#<- blocklist tag if you dont want to see the answers for the questions

[frogcroaks]

How I deal with shapes

@spadefish @kobothesmall So for shapes, the way I work with them is from studying how things break down individually, instead of following a broader ruleset for character design that you see a lot in tutorial posts (the triangle, square, circle theorem basically).

The way shapes work in humans is different from other animals (which also differ from each other), which is different from objects. The same shape can be used for different goals depending on what you're drawing. So there's no one size fits all, and especially in styles that have a bit more of realism going on, those shapes will behave differently than extremely cartoony styles.

Process wise, a lot of it ends up happening in my head than in the canvas, because I spent years dealing with this shape philosophy of "just bang your head for each thing you're drawing", which I understand is very tedious to some people, but I love studying individual things vs following tutorials because it teaches me 1. how that thing works in a context 2. gives me a new book to my visual library which I can pull from, which is often what happens! That, and a lot of it is just staring at references too. Still, I'll try to draw something up for this.

There are 2 ways to approach shape design. You either start with the shapes and then apply a concept to it, or you start with a concept and apply shapes to it. The former is much harder to do without practice (and also comes more in concept art which is rough, unfinished and meant to be done and redone dozens of times by design). So, I tend to do the latter: I start with a concept of what I want. This can be as simple as "I just want a character that's fat/standing" or more abstract like "I want a character that feels like a river/I want this to feel like an outburst".

Let's start with a concrete concept: I want a design that looks like a pacman frog, and just a standing pose that isn't too stiff.

I grab some pacman frog references, and sometimes if the pose is complex, I'll find references for that too. Pacman frogs are pretty pudgy, and their legs aren't that long compared to most frogs, even when unfolded, and their faces have a nice triangle-ish forehead with a nice shape for the mouth.

The result is that i use large shapes for most of the body. Curves contrast with sharper lines, giving the sense of something geometric but still organic. The line of action here helps me pose these shapes in a way that gives some movement to something as simple as standing (and you'll gain a lot of mileage from learning how to rotate shapes! this is how you're able to position them in different ways and create more dynamic poses).

For something more abstract, like a crouched pose meant to be angry, I take some references when i can and start doing something like this:

Note that these shapes seem weird because I'll have a naked fullbody wip below any clothed characters to have some anatomical guidance, but for actual final shapes and silhouette, what matters is the final elements, and that includes clothes! so i try to build shapes that emphasize this droopy, closed off feeling. This sketch isn't even that good really, there's plenty of errors, but I hope it gives an idea of whats going on.

I hope this weird rambly nonsense helped LOL

[dark-type-appreciator]

Pinned post!! ^w^

Hi!! My name's Liam, I'm 17! I like playing games and drawing- im not very good at either tho dsjhfjksdhf- but I'll be posting abt it a lot!

ive got autism n adhd, so im pretty forgetful and might not understand things right away- x_x im sorry!! please just tell me if I mess something up

I love dark types so much, so i know a lot about them! i'm not an expert but if you have any questions about them I can probably answer!! ^w^

//(top 2 are by @/userboxranger, bottom two are by me!)

um, if we're mutuals plz tag your posts with bug types if you dont already!! I have a really bad phobia of them, and I dont wanna see them at all TwT

No DNI rlly, just be nice to people!!

Oh! ive also got ocs! here's my post talking abt them! I should probably explain them better soon TwT

and here's my sona!!

Actias (@act11as) back at it again... Oh boy! OOC posts will be tagged as #ooc and will be the color green! though usually you'll find my OOC comments over at @battle-subway-aftershow

All triggering content will be tagged as "#[word] tw" for better blacklisting. Please contact me if I miss something or you need something tagged.

‼ This blog will have heavy themes! including mental illness, gaslighting, (witnessed) domestic abuse, emotional abuse, child neglect, Past physical abuse, and generally dysfunctional and unhealthy family and friend dynamics ‼ [This blog is heavily connected to @sound-type-advocate, highly recommend following if you want the full story.]

Boundaries

Self-insert Fallers, do not interact. There is a certain level of unreality I can handle and self-insert fallers cross that threshold. I will block over this, be warned. Everyone else is fine to interact!

NSFW COMMENTS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED.

IN CHARACTER anon hate is okay! I have the right to not answer anything, and if you're ever unsure, feel free to ask.

Extra:

Pelipper Mail, un-mail, and Malice are off currently!

Mystery Gifts are closed! Though if this and Pelipper mail were to open, this one is preferred!

Musharna mail, and Musharna malice are always on! Magic anons are off.

Organizational Tags!

Liam Chatters - General post tag! As long as he's saying something in the text portion, it'll be tagged. Reblog! ^w^ - Reblog tag. Pretty self explanatory Future Sight (queue) - Queued posts tag! Again pretty self explanatory. Liam used Doodle! - Art tag! Liam's art will be tagged as this, for those who want to see it. Foresight - Out of character tag. It marks posts that will potentially be important in the future. This can range from his opinions on things to heavy lore posts! Good tag to read through if you think you're missing something!

Friend Tags! (Tags for friends!)

#Tari mention - tag for Tari from @/pokemoncryptids #faith is friending - tag for Faith from @/faithispokemoning #rare sprig appearance - Tag for Sprig... Who does not have a public account! they're Liam's friend however.

ONGOING ARCS:

Nothing named!

PAST ARCS/EVENTS:

#Lucy Strikes! - One of Liam's friends stole his phone while they were supposed to be visiting. General warnings for bullying. #Mask Off Arc - Shorter arc involving the aftermath of the previous event. Liam started to open up a little more, and hey! Mask reveal! (subject to be renamed, could be used for something more important currently)

Blocklist:

These are blogs Liam has blocked in-character! usually for lore reasons! these are not blogs that have personally been blocked, feel free to interact on anon if you're on this list!

@/tinkatinktrain

@/sound-type-advocate

[starskipper]

Still working on making this blog

but its going to have tips on things like padding tucking packing binding making or buying breast forms packers binders and things like that

i want to make it clear this is for anyone who wants to read or try it and you dont have to be a certain label to read or try any of this its open for everyone

originally i would just send anons to our trans experience type blogs but i want a place to actually organize this stuff and make it a little more easy to find

all of that being said i wont really have a dni people dont really listen to those things anyway and i dont see the point in tryin to gatekeep this blog because it is just about spreading information

the way ill handle anything hurtful is if i get a reblog or ask or anon or reply thats harmful ill just delete and block i dont plan on arguing or making a public blocklist

lastly im not equip to handle heavy vents i can give advice about the topic of this blog and things related to it but if it gets to complicated or if the questions get to me i wont answer them i can only handle so much

ok i lied when i typed lastly theres more

im not a professional as you can tell by my superior grammar skills and how wonderfully ive structured all of this my sentences are going to be a mess and there might be typos every now and then but i am going to keep the tags coherent so people can find posts they want to see and i tend to bounce between using fancy words and sounding pretentious as hell to using slang its still me i just talk like that i guess i want to make it clear im not mad i dont touch my blogs when im mad so if im here im not mad its just how i come across over text so dont worry and also sorry about that if the tone thing bothers anyone youre free to split no hard feelings

and this isnt my main blog and im not linking my main just cause i want them to be separate so if you see this and recognize be based on how i talk dont snitch ok

one more thing im struggling to sort of summarize the tucking padding binding packing etc into one word i dont want to call it just trans tips because more people use these things like intersex non-binary genderqueer gender-fluid crossdressers cosplayers special effects makeup artists and drag performers and so so many more people plus some people just do it and dont even call it or themselves anything so im having a hard time picking just one term if anyone has ideas that would help

now to explain the tagging system: each type of whatever will be under its own tag so therell be a tucking, padding, binding, and packing tag each and also adhesives ill add more to this list when i think of it

again this is a huge work in progress so i might rework the intro at some point this is sort of a first draft