#Also I don't generally like to sketch underneath my art so if the ones that I sketched in pink look a little wonky I'm just not used to it

[tezzbot]

Happy early Christmas!

anyways i wanted to ask, how do you draw Sonic’s muzzle and eyes? You always seem to make it so simple, yet so expressive all the same time, i love it! They all look so goober and silly in your style!

(i can literally drawing anything but the eyes and muzzle pff)

Oh wow this is very sweet thank you so much!!! Happy holidays to you too!!!

This got a bit long so I'm putting it under a readmore lol

This is by no means a THIS IS HOW YOU HAVE TO DO IT it is simply me trying my best to explain my methods heehee draw however you like!! Art is meant to be fun first and foremost do whatever is comfortable to you!! ^_^

I usually just start w his goofy little nose, it's a teardrop shape so you gotta make sure it tapers nearer his snout, and it usually sticks up at the end!! Other characters will require... different noses... lol! usually a little triangle or circle will do for a non-hedgehog individual (world's most interesting image from a "tutorial" award goes to vvv)

Then, the front part of the muzzle is the part that, if you're drawing him profile, sort of sicks out so it doesn't really like. move? if that makes sense?? It's very round so I think it would help to picture it as a sort of orb? Like an oval behind his nose! It's a very similar case with most of the rest of the cast, with a couple exceptions ofc!

After that you get to do the fun part which is the cheeks!! They're very important when it comes to 2d art of a Sonic character's expression imo!!

When you want him so happy smiling, just like on a real person's face, the mouth pushes the cheek upward and into the space where the eyes rest, this is also generally how they rest on default in the 3D renders no matter the expression

But if he's frowning, or his mouth is small for whatever reason maybe he's going :o or something lol, I like to bring those down

The boy usually ends up lookin like this!! (resized the noses a bit they were bugging me, no shame in editing as u go lol)

Another thing is how I draw their mouths Open, what I usually do is draw the nose and mouth First, it's how I know how to shape the rest of the muzzle around that first oval I talked about lol

Sometimes when I'm drawing I feel it looks fine as is without much change needed,

But if it looks weird with the rest of the drawing, I stretch the bottom around it more (sometimes it does depend on the angle of your boy's face too)

Here's it highlighted in some art I've already posted!!! (sorry if it's difficult to see orz)

It even works on Espio!! lol

If you'd like me to go in more depth on anything, or maybe cover how I do eyes since I didn't really get to it in this one, don't hesitate to ask!! I love talkin art baybeee<3 Thank you for the ask!!!

[amerricanartwork]

Current digital art process!

Acting on @shkika 's request because making my redraw for this post actually ended up giving me more confidence in my digital art process! As such, I'm gonna use it as a reference. And if this walkthrough of sorts turns out nice, I might do it again as my process evolves!

I started off with a quick sketch of sorts, trying to focus both on movement and volume, and get the general idea of where each element is located. I edit the image dimensions and placement of things a lot in this phase, as my ideas often tend to change once I actually begin drawing them. In this case, as I got it down, I decided I wanted it to look like some cheesy animal motivational poster, so that influenced where the text was.

From there, I began to clean and sometimes edit the sketch, mainly by thickening the lines to make the shapes more definite, and erasing what wasn't necessary and interfered with other parts. Volume is one of my biggest focuses in my drawings, so I try my best to get the volume of each character at least hinted at with the lines. This is something that will probably remain in my process for a while, as I quite dislike doing separate lineart and like the messy, sketchy feel anyway.

I also wanna mention, in addition to having references and such in other windows, I've recently begun having a second mini window of my current drawing off to the side so I can see what it looks like overall more easily, regardless of how much I zoom in on and flip the main window. It's quite helpful!

For reference, this is what the final sketch looked like:

Then, I went on to add the flat colors. Another tip: I almost always set my sketch layer to "Lumi & Shade" because I think it makes the line colors a lot richer, but since it's based on what colors are underneath, it colors the lines a lot more individually than changing the sketch color as a whole. Here's some comparison to a version without the effect (left):

Then, I add some shading using a (really nice) marker brush. This is honestly one of my favorite parts of the process, just trying to carve out all the volumes, especially since I usually use a pretty blue color for shadows!

Sometimes, I honestly just leave drawings finished at this step, because I adore the sketchy look so much, and because I really don't like the tediousness of more realistic rendering in the painting process; from what I've seen/experienced, it often involves having to basically paint the entire image over again, which I've realized I find REALLY boring (and is also why I clean the sketch instead of making a new lineart layer). As such, one of my hopes is to reach a point where I could almost completely avoid having to clean up the image in a traditional painting method, instead being able to lay down lines and colors so well that they convey nearly all the volume necessary on their own, still have that sketchy appeal, yet also look finished and professional.

Alas, I did do a bit of clean up on this image, but I think it still turned out alright!

Here's the finished drawing! I'll have to practice with this process a bit more to truly solidify it as my digital go-to, but nonetheless, I think this came out adorable! Thanks again shkika for the ask, and thanks to @mintscampi for the sweet prompt! I hope you guys like it!

[teabutmakeitazure]

Twisted but Tender - 9: Cruel Yet So Soft

>Yan! Childe x Fem! Reader

a/n: I'm not particularly proud of this chapter and had no idea where I was going with it but hey! Development! I also changed the divider hehe

Chapter summary: kitty sleeps as his parents fight

Word count: 1.4k

Warnings: touching without consent, isolation, a lot of crying in general

Series Masterlist

He's been staring again. Maybe watching would be a better word. Jax, as Ajax named him after himself, is resting on your shoulder as you continue working on your current art project. And Ajax himself, well he's draped on the single seater sofa behind you. Probably acting like a damsel in distress as well.

Weekends when he's home seem to go by slowly. Even worse is the part of having to wake up with him and have breakfast with him. He always tries to make it romantic while you try your best to not. Of course, there's the subtlety in it or else he'ld get mad and lock you in that dark room again.

You shudder at the memory.

Another line stroke and there's the satisfying sound of pencil on paper. Jax yawns and drops to your lap. You pet him to help him fall asleep.

The pencil lead gets blunter and blunter as you keep going. It's alright though, it's going to be inked anyway. There's something you love about graphite. It has so many uses. Lining, sketching, shading, effects and much more. Yes, it's bland to some but it's versatile and easy to work with.

Unlike the man who's wrapped his arms around your shoulders now.

He turns his head and places his chin on the same shoulder Jax was on earlier. You don't like the feeling of his breath on your neck.

"What're you making this time?"

"You'll see when it's inked."

Ajax hums, likely in thought but it could be over your response. You continue drawing on the paper as his hand starts caressing your form. The way he's doing it is giving you goosebumps.

A hand travels to the one holding the pencil and you stop immediately. He takes a hold of it and pries the pencil out in favour of holding it himself, thumb brushing your palm.

At least half of him isn't wrapped around you anymore. He is, however, still leaning over you. The thumb now caresses your entire hand and it twitches, wanting to remove his.

You pull your hand in hopes of getting it away from him but he grabs it before you could. Curse his fast reflexes.

"Ah ah, no running away. You remember what we talked about right?"

A mistake on your part.

"What exactly are you referring to?"

He sighs, "You really do love making me repeat myself don't you. We agreed that you wouldn't shy away from me, physically and emotionally."

"Uhuh," you scoff.

It was then when his grip subtly tightened and he leaned into your ear, "Where's our wedding band?"

Huh?

"It's in my jewellery box?"

"You're asking me? Shouldn't you know?"

Shit, he sounds angry.

"No no, it really is, but why are you asking?"

He lets go of your hand and instead turns your chair a little so that you face him. "I'm asking because I haven't seen it in a long time."

"Well there's no reason to wear it if I'm at home so it's taken residence in the box."

"I think it'ld look prettier on your hand."

"A ring looks good when worn, yes."

With a sigh, he gets up, stretches and watches your figure with his hands on his hips. You fidget with your hands underneath the table as you bite your inner cheek. There's silence again: the uncomfortable kind of silence. Jax sleeps peacefully on your lap and you wonder just how he can be so careless when there's Ajax in the same room.

Two hands come from behind you and gingerly hold the kitten. Ajax, he's moving Jax to the table. His figure is beside you now. You don't know why but there's a faint sparkling in the air.

Ajax abruptly pulls your chair to the middle of the room and you scream, almost falling off of it. He merely walks off while you don't dare get up to leave. There is no way in Teyvat that you would make the decision to go against unspoken commands.

Because at the end of the day, it is the unspoken that results in the harshest of fates.

He comes back with a chair and sits across you, one leg on top of the other. Dull blue eyes that don't reflect any light in the room look into your panicked ones. Arms now crossed, he leans back into the backrest.

The both of you merely stare at each other till Ajax decides to break the silence. "You've been very difficult these days."

The scowl on his face is evident of the fact that he is pissed off and you're about to suffer.

"W-what did I do?"

"Hah, wouldn't you like to know?" He tilts his head in an uninterested manner, a signature gesture of his when he's absolutely disappointed.

"I really don't know, I swear! Please Ajax, if there's something I did, tell me."

"There's too much to list," he shrugs his shoulders.

"I really don't know. You're aware that I'm inattentive to details, so it must've slipped my mind. Tell me, please."

"Do you really care that much about me?"

You swallow a remark, preferring to play nice. "More than you think."

Little sparks start tickling your exposed skin and you hug your torso again. It's a familiar scenario. The little word dance you two indulge in before he orchestrates the finale: your punishment.

He leans in close to your face and smiles. Foreheads now pressing against each other, he holds your hand. "You're not as great of a liar as you think you are."

In the blink of an eye, you're thrown over his shoulder. He takes slow steps down the stairs as you try and shake his shoulders to the best of your ability. With a frantic heart and erratic breaths, you try your best to have him let you go, but he doesn't even budge.

"Ajax, this is too much. Please! Don't do this, just talk. I'll listen. I'll listen to anything you have to say! I'll… I'll make promises and I'll keep them! Please!"

He doesn't say anything, continuing to go across the living room to the door at the back, hidden because of the kitchen.

You're crying now, you realise. Hiccups pitifully leave your throat as he remains unfazed. You can't breathe anymore. To put it plainly, it's agonizing because he refuses to listen to you.

He enters the room and sets your struggling form down onto what you've assumed is a chair.

"Think about what you've done this week. I might just forgive you." With that he turns but you grab onto his shirt with both hands.

"I said-"

"Please! Not again…" you outright sob. He stands frozen as you hold his shirt with all the strength you can muster. There is no way in Celestia that you are going to spend another 4 to 6 hours in this room alone, crying and in the pitch black darkness again. It's happened too many times and you've had enough of this agonizing nightmare.

"Just tell me what I did wrong," you breathe out, despite the hiccups and lack of air in your lungs. Ajax stands frozen there before something clicks in him and you're hoisted up into his arms.

You don't know what happened next but what you do know is that you're sobbing into his shirt as he rubs your back. Numerous 'sorry's leave his lips and you sob even harder. You're certain his shirt is ruined but he doesn't seem to mind so you keep your face hidden in it.

A hand affectionately strokes your hair and you remember to breathe again. It's difficult but you try. You place a hand on whatever you're seated on - it feels like the couch - and scoot closer to him. You've never held him as tight as this, yet.

Ajax wraps both of his hands around your body and shushes you. It's then when you feel the warmth that you start calming down.

Wails turn into sobs that calm into cries until all you're doing is hyperventilating with wide open eyes. There's a blanket wrapped around you both, you realise. It's the one that usually hangs by the couch's armrest.

Your chest heaves, your heart physically hurts and your eyes struggle to stay open after the rollercoaster of emotions your mind just processed. As your consciousness drifts and your hold on Ajax goes limp, all you can hope is to not wake up after this.

But as Ajax holds your sleeping form tight in his arms, he whispers through watery eyes, "I'm sorry."

[ozonecologne]

like HOW did you do the shading on that lnx piece!! the velvet?

🥰 I will happily walk you through my layer process for this piece!

First, I do a sketch of my subject from reference to get the general shape of things. Once I'm happy with it, I line everything in solid black with a default hard round brush.

You can see the outline of the durag above the forehead here, and my navigation panel to the right that shows where in the piece this is overall. This canvas was 8.5x11 inches at 720dpi, so I think the size of this outline brush was 15px? I think the smaller lines were a 5px, used with a really low pressure.

Once everything is outlined, I add a base color layer underneath the outline layer. I try to match this color to the reference as best as I can just using my eyes, but sometimes I help myself out by color picking the middle tone. I'm still learning about color so this step is hard for me. Cheat when you can!!!!

Once the main color is under there, I look really carefully at my reference and block in the shadows and variations in the colors that I can see, checking myself with the color picker as I go. I'm sure someday I will get faster at this, but color theory is hard 😮‍💨

I noticed a gray reflective purple-y shadow at the front, but also that the velour/velvet is not uniform. I use a soft round brush at different levels of opacity to make little dots that really tell you what texture this is, and then make the brush bigger and softer to unify them with some longer strokes. There's no rhyme or reason to this part, I just flip really fast between my canvas and the reference image to try and paint what I see.

Once all these colors are more are less where they're supposed to be, I adjust the line art color with clipping masks to make the shape a bit more organic. I just match the surrounding colors I've blocked in so we have a smooth blend, also paying attention to edge highlights.

Time for the bigger and brighter highlights to make everything pop! I lay down some bigger shapes first, like these long strokes of white that I soften at the edges with a low opacity soft round eraser.

You can see on the navigation bar to the right what the zoomed-out piece looks like at this stage. It's getting there, but there's a lot more texture and brighter highlights on this area! To really make it look like velour, I zoomed in on the reference image and noticed that a lot of the highlights at the front here are actually more of those dot shapes. That's what makes it look soft to the touch. I use a really small soft round brush at full opacity to pop those in:

YEAHHHHH now we're talking.

I've spent a lot of time on this area, so I'm ready to move on! Once the whole piece is finished, I use a trick that I learned from Elicia by duplicating everything I've drawn, merging it into one layer, blurring it, and lowering the opacity.

It might not be that noticeable here, but zoomed out it gives the whole piece a bit of a glow and softens up the lines. It makes the painting a little less crisp, a little more dreamy. I love learning tips like this from other artists I admire -- it doesn't always work out when you try to map someone else's style onto your own, but sometimes you find something that really sticks!

Finally, I put on some adjustment layers. I especially like to play with saturation since my color theory is still not that good, and I always worry about my contrast so I usually do a curves layer as well (lighten up the lights, darken up the darks). I'm also a fan of a nice pink overlay, but I didn't do that here. I don't think it needed it!

So now I'm done! And here's the finished piece:

Looks great :) Hope this is cool to you!!!

[mariusslonelysoul]

i think Victor Frankenstein (2015) just became one of my new favourite movies. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's an awful adaptation and the only thing it has in common with the book is victor's name, not even his nacionality, but as a movie? i adored it. some highlights for me include:

victor being batshit crazy, absolutely fucking bonkers

just, james mccavoy, he's a delight in everything he does to me

igor also being insane, though in a lesser manner

lorelei being understandably freaked out at first, and then getting on with the madness, too

turpin also being crazy

the whole movie is people being insane in different ways, and i respect that

the sets, particularly the lab. oh, what wouldn't i give to live in a crowded apartment filled to the brim with books and research and machinery in victorian london

the costumes!

lorelei wearing a corset properly

no you don't get it, do you know how hard it is to see a corset worn properly in period films? not only there was no "i can't breathe" scene, but she was wearing a chemise underneath!!!!!

for real, james mcavoy playing a demented man and a corset worn properly would be enough for me to love this movie

it's only an hour and fourty minutes. nowadays it seems as if no movie is shorter than two hours, which yeah fine, sometimes is fine, but this one felt like it had the perfect runtime

the anatomy sketches (i'm a sucker for that type of scientific art)

the dialogue in general, and mcavoy's delivery

i just, i had so much fun watching it. it was crazy after crazy after crazy, i loved it

[mizunoir]

Hi!! I love your Stranger Things art!!!

Could u share your art process sometime?

Hi!!

Sorry for such a late reply I've been super busy lately and it probably won't change till Autumn. But yea!! I can do a sort of a step-by-step thing if you'd like :D

In general it goes like this (I use PaintTool SAI, rarely CLIP studio):

Hunt for inspiration! And possible references! Like flowers, clothes, poses, etc.

Preparing the sketch (I use rather thin brush size, it's a pencil tool with density set at 100%). I always work on bigger canvas so after artwork is done I am "shrinking" it to make it smoother.

I do the lineart on the new layer. I don't use lineart layer option. Just regular layer with opacity set to about 78%

I make the colour "base". On the separate layer underneath the lineart one.

I create a new layer above the "base" and click the option of "clipping group". This way I can work on the clothes, colours, etc. without worrying I would go outside of the lineart.

I add in additional layer just beneath the lineart with layer effect of Paper set at 20. Sometimes I also add the "water fringe" effect at the level of 1-2.

In case anything is missing - I am creating the last layer above everything else where I add some additions - be it more blush, light, or more refined lines.

If I feel like something is missing I am adding some coloured layer with mode option of "overlay" or "lighten color". Of course I also use the other ones - but these 2 are my besties.

Shrinking the picture! And adding the signature.

Of course if you'd like something more detailed - I can work on it in the future once I have some more free time 😄

Thank you very much for your message!!!

[ya-boi-joule]

Ay man, I absolutely love your works!

Do you have any tips about how to make gouache work? I'm trying my best, but it just isn't arting the way i want it

But yeah I LOVE YOUR WORKS

aaAAA THANK YOU!! Thank you so much it means a lot :'>

I honestly don't know what I'm doing, figuring out gouache has been a lot of "fucking around and finding out". So I absolutely cannot speak about how one should use gouache, but what I can tell you is how I personally do things.

THE STUFF I USE

-I use the kind of gouache that you get from a tube. Apparently there are gouache that are sold in pans, but I don't know anything about those.

-Good watercolour paper is something I recommend getting, it makes painting a less of a pain.

-Because I work on a relatively small scale, I use these tiny brushes. I also have larger ones, but I like using these when painting details in faces or lineart for example.

-Paper towels for cleaning brushes but also for absorbing water/paint in case you fuck up.

SO, GOUACHE

Gouache is opaque, and the opacity depends on how much water you add. Using more water makes gouache act like watercolours, and using less water they're closer to acrylics (not sure if that if the best thing to compare it to - the point is that it is opaque, covers stuff up very well and dries fast).

With gouache you can work from dark to light, so you can add a shadow to a generally shady area and the lighten areas within it later.

HOW I PAINT STUFF SOMETIMES (this is not a tutorial lmao)

I don't always make a sketch, but when I do, I paint over it with a wash of a base colour(s), using more water. The layer(s) are trasparent enough for one to still see the pencil lines coming through. (Käärijä on the left is a better example of this). This usually helps me with mixing colours and sticking to the colour palette. Also the lines are great so I can tell what's going on.

I then add stuff until it looks about right: colours, highlights, shadows, lines, stuff, eventually the pencil lines get covered up. I use less water during these stages, and may even use colours straight from the tube. GENERALLY SPEAKING, I use slightly more water for larger areas, and less water while painting details, but that isn't really a rule or anything.

THERE WILL VERY LIKELY BE AN UGLY PHASE - that is totally normal, push through it, have a bit of faith, you'll get there.

I don't always paint like this. Sometimes I don't make a sketch, and I just layer colours until it looks right. This way has a higher risk rate for me (=nothing looks good no matter what I do and I give up), but it is fun sometimes and has yielded nice results.

SOME THOUGHTS

-Try a bunch of different stuff! See how the amound of water affects the opacity, look up tutorials from various different artists (Scott Christian Sava is a sweet man who makes short form videos on IG and YT), try painting without a sketch, etc., find out what works for you.

-A darker looking paint may dry to look light, and the other way around. So. Beware of that.

-You might dissolve layers underneath with

-Sometimes while mixing colours I add white to make it more opaque, if that makes sense? If I want to make sure that an area I'm trying to cover up doesn't peek through, I might add just a bit of white paint to the new colour.

TL;DR I GUESS

-Generally speaking I use more water in the beginning and less water later on

-There will be an ugly phase, that is normal, push through it

-Use good paper (or don't, I'm not your mom)

-Practise and experiment and try different stuff!

I hope this has been at least somewhat helpful? Again, I don't really know what I'm doing. I wish you strength, have fun with gouache and with making art in general, "hakkaa päälle" as we like to say in Finland :D

And also thank you once again for thy kind words <3

[golby-moon]

been forever since I've done pixel art but since the drawing app I use (@flipaclip) recently (at the time) added a pixel art feature, I decided to (or well accidentally did it) give it a shot for the @bsideminibang for this fic I kind of pinch hit for after people from all sides dropped out

this banner is kind of a mess since I didn't even try to stay consistent as far as pixel sizing went, didn't even think of it. I do like how certain things came out, like the apple skins and the spot of blood (the logo was just me tracing the original one to pixelate it so not counting that), but things like the old timey metal lunch box and the countertop with the pie on it (underneath the fic title) didn't come out very well at all imo

for the art piece, I learned from my mistakes and kept the 'brush' size the same throughout the entire thing, which I think makes it look better overall even if it loses some of the tinier details nobody would ever notice that smaller pixels allowed (which is partially why the Mars/male symbol on the pillow...isn't very clear). I actually forgot I was gonna put Dean (with the purple hair there) standing in front of the couch, so Cas (with the blue hair) has a whole body behind Dean's head. I don't always take the time to bother doing more than basic sketches in cases like those, but Cas is all fully colored and shaded and everything behind Dean's head lol

the dark spots in Dean's hair are supposed to be blood, as there's a scene in the fic where John beats Dean up. there's also transphobic language and transphobia in general in the fic, as Dean is trans and his parents don't like that very much. be aware of the tags and everything before you click on the fic

the fic this is made for is called "Unraveling Unrolled" by @bleuzombie for the bside mini bang (that I cannot stop referring to as 'rock bang' oops)

(09/07/23)

[brandybradyrandyandyndy]

Got tagged by @official-lauchzwiebel

Thanks for thinking of me!!! :-)

So...

1. What are you currently reading

Rico, Oskar und der Diebstahlstein by Andreas Steinhöfel; Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg; and still Twilight bc I couldn't get myself to pick it up again since the last time I was asked this question 🥸

2. Best movie I've seen in the cinema last year?

Honestly? Actually Puss in Boots - The Last Wish. I immediately fell in love with the animation when I first watched the trailer and when I went to see the whole movie I was completely carried away by the story too! I love this movie so much. Kitties and puppies 😭😭💞

3. What do you usually wear?

In the summer? Button-up/t-shirt + shorts + funny socks + crocs

In the winter? Sweater (with something collared underneath) + high-rise jeans (in any color with any leg width except skinny jeans) + funny socks + docs or crocs boots + the purple winter jacket I got from the h&m men's section only a few weeks ago but I've been wearing it non-stop bc it's exactly the kind of jacket I've been looking for for years and I finally have a cool functional winter jacket in my favorite color!!! 😩🤌💜💜💜

4. Star sign? Celebrity etc. you share your birthday with?

Leo, and I share a birthday with the episodes Eclipse Lake from The Owl House and Wishmaker from Miraculous Ladybug 😌

If we're going with real celebrities like singers or actors.. I was born exactly one day before Tristan Göbel :-)

5. Do you go by your name or nickname?

Depends. My close friends and family mostly call me Lenny, but I always introduce myself to new people with my birth name.

6. Did you grow up to what you wanted to be as a child?

Even as a child I never knew what I wanted to be and I always wrote "weiß ich noch nicht" in that empty space in the Freundebuch, so basically yes bc I still have no plans but now I'm studying languages 👍

7. What's something you're good/bad at?

I'm pretty good at crafty and creative stuff like crocheting, sewing, drawing and all that. Also learning new languages comes pretty easy to me, but I'll probably withdraw this statement after I've gotten back the results from my uni exams that I have yet to write...

Something I'm really, really bad at is being consistent with something. There's always something I'm forgetting and when it comes to important stuff like uni I often can't get myself to even open the uni website on my laptop as if I was paralyzed. Ahaha, anyway on to the next question...

8. Dogs or cats?

See, I'm the person who claims that they like both. And y'know I do like both. When I see someone walking outside with their dog I'm the one excitedly squeaking: "SCHAU MAL EIN HUNDI!!! :-)", but when I see a cat I get even more excited and in my head I'm like: "!!!!!!!!!!!!" bc I don't want to make too many loud noises and scare it off (you know I wanna pet that kitty!!!)

9. If you draw/write, or create in any way, what's your fav picture/line/something you created this past year?

The tiny Sendung Mit Der Maus-Maus I crocheted :-)

10. What's something you'd like to create content for?

Tough one. First of all gzsz bc I'm basically the only funny fanartist they have. I mean I've seen some artists drawing realistic portraits from screenshots but that's why I say I'm the only funny one out there. Anyone can redraw a screenshot but I'm the only person willing to draw Maren and Katrin or Michi and Tobias kissing, so even if my sketches look messy and I post so inconsistently that I'll never get more than 3 notes on something I still think I'm doing a more valuable job than people who redraw something that's already happened only for the sake of flexing how realistic their artstyle is. (It's a different story tho if the redraw is stylized!!! There's so much personality to stylized art!!)

So... To come back to the original question. Gzsz definitely, maybe some crossovers like my ml au as well shhshshss, Miraculous Ladybug in general, also Osomatsu-san or Owl House and all that stuff I'm currently watching. Tschick. Yeah.

11. What's something you're currently obsessed with?

Just scroll through my blog for a while.

Besides that? Crocheting. I love that you can do it while watching something, so I feel like I'm doing something useful even while watching AWZ 😩

12. What's a hidden talent of yours?

Nobody peels mandarin oranges and clementines like me! I always peel them in a spiral pattern and almost never fail!! 😤💪

13. Are you religious?

Nice try Gretchen. I'm not gonna answer that.

14. What's something you wish to have at this moment?

Right now at this exact moment? Nothing really. Bin grad wunschlos glücklich, als hätte ich ein halbes Erdbeermarmeladebrot mit Honig verzehrt und würde mit leerer Gedankenblase irgendwo rumliegen und den Rest meines Tages genießen 🍯🍓🍞

Tagging @tofufei @midnightxxcrisis @9puppiesdrowninginapool @jofngve and of course everyone else who wants!!! 😸💕

[pastelpaperplanes]

hey, i really like your art and love the way you draw cybertronians! i have a question if you don't mind me asking, do you have any advice on drawing cybertronians? especially in the tfa style?

YES!! ABSOLUTELY I DO!!!

if it’s not already obvious which style/continuity is my fav (coughCOUGH tfa) then this long ass answer will surely tell you

The speciality of tfa I’d probably pinpoint on the fact that most if not all of the designs have the most ‘organic’ look compared to IDW or TFP per say.

Everyone is super simplified but still recognized by either icons key features or colors, their edges are simplified or smoothed, practically no one is made primarily of boxes, and each and every character can easily be named by looking simply at their silhouette—even the characters that are made from the same model.

Despite all this it’s also by far the most basic, yes unique transformers style, which I think is incredibly impressive and CLEVER so big kudos to djw and his team!

I’ve seen a lot of recommendations against this what drawing transformers—but for me my go-to when drawing a tfa bit is to sketch an overly simplified human base, then exaggerate from there, because honestly there’s not as much ‘breaking down’ or angles/perspective when it comes to building out the armor in tfa as there would be for smth like G1 or IDW

Cuz like I mentioned earlier I think tfa is the most organic looking style. Fairly rarely are there boxy thighs, ridged necks, or blocky torsos—if anything many characters look like they could be packing muscle underneath their armor! So yes for me starting with a humanesque base for tfa

These more organic bases aren’t all there is though of course. While Optimus looks like he has a stocky core build, Swindle looks like he has a Flat Stanley origin story. Or while Prowl has very slim and defined limbs (probably has the most humanly proportionate frame), Oilslick looks like he’s been sent through a radioactive taffy stretcher. Tfa does a great job of having very basic guidelines that are stretched thinly to what a lot of the times makes sense to the character’s personality as well

Body build/body language and carefully crafted palettes are what really brings out the personality of a character BEFORE you dive into their bio. Tfa immediately jumps into these key design components that are recognizable from the get go, honestly I think it makes the characters all that more lovable.

For example, just by looking at Prowl you’d assume that automatically we are looking at that team emo, OR voice of reason on his team. His lanky frame and darker/muted palette suggest that he is serious and calculating/not one to pick a fight IMMEDIATELY as his spindly figure doesn’t look like it can take much damage—but can absolutely move stealthily, quick as hell

And then we look at Bee. Our dear yellow ass eyesore of a bot who is built looking like he’s prepped for one hell of an adrenaline junky fueled crash with that padding and obnoxious palette that screams happy-go-lucky all bright and loud

So yes just colors and body builds tell us a lot about those two characters and that’s not even touching on alt mode or design patterns >:33 tfa is so FUNNNNN

eh with tfa I’ve just seen how most often times color palettes are generally maxed out at 5 colors, and there’s a rotation of one to three unique designs placed about the characters

Bee has solid colors and a massive focus on stripes all around, eye catching and sporty!

Blitzwing has duller colors and sturdy/blocky rectangles all around like his canons and pouches, the ‘hat and pants’ combo is a nod to an aviator’s uniform—he’s must be a strong as hell military grade flier bot!

Sentinel is shiny as hell and streamlined like a picture perfect poster soilder boy, he’s built like the iconic ‘triangle shaped’ weight lifting monster of a superhero, but his rigid uniformity and ‘perfection’ absolutely leans towards looking snobby and and rule-oriented.

Overall, when it comes to drawing tfa or making a tfa character—pay attention to simplified but meaningful colors, builds, nods to their (sometimes connected to their personality) alt mode—and you’ll do just fine.

I’ve done my best to take these observations into my own designs! A lot of my OCs are fan children—so keep in mind I’ve had it VERY easy in terms of ehh a base to start with seeing as I’ve pulled their design from two official designs and merging them where I see fit

Like examples would be my characters Papillon and Firstwatch. Papi is delicate and slim like a butterfly (hence the name) but his sharp angles and dark but rich palette suggests he’s a conniving little bastard. Firstwatch is buff but soft colored and ROUND, made to look like a gentle giant, a teddy bear even suggestive we’re looking at a soft-spoken sweetheart

Even then!!!! Tfa is not at all rule oriented in design, go ham and have fun with proportions and those randomized palettes!! Haha pls what I’ve observed on how tfa goes about their designs should be taken w a grain of salt, maybe Bee’s highlighter color is not that deep and maybe Sentinel has thigh highs because he LIKES them and not just for a perfect soldier look

Best advice I’d have for TFA would be cram as much personality as you can into your designs/posing/expressions as you can according to the character because they sure as hell have plenty to give! Use those organic shapes to your advantage. Tfa’s basic designs are simplified as hell—you can have a blast stylizing them the more you drawn the characters!!

[alienturnipp]

how do you paint on procreate? i try to get that kind of look but none of the brushes work for me that I’ve found :(

Hi anon! I do have a lot of painting done in different styles with procreate, so I'm not entirely sure which style are you asking after specifically, or what kind of effect are you aiming for, but I'll assume that it's one of my most recent paintings and try to get some general direction in!

Buckle up though, this is a LONG post. I will explain my process from the sketch phase, and you will soon see why I go to that length.

First, if you haven't seen it, there was this ask in which I answered what my common brushes are. No matter what style I end up with, these are still pretty much all the brushes I use, so it's a good starting point! It's also pretty much a TLDR for this post, so if you would prefer the short version, that ask is the answer I'd give you.

Now, to further details:

So my most recent procreate paintings are these three that I've done for Ashton, Anders and my OC Elowyn. I finished my Ashton painting but still waiting to finish my FCG one so that i can post both of them at the same time, so I'll still use my WIP for now!

Step 1: The starting points for these are pretty similar, I do my line sketch using the 6B pencil and put in some colors underneath that line layer:

This is the brainstorming phase, so I try to not rush it and just look for a combination with good contrast and the general style I want, even if you can still see how different they are from the final products. I make sure to get a good line work and composition, because they affect the later steps so much.

I use all 3 brushes for the color sketch, but prioritize Gouache for its delicious, delicious texture, and the semi-transparency would help retain some of the background color for that delicious, delicious color harmony and variation. 🌈 If I need stark contrast or color-blocking, Nikko Rull is the brush to go to. I'll use my 2 other sketches for example (note that even this one has some slight texture!):

(Edit: changed the second sketch bc I just rmbred that that one was done on PTS :))) )

Step 2: I use color correction to get the actual Hue, Saturation and Contrast that I want. I don't have the exact screencap to show (because I paint directly on my sketch layers), but here are what I can salvage from the screenshots I sent to my friends during the process:

(Changed nothing for the Anders piece in this phase tho, I loved the original colors already!)

These 2 are very messy steps, but extremely important for 2 reasons:

It gets my brain worked up to build a precise art direction for the finished result (Anders with the uncanny lighting that bleeds into the background as if he's surrounded by the Fade, Ashton with stark contrast that emphasizes the galaxy brain and showcases their killer cheekbones, and Elowyn with those soft, dreamy colors that don't rely as much on the shading as on how the different areas transition from one another)

It builds up the texture! If you're a beginner artist, I still recommend the flat brushes, so that you can quickly spot your mistakes and focus on the fundamentals. But, if you're closer to the intermediate level (I'd like to consider myself on the lower scale of intermediate technical skills) and want to add in some flare the same way I do, then yes, go for the rough edges, the messy blends and the unrefined line work. I think they give my painting more character and more life. There is already so much going on in this particular area, just from me trying to imagine my lighting, and those are all made with them brush edges:

And, yes, at this point everything is still all over the place, like where are the soft and hard edges??? Where is the focus??? Some of them is already there (esp in the Ashton piece), but the painting is still generally messy as hell. So! I try to refine it in the rendering.

Step 3: For this step, I'll give some tips on how I achieved certain effects you see in these 3 paintings.

So, any time I want to refine my soft edges and/or color gradients, Gouache is my guy:

Nikko Rull is the option I rarely go to, but it's very good for blocking out a large area of colors, so I use it a lot for background, or my other paintings that require a cleaner style. For this phase, if I need to add sharp edges, whether for shading or line work, I use my beloved 6B Pencil.

For refined linework:

To create sharp-edged shading, highlight and rim light, I work in thin lines alongside my Gouache. I keep it organic and rough, still (and added another painting for extra examples):

For the sparkly little effects that either work as literal sparkles or shading touch-up, I use all kinds of brushes from MiksKS's Pattern Brush Set, but my favorites are Crosshatching light and Diagonal hatches. Depending on how early you work these patterns in during your painting process, you will get different effects. I usually put them in last. Also, you can always change your brush setting to get the pattern size you want.

(Also +1, if you would prefer not to pay for these brushes, check out other free halftone brushes: https://www.decolore.net/halftone-brushes/ )

With Tumblr's 10-image limit, this is as much as I can share this time! If there are things you would like to know about in specific, let me know and I'll find the time to answer to the best of my abilities. I'm not confident enough to put out tutorials of any kinds, but if you want to know about how I do things the way I do, I'll always be glad to share what I know.

Have fun painting!

[h2bakugou]

Hiii! I was curious if you could write a fem(or gn I don't mind)artist! reader x kiri, todo, and shinsou hcs (separately) where the reader was working with red paints or general inky supplies and the boys think they hurt themselves until the reader explains? I got maroon paint on my hands in art today and this hit me

a/n: hiya!! of course! this is actually a really cool idea, thank you so much! i love painting lol, i’m not super great at it but it’s really stress-relieving.

headcanon: them with an artist s/o

key: (y/n) - your name / (f/n) - first name / (l/n) - last name / (e/c) - eye color / (h/c) - hair color / (y/q) - your quirk

warnings: fluff, swearing, one mention of dadzawa, mentions of blood

»»————-　★　————-««

eijiro kirishima

»»————-　★　————-««

Kirishima is really supportive and loves watching you make art. Seeing just how creative you are, really fuels him to be open to creating!

So naturally, you’re in your dorm, painting, messing around with new colors, and trying out different styles.

It’s so much fun to just start a random project, even if there’s no clear future. Letting the paintbrush guide you, you let it lead, allowing the paint to just flow off the brush.

Hours could go by before you genuinely feel tired. Red paint covers your hands and your knees, smiling at how messy you’d been.

It’s not unusual to be kind of messy when painting, in fact, most of your room is somehow stained with paint, and you’re pretty sure you have paint on your training uniform somehow.

Needless to say, you had a fair amount of red paint on you, and taking a shower was just going to be the easiest way to remove it all. 

Taking all that you needed and heading downstairs, you were ready to give the day a sort of close, and be able to relax after while your current painting dried so you could add to it again tomorrow.

Without hesitation when you appeared downstairs, Kirishima was going to come say hi, until he saw red all over your hands and knees.

“Are you okay!? What happened?” Kirishima is gripping your shoulders, reaching to examine your hands as he sees red, and what he assumes is blood.

“K-Kiri!” You yelp at hi eagerness, quickly trying to catch your falling clothes as he reaches for your hand.

“It’s paint!” You reassure him, smiling as you angle yourself to show him that you’re fine.

After your shower prepare to cuddle this boy, because he was really worried.

“Don’t scare me like that again.” Kiri huffs, pouting as he snuggles into your side while your fingers run through his hair.

“I won’t. I’m sorry I scared you.” You hold him closer, thankful to have someone so caring by your side.

»»————-　★　————-««

shoto todoroki

»»————-　★　————-««

Art is an interesting hobby for Todoroki. Considering he didn’t come to U.A. to make friends, and then his predicament with how he ended up in a relationship with you, he sees it odd to have hobbies.

But that doesn’t stop him from changing his mind.

He enjoys watching you paint or draw, he loves how soothed you look when you’re creating something.

He really loves when you make him art, he has little pieces scattered around his room.

So when you emerge from your room, covered in red paint to get a snack, he’s concerned.

He knows you usually do art and make a mess, but it’s a dark red color and he’s concerned.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Todoroki is reaching for your arms, inspecting them to see if you’re hurt or bleeding.

“Sho-”

You can’t help but giggle at his seriousness. He’s patting you down, looking for some sort of wound.

“You’ve got bl-”

“It’s paint Sho.” You kiss his cheek and show him that you’re fine by running your arm under some warm water. 

Watching as the color washes away and reveals your skin underneath, Todoroki is relieved.

“You scared me.” He’s not big on PDA but he wraps his arms around your waist from behind and presses a small kiss behind your ear.

“I’m sorry. I’m gonna wash up and grab a snack and then we can hang out if you want.”

Afterward, you hand with Todoroki in his room.

He’ll lay in your lap as you play with his hair, braiding small sections and genuinely just messing with his hair as the two of you talk about random things, Soba mostly.

»»————-　★　————-««

hitoshi shinsou

»»————-　★　————-««

Art is something Shinsou enjoys.

I feel like he enjoys the art of music, but he also enjoys a good coffee and painting session.

But you also enjoy art. And Shinsou could watch you paint, draw, sketch, even sing for hours.

You’ve got some of his art pieces hung up in your dorm room as does he. He especially enjoys your cat painting you did for him.

Aizawa was jealous.

So one afternoon, you’re painting in your room, and Shinsou is already on his way, having not told you he was coming over.

With your hands, knees, and even some of your face coated in maroon paint, it looks a little like blood.

You were fixing to go wash it off when you open your door and see Shinsou.

His face drops when he sees all the red stuff, which he assumes is blood.

He begins to panic thinking you’re hurt.

“Oh my god are you okay? Babe-”

Shinsou’s touch is gentle but worried. He’s grabbing your hands and making sure they’re okay.

“It’s just paint baby.” You smile, licking a clean finger to show him you can rub it off of your skin.

“I was fixing to wash up but you showed up.” You watch as Shinsou sighs, relief washing over his features, replacing where he was worried.

“I’ll be right here when you get back, but you owe me for scaring me.” Shinsou smirks.

You know what’s about to happen now.

After washing up, you return to see him snuggled up under your covers, patting the space next to him for you.

You smile and head over to him, cuddling next to him, holding him next to you as you lay your head on his chest.

“Don’t scare me like that kitten.” Shinsou kisses the top of your head and watches you trace little shapes on his arm.

“I won’t. I’ll make it up to you with a new painting.”

»»————-　★　————-««

masterlist

[kkatuu]

My weird habits (kinda ED-related)

Purchasing a pack of cigarettes and lighting one in vicinity JUST for the smell, maybe taking 1 or 2 half-puffs at most. (I should just get cigars more often, wtf lol)

Walking around art stores and looking at all of the supplies. Things like sketch books, pens, pencils, paint, ink, markers, easels, etc, it all makes me feel so giddy inside.

Walking around stores in general and looking at all of the size 0 clothes, cute accessories, makeup, etc. Plus it helps me get my steps up, and gets my mind away from the thought of food.

I'll buy sunflower seeds that are coated with either Taki or Hot-Cheeto flavored powder, and only suck on them. I love the powder coating, but don't want Cheetos in my mouth, and sunflowers add up over time, so I hardly chew them; only succ (ew, sorry, I know...) and toss back into a cup. Bleh.

I sometimes go to random restaurant menus online to see what are some "strategic meals" I can plan if my friends or family ever plan to go out to eat at these places. I don't want to make it obvious I'm trying to lose weight, don't want to spend much money, and also don't want to actually eat much. Example: "Ok so this soup is 550 calories. I can eat 1/2 of it, and put my napkin over it to cover the rest. It will just look like I ate most while there is just some remaining slop underneath" or "ok so if I order wings, I can offer some to whoever is at the table. Even 1 or 2 less wings takes off a decent chunk of calories from my plate. I could ALSO only chew off some of the meat from the bones, leaving a size-able amount on them, but it will just look like messily eating wings and a scrunchy messy napkin tossed over them near the end will help. That can take off like 1/4 of the remaining calories."

:)))))

Can't wait to drive around sniffing cigarette smoke and drinking coffee after my OMAD meal. Lulz.

[maribunart]

Exalted Secret Santa 2021

Hello Exalted art nerds!

If you know me it’s probably as Marigold on discord (specifically Marigold#7827, feel free to send a friend request if you’d like!) but I’m also @MaribunArt on the twitters, though I’m terrible about remembering to post things there.

Here are my babies for the art exchange! Sorry there are only a couple fully polished pics of them. I’m going to link a pinterest board for each as well, reflective of their general aesthetics, so feel free to change their outfits/hair styles/etc if you’d like

Ivy Rosedottir Air aspect Dragonblood Lot-Casting Atemi sheet link

Ivy Rosedottir is an air aspect born in a teeny tiny town a few days south of Icehome. She spent her early years as an exalt turning around the prospects of her slowly dying home town until an itinerant Immaculate Monk stumbled upon her efforts (which involved extensive collaboration with the local terrestrial gods) and used them as blackmail to force Ivy into "employment" helping manage a small, new, and thus-far unprofitable Satrapy halfway across Creation. Shockingly, she is not terribly fond of the realm.

- Full body reference image - Rough sketch of her usual hairstyle from the back - Local Nice Boy attempts to curb Ivy's Gremlin Impulses (her hair has changed a little since I drew this, it was the very first doodle of her) - Anyone who claims to have knowledge of a possible crush Ivy may harbor on a Big Dumb Lunar is a LIAR- Outfit/Aesthetic inspiration on Pinterest

Visual motifs: Crows, sheep, weaving/knitting/sewing/etc, snow and frost, spooky forests (she has the root lore sorcerous initiation & styles herself a witch) Aspect Markings: white/blue lock of hair starting at her right temple, tendency towards cold hands even in warm weather. Her anima leans more snow & ice than electricity. Important details: Freckles! Just so many, basically everywhere

Cathak Kilani Water aspect Dragonblood Lot-Casting Atemi sheet link

Cathak Kilani is, most likely, the most un-Cathak Cathak currently drawing breath. She excels at bureaucratic endeavors, would rather sort paperwork than spar, gets queasy at the sight of blood, and underneath a very sweet and kind exterior happens to be one of the sneakiest people on the entire Blessed Isle. She harbors an inordinate amount of guilt over her natural skill in what she views as dishonorable skills, but at the same time feels an intense need to employ said skills to keep her family and friends safe

House Cathak and House V'neef are currently in talks regarding a potential engagement between Kilani and V'neef Xelan, Matriarch V'neef's second-youngest child by blood, which would likely finalize the formal alliance the two houses have been dancing around. Kilani is utterly terrified that she's going to fuck this up somehow.

- Full reference sheet - Couple more dresses - Kilani and her girlfriend (who is thankfully now also her fiance's girlfriend) - Kilani and her older sisters, who definitely don't think she's still twelve - Kilani is slightly obsessed with her fiance's pet hearth cat (ooc I am roughly 60% confident said hearth cat is not a secret Lunar) - She just kind of loves hearth cats in general, really - Outfit/Aesthetic inspiration on Pinterest

Visual Motifs: Dark waters, coral reefs, flowers Aspect Markings: Hair coloration resembles white-capped waves, stygian blue eyes, smells faintly of sea breezes and plumeria blossoms Important details: She has a large collection of alchemically preserved flowers and nearly always wears one tucked behind her right ear

Karal Lei-Xin Twilight caste Solar

Lei-xin is a Lookshyan ex-patriot, quietly struggling to aid her family and homeland without them finding out that she faked her death because she's a wicked, evil Anathema now.

Lei is a natural bridge-builder, winning friends and allies across multiple factions. She counts at least one of nearly every type of Exalt a friend, and her most ambitious project to date is helping the Dragon Kings of Rathess rebuild their civilization and rejoin the world's stage.

Lei-Xin became one of the most talented chefs in Creation and beyond sort of by accident. The excessive amount of pastries she tends to send home with her Shieldbearer husband has even started to win over a few Bronze faction sidereals.

- Full body ref - Slightly outdated doodle, but cute - This was the very first thing I drew on my ipad :D - Outfit/Aesthetic inspiration on Pinterest

Visual Motifs: rabbits, clouds, Important Details: Always wears a necklace of some sort with a red gem on it (a simple choker is most common since it doesn't get in the way when she's working but she has several styles) and a moonsilver wedding band.

[came0dust]

finally, after over a year, i have actual colored art that i didn't leave to rot on my hard drive! the left is a version with colored lineart, while the right has a uniform lineart color. the lineart, sketches and my ramblings while doing this are under the read more (if i did this right)

[[MORE]]

this was partially an attempt to get used to drawing in firealpaca again (and just in general, really, since being busy during this last school year kept me from drawing very much and my rust probably shows a lot on that first arle on the left of each picture), and partially an attempt to find a way to draw arle and carbuncle that i liked, since i tend to make my own designs for puyo characters as a sort of composite of their iterations (and just things i like to draw or think work nicely with the character, even if it might not have been in any of their designs), rather than any single one. it was originally just going to be a sketch page, but i got a bit carried away.

the arle in the middle, a redraw of her fire spell sprite from 20th, got most of my attention and it probably shows (especially in carbuncle, who i didn't even bother building up shading colors to use later like i did for arle). i think my favorite arle design to look at is probably the puyotouch version (to the left) or her yon design but when i draw her again, it's most likely to be that arle in the middle—a mixture of her fever and 20th designs—because it's just a lot easier for me to work with and i also just really like arle with blue eyes even if it only happened once. i've still got work to do with getting acquainted with her design, but this was pretty much the first step.

now, carbuncle... poor, poor carbuncle... he's surprisingly hard for me to figure out how to draw but i was so enthusiastic about that arle in the middle that i just kinda threw him on the canvas because i didn't like the empty space and gave up trying to fix him when i realized that i over-estimated his length based on a bit of madou monogatari art. he's almost definitely getting at least a sketch page later just so i can get a handle on him. i'm thinking about his yon, 15th, and 7 designs at the moment, but i really won't know until i actually get to it, which would be tomorrow at the very earliest if i end up being in the mood for it. if nothing else, i'd like to make one vow - no more longbuncle. he is probably the most cursed thing i've ever drawn.

i'd actually planned to have a speedpaint to go along with this (it would only be from lineart to completed shading because i didn't record the rest), but i had difficulties on the editing side of things and i highly doubt tumblr would support a 5-ish hour video (and i don't even know if said video would look good because i haven't really scrubbed through it yet). hopefully i'll get it together next time?

anyways, tell me what you think about this new format! do you like this "finished(-ish) drawing on top, progress and thoughts underneath" thing? did the read more actually work? (please actually tell me so i can at least cut this section out and move it to a reblog if it didn't) if this is good, i'll keep doing it.

[chainsxwsmile]

A quick question: I use the program Medibang Paint to do digital art, and I'm really struggling with layers. I don't know how to use different layers for colours/lines/items of clothing etc What would you recommend?

If Medibang is anything like Photoshop, here’s a (brief and rudimentary) tutorial about how I handle my layers! I’ll be using my OC Serena:

1). Never sketch on the Background. I mean, you CAN but its easier if you don’t. Generally, you can’t erase too easily on the Background and it tends to have a bunch of components that make doing such a hassle, i.e. you can’t really move and select the sketch easily. Make a new Layer 1. You can have multiple sketch layers. There’s no wrong way! For simplicity’s sake, I’m just gonna use one. 

2). Lower the opacity of the sketch layer, and then make a new layer for your line art!

3). Once finished with your line art, click the eye icon to turn off the visibility of the sketch layer to help make things less cluttered on your screen.

4). Using the Magic Wand Tool, select the area of the line art you want to color. We’ll start with the skin.

5). Select -> Modify -> Expand 

6). I prefer 1-pixel expansion. It tends to get most of the areas…

7) But not all. Zoom in and select the missing pixels. Computers aren’t perfect. 

8) Make a new layer underneath the line art layer. Name it skin-flat (or whatever) and fill in the color in that layer! Even after you’ve filled in the color, there may be some uncolored spots. Be careful to check around for those. 

9) To add details to a flat color, check the LOCK box (like adding blush, or scars in this case)

10) For quick-color selections, select the OUTSIDE of the line art, go to INVERSE and then color using a brush tool in a layer under SKIN-FLAT named CLOTHES.

11). HAIR TIME! Since the line art isn’t as straight, there may be some pixels that need selecting. Toggle the INVERSE selections to include any stray pixels. Underneath CLOTHES, create a new layer named HAIR. Color in with a brush tool. 

12) Keep the selection on if you want to add some details to the hair. I added a new layer above HAIR called HAIR DETAILS and added Serena’s dyed colors, and mixed it to a texture using the mixer brush. 

13) Beneath the SKIN-FLAT layer, create a DETAIL layer. You can use this one to fill in the eye whites, teeth color, and earrings or other needed details. [If you want to add something like eye shines, create a new layer named SHINE above the LINE ART layer, and add them. Eye shines are optional, but tend to make the eyes look more alive!]

14) Organize flats. I make a folder and drag the flat color layers into the folder in their designed order, so the layers folder is less cluttered!

15) SHADOW TIME! Create a new layer above the flats and below the line art. For quick shadows, make a selection using the lasso tool and pick what color you want as a shadow color. Either fill in using the gradient tool (used here) or the fill bucket. 

At first, it should come out like you just put pink on top of the image. But if you change the layer property to MULTIPLY, you should get a richer, darker shadow!

16) HIGHLIGHTS! Create a layer below the SHADOW layer. For simplicity, I’ll just use a gradient tool and a yellow color. Now, this CAN look nice as is, but I tend to make the main lighting source a bit more subtle. Change the layer property on HIGHLIGHT layer from Normal to Soft Light. 

For environmental lighting, I use thinner lines on the other side of the light source, where the light could be bouncing off of the objects around Serena. I tend to favor using blue and use the strong Lighten property, with 47% opacity.

17) Now, I merge the FLATS. Right click on the folder, and click Merge Group. 

18) To get rid of the outside shadows and highlight mess, go to the FLATS layer (all flat colors merged together) and select the OUTSIDE of the colors (the white-space). Use the eraser tool, and go to each layer to erase the shadows and lightings outside of Serena. 

19) If you want something a little extra, LOCK the line art layer and color the line art using the brush tool. 

And THERE YOU HAVE IT! 

This only covers the main layers I tend to use in my drawings, but I recommend also experimenting with other layer properties as shadows / highlights etc. 

Hope this helped! -Chainsxwsmile