stories-in-the-wind

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You won't reach a point where you don't need references anymore 😭

Even artists who freedraw regularly still do studies, refer to their past work, keep character sheets at hand, etc

Please don't impose that expectation on yourself just because of a live demo, tiktok, or timelapses especially

#relearning how to use references was the best thing I ever did for my art

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The baby… I am gonna be so broke send help 😭😍

I got luckier than I thought I would be on one of my clanbound eggs and she will (eventually) be the result

Colors: Dirt - Saffron - Cerulean

Genes: Petrified - Marlin - Blossom

Wind common eyes

#I love saffron marlin

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dusthide / new breed quick speedpaint~

timelapse / process under cut!

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I'm so glad I waited to turn these two into sandsurges in case they released sailfish on another (non gem) ancient. They're so perfect going to do grab their genes asap

(Gloom/Algae/Orca)

#flight rising #fr dragon share #fr dusthide

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#light makes more sense to me. #they got every flight to 2 breeds so now wind has 2 accessible breeds while light has one accessible and one impossible to get one #if they release the light ancient now then light’ll get their ancient before their next festival #that being said wind ancient now please I want it so badly

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please everyone send energy with me that the new ancient will be Fat..

#I’m so desperate for a fat ancient #please I’m begging

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doodle of auroshen's gorgeous kiomarz

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new art dragon dropped

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just hatched the most Unlikely Neat Combo (latte/coral/camo)

#wow! I’m in love with this combo!

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WIP, I find myself coming back to this one often

#so much movement in their poses #the colors are excellent

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my 10th fr anniv is coming up so I took bunch of sketch comms for eggs c:

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I’m thinking about doing some art tutorial type posts about drawing backgrounds and how I do my sketches and such so if you’ve ever had a question about how to draw backgrounds feel free to hit me up in the comments, my ask box or my dms. I’d love to share some skills that might be useful to others.

(I will be focusing on light as that is my specialty but open to questions about anything!)

#finally home from a business trip now back to drawing #may not respond right away as I’m formulating some stuff

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Commission for @dire-vulture of sweet Susie!!

My commissions are open!!

#oh my god this is so cute

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Tutorial: How I Render Accents

PART 2: COLORS

I usually do not recommend 'pixel hunting' aka going over your work with a fine tooth comb and picking out stray pixels to erase. However, for setting up a proper base layer for accents it is imperative to do so.

To explain my method of color blocking: I select everything outside of the lines, invert that selection, then fill in. This does a more accurate job than going into each and every section and filling them all in individually, and is also significantly faster. Only downside is small sections like above where you can see bits of the green (which I use bright green against a dark grey background to contrast the base color, lines, and background) poking out, as well as the inner section where it filled in a spot I did not want filled in. Getting all of this right in this stage will make your life easier as you go. (It's also the method I use to color block all my work, even beyond accents)

Now this where my style of rendering color may come off intimidating and, tbh it might be. I do gradients first and then I color over them with "normal" blend layers. I typically don't use multiply layers unless I'm shading something that has a lot of textures. If this scares you, it's okay I'll keep walking you through it. Here, my gradient goes from a pastel but deep periwinkle, to a soft more cyan blue, then to a lighter pastel green. Skipping steps and going from the periwinkle to green will give it a different look. There's also hints of a pinkish tone as an accent color.

So as I said, these additional layers are done with regular "normal" blend mode layers. I've placed one in between the butterfly line art and the line art for the rest of the flowers, and then an additional layer under everything else. This allows me to create a glow effect specifically around the butterflies, and then specifically under the flowers. Going back and forth with the proper amount of opacity (by using the airbrush transparently) helps to make it glow but not be Too Loud. Also checking it against a dark background can help to check for spots where it spills past the borders, as well as really gauge how Bright it is. I've also color matched the butterflies with the flower pits and the bulbs. This adds extra cohesion and makes them all look uniform but different enough with the gradients.

The stages of how I render gems/dew drops. Take the base color, make it a bit darker and less saturated (as well as changing the hue a bit depending on what the default color is. For yellows I go more orange/red, for blues I go more purple or even pink. It depends), add a small drop light at the bottom thats a fairly saturated version of the base color, and then a stark white/ near white highlight. That's it. Don't over complicate it, it will not matter when it gets shrunk down. Note that I do not use multiply/overlay/screen layers for these types of things as it adds too much bulk to the files and doing it manually helps to strengthen your color theory skills.

For shading and rendering, again, I create a "normal" layer and simply. Draw over what exists. Color picking and hand blending allow me to create the exact shades and effects that I want that multiply/screen/overlay layers may not be able to achieve. (which isn't to say I dont use them! i just don't use them for the main meat and potato part of my coloring) All of what is shown here is also achieved with the CSP asset SOIPEN (which can be found for free in the asset store)

another example. The one on the right is showing how the layer looks without the gradient base layer under it. All of this is rendered by hand. I also specifically put a highlight color around where the butterfly is sitting to give a better illusion that it is properly sitting on the flowers rather than just in front of them.

Next is changing the color of the lines, if needed. A method i'll use is I color just the sections I want (on a separate clipping layer) then lock that layer's alpha setting to them add in a gradient. It's a small and subtle effect that adds more depth without doing a lot of effort. (work smarter not harder)

Now we get to the Polish Layers!

first image is how it looks as a base. second image is with an overlay layer applied. I've used some dark purples and mid tone desaturated greens to push the values a bit further (especially evident on the top left wing) Third image is with a screen layer applied, highlighting the inner most part of the flowers and adding some additional bounce light.

An important thing to note about making accents vs making full coverage skins: OPACITY AND LAYER TYPES MATTER OVER TRANSPARENT SPOTS. What I mean by this is that if you use a soft, light grey to shade with a multiply layer, don't clip it to anything, and have it go outside the lines - that will no longer appear as a 'shadow' when it comes to the final result. Instead you will have a section of soft light grey that is simply laid on top of whatever the image under it is. The same applies for overlay/screen/add layers and so on. If i use a very dark color on a screen layer (to give a soft highlight) and airbrush it over a bunch of stuff and don't clip it, it will end up with this horrible dark splotch over everything that isn't opaque. To this end, mastering normal layers is imperative to having well rendered and convincing accents.

Another thing of note: when it comes to sparkles/small details, note how 'large' the sparkles behind the butterflies are. They seem a bit chunky, yeah?

this is what they look like at proper size. If anything, I could have gone larger on the small metal beads connecting the dew drop jewels to the lace.

Another trick I also like to do is this:

a slight hint of transparency! It's just enough to let the dragon's lines underneath show through but not enough to be super noticable. I like to do this a lot when it comes to sparkly and magical effects.

Next is the worst part of all: destroying all that beautiful hard work with the shadow and line art layers! (sobbing)

This stage always agonizes me. This is my first pass of the shadow/line layers and let's hope it's dark enough.

But yeah that's a start to finish look at how I create my accents. Unfortunately a lot it devolves into needing to know, yknow, line weight and silhouette importance, color theory and the ways that drawing applications actually apply color to a png vs how its rendered in app. All of these things impact the finesse of the accent, and are things you do have to learn gradually over time, but hopefully this has given yall some additional insight and perhaps some helpful tips.

And this should also explain why I get so mad when people go 'hey can I get this accent in another color' no! no you literally can't!

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This is one of my favorite pieces in my portfolio. It was a rendered halfbody commission for a user on Flight Rising. It didn't do well on my other platforms because of how busy and bright it is, but maybe it'll do better here.

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some cheeky april fools achievements for you all :PPPP

#I love them

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The tide has rolled in, and with it a creature. At first you think it merely some weeds dragged to the surface by the early morning surf, until it begins to rise. A beast of the deep? No... a beautiful serpent from beneath the waves! Shining stones of golden hue tucked beneath her fins, with matching pearl chains hanging from then across her forehead. But what does she want? To trade? To chat? You are left perplexed as her wings disturb the water as she dives below again. Alas, none the wiser you are left staring at the suns rays decorating the ripples where a mystery once was.

This gal inspired me, even if she was a failed breeding project hatch!

But I still don't really have any plans for her, so if anyone wants to take her off my hands for some gems. She's unbred, lvl seven XXY. I have no idea what she's worth tho so HMU?