#And then for this one I did the rest - the lineart and the tones for the background and Edgar and the like haha | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sanctus-ingenium · 2 years

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WIPs of some of my drawings where i made a full little painting for the sketch to nail colours or values first. i thought it would be fun to do a Behind The Scenes and also show u how some drawings changed, what i kept and what i discarded and at what point i just started adding unplanned details

all these were done using a mixture of sai and procreate

more comments on The Process under the cut

eye of the otherworld is inspired by a real photo i took two weeks ago!

i soooo wanted to draw water that looked like this, weeds and all, so the original colours of that sketch were picked direct from the photo. but i wasn’t satisfied with it so i changed it using a gradient map (you can see it’s crunchy on the borders between colours). for the final, i re-painted everything again using the sketch colours as a guide so that i would not end up with the crunchy edges a gradient map will give u, and so that i could add in extra contrast over the top. the black swirl pattern in the final was an ad lib lol but i’m really happy with how it gives the impression of water or liquid even if it’s not realistic... i will try again to recreate something like this photo tho because i am obsessed. the birds were originally swans but the necks were driving me crazy i needed a bird with a shorter neck and grebes are associated with this location in canon so it was perfect. they have very funny feet. the last detail i added to this was the white flashes in their primary flight feathers (which do not occur in nature btw)

hanged man was an interesting one because it’s based on a sketch i made in 2020 when i first wrote this fun impalement scene

here is félix being impaled for the first time in 2020 by a rusted harpoon that essentially rips his human disguise off to reveal the black carapace underneath

for the coloured sketch in the photoset i re-lined this exact sketch in sai to update it to match my current lineart style, but as you can see i realised the pose itself needed work and not just a re-line so i completely redid it in procreate to exaggerate the pose and gestures. i went into this one already knowing exactly what bg colours i wanted so that was no issue but the hardest part was weirdly figuring out what he was going to be standing on. in canon he is standing on top of a very high wall and leaning back over a fatal drop. the black pencil lines in the clouds and the bird were ad libbed but i liked the idea of throwing the bird in as some extra symbol of freedom the likes of which you will not experience if you have been shot with a harpoon. the green was not working at all so the swap out to more purpley pink tones was last minute. i unified the different colours by using a colour-shifting brush (you’ll see that his gaiters are different colours - i didn’t hand pick those, the colour jitter did)

for Big Pascal... originally it was going to be a confrontation between the guy on the ground and pascal but i wasn’t feeling the standing pose and it ended up being... if not restful then at least maybe a little more benevolent than the shadow of colossus shit it was before. the white cracks in the sky were originally going to be black but it just didn’t work. a lot of people tag this one as some form of cowboy aesthetic which is funny to me. there’s no cowboys here

i do like the lens flare effect in the b&w thumbnail tbh and i think i kind of lost the low camera angle effect in the final

i drew a bonus comic of the two characters interacting during this scene (mostly the lil guy just trying to ignore what’s happening in the sky)

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pleucas · 10 months

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Would you ever consider doing a colouring tutorial?

Heyooooooo

I've done a coloring post before (a few months prior), but somehow, my coloring/painting process has changed a lot since then lol. I'll give a breakdown of my process (and go into specifics on coloring) here, but please do take it with a grain (or a spoonful) of salt... I'm still very much learning, and though you can use my process as a guide, experiment on your own to find what works for you! This post got a little long I'm ngl so. open at ur own risk. it's really just me rambling and being a bit too pretentious for my own good

using my recent post as an example, my process is basically just:

first i get a clean sketch (after many hours of pain finding detailed references lol), not gonna go into that since you asked abt coloring

then i immediately go to block out shapes over the sketch. For big paintings, I don't do lineart (because i find that it eliminates a lot of depth that can be achieved with shapes and shading) — for smaller sketches and pieces, i'll do lineart tho.

I started darker to lighter in this painting because I knew I wanted harsh light. For me, it's a lot easier to project "additions" onto a surface — ie, if there's a harsh light, that's the addition vs. a shadow in neutral lighting as the addition. dunno if that makes sense, but breaking tones down like that helps me understand how i want to chronologically color smth and choose my bases:

for example, since I knew I was gonna have harsh light here, I felt comfortable with just getting the tones for my shadows down immediately. There won't be many midtones due to how extreme I saw it to be, so there was no point in finding a neutral base tone.

how i choose colors varies from painting to painting, but for this one, I decided to lean purple-blue because skk are just one of many red and blue gays (same reason why most of my other skk works lean red-blue-purple), and also because I knew I wanted my light to be on the warmer side — thus, the shadows and unlit areas will be cooler.

i also wanted it to recede (to emphasize the perspective and for depth), so for the base colors, i made them cooler + darker as they went back. This wasn't as clear in the finished product, but i think it did a good job at reminding me the vibe i wanted as i rendered

By how much I've written for this step, I guess you can assume that it's the step I put the most consideration into — and you'd be right. I think base colors really determine the vibe, and it sets you up for the rest of the painting. Sometimes I have to color adjust my bases over and over (with hue adjustments, color balance, curves) until I'm satisfied. I think that satisfaction is obtained w/ more ease as I've painted more and more. Alongside the sketch, this step takes me quite a while. Sometimes it's fun to mess with really wild color combos, but that's another topic.

Then I block out the lighting, which is probably the most drastic step but also somehow the quickest for me. Once you understand how light affects color (warmth, tone, etc) and you gain confidence with it, blocking out values in relation to base tones isn't too hard. That ofc takes practice and a lot of fundamental understanding of Shapes & Colors but there's a lot of stuff online abt the theory specifically from professionals, so I'm not gonna lecture y'all as a fanartist for glorified literary author rpf

then i just start rendering, layer by layer. above is a screenshot i took mid-rendering; at this point, dazai's clothes were basically done but I later worked on the face + hair more and textured the tie.

I try to do the stuff I want people to focus on first, because at least for me, that's when I have the most energy to make smth detailed — the more detailed an area is, the more naturally drawn you eye is to it (this is because the brain likes areas of high contrast, and details are entirely founded on the placement of contrast).

My art has never been too extremely detailed — I enjoy flatter + bigger shapes, styled texturing and silly patterns, but I find that "detail" still translates into "effort". When I look at paintings, it's very clear where someone put most of their effort — and when I can't tell, then I know I have a very confident + experienced artist who can effectively distribute their workflow (goalz). So yeah, I render in my very silly poly style but still keep that in mind.

eventually, I finish rendering. This part is kinda a blur tbh, and it always varies from artist to artist. I'd say the things I keep in mind are:

shape + form (making sure my rendering doesn't mess up gesture or vibes, and that it keeps things loose)

composition (making sure i don't overdo areas where i don't want people to focus on)

and tone (ensuring that the depth and believability of the scene stays intact so that my non-realistic style can work)

I added the bullet because i wanted a reason for the goofy expressions, just a bit more pizazz so that skk's drama was also believable lol. also visual storytelling or whtv (but that's not something i usually prioritize, it mostly comes with the concept and sketch).

I also added the bullet for some compositional spice. the dark shadow on dazai's arms was there to also emphasize the warped perspective, but it also left a weirdly empty vibe that I didn't enjoy lol. So yeah, bullet! and ofc my favorite, weird flowy line pattern thing that doesn't adhere to the laws of physics

I think a lot of my traditional painting experience leaks into my digital painting practice. I don't like lineart too much, and since I mainly work with acrylic, I rely on opaque color blocks, layering, and "carving out" shapes. probably explains my affinity for solid flat brushes in Procreate,,,,, but yeah. It's a little all over the place, but at its core, it's a lot of technical stuff mixed with habits after finding what works for me.

Dunno if this helps at all, or if it was interesting lolol. Thank you for reading until the end if you're still here! I appreciate it. I'm still learning but I've definitely learned a lot since I started this blog so it's exciting to track my progress. I'm sure I'll see this in a few years and laugh lolol.

#pleuart #pleucas #casasks #sorry it got a little long #i did Not proofread this so there will prolly be a bunch of typos. just shout at me i'll fix it

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esperanzagalaxy · 2 years

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Hello!!!

First off, I absolutely ADORE your art! It is some of the finest work ive ever seen and is just a joy to see! Secondly, i am equally upset about the abrupt rqg feed ending and would like to ask, if you are still taking requests, for any Grizzop and/or Vesseek doodles? Or just anything involving our favourite goblins! Hope you have an amazing day💜💜

RQG request #21! oh, friend, thanks so much for your words, you’re always so ready to support everyone 😭💙 and yes, same, it’s been months but i’m still salty. doing this one was funny because i did the sketch before you commissioned me, and the rendering after, so it was cool to draw them twice with different vibes!

i did very much cheat and made this one self-indulgent because, at the time when i was going to sketch this one, i was working on the chapter of my fic where they’re introduced, so... here they are! the mean girl supreme of the art world and his endlessly patient star assistant!

the rendering didn’t come out quite as i’d hoped, but the lineart is on point. like, that was Exactly how grizzop was supposed to look. well done, me. this is a cool one. thanks so much for your request!!! <33

mechanical pencil on yellow paper and digital color.

ID under the cut!

[ID: an illustration of grizzop and vesseek. it's drawn traditionally with a mechanical pencil, and rendered digitally with dark sepia tones. it's a low shot that shows them both looking down at the camera, with high windows to their back, leaving them mostly in shadow. grizzop is to the left, leaning against the side of a wooden table. vesseek is in front of him, to the right, sitting on a wooden crate. grizzop has his arms crossed and is looking down with a dismissive eyebrow raised. he's wearing a plain button up with rolled up sleeves, trousers, and an apron. there's a rag hanging from his belt. he's lean and wiry, with long, pointed ears from which three arrow piercings hand. he's bald and freckly, with narrowed eyes and a rounded nose. vesseek is dressed the same way as him, and they smile relaxedly at the viewer. their left leg is dangling from the crate, and their right knee is up, with the corresponding hand resting atop of it. the left hand is on the front edge of the crate, towards the camera. they're smaller and fatter than grizzop, but a little closer to the camera. they have shorter ears and short, messy hair. they're slightly fuzzy. the windows are bright behind them both. end ID]

#rqg #rusty quill gaming #grizzop drik acht amsterdam #vesseek #rqg vesseek #mixed media #fanart #finished works #yeah sure #2022 #the great swarm of rqg requests 2k22

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sugarplanet · 1 year

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Instantly Overcome Hating Your Art and Stop Wasting Your Time In 3 Easy Steps

Throughout the fall, I've hit the proverbial reset button a few times hoping to start with a clean slate or the right foot in progressing my career and just being better at art. Still, it's easy to hit a plateau when you get wrapped up into one thing and neglect your portfolio, your idea moleskin, or your twitter (though I don't really want much to do with that last one these days). Despite the tone of this post so far, I can at least tell you that it's much better now than it was three or four years ago. One time, I'd stopped posting or drawing or speaking to people an entire year and it did no favors to my self-esteem or my muscle memory. Now, when I smack face first into a wall or feel like nothing I do is ever good enough, I have tools to react, retract, and reflect before I do something harmful, like impulsively ghost everyone or stop going to work. Here's some directions to get back on track:

1: Stop

If you find yourself saying mean things about your own art or feel like you're about to throw your painting against the wall or see something so beautiful on social media immediately followed by a train of people who have tons in milage/talent/popularity on you then you're going to have to press the pause button. Immediately stop whatever you're doing and take a deep breath. You'll have to build some serious discipline to do it but it's an invaluable skill to be able to cut off intrusive or harmful thoughts before they can stew and fog your brain any further. Go take a break and come back to your craft or task and after you've given energy to something else for a little while, you'll find you have more energy than before.

2: Turn Around

I find it a huge help to go over the basics (a lot) as a refresher regularly as when you take on something really complex you can get easily overwhelmed if your skill or tolerance for perspective and doing lineart by hand isn't seasoned enough. This is where going through the fundamentals or at least better researching your topic can help you troubleshoot the WHY and WHAT going on. If you're trying to draw a landscape from your imagination or with other art as a reference, you're going to need to do some thumbnails. If you need tigers or rhinos, go do some tracing and then some studies. If you can, try working on a different medium than what you were working with before; that bit of separation is going to help keep you from burning out again too fast and create some interest as well ("oooh color pencils, how exciting!") BONUS: Avoid doom scrolling through other artists! You'll want to save observation purely for intentional style studies rather than get stuck in the trap of comparing yourself to everyone.

3: Go Back

You'll have to go back at some point, especially if it's for your day job or for a client... But before you do, make sure you can check these off: > Feel better emotionally > More energized/inspired to take this on > Have a viable solution to my problem > Am proud of self and my work and don't think I suck If you can, great! Take it from the top. If not, maybe you need a little more rest (if you're still struggling emotionally) or maybe you need some more practice (if you're not satisfied with your solution yet). Repeating this process enough times will also help you bounce back from break-downs, burnouts, and blocks a lot quicker. I promise; if I can sit here and write this long, then you can absolutely make great things happen for yourself. :)

#journal #inspiration #artblock #art education #self help #self impowerment #artistsupport

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giomagnetism · 2 years

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i don’t normally do this type of post, i never have reason to, but i wanted to write down or go relatively in-depth with the process of that last piece so i can hopefully replicate the results (or if anyone was curious). and also because i think the initial sketch is hilarious:

before i put a cut on this monstrosity of a post, these are the lines and flats; there were a few details that got lost under the shading so now you can see the gradients on her tentacles, etc.

now let’s get crack a lackin’

composition-wise i had a vague idea that i wanted both her hands in the shot, a prominent feature of her smile, and the lettering in the bottom left-hand corner; of which the hardest part was placing both her hands until i had the idea of her leaning against her shoulder.

since i swapped to csp from sai, my sketches have gotten looser and simpler in style, which isn’t a bad thing but wasn’t what i wanted out of this pic. i especially wanted to evoke the way i used to draw marlo’s teeth and did my best to replicate the brush i used to sketch in sai, and then i drew the rest of the owl. (and refined the text.)

(on god, there are no layers in-between these two.)

i did not have to line this from here but i wanted to, so i did. i think that took the bulk of the time spent on this... somewhere around 7 to 9 hours?

i wasn’t thinking about line-weight all that much, really, apart from mimicking the heavier and thicker areas of the sketch—normally i would have a light-source in mind already, and thin the lines which would be under direct light and thicken the ones in the shadows, but i really didn’t think i was gonna render this yet. for as long as it takes lineart is the least-complicated step so... that’s that.

for clarity, i won’t include this version in the process, but for all my artfight attacks thus far i’ve duplicated the lineart layer and used some effect to add some soft red rim to it all. in this instance the duplicated layer is a soft vivid red on color burn and blurred a little; the main lineart is on hard light so it can show against the darker colors.

the flats have a few things going on; they’re a mix of my own color choices (for example, her main skin tone is the same color i used to sketch) and eyedropped, which i don’t normally do but you just can’t get better than dolly’s native colors imo. instead, the skin colors from her ref made up the highlights and flush points. i was gonna do the same thing on her tentacles but gave up because i couldn’t figure it out LOL. most everything was magic wand’d for ease of selection, though i like to color by hand.

oooookay, so now we get into shading. i wasn’t planning on doing anything extra beyond nab a few extra points with a rough excuse for ‘fully shaded’, but i started screwing around with layer modes and, well, that was all she wrote.

first step: saturated teal on 100% multiply. (i think it was a color i eyedropped from one of splatoon’s assets for my last zine piece, actually.) i blocked it in chunks and refined it with the g-pen and eraser, celshading everything like i normally do, and then stumbled face-first into blending instead. clip’s default gouache blender for that, at various sizes depending how broad or subtle i wanted the blend. i sort of kept the shadows crisp near where they were cast (i.e. her arm against her tentacle) and faded on wider planes like her arms & chest but mostly i did whatever i liked.

duplicated the layer and set it on top, a bright red on 100% saturation. i use the HSV sliders the most and the red was, itself, 100 saturation. i wanted extra vibrancy without having to literally paint with more saturated colors and this was the best solution i could come up with.

now the light source; a linear burn layer on 23% opacity, a rich gold color (i think one of the ones i’ve used for ness’ ink at some point); cool shadows mean a warm light source. normally i would magic wand the celshading and invert selection, but since i’d already painted everything, i ... did the same and expanded the selection significantly, overlapping with the saturation layer/‘subsurface scattering’, and softened the edges down. not recommended, will make sure to think ahead next time lmao.

now we start to get complicated and i started throwing things to find if they stick. this one’s a soft light layer with pink and blue airbushed on; the pink to add further vibrancy and depth to her skin, accentuate the flush points from above, and create color variation and vibrancy in her tentacles. the blue got used for a rough approximation of bounce light and to create a bit more depth in the shadows. i wasn’t super precise with the placement, but it isn’t obvious either way.

the top is a very pale tan on soft light, there’s not a lot to this; it’s very broad highlights and i just kinda did whatever in terms of the shapes.

the bottom is the addition of another vivid light layer, a similar if not the same pale tan airbrushed over and around the broader gloss. i layered it heavier where that gloss was more pronounced, especially closest to the light source, but bled it out farther to create the illusion of... i don’t know if you would call it refraction or subsurface scattering again, but some extra depth. there’s also a few speckles to dampen the impact of the shine on her nose and lips & accentuate the shine of her teeth.

and that’s all of it! i made this whole thing up as i went along but i am Definitely gonna attempt recreating and refining it. if you read this far, thank you so much, i am handing you a plate of homemade sugar cookies

#art ref #<for my sake #thou art mine

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drinkrust · 2 years

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heaven knows you postmortem

hi! i’m drinkrust. i made a kinetic novel called heaven knows you back in july together with my dear friend Enzo. it was the first time i ever made a game, even if some don’t consider a visual novel with no choices a game (i kinda do). now that i’m a few months removed from the process of making it, i feel like i can better look back at my experience with the project.

heaven knows you was made in 15 days for VN Cup, which was a yuri game jam that had some people from team cpu behind it. it was because of them that i ended up hearing about it. i love archangel:nemesis and instantly got interested when i saw the jam announcement. even better: it seemed like something feasible. i was surprised to see a bunch of artists i really admire were also going to make a VN for it, so the pressure started to build up. it was especially frightening since our artstyle was pretty different from the other projects in there. it's kinda traditionally cartooney with thick lineart and angular faces. even though i was nervous, i think it made me more compelled to actually finish the game.

VN Cup had few restrictions: the VN had to be less than an hour long, have no choices and be yuri as hell. that was it. for someone with absolutely 0 programming experience, it was also helpful to know that the engine we’d be using was ren’py, which is made for babies like me to understand without much trouble. that was it. why not make my first game there? my main problem was that i was a completely awful artist. like, really, i’ll show a few of my pieces in a few paragraphs. so i talked to my friend Enzu which is an extremely talented artist with many cool potential artstyles and he agreed to help out. during the 15 days we had to develop hny, he had work and college and i had some freelancing stuff to work on and also college, so we had less than ideal free time.

still, we managed to pull on with only one or two days of crunch!! i mean, that could’ve probably been avoided, but i personally did not know what the hell i was doing most of the time… so i can prolly avoid it in the future if i can help it. Enzo had a lot of work to do as well: multiple backgrounds and 7 character sprites, three detailed ones and four silhouettes, all with a full range of expressions. he also did the logos and part of the graphic design.

i got a bit ahead of myself. what is heaven knows you?? well, it’s the final manifestation of an idea that had been floating around my head for a long while. it’s first draft in my head was that of a first person dungeon crawler where you played as an adventurer that got stuck in a castle with witches that were waiting hundreds of years to seal a person there to execute a spell to open one’s mind. so, basically the same idea that ended up on the final game. but the tone was drastically different, and it was going to be more of an adventure-puzzle dungeon crawler thingy. the witches were going to be unhelpful and barely talk, and there was *probably* not going to have any romance.

so i started thinking about ways to make it work as a yuri VN, and it kinda just wrote itself. one of the witches is Selena, and she even had some sprites already done that i could use for inspiration for the eventual redesign. in the original dungeon crawler version she was going to be a mysterious character that forgot how to comunicate properly with humans because she was stuck in the upper section of the castle without talking to the rest of her coven. brace yourself for her icon below.

her hair was supposed to look withered and her face scary and pale because of how recluse she was. a perfect fit for the love interest of my newly conceptualized VN! Enzo redesigned her with his style while inspired by Deep Sea Prisoner’s games and my insane references, which gave her a more welcoming and charming look. i think her design in hny makes her come off as clumsy as well which is nice.

as for the protagonist, Inno, i wanted her to be androgynous and represent the culture and look of the people of the fictional city she came from, Calandria. her and Tara’s outfit were inspired by the weirdo retrofuturistic take on clothing from the early Phantasy Star games.

i wanted Inno to be a little annoying at first. someone who’s ghosted her friends and justified to herself that abandoning most of her connections in order to forge a path alone was worth it. one of the themes is making her realize that, you know, that was a mistake and all. she’s that kind of simple and curious protagonist that works well for this kind of story, but with a little dumb edge that (in my mind at least) makes her a bit more active in the plot.

her and Selena are kinda similar in how they aren’t thaat great at talking, but each have their own quirks. writing their interactions was pretty easy because of their dynamic. but then there’s the rest of the coven, which is made of extremely ambitious witches that dealt with their situation stuck at the castle way better than Selena, and started to bully her.

they were all completely created by Enzo, and i like their presence in the story! they’re mean out of boredom, mostly, and i tried to make the way they teased Selena to not be completely awful. they’re not bad guys, but they do fuel some conflict throughout the plot. i wish i had written more for them…

then there’s Tara, a character that i won’t really talk about much because she only shows up near the end. she’s a weird one.

writing the whole thing was an extremely fun endeavor, but damn it was tiring. there are many pieces which i constantly altered up until the last day before the deadline, and i cut a bunch of stuff out to streamline it a bit. if i had known more ren’py before starting, i would’ve done some fancier tricks to shake up the visuals, but i had already spent a couple days just trying to figure character portraits out, so that was probably way out of reach.

honestly, i’m extremely happy that i could get one of my stories out there. i have a bunch just lying on my mind, and i wish to make them all one day. in my mind, heaven knows you was a great success. more than 60 people downloaded it!! like, getting people to take time out of their day to download my game was something i was straight up not expecting. i’ve made a bunch of art in different disciplines over the last eight years or so, and never before had this much attention to one of my first projects on it. it’s crazy.

now i really feel like digging deeper into the development side of videogames and making more stuff. first of all, i’ll update heaven knows you. there aren’t that many songs on it, so i’ll add a couple more. also, maybe better programming on some of the particularly barren sections. maybe more art as well? i wanna make a “post-jam” edition so that it becomes a more polished experience.

after that’s done, i’ll get deep into work on my next game project, which is a unity thing. i also wanna do a sequel to heaven knows you. it’s already mapped out, so maybe i’ll work on it before the unity project? oh no, this postmortem is turning into a diary. thanks for reading. bye!!! here’s an extra Selena artwork i did on my own weirdo artstyle a few months back!!!

#gamedev #indiegamedev #indie #visual novel #kinetic novel #postmortem

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aenhanse · 2 years

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could you make a tutorial on how you did your robin comic edit! the coloring and flat style of shading (or ig lack of shading?) in particular. i’ve always been interested in how people do comic edits like that! reminds me of older comics

sure thing! it's quite an easy process as long as you know basics of photoshop, which i use for all my edits. fair warning, i'm not the best at explaining things but i hope this will help you! (under the cut)

the most important thing is cutting out the character from the panel of your choosing. i use the polygonal lasso tool for that cause i find it allowing for the best end result. try to follow the lineart as closely as possible and avoid leaving off pieces of background or surroundings in. use a flat color as a background after you cut out the whole character to better see if something is off with the way it looks (jagged edges, any stray pieces). for example: here i cut out the very edges of lineart that looked off once i added a background color.

when it comes to coloring/shading it's all on the original artist(s) of the issue (matteo scalera and dave stewart in case of the robin edit). i only adjust the colors using selective colors and hue/saturation layer adjustments so they match as closely as possible in a set. here i started by changing the blue hue on robin's face to warmer tones with hue/saturation and used the layer mask option so it applied only in a selected place

then it was up to selective color layers to adjust all the rest to my liking. i also used levels to bring out the blacks more. once i'm happy with how the colors are adjusted i just match them between all the pictures and add a proper background color that i feel looks the best (more often than not i color pick it from the character). when you're done with that i crop the image and resize it with the tumblr display dimensions in mind (in width 540px for one image, 268px for two next to each other, 177px for three. i usually add extra 100px in width as i find it looks nicer? so 368px width in case of the robin edit). at the very end i tend to also bring the vibrance up a little just to bring out the colors a bit more. that's pretty much all.

#anon #replies #*tutorial

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zelkams-art · 3 years

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#ShowYourProcess

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

RULES — When your work is tagged, show the process of its creation from planning to posting, then tag 5 people with a specific link to one of their creative works you’d like to see the process of. Use the tag #showyourprocess so we can find yours!

I was tagged by @milkcrates, who showed her process of making this gorgeous piece with Wei Wuxian and little A-Yuan!! It was awesome to see how it came to life - and thank you for tagging me! ✨

So I got tagged to show how this Yunmeng brothers + golden core art happened! I already included the digital sketch for it in my sketch vs final compilation, but I guess I can show some more!

This is gonna be long because I like talking a lot, so putting the rest under a cut!

1. Planning

SO. A golden core pic was on my to-draw list as soon as I finished watching the show. I had a WIP of a different pic for that waiting, but actually I noticed that a very similar thing has already been drawn, so that was kinda dropped. But I’m glad I waited until the idea for this one slapped me! It was pretty much a moment of “w a i t a second” and I had to grab a random piece of paper to sketch it while I still had it in my head.

This is the sketch - as you can see from the coffee stains, it has been through some stuff. On the left I actually tried out some different ideas for the golden core - the 1st one was the winner and led to the whole leaking/water/rain theme. I ended up mirroring the whole sketch because I didn’t want Wei Wuxian’s hand to cover Jiang Cheng’s front hair wisp, as that would make that area too crowded.

Meta-wise: I wanted to show that the whole thing was kept as a secret from Jiang Cheng. But we also knew about it - so Wei Wuxian is breaking the 4th wall and looking at us [the audience] directly, shushing to keep it a secret as well. Then there’s his hand hovering over the blindfold - it was included in the show, but also sprinkles in that extra symbolism. Then there’s the rain - the sky crying for the two brothers, so you’re not sure if those are raindrops or tears on their faces + lotus pond for the Yunmeng vibes. As for the golden core, I wanted to make it kinda messy and leaking like blood + shining and make it the main light source of the piece. Also kinda like a glow stick liquid.

I also like finding fitting music to go with my art and this one was actually supposed to go with Avicii’s Hey Brother, but when I was looking it up on Spotify I saw Kodaline’s Brother right above, gave it a listen and then the lyrics hit me. So I already knew that they’re gonna go in the caption. Also apparently it’s like The Song for them and yeah, makes sense.

2. Creating

2.1 Set up and tools

I use Paint Tool SAI + Wacom Intuos S to do all my art! The entire pic was made on a 2000 x 3000 px canvas, since I don’t like to work too big because of limited brush sizes in SAI + I don’t want to torture my laptop, as my art takes up quite a lot of processing power with a lot of layers and modes and sometimes things like to crash at the final steps 😬.

2.2 Planning and composition

So I started off by doing a digital sketch and focusing on the composition a bit more - I wanted something geometrical, so I went for the diamond shape with Wei Wuxian’s silhouette and the placement of the lotuses. Also the composition is vertical, all the important info is in the middle column - you could cut off 2/3 of the picture and it would still tell the story.

2.3 Lineart

Then I did the lineart over the sketch layer (there was a more detailed one than the “planning” sketch, but it looks like I deleted it once I finished). I usually draw more than I have to and on separate layers, so that I can move/modify things easily later - for example JC’s headpiece here didn’t really make it that much into the final piece but It Was There. Once I was satisfied with the lineart, I cleaned it by erasing overlapping things, like Wei Wuxian’s clothes behind Jiang Cheng’s head.

2.4 Planning the lighting

After doing the lineart I blocked the characters with a single color and planned the lighting. The golden core is the main light source here, so it dictates which parts are gonna be lighter and which darker (although there is gonna some ambient occlusion from the background + reflected light from the water). I also added water and lotuses in the foreground + painted the background.

2.5 Shading the characters

After that, I started shading the pic. I usually do two steps here - one with “base” shading - focusing on the details and values based on the light source, then the mood shading with more coloring - based on the setting the characters are in. The first one is mostly done with the Multiply tool and base layer blending/painting, the second mostly with layer modes like Overlay and Luminosity. I also colored some parts of the lineart to make the shapes stand out (see: wwx’s front hairs)

2.6 Environment and touch-up details

Then it was time for the water and lotuses + the “special effects” for the rain and all the stuff associated with it - water splashes, mist, sparkling drops! Also some more mood lighting. Lots of new layers to keep everything organized and separated.

2.7 Finished pic

And done! After finishing I usually adjust the contrast/gamma/saturation of my art (or just edit it all in curves) + sometimes sharpen it to bring out details → I make a few different versions and pick the one that works the best. Although with this pic I was satisfied with the raw result so no major changes happened.

3. Posting

For posting I always scale down the pictures and upload them as a draft on this art blog. Then I check if things look okay on mobile as well - from what I’ve noticed my phone makes everything more warm-toned. Depending on the time I finish drawing, I either post it right away or wait until the next day, when there is more traffic on tumblr. I finished this one around 8PM of my local time, which is fine - so I posted it right away (also I was just excited, couldn’t wait 😅)!

As caption I used the lyrics from Brother by Kodaline, as mentioned before!

So yeah, that would be it!

If you made it till this part - thank you and I hope you have an awesome day! ✨

Let’s keep the artist vibes here - I’m gonna tag (not 5 ppl but shh) @still-snowing�� and this piece that still breaks my heart @driszol and this Song Jiyang pic that lives in my head to this day @kushexi and this pic with fox Wei Wuxian and A-Yuan bc it still makes me melt → no pressure of course! or if you want to do some other piece that’s awesome as well!

#showyourprocess #[and now tags for my own blog →]#not art #art process #oh this was fun - thank you for tagging me!!#always crying abt those self-sacrificial siblings :'')

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dusksmote · 3 years

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How do you ink and color? Any tips? I love your art! 💜🖤

oh shit i got this ask months ago and forgot to answer

inking: god i hate lineart so much. the trick is to not do it 😂 unfortunately, i still find myself spending hours on lineart all the time @_@

the biggest thing i’ve found is making your lines varied in thickness. it adds to the interest. i also try to make my outside line thicker than my inside ones to break up the figure from the background. don’t be afraid to skips some lines and imply them with shading instead. i will color over my lines at the end to make them not as strong, but i’ve learned to still keep some lines black for extra emphasis.

^ here’s one of my older pieces that i’ve been considering redoing. it has very little line variation, ALL the lines are colored so there’s no solid black, and there’s very little hard contrast in shading values. overall, it looks flat and uninteresting and if i had the time i’d redraw this one.

this is a more recent example of lineart that i think works a lot better. the characters are really well defined with a strong outline, but the inside lines aren’t harsh and distracting. you can see i recolored the lineart in kyle’s hair to be a dark red, and in some places it blends with the shadows to imply areas with more highlights. stan’s pants don’t have and lines in them, just the outside shape and pockets.

you can see in this wip what the lineart looks like before i do all the shading and fancy stuff. stan’s pants look totally flat and straight until i start shading.

a lot of the time though i won’t even do lineart, especially if it’s a big scenic piece. the more zoomed out less detail you can convey, and lineart takes up a lot of space.

^ this piece is an example where i do both, lineart and no lineart. the mirror image of kyle isn’t the focus, and i honestly didn’t feel like going in and drawing exact lines because they’d probably look fucked up anyway. i typically don’t put hard lines in backgrounds because it would take FOREVER and just be distracting.

the one thing you do have to be careful of with lineless art is contrast. hard lines are good contrast that show you what you’re looking at, and without them your image can blend together.

here’s part of a painting i did last august, when i was first experimenting with lineless styles (full image on my NSFW twitter). can you tell what’s going on here? i sure as fuck can’t. there’s no contrast, and it makes all the skin tones blend together in an unintelligible mush.

contrast has always been one of my biggest weaknesses as an artist, so i’ve been trying to improve over time. here’s a more recent lineless drawing:

this one works because it had high contrast. the highlights are really bright and the shadows are really deep. you can still make out the facial features too, but there’s no ‘lineart’ layer’. everything was painted on in the same layer.

coloring: oh my god i love coloring. it’s my favorite part of drawing and the reason why shit takes forever. a lot of the same stuff from before comes into play, like contrast. you can also portray some really interesting moods based on colors if you’re being stylistic, but also pay in mind to your environment.

i always color my background first. in fact, a lot of the time i’ll do the entire background before coloring a piece. the environment establishes your light levels and light source, and it’s typically easier for me to tweak colors on a figure than the ones in the background. in the above example with kenny, the background is a mostly solid black with a beam of light from the left. i picked kenny’s colors to fit in this environment.

it’s also important to use references.

you can see in this wip i’ve got a reference image for how light from a TV looks against figures and the way their shadows are cast across the wall. it also helped me figure out what colors to use in this situation.

a lot of coloring is just trial and error to see what works. i usually start with a flat base color and add value to it. if you put all your colors on different layers it’s really easy to change them quickly.

here’s an example:

i got my base colors down and here i can see the skin tone is blending with the background, so i lightened it up for better contrast

i typically shade the skin first, then clothes. you can see here i did a dull skin tone with a bright colored shadow. this adds more contrast and interest. i always try to avoid doing dull shadows where you shift toward black. black shadows are really uninteresting and they can make your piece look muddy. i’ll typically shade with an orange, red, blue, or purple.

the final piece has a really bright highlight on it coming from behind. this just adds more visual interest and contrast. you can also see i’ve gone back into the pink shadows and added an even lighter, brighter peach value in places to show reflected light. this also gives the darker pink shadow an added outline effect, because it touches the base skin tone but looks lighter within.

^ this one’s a good example of light and shadow (full image on my NSFW twitter lmao). there’s not a lot of color because it’s dark out, so everything had to be conveyed in values. there’s hard light across the stomach and then a shadow over the chest, but there’s still light being reflected up into stan’s face that lets us make him out. the rest is deep shadow and unimportant, so it’s all black.

that’s the other part, color and value determine where your eye is gonna look, so consider that when drawing.

^ consider this piece i drew like a year ago. it has a lot of blues and reds, and originally i was going to make stan’s guitar blue. i don’t have the wips anymore, but it didn’t stand out and it didn’t look right with the image. after a lot of playing around i went with yellow because it’s bright, it breaks up the image, and it adds another color to the piece to balance it out.

the same thing happened when i was working on the cover image for What They Say About Us.

you can see in this really early wip that i’d blocked in the colors and butters is totally naked. for one, i was like “damn that kid is WAY too naked in this image” and he also blended in with stan and cartman. additionally, there was a lot of warm colors on the left, a lack of color on the right, and an overall lack of blue.

first change i made was throwing a shirt on him and it made a huge improvement. the image looks much more balanced now and he’s not super distracting with his naked-ness.

other than that, coloring is just picking your base colors, blocking in shadows, adding highlight, and cleaning it up. if you wanna improve, look at photo references. look at other people’s art and examine how they use color and value. practice practice practice. have fun with it. the most fun i have coloring comes from figuring out interesting textures like the pharaoh headdress or kenny’s leather jacket.

i find stock photos like this and study them to see how the light works

other than that, the rest is just playing around, seeing what works, and making things up as i go!

#ask #long post #lol

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lil-smutier · 2 years

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<< Chapter 3 : Come Follower, Come Friend >>

The next day, the Jackals met for practice. It was still early in the morning, and everyone was yet to fully rise, all except for Hinata, who was already hyped up from riding his bike over to the center whilst the others took the morning train over. “Morning Captain!” He beamed, smiling at the hum of acknowledgement he got, leaving to greet the rest of his teammate-come-friends as he changed into his sports attire. “Mornin’ Shoyo...” Atsumu yawned, the setter used to Shoyo’s seemingly never ending energy. He had expected it to tone down after their first match back in highschool, but he was complaining either; after all, it was mostly because of his incredible stamina that he was able to learn all that he needed to earn the Jackals their many wins.

“We’re practicing receives today.” Meian announced, the tiredness evident in his voice, but he refused to let it drag him down, “After that, I want you guys to divide yourselves so we can play a 4v4.” the middle blocker watched as the rest of the team moved to bring out their basket of volleyballs, adjusting it by the outside of the court before moving to arrange themselves in position. The spikes and receives went smoothly, with only a few misses on Atsumu’s hybrid serve, Meian couldn’t blame them though; if their team could do it easily enough, it wouldn’t be very strong of a weapon on opposing teams.

The spike-receive training went on for a good twenty minutes straight before everyone was called for a break. A near inaudible ‘ding!’ sounded from one of the phones on the bench followed by a quick hum of vibration. “Oh! That’s mine!” Shoyo called out from where he was taking a gulp of his water, heading over and picking up his phone to check his notifications, the small Black Jackal keychain chiming as it jingled from his case. “ Uwaahh! ” He exclaimed, catching the rest of the team’s attention, “Ah! Chibi-chan! What’re you looking at?” Bokuto questioned, surprised by the orange-haired hitter’s sudden outburst. The latter looked up at him with stars in his eyes, body nearly jumping in his spot from excitement.

“Bokuto-san!!” The shorter squealed, unable to hold back his eagerness anymore, hopping up and down on the spot while he tried to show the ex-Ace his phone screen. Koutaro laughed, telling him to slow down, he couldn’t get a proper look at what his friend was trying to show him if he kept jumping like that. When he realised that Shoyo probably wouldn’t sit still long enough, he plucked the phone out of his hands, bringing it closer to his face to try and get a good look at it. His eyes widened owlishly when he took in what his pupil was trying to show him. It was a drawing of them, all of them dressed in their regular gold and black sportswear, - aside from Inunaki, who wore gold and white to signal his position. The art looked so… life-like. It was just like a photograph, but if you looked closely you could see where the paint had seeped under the lineart, spreading onto the textured paper background. Bokuto stared at it, taking it in as he scrolled down to look at the caption on it:

‘Not my best work, but here you all go! Last night was a dream come true.’

“Did you see it??” Hinata spoke from beside him, bouncing as he too tried to take another look at the picture again. The owl felt his jaw drop slightly, nodding before turning to face Shoyo, passing his phone back with a mirrored look of excitement, “That’s amazing Shoyo-kun!” He grinned, ruffling the boy’s hair when he still couldn’t calm down. “Our fans are really talented-” The winged-spiker nodded vigorously, cutting his teammate off, “It’s not just any fan!” at that, Bokuto cocked his head, not understanding what he was hinting at, Shoyo smiled, pulling on his shoulder so he could whisper into his ear.

“Hashi-san drew it!” He whisper-shouted, voice still trembling from the vim.

Now that’s new! Bokuto thought to himself, he could already tell you were a creative person since the two of you met last night, there was just something about you that told him that much. However he never expected you to be this good. “Really??” He watched his pupil nod a-matter-of-factly, “Woah!” He was at a loss for words; he had meant what he said earlier - about their fans being insanely talented - , but the fact that he had actually met you in person last night brought on a whole new sense of wonder to your art. You were so shy when you had first sat down, almost refusing to even touch the armrests of the chair until later on during the night, but you had been a very nice person to all of them, listening to their stories and ramblings, slowly getting more comfortable once you were more used to them.

It made his heart happy.

“I know!” Hinata was in awe too. Although he had seen you holding your sketchbook in hand multiple times, he never would’ve guessed you were drawing them. Sure, it was definitely a shame that you didn't manage to catch all of their moments in their matches since you were busy doodling away, but he was delighted no less to see what you came up with. He enjoyed giving you positive feedback whenever he could, encouraging you to ‘keep doing what you were doing!’ and to ‘keep going!’ when you felt like your artwork wasn’t good enough because hey, everyone needs a pick-me-up from time to time. That was why he followed you in the first place, your work grew on him too, causing him to turn on notifications for when you posted again. It confused him when he took in the differences between your in-person personality as compared to your online personality, but after hearing about how shy you were since the beginning of your and Yachi’s college semesters from Yachi-san herself, he just assumed you were more comforted by the anonymity of having a screen between you and others… After all, you didn’t show your face on the account, only your hands being in some of the shots you took holding your artwork.

“Meian-san said it’s time to start our 4v4!” Atsumu called out to the two hitters, jogging over from the other side of the court, “What’re ya two whisperin’ about over here?” he asked curiously, lips pursing in a small pout as he raised an eyebrow, arms folded across his chest. “Tell you later Tsum-Tsum! Time to practice!” Bokuto stated, instructing Shoyo to put his phone away for later, which the smallest did, switching it off before joining the team on the court. The teams were split, it was Meian, Inunaki, Sakusa and Atsumu against Tomas, Barnes, Shoyo and Bokuto; both sides having a setter, middle blockers, and spikers. Fortunately to the shortest of Bokuto’s team, Inunaki was the only libero, this allowed Hinata to juggle the positions as he pleased, shifting between offence and defence alike.

Meian’s team won. The Captain was awfully smug about it, but the opposing four paid him no mind, thankful that they were all on the same team when the time mattered. They played a couple more sets, not really counting the points this time round, just keeping it lighthearted instead; eventually, everyone - other than Shoyo - grew tired, and another break was called for by Meian. Atsumu sat in between Bokuto and Hinata, still curious as to why they were chatting so secretively earlier that morning, “Well? Ya both gonna tell me what ya both were whisperin’ about earlier?” he asked again, his head on a swivel as he eyed either alternately.

“Ah! Right!” Shoyo exclaimed, suddenly remembering the morning’s events as he whipped out his phone again, keying in the passcode and passing it to the setter. “What’s this?” The blonde questioned, scrolling through the various different artworks of the team, it was really well done, sure, but it’s not like the team didn’t have waterfalls of fanart that were as good, some maybe even better. “Hashi-san drew it!” Bokuto answered, hands balled up in loose fists as he pumped them in the air slightly, ah, so that’s what got them so excited, Atsumu concluded, they aren’t wrong to be happy about it though, she’s really good at drawing. “Yeah? And what made you come to that conclusion Bokkun?” He challenged, it’s not like he didn’t believe you could draw this, the blonde couldn’t doubt your skill like that, he just wanted actual proof that it was yours, and not just a claim.

“My pupil told me!” The spiker replied definitively, looking past the setter to Hinata, who turned to face them at the mention of his name. He nodded, opening his mouth before Atsumu could shoot out another question, “It’s her account ‘Tsumu, I heard about it from Yachi-san! I even saw the account opened on Hashi-san’s phone once.” “Ohohoho~ Looks like we have a little artist then.” Atsumu smirked, thumb still pushing through the various hashtags and captions on your posts. It wasn’t that he wasn’t thrilled to find out about your talents, it was just that he had seen plenty of fanart for the team already, so it wasn’t like yours was anything new, or out of the ordinary. Although … he did suppose knowing you in real life made it somewhat more interesting when going through whatever you created on this account.

Atsumu liked you; you were fun to tease with your obvious reactions, and he was definitely pleased when he noticed you didn’t take it to heart. He thought you were pretty cute too, but he had a nagging feeling there was someone you already had your heart and mind set after. His brown eyes flickered up to Sakusa, who was leaning against the wall on the other end of the building, his hands in his pockets as he spoke with Barnes and Tomas before looking back down at the phone in his hand. Oh well, he smiled to himself, who was he to stop you if you liked Omi-Omi over him? It didn’t seem to him that you didn’t take a liking to him either; although you did appear to be fidgety at first, after a couple drinks and some time, you did indeed warm up to him, even tossing him back a few retorts which he remembered fondly.

Zoning back in, he realised that Shoyo had taken his phone back, putting it somewhere for safe keeping while he and Bokuto bickered away in front of him. “Tsum-Tsum, are you gonna follow her?” The taller asked him suddenly, stopping the argument they had been having prior in favour of observing his reaction. Atsumu juggled this thought for a second, replying with a “Yep, why not.” before jolting in his seat at Bokuto’s sudden shout of ‘AHA-!’ “Jeez, yer gonna rip my eardrums Bokkun!” the setter groaned, sliding open palms against either ear in an attempt to stop the ringing, “Sorry ‘Tsumu! I had a bet ongoing~” the spiker teased, pointing a finger at Shoyo. “It’s not fair!” The crow whined, looking at ‘Tsumu in hopes of him changing his mind; when he saw that it wasn’t the likely outcome, he slumped back into his shared seat on the bench in defeat.

“We had a bet on whether you’d follow her or not, since you didn’t seem very excited about finding out about her account...” He pouted, drawing a laugh from the middle man, “Well, if it makes you happy I could just, not follow her.” he mused, noting Hinata’s head shake in response to that, “No?” “No, you should follow her if that’s what you want to do!” he affirmed, the pout only growing as another laugh bubbled out of the blonde, “Alright, alright, I’ll check her out later tonight, what was her account name again?” he asked, leaning back when Bokuto chimed in, “Me too! Me too! I wanna follow her too!”

You sat at your desk, you had no classes today; it was Sunday and you had the day off. Your work was all finished and up to date too, so you had the freedom to do whatever you wanted to do in your little apartment. The chime of your phone distracted you from your youtube as you picked it up to look at the new notifications:

‘New Follower!’

Oh! Cool! You smiled to yourself, unlocking the device to check who had just followed your fanart account. As you scroll through the list of usernames, your eyes lock onto the two most recent ones, ‘@thebettermiya’ and ‘@bokuto_the_ace’ wait… WHAT. A part of you is in denial as you stare at your phone for an abnormally long time, hands shaking as you begin to take in the reality of the situation, that this might actually be the same accounts belonging to the real Atsumu Miya and Bokuto Koutaro respectively. You check their other social media accounts, matching every single symbol and spelling. It was identical. Screaming internally, you screenshot the two accounts, forwarding them to Hitoka before opening the in-built messaging part of the app.

You haven’t exactly spoken to Shoyo much, but if you really wanted to check the originality of the accounts, who better to ask than him? You type out your question as politely as you can, waiting for either his or Yachi’s response as you flop down onto your bed, screaming into your pillow. Even if you weren’t upset at Hinata for sharing your account, you were heavily embarrassed though. Why did he even bring it up so randomly? What did they say about your drawings? Did they follow the account willingly? Your phone dings again and you swipe through your chats with sweaty fingers from a mixture of shock and overall nervousness. It was from Hitoka-chan, she swore she hadn’t accidentally blabbered to them about it again, and you reassure her, telling her that you have a suspicion that it was Hinata who told them this time round.

The three dots jump in order as Yachi types out her response to your guess. Half of your brain isn’t surprised when she tells you that they had practice today, it only confirms your suspicion even more; the other half of your brain feels like it’s melting. You were honestly surprised that you managed to gain so many new followers over the years, let alone gaining follows from the actual celebrities you make art of. Sure, you took commissions from time to time, but this was a whole other level. You fangirl to her for a few moments before she tells you she’s busy and heads offline, just as you bid her farewell, another notification slides down the top of your phone screen. It’s a reply from Shoyo:

‘Hi Hashi-san! Yup! Those are the real ‘Tsumu and Bokuto-san; I saw your new post when we were at practice this morning and I thought I should share it with them! It looks really good, you even managed to highlight our jump serves!’

Oh, so that explains it , you nod in understanding to yourself as you type back a response:

‘Oh I see! Are they still with you by any chance? If they are, please let them know I’m honoured that they followed me! I hope they like my work.’

The reply comes back almost instantly,

‘They are! They say that it’s no big deal, they really like your work Hashi-san! We ended up telling Meian-san too, I hope you don’t mind…’

‘It’s totally fine Shoyo, I’m so happy you guys like my work!’

You smile too as he sends you back a smile emoticon, they really like my art huh… you still can’t believe it, you knew there were so many other artists that were better than you. It felt like such a privilege to have them compliment you like that. Sorting yourself out, you text Yachi to tell her about what just happened, and then you go and get yourself some early dinner since it was already turning dark outside.

Waiting for everyone to pack up and leave, the Captain jingled the keys in his hand, spinning the ring round and round as he waved everyone goodbye with the other. As Captain, he was entrusted with the set of keys, and thus, he was in charge of locking the place up when everyone had left. Peering inside the gymnasium he noticed Sakusa pacing back and forth as he packed up his things to head home too; although it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for a normal person, for someone who was usually always prepared for most occasions as well as being the first to leave when it was time to do so, it was weirdly out of character.

Meian was worried, things don’t usually get to Sakusa Kiyoomi that badly. He was always known as being the aloof, yet polite mother of the group, always rushing about nagging others like Atsumu-kun about their wild and improper behaviour or lending things such as muscle spray and a packet of tissues to those who were likely to forget, such as Shoyo-kun. Tonight something managed to crack through that tough exterior though; he wasn’t sure what in particular, and he knew prying for more information would probably push him further away from finding out the reason, so the middle blocker did the next best thing. He waited for the Ace to be ready and leave, he needed to lock up anyways, so he could just use that as an excuse to catch the last train home with him instead.

The ravenette was strangely perturbed. He didn’t know why either, ever since he had come home last night, he felt on edge, like somehow he had been missing something. Wiping away the sweat on his forehead from pacing, he headed out of the gymnasium, jerking slightly when Meian popped his head from around the corner of the doorframe. “Whoops, sorry Sakusa-san.” The Captain chuckled awkwardly, getting a quiet nod from the other in reply, the spiker still riddled with foreign emotions and thoughts stamping around so much in his head that he was starting to get a headache. “It’s kinda late,” He noted, meeting Kiyoomi’s tired eyes, “the last train is about to leave soon, we should hurry over before we miss it.” Meian was grateful that Sakusa didn’t try to argue like he usually did, instead nodding again as he adjusted the white surgical mask over his nose and mouth.

#sakusa kiyoomi #omi omi #sakusa kiyoomi x reader #sakusa kiyoomi fluff #sakusa fanart #sakusa imagines #sakusa fluff #sakusa headcanons

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ace-in-a-shopping-cart · 4 years

Text

Day 26

Prompt: You can’t see shades of your soulmate’s eye color until you meet and look into each other’s eyes for the first time.

Word Count: 1,007

Main Taglist: (Send an ask to be added or removed!) @starlocked01, @spoopy-turtle, @lizluvscupcakes, @more-fandon-than-friends, @i-cant-find-a-good-username, @vindicatedvirgil, @star-crossed-shipper, @justaqueercactus, @gayboopnoodle, @sanderssidesweirdo, @the-sympathetic-villain, @8-writes, @lizzy-lineart, @battlebunnyteardropsinthesun, sirprplsnail

Soulmate taglist:(Send an ask to be added or removed!) @elizabutgayer, @melodiread, @tsshipmonth2020, @mikalya12, @8-writes, @lizzy-lineart

CW: food

Remy sighed, glancing at his watch. “When will this party be over?” He muttered.

Roman leaned against him, sprawling on the couch. “You feeling alright?”

Remy shrugged. “I’m fine, buddy, just bored.”

“We could always find the bilge rat and make some mischief?”

Remy shook his head. “No, I think I’ll just go home early.”

Roman popped back into a sitting position. “What? No, you can’t go home early! You never go home early! You’re the party animal, the last to leave. What are you talking about? Are you sick?” His brother moved to put a hand to his forehead but Remy just pushed him away.

“I’m just tired, okay? It’s been a long day.”

Roman snapped his fingers. “That’s right, you went out with Virgil all day! How did it go, did you ask him out?”

Remy pushed him. “I didn’t.”

“Why? I’m almost a hundred percent positive you’re soulmates so why not ask him out? What’s the worst that could happen?”

“He rejects me and we end up not even being friends anymore.” Remy stood. “You know, I think I will leave.”

He passed Remus on the way out, both siblings maintaining eye contact for the whole time they were in the same room. Remy sighed in contentment as the cool night air hit his face. He kept walking, hands in his jacket pockets, letting his mind wander.

In such a crowded area with music so loud he could feel his chair vibrating, the only thing he’d been able to think of was Virgil. The silly redhead had taken over his mind to the point that everything else was dull in comparison to him. He kept walking, his mind wandering again and again to Virgil no matter how many times he tried to think about something else. He paid no mind to the wind whispering in the trees or the sounds of his own footsteps, too consumed with his thoughts to even notice the direction his feet were taking him.

“Remy?” Virgil’s voice caused him to look up to find himself inside the diner Virgil worked at. Reflexively, he twitched his nose to make sure his shades were in place. He silently cursed whatever instinct made him find Virgil.

“Hey.” He said softly.

Virgil just laughed. “Go sit down, my shift is over in a half hour anyways.”

Remy did as he was told, sliding into a booth and taking the time to people watch. Soon enough, Virgil was placing a milkshake in front of him and sitting opposite. Virgil took a long pull from his own milkshake before speaking. “So, what brings you to my little corner of the universe? I thought you had a party to go to.”

Remy shrugged. “I was just spoiling it anyway.”

“Why?” Virgil tilted his head, his jewelry flashing in the too bright lights.

Remy wanted to tell him that of all the people in the party, Virgil’s face was the only one he wanted to see, that no matter how hard his chair vibrated with the music, Virgil's voice was the only thing he wanted to hear. He wanted to tell him that no matter how many people dressed to get his attention, it was only going to be on Virgil and his ratty hoodies and multitude of piercings.

“I’m not really in the mood to party so I’d just drag down the mood.” He took a sip of his milkshake. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

Virgil nodded and moved the conversation to something else, the talk wandering from topic to topic as they drank their treats. When they were done, Virgil cleared off the table before clocking out. Remy held the door for him as they left. They walked down the street, Virgil’s hands in his kangaroo pocket. Eventually, they ended up at the pier.

Remy sat down, taking off his shoes and socks to let his feet dangle and brush the water. Virgil sat next to him, one leg pulled against his chest and the other curled beneath him, his head coming to rest on Remy’s shoulder. They sat like that for a while, just enjoying the other’s company in silence.

Finally, Remy spoke. “Have you ever wondered who your soulmate is?”

Virgil smiled. “Yeah, I’ve wondered.”

“Have you ever thought that you’ve met him already but didn’t know?” Remy laid his head on Virgil’s and hoped he wouldn’t hear how fast Remy’s heart was beating.

Virgil laughed. “Remy, are you trying to ask if I think you’re my soulmate?”

Remy shook his head, sitting back up and gently nudging Virgil’s head up until he was looking at him. Virgil’s nose ring glinted in the light of the moon and his earrings reflected the streetlights. “I’m trying to tell you I think you’re my soulmate.”

Virgil smiled. “Okay, how do we prove it?”

Remy glanced out at the ocean that was a churning mass of grey tones, a blank palate waiting to be filled with color. He pondered the idea of something being withheld from someone until they hit an arbitrary milestone in their life before his attention was brought back to Virgil and his glinting jewelry. “Well,” he answered, “I could always take off my sunglasses.”

Virgil nodded. “Okay, that works.”

So, Remy reached up and removed the only thing protecting him from getting his heart broken. He screwed his eyes shut as the lenses fell away before slowly opening them and seeing blue for the first time in Virgil’s eyes.

In that moment, when it was just the two of them, something clicked into place in the world as Remy cupped Virgil’s cheek. “Is it the wrong time to confess that I’ve had a major crush on you for the past year and ask if I can kiss you?”

Virgil laughed, those blue eyes sparkling. “I’d have to confess that I’ve felt the same for about a year and a half and I’d be terribly devastated if you didn’t kiss me.” So, Remy leant forward and was met halfway by Virgil.

#tsshipmonth2020 #soulmate au #sleepxiety #remy sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #ace writes

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sanctus-ingenium · 3 years

Photo

I already posted this card on main a while back so I thought for this blog I would share a little bit of the in-progress stages. I did originally have the full version of the knotwork behind François but lost the screenshot in a discord purge... rip

Thoughts & process breakdown ⬇️

Anyway the way I approached this was to first set out all me symbolism. In this case it’s the wheel of fortune so it’s about breaking cycles. François is linked by bloodline to a living weapon, his bow, who is also a snake (kind of), and the snake would have continued endlessly perpetuating an ancient war if our man François hadn’t stopped it and essentially opted out of ending the central conflict of the book with violence. So the snake/bow/oroboros is the wheel of fortune here, and François is pictured talking to it instead of using it to fight. i don’t think i did a great job with the actual central figure here lmao i was a little more focused on the embellishment. I think my historical art style influences are pretty obvious, you can see in the sketch that I was going in a different direction for the 4 funny guys in the corners but when i was doing lineart I decided on a new route (i freehanded those)

The four creatures in the corners are set dressing because in the normal wheel of fortune card there’s just some guys hanging out. The top two are the important ones - top left is one of the creatures that François befriends and heals at the climax of the book, and it’s a manifestation of generational trauma tied to certain werewolf bloodlines. The bow hates werewolves and would rather wipe out those monsters, but François instead goes and just kinda hangs out with them (he is a very chill guy). Top right is his own werewolf form but separate from him because a large part of his journey was fighting the bow’s assertions that his lycanthropy wasn’t a natural part of him and was something to be crushed down and disregarded, but he ends up accepting it too.

idk who the two guys at the bottom are

So when I decide on the layout of the card I do up my sketch. If you look closely you’ll see that I used the exact same brush for sketch and lineart lmao (6B pencil my belovéd). Then i plot the colours under the sketch and then go nuts with curves/levels/gradient maps/anything i can use to produce a nice palette. and in this case it took foreverrrrr because i was waffling hard between having pink or gold to contrast the blue (as u can see i ended up veering towards gold). Then i draw my silly little lines and doing my flats, which I never use colour adjustments on (since I already did that stage in the sketch) and I think that took me like 2 days. I totally forgot to darken the lineart on his face so that’s why it’s like that (oops). After that I flatten it.

To get the old print look, I first edit the levels a bit so that there’s no bright white and there’s a slightly faded blue tinge like it’s been out in the sun for too long. Then I add chromatic aberration (displacement) and then noise at 4%, then i duplicate the layer and on the duplicate a gaussian blur to about 5%, then lower the opacity to less than 20%

I use mostly default brushes and the true grit texture supply free trial pack lmao. This was from before I discovered the life-saving properties of colour shifting brushes so all colours were done by hand.

If i could change anything it would be the oroboros.. the colours in particular don’t match the tone of the rest of the pic and it stands out a lot to me. i also probably should have put more effort into François himself

#thinking about him today #setting: inver #(no tags for publicity on this one since it already got a bunch of notes on my other blog)

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milkcrates · 3 years

Text

#ShowYourProcess (part 2!)

From planning to posting, share your process for making creative content!

To continue supporting content makers, this tag game is meant to show the entire process of making creative content: this can be for any creation.

thank you to @recapitulation for tagging me! you can find her process post here for her lovely yunmeng siblings gif <3 (i love love love the peachy tone you went with!!)

and thank you also to @ashenlights for the tag– here's her process post for her lwj piece (so serene! so pretty! i love it)

i got tagged for this wangxian piece i did recently. process under the cut!

1. Planning

-i made this for @/jingyismom so she could use it as a header. consequently, this piece took more brainstorming than others; usually i have a vague idea and i'm like, 'oh i should draw this!' but this time, all i knew going into it was that it'd have to be long and narrow to work nicely as a header.

-idk why but i just. can't brainstorm/come up with ideas digitally. i do all my thinking and exploring in my sketchbook first and only start the digital step once i know exactly what i want to draw!

-the point of this step is just to get my thoughts out on paper, so it's,, not very aesthetic lmao (sincere apologies to hanguang jun's face.)

^ figuring out composition, light sources, clothing, etc

2. Creating

2.1 - choosing colours

-i don't have any screenshots of the sketch layer but i do have the rough colour picking stage!

-i pick colours before lineart. that way i get a better sense of what colours to use for the lineart (bc i don't use just 1 colour for lines). picking colours at this stage also just gives me a better idea of the whole vibe and whether it's going in the direction i want.

2.2 - lineart

-i wish i had a cleaner version of the lineart to show you but i coloured on the wrong layer for parts of this so. this is the best i can offer ahaha:

2.3 - painting

-once lineart's done, i colour it in using the colours i picked before. i have the rough colours in a layer called 'palette', colour-pick from there using the eyedropper tool, and do the neater colours in a separate layer.

-i open a new layer for EVERYTHING. highlights? new layer. shadows? new layer. little bit of extra detail that literally no one will see? new layer babey!! i merge them as i go, so i usually don't have too many layers all at once

-i also have a "notes" layer where i just write little notes to myself so i don't forget to do certain things:

-this stage is my favouriteeee god it's just. so meditative to colour everything and refine all the details, shadows, the shape of the light where it hits the objects.... OOF

-this is the stage where 3 hrs feels like 30 min. i am lowkey addicted to this feeling

-i don't have any screenshots of, like, smack-in-the-middle-of-the-process so. instead i'm giving you the ~vibes~

-then i do some colour adjustments, up the brightness bc everything i do is too dark at first, and...

3. Posting

-...and post!! no queue we die like over-caffeinated artists!

-i had to crop it a little for posting but the above is the full version. (also i'm realizing now you can tell i used my own hand as ref for the orange ones bc they're all... left hands... oops lmao)

-i had a lot of fun doing this piece and i'm kinda sad it's done :') but now i can tackle the rest of my wips so woohoo! there's always more cql brainrot where this came from

...and that's it!! thank you again to lexi and ashen for tagging me, i had fun going over the process for this! <333

i already tagged some ppl in my other process post, so i'll just leave this open to whoever sees it– if this looks like fun, pls consider yourself tagged!! i love to see other ppl's process!

#showyourprocess #revisiting this made me realize i wish i'd done some things differently rip #but i won't say what bc i don't wanna bring attention to them lmao

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bittybattybunny · 3 years

Photo

Soooo since I hadn’t gotten many suggestions for Eclipse I wound up thinking “let’s turn her into a frog” cuz a friend sent me a frog video and I felt like it.

Also played with lineart a bit. I changed the tool I used for it to play around some since my headache meds kicked in finally.

fic time! (btw fic takes place in May!)

She put her little hands on her cheeks with a whine. She hopped around the pool and peeked to look again and it was still true. She opened her mouth and looked at the odd blue color and sighed heavily.

“Great. I’m a frog,” she mumbled and sat there, staring at her reflection. “Good job Eclipse. You’ve been a professional treasure hunter for most your life. But these past few months have triggered more curses than you care to count. Why did this one even affect me? It’s water-based.” she lamented and hopped through the old shrine. She sighed as she moved and thought about what could have done it. She paused and looked back. She jumped over rubble and found her discarded clothing.

With a lot of effort, the frog managed to move the garments and bags and pushed her nose against the shiny ball of metal.

“You.” she hissed, “you must have done this!!” she pouted.

Of all days to be hunting alone too. She sighed. At least Snatcher had Hattie. It’d be no big deal if she never came home. She could hope the curse would wear off but as a small hand-sized frog she was more in danger of birds and predators.

She sniffled and sighed. She rested her head down tiredly as she made a nest in her clothing and pulled it over her.

-------

“She’s not answering her phone.” Snatcher chewed his lip. He looked at Hattie who held an equal worry, “I-I’m sure she’s fine but.” he frowned and called his brother.

“Hey---”

“Is Eclipse with you?” Snatcher tapped his foot on the kitchen tile, “I can’t get her to answer her phone. She said she’d only be gone a few days and normally she calls to wish Hattie a good night.”

“I haven’t seen or heard from her since last moon.” Marcus admitted, “Hold on I can check threads see if it says anything.” the ghost shifted to levitate his phone with a few threads as his eyes turned black and he looked. He frowned and took the phone, “I can’t tell from my location. Sorry. Worth a shot if she was near me I’d see.”

“Thanks…” Snatcher hung up and chewed his lip until it bled. He looked at Hattie and sighed. He picked her up and grabbed his bag as he left the house.

“Where are we going?”

“I’m dropping you with your grandfather’s then I’m going to ask Kaya if she’s seen Eclipse.”

“Okay…” Hattie frowned, “mom’s okay… right?”

“Yes she has to be okay.” he smiled gently as he knocked on the door.

------

“Soooo you haven’t heard from her and she’s not answering her phone.” the demoness asked as she worked on some papers. She leaned on her hand with a large double mouthed yawn. She rubbed her eye, “Marcus can’t find her so you’re asking me.”

“I-I don’t know how to contact her if she doesn’t answer her phone! You’re a demigod can’t you---” he begged.

She sighed, “I’m a demi-god sure but I’m not omnipotent you know. I just know about curses and monsters.” she stood up and cracked her back. She looked at her shelf as she frowned in thought. Her fingers tracing the spines.

“Hey you have a big crush on her right?” she asked rather bluntly. She watched his face flush and snickered, “Okay that actually can help.”

“Can it?” he frowned and got up, looking at the books.

“Mmhm.” she pulled a dusty rose-colored book down and set it on her desk. She began to flip through the pages until she found the one she wanted, “I’m going to basically teleport you to where ever she is. I’m going to use the fact you’re infatuated with her as the locator.”

He gulped, “D-Does that really work?”

“Yeah, it’d be better if the feeling is mutual but I kinda think it’s not a problem.” the teenager snickered as she looked at the page. She moved away from the desk and pushed the chair out of the way. She pricked her left thumb on her fangs and began to scrawl symbols in black blood on the floor. She huffed and double checked the book. She moved out of the way.

“Come stand here.” she ordered.

He grabbed his bag with a pale expression, “W-what do I do if she’s hurt?”

“Call me. I can easily jump to your shadow as long as I know in advance. Ready?” she asked as a circle of runes glowed around her hand.

He nodded and gripped his bag’s strap tightly, “A-as I can be.” he shut his eyes as the spell trigger and he was hurtled rapidly through the temple into a wall with a crash.

The frog jumped from the water in shock as she heard the noise. She looked around and gasped seeing him. Her heart raced, “S-Snatcher!” she panicked and jumped over to the man as he rubbed his bleeding and broken nose. Her eyes wide as she put little froggy hands on his thigh as he sat there.

He paused and looked around. He heard her. I definitely heard her.

“Eclipse?” he asked as he looked before realizing the frog. He blinked and reached a hand. She timidly hopped on and looked at the palm of his hand instead of his face. He stared and frowned, “Eclipse?”

She looked up and he couldn’t mistake those dual-toned eyes. He gave a sigh of relief. She croaked a little.

“Thank god you’re okay.” he brought her to his face and rested his forehead against her.

“H-How did you get here?!” she asked worried, “S-Snatcher why---”

“I was worried about you.” he admitted softly. He smiled as he moved her away from his face so he could look at her as he talked. He used his free hand to stroke the top of her head gently, “So you’re a little frog. So much for curse resistant.”

She huffed, “I-It had to be part of a fairy curse is all. I-I hoped it would just wear off and I could go home but…” she looked at her hands sadly.

He frowned, “how can I help?” he frowned in thought. His face turned red. He gulped, “S-Should we try our classic curse breaker?”

She felt her heart pounding, “N-No you don’t have to! I-It’s fine you don’t want to kiss a frog a-and I-I’ll be naked!”

He sighed and smiled at her, “I’ll kiss a frog. I mean you’ve kissed a curse high merman, a leviathan, even letting yourself get cursed in your willingness to help me.” he set her down and started to remove his overshirt. She watched and gasped when he dropped it on her. She wiggled in the fabric as he moved to lift her, her head in the neck hole.

She blinked as he chuckled and winked.

“I know not the best solution, but you wouldn’t be naked right? My shirt should be long enough to maintain your dignity.” he offered, his voice never ceasing to raise from the calming tone he used.

She frowned and nodded, “O-Okay…”

He lifted her gently and placed a small kiss on the front of her mouth. He heard a small popping and felt the cold frog flesh grow warmer and softer. He smiled as she sheepishly pulled away, her silver hair falling as she sat in front of him in his shirt. Her face was bright red as she couldn’t meet his eyes. He smirked and leaned over, kissing her cheek gently making her squeak.

She covered her mouth with her hand as she looked at the floor, “T-thank you for c-coming to help me…” she paused, “W-wait you never explained! H-how did you get here?!” She panicked and leaned over, hands to either side of his lap.

His heart moved faster as she got closer, his shirt doing its best to cover her. He looked away ashamed. He didn’t want to admit how.

“K-Kaya used a spell to teleport me.” It wasn’t a lie. But he elected to not mention she used his crush to locate the werewolf.

She blinked and sighed, sitting down in relief, “Oh. I thought you did something stupid to get here.” she laughed and he tried to calm down with a big cheesy grin.

“Well, I’m still shocked you could locate me to teleport! How’d you get the destination?” she stood up. He tried to not look up from where he sat. He watched her move to find her clothing and she began to put it back on, carefully so she’d not expose herself to him.

“O-oh um.. Just. things. N-nothing to worry about.” He mumbled, “S-She just used a um.. Special connection of sorts… to locate you.”

“Connection? Threads? Cuz we’re friends and co-parents?” she asked as her face turned pink.

“S-Sure.” he chuckled as she pulled his shirt off and he sighed inwardly as he’d been rather pleased about it. She smoothed her hair and grabbed her bag. She looked to find a broken piece of rubble and used it to push the golden orb as she scowled.

“Is that?” he asked walking over as she pushed it to sink into the pond.

She glared as it slowly faded into the water. “Mmhm.” she sighed, “Stupid thing.” she huffed.

He chuckled and wrapped an arm around her side and pulled her close. She felt her face heat up as he nuzzled her.

“H-Hey now.” she mumbled as he grinned. He stuck his tongue out.

“I missed you.” he pressed his cheek to hers.

She frowned and smiled gently. She leaned against him as he chuckled, “I missed you too. Thank you for coming to get me…”

#the little contractor #ahit au #ahit prince #ahit snatcher #ahit fan character #Eclipse Guardian #Prince Arulius #i want it known i have time lined these fics into the actual fic's timeline #just putting it out there these technically occur in TLC #i am a sucker for timing things out cuz Im so poor at time recogniztion irl #like if you wonder why i make them mention dates or passage of time #Its cuz i have to do it irl

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