vicerre

[vicerre]

Naomi (2024-08-14 – 2024-08-17)

Overview

Character: Naomi Katayama

Character designer: Gravity Monkey

Inspiration

The inspiration behind this drawing is convoluted:

I use a test account while at work.

Each test account needs a first and last name. As my go-to for persona identities is Vic, I have a test account in Vic's likeness.

One way I use the test account is to shop for products. Most of the products used in testing are common office fixtures such as computers, office chairs, and coffee makers.

In using the test account, I'm compelling Vic to shop for coffee makers. This is funny, as this interaction is contrary to Vic's established characterization as an aficionado of tea.

While Vic doesn't drink coffee, he knows another character who does: Naomi. Thus, to get me off his back, he orders a coffee maker for the purpose of gifting it to Naomi.

Design notes

Brush used (shading): Gauche

Naomi incorporates design elements similar to those of my characters; she has exciting hair and wears a turtleneck and long coat. In retrospect, this made her design less interesting to draw compared to a character with design elements I haven't drawn before.

I worked on Naomi's shading partially over a remote connection. Due to the low fidelity of the image resolution, I had to focus on large blocks of color over small details. Ultimately, I think the practice helped ensure the image looked interesting at multiple levels of scale.

I was inspired by Jhudora from Neopets when deciding which colors to use for Naomi's hair.

Resources used

Adobe Stock search results for "package delivery pharmacy"

Google search results for "espresso machine box"

SPYRAL Quik-Fix

Young man holding cards, focus on cards. Young man holding playing cards (focus on cards)

WIPs

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3

4

[vicerre]

Ha'ule – Rivals of Aether (2024-09-02)

Overview

Character: Ha'ule

Character designer: Kiwi

Resources used

It's Kung Fu Time 🙂.

WIPs

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

[vicerre]

Art Exchange Information

Last update: 2024-10-14

Art you draw for me

There are no strict restrictions on the level of effort or art style required from your side. I value seeing your personality shine through (though I appreciate art that is generally considered high-quality too).

You must be open to receiving light feedback on your art from me. Note that I consider myself forgiving as far as feedback goes, so you should not expect many suggestions, much less significant reworks.

You must provide an estimated time frame by which I should expect your art. This does not need to be a strict deadline. During this window of time, you must provide regular status updates.

In general, my preference for subjects drawn are as follows: Alis/Vic > Solana > Rot13(Nfgebybgy) > other. I will provide reference images and additional context for each character, from which you can select your preference. NOTE: Alis/Vic are more challenging to draw compared to my other designs. Take heed if your goal is to draw something fun vs. draw something difficult.

You will solicit a much stronger reaction out of me of you draw "fanfiction in visual form" than if you draw "fanart". I appreciate both, however.

Your art should be an interpretation of my designs--don't be afraid to apply artistic license. The worst thing you can do as an artist is to simply draw what I've already seen. As an example, consider how these fan-made drawings were adapted to their professionally-drawn illustrations .

You may post your art on your social media profiles. If the subject you draw is a character exclusive to this account name, credit me under this account name. Do not refer to my other social media handles.

After its completion, I will upload your art to my blog. I may also use your image for personal purposes.

Art I draw for others

I only draw art for known friends.

Unless we agreed upon otherwise, I only draw characters.

In general, my experience with drawing figures are as follows: humans > creatures > other organic designs > geometric/mechanical designs. I won't decline a request to draw most character designs, but a request to draw a design I have little experience with comes at your risk.

During the art process, I will post regular progress pictures and accept feedback. If you fail to provide feedback, I will not make major adjustments later. I want to make art you enjoy, so don't hold back feedback if you have it! Please ensure the feedback provided is: 1. actionable, 2. not a list of overhauls, and 3. not a list of nitpicks.

After its completion, I will upload my art to my blog.

You may post my art on your social media profiles. If you do, credit me under this account name. Do not refer to my other social media handles.

[vicerre]

Pod - Magic: The Gathering (2024-08-09)

Overview

Character: Pod

Character designer: @moscd

Design notes

Given her upbringing, Pod has a strong association with food and eating. To match, her Magic card emphasizes Food tokens as a mechanic.

Resources used

Art credit: @moscd

Scryfall:

Rapacious Guest

[vicerre]

Ishi - Magic: The Gathering (2024-08-09)

Overview

Character: Ishi

Character designer: Kiwi

Resources used

Art credit: Gravity Monkey

Flavor text credit: Kiwi

Scryfall:

Aven Soulgazer

Smoke Teller

oracletag:synergy-face-down-cast

[vicerre]

Bogus (2024-07-28)

Overview

Character: Bogus

Character designer: @yuiotj

Design notes

Bogus is fun to draw since he has human shapes but is abstract enough to not commit to human-specific rules of art.

Bogus is fun to pose since elements in his design allow for dynamic poses, such as his hood, cloak, and tabard.

The hatching on the image is inspired by the hatching in Yu's art style.

[vicerre]

Ishi Sketch (2024-07-28)

Overview

Character: Ishi

Character designer: Kiwi

Miscellaneous notes

Between the dour black, chalky textures, and angular shapes, this sketch uses traits remarkably similar to German Expressionism.

[vicerre]

Chu Sketch (2024-07-15)

Overview

Character: Chu

Character designer: Kiwi

Design notes

The background of this drawing spells "Chu".

[vicerre]

Kiwi Art Trade (2024-05-18)

A sprite of Kiwi's character Ishi, loosely drawn in the style of Rivals of Aether. This image acts as my half of an art trade between me and Kiwi.

Design notes

For the most part, Ishi's design translated cleanly into the style of pixel art. The large blocks of black blending together were my main concern, but in the end, the design incorporated enough elements to remain distinct at pixel art resolutions.

I had difficulty adapting Ishi's thin strands of hair to pixel art resolutions. They looked jagged if depicted as one pixel-wide strands, and they looked too full if depicted as solid shapes. After revisiting the sprite with fresh eyes, I decided that spriting the hair as solid shapes was the better option.

[vicerre]

Vicerre Design Style Guide

See GitHub.

[vicerre]

Illustration – Liliana (2024-02-16 – 2024-02-18)

Character: Liliana

Character designer: @amemcake

Design notes

The theme of this art trade was spring. For each image, the artist would draw the other person's character with a flower matching their personality. Options ame listed included lily-of-the-valley, forget-me-nots, gladiolus, and honeysuckle. Between these options and Liliana's color palette, I thought the blue and yellow of forget-me-nots would complement the purple in Liliana's design the best.

The theme of the art trade got me out of my comfort zone. As flowers were a major part of the image, I decided I would draw inspiration from the Art Nouveau movement of art. Because of this, I would also be drawing a decorative frame around the subject, in addition to drawing the unfamiliar subject of flowers. As I worked on the flowers and frame, I simultaneously drew and learned how to draw these elements in my own style.

At first, I had trouble bringing the foreground subject and background together. Eventually, however, I was able to bring both elements together to a degree I considered acceptable.

Ultimately, ame seems happy with the result, and that's what matters!

References used

1

2

3

4

Resources used

Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau Fabric - Purple Blue Cream Art Nouveau Pattern By Micklyn - Art Nouveau Botanical Cotton Fabric By The Yard With Spoonflower

Myosotis sylvatica (Wood Forget-Me-Not)

white wall paint with black line

WIPs

1

2

3

4

5

[vicerre]

Hau'le Illustration (2024-01-27 – 2024-01-28)

Kiwi is a Smogon University user I know through our fictive universes. Recently, he completed an art trade with the user @the-suniverse, at which point he expressed an interest in performing another. As I find him to be a cool user, I took him up on the offer.

This image acts as my part of this art trade and depicts Ha'ule, one of Kiwi's characters.

Design notes

The people in my circle of friends tend to design female, anime-style characters. When I draw their characters, I often end up drawing female, anime-style figures. I appreciate a good female character every now and then, but I do enjoy drawing characters with a more interesting spread of body shapes. Being unabashedly male, Ha'ule is a refreshing break from this trend.

While I always have anatomy in mind when drawing human figures, I haven't drawn a bare male chest since the life drawing courses of years past. Going into this art trade, I wondered how much anatomical knowledge I would need to learn on the fly. I was pleasantly surprised to discover my art experience applied without too much effort. I actually had more trouble drawing Ha'ule's leather boots than his chest.

Likewise, I learned that, like the size of his eyes, the size of a male character's nipples has an influence on how old that character looks. Like with eyes, the bigger the nipples are drawn, the younger the character looks.

This was the second time I opted to use a true perspective grid in drawing character art. While cumbersome to set up initially, using a perspective grid grounded the character in 3D space. In general, just being able to define the plane the character is standing on improves the illusion of depth by bounds.

Brushes used:

Drop shadow: Brush > Real G-Pen

Drop shadow texture: Airbrush > Droplet

Outline: Pencil > Mechanical pencil > 4px

Shading: Brush > Turnip pen

Resources used

Images:

Figure Drawing: Design and Invention by Michael Hampton

Levi's Hodges Leather Boot in Light Brown

Organic abstract white caustic water liquid ripple texture pattern on a black minimalist background

Descriptions:

1

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3

References:

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3

WIPs

1.1

1.2

2

3

4

[vicerre]

Charlotte Sketch (2024-01-02)

Overview

Character: Charlotte

Character designer: @yuiotj

Resources used

Magma

[vicerre]

Pod (2023-12-30)

Overview

Character: Pod

Character designer: @moscd

Design notes

This image incorporates principles I learned from my studies in Counterfeit-V3.0. Namely:

I used windswept hair as a means of introducing dynamism to the piece.

I used colored tints as a means of countershading and balancing out the color distribution of the piece.

Resources used

Magma

TIPS to Draw GREAT Hair like these ARTISTS!

[vicerre]

Hail (2023-08-28 – 2023-08-29)

I recently discovered some fascinating information on @the-suniverse's character Hale. Noticing parallels between Hale and Alis, I drew both of them.

As I cannot share the exact similarity between the two without sharing spoilers for Sun's story, I will not provide further context on this image.

Resources used

1

2

WIPs

1

2

[vicerre]

Pod (2023-07-30)

Overview

This image acts as gift art for @moscd.

For my birthday, he drew an image of Solana. I wanted to return the favor, so I drew his character, Pod.

Design notes

Pod is a character with feral innocence. When imagining a scenario best fit Pod as a character, I couldn't stop imagining her as a critter huddled in a cardboard box, waiting to be adopted. Hence, I drew her as one.

WIPs

1

2

3

4

[vicerre]

Good Night

Overview

This blog started as a bit of an experiment.

Initially, I wasn't sure what direction to take it; I wanted to write about and draw subjects that didn't have a place on my primary social media accounts, but I didn't have any particular long-term goals.

For better or worse, I settled on Tumblr as the compromise platform. After researching my options, I found it was the only platform that satisfied these requirements:

has an active, open community

hosts posts with marked-up text (i.e. headers, hyperlinks, italics, lists)

hosts posts with images

offers a method to organize and sort posts

offers the ability to edit and delete posts

With some reservations, I joined the website and began to post.

The more I posted, the more this blog found its footing. It became clear that this blog was most effective as a repository for information about my characters and the story they told. Over two years and 150-some-odd posts, I teased out the world that lived in my mind.

And now, exactly two years after I joined, I find I must leave.

Why

Over these two years, I tolerated many issues with this site.

The first were the platform's inherent issues:

Image quality: An optimal blogging website lets the user share original-size images. Art-sharing platforms for this. In contrast, Tumblr compresses and lowers image quality. While not a deal-breaker for my needs, I could never share images the way I truly wanted.

Site search: The site's search system leaves much to be desired.

As an example, Tumblr site search does not apply Boolean functions to keywords. In other words, searching for keyword-x AND keyword-y should, optimally, produce all posts with both keywords. Tumblr does not offer this feature.

As another example, keywords and tags are not guaranteed to produce all search results. A search function that does not return what is expected is useless for organizing data.

Then, my patience with the platform grew thin. Over the course of 2022, my posts stopped appearing in search thrice:

2022-01-02: [80LEMY-LDD4] - Instance 1

2022-08-01: [P9V302-ZWQLD] - Instance 2

2022-08-16: [PM92Q6-8425V] - Instance 2.1

2022-09-05: [ERMWGX-E22ZD] - Instance 3

When I contacted site staff about the issue, all I received was silence. It took persistent messaging over the course of weeks for site staff for them to notice and respond to my report.

I recognize this blog is personal in nature, so whether or not my posts showed up on other people's feeds is a minor factor. However, the lack of response indicated the platform did an unacceptable job supporting the social component of the site.

Finally, Tumblr recently announced a deal-breaking change.

Over the course of these weeks, Tumblr announced removing support for the legacy Markdown editor. I rely on advanced Markdown syntax to compose my posts in a way unsupported by the default post editor. If I can no longer compose posts for my content, I'm afraid I must leave.

What now?

Over two years, I learned what matters to this blog. Thus, I can recalibrate my criteria for a platform. To wit, I've found I don't care about the community aspect of the site as much as I expected. The odd passing Like or Reblog was lovely, but ultimately, this blog was meant for me.

With that criterion no longer a requirement, I could identify an alternate platform for my content: GitHub.

"The site where you can share and collaborate on code?" you may ask.

Well... yes. Let's look at the updated criteria, shall we? With the "community" requirement nixed, we can see that we can indeed create, edit, organize, and delete posts with markup using the default feature set of the site. By virtue of posts being composed in Markdown, the site is fairly portable compared to blogging services or wikis. Furthermore, if we need richer customization options, we have the freedom to write code to support these features.

So there we have it. In the upcoming days, I will be relocating the posts hosted on this blog. The majority of the posts will be relocated to GitHub. Some will be relocated to my primary social media persona. Some will stay here.

Once my content has been relocated, I will remove the existing content from this blog and share a link to the blog's new location.

Thank you for visiting my page.

...

(Link)