#your art style is so fluid and cool. i love it

[themortaldraw]

this is so lazily done lol but I wanted to doodle turnip four (he thinks he looks bad ass, the monsters they're fighting are laughing at him)

TURNIP FOR WHAT!!

[lilybug-02]

:D We gotta end it off somehow right?

CT Kris in the background:

The actual reason they ditched Chara.

Fan-art because I can draw. And I um.. kinda really love @akanemnon‘s comic…

Kind of a minicomic below…

Please forgive me. I’ve had this in my head forever and just wanted to share my AU meeting yours. That is my Final message. Goodbye. 🫡 jumping in this hole now 🕳️🚶‍♀️

[solxamber]

PSssstt I just Love the idea of teaching epel the capoeira fighting Style, it looks like somewhat of a dance but it’s really cool, and Vil has no choice but to allow it because this type of martial arts doesnt seem as brutish as other styles

I went to research what capoeira was to write this and got sucked into watching an hour of videos.

Also thank you for the request, I hope you like it <3

The day you decided to teach Epel capoeira was the day Vil learned what real suffering looked like.

“Dance fighting?” Vil had narrowed his eyes at the words, suspicion already hanging heavy in the air. “I don’t want Epel involved in anything that makes him look any less graceful.”

You had simply waved a hand at Vil, grinning with mischief as you spun towards Epel, who looked at you like you were about to hand him the holy grail of badassery. “Don’t worry, Vil, it’s not brutish. It’s artistic. There’s rhythm, elegance—”

“And kicks to the face,” Vil deadpanned.

Epel perked up immediately. “Wait, kicks to the face?”

You clapped a hand on his shoulder, nodding. “Kicks to the face.”

“That sounds amazing!” Epel grinned.

Vil sighed dramatically. “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?"

You took Epel to the courtyard for your first capoeira session. He stood there, looking a little confused, while you bounced lightly on your feet, demonstrating the basic movements with a graceful sway of your hips.

“It’s like dancing,” you explained, “but with more flair. See, you start with this move—the ginga. It’s all about rhythm, making your opponent think you're in a dance, then BAM—”

You twisted into a fluid kick that had Epel’s eyes widen in awe.

Epel tried to imitate you, his movements a little stiff, but the kid had spirit. “This feels so cool already!”

You flashed him a grin. “Trust me, when Vil sees this, he won’t even be mad. He’ll be impressed. Just imagine his face when you pull this off with grace and precision.”

“Or,” came Vil’s voice from a distance as he watched the two of you, “I’ll be horrified at the utter lack of coordination.”

You turned to Vil with a dramatic bow. “Fear not, great Vil, for Epel is going to be the most elegant, face-kicking machine Twisted Wonderland has ever seen.”

Epel, laughing, threw himself into another attempt at the moves. The kick didn’t quite hit the mark, but you saw potential. His eyes sparkled with excitement. “Am I getting it? I feel like I’m getting it.”

You patted his back. “You’ve got the spirit! Now, just remember, it’s not just about strength, it’s about flow. You want to move like water, Epel.”

Vil rubbed his temples, clearly beginning to wonder why he had allowed this madness. “Flow like water, he says, yet here we are, barely avoiding disaster…”

With a sly look at Vil, you added, “Hey, why don’t you try it too? You’ve got good rhythm from all that stage practice.”

Vil blinked at you, entirely unamused. “As if I would risk breaking a nail on this—”

But before he could finish his sentence, Epel swung into a surprisingly graceful spin-kick that nearly grazed Vil’s nose. Vil jerked back, eyes wide.

“Oops,” Epel said sheepishly. “Sorry, Vil.”

You burst out laughing, and even Vil couldn’t hold back a small smirk. He raised an eyebrow at you. “Fine. I’ll admit… there’s a certain charm to it. Just as long as Epel doesn’t try this at a gala.”

Epel grinned, puffing his chest out. “I could totally pull this off at a fancy party.”

You snickered. “And if anyone asks, just tell them it’s interpretive dance.”

Vil groaned. “I should have known you’d drag me into this chaos.”

“Chaos?” You winked at him. “I prefer the term… art in motion.”

As you continued training Epel, Vil found himself shaking his head with amusement. “Just don’t destroy any furniture when you inevitably try this indoors.”

You grinned. “No promises.”

[late-draft]

Hello, Dema here!

First off—I have fallen desperately in love with your artworks. You have a very particular style, strong and fluid all the same, and I can't help but admire the way you draw and how you approach character design.

And talking about character design...

I saw your post about Zuko's bold design in S1 when compared to what we got in S3 and—as much as I love S3-Zuko—I completely agree with you. Something I've always loved about Zuko in S1 is just how striking he was, how much of a presence he had, even when he was being tossed around by a twelve-year-old. That being said, I love Zuko, I love him in armor and pointy shoes and with a ponytail, and I loved your alternative design for him.

What do you think about his S2 character design? How does it flow with the story beats and his overall character arc? Much has been said about the Hair-Growth-Means-Character-Growth (and I find it interesting, also, that he cut his hair again before joining the Gaang), but I'd like to know your opinion on how that translates to character design and how the decisions made in the show could be either good or bad in that regard.

Sorry about the long ask! I've just been thinking about this a lot, lately, and would like to know what you think. Hope you have a good day ❤️

AAAA Dema hii!!! I'm so happy I got a message from you, I didn't expect it!!

I'm super glad to hear, I'll wear it as a badge of honour and I must tell you that I also love your art, you wonderfully do volume and the shading done through a contrast of sharp and soft areas! Super solid anatomy too and I'd be lying if I said I didn't look up to your art!

Yess the character designs in the show actually are rather strong, I like a good balance between memorable and functional. Zuko is just *chef kiss* but, considering just how many appearance changes he goes through, some are bound to be weaker than the starting one. That said, I'm gonna go through a few of his S2 looks and make this reply long, ha!

The starting one when he ends up huddling with uncle Iroh with other poor refugees, fits extremely well for the narrative at the moment. It's actually one of my least liked looks for him, and that's great!! It's precisely how it should be, because he's also arguably at one of his two lowest moral points in the story - he basically lost almost all hope, no clear goal, nothing to fight for, he's desperate precisely because of the lack of orientation and thus his morals degrade and sink veeery low. He gets on my nerves so goddamn much in this period LMAO I want to beat him up, he looks like a recovering drug addict... annoying, entitled whiny jerk stealing food and anything shiny for his uncle, but even then he just does not cross the moral event horizon. Excellent characterization. He just looks atrocious and it's great because it fits this low point.

Next he gets the standard boyish square of a hair, no notes here...

But theeeen, he arrives at one of my favourite looks of his, and it's not just because the clothes fit him very nicely (I've seen fandom say they look too big for him which, maybe?? But it doesn't look like he's swimming in them to me) And a thing I've noticed which, maybe it was just an accident on design part but I'm not sure considering they colour coded the entire cave scene; in this part his clothes match the shape of Katara's, first one in bottom then the one in top. The collar is the same haf-circle design but I don't know, maybe there was a limited pool of clothes designs guide which they cycled through. Or, he really is meant to come close but miss Katara by a beat, like sine and cosine chasing each other.

But besides this outfit fitting the inconspicuous Earth Kingdom customer service persona, it also (perhaps inadvertently) does this VERY cool thing:

It makes his shape look closed off and guarded, supposedly non-threatening. It's most visible in his fight against Jet, whose shape is open and goes in many directions like an aggressive star. But then look at what Zuko's shape does:

When he attacks, it opens up to reveal the hidden aspect, again the aggressive star shape shows up! The same thing happens in "Zuko alone" episode but I think it's most clearly visible in this fight against Jet because here he has a direct contrast and comparing with Jet. I think this is an example where the outfit, whose similar design exists irl, overlaps with a great visual metaphor and enhances the narrative at that moment in story. He's still that combative firebender but he has to keep that aspect concealed most of the time. Plus it just looks badass as hell!!

Animators really knocked it out of the park with many frames. I think Jun was too early and missed his better hairstyle, but Katara was just in time.

I agree it's super funny how his hair in the Beach is awfully long, covers his face to an uncomfortable degree and then he apparently shortens it before joining the Gaang, insane behaviour Truly an "I'm so angry and depressed I won't show my face nor be capable of seeing anything because there's nothing nice to see in my life" look...

I guess all his appearances in S2 cover his mental states, but only one of them is extremely Extra (the tea server, doesn't even take the apron off and goes to fight) and I don't see any spot where a similar tier design could be shoved in, narratively speaking. So all in all, S2 did as much as S2 could have. More tea server arc please though, the Guru episode really feels like it skipped 800 km of plot and everything that happened in it is so crammed and pretty sus in terms of character behaviour.

[iztea]

Iztea I need your help💔💔 I'm genuinely trying to find my art style but I'm not very good at art in the first place, I'm a beginner and I just don't feel motivated to draw anymore because I'm not good at it,, can you pls link your tutorials so I can try to follow them the best I can..😓 I genuinely love your art and your a huge inspiration but I can't draw for shit. A lot of the tutorials on YouTube don't actually help me as much as they do for other people so I'm lowkey putting my faith in you to try and help me lmao, I just can't get the proportions of anything right, like I can't draw a body or head,, and when I trace things it just feels like cheating in art like ugghhjjnn,, can you help me😓☹️

If you struggle with proportions, then drawing over the reference photo (which you should totally have, btw) to get a feel for the distance between things is a great starting point. I also think you should have simplified anatomy references, as well as references from other artists. Basically, everything I mentioned here i don't want to repeat the same points

Tracing is not "cheating" if you're using it to learn. It can be very distasteful if it's used for finished art, where it is obviously meant to replace actual skill, or if it's traced from another artist. If you're using it to study and as a stepping stone to improve your skills, then it's totally fine and even encouraged (it's like doing assisted pull-ups at the gym). But you gotta to play it smart—tracing the actual outline without engaging in critical thought leads to ugly, mediocre, commercialized art that we don't want because we're cool based and always striving to improve ourselves

Okay anyways "But how exactly do I trace references in a smart way, iztea?" Well, like I said, you can lower the opacity of your reference photo and draw over it. Use the general shapes and volume of the body as your guide until you learn to draw without them. Don't follow the outline exactly—exaggerate or stylize the limbs to your liking. For example, I like drawing small wrists and long, slim necks because I think it looks more appealing. So whenever I'm using a reference, I (subconsciously most of the time) slim these body parts down, elongate the fingers, and so on. If you're still not sure what your style is, that's fine too. Use this exercise to find out what your hand naturally leans into

I'm not the cleanest sketcher, and it's been a while since I've done this sort of approach, so excuse the messiness but I wanted to show an example of how I'd tackle this technique. If you look closely, you'll see that I didn't exactly draw over the body parts, especially in the neck and arm area. I exaggerated the posture by adding more gestures—I made the shoulders rounder, the skull bigger, and the arms and neck longer and slimmer. I didn't focus on details like the face or fingers because that's not the point

The next important step after creating your guidelines is to redraw the lines from scratch on a separate layer, but this time without the reference. Set the reference aside and focus on copying your own guidelines. Afterward, compare the two drawings to check if your proportions are accurate. If they're off, take note of any recurring mistakes and correct them. For example, I have a tendency to draw the mouth too far down on the face, so it's something I am always aware of whenever I'm drawing. Other times, I draw the eyebrows too high from the eyes and so on. Another important thing to point out is that not all references are created equal—there are such things as bad or poor references. If the body’s silhouette looks like a blob or the limbs are heavily foreshortened, you'll find it much harder to draw so for practice, I recommend choosing poses that are fluid, clear, and expressive, with good lighting and features you can exaggerate. This will make it easier to understand the form and you'll have more fun in general I've provided a little comparison below. I'm not saying the 2nd pose is terrible and impossible to draw, it's obviously not, you can draw anything you want howeveerrr if you're just starting out, painting the 2nd one can be much more challenging due to it not being very clear in shape, value range, pose, gesture etc. So what I'm trying to say is to choose your poses wisely too

I don't remember doing any tutorials outside that hair one unless you consider my rambling sessions tutorials (i don't) but you can also scroll through the #ask iztea: art talk hashtag for whatever art-related question I might have answered I'm too lazy to link everything so YOU put the work and stalk my page

anyways yeah idk this is how i'd start.... so to summarize:

pull up references, from both real-life people, simplified anatomy sheets, and artists you like

draw over your reference photo and treat it as your training wheels

close the og reference, and use the newly traced, much more simplified outline as your new reference, and now draw the pose again, but "freehand" this time

compare the traced and the freehand version, take notice of your proportions and try to correct them

choose good, readable, easy to draw refs

never give up never what

[astro-inthestars]

THANK YOU CHIP I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND HOW YOU DRAW HANDS

Me when I fall asleep! Hi bestie, I just wanna know... How do you draw hands?? You have a certain style to it, that makes it look so shaped yet still fluid like... I can't describe it, but what's your process when drawing ✨hands✨ (...of tiIIIME– sorry.)

Huh! Well I guess I never really thought about it... I kinda just auto-pilot when I draw hands now that I think of it, so I don't really have a "process" But I'll try to explain the best I can regardless!

Though not what I always do(sometimes I just wing it), I start with the usual shape base for the palm! Though sometimes I forget it's the palm and just use it as a base- and it's not a strict base! Don't gotta follow it 100%, if you gotta break it to make the pose work better, do it! I always have an idea of where the fingers will be when I draw the base, so I don't really map em out at all like others would with the circle thumb trick n all. (nothing wrong with that trick of course, just never worked for me)

More under cut!!

During the sketch I usually just vaguely map out the fingers like this, like mittens! And honestly, more often than not I keep em like that in the final product, lmao.

Don't be afraid to merge together two or more fingers if it helps get the pose across better! Just make it obvious it's not one huge finger by adding bumps or a line where the fingers would usually split.

I always add a curve to the base/fingers to make the poses less stiff! No matter the pose, I try to avoid straight lines on the hands! Even the slightest curve is enough for me. Though that doesn't always fit! Sometimes you gotta have a straight line or two, especially if it suits your style more! Nothing wrong with that.

Remember that the thumb and the index finger are attached! Try to make their lines flow together when possible.

Also, when I draw clutched hands, I make the index finger poke out a bit!

I don't usually draw hands with wrists attached now that I think about it(I like drawing long sleeves,,), but when I do, I make sure there's a clear dividing line between the wrist and the palm, so they don't look merged together!

Use reference pics when needed! Pinterest is usually my best bet for quick and easy hand ref pics of all kinds! Though you can also use your own hand! Whether by taking a pic or just posing it long enough. You are your own free model or something rejiagdlzf BUT if it's something simpler, I usually just pose my free hand under my desk and feel it out/imagine the hand and go from there.

And of course, the thing everyone says...

Practice makes perfect!

Though I suppose if I'm being completely fair, I never really followed that and just drew for 7 years and hoped something happened... I still struggle with hands ALLLL the time, but these are some things that I learned over the years that made em a bit easier! I guess my number 1 tip would be to just- not stress about it! I don't pay attention much when I draw hands and just let my brain go off while I think about I dunno Hatstache or something LMAO

But uh! Yeah! I hope that helped and was at least a bit comprehensible! Hope I didn't forget anything- If you need something a bit more specific then I could whip somethin up for ya real quick! Just ask! ^ This also goes for anyone reading- if I can be of any help, I'd love to try my best!

[novasolstarr]

Your art is so cool, when I got followed back this was my honest reaction:

I just got into the fandom recently due to playing pressure (and because of a certain fish) so yeah, overall very appreciated that I would get followed back! cool art btw!

IM GOING TO CRY ON EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU BLBLBL

I Am tERRIBLE with words but really and truthfully this means a lot, LIKE HBWBWBVLVL I NEED THERE TO BE A WAY FOR ME TO PROPERLY RESPOND TO ALL THESE AT ONCE

@ruzhuzhu YOU ESPECIALLY LIKE HBBWB DUDE YOUVE GOT FANTASTIC TRADITIONAL ART AND YOURE COMPLIMENTING M E?? I will sit there and stare at it for SO LONG it was genuinely jarring seeing an artist like yourself following me. You are not the only one who appreciates seeing some good traditional art around or even just some pencil work. See lots of paintings but never people just having fun with the good old pencil and paper

@crow-withaphone YOU AS WELL, THE ART IS GENUINELY SO FLUID AND SO FUN the style is SO SILLY /POS I love me some good round styles I don’t ever see them enoUGH

INFACT YOU ALL, THE WHOLLLEEE LOT OF YOU

GET LINKED

I REALLY HOPE THESE FORMAT RIGHT

[spacedoutman]

You have a fluid, smooth and gorgeous art style that's really unique to look at, love the details, the expressions, lines and everything you put into when you draw them. it's always....starstruck 🌟!

the hair is also eye catching too, like you can feel the hair through the art and feel how magnificent it is to the touch it ^^.

in other words, Your art style is...

Beautiful like a painting. 💖

Thank you so much! Your art style looks like the color hot pink Ong! It reminds me a lot of those really cool cartoons from the 2000s! It’s very sparkly yet smooth as butter! You’re amazing at capturing expressions and exaggerating them in such a pretty way!

I love your color palette, it’s so easy on the eye! The way you shade is absolutely fantastic and so is your lineart! I love how much it varies in color and how it goes so well with areas that are shaded black and how those areas contrast the ones shaded in different colors.

The way you draw hair… omg, I envy it. Your art has so much character and it’s so fucking pretty! If it were music, it would have the vibe of I like you so much, you’ll know it by Wang JunQi, Guo Sida’s heroine os, Forever by Chanmina or maybe vs Sayu or Me! me! me! It reminds me a lot of synthpop too and pastels!

Thank you millions!! I really, really try my best, especially with faces! I’m so happy I was able to manage! Omg hair is so hard! I finally learned how to draw it by breaking it down into vague shapes and filling out details!!

I appreciate it PLANETS!!! Thank you endlessly! It makes me so happy and relieved to hear this, especially cause I’m not a talented artist naturally and I’m always worried my art will look bad again.

[sergeantnarwhalwrites]

Writerly Questionare

Woah okay. Thanks for the tag @winglesswriter! I'm gonna have the questions below the cut to try to make the copy and pasting easier.

I tag @chayscribbles @winterandwords @vacantgodling @the-void-writes @aether-wasteland-s @nanashi23 @televisionjester (Only if y'all want. Open tag too!)

About Me

When did you first start writing?

With actual purpose middle school. Like 6th/7th grade.

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

Sorta. What's actually funny is I really ain't a fan of romance but I write that shit on the side XD.

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you're often compared?

I'm not really sure about that emulate part. I could list a shit ton of awesome writers though (the people I taged and many many more) Lol, I'm definitely not compared to anyone though.

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

I'm usually writing in my room, on a crowded tv dinner table. But I write in a lot of places, including passenger seat of car. Or in the library if I'm settling on strictly typing stuff. (I usually handwrite)

What's your most effective way to muster up some muse?

Listening to music and being busy as hell.

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

I think so. I have a shit ton of black characters for a reason. I'm black, it's easy.

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

The power of friendship, violence, we were forced to together so now we working together, and "good guys" doing bad shit too. Those are usually pretty prevalent in my stories.

My Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character?

Uhhhh that's hard to decide but I guess I'll go Saz. Saz is my stud bear morpher dragged into a battle against the humans. She is stressed, bro is going through it, and she's a wrestler.

Which of your characters do you think you'd be friends with in real life?

Most of them honestly. I think I'd be more than willing to hear about Hollis's (Robots & Gardens) exploits.

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

Cosma would get her shit rocked and I'd get mine rocked in return. And I think me and Green's anger problems would clash in really bad ways.

Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters.

They appear magically in my brain. And I obsess over them like I obsess over all of my interests. The Fucked at Five oc's were the one's that deviated the most because most of them are based on the movie Open Season.

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

Tough exterior but actually really soft and big women go brr.

How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc)

As a combination of as real people I imagined, comic book characters, art I made, and cartoon characters (like a banger indie animation).

My Writing

What's your reason for writing?

Teehee it's how I process a lot of things and also I have to fill the world with content I want to see cause no one else is.

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

All of them for real. I love y'all. But any of them loving the characters as much as me honestly.

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (For example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who "gets" the human condition; as a talented worldbuilder, as a role model, etc.)

A cool dude who loves to write gay dorks gaying dorkily and fighting..

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Giving my character's a personality I guess.

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

I've been told I can write really fluid fight scenes or I have decent descriptions.

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.)

Lol I think it's great when it's great and ass when it's ass.

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

Yep. My fanfic writing would probably be slowed even further but I'd still write whatever came to mind in general.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it's a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

Oh I definitely write what I know will amuse me. But I arguably think it's a mixture of both. Sometimes I'll see something or get a response that brings me to write. And it's bangers always.

When did you first start writing?

Are the genres/themes you enjoy reading different from the ones you write?

Is there an author (or just a fellow writer!) you want to emulate, or one to whom you're often compared?

Can you tell me a little about your writing space(s)? (Room, coffee shop, desk, etc.)

What's your most effective way to muster up some muse?

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and places you write about?

Are there any recurring themes in your writing, and if so, do they surprise you at all?

My Characters

Would you please tell me about your current favorite character?

Which of your characters do you think you'd be friends with in real life?

Which of your characters would you dislike the most if you met them?

Tell me about the process of coming up with of one, all, or any of your characters.

Do you notice any recurring themes/traits among your characters?

How do you picture them? (As real people you imagined, as models/actors who exist in real life, as imaginary artwork, as artwork you made or commissioned, anime style, etc

My Writing

What's your reason for writing?

Is there a specific comment or type of comment you find particularly motivating coming from your readers?

How do you want to be thought of by those who read your work? (For example: as a literary genius, or as a writer who "gets" the human condition; as a talented worldbuilder, as a role model, etc.)

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

What have you been frequently told your greatest writing strength is by others?

How do you feel about your own writing? (Answer in whatever way you interpret this question.)

If you were the last person on earth and knew your writing would never be read by another human, would you still write?

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely what you enjoy? If it's a mix of the two, which holds the most influence?

[vampstel]

Out of your favorite designs you’ve redrawn or has drawn who do you enjoyed working on the most?

As a character designer myself, I can’t help but love all my ocs equally, and learning from you actually helps me expand upon my stories. You’ve helped me so much writing a story for Victoria (She’s a princess vampire who is generations after Dracula (Temporary name because some details are being worked on) in my universe I don’t think this made sense but hopefully it does?) and I actually took some inspiration from your video in order to fully develop her.

I also love it when you diversity your work. It makes me really happy seeing all sorts of characters with real life details? If that made any sense. I like learning from you and I wanna try to understand more about details. Mainly because I suck at drawing details and idk how you do most of your stuff by hand. (I usually try to find brushes on IbisPaint on Pinterest for my work)

What kind of advice do you have for any upcoming artists who’s struggling with character designing?

Do you start with the character and then work on the story or is it the other way around?

This is going to be a VERY long response so it’s all gonna be under the cut…

I don’t really have a favorite design honestly... It’s hard to pick favorites when your characters have different aesthetics to them. It feels unfair to me to compare them because of that LOL so I try my best to avoid that.

That being said though, I can definitely say I had so much fun redesigning Elliot and making her her own person rather than a character who’s meant to represent me. She doesn’t have a full body render yet but… I think she’s neat :3

She’s just got all the things I love in one design and since she’s so personal to me, I guess you could technically say she’s my current favorite design out of all my OCs so far. Minus Rei, of course…

But yeah I can definitely relate to loving all your characters equally!! Victoria sounds cool and I’m glad my content helps you out ^_^

As for the last few questions… Details are really hard to draw especially if your art style is more on the cartoony side. There’s nothing wrong with using brushes or patterns online to help out the process but if you want to practice without them, it’s good to try out how to simplify details!!

Not everything has to be crazy complicated. So long as you get the general idea or silhouette of something in your art, it translates pretty well in the end results. Lots of artists simplify things to make it easier for the eye and it’s a hard skill to master but as you get used to it, you’ll become way better at it. Try and be fluid with your line work. That’ll help a ton!!

For advice on character design: I’d say the most important part to designing a character is making them feel alive by having meaning to their physical appearance and attire. A lot of beginner artists tend to forget that which results in a boring or un-relatable character.

We all have some sort of history with our appearances and it’s good to try and figure that out with your OCs. I usually do that during the design process but it’s fine if you do it after or before it. Before it is more ideal in a professional setting though!!

Go insane with designs. Mix and match aesthetics if you want and use LOTS of references and inspiration. That’s the second most important part. It’s why I have tons of pins saved on Pinterest and tons of reels saved on Instagram. But remember to always ask yourself questions like:

Would this character dress like this? What do they think about their clothes? Do they dress traditional, medieval, or modern?

Would they like this sort of thing? What sorts of fabrics and textures do they prefer to feel on their skin? Are they comfortable with revealing attire or do they prefer something more formal?

What sort of history does their clothes have? Was it a gift from someone, did they buy it from a thrift store or did they make it themself?

Do their accessories have sentimentality or are they completely irrelevant and something they use just for aesthetics?

Is there a way to incorporate things from their backstory or their current story to their appearance? Like scars/marks on their body? Maybe even accessories from a loved one or no?

Can you explain why they have specific physical features? Why are they skinny? Or muscular? Do they work out and eat healthy or do they barely take care of themselves?

It’s a lot to consider but when you can answer these questions, your character becomes much more lively and unique.

I personally tend to start the design of the character first but as I go through the drawing process, that’s when I flesh things out like their story and such. I don’t recommend this process to beginners since it’s SUPER messy but do what makes you feel comfortable! Hope this was helpful and thank you once again for the sweet compliments <33

[urlocalnonbinarybastardwrites]

Hi! I’d like a fandom ship/matchup type thing if you still do those:) someone from tcm, preferably from the first or second movie since those are the ones I’ve watched

Appearance: 5ft 2inches, chubby genderfluid guy. Short blond hair, blue/gray eyes and freckles and crooked teeth. I’m punk and wear a lot of band tees and stuff like that, I mostly dress masc but can dabble in feminine clothing for fun.

Personality: Id say im a pretty funny guy! I really can’t have a conversation without cracking a joke every other sentence (it is a blessing and a curse). I love being social but definitely need time to recharge after social events. I care a lot about other people and tend to go out of my way to help and comfort people.

Hobbies: I love drawing! I do both digital and traditional art, and I can also paint and sew and crochet. Mostly I draw people, that is my strong suit.

I also love cooking! It’s so much fun but I don’t like following recipes because I disagree with them.

I love horror media. Art, books, movies, you name it. I have an ongoing collection of horror movie dvds.

I listen to a lot of music. I like a lot of different genres, but I especially like punk and metal music. My favorite bands are Ghost, Against Me!, Dog Park Dissidents and Hozier

That’s about it I think. Please don’t feel stressed about doing this, take as much time as you need and also have a nice day:)

♥️♥️♥️ we love people who realize authors have lives beyond completing requests 

Your Texas Chainsaw Massacre ship: Chop-Top Sawyer!!!!

Explanation: starting off of the appearance, I think he would be extremely attracted to you. He loves that you’re shorter than him and I think that he would love your kind of punkish style since he likes anything music related and the fact that you have an alternative music related style just makes you practically his soulmate to him and I feel like he’d think you’re a pretty cool person from the get-go. he loves that you can switch between masculine and feminine and our gender fluid enough to just kind of look good in both and that’s something that he really likes about you and I think he would even start experimenting with more gender fluidness himself I picture him is more kind of a masculine/androgynous but I feel like he would also sometimes go a little feminine just for fun. He really loves your joking, personality and I think it’s part of the reason that he was so attracted to you besides how you look from the get-go as I just think that he was super struck by your humor and probably laughs like insanely loud and laughs for the longest out of everyone. I feel like he’s the type of guy that would continue laughing at a joke like five minutes after it was made. I also feel like he really appreciate your caring stuff because he’s not really used to a lot of people genuinely caring about him. He even feels like his own family doesn’t care about him most the time save for nubbins. Having you is just kind of like a refreshing thing for him and he’s pretty grateful to have you in his life as for socialist I don’t think he cares that much about whether he’s talking to someone or not to be honest I don’t think he’s an introvert or an extrovert. I just think he’s kind of in his own world, but he doesn’t mind that you’re an extrovert and would absolutely, let you recharge after large events, but you have to recharge with him. That’s the only catch. I hope you’re not expecting to get any more alone time because once you’re with this man, he is clingy as shit and you are not going to have any more social recharge unless you literally run away. (In which he will follow 💀) he loves your artistic personality, and I feel like he would annoy you a little bit bit because he’s the type of guy to stand by you while you’re trying to draw create something and be constantly asking you if it’s done yet or just random questions and I feel like you at some point I have to be like OK but I’m doing my art. You have to stand over there and not talk to me. And for the cooking thing, let me just say there’s a reason why Drayton is the cook of the household and no one else he would make the most monstrous and disastrous things in the kitchen and probably end up blowing something up. He’s like a toddler in the kitchen. You have to watch him because he would think it’s a funny idea to just throw water at an outlet or something like that. Just chaos. Absolutely, but I think if you made a meal for him, he’d be super grateful and would definitely eat it in like two seconds because we know this man is a fast eater. He also loves horror stuff for like obvious reasons and would totally watch horror movies with you or read books or whatever kind of horror media you like consuming.

I feel like he would like it too, and you guys can talk about it afterwards, and he would probably point out how certain things are unrealistic because he is like that he would be like “victims don’t actually react that way when you chase them” and things like that. As for music, I think this is again one of the very very very main reasons he would be attracted to you because he is a huge music guy. I don’t think he really likes Poppy stuff as much and I think he would find your alternative taste to be just amazing because he has kind of an alternative and wacky taste of music as well well, it’s not as much I’m sure would love if you introduced him and you guys could share tastes and I feel like you would be a little cute date to go on. I’m just listening to music talking and also I feel like he would ask for fashion advice like 24 seven from you and want to try some of your punk clothing out.

[kittzuxp]

Okay so ermmmm u asked for it so here ya go x3 (gonna lost things I like abt ur art alodheoqmsowms)

Okay so first of all, I LOVEEEE THE SOBBING PATHETIC WET CAT ENERGY ARGOS HAS IN UR FANART. SUITS HIM FR. His hair is just so mwaa absolutely PERFECT!! I also love the pointy ear and tail u give him! Makes him look more cryptid loll. The way his face is filled with eyes omg I adore it, I love it when Argos fanarts have like Argos' face not even have any open space cuz it's so filled with eyes LMAO. The main eyes design is so cool too!! Like especially the red part and eyebags it's amazing. And I love the way u draw his outfit!! Like that's so him!! And HOLY SHIT YOU CAN ACTUALLY DRAW HANDS??? I BOW DOWN TO YOUR HIGHNESS. The way u use colour in your artworks is amazing, like idk how to describe it but it's so edible yk? And the way u do backgrounds! So simple yet so effective!! I love your lineart like especially the sketchy lineart style on Mr plant's face!! I love the colours n patterns u put on Mr plant's petals and I love the way u draw his big ol' eyes n eyelids n the black tears! His outfit and shoes r so hashtag slay too. I have GOT to study your artstyle on a petri dish someday cuz it rocks so hard I'm foaming in my mouth. AND AND OMG DONT GET ME STARTED ON THE WAY U DRAW POSES!!! SO FLUID AND SIMPLE YET IT DOESNT LOOK LIKE. YK IT DOESNT *LOOK* SIMPLE.

^ two of my favourite arts from u of all time!! I really love your art man you're so cool aldiwbqpodn2pqmde

*unintelligible happy yelps and squeaks*

Thank u SOO. Very much. 😭😭😭 You do NOT know how happy it makes me 2 know that people on the INTERNET appreciate my little gay art 🥹🥹🥹

Feel free to talk 2 me anytime, the ask box ( or anywhere rlly) is open for a reason :,DDD

[rabiesram]

Hello I'm a new fan of your art and you don't have to do anything with this but I just wanted to say that I LOVE your art so much. So so much. It makes me insane. The Ratau and Knucklebones gang and your ocs and just everything. You have such a lovely style, both the canon style and your personal style

It has such a nice simplicity to it and its so satisfyingly cute while also being fluid and expressive and charming its so endearing

Its the kind of style I crave to see in art and strive to accomplish for myself, you've really inspired me a lot and your art and ratdad au and cotl art in general has brought me indescribable joy and helped me through some times

I JUST!! ITS SUCH A COOL STYLE!! IT CAN BE CUTE, COOL, PLEASING, ETC!!!! The anatomy and proportions and expressions all work in harmony and you're just so good at pulling it off. I adore your shading and coloring too its just so UDJFRNEKFGGRR DKF you've caused Ratau to grow on me in ways I will never recover from /pos (It's even caused me to become a bit of a simp..)

I could go on for hours but all that to say I genuinely hope things get better for you and I hope you reach a point where you can find satisfaction in your work because in the eyes of the public its already truly amazing!! But the most important thing of course is doing it for yourself, so I wish you good times and inner peace. Remember to rest and take care of yourself <3 /p

Waaa hi youre incredibly sweet...thank you a lot

I wish there was more I could say but I have no words /not neg

Thank you for taking time out of your day to write this and sorry you hafta see me like this fjjcnc

[yuseirra]

Hello, I just wanted to tell you that your work had inspired me to make my own animatics (the first "proper" one is almost ready!), and your art style was the primary influence for my storyboarding. I still remember the first time I watched one of the animatics of yours, and was absolutely blown away by it. Fast forward a year, and I am making my own fan art for another niche, indie game. So, I wanted to thank you personally, and I hope I can share what I did with that inspiration!

I still recall when I first started really imagining animation as it relates to characters in a setting and plot. The animatic of yours is like a knitted blanket, all of the characters go together despite the colour scheme being very different. I was memerized by the coordination - it was like a dance, almost!

So, I started wondering about other games I played, and I thought "Maybe I can try something like that too". It wasn't easy, I suck at art, but I learnt quite a lot. For example, how to blend two different scenes with different rooms in a fluid manner. Or how to protray a character with only a few sketches, as I cannot make every frame colourful.

I deeply recall going back to the"Road Less Taken" video, as well as so many others, and slowing down the speed to 0.5, so I could see every single frame slowly, and trying to figure out how to add movements that won't be too "noisy". In that time, I tried experimenting with art styles, and sort of mixed up a lot of brushes together.

One particular moment was when I tried to make a "dramatic" moment in my badly drawn sketch. I remember seeing that you would take a black and white frame, and then, the next frame would be the same thing but in colour. I thought it was so cool! So, I tried it.

It didn't work out as I hoped (my colouring was messy and poor). The technique I am currently using is by using a black and white sketch, and then the same frame with 3 colours. But I learnt that I could adjust the layers with filters, until the lightening had enough contrast. This way, it would seem "dramatic".

Sorry, that was super long of an ask. My first proper animatic won't be good, but that is another learning experience! If I have the courage, I may post it on Tumblr. Honestly, I really am glad I stumbled upon your videos, else I would not have done all of that drawing and creativity.

So, thank you for everything!

I came across this message first thing in the morning and it's made me have so many different feelings.. before I say anything further, I'd like to tell you that I feel this message is wonderful! I'm glad to have you had stumbled upon my videos, too.

Ah, my Road Less Taken fanvideo.. and my other videos too. Being reminded of it really hurts me because I loved everything I put into it, I put in a lot of passion, I put in a lot of love, I bought the artbook, played the game it was based on and went through to do a full analysis, went back and forth through the plot, I just couldn't bear upholding it though, I just couldn't. I'm sad it turned out to be the way it is now since I was really sure I did a great job with it with the skills I had, and I love what I did with it, but I don't regret having it taken down. It took me some time to muster the courage to do it, and I feel lucky that people were very accepting about it too. ^^ It existed and it was able to give a lot of people fun as it did for me, and I'm very happy that was the case. I know that work of mine was really loved, and I'm glad I could create something that could do something like that. I hope I can do that again and I'd probably have a chance to, since I have a life ahead of me.

Enough about me and let's talk about you and your message! Aaaah wow, this is really incredible! Have you seen my channel though? My early videos (and I may still would draw that way) aren't so colorful and proper you know! A lot of them are consisted of sketches of what I want to see in that certain segment. It's very interesting and exciting to hear from your perspective, because I hadn't considered my movies to be so "proper" enough either!! That's why, I can say for a fact, that "Oh you'll do well and do a wonderful job" with 100% sincerity. You came to the right person. I mean look at me! I posted videos like that all the time and just because I thought it'd be fun! If you went to some other talented artist who has these bizarre techniques and astounding professionalism who could create full-fledged CLEAN animations it may not sound so convincing. But i'm someone who starts from scratches and lines and posts those without shame. Drawing colored movies was a huge challenge in my part as well and it took me awhile to feel I'll be skilled enough to do it- perhaps you're already getting a huge head-start compared to how I started out because moving up that one step for me took years to do.

You can do it!! You can!

If there's something I learned from posting my drawings and works out here, it's that you just do what you wanna do. Not everyone will notice you, and your works may not be blown up out there as you wish it to be, yeah, but there's always going to be someone that comes along and appreciates it, which is a miracle on its own. For me, one of those people is you. You'll have someone who comes up to you and does the same thing for you, too if you keep sticking out there. Until then, just continue doing what you love and have fun, without having recognition being your only motive. I made my works for myself (to share, of course, but there were things I was so passionate about I felt I HAD to put this out there and let everyone notice how GOOD and FITTING it is) and although having thousands of people love my works, and tens of hundreds of thousands watch 'em together with me was wonderful.. it all feels like a dream now, the number doesn't matter as much for me. If numbers mattered, I'd have given up a long time ago because there's always people who are so much better than you. However, there's something that only you can do and think of.

See? You're already telling me about your unique style and is thinking of what you could do to make it more effective. That approach you're using is something that I'm unfamiliar of doing. Even if we had the same ideas, I wouldn't be able to create the same things you do and that's what makes yours special! Good luck with that, never did I think what I drew would be able to inspire you to create your own, I should work harder myself to make sure I don't get beaten by you so fast XD, You see, I'm a slow improver. I have artist friends who've gone places and make incredible art. But I can still be one too, as long as I keep drawing. I hope you do that too, as well as keep having fun in the way. And please remember about me if you become famous one day, okay? 'v')9

"The animatic of yours is like a knitted blanket, all of the characters go together despite the colour scheme being very different. I was memerized by the coordination - it was like a dance, almost!"< Ah, I really liked this part of your ask, too. The coordination part is something I really tried hard on when I make an animatic! I sit down and listen to music one day and then something hits me. 'Huh? Isn't this that? And that part works with that and can't this be used to convey this?' Very vague expressions but that's actually how it works in my head. The inspirations come very fast, and when that happens, I sit down and write up a memo to see if the whole song really fits along with the stories I know. And when I'm convinced that it works, I start weaving the two different stories together, the lyrics and the story of the material I wish to make a video out of. That process really makes my heart race because yes, like how you've described it, it feels like a dance, or a knit. Like 90% of the animatics I've made happen like this, so I have no idea when I'll get another inspiration. Till then, I just keep having fun with the fandoms I'm in! Having a good understanding of the source material helps. If you know it well, then everything folds together as one. The song and the story does it for you, and you just follow through its flow.

"slowing down the speed to 0.5, so I could see every single frame slowly, and trying to figure out how to add movements that won't be too "noisy". <this part ;v;...hnngh I have no words.. goodness I had NO idea someone would look at my videos with such intense care.. I don't consider my videos to have the most..how do you put it, creative effects out there, a lot of the effects I put in are something that's built in in the base program or something really simple! You'll be able to learn it in a jiffy no problem. I really look up to vids that have these wacky, shiny and fast-paced effects myself.. One thing I think I could do a pretty good job on, on the other hand, would be the pacing! And that has a lot to relate with the songs you're using. Where the instruments come in, the beat, parts where the vocal stresses, I use the songs I really like, so it makes me think oh, a panel could be added there, and there! and let's make this one drawing show up longer than the others! All that. If you understand the materials you're using (the song, the story, your art) you'll be able to coordinate them well within the limits of your abilities. As I said earlier, that's going to be something only you could do, and what's unique. They say creativity isn't about making entirely new stuff, you know! It's more about putting two different things together in a way no one else has. So movies and fanarts are a great way to show yours :)

I've had others who inspired me to create a video. I've seen lots of fanvids and there were amazing ones, (the fact I was in the kagepro fandom when it was still releasing new songs explains a lot, doesn't it? That surely was a huge inspiration) but I think what's given me the final push to start was seeing my artist friend make a short 6 second one on her tumblr a few years ago. There it hit me that I might be able to do it too, so I asked them what program they were using and made mine right away.

I still have it in fact, it's this video, and I made this one too shortly after. And then I realized that although it wouldn't be perfect, making a video itself isn't something too much of a big deal. You make one and that's it! Because I enjoyed it,(I loved the idea of seeing my own drawings move) I made more.. and I won't be so afraid to, either, because I could always go back to making those simple ones if I wished. Make colored and detailed ones if I wish to push myself further. I'm happy I was able to inspire you to make yours. I hope your experience making stuff would be as enjoyable and exciting as mine!

I'll be happy if you can show me your first video, too!// Whether if you do, or if you don't, I will cheer for you~ Thank you so much for telling me all this. I'm honored to know I was able to give you such a positive impact, because you never know what influence you're giving to someone unless they tell you.. and this, IS SO TOUCHING. You're doing all these things because you were able to find the good, you had it in you always! I'm glad I played a part somewhere on the road. 'v')9

Good luck with your videos~ I'll.. keep making mine in the future too! ;v; GOD I found a song for persona but I gotta finish P3R to get a better understanding for this plot once again, I'm going to do an even better job than I ever did, in the long run. So you too, I know you'll keep improving, so take your time and have fun on the way!

[electricvinyls]

hi!! I am actually in love with your work, you’re so skilled it’s actually insane. The way you adapt to different art styles and techniques, especially lineless because god knows it’s a pain in the ass, while still making it feel alive. Your art feels fluid like people moving in real time which is such an artist compliment but it’s really so admirable to watch someone not only comprehend the different mediums but do it well?? You’re like a powerhouse like a unit of an artist. Your art is so recognizable too, like I wouldn’t even need that watermark to look at it and know that’s user Electricvinyls because lordd you’re genuinely so so cool it’s crazy

-💛💛

IHMYGIODDDDCC OHMYGOD ANON😭😭😭

This genuinely means so so much to me!!! I'm truly so self-conscious about my art and the way other people perceive it, but this brought me to tears. IM SO AHFHGJB,,, the fact that you think my art is recognisable but OHHHHHH. I appreciate this so damn much, man☹️🩵🩵🩵. This made my day oughhhh...

[kidovna]

hi kidovna! i love and look up to your art so much, and it’s been super cool seeing the way your style has evolved over the last year since i started following you! i’m pretty new to art myself and was wondering if you had any tips on learning/becoming more familiar with anatomy? i feel like i always get discouraged when i can’t picture poses in my head and always have to search for the Perfect reference photo and then can’t find one, or everything i draw just turns out looking weird anyway because i can’t get the hang of proportions. you have a really lovely and fluid style when it comes to anatomy and all of your subjects just seem so natural on the screen and really human-looking, and i know every artist has probably struggled with this at some point or another, but i just feel overwhelmed and don’t know where to start 😭 just wondering if you had any advice on how to learn! hope you’re having a great day 🫶🏻🫶🏻

hello there, thank you so much for your kind words!! i’ve replied to a similar ask before.

i think my best advice outside of what i answered in that ask is to keep persevering with the artwork even when you feel like you’ve hit a dead end. what’s the worst that can happen? you end up with a piece you’re not fully satisfied with. but you can start the next one after and maybe that’ll be better. and so on the cycle continues. eventually you’ll reach a point where your art looks completely different and a little closer to what you want it to be like compared to when you’d just started out!

good luck with your art journey! and remember to have lots of fun and enjoy what you do!