#usually i just sketch and move on but i want to make more dynamic and engaging stuff

[whaliiwatching]

her throne is his lap

[moonstruckme]

Also would love more of the art student x stem student peter writing,, again totally just self indulgent here but I adore their dynamic I could go on forever, like study dates but she’s working and Peter hangs around revising notes in her studio and they both just accompany each other AGHHH I could think about them for ages

-🍁🤭

Thanks lovely!

tasm!Peter Parker x artist!reader ♡ 727 words

Your hand comes into view, taking Peter’s attention from his notes for the first time in hours as you slide a paper plate stacked with pizza slices towards him. 

“They were out of stir fry,” you say, “but they let me take extra pizza since they felt bad.” 

Peter blinks, realizing his eyes are dry and achy. “When did you get this?”

“Just now,” you say, though it sounds like a question. Your brows twitch towards each other, somewhere between bemused and concerned. “Pete, I’ve been gone for like a half hour. You didn’t notice?”

Peter blinks again, hard. He gives his head a little shake. “No, I, uh…I guess I was too distracted. Thanks for the pizza.” 

“Course.” You kiss the top of his head as you round the table, sitting down across from him with a couple slices of your own. Peter watches as you zone back into your work, a pensive frown coming to your face. You’re in the beginning stages of a new project, and the last few hours have been a frustrating cycle of erasing, sketching, and erasing again. Peter doesn’t get how you can even see through all the faded, half-removed lines on your page. 

“How’s it going?” he asks, tentative.

Your frown worsens. “Not bad,” you say, in a tone that says not great, either. “I’ve landed on an idea, but it just…it doesn’t feel perfect. I don’t want to start and then have to change my mind again.” 

“Didn’t you say that’s how it usually goes?” he prompts. 

“Yeah,” you sigh, and you sound so upset about it that Peter has to—just has to—reach across the table and take your hand. You offer him a small smile and return the squeeze he gives your fingers.

“Want a break?” he asks you, and you raise your eyebrows.

“I just took my break,” you remind him. 

It’s difficult to love someone and see them treat themselves how you treat yourself. Peter would count a run to the dining hall as a break, too, but he doesn’t like it when you do it. Still, that doesn’t give him a lot of ground for argument.

“Then can I see?” he tries, hoping talking it through will make you feel better.

You chew your lip for a second before nodding, going to slide your paper towards him. 

“Nope, hold on.” Peter stands up on his seat, stepping one gangly leg and then the other over the table before lowering himself into the chair beside you. He wraps his arm around your shoulder, hugging you so that your face is squished against his bicep. “Better,” he says. “Go on.” 

You laugh at his over-the-top affection, but don’t move away, going into the details of your original idea versus what you’ve come up with on paper. The abstract always falls short of the concrete, Peter knows that, and yet he feels your disappointment in your inability to fulfill the full scope of your vision acutely. You grow more animated as you talk, eventually bringing the paper closer and sketching while he watches. Peter suggests his own solutions as you work. They’re useless of course, but he knows that having a sounding board helps you think, so he’ll keep the conversation going any way he can. To your credit, you don’t tell him all the ways he’s wrong. You only hmm and huh and then do your idea anyway. 

After a while, you come up with something you’re happier with. It’s still not perfect, but Peter reminds you again of your own tenets; that it never will be, and your only job is to do the best you can with what you have. You’re smiling by now, so it’s a win in his book. 

“You gonna talk me through your biochem notes now?” you ask him cheerily. 

“Aw, sweetheart.” He kisses the side of your head. “You’re a gem for offering, but we both know you’ll get a headache.” 

“I’ll eat my pizza while you talk,” you propose, picking up a now cold slice of your dinner. “C’mon, it’s only fair.” 

Peter grins at you, your face lined with tiredness and hand stained with silver pencil lead but eyes alight with that fizzy energy you get from creation. “Okay,” he concedes. “But when we go home, we’re watching the most mindless show we can find on TV.”

[taylor-titmouse]

Shrinking Violet is out! another of @petitemortality R/L Monroe's wonderful erotic shorts, with another cover by yours truly >:) i've been saying it on nearly every promo post i make for this but if you're one of the people who has wanted me to write f/f, you're legally obligated to read this one. below is the sales copy, and then below that some discussion of the process for designing the cover!

Nobody at college knows that shy, nervous Maya had a 'bad boy' reputation in high school - and Maya is the only one who knows tough, rebellious Nasrin used to be a sweet-tempered teacher's pet. Mutual attraction is rekindled when their paths cross again, but the two find their old dynamics have been flipped on their head. Maya finally knows what she wants, and Nasrin is bold enough to give it to her...that is, if she can bring herself to ask. Will their first time be perfect the second time around? 7k words, EPUB and PDF format. This is the second in the Fuck Yourself Friday series of shorts. New stand-alone erotic stories are released on the last Friday of every month. FYF 1: Go Fuck Yourself These stories contain explicit sexual content, and are intended for 18+ audiences.

Contains: -F/tF -transfem sub -outdoor sex -praise kink -soft penis stimulation -non-penetrative sex

THUMBNAILS

this one was very straightforward with the request: "the image I have in my mind for a cover is someone's fingers knotted in a skirt spread out against wildflowers. but more in the sort of gripping your own skirt gently kind of way, somewhere between anxious and excited if that makes sense. I'm thinking like you know the classic soft grunge tumblr aesthetic photo vibe. type of shit you'd post next to a closeup of a skinned knee in long socks"

very easy instructions to follow! so while i usually prefer to do 3 thumbnails, i only ended up with 2. there's only so many ways you can depict a hand on a skirt, after all. and we decided that we wanted to continue with the style i established with the first one, with silhouettes, lineless art, and bold textures. we liked the first one more, but wanted to get some leg in there.

i proposed adding black pantyhose to the narrative to make it work on the cover (i have changed prose to match what i drew for illustrations Many times) but we went with bare leg in the end

FINISHING

so i didn't actually do a sketch for this one, just went straight to rendering. as we all know i use gradient maps a lot in my work, so i gave lee a choice between a bright, springy palette, and a wetter, darker palette. i also offered it with the border, or with the skirt going over it. personally i like the skirt going over it, but the border keeps it consistent and more book-cover-y, so we went with that. lee chose the darker palette, which suits the story much better

but the font didn't fit! too vintage for the story, which takes place in modern day.

fonts time :^)

we went with the third option for the contrast. and also added a raindrop to the flower (which got moved to the right petal in the final draft). gently touching petals, wetness, This Is Yuri.

and the final result is as above!

anyway you should all read this story, it's incredibly sweet childhood-best-friends-to-lovers and in itself a love letter to trans femininity. i highly recommend it, and it's only $3!

go and get it!

[bella-goths-wife]

Crush

Yandere cullens x reader

Tw- gore, death, reader being abused, sick family dynamics, animal death

You trailed behind Jasper as he grasped your cold hand. He had always felt the need to hold your hand in busy hallways, it made him feel better. You were about to yank your hand away but your mood flipped like a switch and an idiotic smile forced its way on your lips

He always did this, whenever you felt uncomfortable he would make your mood more convenient for him.

You snapped out of it when you were bumped into by a distracted walker, she smiles apologetically and walks away while Jasper glares daggers at her. You yank your hand away and he looks confused

“I have chemistry now” you remind him “you have p.e your going the opposite direction”

“Can’t you just skip?” Jasper asks annoyed as emmet joins him and puts an arm around you

“Yeah little sis, come join us” emmet tries to convince you but you just shake your head

“Last time I did that, neither one of you defended me when Carlisle scolded me” you sighed out as you separated yourself from them

“(Y/n)” emmet calls your name and you turn your head “behave yourself, little sis”

You nodded and made your way to your class. As you stepped through the doors you noticed someone sitting in the seat next to yours.

He was a short boy with brown curly hair, he saw you and pulled a small, polite smile.

“Hey there” he greets you as you sit down “you must be my new lab partner, I’m Brad”

“(Y/n)” you greet politely and shake his hand before turning away and looking at the board

“You always sit with the cullens kids, your their sister right?” He asks and you just nod “you don’t talk much, huh?”

You shake your head. You don’t want this boy to die all because you engaged in polite small talk. You feel him moving and hear him scribbling. You don’t pay attention to him until half an hour into the lesson he tugs in your sleeve.

You turn to see a small sketch of a baby deer on the inside of brads work book. You look at him curious and find the paper to be dedicated to you. You turn your head and he just gives you a cheeky smile.

“Because of your eyes” he explains playfully “you remind me of a deer”

You blush red and hide your face from his peering gaze. He rips the page and grabs your hand before placing the paper in your palm. Your heart would have beat at the contact

“Thank you” you say flustered while he just chuckles

You try and listen to the teacher but all you can listen to is brads heartbeat increasing every time you looked at him, he was nervous too.

As the bell rang you rose from your seat but Brad takes your bag in his hands. You look at him but he just takes your hand and leads you out the classroom. As you exit the classroom your hand remains in his.

“I’ll walk you to lunch” he says as he nudges you with his shoulder “you can keep chatting my ear off”

You let out a small giggle and he gives an exaggerated shocked gasp

“She laughs” he says shocked “it’s a miracle”

“Shut up” you replied back playfully as you kept walking “so what’s the plan, woo me over a lukewarm lunch meal?”

“Who says I’m wooing you” he questions playfully “maybe your the one seducing me? With your big eyes and complete silence? Who could resist”

You let out a loud laugh but you catch yourself as you see the entrance to the lunch hall. You let go of brads hand and walk away but to your dismay he follows you, thinking it’s a game.

You approach your siblings at your usual table and they smile at you, all except Edward. He was too focused on someone behind you.

“Hey, you” he shouts to Brad who was looking like a lost puppy “come sit with us”

“What are you doing?!” Rosalie hissed out as she pulled you down to your chair before you could wave Brad away “why are you inviting a human over”

“Seems like our baby sister has a crush” Edward answers darkly “we should at least get to know the guy”

Brad sits down next to you and Rosalie pulls your chair closer to her passive aggressively. You shoot brad a pleading look to walk away but he didn’t understand, everyone at the table glares at him

“What’s your name kid?” Jasper asks with a cruel smirk

“Brad” he answers while looking at you with a smile “I’m surprised this one hasn’t told you, she’s a real chatterbox”

“He’s joking” you defend yourself fearfully at the thought of them telling Carlisle that you talked to humans

“So Brad” Edward leans closer with a menacing look “your gonna switch chemistry classes”

“Why would I do that?” Brad says confused

“Because we all don’t trust you with our little sister” emmet answers while cracking his knuckles

“It’s not like you’d ever be good enough for her anyway” Rosalie says disgusted “she’s too precious for you to even talk too”

“Fuck you” Brad seethed out as he rose from his chair and stormed off

“Why would you do that?!” You question angrily “he was a nice guy and you all sat here and mocked him”

“Behave sis, you wouldn’t want to get punished” emmet threatened

You look to the exit and make your thoughts known before turning to them

“You can’t do anything here” is all you said before you stormed off to find Brad, your siblings wanted to punish you but it was way to public

They would get you later.

———————————————————————

“Brad!” You called after him when you saw Brad emerge from the library

“Go away (y/n)” was all he said as he kept walking

“I’m so sorry Brad” you apologised and he turned to you with an angry expression “I tried to stop them”

“Fucking incest freaks” he spits out as he continues to walk away “they’re brother fuckers and they judge me?”

“I’m so so sorry” you apologised again with your head down

“Its not your fault” he sighs out “why are they so weird with you?”

“I don’t know” you admitted and he put his hand on your shoulder, you blush slightly

“I’ve gotta get to gym” he says with a smile “I’ll see you around chatterbox”

You nod and smile sadly while watching him leave. Your first ever crush and your family couldn’t even let you enjoy it for more than an hour.

———————————————————————

There’s a knock on your locked bedroom door. You look confused before Carlisle emerges from the other side.

You back away and go into the corner of the room out of fear. Your arms instinctively put your arms over your face defensively. Carlisle sighs and goes to your corner before crouching

“Sweet girl, don’t be afraid” you flinch when he caress your cheek “I’ve brought you a gift”

You look at him with fearful curiosity as he grabs your hand and pulls you up. He forces his arm over you shoulder and drags you to the kitchen

You see Brad sat at the counter with his arms tied behind his back with thick rope and a gag in his mouth.

“We’ve brought your friend home for dinner” Alice says gleefully as she puts her hand on his shoulders with her nails sticking in

“You’ve been a bad girl (y/n)” esme says as she emerges from the living room with a disappointed frown “talking to humans is against the rules”

“I won’t do it again I promise” you cry out as you go to Brad and watch him struggle against his restraints “let him go, it’s not his fault”

“He’s corrupted you” Edward slams his fist on the counter and breaks it “all he thought about when he was with you was your body, why would he be interested in you beyond that”

“It’s not like you give enough conversations to the humans to like you for your charming personality” emmet snickers out cruelly as they all tainted you

Brad furiously shook his head in disagreement as you put your head down in shame and embarrassment.

“Shall we get the entertainment” Alice squeals out while she claps her hand excitedly

They all pull you and Brad through to the living room. They forcefully pull you to the couch and sit around you but Brad is forced onto a seat in the centre of the room.

“First up” Edward announces “your punishment”

Emmet comes through with a beautiful little Robin. You knew this bird, you had connected with this bird through your power to ask it to sing for you. They knew that and you knew what came next.

You felt your connection with the bird force it’s way to the surface as it felt like your soul intertwined with its.

“You know what happens now” Carlisle sighs out as he takes the small bird in the palm of his hands, you feel the birds fear and anxiousness as tears well up in your eyes

Carlisle slowly uses his strength to crush the bird and you yell in agony. Your neck feels as though it’s the one being crushed as your head feels pulses of pain expand from your brain. As the bird lets out it’s last breath your neck forces a sigh and you feel devoid of breath even if you didn’t need to breath.

Rosalie pulls you face to lean on her shoulder while you grip your throat in pain. The pain eventually leaves but the birds dead body is left on the coffee table

“It’s okay baby” Rosalie shush’s “it’s gone now”

You cry harder and Brad looks at you terrified and confused. They pull him to face you before emmet goes behind him

“Baby sis’s first crush” Emmett laughs out as he puts his hands on brads shoulders “get a picture Alice”

The flash on Alice’s camera shocks you and Brad as you rub your eyes. The photo comes out and Alice sighs affectionately while putting it in your ‘scrap book’

Before you realise what’s happening, you see Emmett’s hands go on the side of brads face and he begins to press. Brad screams in agony as his head is slowly compressed, blood spurts out onto your face when his face is flattened. Small pieces of brain matter landed on your face as Rosalie pulls out a napkin and wipes your face gently.

“Smile sis” Alice says as the camera flashes on your shocked, terrified face.

Alice sticks the photo in the scrap book with “baby sis first ‘crush’” with crush in air quotations. You look at your face on the photo and then hear your families cruel, mocking laughter

They treat the situation as a party and dance around while laughing. You look at brads body and clutch the drawing he gave you in your pocket.

You make eye contact with Carlisle who just smirks and then Edward steps in front of you and smiles cruelly. One thought springs to mind

I need to get the fuck out of here

Hope you enjoyed :)

Love ya ❤️

[9haharharley1]

Will you accept a question and a prompt?

What are some things that help get your creative juices flowing? (Because the stuff you write is just phenomenal.)

And mayhaps a bit of Pitch being creepy with a sleepy Jack?

Of course! And thank you, that's so sweet!!

Things that get my creative juices flowing 🤔

It really depends, I think? Getting the ideas can be pretty easy sometimes. Its writing them that can be the problem. I get inspirations from movies - oh this character reminds me of Blorbo A, he would be fun to put in this situation, how would he react? Or sometimes just the basic premise or trope - ie Mermaid au, coffee shop au. I want to write these things but they're so vague that getting the details down in writing, or even just trying to hash out a plot can be a chore.

Sometimes it's music- this song screams Blorbo B, or maybe it fits the ship dynamic really well, ooh here's a situation! Let's throw it all in a blender and see what happens!

Other times it's art - obviously with me, I know, but I have that type of memory where I actually can't picture details in my head. It's why I don't focus on improving my own art, but seeing a situation actually already set up, for me, can act as a reference like an artist would a figure when sketching a pose or something. I see the image or situation, and suddenly it's much easier to figure out how they got into that situation. Who instigated it? What are they feeling? What happens after?

And sometimes it's as easy and simple as finding the right prompt! I see the prompt (ie. Character A is wearing this and B reacts to it) and it's just the right combination of words to instantly trigger a scenario in my brain! Especially if it's one that's been incubating in my head for a long time already.

---

(A Stay entry mayhap? A prologue of some kind?!)

Jack had long made a habit of sleeping in trees. And Pitch had long made the habit of watching him.

He had taken notice roughly fifty years after Jack Frost's resurrection that the weather patterns during winter had started to change, becoming more erratic and volatile as the years went on, as Jack became more and more isolated from the humans and the spirits around him. Pitch languished in his fear, amplifying the effects Jack's blizzards had on human settlements and driving them further indoors, away from the boy who tried so desperately to get them to notice him. It was cruel, but Pitch didn't exactly care, more concerned with building up his stores of power in preparation for his next big fight with the Guardians.

He followed after Jack most days during the cold seasons to chase after this easy fear.

As winter waned and Bunnymund began ushering in spring and life, Jack would begin to settle. And he generally, he settled in some remote and freezing location, taking some time to rest and recuperate his natural cold before moving on to the next hemisphere. This usually meant he'd stake out a tree, settling in on a branch with his arms curled around his staff and little regard for anything else. He'd drift off into a dreamless sleep, and Pitch would watch.

He never spoke to the boy. He never tried to even approach him, weary of drawing the young thing in and growing attached. Because he would. He knew himself well enough after countless eons with nothing but shadows to keep him company that he would latch onto Jack's bright smile and easy conversation. The boy would cling to him in return, desperate for companionship as he was, and when he realized what kind of monster Pitch was, he would attempt to leave.

And Pitch would not let him go.

He would keep Jack for himself, cage him and break him, tarnish that wonderful brightness Jack radiated like fresh snowfall. Winter had been Pitch's domain for millenia before Jack. And if he let Jack close, he would make it his all over again.

It was best to leave him alone for now. Some day, maybe.

But Pitch couldn't stay away, attracted to the gleam of light on fresh snow like a moth to a flame, his shadow growing larger the closer he got. The temptation was ever present in his mind; to reach out, to touch, to take. He wanted this lonely little spirit for himself.

Pitch shook his head, settling down to sit on the branch Jack rested on. The sprite was fast asleep, shoulders and neck propped against the trunk of the tree, his brown cape pillowing his head. His staff was clutched close in his arms, little flakes of frost sparking from the curved tip with every soft snore.

Even in sleep, Jack's power was almost too much to contain. What the Nightmare King could do to use that power for himself...

Legs swinging idly from the branch, he looked away from the sleeping spirit, out to the winter wonderland beyond. Thick pine tree grew tall and vast all around, a veritable sea of green and brown, blanket in snow. The ground was completely covered in fresh powder, unblemished save for the few brave animals venturing out into the cold. Icicles hung from branches and ferns, sparkling in the starlight without the moon's overwhelming presence drowning them out.

It was beautiful.

The world felt far away and empty here, muffled and silent save for Jack's quiet snores and Pitch's own steady breathing. It was peaceful, and he felt himself relax as he simply watched the world turn, enjoying the cold and recalling a time when cold was his every day. His lips pulled up in a soft smile. He glanced at Jack.

The boy hadn't moved, laying surprisingly still for someone with so much restless energy during the day. He looked so young in his sleep, so content, and Pitch wondered if he would ever be able to have such a peace for himself.

He shook his head. Best not to think about it.

Jack shifted, drawing Pitch's attention back to him. His toes twitched, one foot kicking a little, just enough to brush Pitch's thigh for how close he sat. A noise slipped from Jack's mouth with the contact, and he shifted again, edging down the tree in his unconscious state as though seeking out the source, desperate for contact. Pitch watched, unblinking.

When Jack's toes found his leg, he sighed, the smallest of smiles tugging his lips. A hand came up to push the offending appendage away, but as Pitch gazed at that happy little grin, pale cheeks flushed the lightest shade of purple, and he hesitated. He should push him away. He knew he should; he couldn't risk getting attached to even the idea of friendship, let the boy desperate for it.

But he was weak, as the shadows often liked to remind him, and instead of shoving Jack's foot away and starting the sprite awake to get a quick dose of fright, he placed his hand gently on freezing toes. He swallowed, shifting closer and lifting both feet into his lap, where he covered them with both hands. Another sigh of contentment left Jack's parted lips, the younger spirit settling quickly despite Pitch's heat sinking into his skin. He rubbed gently at calloused skin, massaging the bare feet in his lap, watching Jack's peaceful face the whole time, looking for any sign of discomfort or alertness.

None could be found.

He didn't move for a long time, simply touching and watching, thinking of all the could haves and what ifs, the snow muffling the whispers of shadows.

When the sun finally peeked its first rays of light over the horizon and Jack stirred from his rest, Pitch was gone, melted into the shadow of a nearby tree. He was treated to the sight of Jack sitting up, blinking groggy eyes and wiggling his toes, staring at his feet for a long time with the kind of look on his face Pitch could only describe as wonder. He may need to go terrorize North a little for the thought, but he settled for watching the content little smile that lit up Jack's face.

[arkethamz]

Antonio doodle/info dump since he was around last month :3

left is the most recent doodles before i knew he'd be coming back

right is the first drawings of him (coincidentally exactly a year ago from June 1st)

more uncolored doodles n sketches. i kinda draw Antonio the most, but i rarely post about him (been gatekeepmaxxing)

last drawings that i actually still kinda like.. i have much more, i just don't like how they look anymore lmao

rambling wall of text infodump below the cut cuz i am just so autistic about this character LMAO sorry i'm a yapper-

anyway, contrary to popular belief, Antonio is actually my favorite RP character. just in general. and i've never actually seen him live until the other day. unbeknownst to me, i was waiting for a whole year to be able to actually see him live, i think i was more excited about it than cc!anthony was 💀

which might contribute to my love for him bc i had to piece him together like a puzzle from everyone else's POVs and clips n stuff. so at first i didn't want him to come back bc i was afraid he'd be different from the Antonio i made up in my head... but then. i haven't sat n watched, at mostly full attention, a whole stream for 7 hours in a while LOL

when i watched cc!buddha's rdrp vods a year ago n saw Antonio, i thought to myself "oh no... Tony isn't actually my new muse is he...?". and for a while i didn't draw him bc i didn't have any ideas + i didn't really know how to draw him. but i did know that when i did learn how to draw him, it'd be over for me (i wouldn't want to draw anyone else, and i was right oops 😭)

my idea of Antonio is he's just a dumb, impulsive, silly little theatre kid that got wrapped up in being an outlaw bc of Wu n Dot after his house burned down. they woulda been moving around in old box cars wherever the trains took them. Dot dies before the events of WildRP(headcanon), and Wu to me, is the autistic kid that follows Antonio around bc he talks a lot n has charisma lolol. also, to me, Wu is not as evil as he was intended to be, he just follows in Sonny's footsteps who's calculated n violent. While Antonio chooses Cesare's path to be more diplomatic and focuses more on his reputation. Antonio can't win a fight to save his life, and i love him for it. he thinks he's scary n dangerous, but to me, he couldn't hurt a fly hehe. i mean, one of the first things he did in the crossing was host a talent show at the local theatre. i'm a big fan of pathetic men, what can i say.

speaking of, i love how pathetically in love he is with Renni. and i love how, despite how much they like each other, they never actually get together n still respect each other as friends. they are the embodiment of the saying "if you love something let it go, if it comes back its yours" but without the last part.. they are so tragic to me.

in the last 3.5 years of watching rp, i've never had any character or character dynamic make me cry. like, as much as i love how doomed n toxic Donnie/Lang is, i've teared up a bit, but they've never made me cry just thinking about them. but Antonio, n by extension, his relationship with Renni, has made me cry multiple times just thinking about them 😭 and yeah, i cried the other day when Antonio was thinking about Renni LOL

idk why he's the character that changes my brain chemistry, but uh. he is. i've literally never rambled about a character so much online, sorry for the great wall of text bc of it.. i'm usually masking so hard a lot of the time, but i've been wanting to talk about Antonio for so long with no one to yap to so, yknow.. he gets me to unmask and i also love him for that :']

[a-blue-mask]

"Our dear thing"

McMillan twins x GN!Reader

Sequel to "Our pretty thing"

Warnings: romanticized toxicity, horror, gore, objectification, power dynamic, everything a relationship shouldn't be, romantic undertones but in the most wrong way possible?

Author note: GODS HOW LONG DID THIS TAKE ME. It sat in the drafts for an eternity. I didn't even add much before publishing but I needed to give it a conclusion that wasn't an attempt at something that just wasn't meant to be there. It's not even good as a whole but I want it out of the way. Have fun, enjoy, remember this isn't something meant to be healthy- y'all know the drill.

It had been a few weeks since you arrived in Forgotten Hill... since your abduction. You had come to accept the fact that you weren't leaving as you learned more about the town.

Forgotten Hill was under the control of a witch, Ruth, aided by Theodore, Ethan and Nathan. To think that something like witches and monsters existed... and two of those monsters had decided that you were their property. Yes, Ethan and Nathan had a human face and body, but you knew they were just as terrible as the disfigured beasts the doctor created, or the cannibalistic puppets the other made out of humans. You could pity those creatures, as you could have become one of them at any time; but you couldn't have pity or sympathy for their creators, your tormentors.

Your days were mostly spent at the hospital, where you had a room, the same one they put you in the first time you arrived. Now and then you would be pulled out of it and either twin would have a turn studying you.

Nathan seemed to be almost obsessed with your hands and limbs, observing and feeling your articulations bend. Sometimes he would bruise one of your fingers or dislocate your arms as he studied how they moved, by accident... though you suspected they weren't always accidents. After that he'd take you to his brother to "get you fixed". Ethan always scolded his twin for being so careless with you.

The colonel wasn't as rough. According to Theodore, a guy with a creepy smile that would visit the twins now and then, Ethan wanted to recreate your beauty. The doctor's studies usually included a lot of touching your face to feel the bones and muscles, and a lot of writing down notes and sketching what he guessed was under your skin.

Within the first visits, you learned to tell them apart by their looks: Ethan had a less cured appearance and dark circles under his eyes, and his expression was always serious and calm, while Nathan seemed to have infinite enthusiasm and energy, and he also cared more about his looks. Their personalities also differed. Ethan was stricter in dictating his rules, but rarely punished you for acting up and was more indulging in your questions. Nathan acted laid back and friendly, and he'd usually grant you more freedom in moving around as long as he could see you, but would easily snap if you did something he didn't approve of.

It was late at night, and you were strolling down the hospital's corridor, when you heard a loud scream. Nothing unusual, since you knew this place wasn't a real hospital and more like a monster factory where human rights were disregarded... Those screams were rather common. Still, the sound sent a shiver down your spine. It was a reminder that as soon as Ethan got done with his studying, that could become you, and your agony would echo in the halls as he turned you into a mindless monster. Then you'd aimlessly roam Forgotten Hill for the rest of your cursed existence.

It took all your willpower not to break down in that moment. You were used by now to the idea of danger lurking in every corner, but as you stopped fearing the immediate danger, it became easier to be scared of the future and feel helpless. Anxiety attacks and crying for hours were almost a daily routine. So lost in your thoughts, you didn't realise Ethan had stopped right behind you. His hand gently tapped on your shoulder, making you flinch and turn around abruptly. He was still wearing his operating claws, the long and sharp metal blades that helped him dissect his patients, so you accidentally cut your cheek on one of them in your movements. The scare and the small prick of pain were enough to send you into a breakdown, but you swallowed your tears and tried putting on a brave front. The doctor was looking at you through the eyes of his bug mask.

«My apologies dear... I should have taken these off earlier.» he said as he stepped closer, looking at the cut. It wasn't deep, but he still motioned for you to follow him to the nurse's office. As far as you knew there was no nurse in the hospital, though there were pictures of one in the office.

Ethan made you sit, then started taking off his operating claws. They were sharp, and looked clean, except for the one that scratched your cheek. A tear threatened to fall from your eye, as you thought that one day those claws could be dissecting you. Another flinch of your body followed as Ethan now pressed a tissue with alcohol to your cut. You didn't notice him getting closer, yet he was standing right in front of you now. You didn't notice him taking his mask off either, yet his dark eyes were staring right back into yours. Would he operate on you with his mask off? Or would you have to stare at the horrible bug eyes while your body got mutilated? It was haunting to think about.

«Why were you in the corridor? I thought I was clear about the rules.» he scolded you as he applied a small bandaid to your cheek. He would often catch you walking around despite not being allowed to, but he never really punished you for it. Still, his stern tone was enough to make your lip quiver.

«I-I'm sorry... I just couldn't sleep.»

His hand gently held the side of your face, his eyes scrutinizing your expression. Always so cold and analytical, would that be the look he'd give you on the operating table? Just thinking about it...

«Dear, are you crying?»

His voice was a little softer this time. Tears were freely falling down your cheeks, but you couldn't help it. It was all too much. Normally you'd try to hold yourself together until you were alone, but tonight it was all coming crashing down.

«I don't want to die... or to become a monster...» you murmured with a strained voice, trying your hardest to hold back your sobs. Ethan frowned, then took your face in both of his hands, holding you gently

«Dearest, I don't intend to do any of that to you... I promise I'll keep you safe, so don't cry, please.»

Even his voice was gentle now, and his eyes softer than you had ever seen before. It was hard to believe that was the same Ethan that would make the hospital echo in the screams of his patients. This Ethan didn't like to see you cry, he didn't intend to harm you, he just wanted to comfort you.

«You won't cut me up...?» was your quiet question, still suspicious yet looking for the reassurance. He hummed, still looking into your eyes, his thumbs gently caressing your cheeks.

«I won't. I'll keep you as beautiful and whole as you are now.» he promised. He could have been lying, he could have been telling you this to soothe your temporarily... But somehow you felt like that was a genuine promise.

Just as you had started to calm down, the door to the infirmary slammed open. A familiar mask peeked inside, one you knew all too well.

«There you are! I believe today-»

Nathan cut himself off suddenly. In an instant he moved from the door to where you were sitting, with those soulless orbs staring into your eyes. His mask, figuring a crow typical of Forgotten Hill, made your anxiety rise again. Maybe Ethan wouldn't hurt you, but would he stand up to Nathan if he had decided to turn you into a puppet? Or would you have to stare into the crow's eyes while your limbs got broken and replaced with sticks, your body then controlled by strings and forced to dance on the stage for all eternity?

«Why are you crying, dear? It's unlike Ethan to be rough.»

Even though you weren't crying anymore, tears still stained your cheeks. Nathan's hand, the same that often bruised your limbs by accident, came up to dry your face. Your body tensed up as soon as his fingers brushed against your skin, and it didn't go unnoticed by the puppeteer. He took off his mask, then held your face with both of his hands. Now that you could see his expression he looked less creepy, and almost concerned.

«Dear?»

Even his voice didn't sound playful at all, just concerned.

«Am... am I going to become a puppet?»

Your voice was shaky, a bit hoarse from your crying. Ethan tensed up in your peripheral vision, as if he also wasn't sure how his brother would react. Would he protect you from Nathan if it was the case? Would he-

A loud cackle interrupted your thoughts. Nathan was laughing... if you could even call it laughter. Maybe comparing it to a feral cat being mauled would have been more accurate. His whole body was shaking, he seemed hysterical. Your eyes were locked on the sight, unable to look away.

He calmed down slowly, taking deep breaths, though a giggle still escaped from his lips.

«Dear, did- did you really think that? It's been weeks, and y-»

«And our dear thing is confused.»

Ethan's calm interruption didn't seem to bother Nathan, who just shrugged at his twin. Then he suddenly got up from his chair, clasping his hands together.

«Today is the day of the show! Come on dear, I came here just to get you.»

«Show? What-»

But before you could ask more, Nathan had already begun to pull you up from your seat and towards the door. He seemed excited, more than usual. You, on the other hand, were feeling disoriented and almost nauseous. Your body and mind could only take so much after all, and right then you didn't know if you were supposed to be scared about what Nathan wanted to show you, or relieved because he didn't seem interested in turning you into a puppet. Or did he? Maybe he wanted to make you into a puppet after all, and simply wanted to drag you to the theatre first...

Everything had built up until you had passed out. That must have been it, because when you opened your eyes you weren't in the hospital anymore; you were in a seat, a theatre seat. The walls and ceiling were dark, and the lights in the room were dim. A blanket was draped over your body, protecting you from the cold. You vaguely remembered one time mentioning to Nathan how cold it was in the theatre, especially in the evening.

A light then shone on the stage; the red curtains parted, revealing a puppet dressed as a jester, with bulging soulless eyes and a disproportionate body. It gave you the creeps.

You looked away, to your left, feeling the unease bubble in your chest. That was once a human being, with thoughts and feelings just like you. Now? It was swiftly maneuvered by the puppeteer, making him- it talk and dance on stage, like nothing was wrong.

«He wanted to cheer you up.»

You jumped in your seat at the voice on your right and turned around. Mask off and leaning back in his seat, was Ethan. His eyes were on the stage, following the puppet as it launched in a monologue about the wonders of the world.

«Nathan hates improvisation. He needs a script, with clear actions and sentences that have been written over and over again, until they express exactly what he wants to communicate to his audience.»

Now another puppet, wearing a costume with a star mask and smaller stars shining on its clothes, joins the scene; apparently, the first puppet's attention is stolen by its presence.

«What... What does that mean?»

Ethan smiled, following the play. Now the man on stage was dancing with the star, at a slow pace.

«You should pay more attention to the show. He put a lot of effort in it.»

Your attention went back to the stage, even though you could feel your nausea rise as you watched the thin strings pull at the puppets limbs, forcing what were once people to just obey to their puppeteer. The dancing of the man and the star became suddenly faster. The star was struggling to keep up, and soon fell to the ground. The man kneeled by its side, as if concerned.

"Why did you fall, little star?"

"You danced too fast, and my feet got scared, so I fell."

"Are you afraid of me, little star?"

"Yes, I am afraid of you."

"But I want to keep you, little star."

"I don't want to be kept."

"But I'll admire you, little star."

"I don't want to be admired."

"But what can I do then, little star?"

"You can let me go."

The man shakes his head.

"You can't abandon me, little star."

"Why?"

Pause.

"I... I don't know."

"How can you not know?"

"I don't know. Sometimes I just see something... and I don't want to let go."

The star sits up. It's its moment to talk now.

"You're impulsive."

"I'll be careful."

"You're a monster."

"Not to you. Never to you."

It started to click in your brain. The scene on stage was just a mirror, you started to realise. A reflection of your reality. Or rather, the reflection he wanted to show you.

"But you'll cage me."

"I... I will protect you."

That was the last straw. You stood up, head spinning and vision blurring. He was trying to make you pity him, to make you empathize with him and feel sorry for being afraid of him.

And the worst thing? It was working.

You were starting to feel something different from fear.

And that felt even scarier than whatever fate was originally planned for you.

[kokoasci]

Do you happen to have any tips on "filling up negative space with random objects" like you mentioned in the tags of your "product of your environment" WIP post?

The finished piece is absolutely breathtaking and I wondered how you decided on what objects to use and how you positioned them to make the composition work so well, there's something so compelling and dynamic about it that I can't quite put into words!!

Seriously, your art is extremely inspiring and eye-catching, I could analyse and ramble on about each piece for hours hehe

yes ofc! :D one of my favorite things to do with my art fr

so this is how the piece originally started:

and it was just going to be a little sketch that i didnt put much effort into. i drew that little teacup there and was like huh what if i put more around it?? this turned into the idea of putting Mori pouring the cup, etc. etc. and i now knew what kind of message/theme i wanted this piece to take.

the paper koi were a product of trying to make stuff look more dynamic :D since you can bend and twist them, i thought they'd be a good fluid addition that i could manipulate to make the piece feel more full composition-wise and tie in to the horizontal orientiation i wanted to go for.

in terms of how i pick objects, i usually just browse pinterest for random objects that catch my eye LMAO 😭 its kind of a mixture between going for elegance and aesthetic and also just what i can draw in an interesting pose (teacups are not. usually floating and tipping in air, so taking an object and putting it in a situation it wouldn't be usually gives a comp a really striking effect i think)

i also like to keep in mind motion while i draw, and how "fast" i want this scene to be if it were animated or actually moving. cups pour pretty quickly, but i wanted the other objects to look like they were almost floating or moving very slowly, which is why i think i gravitated towards bigger objects like koi fish and plants. it creates this cool juxtaposition that draws the eye in really well as you're trying to make sense of a piece when you're first looking at it!!

maybe im rambling. but, thats how i got the finished composition!

[darkstar225]

Twice's 10th member gets the girls falling in love with her

A/N: I got an ask on Tumblr and I loved writing it, ty and I'm sorry for taking some time but studying sucks. This one is being posted as thanks for 24k views on Wattpad :D

The request: Hi! Can I request on Twice 10th member? Twice always treat 10th member as their baby sister, if you comfortable can you make where Twice start feeling different toward 10th member? Like they see/treating 10th member as lover and want to be her girlfriend something like that. Btw, 10th member's physical start to change like they became little bit muscular and taller than Tzuyu also her voice became little deep bcs of puberty. Have nice day :)

PS: Tysm for everyone who reads what I write, I hope I can bring a smile to your faces every time I post! I'd like to thank whoever sent me this idea 'cause I loved to write it <3

__________________________________________________________

In the vibrant heart of Seoul, amidst the urban hum of energy and dreams, the enchanting realm of TWICE thrived. Nine radiant stars illuminated stages and captured hearts, but the story was evolving, as the 10th member and maknae, Y/N, incorporated her own narrative into it.

Y/N, the newest addition to TWICE, had entered their lives with a captivating smile and quiet confidence, becoming an instant favourite. Her journey with the group had been a mix of shared laughter, tears, and unforgettable moments. However, something was shifting now, both within her and among her fellow members.

Subtle changes in how the others regarded Y/N started rippling through the group's dynamic. At first, it was easy to dismiss as imagination. Sana, known for her liveliness, now blushed at Y/N's mere presence. Dahyun's playfulness had taken on a more tender touch, often finding reasons to make physical contact. Jihyo, the leader, couldn't help but steal glances imbued with a depth beyond friendship.

Y/N's physical transformation, a natural progression of growth, was hard to overlook. Her muscles had refined into sculpted strength, proof of her unwavering dedication. A growth spurt had rendered her slightly taller than even the (once) giant Tzuyu. And her voice, now tinged with a deeper resonance, marked the passage of time and the changes that came with it.

Within TWICE's close-knit circle, these changes weren't just mere observations. They ignited a quiet revolution of emotions. Sana, usually the group's naughty soul, found herself mesmerized by Y/N's focus, the way her powerful arms moved with purpose. Chaeyoung, the artistic heart, found herself drawn to sketch Y/N repeatedly, capturing the essence of her newfound strength.

Tensions brewed beneath the surface. Tzuyu, who was typically unshakable, wrestled with a pang of jealousy whenever the youngest drew others' attention. She couldn't deny the admiration that stirred whenever her dongsang showcased her physical accomplishments. The sisterhood that had happened at first was evolving, and emotions were its unknown territory.

Y/N sensed the shift (girly isn't that dumb, neither blind), though she couldn't quite grasp it. The exchanges with her fellow members held an electric intensity she couldn't explain. Nayeon, the outspoken one, stumbled over words when Y/N was near. Jeongyeon, the protective sister, found herself lost in Y/N's eyes during conversations.

One evening, as the sun painted the sky in hues of amber, tension reached a breaking point. Mina, the embodiment of grace, approached Y/N with a tentative smile. 

Mina - Honey, can we talk?

Caught off guard, Y/N nodded. 

Y/N - Sure, Mina unnie. What's on your mind?

Mina took a deep breath, fingers fiddling with her shirt hem. 

Mina - Lately, I've been feeling something different. My heart races when I see you, and I can't explain it.

Realization dawned on Y/N. 

Y/N - You mean...?

Mina nodded, cheeks flushed. 

Y/N - I think I might be falling for you, darling.

The confession hung, palpable. Y/N's mind raced. One by one, members stepped forward, confessing their own emotions. Momo's sincerity, Sana's directness, Nayeon's vulnerability, each revelation stripped away barriers.

Vulnerability spawns honesty. Emotions spilt forth, exposing the intricate combo of feelings that had appeared. Momo, Sana, Nayeon, Jeongyeon, all of them laid bare their hearts, revealing the depth of their affection.

The moment shattered the building tension, giving way to an overwhelming mix of gratitude, surprise, and uncertainty. The group's dynamics had shifted irrevocably, and the path ahead was uncertain.

In the following days, Y/N embarked on heart-to-heart conversations, learning the extent of her members' feelings (even if she engaged with none of them). Each confession was a unique melody of emotions, some songs of love, some poems of admiration, and others yearning for undefined connection.

As the group navigated these uncharted waters, their bond proved resilient. Laughter blended with tears, and gradually, the dynamics found a new equilibrium. Y/N's presence had redefined the group, yet their sisterhood remained unbroken.

TWICE's sweetheart's journey with TWICE continued, marked by newfound understanding. Love, which had simmered beneath the surface, now danced openly in their interactions, enriching their shared experiences (created a lot of ships). As Y/N stood tall, strong, and confident, her place in TWICE was secure. Not just as the 10th member and their cute maknae, but as a cherished inhabitant of each member's heart. And this made all the members have only one thought:

We love our dear youngest.

A/N: I apologise for any errors, English is not my first language. Pls, let me know if there's something wrong, ty for reading <3

[the-cu-genswap-au]

Behind the scenes post #2

continuing where we left off

#4. Production trivia #3: a tip for making comics: I want to talk about this random shot of the wall here

- In comics, when you have a scene with two characters talking to each other, it gets really boring when the entire scene just keeps cutting back and forth between the two over and over for the entire conversation. You want the scene to feel dynamic, like these are two people moving and existing in a fleshed out world.

- My strategy for this is usually to cut away to an important object within the same scene, or something in the background, just to avoid making the scene feel monotonous. You can see the same thing in this panel

- The problem, though, is that sometimes this strategy doesn't always work as well

- With the random wall panel, I only added it in because I knew I wanted to cut away from the characters for a bit, but the setting they were talking in (random empty alley behind the playground) didn't have a lot of interesting background elements to switch over to. So, I settled for the wall behind them. Admittedly it's not the most visually interesting thing to cut to, but I'd rather have this than keep cutting back and forth between the characters.

#5. Real world influence:

- This shot of the playground was partially inspired by the playground at my own elementary school! I remember we had a fenced-in basketball court that faced out towards the park outside the school, and the entire fence was surrounded by trees and bushes. It made a nice shady spot to sit down and read in during recess.

- I draw a lot from my own elementary school experiences for this AU. I threw in a reference to Jerry Spinelli because we had to read a lot of his books in fourth grade, and a lot of smaller props the characters use are based on ones I remember using back then.

#6. Recurring detail:

- Sometimes I like to shade Melvin in a way that's meant to evoke Melvinborg. Not because Melvinborg is relevant to the AU, but because I just think it looks cool :)

#7. Complaining about my own handiwork: this is a really quick personal gripe I wanted to get off my chest

- Out of all the environments, vehicles, perspective shots, and crowd shots I've had to do so far for this comic, the hardest thing to draw by far.... has been George's arm in this panel.

- I don't know what happened here! Anatomy is usually so much easier to draw in the CU art style but this arm just didn't want to work for me! I genuinely spent hours trying to make this arm look good! Here's the sketch:

And here is where I considered giving up and drawing him a completely different arm position I thought might be easier to draw:

Ultimately I did go back to the original pose, though. It just felt a little more dynamic, and the scene really needed more dynamicism.

#8. Another little detail:

These two panels actually have some foreshadowing in them :) :). This will make sense later.

[meiuya]

HELLO i’ve been a huge fan of ur artworks ever since 2021/ur pjsk works which i still really adore, i really love how shapey u draw & i was wondering if u have any tips or if u have any inspirations for being able to draw such fluidity within ur works ? if that makes sense !!! idk but mainly just wanted to say i really love all of ur art so much 💝💝💝

to preface this may not be very specific but i hope you can still derive some level of perspective of how i go about things i guess maybe it partly comes down to trying to be loose with it...? if i'm sketching with the intention of making it a full drawing then those sketches are usually rough and very messy. you can always make changes later, trust the process and whatnot, but once u have that energy that's something u can keep working off of.. like for a few things i drew back then i just immediately went into the colors without a sketch and that's still something that i do sometimes. and also i abuse the selection/transform tool like crazy HAHAH. i just move & redraw & stretch things until they look interesting. if you can be loose and have fun with it that's the key 2 unlocking your brain, which is what i am still forever trying to do. oh and curved lines r life...

in terms of inspirations for fluidity in particular there's a number of them but i think yuji uekawa's sonic art (particularly from the 90s-00s) and similar such works are the probably the most significant to mention. endless love in my <3 for this sort of stuff:

i draw sonic so much more than i post whoops but he just has a natural dynamism inherent to his design so i'd say most of the energy you might be getting from my stuff is what i picked up from drawing him a hundred times and then that maybe rubbing off on whatever else i draw or me trying to channel him LOL.

& of course thank you soooo much for your kind words ^_^. it means a lot! i don't know if any of this is helpful at all so if you wanna ask further feel free... but thank you again for enjoying my stuff for so long, it's truly truly very appreciated

[giddlygoat]

some of my thoughts on drawing, learning the accordion, and how they apply to each other.

i have been drawing my whole life. the last time i can remember feeling genuinely ashamed of my artistic skills was when i was probably 12. at some point i was able to look at my art and realize it wasn’t anywhere near perfect, and i became okay with that. nowadays, i have no anxiety about posting my art or leaving a piece with flaws, because i like my style and i’m comfortable enough in my skills and the knowledge that there will always be room for improvement to allow myself to simply enjoy what i create.

i have always been fascinated by the accordion. around age 11 i started considering learning to play it. by 13 i saw one at an antique store and seriously considering buying it for a long time, but did not. as the years go on i find that artistic burnout is becoming more of a frequent issue with me, and i often find myself desperately wishing i had a gratifying way of expressing myself other than drawing.

i’m always humming, and doing the mouth trumpet, and clicking and clapping out tunes all day. singing and scatting are some of my favorite pastimes. i can do all this but it’s not the same as playing an instrument. i feel like it can never quite extend past my fingertips; like i’m cranking out all this energy and excitement but it can’t go anywhere. it’s like not being able to get past the sketch when you have a whole painting inside you.

about three months ago, i finally picked up the accordion. i don’t know how to read music. my understanding of the technical side of music is pathetic, although i have a good natural sense for it, and now, a good teacher. i am scared.

i have all the usual beginner issues: my hands don’t know where to go, i’m not used to the weight of the instrument, and it feels alien in a way, just to name a few.

there’s another problem, too. i’m good at drawing.

everywhere i go, i see things i want to paint. i’m taking pictures of the pickled jalapeños and carrots at work because i want to study how they interact with the opaque black plastic container, all little dynamic shapes of green and orange swimming in vinegar. i’m watching a cat stretch and yawn on the concrete and lay down in a sunbeam that looks too heavenly to be real - it gives me an idea for a sketch.

i look at the arms of the man loading hay bales with me, and try to commit to memory how the muscles move under the skin, what foot he puts his weight on, how he wipes his forehead and shifts his weight. it makes me want to draw pages of people doing mundane things, studying how weight and action and stylization works together to create something satisfying and alive. i want to do the beauty of the universe justice.

when i open procreate to draw, i am not thinking of anything. my hands know where to go, i don’t even have to look at the buttons or tools to know what i’m doing, and all these complicated layers interacting with each other and their applied effects and backgrounds etc come like second nature to me now.

the first day i used procreate, i was so overwhelmed, i was afraid to touch anything.

the first day i held an accordion, it was the same.

my problem is that i know how to look at art and examine why techniques work or not, and i don’t quite have those skills when it comes to music. sure, i can slap beautiful harmony onto any song, but heck if i know what notes they are. i couldn’t tell you what key the song is in or what defines a measure.

and i realized that while now i am looking through this frosted glass trying to make out the basic shapes behind it, one day, i will be able to peel back the mystery and truly understand not only how this instrument functions, but how music flows, too. because i see art in everything. i understand the weight of people and objects and how they would interact in a cartoon. the colors of a blooming cactus in my yard become lemony saturated in the early light and pale and dusty in the late evening. i can see the line of action in characters and better understand the composition behind paintings, and why it works.

it’s my hope, that as time spent with my accordion goes on, i will start to see music in everything, too. there’s nothing i want more than to understand it and speak its language as i do with art. i want to someday pick up my accordion and make up a melody as i would sketch out a doodle. this is the kind of stuff i think about all day.

[plushmayhem]

Progress talk thread

I like to take a lot of backups as I draw so we I can show off my widdle Lilly wips!! I'm drawing again that means I get to talk about drawing again yahoo

Lately when starting a drawing I've been trying to block out very rough thumbnails as seen above! I usually just start drawing like, the head, and trying to then figure out a body under neath and line by line it all ends up pretty similar to my past stuff because it's just not planned out! I don't know where the road is taking me!

So by starting out and trying to throw together the general pose with just a blown up light brush I'm coming up with much more interesting piece! I can figure out the general shape of the entire piece and then start working on top. No making a shoulder then drawing the hand over it and then erasing the shoulder and getting frustrated because it just doesn't look connected right because I didn't plan it out… where does this drawing end? where's the limits?? where am I going?? So my current workflow involves

Make the dimensions of the piece roughly (just throw a coloured rectangle down) -> very roughly block out the shape of the body within it

This also has the benefit of inspiring me to fill in the blanks with a pose I didn't initially expect! The body is reversed from my initial vague idea because seeing the blobs made me go OH IT'D BE COOL IF I DID IT WITH THE BODY FACING THIS DIRECTION ACTUALLY LET'S MAKE THAT WORK!! If you look at the initial you can kinda see it looks more like she's looking down at you with the raised arm being the one facing you.

Anyways after doing my personal Holiday pic the other day, I was like, it would be cool to do a small run of postcards to send to people yahoo!! I checked the sizes of postcards and none were even close! They all had like an extra inch on of extra space on the bottom whoops! I free style my rectangle sizes when planning an illustration and I guess they're closer to square than the ideal rectangle! Whoops!

So for this one after getting the initial sketch down I thought, hey how close is this to 5x7? AND LO AND BEHOLD IT WAS THE SAME ISSUE!!! So I took filling out the extra space as a challenge. I'm trying to be more dynamic with my art after all!

I spent time adjusting the piece in sai2 using the transform tool with it's perspective skewing on. I wiggled and rotated and pushed n pulled and you get what you see above. A much more dynamic piece filling out the canvas!

The thing that took the most time in this phase was getting the skirt to a shape I found acceptable.

Up next was moving towards making it a finished piece!

Thick lineart is something I've been deciding if I want to stick with or not but honestly it's my natural state! I love thick lineart!! I grew up on manga I wanna see some black lines!!! In the future I wanna go back to colouring lineart as well but for now I believe I need to lean into my natural tendencies for thick lines!

I threw down my lineart to a mostly acceptable state, and brainstormed ways to fill the empty space surrounding Lilly. I found there was just a lot of empty space in the bottom left and I didn't really solve that in the final, but that's ok. It's something I'm trying to be aware of as I actually attempt illustrations. I want to finish pieces right now, I'm not in a place where I can let perfectionism slow me down.

Currently my layers are (face) and (lineart) I throw down some flat colours, a light layer above and for once I tried a shade layer too! It might of been a multiply layer. It was probably was. Anyways this is what I was happy with before moving forward with refining it. I'm currently going with more focus on like, backlighting/rimlighting because it's easier to make it work with my no context existing in da void illustrations haha.

To refine it, right now, I'm playing around with mainly using one layer. So I slammed together my layers other than the face (I made that mistake with my previous piece and that's how we ended up with the eyebrow incident. I wasn't going to put myself in a place where I had to erase an eyebrow again) and started sculpting!

I think sculpting is the best way to describe it, really. It's a lot of slamming down chunky lines, and since the lineart is on the same layer, I'm constantly pushing colours out and finding the ideal shape of both it and the lineart. It helps me push my shapes even farther and let the colours take priority when they need to. Instead of them being separate things I worry about they're all just one big piece!

I was a bit worried about merging the plaid pattern down as well, but I did my best to get the skirt in a place I wasn't going to adjust much after the merge. That was the biggest priority of the previous step really.

It's a lot of fun! I recommend people try it! Try sculpting your lineart a bit!

I added the necklace accessory after since I knew trying to fit it in earlier would also be a pain in the ass haha. I'm not a one layer purist! I'm just having fun!

The background, I went in with no idea for a bg. So this is what we get. I think it works fine for this piece, it's a vtuber attacking you with big fluffy bear claws with no context other than that they are a bear and they're going to fucking get you. Red fits, Lilly has a very orange/red hued design and it's an aggressive attack so the mood works. I could of even gone harder and made it look a bit more splattery but I wasn't sure if I was going to fill up the bottom left space or not.

Looking back maybe I could fit in her name on a cool blood splatter there but I am not a graphic design major my brain is growing slowly in this department thank you

Also fluffy claw gloves usually have much less defined fingers but I couldn't make mitts look good with my initial plans so I stuck with my initial idea!!! Thank u.

Anyways follow Lilly [Twitch]

[v3lleityy]

hello! i admire ur art so much <33!! i just want to ask (sorry if its been asked before) how did you improve your anatomy? and do you have any tips or things u wish u learned sooner? no pressure to reply btw, just curious :))!! ok thank you, bye !! keep making art xx 🤍

Tysm!! and no don't worry about asking, honestly I didn't study anatomy as well as I should've... I kind of just slowly picked it up over time.

The way I improved my anatomy has to do with how I structure my (human) sketch as a whole. Usually for my art I either find a reference online or take a picture of myself for reference, and then I digitally trace over that photo and break the body/human form into shapes (if you're doing this to practice anatomy, I recommend using models in less clothing/tight clothing so you can more clearly see the form).

It's best to use very simple shapes especially when you're first starting, like ovals and boxes (try to avoid straight lines in anatomy in your FINAL piece, the human body is curved!!).

After that, I use the broken-down shape version of the photo as a reference and recreate it by myself without tracing, mimicking the shapes and using it as a guide. Once you have the simplified shape version of the body, you can go over it and connect the shapes to make it look more like the natural figure!!

Here is an example of my steps:

I still do this with almost every piece I do, and while it works well for me, it does prevent you from actually UNDERSTANDING anatomy. Something I wish I’d done sooner was to pay attention to WHY the body moves and bends how it does. Even without a proper anatomy study, you’ll usually pick up things about the movement of the body from using several references. Using references with dynamic poses can help with that especially, at least in my experience.

If you want to really study anatomy, I recommend starting with figure drawings on a daily basis; take 60 seconds to copy the GENERAL form and pose of a model, don’t worry about details. The point of figure drawings is to practice capturing the human figure. Doing this every day will ultimately help you in the long run. quickpose is a good website for this, but be warned, there are nude models!

If you want to get serious about anatomy, do individual studies. Limit yourself to just a singular muscle or group, and focus on the way that specific muscle moves and flexes, drawing it in different ways.

Those two methods of learning anatomy don’t work well for me, so the method of breaking references into shapes and using those shapes as a guide is what I’ve always done, but everyone learns in different ways. You just need to find out what works for you! This was probably way longer than you wanted, but I hope it was at least a little helpful😋

[queerdraws]

i love your postcard artwork for the zolu playlist SO much!! the colours are so so good and i love the brushwork! i think my favourites are a tie between the one for chikai and the one for simple song <3 also, I was wondering if you could share what brushes you used + how long they took you! looking at your art makes me want to draw again after not doing it for so long

Thank you!! and wow i think this is the first time someone's asked me for my brushes, this is like a digital artist rite of passage!

Answers n screenshots n stuff under cut (I went a little to ham on this oops)

While we're talking settings I want to give a quick PSA to all digital artists:

CHECK UR ASPECT RATIO!!!: (MOST IMPORTANT SETTING BY FAR)

DO NOT DRAW WITH THIS ALL MESSED UP, IT WILL DRIVE YOU CRAZY. It's probably good to check this after every system update (I don't, but, you know...). Windows likes to mess w your shit when it updates.

If you have a really tiny tablet you might need to trace outside a bottle lid or something.

Okay now on to the meat of the post

-- Brush Stuff --

I use Clip Studio Paint. For my playlist drawings I think I only used these brushes (these are my main 3 in general) (p.s. they're all default brushes! but i've adjusted the settings):

1) Gouache This is most of what i used for the postcards. I nuked Color Stretch because i hate it (it blends colors together as you're painting, like painting over wet paint. I prefer things to look more crisp)

2) Real G-Pen Used this as little as possible, to keep the painterly effect. My preferred fine-detail pen, has a nice crunch to it. I've fine-tuned my setting further in the thickness dynamics / brush size dynamics settings because I mostly use this brush for linework and wanted it to handle really, really naturally and precisely

The random box is checked by default, probably to make this brush feel more like handling a real inkdip pen (I don't like that)

3) Mapping Pen Least used. I generally keep this brush at the 50-70px range. It's unpleasant to use for detail work (the taper is really fiddly at my tablet pressure settings) but good at filling in large areas very opaque very quickly, with a crisp edge (Also, doesn't lag as much as the gouache brush at large-ish sizes). Has enough wiggle room that it can be used to approximately fill tighter spaces at large brush sizes. Used for when I needed to quickly color over an area that wasn't working or quickly fill in background color that didn't need paintbrush texture. Did not realized the stabilization was set to 10 until just now. I usually turn that waaay down to prevent lag (my laptop isn't very old but it's a sensitive beast)

Other stuff that'll help:

General pen pressure: (under File -> Pen Pressure Settings)

tweaking how CSPaint handled my pen pressure helped a lot with making lineart look more natural. It's worth messing around with this and trying out different settings for a while to see how they feel.

-- How Long it Takes 2 Draw --

I don't really keep track of how long art takes me from start to finish, and making the playlist drawings was kinda nonlinear 😅 sorry!

-> I started out sketching really quick composition and color ideas as the songs were playing, limiting myself to just the duration of each song (so like, 5 minutes for this part) -> i did that again at least 2 more times per song -> after that, idk. I would work on one pic then get stuck and move to another. Some I could hammer out in like... 5 hours? Some took me upwards of 20 (30?) hours for no real reason (I have "will graham clock" days, where I'll try to draw a face over and over and it'll look really strange, like will graham's clock drawing every time) (this seems to be either a vitamin deficiency or a brainfog inflammation type thing 4 me 😵‍)

I'll use ur two favorites as specific examples: -> Chikai was one that went pretty quickly (with the exception of their arms and the clothing folds there giving me trouble). Probably took 4-6 hours? -> Simple Song had a couple different versions, partially because I initially had the cards all laid out landscape-style, and I decided I actually wanted them all portrait-style & repainted it after it was already done. That aside, the colors /atmosphere on that one gave me trouble and the general composition / perspective had a lot of tweaks (I was trying to figure out if I wanted it to be a kinda flat stylistic perspective or if I wanted it to make more literal sense, trying to figure out what to do with luffy, trying to make him not look Too baby boy sweetie pie). Probably took 7-10 hours...?

In-progress landscape versions: (varying levels of in-progress)

Misc in-progress of Chikai and Simple Song:

Simple song looks kinda sequential like this lmao. Luffy looks like he's A-posing and floating away to the boat and then sitting down pleasantly in it. Wonderful. --

Anway -- hope any of that was helpful!

[dandyshucks]

okay okay here we go - very messy off-the-cuff oc intro under the cut with some design sketches + doodles (IT'S KIND OF LONG):

random other doodle (another system member's self portrait i think? idk djfkdl) for the last pic there sorry fhdksl it was just a handy photo i had on hand that had almost the same dimensions for tumblrs cropping shenanigans (also that one emoji is there in the first pic bc i couldn't get that eye to cooperate fjkdkl)

anyhowdy uhhmm heres Theodor and Philby... Theodor uses he/she and Philby uses they/it and I'm literally just now realizing that they cover the main four bases wtf ... that was not intentional but it is funky and fun !! Theodor has a few nicknames like Teddy, Dory, Theo, etc, while Philby is is just Philby (their full name is Philbert but only their parents call them that LOL)

Theodor has a port wine stain birthmark on his left cheek ! and Philby potentially has rosacea but I'm still looking into that to make sure I'm not pulling any shitty moves if I'm going to have that be a part of their character. they (Philby) use mobility aids occasionally, generally just a cane, sometimes crutches, but they also have a wheelchair on hand for more difficult days.

Teddy is an interesting mix of very patient and loving while also sometimes cocky and impulsive, so he sometimes say things that are unintentionally hurtful or offensive (but is learning to apologize swiftly to help mend his mistakes). to people who don't know him well, he might come across as arrogant occasionally. he enjoys designing clothing items that Philby will often sew up for him, as well as experimenting with different coloured art mediums (pastels, paint, chalk, etc) and makeup (he is absolutely a skincare girlie fjfkdl). he comes from a family that's well-off (definitely upper class but not necessarily wealthy) so he's used to having money to throw around and doesn't quite fully grasp what it's like to be poor or working (or even middle) class, so there's some butting of heads there.

Philby comes from a working class family, not poor but definitely lower class lol. they have a fair amount of pride and can be kind of prickly, but they're extremely thoughtful and can be very kind and patient when they want to be. they're very practical and well-organized, and is integral to keeping things running smoothly in the household. they're very skilled with sewing and they also happen to be a good cartoonist! it takes a bit for them to warm up to new people, but they're usually just neutral and maybe a bit blunt with people they don't know well. if they dislike a person, they tend to have an attitude of "i don't want to waste any of my time on this person" and avoids the person rather than taking the time and energy to decide if they want to be pointedly rude or remain polite.

both of them are really good with kids in their own way! Philby likes being fun and clownish while Teddy prefers to be more of a comforting ... well... teddy bear sort of presence LOL. both of them are super patient w kids though, and they love to spend time helping out with kids when someone needs a babysitter! (why yes this is almost entirely just an excuse for me to think abt how they'd be so good with the kiddos in our system LMAO) if they ever ran a daycare or preschool together they'd be absolutely phenomenal at it, especially since they make up for what the other lacks in their approaches to interacting with children.

Theo prefers kitschy grandma-type aesthetics in both clothing and decor, while Philby enjoys a lot of bright colours and fun patterns that would fit more into "c.lowncore" and "k.idcore" aesthetics (with some occasional punk influences). Theo enjoys a lot of clothing that is maybe considered more feminine, while Philby just wears whatever is comfortable and brightly coloured, occasionally with some blacks to make the colours pop more!

they have a really interesting contrasting dynamic, Theo being a "gentle giant" while also being somewhat impulsive and more prone to hurting people accidentally with his words, and Philby being smaller in stature and more prickly but also much more thoughtful and careful with their words and actions.

also bonus funny thing: Theodor had a trad g.oth phase as a teen in highschool that lasted a couple years hehe