#drawing in pen wasn't working out so I just used pencil

[internet-cheesecake]

doodle from lunch last week

modified it a tad on ibis paint cus i was drawing at an angle so it came out wonky lolololol

still not satisfied with how the face looks :(

but drawing full-body art is fun, i like drawing cool poses (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

doodle dump and rambling below

colored using the local cafe's colored pencils, and then the usual micron pens, a white ink uni-ball pen, and then the assortment of pens i keep finding on the ground (⁠人⁠*⁠´⁠∀⁠｀⁠)⁠｡⁠*ﾟ⁠+

originally was posted on instagram cus tumblr wasn't letting me upload images for most of last week, but it got a lot of hate very quickly, so took it down lolololol (⁠ ⁠；⁠∀⁠；⁠)b

was not going to post it here cus it didn't feel tumblr-worthy after that, but everyone is so much nicer here so posting it regardless

if you say anything mean ill cuss you out then block you >:(

oh and here's a doodle dump :3

all just front-facing messy sketches cus ive been lazy & kinda tired with exams and work lololol

#cotl #cult of the lamb #cotl lamb #cult of the lamb lambert #the lamb cotl #cotl art #cotl fanart #traditional art #cotl narinder #cotl comic #cotl au #cotl oc #cotl relics of the old faith #cotl red crown #red crown #cult of the lamb art #cult of the lamb fanart #cult of the lamb au #cult of the lamb oc #kagamine rin #cotl doodles #doodle #sketch

[fox-guardian]

I am still thinking so hard about artist Jon.

Like. It's a hobby for him, purely, he doesn't plan to make money off of it. It's just for fun. He doodled a bit in his free time and then took life drawing classes in uni because Georgie insisted he needed to get out and do something more than studying so he. Kept studying. But just art this time.

He would describe his style as a kind of realism, but its definitely stylized in colors at least, as he's impatient and goes for bolder colors for lighting pretty early in his process so he doesn't lose the feeling of the piece, especially if it never gets finished. He wants to keep the vibes, just in case he wants to go back to it, so he doesn't forget.

He kinda falls of drawing after he starts at the institute, but I think during season 4 he picks it up again to cope with. Everything. He's not using his fancy drawing supplies since he doesn't have them anymore, just office pens and pencils. It's a lot of Martin, of course. But also Tim. He wishes he could ask Melanie to describe Sasha for him so he could try to draw her too, but he figures that wouldn't go down very well. Besides, telling his coworkers he draws is too much vulnerability anyway. Sometimes he even draws The Admiral, but he doesn't often draw animals so it never does him justice in his eyes.

Then at the safehouse, he works up the nerve and asks if Martin could sit for him for a bit. He doesn't need to pose or anything, just stay right there, Martin, keep reading that book, just don't move too much for a while, the lighting is perfect, he needs to capture it. He needs to map it with pen and paper. His phone camera could never catch the golden light on Martin's hair, and besides, the photo could lie to him later. But muscle memory and scratches in paper are harder to change, surely. He needs to record the moment like this. Hold it to his heart. Feel it in his wrist as he swipes strands of hair across the page, in his shoulder as his arm arcs down the curve of Martin's stomach, in his fingertips as he smudges the pigment he bought from the local craft supply shop to form a reddened cheek.

And Martin's cheeks are red. After everything that's happened, all the distance, his heart wasn't prepared for the intimacy of sitting before the man he loves being lovingly analyzed and having his likeness put to paper. It's exciting and agonizing at the same time, feeling eyes on him for hours as Jon stares down every curve, maps out every freckle, mole, and blemish. And when Martin sees the final image as Jon sheepishly presents it to him, he cries. He remembers feeling the fear of statement givers as he read their stories, living it through the words written. It was kind of like that, only instead of fear, he felt the overwhelming love pressed into every line on the page. Every stroke, every smudge, even tucked into the negative space, filling him up until it couldn't be contained, and he burst into tears. (Which worried Jon greatly until Martin reassured him with a hug and a kiss.)

He doesn't ask Jon to stop drawing him. How could he, when it was always with such love behind it? Not to mention Jon was getting back in the swing of it, oiling his rusty skills, and he was so happy doing it. But he will admit it was mildly mortifying seeing their home fill up with so many portraits of him, steadily increasing in their flattering composition. Jon was drawing from his imagination now that he had memorized most of Martin's form, and it was getting out of hand. He once caught a glimpse of a work in progress of Martin lounging and being fed grapes by cherubs. Good lord.

#ramblings with major #the magnus archives #tma #jonathan sims #martin blackwood #jonmartin #jmart #artist!jon #this got out of hand. its fine. akdjsksjs

[rosainta]

Team Fortress 2: 12 Flash Fiction Excerpts

('ms pauling' by makani on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/makani/art/ms-pauling-208768568)

(Author's Notes (A/N) at the end. For now, enjoy these slices of TF2 writing cake, baked with the batter of my mind!) * * *

1 "The Runner's a Fool."

[Written 10-3-2024]

Scout’s heart was bursting as he ran through the underbrush.

He didn’t look back; he couldn’t. Not after what he saw. If he had known sooner, he might not have spent so much energy trying to woo her...

Maybe he wouldn’t have made such a fool of himself.

2 "Player of The Heart."

[Written 10-3-2024]

“Fine, one more time”, he grumbled.

Pauling gleamed as she turned to the tape player. Changing the song to something more romantic, she hummed along and placed herself into his arms. They began to sway with the music.

Sniper felt his heart racing, but his thoughts raced quicker.

He wondered: would the one he really loved be into this too?

3 "Long Overdue."

[Written 10-3-2024]

Spy knew what he had to do.

He sat down next to the crying boy, gently putting a hand on his back. “Screw off!” the younger yelled, pushing him away.

Seeing him like this broke him; it did every time. But he took a deep breath and said what he should have all those years ago:

“I am sorry, Scout.”

4 "What Happens if You Feed the Machine? (Or In This Case, Water It?)"

[Written 10-3-2024]

“Yer no fun, lad!”

“Come on now, you know how I’ve been goin’ dry...”

“What’s one bottle a’ scrumpy goin’ to do to you?”

“Well, let’s see here. How many eyeballs o’ yours do my teleporters teleport per use?”

“Er, one.”

“Well, expect that to be one less the next time ‘round, pardner.”

He chuckled, and in an instant, he gulped it all down.

5 "Soldier's Solace."

[Written 11-3-2024]

Soldier stared at the grand moon from the roof of the base.

After the day’s fighting and bread teleporting, the other mercenaries were off to bed. But Soldier remained, smiling contentedly from under his helmet without another care in the world.

Somehow, he knew that right then and for as long as he dreamed, everything would be alright.

6 "Буквы говорят о любви."

[Written 12-3-2024]

If Heavy learned one thing in all his years of studying Russian literature, it was that writing wasn’t something you did; it was something you became.

So, picking up the ink pen, he let his hand go and embodied with all he had what meant most to him.

“It is time I tell you, Doktor.”

7 "Like The Warmth of a Fireplace."

[Written 13-3-2024]

Pyro looked at Engineer as a child does a Mall Santa, clapping. “Huddah, huddah!”

“Okay, one more, just for you.”

The technician took a deep breath and began to strum on the old guitar, his low voice singing a song of pink skies. Pyro swayed to the beat in bliss.

And, with every hum, the two grew closer.

8 "A Smile Means A Million Words, That Is Until You Speak."

[Written 14-3-2024]

Scout liked sketching.

While words weren’t his forte, art allowed him to express what he felt but could never say. He licked his lips, furrowed his eyebrows, and furiously scratched at the page with a pencil. Every detail, every form-- they had to be perfect.

When he was done, he proudly smiled at his creation.

And it smiled back.

BONUS!

As he admired his creation, he didn’t notice Sniper approaching him.

“And just what are you scribblin' off today, mate?”

Scout snapped around, flustered. He wasn't expecting company, and especially not from him.

“A-ah, hey, Snipes!", he blurted out. "It's nothing, really. Just another drawing of Spy screwin’ those... stupid French bread swords, whatever ya' call 'em.”

As he stammered an excuse, his face slowly turning red, he didn’t realize that his creation's rough, sketched face-- a picture of the marksman himself!-- was peaking through the corner of the sketchbook in the crook of his arm. Sniper paused for a moment as he stared at the work in awe, its own happily gazing back at him. Then, snapping out of his trance, he wordlessly turned back to smile at the younger man.

“You’ve got some talent, kid," he said, softly. "Please, don’t waste it.”

Then, quick as he came, he ambled away.

Scout was left standing, bewildered, and admittedly a bit confused, and he slowly turned back to look back at his drawing.

He traced the rough face of the man, looking wistfully with a tinge of giddiness in his eyes.

“If only you knew...", he whispered to himself without thinking. "Maybe then I could draw you like one of my French girls.”

Then, upon realizing the stupidity of his own remark (and of its disgusting, Spy-related... Frenchness), he immediately gagged.

“Ew, crap, no!”

Somewhere in the distance, Spy instinctively rolled his eyes.

9 "I Feel Olive!"

[Written 15-3-2024]

Medic pinched his nose, a low groan rumbling from him.

"What is wrong, Doktor? You seem stressed", Heavy asked, concernedly lifting his nose from his book.

Medic turned to him, tired eyes smiling weakly. "Ah, it iz nothing. Just... ze dull, useless legal documents. You know, as per usual."

"Well, if it makes Medic feel any better, Heavy ran out of olive for sandvich, so eating it was practically useless! I could not even digest it without big frown", he said, frowning in turn.

He grumbled, continuing, "What Heavy means to say is... you are not alone in your troubles."

Medic paused for a bit, before laughing and grinning back at the giant. He was grateful for this goofy big old man.

"Oh, you alvays know what to say, Heavy. Come on, let us escape this prison of an office and find you that olive. I am getting quite hungry and ze papers can wait, after all!"

10 "Off-Target."

[Written 29-3-2024]

Scout's mind just. couldn't. think.

His head was jumbled, a puzzle with the pieces too lost in the messy maze of his brain ever to solve. He wished he could crack open his skull like he did the BLUs on the field; maybe that would knock some sense into him.

He really needed to focus. Sniper always did.

So, why couldn't he?

11 "Our Paths Shall Cross Again."

[Written 4-4-2024]

It pained him to see her like this.

So, for the first time in his life, he put his pride aside and took one last glance at the sleeping lady before leaving the room.

Scout wished he could stay all night and marvel at her familiar, sheer beauty, even as she slept so frail. But he knew what she needed most was not him, but help.

Who knew what she went through those 2 years?

He resigned himself to the couch, closing his eyes. His affections for Miss Pauling would have to wait, as they always did, but he was fine with that.

She was safe, and that’s what mattered most to him.

12 "Guess Who's Up For Surgery?"

[Written 6-4-2024]

Medic was practically laughing with joy! Or, in his peculiar case, cackling maniacally.

Ah, it was of no matter— the doctor was filled to the brim with inspiration! So many projects to start and bodies to stitch; oh, what a wonderful feeling!

Heavy smiled as he watched the doctor go about his merry way.

Sure, when he was in this mood, that likely meant imminent danger for all those around him (they’d be his newest experiment, no doubt), but seeing him happy always made Heavy’s heart feel a little lighter.

So, as the doctor bounced up to him with his newest rambling, he didn’t protest!

* * *

Author's Notes: Over the past weeks, I've been working on being more spontaneous in my writing—no planning, just writing with the flow! And what better way to do that than to write flash fiction about my favourite fandom? (Plus, I have been practically absent here (post-wise) for, what, months? So why not use this as an excuse to share them with you? Ehehe... Okay, let's forget I said anything; moving on!) Flash fiction, with its creative liberties and curt nature, is an excellent medium (not forgetting to mention the fact it's a disgracefully UNDERRATED form of media!) that inspires me to write because it sort of... brutally invalidates any excuse of author's block I have... since it is literally spilling the words from your conscience into text WITHOUT the worry of length (ah! My greatest enemies...). Plus, it is... sort of, maybe, kinda addicting because it's just so freakishly simple, and the more you do it, the more productive you'll be and feel! Isn't that wonderful? (It could even be a drug! Er, well, a good one... wait, is there even a thing as a good drug? Ah- nevermind.) Anyway, if you're struggling with author's block, I'd heavily recommend trying it. Of course, it may not work for everyone (and I am not here to legally endorse this like a paid sponsor!) but it's still worth a shot if you haven't yet already. And hey, if it doesn't, you can feel free to blame me for the waste of time! Don't worry, I won't mind. Before we go on, I have to take this moment now to thank the one sweet old woman (whom I've unfortunately forgotten the name of) who first taught me about it a few years back during a summer writing course. She taught me much about what I know and love today, so I owe this and much of my writing happiness and technique to her! Thank you, lady. May you continue to write on!! Anyhow, to give you more context, these are all excerpts taken from a private account (but not a secret one! It's out there... somewhere...) of mine, edited for quality purposes and also because a few of the original excerpts bugged me due to their... well, innate cringiness. Hopefully, there's less of it now, but I wouldn't count on my eradicating it as it seems that cringe is just a part of my habitual writing style (I am sorry to disappoint, unnamed woman from the course... I have failed you). I hope that at least is is bearable enough for you to read. However, if not, I offer you my greatest condolences. If you'd like some bleach for your eyes, I have that too. You can also tell by the number of Speeding Bullet and Red Oktoberfest excerpts that I was... in quite the shipping mood for some of them. So, if that doesn't bug you, feel free to indulge yourselves in these characters as I obsessively have over the course of writing these!! It would be my pleasure to offer that liberty to you (and perhaps, shamelessly to myself as well, ahaha..), so please, go ahead. Anyway, that's all of the random blurbs I have to ramble on about today. Thank you for reading- or skimming, at the very least- and please have a marvellous day, pally~!

~ Rosain Quivan

#tf2 #team fortress 2 #tf2 sniper #tf2 spy #tf2 demoman #tf2 miss pauling #writing #tf2 scout #tf2 pyro #tf2 medic #tf2 heavy #tf2 soldier #tf2 engineer #rosain quivan's daily logs #flash fiction #short story #thank you unnamed woman from the course #please forgive the cringe #first post in a while #sniper x scout #speeding bullet #red oktoberfest #heavy x medic

[ari-cuno]

HAPPY (LATE-) BIRTHDAY AIM!!!

To celebrate I spedran a little drabble to celebrate the boys day^^

***

Fresh snow fell gently outside the foggy windows in the living room, obscuring the warm light of the fireplace. Axel tossed a piece of construction paper into the trash can next to him, sighing heavily as pixels buzzed around him. Several arts and crafts materials were thrown out onto the coffee table in the center of the couches, and he made sure not to spill the several containers with beads and charms for bracelets all over the floor, knowing his parents would give him an earful for it.

The little skeleton found himself at odds with himself, a pen taped to the side of his skull as the young boy attempted to start on a new piece of paper, taking out one of his mom's several pencils. Snow continued to trickle down outside, despite the questionable weather conditions the Omega timeline provided its residence. 

Winter was always one of his favorite times of the year. It was cold out and it made him sleepy ever since he was younger. It was still magical, of course, 5 years of growth didn't mean he wasn't a kid still. He liked the feeling of snowflakes landing on his face, and part of him wondered if maybe he should go outside, have some fun and think about this gift a little less. Axel frowned as he looked down at the drawing he'd worked so hard on, crayons and markers strung about as he'd forgotten to put them away before writing his card. 

He continued to stare as he folded the paper in half, getting ready to decorate the front with stickers, tapes, and glitter. Did he get the features right? The drawing contained two little figures in the center with big, happy grins. It conveyed happiness and love, the pair surrounded by little hearts and stars. The little skeleton could recognize himself well enough. He'd drawn himself in his old clothes he'd worn up until recently, the warm coat, the simple yet comfy pants, and a scarf resembling his father's. But he felt his face warm up staring at the other figure, little orange pupils staring back at him. 

He remembered they were orange, a sort of Mac and cheese color he found silly to point out, but the other skeleton had found his little joke funny, and something about that made him smile. Did he still wear overalls? Axel had worked hard drawing the set, finding it incredibly difficult and painstaking. No matter how much his mom taught him, he could never really get the hang of drawing certain things. Despite this, Axel was proud of his achievement. 

“...I wonder how you're doing.”

“How who's doing?” A little voice asked next to him. 

Axel made a sound of surprise, trying to jump up but catching his knee on the edge of the table, a small wince coming from the ten year old's mouth. “Ow!! Aelis! Don't do that!” He cried out, before her words registered in his head. “No one! I'm just- making…something.” He trailed off. 

His little sibling gave him a pleasant little stare, a mug held in her small hands. The small of chocolate and cinnamon filled his nostrils, and he let out a little huff of disappointment. Aelis was holding a cup of warm hot cocoa, little drops of marshmallows and a swirl of whip cream sprinkled with cinnamon made his mouth water. But no, no chocolate for him, he was stuck with warm milk, or some other non-chocolate based beverage. 

“...Writing?” Aelis asked with a curious glint, peeking over in an attempt to see, but noticing his drawing. “Mmm…who's dat?” She asked, pointing at the foreign orange skeleton. Axel immediately hid the drawing, his face a shade of soft, cool blue. “Go awayyyy! I thought you were supposed to be outside in the snow.” He pointed out. 

“Mhm. Was cold so Mommy got us hot cocoa. They said to come tell you so dey can give you something warm to dwink.” Aelis said, taking a sip of her chocolatey goodness.

Axel blinked in surprise. Was he that focused on his word he didn't even see his sister or hear her open the front door? The snow sounded so much fun to the little glitch, his gaze held longingly towards the outside, where his parents were out with his sisters. But no…he had to put his feelings into words correctly! 

It had been five long years since he'd seen the only skeleton he'd deemed a close friend, despite their short time together. Aim didn't make fun of him, or taunt him, or make him feel bad…he was nice, kind…and Axel had taken the time to make him a little bracelet. 

Looking back, that little thing was held together by string and glue. It surely must've broken by now. But, he'd improved his craft and his string magic. His dad had been kind enough to teach him how to tie knots and use his strings like thread, much like how he made dolls and plushies for him and his siblings. 

Axel looked towards a bracelet and a few other trinkets off to the side, tied together with blue threads and decorated with colorful charms and beads. Three letter beads were threaded together in the center of the bracelet next to two stars, the word simply reading: ‘Aim’. He felt all giddy just thinking about the orange skeleton seeing his creations and actually receiving them. Their time had been cut oh so short from each other, but Aim had no idea how much of an impact his presence made on him. 

His dad didn't understand it, and his mom found his ‘infatuation’ or whatever that meant cute. Axel felt inspiration growing within him as he opened the paper turned card, getting ready to write his new ideas in the blank space. 

“...Should I tell Mommy you don't want it?” Aelis chimed in as she watched her brother. 

“Uh? Oh, yeah, no, I'm good… I don't want anything.” He reassured his little sibling, despite how nice of an idea something warm and sweet sounded. The sound of his sister walking off before heading outside barely registered in his head as he went back to work. 

.

.

. 

. 

. 

Hi, Aim. 

If you're reading this letter, this means that my 

m̶e̶s̶s̶a̶g̶e̶  letter got to you! Do you remember me? I'm Axel, the boy whose name sounds like that silly frog looking thingy? My parents call me that all the time! What's the word spelled? Axolotl! Yep! That's me! It's been 5 years, right? You said your birthday was today, right? Well, I wanted to-

Axel paused as his focus was taken away from the card, hearing the sound of the front door opening this time. He expected to see his younger sibling, but the actual person wasn't who he was expecting. Ink exhaled a frosty breath, wearing a warm coat and their scarf tucked more closely to their body to preserve warmth. 

“You should be playing outside.” His mother said, multi-colored eye lights staring at him as they approached, light sprinkles of show sprinkled across their face. They were holding a cup that smelled sweet and creamy, topped with cinnamon. “Aelis told me you didn't want anything. But I figured I'd bring you something just in case.” The short skeleton said, walking over to them. 

“I'm not hungryyy…” Axel whined, his face warming up as he attempted to hide his work in the making, although his workspace was far too broad to hide well. 

“You haven't eaten since this morning, now drink this, it's eggnog, with no adult drinks, it's nice and warm.” Ink said softly, setting the warm cup down on the table. Axel made a sound of acknowledgement, knowing he couldn't really disobey his mom, besides, a sweet drink did seem really nice…

“If you don't wanna play with dad and your sisters, I'll keep you company here.” Ink said sweetly, offering him the mug. 

“...Thank you.” The little boy mumbled politely, taking the mug, temporarily letting his protective grip on his prized work go. Ink eyed the little mess of art supplies on the table curiously, eyelights shifting shape and changing color as they blinked. They took a second to observe the drawing Axel had placed neatly next to the little charms he'd worked too hard to make on his own. 

“Who's that?” His mom finally asked curiously sitting down on their knees next to him. Axel flinched, putting down his mug in a quick motion. “I- uhm…it's- gift- It's-its not done-” He stuttered out, partially hiding his face in the fabric of his scarf. Ink took a second to remember, looking lost in thought as they studied the features on the other skeleton doodle curiously. It clicked in their head finally. 

“Oh! Is that the little boy you met when you were four?” Ink asked, picking up a pencil from the stack of supplies enthusiastically. 

Axel felt like he'd been caught with a hand in the cookie jar. “...Maybe.” He fessed up, his face a darker tone of blue. “Wait…I was four? Ugghhh-” He mumbled, knowing he'd have to cross out and erased some words in his yet to be finished letter. 

“Hm…I thought you'd stopped thinking about that kid for a while now, why are you doing this now? It's been a long time.” His mom pointed out, “I'm not saying it's wrong, but you don't even know if he'd remember you.” Ink said, giving his head a little pat of reassurance. 

“It's his birthday today…”

Ink blinked in surprise. “You…remembered that?” They asked, looking a little stunned by his ability to retain that little fact. 

“I don't know, I remember telling him about birthdays and how awesome it was for me. He told me didn't really know other kids his age and so couldn't have a birthday party…so uhmm…” Their son hesitated, looking towards their letter. “...I just…thought even though I can't see him…I want him to know I still wanna be his friend.” Axel said, sounding shaky and a little uncertain. 

Ink's face softened more, “Ah, So what are you doing?” The painter asked, taking another look at the charms on the table. “You've been working with your strings I see.” They commented, picking up the named bracelet and staring at it thoughtfully. Axel gave his mom a hesitant look. 

“I gave him a bracelet when we first met, but it's probably lost or broken by now, so I'm making a new one.” He said with a bit more confidence. “I practiced more like Dad told me, and It's done. I added some stars and sparkles too, and a ring with a star on it!” He said, sounding more comfortable explaining the layout of his work. His mother seemed a little puzzled, tilting their head slightly as their eye lights blinked to a new color. Ink noticed a hot glue gun off to the side, frowning. “Next time you want to use that ask me or Error, that stuff hurts to get on you.” They warned, before pausing. “Wait, huh?”

“Ring!” Axel repeated. 

“Ring?” Ink asked. 

“Yeah, like, the ones you and Dad have? I wanna have matching ones with him too!” Axel declared. 

Ink looked down at the precious piece of jewelry on their finger, breathing out a little laugh. “Oh, Axolotl, I don't think you know the meaning of these rings at all, but do what you want.” They said, enjoying the innocent and puzzled look he flashed them. “Don't worry about it.” Ink said sheepishly, eye lights large with affection. 

“Hmph…” Axel sighed as he looked down at the card he'd been working on, stumped on the little message inside. His look of disappointment was noticed by Ink, who scooted closer to look over the words on the page. 

“Are you trying to write a thank you card?” Ink questioned, twirling the pencil they had picked up from the pile of art supplies. 

Axel nodded, “Yeah…well…it's more of a feelings card…? I guess??” He said quietly, groaning as the pencil he was using to write with broke. He wiped the bits of graphite off the colorful card with slumped shoulders. “Oh? Feelings? Like…a confession?~” Ink said smoothly, giving the little boy a teasing look. 

Axel gave his mom another puzzled look, “What are you looking at me like that for- wait-” He said, realizing what they meant. “EW. Not like that!! No! Nope! BLEH!” He huffed, sticking his tongues out in exaggerated disgust. 

“Haha, if you say so.” Ink said, giving him a comforting nuzzle. “Here, why don't I help you?” They offered warmly. 

“What?” Axel echoed in a puzzled tone. 

Ink replaced Axel's pencil with the one they had taken. “I can help you write, or if you're having trouble figuring out what to say I can help you.” They said, smiling down at him. “You won't get anywhere without some help.” Ink pointed out. 

“But what about playing outside with Oras and Aelis?” Axel asked with sudden 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝖼𝖾𝗋𝗇, “I mean- I don't need…that much help…I don't know…” He trailed off, bringing the card closer to him as he thought about the importance of his words so carefully. It would be so…so much easier in person, but… 

“Your dad can watch them, besides it gets lonely in here, and I can see none of the pets are keeping you company.” The small painter commented, looking around for Oras’ platypus or the family cat. “I guess…” Axel mumbled with unsure energy, blinking in surprise as the stress pixels around his body fizzled back to normal, or well, normal enough. 

Ink gave him a little boop on the nose, a little smile forming on the boy's face as he looked up at his mother. “See, you stressing like that makes you all glitchy. Seems to me like you do need help.” They said, a smug look on their face. 

“...Maybe a little bit?”

“Great, now, what is it we're writing here?” 

“Oh- well, I wanted to write him a thank you note and just…tell him how I've been and how I feel and it just…isn't coming out the way I like.” Axel sighed, sticking out his tongues in annoyance, “I know what I wanna say from my mouth but-”

“You can't put it into words, right?” Ink concluded, getting into a comfortable position as they moved closer to their precious son. 

“Yeah!” Axel huffed, “Mom, why can't I do it?” He asked innocently, eyes still filled with that same child-like curiosity and joy from all those years ago. “Well, what you put into words and what you speak can mean and sound different, do you want to copy everything you want to say onto the page?” They asked. 

“Well…it'll be too much.” Axel mumbled sheepishly. 

“Ah, well, why don't we leave the really, reaaally important things first? That way there will be room for extra things but you get your most important feelings out of the way first.” Ink said, helping the little skeleton erase some of the unwanted writing he'd started on. 

“Okay!” Axel agreed. 

Snow continued to fall outside, and Axel couldn't help but feel a little more at ease. “Okay then.” Ink said brightly, “Can you tell me the most important things you want to say? I'll write it down since my writing is neater, haha.” They said, tapping the end of the pencil against the wooden frame of the coffee table. Axel gained a deeper blue hue to his face, taking some of the leftover strings he'd been using, tugging and fidgeting with his magical threads. They snapped after a lot of tugging, but it helped calm his nerves. 

“Uhmm…okay…” Axel sucked in a deep breath, preparing himself to get the raw emotions out verbally. 

The minutes ticked by, and the soft crackling of fire mixed with their writing let a cozy mood form for the pair. Occasionally their cat came to offer a greeting, but Ink shoo'd the cat away, not wanting her to mess up the several bags of art supplies and ribbons that would be terrible to clean up from the carpet. 

Axel felt much more relaxed now, a small smile on his face as he discussed with Ink openly, his mom listening with silent contempt before turning to write down the snippets of speech on the paper in a neat hand-writing. He'd nearly finished the eggnog his mom gave him before the front door was opened once more, a few sprinkles of snow being able to sneak inside. The little boy could see his dad in the corner of his vision holding the door open as Oras ran inside, dragging Aelis along with her, who was covered in snow bits, her hood looking as if she'd been pelted by a snowball gun. 

“Okay, I think we got everything Axolotl.” Ink said, signing off the corner of the card, and taking the time to doodle a little drawing. 

“Yeah!” Axel said, smiling up at his mother appreciatingly. He turned his attention to the card, a proud look on his face. “Huh?” He noticed his mother doodling, “What's that?” He asked. 

It took Ink a second to respond, but the little being flashed a small smile, setting their pencil down once the doodle was done. Ink had drawned a neat little picture on whatever space was left on the page. There were 4 figures Axel recognized easily; himself in the center, his mother and father off to the side, and his sisters on his other side, all looking chibi and happy. Above the cute doodle was a small message surrounded by bells and ribbons. 

‘Happy holidays from us to you!’

“Do you like it?” Ink asked hopefully. 

“It's great!!” Axel cried out joyfully, giving his mom a big hug, causing them to flinch in surprise with his excitement. “Aw- I'm glad I could help.” They said affectionately, returning the little gesture. 

“Did he finish da weird card?” Aelis asked, sounding exhausted before letting out a little sneeze, shaking some of the show off her body. 

“Yeah- wait, why are you so covered in snow?” Ink asked. 

“Snowball fight.” Error explained, wiping some snow off his shoulders. “That I won!” Oras declared after him, jumping up proudly in the air. He closed the door behind them, letting the warmth of the house take over. Error helped Aelis get some left over ice bits off her head, the five year old letting out another little sneeze to clear her nostrils of any snow. 

“Why don't we eat something? Especially for you, before you catch a cold.” Ink said, looking towards Aelis. Error took his large coat off, hanging it up near the door as he helped Aelis take her gear off. Oras had already put her things by the door, instead focusing on her poor brothers little finished project that he was attempting to put in a little box. “Who's that for?” His older sister asked, gaining everyone else's attention. 

“No one-” He said quickly, hiding the little gift box behind him. 

“Oras, go wash your hands, me and your dad are gonna prepare something warm for you.” Ink said, the little skeleton huffing and running off to the nearest bathroom. “You too, Aelis.”

Aelis followed her sister, running past her brother with another curious look on her face. 

Error offered a brief glance, but didn't seem to question his sons little present, instead accompanying Ink to the kitchen across the living room, their soft talking kept mostly muffled to Axel, who was focusing on cleaning up the mess he'd made with all the stickers and glitter and other little decorations. He grabbed the trash can, throwing away his scraps and other unnecessary objects. Axel could hear his father walking over, standing over him with an intrigued glint in his eyes. “There must be something really special in that box.” He said, taking a second to help Axel put all the art supplies back into the boxes neatly and orderly. 

Axel gave the box a little shake, the card, bracelet, and ring inside moving about. “Mom helped me write my friend a super special card to go along with a present I made with my strings!” He said happily, finishing putting the last items, some sticker sheets, into the arts and crafts boxes. 

“Are you gonna give it to your friend today?” His dad asked, putting the boxes away on a nearby shelf. 

“Yeah-” Axel declared, before pausing. Wait… 

‘How… How am I supposed to get this to him? The whole point is that I can't see him, but I want to give this to him anyway. Why didn't I think about this before? Oh no…’ Axel thought, his face visibly darkening. Error noticed, the tall skeleton frowning. “What's wrong?” He asked. 

“...Nothing…I just…uhm-” Axel hesitated, before an idea blinked in his head. He looked away, fidgeting nervously. “I'll tell you during food time!” He said, trying to wipe the sadness and anxiety off his face.

“Uhmmm, sure, kiddo.” Error said hesitantly, figuring he could trust his son enough and not press on the matter until he was ready. 

The smell of warm soup and some sandwiches made Axel's soul flutter, his mouth watering at the thought of having a nice, warm meal after all that work. He noticed his sisters returning from their trip to wash their hands, looking to be talking. Axel would've paid attention, but he was too busy staring down at the gift in his hands. If he had skin his palms would be sweaty. 

It felt like several hours went by with Axel blanking out, his whole consciousness entirely focused on the perfect little present in his hands. The boy knew his idea had a low chance of success, but..if his mom and dad were willing to hear him out, maybe… 

“Axel?”

Maybe he could get them to-

“Axel!”

“Ah-” He yelped, snapping out of the little daze he'd put himself in. Axel hadn't even noticed Oras had walked over to him until he heard her call his name more than once to finally get his attention. “Y-Yeah?” He said to his younger sister, sounding distracted and a little uneasy. Oras gave him a little huff of exasperation. “I told you that the food is ready! Come onnnnn! You've been staring off randomly for the last…” She paused to count, “-Ten minutes!!” She finished in a lecturing tone. 

“I was thinking!” Axel huffed, his sister dragging him by the scarf over to the kitchen where the rest of the family was already seated and served whatever food they wanted. “Okay, okay! I'm going! Stop pulling on my scarf!” He huffed, holding onto his gift for dear life as he was pulled against his will. 

She finally let him go once they reached the table, the oldest plopping down next to her younger sister and digging into the warm chicken noodle soup served for her in a colorful bowl. Axel took a seat closer to his parents, looking down at the warm food on his plate. He would've eaten, but he knew he had to be brave and force out his question already. A few minutes went by of quiet eating and talking, mainly between the other's as Axel poked at his food, trying to distract himself and come up with the best way to ask, mainly his mom, his question and request. 

“Axel?”

“Hm?” Axel said as his name was spoken, looking towards the one who called him; his dad. Error had a concerned frown on his look, mirroring Ink's own look of faint worry. “Are you gonna eat?” His father asked, gaining everyone else's attention. 

Axel fumbled around with his scarf, looking away. “Yeah! Uhm… I just…wanted to ask…” He hesitated, before slowly bringing the little present out, setting it on the table. “I can't give this to the friend I have on my own…s-so I was wondering if you and mom could do it for me.” He asked shyly, fidgeting with his fingers. 

“The orange boy we haven't seen in forever?” His older sister asked curiously. Error's frown deepened, “You're still thinking about that kid? I thought you'd move on from him.” The tall glitch said in exasperation, before sighing as he watched the look of pure sadness on Axel's face. “Listen, there's reasons why you can't visit him right now, he's somewhere far, faaaar away, and me and your mom aren't supposed to-”

“I promise we'll get it to him.” Ink said brightly. 

“WH- honey please.” Error huffed, glitching with slight irritation, before his gaze softened at the pleading look on his son's face. Ink turned to look at him, eyes soft and optimistic. “Aww, come on Error, look at how much this means to him…” Ink pleaded, bumping against his shoulder in an affectionate manner. 

“You know better than anyone the last time you interacted with that anomalies parents-” Error lectured, pausing as Ink and Axel gave him pleading faces, mainly Axel. 

“Pleeaaaase?” 

Error’s faces gained a tiny tint of blue. “Ugh, fine.” He grumbled. 

“Yay!”

“Don't worry, I won't interact with them for more than ten minutes.” Ink said, taking the present from their son as he gave them a look of joy and appreciation, sighing in relief as he continued to eat. 

“Oh you won't because I'm going with you, I'm not letting you get attacked again.” He mumbled quietly enough so that the other kids couldn't hear. Ink cringed, a nervous laugh coming from the smaller skeleton. “But we haven't seen him in years!” Oras cried out, swallowing a piece of the sandwich she was eating. “Why are you even doing this now?” She asked. 

“Becoming 10- or 9 or whatever is big deal!” Axel huffed, before looking away, “It's his birthday…and I never was able to make anything that would actually reach him. I used to make little gifts that would lay around in my room or a floaty lamp I hoped would reach him but they never did…and ever since mom and dad said I should stop I just kind of forgot after all this time…” The glitchy skeleton said softly, feeling his mom give him a little head pat. “...I just want it to reach him in time.”

“We'll get it to him, me and your dad promise, right?” Ink asked, glancing up at Error. 

“Don't get his hopes up…” Error mumbled before sighing, “We'll try, but let us eat first.” His dad said, a small smile on his face as he stared back at Ink. 

“WHAAAT?” Axel cried out, his voice glitching. 

Ink blinked in shock, “Eh- well you can't expect us to drop everything and go now- you gotta be patient.” They said teasingly. 

Axel let out a groan, sitting back in his chair as Oras gave him a head pat. “Cheer up, Axolotl!” She said in a bubbly tone. 

“Ouuughhh…” Axel mumbled, sitting back in his chair in defeat. 

“Don't worry kiddo, we'll get it to him before the day ends.” Ink offered gently, a determined look on their face. 

“If we can find him.” Error sighed, his arm wrapped around Ink's shoulders, earning an elbowing from his smaller spouse. 

***

Aim moved through the pages in his book with incredible speed, his immersion and focus on the story being at its height as he neared the climax. The little boy sat on his bed, legs swaying back and forth as he turned another page. His Unclemare had given him a new load of books to read on his special day, and although Aim missed the way his uncle would sit with him and read the words out loud, this was fine all the same. 

The taste of chocolate still lingered in his mouth from the slice of cake he'd cut on his own a few hours earlier. He'd heard from his parents about how birthdays were a time where those closest to you could come by and have a party and eat sweets to celebrate another year of your time alive. He…didn't exactly have many friends, but that didn't affect him as badly. 

He had his fathers, his uncle, and when Nightmare had left, Killer, his other favorite ‘uncle’ to interact with had dropped by to give him presents and congratulate him. Reading books and playing and having fun wasn't so bad on his own, no matter how strange it felt seeing other kids playing with others on the rare times his dad's took him around other kids. 

Aim had a whole stack of books left to read, all a wide variety of subjects. Some sci-fi, fantasy, historical fantasy, and even a little classic fairytale to spice things up a little. He hummed a little tune, quickly turning into a little whistle. He was happy his dad hadn't presented the idea of training him like last year. The thought of it made his focus cut away from the words on the page he was on. 

No, he shouldn't think about that, especially when it was his big day. His parents were happy too, and that was good…so he needed to lighten up. 

Aim blinked and shook his head, sighing in disappointment as he lost the spot he'd been reading, having to start all the way back up at the beginning of the page. The clock ticked quietly in his room as he finished the chapter he'd been reading, that excited investment finally back on his face. 

There was the soft sound of some sort of glass shaking and moving next to his bed, starting off quiet and barely audible. 

Aim turned his orange eye-lights to the sound after it got too loud to ignore. A glass container full of paint he kept for art purposes was shaken from the corner it was sitting in, one of the paint bottles inside rattling around quite unnaturally. The little boy stared in bewilderment and confusion, closing his book and sitting up. He grabbed the trembling glassware carefully, taking the lid off to get a better look at the paint bottle looking as if it was having a seizure. 

“What…?” 

Aim attempted to grab it, flinching as it magically jumped out of the container, landing on the floor with a hard smack. He fumbled, putting the glass container with all the other paints down, staring upon the still trembling and moving bottle. Did they have ghosts? Was there a ghost trapped in the bottle? He rubbed his eye a little, wondering if he was just seeing things. 

…Nope, still moving-

BURST. 

The paint bottle suddenly exploded, the green paint inside bursting out and somehow growing in size from the volume that was in the bottle initially. Aim let out a shocked cry as he watched the paint fall to the floor, coating a good portion of the floor an emerald green color. “Waaaaa! Oh no! The mess-” Aim cried out, rushing to go get a towel, before scurrying to a halt as the green paint began to…move? 

The paint made soft ripples on the ground, little bubbles coming from its surface as it looked like something was…forming? 

“Uhm…” Aim opened his mouth, but his confusion turned into shock once more as the paint suddenly shot up into two silhouettes, morphing with strange liquidly sounds until the paint melted off the strangers’ bodies. 

“Oh good! Finally!” One of the…skeletons called with a light, high voice. The skeleton looked all too familiar, strange, multi-colored eyes and a signature splotch on the right cheek. Aim stared in shock, but noticed an even larger skeleton looming over them. He looked annoyed and disgusted with the paint on his body, strange blue streaks running down his face. Aim almost thought he was eternally crying. 

“Ink hurry up-”

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Aim screamed in fear, stepping back as there were two random adult skeletons in his room, one he knew all too well. 

“Woah! Hi! Since been such a long time-”

“Leave me aloneeeee! I don't wanna be your friend you're mean!!!” Aim cried out, earning a confused look from the two skeletons before him. “Woah woah! Calm down! I'm not your Ink- or well, the one you know! I'm the cool one! Calm down-”

“Why are you in my room?!” Aim said, his nerves not calming down, trying to process what the slightly kinder looking Ink was saying. Hmmm…this didn't really look like the Ink he knew from his childhood, the one that had abducted him. That skeleton was scary, always having some weird unsettling feeling behind him whenever he spoke, as if his words or intentions weren't always clear in the end. Aim found that out very quickly, remembering the sting in his soul when his father grabbed him… 

But this Ink… there was no maliciousness behind those eyes, in fact, their presence was strangely comforting, a sense of warmth surrounded them, and despite the obvious lack of natural feelings behind their eyes and very being, this felt more…genuine.

…Wait, when was the last time he met another version like this-

“Yeahhhh- haha sorry don't mind him.” Ink said, pointing at the scary and big skeleton standing behind them like a guard. “He's just here to make sure I don't get hurt again!” They said sheepishly. Aim had his hand on the door to his room, having been ready to sprint down the stairs and to his parents for help and safety. He halted, turning to look at them oh so slowly. 

“...Again? W-What are you-”

“ANYWAY. Listen we don't really have enough time, so here-” Ink pulled out a little box from behind them. A little bow was on the top, carefully keeping the present closed. “We hope we're not too late, it is still your birthday, right-”

“AIM! Are you alright?!” A muffled voice came from downstairs, quickly rising as footsteps were heard approaching. 

The man behind Ink tensed, “Ink let's go.” He said sternly, tugging on their scarf. 

“Oh boy- okay listen- this is from someone who really wanted to give this to you! Please open it!” Ink said, handing the present to the little boy, although it was more of a toss. Aim barely managed to catch it, looking down at the little tag taped to the side of the box. For Aim only. 

“Happy birthday and Merry Christmas! I hope you-”

“Ink!”

“I'm going!”

“Who is this- wait!” Aim cried out, hearing the sound of a portal of some sorts being opened. He turned around, watching as the taller skeleton jumped through the other side with them, leaving the paint mess on the floor. He tried to reach out, but the scary looking glitches made him hesitate. No, he needed to know who they were! Why did he feel a strange sense of deja vu he couldn't put his finger on. 

“You can't just leave this here!” He shouted. , watching the portal close up, leaving the space around it back to how it was initially. Aim was left alone in silence, his emotions running wild. Confusion, fear, but part of him found things a little humorous, especially as the paint on the floor was left there. He was looking down at the gift with wonder, eye lights sparkling faintly the more his mind processed the information. 

…Someone had given him a gift? Someone he couldn't remember or didn't know? Guilt filled his chest, maybe it was his uncle playing a prank, or his parents… ? 

Aim yelped as his door was busted open, his parents looking tense and ready for battle. 

All they saw was Aim holding a little present, and a puddle of green paint on the floor, soaking into the carpet the more seconds went by. 

***

Aim looked down at the brand new, pretty bracelet in the box, the little ring tucked nice and close to it, a few decorative pieces of paper being stuffed inside to cushion everything. He held the little bracelet in his hand, eye lights large and full of silent, raw joy. On his nightstand were the remnants of an old bracelet, worn down through time but unforgotten. 

He noticed a handmade card at the bottom of the box and carefully grabbed it, setting the box aside. It was cute and well made, little stickers and decorations littered the back and the front, everything from snowflakes to little peppermint stickers was sprinkled around. Glitter lines the border, and Aim couldn't help but let the excitement grow as he opened the card. 

He saw a little drawing of a skeleton family in a big corner, before his eyes turned to the words written in neat handwriting. Aim's eyes widened. 

Dear Aim, 

My name is Axel! My mom is writing this for me because my grammar and handwriting isn't the best, so don't think it's mine! But I wanted to get you this because, well, it's your birthday, right? You may not remember me, but if you do, I want you to know that I enjoyed our short time together, and you made me feel, well, not weird. I tried giving you gifts before, but my mom says it isn't easy to get things for you, but If you're reading this that means they made it! I gave you a bracelet when I first met you, do you remember that? You were afraid of my mom but we took you back home and I made you a bracelet to make you feel better while they tried to find your home! Well, five year old me had terrible skills, so I wanted to remake it as a way to show I still remember you and want to meet you again, even if it's been forever. Sorry none of my other gifts from previous years made it to you, I promise I'll try to get more for you next year if you can respond somehow. 

I asked my mom if we could invite you for Christmas next year, but your parents have to say yes, so PRETTY PLEASE ask them! Please don't forget about me :[ I miss you a lot. Can we be friends again, even if we might have changed? 

From, 

Axel 

P.S. I luv you and Merry Christmas!!! Please visit next year! 

__________________________________________

Aim belongs to @zu-is-here

Oras, Axel, and Aelis belong to me

Thank you Zu for creating such an adorable little man^^

#undertale au #utmv #sanscest #aim!sans #post dark cream #ink sans #error sans #axel #oras #aelis #ari writing #so sorry its so late! D:

[mauesartetc]

Redrawing Shadiversity's AI Piece

For context, check out this post here. This is, uh... It's a doozy.

Let's start with the main character of the image. The girl's pose looks very awkward and unrealistic for what she's doing. Her feet are dragging in two different directions that don't indicate the direction she's jumping in, and it looks like her top half is getting blown back in a wind tunnel. According to one of the reblogs on the post that introduced me to this thing, the pose wasn't the generator's doing, but the artist's. "He drew the girl and photoshopped in a picture of a lizard and a picture of a church and had the image generator "refine" it."

I sincerely doubt he used any kind of photo reference for this drawing, as it'd be uncomfortable for anyone's spine to curve backward like that while they're leaping forward and swinging a heavy sword. That just looks painful.

Let's explore some ways we could make the pose look more believable.

I think I'll go with a pose that's close to the original but makes a bit more sense.

It obviously doesn't have the same level of... "polish" the AI version does (we'll get to that in a minute), but the tilt of the spine looks much more natural for the direction she's leaping in and the way she's holding the sword.

Now that we have that out of the way, let's analyze more of the image as a whole.

AI art handles detail in a way that looks good to the untrained eye, but falls apart in the eyes of experienced artists. These clothing folds, for example. There's no logic to the way they're shaped, and the shirt is randomly tight around the chest when it's loose everywhere else. Then there are the scales brought into sharp focus despite the rest of the dragon being blurred, the blood drips that look like stalactites, and so on and so forth. I'm sure there are things I missed, as well. If y'all find them, let me know in the comments!

Something to note about the sketches I made before the finished drawing: They kinda suck. And that's the point. The early stages of a drawing aren't meant to look pristine with perfect anatomy (not to say the finished product is anywhere near perfect, but still). What they are meant to have is energy. Purpose. Life. But AI bros are so afraid to make any "bad" drawings that they don't draw at all (or in cases like Shad's, they only draw the bare minimum).

I didn't make this post to dunk on AI prompters, but to encourage them to put in the necessary work that will improve their skills. And no, I'm sorry, typing words into a box won't make anyone a better artist. It might make them better at describing what they want when they commission an artist, but by and large it's like lifting a feather when you want to gain muscle instead of, y'know, lifting actual weights.

Obviously machine learning isn't going anywhere and it'd be nice to use as a tool to make different steps of the art process more efficient. It's good for silly memes, I guess. But we shouldn't treat the images it spits out as masterpieces, and, importantly, businesses shouldn't use it to replace real people.

Anyway, it's pretty easy to go to the store with five bucks and come back with a decent sketchpad and pens/pencils. Not to mention art programs like Krita and Blender are FREE, and there are plenty of tutorials on Youtube. Just sayin'.

Get drawing.

#art #ai art #shadiversity #redline #critique #artists on tumblr

[foldingfittedsheets]

rando looking for art advice if that's okay :p

I've always wanted to be able to draw cool things for myself, in the same way some of my friends can(they're REALLY good). and I know in order to do that I just gotta draw a lot, practice makes perfect, I'm gonna suck for a while but drawing more means I'll improve. yeah, yeah, I know all that.

but I'm finding it hard to get it started, to get motivated enough to draw. cuz sometimes I'll be like "I wanna draw", and then I draw and it sucks and I'm like "I don't wanna draw :("

do you have any tips for a beginner? not technical art tips, just like how do I get started or get motivated to start. are there tutorials you can recommend(I'm good at following instructions)? or things I can draw that are easy if you're starting out? or just whatever advice.

thanks :p

So, as far as motivation I think I might just be a lil freak, but I draw because I actively like to draw. Even when I wasn't very good, I felt compelled to put pen to paper just for the act of creation so my first piece of advice (besides practice) is just: Make art because you want to and try to divorce whether it's good or not from your enjoyment in that act.

My second piece of advice is that the first year of art school is three critical tools that are really boring but really helpful. The first one is perspective. If you can nail perspective, just dumb lines leading back in space, it does so much heavy lifting for you.

The second tool is sight measuring. Have you ever seen artists doing that stupid thing with their pencil or paintbrush while closing one eye? It's literally so helpful. If you are drawing say a tree, and you drop an imaginary vertical line from a branch you can figure our if your drawing of that tree is awry. When you get good at sight measuring it becomes second nature to do those checks, even in digital art, but it's easy to forget. When I'm doing my little 20 minute speed paints I'm constantly sight measuring to keep stuff in proportion.

The last piece is that practicing drawing from life will improve your drawing so much faster than anything else. Doodling your favorite pokemon or anime character over and over won't be as helpful as boring ass still lifes. Seeing how light reacts, observing the objects form, and practicing sight measuring will all help you improve as an artist.

As tax, I'm going to share a couple examples of schoolwork. This was my first class in perspective. This is how much I improved in a three month period, my first middle and last assignment.

These are from my form class, no lines allowed we needed to use value to describe the form. We did charcoal and gouache so here's me trying to show my progression in that class.

These are just freshman work, from my very first semester. Honestly I have a whole folder of all my assignments so I can scroll through and actively see myself improving, and I highly recommend that too, because it's wildly motivational to see how far you've come!

#ask ffs #art advice

[what-the-flux]

Hi! I have a random question about your art, if you don't mind!

How do you go from your sketches with all the construction lines to the cleaned up finished drawing? Are you using a light table to transfer the piece onto new paper?

I really love your art btw it's always such a treat to look at!!

I absolutely don't mind! I love getting asks about my process, I'm delighted that you're curious enough to ask so I'll try to not over-explain too much.

To keep from screaming and pulling out what's left of my hair and lose track of what my lines are doing, my construction lines are always color coded with Col-Erase based on background, character and the gear and props they wear. Not unlike how plenty of digital artists will color code their layers (and I'll probably end up doing that when I dive more into digital myself).

After I've added the pencils over the construction lines, if it's complex enough I'll often have to give it a second pass with pen just to make sure everything is clear, and do as much erasing as I can. Then once this is done, THEN it's transfer time. I have to do this extra prep because otherwise my lines by this time are so muddy and impossible for even me to read what the hell is going on with them. To directly answer the second part of your question, I do the lion's share of my transferring via lightbox yes. (a very nice Huion model in fact that I can adjust the brightness with, and the work area is quite large). I love my lightbox, it's probably one of my favorite tools in my traditional artist arsenal. The amount of freedom I have with being able to manipulate elements of the piece (like how you'd manipulate layers and lines in digital art) is pretty huge for my process. Seriously for anyone reading this if you do any kind of analog and you don't have one I HIGHLY recommend having some kind of lightbox even a cheap one, they come in thin and very portable LED varieties now, it did wonders for me years ago when I made the switch. Sometimes though, if I have the final art transferred on thicker paper (anything that's over 90lbs/147gsm) or on most colored paper I have to use graphite transfer paper instead. I have the graphite stuff for light paper, and for darker paper I have white transfer paper instead so that the transfer lines are bright.

Once again, thank you for the ask and the interest! I do hope it wasn't too long winded. And thank you so much for the kind words, it means more than I can coherently express.

#asks #traditional art #analog art #my process

[imagine-knb]

hi! can i please have gom + himuro having a crush on a cute girl who works at a stationary shop? thank you so much & have a great day!

Kuroko: He already spent a lot of time in the local bookstore, but the day they opened a small stationary shop right next door, he found himself suddenly spending every free time off in that shop. He didn't even know the first thing about stationary, preferring to read the words on a page rather than write them himself, but Kuroko couldn't deny the allure he felt every time the shop attendant walked up to him with her sweet smile and asked, "Did you need any help today?"

He'd always smile back and reply, "Yes, actually," wanting to take up any time she would offer.

Kise: He was so grateful that there was a little coffee shop nearby the stationary store, as he sat directly in line of the woman behind the counter after making his purchase of cutesy papers and gel pens. Kise spent the better half of an hour scrawling things down on the paper he'd just bought and, when his masterpiece was complete, he waltzed right back into the store and found her right away.

"Excuse me, I want to return these items," he stated, though the smile on his face said he wasn't at all perturbed. When he handed her the paper, she noted a messy drawing, his name and a phone number. "I think someone's already written on this, so I wanted to give it back to you."

Aomine: He had walked into the stationary shop on a whim one day, wanting to get away from Momoi during their shared shopping trip. He'd only wanted to head inside for a minute, perusing the shelves with no intent on actually purchasing anything, just so he could get a minute away from his pink haired friend. But then the attendant walked around the corner, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, and Aomine felt his heart skip several beats.

"Yeah, I could use some help," he told her when she asked if he'd needed assistance. "Maybe you can help me find a pen so I can write your number down."

Midorima: "Ink. For stamps." He had come into the store with a plan, but the stiffness of his voice had instantly thrown any chance of acting smooth out the window.

Still, the girl behind the counter was kind enough to help him, leading him to an aisle that held more colored ink pads and rubber stamps than he could ever imagine existing. Midorima asked if she would show him a few of her favorites, hoping he could choke out enough words to keep her there long enough for him to convey his true intentions; getting to know her more.

Murasakibara: There were a lot of things in the stationary shop for Murasakibara to look at, though none of them seemed the least bit interesting. If it weren't for the fact he wanted to see the girl who worked at the counter, he was sure he wouldn't have even thought to set foot in the little store. As it was, however, she seemed to think he had an affinity for stickers, as it was always the aisle she found him in the most when he wanted to be in her proximity.

"I could help you pick out a few nice ones," she offered, to which he would always say yes. His bag was full of more stickers than he would ever need at this point.

Himuro: He'd been frequenting the shopping district more often than usual with the hopes of seeing the girl who worked at the stationary shop. Sometimes he would catch her during her lunch hour off, always offering to join her on her limited time for a break. Usually, he caught her while she was in the middle of her shift, always ensuring to bring a snack along with him.

"I hope you like mocha," he told her, stepping into the shop and finding her already smiling at him at the corner. As he handed her the small cup of coffee, he relished in the fleeting moments where they hands met.

Akashi: He watched as she intricately packed away all of the items he'd decided to purchase that day, her smaller hands folding his parchment in two toned tissue paper. She did the same for the pens and pencils he bought, crinkling the wrapping around them before delicately placing them into his bag. While she did this, Akashi looked over the receipt she had handed him and scrawled down his signature for the use of his card.

"I hope to see you again the next time I'm in here," he told her, sliding the receipt back in her direction. He'd written his number down as well. "Maybe even sooner than that."

#akashi #aomine #midorima #kise #kuroko #murasakibara #gom #himuro

[cheapsweets]

The unassailable Taerfleg

My response to this week’s BestiaryPosting challenge from @maniculum

For a change I focused initially on the anatomy and worked out the rest of the composition later, which is why the adult Taerfleg looks a little stiff. I also continued my trend of drawing baby animals so tiny you can barely make them out (when I was thinking about developing my own drawing style, this wasn't what I planned... 😅)

Jinhao shark fountain pen with a fine, hooded nib, with Monteverde Raven Noir ink, over initial pencil sketch.

As ever, reasoning under the cut…

The Taerfleg is covered in prickles. It bristles, when it is enclosed in its prickles and is protected by them on all sides against attack.

Okay, so first question, what are prickles? The most defined explanation refers to plants, where technically speaking, a 'prickle' is a spiny process, but whereas thorns are modified branches/stems, and spines are leaves or parts of leaves, a 'prickle' is an outgrowth of the epidermis or skin or the plant (so, technicaly, roses have prickles, not thorns... learned a thing today!).

While I don't imagine that the authors of the bestiary (or if we're being honest, the translators) are going to be particularly fussy in terms of these exacting biological definitions, it gives me a place to start - the spiky bits of this animal are related to its skin rather than say, spiky bones or osteoderms.

For as soon as it senses anything, it first bristles then, rolling itself into a ball, regains its courage behind its armour.

Okay, armour, and curling up into balls... What kind of (land) animals have armour? Tortoises and crocodiles do, but aren't so roly poly unfortunately. Armadillos, pangolins, and all sorts of lovely bugs like isopods and pill millipedes definitely fit the bill. We just need to work out what kind of creature this is though, since its never specified whether the Taerfleg is a beast, a serpent, or something else...

Given the above note that 'prickles' are processes of the skin, rather than bone, we can eliminate crocodilians and turtles, as well as things like armadillos, which leaves us with squamate reptiles (lizards and snakes), potentially with prickly scales. I mean, I suppose these prickles could be modified hairs on a mammal, but surely the author of the entry would be more specific if that was the case, right? 😏

Plus given I interpreted the previous entry very conventionally (well, as conventional as tiny subterranian birbs can be) it's nice to stretch and draw something a little different...

The Taerfleg has a certain kind of foresight: as it tears off a grape, it rolls backwards on it and so delivers it to its young. It is also called [redacted]. This animal, thinking ahead, protects itself with twin ventilation ducts, so that when it thinks that the north wind is about to blow, it blocks the northern one, and when it knows that the south wind is giving warning of mist in the air, it goes to the northern passage to avoid the vapours blown from the opposite direction, which will do it harm.

One of the things that prompted a lot of the other design decisions was trying to work out exactly how it removes the grapes from its spines when it delivers them! I wondered about long necks (for instance, some tortoises) or tails, but ended up giving it reasonably long limbs and a bit of flex. I wasn't sure how well the grapes would survive being transported this way, so they're looking a little shrivelled...

Also, have some baby Taerflegs, one of which is munching down on a grape, the other is practicing curling into a ball, since I had to put that in the picture somewhere!).

I also read this as it digging burrows, based on the ventilation ducts. I didn't want to just duplicate what I'd drawn last week (with the cross section of the burrow), so we have the northern ventilation shaft blocked with grass and straw (I'd considered if it might block the shaft with its body, but that didn't seem likely given that the vapours would 'do it harm', and I didn't think that a weird lizardy thing would appreciate the cold draft on its posterior...

Note from this challenge - I really need to work out how to draw the interior of caves or tunnels...

So, I've taken inspiration from a lot of different creatures here. Ironically, despite picking up a copy of Charles Knight's animal drawing at the suggestion of @silverhart-makes-art (thank you, it's rad and really interesting, though I'm still on the lookout for some of the other suggestions I received too!), not a lot of use for this particular drawing, but it will definitely be useful in future projects.

One of the main inspirations here are girdled lizards, particularly the Armadillo girdled lizard (which has the greatest scientific name ever, Ouroborus cataphractus) - a spiky lizard that curls itself into a ball. Incidentally, another member of this family is the genus Smaug.... 🐉

Initial armadillo-inspired plating was superceded by pill millipedes (as most armadillos can't make a full ball); I also used the three-banded armadillo as the basis for the anatomy, but made a lot of changes along the way, particularly after I decided to make it a reptile - tortoises were considered briefly, but mostly monitor lizards (in part at least because they get big enough that I could find some good reference photos online!).

Digging claws on the forelimbs are largely from echidnas, I wanted the spiky bits to at least partially reflect the prickles on roses, back facing so they don't get in the way when its crawling through tunnels or vinyards, and there was also a lot of inspiration from Scolosaurus in the general vibe and the head (what? Dinosaurs are cool!).

Overall, interesting challenge, learned some things, have a few new things to learn, mostly had fun :)

#Taerfleg #maniculum bestiaryposting #bestiaryposting #my art #art challenge

[reiofart]

I'm going about sharing my Inktober works here in a slightly different way since they're traditional pieces that I'm photographing. So rather than upload the photos to my computer (for now, mainly because I have a storage issue I've been procrastinating on), I'm going to share the links to the Instagram posts I upload. However here you will receive more information about the art pieces, because I am more prone to rambling here. If you don't like the extra information but like the art, then I recommend following me on Instagram. I'm much more concise there. Overall I really wasn't happy with how this turned out. My hands were shaking like mad as I was drawing, and I'm challenging myself to just use pen for this, no pencil sketches beforehand. However after looking at this awhile later I am noticing the parts that I'm actually somewhat pleased with. The day 1 theme is dream so I tried to draw the Hunter's Dream from Bloodborne.

#inktober #bloodborne #dream #traditional art #art #Instagram

[theink-stainedfolk]

Two Strangers

Old Autumn Boulevard street wasn't as lively as it used to be, but the magic is still felt by the true story lovers. Autumn Boulevard was a Books and Writing street, famous for brewing stories and magic, writers and story lovers used to visit frequently. As the love for stories died, so did the willingness of the people to visit. Tyche was an avid story listener, her mom used to tell stories about people and greek gods and the idea behind her name. But Helios was different, he wasn't just a story listener, he was a story lover. He lived in them and for them. The passion for stories still lives even if he doesn't admit. Beauview Library existed on this street, they used to visit every weekend. After it was closed, they were sad but Helios was heartbroken. He never visited the street again.

But here was Tyche, again but this time she decided to stay till late night. She sat inside the library reading and listening to music for 2 hours. It was 12 now and she stretched her arms and got up "Time to practice violin. Cuz nothing beats this vibe of the old library."

So she picked it up and began playing to the flow of her heart. She was lost in the moment and when she stopped,  the sound of someone clapping behind her freaked her out.

"Wh-who are you?! What are you doing here?!"

The boy was nervous too. "Umm hello. I-I'm Nilo... i... I come here every night after 12. And I happened to listen to your... music. It was beautiful so I stayed. Sorry for scaring you. Do you mind... if i just sit.. if just sit and do my stuff... you can continue playing.."

The boy just sat on the seat and placed a canvas and a paper and sets of brushes, pens, pencils and paints on the table and did his work.

"You wouldn't.." she said "you wouldn't mind if i play my violin right?"

"Of course not. Who would mind listening to such a beautiful melody?"

After contemplating for a while she took the courage to play in front of the stranger.

This was a new melody. A new feeling. 

Something she hasn't felt before.

After finishing, she turned behind to look at him, as if expecting some reaction from him. But his black eyes were on her as he scribbled something on his sketchbook. They stared at each other for a while before Tyche nervously packed her violin and started leaving.

After successfully getting out without further embarrassing herself she took a sigh of relief. 

As she continued walking she felt someone running behind her. She clutched tightly at her chili spray in her pocket.

"Hey wait!" That was the voice of that boy, her grip loosened and she turned around. 

"What?" She asked. She realized that her words may sound rude, but she could not take her words back.

He held his knees and panted for a while before standing up straight. "I... I thought that you looked very beautiful playing the violin... I mean! The music was pleasing to the ear as well! But.. I really think that you looked really, really beautiful. "

She wasn't sure how to react with that unexpected compliment. The boy was fondling his sleeves "I think you could... help me?"

"With what?" Her voice trembled. Though the darkness of the night could hide her blush, it couldn't hide her voice.

"I.. am an aspiring artist... I thought you looked pretty so I drew you here." He handed her the sketch of her. 

She couldn't believe her eyes. In Front of her on the paper was her. But it looked as if she was a magician summoning a mythical creature out of thin air. In other words. The drawing seemed to be her, but it was also, not her. The art was magical. It should be hanged in the museum.  She didn't know she looked so ethereal while playing violin. He managed to make her look so beautiful with just a delicate stroke of his hands.

"I was hoping.." her attention was brought back to him. "No. I want you to be my muse." He said, and suddenly grabbed her hands and his eyes sparked with determination. "You are very beautiful miss..."

"Tyche.."

"Yes. Tyche. I want you to be my muse. Everything about you inspired me to draw something I've never drawn before. Perhaps, in the future, I'll be a help to you too. I will repay the favor in any way. I hope you will agree. If you do, then please come back here at the same time. I'll be waiting. Here.."

He wrote his name behind the paper with her sketch. "I'll hopefully see you tomorrow. " and he ran off. Tyche looked down to see his name. Nilo Lexington. The boy who managed to find beauty in the simplest things. Even in her. 

#writeblr #creative writing #writblr #writing community #writers of tumblr #my writing #writers #writing #writers on tumblr #writerscommunity #writers and poets #writ

[master-sass-blast]

....okay so Tumblr's gonna crop the pic I put a lot of effort into drawing and coloring and detailing fucking SWEET. Edit: okay so it was just in making the post fucking fabulous thanks for the heart attack Tumblr 🖕

Anywho, I'm a firm believer in Butch Sevika, but then @sevikasleftpussyflap showed me this fanart of Sevika (and Jinx) in an evening gown and I have seen the light.

Gonna throw more close ups under the cut and some rambling about design because I am a fashion and character design nerd!

Also tagging @sxpphicfxiry for what I hope are obvious reasons.

F A C E.

So, while I LOVE the look she's wearing in the fanart I linked above, I wanted to design something that had more call back to her outfit in Arcane -specifically her cape/cloak bc red/maroon is such a gorgeous color on her, and because I thought it'd be a color nod to her original outfit design.

I also changed up her hairstyle because I thought it'd be fun and fitting for presumably what is a formal event.

I also wanted to add some body jewelry -in keeping with the theme from the linked fanart-because I love the contrast of Sevika's overall build and demeanor with the delicate, fragile chains. I went with gold because I thought it'd flatter her skin tone nicely, and because her cloak in the show has gold accents iirc.

I landed on the diamond/rhombus design by accident (which you see in the clasps of the jewelry and the structure of the hair piece and her "rings"). My main goal was having something that looked like a matched set because she deserves something nice -and because I also LIVE for Sugar Baby!Sevika where she has a wealthy Piltover GF to dote on her. If I were to do something like this again, I'd probably try to design something that infers her character more -possibly something gear shaped that would allude to her arm. But, for something I was just trying to whack out quick for my own satisfaction, I'm pleased with the results.

I kept the choker look she has going from Arcane because I think it looks fabulous on her, and the ring piece she's wearing -in my mind-can also function as brass knuckles because I love jewelry that is also functional to the character's role in the story. And also because I think Sevika would like/invest in fancy brass knuckles so that if she has to beat someone up at a ritzy gala, she can.

God I hope that you can click on the picture and it'll show you the whole thing or that the cropping is only in the post creation bc I actually put effort in on the shoes fUCKING DAMMIT.

This is mostly to show detail on the thigh jewelry and also LEG (mady, you're welcome).

All in all, I'm pleased with how this came out! I used markers for most of the piece -the dress, cloak, her body and hair, and the leather bands on the jewelry pieces are all marker. The trim on the dress and cloak, along with the base for the chains are done in colored pencil; I also warmed up her skin with some blended down colored pencil bc the tone of the markers were looking a little gray to my eye. I used a metallic gold gel pen to add some shine to certain parts of the jewelry, but that wasn't flashy enough, so I used some gold acrylic paint and white acrylic paint to add highlights to her jewelry.

I think I need to do this again. I've got an idea for a gear-themed look -in terms of jewelry-that I'd pair a blue dress in bc I think she'd look gorgeous with blue. Also @sevikasleftpussyflap mentioned a look of Sevika wearing a tight, skimpy body con dress and now it lives rent free in my head.

I did this piece over I think about a week? I wanna say it took between 3-5 hours in total.

So yeah pls reblog and interact bc I worked hard on this no I am not above begging thank uuuuuu 😭

#sass speaks #sass draws #sevika #my art #i am honestly so proud of this piece #i think she looks hella good #i have seen the light of glam sevika #like she's still butch in my heart #bUT SHE CAN ROCK A DRESS AND MY WORLD THANK YOU MA'AM #the way i want her to snap my neck with her thighs #she's also holding a glass of whiskey bc i can't see her drinking champagne #i think that'd be her one holdover #she's gotta have some proper hooch #might draw a background on this piece some day #probably not bc i am notorious for not doing backgrounds #but maybe #if something inspires me #also can we talk about sugar baby sevika because she takes care of us but i just want to take care of herrrr #(ignoring the fact i'm broke shhhhh) #i want to give her a life of luxury where she can drink smoke play cards and beat people up as much as she wants without having to work #okay that's enough simping for now sdlfjdslkjfldskjf

[oscar-carrasco]

OSCAR.

&& wait, is that ( oscar carrasco ) dancing to his favorite song? i've heard through a grapevine, that he's one of new york's upcoming ( graphic designers ). rumors say that he's the son of emilio carrasco, but are they on good terms? he looks just like ( henrique zaga ). there's more to him than just art and music - people say he can be ( tense ) and ( blunt). but i believe he's ( cunning ) and ( earnest ). ( penned by logan. they/them )

— BASICS

NAME: Oscar Carrasco AGE / D.O.B.: 25 / 19.07.1998 GENDER / PRONOUNS & SEXUALITY: Cismale / he/him / Pansexual HOMETOWN: New York, New York AFFILIATION: Civillian JOB POSITION: Graphic Designer / Tour Guide / Social Media Guy for the MET EDUCATION: High School Diploma, NYU Master's degree RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Single CHILDREN: None POSITIVE TRAITS: clean, creative, aspiring, genuine, loyal NEGATIVE TRAITS: anxious, obsessive, too honest, too caring, envious

— BIOGRAPHY

TW: Depression, bullying

The sounds of footsteps coming closer to Oscar's door always were a reason for him too draw in a sharp breath, hold it in his lungs for as long as possible and only let the air out of his burning lungs when the noises had long passed. A knock on his door, leading to conflicts of any type, just because he had done something unfitting and unwanted again, or worse, dinner; his greatest fear. He preferred being alone, not having to talk about his time in school (or about how one of the guys there had once again pushed his food off the table, had once again pushed him onto the field during gym class). It wasn't that he did anything, or was necessarily weird, no, he was just there and quiet and non-defensive, and that had always been enough.

His peace started on one year's birthday; there had been nothing he wished for, and yet his mother got him the perfect thing: headphones. Likely at his sister's plea, as she kept banging against his wall when he listened to music, but he didn't care - it was love at first sight, and love at second when he put them on for the first time, and suddenly, the world was much more okay. There was just art and him now, his sketchbook and his pencils, later an iPad, a cheap computer bought through random jobs worked late in the evening.

Escaping the world was so much easier when you were all alone, listening to music - and after a while, there wasn't even sleeping without some kind of sound blasting through the headphones. While the bullying kind of never stopped during his years in school, his grades were always fine, and with much luck and many won art competitions, he was offered a NYU scholarship, which he took and used to become something unfitting and unwanted - a graphic designer. There was always this small dream, nagging the back of his head, the thought that hey, becoming a profiler, a sketcher for the police, that would make them proud. That would be of profit. But Oscar never succumbed to the idea of it, never dared to. Because if he failed at that, he'd fail at everything, and not making his father proud was easier to live with than to disappoint him.

What falls right into his lap is the job a friend gets him - tour guide at the MET. Hell yeah. He knows enough about the art, has spent many hours there already, and when they find out he's a graphic designer, they let him do a little social media, too. It's fun, it pays okay (though not enough to move out, not yet). It's okay. And he is okay. He's always just okay.

#THE REVEAL; intro post.

[acetechne]

Queb D3 please? Also I just noticed the highlighters(??) and- damn. That's amazing. The drawings look so good!

he's crying because mr lego asked why montreal (literal island) needs so many bridges

sorry this one came out at a weird angle - i was being Compelled to watch christmas movies and was drawing on my knees at a weird angle

also i am INTENSELY AMUSED that i've been apologizing for the crappy materials every other post and it wasn't even obvious, pics and tldr explanation of my set up below for #posterity

love these dollarama sketchbooks. i don't see them as often anymore but i collect them when i do see them - they don't fall apart like other sketchbooks from there. Since they're cheap you don't worry about ruining them but they're still pretty enough to want to use them.

i usually use mostly pen because pencil still smudges / i hate erasing and so i like to sketch in ballpoint BUT you can do some nice pencil sketches in these too. the ballpoint pen i'm using is one i got offered at the corner store last week - it's a bit smudgy and goopy for my taste but it's always nice to use a new pen for the Sensory and Visual Experiences.

(apart from not knowing where the hell my brushes are) i use highlighters because

1. parents have a lot of cheap school supplies from me and the siblings / office supplies that have accumulated and

2. they are transparent so you can layer them and they dont bleed through like markers would on this paper.

it's always nice to add splashes of colour when you're doodling (and if you're still in school or at work and have this kind of stuff accessible, it's something that's easy to experiment with and practice in the margins of your notes. maybe it's the undiagnosed neurodivergencies talkin but doodling on my notes is just a Constant in my life for better or for worse.)

oh yeah and limiting your colour palette is always beneficial when trying to do something quickly and get your practice in, this youtube guy does a great job of explaining that (although i'm drawing less on values and more on vibes for this exercise).

(shh sketches for comic brainstorming Ignore)

#projectcanada #iammatthewian #iamp #pc: quebec #iamp: quebec #jean tremblay #hapo doodles #traditional art #ink #hapo art #art challenge #art meme #pose challenge #pose meme #art process #i dont remember if i had a tag for that #carnasnow

[oliveroctavius]

What inspires your art? Like, how did you come up with your art style, how happy you are with it and if there are any other artists that inspire you?

Asking a few people as a way to understand and grow as an artist at a crossroads. Have a good day.

This is a fun ask! Not sure how helpful my answers will be to you, but here they are.

I've honestly put little to no thought into "coming up with" an art style. I'd say that what comes out of my brain and hands is maybe only 1/3 calculated stylistic decisions, with the rest being "what is most fun for me" and "what is easiest for me". I draw a lot of faces because I enjoy caricature; I do most of it in scribbly mechanical pencil on scrap paper because that's what I usually have on hand.

My one big starting point is that when I started drawing at age ~12, I was copying characters out of The Adventures of Tintin. I learned just enough from Hergé to get simplified human figures I didn't hate and then went iteratively on from there. Mostly I just drew short humorous fancomics for myself and never colored them.

In high school I considered going into an art career, so I took art classes. At the time I thought they were fun but mostly irrelevant to the stylized character art I drew in my class notes every day... but looking back my comic art drastically improved 2015-17, so maybe I was wrong. I eventually decided I'd go into tech instead and leave dressing as a hobby, which I think was the right choice for me.

The closest I've ever had to a Style was in the music fanart and OC comics I did in college. The imagery mostly came out of my own brain, and I worked out what tools were easiest and most enjoyable: multicolor sharpie pens and India ink with watercolor washes; binary or hard edged brushes on digital work that I could fill in quickly with the bucket tool. I accepted that I wasn't a great draftsman and got scribblier and more manic.

Since then I've gotten back to the world of fancomics where I try to pastiche the original inking style—I've done Jhonen Vasquez, Steve Purcell, John Romita, Jack Cole, Scott Wegener, and C. C. Beck (though that one was way too ambitious and I may never finish). But I'm not doing this because I want to absorb them into my default style, though I certainly learn things from it. I do it for the project itself, because I feel like there's a lot of characterization and world-rules built into the way different art styles depict their worlds. I have great interest in stories which use restricted or contrasting stylization on purpose to convey meaning.

It's also just fun, which is my first priority. But I do think my technical skills have been regressing a bit from lack of use + perhaps from using others' work as a crutch too often. It's a little embarrassing, but it is what it is. I'm sure the trend will reverse if/when I put more time into full pieces and daily practice again.

Oh, and I did make a list of favorite artists back in 2018 which holds up. If I had to extract some advice from this meandering post, it would be to figure out what methods and tools make your artistic workflow easier and consider how you want to make those part of your "style". That's extra true if this is something you're going to be doing for long periods of time like a job.

#my art style looks rather childish to me but I generally don't mind that #it's a method of conveying information. it's a lot slower than words but a lot more information-dense and more precise in some ways #less so in others

[doctorguilty]

Some random thoughts

One of the worst things art professors did to me in college was insist I wasn't allowed to have a lined notebook as a sketchbook for class. I had to use a proper sketchbook. Before that happened, I would fill lined notebooks passionately with art, but for whatever reason I'm my brain, I just can't do it with plain blank paper..

So I didn't do good on the class sketchbook assignments anyway because the quality of what I did was shit if I ever did it at all. And I really internalized the whole thing, because the way I felt belittled and mocked.. so i tried to stop using notebooks, I tried every kind of sketchbook I could find, big, small, thin paper, thick paper, textured, off white.. I just drew less and less for pleasure. It genuinely fucked me over. And for what?? I do less art, I'm less passionate about it, because notebook paper is too pedestrian? Yeah so worth the tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt I'll have for the rest of my life. (I could talk at length about how I wish i had more agency and did everything different about college entirely but.. that's a whole other thing)

Over the years I've gone back to my notebooks and have done a good amount in them, though I still couldn't get over some of my reservations, like how i shouldn't waste my Good drawing materials on lined paper .. I'd stick to pencil, ballpoint pen, fine tipped inking pen/sharpie, thick sharpie, and cheap markers like Crayola and whatnot (and highlighters though I still LOVE coloring with my highlighters)

It's been a rough past several years, I've barely done any art both traditional and digital alike.. but I'm working on changing that. I busted out a notebook recently and have been doing some doodles and I decided not to hold back using the fancy stuff, like these really nice watercolor markers I think bog may have given to me cause he didn't see himself using them? Idk where else I would have gotten such nice markers. They're SO nice. I'm using them on the lined paper. If I use them up I'll get more. It's not the end of the world. (I'm really trying to live more of the "use the nice things now, don't wait for a special occasion that never comes" philosophy in general)

I'm going to like Michael's or whatever when I can and picking up some colors and things I want and don't have, cause they sell like lose stuff like that..

Anyway just some thoughts.. as I procrastinate going to sleep even though I gotta get up in ~4 hours to go to the doctor 🥲

#seth speaks