable, enjoys luxury and finer things in life

moon: overbearing and overprotecting female figures, bullying due to body image in early ages, seeks comfort

rising: moon-like features, very emotionally expressive face, look like you can trust them w your social security number

jason- cap sun sag moon cap rising

sun: likes being in control but very fun once you get to know him

moon: feels better living abroad or with different cultures, seems opinionated and tough but is actually really understanding, attached to his hobbies, often misunderstood

rising: angular and sharp features, rbf, looks like has his life together but crumbling inside, hard to open up but funniest person once opened up

-piper- libra sun gemini moon libra rising

sun: very indecisive, witty and inteligent, has her way with words, flitrs without even meaning to

moon: can socialize with many different types of groups, too many thoughts, switches between shy and straightforward, nervous inside, very witty

rising: doll-like features, really pretty and sensual, infectious laugh, just overall really pretty and feminine looking, often feels unsure and confused

-nico- aqua sun scorpio moon scorpio rising

sun: doesn't really fit in, reads people really well

moon: same as hazel, also very secretive and private, sonetimes too perceptive or obsessive

rising: very intense eyes, mysterious and powerful presence, his mystery either draws people in wanting to know more or scares them away

-calypso- leo sun leo moon taurus rising

sun: basically the same with percy perfect hair, charming eyes except she DEMANDS attention and rest assured she WILL get it, wants to be in control of everything in her life and extremely stubborn w it, gets really dissapointed when thing don't turn out as she excepted

moon: needs to feel attractive and productive to thrive, prone to trust issues, clingy but won't show it

rising: looks best with no or minimal makeup, think brooke shields and gigi hadid love child, has a very nature-y type of look -idk if that makes sense-

-reyna- aries sun capricorn moon aries rising

sun: values her friendships deeply, very initiative, go big or go home, doesn't stand any bs

moon: had to grow up fast, too individualistic, the wounded healer, sensitive but hates seeking comfort, very creative and initiative

rising: angular and sharp features, athletic build, bold and confident presence

[lurkingshan]

Japanese QL Corner

ICYMI: There are so many Japanese qls airing weekly, so I’m going to start posting this little round up at the end of each week. Most of these shows are on Gaga and I highly recommend watching!

Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna 2

Besties, I screamed!!! We were blessed with episodes 9-12 of this fantastic second season this week, and we finally reached the moment we've been building toward for so long. I AM SO PROUD OF KASUGA AND NOMOTO. Amazing job using your words, ladies. And I loved the way they tied Kasuga's family plot in here, with her need to move giving her the motivation to finally tell Nomoto what she wants. Nomoto was ready for it, too, and already planning to confess on her own (still not over that adorable screamsqueal she let out after inviting Kasuga for Valentines dinner). I can't wait for them to buy a big house, invite Nagumo and Yako to live with them, and start their very own lesbian commune where every meal is amazing.

Chaser Game W

I did some investigating this week because the way these characters are written was just not making sense to me. And as it happens, not only is this show about women written by a male screenwriter, it was adapted from a het manga! Itsuki's character was originally a heterosexual man. Let me tell ya, this made a lot click into place for me. Trust a male writer to take a het romance about power dynamics, gender swap one of the characters to make it a gl, and fail to adjust the characterizations and plot for the completely different power dynamics and communication styles that would entail. It doesn’t explain all the issues with the writing, but it sure does explain a lot about the puzzling lack of feelings processing and communication between these two women. Despite that messiness, I will finish watching this one to support the ratings so we get more gls soon.

My Strawberry Film

What we got here is a love chain of pain. Chika loves Ryo, but Ryo loves Hikaru, and Hikaru is fixated on Minami. Everyone is pining and there is no way for everyone to get what they want. A classic high school angst set up, though admittedly not my favorite kind of story. I will continue to hope that Chika experiences an awakening and we end up with both a bl and a gl pair in this show. I did not expect them to find Minami that easily (or that she would be their peer), so I'm curious to see where they take the plot for this one.

Sukiyanen Kedo Do Yaro ka

Last week I said I was wary of them bringing Mizuki back into the mix to interfere in the relationship, and as expected I was irritated with the way the show used him in this week's episode. I like where that final conversation between Sakae and Soga ended up, but I didn't care for the way Mizuki was used to interfere. It felt like a retread of the last couple weeks, didn't accomplish anything new for those relationships, and just made Sakae seem kind of weak willed and immature. Sakae was not feeling confident about Soga's feelings because he had not communicated clearly, but every time Soga tried to talk to him, Sakae just stood there and let Mizuki get in the way. I would have liked to see him draw a firmer boundary with Mizuki and talk to Soga like an adult, but instead he was wavering through most of the episode and not giving Soga the chance to explain things. It was an annoying dynamic and I hope it's actually over. But of course, Mizuki hasn't left yet and the episode didn't allow us more than a brief happy moment before flashing forward to a breakup, so we're clearly in for more seesaw shenanigans before this ends.

Perfect Propose

I love this show, y'all. I already posted a little love note to this episode, which I thought was so smart and authentic in the way it depicted Hiro's ongoing struggles with work, his burnout, and his fear about moving on (also shoutout to this post from @befuddledcinnamonroll for a great overview on why the storytelling choices are so effective). And for an episode where Hiro and Kai shared only a couple scenes, it got a surprising amount of relationship development done, as Hiro became more aware of his growing feelings for Kai and Kai made his intentions and his boundaries clear. I love that he put the ball firmly in Hiro's court to decide what he wants and ask for it, and I am so looking forward to seeing Hiro run next week. If only I could get another six episodes, everything here would be perfect.

Ossan's Love Returns

I'll be honest, this show has been kinda wobbly for me in the back half. It feels like they put too many balls in the air and are not quite sure how to land them all. For one, I am just not nearly as invested in this Izumi/Kiku loveline as the show clearly wants me to be--I've been shipping Kiku x Moving On the whole time and was hopeful we may be finally getting there, but it just keeps coming back around. Takegawa's story seems to have gotten lost somewhere along the way, and I was so confused by some of the storytelling choices re: Kurosawa's plot this week that I had to convene @twig-tea and @my-rose-tinted-glasses, and our collective brain power still couldn't quite piece together the show's intent. I loved the first stretch of the episode with the whole squad assembling to puzzle through what they know about Chief's health woes and support him, but then they lost me with that goodbye video sequence immediately followed by a one month later psyche! moment. If they are not killing Kurosawa off (which I don't think they are) the very overwrought final scenes with him, Haruta, and Maki hit pretty weird. Having now seen the end scene that undercuts it all, it could be that it was meant to feel like comedic melodrama, but in the absence of any solid reassurance to the audience that the health threat was not real, that did not really land. All that said, I still love all of these characters and it's been a real delight to see Haruta and Maki settle into their married life, so I'm still very happy to be watching and looking forward to how they wrap up.

[gravityglitch-blog]

The Amazing Digital Circus, as seen by a Murder Drones fan

("Candy Carrier Chaos" inspired me to write this. Fair warning, it's a long one. Potential spoilers ahead)

I stumbled into the indie animation scene on YouTube by accident. It was like finding hidden treasure. I have no hate for the big-name studios, but everything I'd been seeing up until then seemed...homogenized...over-processed, somehow? It's hard to describe. Like eating fast food when you want a home cooked meal.

Now here were stories that were all wonderfully different, in subject matter and style. I started with "Lackadaisy", which was so beautiful, it left me stunned.

(The only reason you don't see more Lackadaisy fanart from me is because it's difficult drawing cats. I'm practicing, though.)

A few more clicks brought me to "Murder Drones", and it was love at first sight.

I connected to Uzi's character within her first minutes on-screen. Despite the dark tone of the story, I still hold out hope for a good ending.

Then I started seeing teasers for a new series, "The Amazing Digital Circus".

The art style and bright colors weren't my usual speed, but I decided to check it out anyway.

Personal confession, "Digital Circus" scares me more than "Murder Drones". While "Murder Drones" wears its horror inspirations on its sleeve, to me, it's more the "cool" kind of horror that I would scribble on my notebooks between classes.

Vampires, monsters, battling the forces of darkness while jamming to nightcore, you get the idea.

I have legitimately had nightmares that look like the "Digital Circus". Strange worlds of twisted colors and shapes, people I don't know, doors and staircases that lead nowhere.

All that said, I did enjoy the pilot, I found the setup and the characters interesting, and wanted to see more.

Side note, I know the studio sometimes seems to favor "Digital Circus", and it causes some resentment between the fandoms.

For myself, I see our fandoms as siblings. Let us watch our faves (hopefully) triumph over the horrors together.

This brings me to "Candy Carrier Chaos".

It happened to debut on one of my bad days, when I was feeling down, to put it mildly.

Like I didn't matter. Like no one would notice or remember me if I were gone.

And so that opening scene of Pomni's nightmare hit me like a punch in the gut.

I won't go into the episode's plot too much, as I'm sure others here have already done that and better than I ever could. The whole reason I'm writing this is because of that ending.

The members of the Circus take the time and care to remember the friend they lost in the pilot, apparently the latest of many.

They all feel the pain of loss, of being trapped in this strange world. But they still have each other. For now, at least.

The look on Pomni's face when she realizes she's not alone. When her vision replays, it has changed.

Now, there are helping hands to take hold of her. To pull her back up out of the darkness.

I honestly became a little teary-eyed at that scene. It got me thinking, "maybe the bad days are liars. Maybe I would be missed, after all."

The power of storytelling through animation. With all my heart, I hope this medium continues to grow and flourish. To any aspiring animators and artists out there, this random Tumblr person asks, please don't give up the dream. There are people out there that need to hear your stories.

In the meantime, Pomni remains where she is...and so do I. Thank you so much if you've read this whole thing. I really appreciate it.

[partyhorn]

Have u ever posted your comic or animation workflow anywhere? Im super curious on how you tackle the process, especially not using a drawing tablet. I know you have a very simple (and adorable) style so that probably helps in terms of workflow -- Im just curious about the steps you take.

Thank you! With both comics and animation my key thing is to not spend too much time on any particular thing, just draw loose and fast. Honestly the only downside to drawing with a mouse is that I can tell my arm has extremely specific muscle memory regarding it- if my mouse breaks and I get a new one I have to spend a good month or so just letting my hand get used to it again lol. Same with if my setup gets readjusted too much- right now my setup is my mouse on one of those padded mousepads, on top of 2 books, with my elbow resting on my 3DS case (I'll get an actual pillow or something for it eventually lol). But luckily thanks to this I suffer very minimal wrist pain 👍

(...Okay I started to go really in depth in my process here, so sorry if this is way more than what you were asking. Putting it under a readmore just to save space lol)

With MFM in particular, I start by writing out the entire script for the next story arc, which really is just all of the dialogue and vague notes about any important actions. Then I do the paneling with very loose stick-figure like sketches of where the characters are and what they're doing. I prefer having very little planning when it comes to character poses and panel shapes, coming up with those on the fly makes things much more exciting and faster to make. But it's the opposite with dialogue... it needs to be 100% FINAL before I draw a single line lol.

That's part of my script for my most recent chapter, as well as what my extremely loose goofy thumbnail sketching is like. I write the script as one big thing and don't separate it into pages until I actually start drawing- then I go and color change it just to keep track of what dialogue goes on each page

After that, I go back and do the ACTUAL sketch, as well as the lettering (I don't believe this is how it's done professionally. I used to do lettering as the very last step in the process... but then found it hard to cram speech bubbles in the right places lmao.) After that is lineart, coloring, background flat colors, then shading/rendering for all of it. I do each step in batches, as in I sketch out ALL pages of a chapter before moving to lineart, I line ALL pages before starting coloring, etc. I find it way easier to be productive when it's broken up like that, though when I first started the comic I used to draw each page to completion before starting the next (but also, the comic's style was DRASTICALLY simpler back then haha)

(Unfortunately I merged some of the shading to the background flat colors so it's not entirely accurate... oops) FireAlpaca has a sand texture feature that I only found out about last year- adding that to the backgrounds makes them look 10x better with WAY less effort.

With animation, it depends on the project. For simple 5-10 second animation I make for fun, there's very little planning lol. I skip some steps in the process- I'll sketch out the keyframes (and maybe any difficult inbetweens if necessary), line those, then go straight into making linework inbetweens. I'm not a cleanup artist and have no experience in that, so I always find trying to line my rough animation makes everything jittery and wobbly. If I do it with a clean line from the start then I can avoid that and save a lot of time 👍

For my bigger projects (such as the Parvey cartoon and the MFM Kickstarter trailer), I do the whole animatic with final audio first and foremost, with the animatic being almost like the keyframes. I split them up into individual shots, .mp4 files anywhere between 1-30 seconds usually, and animate those one at a time. I'm a huge fan of free to use programs and try to use them as much as I possibly can, here's a list of the ones I use:

FireAlpaca- for the actual drawing part itself (storyboarding/animating/etc). FireAlpaca has a feature that lets you export every frame as it's own drawing, as well as an onion skin mode

Windows Movie Maker- for compiling all of those frames into video format, creating individual shots. If you upload all of your frames and set them to around 0.08 seconds, it equals about 12fps (I usually animate at 0.10 seconds/10fps, its a bit slower but looks nice)

Onlinesequencer.net- for making music. It's the place I've made all of my songs on, like the timeloop song, hyperworkaholic, and the background music for the MFM Kickstarter trailer.

Audacity- for editing audio/music. Also great for recording things directly from your desktop

DaVinci Resolve- for editing and putting together all of the shots into one big video. Can get kind of intensive on the computer during rendering, so watch out.

YouCut (app)- also for editing and compiling shots, I used this one a lot a couple years back but I'm not sure how well it holds up. Doesn't need much phone storage to download but needs a lot to render videos.

MS Paint (yes really)- for typing up text. FireAlpaca has a text option but I don't like it as much as Paint's.

...The only thing I genuinely can't do alone is voice acting. Luckily there's a big voice acting community on Twitter and they're all amazing to work with!

This got... way more in depth than I planned for it to be, so sorry if this is way more than what you were asking lol. But that's my general process when it comes to my art 👍

[knarme-art]

This here represents a typical sketch I'd have drawn at any point in my recent life, - until now.

I will no longer be able to work in a high detail art style like this at all, until the accuracy of my new technique improves. And I can't promise it will.

Why?

I've been drawing with wrist movement for my whole life.

This is infamously unsustainable to the hand. It used to gradually become more uncomfortable until it became so painful that I can't do it at all for more than a few seconds.

I have good steam to work on comms now, but I'm forced to have a break from them because I reached the limit of this "wrist-work". If I keep pushing against my body's warnings, I'll disable myself worse and it'll last me forever.

My ability to draw is the most precious thing I have in my life. Nothing matters to me as heavily besides basic necessities, that I make art. Art is how I find friends and community and express myself in a way that nothing else satisfies that same way. Even in my worst times, this has been the light of my life. Even my best times would feel so devoid of content without making art. Art is my whole life.

Because the stakes are so high, I'm working on a solution.

A common tip for sparing the wrist is drawing from the shoulder and the elbow. This is very difficult for me since I'm not used to controlling my hand movement especially for detail from any other joint than the wrist.

Another is casing your pencil into any material (I just taped toilet paper tightly on it) to make it thicker to hold. It means you need smaller movements for drawing detail and therefore spare wrist work.

My muscle memory mostly has it all for moving the wrist to do all the stuff. See what it costs me now?

I'm practicing drawing in a new technique entirely, and figuring out what I can do.

I have to accept that my art style will not look exactly the same either, because physically I can't produce the same old thing drawn in my incorrect technique.

This is my drawing hand wrapped in a scarf to keep my wrist from bending when drawing, so I encourage sourcing the hand movement to my shoulder and elbow instead! Wearing this prevents the painful motions and helps me learn new motions.

Here are practice sketches in the new technique. I find it hard to draw small detail without moving my wrist to do it, but that accuracy can be trained by continuously drawing small shapes or objects (beans, circles, spirals, hair, fur, little horses...) from the shoulder. (This is advice I hear from professionals btw.)

Some thoughts about these sketches...

- I notice I simplify shapes more to make them easier for my hand movements to get across. I literally can not physically draw any other way, but the result looks kind of good even?

- I'm kinda excited to see where my learning goes from here

- I want to keep practicing hand control

- I was concerned especially about how to replicate my character designs like this, but it's somewhat working I guess?

So yeah... This is lifesaving for my art abilities on the long run. Gonna keep up the practice!

[drawingducktalesducks]

You make great art!

Your opinions on Vi’s alternate designs?

I could stare at her all day. Perfection.

Design wise? Her final one is (chef's kiss) SUCH a good balance of showing and contrasting Violet’s personality.

And the alternates show why!

She’s a nerd. Shorthand for that is usually glasses, as seen in almost all her alternative designs. (Think Velma from Scooby Doo.) Not a bad trope.

But at the same time, does her character need a visual short hand for smartness?

Just the way Violet SPEAKS tells you she’s a nerd. She uses big words, and calls people by their full names. When we first meet her it’s in a LIBRARY and her and Webby instantly start switching between various ancient languages.

We don’t need glasses to know she smart and a nerd.

So unless the show is willing to commit to some moments or gags where Violet loses her glasses / takes them off specifically not to see something / cleans them regularly as a character tick (think Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Conservation of Character Design says get rid of them.

Which the show creators did.

(also her introduction scene includes Quackfaster, and I appreciate that, instead of them both wearing glasses- a thing that isn't actually about smartness literally it's just wanting to be able to see- the thing Violet shares with the Terrifying Librarian is... hair tie / hair band, including the color thereof.)

(It's a more personal choice. And it's message is "Practical")

Next is clothing style. Most of her alternates have a more fancy, ‘outfit’ kinda look to them. Like this is something she put together to get a specific Look. Nothing wrong with that. Nerds can be fashionable (Ellie Woods queen thereof).

But… there isn’t anything in Violet’s personality, story, or situation that connects to that idea.

Her things are Books, Learning, Forbidden Magics, Honorable Conduct in Contests and Duels, Adopting Stray Shadow Teens Off The Street As Her New Sister, Brining Pie To A Sleepover, Smacking Invading Moon People With A Spiked Mace, and Using Tibetan Breathing Techniques To Survive Eating Three Bowls Of Deadly Hot Spices In A Row.

The closest she gets to caring about her appearance is when her and Webby (and then her and Lena) put on gruesome costume make up and prosthetics for fun.

So a snazzy outfit, while cool, doesn’t really… jive with the vibe of Violet Sabrewing.

Nerd clothes, like a vest, isn’t needed the same reason glasses aren’t. Also the details would be a pain to draw over and over again. Even Webby’s clothes don’t have that much little bits in them.

High collars again look cool… but Lena’s already got that covered. Stand them next to each other, and where’s the contrast?

Violet wouldn’t “pop” next to Lena if they had that on top of Violet’s dark color scheme and Lena’s dark sweater.

Wearing the same thing (to show characters are connected to each other) works best when either the color or the style DOES contrast sharply

(Huey Louie Dewy and May June wearing basically the same thing as their siblings, but in very different colors)

(side note I’ll make a separate thing for someday: Lena and Webby with button down collar shirts worn under something, but with different style, effect, and colors)

The leggings are seen on two of Violets alternates and I think that got picked for Meta Simplicity and also In-Character Practicality.

They’re athletic, the kind of thing that isn’t at risk of snagging on stuff (befitting an eventual Senior Junior Woodchuck), and the dark color balances out with her hair. And they’re VERY easy to draw. Very good!

Sweater.

Sweater with turtle neck (unless it’s one of those very loose ones) usually gets used as shorthand for “Comfort over Appearance” (Velma again, contrasting Daphne)

And in this case it’s a contrast with Lena who LOOKS like she doesn’t care at first glance but actually has put maybe the most effort into her outfit (sweater stolen from favorite band, dyed her hair, wears bright colored converse in a world where most people go bare foot)

and Webby, who is wearing basically a uniform (picked by her Granny or by herself while daydreaming of experiencing Normal School Things???)

So to balance out Lena’s rebel teen punk look, and Webby’s prim and proper look, Violet has a comfort and practicality look.

BUT!

They kept the eyeshadow.

A VERY GOOD MOVE.

See, eyeshadow on someone who wears an ‘outfit’ (Lena, Daisy) says fashion minded and image conscious.

(this includes Beakly the former spy taking up the role of grandmother).

Eyeshadow on someone who wears a non-snazzy turtle neck and legging with her hair tied away from her face in a simple ponytail says something else completely-

It says, Violet likes eyeshadow, and that is the ONLY reason she wears it.

Either she doesn’t notice that it’s unusual to do this, or she doesn’t care.  

THAT is showing her personality.

If it’s that she doesn’t know it’s unusual, then that fits with her in the Woodchuck Challenge not knowing about smack talk until Lena teaches her, and in Friendship Hates Magic brining a pie to a sleepover, and in The Split Sword of Swanstantine wondering in the middle of a fight if she should change in to more occasion appropriate clothes instead of, you know, running.

Smart yes, savvy to social norms? Not so much.

If it’s that she doesn’t care, then that fits with her direct and blunt way of getting what she wants out of situations, never mind others' objections-

-Instantly running to Webby’s loft so she can see the picture of the demon lord and confirm the crookedness of his fang, repeatedly pressing for using the runes to try contacting the shadow realm despite Webby’s nervous boggle deflections, happily employing smack talk so she can learn it properly without stopping to ask what it’s effect on her competitor might be..

So the clothes of her final design all work really, REALLY well telling new parts of Violet’s personality, without just repeating what we’d instantly know from listening to her talk for half a minute.

Hair.

One of her alternates has loose floofy hair, which I imagine is what canon her would look like without the hair tie, and it rocks.

But the hair tie is kinda important.

Violet isn’t a book nerd who never leaves the library- She’s active, she gets in the thick of things, she’s happy to jump in a fight, and she’s a Junior Woodchuck. Practicality, again, makes more sense. Keeping her hair out of her face works with her character.

Her little flop of bangs is really fun to me too because… well…. It reminds me of Lena.  

Again, it’s different enough to pop while the two stand together, but it’s there. Lena has flopped bang thing. Violet has a curly bang thing. They are sisters. It’s cute!

Also helps her silhouette stand out more against Webby and Lena, who’s hair is pretty smooth and down in general. Gives her this sharp thing that moves around and makes her extra easy to pick out, even when you just see part of her head. Important for a main side-character.

If you're going to add detail, add it to the silhouette -> very big visual payoff.

Colors! COLORS!!!!

Already mentioned the pants balancing her hair nicely, dark on top, dark below, but then there’s her eyeshadow and sweater!

They ALSO tie her with Lena!!!!

Lena’s shirt, hidden under her sweater, is pale blue- the same color her friendship magic is later- it’s the color of Lena being happy and being connected to people.

And Violet’s eyeshadow, is also blue? And Lena’s eyeshadow is purple! Like Violet!

Eyeshadow! That thing both her and Lena wear, them the Sabrewing Sisters, but Webby doesn’t!

That’s so cool! That’s a way to show a connection between them AND their personal tastes, before they even become family! And once they ARE family it helps them visually LOOK like one!

Also, Violet’s green sweater?

Again we’ve got the color contrast compliment thing (huey red dewy blue louie green) this time with Team Magic: Webby pink, Lena blue, Violet green. It helps them feel… individual in scenes they’re all in frame together, while also making them look good next to each other.

The choice of all of team magic’s colors to be either more pastel or duller than the Primary Colors Trio also lets all six of them work together visually, like in Nightmare on Killmoter Hill.

But again, LENA.

Lena has two other bright colors tucked into her design, aside from her pale blue.  

The pink in her hair (visual cue to Webby) and her lime green shoes. Green. GREEN. It’s enough of an important color for it to ALSO be in her friendship bracelet.

And it’s the main color Violet, her adopted little sister, wears.

Oh my heart….

Finally, it’s looks like they tested out ideas of Violet being some kind of, parrot maybe, or wren, or such.

I love her being a humming bird for one very queer reason.

Female violet sabrewing humming birds are actually green, not purple.

And Violet.

Is purple.

Just like her dads.

(also name puns for the win yeeeeessss)

So on the whole, looking at the designs Violet could have had, I guess I’d say they’d make nice occasional outfits for her...

but if you’re going to make her an important supporting member of the cast and if you have to draw her over and over again, almost always with the same other two characters… and if those characters are Webby and Lena...

Then they picked exactly the right design to go with <3

[sad-scarred-sassy]

Fanfic writing tag game

This is so cool! Thank you for the tag @crazy-ache ❤️‍🔥

Describe your writing process from idea to posting/publishing

I am literally all over the place with this. But I usually get the idea in the middle of the night/in the most unexpected way and I word vomit all the ideas I get somewhere, then I daydream about it, then I write the draft, edit, and post. I don’t have a lot of experience with multichapters, but I will usually at least have an outline of the story from the start.

Are you a plotter or a pantser?

Definitely a pantser. Even when I try to outline everything, I end up changing a LOT of what I originally planned. I actually like letting the story guide me, but that’s why I think I’m not big with foreshadowing within my stories (if you do catch some, they’re the exception).

What do you listen to when you are writing?

Nothing. This is weird I know. I just feel like words don’t come to me if I’m writing while listening to music. I will listen to music before writing to help me enter the character’s psyche, but then silence (or ambience music) it is!

What’s your drink of choice(while writing)?

Ice cold water. I don’t know why but I need to drink water when using my brain for some reason. Also coffee when I need it.

Promote yourself! What’s your favorite thing you’ve written?

So tough! I think my favorite is The tragedy of Spring, it comes very easy to me getting inside those characters, and I feel their pain very strongly. I have so much fun writing it!

Share a fic of yours that you think is underrated/deserves more love.

I will say The luck of the draw but don’t hold it against me because I haven’t updated that one in a while so it may be on me💔 (I do have that one already outlined I just need to write it lmao)

Do you have any advice for new writers?

With my short experience all I can say is: just write! If it calls to you—do it, share it with people even if you think no one will vibe with it, more times than not it will turn out that they do! Immerse yourself in the characters, fantasize, and just write.

What is a writing style/technique that others do really well that you'd like to get better at?

I would like to get better at writing with symbolisms and integrated metaphors within my writing. I always enjoy those in what I read but I do struggle with not making my writing so cut dry.

Is there a character you were surprised you enjoyed writing as much as you did?

I think it was Elain actually. I knew I would enjoy writing her but I honestly didn’t think I would love her so much. Her character really speaks to me. Another one is Feyre, I used to be much more critical of her before I started immersing myself inside of her experience, and I understand her now.

No pressure tags!

@olenvasynyt @foxcort @ataraxiasflame @positivelyruined @kateprincessofbluewhales @yaralulu

[cherrypikkins]

@wild-moss-art Hi there! I'm more than happy to share art philosophy about lineart! You are correct, I am definitely spending less time than usual on my lineart to get these requests done, but I'm still glad with the final results. :3

Here are the three stages that I take to achieve clean and polished lineart.

1) The Rough Sketch is used to figure out what the final product may look like. No fine details yet, only guidelines and basic shapes. I make sure the proportions, alignment, and composition is correct. The completed Rough Sketch gives me a good idea of what the rendered lines may look like, but is a bit too messy to follow. While I do have the option of erasing all of the guidelines and cleaning up the lines, what I usually do is lower the opacity of the rough sketch and start on a new layer.

2) The Under Drawing is done in a non-black color on top of the rough sketch. Here is where I get into finer detail with expression and anatomy. However, because we are following the messy lines of the rough sketch, the Under Drawing will still look a little unpolished. It is still very suitable for coloring if you plan to render all of the details in the painting stage, or if you are going for a more sketchy style.

In order to get sharp, detailed, finely rendered lines however, an additional stage is required.So lets lower the opacity and start a new layer using black ink this time.

3) When Rendering Lines, I carefully follow all of the details provided by the Under Drawing, which shows exactly where each line should be placed. I take my time going over each line, using the zoom tool and rotating the canvas when needed to get the best angle.

Because the final product should have a sharp and clean look, it can be very time consuming and pain staking to go over all the details. That said, I have a few tips that will help this stage go along faster while adding visual appeal to the final product.

Let's use an example. Suppose you place down your lines and end up with something that looks like this.

It's not bad, but it could use a little work. The expression and level of detail that we want isn't there yet, but it's actually a good starting point. If you are new to line art or still practicing, you may wish to aim something like the drawing above so that we can take it a step further using the steps I will demonstrate in the tutorial below.

So how do we make clean lineart into something even greater?

Here is what I mean by line weight. Lines of lower weight are lighter and thinner. Lines of heavier weight are darker and thicker. Then there are modulated lines, which gradually increase or decrease in weight.

In the example drawing, all of the lines are of equal weight. We can make the line art less monotonous by increasing the weight of certain lines. For demonstration purposes, I will only make changes to the right side of the drawing so that you can see the difference.

To start, we will add another line to the upper eyelid and fill in the gap, creating a new, bolder line.

We will also build up the iris, pupil and highlight, adding details as we go. Already, it is looking more expressive.

Lets build up the nose and mouth lines while keeping the ends nice and thin.

Then, we can add weight to the face and ear lines. For the hair outline, we want to make the lines heavier closer to the roots while keeping the ends thin. Hair lines on the inside can be left alone.

Finally, we make the outside line of the character heavier. With these small changes, we have a much more expressive, detailed, and visually appealing product.

Here I've highlighted in red where the lines remained unchanged. You will definitely want to leave some lines alone while building up others. As a rule, outlines should be thicker while the detail lines on the inside should be thinner.

If you increase the weight of all lines with the same amount, it will remain flat.

So, you should aim to have a variety of light lines, heavy lines, and modulated lines. You may wish to use the eraser to lighten up heavy lines or create modulated ones.

If you can do all the steps above, then a lot of detail and expression will be preserved even when the image is shrunk down

Hope that helps :3 Let me know if there are any other questions I can answer.

[coconut530]

ok I'm rambling again so yeah. Hello veteran worshippers I'm new :)

I mean, like I knew about Sleep Token, heard The Summoning first in one of my Trigun artist’s Tiktoks, then heard Take Me Back To Eden in a video by the creator of Covenant Webtoon. Listened to those songs for fun sometimes, but then TMBTE got ✨stuck✨ in my head. Then I was like “Live video of TMBTE??? Does it exist?”

And like. Why didn’t I get into this band sooner.

First off here’s The Summoning and TMBTE so you can see my pipeline:

And then THIS RITUAL introduced me to the band, which was FREAKING AMAZING IT’S SUCH A GOOD RECORDING!!

I love their aesthetic, secondly. You don’t see many mysterious bands these days, and these guys deliver so well. Every single member has a distinct and interesting look that's all so cool. I love how the Vesselettes/Espera exist, like that's amazing and I love seeing them. Vessel looks so fun to draw I wanna do it at some point. This is the first band I’ve found that just speaks to my OCs more than other fictional characters. Probably gonna see me animate Dark Signs with one of them soon enough.

Third, like… their lyrics are some of the most creative and evocative things I’ve heard in so long. It kinda sucks they don’t do many interviews bc I’m dying to know what goes through their heads when they write this amazing music. Some of my favorite lyrics are in a list below so you don’t read a gigantic paragraph, and will also show you my favorite songs I’ve found:

Chokehold: Still getting into this one, but "So show me that which I cannot see / Even if it hurts me / Even if I can’t sleep / Oh, and though we act out of our holy duty to be constantly awake / You’ve got me in a chokehold" is a build that always gets me so hyped up

Granite: just found this one, it's so BADASS!! "When you sit there acting like you know me... So keep an eye on the road, or we'll both be here forever" is so freaking awesome. I need like an animated music video that just illustrate the lyrics bc that'd be so cool

Like That: "Fall into your eyes like a grave (all that is inside, all your anger) / Bury me to the sound of your name, no (all your disgust, all your resentment) / Fall into your eyes like a grave (all your difference, all your pain) / Bury me to the sound of your name (all your pain)." There's so much resentment in this song and it's dripping off of these lyrics specifically, it's awesome

Missing Limbs: just found this one also but OMG it made me tear up the first time watching it in the Red Rocks Ritual! It's so sweet and tender, by the time you get to the title at the end you just get punched in the feels. "I'd give anything / To balance your conviction with certainty / To fall asleep without you lying next to me / To sever my connection with everything ... And I'll live like I've got missing limbs for you" IS SO GOOD HURTS MEEEEEEEE

The Summoning: -insert the rest of the song after 5:00- Obviously this is the part everyone uses in their social media posts, and I am not immune to its allure. It’s amazing!

Take Me Back To Eden: -insert the entire second chorus- and "And I don't know what's got its teeth in me / but I'm about to bite back in anger / And no amount of self-sought fury / will bring back the glory of innocence." The way Vessel sings this is so desperate and like enhances the lyrics so much more augh

Aqua Regia: honestly like all of it. The rap-ish style with the creative lyrics is so cool and the imagery of it all is so vivid. I love how the second chorus builds with the verse. It has such a steady, pungent rhythm that's so fun to sing

Rain: "I know, I know, I am what I am / The mouth of the wolf, the eyes of the lamb / So darling, will you saturate? / -second chorus-." I love the opposites in this verse, so interesting. The chorus has that yearning (tm) and I'm all here for ittttttt

The Night Does Not Belong To God: "When you live by daylight / With angels at your side." It's literally two lines but after the beautiful build that intros the song and his angelic voice, it does something to you

Dark Signs: I melt into a puddle every time I hear "I might break and bend to my basic need to be loved and close to somebody." The line is evocative enough just hearing it once, but making it a backing vocal that’s always playing just makes it punch you over and over. All the beat drops in this song are amazing

Atlantic: EVERY FREAKING WORD AND NOTE IN THIS SONG

I need y'all to like... hear Atlantic at Red Rocks specifically (cw: flashing):

This is the main reason I made this post bc... LIKE EVERYONE NEEDS TO HEAR THIS HELLO?!?!?!?!?!?!?!! This version is so amazing I barely listen to the studio version. "Sobbing as they turn to statues at the bedside / I'm trying not to crush into sand." I can't tell you what exactly but this makes me feel things. "Call me when they bury bodies underwater / It's blue light over murder for me / Crumble like a temple built from future daughters / To wastelands when the oceans recede" is a phenomenal verse and I've never felt more connected to the ocean when I hear it. The piano, the vocals, the instruments, the venue, II singing at the end, the vesselettes, the lights. Oh my god. The outro. Soothing and angelic omggggg. That beat drop?!?!?! ✨ w h a t ✨ . They've put an addictive substance into every one of their songs but this one is like an overdose. Can't get anything done all I'm thinking about is this -flails hands at video-. Vessel is literally a vessel in this song bc whatever entities the band made a deal with to have music this good are singing through him here.

And like the fourth thing. By now listening to all these songs may have made you realize:

what can’t they do?!?! Their music just goes into so many different genres sometimes and it’s amazing. Never heard a band this versatile.

Uh, yeah. That's been my experience with Sleep Token so far, and I am so normal about them, as you can see :D !!!!! Excited to be into them and this community. Any of my followers reading this who don't know who they are, go check them out, they're freaking amazing. They will change you.

[fatalitycalico]

wanna see an artists yap about their spidersona?

well now you can! :D

First up we got the favorite child, Spider-Aspin! I wanted his universes style to be soft but since my sketch was tad rushed, i couldn’t really accentuate that, maybe another piece. I’ve been more focused on him artwise and if youre part of the Spider-Sona community then you’d know who i was inspired by when creating him.

Second up we had Wolf-Spider! The second favorite! And the oldest Spidersona i have(he was originally drawn back when Spiderman: no way home came out) I wanted his Universe’s style to be more lineart heavy which i represented a bit in this piece(again these were a quick sketch) i was inspired by old and new Celtic and gaelic art i see alot in irish culture, i’ve probably spent so much time on this dude’s character arc instead of his actual art which is a stark contrast to Spider-Aspin as im more focused on him artwise. Wolf-Spider is basically a wolf walker, if you ever heard of the term (or saw the movies) or basically a therian if you’re a furry, id make a comic on him but first i need to release a few oneshots comics in order to build my skill.

Last we have Sombra-Weaver, the Spider-Sona i never really draw or make up lore on. He’s apart of the trio, i just never draw him apart from that one time. He’s basically just a healer, he uses his webs to patch up wounds and hes one of my only Spidersona’s with naturally producing webs and he also has corrossive venom. Again, i never really explored anything but his ablities. I wanted his universe to be sketchy, which is why i hand drew his marketable spiderman plushie.

Anyways, i might draw them together honestly but sombra weaver is going to be a pain to draw with the other two.

if you made it this far you get a cookie! 🍪🍪🍪