#And use a working block at work to figure out what I want (and sketch out my teams pain points and potential solutions)

[dontmeanyoudontmissit]

So anyways my plan for the next two months is to kickass at work while I get another job and then leave their asses.

[soularsss]

Drawing Likeness: with Tem!

okaay since a few people actually showed interest in me sharing a bit of what I've been doing to figure out how to really capture likeness, specifically Temuera Morrison, I figured id do my best to write it out

I am also going to entice you with some of my recent clone art! (oooh some of it is unreleaaasedd)

I am putting the whole thing under the cut because I have a feeling its going to be long:

Read more!!!

a couple disclaimers before we start

-This is not some definite post about how everyone should be drawing clones, nor is it in any way claiming that this is the right way. This is just my musings as I stare at a mans face for way too long and try to replicate it

-I am inexperienced. As kind as you all are to me, drawing real people is relatively new to me, capturing a persons identity through their features is difficult for anybody, and I am no different. I have watched many a video on likeness and had my share of classes, but If im being honest, i rarely put it into practice successfully. So there'll probably be errors in this post or things i will come back to in a few months and wish I had said/done differently

ANYWAYs you guys get my vibe im just here to ramble and today we are rambling about mr copy paste. I am doing this for Law, my clone boy, because I plan on delving further into oc fanart and I want to put effort into representing him correctly!

SO LETS BEGIN

Before even deciding what specific pose of a person I want to draw, I tend to grab a bunch of references and compile them like so

(all of these can be found on my pinterest)

Why so many? Well, we are about to delve into facial features, so when we are dealing with photos we have to take into account that there are an abundance of circumstances that will influence how a persons face will appear, some of these include:

focal length: All of these are taken on different devices, and focal length can play a big part in distorting faces

age will play a part, your face changes a bunch throughout your life!

lighting, while not as major, can muddy the waters and make it difficult to interpret facial planes and features

SO, to make sure we get a proper grasp of what's really going on, I like to make sure we have lots of options to compare and contrast with.

Next up! What I like to do is block out the main facial features with colour on different layers, the features I block out usually are the general face shape, eyebrows, eyes, nose and lips. But what you are looking for is the defining features of a person, so that could include other things! Maybe a scar, or some particularly prominent cheekbones.

I dont have any rhyme or reason when it comes to picking my colours, all that matters is you can see all the shapes clearly.

Now I may be biased, because Ive been staring at these for 4 hours, but notice how it still looks like Tem? :D

Anyways, now we can break these parts down, and you'll see what I mean about compare and contrast:

We'll start with isolating the facial shape, putting all these next to eachother you'll notice they arent exactly the same (partly because of my shoddy work) But the distinguishing features run through each shape! Namely the very soft rectangular shape I sketched out in the bottom right there. Along with his soft, wide jaw structure.

I did the same for the rest of his features!

You'll notice I highlight the prominent shapes and ratios,

When drawing anything, it is important to start from the very base shapes and build up.

When drawing something you want to look like someone, those shapes relative to other shapes is what makes it look like them.

I didnt use the same technique with his eyes and lips, but I wrote out some helpful info for them! More importantly for his eyes.

When drawing eyes, I find the most important part is where exactly I draw the creases, (along with the overall shape of the eye itself) it is important to understand where those will present themselves with hooded eyes.

NOW, with an understanding of his facial features in place, lets take a detour to colours:

before I start, a couple things to note:

-Temuera morrison versus the clone troopers in the animated shows:

While I love the animated shows they don't exactly stay close to their source material. Im going to link here to an excellent post discussing whitewashing specifically in relation to the clones.

Temuera is Māori, of Te Arawa (Ngāti Whakaue) and Tainui (Ngāti Maniapoto, Ngāti Rarua) whakapapa, and also has Scottish and Irish ancestry.

The Māori people are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (Aotearoa). Māori originated with settlers from East Polynesia. Māori people often vary in skin tone, Skin colour doesn't determine ethnicity. There's often a correlation but it's not a requirement.

But that is a tangent! What we are aiming for is to stay true to Temuera.

Bringing back my reference photos from before, Ive colour picked a buncha values and theyre all over the place. Why doesnt this work?

Similarly to earlier, you have to take into account the photos themselves. Many things like lighting, colour grading (when it comes to filmography) and makeup, can alter how a skin colour presents in photo.

You can attempt to get true to life by swatching from certain places on the face. Here I've tried to pick some photos with good lighting, and I've also tried to avoid overly lit/shaded areas.

Tem has a very warm, tan skin tone, Instead of colour picking I tend to try and replicate it myself, but I do often bring in references to make sure Im staying true to the source!

a brief intermission to talk about colour theory, something I myself struggle with alot. Often, when putting in flat colours without a background, I will forget to make sure the colours i intend to use will work with the skin tone i have picked! (something that is apparent in older works of mine, not just in relation to clones, but in general, the colours I end up with stray largely from their original sources and it is something I am doing my best to keep in mind and improve in! Although I don't think i am nearly experienced enough in the topic to say I have succeeded yet lol.)

anyways back to Tem :))

Now we can put all of that into practice! Things to keep in mind when drawing out a piece next to a reference like this:

the distance between the eyebrows? how far down his face does his nose go? Basically just, in relation to eachother, where do all those shapes we found earlier, sit?

The screenshot above is from before I did it myself, but instead of directly tracing from the reference, a handy trick I use it to complete your sketch first, and then overlay a traced version to see where your inconsistencies are! Alternatively, you could move your sketch over the image, but I didnt do it that way so!! uh!! im sure it works exactly the same!!!!

When it comes to a final illustration, or any sketch that isnt a direct study, of course you can push and pull and stylise! You'll see below that I'm not exactly 1:1 to my reference photo either.

The important thing with stylisation, or at least my own personal understanding of stylisation is that you need to thoroughly understand the thing you are stylizing! "You need to know the rules to break them" and all that. While shapes, lines and rendering can change, when it comes to drawing someone, and making it look like them, you have to make sure to keep their core features true to source. Caricature can capture a persons vibe whilst drastically exaggerating features, but it will only look like them if you KEEP THOSE FEATURES!!!! SHAPES!!! AHHH!!

But that is just my perspective on the discussion of style versus realism, please dont take is as Law, I dont know what Im on about half the time!!

anyways, after fixing your sketch, add local colours!

I rexified him because why tf not! But this is where you can go crazy with that clone personalization!

And then here is a very very barely rendered version (if you guys want me to explain how i RENDER that would need to be a completely different post, and I havent had anyone ask about it yet so who knows! maybe one day) But I digress, hopefully you learnt something new through my ramblings! It has certainly helped me organize my thoughts and I have also found some areas I would like to focus more on in the future to improve my own art!

TLDR: In order to understand an object, be it a face or a building or literally anything, you have to break it down to its simplest forms, understanding LARGER shapes will help you immensely in the long run

If you guys like this sorta content do let me know! I'd be down to do similar things for armor/anything really, I am very anti gatekeep so really anything at all you want to know! Send me an ask :))

also if you see a spelling mistake.. i don’t know how that got there

[wombywoo]

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

Please enjoy this little step-by-step 💁‍♀️

First things first--references!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now onto the background!

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

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

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

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

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

And now--rendering!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tada!! It's done!

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

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

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

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

Anyway! peace out ✌️

[p0rk-guts]

Velvette if she served cunt

Design breakdown below 👇🏾(BEWARE IT'S VERY LONG)

Alright going into detail about my gripes and edits. Like Velvette but her design is just. Not good to me. None of her (main) outfit details look like they fit to me— pinstripe pants + long fur coat paired with black crop top and scene sleeves? Skull earrings? TINKERBELL HEELS????? Tell me how any of that meshes well or even makes SENSE for the social media influencer persona she's supposed to have going on. Now that I think about it I'm pretty sure she's supposed to be clown themed... But I'm just gonna toss that idea out bc being a revered social media influencer and a clown at the same time just seems a bit oxymoronic to me, and the "clown" details aren't adding shit for me.

And don't think I forgot about her features. Pale ash grey skin and wavy hair at best. If she was supposed to be some type of creature where a nonhuman skin tone would make sense then maybe I could let it go?? But as far as I can tell she doesn't have an object or creature or animal theme like the other V's and if she does I shouldn't need to do detective work to figure it out. There is no reason for *any* of these poc characters to have grey skin, especially since they don't have any other poc features at all.

Sorry that shit gets me heated anyways. Onto my redesign. Gave her a more obviously black skin tone and textured hair bc I love a 30 inch buss down as much as the next girl but considering how there are no significant poc cast members with visibly textured hair I think she deserves to flaunt some coils if no one else will.

Ngl I'm not. A fashion girlie. Idk what's trendy idk what screams "influencer" so a lot of this was just throwing shit at the wall that I've seen around recently but it looks cute enough to me. And there was a bit of inspiration taken from Aliyahcore and ghetto fabulous fashion ❤️

If you can't tell this is shamefully inspired by lovesart23's Velvette reimagining because imo they had some outstanding ideas for Vel. I low-key stole their idea for those floating eyes in her hair that follow her around and help her keep tabs on shit it was just a superb idea for a social media overlord to me. I also took some inspo from @furbtasticworksofart 's redesign because vampire influencer sucking up the souls of her followers in exchange for content??? Too good (also the eyes were supposed to have bat/vamp wings I just forgot 😭) So yeah she's a vampire demon now. Without the features she was looking too human anyhow. Maybe she also feeds off of the energy of her followers through tech like after Vox mind controls them or whatever... Idk idk is that anything

Speaking of Vox, the screen glasses are meant to connect her to him w/ their color and shape while serving the purpose of being like a second phone she can post and check the web with. Like lovesart said in their reimagining vid, Vel doesn't really do more than pose for selfies and scroll on her phone when it comes to social media so in my head she's constantly flipping her shades on and off, using them to scroll and stay active, and they can show when she's not paying attention or respect to something/someone bc scrolling is more worth her time in the moment.

The hearts everywhere are also supposed to kinda represent social media likes + connect her back to Val w/ his heart patterns. That might've been what the hearts in her og design were for but. I just didn't like their placement bc I'm a nitpicker and a hater❕

I have so much more I could say about possible ideas for Velvette because I love evil black girls and I only want them to succeed in my media and I could treat her so much BETTER but I'll refrain bc this is way too long anyway.

Alright for reading/scrolling through all that rambling I offer you the sketches + some alt hair ideas I had

P.S. I'm very open to constructive criticism but if I see anyone just dick riding in my replies or rb's I'm just blocking you on sight ✌🏾

[sonyshock]

Tip/advice for drawing fast?

Of course! Let's see:

Practice speed drawing studies until you have the kind of speed you are happy with! It'll help you synthesize shapes and train your hands to do them in as few strokes as possible. It will also help you understand anatomy (for example) well enough that you can simplify it on the spot.

Collect references in advance!!! As in, one day earlier at least, so you can start the day with a general idea of how the picture will look like and without tiring yourself looking for references. Choice fatigue is a thing and finding references will take a lot of it. I use PureRef to collect references for commissions and about any other thing i want to draw or I have ideas for:

Zoom out. In the beginning and at the end of every stage (coloring, render). It'll help you get the areas of the drawing that can be solved with one stroke solved in one stroke, instead of multiple because you chose a small brush.

Use a big brush for a start. It'll force you to not focus on details. Add details gradually with smaller brushes.

Start with rough shapes rather than bit by bit. If you are drawing a character's full body, you should have the general structure in 10 seconds (general structure can look like two balls and a box, depends on what helps you best)

Redraw instead of fix. If you are stuck, it's probably better to redraw a piece of your picture or even the whole thing.

Don't do lineart. Use the sketch and refine it instead. Of course, this might depend on your style, but keep the choice in mind.

If you are going to render, exclude as many 'flat details' as possible. Body patterns, seams, even wrinkles (occasionally) will make the render more complex, when you can add them over the rendered piece afterwards and take less time.

When you start to render, begin with the borders of the figure. It'll help with blocking and by the time it's finished, it'll help you judge just how much you DO want to render

It's generally not got to only draw one thing unless it's very much by choice, but if you draw something similar very often (let's say, a bodyshot looking 3/4) you will get faster at it. Acknowledge your strengths. Even when branching out, you might want to start by diverging just a bit from it rather than a composition you are not familiar with at all

You might want to start pictures in monochrome and with a big brush instead of using base colors. This might or might not help you work faster depending on if you like refining art.

Schedule your art. Specially commissions. Knowing WHAT you will be drawing every day will help you get in the mind space to get it done and in how long you should.

That's what comes to mind! I might have more I'll add later

[gunilslaugh]

Building Blocks

Oh Seungmin Summary: It seemed like your whole life you were destined to live in your older brother’s shadow. Although there are still people who have the ability to see you, one of them being Oh Seungmin, your brother’s best friend. WC:~10.1K  Warning: Inaccurate information about architecture.  Note: Reader is Gunil’s younger sister.

photo not mine credits to owner.

It was your first day of your second year of college tomorrow and you were just the slightest bit hopeful that people would stop comparing you to your older brother. 

“Goo? Like Goo Gunil? You’re Gunil’s little sister aren’t you?” Your sprinkle of hope was quickly crushed upon those words being the first thing your professor asked you. 

“Yes, Goo y/n…Gunil’s little sister” you say a bit reluctantly. 

“I expect great things of you then,” your professor tells you. You nod and go take a seat. 

“So you’re Gunil’s little sister?” A fellow classmate is quick to turn to you. 

“My name is y/n,” you inform them. 

“Right, you’re gonna have it easy,” they said. 

“Huh?” you ask. 

“Oh come on, your brother is Goo Gunil. He’s a legend and like the ultimate cheat sheet for you. If you ever need to help you can just go to your brother. I’d kill to be you man.” 

So you’d rather be referred to as Gunil’s sister more than your own name? You want to have 95% of people who approach you talk about your brother? You’d rather be seen as an extension of your brother rather than your own person? These are all things you want to say, but instead you brush the person off, turning to face the front. 

“Y/n!” your best friend Jiseok, one of the few people who sees you as your own person, excitedly greets you. He slides into the seat beside you. “I was scared they would try to separate us,” he joked. 

“No way. I don’t think I would survive if we got separated. The first thing the professor asked me was if Gunil was my brother,” you state. 

“Already?” Jiseok looked at you sympathetically. 

“Why would my second year of college be any different than the rest of my life?” you say halfway joking. 

“Don’t say that. I’ll come into class shouting your name everyday till people get it through their skull that you and Gunil are two different people.” 

“Thanks” you smile at Jiseok appreciatively. 

“Alright it seems like the last of you have filed in, so I’ll get on with it. Welcome to Architecture 102. For your first assignment I’d like to create your own house model. Don’t worry about it being perfect, I just want to see where you all are at. What your styles are. To get to know who you are as people through your work. Submit your sketch to me by Friday and the model will be due the week after,” your professor announces to the class. 

“You gonna stick to your signature look?” Jiseok asked you. 

“I think that’s the point of this assignment” you chuckle. 

“Yeah, but still figured I’d ask. We’re starting out fresh. Thought maybe you’d want to try something new,” he said. 

“We’ll see,” you say, pulling out your supplies. You and Jiseok get to work, working on your sketches. 

Arriving home after your first day you feel exhausted. Knowing that you have another three years ahead of you fighting against what seems to be your fate of being stuck in Gunil’s shadow. It feels like the title of “Gunil’s little sister” weighs heavier on you than it used to. You really thought college would be better. Everyone was adults now, so certainly they would have more things to care about than who your older brother was, but alas it somehow seems that the comparisons of you and Gunil are about to reach an all time high. 

“Hey y/n you’re back,” Seungmin smiles at you from the kitchen table. “How was your first day?” he asked. 

“I think half the campus knows me as Gunil’s little sister. All the Architecture majors do at least,” you sigh. A frown tugged at Seungmin’s lips. He knew how tiring of a feat it was for you to always be casted into Gunil’s shadow.

“Should I start picking you up from campus everyday yelling your name till everyone gets the idea that you are your own person,” Seungmin suggested. You let out a chuckle. 

“Jiseok said something similar,” You told Seumgmin. 

“What did he say?” he questioned.

“He said that he’ll come into class shouting my name everyday till people get it through their skull that you and Gunil are two different people,” you relay Jiseok’s words. A small smile graced Seungmin’s lips. He looks at you with a sincere look. 

“There are people who see you for you y/n and I-”

“Y/n when did you get back?” Gunil entered the kitchen. 

“Just a bit ago. How was today's meeting?” you questioned before he could ask you about your first day. 

“With the help of your planning and preparations it was smooth sailing. Wasn’t it Seungmin?” Gunil responded. 

“Went off without a hitch. We’re just tying up the loose ends of it now.” He gestured towards their open laptops. 

“You better hurry up and graduate quickly cause as soon as you have your degree I’m passing the business over to you. I love architecture, but being the head of dad’s company was never what I envisioned. He always talked about handing the business over to you and that was certainly for a reason.” Gunil rubs his thumbs over his temples. 

“Dad would be proud of you if was still around,”You tell Gunil. 

“He’d be proud of you too,” Gunil says. You and him exchange smiles of solidarity. 

“Well I have a sketch to work on, so I’ll leave you guys to finish tying up your loose ends,” you  say with a hint of playfulness in your tone. You walk out of the kitchen and head up the stairs. 

Once you’re out of earshot Gunil says, “I wish y/n was the first born sometimes. She’s way more cut out for this than I am. A better architect too.”

“You’re doing a good job Gunil. Plus you’re not alone, you have y/n and me,” Seungmin comforts him. 

“I know and I’m very grateful because I would be at such a loss right now if it was just me.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Your style is much different from your brother’s,” your Architecture 102 professor notes upon viewing your sketch. 

“Well we are different people,” you point out. 

“Right, of course you are,” he says offhandedly. “What did your brother say about your sketch?” your professor asked curiously. 

“I didn’t show him,” I state. 

“You didn’t show him?” he chuckles. “You don’t have to lie. Honestly it would be silly of you not to, so what did he say?” he pressed. You let out a small sigh. You really didn’t show Gunil your sketch, nor did he ever ask to see it. 

“He said it reminded him of our father’s work,” you lied. 

“It is very reminiscent of your father’s work. The old cabin based framework. It’s nice to see. I look forward to your model.” Your professor approves of your sketch. 

“If he brings up Gunil everytime I submit something I’m not going to survive,” you tell Jiseok, slumping down in your seat and letting your head fall onto the desk. Jiseok reaches over and pats your back. 

“I can ‘accidently’ whack him with my carrying tube if he keeps it up.” Jiseok’s insinuation successfully makes you laugh. 

“I might like to see that even if he discovers that there is no need to continually bring up Gunil whenever he speaks to me.” 

“Guess he better watch out for me then,” Jiseok said mischievously.

You and Jiseok are sitting at a table discussing working on your models together when a dirty blonde haired guy approaches the two of you.

“Hey Jiseok, can I get my notes back?” he questioned. 

“Oh yeah, of course.” Jiseok begins to dig through his bag. 

“Who’s this?” the guy asked Jiseok, tilting his head towards you. 

“Oh right. Jungsu this is my best friend y/n. Y/n this is Jungsu he’s in my business management class,” Jisedok introduces the two of you and hands Jungsu his notes back. 

“You major in architecture too?” Jungsu asked, pointing to your sketch that laid beside Jiseok’s on the table. 

“Yeah,” you smile. 

“Jungsu is in his last year. He’s gonna open a flower shop after he graduates,” Jiseok informs. 

“Oh, that’s nice. Jiseok and I will have to stop by once you open it,” you say. 

“Thanks, what are your plans after graduation? Or is it too stressful to ask sophomores that?” Jiseok laughs a little. 

“It’s cool man. I’m gonna work at y/n’s company,” Jiseok states. 

“Who said I’d hire you?” you joke. Jiseok gives you an offended look.

“How could you not hire your beloved best friend?” You shake your head playfully. 

“I’m gonna take over my dad’s company. My brother is running it right now, but he’s more than eager to pass the position over to me,” you inform Jungsu. 

“Who’s your brother?” Jungsu questioned. A shocked expression quickly covers your face. 

“W-who’s my brother? It’s possible for me to be asked that.” You look at Jiseok. Jiseok chuckles at your shocked expression while Jungsu grows very confused. 

“You just made her month man,” Jiseok states, making Jungsu grow even more confused. 

“Sorry,” you say slowly, coming out of my state of shock. “I get compared to my brother a lot. In fact most people know me as his little sister rather than my name, so…thank you.” Seeing how shocked you are and after hearing your words, Jungsu feels a bit of a tug on his heart. He is still a bit confused though. 

“You don’t need to tell me who he is then. I should get going now, but it was nice to meet you y/n.” Jungsu takes his leave. 

“I seriously didn’t think that was possible,” you say, still feeling taken aback. Jiseok laughs again. 

“Looks like Gunil is only a legend in the architecture world. Outside of it there are plenty of people who have no clue who he is.” What just happened gave you some hope that maybe you aren’t fated to be stuck in your older brother’s shadow forever. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You always look so at peace whenever you’re working on a model.” The voice breaks you out of your tranquil, yet focused state. You turn around to see Seungmin sitting on the couch behind you. 

“How long have you been there?” He’s been there a good fifteen minutes. Seungmin has always liked watching you work. You always looked so calm and focused. There was this light in your eyes that showed how much you loved building models. It made Seungmin’s heart feel warm. He thinks that he could watch you work for hours. 

“Not long,” he replied. He gets up from the couch to join you on the floor, taking a good look at the model you're currently working on. 

“Does it get the Seungmin stamp of approval?” you jokingly question. 

“Your own stamp of approval is way more valuable than mine, but yeah I’d give this my stamp of approval.” He gives you a thumbs up. 

“Why are you over so late?” 

“Gunil needed some help with investment paperwork.” 

“He could’ve asked me. You didn’t have to come out here at night.” 

“Ah yes cause the five minute drive between your house and mine is just so intolerable,” Seungmin jests, making you chuckle. “He knew you were working on your model, so he didn’t want to bother you,” Seungmin explained. “Are you nervous about having to present it?” You shake your head. 

“No, I’m not nervous, but I’m not looking forward to the comments I’ll get about how I probably asked Gunil for advice or whatnot,” you voice. Seungmin places a hand on your shoulder, giving it a squeeze. 

“You and Gunil kill me sometimes,” he states. 

“What?” Laughter rumbles through your chest at his unexpected comment. 

“You found yourself stuck in Gunil’s shadow, always getting compared to him. Getting your own talent downgraded because ignorant people just assume you must’ve turned to Gunil for help. Meanwhile Gunil is constantly comparing himself to you. Trying to improve himself to be more like you. It’s like this weird cycle that doesn’t make any sense,” Seungmin informs. 

“It’s oddly ironic in a way,” you say, a solemn feeling stirring in your chest. 

“Finish up your model,” Seungmin gives you a smile, giving your shoulder another squeeze before pulling his hand away. He gets up from the floor and takes his previous spot back on the couch. 

“Shouldn’t you be heading out?” you questioned. 

“I like watching you work,” he said. 

“O..k?” you let out a mix of a scoff and a laugh turning back to put the finishing touches on your model. You quickly fall back into your tranquil, yet focused state as does Seungmin as he watches you work with a small smile etched onto his lips. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Alright, now we're gonna do a fun little group project. Working with the people sitting behind you. You will work together to build a framework that can withstand an earthquake,” Your professor announces. You and Jiseok look at each other first before turning around in your seats to face the two people behind you.

“Ooh we get to work with Gunil’s little sister.” One of your project partners immediately comments upon you and Jiseok turning around. 

“Her name is Y/n,” Jiseok states with a hint of annoyance in his voice. He too has grown tired of the constant use of your nickname. 

“I-I know, but she is also his sister. It’s not wrong to refer to her as that,” they defend themselves. Clearly a bit taken aback by Jiseok’s tone. 

“It may not be wrong, but it does get annoying when I hear that more than my own name,” you voice. 

“Aye come on why are you two being so uptight? I didn’t mean any harm, I was just having fun,” they said. 

“Let’s just get started on the project,” your other project partner cuts in. The four of you begin to design the framework. 

Later towards the end of class the groups took turns setting their designed frameworks on an earthquake simulator to see if their created design was strong enough to withstand an earthquake. When it came time for your group's turn you placed the framework on the simulator and stood back, watching anxiously as your design shook. The shaking of the simulator came to an end and the framework you and your group created was still standing tall. You and your group exchange celebratory high fives.

“I didn’t expect anything less of the group that had Gunil’s sister, but very good job nonetheless,” your professor compliments. However, even in your own victory Gunil’s name was still being brought up. It made your victory feel less sweet. Your happy smile falters slightly and Jiseok notices it. It makes his own happy smile falter as he watches you try to brush it off. Replacing your once happy smile with a fake one. Your group heads back to your seats. 

“Should we have lunch with Jungsu today?” Jiseok suggested. A genuine smile makes its way back onto your face that makes Jiseok feel at ease. 

“Yeah I like eating with Jungsu and we only have five more months with him before he graduates,” you say.

“Precisely, we need to bother him while we still can. I’ll text him,” Jiseok said, pulling out his phone. 

After finishing up your last class for the day you make your way off campus. You walk by a crowd of people. You’re a little curious about what they could be crowding around, but not interested enough to find out. 

That was until,”Y/n!” you hear your name being called. You turn around to see Seungmin emerging from the crowd and hurrying his way over to you. The crowd of people watch and almost follow him making you realize that he was what the people were crowding around. 

“Seungmin, what are you doing here?” you ask.

“I met with a client in the area. Figured I would pick you up afterwards,” he tells you. 

“And create a crowd?” you poke lightheartedly. 

“I didn’t think that after graduating three years ago that I would still be popular on campus. I would’ve stayed in the car if I’d known,” he chuckled. 

“You and Gunil are legends. Top two of your class,” you say. 

“That’s because of you.” Seungmin bumps his shoulder with yours. He escorts you over to his car and opens the passenger door for you. 

“Thank you,” you say, slipping into the car. He closes the door behind you and jogs over to the driver’s side, opening the door and settling in. 

“Have you thought about interning yet?” Seungmin asked. 

“Seungmin I have five, well four cause you need to send in the application a month ahead of time, but still four months before needing to decide where I’ll intern for the summer,” you chuckle. 

“It never hurts to be prepared. I was scrambling at the last minute to figure out where to intern.” 

“I appreciate your concern. I was planning on deciding after we have the intern fair,” you tell him. 

“Speaking of that, I need to prepare for it,” Seungmin notes. 

“You’re having a booth?” you question. 

“My father decided to let me represent the company this year, yeah,” he answers. 

“Represent or draw people in with your pretty face.” You playfully reach your hand out to cup his chin. 

“Behave, I am driving.” He grabs your hand with one of his, taking it away from his chin. His hand remains holding yours for a few moments longer than necessary before letting go and bringing his hand back to the wheel.

“Because holding your pretty face is so distracting,” you snicker. Not knowing how distracting it really is for Seungmin. The way he had to try and control his racing heart the moment your hand cupped his chin. How he wanted nothing more than to turn over and look at you. Too see the cheeky smile you probably had on your face. The sparkles in your eyes. 

He knew that you would have pulled your hand away from his chin on your own accord. Probably only in a matter of seconds, yet he could not fight the urge of wanting to feel your hand in his.

Seungmin has actually long had feelings for you. He may be best friends with your brother, but you were actually the sibling he saw first. His father had some business with yours and just so happened to bring him along. They were walking up to your father’s office when he saw you through the window. Sitting on your dad’s lap helping him with a model. You looked so at peace and content it stirred something inside Seungmin’s little nine year old heart.

“Mr. Oh you are here, welcome,” your dad greets Seungmin’s father. Standing up from the chair and lifting you from his lap, setting you on the ground. “This is my daughter y/n and son Gunil.” Your dad placed a hand on your shoulder then with his free arm gestured over to where Gunil was sitting on the couch. It was only then that Seungmin noticed the presence of your brother. 

“This is my son Seungmin,” his father introduced him. 

“How about you kids go acquaint yourselves over there?” Your dad points over to the couch sitting area where Gunil sat on the couch. “I believe our sons are the same age, nine?” your father checked. Mr. Oh nodded in confirmation. 

“And your little one?” Mr Oh asked, looking at you.

“Six!” you answered proudly. “Come on, let's leave our fathers to their business.” You take a few steps over to Seungmin grabbing his hand and leading him over to the sitting area. Seungmin smiled at the feeling of your little hand holding his. 

“Wait ,does that mean Gunil is going to do a booth for our company too?” you questioned. Seungmin waits a moment before nodding.

“He is, but he doesn’t know if he’s going to go himself or have another company staff go,” Seungmin tells you. 

“He can go,” you say. Seungmin glances at you. He’s about to say something, but you beat him to it. “It’s because of me right? I’m the reason he’s unsure about going himself.” You fiddle with your fingers. 

“It’s not just that. You know he’s still not really comfortable with all the business stuff. He’s worried about not doing a good job at representing the company,” Seungmin discloses. You let out a sigh. 

“Why is he such an overthinker? The intern fair isn't solely about talking business. It’s a lot about talking about the stuff he loves about architecture. Plus most students will just want to intern there because it’s his company. His name on its own will be enough to fill an intern list,” you ramble. Seungmin chuckles lightly at your rambling. 

“Tell him that yourself then,” Seungmin insists. 

“But do I mention that I’m ok with him doing it or do I just smack him upside the head and tell him to stop overthinking it?” Seungmin can’t help but laugh. 

“Do whatever you want,” he says while giggling. 

Soon enough Seungmin pulls up in front of your house.

“Are you coming in?” you asked. 

“Of course I am.” Seungmin smiles at you. The two of you get out of the car and walk up to your house. You and Seungmin enter the house together and your feet stop in their tracks. 

“Mom!” you called out excitedly, dropping your bag onto the floor. Your mom just as excitedly opens her arms rushing over to hug you. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming back?” you asked, whilst you two sway side to side, embraced. As far as you knew your mom was supposed to be on her business trip for a few more days.

“I wanted to surprise you,” she says, pulling away to look at you. “How’s college going? I can’t believe you’re already halfway through your sophomore year. Growing up so fast.” She rubbed your shoulders. 

“If you think she’s growing up fast then what am I?” Gunil appears through the front door. Your mom immediately goes over to hug Gunil. 

“Oh don’t worry you make me feel very old. Seeing you run your dad’s company,” your mom said in a playful tone.

“Does Seungmin make you feel old too?” you jest, resulting in your mom chuckling. 

“Yes, of course he does. He is like a second son to me. I watched him grow up with you and Gunil.” Your mom then goes over to give Seungmin a hug too. “Thank you for keeping my house standing,” she tells Seungmin. An offended look falls over both yours and Gunil’s faces. 

“Mom we’re literally architects, how can you imply that we would knock the house down? That’s one problem you shouldn't have to worry about” Gunil states.

“Ok, so maybe you two wouldn’t knock it down, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I walked into it and it was completely remodeled one day.”

“You say that like it’d be a bad thing,” you remark. A warm chuckle erupts from your mother.

“Oh, I’m sure you two would do an amazing job.” She slings one arm over either of yours and Gunil’s shoulders, pulling you each into her sides. “But I like the house how it is right now.”

After your cute little reunion you all settle in. Your mom going off to her room for a bit. You were about to go off to your room to work on whatever you needed to get done, however before you can Seungmin stops you by gently grabbing your wrist. Before you can question what he’s doing his eyes shift over to Gunil, who was sitting on the couch, typing away on his laptop. You remember the conversation you had with Seungmin in the car about the intern fair. Then you nod in understanding and make your way over to Gunil. You sit down beside him and knock him with your elbow.

“What?” He turns to look at you. 

“Stop overthinking it and do the intern fair,” you tell him. 

“How did-” Gunil looks at you puzzledly then looks over to where Seunmgin is sitting at the kitchen table. Seungmin shrugs in response and Gunil sighs. He knows Seungmin must have told you about his troubles concerning the intern fair.

“You showing up only would be enough to get people to sign up for an internship,” you state. Gunil sighs again. 

“But that’s not what I want. I want to show that Building Blocks is a really good company. I want people to apply for internships because they want to work for the company. Not work there because it’s my company,” he explained. 

“Still we spent probably more than half of our childhood inside of those walls. You know what to say to show how great of a company Building Blocks is. Stop overthinking it.” Gunil remains silent for a few moments, letting your words sink in. He knew that you were right, but his head was still filled with doubts. 

“But what if it doesn’t sound professional enough?” Gunil voiced his concern. 

“It’s an intern fair not a business proposal. It doesn’t have to be the most professional thing ever. You’re just talking about the company, what they would do as interns there. Just explain how you would to a friend,” you tell him. 

“See, you’re so much more cut out for this than I am,” Gunil says. 

“Gunil I’m honestly not. You just get too caught up in your own head.” You poke your finger into his head. “Look if you’re too stressed about it I can help you put in together ok?” you offer.

“If you’re offering help I could probably use it too,” Seungmin says in a lighthearted tone, joining you and Gunil on the couch.

“I helped y’all through college, now I’m helping you run companies.” You shake your head jokingly.

“Just think of it as practice, cause Building Blocks will be yours soon enough,” Gunil says. 

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You’re more than eager to pass it over to me, but in order to do that I need to graduate. So if you excuse me I’ll be going to work on my assignments now.” You stand up from the couch. “But seriously. Don’t. Think. About. It. So. Much.” You pat Gunil’s head a little harder than necessary in between words. Gunil smacks your hand away from his head. 

“Go do your assignments,” he sends you away. You chuckle at his bossy tone as you walk away, heading to your room. 

“So you can tell y/n about my problems, but you can’t confess your long time feelings for her?” Gunil turns to face Seungmin after you disappeared off to your room. 

“First off, we both know you wouldn’t have been able to do the fair without her telling you too. Secondly, I can’t just confess to her. I’m pretty sure she only sees me as a brother too. She doesn’t really treat me any differently than how she treats you,” Seungmin said. 

“‘Doesn’t really’ isn’t ‘the same’ now is it?” Gunil points out. 

“We have an intern fair to get prepping for,” Seungmin adverts. 

“Seungmin,” Gunil said sternly. “Are you just never going to tell her?”

“Shouldn’t you be going all protective big brother. ‘Stay away from my sister!’ right now?” Seungmin again tries to escape the conversation. 

“Seungmin, let's be real you fell in love with her the second her little six year old hand grabbed your little nine year old one. I’m shocked she hasn’t caught on to how you really feel about her,” Gunil states. 

“Fortunately she has other things preoccupying her mind,” Seungmin says. Gunil lets out a heavy sigh. 

“I don’t think I can just watch you be silently in love with her for the rest of my life man,” he says. 

“So what? Are you gonna rat me out?” Seungmin questions. 

“Unfortunately, ratting out somebody’s feelings for someone else isn’t really cool, so no. However, I will start bothering you about confessing to her,” Gunil declares. 

“Gunil please, I will tell her how I feel one day. I just don’t think now is the right time,” Seungmin states. 

“No time like the present,” Gunil pokes. 

“Just give me some more time,” Seungmin says. 

“How much more time? Till we’re forty?” Gunil folds his arms. 

“No, not till we’re forty. Just till I get it fingered out,” Seungmin defends. 

“So forty,” Gunil sassed. Seungmin sighed, dropping his head. 

“Not forty,” he refuted again. He doesn’t really know how to go about confessing to you though. How was he supposed to tell the girl that he had been in love with his entire life, that he had been in love with you his entire life? He wanted nothing more than to tell how he truly felt, but at the same time he had no clue how to get the words out. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was the day of the intern fair and frankly as you stood outside of the double doors you seriously debated turning back and just ditching it. Despite the fact that you were so supportive about Gunil doing the intern fair, you were actually dreading it. Mainly because you know that once you walk in through those doors you will be no more than Gunil’s little sister. People won’t want you to intern at their company because you’re you. It will be because you’re Gunil’s little sister. With a deep breath you put on a brave face and walk in through the doors. 

After entering the room your eyes scan the room, looking at all the different booths set up. Your eyes fell on where Seungmin was standing talking to a small group of students. A small smile graced your face as you watched Seungmin interacting with the students. He looked so natural as he went over the information in the pamphlet about his company. 

“I’m a little shocked to see you here,” the voice of one of your classmates pulls you from your trance. 

“Why?” you asked, turning to look at them. 

“I just assumed you’d intern at your brother’s company. Seems like the simple thing to do,” they say. 

“I’m not interning there. I don’t need people gossiping about how I was handed an internship,” you state. Your classmate nods understandingly. 

“But with your last name companies will still probably be quick to offer you an internship you know?” they said. You let out a sigh. 

“I know, I’m cursed into being Gunil’s little sister,” you responded. Your classmate’s lips draw into a line at your words. 

“I’m sorry by the way,” they apologize. 

“For what?” You gave them a slightly perplexed look. 

“I just viewed you as Gunil’s little sister too, but after seeing you work in Architecture 102. I can see that you are a really good architect on your own. You don’t need your brother,” they expressed. 

“Thanks, that means a lot actually. Most people don’t ever bother to try to get to know me after finding out Gunil is my brother,” you say. 

“I will reluctantly say that I was one of them too, but then I overheard you explaining to your group mates during the earthquake simulator and I realized that you really did know what you were talking about,” they tell you. 

“Thanks,” you say once more.

“Well, enjoy the fair,” your classmate tells you. You nod telling them a quick “you too” and part ways.

Admittedly the fair was already going better than you expected. However the real battle had not yet begun. You stand there for a few moments looking around the room, trying to decide which booth you should start with. 

“If you don’t start with my booth I might be a little offended,” Seungmin spoke from over your shoulder making you jump. “Sorry,” Seungmin chuckles, placing his hand on your shoulder. 

“Where did you come from?” you asked, eyes darting over to where his booth was and back at him. 

“I saw you and wanted to say hi,” he tells you. 

“Yet you didn’t start with that,” you said jokingly, making Seungmin laugh. 

“You’re right, my bad. Hi y/n,” he greeted you properly. 

“Hi,” you return with a subtle chuckle. “Show me your booth,” you add. Seungmin nods and leads you over to where his booth was. Once you’re at his booth he humors you by handing you a pamphlet and going over the information with you. 

“Any questions?” he asked you playfully after he finished. 

“Just one I suppose.” You pause for a second before continuing. “If I intern at your company do I get to see your pretty face everyday?”

“I know you’re saying that as a joke, but you’re actually not the first person to say that today,” he informs you. 

“Are you serious?” you asked in disbelief.

“I wish I was joking,” he replies in all seriousness. 

“How’s Gunil doing?” you change the topic of conversation. 

“You can go over there and see for yourself you know?” He gestures over to where Gunil’s booth is set up. “He’d probably appreciate you popping in over there too.” 

“Yeah I should,” you state, looking over at Gunil’s booth. Watching him as he organizes the pamphlets on the table. Despite knowing that you should. You find yourself feeling nervous about going over there. 

“Go on,” Seungmin says, giving you an encouraging smile. You smile back and turn to walk towards Gunil’s booth. It feels like you can hear your steps echo throughout your ears as you approach Gunil’s booth. 

“For someone who was so nervous you look pretty composed right now,” you say announcing your presence. Gunil looks up at you, letting out a breathy laugh. 

“I’ve been managing, but you were also right. This isn’t as serious as it seemed in my head,” he states. 

“See you just need to relax,” you say. 

“That’s easier said than done. Have you checked out the other booths? Any ideas where you want to intern?” he questioned you. 

“Not yet, I only stopped by Seungmin’s,” you tell him. 

“Now who needs to relax,” he used your own words against you. 

“Very funny,” you remark sarcastically. “Plus it’s not like I’m scared about going over there and talking to the people. It’s like how you want people to intern at our company because it’s a good company. Not because it’s your company. I want companies who want me to intern there because I’m me and not because I’m your sister,” you explain. A bit of a glum look took over Gunil’s face, but he perked up pretty quickly to say. 

“Seungmin’s company would gladly take you for you.” A smile tugged at your lips. 

“Yeah they would, but I feel like that’s taking the easy way out,” you voice.

“You can decide that after you check out the other companies,” Gunil tells you. You nod. Your conversation with Gunil ends shortly after that and you find yourself walking to the first booth in the line of booths. 

Unfortunately visiting the other booths seemed to go just as you thought that they would. Once they found out you were Goo Y/n, Gunil’s sister they became ten times more interested in you and the topic naturally shifted over to him as well. You were able to keep up a foe happy persona for the first four booths, but by the eleventh and final booth you felt completely drained. 

A big sigh fell from your lips as  you sat outside in an empty courtyard. You stared at the mess of pamphlets in your hand, recalling all your conversations with the representatives running the booths. 

“We would love to have Gunil’s little sister interning for us.” “Even if you’re half as good as your brother. You’d still be an amazing asset to us.” “Not that we wouldn’t be more than glad to steal you away from your brother, but why aren’t you interning there?” 

“Are you ok?” a voice asked. You turn your head to see Seungmin standing a couple feet away by the door. He makes his way over to you, taking a seat beside you. 

“None of them cared about my preferences or skill set. Once they found out my name was Goo they instantly were ready to offer me an internship,” you vent. “I really should hurry up and graduate. I don’t know how much longer I can put up with this.” 

“Y/n,” Seungmin starts. 

“No, I mean like I’m fine. It just feels really exhausting every now and then and I can’t even really blame Gunil, cause he hasn’t done anything. He actually is a really good brother. I guess it’s my fault, in a way, actually. I’m the one who helped him become the aritech that he is. I set the expectations upon myself really. It's just really frustrating that everyone assumes I get his help, you know? Like they’re constantly discrediting me. Is it really hard to believe that I can be a good architect on my own? Seriously, you know when I showed my Architecture 102 professor my first project he asked what Gunil thought of it? When I told him that I didn’t show him he didn’t believe me. He said that it would be silly to not show him. Others essentially have the same reaction when I say I don’t go to Gunil for help. They think I’m lying. I try my best to not let it bother me but it does,” you let out all your pent up feelings. Some tears gloss over your eyes. 

“Y/n,” Seungmin says your name again. 

“That too.” You take a breath. “I feel like I hardly even get called by my own name,” you say. A sniffle leaves your nose and a tear slips from your eye. 

“You’ve always been y/n to me,” Seungmin tells you. He cups your face ever so gently in one. Almost as if you're made of glass. He swipes his thumb across your cheek, drying your tears. “Ever since I saw you sitting on your dad’s lap all those years ago.” 

“I really miss my dad,” you smile sadly. “We were supposed to be architects together…and I was really looking forward to it.” Seungmin pulls you into a hug. He lovingly cradles the back of your head and rubs your back. 

“I know,” he soothes you. “But you know he would be so proud of you. He talked about you being the future heir of Building Blocks when you were only seven. I’m sure he knows how amazing of an architect you would become.” He pulled away from the hug to look at you. “Plus you know what else?” 

“What?” you ask. 

“You inspired me to become an architect,” Seungmin tells you. Your eyes widen in surprise. 

“I did? Weren’t you always going to become one because of your dad?” you asked. 

“My dad wanted me to become one to eventually take over the company, yes, but I didn’t really want to be one until you,” he informs. 

“What did I do to make you want to be one?” you question. 

“You were so passionate about it and you always looked so at ease when you were drawing sketches or working on models. It made me think that maybe there were things I was missing. You made me want to fall in love with architecture.” 

“And you did?” you smile. 

“So hard and-” The words “and I fell even harder for you” were right on the tip of Seungmin’s tongue, yet he held them back. Maybe now wasn’t the best time to confess to you. You were already upset. A lot of your pent up emotions came spilling out of you. He didn’t really want to confess to you when you were feeling vulnerable. 

“And?” you urged him to continue. Seungmin takes a breath and grabs the mess of pamphlets from your hands. 

“And, I think this company would suit you best for interning.” He hands you the pamphlet for Archway Architecture. 

“I was half expecting you to give me your company’s pamphlet,” you say with a slight chuckle. 

“Oh if you want to come to Construct Creations I will welcome you with open arms, but this company's preferences and style are similar to yours. I think you would be a good fit there,” he tells you. 

“Thank you,” you sincerely thank him. 

“Don’t mention it. You know I’m always looking out for you,” he reminds you. 

“I do and I appreciate it. Know that I’m here for you too,” you say.  Seungmin smiles. 

“I know and I appreciate that too.” 

“And since I look out for you. It’s probably time for you to head back to your booth and draw more students in with your pretty face,” you lighten up the mood. 

“Yeah, I probably should be getting back,” Seungmin stands up. “You sure you’re alright? I can leave Hyeongjun to fend for himself. His pretty face does a good job at bringing in people too.” 

“I’m ok now Seungmin.” You stand up. “Get back to work.” you playfully shove him. 

“Ok, ok, I’m going.” He raised his hands in defense. “But.” He turns around to face you and places his hand on the side of your head. “Let me know whenever you’re having a hard time, ok?” 

“I will.” you nod. Seungmin nods as well and removes his hand from your head. He then turns to go back inside, taking one last look at you before he disappears behind the door. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“It's just really frustrating that everyone assumes I get his help, you know? Like they’re constantly discrediting me. Is it really hard to believe that I can be a good architect on my own? Seriously, you know when I showed my Architecture 102 professor my first project he asked what Gunil thought of it? When I told him that I didn’t show him he didn’t believe me. He said that it would be silly to not show him. Others essentially have the same reaction when I say I don’t go to Gunil for help. They think I’m lying.”  Gunil overhears your words from the other side of the door. He feels a heavy weight tug on his chest. He knew that you had a hard time due to being his little sister. That you could get casted into his shadow, but he didn’t think it was this bad. Certainly people could see how great of an architect you were? If people paid any attention to you at all it would be easy to see that. 

“Oh Gunil it’s you. I was hoping I would get to see you today when I heard you were coming.” The Architecture 102 professor greets Gunil. 

“Yeah, long time no see,” Gunil greets back. 

“So how’s it been running a company now?” the professor questioned.

“Oh I can’t wait to pass it over to y/n. The business running side of things has never really been my forte,” Gunil answers. 

“Pass it over to y/n?” the professor repeats. 

“Yes, she’s so much better at working the business side and she’s a better architect in general. She has been helping me since I started college. You know that first project you have us to do? Building the model.” 

“Yeah it’s my mandatory first assignment, but are you telling me y/n helped you with yours?” the professor checked. 

“She tried,” Gunil chuckles as he thinks back at the memory. “I showed it to her the night before and she told me that the doors didn’t match with the overall style of the house. That they looked out of place, but at that time I was in my first year of college and she was still a mere highschooler. I pulled the I’m a college student I’m sure I know better than you card. And you know what you said to me about my model?” Gunil tells the story. 

“That the doors looked like they didn’t belong,” the professor finishes. 

“It was quite the humbling moment. I always listened to her after that though. I had to get the y/n stamp of approval before I turned anything in.” 

“And you graduated top of your class,” the professor notes. 

“Owe it all to my sister,” Gunil says proudly. “I can only hope that I can be as good as her one day,” he adds. Your Architecture 101 professor feels a great amount of guilt stirring in his stomach. Here your brother was talking so highly of you, so proudly of you and all this time he was thinking that you were going to Gunil for help. It’s not like he didn’t think you were a good architect. He’s seen how you work in class, but he definitely thought that Gunil was playing a part in your skills.

“So she’s the brains behind the operation?” He asked with a bit of a self-reproached tone.

“You could definitely put it like that,” Gunil chuckles. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Y/n can I speak to you for a moment?” your Architecture 102 professor asked you after class.

“Did he just refer to me by my name?” you look at Jiseok with a surprised and confused look. 

“I think he did,” Jiseok replied with a just as confused and surprised look. 

“Well, let’s catch up after,” you say. 

“For sure,” Jiseok said. Jiseok makes his way out of class and you head over to your professor's desk. 

“You wanted to talk to me?” you state. 

“Yeah I talked to Gunil at the fair the other day,” your professor started. You nod along. “I owe you an apology,” he told you. 

“For what?” you ask. 

“Gunil told me that you were the one who helped him through college and that you’re still helping him now,” he discloses. “So I’m sorry for thinking that you needed your brother’s help to be as good as you are,” he apologized. 

“I learned most of my skills from my father,” you state. 

“That shows a lot in your work honestly. Your style actually differs a lot from your brother’s, so thinking back on it I’m not sure why I was so convinced that you were using him for help,” he says. 

“Once people assume that I’m using him for help they don’t really think about it,” you said. “Once they cast me into his shadow, they don’t care about actually getting to know me,” you added. 

“I’m sorry that I was one of them too. I especially feel that as a professor I should have known better,” your professor apologizes again. 

“I really appreciate your apology sir,” you express. 

“Gunil is really proud of you too, you know?” he checks. You let out a bit of an awkward chuckle.

“I mean surely there is some part of me that knows he is, but it is kinda awkward to have those kinds of sentimental talks with your sibling,” you say. Your professor chuckles at your words. 

“Yeah I get that. Somedays I wouldn’t be caught dead telling my brother I love him,” he laughs lightly. 

“Well if that’s all, I’ll get going now,” you dismiss yourself. You walk out of class feeling lighter. Like maybe you weren’t destined to spend your whole life stuck in Gunil’s shadow. 

When you met up with Jiseok to tell him what just happened his eyes grew as wide as saucers, but he recovered quickly to throw a humorous comment. 

“So I don’t have to accidentally whack him with my carrying tube anymore?” he played. 

“I still think that that would be a funny sight, but no I suppose there is no reason for you to accidentally whack him anymore,” you reply. 

“This is a good thing, but it feels really weird,” Jiseok notes. 

“Oh I know,” you chuckle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“My Architecture 102 professor apologized to me the other day,” you notified Gunil. The two of you were sitting at the kitchen island working on getting stuff done. 

“He did?” Gunil asked. You nod. 

“It was because of what you told him at the intern fair,” you say. Your statement makes Gunil think back to the internfair, but not the conversation he had with your Architecture 102 professor. The one he overheard you having with Seuingmin. 

“You know I have been meaning to talk to you, but I didn’t really know how to bring it up,” he says. 

“Bring what up?” you question, feeling a bit confused at his words.

“I overheard you talking with Seungmin a bit. About how people always assume that you get help from me when it comes to architecture. That it feels like they’re constantly discrediting you,” he speaks with a hesitant and careful voice.

“You heard that?” you ask, feeling a little bad. As frustrating as it was to go through it was never Gunil’s fault either. 

“I never realized how hard of a time you had because of me,” he tells you with a sorrowful look in his eyes. 

“It wasn’t your fault. You are a good brother,” you say. 

“Then why did you never tell me?” he questioned. 

“I didn’t want to stress you out any more than you already were. Plus what really was there for you to do?” you explain. 

“Something, I don’t know what, but certainly I could have done something.” You could hear the upsetness in his voice. 

“Gunil this is why I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t want you to be upset,” you tell him. Gunil takes a calming breath. 

“I’m not upset…No I am, but how could I not be? You’re the best architect I know and you’re telling me that no one has been acknowledging your skills. It is upsetting,” he firmly states. 

“Not no one. Jiseok has always acknowledged my skills. He became my best friend for a reason you know and obviously Seungmin treasures my skills. He’s always been there for me,” you smiled. Gunil smiles too. He’s glad that you have people around you who support you, but he still wishes that you got the recognition you deserve.

“You know sometimes I can’t help but think that if dad was still here how different things would be,” Gunil admits. The atmosphere of the room falls to a more somber mood. 

“I think about that too,” you share. “My dream wasn’t just to be an architect, but to be an architect alongside him. I wanted to work with him on projects. I mean I know technically did, but like I wanted to do it when we were both professionals,” you disclose. Gunil nods. 

“I know, you were practically dad’s right hand man. I kinda regret not spending more time with him,” Gunil reveals. 

“Gunil you were being a regular kid, running around and playing. I was the weird one who would rather work on models than play with toys,” you laugh. Gunil can’t help but laugh as well. 

“That’s true you were a weird kid,” Gunil jokes. “I still wished I spent more time with him though. Then I wouldn’t have to rely on you so much.” 

“He left us suddenly, so there are lots of things we didn’t get to do,” you say in a voice filled with penitence. “But I think he would be super proud of us,” you try to bring the mood back up. 

“He would be proud of you for sure, but I feel like a let down sometimes,” Gunil disclosed. 

“Do not say that!” you smack him upside the head. “You are not a let down,” you tell him. 

“I struggle so much with running the company though. It’s hard to not feel like a let down.” He rubs the back of his head. 

“Dad never expected you to run the company. He knew you were never into that. He would be so proud that you still took the task of running Building Blocks on,” you state. “You know I’m right, so don’t even try to say otherwise,” you quickly say before he can argue with you. Gunil sighs, knowing that he is at defeat. 

“This was supposed to be about me confronting you for hiding your struggles from me. How did you flip the tables on me?”

“Cause I’m ok Gunil. It does get rough from time to time and I do have my moments, but I always pull through,” you say. 

“I just wish it wasn’t like that for you,” he said. 

“It’s fine, Seungmin was really good at picking up when I was having a hard time. He always knows how to make me feel better too,” you told. Gunil smirks and lets out a mix of a smirk and a scoff. 

“Obviously he is. Seungmin never wants to see you sad. He always wants to make you happy,” he said. 

“He does,” you replied without thinking much of it. 

“He’d be very pleased to hear that,” Gunil remarks with a hint of something in his voice. 

“What do you mean?” you questioned. 

“Are you really that oblivious?” Gunil remarked. 

“Huh? Oblivious to what?” you shrug your shoulders. 

“Do you see Seungmin as another brother?” he asked. You paused for a moment to think. You didn’t really understand why Gunil was asking you this, but it did make you realize that you didn’t view Seungmin as another brother. 

“No, I don’t. He’s…Seungmin” you chuckle. “Why are you asking though?”

“Cause I don’t wait till I’m forty,” Gunil answers, but it only makes you more confused. 

“What?” Gunil shakes his head as he sighs. 

“You should understand soon, hopefully,” he replies. You and Gunil’s focus returns to the work in front of you, but a piece of your mind is still wondering what Gunil was talking about. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Congrats on finishing your second year of college,” Seungmin says, taking a seat beside you on the couch. It was nighttime and you were just basking in the feeling of not having to get any work or studying done.

“Thanks, I got two more to go though,” you say. 

“You got it no problems.” Seungmin nudges you lightly.

“I wouldn’t say no problems. You know I had a few moments this year,” you chuckle. Of course Seungmin knows that. Cause it became increasingly harder for him to keep his feelings for you in each time he watched you go through a hard time. 

“Yeah, but I was always there for you wasn’t I?” he reminded. 

“You’re always here for me,” you nudged him back. Seungmin was quiet for a moment, seemingly thinking about something before he answered. 

“Cause I care about you,” he spoke. 

“I care about you too,” you return. 

“No, I mean…” he trails off. He wants to tell you how he feels so bad, yet he also doesn’t know if this is the right time. Should he make it more special? He feels like telling the person that he’s loved for his love life that he loves them should be more special. However, he also kind of thinks that special enough doesn’t exist. That if he keeps holding himself back he may actually turn forty before he ever confesses to you and that would be much too late. 

“You mean what?” you asked. 

“Do you remember the first day that we met?” he questioned you. 

“Of course it was at my dad’s office. I was sitting on my dad’s lap working on a model with him when you and your dad came in,” you recalled. 

“You held my hand too.” Seungmin placed his hand over where yours rested on the couch. 

“Yeah I did, so that our dads could talk,” you state. 

“I barely knew your name then, yet I still didn’t want you to let go of my hand once you held it,” he tells you. 

“Seriously?” you ask. Feeling very aware of his hand that was on top of yours, especially as he wrapped his fingers around your hand to hold it. 

“Mhm” he hummed. “And remember how I told you that you made me want to be an architect? That you made me want to fall in love with architecture,” he checked. You nodded. “As I fell in love with architecture I also fell in love with you too. Actually I probably fell for you first,” he confessed. 

“You love me?-Like love love me? Romantically?” you check with a bit of a shocked stutter. Seungmin smiles and holds your hand tighter. 

“Yes, I love you romantically. Has that really not been obvious?” Suddenly you recall your conversation a couple months back. 

“He’d be very pleased to hear that,” Gunil remarks with a hint of something in his voice. 

“What do you mean?” you questioned. 

“Are you really that oblivious?” Gunil remarked. 

Maybe you really were that oblivious. Seungmin’s care for you always did feel different from how Gunil’s felt, so that’s probably why you never viewed him as a brother, yet you never picked up on the real reasoning behind it either. Now you feel a little stupid for not realizing it. 

“I really was that oblivious,” you laugh lightly. 

“Yeah, you were. I don’t know if I'm grateful for it or not,” Seungmin laughed too. “Maybe I would have confessed sooner if you picked up on it,” he adds. 

“I mean you did it before you hit forty,” you say jokingly. 

“How did you know that?” questioned with his eyebrows raised. 

“It really confused me at the time, but Gunil said something about not wanting to wait until he was forty,” you explained. 

“Dude tried to out me,” Seungmin played. 

“Yeah, but I was dense as a rock apparently, so it didn’t do anything,” you say. Seungmin laughs, squeezing your hand tighter and you realize that you quite like the feeling of his hand holding yours. “And even though I was as dense as a rock. You always made me happy,” you tell him. 

“Then are you saying?” He looked at you with hopeful eyes. 

“Maybe I obliviously fell in love with you too,” you reveal, making Seungmin’s eyes light up. 

“So, I can ask you to be mine then?” he questioned. You smiled, squeezing his hand.

“Yes, I’ll be yours,” you answer.

“I’d say that I’ll be yours too, but I’ve already been yours for a long time,” he says. 

“Ok, that was cheesy,” you lean away from him, but Seungmin pulls you into a hug now instead. 

“Whatever, I’ve been in love with you since I was nine. Let me be a little cheesy,” he said, resting his chin over your shoulder. You wrap your arms around him too and lean your head against his. 

“I guess I can let it slide considering that” you say playfully. Seungmin feels his heart fill with warmth, just as it did when he was nine years old and you grabbed his hand. Only this time it was so much better. You were his now. His to hold and love. He surely was never gonna let you go. 

Gunil happens to walk down stairs seeing you and Seungmin embraced. 

“If that’s not a we’re dating now hug. I’m going to be very disappointed,” he says, breaking your and Seungmin’s cute little moment. The two of you pull away from each other to look at where Gunil is standing, leaning against the chair diagonally across from the two of you on the couch.

“I told you I’d do it before we were forty,” Seungmin responded. He holds your hand in his again, lifting it up. 

“I honestly doubted that, but I’m very happy to have been proven wrong,” Gunil said. He stands there for a few more moments before standing up straight. “Ok, I’ll leave you two alone now,” he excused himself. 

“At least don’t have to worry about him being an overprotective ‘stay away from my little sister’ big brother,” you joke. 

“Oh, I think he was ready to shove you into my arms if I didn’t confess soon,” Seungmin says. You chuckle at the mental image of Gunil doing that. You and Seungmin sink against the back of the couch, your head falling onto his shoulder. 

“You know I think I feel as at ease as when I work on models when I’m with you,” you voice after several minutes of silence, just enjoying one another’s company. The warm feeling spreads even farther across Seungmin’s chest. His heart filled entirely with happiness.

“I think that’s the biggest compliment you could ever give me.” He wraps his arm around you, letting you fall into his side. 

“Maybe.” You adjust your head to lay on his chest. That’s where the two of you stay for the rest of the night and if Seungmin could have his way he would have you to stay like that for the rest of your lives. He loves nothing more than having you be by his side and you could say the same.

taglist: @purplelady85 @gingerjunhan @ezlynkisses @chewednails @mon2sunjinsuver @mxlly143 @seungseung-minmin

comment or message me to be added!

A/N: I'm back! Did you miss me? lol I worked really hard on this fic so I hope that you guys like it. I know it's more slice of life than romantic, but I hope I added enough romance to make you all satisfied.

[justarandompersononthehellsite]

So... @muffinlance wrote a really awesome story. I read a post from a point in time, though I truly do not remember when since it seems like I've been working on this project forever, saying that she gives blanket permission for people to print and bind the story into a book (I think there was an also addendum saying that they do not give permission to be sold, since selling fic is illegal). This fic has had total control over my whole brain since it was sent to me (@creatorofthemind I believe it was you, so thank you forever for tuning me into it) back during the days of like chapter six or seven.

So here I am now, sharing this amazing journey of my first ever bookbinding adventure. Further reading below.

So to give you an idea of what's going on, this is a fanfiction about Zuko (Avatar the Last Airbender) (animated show version, the LA show did not exist yet and we do not speak of the movie) being adopted by Hakoda, Father of Katara and Zuko. (This might have also been what kicked off the Give Zuko A Parent craze, but don't fact check me.)

Overall, the characters from the show stick very well to the cannon versions, but where MuffinLance really shines is in the rich backstories and fleshed out feeling of all the non cannon elements. Especially the background characters. I would argue that the writing in this peice of fanwork could easily rival the cannon show at many points of comparison.

Now that you have context, we can get into the actual process.

To start, I used this guide to figure out where to even begin, and fount the included resource list to also be quite helpful. I cannot for the LIFE OF ME figure out where I found the template I used for the front matter and such, but it must be somewhere and I will link to it when I inevitably come across it again.

Then I began to typeset. This step took... a long time. I worked in chunks from about September of 2022 to late March of 2024. I would get a big section done, sometimes even the entire thing, but then find I hated the way I had done it and give up for months at a time. Such is the life of ADHD and flitting interest in projects I suppose.

And then finally, step one was done, and I was left with pages on a word document that look like this. (And do please let me know if you want the link to the document. It was so much work, and I would love to not be the only one to use it.)

Next step was printing out this beast. Ended up being about eight pages of front matter, and about 630 pages of body text.

That I printed wrong.

Twice.

Before finally getting it right. And then not getting a picture of it, because I finished at 4 am and had work at 7, and am also an idiot.

Then I simply stitched along, putting everything together into a beautiful text block.

And came up with a design for the cover.

Yes the glue did end up lumpy. Ignore it.

Yes I did have to sketch out the design onto a scraped page several times before I figured out what I was doing. Ignore that too.

The cover design does wrap around the entire cover. No I did not get a picture before I glued the thing down. See again: I'm an idiot. And just... massively impatient.

Finally, we get to the stage of gluing. Behold, my bookpress.

Of course, topped with Madam MuffinLances own actual professional-people book, Fox's Tounge and Kirin's Bone. It is Excelent. Here is the LINK so you can go and support this amazing author with the real-monies as well as the internet-kudos.

Then, once everything is glued together, one must give the book its "gilt" edges.

[pityroadart]

Hi Nic!! What's the thing you most look forward to doing when you're drawing/painting? I've never touched a paintbrush in my life, sorry if that's a super broad question. But say, your eye watercolours- is it trying to reproduce the tones with a limited (at least to a digital artist) palette? The initial drawing stage? Painting in the wispy lashes and brows? It all seems like magic to me!!! 😍

Hello I apologise for the late reply! Race week was busy, and I wanted to give your lovely message the care it deserves (& also I just love talking about watercolours)

That's a hard question! I really enjoy the process as a whole (except when I am complaining about it, which is an important part of the process), especially my eye paintings because they're so intuitive to me by now.

But, a few parts I really enjoy are:

1. Choosing the palette — both the actual paint palette I'll be using (I have so many), and the palette of usually 2-6 actual paint colours I'll be mixing my colours from. I'm a bit of a pigment nerd, so figuring out which paints are gonna have the perfect properties (granulation, staining etc) and mix the colours I want very enjoyable

2. The first wet wash, normally working wet-in-wet (applying diluted paint to already wet paper), where the goal is to simply place your colours in the approximate areas they should be, and let the watercolour work its magic.

Here's a couple WIP shots of my Yuki eye, in both that initial stage and the one I'm about to describe below:

3. Getting the darkest darks in, and all of a sudden, just like magic, it becomes an eye! This is normally the third layer out of an approximate 4, and whilst I try to save the individual brow hairs and lashes until that final stage, I'll often mostly block them in here. An artist I follow on youtube, Arleebean, says often that if you feel your painting is going through the Ugly Stage, you've probably lost your values and need to get the (relatively) darkest darks in to bring it back to balance. It's a rule I live by, and that's what this stage is to me. I also get any freckles/spots/splatters in at this point, which is very fun to do too!

I hosted a watercolour workshop on eye paintings back in 2022 (and have another planned for this year), and here's a step-by-step I made of the first four stages (sketch, wet wash, mid tones, darks) in preparation for that. The final step after that would be, as you mentioned, any fine eyebrow hairs and eyelashes, which I think you can tell it's missing here

4. And possibly the stage I get most excited about, from about the middle of the painting onwards if it seems to be going my way, is posting it in the group chat or on here and watching my fandom friends and mutuals yell about it :)) Big fan of that, even if I am usually terrible at replying to nice comments :')

Here's a selection of older eyes I painted again as workshop examples, all using a limited palette of four colours (quin gold hue, pyrrol red, ultramarine, burnt umber)

+ a selection of more recent eyes:

Thank you so much for the lovely message! I adore your art (& seriously, if you're ever in the mood for an art collab or something, you know where to find me), so I'm glad you enjoy mine too ☀

[kaybreezy3000]

----------------------------------------------------

Sometimes your fanfic best friend gives you a shout out in an anon ask reply, and then you get excited and make your quickest Five fanart and first-time sort of animation based on a pairing she mentioned and that you wrote years ago. 😄

Link to Bad Kitty's ask

Link to my other art and stories on Tumblr

Link to my long read/3-part Five Centric TUA story with Five paired with a character similar to the one above (and yes-she has Harley Quinn vibes but don't worry if you don't like her-she is not her, I just borrowed some of her wild and fun and qualities. 😉)

------

Updated note added late 6/28/24 after a continuous thread of harassing comments from one user that now has been blocked. No this is not 'AI' made or traced like that person repeatedly said it was. I did not steal someone else's art like they accused me of with no back up other than ripping me apart with more mean comments about what looks so bad about this. They also said my other art posts are 'AI,' and that I have no drawing skill or understanding of how clothes fold.

The AI accusation is a very mean thing to say and it's happening to so many people on here and in the actual profession art world. I do agree that I am not great at art or writing but that doesn't mean I am using AI and claiming it's mine. It's very sad that people feel the need to attack art in this way when it's clearly not even good like mine.

This picture/animation was done with me doing a very bad, very fast sketch, and then hardly correcting my lines before I quickly color filled the drawing that I MADE based off the fact that I have drawn Five in a suit more times than I can count and I have basic drawing skills, not great skills but basic. The reason the hard lines are both gray and black in some spots is because I went in after to correct stuff like gaps that needed to be filled for color filling and I did that in a different layer with black rather than the gray I used the first time. It's an error but one I was aware of but didn't care about because this was supposed to be fast and messy.

So yeah... this is NOT TRACED, and from what it was supposedly traced or 'stollen' from, I have no idea what this user thought that was because they never backed that up with some image that they seem so sure I used. This was based on Five with one of my original characters, so that image they claim I stole didn't exist until I made it.

I'm just trying to have fun with my friends on here while learning to draw better digitally. I am not an artist, and I definitely don't get paid or try to make people support me.

To those like the user who did this, please just chill with the mean comments and be kind to art makers on here and writers and all content posters. If you don't like something ignore it or keep your negativity inside instead of spreading hateful intentions and saying things that are not true about people and their work or their ideas.

Sorry to go off about that on here when it was just supposed to be silly and fun, but this stuff isn't okay and needs to be shut down. I am not always going to post 'proof' pictures of my works in process. I have done that before, but it's not what this is about for me, so I don't even think to do it normally. I have other art posts on AO3 with hand drawn stuff so I figure I don't need to prove I can draw. If someone wants proof, it isn't hard to find it through my posts.

I know most people are only here just for the fun stuff and let's have more of that. ❤️ Peace and love to you all.

[xxwelxx]

Can I request wxs at the beach!!

ANON I AM SO SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG

I hope u can accept WxS Alien Beach Wear as an apology and fulfillment of this request ;_;

(More under cut)

At first I tried a normal WxS at the beach, but for the LIFE of me I couldn’t do it, I still don’t know why. Maybe it was art block or smth. Still I couldn’t do it. THEN a few days I don’t know what possessed me and I was like “what if I drew alien wxs at the beach hahahahaha how hard can that be” suddenly my whole world was refilled with color and I finally had a clear vision of something I could do for this request.

Unfortunately that meant I needed to not only create spacey beach wear, but also I HAD to think of how a beach in outer space would look like for jelly aliens. (No one but myself is holding me to this standard)

This is where I must regrettably come to you a little empty handed, as I still have not fully figured out the logistics of how I’d want a space beach to look and interact with any characters I choose to put in it, let alone something I am able to DRAW. LIKE WHAT DOES A PALM TREE LOOK LIKE IN SPACE ?!?

I have a few ideas of what I’m aiming for, but there’s truly so many sparkles you can add to something in attempt to fix it before realizing there’s a lot more thinking that needs to go into this 🥀🥀

To what I did finish.. I didn’t think it would take this long either. Coming up with all the outfit ideas took like an hour. Actually drawing them and adjusting them to my liking took a couple more days. I breached a hundred layers on this canvas when my usual is around 50 layers on the heavier side. Working with transparency is a little tough because of that. I also had so much trouble with the anatomy for some reason n I still feel like some of the designs looked better in the sketches, maybe coz I’m not used to making bases or smth but WHATEVER I did it and it’s done.

That being said, I spent a lot of brain power on this and idk if it’s likely I’ll revisit them for a whileee. So if anyone else sees this and is interested in drawing them in these outfits or writing or anything, you can do so without asking (but do show me please I would sob if you did it would make me so so happy)

This wasn’t a complete waste for me though, as I’ve been thinking of exploring what they’d be like as aliens so I could create smth either by drawing or dipping my toes into writing.

Whatever the case, I want to thank you for sending me a request, it meant a lot to me. I like feeling that the art I spend time on is being seen by someone. Much love 💖💖

[seungmonggg]

Vandalism. - Yang Jeongin

WARNINGS: smut, foul language, the reader has the anatomy of a woman, fem!reader. I.N is younger than reader.

Wordcount: 2990 words

Summary: You lived in a pretty rough neighbourhood. Growing up, your Mother always told you to be careful and get home before sundown. Ruthless Teens roamed the streets, smashing cars and spraying the walls with their graffiti. Meeting Jeongin, a local artist, as a grown up turned out to be one of the best things that could happen to you.

NOT PROOFREAD! MINORS DNI!

🔞+ content warning!

————————————————————————

You lived in a pretty rough neighbourhood. Growing up, your Mother always told you to be careful and get home before sundown. Ruthless Teens roamed the streets, smashing cars and spraying the walls with their graffiti.

As a kid, you used to hate these people, having had more than one encounter with groups of people, mostly boys, roaming around destroying everything they thought was unnecessary. Like your Dads car, for instance. You were so mad seeing how your dad was sad that his car got wrecked by some stupid kids.

Now that you were a bit older, twenty-two to be exact, you somehow understood and sympathised with them. What else could they do when your town had no other activities for kids? They expressed themselves in the form of smearing their street-names and art on the walls.

When your turned Eighteen, old enough to finally move out and get your on flat, earning money by working with so called ‘hard to deal’ - Teens, you started to see the other side, Their side. In the few years you worked with them, you earned their trust and even got some of them off the street and into art schools, where they could express themselves in legal ways.

The only ‘Teen’ you couldn’t get to was a boy named Jeongin. Now that he was freshly 18 you knew that your options were limited, as you couldn’t help someone that was of age, not working in that field.

You still tried to get in touch with him, having had his phone number for years, but you knew no matter how much you tried, he would always block your attempts at getting in contact with him. He was a so called loner. Always on his own, quiet around other people, but loud in his art. He loved to leave behind beautiful sketches on the walls of the streets.

Sometimes, when you left your flat to go get things done or head to work, you’d come across some of his masterpieces, always taking pictures and saving them. It wasn’t hard to recognise his work, he always signed them with his street-name, ‘I.N’.

Other than you, nobody knew the mysterious artist. You found out it was him when you went out with some of your friends a couple months ago. On the way home from the bar, you saw someone in a dark alley, spraying the walls.

24.05.2023

The night was cold, crisp wind making your nose run and get a light pink color. You were walking fast, not wanting to catch a cold from being outside for too long. Thankfully it stopped raining not too long ago, but looking up into the sky, you could tell the dryness wasn’t for long either.

You breathed out slowly, looking at the small puff of air as it was visible from the cold weather. While looking up you saw something moving in your peripheral vision. Turning your head, you could make out something, or rather someone in the distance.

Not too far away, maybe a couple meters, there stood a tall figure in front of the wall, clearly spraying something onto it. You sighed quietly ‘should i go and tell them to stop?’ You thought to yourself. It was your job to work with people that stepped out of line, that broke the rules of society.

You stuffed your hands into the pockets of your jacket and started going in the direction of the Man, or rather boy, as you could now make out his face. ‘Hey!’ You called, making him look up in a panic, probably assuming you were the cops, ready to get him.

When he saw your face, he visibly relaxed, having seen you around, working with kids in the neighbourhood. Now that you were a mere few meters away, you recognised him. ‘Aren’t you the Yangs son? What was your name? Jeongho?’ You look up at him.

He laughed quietly before shaking his head. ‘Its Jeongin.’ He said, before looking behind you to make sure no-one saw him, well, except you of course. He smirked a little before looking up at the wall, and at the painting he just made, before hearing sirens in the distance. Fuck, someone called the cops on him.

Before you could even say something he grabbed his duffel Bag and made a run for it, you just standing there, calling him. ‘Wait! No!’ you started running after him, but having chosen to wear heels tonight turned out to be the wrong idea as you tripped and fell onto the hard concrete.

You whined in pain as you looked down to see your knee scraped open with blood coming out of the wound. ‘Shit’ you muttered to yourself, letting out a surprised scream when you were suddenly picked up by someone. Looking up, you saw Jeongin looking down at you with a slightly guilty expression. ‘Won’t leave you laying here, don’t worry’ he said before starting to carry you.

After he dropped you off at your house and gave you his number in case you’d have to pay for any hospital bills for your bruised leg, he disappeared into the night again.

18.10.2023

All of that was months ago, and you were slowly starting to get restless. After the incident you haven’t been able to reach out to him. You were determined to help him express his feelings not only on the walls of your city, but also on canvases in art galleries.

You knew his works would be highly seen and maybe you could even get him to finally make a living out of it and stop getting himself caught and arrested all the time. But as you roamed the streets once again on the search for him, you were once again dissatisfied by empty valleys and teens running around being loud.

Just as you were on the way home you saw someone spraying on your house wall. ‘Not again’ you said to yourself as you picked up your pace to get there before they could make a run for it. The closer you got, the more you realised the man standing in front of the wall was indeed Jeongin.

You called out his name as you stopped running. ‘Wait! Please don’t run away! It’s me, Y/N!’ You could clearly see that he let out a breath he was holding as he realised that it was you.

‘Long time no see, Y/N’ he smirked at you as he turned around to pack away all his stuff. ‘Well, it was quite hard to reach you, you know?’ You let out a laugh as you looked up to the wall, only to come to the realisation that it was indeed your face on the wall.

‘What..-?’ You asked in awe as you looked up to a now furiously blushing Jeongin that was scratching his neck in embarrassment. ‘I don’t know either but i can’t get your face out of my head…’ he admitted shyly as you couldn’t get the words out. Just as you were about to say something you heard sirens coming down the street. Jeongin looked utterly terrified as he was about to run away you grabbed his hand and ran to your houses entrance.

‘You can hide here, i mean-… if you want to of course.’ You looked at him with uncertainty in your eyes before unlocking the door and getting inside with him. ‘T-Thank you.’ He said as he started to look around your house.

You looked out the window from time to time to make sure the cops were gone, when the coast was clear you turned around and looked at jeongin. ‘If you want to you can go home now, the cops are gone’ you softly smiled at him as he breathed out. ‘I don’t… i mean i don’t uhh have a home?’ He looked down at his feet and blushed a little.

‘Oh..s-sorry, i didn’t know that..’ you said while looking at him. ‘You can stay the night.. i have a guest room that you could sleep in..’

24.11.2023

That was over a month ago. Jeongin stayed at your house and you two talked all night, getting to know each other. That night you realised that Jeongin was different from all of the kids you worked with. He didn’t want to always get into trouble, but sometimes he just didn’t know how to express himself other than with his art.

A week later you proposed an idea while watching some movie. ‘How about you live here? With me?’ He looked at you in shock. ‘W-what? But i can’t pay rent…’ he said while looking away in shame. ‘Well… i could get you a job at the art gallery down the street.’ You said to which he gasped. ‘You would do that for me? b-but why?’ He couldn’t believe that someone like you would ever help him, but here he was, on your couch, in your house.

‘Of course i would do that for you. Its not like i hate you, and living with you is actually pretty good, you help me with the dishes and i could use some extra cash from the rent’ you went on as you were slowly standing up, making your way into the Kitchen to get a paper and a pen.

As you came back you wrote down some rules for him:

1. Don’t get into trouble anymore.

2. No more running away.

3. Get a job and earn money.

4. No parties without warning.

He laughed quietly at the last point. ‘So you’d allow me to throw a party at your house?’ You just nodded at his question. ‘As long as I’m invited’ you smirked in his direction to which he just laughed.

‘Alright, then i want to throw a party on Saturday to celebrate me getting a job and a place to stay.’ He said proudly as you both shook hands to seal the deal. ‘Saturday it is then!’

27.11.2023

Turns out Jeongin had a lot of friends you didn’t know about. As you looked around your house, full of people you didn’t know, you searched for him among all the guys. ‘Need some help sweetie?’ Someone suddenly asked you. When you turned around you were met by a gorgeous looking man, maybe in his mid twenties with dark brown hair and a deep voice.

‘U-Uh.. have you seen Innie?’ He laughed at your question and nodded before taking your hand and pulling you with him. ‘I’m Felix, by the way, its nice to meet you’ he said as you two arrived in the kitchen, where you could see Jeongin was talking to another guy, more his age with brown hair and a nice smile. ‘Well, its nice to meet you Felix, i’m Y\N.’ You said.

When Jeongin heard your voice, he looked up to see you were still holding Felix’s hand while laughing at some Joke he made. He furrowed his brows and made a small noise of disapproval, which only Seungmin heard.

Seungmin smirked at his younger friend. ‘What? You don’t like other guys talking to her?’ he laughed as Jeongin started to blush and try to convince him that it was not like that.

But deep down, he indeed knew that it was. He liked you from the first time he met you, in that dark alley. You beautiful eyes, your hair, the way you would always light up with a smile when he told you about his day. Tonight was the night he finally wanted to come clean on his feelings and talk to you.

Well, that was before he saw how Felix was flirting with you. Jealousy starting crawling up in the pit of his stomach as he grabbed your hand without thinking about it and dragged you to the nearest free room and closed the door after you. You looked up at him in confusion “Innie? You okay?” You asked, starting to worry when you saw his sad eyes looking down at you.

“I… uhm.. i-i wanted to talk to you about s-something, noona..” you smiled at the little nickname, he started calling you noona not long after moving in with you, which you found absolutely adorable. You nodded to let him know you were listening to what he had to say. “Ever since…” he breathed out nervously “Ever since i met you… i-i liked you… even more than just friends.. do you understand?”

You looked at him a shock, as he wasn’t the only one feeling that way. As you looked down at your hands to hide your blush, he put two of his fingers under your chin to get you to look at him. The small gesture made you hold in your breath as the two of you were now mere inches apart. You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding and started to stammer out “i-i get how you feel… i mean, how could i not fall for you? You’re so sweet and always help me with the chores around the house..” he smiled at your response and leaned down until you lips slightly touched.

He was teasing you, letting your lips touch only slightly, making you shiver in anticipation. “Oh fuck this” you muttered before literally throwing yourself at him and sealing your lips in a hot kiss. I.N let out a quiet groan as he picked you up without hesitation and pressed your body against the nearest surface, which turned out to be the bathrooms wall.

Your lips danced in a breathless kiss before the two of you parted, trying to get as much air into your lungs as you could. “You don’t even know how long i’ve been waiting for this, Noona.” He pressed his body into yours and you blushed when you felt his already hardening length press into your heat, whimpering at the feel of him, you got to kissing down his cheek and his neck. “Want you so bad Innie” you breathed against his ear to which he groaned and carried you to the sink, where he let you down.

Jeongin started to press hot kisses against your jaw, making his way down to you cleavage before pulling your top over your head. “You’re so beautiful.” He murmured against your akin before taking one of your nipples into his mouth and gently sucking.

You moaned at the feeling of his hot mouth on your body and pulled at his hair lightly. “I.N.. your shirt.. take it off.” You whispered shakily, holding onto him.

He complied without saying anything, throwing his shirt onto the floor, he’d care about it later. Without hesitation you started to roam his upper body with your hands, quickly going south to undo his belt and open his pants. “Need you now, Innie, hurry up.” You whined to which he laughed and started to glide his hands up your bare thighs. Thank god you wore that cute skirt, he thought. “Impatient. Are we?” He teased you slightly before pulling your soaked through panties down your legs and moaning at the sight of your glistening folds.

Your panties went into his pocket before you said anything and he kissed you fiercely before fishing out his cock and moaning as you took it in your hands and started to pump him. “Cmon, fuck me baby, make me yours.” Now that was something you didn’t have to tell him twice.

He positioned himself at your entrance, not having to prep you much with how slick you already were. “Gonna fuck you so good. Better than any of your fucking vibrators ever could.” He rasped against your ear. Before you could even register what he said, he fucked into you with one languid stroke.

You moaned loudly at the feeling of his length nestled into your tight heat. As soon as he started building up a steady rhythm you forgot about the party, about the people im your house. Your focus was completely on Jeongin and how good he was fucking you. “H-Holy shit you’re so fucking tight. Not gonna last long, Baby” he moaned against your ear, making you shiver at his dirty words.

Never had you heard him talk like that, but you weren’t complaining, instead you pushed your nails into his muscular back and whined at his thrusts. He was making you see stars and when he hit that one spongy spot inside of you, you knew it was over for you. Your moans turned breathy as you withered against his body, rolling your eyes back. “Fucked you dumb already? Huh? Tell me whose fucking you this good?” He growled against your nipple before biting down on it gently, making you scream out in pleasure.

“Y-you are! Jeongin! Oh fuck, gonna make me cum!” You moaned loudly, tightening around his cock as he groaned at the feeling, getting close to his high as well. His thumb started drawing quick circles on your clit, only getting you closer to cumming. “Cmon Y/N, show me how good you take my cock.” That was the last thing you needed to finally push over the edge. Convulsing around his length while moaning out his name again and again.

You were sure, after you’d come out the bathroom, everyone in your house would know what just happened. You heard I.N moan against your neck as he bit down and came into you, painting your walls white with his cum.

As the two of you were breathing heavily, cuddled up to each other, you heard a small knock at the door, and then a voice saying “don’t want to disturb you lovebugs, but uhhh… the cops are here”

Both of you perked up at looked at yourselves, shocked.

“Oh fuck”.

———————————————————————

Hello guys! Here is my first piece for Jeongin!! I hope you like it, definitely let me know! If you want to request somethinng, feel free to always do so!

Byebye!

-Julie💕🌸

[scratch-house]

i'm just a shot away from you.

sketch here and here.

hihi! long time no see! i'm gonna infodump about this piece down here.

so when i first started drawing, i focused really heavily on lineart. i was super into finding my "style" in terms of how i would stylize faces and bodies. my coloring style was kind of an afterthought and wasn't really in the place i wanted it to be, so this is me kind of experimenting and trying to go wild in that department.

i think the reason for my years long art block was perfectionism. specifically for digital art, i was very focused on making things pristine and clean looking. i mean that may or may not be obvious from my more recent pre hiatus art, i don't remember, but 😭 mentally that was the issue. i used to always like my sketches more than my lines, and at a certain point i was like, i may as well just have the lines be really sketchy and irregular and chunky or edgy in parts because i seem to be drawn to that, and clearly this precision thing isn't working out. i'd definitely attempted that at other points, but i hadn't really committed and was never really confident about it before now. i think ultimately i just had to reach enough of a 'fuck it' point before i could do it. it's a similar philosophy with the coloring and shading. i'm just letting all the textures and irregularities come through without worrying too much

the idea for the piece changed a LOT. like i started sketching and attempting to color this well before my art block, and i've only just finished it. initially, the doctor and the master were wearing their normal clothes and were holding daggers to one another while locked in an embrace, so the idea was like, the closer they get, the deadlier it is. for some reason i just couldn't get that to work? at some point i gave the doctor navy wings, so there was almost an angel of death thing going on (think the master asking her to kill him), but eventually i went for this! there's still kind of the erotic element with the master straddling the doctor and her Thrusting up, but now they are fencing, and the weapons are a little more front and center instead of hidden, as they were initially. i don't know how obvious it is, but what's happening is the master seemingly has the doctor pinned, both physically and with his rapier, but as she thrusts up, she actually moves his face closer to her blade. his hand on her elbow looks like it's part of the pin, but actually he's trying to stop himself from getting cut more. this thing of the master looking like he's winning, but the doctor actually holding the deadlier (though not necessarily better) position was very important to me, i don't know why. it was a feature of all of the sketches, although in the dagger sketches, there was an element of the doctor's blade being more hidden than the master's, ie in the embrace, the master (facing her) has an arm wrapped around the back of her neck with a blade at her throat, and she wraps her arms around him with a blade pointed directly at his back. you are going to have to figure out the symbolic intricacies of that yourself because i was just doing what felt right sjdjsdk

almost forgot: it's not just the positioning that sorta favors the doctor, it's also the fact that she is slightly more armored than the master. i don't know if you would call that armor, but let's go with that. her mask is pulled slightly more over her face than the master's, she wears her gloves and shoes while the master wears neither, and her rapier has a little cover that goes over her hand, while the master's just fans out. obviously they both have minor injuries, but the doctor also has some Ambiguous blood at her mouth. is it his? is it hers? i don't know. but she has blood in her mouth vibes when it comes to her interactions with the master so there u go

there's also an element of like, fencing is not supposed to get this crazy, so something has gotten severely out of hand here. but mostly i thought it looked cool.

if i could change anything about this, i would make it so that the doc's blade is pointing directly at the master's chin instead of having just grazed his lower face, with the master trying to lift his head away from the blade as he slides down, just so that the threat felt a little more.. i don't know, imminent? so that the strain is more pronounced? they're simultaneously being pulled toward one another (by gravity) and desperately trying to push away. i might've also fucked around with the text a little more because i'm realizing now that it could very easily be misread shjshdjs. but mostly i'm just glad that it's done and it looks cool. it's been YEARS and i finally feel like i'm back on my art feet. but don't hold me to that

[arabriddler]

Or how I fudge and find out my way through making digital paintings.

art program used here : Procreate ( but the method can be applied to other programs )

original painting time ≈ 3 hrs

*note : English isn’t my native language in case something is confusing or wrong. Don’t hesitate to ask for more details regarding anything

**more important note : take breaks, drink water, don’t push your hands too hard.

Base

I start off by sketching where the bodies and objects are. Nothing too detailed. I’m just arranging stuff around and figuring out sizes. You shouldn’t spend too much time in drawing this and they shouldn’t be detailed so you can easily move the elements around without exhausting yourself beforehand ( also to avoid getting bored when you’re just starting.

composition is a little complex to figure out but for this one I made the characters around the middle point to create some sort of guide for the observer’s eye movement.

2. Initial sketch (optional)

I usually make one sketch for a drawing unless it has little details or elements I’m not used to drawing. For this one it was figuring out the clothes and the details on them. Again, don’t pressure yourself to make this look perfect or right. You’re just figuring out where things are.

As you can see, the sketch is pretty rough, not all the details on the hands are drawn. The eyeliner are still there and the chair is just a shape. Lots of lines are overlapping and.. you basically get the idea.

3. Second (final) sketch.

I wouldn’t call this a lineart. Linearts are more careful, less rough, cleaner. I like using sketches more than linearts because I like the rough sketchy texture they provide, and also it’s less restricting boring for me personally . Although we keep in mind this is the drawing we’ll color. So we’re more careful about it. I draw the details and clean the sketch.

also don’t be like me, I forgot to draw the cane here and was upset about it :(( didn’t notice till days later. But also sometimes I do change things here. This one wasn’t on purpose though.

it’s important here to avoid chicken scratch by using less strokes. For example. Instead of drawing a curve with say a hundred strokes, draw it with one and then clean up anything wrong. You make have to redo one stroke a hundred times to get it right, but it’s cleaner and softer. ( it helps with drawing hair )

Nothing is wrong in art but it depends what kinds of effect you want. You can use both methods to give different vibes, draw different things. But it’s important to know how to do them. oh and, it is one stroke but it’s fast. If you linger on it the line will come out woobly and shakey. If you do it fast it’ll come out clean.

4. Blocking.

You go back over the drawing here to fill in black spaces. Maybe if someone has black hair or for shading, you can also add texture on things like walls and etc*. I like leaving some white spaces when doing this because black is very reflective irl, so it gives some shine to it. It honestly depends on what the black element is, something’s are shiny some things are not. But it’s pretty fun

**when it comes to texture this is an example from another drawing

5. Grey scale coloring.

I have already a plate on hand of colors from white to black to use in my drawings. You can use three or more. This is the one I use

Circles to indicate that if you have white, grey, and black, that’s enough. why grey scale? The thing about grey scale coloring is that it helps figuring out contrast. You don’t want all your drawing to be of similar tone, when you have contrast, it helps make elements pop and differentiate things.

"Joseph Nelson." Roboflow Blog, May 15, 2020. https://blog.roboflow.com/when-to-use-contrast-as-a-preprocessing-step/

I’m honestly still figuring out how greyscale works but, looking at real life pictures is one way you can know how to do it. See how light is distributed where whites and blacks are used. One key element is to figure out where light comes from, and shading according to that . The light source isn’t very strong with this drawing so it was more of a simplified shading. If something is over the other, shade underneath. That’s the simplest way to figure out shading

before coloring, I did change the sketch to a more grey color and set the layer to multiply. What multiply does is that it darkens the color underneath it with a hue of the color in the multiply layer. I know, confusing, so here is a picture.

Sorry, got a little detailed there. back to our drawing.

As I said, the light source wasn’t very complex here to give more of a photo shoot vibe, but I can show another drawing with a more natural strong light

Places directly getting the light get very light colors like white, the ones opposite use very dark grey or even black.

of course the coloring here isn’t very realistic, I have, after all, colored the character, kristen, in lighter colors than everything else. This is because I wanted to create a sense of contrast to make her pop out against the background. So don’t limit yourself, play around.

6. gradient map

gradient maps replace the grey scale colors into other colors on a specific range, you can use a gradient map offered by the program or one you make yourself. How to chose them? Depending on the vibe you want to translate. I have synesthesia so I sort of follow my gut when it comes to this, but you can also look at movies and pictures and see what colors they use and what feelings they give. Or just go warm colors give warm feelings and cold colors give cold feelings. Or just whatever you like. Just have fun with it

See? It looks pretty fun. Heck you can even stop here even. Note that I merged the sketch layer and the grey scale one into one layer so it can change the color of the sketch layer too. Also sometimes id use the blur tool to blend some things but I didn’t use that here.

another thing to note is that if you leave things empty in the greyscale drawing they won’t change color in the gradient map, that’s why I use white in the empty spaces. Or sometimes I don’t if I’m unsure if I want to keep something white/black or not.

7. Coloring.

here, I add another layer and set it to multiply and basically color it in over the drawing. I have the colors for the characters on hand to use, and they change according to the gradient map.

note that it will look weird and wrong at first but just keep going, trust the process. The colors will fit in together.

Also notice the difference between the colors in the drawing and the colors on the color palette. Cool no?

And this is how the whole thing looks. You can also add details in here. Like the drawings on the vets and Ed’s bow tie. Makeup, blush, lipstick, nail paint… etc etc.

8. Details

I add another normal setting layer here and basically go back over the drawing to add details, fix mistakes, draw over things to make them pop off or look more hard than soft.

I mostly like going over the hair and facial features in this step, and also adding highlights and shine.

I also felt that the background was a little too empty, but I didn’t want something too detailed so it wouldn’t take the attention from the characters. so I added a pattern.

9. Finale touches. (Optional) sometimes the drawing is done here, sometimes it’s not.

I’d maybe add overlay and/or add layers and to highlight light sources, or add a multiply layer to emphasize shadows like in this example.

for this drawing I didn’t do that as I was satisfied with the lights and shadow, but it still felt too… rigid.

so I added a textile texture as a multiply layer so it would look more…Touchable?

And…that’s it!

If you like this, you can check out the original drawing’s post ( or support me on ko-fi? ) 👀👀👀

[thatonegayship]

This probably feels weird to ask

But I love how you draw dipper in general and your art in particular! Is it possible you could do a little tutorial on how your process goes?

If you don’t want to, I understand completely. I felt really hesitant asking this lol. Anyways, love your art!!!

I'm not the *best* at talking technicality, and certainly not about drawing Dipper; I have three distinct styles when dealing with him, that being Billdip Dipper, Canon Dipper, and AU Dipper, all of whom have entirely different purposes both visually and narratively. This results in some pretty inconsistent representations:

That being said! I'm totally cool with going over my process with you! Layout, technique, brainstorming, all that.

Generally speaking, I like to start my digital work on paper. Nothing crazy, just a basic idea that captures the pose, expression, and clothing (these things are destined to change by the end).

Notice the cloud of dirt kicking up at his feet. Look how I position one arm out while the other pulls farther back, and his hair blows from his face. There's a clear emphasis on motion here, both in body language (feet turned against the force) and added attire (Pinetree cloak flowing back, dust cloud at his feet, etc.)

This design is destined to change, but for action scenes like this, it's good to begin with an expressive foundation, so that once we start chipping away at and remolding our concept, we're building off of a design that encapsulates the *scene* we're wanting to convey. That is, no matter how much we shave off, we still have a strong foundation to reference towards and lean into for inspiration.

The next step is transferring our rough sketch into a digital setting.

This is where I tinker with the lasso tool, maybe take reference photos of the exact pose I had in mind. Here, I'm just breaking down my original sketch on a tablet. I readjusted the feet's position, pulled that other arm in to his chest, and straightened his arm out for a more powerful pose.

The next step focuses on pushing the pose and correcting anatomy errors.

Alright, cool! Now he's not just bracing for action, he's *jumping* into it. The back arm's pulled in like a fist, his shoulder bunched up close to his ear. We see how his body's twisted at the torso, chest out, legs stretched, arm extended.

Notice too how I utilize my shapes to empower the pose. Front arm and leg, extended. Lots of straight lines. It *curves* because of muscle and fat, but outside of that, they're pointed in a distinct direction. Contrastly, his right side curves at the hip and follows subtly up to his chest. This helps emphasize his lean into whatever he's attacking, sort of like a bow.

Now we've added details! You'll notice I've changed a lot of my initial design from my rough-sketch to fit more into the style and personality of Dipper in this setting. Since he's, you know, a "Pinetree," I figured his clothing should reflect it. I'm still working in pencil at this point, blocking out the general shapes of what I want, but not really exploring my options.

The cloak follows a slight gust, his hair flows back, the mushrooms on his shoulder lean out from the action, but these are still only guidelines. Keep it loose! Explore things! Have fun with it!

Next step, Inking. Digital art is *very* forgiving, so I'm a lot less concerned about moving forward without a full idea of my vision. This is usually the step I'm most inspired at because it allows me to go back over my loose sketch and add those minute details that excited me so much. I do not recommend moving forward without full confidence in your initial sketch when using traditional art! YOU WILL CRY!

Clothes: changed. Pose: changed. Details: expanded on.

This is where a bit of knowledge in anatomy is really going to serve you well. Bridging the gap between sketch and ink has always been very difficult for me, and it's due in part to those uncertain, not-quite-right bits I have to build off of from my initial sketch.

It's good to keep your rough draft light and fluid so that they capture the emotion and general pose of your character, but it's also important to keep in mind how you'll have to balance *maintaining* that level of expression while incorporating more realistic aspects of their design.

Take for instance Dipper's left foot that went from being tucked up under his butt, to being in a more braced position- like he's about to land, or skirt to a halt. As a loose sketch, it captures the motion very well. However, incorporating muscle and kneecaps and detailed shoes brings out a lot of the visual flaws. Proportion and angle become a serious issue if you aren't entirely sure how a particular body part would flex/squish/shorten in a particular position. The more realistic you go, the more jarring your mistakes.

This is, of course, not me saying you're forbidden from drawing your characters with a leg under their butt with big, meaty thighs. It's *actually* me letting everyone know that I tried working with the pose, building on it looked weird, and I decided to take a different approach. You are 100% allowed to try something else if your initial plan doesn't work out.

This step is where we adapt and improve. Our digital rough sketch didn't really capture the full power of his motion. His cloak kinda billows out like "Yeah, I'm a cloak, I billow gayly." It's flat, hollow, uninspired. Here, you're looking at photo references of Pinetrees, both real and not-real. You're gonna have to make it look like needles and branches, while *also* being a flowy bit of clothing.

For this, keep in mind how *cloth* moves with a more exaggerated, majestic rough sketch to overlay atop our failure of a branch jacket. Die.

See how despite the spikey pine needles, his cloak follows a distinct pattern? Additionally, this coat works in 3-dimensions. There's an outside and an inside, and it curves like a dome around him. It floats behind him, curves in front of him, lifts up, dips down. Really, it's up to you, but always consider your work on the third plain.

ALSO! Very important: Keep an eye on your line weight! Seriously, this took a long time for me to get a firm grasp of. Not *shading* really, but put a bit more emphasis on those bent spaces with darker lines. See that bold line connecting his thigh to his glutes? And the one behind his knee? DEPTH!! IT ADDS DEPTH!!

And *here* is the final product! This is the shading section, arguably my favorite and least-favorite part about my drawing process. Working in black and white, you don't really have to worry about getting every little shadow on your character. Just shade what needs emphasizing; everything with a shadow gets an added layer of depth as well. This is the part that gives your work an additional POP.

Consider too that shading isn't just solid black, even if you're working in black and white. His arm and under his hood are pretty solid black, but the interior of his cloak is far more textured and light. We see where it's darkest at his sides, but leading out, it lightens into distinct markings that (in my opinion) are visually more appealing. Using this tool is ultimately up to you, though.

Okay, the end!

[aerequets]

Do you have any tips on how to draw different poses? Any kind of movement just fucks me up so bad 😭😭

hoo boy poses! an eternally difficult frustrating teeth clenching jaw aching part of drawing 🤩 JK but i def get where you are coming from. i was trying to think of the best way to reply to this and just ended up making a whole step by step of my process LOL

BEFORE WE BEGIN THOUGH i should mention that i am NOT a professional, nor have i learned these techniques anywhere other than the internet and so there's obviously room for improvement and this is not the end-all-be-all, just how i personally draw poses ATM.

now with that out of the way! keep reading for my tutorial on posing :D

i figured the best way to show this would be to take one of my old drawings and repurpose it. so:

rayla. january 11 2020 rayla. she looks a lil smug maybe? a lil confident? her arms are crossed and her head is kinda tilted and her expression seems that way, but all in all it's kinda grey. this is the first thing you should do when making a pose for your character:

what is your character feeling?

define it clearly. are they angry? close their pose up, cross their arms. happy? open it up, give them big gestures. lazy or tired? slouching, etc. posing is pretty much just body language so figure out what you want your character to say when they aren't speaking.

now i'll just show what the base sketch for this drawing looks like:

that's fine and all, the building blocks are there, but now i'm gonna redraw it and show what i would do differently now:

what's different about this sketch from the first one? three main things which i will break down!

The Lines

when i say "the lines", i mean the horizontal lines of the body if that makes sense? i'm sure there's an actual term or something, but basically, the parts of your body that can tilt. don't make these parallel! that can end up making the character look unbalanced and unnatural, or stiff if the lines are just flat. in the 2020 sketch, they aren't parallel, but they aren't exaggerated either. the more you exaggerate the differences in your posing, the more dynamic it will look. so in this sketch, i've exaggerated them more. gotta make rayla look real cocky yk

The Blobs

when i used to sketch bases for my characters, it would be a bunch of boxes and rectangles connected by sticks. i stopped doing that and it helped. human bodies are soft and squishy and curvy, we aren't robots with metal edges. drawing the base shapes as blobs personally helps me with getting rid of stiffness in the pose. lots of ppl make the boxy method work though, so if that's what you wanna do, by all means.

another thing i noted is "forget about the limbs". limbs are basically just branches, so if you get caught up in drawing them before their foundation (torso + lower half) is down, it could look wonky. get the basis down first, and then go on with the joints and limbs.

The Line (Singular)

AKA the line of action, which is a very popular term + method for posing. this is basically a line that runs down the spine, and the more bendy/curvy it is, the more dynamic your pose will look. tbh in the sketch i did right now it's not very action-y, but rayla is also just standing there, so if you want to do a fighting pose or something similar make sure the line of action is hella curved. even for stationary poses though, a little curve is helpful.

so! with these things in mind, i redid (extremely very roughly lol) the drawing. let's see the difference:

eyy hows that? she looks a helluva lot more arrogant! lol jk. but we can definitely get a better grasp of her character from the first image than the second. ofc there are other factors at play here like line weight and expression, but nevertheless, a few small tweaks go a long way.

anyways this got kinda long but i hope i could be of help!

[julianplum]

thought I'd upload a little process video of my latest piece! I've seen some tags from folks who were saying it looked digital even though they know it's not, so I wanted to show a little process so y'all could see how this painting came together!

also THANK YOU to everyone who reblogs work and leaves tags on it, it is free serotonin for artists to read what y'all think of our work and I love it so much!!!

I'll talk a lil more about my process under the cut, for anyone who's interested.

Step 1 is always research & what I call "get to know you" sketches. For this particular piece, I have a lot of nasturtiums in my garden, so I went and sat outside and sketched with neocolor crayons to get the shapes, colors, and vibes down.

Step 2 is to dive a little deeper into the details. I found references in my own plant & also online, and sketched out some more detailed flower and leaf shapes to understand how this plant works and what makes it feel like a nasturtium. I did my base color study at this point, too.

You can see some of these exact shapes repeated or elaborated on in the final piece! This was a really helpful part of the process.

Once I feel comfy with my subject material, I'll sketch out the final composition. This step REALLY helps me figure out how everything is going to flow and land on the final page. Composition and layout is that secret thing that takes your piece from a study to an illustration. I'm making conscious choices here about which way I want your eye to move in the piece, where my focal points are, where I'm leaving white space (or black space, in this case!) and where I'm putting leaves, flowers, and critters.

As you can see this isn't final, and I made some changes particularly to that middle-top section in the final because it wasn't flowing right on the page, but this is what I worked off of to get:

Some folks use lightboxes and trace their final sketch onto the page to get clean lines. I like to keep the looseness of a sketch by just drawing (and erasing!) onto my final paper. I used Arches Hot Press paper and a light green colored pencil here, and the great thing about nice watercolor paper is that you can erase into it and not hurt the grain. Obviously don't go too hard, but it's pretty forgiving!

Once I have my final sketch down, I'll usually block in my important shapes first, hence why I started with the leaves, then lay down textures and other colors, add final details, and then in this case I added the black background last, which was terrifying. I took a lot of pictures just before blocking in the background in case I messed it up!

Anyway I hope that's interesting to someone, it's probably way too wordy and granular but I love talking about this stuff and it's always really helpful for me to peek into folks' processes, so! If you've made it this far, keep an eye out for this piece to pop into my Etsy shop in a couple weeks 👀