toonocosm

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I'll spare you the midsummer repost this year, I'm sleepy.

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Have a nice June! 🏳️‍🌈

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Is Oroya open to hugs?

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Question for Api and/or Lotl. Do you do any sort of art or creative hobbies?

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To Lotl: do you wish you could have the wings/tail all the time?

To Api: do you sleep/recharge?

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I've noticed when you put shading and effects on a lot of your art pieces, they tend to end up with a nearly lineless look to them. Is that an intentional effect you're going for or just an accident of the process? Also, how/what is your process? It looks really pretty and I'd love to practice techniques that are out of my own comfort zone.

I guess that's just accidental because it's not an effect I intentionally go for. To me, the lineart is still very obviously there. But maybe it gives that effect because I color my lineart?

(Click on ALT on the images for more info)

And I don't think my process is too different from any other person who uses lineart in their pieces! It goes from sketch -> lineart -> base colors -> shading/lighting -> details and touch-ups. I tend to hide the base colors when I shade, though. And I might color the shading to blend with the base color better.

And you see those very orange areas between the lighting and shading - I overlap the lighting (or the midtone) with the shading a little bit there, which naturally creates what I think is called a terminator line?? I don't always do this, though.

I've started to experiment more with softer shapes and softer edges in my shading recently, like here and here. And also here. But the process is pretty much the same.

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so i am curious, the toyhouse profile for Lotl says that other Toonos carry the monster gene/have a monster form.

Does anyone else of the cast have a monster form that no one else is aware of? :o

The only ones of my toono characters that have monster forms are Lotl, Sasha and Oroya. This is Sasha.

Based on my plans right now. Sasha doesn't have a huge role in the Lotl Life comic. She's a shy kid who helps Tancho at the Catfish Café that Api and Lotl visit a lot, and she's obsessed with her tamagachi, and has recently found out about her other form. Which in turn gives Tancho more understanding about this condition.

I associate Sasha with that one koi legend.

I gotta take a look at Sasha's whole character concept though, I fear I might have fallen into some stereotyping with her.

Anyway, this is what Oroya looks like!

She doesn't have a role in Lotl Life though, so if I ever use her in a story, I imagine the concept for her monster form will change and evolve. But uh, she's feeling a bit dehydrated like this, I imagine.

The monster form/gene is a very story-heavy mechanic since it's used as a metaphor. So if I don't have a story for a particular character, giving them a monster form is a bit pointless unless I know what their character arc will be.

Unless I wanna give them a monster form for fun, of course! That's also valid.

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My inbox is open

Hey, so I just remembered that it's okay to ask for help sometimes.

And I kind of need help building investment in my art and to kick-start my daydreaming again. So if you have any questions about anything art-related, ask here!

Any questions about my art or process or projects, or OCs are fine. Or you can ask something directly to Api or Lotl or any of the Toonocosm crew, this is partly an OC ask blog after all. Really, ANY question that can make me think about my art again is good.

I'll draw an answer if I think it's appropriate. Drawing prompts are good too.

I know it's up to me to build up my investment again, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask for some assistance 👉👈 And if you want to ask something but can't think of a question, you can ask at a later time. As long as my inbox is open, you can assume I'm happy to receive more asks.

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Boredom in school, which I turned into doodling and daydreaming, greatly contributed to my obsession with art and OCs. But due to being creatively burnt out for so long, I've lost that emotional investment. It was out of necessity to let my brain chill, but I've been feeling very frustrated with myself that I can't get back into my art and projects again, even though I really want to!! But like, my heart is not in it.

I've been thinking about what made me daydream so much about my OCs in the past, and a big reason was out of boredom when I went to school. But I'm not in school anymore, and my life situation is a bit different due to my disability. So I have a lot of free time that I can fill with distractions of my own choosing.

So I'm cutting off a bunch of distractions, even if that means I'll just end up sitting in my living room doing nothing. That's kind of the point. I need to leave brainspace for art instead of gaming and Youtube brainrot.

So that's my master mind plan to get back into art and personal projects again! I've even made myself a written schedule. I only game on weekends, and a bit on Mondays.

Anyone got any good OC prompt lists? For like, either drawing them or imagining them in different situations.

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Strangers don't know he's a complete pacifist, so it's an effective threat.

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He has lived rent-free in my head since 2011.

Original meme here

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It's the blorbo's creation day today! I made him in 2011, he's 14 years now!! That's crazy.

Here he is with his updated design in a finished piece. I'm still struggling to make art of him that I'm satisfied with, but the new design does help.

I might also need some distance from this piece to appreciate it. That's usually how my brain functions, it can never like my art right after I finish something.

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It's been a while since I drew Api's new design, and good news, I still like it. His old design is still canon though, which I'll call his prototype body from now on.

And I tried to redraw some old doodles on the second page, I'd rather do it digitally though. The old doodles aren't very well drawn, but I love this interaction between them so much. I think he would have his prototype body in this scene though, unless I'm confusing the timeline.

I gotta make a finished drawing of Api's new design in time for his creation day, January 22nd.

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One kind of interesting idea I've had about Lotl is that they've had top surgery and need to take pills to halt their regeneration abilities that axolotls naturally have. It's interesting taking such an advantageous super power and turn it into a curse.

But eeehh, it's pretty uncomfortable bringing something like that up. And honestly, I never really decided on Lotl's biological sex. They're just creature.

If I ever end up making a story that involves them losing a limb it would maybe be an opportunity to go there and write how they deal with having to stop taking those pills for a while to grow back their limb, but that feels improbable.

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A little style experiment with Lotl.

I bought Nicholas Kole's Domestika course on Fantasy Character Design. I haven't watched it yet, but I hope I can get some inspiration and new ideas from it. Maybe I'll redraw this if I learn something!

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Can I ask

You sure can!