#that character design is TOO specific not to be a reference!

[magnecalliope]

Mammon is a Caterpillar

and NOT just in the Wonderland merch. Though the merch casting him as the caterpillar is what made me finally make the connection! See, there's several aspects about Mammon's design that just do not match with the popular assumption that he's a spider.

For one thing...

he has too many limbs. After his transformation he has ten visible limbs. Plus the legs that he has in his normal form, that's a total of twelve limbs. And we have precedent for how Spindlehorse would handle a spider inspired character...

so it seems unlikely that this design principle was simply thrown out the window with Mammon.

What's particularly interesting to me is that caterpillars only have six "true" legs, like other insects. The rest of their legs are what are called prolegs, or a "small, fleshy, stub structure found on the ventral surface of the abdomen" (per wikipedia). These prolegs often look distinctly different from the caterpillars true legs, which is similar to how the eight legs in Mammon's full demonic form are unlike the rest of his limbs.

But if that's not enough evidence, consider:

He has too many eyes. The number of eyes a spider has can vary, but they never have more than eight. The number of eyes visible on Mammon depends on the shot, but the most he's ever depicted with, shown above, is ten. While it's more common for caterpillars to have twelve eyes, there are some species with ten! And once again, if we refer back to Angel Dust, we can see that he has eight.

While it could be argued that Mammon is intended to be a sort of "spidertaur" it would be, in my opinion, egregious to get the number of limbs AND the number of eyes wrong in his design.

So what's the deal with the webbing seen around the arena, specifically where Mammon sits during Fizz's performance? I have a theory about that!

1.) This element of his design is in reference to silk worms. Bombyx mori are a species of moth most known for being a primary producer of silk, a fiber used in textiles and well known for being luxurious and expensive. The silk worm's cocoon doesn't look very similar to a spider's web, of course, which brings me to my second point...

2.) Mammon is a performer who wants to associate himself with a predator known for luring its prey into a web over something most known for getting boiled to death for a byproduct of its pupation (yes, that's really how silk is obtained). It's his entire shtick, and I think he's performing at being a spider as much as he is at being a clown. Mimicry is a well known defense mechanism of caterpillars, after all. Lastly...

3.) Spiders are simply more marketable than caterpillars. After all, Spider-man has a long history in comic books and a zillion film reboots, but you've probably never even heard of a Caterpillar-man, have you? :P

There's a lot of caterpillars out there that I think Spindlehorse could have drawn inspiration for Mammon's design from. A quick google search for "green caterpillar" will return a diverse amount of results, but here's some of my favorites:

Eastern Black Swallowtail, Orange Emperor, Lace Emerald, Imperial Moth.

For fun I also looked into literary symbolism for caterpillars, to see if there was any precedent for an association with greed, and here's what I found:

The caterpillar appears in the Old Testament as a pest that devours crops; it is included with "pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust" ... and associated with the locust as one of the plagues of Egypt.

Shakespeare's Bolingbroke has it in for King Richard's friends, "Bushy, Bagot, and their complices, / The caterpillars of the commonwealth, / Which I have sworn to weed and pluck away" ... Jack Cade and his rebels are more radical: All scholars, lawyers, courtiers, gentlemen, / They call false caterpillars and intend their death"

excerpts from "A Dictionary of Literary Symbols" by Michael Ferber.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk. c:

#helluva boss #helluva boss mammon #mammon helluva boss #insects cw

[kazz-brekker]

me after watching castlevania nocturne directly followed by vampire hunter d bloodlust

#if the animators on castlevania are not fans of vhd i will eat my hat #that character design is TOO specific not to be a reference! #pie says stuff #vampire hunter d bloodlust #castlevania nocturne

[puppyeared]

auggie!!

#a while back i thought abt giving her stretch marks since she had vincent and i finally added em ^_^ #not much else changed since the last time i drew her ref so im gonna take that as a win since i change my mind so much #the other characters im gonna do next.. lucky herschel mulch and rover.. ill probably change up luckys design again though #i think ill make his fur closer to golden.. maybe thatll go better with the green patch on his hair cuz if i make it too close to orange #it looks more like a carrot than a four leaf clover.. i might also make refs for parhelion and eudora but idk if ill draw them much #aaanndd i still need to revamp serildas design.. i think ill stick with the delinquent vibe. and i wanna revisit analogue's design #presto and shuffles designs are also constantly changing but i think i liked what i did last time so changes will be small.... theyre a #little unique among my characters because i see them as both boys and girls. genderfluid? i dont assign pronouns to my characters #so id like to play around with their outfits and stuff. idk why its like that with them specifically but its fun #my art #myart #my oc #oc #augusta #oc ref sheet #reference sheet #kemonomimi #anthro #humanoid #??? #character design

[icewindandboringhorror]

I have a big google doc thing where I keep track of media and stuff (putting everything in loosely ranked categories), which is mostly just for my own reference so I know what tv shows I've already seen before, etc. and I never really look back through it, typically just a quick "okay, watched two movie in the past 8 months, need to quickly slap them somewhere in the lists. okay. done. save document. exit". But today I was actually reading through some of the old notes and there are like... MULTIPLE places where my comment is basically "It would have been good if it were about elves" or "I wish there was a fantasy show made in this same style" or "It's well made, but I just keep thinking about how I would like it more if everyone was an elf or was in old 1700s costumes" or etc like...... lol.... Most biased media ranking system on earth blatantly made by someone with an extremely hyperspecific range of narrow interests. It'd be like if a food reviewer only had 5 foods they actually liked, so they'd just go to a pizza place and be like "eh, the pizza was okay, but I just think it would be better if it was cereal instead. :/ ...2 out of 10"

#Which.. I mean... I am allowed to be biased because literally it's just for my own personal reference (or occasionall #y to send to friends or something if we're discussing the topic) so like.. nowhere am I saying 'I am the god of perfect taste and these #rankings are objectively the absolute truth and everyone should have my same opinion' or anything #BUT still.. it's funny to me sometimes #'Succession would be 100x better if it had the same cast/character quirks and shaky camera style and #acting choices/weird dialogue and general concept etc. EXCEPT it takes place within an elven noble family or something #managing the family business and everyone is in fantasy costumes now'' like.....okay...... but it's NOT that way..soo... thats not the show #''I like the acting style/general tone of Fleabag but i don't care for any of the characters or any of the subject matter and I wish it was #set in the 1800s and had vampires and was about magic instead'' okay..... again... you are making up an entirely new show in that case lol #OR my other beloved typical complaint ''The concept is good but theres too much plot and action and not enough people just sitting #around doing nothing and exposition dumping world and character lore'' ''this needs more goofy sideplots and filler episodes'' #''this Drama was too dramatic I think it should be more lighthearted & people need to sit around doing nothing just being weird more often' #''the Action Movie was ok except for the action scenes - which I skipped through all of- but I liked the costumes and worldbuilding'' etc. #ERM sorry your plot has too much plot. also elves have to be included somehow. bye #BUT SERIOUSLY!!!!!! I literally genuinely believe that any show I like (or even dislike) could ALWAYS be improved greatly by #putting people in fantasy or historical costume/setting/etc... why the FUNK would I want to see bland jeans and cars and cell phones #when I could see elaborate velvet cloaks and fantastical landscapes and interior design and innovative takes on historical or #magical technology or etc. etc. etc. I LIVE in the modern day. I see it all the time!!! BORING! stinky!! boo!!! #ANYWAY... another social divide for me.. People love to bond by discussing media. which is hard when I'm like #'I literally will not watch something at all unless it fits into one of these 10 extremely specific categories which are all i care about i #the entire world''.. I say this and yet I still dislike most fantasy or historical things I've watched lol. ok TWO main criteria then!! #it must 1. be in a different world or time period. 2. be goofy silly. Nothing ever has BOTH. It's always overly serious boring drama action #fantasy/history stuff OR it's comedic lighthearted but with modern day characters... WHY.. anguish and woe and so on.. #ANYWAY jhjnk... at least I can make that divide. Some people seem to project their own personal preferences and get really emotionally #defensive if you say you didn't like something - as if the fact that they DO like it is some Objective Truth or something rather than just #opinion/preference based. I can still easily say ''this is well made/well written/acted/good in a technical sense/has a lot of #points of appeal that most people would be drawn to/etc'' and admit that it's a GOOD show probably. I just PERSONALLY think its #bad because my tastes are very narrow. Some things ARE actually made badly but. things are not bad INHERENTLY just bc they dont suit ME lol #Better to recognize/accept whats odd about you and be peacefully aware of it than just being mad at everyone all the time for not fully #agreeing with you even when you're the one with the Weird opinion in that case lol.. I am right though :3 but.. lol... still. i get it

[winterrhayle]

Who do you use for your references for lunar chronicles characters? Thanks 🤍

hmm to be honest i dont have all 9 main character references yet, bc im so particular about how i imagine them to look,, so far i have everyone apart from kai and wolf😭 i havent seen someone that looks how i imagine them on my pinterest yet :( but as for the others, i think ive posted a lot of them before but this is who i have so far :

oh also some of these characters have tweaks i make to the references when i draw them

cinder:

tweaks: metal limbs, bangs, lighter brown hair, bangs, more tan

scarlet:

tweaks: cut off pinkie finger if im drawing her post book 4 (if i remember loll) , fuller cheeks, hair more curly, eyebrow slit because its fun idc that its not canon😩

cress:

tweaks: freckles in the rare occasion that i remember, wavy hair, tan if im drawing her after she leaves the satellite, looooong tangled hair if shes still on the sattelite

winter :

i dont have an exact winter match so i use these two and kinda merge them

tweaks: 3 face scars, very curly hair

iko:

tweaks: blue eyebrows and braids, colour changing eyes depending on vibes ig, i tend to default to gold

kai:

STILL PENDING😓 i imagine him to look like that one laura hollingsworth drawing of him but i havent find an irl person that looks similar enough to him yet :(

thorne:

tweaks: metal fingers if its post winter, darker brown hair, stubble if he's in prison or in the desert ^ honestly this one is all in theory, i dont even remember the last time i drew him loll

wolf:

ALSO STILL PENDING😓😓😓😓😓 its kinda difficult with him bc i have to figure out his usual design and his post- wolf surgery look😩 hes so so so hard to draw

jacin:

tweaks : literally none, this is the most jacin looking person ive ever seen

lollll actually this has made me realise how unoften i draw most of these characters😭

bonus because i have more references for people who arent in the main 9

evret:

tweaks: nothing major, i think that in fairest his hair is described as coily so theres that

torin:

tweaks: torins like in his 50s or 60s,,, so older looking, some grey hairs

i had ones for sybil and aimery but upon rethinking, i actually dont think they look like the references i picked out so i'll leave them off here

#i have far too many thoughts about hypothetical character designs for someone who posts only once in a blue moon #im actually soooo stressed trying to find references for wolf and levana specifically #wolf because hes the one person who i dont have a clear mental image for #i think maybe how eerna draws him is how i would imagine him the most? #and levana bc her descriptions are so contradictory #shes simultaneiously supposed to look like winters mum. a south asian woman. while also being white (in appearance) ... like ????? #how does one draw her.. #asks #anon #thanks for the ask this was really fun #tlc #the lunar chronicles #cba to tag all the characters over here #mine

[liquidstar]

new oc batch ready! 8 more of these guys lol. the whole deal with this set is they’re from the artisan guild- lunar flair! intentionally spelled like “flair” as in “style” or “a flare for ____” rather than “flare”

basically all the members of the guild are different kinds of artists with different niches (and varying degrees of diva-ness). it’s pretty easy to tell who does what based on the everything about them, but if you want more info their bios are still under the cut!

Name: Jupiter

Name Origin: The planet of course

Pronouns: He/him

Age: 52

Guild rank: Guildmaster

Weapon: Lightning rods

Ethos (Power): Gigantomachy. He can make himself (even more) giant

Flaw power is based on: His overly protective nature, especially where the guild is concerned.

Notes: Literally the nicest guy ever until you provoke him though

Name: Erinome (Erin)

Name Origin: A moon of jupiter, the exact meaning of it’s name is murky but it can refer to grace or purity

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 13

Guild rank: 2 star

Weapon: A Book.

Ethos (Power): Poetic Imagery. Illusions cast forth by his her poems that change the appearance of the physical environment

Flaw power is based on: Her escapist indulgence in fantasy

Notes: You know, like, the pen is mightier than the sword and all that.

Name: Pictor

Name Origin: The constellation meaning “painter”

Pronouns: He/him

Age: 23

Guild rank: 3 star

Weapon: Giant paintbrush

Ethos (Power): Ardor. He can create three-dimensional things with his paintbrush. However they are not animate or alive.

Flaw power is based on: His conceited nature in regards to his own work.

Notes: Goes to museums to talk about how he could probably do it better anyway

Name: Oberon

Name Origin: A moon of the planet Uranus, it gets it’s name from the king of the fairies in Renaissance literature. Notably in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream

Pronouns: He/him

Age: 29

Guild rank: 5 star

Weapon: Rapier

Ethos (Power): Fantasia. An illusion of changing his own appearance.

Flaw power is based on: His theatrical nature, of course

Notes: Why is he ourple?

Name: Syrma

Name Origin: A star in virgo, it’s name refers to the train of a garment (Typically worn by actors in tragedies)

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 25

Guild rank: 4 star

Weapon: Giant needle

Ethos (Power): Binding threads. She can create stitches on any solid objects and bind them to each other. Including people- The stitches are manifested energy and do not hurt.

Flaw power is based on: The dependency she often has on bonds- i.e. threads that bind people.

Notes: She makes and models all her own clothes.

Name: Parumleo 

Name Origin: A star in Pisces, it’s name means “small lion”

Pronouns: They/he

Age: 19

Guild rank: 3 star

Weapon: Microphone bardiche

Ethos (Power): Persuasion. If they can make you laugh you’ll temporarily have to follow his orders. Though it’s too weak to call full-blown mind control, and fairly easy to snap out of.

Flaw power is based on: His desire to be liked by others.

Notes: They’re like a lolcat. They can haz cheezburger.

Name: Leda

Name Origin:  A moon of jupiter, the name means swan.

Pronouns: She/her

Age: 28

Guild rank: 4 star

Weapon: Duel ribbons

Ethos (Power): Poise. Complete and utter weightlessness.

Flaw power is based on: Her carefree and utterly absent-minded nature.

Notes: You guys know swan lake right? Well, there ya go.

Name: Styx

Name Origin: A moon of pluto that gets it’s name from the river of the underworld. Yeah it’s also a rock band.

Pronouns: She/they

Age: 20

Guild rank: 3 star

Weapon: Axe-guitar.

Ethos (Power): Vibrato. Powerful soundwaves cast by her axe-guitar

Flaw power is based on: Her brash and blasé attitude

Notes: Calls everyone “baby” or “babe” because they’re a cool rockstar.

#finn's ocs #oc references #finn's art #YAY i finally get to post my funny little artist guys #i feel like its fairly obvious what each persons gimmick is but just for the sake of brevity (for anyone who doesnt wanna read the readmore) #in order #jupiter doesnt have a Specific art bc hes the guildmaster and you can think of him as more of a teacher of sorts #erin is a poet/writer. pictor is obvs a painter. oberon is a thespian. syrma is a seamstress #parumleo is a comedian. leda is a ballerina. and styx is a musician (or straight up rockstar) #since these characters are all like.. trinary characters they dont go all Too much deeper than their gimmicks #but thats why theyre fun to design bc its like. what if [thing] was a guy LOL #also i wanted to try some new stuff out w their designs (like syrmas dimples for example) so i hope they look okay? i hope so... #also leda and how shes literally the least clothed character ive ever made. shes going to catch a cold for sure yeah #parumleo i worry about bc i had a fairly similar color pallet for asterope (but no red) so i hope he still stands out. the lolcat.... #oh also if erin and oberon's powers sound similar that's on purpose too. shes like his protege #i feel like out of all of them though pictor is like the prime example of guy who should be in an artist guild LOL #like the most archetypal. most ppl think of painters when they think of artists #but i wanted different types in there too. #painters writers actors even funnymen and rockstars. they all belong. theyre all weird about creating #anyway im glad i can finally post them now ^_^

[loveletterworm]

Umm time for an oc post jumpscare Frank's bestest friend who he doesn't know very well and literally just met and doesn't like and is scared of (his name is attery and he is literally just a human person...i would explain his situation further but i dont feel like it sorry this will all just be contextless for today)

#my art #oc #if you are wondering why he is kind ofliterally green in some of these. Idk jaundice probably #I always color him like that but for some reason today he looks strange maybe because i color shifted that one big drawing here too much #and it ended up being less green. #Attery is actually not a new character at all. He was like i think the 3rd character i designed for this thingy. like a year and a half ag #I just never mentioned him even moreso than i never mentioned the other 2 i never mention #because the timeframe of which he is present in anyone else's life is i think probably extremely short. #So its difficult to think of arbitrary things to draw him doing while i put off saying the specifics or working out the specifics at all #But fucking wahtever i want to post attery. I drew him as an amongus. #AND i used a reference for a pose can you tell. Can you tell. I drew a person with SHOULDERS!!! AHHH!!! #pbm

[tachyon-omlette]

in retribution for @thewiglesswonder​ coming for my kneecaps on artfight I elected to return the favor. in style

it’s Maelstrom :]

#tachyon-art #transformers #maccadam #humanformers #tfa #transformers oc #obvious tom cardy reference. red flags music video specifically #I did all those hands just with the reference pose in my reference bar. and they all turned out SO fucking good #what in the jesus fuck happened to me. did maelstrom herself possess me so I could make her hands really good??? #oh also. the character is wig's but this hf design of her specifically was made by howgalling #wig I feel like you were probably gonna point this out anyway but I wanted to do it too. credit where it's due /pos #ask to tag #just in case yknow

[mintjeru]

square enix should hire me for the next nier game /j

chiluc week 2022 @chilucexchange

day 1 prompts: vacation | post-apocalyptic au challenge: include a mountain or beach

open for better quality | no reposts | ID under the cut

[Image description: A digital drawing of Kaeya, Diluc, and Childe standing in a destroyed oceanside city. The landscape is the focus and takes up the majority of the picture. Faded and crumbling buildings stand among debris and broken stone. Sand and the ocean can be seen in the background. A couple of clouds float in the sky. Kaeya stands with a hand on his hip and looks at Diluc and Childe who walk towards him. Childe and Diluc are holding hands. All three are dressed in modern wear.]

#chilucweek2022 #childe #tartaglia #diluc #chiluc #kaeya #genshin impact #genshin #fanart #myart #doodle #references used include ni.er auto.mata/replicant. mirror's edge- #an embarrassing amount of 'how to draw debris' image searches- #and i was considering using halo as a ref but thought abt it more and decided it was too futuristic #i'm just pulling videogames i've watched/played out of nowhere huh #also this au was supposed to be a challenge for chiluc week specifically #but i ended up with 2 or 3 pages of brainrot about it #and i have 3 pages of character designs for them in my physical sketchbook #didn't expect to be this invested but here we are

[gotjacobian]

hey do you guys wanna see something secret

#its too 4am to be coherent about this but: #I have put a lot of effort into being able to freehand cars very specifically for This Scene #and also because i have strong opinions about the technology in tailslide being visually interesting in a way that contributes to the story #telling us something about the characters that create and use it #so I don't ever want it to look generic #I want the robots and cars and guns and etc to have as much design and expressivity as the characters #i get a little sad when the standard advice is to trace reference/3D models for cars and things in comics rather than cartoonifying them #i get that for most people that's reasonable #since it's a kinda specific skill #and those props are less central in most stories #just... not in tailslide. those cars are gonna be bouncing off each other hanna-barbera style to the best of my ability #you have been warned #complaining

[tinyspringtrap]

Some plush bunny designs + variants I finished last night, havin way too much fun with this

also Mangle - more detailed references for Mangle + Withered Bonnie under the cut 

#FNAF #my art #plush designs #Mangle #Withered Bonnie #Springbonnie #Spring Bonnie #PitBonnie #Plushtrap #if u wanna see anyone specific pls feel free to send them into my askbox #I need more ideas on who to do next but there's so many animatronics lmao #book characters are fine too as long as they have a visual reference available somewhere #the harder to translate into simple plush design the better honestly i love a challenge #(see: mangle) #five nights at freddy's

[iron-cutting-meteor-sword]

I’m endeavoring to do this thing where I sketch each of the Lupin gang with heavy inspiration from the actors and media that inspired and influenced their creation and design, which is easy (as in finding the resources) right up until you reach Lupin, who does have some clear inspiration from his original voice actor and James Bond, but also obviously is inspired by a lot of the Arsène Lupin adaptions up until that point, and there are A LOT OF THEM. And I can see a bit of Lupin’s design in a lot of the adaptions in movies, tv and even some illustrations! It’s very cool but very overwhelming lmao

#samurai sharkie speaks #still don’t know abt this tag but I can’t think of anything else #I’m trying to find at least three pictures of each Lupin iteration— that’s not happening for the various book illustrations though lol #not only would that be like picking out my favorite grain of sand on a beach I would also have to find most of those in person #or on niche review sites #bc google and such only leads to like the same 10 illustrations over and over #I found an actor that might have inspired some of Zenigata’s look too! it was of a Ganimard actor I think #meanwhile Jigen and Goemon have pretty much one actor that specifically inspired their style and look and the genre that surrounds it #Fujiko might be the next hard one bc there are a LOT of inspirations behind her character design and genre #The Girl in the Motorcycle is a HUGE Fujiko inspiration for example— it even has the black leather suit #and Zenigata might have one or two actors specifically to take inspiration from but he’s also his own beast in terms of genre #and while there’s a small percentage of Ganimard influencing his creation as a character he is very much not Ganimard #we’ll see if I can somewhat reach my ambitions here lol #but either way it’s very fun and insightful to learn all this #I’m gonna watch a few of the movies that were instrumental in the creation of the gang as characters and in design too #I’ve already sketched Goemon a bit based off Kyuzo in Seven Samurai #and I even got some references for Seiji Miyaguchi in some of his earlier works #it’s interesting how just by shading makeup and setting alone Seiji Miyaguchi’s face structure looks different #that iconic chin isn’t as noticeable in a few of his other movies #granted he’s younger in a few of these and covered in costume effects and makeup in others #Jigen’s is also interesting bc his biggest inspiration is James Coburn but for the mafia/gangster inspiration there isn’t any specifics #so I have to fish around for some old crime boss movies of the 40s-60s to see where some influence may have come into play #ANYWAY this will probably be anticlimactic a little bit lmao #I’m certainly not the most skilled artist to be tackling this and I’m so fucking out of practice #but hey it’s rare that the muse hits me and I might as well give it the old college try

[arolesbianism]

I need to find new eternal gales songs right now I cannot keep living with most of the playlist being shit I listened to in 2018

#rat rambles #oc posting #eternal gales #I cant in good conscience remove most of them tho cause they've been in the eg playlist scene for too long 😔 #<- referring mostly to call them brothers by regina spektor and silence by mike posner #like one of those was the main inspiration for one of my favorite scenes in the whole story #and was also if Im remembering correctly one of the big inspirations for alpha back in the day #well alpha and beats relationship more specifically but thats how alpha started exists so yknow #the other is an au snek song that manages to still fit well enough despite her backstory being completely reworked over the years #the snake siblings real og song was oh ana by mother mother and its another one thats still on the playlist albiet for owl nowadays #it was technically an au snek song back in the day but it was also what inspired the threes design in the first place #I had the image of a snake girl with two snakes on her shoulders all speaking in unison #which evolved into original au snek and I made all three of them proper characters for the main version of them #in au snek's original concept she had illusion based powers and used them to create fake versions of her brothers after they died #but that got scrapped during the reboot as I had long since grown to kinda hate the concept at that point #in fact the only one of the au antags that were mostly left untouched is owl I think #pretty much the only thing that rly changed was the nature of the being that took over her body #even au bloom who is still mostly the same personality and motivation wise had a completely different origin story and design #she was originally like an amalgamation of a bunch of different blooms along side some god like being? it was weird #now tho they're just some guy #au fydd also hasnt changed too much but I did age him up and he also was effected by the heavy changes made to base fydd over time #aka making him a bird boy #but yeah rip to au aris girlie has been stuck in brainstorming hell for the past 5 years #I think I have her pretty set in stone now but I thought that last time too so who knows gmfjfndg

[runningwithscizzorz]

(1)Learn the rules before you break them + Gather proper references

(2) Understand what you want to break and how

(3) Can't do it? Find someone who can

(4) It's going to look really bad for a while

(5) Have fun with it!

(1) -Yes, I am that kind of artist. Yet, not in the conventional way. I encourage people to go in guns blazing when it comes to drawing something new, then coming out analyzing what they know, and what they need to learn more of right away.

-Here, I broke down the anatomical pieces of Nour and Narinder's face with the same labels so you guys can understand this weird invisible pattern that I follow in my work. Doing this with any animal you're attempting to draw greatly improves your line confidence when drawing different face shapes. Also understanding the biological function for why animals look a certain way helps you keep consistency.

(3) Time to throw any artistic guilt you have for heavily referencing people's art OUT THE WINDOW and start ANALYZING PEOPLE'S WORK YOU WANT TO BE LIKE✨ I've always done this, having a reference of someone else's amazing work right next to my own drawing so I can try and understand how they make their magic work! No shame, no embarrassment, nada. Pure, unadulterated will and spite that I would be just as good as the artist who made me so motivated and happy with their work! I couldn't figure out how to make Nour's face both sheep-like, and humanly expressive, so I looked at a LOT of Zootopia and old Disney art for help!

(2) With how I draw narilamb, I'm still working on it (as you can see) but I wanted to break Narinder's face to be fluffier and slimmer, while Nour's face would be shorter and flatter. If you look at it for too long, it's absolutely going to look weird, in the way that if you look at Anna from Frozen for too long she starts looking really weird. The anatomy isn't meant to be correct or consistent, it's meant to convey the emotion and energy I want out of the characters in that moment. If you're able to properly get that across, then you don't need to think about how broken something looks, as long as your eye is happy enough to trick your brain into thinking what you're seeing is canny.

(4) Yeah, I hate this part too. It's going to look like shit at first. I can't even look at my art from a few months ago when I was figuring out their designs... God, so fucking ugly. If it weren't for the shittiness of those drawings, I would have never gotten here! Wading through the "trust the process" stage always really sucks, but it's absolutely worth the relief of when you finally get something to look right.

(5) Art is work, yes. It's stressful, it's long, it's straining, its draining, it's exclaiming, blah blah blah. But, I try to keep my art FUN. If I find my artwork becoming slow as I depressingly drag my pen over my tablet, I'm failing. You MUST keep spirit and life in your work. The spirit of emptiness or the life of sadness can have a very meaningful place in art, but those can only exist with keeping work light, easy, and fun! If you're stressing how a specific thing looks or how you can't get something to look right no matter what, FUCK IT. Draw something to bring the flavor back in your work! I'm kind of rambling, but just, HAVE FUN!✨️ Be messy, scream, laugh, slash canvases, throw paint, smash sculptures, tear apart books, GO CRAZY

#liseysart #illustration #cotl fanart #cotl lamb #cotl narilamb #cotl narinder #cotl #cotl art #i really REALLY need to work on how i draw narinder haha! #when i feel stumped #i watch videos that make me laugh to bring my spirit back

[egophiliac]

Serious question.

Do you think we’ll see the parents/family of each of the guys???

Like, We’ve been TEASED with Ace’s brother, that I’m starting to think it’s just a reference to that Alice in Wonderland park character in Japan and nothing else….

Jack’s family, Ruggie’s grandma, Falena, Maleficia, Ms.Rosehearts, Just now Vil’s dad is in the picture which I am really happy but now I’m wondering about his mom, and so Deuce’s mom.

I mean, some HAVE a silhouette!! It could mean they do have a design in the making/ready to show. They could’ve shown us Falena in the Tamashina (hope I said that correctly) event, but didn’t (prolly to make Leona not so σ(▼□▼メ) and it’s understandable)

Anyhow, any idea/headcannon about this? Who do you want to see first?

I'm wondering if everyone might eventually get a travel event? like they've now introduced with Vil's that it doesn't have to be specifically hometowns, so that opens things up a lot! (especially if they have to figure out how to do three separate Coral Sea visits) (how would that even work otherwise)

but yeah, I hope everyone gets a chance! there's a lot of backstory characters I would LOVE to meet. :D :D :D though I do think some of them don't really suit the more light-hearted tone of the events (pretty sure you're right about that being why Falena wasn't in Tamashina-Mina, that would've just been. too much for Leona.) so like...we're probably not ever going to meet the Rosehearts. or Maleficia (although I maintain that this would be THE funniest possible way to introduce her outside of the main story, and actually I would love this a lot, can we please Twst) (I need to see her to put Malleus in a froofy little outfit and tell him what a handsome boy he is). but they've sprung surprises like Kifaji on us, and honestly anyone who shows up and tells embarrassing stories about characters' childhoods is good in my book!

characters off the top of my head who I most want to meet: literally any of the Zigvolts, Azul's mom, Ace's brother, Che'nya's grandfather (<- I think he would be a good one for Riddle) (please just any non-terrible adult in his life), any member of Rook's family because I need to see how they managed to produce him, and...really just whoever they can come up with for Silver.

#art #twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland spoilers #tapis rouge #tamashina mina #i think it's just those two #(i am very very sorry about how long it took to reply to this) #but yeah i don't know if everyone is actually doable! i just want to ~believe~ #though silver would also have one of the zigvolts honestly #(they are the only reason lilia managed to actually raise him without silver like. falling through a manhole looney tunes style.) #so let's say he gets sebek's mom and sebek gets his dad. just because it would make sebek VERY annoyed. #god i want to meet azul's mom though. everything we know about her makes her sound AMAZING #i want her to feed me lunch and teach me how to take no shit #ANYWAY i do also wonder about vil's mom... #i had been thinking we might learn something about her during tapis rouge. but nope! not a mention. #i guess we did establish that vil either went with eric or was cared for by the house staff when he was traveling #so i dunno! it doesn't necessarily mean anything she might just be a busy lady doing busy things #i just wonder!

[creatingblackcharacters]

"It takes HOW LONG?" Black Hair is an Art (pt.2)

(This is part two of the hair lessons, focusing on writing/narratives. If you want to know how the styles LOOK, refer to part 1 and its addendum)

Now that you know what our hair actually looks like, we’re going to discuss incorporating that into your writing (original fic, fanfic, webcomics, anything with a narrative). You don’t HAVE to give us a dissertation on "how you studied 'The Black People’s Hair'" in your story. That’s not what I’m asking you to do. I’m just asking you to CONSIDER the effort and existence of it. The same way you put effort into discussing nonblack hair textures? Should be the sort of tenderness and care you put into discussing ours. It does not stand to reason that I have read thousands of stories describing "the silky, black/blonde tresses/waves that fell down their pale back as their lover ran their fingers through them", but Black readers have nothing of the sort to compare to without seeking our own authors out. Our hair deserves some loving and adoration too!

This is a very long post describing hairstyles and how they can correspond to your character's design and decisions, so I'll put a read more here. The sections are organized into 'Twist Out', 'Afros', 'Locs', 'Braids', 'Black Men', and 'Straight Hair' if you Ctrl F. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take your time to read all of this at some point though, as I put a lot of resources and explanation into this. I'm trusting you!

The History

As I discussed in the last lesson, our hair is incredibly important to us, and part of that includes the vulnerability and trust that comes along with access to it. This is due to a long history of oppression. There’s a racist history of making Black women hide our hair, as if it would ‘tempt white men’ away, regardless of it were due to actual attraction or the (more likely) rape of Black women. There’s a racist history of touching our hair, as though we are animals or zoo exhibits. We aren’t just going to let anyone touch our heads, so DON'T write that, unless you are doing so to show that it is a microaggression towards your character. Even now, cultural appropriation is rampant. If I were to wear cornrows with hoops, it'd be seen as 'ghetto' or 'gang-like'. Meanwhile, it is a fashion statement for white women. When Miles G Morales showed up in Across the Spiderverse, animators specifically chose cornrows for him, but many people mistakenly took it to me that he was 'rougher and tougher' than the original Miles. This was a racist perception! Hearing the Fade get hyped up in the news as the 'Travis Kelce', when Black men and especially NFL players have been wearing it for DECADES to crickets... it hurts lmao. Point is, you can describe and respect Black hair without being racist about it. Okay? Okay.

Vulnerability

YOUR CHARACTERS NEED TO BE CLOSE BEFORE ALLOWING THEM TO TOUCH THEIR HAIR!!!

It needs to be someone they TRUST wholeheartedly. Again, do NOT let a stranger touch their hair unless it’s meant to be an uncomfortable situation!

Consider CONSENT! Consent is ALWAYS beautiful! Have your other characters (Black or not) ASK to touch your Black characters’ hair! And not in the ‘Oh can I touch it?’ way. But if they’re really close friends or dating, have them ask to help do their braids, or wash their hair, or even just to stroke their hair and face! Or if your Black character is injured with a head wound, and they have to tend to them, have them ask! The asking shows a level of care and respect for your Black character and their body! At any point the consent may be revoked, and that needs to be respected! If they let them tend their head wound, but then smack their hand away after, that’s not ‘rude’- they’re allowed to do that, especially to signify that they aren’t at that level of trust yet. That's still angsty!

One great example of love from a Black character is doing their partner’s hair, or allowing their partner to do their hair. The ‘Hair-washing’ fic is a common thing in fanfiction; we all understand how that shows the depth of the trust in the relationship between the characters. How would you write about that trust with a Black character, if you don’t know what goes into taking care of their hair? If you don’t even know what their hair looks or feels like? The lack of awareness will show, and what should be a beautiful, deep moment will fall flat for Black readers. I wrote one once for my character with locs, and it honestly made me tear up because I realized that I’d never seen one, at least not in the majority white spaces that the fandoms I was in were.

Think about it- how often have you read a hair-washing fic with a Black character? Was it accurate? Would you know if it was accurate? Have you spoken to or heard anyone Black in your fandom space talk about it? Do you know anyone Black in your fandom space to ask? It’s things like this that we have to consider!

If you have a character that is nonblack in a relationship with your Black character, that honestly reveals even more trust because there’s a long history (again) behind that NOT happening! In life, we can’t go to the same places. I can’t go to a white hair salon or barbershop. They won’t know what to do! People are allowed to go through hair school without learning how to work with different, thicker textures. It’s not right nor fair, but it’s a part of the casual, systemic racism in our lives.

My feelings on what Lestat symbolizes aside, the scene where he plays with Louis’ curls in AMC's IWTV was an intelligent way to show that closeness, and how a nonblack character would affectionately play with a Black character’s hair! How he works with the curl in his fingers, rather than trying to pet Louis or run his fingers through- it was an intelligent move on Sam and Jacob’s part as actors to understand that THAT’S how that would go down!

If you have a character that wants to show a violation of your Black characters’ space, touching/harming our hair is cruelty on a very personal level that will generate an extreme reaction.

Think About Your Character!

When thinking about your Black character’s hairstyle, you need to think about your character themselves! What do they do every day? What are their hobbies? Are they Type A, Type B personality? Do they have a lot of time? Are they always in a rush? Are they noncommittal? Are they self-conscious? Artsy? Serious? Are they in a time period where the means to care for their hair are limited?

People make jokes and comments about how Black women don’t like getting our hair wet and dismiss our concerns. But it’s not out of ‘silliness’ or vanity. What you consider ‘just hair’ may have taken days of planning in advance and HOURS of our time! We put a lot of thought and effort into our hair, and it will easily shatter the illusion for your Black readers if you describe our hair poorly or create an unlikely scenario with it. It’s not a joke!

Some Terms:

Protective styles- a style that allows our hair to ‘rest’ with minimal manipulation

‘Tender-headed’- some people’s scalps are more sensitive to the tightness of styles, so it’ll hurt a little bit more and require some more gentleness (Regardless it’s still going to hurt for a bit after a fresh style)

Bonnets- a silk/satin cap of varying lengths that we wear at night to protect our hair and keep the moisture in

Loc Sock- same idea, but for locs

Durag- keeps short haircuts protected; can even help create the wave pattern that many Black men enjoy

Scarf- same idea as the bonnets, except scarfs can be used specifically for straight hairstyles to wrap them up to keep it straight and neat

(It'll seem real legit if you include your Black characters wearing their headcoverings at night! I remember laughing while reading Twilight because I knew that if Edward snuck into my room at night, he'd see me in my scarf or bonnet lmao.)

General Hair Care:

While I don’t completely agree with some of the advertising in this first one (it’s the internet. Can’t go nowhere without someone trying to hawk something) it’s cool in general to explain how our hair looks the way it does.

If you have Black children OCs, it’s important to consider that their parents have to do their hair, and how that will be its own experience! (It can be very stressful for Black children to get their hair done, as it takes a long time and can be physically uncomfortable. There are plenty of stories of burnt ears and tugged tangles and not very nice old women. Children are children! Keep in mind how they may behave while getting the style of your choice.

Moisturizing to keep healthy

Twist Outs

Cute twist out styles

Twist outs are a style that takes overnight to hold, or maybe even a few days! The cool thing is that the twists themselves can be the style! So the tighter you want their curls to be, the longer they’ll wear the twists in. If you want to describe your character with tighter curls, there needs to be a section of time where their hair remains in the twists! If your character has an event, and they want twists… this needs to be done in advance. Your character will NOT untwist them the day of, unless they want weak, limp curls (or you want the scene to compose of them having weak curls).

How long they'll last depends on the activity of your character! If all they do is work a desk job, or they don’t sweat very much, the twists can last some time! But if they sweat, or wear hats or caps, it’s not going to last long. Maybe a week.

Pros: Very versatile! If you have a character that loves trying new looks and enjoy being spontaneous, twist outs are for them! Easy! If your Black character is younger, or haven’t done their hair before, this is a great way for them to start working with their hair! Doesn’t take long (to do)! If your character is in a rush, and they do their twists, they can go just about anywhere. If they’re not self-conscious, this will be just fine.

Cons: It cannot get wet again, or the style will puff up back into your natural texture. It does not last long enough to say “oh my character went on a two year long fantasy adventure with this style.” If you want your character to have a twist out the whole time, they’re going to have to take time to do it. It would be cool if you incorporate a scene where they’re working on their hair, maybe in the background while everyone’s discussing plans or something. Just a reminder that their hair isn’t just staying magically twisted (unless they have the magic to do that).

Afros

Afro Style Guide, Style Guide for Men (works for any gender though)

Wash & Gos are just that- wash it (or really, condition it, you don’t have to shampoo it every time) dry with a t-shirt (to prevent breakage), put some oil and a light crème on it, fluff it up and you’re good to go! Maybe an hour at max and can be done while getting dressed in the morning!

Pros: Easy! If they’re doing a full, combed out afro, it’s not as simple, it will take more time. And at night it has to be plaited so that it maintains its length, otherwise it will tangle. But other than that, that’s still not all that hard. They can show off their curls! Black characters can and should have pride in their hair. It’s beautiful. This is the opportunity that you as an author can describe the pure texture of their hair, how it shines in the light, how the coils look, how soft it is! Romanticize Black hair the same way you do anyone else’s!

Cons: None really! Afros are wonderful! Just make sure that your character has a way to keep their hair from getting tangled. Just because it’s easy doesn’t mean there’s no maintenance! A pick, a bonnet, oil and water go a long way!

Locs

Five stages of locs

A person who does locs is a loctician.

Can be palm-rolled or interlocked/crocheted

I cannot emphasize enough that you do not want just anyone doing their locs! They can really mess up someone’s hair if they don’t know what they’re doing. I say that to say, for your character, if they don’t trust the person doing their hair… they should. They should not be walking into anyone’s place to get their hair locked; they’d do research first.

The time it takes locs to ‘bud’ (that is, to actually form the loc) depends on the texture of their hair. But it can take up to 3 months to even a year for them to actually ‘loc up’. So if your character just got locs, they’re not going to look neat. They’re going to be frizzy.

As long as they’re washing their hair, keeping it moisturized, and not using wax products (DO NOT HAVE ANY BLACK CHARACTER USE WAX PRODUCTS IT IS BAD FOR BLACK HAIR) it’ll last forever! Locs are incredibly strong, especially the thicker they get! It is recommended that locs are retwisted every six weeks, but if your character has freeform locs, doesn’t have the money or time right now, or they just aren’t that pressed, they can grow indefinitely.

Something cute to write in your stories: sometimes locs do just… fall out. Not the whole thing! But the same way thin hair gets everywhere… sometimes the ends of thin locs just… fall off! You’ll find little buds on the ground. This happens especially in the budding stage.

Pros: Very low daily maintenance! At most they’ll need a bonnet or loc sock, and oil/water mix to spritz and massage in. Strong style that can hold any look- buns, curls, etc. They can be dyed, though it will take a long time to do so. I say that to say, if you want your character to have bright green locs, go for it!!

Cons: Low daily, but HIGH wash day maintenance! So if your character has a fancy date or something to go on, they should not be getting their hair retwisted the same day, or at least not so close to. It’s going to be shiny, oily, and tight, which can cause discomfort. Give them the day to let the hair settle!

Locs are PERMANENT!! This isn’t a bad thing, as much as it is a ‘KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING BEFORE YOU DO IT’ thing. Technically they can be combed out, but that would take a very long time and very precise effort, and most people aren’t going through all that. They’re just going to cut them off and start fresh. If you have a character that would balk at such a choice, locs aren’t for them. If you have a character that’s picky and choosy, that likes versatility, that can’t make up their mind, do NOT give them locs unless they’re making the conscious choice to commit. (Again, this is subjective! Maybe they have locs because their mother died and it reminds them of her! Okay! That works!) If you have a character that’s vain, or at least doesn’t like looking awkward… unless they’re going to style up the awkward stage, they’re not going to want locs. (Awkward stage: the first two stages get considered awkward because the locs look messy. This is because they’re turning from curls to locs!)

Braids

Styles

How long braids can take depend on the style. Box braids can take 10-12 hours to do! Microbraids? You HAVE to have multiple people or you'll be there for damn near a day (and that's assuming you have a masterful braider!)

How long they last depend on your character! If they're like me as a kid, I didn't care how I looked, so my mom got me cheap braids and let me run free for two summer months. So if your Black character is a carefree child! Go for it. But if they're a teen or adult (or are very concerned about how they look) a month to six weeks is about how long braids can stay in before your new growth shows. A character that is usually trimmed and proper having loads of new growth over their braids may symbolize that they don’t have it all together anymore.

Pros: Protective style! Great way to let your character have minimal daily maintenance; oil and water and something to cover it. SOME braided styles allow for high activity and even rain without changing. It depends on the hair that’s been braided in, as well as the style. Incredibly versatile! They can have multi-colored braids, long braids, short braids, beads, trinkets… if your character is creative and bubbly and likes to experiment, the sky is the limit! That can symbolize their artistic expression, just by describing what they look like! So long as they have the time, they can have any look and style they want. No need to commit too long.

If your character is capable of doing their own braids (and locs, btw), they’re amazing. Like… that’s mad respect for them. If you describe your character being able to do their own braids, they’ve got amazing arm strength, patience, and skill. That skilled dexterity can be revealed as a trait of theirs through that alone.

Cons: They take a LONG TIME. Your character is not going anywhere. If they’re getting braids… they’re not going anywhere. If you write your character doing anything fancy the day of, depending on the type of braids, Black readers are not going to believe you. Even if it did get finished, it would be very tight. I currently have a poll going on, and so far, a good majority of the 10+ answers are braids! It cost MONEY. It is NOT CHEAP to get braids done! If your character is poor as a church mouse, they will be doing those braids with their friend in front of youtube. Because it can be in the hundreds of dollars. (Don’t get me started on hair culture right now; BACK IN MY DAY IT COST-)

Hairstyles on Black Men

I want to specifically give space and applause to these hairstyles on Black men, because we REALLY don’t give Black men enough credit for all the creativity they show with their hair! And again, with The Killmonger being the choice style in all these damn vidya games despite almost no Black man I know choosing it as a look… PLEASE LOOK! WE HAVE OPTIONS! Try describing how gorgeous these looks can be on your Black men characters! It would be very nice.

Straight Hair

Well, I was going to explain, but ol ‘Guest Writer’ here pretty much lays it all out! So just go ahead and read this article lol.

Just to re-emphasize, straight hair is NOT something that just grows out of our head that way! It takes effort! So if you have a character that doesn’t feel like maintaining straight hair, they shouldn’t have it! If your character has natural hair and lives in a rainy or humid city, they’re going to be fighting that weather to keep it straight- make sure that’s consistent with their personality!

My best friend used to wash and flatiron her hair every day. Like, laser focused on looking that good, Type A shit (she’s a top money banker now, so I guess it worked out). If you have a character like that, it’s fine! If they’re lazy any other time of the day, they’re not suddenly going to be waking up at 5am to flat iron their hair. It’s not consistent.

Conclusion

That’s pretty much what I have! I’m not the guru on all things Black hair, and I obviously cannot encompass every potential scenario you may have for your characters. Really, my intention here is to get you to think about how our hair reflects our character and personalities, and how when you write and/or draw a Black character, you have that ability! And when you’re able to incorporate that naturally, it makes your Black readers feel seen, like you actually cared about that character enough to give them just as much description as your nonblack characters. You don’t have to be a master at it! Just… occasionally the little things that we can go ‘oh, yeah!’ at would be nice. An equivalent effort would be nice.

Remember, it’s the thought that counts, but the action that delivers!

#creatingblackcharacters #black hair #black art #black characters #character design #black writers