#The problem is I don't really create reference sheets for any of my characters

[mimiyanna]

Sorry for the random question but, do you have any pictures of the guy in your ComicFury page's pfp? I've only found an artwork from another artist so far

I don't have a ton of modern depictions of him, mostly only like, the really old sketches from the original drafts from my story, but I DO have this post on my art blog of a few!

His name's Oni, and he's my sweet baby boy. One of my favorite characters in TSTMNE by far. Here's a sketch of him giving you a thumbs up as thanks for asking!

[thishazbinamistake]

Howdy!

I am here to talk about Viv's horrible character designs.

From an animator perspective, they suck.

Here's why

1. The characters have way too much detail

For animation, more lines equal more work. You're going to be drawing them over and over, and it just creates more stress and work for the animators.

For example, I took one of the most egregious designs in HB (Beelzebub) and simplified it to be animation friendly.

(Can't send it here but I'll probably make a post about it or something.)

2. There's too much of 1 color

WHY IS THERE SO MUCH RED??

Especially since they're in a primarily red background, they don't stand out AT ALL.

Like how am I supposed to see them if they blend in to the background??

3. I have no idea what half of them are supposed to be

Charlie is based off a doll?

Alastor is based off of a deer?

Katie Killjoy is based off of a praying mantis?

Angel Dust is based off of a spider?

Beelzebub is supposed to be well... Beelzebub?

When designing characters, they need to be clear on what they're supposed to be! And no, explaining it on Twitter does not count.

4. The animation reference sheets are garbage

No wonder there's so much animation errors. There's no facial expression sheets, lip sync guide, nothing. It's just a 4 angle turnaround sheet where the character is in complex poses all the time.

If you Google Lackadaisy's animation reference sheets and then look at HB's, it's like night and day.

I'm more than willing to send some examples (along with the edit I did) if you want

So yeah, what are your thoughts?

These are all great points! I think you summed up the main problems very well, but I'll elaborate on each of them. I'm no expert at character design or animation by any means, but I'll do my best to explain my points!

First of all, like you said, the character designs are way too complicated. Anyone who knows even the slightest amount about animation knows you want to simplify and streamline your designs as much as possible to make it easier on the animators. Vivzie is way too obsessed with her Deviantart OC lookin'-ass character designs to actually do this, even though it would seriously help to make the animation process way faster and easier. Beelzebub is seriously the best (or worst?) example of this.

I feel so bad for the poor souls who had to animate this. There are just way too many moving parts here, from her multiple arms, her wings, her markings, to her freaking lava lamp hair and tail?? It's just awful. And so many of Viv's designs suffer this problem, I could go on and on.

Like, I think it actually is a nice looking design, as a still image. Maybe not for the demon Beelzebub, but as a general furry OC, I think she's cute. But that's beside the point. I would love to see your redesign of her!

Next, the RED. So, most of the characters we see in Helluva Boss are red-skinned imps, which has been a common depiction of demons for centuries. One big problem I have is that there's little contrast in these designs. Let's look at our three main imps.

Aside from some white and yellow highlights, they're all mostly red and black. Their color palettes aren't distinct in the slightest! And, I mean, come on. Red accessories against what's almost the exact same shade of red skin? Really? It just doesn't look good. A little contrast here and there goes a long way, like... maybe make Moxxie's bowtie blue? Or Blitz's pendant green? I don't know, anything to help each character stand out, and help give them more visual intrigue.

It doesn't help that most of the backgrounds are primarily shades of red, too. Here's a few screenshots I found that really show this problem.

Look at all that fucking red. Like you said, there's such little color variation that the characters blend into the background. Now, to be fair, I did specifically choose these screenshots because I think they really highlight the problem, but this really is what so much of the show looks like. Granted, we do have a bit more variety in the different rings of Hell, each with their own main color, but this is still too much red, considering how much the color comprises the main characters' designs.

Next, like you said, Vivzie is really bad at making characters actually look like the things they're supposed to look like. Let's take Alastor as an example!

Oh boy! More red and black. So, Alastor here is supposed to be a deer. What's the first physical characteristic that comes to mind when you think of a deer?

Yeah, those big, impressive antlers! So... where are his? Oh, they're those tiny little forks on his head that are almost entirely obscured by his stupid emo hair. Like, come on! Giving him bigger antlers would have made him look so much cooler and more intimidating, and it would have been a great focal point for his design! It's such a missed opportunity. (I know he has bigger antlers in his scarier "demon" form, but you still could have made these a little more impressive.) And don't even get me started on those ears... they look more like fox ears or something. Like you said, a good design shouldn't need to be explained through supplementary material. We should be able to tell what a character is supposed to be just from looking at them!

Another great example is Angel Dust, who, despite being a spider, lacks so many distinct features we associate with spiders! He only has six legs instead of eight, he doesn't have pedipalps or chelicerae, and he also lacks that big old spider booty, which I think is such a missed opportunity, considering he is supposed to be in the sex industry. He isn't even remotely shaped like a spider, he looks more like a fuzzy stick bug or something.

Part of me feels like Viv is too afraid to make her characters look unique, so she just goes with the same, skinny humanoid design for just about everything. It's such a shame, because I really do think she is a talented artist who can make some really interesting designs. But then again, she also gave us Beelzebub, so... maybe not.

As for the reference sheets, maybe I wasn't looking hard enough but I couldn't find any official ones for the main characters, so if you could send those my way I would appreciate it! Though it honestly wouldn't surprise me if they were bad. I did look up Lackadaisy's and found them pretty easily and...

This is so freaking comprehensive and detailed, it's incredible! Look at all those poses and facial expressions!

Comparing Vivzie's works to Tracy's feels kind of unfair, since Tracy has been working on Lackadaisy for 17 years, and it really shows. This is leaps and bounds above Helluva Boss and Hazbin Hotel in quality. Rocky's design is tight; it's detailed, but not overly complicated. There isn't an obnoxious overuse of highly saturated colors, and there's such nice contrast between his fur, his eyes, suit, and tie, making his design very nice to look at. You can also tell so much about his personality and the world he lives in just from his appearance. It's such a good design, and Rocky is just one example from Lackadaisy! All of Tracy's designs are memorable and stand out from one another, unlike so many of Vivzie's characters, whose designs honestly feel interchangable.

So much thought and care has gone into Lackadaisy, and I seriously cannot wait for the full series, as well as all the other amazing indie animated series that have been coming out recently. It's sad that Helluva Boss is seen as the pinnacle of indie animation, when there are so many other series out there that are just.. better! Lackadaisy, obviously, but we've also got Digital Circus, Murder Drones, Monkey Wrench, and so many others that deserve way more appreciation than what Helluva Boss receives. And that's just from an art direction standpoint, we aren't even talking about writing. That's a whole other can of worms.

All of that being said, it's obvious that a ton of love and hard work went into Helluva Boss, and I hold absolutely nothing against the animators and artists at Spindlehorse. These poor design choices are a hallmark of Vivzie's art style, and they're simply working with what they've got. There is such wasted potential here because it feels like Vivzie is too afraid to step outside her comfort zone and design something that isn't a brightly colored, sharp-toothed twink, or skinny anthro wolf girl.

Anyways, that about wraps up my thoughts. Thanks for the ask, this was fun to delve into! And again, I'd be very interested in seeing you post your redesigns! 👀

[utdrmv-confession-box]

Transcript: Honestly, one of my biggest frustrations with Undertale AU's (this problem isn't exclusive to it, any fan base that has AU's of their own has a problem like this, usually.) is that a lot of them kind of don't have an end, because a lot of them just exist to interact with other AU characters and I love that, I REALLY DO, in fact I dream of making a story that can have a multiverse that is just as convoluted as Undertale's Multiverse and have a fan base that can create as many AU's that interact with each other outside of comedic comics, having a lot serious one too and all, but I really don't like how people just use that to create an character and just use them to just interact with other characters throughout the multiverse and never give closure to the character they make, characters never reach an end to their story and troubles and the supposed "pathway to bring an end to their arc" is only written in a reference sheet or just a reblog to someone else making fan art of a character, and forgotten about, like, here's an example: "if character y met character x they would be like this or that" kind of annoying to have characters that could canonically meet each other, but don't meet and are only relegated to just "non-canon" interactions or just fanfiction because the creator can't "find" a way to make the characters canonically interact or just don't feel like it, because, if you say "this character can't meet this other one because he's going through his own stuff rn" like what stuff are you talking about? You aren't doing ANYTHING with this guy, because right now he's just stuck in a limbo, you can find a way to make this character grow and change as a person, or get even worse if you're that kind of person, these characters are stuck going through the SLOWEST character development of all time, because you occasionally just post like 3 pages of the guy suffering and struggling with himself instead of finishing him up and that frustrates me so MUCH. Anyways, Thank you for coming to my Ted talk.

[wisteriaiswriting]

I couldn't tell if matchups were open or not, so please ignore this if they aren't 😖

This is for tf2, dunno if I have to clarify

I'm nonbinary, and I'm okay with any pronouns, but I do like they/them the most

I've been diagnosed with adhd lately, and it puts SO many things into perspective. Such as how, when I was in school, I could finish an entire sheet and then lose it or forget to turn it in. And let me tell ya, adhd rage is real, and I might have more than anybody 😭 I'm lowkey not kidding when I say I got beef with everything

I have two cats that I live dearly and talk to like real children. Kinda. One is a chunky (big, not fat) orange tabby named Murphy like the character from interstellar. His aliases: ginger little bitch or babyboy. I have a slim tortoiseshell cat named Lyra. Her aliases: stupid bitch or babygirl. It changes based on how they're behaving. And I'll scold them lowkey like real people. "We will TUSSLE if you start messin with shit you ain't supposed to just cuz there's a fuckin fan." -literally said this today.

I'm supposed to have curly hair, but idk how to take care of it, and it's that delicate kinda curly, so it's really only ever curly after it dries after a shower. I'm pale with freckles and small moles on my body (I say they make me look like a tortilla)

I like collecting. What specifically? Cds. If I answered you on a deeper level, I'd say whatever scratches my brain when I look at/hear it. For example, I have an iron model of the Eiffel Tower that reaches my hip (I'm 5'2), a skull jar with a rubber stopper, and a black comforter with various mushrooms, plants, and bugs on it. I even have a Bob Ross plushie (along with a mountain of various sized other plushies. I have a dog plushie the same size as me that I named Bennie so I could say "Bennie and the Jets" like the Elton John song.

I'll listen to just about any genre as long as it's a good song, but I can sometimes be picky depending on my mood.

I'm pretty naturally handy. I built a duck box (those things you see standing in the middle of ponds. Basically a birdhouse for ducks) on my own in middle school after being taught how to use the tool, for example. That also kinda carries into art, too. As long as I have references, I can create any pose, and it looks pretty good. Same goes for body types. It's easy for me to mix-match the references I need.

I love singing, and I'm "learning" guitar. I don't actually know any chords or anything, but I've already written a song everybody likes after fuckin up while playing Zombie by the Cranberries. (I used two chords from the song, came up with two others, put it in ¾ time, and alternated between plucking and strumming based on whatever fit the lyrics and vibe)

I can be pretty... well idk the word I'm looking for, so I'll just give you an example of what I mean. My friends and I were on a call trying to figure our gas money and stuff, and they slipped up and told me it would also be used to get them home, so I said "getting YALL home isn't my problem" (they pretty much tried to punk me so they wouldn't have to pay for themselves)

I try to be nice and stuff, but I can get mean when I want to. I'm one of those "your secret is only as safe as you let it be. Don't tell me a secret if you plan to fuck me over in one way or another" types of people. I will not hesitate to put a mf on blast if they actin up.

Also dunno if this matters but I have a subtle southern accent that shows in words like "I", but it gets thick when I'm wound up or angry.

I love love love dogs, but I have a fear of them. I'll be death gripping someone's hand, doesn't matter who, if I hear a dog bark but can't see a dog. Even more so if I CAN see it. Dogs usually like me, though. I remember one Doberman who laid on my foot to get attention and pawed at me while I was chatting with her owners (ik it doesn't sound like a big deal, but the owners were like SUPER surprised)

I'm usually chill, but I can become extremely energetic at times. If I get excited about something, I won't be able to resist talking about it, or I won't sit still or something of that tune. I usually don't get to be the loud type of excited unless I'm amazed about something, and even then, it's usually only for a few words to express said amazement.

I'm usually quiet. I often have to repeat myself. But don't let that fool you. I can easily be louder than Soldier himself if I want to. I just don't like to.

I like to info dump about things I make to anyone who will listen. Things like the dystopian book I'm writing, my ocs who live in a world where one of them is kinda possessed by their friend and the other is a former angel being hunted by angels and they both join a voluntary hunger games-esque game show that doesn't require violence but it does allow it (the winning team gets a wish for each player on the team), and really just any of my ocs and stories and songs n stuff.

Uhhhhh I'm an intp according to the last time I took the test. I'm pretty introspective, for better or worse.

I can be creative in ways I probably shouldn't be. Like, I can come up with torture methods on the fly. I'll do it right now. Strapping someone down and having something hold their eyes open and let them dry out, only adding moisture right before the point of losing vision. Locking them in a room with their hands tied up in a way where they can't use them, even behind their back, and hiding a key and some false keys somewhere in a pile of fiberglass insulation and hair-thin needles, and they have to eat their way through it to find the right key and get out.

Anywayyyyy, moving on from the darkish stuff, I like to freak people out with my "party trick." Basically, I can put my arm behind my head, parallel to the ground. Like. My upper arm. Not my forearm.

I like to have fun, like anyone would, but I can sometimes act "motherly" (or so I'm told) when others get too wreckless. i.e. "don't do that, you'll hurt yourself," "Be CAREFULLLL," and other stuff like that.

Contradictory to popular belief, I'm a complete stoner. Once upon a time, I outsmoked someone who tends to smoke all day every day. I partially like smoking simply because things seem more goofy and partially cuz it helps with my anger. I personally think I'm more fun and outgoing when I smoke. I have one hell of a tolerance, so I really gotta puff to get a nice head high.

Sometimes, I can get really meek around people. Like, if someone I care about is mad at me, I act like a kicked puppy and go almost completely nonverbal. I like giving people things as well, but I do that whole "it's okay if you don't like it, it just made me think of you, (etc.)" spiel cuz I ain't got confidence at the worst of times.

Speaking of, I have a pretty low self-esteem. I don't always let it show, but I suspect it still slips through subconsciously. I don't think I'm a good person, and I don't exactly like my body either. Like, I way less than 100 pounds. People are not exaggerating when they say I way 100 pounds soaking wet. I don't like that. You can literally see my heartbeat if I sit still, and you can see my ribs INDIVIDUALLY if I take a deep breath and stretch. I want to put on weight and start going to the gym so I'm strong n stuff but I can't exactly do that right now. Even if I DID put on weight, I'd still be insecure. From MY PERSONAL experience, "body positivity" is only a thing when someone is 160+ pounds. And here I thought the point of the movement was for EVERYONE to be happy in their body, not just bigger people. Maybe it was just the area I was in or what the algorithms thought I was or something, but I'm still not happy being skinny. I wanna be strong with a bit of squish, but I don't have enough motivation or anything to do that 😞

But God forbid anyone else be insecure. I'll be on that "YOU'S A GOD/GODDESS, HOE. DON'T LET THEM DULL YOUR SPARKLE. LOOK IN THAT MIRROR EVERY MOTHAFUCKIN DAY AND REPEAT THE WORDS I LOVE YOU, BITCH. I AIN'T EVER GONNA STOP LOVIN YOU, BIIITCH" type shit. But fr, I will not sit idly by if someone I care about is insecure about ANYTHING. Around me, they ain't gotta worry about size, shape, abilities, "flaws," quirks, or other.

I can be very opinionated on certain topics. For example, I'm a firm believer all pdf files and 🍇ists should be forced to become eunuchs. Or get gender reassignment surgery to be a Ken doll (or Barbie doll, whichever is more accurate for each person). They won't even have a hole to pee out of, so they can have fun dying from infection. Honestly, I personally think people who only fantasize about it are almost toppling over that line, so they should have to go through intense interrogation and trials to decide whether they're safe or not.

This is probably long enough as it is, so I'll just leave it here

If you respond to this, thank you kindly

Whether or not you respond to this, have a good day/night :]

I match you with...

Engineer!

Loves seeing whatever collections you have, if you let him borrow any chs he’ll take care of them, brings them back as if he never had them.

Dell isn’t picky when it comes to music, so he’ll listen to whatever you choose.

Appreciates someone who is pretty handy, if you still want to build something then he’s your man. Just ask and he’ll teach you whatever you want.

Please sing whenever he plays his guitar, he somehow falls even harder in love. Mention learning the guitar once and he is taking as much time as you mean to teach you what you need and want to know.

While he loves helping others out he also takes no shit from someone trying to cross him, so he’s glad that you can recognize it and not fall into their trap. Always there if you don’t notice it but it’s nice to know he won’t need to hover constantly.

He’s the same with secrets, respects the person's wishes but one or two might slip when talking to you, so now they have to watch you for you both.

Always listens to everything you say and stores it in his mind, it might not seem like he’s listening at times but rest assured, he is. Out of nowhere he’ll bring your oc’s and story up and ask questions.

Is always freaked out by some of your ideas, not saying he won’t listen, so he’ll gently guide you toward Medic with all that talk.

Doesn’t really mind that you’re a smoker, he’ll keep a window or door open and keep an eye on you just to make sure that you stay safe. Won’t join you if you ask or offer.

He’s more than willing to speak for you if needed, if you want to talk he’ll encourage you to do so but takes over whenever you want. When you give him something he will not let you take it back, he loves everything you give him. Always surprised when you become loud, god forbid you get Soldier going or he got you going.

Engi - 7

Scout - 6

Medic - 5

Sniper - 4

Spy - 3

Saxton - 2

Heavy - 1

[gabrielthewarriorblog]

"I remind you of.. you?"

{ Purple just stood there, not really sure what to do. Out of everyone here, Radar was obviously her favorite person. }

"...Well, that's nice to know. It's also nice to know you have people who care about you and.. and friends."

"..."

"You know, back at my homeland... I- I don't really have a home. Never had parents, siblings, or friends. It's just a white void.. Well, I do have one person there. I call them 'My God'. My God is good to me.. They give me different sorts of things to live like food and games... They even give me magical abilities because they care about me so much. If My God didn't give me any kind of technology, I wouldn't know about you or these different universes and worlds."

"...My God lets me explore different worlds so I can explore. I won't ever know why My God doesn't create a world with more people. I do want a family and friends.. I mean My God is my friend, but sometimes I wish..."

{ Purple look away, her eyebrows furrowing as she got lost in thought. Her head snapped up and she looked back over at Radar. }

"Ah geez.. I'm super sorry! I didn't mean to ramble on for that long.."

-Purple

(ooc: im planning on creating a purple reference sheet if you don't mind)

That is not a problem, trust me.

[Something soft plays on Radar's usually worried features]

Rambling is a good thing sometimes. I used to be ashamed of my talkative nature, but once I got close to Jesse, Lukas, mister Gabriel- it felt quiet nature to talk. I didn't feel like they were judging me for that. And I'm not judging you for that.

[He have Purple reassuring smile]

Excuse me beforehand, but your homeland sounds a little bit.. lonely. It is good of course that- uh- Your God(?) is trying to take care of you, but have you ever thought about settling down somewhere? Where you can finally have friends, maybe even someone you can call family.

It's... Uh, how do I put it. The place you were born- creates- is not always your home. People you grew up with are not always your close ones. I've learned it through experience, though it's nothing really bad, just.. my family was never close to me or to each other in that case. Work was more important. Carrier. Influence. Money.

I grew up thinking similar way, but that never really felt right... I applied to being Jesse's intern thinking that will finally satisfy me. Proper job with proper people. Turns out I loved spending time talking with Jesse more than actual working. And we obviously grew close after Admin accident.

He never expected me to jump over my head, heck, he didn't even pay attention wether I was really doing my job or not. He paid attention to me, to what I was talking about or what I was getting excited over. That... Really showed me you can find close ones somewhere you don't expect.

— Radar

OOC: I would LOVE that! So obviously I don't mind, dear, this blog is for people, whatever people want they get, plus I do enjoy Purple's character a lot, you're doing an amazing job<3

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #290

Wow. The care sheet absolutely was not kidding around when it said the third day would get pretty bad. Holy shit. It's hard to function. It's hard to think. The level of pain I'm in today is almost comical. Almost.

…I wonder what I'm gonna do today to pass the time. Most of my thoughts seem obscured by a blackish-red haze.

I don't remember my wisdom teeth being this bad after their removal. But maybe that's because I had them done two at a time instead of all four at once.

I keep trying to remind myself that this will lead to a more wholesome outcome later. I keep trying to remind myself that the only way out is through. Though admittedly, I'm still more than a little bitter about the fact that this could have all been prevented if my parents had actually taken care of me when I was a girl.

If my existence was something that was celebrated instead of something that was resented and barely tolerated, this wouldn't be happening. Because I would have had parents who would have stayed on top of my care and prioritized my needs instead of valuing me solely for how silent or how useful I could be.

…But then again. If my childhood had been different, then I probably wouldn't be able to relate to you. I wouldn't be able to relate to most anyone who suffers like this. I wouldn't have the necessary frame of reference for it.

I am struggling to stay balanced because I am in a lot of pain right now. But still… I wouldn't trade my ability to relate to you for anything. Even if it means I gotta go through stuff like this from time to time.

…I can handle it. And because I can handle it, I can go around showing others how to handle it. I can go around showing others that they can handle it. I can go around showing others that it's possible. That it's worth it.

Things are difficult, but they're never hopeless. Unpleasant situations like these can be leveraged to create better and more wholesome outcomes, even if the price for it is suffering.

…I'm trying to say something wholesome. But I don't think I'm articulating myself very well. Like I said, it's hard to think straight. I'm trying. Just… it's hard to string a coherent thought together.

It's gonna be okay. I'm gonna be okay, okay? So don't worry about me too much, all right? Things suck right now, and they suck for reasons that aren't fair, but still, it's okay. It will lead to better things.

Because, you see, sometimes, we've got two choices. We can suffer a little bit for the rest of our lives with a problem that will slowly get worse, or we can suffer a lot all at once for a very short time to solve the problem and make things better. And I wanna be the kind of person who can be brave enough to make the second choice. The second choice seems immediately more scary, but in reality, it's the correct answer. I think this is true for more things than comically crooked teeth and a jaw joint that is slowly eroding itself due to said teeth.

Today's letter is short. I'm really sorry about that. But, although I am trying to say something meaningful, my brain just isn't braining right now, and if I keep going, I'm gonna ramble.

Sephiroth. Be brave and do things that seem scary in the short term, but will be better in the long run. Okay? You will suffer a lot for a little while, but it's only a little while, and then things will get good. But it's better to make that choice than it is to sit around suffering with a solvable problem forever, especially if that problem will create other problems if left unaddressed.

Any work we do upon ourselves is work worth doing, even if it's uncomfortable and painful and scary. Humans are special because we're situational alchemists; we can take a sucky situation and weave it into a more wholesome outcome. We can do it. We just gotta put in the effort.

I love you a lot. And my thoughts are with you, even through this. So please stay safe out there, all right? Please come back home to us in one piece. Please do the scary and uncomfortable work on yourself so that your things can get better and you can become healthy.

I'll write again tomorrow.

Your friend, Lumine

[syntethizinglove]

Announcing "Synthetizing Love"

I know I have more chances to actually finish a project if I tell people about, so I am officially announcing my very first game:

The sprites shown here won't be in the final game

I decided to create this game for the Yuri Game Jam 2023. I am an artist who loves drawing female characters, so I thought a yuri game would be a good start in creating visual novels. Not to mention that one of my original characters was the perfect fit for the genre, so I immediately made her the protagonist. It's also true, though, that this would be my first time getting into the yuri genre and I hope to be able to write a good story that will do this genre justice.

The game will be created using TyranoBuilder, since I'm no programmer, but I will write the story, design characters and UI and create sprites. For backgrounds and music, I will probably rely on free assets (I'm really bad at backgrounds but I may still try to create them if I have enough time).

Hannah, Chikara and Yvonne are my original characters, so they already have a set design and personality. (The drawings you see in the banner above, in fact, are from their reference sheets and won't be used in the game. I'm just using them as placeholders.) Nonetheless, I still want to create new outfits for this game. Any other character will need to be designed from scratch.

Work in progress. Trying to come up with new outfits.

HANNAH: main character; American. She's obessed with science and chemistry. Her greatest desire is becoming a renowed scientist.

CHIKARA: one of Hannah's best friends; Japanese. Always calm and collected. Her cold stare scares people, but in reality she has an extremely warm heart.

YVONNE: one of Hannah's best friends; French. Dreams of becoming a teacher loved and respected by all students. Loves to gossip.

LOVE INTERESTS: can't reveal anything for now, but my hope is to have three of them. The silhouettes in the banner above are temporary and may different from the final designs.

PROFESSOR PASCAL: University teacher. Hannah is his lab assistant and loves to make him angry.

MR. HYDE: Hannah's cat, adopted from the shelter~

More characters to come, maybe???

I'm currently writing the prologue and, although I have a general idea of where I want the story to go, I still need to figure out the middle part.

The premise of the game will slowly be revealed as the story progresses because Hannah herself beats around the bush and doesn't explicitly talk about it, since she refuses to acknowledge it. She likes women and she has never accepted it. Due to past events, she has buried everything deep into her heart and has lived her life like this, thinking the problem was solved.

Of course that's not how it works and her wounds, which have never had the chance to heal, have heavily influenced her life. In this game, she will learn to open her heart and accept herself thanks to a new love. What kind of "love" it will be, the player will decide.

Placeholders. Placeholders everywhere lol In this stage I am only adding in text and trying out the new software.

I'm not sure if I will be able to finish the entire game within the jam's timeframe, so I'm aiming for a working demo, at least.

My main goals for now are, more or less in order of importance:

Finish writing the prologue (I am currently at around 7k words, but who knows what more I will add or delete);

Input all the text in the engine;

Design all characters;

Draw all sprites and at least a decent amount of expressions;

Add all character animations and expression changes;

Work on at least one route, with a good and a bad ending.

Additional things that are still important, but don't have priority at the moment:

Find all the backgrounds I need;

Find some music.

This is all, for now. Writing will surely take a lot of time, so I'll probably write an update next week with the new word count. Unless I decide to take a break inbetween writing sessions and sketch some things, which means I'll be able to post an update sooner.

See you soon!

[littleladymab]

FebruarOC - Mateen

Introducing Special Agent Doctor Knight, AKA Mateen! I had the immense fortune to get to play in a little one-shot of Lacuna with some friends a few years ago and let me tell you that system is DELIGHTFUL. We were sent in to investigate what was happening on a station that had lost contact three weeks prior, and any approaching ship would lose power and be dead in space. Luckily the holodeck was still active so we got teleported into the station that way and took off from there! 

I don't remember much about the sessions I've forgotten where my notes are, but I do remember that Doctor Knight was fully prepared to stab somebody with a shard of a broken mirror. I also did get to pull the "I'm not a doctor" and the rest of the party went ".... wait what?" before admitting that she's got a doctorate in something not medical related, so she couldn't help with the medical issue. 

If you want to see what a character sheet from Lacuna looks like, it's over on my patreon! I sure was at max heart rate and still sitting pretty on 5 commendation points, but we were at 17 static so things were getting WEIRD.  

Since it was a one-shot there wasn't a lot of need or time to talk about what her backstory was so I simply didn't really have one (except she wasn't a medical doctor, she always insisted you call her Doctor Knight, and she had an impulsive anger problem). But I liked her character concept, and so I decided to throw her into HOWL! 

HOWL is a project I haven't really talked about at all, and unfortunately I decided to go with talking about Jocelyn Tabris instead of Jack from that project, but I'll probably talk a bit more about it on Penelope's post upcoming. HOWL is basically like, taking the Bastard arcs of FTL and certain things from Star Wars that I felt was greatly under utilized and combining them together into a not quite space opera. Mateen, as someone who was created for a game that took place in space, was a great fit for it. 

One of my favorite things to do when building a new character is get a sense of their personality via pinboard when I make it, and when I was making Mateen's I sort of came up with the story that she had lost someone she loved and then fully threw herself into her work as a result to try and find a way to save her. Who was that, how did she lose her? I don't actually know. 

Now she works for the Bad Guy, whom I've just decided to commit to naming Daniel (for now) because I've been using Daniel Dae Kim as a face claim this entire time and would always just refer to him as "Daniel Dae Kim" when writing anything about this. So picture her with vaguely mad scientist vibes, but the mad in this case is anger issues. 

Enjoy her pinboard! I look forward to one day talking about HOWL, it's pretty high up on my "want to write" projects :) 

Also just like, play lacuna! it's really fun!

[jackalxhearts]

I'm running Snare with my friends tonight and i'm really excited, especially since they all made characters I think are really fun. However, the setting is an entire small town; am I out of my depth?

I think that the size of the setting is up to you and how comfy you are with the characters being able to explore the town. Sometimes, I try to limit the number of NPCs around if I'd rather not try to play them/come up with a lot. But, I know other DMs really enjoy creating and playing lots of NPCs! :) If I have a game with lots of NPCs or locations, I try to make a little cheat sheet list, knowing that my players will probably be running around/wanting to talk to lots of people. (This might not be the problem you're anticipating, but I'll share this tip since it relates to my biggest struggle in some games: playing tons of NPCs and not being able to come up with names/personalities fast enough.) Typically, a cheat sheet for my NPCs is just a list of names + a trait/existing character they remind me of. That way I can come up with a name + personality fast, especially for minor characters I don't expect players will talk to extensively. So basically, my cheat might look like: John Smith - runs gas station, cheerful, elderly Lu Weili - librarian, captain picard (?) Kathy - carpenter, kermit the frog Ash - if willy wonka was the mayor of a small town Betty - tall, grumpy, mysterious And then have 10+ more characters. You don't have to be detailed, you just have to note references/ideas that you'll understand immediately. You also don't always need to list occupations/locations. In this example, Betty can be or work anywhere. If you never wrote anyone down to work at the pharmacy and you're in a pinch, then bam! That's where Betty works now because that's where your players went. As for locations, if the location is very important or specific, then writing a few notes for it prior to the game makes sense. But if it's a generic location, most folks will be happy with a basic explanation. (In my personal experience, it's easy to say "Yeah, it's a grocery store like any other. It's a lot like a Kroger." but hard to come up with the cashier there on the spot, hence why my cheat sheet focuses on names/vague personalities.) This was a super long answer, but I hope this helps! Basically (TL;DR): You're not out of your depth if you're comfortable with making stuff up or scribbling down some NPC names! <: Also, a cool group of players will be chill with however you run a first-time game with a brand new system. (Every time I learn a new system, my first game doesn't always go perfectly, and I learn what I might want to change or do the same the next time.) And even then that doesn't stop me from forgetting what names are and going "ummm....the..pharmacist's name...is...jimothy. I guess" sometimes, lol.

[redux-iterum]

Don’t worry, I haven’t done my tomfoolery in anon before. Regarding the new posts, what is your preference with the amount of ‘what ifs’, questions concerning the world building/characters, or tomfoolery? I feel that with every new chapter there’s always going to be more questions, excitement, and curiosity, but I completely understand if you don’t want your inbox to constantly be flooded. If we have any of these questions, would you like them to be limited to a few times a week? Does the same apply with likes ?

I very much appreciate your consideration, my man! Any amount of likes is completely fine, and as long as you're not sending, like, 20 asks a day, you should be good to go. Intrigue and excitement for the world and story here is really no issue at all.

What I referenced by reblogging that post was the multiple people who, like the post says, are way too open way too fast, and instantly forced my interaction on a level one should not be at with a complete stranger. Things like unloading deep trauma one should be seeking professional help for, or sharing tightly-rooted political beliefs that are as extreme as they are unwelcome in daily conversation. That is all entirely inappropriate and those of you that did that: I am not your therapist and I am not qualified to fix your disorders or listen with wisdom to your problems, nor do I care to. Find a close friend or professional psychiatric help. That's all I have to say about that.

I've had people push a lot on me about their OCs as well, but that doesn't bother me as much because I understand that fervent excitement to share something you hold dear to your heart and how you want others to feel that love too. The issue is that I have not heard of this OC once and I don't have any reason to care about them beyond a mild appreciation that you're having fun. I will offer the advice that, should you desire such attention, start making stuff for them. I've said in the past that no one applauds vapor - and rude as this is to say, your OC is little more than a drop of water in the ocean for pretty much everyone who doesn't know you, including myself. You need to create things - a comic, an ask blog, art, writing, reference sheets, anything - to give people a foothold to grab on to so they can begin to care. People will seek answers about those OCs in time, and you won't have to reach out for attention.

That got long and a little too real and I apologize. I just felt those things ought to be said so I can link back to this in the future. Bottom line is that as long as you're not making a total stranger hear about your problems or overloading their askbox with details about your OC you just made, you should be fine.

[thechekhov]

Hi Chekhov! Really enjoying your white diamond au! I had a quick art question: How do you start comissions? I've been improving my drawing skills and thinking about drawing for others after having fun in artfight, but I don't know where to start? How much to charge, how to get paid, etc. Do you have any tips? Hope you're doing well! :)

Alright, since a few people have asked, I’ve decided to put together a few things about how to get started on commissions - what you need, what you should make, and how to keep things organized. 

This will get a little long, so I’ll divide it into 4 main sections:

1) Draw Art - Getting started

2) Get Commissioned - Making a commission sheet, Advertising

3) ??? - Communicating, Setting Limits, Running the Business

4) Profit - Pricing Yourself and Getting Paid

* Disclaimer: I’m an artist, so this How-To will be illustration-focused. I’m sure many of these tips can apply to ANY types of commissions, but I will be focusing on the type I know best. If you are proficient in other types of commissions for other types of art - music commissions, photography, etc - feel free to chime in and leave a comment or make your own tutorial!

1) Draw Art

I think this is probably the most obvious part, but it needs to be said:

Before you start making art for other people, you must first be comfortable making art in general.

I’m not saying your art has to be Disney-quality, or industry-level! Not at all. 

BUT! You must be comfortable creating what you sell. If you try to sell something you have little confidence in, you will stress yourself out and possibly end up losing time AND money.

Don’t shoot for the moon if you haven’t landed on it even once. Sell what you know you’re good at. Your commissions don’t HAVE to include full-body illustrations if you don’t know how to draw feet/solid stances. Limit yourself to what you can do.

Things you need to should probably have before starting commissions:

1. Access to art materials or a fully downloaded art program

DO NOT - Use a free tutorial version that will expire in a month and leave you without a way to draw! If you are having trouble finding a program, try free ones like MediBang Paint Pro. 

2. Free time to complete the amount of commissions you want to take.

DO NOT - Take on or offer commissions if you KNOW you’re going to be overwhelmed with school or personal life for the next 2+ months. Pace yourself, otherwise you’ll burn out, get stressed, and get discouraged.

3. A reliable way to communicate with your customers like a commissions-only email 

DO NOT - Use your friend/family/college email. It’s hard to keep track of things as it is, and creating new emails is easy and free. And keep it professional if you can! Not many people will reach out to dong-wiggles20434 to ask for a design. Ideally, your email should be close to your brand - however you want to brand yourself. Usernames are fine!)

DO NOT - Use Instagram/Twitter/Tumblr to collect commission info unless you are ready to do the organizing yourself. Some people make it work, but in my experience, if you use these SNS sites to communicate with friends and network... you’re going to be losing commission inquiries right and left and accidentally ignoring people. Email is much easier to organize and sort into folders.

4. A portfolio or at least 2-3 pieces of each type of art you’re planning to sell. 

DO NOT - Advertise commissions without having any examples of the art you plan to sell. People will find it difficult to trust you if you can’t even give them a vague idea of what sort of drawing they’ll be getting. 

Disclaimer: These are not hard ‘do not’s. If you have had a different experience, I respect that. I’m simplifying for the sake of streamlining this advice. 

.

2) Get Commissioned

So - you have your art, you have your art program, and you’ve got all the time in the world. That means.... that’s right! It’s time to let the world know you’re taking commissions.

One of the most common ways artists signal to their audience that they can do commissions is by creating a commissions sheet. There are MANY ways to make this - and they range from simple and doodly ones to VERY complex designs. For example, here’s mine! 

There are many ways to organize a commission sheet. At its core, a commission sheet should display the types of art you WANT to be commissioned to make. Let’s go over a few ways they can be done!

#1.... Body Portion Dividers!

This sheet is most common with those who want to capitalize on drawing people and characters. If you want to draw lots of characters, this is a great way to offer several tiers of pricing based on how much of their character your customers want to see. 

#2... Complexity Scale

If you’re open to drawing many things but want to base your pricing off of how complex something is, you can split your tiers into done-ness. This type of commission is popular with those that draw characters AND animals, furries, etc.

#3....  Style and Type

If you’re more on the design side of things, or if you have various niche art styles that you can’t quite lump together, display a variety of your skills alongside each other! It helps if all the ones you have can be organized under a common customer - like those looking to advance their own business and get logos, websites, or mascots made for them!

.

3) ???

You got your first commission... what happens now???

Well, ideally you have the time, tools and motivation to make things happen! Now all you have to do is... sit down and... draw.......

I’m going to say something that may be a little controversial: 

Commissions aren’t fun. 

No, no, hear me out: I have fun doing commissions! I genuinely enjoy drawing characters and coming up with designs. But even with all that said, commissions are, first and foremost: WORK

I’m not saying this to discourage you, I’m saying this to keep things realistic. When I first began commissions, I thought it would be just like any other type of drawing. I would sit down, imagine a thing, draw it... it would be fun! 

But then I realized that I couldn’t just draw what I wanted - another person had an idea in mind and had asked me to do it. I stressed over getting the design correct from descriptions. I stressed over not having the right reference for the pose the commissioner wanted. I stressed over not being able to draw the leg right in the way I had promised I would do. I stressed about billing. I stressed about digital money transfers. It was difficult, and time-consuming, and I did not enjoy it. At all. 

And a part of that is definitely on the commissioner - we, as artists, NEED to demand proper references or descriptions. We, as artists, NEED to limit the amount of changes we’re going to make at the flick of a finger. We NEED to demand clear instructions and set boundaries. That’s also super important. 

But also - don’t be discouraged if you find yourself exhausted drawing your first commission. MANY artists go through this. Adjust your rules, fix up your limits, practice putting your foot down on finicky commissioners who expect you to read their mind! It does get easier, but you have to communicate and put in the effort and act as your own manager AND your own customer service AND your own accountant. That’s what you’re looking at. 

Good limits and boundaries to set: 

Limit the amount of changes a person can ask to make. “I want blue hair.” Next email: “No wait, yeah, make it red.” Next email: “Actually I changed my mind, can I get the blue but like, lighter?” Next email: “No, not that light.” ... At some point, we have to stop. I personally allow 2-3 changes on the final stages of a commission before I start refusing or start asking for extra money.

Demand clear instructions and/or references. If something isn’t described, you have to take artistic liberty and design it, but that’s difficult! And if the customer is not happy with it but can’t tell you more? That’s not your problem - the burden of reference is on THEM. You cannot read their mind, and that’s not your fault.

Get at least half the payment up front! This is a good balance between the ‘pay before art’ and the ‘pay after art’ conundrum that will limit the amount of woes between artist and customer. (I’ll touch upon this a little more in the Profit section.)

Organization:

Where possible, create good habits! Tag your emails and organize your folders. I have a tag on my emails for active and finished commissions. I also keep my emails on Unread until I have time to sit down and properly look at/reply to them.

My Commissions in the folder are also organized chronologically and I mark down which ones are paid and which ones are not.

(I understand not everyone can do this, but if you want to give it a try, it does make things easier in the long run. Again, this advice is just what I have found personally helps.)

One last thing - I do not want to shame ANYONE for taking their time with commissions! Commissions are complex, and they take time and work. You can draw in 8 hours, but some things take research, materials, etc. Some illustrations realistically take up to half a year, or, depending on what’s involved, several years!!

THAT BEING SAID - it’s good manners to be upfront with your customers about how long you expect the commission to take. If you think you’re busy, just say that! Explain that you have a lot going on, and you will probably take (insert time period here).

And if your commissioners are worried, work out a system to keep them updated! I send my commissioners updates when I finish the lineart/flat colors/etc and I try to be clear about how long everything will take. I try to estimate with a +3-5 days buffer to give myself extra time... and recently I’ve been using it. Always say a bigger number than you think you’ll need. 

If someone wants a rushed commission... make them pay more. If ANYONE wants a commission done ‘by the end of the week’ - that’s an automatic rush-job for me because I’m juggling an irl job and several commissions at once. I WILL charge a rush fee and I won’t feel bad about it. 

If someone wants a commission within 24 hours...... Well, they better be paying you 3x your normal amount, or more. And remember - you CAN refuse! It’s perfectly reasonable to say ‘No, sorry, that sort of turnaround time is not realistic for me.’

Food For Thought - Invoicing

Many artists I’ve commissioned in the past have not used Invoicing, but I’ve recently begun to fill out invoices and file them in my Commissions folder just to keep track of things. It’s not necessary until you start getting into the Small Business side of Freelancing, but it’s not a bad idea to get into the habit early in case you might need to do it later for tax purposes. 

Here’s what my Invoice looks like, for example. 

I’ve optimized it to help me remember who, what, and how much is involved! It also contains important info for my customers like where to send the money.

Which brings us to...

.

4) Profit

One of the hardest things for artists is pricing themselves. I’m not going to tell you which way is BEST - there is no BEST way, only the best way for YOU. 

One of the options available to you is pricing by the hour. It includes averaging out how long it takes you to draw a specific type of art (whatever you’re offering as a commission) and multiplying that by an hourly wage you’ve decided on.

When you do this, I stress - do NOT price yourself below minimum wage if you can help it. When you first start out, aim for the $15/hour mark and adjust accordingly. 

Other ways to price your art:

- Per complexity: Portraits vs full body should be scaled based on how difficult you find one vs. the other. You can also easily decide on a price for a sketch and double it for lineart, triple it for full color, etc.

- Per type: Look up for industry prices for website design and logo design. They may surprise you! You don’t have to charge that much, but it helps to keep things in perspective. 

It’s okay to change your prices! Keep your commission sheet image handy so you can update the amounts as you grow. :)

Payment up front or after completion?

Some artist take full payment up front. Some only demand payment after they’ve finished and sent out the piece. I personally think these are both risky for everyone involved. 

I recommend doing at least HALF of the payment BEFORE you start the commission. Calculate your full price and ask for half before you start working on it in earnest, to make sure the person can actually pay you. Then, when they receive the full piece and are satisfied, they can complete the payment. 

I personally work in this structure:

> Someone emails me with their idea/reference

> I send back a rough draft sketch that shows the idea/pose (only takes me 10-20 minutes so not a huge loss if they ghost) and quote them a price

> They can pay the full thing upfront OR pay half

> I finish the commission and send updates when I do the lineart/colors to double check anything so they have multiple chances to spot any errors

> If the person paid only half on completion, I send them a low-res version of the finished thing, they finish up their payment and THEN I send them the full-res version plus any other filetypes/CYMK proofs, etc. 

Many of the people who commission me pay me up front even though I offer they pay half - and I’m really flattered that they trust me that much! Because of that, I feel encouraged to update them frequently and ask for their input as I work, so they have the peace of mind knowing I’m actually doing their commission. 

Great, but how do I get PAID????

There are NUMEROUS ways - these days money is relatively easy to transfer over digital means, and you have a few options. 

Paypal is perhaps one of the oldest digital wallets and is geared towards businesses. By setting up a PayPal and connecting it to your debit card of bank account, you can tunnel a pathway from your online business directly into your hands in a matter of days. 

Paypal also offers Invoicing - you make an invoice, price it and send it to the person’s email and they can pay whatever way they need! (It also allows partial payments.)

Pros: transfers from PayPal to bank account are free, and take a couple of business days. It also has no upper limit to the amount of money you can move in/out each month. It can force refunds due to the nature of its business-oriented payment system.

Cons: Because it’s used by businesses for larger transactions, PayPal may demand a more rigorous proof of your identity. It may also take longer to set up and be harder to get used to. I’ve also heard that they can be a hassle when it comes to closing your account. 

Venmo is another type of digital wallet that acts much like paypal, except for a few key differences - it is NOT made for businesses (so depending on whether you’re officially registered as a freelancer, you may not be able to use it). I personally don’t use venmo, so I cannot speak to its usefulness, but I know a few people that use it for casual transactions. It’s easy and quick! :) 

Keep in mind that you cannot force a refund over venmo! The transactions are final.

There’s also CashApp, GooglePay (which could load gift cards but also allows peer-to-peer transactions) and I’ve heard good things about Due, though I’ve never personally used it.

Other ways to pay: I’ve had people pay me over Patreon by upping their pledge, and I’ve had people pay me over Ko-Fi by donating a specific amount. 

Many people even use Etsy - the website specialized for independent small businesses selling art - by listing their commission sheet and offering up several ‘slots’ of commissions, which allows you to track taxes AND allows your clients to pay using whatever they feel comfortable with.

If you’re in Canada, you can even pay by emailing money directly from bank account to bank account - check whether your country offers this type of service! There’s no shortage of ways to move money in the digital world.

Just like everything else, there’s no singular ‘Best’ way. It just depends on what works for you.

I think that just about wraps it up! I can’t quite think of what else to put here - but I’m sure other artists will chime in with their own advice. :) I’m very sorry this became so long but I hope it was helpful! 

Obligatory Disclaimer: I’m not qualified to give legal or accounting counsel. Please double-check the laws in your own country/state in regards to taxation of freelancing work and do your own research. If you are underage, DEFINITELY get an adult’s permission before you start doing commissions, and have the adult help you through the process.   

. . . . . . . . . . . . 

OTHER POSTS YOU MAY FIND USEFUL:

An Extended Post on Pricing Yourself for Commissions

Dealing with Imposter Syndrome/Feeling ‘Not Good Enough’

Growing Your Audience

Advice for Starting Digital Art

[takonei]

Anon from the last ask here. By advice, I guess I meant how I should go about making references if I can't draw. I want people to be interested in my au, but I know a lot of people will overlook it if I don't include any art in it, especially on a platform like Tumblr. I've been trying to describe the characters the best I can, but no one wants to read pages of character descriptions. Do you have any ideas on how I could work around this? Sorry if this is asking a lot, I thought you might know.

Mmmmh one of the first things that came to my mind was sprite edits. If your problem is that you can’t draw, resorting to sprite edits can be an option. It’s easier to do when you have less experience in anatomy. Of course, there’s a possibility it will come out less satisfying than a character sheet drawn by hand, but you can resort to that since you are working on a DR AU because all the sprites are available on the wiki, so at least you can have a base to work on.

Now, this is a rather controversial topic, but about bases: If what you’re looking for is to create a reference for your viewers to see what the character looks like, it can be a solution. It’s not what I recommend the most since you have limited options (the angle may not show everything you planned for the character, it may not represent the body shape of the character that well, etc), but it is more efficient than a lengthy description.

I do not recommend bases if you’re trying to improve your drawing skills, but in your case, it’s about describing a character, so in my opinion, this is perfectly fine.

I realized those are options for digital art, for someone who has either a drawing tablet or feels comfortable with their mouse skills.

If you have to resort to traditional art, that’s going to be a little bit more troublesome since the colors are much more limited. Since I never draw traditionally (aside from quick sketches in class), I don’t have a lot of ideas. I guess you could print a base and work on it? I really hope that’s not your case because I really can’t help you if that’s your situation.

There aren’t a thousand solutions to illustrate a character. The last option would be to commission someone, but I’m gonna go ahead and assume you probably don’t want to commission someone to do 16 character sheets because that’s going to cost a lot.

Hope this helps!

[sparrowm-draws]

Hello!

Welcome to my Art Blog!

You can call me Sparrow, and if you wish to refer to me please do so using They/them and Cae/caer, Im genderfluid and non-binary. You got a problem with this? Don't interact, aight? Simple? Okay? good.

I'm just some human that thought it would be fun to create, and so, here I am!

I'll be posting any drawings I create here, I'm not the best at it but I'm getting better! And I do infact take commissions and requests!

Also you can pay me at my PayPal!

Commission prices!

Traditional sketch - free

Traditional half-body/headshot/full-body - 3$

Digital lineart - 4$

Headshot/bust - 5$ colored, 3$ lineart

Half-body - 8$ colored, 4$ lineart

Full-body - 10$ colored, 5$ lineart

Simple background - free

Complex background - +15$

Extra characters - +3$ per character

Shading - +4$

Reference sheet - 30$+

Emojis/emotes - 3$

Multiple emojis - +2$ per emoji!

Here are some art examples! Digital, traditional, shaded and not and ref sheet! (I'm 100% willing to draw a ref the way it best fits your character)

Requests for Emojis: Open!

Requests for Other Art: Open!

I can draw these easily:

Original characters

Furries/anthros

Gore and blood. Small amounts.

Emojis

Pride!

Mildly difficult:

Robots

Canon characters

Clothing.

Hand holding.

Reference sheets

Will Not Draw

NSFW/kissing/couples

Heavy blood and gore

Anything involving hate towards something

Animals. (I have nothing against them, it's just really difficult to draw them)

While I appreciate asks, both for requests and normal questions, please don't send NSFW asks or any asks about hate on furries. I won't answer them.

In the instance you wish to commission me, my inbox is open! And I myself am open for multiple forms of communication, whatever is easier for you! I have a Discord account that you will be given upon request, but if it's not for a commission I won't give you access. Please respect my boundaries, I do not want random people to dm me.

Otherwise

Enjoy!!

[giantkillerjack]

Late night autistic art ramblings.

IT STANDS TO REASON that if I can create character sheets for future reference, knowing that some of these sheets have to be useful to me quite possibly years down the line, then I could theoretically create future reference sheets that are not for human characters but for building styles.

And, theoretically, I should be able to learn how to draw different styles of architecture in the same way that I can learn how to draw in different art styles and then apply that style to different shapes and sizes of subject. There will be some shapes that each style prefers, but ultimately, it seems a similar concept.

And since the architecture in my graphic novel is usually me combining two or more specific city's architecture designs, I would indeed need a reference sheet made specifically for me by me.

It may make sense to seek out or else build reference sheets for each town/country and THEN work on the combinations from there.

Some combos featured in season 1 of my graphic novel, which is a road trip arc so I have to (or well, really really want to) make each place feel rich and unique!

New Orleans, USA + 1980s Liverpool, England

Guatapé, Colombia + Havana, Cuba + San Juan, Puerto Rico (main question: how would Colombian architecture change on a small tropical island community?)

What if Frankenstein and Reanimator had a baby and that baby was a town in a medieval fantasy?? (Answer: it sure wouldn't be a fun place to get stuck for like a month and a half! Undead creatures notwithstanding.)

Christmas Town from Nightmare Before Christmas, that one town from the movie Klaus, plus what if fucking ANY people of color were there?? (Otherwise great movies but GAWDS it is like, literally so easy ffs)

This one sleep podcast on the headspace app + Howl's Moving Castle

Jessica Fletcher's hometown but make it fall-themed because this is the 'autumn vibes' episode

A totally normal village + a mountain + a mountain god + a woman who fucks that mountain god + her demigod son + a recently developed problem involving a mop and a demonic poltergeist

oops all horrors (on a train!)

A capital city that I'm just now realizing is going to need a lot more fleshing out! All I got so far is "big" and "class divide," but I have no doubt I'll manage to make it harder for myself don't you worry

A pirate ship + but put that shit in the sky

Okay so maybe only two settings so far are super solid but I have been awake for 100000 hours so

Hey you I hope you're doing well, reader. I'm okay. I will make every place they go in my graphic novel so very beautiful.

Or at least cool as fuck.

Eat shit, Violet Evergarden. My backgrounds will be... not nearly as good as yours! But they will be so beautiful for the work of one person rather than a team! And MY character isn't going to fuck off and marry her [REDACTED] in the last episode and taint all the beautiful backgrounds forever! YOU FUCKING DIPS.

I suppose I ought to go looking for other beautiful and interesting places to inspire my work. With the exception of a couple places that need to be unappealing but should nevertheless be interesting, I mostly choose settings based on what is prettiest because when I draw stuff, I feel like I'm there, and I only want to spend time in nice places when I can.

Life is hard enough without stomping down on my saturated colors for the sake of realism.

Anyway this whole thing has been brought to you by me spending most of my life learning to draw and only recently realizing I don't know how to draw backgrounds, edibles, autism, and of course the MVP insomnia

If you've read this far, you've fallen right into my trap! and now you have to try and think something neutral or good about yourself. Unless you don't want to. But otherwise, I'm afraid you must. I think you are doing your best. I think you are trying your hardest. I believe that. I am too. Your body is taking in oxygen and keeping you alive and that is enough for now. Goodnight, neighbor, goodnight

[scriptflorist]

Hi, thanks a lot for your answer about floral competition but it isn't what I was asking. I know how one works and have a specific reason for the couple to meet the winner. The problem is that I don't do floral art and barely know a thing about design, so I need to know how to describe them and not make what I describe improper or impossible flower care, downright ugly, out of place, etc without actually being an expert who can design something great, especially a winning design.

Hi again!

Thank you for the clarification, you’re right I kind of missed that you want to describe the actual competition. But only kind of because one of the things that’s important for you to understand here is that competitive floristry largely happens behind closed door. Preferably even each florist to themselves. The events generally aren’t advertised to the public (not counting the world cups), rather than exhibitions displaying the end results. That being said these two events always have to happen back to back because flowers don’t last forever so the works are often made available to the public the same day they were created. Usually in the afternoon, evening or on the following day.

This is largely due to the fact that competitive floristry calls for complex arrangements that take like an hour and a half to build in the first place. And while people may enjoy watching that, it would come at the cost of the florist's concentration and perhaps their flowers too. You may remember I’ve talked about that in the previous post, however, there’s a second reason this doesn’t happen. And that’s cause the actual evaluation and assessment takes foreeeeever. (I was so bored out of my mind that I brought my laptop to our finals so I could write some while waiting for the examiners judgement, me and some classmates ended up listening to music for the longest time of our wait. It was like three hours and we were only five people.) There’s a huge check-list of technical and art-related topics to go through and it will take the jury several hours to complete it for every arrangement. Technique is almost the most important thing so it makes up a rather large chunk of the evaluation sheets actually, so your florists are most likely to get points deducted in that department. People who aren’t acquainted with floristry likely won’t even notice the blemishes a jury has to criticise so it’s not necessarily essential knowledge for your characters.

This masterpost is from way back, but it does give a good idea about what florists mean when they talk about technique. Technique at all times has to be well hidden by your florists. Although there are a few exceptions, like floral tape on a stem not counting for corsages. However, most technique is often hidden well enough to the untrained eye, keep that in mind for the characters who marvel the artwork.

The first thing you will have to ask yourself is whether or not the competition they attend is behind closed doors. Because if it is, you’re fine with just laying focus on the best (or the first three) arrangements, while pointing out general details about the rest. Their general opinion on colour, type and size should be sufficient. Maybe they notice a flower they like too, but unless they think someone else’s is waaaay better they’re not going pay much attention to detail once they see the others.

Whether or not the florists are going to work in the same space or each gets a separate room may depend a little on the location, but usually either or works. Especially if nobody needs extra space. One could even request to work by themselves if it helps them, juries aren’t picky about that. It’s more important that everyone finishes on time. Your characters may even choose to wear earplugs or headphones. I wore headphones during my midterm because talking to others makes me a slower florist and that was bad when I was working on a schedule. So I had a playlist that was roughly half an hour.

Given that every competition, there will be some for the florists too. Usually, flowers are allowed to be prepared, meaning they’ve been rid of all excess leaves, and thorns or side shoots. However, they won’t be allowed to cut them to size already. They will also have extra flowers in case something breaks. Same goes for wiring.

From there on out it’s everyone for themselves. Your florists will be busy thinking about how they have to do their arrangement, what has to be prepared first and which flowers come first. Size, shape and colour play a huge role in which flowers are chosen for which role in the arrangements. But as a rule of thumb lighter colours have to be set higher than darker ones, however, for example, a blue larkspur would have to be set above a white rose because of its shape and character. So your winning florist might catch a glimpse of their surroundings but will for the largest part be lost in their work. Afterwards comes the waiting, maybe even the announcement of the winner, unless that’s supposed to be public, and at last the exhibition where the public will be invited. (And family and friends usually.) If the arrangements aren’t already where they are supposed to be the florists have to set them up for the exhibition. This, however, depends on whether or not the arrangements are fit for moving in the first place.

The next question you should ask yourself is what sort of arrangement you have in mind for the winner. What sort of framework does it have? How tall is it supposed to be? Is it wall-like? Supposed to be set on the ground or on some sort of pedestal? Is it a wreath in any way? (Basically, is it round like a circle and made off plant? There you go consider it a wreath.) Are there branches? Is it supposed to be hanging? Go look at pictures of floral arrangements and write down what you like. Look at vases and basins and baskets and the likes – again write down what suits your tastes. Look at colour gradients and write down what you like, ask google if flowers come in that colour if you aren’t sure – write down what you like. (Complementary colours also work well.) Have a look at wreaths and garlands – write down what you like. Because this is the part where floristry is just another art form and what’s art supposed to be other than pleasing to the eye. Which is an utterly subjective thing in the end. The one thing I cannot tell you is what any of the pieces are going to look like, there are too many factors playing into it including the character of the people making them. I usually go into it by deciding I like a flower and go from there and don’t really have an idea of the final product till I’ve created it unless I am forced to articulate it.

Colors that almost clash make visual tension that can be flashy and attention getting. (Example: pale lavender daisy mums with bright orange gerberas).  - Mod Den

(You should also give the theme of the competition some thought, is it freedom, is it love, is it all retro etc. because that too will shape the arrangement in one way or another.) The bottom line here is that a lot is possible and just because Picasso may not be your taste and Monet is doesn’t mean its immediately ugly. Even if we’re talking floral arrangements and not painted art. Same rules apply. You don’t have to describe your winning arrangement down to a t, as long as you get across that it’s bedazzling and a masterpiece of craftsmanship that’s more than enough. Emotions are more important in describing artworks than knowing in which directions the brush went when crossing the canvas. For example, you could have them compliment their use of colour theory.

It’s a floral art competition, the designs can be *anything* and other than not showing the underlying support in ways that shouldn’t be, and the basic principles of design (proportion, size, form, color).

If a reference needs to be made to a design, then vague comments about the use of a certain flower or the way one of the elements of design were implemented would be best. Otherwise a specific design has to be completely thought up, checked for feasibility, and then it’s still going to be subjective of if that one should win over some other one. Heck, maybe even one of the characters thinks the 2nd place design was better, happens all the time in art competitions with other media.- Mod Den

What I can tell you is that you won’t have to worry about care unless your winner made a bouquet. Which would be an open access competition, like what I talked about in the previous answer. However the larger the competition the more likely it won’t be the only thing your winner made in the end. And bouquets only require care because they need to be cut and given fresh water. (A slanted cut with a regular boring fruit knife or preferably a pocket knife with a single blade. Many florists carry one of these.) Floral foam already takes care of everything because it’s soaked through with water and giving the stems an edge makes piercing into it way easier. (Note: Your florists do know that floral foam needs to be given a minute or two to soak up the water instead of being emerged in it because the latter only causes a dry centre and sad droopy flowers through that.)

Of all the things out of place, you could describe flowers out of season may be the worst offenders, so no tulips in summer and chamomile in winter and the likes. A florist who doesn’t know their craft would not only make for a poor competitor. Actually, they would no competitor at all.

- Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.

[saintgale]

Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what materials did you use to make your Starscream cosplay? My friend and I want to do a transformers cosplay and it'll be my first time working on armor-like pieces.

Hi there! :D I don’t mind at all, thank you for asking and for your interest in the costume! He’s mostly made out of craft foam (sheets of various thicknesses depending on the part of the armor–also sometimes several pieces layered on top of each other for really thick parts or to help shape things), foam board (wings), canvas, and paper (that has been layered together and sealed). The colors are done with mostly spray paint, and the detailing/wear done with silver sharpie markers.

I wish you and your friend good luck with your Transformers costumes, I’ll also include here some tips for TF cosplay in general or things throughout the process that I learned that I think might be useful? They may or may not be relevant to your interests, but just in case! ♥I hope you both have fun! And if you have any questions about anything else or need clarification on something, please feel free to ask!

(Disclaimer: I don’t claim to be an expert on this, and this certainly isn’t an end-all-be-all guide or anything like that! These are just some things I had to think about in the making and wearing phases and thought would be worth sharing! They are in no particular order, under the cut~)

1) Plan in advance–this goes from everything big and small!

For example, if you want some particular part to move/be able to move with you as you walk around, you need to draft this from the beginning. If you want a particular part to be very solid and/or used as a place to anchor stuff or as a base, same thing. You’ll want to think about each part of your costume in the long run: for example: can I go up and down stairs, or will I need to use an escalator/elevator? Will I be able to see? Will I be able to sit down? How many pieces am I able to take on/off myself, or will I need assistance getting in and out of my costume? (Think: restroom breaks, eating food, drinking water, etc.) Something you really want to consider is how heavy the entire thing is going to be, and how you are going to transport it/how the pieces can be taken apart and put back together again. To carry mine, it took two large laundry bags for all the armor pieces, a grocery-kind of plastic bag for the shoes and mask (and the wings wouldn’t fit in anything and had to be carried on their own).

I spent a lot of time trying to re-proportion the character to fit my body–I would highly recommend doing this before you start working on any physical pieces, just so that you can try to match things the way you want to fit yourself! Transformers in general have humanoid body shapes, but definitely not exactly human in their proportions–ex: really small heads, exaggerated limbs and features. Some things are going to require extra work to try to scale to something that is wearable; for example, I’m 5′4″ and weigh around 104 lbs, something that presented a bigger problem was the shoulders, since they had to be built up a lot on either side to be more accurate. Starscream’s also very thin and has a much longer torso, so trying to fit the chest plate and all the pieces between there and his waist into a human shape was also a challenge.

To try to re-scale things to fit my body, I just took some pictures of myself in a mirror (front-facing, profile view, from the back), and then washed out the image a lot (you can do this by just loading the pictures into Microsoft Word or a similar software and just upping the brightness a lot and playing with the contrast, or using a photo editing software like Photoshop), printing out pictures (or using a tablet to draw directly ontop of them is fine too), and then drawing over top of them with pencil. I also made color-coded reference sheets on Photoshop for all of the armor pieces (views from each angle, etc.) as a jumping-off point, to give a starting place and rough idea.

Give yourself plenty of time to do this if you can! From start to finish, Starscream took about 6 months, all the way from the drafting stages to the finished product. It not might take you as long (I’d never done something like this before and had generally no idea how to go about it), but I wouldn’t suggest leaving anything until the last moment! (This becomes particularly important if you want to have time to try things on/get a feel for your costume.)

I would definitely recommend that if you are going to make a mask/helmet, that you make it easy to take on and off by yourself. They can get hot/stuffy really quickly, and you want to be able to breathe and to be able to get a sense of your surroundings/check up on what’s around you! Just a quick flip up of the mask or taking it partially off and having a look around can help a ton with your spacial awareness, and also if you need to take a break to catch some fresh air.

And of course, be safe and take the necessary precautions when making your costume, including but not limited to: cutting away from yourself if you’re using something like a knife to slice up materials, not breathing in fumes from paint and glue, etc. (Speaking of glue, my costume has a variety of glues depending on what was being glued together and how: hot glue gun, rubber cement, wood glue, gorilla glue were all in there somewhere. The hot glue gun was the hero of the costume hands-down–it’s strong, it has good mass and hold all on it’s own, and it dries really quickly and sets in place so you can continue working, rather than having to wait long periods of time for the glue to dry.)

2) Create a mock-up if you can.

I’d suggest this just to get an idea for how many pieces you’ll have/how it’s all going to fit together. You can just cardboard boxes and cartons and things that were going to be recycled/thrown away, even like milk/juice boxes and stuff like that (if you can find cheap rolls of parchment paper or that throw-away stuff for spreading over tables, that can work too, and is especially helpful for bendy bits/pieces that have to curve–my costume ended up using this stuff in the final version too) and made a rough draft of the armor. You don’t need to do all the details at this point, it’s just to see what goes where and how it fits and if it works or not. Some pieces may take more work or trial-and-error than others (for Starscream, the shoulder pads were really hard to try to figure out how to balance with the rest of the costume).

The sky is the limit when picking your materials! Stuff like warbla was far too expensive for me, so again my costume is mostly made up of craft foam (lots of the armor) and foam board (wings), canvas, and that throw-away paper stuff. I again recommend a mock-up before hand so that you don’t end up wasting or messing up the actual materials you’re going to be working with, especially if you have the time and resources (stuff you’re going to throw away anyway is a really good bet, it helps keep the costs down and is easy to dispose of/recycle afterwards).

3) Practice your poses.

In the long-run, you aren’t going to be able to control what angles people take your picture from and that’s fine, but it’s nice to have a few poses in mind and an idea of how to position yourself initially regardless. You’ll want to know your costume, what angles look good, what angles don’t look so good, and how to really showcase the detail and different parts. Also it’ll help you get a sense of how mobile you are, how far you can raise your arms, if you can cross them, how much you can bend your knee, if you can bend over, etc.

This is not only useful for really bringing out your character in pictures, but knowing how much room you need for photos. You don’t want to accidentally bump into someone or create a safety hazard for the people around you.

I had one primary pose that I used when stopped for pictures, and several other poses I’d practiced for my character as go-tos, including if I had to change poses or if people wanted multiple poses. Holding one pose, especially for a long period of time or over and over again, is not such a good idea (especially in heavy armor, even moreso for this one because I was also in heels)–my knee actually nearly gave out on me the first day because of the weight and strain I was putting on it. Changing up poses every so often or cycling through might be a good idea to try to avoid over-stressing certain parts of your body.

I wasn’t able to practice my poses in full costume because of spacial restraints (even having the shoulders on made my maneuvering room very tight in front of the mirror), but was still able to get a good idea of how to pose. Even if you can practice with some key pieces of your costume, it can be very beneficial for photoshoots or for that extra wow factor when posing!

4) Get a feel for your costume before-hand.

I really can’t stress this enough, especially for safety reasons! These things can be big and bulky, and it’s hard to get a grasp for your surroundings, especially if you are wearing a mask or have lots of bits and pieces sticking out from your costume or blocking your periphery vision. Know where your blind spots are, know your general range of motion for your head, your arms, legs, etc., and how much room your costume takes up. (For example, I know I am not able to see that well to either side of myself because of the mask and the shoulder pads, and cannot see about ¼ to 1/3 of the area below me, including from my chest down to my feet, when my head is held straight in my Starscream costume. If I want to look down, I have to bend over and turn my head sideways–doing this requires pitching forward, so I have to recognize that the wing tips are going to move down and forward, and that the pointy bits in the back/my elbows could very well change position when I do this. One of the reasons knowing this is really important is because sometimes, little kids would want a photo with me, and oftentimes they would stand next to me in one of, or be walking through, my blind spots, and I didn’t want to accidentally bump into them. Also if I was using an escalator or going up and down stairs!)

Try not to make any sudden movements–this is for your safety, and for the safety of those around you. Motions which would generally be okay out of costume can cover a much larger space and swing bits of the costume that other people aren’t necessarily looking out for/going to consider/might be hard to see and avoid (ex: wings, claws, doors, horns, etc.).

Blunt the edges of any of these pointy things. Even then, you still might want to cover them or make sure extra precautions are in place. For example, I put rubber caps on the ends of the elbows of my costume even after they were blunted (there are long, slender, pointy bits that stick far out from Starscream’s elbows that kind of resemble pile-bunkers). You can use the rubber ends of coat hangars, putty, hot glue, etc. to make edges and points softer. You might be able to take stuff like this (ex: rubber caps) off for photoshoots but I really value safety over any kind of aesthetic appearance, so I left them on the whole time. Check behind/around you (slowly) when you stop and start walking, are asked for pictures, and before you pose. A lot of conventions have rules about props/costumes too that involve sharp edges or anything that could potentially cut/poke someone, so if you are planning on wearing your cosplays to events like this, check the rules and guidelines so you know how to incorporate that into making things like armor.

Re: you want to know how heavy it is–if at all possible you want to spend at least a consecutive hour in your costume before the convention/wearing it for a long period of time, walk around, try to do some basic tasks, etc. I did a “trial” like this for three consecutive days before Otakon itself, wearing the costume for about an hour each time, and walking around outside in the summer. Having on something heavy/restricting your movement or ability to walk, see, etc., may be fine for a little while, but you will want to know how it affects you and what it feels like for a long period of time. Other things to consider–are you going to be in stilts, heels, or any other sort of non-typical footwear? (I already have experience being in heels all day, am comfortable walking/standing in them, etc., but if there is any aspect of your costume similar to this, you are going to want to practice.) Are you wearing gloves/finger extensions? (Can you pick things up and hold them such as a convention badge, can you write with a pen or pencil, can you pull/push open or hold open doors? Remember to be aware of these extensions especially when pointing, waving, etc., you don’t want to poke someone in the face by accident!)

5) If possible, travel with a handler.

This person can not only help you in and out of costume, but will be invaluable for helping you get around! Your handler can guide you from place to place and give you a heads-up if you are about to collide with an obstacle or person! Even if you have practiced walking around in your costume and have a good sense of spacial awareness, you can’t control what other people around you are going to do. I had several cases where someone would try to short-cut behind me or dash really quickly by, probably way too close for comfort (conventions can be packed spaces!). Sometimes, I caught them out of the corner of my eye and could freeze/move out of their way, but sometimes I couldn’t see them coming at all, and my handler could tell me to move, and where to move to.

For this reason, among others, I recommend having callouts (or signals) with your handler. Things like “clear,” and “freeze” are quick and easy to say/hear, or if you need to, you can coordinate hand signals or something of the like for the both of you. (Just be careful if you have your own signals that you aren’t going to accidentally stab/run into someone).

Again, you want to be wary of your surroundings and the people around you. If you have large pieces sticking up on your back, out the side, etc, or any sharp/pointy bits, you need to be careful about where you are, and who and what is around you. Move slowly, give yourself space away from objects and people when at all possible, and if someone stops you for a photo at a convention or something, move out of the way of traffic/getting in the way of others. You may want to practice or have a brief discussion with your handler about how to approach situations like this, and how you are going to get around.

Be honest with yourself and with your handler about how you are feeling! If you need to take a break, if you need water or a few minutes to cool down, if you need to remove part of the costume, etc. Walking around when your skin isn’t able to breathe and your body is under stress is not a good idea.

6) Keep yourself hydrated, cool, and safe!

I also really want to stress this one for safety reasons. I got pretty hot in mine pretty fast, and the time frame shortens if walking around and the temperature/humidity is high. To prevent yourself from overheating, take breaks and allow your body to rest and cool down. There’s no shame in taking off a mask (especially if you have trouble breathing) or parts of the costume (even the whole thing, if you need to–I had to do this at various stages throughout the convention).

I would highly recommend bringing one of those portable battery-powered fans (with the soft, non-hazardous blades–you can get them for pretty cheap), especially if you are wearing a mask/helmet/something that’s covering your head. I’ve upgraded my mask so that there is a small cooling fan on the inside (I did not have this initially), which will help with keeping my face/head comfortable and with fogging up of the mask/stop it from getting too sweaty and gross.

A very nice individual I met at the convention suggested to me that investing in a zentai suit to wear underneath your costume rather than regular clothing (I was wearing leggings and a long-sleeve shirt) can help tremendously with the overheating problem, and that the suits help to pull the sweat off your body. I haven’t tried this myself yet but I feel it’s an important piece of advice to include!