#this was 60% freehanded

[this-too-shall-bleed]

soo another for the series of vaguely comforting john enjoying arthur play piano?

this one did in fact kill the fountain pen, by the way

had to break out my rotting microns

just the ink

[laqueus]

Joy, textile craft be upon ye :)

[cillianmesoftlyyy]

Do You Know How to Bend? | Raymond Leon x fem!Reader

summary: You're working the streets in Dayton (the poorest timezone) when your old client and famous Timekeeper, Raymond Leon, comes calling just to spite you. He takes pleasure in reminding you of your differences and takes pleasure in seeing you struggle.

warnings: Mentions unsafe sex and paid sex. Derogatory/sexist words used for and against sex-workers. Slut-shamming. Smut.

Word count: 4331k+

I Don't Want to Be- Gavin McGraw 🎶

Lunch- Billie Eilish 🎵

*Inspired by the line Billie Eilish's song "Lunch": Don't want to break it, just want it to bend. / Do you know how to bend?*

“Well!” A low, arrogant voice pulls your attention away from your next client. You pause, recognizing the voice and set your mouth in a perturbed frown. “I thought you’d be retired by now, Miss Y/L/N. You must be pushing 50 at this point, right?” The man laughs softly at your expense, it’s short and sounds almost like a clap. The quick glance he gives to your potential client sends the man scrambling away. You sigh, watching your rent time leave with him. 

“Oh, sounds like he doesn’t like older women…” Raymond Leon observes casually over your shoulder, his palm resting on the wall behind your head, as if he knows you well enough to do so. You don’t bother turning around to address him when you respond, your arms still wrapped around her chest as they had been to display your cleavage to the clientele. 

“Or…he saw your face. What did I tell you, Ray? If you’re going to start whoring yourself out, you need to do something for your features, they’re too…”

“Intimidating?” Ray offers with a smirk, enjoying the derogatory banter. You turn and move your hands to your waist, pretending to examine the annoying Timekeeper. 

“Pretentious.” You correct cooly, copying his unemotional expression, a knack you’d picked up after his frequent visits decades before. Ray clenches his jaw and raises an eyebrow lazily. 

“I haven’t seen you around here lately,” you add, changing the subject. Ray nods and shrugs again. 

“Are you here for business or pleasure?” You ask, your eyes dropping lazily to his clothes, still a sucker for leather and zippers, you notice. 60 years old and he still loves his leather… you nearly smile. 

Ray smirks, chewing a piece of gum on the left-side of his mouth. His blue eyes fall to your breasts, half-hidden by your low V-neck dress. 

“I can multitask,” Ray talks around the gum in his mouth and draws a finger down your waist to prod gently at your wrist. 

“Look at you…” his tone hinders on distaste as he trails his eyes over your short dress. “This is something you would have worn in your teenage years, not in your 50s.” 

 “A woman has to work right? I’m not getting any younger,” you shrug playfully, and smile when Ray rolls his eyes at your joke, his hand sliding over your hand to grab your wrist. 

“You disgust me…” he mutters half-heartedly, stepping closer so he can look down your dress. You cock your head to the side, studying the prominent scar below his right eye. 

“So are you here to arrest me? Is what I’m doing illegal?” You ask with a skeptical tilt of your head. Ray scoffs and looks up, weighing his words before responding. 

“No, it’s not illegal.” 

“Mmm,” you raise your hand, Ray’s fingers still wrapped around your wrist like a bracelet. He looks at you, making no move to release his grip or even to loosen it. You slowly grasp the thin metal zipper on his shirt, tugging it teasingly. You can feel Ray’s heartbeat quicken through the pulse point on his wrist. You wait for him to speak first, your eyes giving him an invitation by fluttering your thick black lashes. Not yet taking the bait, Ray looks down at the time displayed in vibrant green light on your arm. He takes your forearm with his freehand and rests his shoulder against the wall instead. Taking your arm, he raises the clock to see it better and clucks his tongue in a pitiful gesture. 

You look away and roll your eyes, scoffing at the turn in his behavior. Ray will always be Ray. You try to snatch your arm from his grasp but Ray clucks his tongue again, this time in disapproval. 

“This is no good, no good at all, Miss Y/L/N,” Ray releases his fingers from your wrist and instead brushes them across the light colored hair on your arm, barely visible over the clock’s long face. You tilt your head away from him and focus your eyes on the building around the block where people walk by noisily. 

“Are you here just to shame me?” Your voice sounds tired and distant. Ray smirks, his eyes jumping to your face, taking pleasure in the way your head is cocked away from his to avoid looking at him.

“Only 1 year left… You’re not a very good whore anymore, are you?” Ray looks down at you, his nose angled into the air. You roll your head back to center and cock your eyebrow. 

“Is this the part where I tell you that I’m a ‘good whore’?” You clarify disingenuously and Ray barks out a laugh, your attitude turning him on. 

“Are you?” He asks after a moment, expectantly, “Are you a good whore?”

“I don’t know, you thought I was that one time. Or really, multiple times, if I remember correctly.”  You answer, your tone cold. You could never tell if you liked Ray or not, right now, you didn’t. You yank your hand away and rub your sore arm with your hand as if you were nursing a wound.

Ray nods, his mouth straight. Adam's apple bobs as he tries to restrain himself. His eyes return again and again to your chest, your breasts pushed together by the fabric of your dress. Exhaling suddenly, Ray grabs either side of your waist and holds you close. He licks his lips quickly, maintaining his nonchalant nature, and pressed them close to your ear. 

“How about for the sake of the old days I’ll give you an hour for fifteen minutes?”  

Ray’s voice is warm against your ear, sending tingles down the tendons in your neck. You bite your lip, hiding a smile. 

“Two hours and you have a deal,” You barter back, Ray’s mouth still against your ear. Ray draws back, his eyebrows drawn together in a skeptical expression. 

“Cost of services just went up,” you shrug and press your hands to his chest beneath the edges of his long leather coat. 

“Cost of services my ass.” Ray scoffs and moves his hands up to your breasts, his thumbs rubbing over your nipples, covered by your dress. 

“Careful, Ray. You break it, you buy it…” you push him back gently, merely a few inches. He doesn’t even seem to notice, his eyes are still tied to your face. 

“I won’t break you, I just want you to bend.” Ray moves one of his hands up to the side of your neck, turning your face with his thumb so you’re forced to look at him. He leans in once again, his turquoise-blue eyes getting closer. His chest is nearly pressed against yours when he tilts his head, looking you up and down. “Do you know how to bend?” 

Your breath catches in your throat as you look up at him, his face deadly serious. 

“Yes, sir.” You swallow tightly, your face flushing. Your other clients never turned you on this much. Ray nods and takes your wrist firmly, paying you two hours without breaking his gaze. When your clock reflects the hours he’s given you, you slide your hand down into his and pull him further into the alley. Ray follows you, glancing briefly over his shoulder. 

“No, we’re going to a motel.” Ray tells you firmly and takes the lead, pulling you behind him with a strong grip. You follow happily, craving a bed anyway. 

“There’s one around the corner.” Your voice is soft and feminine, grateful to be taken care of for once. Ray nods as he walks, his coat swishing about his legs with a leathery squeak. His styled hair resembles feathery waves down the back of his head and you resist the urge to run your fingers through it. When you turn the corner, the cheap motel’s lights wink like an old woman with dragging eyelids. Ray leaves you on the sidewalk outside the motel’s office and scans his wrist on the reader, paying the notoriously low-rate of one hour for a room. His jaw is still clenched when he comes back out, his eyes scanning the line of pale pink rooms above you as he takes your hand once again. 

Ray’s grip is strong as he takes the steps quickly and unlocks one of the doors, strips of paint peel from the walls on either side. His nose is turned up in disgust as he throws open the door. 

“It’ll do,” he shrugs and jerks his head towards the room, waiting for your approval. You look at the plastic bed with its greasy pink bedspread and shrug. 

“It’ll do,” you repeat his words and nod once, your mouth turning up into a closed smile. “Are you going to invite me inside?” You gesture through the doorway and Ray scoffs, rolling his eyes in jest. He looks down at you, standing beside him in the doorway and looks back into the empty parking lot. 

“Looking for the wife?” You follow his gaze out onto the street and Ray smiles, shaking his head. 

“No…” his voice is low and breathy, like it takes him effort to relax. He raises his left hand, showing a hand without a wedding ring. 

“Ah, so the famous Timekeeper Raymond Leon still hasn’t found a woman good enough to be his wife,” you nod in faux-appreciation and lean against the door jam.

“And you, did you ever marry?” Ray raised a skeptical eyebrow, his eyes looking you up and down almost judgmentally.

“You know I'd never do that.” 

“You like your work too much to quit?” Ray chuckles and leans over you, his arms wrapped around himself as his face inches closer to yours. You roll your eyes, silently cursing him for his cruelty. He knows you wouldn’t do this kind of work if you didn’t have to.

“And run the risk of never seeing you again, fat chance.” You tease him, your tongue resting on the roof of your mouth. Your hands slide up his chest once again and take hold of the lapels on his leather coat. Your thumbs run over the hem, dipping into the buttonholes. 

“Would you still fuck me,” he started, his tone even and cool, “even if I was married?” 

You look up into those cold blue eyes of his, a tint of meanness sparkling in your eyes. 

“I guess we’ll never know,” you shrug, your response icy and indifferent except for the tug of a smirk on your lips. 

“You’re a bitch,” Ray leans closer, his breath fanning across your lips. His nose nearly touches yours as he tilts his head slightly. He doesn’t kiss you, but he wants you to know that he could if he wanted to. You keep your hands on his coat and use your leverage to pull yourself up on the balls of your feet, even though you’re already in heels. Your lips are barely touching as you nod and whisper. 

“I’m whatever you want me to be.” 

As you say it, Ray’s instincts take over, pushing himself against you and kissing you hard. His hands have flown to your hips, supporting you as you hold yourself higher. He breaks the kiss briefly to spit out his gum on the concrete. With remarkable ease, Ray guides your hips inside the room and slams the door behind him, throwing the room into semi-darkness. The leather on his body is warm to the touch as your hands slide over his chest. Backing you up against the bed you fall back on the mattress, landing on your butt. Ray stands so closely that your chin grazes his stomach. His hand goes to your chin and he runs his hands across your mouth. 

“I’m going to need more than fifteen minutes,” Ray mutters and pulls down your bottom lip with his index finger. 

“It’ll cost you…” you respond cheekily, your hands running up the sides of his legs. 

“Oh, I know it will.” He nods and it startles you when he drops into a crouch at your feet, his body positioned between your legs and his head turned up to look at your face. You look at him curiously, your eyebrows nearly furrowed. 

“Don’t worry, Miss Y/L/N, I just want to get a good look at you,” Ray answers the questioning look you give him with a daring smile. Your muscles tense when you feel his hand slide up the inside of your thigh. In one motion, he spreads your legs, forcing your dress to roll up your thighs, exposing the fabric of your underwear. Ray smirks, his fingers etching circles into the cellulite on your upper thighs as he looks at your underwear.

“Pretty,” he teases you, his eyes flicking up to yours, but you’re too stunned to say anything smart back. He inhales deeply as his hands travel the rest of the way up your thighs and pull down your underwear to your knees. You move your thighs together again to allow him to do so and exhale softly as you feel the lacy fabric fall down your calves to the floor. Once gone, Ray turns his eyes to you and spreads your legs with his large hands draped over both of your knees. You watch him, your heart racing and your cunt beginning to throb. Ray’s hand slides up your bare thigh to your cunt. Without breaking eye contact, he slips his middle finger inside you, rising slowly to lean over you as you lie back slowly and support yourself on your elbows. Your breath comes out in pants as you feel a second digit join the first, thrusting in and out of your core. 

Ray rests one of his knees on the mattress beside your thigh, giving himself more leverage to finger-fuck you. 

“Eyes on me…” he snaps when your eyes start to close. Obediently, you open your eyes and bite your lip as his fingers start to move faster, his knuckles hitting your cunt each time. His gaze bores into your eyes as you raise your thigh to rest against his knee. Your dress rides all the way up to your waist but you leave it on. 

“You’re already so wet. Do you get like this for all of your clients or only for your best customers?” His tone is condescending and mean but you love it coming from him. You moan softly before answering. 

“Jealous?” You egg him on and grind your hips against his fingers. Ray smirks, leaning his face down to yours and shakes his head.

“I bet you haven’t had a good fuck since you saw me last.” He breathes heavily against your cheek as he fucks you even harder with his fingers, adding a third and you grit your teeth. “Poor guys don’t even know how to do it properly, do they?” His lips brush against your cheekbone and you arch your back, trying not to whimper from the mixture of pleasure and pain. 

“Such a pity, isn’t it?” Ray whispers and you can feel him pout against your ear. Your body jerks as you begin to build to a satisfying climax, his fingers never ceasing in their work. “Don’t worry, honey. If you’re a good whore for me, I’ll make you cum, ok?” His words are cruelly intoxicating and you curse yourself for allowing him to turn you on so easily again and again. Your eyes are screwed shut as you gasp against his cheek, your left hand grabs onto his shoulder as you feel yourself shaking. You nod and try to open your eyes again, containing your reaction. 

“I don’t want you to hold back… I want to hear every sound you make.” Ray can tell you’re trying not to seem weak and needy and smiles pleasurably. His fingers edge you closer, your breath quickening. 

“And no faking. We’ll keep going until we get it right, understand?” He pulls back to look into your eyes, he’s dead serious, so you nod emphatically, panting from the pleasure. You’re reaching the peak of your climax, a shaky whine spilling from your lips.

“Now do you remember what I asked you before? Do you know how to bend?” Ray asks, his voice breaking the climax suddenly as he removes his fingers, a pleased smile on his lips as he sees your disappointed expression. 

Taking a second to process his question, you nod and lick your lips quickly. “Yes,” your voice is a soft whisper as you wait for his instructions. Ray steps back and takes off his long leather coat, tossing it over the back of one of the chairs. When he looks back at you, your legs still spread before him, he looks up and down the length of your body. 

“Then take off your dress and bend over.” He jerks his head to the left, directing you to turn that way. You pull the dress over your hips and up your chest. Ray’s stares at your breasts, his lazy eyes studying them indifferently. He’s so good at that, looking totally disinterested, put out, and bored. Strangely, it turns you on. When your dress is over your head and discarded to the floor, you let your feet slide down the edge of the comforter. You turn over, your feet flexed in the pink carpet and your butt held out above the edge of the bed. Your hands rest on the bed, your elbows extended uncomfortably on the uneven surface. You flip your hair to the side and wait for Ray. 

With your back turned and your perfect ass pushed out before him, Ray grapples with the layers of clothes on his body. He strips off his shirts, his hands undoing the buttons and zipper with swift expertise. When his clothes are all off, he places his hand on the base of your spine. You almost flinch, not knowing where he was going to touch you. His hand drops around your waist, pulling your hips closer to him but still not touching. Ray’s other hand trails from the back of your left knee to your ass which he grabs harshly. You gasp softly when he grabs you, allowing yourself to make any noise you need to, as per his request. Ray makes a clicking noise with his tongue in approval and moves his hand to your breast, his thumb drawing circles around your nipple. 

As he leans over you to message your breast, his hips pressed against your butt, his erection physically noticeable against your skin. You let your mouth fall open in an expectant, half-strangled sigh. 

“Oh you desperately need a good fuck.” His voice ruffles your hair and you close your eyes in pleasure, wanting him even closer. 

“Ray…” your voice is barely a whisper as his name escapes your lips. He presses his face into your shoulder blade in response, his nose rubbing gently against your skin. His breath tickles the sensitive place on your back and you arch your hips back, bumping against him. 

“Umph,” Ray groans softly and moves his hand up even further to your throat. His grip is loose enough for you to breathe but you still wear his hand like a choker. “You’re so fucking desperate…” he reprimands you distastefully but you can hear his smirk pulling at his tone. He tugs at your throat, moving your head back to rest against his forehead. His teeth find your earlobe and nibble gently at the curve of your ear, you moan softly. You can feel your thighs getting wetter as desire drips from your cunt. 

“Ray…” you say again and tighten your grip on the comforter below you. Ray tightens his grip on your throat in response and moves his lips to your ear. 

“Are you desperate for me?” His question is a husky whisper in your ear. You almost don’t hear what he’s saying, it's so low. You nod and swallow beneath his grip. 

“Yes, yes…” you agree twice. Ray seems to like this response because the hand that was still on your hip takes his erection and plays with the head against your cunt. 

“You can’t ever get enough of me, can you?” He doesn’t wait for a response as he pushes inside you vigorously. You yell out, your voice fading into a moan as he fills you up. 

“What was that? I didn’t hear you?” Ray smirks and thrusts into you again. You moan louder, your body desperately adjusting to his shape and size. Your eyes are screwed shut as he begins a rhythmic motion, in and out. Your jaw falls open slightly and you catch yourself squealing as he pulls your hips against his and continues his harsh movements, knowing you can take it. You can hear him panting behind you, his eyes stuck on the base of your spin and your heart-shaped ass shivering with each of his thrusts. 

“I bet no one appreciates this, how excellent your body is.” Ray manages to say, his voice disrupted by pants. You shake your head no, agreeing with him. No of your other clients even talks to you and you honestly prefer it. But you know Ray, you know his body and the way he uses it. When he talks, it excites you, drives you to do better for him. Ray chuckles breathlessly and pulls out, breaking the tension of pleasure. 

“Flip over,” he tells you and waits patiently as you roll over onto your back, your knees bent and your heels pushed into the edge of the mattress. You take a moment to look at him, having not seen him naked in years, he still looked the exact same. You both do. You both look 25, no older, no younger. Ray’s chest is rising and falling quickly and you admire the way it shows off the muscles in his body. You tear your eyes away from his taut stomach and look into his eyes, now more of a chlorine blue. 

Quickly, Ray is on top of you, pushing you farther back on the bed where your head nearly hangs over the other side. He pulls one of your thighs around him and pushes himself back inside, watching your reaction with a determined gaze. You throw your head back against the bed and raise your other thigh, pressing both of your knees into his waist. Stopping his thrusts briefly but still inside you, he drops his mouth to your breasts and circles one of your nipples with his tongue, his eyes closed to savor the experience. You moan loudly, digging your nails into his shoulders, watching his tongue lap at your nipple. Words escape you as you try to formulate an appropriate reaction. You squeal in pleasure as he moves on to sucking gently on the bud, his teeth sometimes nipping the sensitive flesh. You can feel the sensation in your cunt, as if the two places were connected by a cable. Your moans and gasps are more frantic and you feel lightheaded. 

“Too…much,” you manage, your nails biting into his flesh. 

“Good,” Ray responds shortly after your breast leaves his mouth. He kisses the side of your neck and applies a hickey at the junction of your throat and shoulder muscle, his hips beginning to move again. His hand holds your thigh tightly, using it to steady himself as he speeds up. Your hands fumble around his neck, scratching your own forearms to spare his skin. 

“No, I want you to mark me. Show me how well I’m fucking you.” He unclamps your hold on your own skin and waits for you to settle your nails back into his shoulders. 

“I won’t ask you again,” he warns darky when you don’t scratch him immediately. You manage to smile back, your mouth falling into a pleasurable gasp as if to say: do something good and I will. Taking it as a dare, Ray rolls his eyes and grabs the edge of the mattress above your head and pulls himself harshly into you. This makes you nearly animalistic. You writhe beneath his body weight and scratch your nails down his back, your thighs shivering. The pain from your nails down his back only makes him thrust deeper, his cock colliding with the base of your uterus each time. 

Your whimpers become a routine of gasps. Ray lowers his nose to brush against yours, almost in a gesture of affection but you know better than to read into it. His brow is furrowed from the effort but you can feel him start to climax, heat building between your bodies. Sweat drips from his chest onto yours, pooling between your breasts. 

“You’re going to make me cum,” Ray growls as his grip tightens on the mattress, pulling himself up and into you faster. You cannot speak for the life of you so you nod emphatically and cry out as you feel the muscles in your pelvis begin to contract when you start to cum. You feel your nails cut into his skin, drawing pinpricks of blood but Ray doesn’t even notice as he groans, his muscles tensing. He feels you tighten around him in your climax and it squeezes him, releasing his cum and bringing about his orgasm. 

Ray pulls out with a loud gasp and drags a hand across your stomach as he lies beside you, his feet hanging off the edge. You both pant, trying to catch your breath. After a few minutes of euphoria, you both begin to breathe normally. 

“You should really be paying me,” Ray says and you nearly take him seriously. 

“You’d actually make a good whore,” you laugh breathlessly and rest your cheek against your bicep, looking over at him. Ray scoffs and crosses his arms beneath his bed, sweat still sparking on his freckled chest. 

“Well I’ll keep that in mind if the whole Timekeeping career doesn’t work out.” He sounds gruff and rude but you know him better. That’s how he sounds, that’s how he is, and so you smile softly to yourself. 

"You never change," you tell him. Ray pauses for a moment and cocks his head to the side, nodding as he contemplates your observation. He's frowning as he nods, and he sighs slowly before responding.

"And neither have you."

[maythedreadwolftakeyou]

Hiii, do you have any tips for drafting out embroidery patterns? I've got one in mind, but drafting it out and color picking is so nerve-wracking!!

[Hi!!!! this got kinda really long so I'm gonna crop it under a read more. And I honestly don't have any real training/instruction in fiber arts so this is just how I do things, and probably others do them very differently!]

Haha so my fandom embroideries are VERY different from my non-fandom personal pieces in this respect. For non-fandom things i just kind of throw myself in like WAHOO FREEFORM LETS GO and go for a kind of messy colorful approach that ends up as things like this:

Versus my fandom stuff is way more structured and designed to fill space, be very precise, etc. So for those I do go in with a digital mock up of the design I make in photoshop, that I then color in, and then as my last step translate to thread colors.

For my Dragon Age series. this has been because I'm specifically trying to mimic the stained-glass style of art you see in parts of the game like the dialogue wheels, some icons, windows, etc. The icons in particular were really easy to copy into embroidery because they already come in handy circles:

This is mostly because I have desperately wanted to pick up stained glass work as a hobby for like 6 years now. As in once every 3-6 months I put everything I'd need to start doing it into an online shopping cart and look at the price total and then sadly close the window because I just don't actually have any space I could do it in (I live in a 2bed apartment so i have no garage or yard or anywhere it wouldn't make everything else a mess or be a hazard). The day after one of those events I impulse bought and completed a floral embroidery kit from the craft store and kinda was like... ok, well, I did this once how hard can it be to use this medium to mimic the hobby I wish I could be doing? Plus, it's only like 60 cents per color! I can afford that! So I took the first design I wanted to do, the romance icon, and basically redrew it sloppily in photoshop, then freehand-copied the design onto fabric and stitched it the next day:

I learned a lot from this piece and changed my approach a little. Here you can see I tried shading in the parallel direction to my thread, which looked messy and added texture, so now I shade horizontally to my thread direction instead.

But it gave me a basic approach for turning the Tarot cards or DA Keep tiles (or any other art!) into embroidery patterns, which I couldn't copy as directly into this really smooth stained-glass style. There's a basic process I follow when doing these conversions that generally follows the same order, which I'll go through below.

STEP 1: SHAPES

The first thing I do is pick the shape of my display frame which is usually a circle, but could be an oval or rectangle too, since I hang the finished pieces on my wall to have nice way to show them off. I like to fill the whole space so knowing the size and shape of what I want the finished project to look like is a good goal for me. Since I am doing fandom pieces I want to be recognizable, I do stick pretty close to the "original" character design/art, but you can absolutely change as much as you want and freehand draw your own interpretation instead. If you're doing original art just substitute the below composition notes with "sketch out roughly what you want it to look like". I personally do my pattern drafting digitally as I find it easier, but you can do this part by hand too.

First, I keep the reference image I'm working off of open next to me while I work, and draw in the shape of my frame (here, a circle). If I'm adding in the little border to be fancy, I add a second inner circle. I keep these as their own top layer so I always know I'm working within the final "frame" and don't spend time designing any section that will fall outside it. Then I will take copies of the reference image and knock the layers down to 25-50% opacity, and start moving them around underneath the 'frame' layer until I like the way their positioning looks as a composition. Sometimes elements of a card I want to include don't all fit in, so I'll chop the section out and add an additional layer to throw in (like the background circle things in the Hermit design below). Or I'll just freehand things like adding much bigger diamonds behind Solas in my Hierophant design because I did NOT want to do 1000 tiny ones. Then once I'm satisfied with the general composition, I'll use the plain ol circular brush tool to trace out the major shapes of each element. I try to keep in mind that I can't go too small, and curvy lines are more difficult to fill in than straight ones. I usually do a rough messy version first, make it mostly transparent, and then a cleaner and more precise one over that.

(you can see parts of the rough one on the left and the fully 'cleaned up' on the right for the Hierophant design)

Now: depending on what you are doing next with the pattern, this might be where you stop and start coloring. If you are planning to freehand your design or just trace it onto fabric (or even print it onto fabric here), there's no need to do more than this kind of lineart! However, if you are working digitally and want to create a scalable vector so you can print it at different sizes, you can use the pen tool in photoshop to trace your design and make a "work path" of the lineart. However, another note: THIS PART IS VERY FRUSTRATING AND TEDIOUS BECAUSE THE PEN TOOL WAS CREATED BY THE DEVIL TO TORMENT US. It is so so so easy to accidentally delete a line or even the whole path and not notice later on. Ask me how I know 😭 Anyway I'm not going to include a pen tool tutorial because I don't even know how to use it well and have to google or watch videos every other time I try to use it. But if you can muddle through it gets you some really clean lines that eventually look like this:

With the work path selected, you can select the brush tool/size/color and use the "stroke path" option to create lineart of the vector. Then you can save this as a transparent png file for use at different sizes and for printing and it looks so nice and clean! one of the big benefits to this is that you get really fine lines that are easier to be precise with stitching on. This is extra perfect if you are printing the design directly onto your fabric (which you can do with an at-home inkjet printer for designs under 8inches wide, as long as you stick a piece of stabilizer on the back of your fabric and cut it down to printer sheet size--this is what I do and can make another post about that process if people want haha), or if you are printing onto transfer paper like you can buy at craft stores.

This is where I end the lineart for my designs. After I have this, I move on to the next phase, which is...

STEP 2: COLOR

For interpreting my designs into thread, I start by thinking of it as flat colors first. You can't "shade" as easily with threads as you can with things like paint or brushes in digital art (though you can A Little, which I will get into), so to start color planning I pick the "main" color each section will be in the piece.

For the existing icons this was simple--I kept the same sections as the original designs, so for each I just color picked or eyeballed the color in photoshop and colored it in (but you could do this on paper with pencils, markers, whatever as well--they don't need to match your threads exactly and usually won't, it's just to give you an easy reference to follow as you go). For the tarot cards which were more complicated in coloration, I just did my best and went with what looked good next to each other, even if it was a little off the original art. It will be off more later anyway when you have to pick threads so don't stress it too much honestly. I will often make layers with different color options and turn them on/off for direct comparison to try to determine what I think looks best as well, like below where I was debating between more blue/desaturated for the background or brighter colors.

I do wanna note I have regrets about the color selection, shapes, or shading in EVERY SINGLE ONE of my finished pieces. But no one else ever comments or probably even notices! One aspect of this hobby is just learning to be satisfied with what you've made and using what you learned to get closer to your preferences next time. I'm only going back and redoing some of my designs' colors because I want to make it easier for others to choose on the patterns I sell, more than I care for just for myself. Also since I'm doing this lineart/stained glass looking approach where I go over the distinct shapes with black thread at the end, it means I get these clear delineations between sections you might not necessarily have in your own pieces, and that's ok.

Ok right. Now while shading/coloring in detail is hard with thread, you CAN make whats essentially dithered gradients. "Dithering" in the concept of art means using 2 (or more) colors to give the impression of a third color, or to gently scale between the existing binary rather than a hard line. Think of it like blocky pixel art or gameboy game images. If you're doing needlepainting, you use really small stitches close together to get this effect, which translates to "smaller pixes"--if you look at the jellyfish in my first photos that's a very messy casual version of that. If you want a better example, I recommend looking at @ammocharis 's pieces like these in her pinned post, which are truly amazing! I simply do not have the patience myself 😂 For my stained glass style, I work only in very long straight stitches, so I can only shade in one direction and have to be a little more precise with it.

So for shading, I think about in each section which direction my threads might go. Then perpendicular to that direction I pick which side will be the light one and which the darker one. Sometimes I color this in on my pattern mockup, but sometimes I don't! Or I'll only do it for certain sections to make sure I don't forget. Like for my Tower design I only colored it as flats, and waited until I selected threads to decide how the shading would go. I am currently working on a smaller, simplified version of my Hierophant design and I did add shading digitally for that one just for fun. But it's not as important as having the flat color version you can use to quick-reference how you want your design to go while you're stitching. You might also notice I don't actually color my gold--I just throw in a stock image of gold foil for that layer so I can't confuse it with any of my yellow thread sections.

Here's a close up where you can kind of see what I mean by the "dithered" effect between colors--some are more obvious (like the red on the far left or middle orange) and others pretty subtle (dark grey to dark red on the wolf face):

Now, while I use single layers of satin stitches for this, and just alternate thread colors increasing/decreasing as I go, you can accomplish the same thing with short overlapping stitches like with needlepainting, or with clusters of french knots, or whatever else. But in GENERAL you are going to be able to trick people into seeing gradients out of dithering best when you are using the same type of stitch for that whole area. So if I was using multiple stitch types like having french knots, daisy chains, ladder stitching or whatever else for some sections, I would keep those to contrasting areas/colors. A fantastic example of using different layered types of stitching to create more intricate color/texture in an embroidery would be these incredible tarot card depictions by @hattedhedgehog, which I like even better than my own embroideries. Here's his take on the Tower card as well for comparison to mine (I'm so in love with it!!!).

But anyway, at this phase, your design is actually still digital--the above is just to explain how it translates later in the process. The next step is...

STEP 3: THREAD SELECTION

I will admit here I am not great at this part. I am constantly second guessing my thread colors, and can spend over an entire hour in the thread aisle at the craft store agonizing over choices. Really, I think this is just one of those things that takes practice and you get better at it over time. What I have had the best luck with is actually printing out a reference photo of my design/the original artwork and taking it with me. If you already have threads you can do this part at home too, but DMC alone has over 500 colors and I definitely don't even own half that so I like to torture myself by looking at them all together on the thread racks. Plus Anchor and Artiste and whatever other brands there are out there. One approach is to just sit there and pick out what you want for each section and line it all up together on top of your printout. Or in the case of my Tower I laid a bunch of options out on top of my template in the hoop to guess how they'd look in the frame.

For me since I am also doing this dither shading thing, I also need 2-3 colors per sections depending on its size. Sometimes it's easy and the threads have a color just a little darker or lighter right next to them in the numerical lineup! Other times, there is no good match, or it looks too far away to shade nicely, or I want one to be a warmer or cooler tone than the other... which means a lot of standing and fretting to myself over it. I actually take a lot of photos at this stage because it can be easier to see how they will look in the end from a photo than in person to me? Idk why. Plus then after they get scrambled in my bag I remember wtf order I meant for them to go in later. But as long as you're not preventing other customers from shopping themselves, you can spend as long as you want staring at thread in the embroidery aisle and they won't kick you out unless it's closing time, so take your time.

Now, IN THEORY, you can sort of combine steps 2 and 3 by color-selecting from your threads and using that to color in the design. However I have tried this and it led to mixed success because the photoshop eyedropper brush simply isn't actually that exact (in my experience, it desaturates compared to what we actually see). And because then you have to have the threads on hand while you're coloring... which means you might buy ones you don't end up using if you don't like them. So I prefer to just use this as a refinement step where I pick threads based on the design colors, then will re-color the design a second time to match those threads more closely to be sure I like the effect.

I've even used this as a tool when I needed to adjust my color choices mid-project, by digitally coloring over over my WIP:

Or here's a design (but I haven't posted the finished piece yet bc it's a gift so shhh) I made with certain color tones initially, but after buying thread I re-did the color mockup to be more vibrant, because I liked those threads better in the store:

Once you have your thread, you can make yourself a little reference chart with the colors you intend noted on the sections you want them, like below:

(note: i didn't end up sticking to these colors because I ended up dying my own thread for several sections. And then forgot I made this entirely and picked new ones because I put the project down for a year between design and stitching. Sigh).

Or for my Solas pattern I did this in a really detailed way, which i am sorry but i have redacted because... i have it for sale now and don't wanna just give that away haha. But if you buy the pattern from my shop this is one of the files you'd get with it, for ease of reference. I do also include a text-only list of them as well.

Now I don't go to this much trouble for all my designs, just the ones I put up for sale (or plan to). You can also just make a text list of your color plans if you want. Though for fun I also have been using my scrap thread to make these little "color palette" keyrings for my finished pieces, so if I ever remake them or update their patterns I will know what the original colors were, plus I can compare what i used to other threads if I wanna change part of the design up. This step is absolutely not necessary and I'm just doing it because I'm selling the patterns now, but they are kinda fun to look at.

And don't forget.. if you start a section in a certain color and decide you don't like it, you can just cut the threads and pull them out! I did that with my original hierophant piece actually. I had an entirely different color for one row of diamonds i thought just clashed way too much with the others, so I used photoshop to paint over it with some alternate options until I found one I liked better. Then I cut away all the old threads and put in the new color. It can be a little harder to fill a piece the second time since the fabric will have stretched out a little, but as long as you're using a good stabilizer it usually doesn't move too much.

You can also just make test swatches on spare fabric to test before you add them to your real piece. I wish I'd done this for some color transitions that didn't end up looking the way I wanted, but I am simply too lazy most of the time. My exception is usually for metallic, satin, or sparkly threads, because I want to know how they feel while embroidering. But if you're really worried about a certain color or shade it's a good thing to remember you can just do.

SO yep, that's my general process for drafting patterns. I start with the shapes/design, then do my flat color version, then I pick my threads. Makes it sound easy and short when phrased like that :) But I can honestly spend 8-10 hours just on making the lineart and coloring it in. If I was better at art, probably this would be less, but I'm working with what I've got (not much) 😂 I think all aspects of this are also something that gets easier over time, but it will probably never look as bad as you worry when you start out. I think all my pieces look awkward and rough right up until I do the finishing steps and move them to the display frame sometimes.

I hope this was helpful and answered your questions!! Feel free to post/share your WIPs to ask for feedback or advice ever too :) I've only ever had people in the embroidery community on tumblr be encouraging and helpful to me, and I'm happy to answer any questions myself when I can or if parts of this were confusing

[luckbealincoln]

omgg u stay feeding us. but 60 and 221 give me such din vibes like… not being able to resist the need to provide. Anyways lovely chapter as always, continue doing ur magic bae🫶

Going Through The Motions

pairing : din djarin x f!mechanic!reader

word count : 1.4k

summary : mando visits you regularly for "ship maintenance." you know what to expect at this point.

warnings, etc : smut, light angst, masturbation, floor sex, fwb!mando, p in v sex, fingering, multiple orgasms, mando has weird dirty talk, the helmet stays on, creampie, unprotected sex, breeding kink if you REALLY squint, definietly an unhealthy relationship, mando is over protective but also refuses to commit lmao, toxic relationship

a/n : i uhhhhh took a lot of liberties with this request lmao, but i loved writing this little blurb (i made this strangely sad?? it sort of happened naturally lmao), it's nice to write a slightly different version of din than what i normally do, enjoy and i hope you like it !! :) this is my first time taking requests or posting anything that isn't bks so I'd love feedback!!

“I shouldn’t allow myself to get so close to you.” He murmurs in your ear as your back slams against the side of the exterior of the Crest. It’s a funny thing for him to say when his erection is pressed against your hip. 

“You say that everytime you come around.” Your fingers find the familiar notches in his armor as you begin to hastily tug at them. 

“And I mean it everytime.” His hands find purchase on your thighs as he yanks you upwards, you’ve danced this dance dozens of times at this point, everytime he stops in for maintenance on his rust-bucket of a ship you two do this. He mumbles something about it being the last time and you laugh it off, knowing it’s never true. 

This time there wasn’t even anything wrong with his ship.

You’d done a full sweep, double checked everything, not a single thing was out of place. 

It was probably cold in space. Maybe he just got lonely. 

He hauls you into the ship, your legs wrapped around his waist. He’s punching numbers into a keypad and the main door is shutting with a creak.

Where will he decide to take you this time? 

Most of the time he just pressed you up against a wall or tossed you into his cot. Sometimes if he was feeling patient you’d get all the way to the cockpit. Once he’d done you on top of a few boxes he was transporting. 

This time he doesn’t get more than a few steps before he’s laying you down on the floor.

This is new. Someone's feeling impatient. 

He’s hastily tugging down the zipper on his flight suit while your hands find the buttons on your overalls, his visor is trained on your figure as you manage to shimmy out of the denim, tossing it aside. He crawls forward on his knees, already stroking himself, hovering above you, his gloves discarded off to the side. 

You prop yourself up on your elbows to get a good look at him. His free hand grabs the hem of your panties, shredding them like paper as he tosses the thin fabric behind you.

“Dickhead! I’m running out of underwear, you have to stop that.” You slap his shoulder but he only chuckles.

“I’ll buy you new ones.” 

“You say that every time too.” You're unclasping your bra, setting it down next to you before he gets a chance to destroy that too.

“I will this time, promise.” He gasps softly, letting his thumb slide over the ruddy tip of his cock. His freehand is spreading your thighs open. “Touch yourself, I wanna see.” 

“So bossy.” You mutter as you let your hands roam down your body before settling between your legs. Dipping your fingers into your already pooling wetness before circling your clit, slow and steady strokes. 

“That’s good… good girl, want my fingers?” His tone is light and teasing as he pushes two fingers into your mouth before you answer. No sense in protesting, you’ll be begging him for this eventually, why wait. Your tongue wraps around them as best as possible, coating them in saliva. Once he’s satisfied he brings them between your legs. “Keep touching that pretty little clit while I do this.” 

“Whatever you say, boss.” He sinks his fingers into your cunt as you continue your own ministrations, a familiar wave of pleasure washing over you. 

“My sweet thing. Look so pretty like this, on the floor of my ship, wanna keep you right here, make you feel this good all the time.” Your back arches against him, almost to prove his point. 

He always talks like this. 

In the moment he’s always so possessive, always says such preposterous things, promises and offers of a life together. The first time, when the words had slipped out a sense of hope had bubbled in your chest, a palpable joy that you were finally gonna get off this backwater planet. 

You had cried yourself silly when he had left an hour later without a word. 

He had left and he had taken his empty promises with him. 

Then he came back, and that time you let him say what you assume he needs to say to get off. The sex was good so why change the dynamic. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. 

Speaking of good sex, you’re snapped out of your thoughts by your climax. It’s sudden and he practically forces itself out of you as he curls his fingers, stroking that spot inside of you as you ride out your orgasm. Once he’s satisfied he withdraws his digits, spreading your wetness across his length before notching himself at your entrance. 

“Do you want this, sweet thing? Want me to fill you up?” There’s that gravely desperation you’re used to. 

You’d love to ask what the deal with that is.          

His hopeless need to be wanted. 

He was always like this. Like clockwork, at first you thought that it must have just been another thing he needed to get off. Then it became deeper than that.

“You need me, tell me- fuck- tell me you need me, please sweet thing.” 

“What?” You had mumbled through your haze as he rocked his hips into you.

“Tell me how badly you need me. I’ll take care of you, you just have to tell me.”

It’s strange. You’ve already gotten off more than enough times and he had never been one to overstimulate you, he was always generous to the point of comfort, never more. 

That’s what this relationship was about. 

Comfort and getting off. It was never about necessity or obligation. 

“I-I need you.” You stammer out, still a little confused. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of you.” He gasps out, pulling out to finish on your stomach. 

That was the first time he had held you afterwards. Wrapped you up in his arms and whispered to you. Told you he would keep you safe, make sure you were okay, and most importantly, that as long as he was around that you would be cared for. 

He was gone within the hour. 

Now this was the routine. 

He needed to be needed. 

And even though it hurt to give him the first few times, (that gnawing pain you had the first time he had made promises was back.) you got used to this too. 

“Lost in thought, sweetie?” He brings you back to reality. Your eyes settle on his helmet. 

“Sorry… I need you Mando, please.” He needs to hear it, and you don’t mind saying it, to an extent. 

You do need him, you don’t get out enough because you’re always working. He’s one of the only people you get to talk to.

Those words spur him on, he sinks himself into your heat, your moans whiny and breathy. 

“Fuck- I know, I know you need this, you need me, my sweetheart, needs me to take care of them.”

“Y-yes, Mando, need you…” His thrusts immediately pick up, he maintains a brutal pace as he continues his ramblings. Demanding your praise. 

After a few minutes his thrusts start getting sloppier. 

“Want me to finish inside?” He’s panting frantically, his hands grip your waist to slam you into him. “Want me to fill you up?”

Why not, you can buy a pill tomorrow.

“Yes, I need it, please Mando I need you to cum inside me.” You squeak out, that’s all it takes. You finish one more time before he buries himself completely in your cunt, his seed spills out between the two of you. 

He collapses in a heap on top of you, the both of you panting in unison.

He goes through the motions, you’re used to the motions. 

He holds you against him, rolling over so you’re on top. His fingers play with your hair aimlessly as he mumbles some sort of praise you don’t catch. 

And he’s gone within the hour. 

You’re standing in the shop in your overalls, watching the Crest until it disappears completely. 

★

A few more moons pass. Days come and go. You don’t expect to see him again for a few months, he normally wouldn’t stop by until he had finished several bounties, or if his ship was in desperate need of repair. So it’s a bit shocking when a week passes and the Razor Crest is landing in your shipyard again. 

You wipe a bit of grease from your hands with a loose rag, brushing your hair out of your face once the engines shut off. The main door hisses before slowly lowering to the ground. He stands at the top of the entrance, walking towards you, tossing you a package wrapped in a paper bag. You cock an eyebrow at him, he’s standing next to you by the time you tear it open. 

12 Pack : Cotton Panties.

This isn’t part of the motions.

[habken]

Just- how long does it take you to just draw? Because the sheer amount of details you put and the coloring must take ages

I mean ofc it depends in the piece, but like aprox?? In a fully rendered piece?? Just how

It really does depend haha and I’m super bad at judging time, so I just have guesses and approximations on how long stuff took but I can try and give examples!

It’s long so I’m putting them under the cut

Usually sketches and the busts I do with a bunch of different expressions take the shortest amount of time, something like the nimona sketches I did took maybe an hour or two ? Sometimes takes a bit longer if it’s a character I’m unfamiliar with because I want to make sure I have their design right and also that I’m illustrating their personality in a more or less accurate way.

The drawings with Kaminari, I think those took 5-7 hours?? Again super hard for me to figure out exact times cause I don’t really keep track of it and I like wandering in the middle of drawing so my sense of time is real bad. The expressions probably were an hour or under, and the full bodies took a lot longer, cause there was posing, styling, shoe drawing, colouring etc. involved.

The domestic bkdk comic I did for the top tier zine took way way longer, I want to say anywhere between 40-60 hours lol. I worked on it for months so that’s about as accurate as I can give in terms of time spent. I got hung up on a lot of details with it and the colouring took forever.

The villain attack comic took about 35+ hours ? The backgrounds took forever lol, I was trying to get better with freehand perspective, I struggle the most with environments and I wanted to challenge myself with both that and with drawing a comic with more action.

Finally, the one with little bakugou and deku holding hands I think took somewhere around 8 hours ? I was trying some new stuff with colouring and also background stuff

[tpher]

how do you make your oc screencap edits?? i also have a td oc and i dont really know where to start 😭

ok so!!! i use firealpaca which is just my usual drawing program. so i'll keep using it as a reference for my steps but of course im sure whatever similar program u use should have similar features

i'll be long winded for funsies as usual 💕

FINDING YOUR SCREENSHOTS

the key to decent td edits is to flat out trace screenshots whenever possible. stock pics will do, but of course itll be a lot more fun and less obvious if u use a screenshot from the show and put it into your new context

in terms of making your ocs, you will likely have to do what someone once called "frankensteining" your pics. this is where you use pics of other characters for their specific features and put them together since your oc doesnt have official screenshots to trace. this also absolutely comes in handy w canon characters! maybe you have a pose but u need them to be sitting. so try to stitch together two different pics to get what u need

it will look very scary but just trust the process. here is a random example i made using a dawn screenshot (where i removed the background), gwens eyes and eyebrows, and kittys hair

the sketching part is semi-optional. if you think you can freehand the lineart then go ahead but i assume your oc wont be a complete copy of something found in canon and therefore you will have to draw the newer/different features (such as the hair or the outfit) at least a little bit. and sometimes when i frankenstein the pics, my brain gets all overwhelmed so sketching makes me feel better jfbdjdnd

(in terms of my own oc, i screwed myself over bc his body type is so unique i gotta freehand it like all the time 😭

you can see i traced his head from his render (ALWAYS DO THIS BTW!!! TRACE CONSTANTLY), but then the body was freehanded using a canon pic as reference because tracing the pic wouldve been inaccurate)

THE LINEART

yes the iconic td thick, sharp, flat lineart. i achieve this by using a normal pen tool, turning off the pen pressure, and then turning up my pen stability to 40-60 (very high). you could use a curve tool if that works for you! but i would suggest against that for ALL of it bc the tool just wont respond well to rly drastic curves and such

the pen size varies on the pic. if the characters are close-up, itll likely be a bigger one. and then the characters' little details and facial features are usually a slightly but definitely noticeable smaller size. for the most part, ive had the bigger pen size at 13 while the details are around 9. or big size 10 and smaller size 7.

heres my technique:

as u can see, all of my lines go a bit too far. this is so that when im done drawing them, i can go back in and slowly erase where they meet and get them all sharp and pointy. this is just how i personally do it lmao. when it comes to facial features and other stuff that doesnt connect to anything, just get a close look at your reference to see how thick or how thin the edges get and do ur best to erase the edges to the point where they should be

THE COLORING

not much to it! the bucket tool is the best way to go. again just get a good look at your references just in case any parts have the lineart also colored in

THE BACKGROUND

you can find some generic td background pics on google or u could get them from the show and try to erase any character in the way lmao. if ur recreating something like, say, a dunc/ney scene w a different ship, then its very tedious but youll have to do your best to erase the canon characters and piece the background back together.

i like using the smudge tool a lot for this!!! just kinda pulling whats already there towards the characters. to save time, put your drawing visible on a top layer as you do this so that you dont have to edit the ENTIRE background, just what you need

THE RENDERING

ok so heres a big one imo. after youre done, youre gonna have to fuck up the quality at least a little. well not that u HAVE to but like..... to match the standard quality of a td screenshot? ive never seen a td screenshot in perfect hd quality outside of stock art. so u could blur ur drawing just a little bit. maybe add in the teeniest bit of chromatic aberration (just set it to 1 or -1). not ALL of them together but u do whatever u gotta do

my personal favorite is blurring just a little and then saving it as a jpeg (around 65-80%) so that its pretty crunchy and looks all the more real

obviously not a NECESSARY step but just something to point out. especially if ur background isnt the best quality so the characters have to match it

this one from yesterday i didnt even redraw topher bc i was lazy and he looks fine enough. i just put danny onto the pic to cover the other character. so i blurred danny a little bit and then saved it in a pretty low quality so that they match one another. look at those pixels. that crunch.

SO THE TLDR IS just trace and copy your references as close as possible. if you cant find a reference for your character, try finding another character w something close enough

[tizzypizza]

How long have you been drawing?

And

Are you self taught or did you follow totorials or.....

And

How long did it take before your art started looking good.

Ooh ooh okay.

1) I’ve been ‘drawing’ since kindergarten, but really started it as a hobby when I was in 5th grade. I drew Pokémon for my shiny Fennekin DeviantArt ask account HAHA But I only started ‘studying’ my sophomore year of high school about 4 years ago! Right as COVID hit.

2) I think the definition of self-taught might be a little skewed in the wrong direction here, as yes I am self-taught which means I never went to any academies or received academic help or training. I did however watch tutorials and begin to independently study books and whatnot! Which leads to

3) My art never started looking good. In fact I quite hate how it looks like 90% of the time and I can always find technical flaws with it, but I started being able to think like an artist/draw constructively when I abandoned the notion that you could do well just winging it. “I never learned perspective/anatomy” is a huge flex for a lot of younger artists and one I touted around for years before buckling down on both abouttt 2 years ago? I never learned either PROPERLY but I studied the foundations on my own and the INTENTIONALITY of that decision marked the beginning of when my art started becoming consistent. I used to spend hours trying to freehand a tiny shitty doodle, now I can actually just sketch things in 60 seconds thanks to the amount of croquis I’ve done. Opening myself up to the idea of receiving professional help or often seeking it out from friends and letting go of that misplaced pride/feeling that I had to have an inexplicable talent that made me better than everyone else with zero help was what changed me as a person and an artist. But that barely answers the question so TL;DR it took 8 years into my 10 years of drawing fandom works LOL!

[virtualpeople]

Your Sims look amazing! Can tou share some resources for skins, face masks, sliders, etc. you are using? Do you have any advice for making Sims?

Thank you so much :D and sure, always happy to share resources!

Sliders: I download every single slider I see because I love messing around with them (even if it does the same thing as another one I already have, chances are it does that thing in a slightly different way that could be useful), so that’s basically everything from here or here

Skins: All the ones I currently use are in this reply here, though every sim I create gets a ton of face shaders, nosemasks and the like so half the time the skins end up looking notably different

Face masks: I've hoarded a ton of stuff over the years, so I'll only include stuff like face shaders here so I actually get to sleep tonight, but here's a few of my favourites (or at least, the ones which I can find, some are proving to be a bit illusive):

simplelife's face shadow, highlights, wrinkles and face kit

rensim’s Old Facekit & Circonflex Anti-Shine

rensim’s Curved and Triple Threat Blush

sleepytabby’s unbeauty parlour

nopke’s subtle wrinkles

mina’s chin masks

mistyblue’s bits ‘n’ bobs part 1

mistyblue’s bits ‘n’ bobs part 2

amaryll’s miranda facemasks

alfredaskew’s advent 2012 shaders

alfredaskew’s CiJ 2020 shaders

alfredaskew’s 28 shaders

digi’s CiJ face shaders + more

pooklet’s collection of face things

(and likely a lot more I’m forgetting at the moment)

and as for advice? I’ve no idea what’s generally common knowledge when it comes to sim making, so hopefully something here will be actual advice and not blindingly obvious :D

Well, kinda obvious one first though: ingame CAS is... not great. Bodyshop is a million times easier to create in, especially once it's modded to brighten the lighting. Maxis why did you make it so gloomy by default :(

The default sims 2 face sculpt has some interesting anatomy, shall we say. It makes it a bit tricky to get proportions right, and if you're going for realistic faces, proportion is the most important thing. It can really help having a photo up on screen at the same time of someone who looks like what you're going for with the sim you're making (that might be obvious too though haha)

Saying that though, thanks to the strange mesh anatomy and the fact that the poor sims 2 sims have <1000 polygons to their faces, sticking 100% to a photo and trying to replicate it exactly never seems to work very well (in my experience anyway). If using a photo I usually get the basic proportions and general feature shapes looking good, so maybe about 60% of the sculpt? going on the photo, then freehand the last 40% or so just shunting around sliders until I'm happy with the sim

I usually try and get as much face sculpting done as possible with the sliders before adding any makeup or face effects. It tends to be a bit easier to see what bits are going to play nicely with the sim's face shape that way. (not a definite rule though, I have been known to completely re-do a nose because I wanted to use a particular nosemask haha)

Adding the makeup/shaders/etc is basically 70% a really long-winded game of trial and error, throwing a ton of things at a sim's face and seeing what metaphorically sticks until you stumble on something that looks good, 30% knowing what you have in your CC collection that might do the trick. It's also fun using things in unintended ways, like using a shader designed for pale skintones as highlights on a darker skintone, or layering nosemasks.

Wish I had some advice for speeding up making sims though, it can take me forever trying different stuff haha

I'll add more stuff if I think of it later since damn am I sleepy right now, but hopefully something was useful in all of this!

[anothermonikan]

KEEP DRAWING FOREVER I LOVE YOUR ART PEACE AND LOVE. whats your process if you mind me asking

Hehe, I'm glad to hear it! I'm not gonna stop anytime soon! On account of if I go too long without making something I start writhing on the floor like. an almost dead lizard (rain world) or something. ehe ^^;

I don't really think about my art process that much! Lemme rack my brain a lil bit ehe ^^; I like to draw a lotta different things so it's dependent on what I'm drawing! I don't think my art is. that grand to have a formal process. It's like some sort of spirit possesses me for a few hours and I come out of it with some sort of art aha ^^;

I can try and walk through a simple piece mayhaps

(They call me the yapper for a reason, this turned out way too extensive, sorry if it's TMI, turns out I like talking about this stuff ^^;)

Behold! A silly! I typically sketch on a dark background with a white pencil brush, I'll use whatever one the art program I'm using has, but specifically for FireAlpaca (the art program I'm currently using), I use the sketchbook pencil at size 6, I find a slightly bigger brush size for the sketch helps negate too many stray lines that can make the sketch harder to follow when moving onto lineart. my sketches tend to be. super super messy! Edgar's kinda a simple character so it doesn't really show, but sketches to me are more a brief estimation as to what I want the final piece to look like and a lot of that is gonna come through in the lineart.

Up until very very recently, I actually had a ton of trouble with lineart! It can be such a daunting part of the art process, I used to just kinda skip it all together and just do sketches with colour ^^; Every time I felt like I had to do lineart for a piece I was kinda. miserable about it! I didn't like doing it! It took too long! it's so tedious! But like, actually a week ago, something clicked and I realised that the reason I found lineart so awful and long to do is because I took it. way too seriously! Turns out, lineart doesn't have to be literally perfect to work! Unbelievable I know...

I tend to turn the transparency of both my sketch and background down while doing lineart. the sketch to around 40% and the background to around 60%. My lineart is mostly darker colours and trying to see dark on dark is not. ideal! I try to keep in mind what I want the colours of the final piece to be and make my lineart match that accordingly. I could just do the lineart in black and make a clipping layer to colour it afterwards, but I am kinda terrible at keeping track of my layers so having every element be the same colour can cause different parts of the lineart to overlap with each other without being noticed and then I have to do a buncha layer reconfiguration, it's awful aha ^^; so I just try and do the colours right away to prevent that ^^; I use a size 4 pen brush for my lineart!

The sketch is just a suggestion of what the final piece could look like! A lot of the time I think of something new to add to a drawing right in the middle of lineart, for example that artigourm piece I did a few days ago, the slugpups in there? Not part of the original sketch at all! I was practically done with the piece when I thought of adding them and I had to work around the drawing I already had to add them XD Luckily this time it was something small, I thought adding little hearts in Edgar's eyes would be cute so I did that ^^;

Colours! I like colouring a whole bunch! I hide the background and sketch layers, select the outside of the drawing, and then invert it! It helps to avoid having to keep the colours inside of the lines which I am, actually really terrible at! I freehand coluring for the most part because I find using the fill bucket leaves a small space between the lines and I end up having to go over it anyways ^^; I try to think of which colour should be on top of the others and start with that, I then create layers under that for what colour should be under that (for this drawing it ended up as Edgar's body >> Edgar's Eyes >> Edgar's face)

I don't. really know colour theory? I just kinda go for what looks good to me aha ^^; I don't use specific palettes for stuff or anything.

Shading wise? I really love doing it! Doesn't mean I have the slightest idea what I'm doing tho!

I tend to do my shadows in a dark greyish colour and my light in a pale yellow. I then scale the transparency down to around 30% for both

Does this shading make any logical sense? Probably not! Does it look good? To me, yes, so I don't really think so hard about it aha! I do try to consider light source when doing all this but I'm actually. quite new to this whole lighting and shading thing! This was another part of the art process I was so intimidated by that I just. didn't do it for a long time. Turns out I actually enjoy doing this part tho aha! It adds a lotta depth to the drawing, even very simple shading like this!

Glow-wise, while it's obviously not something I do on all drawings, I find just covering the area you wanna glow with an airbrush in whatever colour you want the glow to be and then turning the transparency to 30% works pretty well!

Background wise,,,I have NO idea what I'm doing! Unless I go into a piece with a very specific background idea I usually. Don't do one. and this is one of those pieces so um. Gradient background with some markings it is aha!

Sometimes if want a piece to portray a specific mood, I use a colour filter over everything, for that gabv1el piece I did a few days ago I used a dark red colour filter because I wanted that piece to feel quite comfy and warm, I don't think this drawing really needs one but here's it with one anyways so you can see what I mean

I make a layer above everything and colour the subject of the drawing one colour, and then turn the transparency down to 30%

..and now Edgar looks a lil warmer and softer!

I. ended up yapping way too long asfddfhdfh. I have no idea if this is even what you meant by process butt. I got to draw Edgar so I'm happy hehe ^^;

Thanks for the ask hehe~

[agbpaints]

2022, A year in minis

Well we're almost at the new year so I decided to drag everything I've painted out of its many boxes and lay it out to see what I've done. Overall I think this is the most productive year of painting I've had yet, with 123 figures finished in total. I crossed some big milestones with my admech, surpassing 1,000 and 1,500 pts of total painted models. I also started collecting necrons, started collecting battletech, and finished the last few stragglers from my cursed city box. My speed at painting increased this year considerably and I've definitely improved my confidence in my own skills- I've started using basic freehand and weathering techniques on my models and my airbrush is becoming a significantly more used tool even if my motor coordination isn't good enough for it to be a tool for anything more than monocolor base coats.

My favorite 2022 projects

Scrap-mech. Equal parts infuriating and awesome. Cawdor bodies have some of the jankiest connection points I've ever seen but their aesthetic is top notch and slots right into admech. This was the first project I did using citadel contrast paints, and while I don't think they're the one stop replacement for normal techniques they were billed as they work fantastically as like an 'extra thicc' wash.

Battletech. I really did not expect to have as much fun as I did with these big stompy murder bots. The models are appropriately chunky and gave me a lot of practice with panel lining. I also discovered how much fun flocking is!

Vargskyr: One of my favorite monsters that I've painted and my absolute most favorite piece from cursed city. I had a lot of fun getting the hair to blend in with the skin on this big chunky boy.

Tech-wraith Kitbash. This was an idea that came like a bolt from the blue while I was buying discount models that went from notion to build to done in less than 3 days. It's mostly bits and pieces from a kataphron kit welded into a cairn wraith but I'm super proud of it.

Flayed One Kitbashes. Flayed Ones are one of my favorite necron things period and after my initial spooktober idea hit a roadblock I fell into my backup plan, a flayer killteam. The lord is probably my favorite model I built out of the mix- he's mostly a primaris intercessor mashed together with an old warrior sprue.

Goals for 2023

Pile of shame busting: holy shit do I still have a lot of bare plastic to get rid of. My biggest goals for next year are going to be finishing my warcry and infinity starters that I've left to molder in their boxes and building/painting the rest of my admech backlog. In total I believe this is about 60 models

Spooktober project: last year I recieved a Seraptek heavy construct second hand that's been hiding in a box in my attic ever since. After reading twice dead king I've decided to make it the Seraptek from That Scene (you know the one) but life and the overwhelming size of the project meant I wussed out for spooktober this year. With another year of experience and time to plan ahead, it's gonna happen this time.

Advanced techniques: I've been experimenting recently with non-metalic metal and its absolutely nerd sniped me. I suck at it, but I see a glimmer of something I could get better at that I'm gonna try to claw towards. I'd also like yo try messing around more with various blending techniques in general.

Model photography: so far all of my models have had their photos taken using a desk lamp, a piece of calligraphy paper, and the phone camera on my Samsung. They're OK but I want to devote some time and resources into upgrading my kit and skills here.

[k00279452]

Wes Wilson

 Wilson is generally acknowledged as the father of the 60s rock concert poster. In 1968, he received an award from the National Endowment for the Arts for “his contributions to American Art.” He established what is now known as the psychedelic poster.

He created a visual discussion between fine art and commercial art.

His style of filling all available space with freehand style lettering, melting together lines and letters, and using flowing letters to create shapes, clashing together colours , became the standard that most artists followed in order to put “psychedelic” in the art.

Use of colours came from experiences of lsd, and his previous knowledge of colour from painting .

I like his style, his letters show a lot of movement , i think this psychedelic aesthetic would look interesting in relation the Glastonbury Festival . I think it's reminiscent to the late 60's early 70's ,which was the time in which Glastonbury was formed . I really like the text layout of it being squashed together creating an image or pattern.

Wes Wilson - Classic Posters

[sanversandfriends]

One way to spark a writer's enthusiasm about a WIP is the promise of accompanying fan art. Not only is it exciting to see your story brought to life, but to paraphrase @Morganastorm24, even a small shift in perspective can inspire you to take a wildly different approach. Today, she'll share some of her inspirations along with advice on how to get started or unstuck.

Tell us a little about yourself. How long have you been creating fan art? What were some of your first subjects and what ships/characters in the SG universe have you illustrated?

I mentioned in my writing answers that I've been doing it for as long as I can remember, and the same applies with art. I'm generally a very creative person - writing, drawing, crafting - you name it, I'll happily do it. 

I inherited my creativity from my grandparents, or so I'm told. My grandfather used to drive buses back in the 50s and 60s and on his breaks he'd park up somewhere and sit and sketch his surroundings. For no reason other than he wanted to and liked doing it. He also enjoyed woodwork and crafting miniature models of things out of wood. He built me my very first dolls house and I helped him to decorate it and furnish it with miniature furniture.

My grandmother was a seamstress for the theatre and made all the costumes for various productions. She'd sketch the designs out first, and then sew all the costumes by hand. She was also a writer, though she kept her stuff very private, because it was a hobby for her but not one that she felt comfortable enough to share. Sometimes, I can understand why, because I feel the same. Growing up, I loved spending time with both of them because they shared their skills with me. 

What are your favorite mediums to work with?

Photoshop is a big favourite of mine, because you can do pretty much anything, so long as you can find the right images to merge together. I also love using pro-markers and other comic book markers.  What kinds of scenes do you enjoy illustrating? Do you have any favorite tropes or themes? Imagery that you like to work with?

I love to do anything, as long as I have a clear vision of it in my mind (when using photoshop), or I have an image I can use as a reference (when I'm drawing by hand). The only thing I can successfully draw freehand without any reference is a horse (my lifelong love of the animals showing through there). When I worked in a children's nursery, we often drew large images for the kids to decorate which would then be displayed on the walls. I was always the one who ended up drawing said images, and to be honest I loved it. When I left that job to start my current one, I was gifted two of the last things I'd drawn - the rose from Beauty and the Beast, and the Coca Cola Christmas Truck. I've kept them to this day, and they're in a protective folder in storage. 

Any advice for aspiring fan artists?

One thing I learned in art lessons when I was at school (and it has stuck with me to this day), is that if you're struggling to draw something, change the perspective. My art teacher told us the following story about a disabled man, and I've tried and tested this method myself. It really does work!

A young man in a wheelchair was asked to draw his wheelchair. He hated the thing, saw it as a hindrance that cut him off from everything that he'd been able to do before he was confined to it. It was a reminder of his past life and everything he had lost, so when he tried to draw it, he was full of anger and resentment, and eventually threw his pencil down in frustration, declaring that he couldn't do it.

Instead of giving up on him, his teacher took the wheelchair, turned it upside down and told him to try again, but don't draw it as a whole. See the individual shapes and draw those. Focus on one shape at a time. So the young man did. He drew what he could see - circles, squares, triangles, rectangles, cylinders - and when the teacher took his piece of paper and turned it round, he had drawn a wheelchair.  All because changing the perspective of the subject and breaking it down into basic shapes had made his brain approach the task differently.  So if you're ever stuck on something and you don't know how to move forward, or do what needs to be done, try looking at it from a different angle. It could be literal, like turning the chair upside down, or it could be figurative, like seeing a circle instead of a wheel, a tube instead of a handle, that sort of thing. Change the perspective and you might just surprise yourself.

Thanks for sharing with us, Morgana--and for making us continue to swoon over Alex!

And Maggie!

And Lena!

And...

[the-wildflower-system]

COMMISSIONS ARE OFFICIALLY OPEN!!!

I need to earn money, and quickly, since I currently have nothing in savings after several crises in my personal life (plus the fact that im gonna be moving cross-country to go to college), so I'm opening commissions back up to the public!! Slots are very limited, and the amount of time it takes before you receive your art depends on how many people are in front of you and how easy your commission is to draw. I will be grouping commissions in order of application based on what category you select.

Example: If you choose the $30 commission, you'll likely receive your art sooner than the $60 or $100 commissions.

RATES:

I work for $60USD an hour, so prices are based off an estimate of how long it will take for me to draw. You receive a high-quality png or jpg file once payment is received.

Freehand sketch - $30

(you give me a character and i quickly sketch them in a pose of my choice, this usually takes a half hour)

Example:

Freehand drawing - $60

(you give me a character and i do proper art of them in a pose of my choice, this usually takes me an hour)

Example:

Freehand masterpiece - $100

(you give me a character and i draw them with my best, cleanest artstyle, in a pose of my choice. This usually takes about an hour and a half.)

Example:

Freehand sketch panel - $175

(you give me a character and i draw a page containing 1-2 coloured sketches and 3 coloured drawings, in poses of my choice. This takes me several hours to complete)

Example:

[x2goose1473952]

The Electronic Arts: Vision and Sound CCDP 10002 – Assessment 1 - 1473952

I approached this piece by reflecting on the week 2 topic- Perception, Optical Illusions (how the brain works). Every topic brings something new, but this one felt closest to my style and interests as an amateur/hobbyist digital artist. Since I got my first PC, I've been torrenting cracked software and messing around with Photoshop and other multimedia programs. I was always rubbish at freehand drawing, but navigating computer-aided design applications came naturally. Our eyes see objects, environments and anything they can capture in everyday life. We often take what we see with our eyes as the definitive truth for what is actually there. Optical Illusions shatter that "truth". They are an excellent example of our brains manufacturing a reality to better understand our surroundings in life. What we perceive and what is there could be two totally different truths. The discovery of optical illusions to many (and myself for a long time) was merely a fun magic trick to enjoy through YouTube videos or, if you're really old, those ancient magic eye books with hidden pictures. I decided to further explore this concept with the George Redhawk effect (named after the visually impaired artist), initially created after Redhawk started to lose his vision.

Before his artistic career, Redhawk worked in various areas of medicine, teaching subjects on x-ray technology. Before his vision deteriorated, he wanted to internalize everything visually exciting to his memory. He used an image transition software called Magic Morph, but instead of making image1 go to image2 he morphed the image onto itself. The result was an amazingly trippy and fluid-like animation which led to a series of creations. The effect has been used to recreate and describe the perceptions people experience on psychedelics like LSD and magic mushrooms. Maybe the visuals people experience on these substances aren't a distorted reality but an altered one. Even our perspective when dead sober could be viewed as an altered reality. The Redhawk effect offers 1 explanation for a complex discussion. It is one potential of what we could be seeing when something else is happening. Our eyes are unable to process it. That dead tree in the centre of a garden bed surrounded by stone pillars could be more alive than our beating heart. Combining this with a geometrically distorted image mash was something that I wanted to explore. Look at that garden bed or that tree; it blends naturally with the image, but these are photos merged from multiple angles. Glancing at the still image for only a second would tell you nothing. It looks normal. But the closer you look, the higher the frequency of distortions. The static elements in the rest of the animation also give this impression that it very well could be a typical garden, an ordinary front yard, if it wasn't for the blatantly obvious coloured textures replaced from the stone path and the hyper-sharpened front window, everything else is entirely "normal". We are at a period in history that's never been more visually focused than any of the previous. People walk around with ultra-powerful high-definition computers in their pockets. Something that would have been out of a science fiction movie in the 60s is now standard. Yet our observations have grown numb (in a day-to-day setting), and the frequency of face value evaluations is higher than in the 60s. Technology has granted us a gateway to explain the alternate reality better than ever. Still, I feel we have grown more accustomed and content to the face value perception. I'm not saying that we can't do this anymore; it's just that technology has softened our brains to the point where we don't think to do it without being prompted to. I would have continued with the same mindset if it weren't for this project. But now I'm actively trying to question everything. E.g. The notes I've taken in my core units are wrong. The Baroque period did not just immediately end when Bach died. Consumables like junk food and drugs considered "bad" or "unhealthy" could be the polar opposite. Maybe cigarettes feel good and give you cancer because they are a shortcut to ending your existence. The dopamine rush that hits when sipping on a can of coke (and the diabetes that follows) is the dark matter or some other unviewable element or presence in the universe communicating with you, telling you to keep doing it so you can reach the other side faster. The extent to which I believe in these philosophies is low, but that is irrelevant. These "what ifs" are just a way of viewing the tail side of the coin when only the head is held up to your eyes.

[strawberryspiced]

Shhh. I'm seducing the world with my weirdness.

60 ꜩ

6825 x 6825 px / 350 dpi.

Method: Freehand Digital Illustration

Link on bio.