#and it keeps moving my canvas when I'm trying to draw

[sun-marie]

my computer has started to have what I can only describe as "random fits of obsessively hitting space bar on it's own", and to be real with you it's driving me up the wall

[missdynamighttt]

i wholeheartedly BELIEVE that bf! katsuki would make you sit on his lap and help you do your eyeliner when you struggle with it sometimes.

you were sitting at your vanity, getting ready to go out with katsuki to meet some friends. but you were struggling with your holy grail: your eyeliner. normally you'd be able to do it perfectly but something just felt off about today.

no matter how many times you tried, the pen (or maybe your hand) just wouldn’t cooperate. the wing was either higher or thicker than the other, and it seemed noticeable.

you wipe what feels like the umpteenth failed attempt with a sigh, catching your boyfriend's attention as he lounged on your bed.

katsuki noticed the frustration on your face, silently watching as you rubbed your eye for a few seconds before finally speaking up.

"havin' trouble?" he asked, his voice monotone as usual. from his spot on the bed, he could see just how annoyed you were.

you let out a frustrated sigh as you glance at your reflection in the mirror. it morphs into a pout as you attempt your eyeliner again, determined to perfect it. "uh-huh..."

katsuki chuckled at your pouty face, getting up and approaching you from behind. he looked over you, watching the failed attempts closely as his hands brushed your shoulder.

with a sigh, he offers a hand to you. "give it here. let me do it."

you contemplated, but then you recall how katsuki's eyeliner always looked flawless. your thoughts drift back to your days in ua, remembering how he would wear his hero costume with his eyeliner to fill in the gaps of his mask.

it was always sharp, precise, you fawned over him whenever he chose to do a cat-eye that day. it didn't fail to make him look a hundred times hotter.

"alright," a soft smile spreads across your lips, handing the eyeliner pencil to him. you looked up at him, waiting for him to start tracing.

but he had other plans.

katsuki instructs you to stand up, squeezing your shoulder. "get up, sweetheart," he says, his tone gentle but firm. "i'll take the seat and you can sit on my lap."

"oh, is that so?" you grin with a hint of suspicion. "i'm starting to think you have an ulterior motive, katsuki."

despite your teasing, you comply and get up from the chair, crossing your arms as you watch him settle into the seat.

katsuki rolled his eyes, a frown on his face from your comment. "hmph. maybe i just wanna help my girl out. poor thing can't even do her eyeliner." he looks up at you, his expression softening, and pats his thigh.

"now... c'mere, sweets."

you bite your lip and nod, moving to settle, straddling him on his lap. you can feel the firmness of his thighs beneath you, his hand on your hips, steadying you as he holds your eyeliner in the other.

katsuki scoffs as a subtle blush appears on his face, watching as you settle yourself on top of him. he wraps one of his strong arms around your waist, pulling you closer to him.

he was pretty close to you, reaching up to brush some hair out of your face. he hummed, gently angling your head, positioning your chin to get a better look.

"so..." he mumbles, studying your face for a moment, as if imagining the art he would put in his canvas. "stay still. i need to focus."

"or what?" you'll get a boner?"

"shut it, brat. you want me to do this or not?"

he scoffs as you nodded up at him with a cheeky grin, taking hold of the pen and bringing it up to your eyes.

"tch. remember what i said. stay. still."

katsuki carefully starts drawing the line, using his free hand to gently hold the skin around your eye.

he really does try his best to keep his cool. but its hard when he can feel your breath on his face, the warmth of your body, and your gaze. it's distracting as hell, but he keeps himself focused on the task at hand.

he's determined to perfect your eyeliner.

you couldn't help but watch him. the experience felt oddly intimate, despite doing way more explicit stuff with him. he's so focused, a look of intense concentration on his face as the eyeliner glides across your eyelid. it was kind of cute.

katsuki bites his tongue as he moves onto the other eye. he notices you staring at him, but he tries his best to ignore it. he doesn't want to mess up this eyeliner because of a simple, silly distraction.

but he would be lying if he said his heart didnt skip a beat. he takes a deep breath and continues, trying to steady his hand.

"quit starin', sweetheart."

"i'm not! where am i even supposed to look?"

you scoff, but make a conscious effort to keep your face still, avoiding any sudden movements so katsuki wouldn't suddenly smudge his work.

he huffs, adjusting you in his lap, inadvertently pulling you closer. your scent was driving him crazy, and the feeling of you on his lap was starting to get him worked up. it was becoming difficult to focus.

"anywhere else. pay attention to somethin' else."

"likeeeee?"

katsuki lets out a sharp breath and tries to distract himself. but it wasn't working.

the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to bend you over on the vanity and do unspeakable things to you. but no, he couldn't. he needed to finish this damn eyeliner first. and go out with a few friends before he has you for the rest of the night.

"i don't know. the ceiling, the damn wall... just somethin' that isn't me."

"aww, how come? you're not getting distracted from this, are you?"

his breath hitches as you tease him again. damn it. damn this woman. he was doing good on keeping it together until you started talking, but now it was getting difficult.

katsuki doesn't respond right away, he's too focused on your goddamn eyeliner, trying to ignore the feeling of you in his lap. he focuses intently on getting it right. but he could feel the heat starting to pool in his pants. he's not sure how much more of this he can take.

a tiny smile tugged at the corners of your lips, but you suppressed it, holding back the urge to annoy katsuki further. you waited patiently as he continues to draw the line, the pen gliding smoothly on your eyelid. you were super eager to tease him more.

katsuki finally finishes the last stroke, his hand shaking slightly as he puts the pen down. he tries to keep a neutral expression, but the heat in his face betrays him. he lets out a shaky breath and looks up at you, his eyes darkening as he locks eyes with you.

"there," he mutters, his voice hoarse. "finished it."

your eyes twinkled with appreciation as you looked at yourself in the mirror, running your fingers through your hair as you looked at his handiwork.

his work never failed to amaze you. his hand always such precision that made it great for things like this. you spun around to face katsuki, a giddy smile on your lips.

"oh my god, katsuki! you did an amazing job. holy shit, i look like a million bucks!" you leaned in and planted a big, sloppy kiss on his cheek, grinning widely. "seriously, i'm like, ten times hotter now! you're a genius!"

katsuki lets out a soft gasp when you kiss him, his blush deepening. he was relieved to finally be done with the eyeliner so he could put his focus elsewhere. he was happy you're happy. but now he has an entirely different problem... "yeah... i know. you look gorgeous, sweetheart. always do."

he swallows hard, his eyes focused on yours. he doesn't say anything at first, letting out a shaky breath as he processes how hot you look right now. all he wants to do is fuck you right there, show you how much he likes your eyeliner, but he's trying to hold himself back. he's not sure how long he'll succeed, though.

you notice katsuki staring off into space, head titled as a hint of concern crosses your features. you called out his name gently, voice laced with a note of amusement. "katsuki? baby, you with me?"

katsuki hums in response, his hands gripping your hips a little harder. he can feel himself getting more heated, your voice making him feel almost dizzy with desire. "mhm?"

as katsuki shakes his head and snaps back to reality, your can't help but bite your lip, suppressing a smile.

"you okay? you looked like a deer in headlights."

he lets out a sharp breath, letting his head fall to the crook of your neck. he knows you've noticed how riled up he is right now.

this is going to be harder than he thought.

"m'fine. just... just give me a second.."

a soft chuckle escapes your lips as you brush your fingers through his hair, affectionately playing with the strands. you smirk at his question, a hint of playful sarcasm lacing your voice.

"okay... for what, though? what you thinking about, tough guy?"

katsuki lets out a shudder at your touch, his grip on your hips tightening a bit more. you're a wicked, wicked woman to him. he lifts his head up to look at you again, his eyes roaming your body.

he can't even form a coherent thought, your touch sending jolts of heat straight through his body. this was not the time for you to play coy.

"you.. god, you.. need to stop that."

"stop what?"

he can feel his patience thinning rapidly. you're driving him wild, he has to do something about this.

"stop.. touchin' me," he mutters, his hand moves to grip your wrist, gently pulling your hand away from his hair.

you feign disappointment, lower lip sticking out in an exaggerated pout. you looked at him with a feigned look of dejection, gently shifting your weight as if preparing to leave his lap. "aww, okay. i guess i could get off your lap... but i was getting comfortable, y'know..."

katsuki immediately grabs your hips, anchoring them underneath him, stopping you.

"no. stay."

he lets out a shaky breath, his eyes looking up at yours. he's desperately trying to keep his cool, but his eyes are practically filled with lust. his body is aching for you, the heat in his stomach is slowly becoming uncomfortable.

he buries his head back in the crook of your neck. his hands rub your hips, squeezing the flesh softly, but with a firm pressure.

"i just need a damn minute."

you let out a soft, playful chuckle, enjoying how flustered he looks as you shift your weight in his lap, grinding against his crotch a little.

"for what? for it to go down?"

katsuki lets out a low, guttural moan against your neck when you do that, his grip on your hips tightening as his body responds to your touch. his head is clouded with a fog of lust, and he honestly can't think straight.

"shit.. stop that, jesus..." he whimpers out, his hands grabbing at your hips and holding you in place so you can't move. "for the love of god, stop movin' like that or i'll.."

"c'mon, katsuki.." you giggle softly, your voice is soft and sultry as you lean in, hot breath tickling his ear. "can we have some fun?"

your hands trail down his thighs, your touch sending shivers down his spine as you rubs and caress his legs, hands dangerously near his crotch.

katsuki shivers from the touch, his thighs muscles tensing under your touch. he lets out a shaky breath, trying desperately to find the willpower to resist you. but he's losing the battle faster than he knows.

he's completely at your mercy.

"we... we can't.. we have to leave soon.." he groans, his hands slowly traveling up your side and to your chest, his fingers rubbing against the soft flesh. "sweets, we're gonna end up skippin' the whole damn thing if you don't cut it out.."

you look up at him, biting your lip in anticipation. your hand dips beneath his waistband, fingers teasing along the sensitive ache in between his legs.

"can we be a little late, katsuki? please...?" you purr, your other hand tracing lazy circles across his chest.

katsuki lets out a deep moan as you touch him, his hips bucking slightly into your hand. his head falls back as you trail kisses down his jaw, his self-control starting to break. this is torture. pure, blissful torture.

your hand moves lower, gently fondling his length through the fabric. "just a few minutes..."

katsuki's breath hitches at the contact, he lets out a loud gasp and throws his head back at the feeling. his fingers dig into your side slightly as his body tenses up. he can barely focus on anything else besides your touch.

"goddamnit... f-fine, but only... only for a few minutes."

that was what katsuki said before he bent you over your vanity. needless to say, it wasn't just "a few minutes".

you were 2 hours late.

but even with your sex hair™, your clothes wrinkled and your disheveled look: your eyeliner still looked flawless.

and you had your boyfriend to thank for that.

‎‧₊˚✧[ it's me, kia ! ]✧˚₊‧ ｡ﾟ•┈꒰ა ♡ ໒꒱┈• ｡ﾟ ‎‧₊˚✧[ more of katsuki ! ]✧˚₊‧

⋆˚࿔ kia's note ˚⋆ super self-indulgent as an eyeliner girlie oml 😞😞 sorry for the lack of smut, been struggling with school lately and i wanted to feed you guys!! to the people requesting, pls read that i cant accept them rn 😭 tysm!!

[wombywoo]

Ok! I've finally decided to put together a (somewhat) comprehensive tutorial on my latest art~

Please enjoy this little step-by-step 💁‍♀️

First things first--references!

Now I'm not saying you have to go overboard, but I always find that this is a crucial starting point in any art piece I intend on making. Especially if you're a detail freak like me and want to make it as realistic as possible 🙃

As such, your web browser should look like this at any given point:

Since this is a historical piece, it means hours upon hours of meaningless research just to see what color the socks are, but...again. that isn't, strictly, necessary 😅

Once I've compiled all my lovely ref pics, I usually dump them into a big-ass collage ⬇️

(I will end up not using half of these, alas :'D)

Another reference search for background material, and getting to showcase our models of choice for this occasion~

When picking a reference for an actor or model, the main thing I keep in mind (besides prettiness 🤭) is lighting and orientation. Because I already kinda know what pose I'm gonna go with for this piece, I can look for specific angles that might fit the criteria. I should mention that I am a reference hound, and my current COD actor ref folder looks like this:

Also keep in mind, if you're using a ref that you need to flip, make sure you adjust accordingly. This especially applies to clothing, as certain things like pants zippers and belt buckles can be quite specific ☝️

Now that we've spent countless hours googling, it's time to start with a rough sketch:

It doesn't have to be pretty, folks, just a basic guideline of where you want the figures to be.

The next step is to define it more, and I know this looks like that 'how to draw an owl' meme, but I promise--getting from the loose sketch above to below is not that difficult.

Things to keep in mind are--don't go too in-depth with the details, because things are still subject to change at this point. In terms of making a suitable anatomically-correct sketch, I would suggest lots of studying. This doesn't even have to be things like figure drawing, I genuinely look at people around me for inspiration all the time. Familiarize yourself with the human form, and things like weight, proportions, posing will seem a little more feasible.

It's also important at this stage to consider your composition. Remember to flip the canvas frequently to make sure you're not leaning to one side too often. I'm sure something can be said for the spiral fibonacci stuff, which I don't really try to do on purpose, but I think keeping things like symmetry and balance in mind is a good start ✌️

Next step is just blocking in the figures. Standard. No fuss 👍

Now onto the background!

It's frankly hilarious how many people thought I was *hand-drawing* these maps and stuff 😂😂 I cannot even begin to comprehend how insanely difficult that would be. So yeah, we're just taking the lazy copy and paste way out 🤙

I almost always prepare my backgrounds first, and this is mostly to get a general color scheme off the bat. For collage work, it's really just a matter of trial and error, sticking this here, slapping this there, etc. I like to futz around with different overlay options until I've found a nice arrangement. Advice for this is just--go nuts 🤷‍♀️

Next, I add a few color adjustments. I tend to make at least 2 colors pop in an art piece, and low and behold, they usually tend to be red and blue ❤️💙There's something about warm/cool vibes, idk man..

Now we move on to coloring the figures. This is just a basic block and fill, not really defining any of the details yet.

Next, we add some cursory values. Sloppy airbrush works fine, it'll look better soon I promise 🙏

And now--rendering!

I know a lot of beginner artists are intimidated by rendering, and I can totally understand why. It's just one of those things you have to commit to 💪

I've decided to show a brief process of rendering our dear Johnny's face here:

Starting off, I usually rely on the trusty airbrush just to get some color values going. Note--I've kept my sketch layer on top, but feel free to turn it on and off as you work, so as to not be too bound to the sketch. For now, it's just a guideline.

This next stage may look like a huge jump, but it's really just adding more to the foundation. I try to think of it like putting on make-up in a way~ Adding contours, accentuating highlights. This is also where I start adding in more saturation, especially around areas such as ears, nose and lips. Still a bit fuzzy at this point, but that's why we keep adding to it 💪

A boy has appeared! See--now I've removed most of the line layer, and it holds up on its own. I'll admit that in order to achieve this realistic style, you'll need lots and lots of practice and skill, which shouldn't be discouraging! Just motivate yourself with the prospect of getting to look at pretty men for countless hours 🙆‍♀️

I'll probably do a more in-depth explanation about rendering at some point, but let's keep this rolling~

Moving forward is just a process of adding to the figures bit by bit. I do lean towards filling in each section from top to bottom, but you can feel free to pop around to certain parts that appeal to you more. I almost always do the faces first though, because if they end up sucking, I feel less guilty about scrapping it 😂 But no--I think he's pretty enough to proceed 😚

They're coming together now 🙆‍♀️ Another helpful tip--make sure you reuse color. By that, I mean--try to incorporate various colors throughout your piece, using the eyedropper tool to keep a consistent palette. I try to put in bits of red and blue where I can

Here they are fully rendered! Notice I've made a few subtle changes from the sketch, like adjusting the belt buckles because I made a mistake 😬 Hence why you shouldn't put too much stock in your initial sketch~

The next step is more of a stylistic choice, but I usually go over everything with an outline, typically in a bright color like green. Occasionally, I can just use my initial line layer, but for this, I've made a brand new, cleaner line 👍

And the final step is adjusting the color and adding some text:

Tada!! It's done!

All in all, this took me the better part of a week, but I have a lot of free time, so yeah ✌️

I hope you appreciated that little walkthrough~ I know people have been asking me how I do my art, but the truth is--I usually have no clue how to explain myself 😅 So have this half-assed tutorial~

As a bonus, here is a cute (cursed) image of Johnny without his mustache:

A baby, a literal infant child !!! who put this wee bairn on the front lines ??! 😭

Anyway! peace out ✌️

[sanctus-ingenium]

Hello! Just wanted to let you know that you have been such an inspiration to me for so long, my art style is completely different but seeing your art motivates me to draw, you make me wanna grab my sketchbook and a pencil and just draw. I wanna buy prints from you too but alas I'm Low-key broke rn so I need to save some money so I can run to your shop. I also wanted to ask, how do you approach shapes when drawing? Specially when drawing creatures, I love it when some anatomy is followed and then distorted and bent and twisted around to make a creature look uncanny. I don't know how to explain it well but some of your creature design look uncanny in a way I find fascinating and comforting, I guess I just want to know how to achieve that. Thank you for sharing your art. I've been a silent observer but I just wanted to let you know how much your drawings are appreciated 💜

oh hi thank you! how i approach shapes when drawing... to use an example from earlier today i can show my sketch since i still have the canvas open lol

i think the sketch shows the general approach. big overlapping shapes to build a form. easy to do if you know the construction of the creature in question. i try to get the shapes down in as few strokes as possible so the action doesn't get diluted. as for Shapes in general i try to keep them curved or organic, especially when drawing human forms. i avoid straight lines as much as possible but that's just me yfm. i used to have a far more angular, 'straight lines and zig zags' art style which i used to cover up inadequacies in construction so i've been moving away from that for a few years now and i'm happier now.

to end up with a kind of uncanny or weird take on an existing creature, i do a lot of studies (heavily referenced - in this case, from a video, so i can see the action & follow through in its context. highly recommended) so i know how it looks normal style

and then once i know how to draw it normal style i can draw it weird style

[yurinaa-world]

Could I request Blade, Welt, and Dan Heng with a who likes drawing and painting them?

"𝓓𝓻𝓪𝔀 𝓶𝓮 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓸�� 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓬𝓱 𝓰𝓲𝓻𝓵𝓼"

💫𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓇𝒶𝒸𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈: Blade, Welt, & Dan Heng x Gender-Neutral reader

💫𝒮𝓎𝓃𝑜𝓅𝓈𝒾𝓈: with a reader who likes drawing and painting them

💫𝒲𝒶𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈: Fluff, & Spelling mistakes

💫𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒹𝑒 "𝑀𝑒𝓂𝒷𝑒𝓇 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓉𝑒𝓁𝓁𝒶𝓇𝑜𝓃 𝐻𝓊𝓃𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓈"

“Could you at least try to smile?”

Your 10th critique about him. You loved drawing him all the time and now you’ve made him into your subject to draw. But you don’t seem happy at all, squinting at him, in hopes that he listens.

“I’m not smiling.” He groans, refusing your demand—honestly, in your eyes, a smile might fix the only atrocious pose he does all the time—arms crossed, while accompanied by a blank-looking face. “Come on! You would look perfect with a smile on your face!” You rebuked. You didn’t bring out all your best supplies just for a basic sketch of him you do all the time! This has to be perfect!

“Hmph.” 

That meant no…

Then you’ll play dirty yourself. 

“I thought you loved me!!” You began to fake cry and looked away to make him feel bad. “If you loved me enough, you would at least smile for me. I’m only painting the man I love dearly out of my free will and time.” Every word you spoke made him out to be a terrible person, and until your last breath, he did not hear the end of it.

“Fine…” 

He had enough of your anger directed towards him, as he sighed, the ends of his lips shakily spreading wide and revealing an ugly and awkward-looking smile—which makes him look like you’ve got him at gunpoint— “Uh, forget I said that, you don’t have to smile,” those words alone leave him instantly frowning and glaring at you.

“I was just joking earlier!”

💫𝒲𝑒𝓁𝓉 𝓎𝒶𝓃𝑔 "𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒩𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈"

“Are you going to line those sketches?”

You jump the second you hear his voice from behind you, a bit flustered, closing it and pressing your sketchbook right against your chest to hide the drawings of him, though it’s clear he’s already seen it. “Well…Well, I'm not sure yet.” you sputtered, watching him sit beside you while you were embarrassed by the fact he saw your sketches of him.

“Could I see them? Your sketches look beautiful from a distance, you want me to see them, that is.” 

“Uh…” Gazing back at his hopeful eyes while he awaited your answers. It wouldn't be harmful to show him, since already seen everything.

“Uh, sure, they aren’t that good though.” 

Shakily handing him your sketchbook in his, his hands flipping through the pages while looking at every one of your drawings with a distinct eye. It feels like an inspector is looking through them (if you’re being truthful). Watching his expression every time he flipped through a page; nervousness pools its way into your stomach.

“These are incredible, you’ve left me speechless.” Even the way you drew him; made him look far better than he does in person. The way you draw, each pencil stroke having its place when during a messy sketch, your hands are truly gifts.

💫��𝒶𝓃 𝐻𝑒𝓃𝑔 "𝐼𝓂𝒷𝒾𝒷𝒾𝓉𝑜𝓇 𝐿𝓊𝓃𝒶𝑒"

He could feel the tips of his ears go red as he awkwardly posed for your painting. Your detailed gaze looked at him; it felt like you were looking through him. You could even get up to capture a certain detail on his clothes.

Please don't notice. Please don't notice. Please don't notice.

He keeps repeating that phrase in his head. Your fine eyes looking up at him make him freeze even more. You make him feel so see-through as if you were trying to unravel his deepest secrets.

“Dan Heng, inch your head up a little.” you move away from your canvas to look at him, signalling with the tip of your paintbrush in your hands, yet you frown at him when he inches his head a bit too high up, which makes him freeze up—unsure where to move his head.

“A little down,” 

“No, no, that too downwards,”

“Now you're too high again, wait a second.” You sigh, putting down your paintbrush and pallet somewhere off the side, before quickly reaching to his side, gently cupping his chin, and lifting it to your desired height and position. He could feel his sweat dripping down his forehead as you quickly fixed his appearance once again; maybe his ears might go red with the close proximity you have with him.

“There you’re perfect now, Do not keep that position for me please.”

if you liked this, consider tipping me on ko-fi! it'd mean a lot!

[theworldofotps]

Painting (Drabble)

Pairing: Lord Debling x Reader Word Count: 743 Description: Y/n is struggling with a painting when she recieves some much needed help.

So, I have never written fanfiction for Bridgerton before but after watching the first half of season 3 and meeting Lord Debling I couldn't help myself. I'm also very nervous to post this because it's a bit out of my comfort zone but I hope you enjoy anyway.

Dedicated to: @madhatterbri who encouraged me to write this, helped form the plot and is overall one of the best. I appreciate you so much thank you! (I haven't added my normal tag list since those are usually just for wrestling. If you'd like to be added to a tag list of anything I write besides wrestling let me know!) __________ Y/n let out a soft huff as she wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, staring at the canvas in front of her. She’d spent the last two hours trying to paint a bird from the book set on a stool in front of her. This was a painting she just didn’t want to mess up on but the more she stared at it the worse it seemed to look.

“Is everything alright m’lady?”

“Yes Ruth, just having a bit of difficulty getting these colors to work and blend the way that I wish them too.”

“Please let me know when you are ready, and I shall draw the bath for you.”

“Thank you, Ruth.”

Watching the maid leave, Y/n turns back towards her painting and examines the book once more. Adjusting the apron she wore over her dress to keep from ruining it, she dipped into her paints again. More time passed and her frustrations only grew as the colors started running and made the bird look like a mess.

Dropping the paintbrush in the pot of water she hung her head in defeat, deciding to just start all over again. Not having heard the door open she nearly jumped, feeling a pair of arms wrapping around her before a chuckle sounded in her ear.

“Sorry to startle you love I thought you heard me enter.”

“That’s alright my lord I just was focusing on something else.”

Alfred glanced around to be sure they were alone before pressing a soft kiss to her neck.

“Tell me what’s the matter.”

“I’m trying to paint this bird and all of my colors keep running I’ve spent hours on it but alas to no avail.”

Remaining silently as his eyes drifted over the canvas in front of them, since they had began courting he was trying to take interest in her hobbies. When he found out she had a love for painting much like his mother, it was one he quickly did his best to learn all he could about it.

“Allow me to offer my assistance to you.”

Grabbing her hand gently together they picked up the brush, the sparks of electricity she felt as they moved together dipping into her paint pallet. She could barely concentrate at the feel of him pressed against her back. When the brush touched the canvas, she let out a soft laugh.

“What is it brining you such joy my dear?”

“Your beard tickles my cheek.”

Y/n spoke softly as his own smile grew to match hers the two talking in soft whispers as he helped her fix the once ruined picture.

“What do you think?”

“It looks so much better thank you for your help now we both must sign it.”

She said pointing to the feather quill and pot of ink sat on the desk a few feet away from them, Alfred reached over grabbing the quill. Signing the name Debling then placing the quill in her hand so she could sign her last name.

Placing it back in the ink pot Y/n slowly turned to face him their eyes meeting hers lighting up as his softened.

“Miss. Y/n  I know this may come forth as a bit forward but may I kiss you?”

He asked a slight nervous quiver to his voice if you listened close enough she remained silently causing him to clear in throat. The last thing he wanted was for her to feel pressured into anything. After a moment her smile grew as she leaned closer to him their lips brushing in the softest touch before a knock on the door sent them apart. Composing themselves she turned to see Ruth entering one more.

“Excuse me miss but your mother is looking for you.”

“Thank you, Ruth please tell her, that I will be right there.”

Ruth nodded, leaving them alone again y/n sighing softly she turned back to Alfred who gently touched her cheek.

“I must be going as it is rather late, I shall call upon you tomorrow afternoon would that be alright?”

“Yes, I would enjoy that very much my lord.”

The pair left the room and y/n saw him to the front entrance, his fingers once more touching her cheek in a bid farewell. Watching him leave she sighed her arms wrapping around herself, the thought of his arms around her caused her face to heat up. Turning, she went off in search of her mother.

[genericpuff]

I'm about to ask an embarrassing art question: what's your advice for beginner artists who struggle to draw a good circle?

You don't need to draw perfect circles! I can't even draw perfect circles! My circles are shit! Look at this garbage!

But! They do what they're supposed to do :)

(and if I really need a "perfect" circle for something, I just use rulers LMAO)

But! There's still a lot of value in learning how to draw circles ✨ confidently ✨ and with ✨ gusto ✨, so let's do an ACTIVITY >:D Please feel free to follow along! All you need is a sheet of paper and a pencil, or, if you're a digital artist, a fresh canvas and a round brush!

On your clean sheet, draw circles like how you normally would. Scribble them out, don't take your time with them, just do a 1-3 pass circle, you should only be spending like a second on each one. Start with small circles, and then gradually build up to some bigger ones.

While drawing those circles, did you notice it got harder to draw them the bigger they got? Maybe it felt like they were "outgrowing" your range of motion?

Start with a new page again. But THIS time, as you scribble out the circles from smallest to largest, focus on your elbow when you draw. Pretend there's a heavy jug of milk taped to your wrist that's preventing you from moving it. Oh no, what do you do now? Keep that wrist still and move your elbow instead. This will give you a MUCH larger range of motion that will allow you to fully utilize your drawing tool without your wrist restricting your movements, which is, as you might be discovering, very helpful when you're trying to draw bigger circles.

These are exercises we would do in our life drawing classes back in college, every single day, before proceeding with our actual model studies. It seems silly and boring, but it can really help you develop confidence with your technique which is ultimately all it comes down to - it's not about perfection, it's about decision-making, and building confidence in the lines you put down, even when they're not "exact". Imperfect lines and circles are often more expressive than if they were perfect, anyways! You just need to develop the confidence in creating them <3

Best of luck anon! (•̀ᴗ•́)و

[writtenjewels]

Sketch part 3

Part One, Part Two

Jason's leaf sketch wasn't really what he wanted to show off for the school's open gallery night, but his canvas had been blank for days now. His teachers insisted he present something and he had gotten a lot of positive comments on the leaves. So that was what he ended up with.

A few people stopped to admire his work and chat with him. The latest admirer looked almost amused by the leaves. Jason assessed the man: older than him by five years at least, maybe more; short dark hair; rounded face; peach-colored shirt with square patterning. Instinctively, Jason's artist brain kicked in and he started mentally tracing the lines of the man's eyes and how his mouth curved.

Then Salim pulled out a crumbled-up picture. A picture Jason instantly recognized.

“It's mine,” Jason admitted, too stunned to take a breath.

How the fuck was it possible? He had thrown it away! Now it was suddenly back, and in the hands of a handsome stranger, no less.

“You dropped it,” Salim said, offering it to Jason. Jason automatically took it. He stared between the sketch and Salim. It was too damn strange. How the hell had this guy even found the sketch? Salim stood there, seemingly waiting for something. Jason couldn't find any words. “Well,” Salim spoke up. “I just wanted to give it back to you.”

“I threw it away,” Jason blurted out.

“Why?” Salim's brows knitted, his head tilted.

“It pissed me off.”

Salim blinked at him, his lips moving into an uncertain smile. “I can't tell if you're joking.”

“I'm not. That stupid fucking image has been stuck in my head, but I couldn't make it come out right when I tried to draw it.”

“Maybe me finding it is a sign you should try again,” Salim suggested gently.

Jason was at a loss again. He folded up the sketch and stuck it in his back pocket to keep it from shaking in his hands. He still couldn't wrap his head around this guy finding the sketch and coming all the way here to hand it back.

“Did you, uh...” Jason cleared his throat and tried again. “What'd you think of it?”

“I don't know.” Salim's dark eyes sparked and his lips twitched. “It wasn't finished.”

“Smart-ass,” Jason complained, and fought a smile as the spark in Salim's eyes grew brighter. “What if...,” Jason started. “What if I finished it?”

“I'd insist on being the first to see it.”

“Okay.” Before he could rethink it, Jason pulled out his phone. “What's your number?”

[ollyissleepy]

𝟎𝟕. 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐲

summary: you show up on Rafayel's doorstep to work on your book, but it's not as easy as the two of you thought. a/n: ignore any possible mistakes, I wrote this while actively fighting an allergy and high on medicine lol cw: swearing, (name) deals with self-hatred reblogs, comments and likes are greatly appreciated

← prev. | m.list | next →

As promised, you showed up on Rafayel's doorstep early on Friday. You rang the doorbell once, waiting for him to open. You stand there for a bit, thinking he might be occupied with something and unable to open. After a few moments, you decided to ring again, trying to perhaps grab his attention. You were about to give up after the third try when Rafayel opened his door. He doesn't appear to be ready for the day, let alone to have guests over. He's still in his pyjamas, his hair undone, his face not fully awake.

"Huh? What are you doing here?" Rafayel asks you, his voice filled with confusion. His not knowing what you're doing there made you question if you didn't mix up the dates. You check your phone to make sure today's Friday.

"You asked me to come by on Friday." You show him your phone so he can read today's date. "Today is Friday; I'm here just like you asked."

"Oh, I thought you'd be here in the afternoon or something." Rafayel scratches the back of his neck, his face getting slightly red. "Should've asked, sorry, come inside." He moves to the side so you can enter his house.

You take off your jacket and make your way deeper into Rafayel's home. The first thing you notice about the space is the lack of organisation in there. The first time you visited, you thought that Rafayel had some sort of system for where he placed his works. This time, however, the studio looked like a mad artist had run through it with a bucket of paint and some paper. You can only assume that it was the sudden inspiration that pushed Rafayel into such measures.

"Sorry that the studio is a mess; I was planning on cleaning it up later." Rafayel tries to explain himself, frantically picking up brushes and pieces of paper from one of the tables in the room.

"It's fine, really." You place the bag with your laptop on a random chair and help clean what you assume to be your workspace. "You should've seen my office at the height of my creativity. This? This is nothing."

"Alright. So here's the plan: you focus on writing. You can write anything, truly. It doesn't have to do anything with the book as long as you write. And as for me, I'll be drawing or something." Rafayel shrugs his shoulders.

After the table was cleared of unnecessary items, you began to set up your work area. You tried to make it as similar to the one in your home as possible. After all of your time as a writer, you knew how you liked your workspace. You remember Caleb making fun of you after you rearranged objects on your desk after he messed around with them. Once you're done and satisfied with your new setup, you look over to see what Rafayel is doing. Just to find out that he's looking directly at you, sitting in front of an empty canvas. He looks like he was waiting for you to be done so both of you can start working at the same time.

"Are you ready?" He asks you. You nod your head, turning on your laptop, a part of you glad he's not commenting on your little organisation habit.

You dread turning on your writing software. Every fibre of your body hopes and prays that it won't turn on or the whole laptop crashes. Nothing of the sort happens, and the app opens just fine. You decide against working on the book just yet and instead open a new file and follow Rafayel's suggestion to just write anything.

Your fingers hover over the keyboard, waiting for your mind to come up with something. That something never comes. You keep your fingers on the keyboard for a little bit longer in case you come up with a word or a sentence to start with. Your brain is empty; not a single thought worth writing down comes. You're not sure how much time passes when you finally decide to give up, covering your face in your hands. You let out a loud sigh, catching Rafayel's attention.

"Is everything alright?" You move your hands away from your face and look at Rafayel. You don't respond for a while, simply looking at him with empty eyes.

"Yeah, it's just much harder than I thought." You respond, your voice not much louder than a whisper; if it weren't for the silence in the room, Rafayel's sure he wouldn't be able to hear it. "It's like my brain refuses to come up with a singular fucking sentence."

"Don't stress yourself too much with it." Rafayel attempts to reassure you, hoping his words would provide comfort for you. "You probably just need time." You know that Rafayel just wants to reassure you, but you're too frustrated with yourself to really notice. Or care.

"I think I wasted enough time waiting around for something to happen." Your voice comes out harsher than you planned; you didn't want Rafayel to think you're mad at him. You couldn't be mad at him; he just wanted to help you.

You were mad at yourself. Mad for wasting everyone's time. Mad that after writing a few successful stories, you couldn't come up with a stupid sentence. Mad that you allowed someone else to help you for it to not work out.

You close your laptop with great force, not caring about possibly damaging it. You throw all the things that you put on your table back into your bag. Once the table is cleaner from all of your things, you stand up.

"Listen, Rafayel, I appreciate the effort, but it's not working." You try to sound sincere without showing how upset you really are. "I'm leaving." You move to the front door, grabbing your jacket. You hear Rafayel's footsteps behind you.

"(Name), wait—" Rafayel doesn't get to finish his sentence before you're out, the door shutting behind you.

You walk fast, not wanting Rafayel to go after you. After you think you're at a safe distance from the studio, you slow down, letting out a breath you didn't know you were holding. You walk slowly, trying to calm yourself down. You continue to walk at a steady pace until you make it to the station. There you take out your phone, noticing a few notifications.

@sashisuslover @withering-dream @lalaluch @nicoleispurple

taglist is open!

[transfagwhore]

oooo sluttiest fantasies you ask?

Honnestly? I want to make someone my muse and practice figure drawing. Wanna have someone tied up with intricate knots and pretty coloured rope with a vibrator on the lowest setting in them. They're whining and begging as I take the time to set up my canvas, put my paints on my palette, fill up water in a cup, completely ignoring them. Wanna play with the settings at random times as I'm painting, they can't cum until I'm done, so how long they're being edged for is technically up to them. They have one job and it's to stay still, I'll never be able to finish if they keep moving, so they have to try really hard for me! Want to talk about how pretty they are, take the time to admire each and every part of their body and then tell them how they're such a whore for getting off on something as innocent as me painting them. It's art, practising drawing and painting the nude body helps with anatomy that's all it is! They're such a desperate slut, huh? And as they get more and more frustrated as time goes on, I want to start telling them what I'd do to them when I'm done, be really detailed with it all, hear them incoherently babbling, begging over and over. And when I'm done, I take the vibrator out and finger them while looking at them in the eye, this is what they wanted right? I counted everytime they've begged me to let them cum so that's how many times they'll cum now. They should be happy, grateful even. They wanted it that bad right? Take it. They're finally getting what they want. This is their reward!

makes my brain melt ngl

-⚔

fuck that's so hot. making my brain melt a little too 😳

[bloodsadx]

sorry if you’ve answered something similar before but how do you format things for your website? in the collections you have for poems

i love how it looks. the book kind of format it has

and i want to do similar/the same formatting for my own works but im really struggling…

i've been asked stuff like this a lot and i don't mind explaining it often because i want people to make websites more. i made a tutorial video at some point but it's kind of hard to make a curriculum or tutorial or whatever around this kind of thing because it's really just a self expression thing. i'll try to break down as much of my thought process as makes sense.

i design my pages in photoshop with either double/single page display in mind and then i use html to set them next to each other. most of the choice here comes down to how overwhelming i want my designs to feel. in the case of the lonely leaver page, the entire book was designed to be something that could be a physical book, and so from the getgo i made the pages in that kind of format. i previewed things in acrobat which has a booklet view mode (which singles out the front and back cover around the contents of the file) & allows you to process double page view as well. as for the actual process in photoshop before that point, i typically will open a canvas that is the size of the full 2 page spread (i.e. 8 inches wide for 2 pages which are both 4 inches wide) and i set grid lines for bleed margins and to mark the center of the page so that i can make the composition something that im comfortable with having a gap in the middle from the book folding. with lonely leaver i had to reformat about half the book at some point because i wanted to make it a larger resolution which was annoying but i just keep my guidelines for a print size in mind while im working. often if im a certain amount of time into a project that i feel like i will be spending a lot more time with i'll create a dummy psd file at this point which is devoid of content but which has all of the margins/resolution stuff set up already so i can just open that up and save a different version of it when i'm done.

my actual writing process and my design process is generally extremely intertwined, that's why things tend to be varying degrees stream of conscious in my work i think. i'll for instance, have a thought im stuck on for several days, and then open photoshop without having a poem or comic in mind, but i'll fill the canvas with some kind of color like red or yellow or a photo or whatever, and then open a text box or start drawing. telling a story through composition (i.e. page layout itself) is generally my favorite aspect of art and design because i enjoy how violent and dramatic framing angles can make the content of a piece feel so i'll try to move stuff around as much as possible in order to get my desired effect, often times using place holder shapes in lieu of finished design elements in order to get a rough blocking. as i do this i tend to react to what i'm writing/making as i'm doing it, and i do a lot of selective self editing during this part. for instance, i'll start manipulating rasterized text or cutting around images or whatever. i'll reread and look at whatever im doing for a couple of hours and then when i'm done with a spread or whatever i will save the document as a psd with a combined full spread and then each page separately as pngs or whatever (split at the middle grid line, back to the example, i'll save 2 different 4 inch wide images by changing the canvas size).

when it's time for me to put stuff on my website i then batch convert whatever pngs i exported into webp's because they load faster and take up less space on the server/my computer. you can look at my direct html/css files in your internet browser's explorer mode to see exactly what i do but essentially i just have either 1 or 2 images in a block and then a series of repeating vertical blocks containing images. i don't have an extremely efficient way of uploading pages and i'll typically just copy the same

"<p><img src="01.png"> <p><img src="02.png">"

like, 30 or 40 times or whatever into a html document. i use visual studio code for this stuff because it lets me do a bunch of stuff like having several files open at once & the navigation pane is nice & there's a live server extension that automatically refereshes the html file in my web browser on file save which is really awesome. i have a css page that i made like, 5 years ago, and i usually just link new projects to that because it has a bunch of different settings in it which i'll toggle on or off depending on the needs of whatever page or i'll add new div id's to it. it's kind of messy at this point, but it gets the job done. i use filezilla and something like bluehost or something for webhosting/file management.

i arrange and organize all of my art extremely methodically so usually in my like "<root catch all poetry folder>" inside of my "<root catch all art folder>" there will be a "<name of specific poem book>" folder which just contains the poems named by their actual name e.g. "dedication to saint eulalia 4.png" and then another folder inside of that is called "paginated" where i, using the acrobat document i arrange stuff in as reference, rename copies of my pages which i have placed in that folder to be named things like "01.png" so that i can then manually flip through it sequentially in the windows photo viewer and also just so that i don't have to go through the arduous process of renaming and tracking stuff inside of the root folder i'm containing that project's files in.

i'm 26 now and i made my first website when i was like 18, and my first zine project and i'm tired of feeling feeling around that same time, so i've got like, coming up on a decade of trial and error behind this and this is generally what has worked for me. my website isn't super complicated and mostly just gets the job done but because i try to think about style and presentation up front with whatever projects i'm doing i tend to just make plans based around that as early as it makes sense. to me having a website for art presentation has always been the Primary Method and intended landing zone for my art so it's genuinely always been a consideration in my process to try to plan around how i will put it on my website. i do this because i believe having my own curated space for containing my art allows it to exist in a context which best heightens whatever message i'm trying to convey. if there's an issues with my website right now they are that i'm very bad at mobile browser formatting & i havent updated the main look of the website in something like 4 years barely at all.

anyway, at the end of the day i think really as long as you can identify whatever your intentions are and do some planning/problem solving around that you should probably be able to find your own method which works for you better than mine might but if you do just want to copy my website the tools to do so are within your brain and internet searches and i believe in you. i think the biggest strength of my website is that it shows how easy it is to just put art big as fuck on a webpage and how effective that kind of minimalism can be. i just want my website to be like a museum's walls. and it's not super complicated to get to that level of html knowledge.

[lovelynim]

omggg, congrats on your milestone Fabi, i'm so happy for u <3🪷✨ for the request, uh- may i humbly suggest writing something with lee!Rafayel and ler!Reader? maybe using him as a canvas for real lol- i'm- i'm sorry it's just- ಥ⁠‿⁠ಥ🤌🏻

I didn't expect this many Rafayel's fans to show up in such a short amount of time, hahaha

But since you guys want to see him get got so much, who am I to disagree? ~

Also, my apologies to the last anon, but I'm smushing you together with the other two since it's the same characters, hope you don't mind!

Thin, thick, long and soft brushes, all scattered around your canvas. A color palette with different shades of red, yellow and orange, perfect to paint a beautiful sunset. If the canvas in question wasn’t putting so much effort in trying to run away, this would probably be the most peaceful painting session you ever experienced. But as Rafayel, a great and known artist once said, “chaos is a symbol of wisdom, every genius has a messy desk”.

“If you don’t stop moving, I’m going to have to start all over, Rafayel,” you tease him, keeping a firm grip around his wrists while you drag the paintbrush all the way from his forearm down to his ribs, leaving a light yellow trace behind. 

“Sohohomeohohone, hehEHEHelp!! T-thihihis is tohohorturehEHEHE!!” Rafayel cried out as if this was some kind of murder attempt. However, no matter how much he pleaded or begged, his words wouldn’t make it to your heart - not this time, not after testing your patience for so damn long.

You click your tongue, shaking your head, pretending to pity the poor artists. “Torture? This is art, Rafayel. And art is supposed to be felt, right?” You smirked, not caring the least about the fresh drops of paint sliding down your canvas and tainting the floor underneath him. “Now, I think we could use some red here,” you explained calmly while Rafayel watched in horror while you dipped the paintbrush in the red ink and brought it back to your canvas - also known as his bare torso.

“NohoHOHOH!!” He laughed, kicking his feet like a little kid throwing a tantrum, but there was no way you were going to let him go this easy. “Plehehehease! I sahAHahaid I’m sohohorry!”

He twisted and turned his body away, trying to avoid at all costs the brush covered in ink that was dancing over his stomach, tickling his tummy with soft and quick strokes, one after the other, over and over again.

“You should feel sorry for making me work so hard just to paint a little,” you grunted, tightening your grip around his wrists while you circled his navel with the paint brush. With a sadistic look on your eyes, you admired his face - a complete mess of laughter, you could barely tell the drops of paint and the natural blush on his cheeks apart. Cute. “Now, I think we need to add another layer of orange here, the colors are a bit bland…”

“AHahAHAHA, i-it’s goohohohod! N-no mohohore lahahayers!!” He laughed, gasping when you tried to draw a little awkward-shaped sun on his chest. The redness on his cheeks was starting to spread down to his neck, the colors of his skin mixing with the ones from the ink, creating something that actually looked like a sunset - well, maybe if you squint your eyes a little, but still a sunset. 

“Ahaha- p-please!” Rafayel wheezed, dropping his head back into the floor tiredly, trying to catch up his breath. His body trembled, tingling all over. “Y-you should let… t-the ink dry before… continuing…”

With the paintbrush still in your hand, you couldn’t help but laugh a little. 

[thebirdsareafterme]

only if you want to, would you like to share a director’s commentary about your gorgeous enjoy the butterflies art? it’s so stunning and i cant begin to tell you how many times I’ve come back to gaze loving at your masterpiece

OMG ABSOLUTELY!! Thank you for the ask, Em 🫶💜

I love talking about the process and I cannot tell you how much I appreciate all the love you have shown this piece!

It all started with this reference pic:

The moment I saw it, I knewwww I had to draw him. The purpley light on the side of his face had me hooked, and it began as a lighting study. It turned out to be one of the pieces that has taken me the longest ever, because I was working on it randomly whenever I had a break from school or work.

Since it was a study to begin with, I first did some sketching to try to capture his features. The screenshot is super blurry because it’s actually just one tiny corner of a canvas.

At this point, I was fully committed to making this into a full blown piece. Gone were the days of this ending up as a quick little study, so of course I made it bigger and refined the sketch.

The next step was to block in my colours. I started very saturated colours, since I wanted to capture the undertones in his skin and play with the lighting.

For the shadows, I played with some colour theory for a bit and added in my blues and purples to counteract the bright yellow and corals. Once blended out, it started to look a little less crazy and more realistic.

I blocked in the hair and the clothing next, which was pretty boring but necessary. Since they are both super dark colours, it was harder to play around with the tones, but I was able to put some purple undertones in the hair. Also, I changed his facial features a couple of times in between, which is why he looks completely different from one picture to another.

The next step was to finish all the rendering for the skin, clothes and hair. This took me about a week to finally be happy with, since I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to things like that. I worked on it sporadically as well, so it definitely took longer than it should.

The eyes were the absolute best part of the drawing. They started out purple, because it was my shadow colour of the time and eventually shifted around the colour wheel to be multicoloured but still dark.

Now for the background. I had a lot of options and ideas for it, so deciding on just one was difficult. I knew I wanted the butterflies in there somewhere, so that was done first. Filling in the wings with very light pencil strokes took a considerable amount of time as well, but I loved the final effect.

From all the options that I put together, I liked the look of the textured lines the best.

I decided to take out the darker blue box in the end, because I thought it was quite busy already. Finally, to end it all off, I finished the details on the suit and added those little details. The FEA moved around a few times before I decided on keeping it small on the the collar.

Here's what the final piece looks like!

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out stylistically, and I think getting this done helped me deal with the overwhelming grief of losing Daniel to the Red Bull guillotine. It was hard for a while to find the motivation to finish it, as I started this in June and finished it in October after Singapore. The #thankyoudanielfest kept me motivated to get it done, and I was able to think a lot about how much Daniel means to me and how he has changed my life in the process.

Anyways, if this was too long to read, here's a short little process video I made for my TikTok a while back.

I'm so grateful to everyone who has enjoyed my art and engaged with it! The Tumblr community just feels like family, and I'm glad I've been able to make some friends in the time that I've been in the F1 fandom. Y'all are amazing.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, if you celebrate and a restful holidays!

[anbaisai]

Unrelated to twst but I absolutely adore your art. Your lines are so crisp omgg, do you have any tips on how to keep them clean? :>>

Thank you!!! I put a lot of effort into my lines because I admire a lot of artists with beautiful linework, so I'm really happy to hear that you think so 🥹

Obviously steady practice & time will naturally help you improve, but here are a few tips that I personally found helpful!

Try being more confident & fast with your brush strokes - I find that the more that I slow down and hesitate, the more wobbly my lines end up being and it doesn't retain the same "crisp" feel (unless I set stabilization to high, but then the brush starts lagging so I tend to leave it on the lower side). Try drawing a line really fast then doing the same thing again slowly and comparing them, and do it with lines of varying lengths since it’s likely more apparent with long lines than shorter ones, but I hope that makes sense!

If you work digitally, one thing that can help with the above is zooming out - it might feel easier to draw a line on a smaller-looking canvas because you move your hand less, vs. dragging a line across a really big canvas.

Use your whole arm, not just your wrist - think of it like changing the tool you use depending on the type of line you need to draw. Smaller, shorter ones are ok to use your wrist for, but you’ll likely have a harder time if it’s a long continuous line, in which case try using your elbow or shoulder to help. It’s a bit hard to explain without you trying it out for yourself, but with enough practice it should become muscle memory.

Play around with brushes & brush settings - Yes, I know artists shouldn’t expect a brush to solve all their problems, but it’s no lie that some brushes feel like utter crap in my hands and nothing I draw looks or feels right, whereas other brushes feel like they were meant to be. My guess is that it just really depends on your habits, like your speed, how much pressure you use, etc., that mesh well with some brushes and less with others. I myself seem to enjoy brushes that have less variation with pen pressure, so it’s worth messing around in your brush settings or downloading new ones just to see if they feel any different to use! It won’t be as influential as just practicing your technique, but it’s an extra little thing that could help you.

I haven’t done much of it myself, but doing targeted practice where you just draw lines over and over (like you're just cross-hatching) has been something lots of people recommend for improving linework & hand steadiness, so you can try doing that when you’re bored e.g. doodling in the margins of your notes, on scrap paper, etc.

Hope some of these tips help, and have fun lining! ❤️

[wishingstarinajar]

I was hit with a sudden wave of inspiration to make a comic, and its a lot harder then it looks. XD so i was wondering if you had any tips and/or ticks for making comics.

specifically with the layout of the panels and were to put speech bubbles so they dont cover too much of the scene but it still stays readable.

Ooh, fun! Hope it works out for you. I'm still figuring it all out myself but I can try and share a few nuggets of "wisdom"... if I can call them that x'D

First up; rough it. When I come up with a comic idea, I usually plan it out in my head before I attempt to put it down on the canvas. When I finally start roughly sketching the panels, it's loose; nothing is set in stone.

Sometimes, it takes some shuffling, readjusting, removing, adding and whatnot to get the layout I want on a page or across a few pages. At times, I'm just sliding around small sketches like puzzle pieces until they fit on a page.

Don't feel too bad if you have to axe or alter a panel you had in mind; sometimes you gotta "kill your darlings" to get something better. If something isn't working out, put it to the side and try something different, no matter how annoying it is.

As you can (probably) see below, the rough sketch version of this comic page has three panels that were tossed out and replaced with a single different panel. Though, the first panel's dialogue in the rough sketch ("your spark") was moved to the comic's previous page for a better flow of dialogue between pages.

When it comes to speech bubbles, you at times have to accept that a speech bubble is going to cover up some of your art and the characters in a panel. There is only so much you can fit in there. But you can try maneuvering around this by keeping the speech bubbles in mind while you're roughing the panels.

Don't add too much dialogue in a single bubble. A character is allowed to have several speech bubbles in a single panel, or even across a few panels. Some bubbles can even be merged together as seen below.

(Blast from the past with this older comic of mine xD)

And well, sometimes the art already tells enough so wordy dialogue might not even be necessary.

If you don't want to add dialogue and speech bubbles to your sketches while you're working on stuff, be sure to have it written down elsewhere. I often find myself forgetting parts of the dialogue x'D

Panels also don't need to be linear. They can overlap for dynamic effect. Heck, even characters and/or objects can be drawn outside the constrictions of a panel's frame, and the same goes for speech bubbles as seen above and below.

You have a lot of freedom when it comes to creating the layout of your comic. Too many panels? Add another page or extend the canvas (vertically)! Want to make small comics with only two to three panels? Go for it! Don't want solid frame lines? You don't even have to draw frames if you don't want to!

It's all trial and error, especially when you're a rookie. Just have fun with it, don't take it too seriously, and experiment.

[smoooothoperator]

Beautiful Stranger

03: The Name Of The Game

Driver! Lando Norris x OC (Lily Barton)

Summer love, strangers to friends to lovers, Greece and Greek mythology references

Words: 3.6k

warnings: fluff, too much fluff. flashbackks are on italics

Masterlist

Official playlist

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a/n: hello beautiful people! here we have this duo again. This are getting a little messy, right? don't worry, the best is about to come soon ;)

Every way of feedbask is very welcomed

🖌️

Don't think about him. Don't make a suspicious noise that would make him come. Don't. Don't. Don't. But those god damn blue eyes were staring back at me, so alive and so real.

"Uhg, no" I groaned, closing the sketchbook.

When I woke up I went as fast as I could to my art room, thinking that what I drew last night was some type of dream. That I was dreaming that I was drawing his eyes.

But no, they were real and captured on those thick papers, draws of his eyes from every angle I saw them. 

"You are so stupid, Lily" I groaned, face palming myself.

I wanted to tear off the pages. But… those eyes were so beautiful, and they were looking at me.

"God, you are acting like a teenage" I groaned, closing the sketchbook and leaving it on the table. "So annoying"

I sighed, opening the window and looking at the sea. So close but so far at the same time. It's like the sea is calling me to go but I know that it won't be possible.

I grabbed my phone, playing soft music on the speaker, and focused on the empty canvas that was in front of me. I want to paint, but I don't know what. I want to do something since I can walk around the village or go to work, keeping my mind busy.

"What should I do with you?" I sighed, grabbing a pencil and taking a deep breath.

I sigh and let my hand work, moving all over the canvas. 

Since I was little I always wanted to paint. My school notebooks were full of drawings. I secretly bought all the material I needed and hid it under the bed. I watched tutorials on the internet in the privacy of my bedroom.

I always did this alone.

"What the fuck?" I frowned when I saw what I was drawing. "No way, come on!"

It's as if my brain was letting my heart have the reins of my hands.

I groaned and grabbed an eraser, undoing everything that gave any type of hint about the crush of my brain. 

"How can I be so ridiculous?" I sighed.

Baking is good, I don't have to draw someone, not even the guy next door with beautiful eyes… Stop!

"Oh dear Zeus, help me" I groan, tying my hair in a ponytail. "Not you, Aphrodite"

I always felt that every type of handmade thing was my specialty. I can draw, I can make jewelry, I can bake and cook. I would be a perfect housewife, just how my mother wanted. 

Too bad I'm not that type of woman.

One of the things that really made me fall in love with Greece was the food. Those Mediterranean flavors were something addictive for me, and the pastry was something I needed to learn how to make.

"Shit…" I groaned, feeling the pain in my foot. 

I shouldn't be standing up, if Logan knew he would come and push me to the couch immediately.

Logan, Logan, Logan… why the hell I can't stop thinking about him? Maybe it is the fact that he came running to check on me, worrying about me. Maybe my heart is saying that it’s a signal of some kind of fate.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous” I scoffed at myself. “Fate with him? Don’t make me laugh”

The angel in my shoulder was saying sweet things through my ear to my brain, trying to convince it that this was something new. I could hear how the devil in my other shoulder was getting in the argument too.

“I need air” I groan, going to the balcony and looking at the sea with some kind of sadness.

I wish I could be there, I wish I didn’t meet my neighbor, I wish none of this happened.

I wish…

“I wish you were never born!” she exclaimed, slapping my cheek, making the skin burn like if someone lightened a bonfire on ot. “You bring dishonor to this family!”

“But…” I mumbled, feeling the tears blurring my eyes. “Mom I don’t want to…”

“You have to” she stated, mad. I could see her eyes getting red with anger, how the vein of her neck was getting more visible as she tensed her jaw. “It will be in a week. You better not embarrass us more that you already did”

I gasped blinking quickly the tears, surprised by my own memory. I sniffled quickly, brushing the furtive tears that escaped my eyes and ran down my cheeks, making me sigh and hug myself.

No. Don’t get back there, Lily. You are better than this.

“You okay?” I heard him from the other side of the wall that separated the balconies.

I sigh and roll my eyes, closing them. It’s really impossible to not think about him.

“Are you crying? Are you in pain?” he kept asking, making me bite my lip.

“I’m okay, Logan” I said, more sharply than I wanted. “I’m just hating the fact that I can’t go to the beach because of this stupid bandage in my feet”

“I get it” he sighed. 

I sigh and walk back inside the apartment, going around with the clutches. When I smelled that sweet scent coming from the oven I smiled, opening it and getting everything out of it. 

I smiled proudly, looking at the perfectly made baklava and how the scent of it made my stomach growl in hunger. If you want to make a woman happy, give her her favorite meal.

I looked at the clock of the wall, biting my lip. I should make lunch, it's time for it. Morning went by pretty quick, thinking about a certain someone and trying to distract myself. It was good, refreshing. Something I really needed.

Peaky Blinders was playing in front of me, but I stopped it when I heard the front door opening.

"Hello?" I frown, looking at the front door, getting surprised to see Logan there. "Logan? What are you doing?"

"Do you have scissors?" he asked, walking inside the kitchen and placing the bag he brought on the table in front of me. "Oh, it smells nice, what is it?" he smiled pointing to the freshly made pastry.

"Baklava" I frown, following his movements with my eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I'm searching for the scissors" he said, opening the drawers. "I swear I saw some yesterday… here!"

I frown, looking at him turning around with the scissors on his hand and walking towards me, sitting in front of me.

"Put your foot here" he said, patting his thigh.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I frown looking at him, confused. 

"You want to go to the water, right?" he asked me, sighing. "After you told me you were bad because you couldn't go to the beach I went back to the medical centre to talk with the doctor"

"You did what?" I mumbled surprised. He really did that?

"I talked with him" he said. "With the help of Google Translate, of course, and I had him on the phone with a friend that is physiotherapist"

I looked at him and swallowed thickly. Why is a stranger doing such things for me? I'm sure he feels guilty, because it was his fault I am like this. 

"The doctor said that it wasn't too swollen, he put the bandage to immobilise the ankle And my friend said that with injuries like that he likes to use elastic bandages that can be taken off" he explained with a smile, making me look at him. "So… that's why I'll cut the bandage and put this"

"You… you did this… for me?" I was surprised.

No one did this for me. No one cared for me like this. 

"Yeah" he nodded, opening and closing the scissors with a smile. "So, before I cut this bandage… Can I eat?"

"What?" I frown, suppressing a laugh.

"Yeah, I didn't have lunch" he said. "And that… thing looks and smells delicious"

"It's a musaka" I said looking at my plate. "I have more on the fridge"

"Okay" he smiled and got up, going to the fridge and opening it. 

He walked around my apartment like he was in his own house. If someone else walked inside my house and grabbed everything like that I would be annoyed, but he wasn't annoying me. There was something in my brain that didn't turn on the alarms. 

"God, you really are an amazing chef" he said after warming the plate and grabbing a fork, sitting next to me. "See, another thing I know about you"

There was something about him that didn't annoy me. Maybe it was his smile, how it reached his eyes. He looked friendly, shameless, open-minded. 

"Why are you doing this?" I frown, leaving the fork on my plate. 

"Doing what?" he frowned, talking with his mouth full and then swallowing it. "Eating?"

"No. This" I frown, moving my hands between us and them to the scissors and the bag. "Why?"

"You said you wanted to go to the beach" he repeated. "And I want to take you to the beach. That's it"

"Yesterday you said that I shouldn't go" I frown. "God, you are confusing me, Logan!"

"I felt bad when I heard you cry" he sighed. "I don't like knowing people feel bad, or are angry because of me. For once I want to make someone happy, even if that means doing a simple thing as going to the beach"

I look at him and sigh, eating again in silence.

No one did something like that for me. No one wanted to  gesture like that for me.

"Come on, Liliane" my mother said, standing at the door. 

"I don't want to!" I cried softly.

"Ah… don't act like a baby" she groaned, rolling her eyes. "Things like that happen. Dogs die and you'll keep living"

"He was my best friend!" I cried, hugging the small plushie he loved. 

"Stop being a crybaby and get dressed!" she exclaimed. "Your father is waiting for us! This is important, Liliane!"

"I said no!" I cried harder, hiding under the blankets.

No one tried to make me smile after crying. My father used to buy me things to make me shut up. My mother used to look at me disappointed.

"Thank you" I whisper, swallowing the lump  that memory left in my throat. "For doing this"

"It's okay" he smiled. "I'm bored, anyway. Some adventure and fun wouldn't be bad, you know?"

I smile weakly and nod.

Right, he's bored and now I'm his way of getting rid of boredom.

🎮

I always hated to hear girls cry. It really made me sad. 

When my sisters cried when we were kids I always felt like a punch in my chest and I always tried to do something to make them smile again. When my friends cried because a man broke their heart I was always there for them.

And hearing Lily sniffling made my chest hurt. I don't know what it is, I don't know what attracts me to her, but I feel like an invisible force pushing me to her.

It's not a crush.

Or maybe it is? 

After all this time, being famous and having a lot of girls following me hoping that I would choose them, meeting a girl that doesn't know who I am and tries to avoid me, is something that makes me interested.

Hearing her music in the morning is something I would like to get used to. Or smelling the scent of the things she baked. 

Okay, yeah. Maybe I do have a crush on the girl next door that I barely know about.

"You shouldn't keep your foot down" I said pointing at her ankle. "Come on, put it here"

"But…" she frowned, looking at my thigh.

"No buts" I interrupted her, patting my thigh. 

She sighed and placed her leg on my thigh with the help of her hands, letting out a sigh of relief afterwards. I smiled looking at her, watching how her shoulders relaxed and how she ate in silence.

"See? It's fine, I don't bite" I said smiling.

Then I saw her smile, while rolling her eyes. But it was a smile. And I swear it was the most beautiful smile I have ever seen in my entire life.

"Okay, so this is the plan" I said after I finished eating. "I cut this thing, we put that thing and then we'll go to the beach"

"And you know how to put that thing?" she asked, pointing at the bag. "What's that, by the way?"

"Oh, it's an elastic bandage" I said, grabbing the box and showing it to her. "I bought it before coming here"

"You didn't have to…" she mumbled, and I could see the blush in her cheeks. 

"You wanted to go to the beach, then we'll go to the beach" I said, smiling. "I'll take you there"

"On the scooter?" she frowned.

"Yeah" I nod.

"Oh god, no. I think I changed my mind, I like to stay here and do nothing" she nodded.

"Very funny" I laughed. "I'm serious, Lily. I'll take you to the beach and you'll get in the water"

"You promise?" she asked, blushing and trying to not look at me.

"I promise" I nodded.

She giggled softly, finishing her meal and then looking at the kitchen counter. I looked at where she was looking and I got up slowly, leaving her foot on the chair where I was sitting, and grabbed our plates to wash them on the sink, washing them.

"You want to try the baklava?" she asked me.

"Oh definitely" I laughed. "What is it made of?”

“Basically pistachio and syrup” she explained. “It’s nice”

“Okay, then I want some” I smiled, grabbing two small plates and putting the portions on it.

There was something about her that made me want to be here, taking care of her and giving her my attention. It was like she put a spell on me, making my mind clouded. I can’t even know when it happened, when my heart and brain decided that I wanted to help her and take care of her.

“Oh fuck, it’s delicious” I gasped with my mouth full of this delicacy. 

“Thanks” she smiled.

When we finished the pastry I washed the dishes again, and then I sat in front of her, with her foot on my thigh. I washed my hands and then looked at her.

"Wait, you know how to put that bandage?" she asked me, stopping me before cutting the bandage.

"Eh…" I frown looking at the box. "No"

I looked at the instructions, but they were in Greek. She sighed and grabbed the box, her fingers touching mine, making me blush softly.

"Okay… Yeah, I get it" she nodded. "Cut the bandage, then I'll explain you how to put it"

"Okay" I nodded.

I started to cut the bandage slowly, placing my hand on her skin. It's soft, so soft. I heard her sighing relieved when the bandage started to leave her skin, leaving marks on it.

"God, so good" she groaned after her foot was free of bandage. "You have no idea how good it feels"

"I can tell" I nodded, watching her ankle. It's a little swollen, and purple because of the blood. "God… I'm sorry I made this to you"

"It's okay" she sighed. 

I smile weakly at her and sigh, grabbing the box and opening it. I did everything she told me to do, wrapping it on her foot and making sure she couldn't move it.

"Now go get changed" I said. "I'll get changed too, okay?"

"Okay" she sighed, looking at the bandage in her ankle. "Wear comfortable shoes to drive"

"I won't drive" I frown. "We'll go on scooter"

"Yeah, how innocent you are if you think that I'll go on a scooter with you again" she laughed, making me roll my eyes. "I have a car, we'll go on it. Plus, I still have to use the crutches, it will be easy to wear them"

"Okay…" I sighed.

I walked out of her apartment to get changed. Thank god I searched on the Internet where I was coming and packed beach things. 

I took a deep breath and started to get changed. But then I started to think…

What if someone sees me? What if they find me? We'll go to a beach with more people on it, right? If one of them knows who I am, I'm really fucked up. No, I can't go to the beach. I can't, I can't.

Why the hell do you do things without thinking first, knowing that you'll regret doing them, Lando?

"Hello?" I heard her knocking on my door. "Logan? Are you ready?”

“Eh…” I frown, being taken out of my thoughts. “Y-yeah”

I sighed, grabbing my backpack and hanging it on my shoulder. I opened the front door and I swear I nearly died. Lily was standing in front of me, wearing a baby blue summer dress and her hair tied on a braid that falls on her right shoulder.

God, please help me to control myself.

“Are you ready?” she asked me with a smile.

How can I say no to her? 

“Yeah” I smiled weakly, getting out of the apartment. “Do you need help?”

“No…” she frowned, looking at the stairs, then she sighed and smiled weakly. “Please?”

I chuckled and nodded, going some stairs down and she grabbed my backpack and put it on her back. I felt her hands on my shoulder and how she took a step closer to my back. I’ll have to hold her thighs, her body close to mine.

God help me please.

“My car is there” she said, pointing to a white car that was near us.

Of course it was a car that screamed Greece vibes. She’s the representation of what every girl wants to have after watching those Mamma Mia movies.

“Cool car” I nodded, walking towards it with her still in my back. 

“Very sarcastic” she said, patting my shoulder.

“No, I’m serious!” I laughed, placing her on the ground. “It’s a cool car for a place like this that have rocky roads near”

She chuckled and nod, walking to the backseats and leaving our bags there. 

Why do I have that feeling of being comfortable seeing her do something as simple as that? God, I hate those feelings.

“Let’s go” she smiled, sitting in the passenger seat. 

“Ehm… there’s a chance… to go to some type of small beach? Like… with not a lot of people in it?” I asked before starting the car.

“What?” she frowned, looking at me surprised. “Woah, woah… stop there you creep!”

“No! What? No! I’m not saying that” I exclaimed, understanding what she was thinking about. “It’s… well… I have agoraphobia”

Three lies already. Hoe can I be so fucking stupid?

“Oh… Oh!” she gasped. “And a beach full of people won’t help… I get it, yeah”

“Yeah” I smiled weakly. 

“Oh, I know one” she smiled, grabbing her phone and putting the GPS on it.

I took a deep breath and started driving where the GPS said, parking where she told me. At this point I’m praying that she doesn’t discover that I have been lying to her since the start. 

“Here we are” she smiled once we were in the sand. 

Only a few people were there. And all of them were old people, women talking between them. I should be content with this.

I followed her, she was walking slowly to not hurt her foot, and then she placed her bag on the sand, taking her towel and laying it there. She took off her sundress, letting me see the white bikini she is wearing, and taking off the bandage.

How can she be so beautiful? 

“Can you help me go to the water?” she asked me, looking back at me. “I promise I won’t swim, I’ll go until the water reaches my chest”

“I’ll go with you” I said, putting the towel down on the sand and taking off my shirt and shoes.

I felt her eyes on me, and it made me blush. Do I have a boner? No, maybe not yet. 

“Come on” I said, holding her hands and helping her get up, trying to not look at her when she stood in front of me.

She walked slowly, groaning everytime she had to take a step with her bad foot. I just sighed and stood next to her, wrapping her arm around my shoulders and then my arm around her waist, helping her walk.

“Better?” I asked, hearing her sigh.

“Yeah” she nodded.

The moment her feet touched the cold water she sighed louder, making me smile. We walked slowly into the water, she was holding my shoulders and I was holding her waist.

"Good?" I asked her.

She nodded and took a deep breath, then I saw her close her eyes and get underwater, making me gasp.

"Lily!" I exclaimed, holding her close to me. "What the fuck was that!"

"I wanted to have the rest of my body wet" she frowned, holding my shoulders since I was hugging her waist.

We didn't say anything else. She was floating and I held her close to my body. We were silent, any word exchanged between us.

She licks her lips, making me look at them. They look… kissable-

No. Stop it.

"Hi" she whispered, her hands on my shoulders.

"Hi" I whisper back, looking into her eyes.

God, give me strength to not kiss her right now. Give me strength to not do something as stupid as kissing a stranger.

God, give me strength to not fall for her as hard as I'm already falling. 

taglist

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