#i had a lot of fun doing this one and experimenting with procreate

[praise-cats]

prophecy girl!!!!!

[e-vay]

Heyo! Do you have any tips for making comics? :)

I've been meaning to get back into the swing of it, but concentrating on such a commitment that takes so much time is tough sometimes haha.

How do you make it work? Are there things you avoid/make easier for yourself just to make the process more fun and do-able?

First of all, I’m very happy for you! I think it’s very exciting whenever we return to a craft we were once passionate about. I wish you the best of luck!

This is a big question and I don’t think there’s really one simple answer since all artists are different and have their own strengths and weaknesses.

One of the biggest issues I face is that I have a million ideas but I simply don’t have the time to do them all. I want to share all these ideas but if I gave each and every idea the same amount of attention and detail, I’d hardly get anything done. So here are some things I've learned through my own comic-making experience, but keep in mind it may not be what you're looking for. Also remember this is NOT career advice. I make comics for fun, not for a living. If you’re looking for professional advice I would suggest looking elsewhere 👍

1 - A comic doesn't have to be fully rendered to be entertaining. Although I love to draw and line and color my work, it’s not always necessary. If I feel a punchline is strong enough to stand on its own, I’ll just make it into a doodle comic. In fact, I’ve found that some of my doodle comics perform better than the fully rendered ones! The doodle comics are still very fun for me to draw and they also serve as gestural drawing practice, so in the end it doesn’t feel like I'm making a sacrifice. I'm still getting my ideas out there and I'm still drawing, I'm just prioritizing what gets more attention so I can better manage my time.

2 - Not every panel needs an illustrated background. You definitely need to show backgrounds for establishing shots and when characters are interacting with the scene. But sometimes the focus needs to be entirely on the character and/or what they’re saying. You can choose to have a solid color background and maybe add a few textures to keep it visually interesting. You're still putting in the effort to make your art pop, but you aren’t losing a ton of time by drawing dozens of backgrounds. Color is also a good way to convey mood. I do that a lot in my comics, like this bit from “My Gal”:

^ I was trying to show a progression in excitement here, so having the colors change from cool to warm does a better job portraying that than if I just had a standard, scenic forest background for all the panels.

3 - Use resources: That's what they're there for! Because I make all these comics by myself, I have had to find resources to help me get through some of the steps faster so I can focus more on the story writing and the artwork. For example, to help me save time on lettering, I use the Onomatopedia font and the Manero Panels, SFX and Bubbles brush set for Procreate. I’m still selecting the sound effects and choosing the appropriate bubbles and tails to suit the mood and scale of the text, but this has saved me a ton of time because I’m not drawing each individual element by hand over and over again. Personally, I purchased these resources but I'm sure there are plenty of free tools out there that you can use.

As far as making it more fun... Honestly, I just love comics as an art form so much that learning about all the 'rules' and techniques and 'SOP's behind comics makes it more fun for me to make them. I recommend checking out tutorials and tips (even if you think you already know it all) and you might be surprised at how much it might ignite more of your comic-making passion. For example, I've spent hours on Blambot's "How-To" page and on ComicDevices.com just to try and soak up as much as I can. They're full of fascinating reads that make me want to try out different things!

I hope this helps! Good luck with your comics!

[goldenlikedayl1ght]

logan howlett x asexual!reader

notes: fluff, mentions of sex, kissing, nuanced take on asexuality.

It took you a long time to say yes to going out with Logan.

And it wasn’t simply a case of you ‘playing hard to get’. You have no desire to be a fling. Sure, you recognize that objectively, he is hot! And you think to yourself, maybe you’d give him a shot if he didn’t just want to sleep with you.

So, for months, he pines. And it’s a rather new experience, he’s used to people just throwing themselves at him after a few flirty conversations, but it takes almost four months for you to even agree to go out with him.

When you do, he makes sure to put in his best effort—You two go out to a really nice dinner, and then you go on this long drive to a cliff side, and you lean against his motorcycle, holding hands as you look to the stars.

His heart thumps as your thumb gently rubs against his knuckles.

So the two of you date—

You kiss, you eat lunch together, you spend long nights with your hands running through his hair, reading to him.

But you don’t sleep with him.

He thinks maybe it’s a religious thing or maybe some weird fetish, like you think waiting will make it even better. But he doesn’t ask you about it, because he remembers how long it took you to go out with him, so he keeps it to himself.

Until one day, about seven months into your relationship.

The snow whirls outside the X-Mansion, the wind rattling your windows, as you curl up in bed, wrapped in his flannel, a couple of blankets and his arms.

“Can I ask you a question, Spitfire?” He wonders.

“Anything.” You answer, meaning it whole heartedly.

The Wolverine feels himself get nervous before he asks,

“Why haven’t we had sex yet?” He asks, and you take a minute. You knew the conversation would happen eventually. Logan isn’t your first boyfriend, so you know that the people you’re with are owed an explanation. And you brace yourself—If he isn’t willing to listen to you on this, you’re ready to walk away.

You sit up so you can be looking at him—It’s rather intimate.

“I’m Asexual.” You answer.

A beat.

“A sexual what?”

You laugh a little, mostly because you think it’s silly, especially considering Logan isn’t straight (you see how he’s looked at Scott).

“No, Asexual—It means I experience little to no sexual attraction,” You answer, and he tilts his head.

He’s committed a lot of time to you already. The explanation sort of scares him, and he’s ready to run away but he stays put, not wanting you to think he can’t handle whatever it is you’ve just thrown at him—But he was born in the early 1800’s. Have a bit of grace for the man.

“Okay, What does that mean, though?” He asks, and you’re grateful he hasn’t broken up with you yet.

“So, I.. I really like you. I mean—I love you, Logan.” You confess, “But sex just.. isn’t something I need, especially not often. I get horny, It’s just.. Sex is different for me. I like making out with you, kissing you, touching you—and there might be times where I do want to have sex with you, probably to show my affection and grow closer to you—Sex isn’t procreation or pure pleasure to me, it’s something that I only like to do every once in a while and I do it as a way to get closer to whoever I love. Does that make sense?”

Logan nods. It does make sense—Sex isn’t your thing. And he knows historically, he’s been passed around by the other x-men like a blunt, but in dating you for a while, since you two haven’t slept together, he’s much more okay with that being more rare.

Sure, you’re both attracted to each other, and like you said, making out is really nice, but..

“Yeah.”

“And you’re okay with that?”

“Well, I just..” he takes your hands in his, trying to convey what it is he wants to communicate. “We’re more than just dating. At least to me. No one’s ever been in my corner like you, and.. I don’t just look at you in a physical manner, I.. I look over my shoulder for you when I see something stupid or fun, because I want to share everything with you. I know it’s been rocky at times, but..” He clears his throat. You see tears well in his eyes and you just smile, your hand detaching from his to wipe a tear that runs down his face.

“I know.” You say softly, and he smiles.

“I don’t need sex to love you.” He tells you. He kisses you gently and asks, “Don’t feel like that’s ever something I need, okay, spitfire?”

“Okay, Claws.”

//i don't know what else to say about this other than i know i write smut often and graphically but i am in fact asexual, so i wanted to throw my hat in the ring for writing not only a queer reader but a reader who is asexual. you deserve a place in fanfiction too. also, readers description of asexuality is based off my own, so please remember that asexuality isn't a one size fits all thing.

[thecutestgrotto]

question! im considering doing dividers as gifts for my friends and I was wondering if you had any tips? is it a better idea to hand draw the designs to avoid any potential copyright issues or is using free to distribute clip resources okay?

I know how to draw and do edits just fine I’m just not sure what other graphic artists do in this regard

Hi anon! Okay, so this is going to be a little long winded and maybe stuff you might know about the process, but I hope it’ll be helpful as a guide for others too maybe? Tips under the cut otherwise everyone’s gonna have to scroll through it.

So, for everyone needing some help, I present:

The Official™️ Dividers & Graphics Guide

->For tips on how to use dividers on your posts click here

1. Personally, I LOVE Canva because it has a library of pre-uploaded elements and it’s super easy to use. Like if I search stars hundreds of individual elements come up as results.

(I know some people also use Visme, which I don’t have any real experience with, but it’s an alternative with good reviews.)

As long as you are not claiming each individual element is your own creation, you’re in the clear. People making graphics like these almost always use premade elements and combine or edit them into a unique piece. That being said, if you claim that an individual element is your own, you’ll probably be called out. I don’t know how familiar you are with the community so forgive me if I sound condescending: the graphics/digital art community is a wild place when it comes to plagiarism but it’s good that artists look out for each other.

Anyway. Creators that upload designs/elements/templates to Canva are aware that they can be changed/edited. If you have Canva pro (which I recommend because you can do transparent PNGs so easily) some elements are only available via pro subscription and you’re compensating the creator for the use of the element and however you change it.

Basically, the divider/graphic is yours, but the individual elements are theirs. You don’t need to give credit because it’s like using stamps or stickers. For example: You wouldn’t typically use Lisa frank stickers on a coloring page and then credit Lisa frank in the corner of the paper. ⚠️I strongly urge you to stay away from AI art. Generators steal from artists to create what the user searches for!⚠️

For tips about finding more images click here

2. Hand drawing can get a little tricky. You have to be careful with your dimensions and even file size sometimes. In my personal experience, if you’re new to this type of graphic art you should wait until you’re comfortable with it. It can get confusing. I’ve had MANY graphics come out a blurry, frustrating mess and I’m by no means the best divider maker/graphic artist on the planet.

An extra example: my Cute Coquette set vs my Dark Siren set. Technically, there’s nothing wrong with the coquette ones, but they look fuzzy/blurry. I made them when I was first starting out and I struggled with how to line up the right dimensions. I keep them up because as much as I don’t like how blurry they are, it shows my progress and I’m rather fond of them. It’s not even close to what I do now, like the Dark Sirens, which even zoomed out have a lot of detail but are clear and defined. 🤷🏻‍♀️

3. To avoid said blurring, I recommend using these canvas sizes:

Banners and headers: 1055px x 500px, I’ve also done 3000px x 500px.

Standard Size Dividers: 3000px x 240px

Thicker/Thinner Dividers: Basically you can go as thin or thick as you want as long as that first number is 3000px. I added a screenshot of ones I’ve used recently that might help.

I think if you’re using software like procreate, the canvas sizes are the same but you’ll have to go through some extra steps if you want to get it into canva or whatever graphic editing software you’re using.

4. Lastly and most importantly, just have fun. Play around with the settings and figure out what works best for you!! You of course can DM me with more questions, but I hope this at least helped a little bit.

🩵🌸

*Edited 2 hours after posting to add personal examples, and this little guide can now be found in my navigation post!*

[kenjakusbrainstem]

Too Much (Kenjaku x Reader x Mahito)

Contains: Double penetration in one hole, manhandling, cunnilingus, m/f/m threesome.

Hello! Day 16 of Kinktober: Double penetration in one hole! This was fun as I just love writing Kenjaku and Mahito together. No real thoughts on this one other than how nice it was to write them having a consensual threeway for once! Crossposted to Ao3 under the same name and shared to twt at kenjakusbrain! Comment or rb if you like <3

Over the decades of devotedly following Kenjaku, you’d met a lot of eccentric people. From strange sorcerers, to power hungry humans, you really felt like there was no way anything could surprise you anymore. However, with Kenjaku’s curiosity and love for chaos, he always managed to keep you on your toes. 

His latest group was no exception, though they did treat you a little differently. While Kenjaku was playing the role of Suguru Geto, you found yourself in a role not too far from your true identity: a devout follower, someone that would do any and everything they were told. While you had more autonomy than that, it did amuse you to be so open about your dedication. To the group of curses he was working with, you were sure they thought of you as some mindless curse user, regardless of how much work you did for their cause. 

The only one that seemed interested in you was Mahito, ironically the one parading as a human. You felt that he understood you in some way, the same way Kenjaku did. While you never explained too much about your technique or identity to the curse, his curiosity showed you that he saw through your mindless devotee mask. Though you did choose to humor him on the occasion you saw each other, Mahito’s near ignorance was integral to Kenjaku’s plan.

You never minded helping either of them though, so when Kenjaku approached you with an odd proposition, you were inclined to agree. His interest in breeding and creating ideal offspring to be vessels had waned over the years, but you knew how much fun he had when experimenting. You’d aided him when he inhabited the body of Noritoshi Kamo, so you were intimately aware of what he was capable of. You weren’t sure how much of this proposal was about procreation, or if he was genuinely interested in exposing Mahito to new human experiences.

Kenjaku had asked you to aid him in teaching Mahito about sex. You knew he’d fucked the curse before, so it wasn’t too far fetched for him to include you. Something about being able to get the full experience, he’d said. Apparently it was harder for him to properly guide Mahito when he was buried inside the curse, which made sense to you. The vessel he currently inhabited was more sensitive than others he’d used. 

That was how you ended up in your current situation, fully nude on Kenjaku’s bed with Mahito in between your thighs. The curse’s tongue was something you’d never experienced in all your years. It had split in two and was lazily pumping inside of you while circling your clit at the same time. You convulsed in pleasure, not expecting to feel so much from a curse that needed to be taught. 

The only thing grounding you was the body pressed up against you. Kenjaku lay at your side, head resting on your chest as his hand was in Mahito’s hair, making sure the curse kept up the pace and didn’t stop until you were ready. The way Mahito’s tongue wrapped around your clit, flicking at the sensitive bud made your thighs quiver. 

“Make sure she’s ready to take you, Mahito. I showed you just how important stretching is, now give her the same courtesy I gave you,” Kenjaku ordered, his voice gentle as he pressed Mahito’s face against your pussy. You knew Kenjaku wasn’t speaking to you but you still felt the need to do as he said, there was just something about his tone that made you want to please him. 

Shifting your hips, you ground your pussy into Mahito’s face, his tongue pressing deeper inside of you with each thrust. As if he too wanted to do what Kenjaku said, you felt the tongue inside you become thicker, pressing against your walls instead of teasing them. Before you knew it, Mahito’s tongue was almost too big to fit inside of you.

Each thrust of his tongue made you feel impossibly full, it was more than you’d ever had inside of you at once before. You could feel how wet you were, a mix of your juices and Mahito’s saliva coating your thighs. It was hard to tell because of how wet you were, but you hadn’t even hit your peak yet. The curse was making you feel so good, but it just hadn’t been enough to push you over the edge.

Mahito’s tongue increased in pace, fucking inside of you just a little faster. The speed change made you clench around his tongue, he was so close to getting you off you could almost taste it. 

Suddenly, the fullness was gone along with the hot tongue wrapped around your clit. You whined, clenching your aching pussy around nothing. Opening your eyes you noticed Kenjaku wasn’t at your side anymore either, he had pulled Mahito up and was kissing him feverishly. You were accustomed to Kenjaku’s more eager, violent kisses, but it was more than arousing to watch him suck your juices off of Mahito’s tongue.

Mahito’s eyes rolled back as Kenjaku held him by the hair still, forcing his head back in a deep kiss. You enjoyed the view, being able to watch Kenjaku take control of someone like this, watching his body and tongue move when you knew how they felt made you want him even more.

“Switch places with her Mahito, I think I know just what you both need,” Kenjaku said, his suggestive voice adding even more fuel to the lustful fire inside of you. You watched as he let go of Mahito, reaching out to you. 

You grasped at his hand with both of yours, allowing him to help you pull yourself up. Forgetting Mahito’s presence for a moment, you pressed your face into Kenjaku’s broad chest, loving the feeling of your bare skin pressed together. He places a soft kiss to the top of your head before he turned you around, your back pressing against his torso.

Looking down at the patchwork curse’s nude body, you had to admit he was the most attractive looking curse you’d ever seen. His features were similar to Kenjaku’s but body was much more lithe than sturdily built. His cock was hard and leaking against his pelvis, not too big to intimidate you. Though knowing he could manipulate his body at will did make you a little nervous.

Kenjaku’s hands went to your hips, urging you forward. You followed his lead, putting your knees on either side of the curse’s hips. When you were in position on top of Mahito, you felt Kenjaku’s hand on your back, pushing you down onto the curse. Leaning forward you felt Kenjaku’s hand slip in between your bodies, grabbing Mahito’s cock and rubbing the tip up against your entrance. 

You moaned, unable to keep your sounds in any longer as you felt Kenjaku press the head of Mahito’s cock inside of you. Kenjaku’s hands moved out from between you and grabbed your hips, pushing you down and forcing the curse’s cock inside of you. You watched Mahito’s face contort in pleasure as he throbbed inside of you. According to Kenjaku, he’d not let Mahito fuck him yet, only sucked him off, so this was likely the first time he’d been buried inside someone else.

A little more manhandling from Kenjaku and you were full of Mahito’s cock, he pulled you up, your back flush with his chest once more. Kenjaku’s hands didn’t leave your hips, he wanted full control over both of you and it seemed you were both eager to give it to him.

As Kenjaku started to bounce you on Mahito’s cock, you let yourself get lost in the way he felt inside of you. Mahito was average size, so you wondered why Kenjaku had been so insistent on stretching, but you were barely able to even think about that with the way he moved your body. Being on top was always fun to you, but now it felt so good, Mahito’s cock bumping into your spot with ease as Kenjaku controlled the pace. 

Mahito’s hands reached out, sliding up your body and grabbing onto your breasts as they bounced in front of them. He squeezed the flesh harshly, making your pussy squeeze around him. It was like he wanted to touch you, but didn’t know what to do exactly, the curse’s inexperience showing.

Kenjaku slowly bent your body forward, your sensitive breasts rubbing up against Mahito’s chest with every bounce of your hips. You were now face to face with the curse, both of you moaning messes. With your open mouths so close, you couldn’t help but kiss Mahito. The kisses were sloppy and both of you moaned into each other's mouths, pleasure too much to keep inside.

Trailing kisses down your spine, Kenjaku sat himself upright, leaving you to focus on kissing Mahito for a moment while he got into position. The whole point to this, the guise of teaching Mahito how to properly fuck someone, was so that he could enjoy you both together. You likely would have agreed even without that, but it was fun for him to have another layer of motivation.

One of his hands left your hip, the other continuing to guide you up and down Mahito’s cock. You wondered what he was doing, but it didn’t take long for you to figure out. Kenjaku’s movements paused, the hand that was bouncing you was now holding you both still with Mahito still buried inside of you.

Before you had a chance to ask what he was doing, you felt the head of his cock prodding up against your entrance alongside Mahito’s. Your eyes snapped open, lips still pressed up against Mahito’s so you were unable to speak. It wasn’t that you didn’t trust Kenjaku, you were just worried Mahito hadn’t stretched you enough. 

“Both of you hold still. It’s my turn to join the fun now,” Kenjaku said, voice an almost whisper as he tried to press the head of his cock into your already full pussy. If Mahito was average, Kenjaku’s cock was large, his vessel was more well endowed than nearly all of the ones you’d been intimate with in the past.

It wasn’t long before his insistent rubbing against your wet entrance allowed the head of his cock to slip inside. The stretch was unlike anything you’d ever felt before, it burned but didn’t exactly hurt. The feeling was indescribable, you could feel your pussy clenching around them but tried to relax your muscles. You knew it would be harder for Kenjaku to fuck you like this if your pussy was trying to push him out.

Kenjaku’s hands both returned to your hips, thumbs massaging circles into your flesh as he slowly pressed further into you. Your kiss with Mahito had turned into you trying to focus on breathing while he kissed around your lips, tongue cleaning up evidence of the sloppy kiss you’d shared. His little moans told you that he was also enjoying the way Kenjaku’s cock felt beside his.

Once Kenjaku was fully inside of you, you felt like you were on the verge of passing out, the stretch and feeling of his cock so much further inside of you than Mahito’s made your legs tremble. 

“You’re so tight like this, it shouldn’t take long now just hold on,” Kenjaku said, voice barely composed as he slowly started thrusting in and out of you. Being so full, you felt so much more. Each thrust, no matter how slow you could feel every vein, every twitch of Kenjaku’s cock inside of you.

Even Mahito’s cock felt like too much, Kenjaku’s cock forcing it to stay pressed up against your spot. With every one of Kenjaku’s thrusts it rubbed up against it and filled you with even more pleasure. 

After a few thrusts, Kenjaku picked up the pace and began to fuck into you in earnest. You hadn’t known it was possible to feel this full, or that it could feel this good to have your pussy stuffed with two different cocks. The sounds leaving your mouth were pitiful, each thrust left you whining, only able to stop moaning when Mahito’s tongue entered your mouth. The curse kept trying to kiss you, as if he was unsure what to do with himself. 

You could see that he was enjoying this too, his moans blending in with your own to make a lewd chorus of praise for the way Kenjaku used you both. The only other sound you could register was the slick squelching noise of Kenjaku fucking into you. It was almost embarrassing to know that such a sound was coming from you, but you were far too lost in pleasure to care about that.

Kenjaku’s fingers moved to spread you open more, making it so he could look down and watch his cock disappear into your messy pussy. You felt so tight even though you had never been more open for him. The sight made him pump his cock into you faster, harder than he had been. The gentle edge to his thrusts gone as he fucked into you, chasing his own pleasure.

It was too much for you, from the stretch of the cocks inside you, to Kenjaku’s rough thrusting, even Mahito’s insistent sloppy kisses were pushing you over the edge. You felt yourself release, pussy spasming around the cocks inside of you. The intensity of your orgasm was so much more than you had expected, you weren’t sure if you had blacked out for a moment or if your eyes had rolled back into your head too far. Everything around you felt dizzying.

At the feeling of your pussy spasming, Mahito also was forced over the edge. His cock throbbing as he spilled inside of you. The pleasure being too much for him, he bit down on your lip, adding the taste of blood to your kiss. 

Through both of your orgasms Kenjaku just kept thrusting, it was hard for him to not get off immediately when your pussy was trying to milk him dry with each twitch of its walls. He was close though, leaning down he rested his forehead on your back, body bending at a strange angle to give him more leverage. Fucking into you as hard as he could, not caring about keeping rhythm or how violent his thrusts were.

It was easier for him to move inside of you with Mahito’s cock now soft, each thrust felt different than the last and that was what finally pushed Kenjaku to join you both in bliss. Pressing in as deep as he could, Kenjaku emptied himself, hot release filling you up. You could even feel it leaking out around his cock. 

The three of you stayed like that for a moment, Kenjaku being the first to move when Mahito started whining about being sensitive. After he pulled himself out of you, he lifted you up off of the curse’s cock. You’d hoped he was going to let you rest but when your back hit the mattress you felt him lift your trembling legs into the air. 

Kenjaku kissed at your thighs, not caring that Mahito was watching the strange display of affection. Gently, he spread your folds open to look at the effect he’d had on your pussy. It was puffy and leaking, you wanted to close your legs at the thought of him looking into your gaping entrance. He pressed a sloppy kiss to your clit, pulling a high pitched whine from your throat.

“You did so good, once you rest a little more we can show Mahito even more fun he could have,” Kenjaku said, grinning up at you like he had more in mind. His words were teasing and threatening at the same time. You were, as always, excited and aroused at what he meant.

[merlucide]

fanfic-fanart for @m1ckeyb3rry ‘s The Instrument bc it was so freaking good

yapping and complaining utc

No bc WHY TF WAS THIS SO HARD TO FINISH?!??

I had THE worst art block during the sketch phase but coloring was SOOO fun and relaxing 🙏🙏

And then!! When I finish!!! I realized the hands are the wrong way.

Bc I used myself as a reference. Which was *me* choking *myself* AND NOT *SOMEONE ELSE* CHOKING *ME*

and then I took like 2 days off from drawing on it cus I like?? Painted it all in like one sitting 😭🙏 I was so pissed bro

OH AND THEN!! My drawing app crashed?!?! I never use Ibis but the one time, ONE TIME I DO. It crashes on me

And omg I was so scared bc I didn’t save it and all I could see was blurry blobs of my picture 😭😭

I was able to fix it and then finished the rest in procreate

Sigh

also kinda annoyed bc kaisers expression isn’t what I wanted but I?? Didn’t know?? How to draw that at this angle 😭 also didn’t know how to make it look like Kaiser put the hands there yk?? THE HANDS WERE A STRUGGLE. I hate hands

the fics was so good bro it just floated around in my head bro

I just had to draw smth for it 😭🙏

It was rlly fun to draw tho !! I experimented a lot with this piece ehehehheheherh

[pluralthey]

As far as I remember, or like years ago, you’ve used sai right? Sai or sai2(man the brush engines better and Binary brushes feel smoother..) but I also saw you used procreate at some point for that one Jessie draw- which digital programs have you used that you enjoy the most for different things, or which kind of traditional medium for example also, is interesting and/or satisfying? Have been doing lots of ref and tutorial searching and looking at art inspiration for the direction I wanna take my stuff and I was curious about your preferred setup; I just like to hear people’s workflow and what they use to create what they do. I think it’s neat. Also if this is too long sorry 😅

I use sai 2. I switched to sai once oekaki became more and more inoperable. The binary style aspect ended up sticking. Oekaki has limited layer capabilities and this rewarded a simpler pixel style that was more easily edited. I still miss the ease of using pixelated screen tones in oekaki. There are other programs that can make them, but not how oekaki did. But I prefer sai 2 most now.

I use clip studio for larger scale images like print pages for its more versatile and expensive selection of brushes. It has unique settings that still allow me to turn these brushes into pixelated work without anti-aliasing artifacts. There is a setting for level of anti-aliasing, but this is often not enough for more complex brushes using spraying patterns. Using the "replace alpha" blending mode forces many brushes into a binary color mode because drawn on top of a solid color the brush's color can only be 100% opaque. The binary layer color mode also allows you to do this. Both of the latter options often only let you do this with black and white. I usually do this to be able to transfer it back to sai 2 where it's more comfortable to work in. I also use it for its ability to produce text in multiple sizes without anti-aliasing. Sai 2's text tool is fairly primitive.

I use Aseprite for animating. It is mostly for pixel art. It reminds me of an animation program I used to use a long time ago called easytoon due to its simplicity though...

For traditional I prefer paint pens (I mostly use poscas). Gel pens are okay but very small and cheaply made. I really wish someone would make paint pen versions of gel pens. I also had a big black and white plain ink and hatching phase a long time ago. Generally I gravitate towards opaque materials that make the process feel straightforward. The ability to "erase" or white out mistakes for correction is one of the most important qualities in a medium to me.

Less opaque, more time-consuming layered media yield more textured and nuanced results, but I hate few things as much as ruining a piece of art irrecoverably over a relatively small mistake be that accidentally pilling the paper or drawing a line wrong or splashing watercolor the wrong way. Mixed media was fun, but I just prefer having more purpose to what I'm doing. When I'm too preoccupied with the aesthetics I waste a ton of time on useless tweaking or experimenting that never goes anywhere.

[midnightsilver]

Playing with fire

- Process:

Drawn in Procreate, actual time 1 hr 20.

With this picture I wanted to used a similar technique to the one I had used to draw Sammy. And while I like the final result, it wasn’t exactly what I was aiming for. The plan was to draw fire where Rowena’s hair would go and then to put the black layer on-top and erase the highlights to have the fire showing through from underneath. I ran into some problems tho because I had included white in the flames and as I etched in Rowena’s curls on the black layer there were too many random flashes of white throwing off the flow of her hair. So midway through I went back to the base layer and covered all the white with a lot more red. The end result is that I have a really interesting fire themed colour palette for this picture (something I wouldn’t normally have chosen if I was just choosing colours as I was drawing) but it’s not obvious that the hair is drawn on-top of actual flames, it all just looks red. So in future I need to consider how much of the under painting will show through and what shapes will best complement each other. Maybe I could do elements or nature scenes as underpaintings to match a character’s personality. Im definitely having fun experimenting tho 😄

[your-unfriendlyghost]

hi broski ummmm what programs do you use for art and what brushes

I use procreate! For lineart/sketching I usually use a slightly modified version of the Shale brush in the default procreate ��calligraphy” section- just w/ the streamline feature turned down to zero and more like…size variation? (Idk I modified it a year and a half ago I don’t completely remember what I did lol)

Then for my grayscale comics, like these,

I use this Copic marker brush w/ just straight up black and varying levels of opacity. Usually I don’t use blending brushes in these, but in my most recent one I did.

For my colored stuff tho I use a lotta this pencil brush for everything (shadows, highlights, base flats, etc) and then depending on whether I want something more painterly (like the ocs on the left) or more cell shaded (like stevepop on the right), I either use soft texture brushes or a chalk brush (I cannot for the LIFE of me find where this chalk brush came from?? I’ve been digging but idk I can’t find it outside of my duplicate??) for highlights

Some other brushes/brush sets I use (all of them are free as of rn ‘cuz I’m broke):

Habook Brushpack (specifically the rectangle one- it puts down flat colors nice and fast but also doesn’t annoy me the way most “ink” brushes do!)

Laurenillusrated Brushpack- I use these mainly for skin, they’re really nice. (Also, @laurenillustrated is on tumblr- her art is so pretty, it’s like a storybook istg. Check it out if you haven’t it’s AMAZING)

I’ve recently started using @loish’s brushpack too, and I ADORE these brushes. I used them a TON on the Christine poster. You can get them by signing up for Loish's Digital Art School, which is a great collection of art resources as a whole, and it’s totally free. Would absolutely recommend

And finally, for the halftone texture I like to put on everything, I use the Halftone Hospital Basic Tone Kit. All of their brushes are fantastic, definitely check them out if you like the look of traditional art but also like the lower supply cost of digital art lol. Or just in general, ‘cause they’re great

(Then for the paper texture overlays I love so much, I usually use stock photos tbh.)

Anyhow, these are some of my favorites. But I do use others too, and this all came from years of playing around and finding what I like! I had this phase about…1 1/2-2ish years ago where I hated my art style and nothing was coming out right. It pushed me to try a bunch of different brushes- in retrospect I don’t think the brushes were what made it better, I just improved over time, but I had a lot of fun trying out different brushes. So definitely try ‘em out and experiment, because it really is a fun time :))

(As for my workflow, I talk about that here if you wanna know more about how I draw!)

[mayordea]

TIME FOR THE LONG ASS 2024 REVIEW

i am once again gonna review each highlighted piece i have made in 2024 so far like last year even though it's sort of unnecessary i have a bit to commit to

yappery under the cut

JANUARY

jan's piece is my smash poster celebrating the 25TH anniversary! this after i got rlly into making giant multi-character ensemble pieces, and i've wanted to do a poster like this to celebrate smash, so i'm glad i was able to step up to plate. usually i think my art from january ages pretty bad in these reviews, but i actually still like it from the composition, colors, and the drawings of the characters. i still have the print of it hanging in my room! ^o^ other highlights from the month is the complimentary poster i did with smash ultimate's dlc cast... well i kinda mention that out of obligation because i actually do think this one aged like ass, mainly the shading on the characters looking pretty bad (especially as a print). i think i shoulda saved this idea for later in the year to time it with smash ultimate's release day of december 7 (i am extremely deadline-pilled) but i probably wouldn't have cared by then so i just did it like, immediately after the 64 poster. so it probably smacks of burnout + i can't shade with blue that well

FEBRUARY

this one sorta represents seven whole drawings i did for one series. it's my seven piece set of artworks based on mothy's evillious chronicles, and i chose rilliane's because i think at the time i was putting this together i thought she came out the best (i began assembling this starting april 2024 lol), but idk! i still think she's pretty solid but i think she's tied up with kayo and banica. one thing's for sure, i know sateriasis is my least favorite of the bunch by a wide ass margin, i really wish i executed it better! not much other interesting highlights for this month besides my other vocaloid art series, the alice of human sacrifice ace cards. i think they aged alright but again this is another idea that i wanna execute better in the future.

MARCH

oh boy another series!!! this was part of my four part series redrawing the crossed paths artwork from octopath traveler ii. i chose the one featuring partitio and osvald because it was my favorite at the time. i still think it aged pretty nicely but it has some rendering hiccups that rlly bother me but in terms of colors/the background i still like it. if i had to pick a new favorite, it might go to throné and tenemos or cassti and ochette. another notable highlight of this year was a piece of oc art i made. i need to do something unabashedly overdramatic and angsty with my ocs again cuz i still like this one too. i think i opted out of selecting this one to highlight since cropping a face was kinda awkward lol.

APRIL

an overdramatic oc art has been highlighted! another one i like (it's almost like i picked my best for this chart). it was sorta the origin of me using my favorite watercolor brush in procreate to have an extremely rough idea of the colors that naturally blend together, creating a pretty cohesive palette when i render it (which is the current basis for how i render in my current style). april otherwise is kinda boring idk i don't like a lot of the other drawings here lol. this utsu-p album redraw ft robin is still pretty cool tho imo.

MAY

i feel like i had some nice variety to pick from, but i chose my improvisational and edgy grima drawing since i think stylistically it stands out the most. i found my new favorite sketching/doodling pencil brush in procreate and made a whole drawing using it, and the texture is so niiiice. other highlights: COOL OC ART (ft kandy). part of me feels like it's kinda corny but i was born on da cob so whatever, this one was fun and i still like it!!! there was also my art based on bad end night. i'm a tiny bit mixed on the rendering/colors, idk i was experimenting with a different brush for lining and shading and the slight difference in texture makes it a little weird but that is shit that only matters to me. i think it's a hell of a lot better than the bad end night drawing i made back in 2022, so in terms of "redemption" i think it was successful.

JUNE

kind of a boring month tbh, i got miitopia-pilled again so i was probably busy playing that this month + i was home for the summer and i am extremely lazy when i am at home lol. but to compliment the dive back in my miitopia era i made a sorta sketchy drawing with kandy as my great sage. check it, it's another with my new pencil brush, and i definitely remember having fun with this one (though her robe physics kinda make no sense based on how i drew her ref, i never look at my refs for my ocs/i usually break their designs to fit certain poses silhouettes 💀💀💀). uh i guess the one other interesting piece (imo) from this month was my giant miitopia poster that i was too chicken shit to share proper until recently (if you missed the edit where you can fully see it, there ya go). it's kinda oversaturated vomit and i'm not crazy proud of the execution but it was ambitious and kandy's section still looks really good imo so it has value in that regard to me.

JULY

i participated in my first artfight this july! i drew many cool ocs. by about the halfway mark i got hella burnt out tho and started doing my own stuff to freshen things up (it was also around here when galasynth entered production and i met MANY AMAZING VOCALOID ARTISTS!!! SHOUTOUT TO THOSE MUTUALS :)))))). for this month i chose my poster based on touhou eosd since i think this might be the most gracefully aged piece the whole year (it's probably my favorite!!). the colors just came out real nice.... idk!! a notable piece from this month that couldn't be posted in july cuz of zine nda's was my actual galasynth piece. this was a pretty significant piece since it permanently altered my current rendering/coloring workflow (sorta established in the highlighted piece in april but now with lineart and with a differently textured brush). the touhou poster was created shortly after as a response to this new workflow! other one of note was my perfect cherry blossom poster

AUGUST

brave frobin's design for feh was revealed and i drew it 😼😼😼 (AND I CALLED IT earlier this month. not that i needed to use a lotta braincells but). this was a further step in practicing my new rendering style and see how detailed and meticulous i could get with the colors when i had ONE character to focus on with NO background and i think it was pretty successful. though im glad i posted the wip cuz the colors were probably better there than the rendered... what overthinking does to a mf. another banger from this month was a piece of oc art, it's nothing special but it was a rendered panel redraw of an unpublished comic i made of them and i liked it so yeah. (i also posted my decora una drawing this month which was my scrapped concept for galasynth, but according to my notes it was actually finished in july... but shoutouts to it regardless)

SEPTEMBER

aaaagh this month didn't have much goin on, probably cuz i went back to school around here and the work was getting crazy 💀💀 but i still found time to make something i'm proud of! i drew my oc based on a twitter prompt a mutual of mine shared and i reeeaaally still like it!! especially the details on the corals waow... (i don't really have much else from this month that i consider noteworthy enough to mention here so :P)

OCTOBER

spooky art!!!!! i didn't have much interesting going on this month because again i got very academically demanded of and didn't have much time to draw, BUT i vowed to make a tribute piece to "trick&treat" by oster project for halloween, so i hauled ass to get something ready for that and to have ONE traditional drawing this year (yeah i didn't draw a lot on paper this year unfortunately ☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️). other highlights: a traditional drawing of gekiyaku pills for vsynthtober which i did a whole two prompts of (you just saw all of them) + a digital drawing of geki (i really started to like gekiyaku around this time). as much as i still like the latter's colors and texture it sorta started a bad trend where i sorta just drew characters from the shoulders up with not much pose to speak of + no interesting background just for the sake of coloring it. not that it's completely devoid of value but it was a pattern i was starting to get a little to comfortable with. i'll touch more on this in the closing thoughts section, but this new rendering style did sorta hinder my want to experiment with my digital rendering styles compared to previous years where i prided myself on having a bunch.

NOVEMBER

BOTH of my favorite pieces from this month fall in the same trap as the thing i mentioned above. i picked my drawing of hibiki koto for the chart since the pastels added a nice value shakeup. i STILL LIKE IT, it's nice, but did perpetuate this bad habit/shortcut. the other one was my drawing of great sage kandy (current pfp!). the colors here are pretty fuckin nice still imo, so as a coloring tech demo like this flavor of drawing i was doing i think it succeeded.

DECEMBER

AND FINALLY, the end of the year. i finished my december piece early in the year kinda just to check the box off and get this chart off my back (a totally normal thing people do when drawing art throughout the year). i have wanted to do a legacy of lunatic kingdom poster like my eosd one for a while after falling in love with its ost, but it just felt scary. the characters were very detailed and also there were moreeee 😭😭😭 but i got myself to do it cuz i found myself tempted to fall in the same trap as described in october/november (i was gonna draw koishi with the same crop/thought for the bg/emphasis on rendering. you might see her done by the end of the year), but i was like "NO, i must earn this laziness" and finally did something ambitious again. and yeah, i think i did pretty good with this one, even if the crowding of characters and details is sorta unruly.

ok so maybe i'm a little artistically constipated rn

doing this thorough review has sorta gotten me worried. i talked about this in my review last year, but i wondered if my progress has plateaued since i liked a lot of my art throughout the year and didn't see much significant improvement. but looking back no i definitely improved from 2023, and i'd say i broke some new ground with experiments i did throughout the year (the piece from december is still my banner!!). i also had a few different digital rendering styles i played around with for some variety.

this year, after the completion of my galasynth piece, i got really stuck in a specific rendering style and didn't rlly experiment that much with shaking it up. i also didn't feel compelled to try doing solid lineart or rough paintings, and i got stuck in a "halfbody with basic poses and backgrounds" pit when i know i can do better and more cool if i just TRIED.

i am writing this pretty early in december so hopefully i can bring something new to the table..... idk, maybe the differences in my digital coloring styles are only visible to me, but i certainly notice this repetition and wanna break out of my current bubble! i am working on a collab piece that should go live by spring next year that will hopefully do this :) (and i certainly won't be abandoning my current style, at least not overnight/without trying to evolve it, cuz i really like it and have received many kind compliments from people about it! so thank you thank you!!!!)

i look back at some of my pieces from last year and earlier this year and see some variety in how i go about rendering or textures or colors and wanna go back to that. so that'll be my goal for the rest of december + 2025!!!!! ^_^

anyway that's that, it was a good year despite my current crisis, i think i made some good art. also don't be like me and feel obligated to make nice art every month for an aesthetic chart, i do it cuz i draw fast and i am easily satisfied by them. take breaks touch grass drink water, play and draw. yay!

[yourresidentstanlover]

gaaaahhh i love ship charts so much hehe (this one was made by @printzeizarra)

i'm gonna ramble about these dumbasses for a sec (also their ship name is 'style' hehe)

the reason why everyone hates them together (except for the rest of the pines family (that includes soos)) is because they are fucking menaces when paired together. they've robbed a lot of people by themselves, but when they're together, holy shit man keep an eye on your wallet.

kyle works as a waiter at greasy's, so that's how he dropped pancakes on stan.

stan does all of the remembering bc kyle's short-term memory isn't good, and fun fact: it took a while for kyle to remember stan's name because of it. but kyle's experiences with memory loss and just general memory problems are actually useful for helping stan after weirdmageddon.

kyle's had an unfortunate amount of brain damage over the years, which has resulted in problems including, but not limited to: amusia (tone-deafness), the pupil in his left eye being permanently dilated (like david bowie!), god-awful migraines, problems with long-term and short-term memory, and tinnitus.

kyle doesn't fall in love easily, since he's demiromantic, and he rarely gets close enough with people to trust them. stan is a rare exception.

since stan's from new jersey and kyle is from tennessee, they have different vernaculars and it's kinda funny to see the contrast sometimes. kyle doesn't have much of an accent anymore, but when he's angry, his southern accent will come out, which stan finds absolutely hilarious.

kyle is biracial, and his mother is from mexico, so he speaks both spanish and english, and has accidentally swapped them in the middle of a conversation multiple times. stan also speaks spanish (from his time in both tijuana and colombia) so they talk in spanish around the kids if they don't want them to know what's being said.

even with only one arm, kyle has managed to steal stan's wallet multiple times, and usually takes a few bucks out just because he can. he's a petty cunt sometimes lol.

kyle isn't so much secretive about his past as he is forgetful. he doesn't really remember a whole lot from when he was younger, HOWEVER. he does remember dating a man called andrew alcatraz, and hooo boy when he finds those fake ids in 'not what he seems,' their whole relationship gets pretty rocky for a bit.

they do patch it up in the end, and agree to have no more secrets from each other.

(yes i know 'actually' is misspelled. im not fixing it procreate's text tool is a pain in the ass. and that's supposed to be kyle's left hand but i forgot how hands work and drew it backwards. not fixing that either lmao)

(i didn't realize that i got the 'brings up the past' one switched so i had to fix it hehe)

[sweet-self-indulgence]

The Incubi and Femboy! Mika

Femboy! Mika

Is pretty exclusively into males, much to his father’s disappointment.

Father would be the kind of guy to try to punish the gay and the feminine out of his son

Taekwondo stems from a demand to become bigger and stronger. Mika tones and can’t bulk, but loves the art form

Cross-dresses for fun sometimes but prefers boymode for daily stuff.

The exception is panties. Mika loathes traditional male underwear and wears panties every day.

Is super into praise, both giving and receiving, and being teased in basically any sense.

Bottom preference

Thinks it’s hot. Loves the feeling. Simply floats his boat.

Capable of topping but in such a subordinate way. This boy cannot be dominant to save his life.

James

Doesn’t have much romantic or sexual experience with males. Was groomed to provide heirs to the throne so his sexual education and expectations were very procreation focused.

Gets off on using his height to intimidate and fluster Mika.

He says “That’s a good little boy”, Mika gets all flustered and suddenly they’re both rock hard

Has a bit of an ‘oh shit I might be into guys’ crisis because it had never really crossed his mind before.

Cue way too much research to compensate

He’s a top.

Definitely never bottomed in the demon world. Could be persuaded to try it, but it doesn’t really do it for him the same way. He likes being in control too much.

Erik

Equally experienced with lots of genders. His mother would have taught him to get energy from all kinds of demons.

But she viewed energy as something you take from someone else, so being penetrated as a male incubus was taboo.

He thinks gender bending clothing is super hot. Especially lacy and silky panties. He loves giving lingerie to Mika and seeing him wear it.

Slight top preference

Is much more comfortable with the social scripts he knows, and toping is no exception.

100% down to try it in the human world. He likes it a lot, but finds it very vulnerable. He would be so overstimulated. It takes a while for him to get comfortable bottoming regularly.

So yeah, bottoming comes with a lot of baggage for Erik so he defaults to top.

Sam

He definitely went through a bit of a slut phase in the demon world and would have some experience with male demons and bottoming for them.

Thinks Mika is super cute. Really bonds with him when he learns about his father’s pressures to be ‘man enough’

Sam is a big ‘ol sap for a sad story

But he is really into people who stand up for themselves.

Top preference

He’s honestly just not that into bottoming. He’s tried it, it’s fine, but is meh on the concept.

And let’s be real, Mika has a tiny frame, he’s not exactly packing the (literal!) monster schlong that Sam is used to.

If Sam’s going to bottom he wants to go hard and it’s going to require an order from Bad Dragon ; )

Matthew

He wouldn’t have had a ton of sexual experience in the demon world. The experience he has would be low commitment flings with a variety of partners.

He wasn’t of age for very long before he became invested in the human world.

Has more experience with humans

He likes being barely larger than Mika. It’s a pleasant hit to his ego.

Mika’s acceptance of his more feminine traits is super endearing and opens up a world for exploration for Matthew

Thinks gender bending is incredibly fun and trys out some GNC stuff.

He learned how to adjust his glamor to look female. Likes having breasts for the express purpose of having them played with during sex and then they go away again lol

He identifies as 100% male but gains a ton of confidence in seeing that male doesn’t have to be one specific thing

True vers

It really just depends on his and his partner’s mood. He’s down for whatever. Likes switching during sex a lot.

Damien

Didn’t really get to experience consensual sexual encounters in the demon world

His relationship with his own sexually it pretty fucked from it

That’s a separate post if y’all want some whump

Has had some experience with humans, but they’ve been pretty awkward for him.

He’s really into people who are into him. Mika’s hot guy radar is very loud in his head and Damien is super into the accidental flattery and how flustered Mika gets about it

Bottom.

One of the ways his sexuality is fucked up is that topping can be triggering for him

Also people’s minds tend to focus more on him when he’s bottoming

He basically gets off to the thought praise

[sgtmickeyslaughter]

Art Tag

Thanks for putting this together @deathclassic! and thanks for the tag @spookygingerr

Have you always been interested in creating art? : Yes from day one

What's your favorite medium to use? If digital, what programs do you like? I use digital (procreate) most often now, not sure if it's my favorite but it's easier/cheaper than playing with all the mediums I like to use and allows for a little more freedom to play and experiment

Do you create outside of fandom? Yes! I draw and/or paint almost every day in my sketchbook and I work in architectural design so I sketch ideas with co-workers/clients

Share something you haven't finished and/or never got around to posting. Ooof so this haunts me - I have always always wanted to put together a full comic, so I had planned to make a comic version of my fic In Your Love, it's ultimately too much work ... so much potential, absolutely no time

Favorite piece you've made?

Sooo hard bc my favorite piece is for a fic I did but haven't posted yet... very soon though! Until then, my favorite piece is the watercolor I did for the fanart masquerade

Draw your icon in a minute or less - hey bud!

An underrated piece you've made in your opinion

Idk, I like this one and it doesn't have very many notes

Do you do art in a professional setting?

I do a lot of representational architectural drawings - like the Gallagher House drawings I did a little while back

A piece you don't like but did really well on social media. Honestly I really like all the pieces I've done - I either give up or gaslight myself into loving them

Post an old piece and compare it to your most recent, what are the similarities?

Honestly my style changes all the time but my skills have been pretty consistent so theres not going to be anything shocking

Have you ever collaborated with another artist/s?

I've only collaborated with a writer and created art for our gallavich summer camp bunk - which was really really fun

What piece has the most notes? Are you surprised?

Not super surprised, I think it's pretty lovely

Who/What is your favorite subject matter? I love making art that coincides with the fics that I write! after thinking about a scene or world or vibe for so long while writing I want to put it down on paper visually

Show us something not from fandom you've made There's so much, idk have some watercolor buildings, I'm too lazy to curate anything

Where do you like to create? At my table or couch, I don't usually draw out and about for some reason idk why

Do you have a tag that you use to group your creations? Tell us so people can follow it. No but all my art can be found here

Give yourself a shoutout, where can we commission/buy/follow you for more pieces? I don't take commissions or sell pieces, but follow me here on tumblr and you can probably talk me into drawing something you have in mind

tagging: @burninface @matt404b @deedala @doshiart

@heymrspatel @creepkinginc @suzy-queued

[kleefkruid]

okay to start my photoshop to procreate blogging journey, here's everything I already knew before even downloading procreate, and some assorted information:

Biggest pro for procreate is obviously that it isn't photoshop from a price and moral standpoint.

But what made me decide to switch now? I got the funds to get a (refurbished) iPad, and an iPad would allow me to draw in bed/on the couch, which is not an insignificant thing since I lose a lot of time bc of fatigue, when I can't sit at the table with a computer and drawing tablet. It's basically a dissability aid that enables me to do this professionally.

I tried Danny's version (I say version bc they tweaked all their tools for their tattoo design so it's not the vanilla experience) and what I immediately noticed is that the amount of times you can undo an action is a lot less than I'm used to. Make sense bc it doesn't have the power of an entire computer, but it's something I'll have to keep in mind by using more temporary layers.

I have also gotten a textured screen protector because I am used to work with my wacom tablet which also has a grainy surface. Just the iPad glass feels very unstable. I went with the fancy (an a bit overpriced) Paperlike brand but only bc if you buy them they come with a spare protector and Danny gave me their spare for free. It makes the retina screen a lot more matte but that's perfectly fine by me because wacom tablets also have that look.

I'm excited about the brushes because from experience I know there are a lot more fun ones available. My photoshop ones for flash design I had to make myself and I never truly got what I wanted. There's 100s of procreate brushes for tattooing out there.

I like the fact that procreate can screen record so easily. That gives me some new material to fluff up my content creation (I know, the horrors... they demand reels...)

I am used to having a second screen since my laptop has to be connected to power my wacom tablet. That usually has my references and a youtube video or something as entertainment. I'll have to get used to not have that at all times but at home I can perfectly just also have my laptop near.

The tablet I use is a Cintiq 16. The iPad I got now is a iPad Pro (2021). The cintiq has a build in screen so that part is simmilar (I got started back in the day on a screenless wacom tablet about the size of a big trackpad. Both machines I have now would've blown my mind)

[melzoodle]

Hey! Here’s my (very late) introduction post!!

The names Melz or Melzoodle

I’m a 20 year old in college (yay👎!!!)

I go by She/Her pronouns. I don’t mind they/them if you prefer that

Some info-dumpting abt me:

I am Pan 🩷💛🩵

I’m mostly in the fandoms of wander over yonder, gravity falls, the owl house, adventure time / fionna and cake, steven universe, my little pony, helluva boss/hazbin hotel, digital circus, and a lot more. Most of which I probably won’t ever post about.

I am an animator, artist, writer, and silly chaotic little guy enthusiast.

Don’t be afraid to talk to me or ask questions! I like talking to people and offering advice or drawing suggestions if any of you have some. This page is kind of just for fun for me because I haven’t had a positive experience with social media, so I don’t take anything on here very seriously. I’m new to tumblr so I’m still learning what I can do on here.

I won’t always be posting fanart so if that’s all you’re here for don’t expect it all the time.

I have a lot of ocs I’d like to post about and kind of archive here, maybe write about and introduce them better than I have in the past. The main ones I’ll be posting about I’ve had in my smooth brain for around 6 years now. so that’s crazy. Their names are Jester, Rocco, Kyro, Sky, and Jules. So keep an eye out for them on my page!

I originally learned how to animate on flipaclip and sometimes I’ll go back to it for fun but I usually animate on procreate or adobe depending on the size of the project.

I have made so many projects that no one will ever see. muahaha. I have a horrible habit of not finishing projects because I lose motivation halfway through so if you’re frustrated with something not being done from months ago I probably forgot about it and dropped it for something else. I apologize in advance for that.

aaaand when I draw myself I almost always draw me with a black cap (yes I do wear that hat religiously irl), and crispy bleach blonde hair. :]

THERE YA GO! Now you know me so so well and we are best friends. parasocial parasocial parasocial

[tategaminu]

Tate pls can you explain shading and lighting to me I don't understaaaaand 😭

It looks so pretty and I... kinda get it but also not really? I've tried YouTube and stuff but it's pretty unhelpful and generally just people marketing their procreate brushes at me

And your art is so PRETTY and is wish to know your secrets please give 🙏

oh brother, I don't know if you are in the right place to ask for any advice because I SUCK at it but I'm gonna try

Gotta be honest, I still barely understand shading and lighting, I go ahead and expect everything to turn out okay like 99% of stuff in my life, I think when you get the hang of art you can do things blindly more frecuently.

What I find pretty useful it's not tutorials per se but speedpaints or real time drawing, if you observe a professional doing their stuff and learn the basic of the program you can get an idea of whatever the hell they are doing. Looking at pretty art and analyzing the light and trying to figure out how the artist does something is also something that has worked for me pretty well, I'm gonna divide you my specifics:

TUTORIALS

I know you haven't found any good tutorials but youtube is very big and you can find some really good ones. I have lately been watching this channel, this guy even gives you the PSD files.

Marc Brunet also has some really cool ones, not all of them are super specific but he's pretty good.

Aaron Blaise has a very professional undesrtanding of light and shadow.

REFERENCES

Use references! Pinterest has a lot of cool photos with pretty lighting, just search "lighting and shadow" "photo with lighting", stuff like that. References are very important, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

For the next tutorial below I used this for example:

PATIENCE

Let's be real, the art journy needs a lot of patience. I have been drawing digitally for 9 years and it's just now when I'm seeing results I'm happy with. I look at art from just one year ago and I go "EEEW"

I think hyperfixating on something helps a lot, doing fanart is important like I wouldn't be as good as I am (right now) if it wasn't for doing TDP fanart. Ovbiously other things count since all drawings help you improve but I think you probably get my point, basically, get obsessed with something lol if you don't get a certain obsession just find something you enjoy drawing, I honestly can't draw stuff that don't give me joy (for free at least)

PERFECCIONISM

Something that I have discovered along the way is that perfeccionism in your art will restrain you a LOT. Sometimes you don't need a super accurate light and shadow for the drawing to look okay, ovbiously if you are aiming for full realism then yeah but overall? If it looks right it's probably right, trust your instincts

Maybe in a couple of years you will look at a certain piece and go "why tf did I do this??" but that's part of learning. The next tutorial isn't accurate at all but I had fun and I think it looks pretty enough.

Of course, the technique might vary from drawing to drawing, with my most recent Pyrrah art I just coloured the lineart for example, I later used said filters. Don't be afraid to experiment, art is about experimenting, the tools from your program also there for you to use.

I know it may seem difficult at first but you will eventually figure things out, study and practice a lot and you will get there.

Good luck! sorry if this is too messy, explaining stuff is just not my forte and thank you for liking my art, it makes me really happy.