#Drawing this was trial and error because of the posing

[mellosdrawings]

I just wanna say I really admire your art. I was curious if you had any art tips on getting good dynamic poses and such.

Hiya dear Potato-san! Thank you for the kind words <3

I think I can ramble a bit about dynamism. Hopefully it'll be understandable.

When it's for research purpose or fast comics, the simplest way to get good dynamic poses is basically just to let your hand go wild. Take a sharpie bigger than what you're used to work with, and sketch fast poses. The sharpie won't let you erase, so the art as a whole will feel more instinctual compared to big illustrations. It's a very good first base to prepare comics.

If you freeze before even starting (because drawing something that can't be erased can do that), draw the vaguest bit of directory lines first. That will be the main dynamic of your pose. The two big base shapes are usually straight and pointy (triangle), or soft curves (circles). If you want something dynamic, the first shapes will be needed. If you want something cozy, make sure your main dynamic line is a smooth curve.

The best practices to get used to drawing dynamic poses are either to draw people dancing, or to draw Spiderman poses (I'm not kidding).

You will naturally have a dynamic here. Your first step will be to find the main line, as stated earlier. Then you put your shapes following the main line you found.

If you have a particularly dynamic artstyle, or like exaggeration, you can increase the shapes you see. A lot of art is exaggeration. It goes for the main line (see below, I accentuated the bow of her back), or the body shapes (legs and arms are very easily malleable to convey sharp dynamics).

The main point when you draw something really dynamic (like fights or dancing) is to ignore the usual, realistic shapes of the limbs to instead focus on the feeling of direction you want the reader to follow. When you do semi-realistic (like me for my COD art) it can be a bit hard to find the right balance between realistic proportions/shapes and the dynamic you want, but then that's just trial and error until you get what you want.

Well, there you go. Sorry if it's messy ^^'

TLDR: Have a really strong and easily identifiable direction line. And exaggerate. Always exaggerate.

[thelovers-2001]

Wow, who knew the two most dangerous adult villains are in a relationship? That definitely.

That definitely won't be a problem.

( P.S Click/Tap the Read More to learn about my KND s/i )

Madam M, real name Monica Machina (last name pronounced as Ma-KEE-na), is an adult villain and archnemesis of the Kids Next Door.

An advanced cyborg by her cybergenetic surgeries, mainly towards her brain. She started her experiment to create "the perfect adult" and made herself the subject. She's extremely observant, quick thinking on decisions and planning. She became highly intelligent equivalent to an AI.

These surgeries however took a toll on her. Mentally, it stunted her emotions in becoming flat and stoic. She lost the ability of fear; anger and sadness can become uncomfortable to catastrophic levels. Physically, the surgeries consequently cause body pain; mainly her back and shoulders. Her eyes went through the worse that it completely rotted, replaced with camera realistically look like eyes.

Her expertise is technology, unsurprising she's from a family of a tech business. Resides alone in her home, down beneath in her lair filled with television screens. Connected to camera secretly implanted in places, observing not only KND, but other adult villains as well (except Father). Cameras were also bugged on machinery built for the Delightful Children Down The Lane, all to observe and learn each KND operatives' actions.

She is the heir of the the British company, M Corp. Well established for their everyday electronics but mostly known as technological collaborators to adult villains. With her (adoptive) parents, Mr and Mrs M, who famously allied with the legendary Grandfather.

The two were close knit allies to the point of arranging a marriage with the Machinas' only child, Monica to Grandfather's first son, Monty, all for the sake of power. And they were still children at the time.

Young Monica however was more interested in his second son, Benedict. She secretly wanted to befriend instead. When Monty figured out their parents plan, decided to play along while having Monica and Benedict secretly bond. Their parents found out the secret friendship. But while the Machinas suggested changing the arranged marriage to Monica with Benedict, Grandfather furiously refused. Thus he cut off both his sons' interactions with Monica.

In the present, Madam M and Father reunited as adults, started as business partners but slowly becoming a close emotional relationship. This relationship was kept a secret from other villains, though they become more comfortable being seen together in public... without PDA. That's in private.

Madam M is now KND's second biggest threat, next to Father. She is Father's closest and safest ally, as well as the only person he genuinely cares for.

[narcissistshandler]

I saw your masterlist and it has death note, can you make one with Light Yagami? (Bonus points if reader is sub top)

(If you don't, just ignore this)

　⸸ .ᐟ G O D ' S   W R A T H

「 pairing 」 gn!reader x light yagami (death note) 「 content 」 serving god is not only about blessings, it is also about trials and punishments. Especially when it comes to a god like Kira and a servant as sinful as you 「 tags 」 established relationship, secret relationship, sub!reader, amab!reader, dom!light, mutually abusive relationship, religious allusions, assault (reader receiving), slight stalking, Misa and L mentioned, cock stepping, blowjob/deep throat (light receiving)

a/n ; tried and failed to write something healthy with light, hope the dark dynamic works for you too! intended to be a gn reader, if there is any error please let me know

LIGHT didn't see you as different from everyone else in his life, classified in a box of temporary usefulness, interest or discard. At least at first. When you were more of a nameless face than a fierce devotee──to Kira, to Light, to whoever wore the mask at the time. Now you had your own little box. For better or worse.

"You forget your place so easily, don't you? I tolerate your games. Your constant presence. Even your little displays of pathetic jealousy. But today..." His voice was strained, hovering in the rehearsed fake tone he used for most people. But not with you. The good-guy facade always fell quickly around you.

He loosens his tie, his merciless eyes looking down. The sweet scent clings to him, that of someone who doesn’t belong to you, something feminine and soft that makes your throat itch.

Your tongue runs over your split bottom lip, the taste of blood filling your mouth. You don’t even try to look apologetic despite your face still throbbing and your scalp tingling from the tugging. Guilty.

You already knew he was going to hurt you when you did what you did. He lied to you, but that was okay, you had memorized his password pattern, unlocked his phone, read his messages, and followed him to his meeting with Misa. It ruined his plans. And pain was Light's way of showing that he cared, that he felt, anything.

He hit you. With his hands, with his words, his belt. He threw you to the ground like a disobedient animal and everything inside you burns with pain, but also with pride. Because for a moment, he broke character and Light Yagami saw you as a risk. A problem. And that's the closest thing to love someone like him could offer.

You could apologize, beg for forgiveness, but knew that apologies wouldn't stop Kira's fury.

He undoes the buttons on his shirt, irritation blazing in his every movement. He hated things getting out of his control. "Today you compromised a part of my plan out of pure selfishness and you have no right to do so, [name]. That's not why I keep you around."

Light was so angry that his upper lip was trembling. You provoked him. Not because you wanted to ruin his plans, but because you wanted… something. You wanted attention.

The toe of his shoe pokes your thigh. He twists his neck in what looks like a failed attempt to deal with the tension. There's an audible crack. "Nothing to say now? What's that? What's with that pose?" He does that thing with the words again ── chooses them sweetly to belittle you, but you know better than anyone the pleasure in his eyes at having you like this: kneeling before his feet, knees against the cold floor and bare torso where he stands over you. Looking up at him, declaring your adoration.

"You like it when I bow down to you."

Light couldn't deny it. The blood staining your face, the passivity still in your body, knowing that you would never react to the attacks, had his cock was pushing against his pants. Throbbing and dripping. Begging to be shoved down your throat and forced to choke on it.

And that's exactly what he would do. Because you deserved to be punished after drawing L's attention to yourself and leaving the invisible spot where you were supposed to be. Because Light knew he needed to put you in your place again so that you wouldn't forget that he was your god and and god was not questioned without punishment. But not now.

"So stay right there, on your knees, until I decide what to do with you." When Light leaves the room, darkness absorbs you, a cold that made you chew on your already bleeding lips. His absence was worse than the bare-handed blows.

And when he returns, hours later, you've already had time to start regretting it, on the verge of tears and lonely. You crawls over to where he sits on the edge of the bed and nestles your face against his warm thigh. You begs. You asks for forgiveness, even though you doesn't feel much yet.

You are obedient, hungry in fact when he undoes his belt ── leather that tasted your skin earlier. At another point, Light would have you begging for the chance to feel the salt on his skin. Today he doesn't push you back when you approach like a needy believer, mouth already opening, already salivating just at the sight of his erection springing free. So, so in need of him.

"Open," he commands, even if it's not necessary, just because he can. Light loved doing things just because he could.

Then Light is shoving his cock into your mouth, without pause, straight down your throat, pressing his foot cruelly where your own cock stirs in the pants. He steps on you. He doesn't fake it or go soft on you. Purposefully causing you pain; fingers pulling your hair; long, curved cock as beautiful as the rest of him invading your throat as if you were just another one of his possessions. An inanimate object, a cocksleeve whose sole purpose in life was to be used.

You run for your chance at divine forgiveness, babbling around it, hips tensing under the pain, but never pulling away from it. You accept every inch, every rough push and pull of your hair. Pain is love.

The way he touches you is not about affection, it's about power. He dismantles you as if he knows where every thread of your desire begins and ends and uses it to his advantage.

Light didn't have to be so blunt about it, but he makes a point of reminding you of your place. He fucks your face, cheeks flushed as he pants and talks over you. Demanding, humiliating. "Always so obedient…" he murmurs, voice muffled and breathless, almost delirious. An excitement similar to the euphoria of writing in the Death Note. "But what is this due to...? Fear?... Love?" He chuckles, then groans as your teeth scrape against his girth. Light curses at you, but there’s no denying the tremor in his hips when you do it again and he drips precum onto your tongue, feeding you.

Masochist, even if he considers such things beneath him.

The bed creaks beneath his weight and Light shifts closer to the edge of the mattress, his foot pressing harder against your erection, rubbing just where the sensitive head wets the fabric. His cock pushes past the tight muscles of your throat, feeling the contractions, the convulsion and the beginning of a cough, and holds it there, keeping your nose against his groin as he cums in your mouth.

You've already lost your breath, you've forgotten what it's like to breathe without the pressure of his cock in the middle of your throat.

Ropes after ropes of cum spurt all the way down your throat and straight into your stomach. Your throat convulses, feeling like your airway will close at any second, but you just grip his thighs and let him use you. Compliant. The taste of his seed mingling with the metallic of your own blood in a holy, sacred supper.

You're going to pass out any moment now if he doesn't back off.

And it pushes you towards your own orgasm, hips chasing the friction against the soles of Light's shoes. Pathetically rubbing against him, needing release so badly it hurts. The sight of Light's face experiencing climax is enough to make you cum, quickly and without warning, without permission given.

Light is coming down from ecstasy to notice you crumbling on the floor at his feet from simply having your throat fucked by your god and savior. Breathing quickened, fingers relaxing where they surely pulled out some strands of your hair and member throbbing on your tongue as his balls emptied.

The irritation leaves him, giving way to pleasure. The cruelty remains, of course. Of course.

He then notices the trembling in your thighs and can almost feel the moisture gathering beneath the soles of his shoes, your member twitching weakly as you searches for more. He looks at you from beneath his lashes like a small, pathetic thing, his slowly softening cock still trapped between your glossy lips. “Who gave you permission to cum?”

He nudges your cock with the toe of his shoe, hard, and you grab his heel, just to anchor yourself, never pulling away. "You're so easy. I just forced my cock down your throat and that was all it took for you to cum in your pants. Do you understand now why you are on your knees? I determine your purpose and it will do you good to remember that."

You blink up at him, moisture glistening in your eyes as he continues to step on your sensitive cock. Your mouth feels sticky and disgusting, the saliva thick and salty, your throat scratchy. Your eyes are half-rolling. Completely fucked out of this plane of existence.

Light hisses like a snake as you suck around him, trying to extract more of him. But Light has always been on the sensitive side and overstimulation was a personal weakness of his. "Let go, you slut," he says and you comply.

His hands are on your face then, stroking under your eyes, tracing your split bottom lip. It's a caress at odds with the slap that follows. Sharp and heavy. A reminder of your disobedience. "You know damn well you're not allowed to cum whenever you want, don't you?" His smile is dark and full of promise, deceiving. The way it made you excited and eager. "But I'll let it slide. You've had enough."

His next words, accompanied by his hard eyes, almost make you whimper. "Just listen carefully: if Misa suspects anything, I swear I'll make you swallow every tooth you have left."

He was the god here. The person who took you apart, the one who decided your life or death. You were just one of his servants, a faithful but unstable follower.

Oh, but how wrong Light was. You did love him, but you would rather take him with you to hell than let him go free for someone else. He could break you into a million pieces, as long as he only touched you and no one else.

[kozachenko]

Finally decided to play around with my old lineless style again! Also figured out a way to draw Reimu that I actually really like!

Artist's Notes;

I've mentioned in a few earlier posts that I've been wanting to draw in my lineless style again for a while as a way to test what I've learnt from my previous style in regards to lighting. I did the face first and then for a while was thinking about doing a full body illustration of Reimu just to draw her outfit again. I'll talk about the face first since that's the first drawing I did in this batch.

For the longest time I really couldn't find a way to translate Reimu's face into my style. I was able to make her clothes work out well, just not really her face. I did like elements of how I drew her face a few other times, namely the tiny eyebrows and her pupils, but they didn't really feel like Reimu to me, or at least how I imagined her in my head. I then realized that it was less of a problem with the entire face and moreso the eyes, and it took me quite a bit of trial and error to make something that I was happy with. Also, as much as I thought the tiny eyebrows were cute, it didn't really make sense with her character. Like, from what I know about Japanese history, plucking your eyebrows was something that nobles (rich people) would do, and since Reimu is...neither of those things, I decided to just give her some thicker eyebrows instead (I will be saving the plucked eyebrows for another character though, so they will return). After I got to a face I was happy with, my next challenge was the hair. I did the front part first and liked that enough to continue, and then after more trial and error I realized that deep down I was a short-hair-Reimu-is-best-Reimu-truther this whole time because once I gave up on the long hair and gave her shorter hair something just clicked in my brain. And so, after drawing her outfit in again (this time without the yellow tie which is kinda sad but I'll find a way to incorperate it into future designs because it just was not making sense to me in context with the rest of the outfit) and finnicking around with the bow, I came to a version of Reimu's face that I actually liked. I thought that it made more sense for her character to have her cut it short, mainly because she's doing a bunch of Youkai extermination and she has to keep her hair out of her face somehow. I still wanted to make it kinda messy though, as Reimu is probably too lazy to clean it up herself. I think another reason I like it so much is because in Forbidden Scrollery, Moe Harukawa gave Reimu short hair and that really suited her, so I guess that was just a subconcious reason as to why I liked it so much. I also think that the shorter hair helps to separate her a lot from Marisa, as I think Marisa looks really good with longer hair. Speaking of, now I wanna do a drawing of her and Reimu together to really solidify how I draw them (unlike the previous version where it was just them standing). As much as I do like the face, I am concerned if she looks too much like how I drew Keiki now, but that might just be a product of the stylistic choices I made with her eyes and I might just be overthinking it. I am hyperaware of same face syndrome so that's probably the reason I'm so concerned about it lol.

Now for the fully body drawing. I was struggling to think of a good pose for her, so I just took a picture of myself and used that as a reference while still making slight adjustments for readability's sake. This is another case of, "I've looked at this too long and can spot every single issue with it" but this time I'm still happy with the final product mainly because this was a test drive for how I want to develop my lineless style in the future and for what it is I am more than pleased with the result. The main reason I deviated away from my lineless style was mainly because I was having a hard time with the lighting and making it interesting, and I am so glad that I've finally found a way to make it work! I'm especially happy with the clothes, as I think clothing folds are really fun to draw. I was somewhat inspired by the works of J.C. Lyendecker and the way he draws clothes, though admittedly it is not a one to one, since I mainly wanted to try implying the shading of the clothing folds with shapes (I do really want to do a study of his style one day as his art is incredible). So for the sleeves, I drew in a bunch of triangles where I wanted there to be a strong highlight, roughly coloured in the inside, and then blended them all so it looks like a more subtle. On both of these drawings, I also added in a noise filter to give it some texture (as that's what I used to often do with my drawings) and while I do like it, I might want to experiment with making it more subtle in the future, as it's pretty noticeable in both these drawings. Overall, I'm really happy with the lighting and colours of this drawing, and while I could nitpick several aspects of it (her hand holding the gohei looks too tense, I tried making her look like she was standing on the balls of her feet but the positioning of her Gohei's trail of papers ends up making it look weird, and I could've put more effort into the hair and bow and so many more things), this is more of a piece for me to experiment with my style again, and I'm excited for when I get a new idea for a piece, as I really wanna try some more stuff out with this style!

[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 ✌️

[xervn]

like a french girl 🎨

part 1 - paint me | part 2 | art major ellie x dance major reader | ellie photo

ao3 link

summary: ellie had been struggling with finding the perfect model for her art final. that was until she saw you.

18+ MDNI | 2.2k words | tags; college au, pining, only a little explicit, no use of y/n, not proofread

disclaimer: not an art or dance major, don't shoot!

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Scribble, scratch, throw. This has been Ellie’s routine since she moved onto campus.

Why? Her professor told her that she draws the human body like it’s lifeless. Ranting about how they’re too one-dimensional and have no depth, her lines are too sharp or not sharp enough; flat and boring in looks and in feeling. 

Now listen, Ellie has nothing against criticism. She respects her professor and she’s aware that her drawings lack “vitality”. It’s been something she’s struggled with for a while now, an effect of some recent events and overall adjusting to college life. 

Ellie isn’t unable to grasp the anatomy of the body, in fact it’s the opposite. She knows the human body is complex and needs thorough observation. The way the sun hits the skin, the hairs on a knuckle, the creases of a smile. Wide, small, big, tall; no two bodies are exactly the same. 

Really, the imagery is so clear to her, but she finds it impossible to transfer the life and motion of the body onto a piece of paper without truly understanding the person. The way she sees it, every body has a story, and in order to make a good piece she needs to know that story.

Since art school is filled to the brim with inspiring, exciting, and vibrant people, she has, of course, tried to talk with them. She attempted to get to know the models, ask them general questions and hope something clicks. Unfortunately, that has yet to happen. She can’t really ask her friends either without it getting awkward. Imagine, “ Oh, hey guys! Can you guys get naked and pose in one spot for my homework?”   Hear how weird that sounds? Even though she’s sure Jesse would definitely be down, she values her eyes.

 Any “muse” she could possibly ever want was right in front of her, so why was it really impossible for her to find one?

 Well, because Ellie didn’t find anyone interesting enough. She’s not shallow or anything, it has nothing to do with how the model looked, Ellie has had several good-looking models. It was more about how she perceived them. It’s just that she hasn’t seen a model that made her ask questions like: “ How’d they get that scar?”  “ What does that tattoo mean?” Stuff like that.

The last interesting model she had was probably a fucking homeless guy she shared a blunt with outside a gas station many moons ago. Till this day, he might be one of her best pieces. There’s not a lot of moments like that here.

Nonetheless, Ellie saw this developing– extremely lame— personal requirement of hers annoying as shit. It’s holding her back big time, but she couldn’t help it even if she really wanted to.

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It’s practically useless to keep trying. The tiny voice in Ellie's head presses her to keep going, keep failing, but enough is enough. She is seriously burnt out and any more of this might kill her. The only thing that could help right now is a meaty slice of pizza and a blunt as soon as she thought of it.

Ellie clears out her desk, knocking the stack of crumpled paper into a conveniently placed trash can; a placement made from her constant trials and errors. She pushes up, and stretches widely, obnoxiously groaning like an old man by the end of it. She quickly tidied herself up, tying up half of her hair into a ponytail and throwing on a dark-green flannel shirt she had to sniff before wearing over her plain white tee. She takes a quick look into her floor-length mirror, making sure she looks presentable before grabbing what she needs to head out.

Just as her hand reached for the silver knob, Ellie felt this overwhelming urge to look back. God, she knows what she is going to look back at, but she really hopes she doesn’t. Unfortunately, her eyes land on her sketchbook, laid flat on the desk underneath a lamp’s warm light. She shouldn’t.

She needs a break. She knows she needs a break, but there is a twinge of hope, faith, lodged somewhere inside her. The same faith that’s kept her from dropping out every day for the past four months. Ellie groans as she drags her feet to her desk where she whisks up the brown book and shoves it in her tote bag with an accompanying pencil. She swivels back to the door and strolls out, silently praying her mood improves in the next hour.

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The cafeteria was surprisingly crowded, but Ellie managed to get her pizza without saying ‘fuck it’ to the line. Still, the thought of eating between this buzzing mess when she was in such a shitty mood turned her off. Thankfully, she knew that everyone would be everywhere but the upstairs balcony, especially during this chilly time of year. No sane person would eat out there, and she’s not particularly sane. Ellie saunters off to the balcony and sits herself at a small table facing the view.

It only took a glance around before she came to the realization that the view is not really a view. There’s only a dorm a few feet away, directly across. It’s a large brick-laid, generic building with wide windows. If it weren’t for the blinds, the view into a room would probably be good enough to read a label on something. Ellie’s freckled face grimaces at the thought, imagining what it’d be like if someone watched her rage as she messed up her homework over and over from this distance. Despite that, she thought it’d probably be a pretty good spot to live in. It’s close to the cafeteria and probably a lot bigger than her 1x1 dorm.

With a twinge of curiosity piquing her mind, Ellie glimpses over the windows, and for the most part, they are all closed.

All closed, but yours.

Yours doesn’t even have blinds. You’re on the 3rd floor and almost completely unobscured in a black camisole, sitting on your questionably roomy windowsill with a leg perched up. Ellie can see the fairy lights strung up in your bedroom, and a line of succulents closer to the window; ordered by size, which she briefly thought was cute. 

You aren’t facing the window, so she can only see your back. What she could see, though, is you doing your hair, occasionally swaying to what she can only imagine is music. Your room is high, but low enough for her to identify you if she had the pleasure of knowing you. Knowing you, reverberates in her head. Does she know you? Has she met you before? Amongst that babble, there is one more question she is slowly trying to gather an answer to. 

Time passes, most definitely shorter than Ellie would have thought passed. Her eyes have been glued on you the whole time, she even forgot about her, now freezing cold, pizza just so she could gawk at you. She still hasn’t seen your face yet, barely even a glimpse, but she already thinks you are stupidly beautiful just by the way you move.

From the graciousness of your movements alone, she thought there was no way in hell you didn’t know she was watching. At some point, your arms got tired, so you smoothly rolled your aching shoulders back; stretching into an arched, effortlessly perfect posture. Ellie’s eyes traced that slight curve of your back as if you’d disappear if she broke off from you.

There is no way it gets better from that, is what she thinks to herself, only to be shut up immediately after when she sees that perfectness of your back stay as you bend over and shift onto both knees to grab something far away, bringing your shorts in view. So short— so tight , they could easily be mistaken for panties. 

It was unexpected to say the least, Ellie could feel her face heating up and had to look around her to see if anyone else could see what she was seeing right now. Ellie wondered about the practicality of those shorts, wondered what exactly they were supposed to cover, leering at the plush of your ass peeking out. She thoughtlessly lets her jaw drop before muttering out a low, impressed, and barely over a whisper, “Well, fuck.”

You must’ve noticed your shorts riding up, since you quickly pulled them down after you grabbed what you wanted. Ellie clears her throat, internally scolding herself for being so gross— so perverted. Her brows furrow in embarrassment from all the dirty thoughts she brewed up in that moment. But for some reason, she still doesn’t look away. Well, there’s a list of reasons for her to look away, but she feels like ignoring it. 

Then a cold gust of wind bites past her face, clearly a sign from the universe that she should snap out of it, and snap out of it she does. 

What the hell happened to her? What is it about you that she keeps leaning into? Suddenly something clicks in her brain. After months of creative agony, something finally clicked. She has sat here completely fascinated by you and she couldn’t tell sooner?

In all honesty, to say she is just “interested” in you would be an understatement. Yeah, now she thinks you’re the perfect model for her final, but she wants to know you beyond just the drawing. A plus is that you just happened to be hot, and Ellie has never been attracted to a subject before, so the whole thing was new and exciting to her. Just the thought of drawing you made her remember why she loved art so much.  Ellie reaches for her tote bag sitting in an empty seat beside her, pulling out her sketchbook with more enthusiasm than she probably ever has. She sets the book down, opening up a blank page with one hand and tightening her grip on her pencil in the other.

She looks back up at your window, ready to sketch your life onto paper and..  Shit. You’re looking back.

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Today has been a good day for you, your teacher chose  you to teach the choreo you’ve been working on for weeks to your classmates. It was an obvious ego booster for you. You felt good and you wanted to look good too, even if you weren’t going out anywhere. It was just one of those nights. You wanted to experiment with your hair, thinking maybe you’ll do something new before your next practice. Dye it, cut it.. something.

It’s been a while since you started, and after several wrist and shoulder cramps, you were finally finished. You take a look into your hand mirror, peering at your reflection. You’re satisfied now, looking exactly how you’re feeling if you minus the dingy sleep clothes you’re in. 

♫ My heart, I never be, I never see, I never know. ♫

Grimes? Really? You pout, upset that your playlist didn’t magically read your mood. What you need is real 2000’s hot girl music. Britney Spears, Nelly Furtado, or Beyoncé for crying out loud.

“Alexa, skip!” You shout across the room, just loud enough for the device to hear. 

The stupid thing doesn’t even light up, so you call out a few more times but to no avail. Isn’t the whole point of that thing to be voice automated? You sigh and look around for your phone, and seeing it’s nowhere in front of you, you figure it’s behind. You twist your torso to find your phone behind you and luckily you do. As you pick it up, you casually glance out the window without any expectations. 

Did you see a figure in the blur as you looked away? You question your eyes, but you decide to take another look and just find out for yourself.

You peer back down and your eyes meet with someone else’s. The sudden eye contact between you and this woman instantly mortified you. Your heart sunk, and all you could do was raise your brows stupidly. She was surprised too, even in the dim light you could see her shocked expression boring back at you. Not only that, it went on for way longer than it should have. Any normal person would’ve looked away, but her eyes lingered on you before she hastily turned away. 

You’ve been sitting here, dressing up your hair, listening to your music without a care in the world. Far too absorbed in yourself to realize there’s someone outside your window. You slide off your windowsill and out of sight. Just as your bottom finally hits the wood floor, you feel the coldness of it against your skin and you’re immediately conscious of the fact that your ass was literally out at some point. 

The poor girl was trying to eat her food and you were bending over in front of your window like a harlot. It certainly didn’t help that she looked kinda hot. Did she? You peeked over your windowsill, hoping to get another look to really assess her hotness, but she was already gone. Whatever, maybe she didn’t see? But she looked embarrassed… embarrassed for you probably!

You hide your face in your hands and topple to the side, letting out a fake sob. Oh, god. You can already imagine Dina’s face when you tell her. You couldn’t help but burst out laughing at that thought. That was humiliating as shit, but it’s whatever. It’s not like you’ll see her again. 

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side note: if you have any tropes you'd like to see w/ this universe pls do drop an ask 🤭

click 4 more!

[asktheritochampion]

FOR THE PERSON BEHIND THIS ACCOUNT:

how'd you get started doing this account? also do you have any advice for someone who's thinking of doing a similar account? /genq

As someone who has run many an ask blog in different fandoms over the years, people asking me for advice in starting their own is something that happens pretty frequently.

Making an ask blog for your favourite character is a great way to explore that character in more depth without needing the narrative of writing a fanfiction, not to mention a super fun way to interact with the fandom community!

Ther's no right or wrong way to run an ask blog; but I'm happy to share some of the things I've learned over the years from trial and error for those just dipping their talon into this creative format for the first time.

There's two different ways you can start your ask blog; by creating a side-blog off of your main blog, or by creating a whole new blog. Either works fine, but I personally favour having a full blog - you can make a gmail in two minutes then bash out a full blog just like that. The drawback is that sometimes I forget to log back onto my main blog; but a side blog cannot send asks to other blogs and you have to remember to set everything you post to the correct blog, which can get confusing at times.

While decorating your new blog; make a rules page and write out a list of things you're not okay with people asking. Maybe you're uncomfortable with rude or violent asks - with topics of sexual harassment or racism or homophobia. Maybe you don't want to roleplay, or you only want to interact with people that follow your specific ship. You can put whatever you want on your rules page - but pin that post so that newcomers can read it and know what is and isn't okay to send in.

When you first start your blog, it can be a little tricky to get the ball rolling. I recomend following other ask blogs and active blogs in the fandom and interacting with their posts to connect with other people. Even then however, you might need to either get a friend to send you a couple of asks or send a few anonymous asks to yourself to get started.

Don't be discouraged if it takes a few days or weeks for people to starts sending in asks. It takes a long time to foster people's interest and engagement no matter how popular or interesting the character is.

A big question people often have is; should I post art with my asks?

From my experience, you could be the greatest writer in the world - but posts you make which have a visual aspect will always grab more attention on a social media platform designed for scrolling than just normal text posts. People have short attention spans. Keep text responses short, and add something sparkly to grab peoples attention.

Not everyone is an artist or has time to draw, but that doesn't mean you can't still make your posts visually interesting. You could use gifs or screenshots of your character, you could handwrite your replies to make them look like letters or diary entries (although if you ever do illustrated text, make sure to include it as a caption below for screenreaders to still be able to access), or even just make your reply fonts colourful or large or play around with different fonts to make them stand out from other posts.

If you do want to draw replies I encourage it because it's a great way to improve your drawing skills fast. If you're worried about your skill level, you can always make it part of the theme and say it's the character drawing their own responses.

I'd recomend if you're planning on sketching replies to draw out several different pictures of your character with different expressions and poses and to re-use them. However if you want to be a crazy person like me and try to draw unique responses most of the time; I'd highly recomend choosing a very simplified style of drawing.

Response pieces should take you less than fifteen minutes or you'll burn yourself out pretty fast. I sketch Revali in a simplified way and just do a flood-fill wash of tone so that my drawings are as fast and simple as possible to do - no colour or shading. If I was spending an hour on every response piece, I'd run out of spoons for this by the end of the week.

If you want to run a popular or highly interacted with blog, the most important thing is posting frequently. If you post a few times a day - or even just a few times a week, people will seek out your blog because it will keep appearing at the top of the tags. The key is churning out a lot of asks all the time.

Get into a habit of doin' your posts fast and rough, and don't worry too much about perfecting things. Nobody will notice if your art or writing is a little unfinished or sketchy. On social media, especially in this style of creating, people only look at your posts for a few seconds - so especially when you're first starting out and trying to get noticed, it's okay to choose quantity over quality.

Something I know a lot of people worry about when they first start out is lore and storytelling in their ask responses.

My best advice is to not take anything too seriously. On this blog, sometimes Revali is around before the Calamity, sometimes he's around in Totk times. Sometimes I draw him wearing modern clothes and using an ipad and other times he has no idea what a microwave is. Sometimes I answer an ask one way, then forget about it and answer something else with conflicting information a few months later.

Nobody really pays enough attention to everything you post to notice continuousy errors. These blogs are just a bit of fun and a way for you to play around with your character like a barbie doll. You can do whatever you want with them, and change it day by day. You don't have to stick to one timeline or ensure that every single thing you post is lore accurate.

Saying that; let's talk about something I like to call 'arcs'.

Every once in a while when things are feeling a little dry or someone sends in something interesting, I'll throw in an 'arc' for Revali. Maybe he gets turned into a chick or a Hylian or joins the Yiga Clan - and for a few days all of my ask posts will revolve around this.

While it's a lot of fun to play with arcs, I'd recomend keeping them short and sweet - lasting no more than a week at longest before returning back to a comfortable norm. Newcomers are always drifting into fandom, as are more casual fans, and if newbies or people who aren't as deep into this character's life as you stumble upon your posts while you're doing a crazy arc, they're likely not really going to understand what's going on. Returning to a more 'canon typical' version of your character between arcs is important for coaxing in newer fans and keeping people from getting too lost.

Another thing people often wonder about is roleplay.

I don't really make my ask blogs with roleplay in mind, but the format itself is kind of built for it if the concept interests you. Playing as your favourite character and enacting little scenes with other blogs can be super fun - great escapism and an interesting way to tell a narrative.

There are however some unspoken rules to roleplay; things you pick up over time that aren't always obvious.

First off - not every ask blog wants to roleplay. Some people just aren't comfortable with it - and that's okay. Check out someone's rules page or just pop them a DM to ask, and respect their decision if they don't want to.

When you do roleplay with somebody; it's common courtasy to keep your roleplay to under ten posts. While this isn't as big of a deal as it used to be (truely Hylia bless Tumblr's newly enforced read-more feature when a post reaches a certain length), it's still polite not to clog up people's dashes with tons of long replies. If the roleplay starts to get too long, try to wrap it up and start a new one.

Another important unspoken rule is something I like to call the 'ask blog universe'.

Every ask blog is their own little universe bubble, where you come up with your own ideas and headcanons for your character and others. Sometimes you'll roleplay with another ask blog - and those ideas will clash.

You cannnot force your headcanons onto another blogs universe, so try to keep your headcanons out of roleplay and leave them just for asks and posts. If I'm roleplaying as Revali with another blog, I'm not going to mention within that roleplay that he's transgender or that he's infatuated with Link - because that might not be the canon for that other blog's universe, and it would be rude to make them have to bend their established canon to accomodate me.

You should always have fun acting out your favourite ships and headcanons - but just try to be considerate when roleplaying with other blogs that not everyone will share your opinions, and maybe just avoid topics of debate within the play.

Another thing people often ask; Can I start an ask blog for a character if someone else is already running an ask blog for them.

The answer is yes, of course you can. That person does not own the character - if you want to start a Revali blog like me, go for it! You can bring something new to the table that I cannot - we will inevitably play very different versions of this character and explore things the other has not even thought of. The more fun writing and art for our favourite character in the world - the better.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Which brings me onto my most important piece of advice.

No matter how you run your blog, inevitably at some point, some sad person with nothing better to do is going to come into your ask box and send something unplesent. Maybe it will be something gross and sexual - maybe it will be a rant about how they disagree with a headcanon you've made and why it's all wrong - maybe they'll just send you vauge death threats because they don't like the character (Revali gets a LOT of those...). This is unfortunatly an inescapable part of being online and creating.

The BEST thing you can do - and I cannot express enough how important this is - block them and delete the asks. Turn off anonymous asks if it starts to really bother you - even if it's just for a little bit.

Do not post them. Do not respond to them. Do not post ABOUT them.

These people are purely here for your attention, they want a reaction from you; and the second you give them that even if it's the most levelheaded response in the world, they will keep harassing you nonstop.

Whereas if you never acknowledge them; they will vanish so fast it will make your head spin.

Now, it's HARD not to post the scary, mean, or ranty asks that people send you for the validation of your kind followers telling you how wrong their harassment is. I get that. What I would recomend is befriending other ask blogs and sharing the woes with them instead. We even have a Legend of Zelda ask blogs discord group that anyone making an ask blog can join - go in there and screenshot post the garbage people send so we can all rant about it and validate you together.

Just never post it publically - it only feeds the wee beasts.

Ask blogs can be really fun to run!

They can also be hard work sometimes - whether it's because you're stuck on difficult asks, overwhelmed or underwhelmed with the amount of people interacting with you, getting mean anons, or burning out from trying to draw every response.

If you ever need a listening ear or a little advice or support, ol' Rahlin is always happy to share what I know. Don't be nervous to shoot over any questions or worries you have and we can talk them out.

I'm no expert in this genre by any means, but I have had a lot of experience with a lot of different issues over the years, and I'm always here to help anyone who is new to the scene and wants to join in the fun!

[meanbossart]

Oh boy, VaM is kind of a trial and error experience LOL I couldn't really show you how to use the interface and stuff without a whole video or something, but it's not THAT difficult to get a hang of if you just give yourself a day or two to play around, not to mention the number of tutorials you find out there. Luckily, if you only want to use it as a reference software that makes the process far easier (to this day I have no idea how to animate on that thing, since that's not what I use it for)

As for how I use it, it's pretty self explanatory - if there's a complicated pose I want to draw but I'm either having trouble with it, or just want to double-check angles/anatomy, I will use it as a resource! I use for most of my "proper" pieces (y'know, the nicer looking ones) and every once in a while for my silly comics if I'm having trouble with a pose.

Lets use this drawing for example (the character on top of DU drow belongs to @namespara )

I don't draw a lot of mud-wrestling (shocking, I know) but I had an idea of the kind of pose I wanted them to be in. So the very first thing I did was make a rough sketch of what I was envisioning:

I often do a rough sketch first, even If I know I'm going to be pulling the program up because A) It's less tedious than adjusting the models over and over again until I pick a pose and B) because sometimes I'll decide I don't need the reference, after all, and so that's 30 minutes I'll have spared myself of playing around on the software.

Now, this is a pretty complicated pose! It's in a weird angle and the bodies are making contact in ways I'm not used to depicting, so I did choose to whip out VaM for this one. I went into the program and after some messing around, I flopped my little dolls together like this:

Now something really cool about VaM is that you can completely customize your models, and if you have the patience, I would definitely encourage you to do so! Obviously, you don't have to make picture perfect replicas of every single character you have, but as you can see here I have made a DU drow "decoy" to help me better understand some of his features when I draw him: he has a strong brow, a short nose, a square jawline - these are all going to look a very specific way from certain angles, and I might not always be sure of how to draw it right! So it's useful to have models that bear SOME semblance to the character so you can better understand how different viewpoints will affect their bone structure and mass.

Also thank fucking god for the elf-ear slider. Figuring out how to draw those shits from certain angles was a huge pain in the ass when I started drawing DnD races.

So, with the reference in hand, I go over the sketch again:

Now you may notice that I don't stick to the reference 100%. There's three reasons for this:

posing on VaM is tedious as hell. You can get something incredibly natural looking and picture-perfect to reference from if you wish, but it's going to take you hours to do. So, for the most part I just slap guys together until the results are "close enough" and use that.

In my opinion, you should always aim to ENHANCE your reference material, not replicate it exactly!

While VaM is a PRETTY DANG GOOD source of anatomical reference, it isn't perfect, I often supplement it with further reference from real life resources or make tweaks based on my own knowledge where I catch it falling short (and, antithetical to what I just said, I sometimes fuck the anatomy up further on purpose if I think it looks better that way LOL it's all jazz baby).

Then lines, color, yada yada. I don't have a tutorial on that and I don't think I could make one, because my process is chaotic as hell, but I do at times use Virt-a-mate as loose reference for lighting too when coloring - waaaaayyyy less so however, because that process is even more tedious and I feel like I often get better results by just winging it. It is a feature of the program though, and I'm sure it would be helpful for someone who has a difficult time visualizing lights and shadows. I only started using this program a few months ago, so I happened to already have a pretty good understanding of that kind of thing and just don't personally feel like I get much out of that particular mechanic.

Here's a few other examples of pieces that I made reference for (WARNING: Suggestive)

Now, for the question many of you may want to ask:

"Can I trace this junk?"

And to that, I say: Buddy, you can do whatever the hell you want with the reference material you created.

However,

If your goal is to learn and improve your art, and to recreate realistic proportions and anatomy from memory, tracing won't help you.

Developing your own style, your muscle memory, and personal technique will all be hindered by choosing to trace instead of drawing from observation, so I would encourage against it. Hell - even when tracing is employed as a technique, it's usually by high-skill realism & concept artists who are looking to either cut some corners, save time, or just double-check their own proportions in order to improve further - if you try tracing as a beginner, you will most definitely find the result to still look stiff and "off".

So trust me, there is so much more to be gained from drawing from observation. Make note of tangents, compare proportions, use all the elements of the picture to dictate where and how things should go - it will be a far more rewarding experience.

Hopefully this has been helpful! VaM is a really cheap program (you get it on the guys' patreon for I think 8 dollars, just google it!) and it's definitely been worth my money as an artist since I found it. Learning to use it can be a little intimidating at first glance, but as I said above you only really need a day plus one or two tutorials to get a hang of the interface.

A fair warning though, IT IS A SOFTWARE MADE FOR VIRTUAL SEX/ADULT ANIMATION So when looking it up expect to see a some spicy content.

[toasterkoi]

I I I I how colour you brush program pretty what translates to "ARGHHHDUDGAIUS I LOVE YOUR ART ITA SO PRETTY TEACH ME YOUR WAYS OF RENDERING"

AAAAAAH I'm actually so flattered rn like, I don't think I have been asked this before??! I'm just going to take your ask literally, and attempt to explain how I render! Okay okay bear with me, I'm going to try my best to go over what happens behind the scenes🗣🗣Putting my teacher hat on, I hope this makes sense and is helpful!

Okay... we are gonna go ahead and spoil one of the art pieces I'm working on! The first part of it, at least!

First: My idea! This usually happens if I hear a really good song or have a scenario in my head that just needs to be drawn so I don't forget, and then I just throw up a sketch! Doesn't have to be perfect or pretty, just my ideas on where characters should be, or what pose, what facial expressions I'm going for, etc.!

(Facial expressions aside for this one because Sonic looks so goofy on the top left right there lololol)

Next would be finding out what color scheme I want to use for the drawing. So, I throw together some colors and decide if that's the feel I'm looking for! Color can convey alot about a certain mood/tone you're going for in an art piece, so I kinda go with what I think looks good and what will reach the vibe I felt when imagining it! I find myself using warmer colors more often because those colors give me that folk-like, forest fall tone I love! Once you have certain colors you like, just throw them together until it looks good to you and gets you closer to that vibe you want!

Like here, I'm going for a warm, yet tragic, "melancholy" feel? I heard the song "Little Pistol" by Mother Mother again recently, and the whole song felt tragic, yet powerful and meaningful (such a good song, check it out if you would like!). I wanted to convey sonadow like that too! A scenario where Sonic found Shadow instead of Eggman after he fell to earth, where Shadow is surrounded by old trees and long grass; the environment kind of grew around him and embraced him in a gentle kind of way. (I also just really like nature environments with big trees so I tend to project that in my art herherh☝️)

Usually, I do a sketch, then a cleaner lineart sketch above that layer, and then I color. But here, I switched it around and did color under the sketch layer before I cleaned it up. I wanted to make sure the colors were what I wanted them to be! It's really up to the beholder: what colors do you like? Where would they be good in your eyes? And the pen you use to color/draw definitely has a role to play in it too! I use very grainy brushes; brushes that are not too harsh on each other so they mesh nicely. Example! vv

I find it easier to draw when my pens are messier; I feel less restricted and can be more expressive! So, once you have pens you like and colors you enjoy adding, then it's time to start chipping away and molding the art to your vision! A lot of trial and error, that's for sure,,

When I render, it's done using either the brush I used for the grainy lineart, or it's another brush meant for color blending/texture. In this case, it was another brush that blends/creates color! For example, if I put red on orange, it makes brown (sometimes, lol) It doesn't make just one color when I use it, as I aim for all sorts of colors in my art! I go over the sketches and fix anything that looks weird and clean up using colors I already planned out on top of the sketch layer. Like here, I removed the guidelines for Shadow's big head and cleaned up his white fur! I also decided that the grass needed to be more defined, so I went to work there. I also added some blue to his muzzle to create a very faint greenish shading, deciding that it needed something more!

I also don't really have a structure for creating new layers. If I feel like starting a new layer to add more rendering, I do! Some drawings have 5 layers, some have 47!)

So really, it's all about what you like as an artist! More shading, go for it! Some blue here? Yes please! Not enough red here? Let's add some!

Here is the almost finished final product, I changed his ear tuft to make it look neater, added more blue to the orange grass to add depth, some small sketchy lineart for definition, and alot of other colors in different spots to give it that messy, painting-like vibe! I made Shadow's nose smaller, and colored over the Sonic scetch using both the lineart pen I use and color blending brushes!

And that's usually how I render! By going layer by layer on what I feel like I need to add to the drawing, and alot of it is trusting the process! Hopefully all that made some sense, and you can find really good Ibispaintx brush QR codes out there if you aren't vibing with the default pens! I also found drawing to be much more fun when I bought a stylus! Sometimes changing your method/approach makes it more fun and engaging, at least for me!

Here's one more example of what my process may look like:

And booyah!! My guide to rendering! A lot of it is messing around and finding out, so hopefully, there's a few takeaways from this essay that was able to show you how I render and do my thing! Thanks so much for the ask, I had tons of fun actually thinking about and writing down my process! 🥺

[kuni-kuun]

please please please I'm clinging on to you by the toes how do you draw your perspectives so deliciously (ty for posting kunizai art too sm btw you're doing our wretched Lord asagiri sensei's work)

U guys flatter me sm but im afraid i do not know how i draw either .. its funny enough to ME that people are saying im good at perspective because i litterally have never been good at it before 😭 ill try to explain as best i can though from my own experience !

My first advice is probably to not worry about anatomy too much; im 100% sure my anatomy is hella off in all my drawings. But in perspective art, u can still somehow make it work with foreshortening!

Especially for parts like arms, i usually just simplify it in 3 parts, the shoulder area, the forearm and the hand - foreshortening can be helped a lot by the folds of the clothes, so you can kind of still create a border to differentiate the parts of the body. And feel free to simplify the anatomy etc. And also embrace more "cartoonish" shapes- i draw a lot of weirdly curved legs but it works for a more dynamic-looking piece (i think)

Next would be to think of the art piece in terms of shapes. And also to not be afraid of using curved lines instead of straight ones

Using curved lines for areas that are too close or too far seem to work best for me in creating a sort of fish-eye lense that makes the background look warped, but dynamic!

Next, my favorite shape in terms of composition would be triangles. Especially for perspective top-down poses, it really gives you a general shape that the body could take based on that view

For compositions, i like it because i think it works well for balance, it has a very strong shape and works for visualizing foreground, middle ground, and background (the largest part (base) is closest to the viewer, the farther it goes the smaller the object gets). It prpbably helps if you have those point perspective ruler stuff that comes with some art apps. Also i use ibis and i sometimes use the transform tool to stretch or reshape a part until it flows better in the composition.

In terms of color, i usually work darker to lighter, from foreground to background. Darker objects nearer to the front and lighter objects at the back work a lot better for depth since the ones closer are more in focus and detailed while the lighter the object gets the more it seems to "fade" away.

Anyways i am certainly no professional and to be honest, most of this is me getting an idea or picture in my head that i go through trial and error to execute so i still advise you all to search up guides or references (i look for a lot of ideas on pinterest) and have fun ! If you still have questions, i will do my best to reply

[lunarleonardo]

Base reference image for day 6 Shuichi ^^

First design idea :p went through a bit of trial and error

and then i just started drawing him like this xD

This was the visual reference for his hunting pose. The photo doesn't really do his tail length justice, but whatevs. He wore a black body suit all the time that grows with him just so he wasnt running around nakey,, I think twice was enough for whump week we rlly didnt need any more XD

Fun fact! He was gonna be deaf. And he IS actually mostly deaf, he just has a difficult time hearing certain frequences. Like me ^.^ !!!

Bonus Kaede and Rantaro concepts

This au's rantaro's reason for being so "chill" is because if he isnt he literally catches on fire. Out of the three I'd say he was the most aware of his identity as The Creature. Shuichi genuinely had no idea and Kaede just had better things to be worrying about xD

This day was a lot of fun to put together Σ(*´◯`ﾉ)ﾉ Now can you tell I was a gacha kid

[steelart]

If you wouldn’t mind sharing your secrets, can you drop a quick tutorial for the hades art style? You seem to capture it very well!

Hey anon! Thanks so much, I’m flattered you think so!

To be honest there's really no secret, just a lot of trial and error. I am an amateur, but I’ll point out a few of my observations of the amazing Hades team’s work that I attempted to incorporate into this Astarion drawing, especially SuperGiant Games art director Jen Zee. Everything below is just my layman’s observation of her much, MUCH better work. You should check her out yourself!

First off, here’s a simple split out of the whole process (this will be long, more below the cut:)

POSE & PERSONALITY

Hades art is full of personality so the first challenge was to pick a pose that illustrates just one or two aspects of the character. For example, Dionysus from Hades 1 below has a languid, draping pose that reflects his chill-guy party vibes. Just looking at him you get an immediate idea of his personality.

And as much as I love the later wet-cat version of Astarion as he matures as a person, for the purposes of illustration in this style I chose a pose and expression that leaned into his early, less complex, more wily self. The dagger, wink, jaunty hips and head tilt are meant to communicate, without additional context, that he’s both trying to be appealing and is not trustworthy. 

LINEWORK & SHADING

Next is the linework and blocking! The Hades art team tends to use a combination of near-mono-thickness black lines, where exterior lines are thicker and interior lines are thinner or have no lines at all. They will often forgo an interior line to communicate form via color blocking instead. The style also makes heavy use of absolute black for the deepest shades, especially on more sinister characters or spooky aspects of a characters design. (See: Zagreus’ three dog head skulls and his red eye perpetually cast in deep shadow.)

It took some back and forth to find the right balance of black shading for Astarion. Too much and he looked too sinister and not approachable enough. Too little and he looked too innocent. 

Picking a strong light source helped with determining the direction and placement of the shadows so that just enough was obscured/revealed. It also helps in differentiating forms from each other so that, for example, the arm doesn’t disappear into the chest and become unreadable.

Using heavy black shading was a particularly useful trick in Astarion’s case, because his camp clothes color palette is fairly monochromatic between his light hair, pale skin, and white/cream shirt. That much light color can easily blend in too much and become boring: the flats I used were slight variations of white, from a warm reddish-peach to a yellowy cream to a cool light gray for the dagger.

COLOR & LIGHTING

Last is color! In Hades 1 and even more so in Hades 2, the lighting schemes are deceptively complex. There are often multiple light sources and use of bounce lighting to add a lot of visual interest. For example, check out this lighting on Polyphemus from Hades 2:

Not only does he have a cool moonlight hitting him from above, he also has a warm orange rimlight lighting him from the left, AND cool lavender bounce light bouncing off the ground and hitting him from below. All these combine and layer on top of one another to help emphasize the forms of the cyclop’s musculature and the textures of his sheep wool coat. 

I don’t think I was as successful in my own lighting scheme, because I’m an amateur, but I determined that the scene in which I was placing Astarion has a high sun and was outdoors. This means that the light hitting him from above would be a light, warm yellow and the bounce light hitting him from the left would reflect the nearby water and blue sky of the environment. 

To achieve this, I made use of different layer modes in my art program (Clip Studio Paint) to apply purple shadows (via the Multiply layer mode) and highlights (via the Soft Light layer mode) in a light sky blue and a light yellow for the primary and secondary light sources.

I ran into trouble with the blade, because it was also a light metal in an already light-color-heavy color scheme. At first, it was blending in too much and hard to read. So I decided to give it a bit of a magic teal glow to help it stand out, which meant adding a few specks of magic light reflecting back onto the face and clothes as well. 

INTEREST & DETAILS

Speaking of, Hades style art makes extensive use of adding little speckles of high-saturation color to add visual interest and cohesion. See this Zagreus portrait which is primarily made of grays, a tan bone-color, and reds: 

But sprinkled in are neon teal and magenta that don’t relate to the lighting at all. It’s just there to break up the blocks of color, bring unique colors like his green eye into the rest of the portrait, and direct the viewer’s eye. These highlights are slightly less bright in Hades 2, but still there, such as in this depiction of Apollo, who mostly glows with a warm sunlight but also has random pops of sky blue and green flecking his armor and hair.

The pops of color are often placed more centrally on the figure to keep your eye on the important parts of the portrait, like near Apollo’s face and on his armor. The color pops aren’t as frequent at the extremities; too much on the arm and your eye would be drawn away from his face.

I took a similar approach where I grabbed some of the brighter colors (like Astarion’s red eye, and the teal glow of the dagger), to add dabs of color that normally would not “make sense” from a lighting perspective, but add a little visual interest:

Also I totally studied their approach to Apollo’s curly hair to create the impression of Astarion’s curls!

Anyway, I think that's all I got for now, I hope this helps! There's more but this is already REALLY long so I'll stop here. In the end, it's really just a process of observation and replication of things you love in artwork you admire. Give it a try, it's a lot of fun :)

[6scera]

HERE IT IS! MY TENNIS DISCORD HOLIDAY EXCHANGE FOR @racingorange this was a LABOUR of LOVE 🙏🏼🙏🏼

I hope they r at least somewhat recognisable 🙈 it is supposed to be casper, holger and carlos just like in the snow sghxfjghfkxdf what r they up to? who knows...

anyway i hope u all, and especially racingorange enjoy this... alcaruru? ruruneraz? moment :33 pray for carlos the solar-powered spaniard hanging out in the snow with two scandinavians o7

some thoughts about the process under the cut !!

truly this piece was like kind of crazy work from me because i have never really done any complex drawing ie multiple subjects, dynamic posing, proper backgrounds so...... there was a lot of trial by error.

i think maybe its actually hard to capture likeness of real people in poses that aren't straight on 😭😭 so i think carlos came out the most recognisable and holger the least. also omg i find drawing hair so diffcult i kept putting it off lol. please ignore that i could have just given them beanies??????????

the background was difficult to get right on like all levels and honestly do not even attempt to think about what the perspective is in this piece its so wonky 😭😭 oh also i found out that i really dont know what snow looks like????? or pine trees???? or snow appropriate clothes????? why did my australian ass decide to put them in SNOW,,,,

lastly, i already work relatively large for digital only pieces but i truly should have gone larger for a piece with this much detail. it got so difficult to draw the faces,, all in all this piece taught me a lot of things and hopefully i can use these lessons to produce more!! tennis!! art!!!!!!!!!

[mochiiniko]

follow up to this ask! this time im just gonna be talking about my coloring process (i also want to let you all know that im not an expert in color theory since im still learning, im quite literally just going random bullshit go on the blending modes 💀 lots of explanation under the cut)

the three blending modes i mainly use are exclusion, hard light, and overlay. from the guide above you could see how the blending modes work on their own, and how they look like combined altogether. the cool thing about blending mode layers is that it really is all about experimentation and finding the best combination for a piece (also to any fellow inabakumori enjoyers GRAHH lagtrain pose jumpscare)

i went through a bunch of blending mode phases before i ended up with those main three, though it's funny how ive been using the same overlay color for about 4 years now (multiply used to be one of them, and i still use it from time to time, just not as much). im gonna be honest the whole reason why i know about blending modes being helpful was because one time i accidentally had the fill bucket on and had a certified eureka moment 😭

the best way i could explain these three modes is:

exclusion - honestly i still dont understand how it works either 💀 when i use a really saturated blue color and lower the opacity, it gives a cooler feeling to the palette. feels like a mix of multiply and overlay with how it adjusts the colors without making it darker

hard light - gives more saturation and color

overlay - gives off a glowy effect, especially if the lineart isnt completely solid (this is why it isnt clipped on the folder as shown in the example below, keeping it above the layers gets that glowy effect)

i still use the same colors for exclusion and overlay (while i do alter them with hue saturation brightness from time to time, i just use the same blue and brown for most of my works) though hard light is what i use to make drawings lean towards a temperature

i tend to use warm colors a lot because i think theyre neat and also im biased sorry <3. as a warm palette example, i drew yinu and used this orange color on hard light and lowered the opacity

cold colors have a similar process, it's just the matter of adjusting the hard light layer. i wouldnt really say it's completely cold since i still add warm colors because im still biased </3. as a cold palette example, i drew sayu and used this purple-pink (??) color with the same settings

when it comes to drawings that have characters with contrasting palettes, it does take a bit of trial and error but i most of the time i mix both warm and cold methods like the example above. this also helps for art with several characters in general, since the blending modes help make the colors go well together despite the variety

theres also instances where i dont always use the warm + cold combo, since sometimes drawings lean towards a specific temperature instead (like environments with set lighting/shading, so usually i follow that even with characters with different palettes)

tldr; there are lots of palette combos you could make, not necessarily with just the three blending modes i mention. random bullshit go genuinely helps with experimenting with colors!!

[frodo-with-glasses]

COMMISSIONS OPEN!!

Heya! Wanna throw money at me to make me draw something?? Well, for just $20 an hour, now you can!

Read below for price estimates and FAQs, and if you’re interested, please email me at FigTreeIllustrationsLLC@gmail.com to get started!

PRICING INFO

Because I’m too lazy to come up with complicated price structures, I’ll just be charging a flat rate of $20/hour for any work I do on the art piece. The clock starts when I pick up the pencil or digital stylus and ends when I put it down.

This does mean that prices will vary, depending on how time-consuming each art piece is, but I can give you some rough estimates.

Upper Body Sketch: Approx. 30 min = $10 for one

It takes me about half an hour to draw a bust or upper body sketch. This time can be shortened if I’m already familiar with the character design, or lengthened if I’m drawing an unfamiliar character or doing some weird perspective stuff.

Every additional figure would probably take another half an hour, adding about $10 each.

Full-Body Sketch: Approx. 1 hour = $20 for one

Drawing an entire figure is a little harder than just drawing the upper body, so this one might take longer. Again, this time can be shortened or lengthened depending on my familiarity with the character, how complex the design is, and whether I’m doing any complicated posing or perspective.

Adding additional figures can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour, adding $10-$20 each.

Animals: Approx. 1.5 hrs = $30 for one

Animals are not my strong suit, though I have gotten better at drawing them over time! However, the extra time studying reference photos and trying to get the anatomy correct can stack up quickly, so you’ll want to be aware of that if you’re commissioning something with an animal involved.

Posters: Minumum 3 hrs = approx. $60

Posters take a little extra time—and usually some trial and error—to plan the layout in a dynamic way. They also take up an entire sketchbook page and tend to include multiple people and some extreme perspective to add visual appeal. You can expect a poster to take about three hours minimum to complete.

Multi-Panel Comics: Minimum 4 hrs a page = $80

Drawing a comic big enough to cover an entire sketchbook page can take me anywhere from 4 to 6 hours of work. If drawing a long-form comic, I will probably divide the work over several days. Brainstorming will happen on the first day, when I’ll plan out how many panels I’ll need for the comic, and then I’ll get in contact with you to tell you an estimated price before I proceed.

Digital Coloring: Minimum 1.5 hrs = add approx. $30

Coloring things digitally takes about double the time it would to sketch; I’ve noticed it takes around two hours to color a simple image, with another hour added for each figure involved. This first image took me about an hour and a half to outline and color, while the second took about five hours.

Add to Redbubble Shop: Subject to Redbubble Pricing

If your commissioned artwork is Lord of the Rings-related, I can put it into my Redbubble shop, where you can have it printed on stickers, t-shirts, journals, mugs, and lots of other products! I won’t charge any extra fee, but you will have to pay whatever price Redbubble asks. Full disclosure: I receive only 10% of the profit from Redbubble sales; the rest goes to the website to cover manufacturing and shipping costs.

FAQ

No NSFW

No nudity or sexual content

Canon ships only

Will draw gore/injuries

Will draw OCs (please provide references)

Will draw for other fandoms (please provide references)

The artist reserves the right to reject any commission without disclosing the reason

The artist will give price and progress updates over the course of the process

You, the commissioner, have the right to terminate the project at any time and for any reason

If the project is terminated halfway, you will be charged for the artist’s time, but the artist might give a discount for incomplete work

Payment will be calculated at the end of the project and rendered using PayPal

Once again, if you’re interested, please email me at FigTreeIllustrationsLLC@gmail.com!

[raventrinkets]

Where or how did you learn to draw?? You're so good at it 😭

Aww thank you!! I'm mostly self-taught, so it's been a lot of trial and error. I started with realism before going stylized, and I still draw mostly still life, especially pet portraits, in my free time! I'm honestly still pretty new to digital art.

When I first watched ROTTMNT, I fell in love with its bright, colourful art style and attention to detail. It’s one of the few shows that's held my full attention LOL. I ended up redrawing a lot of screenshots, which helped me learn a LOT (legit finally understood how line art worked thanks to this)! Eventually I felt comfortable making fan-art, mostly thanks to the Risetober challenge. And SO many silly doodles in my class notes.

I've never been good at putting HOW I learned these things into words, sorry! BUT I'll include some more detailed stuff under the cut if anyone is interested. Honestly, drawing Rise makes me insanely happy, and I think that helps more than anything else!😂

Thank you so much!!

If you're curious what I use to make my stuff, I use Procreate and Procreate Dreams on the iPad.

I always start with a quick 'pencil' sketch, which I then do a rough inking over (I generally either use the inking brush Mercury or Baskerville for this). Once this looks good, I go over and do a final line art with the inking brush Baskerville. It has a pretty intense stabilizer, so it takes some getting used to, but it'll keep the lines smooth! Then I colour in everything (I have saved colour palettes for each of the turtles, which makes this step WAY faster), and shade (again with Baskerville). I'm sure better brushes exist out there, but these all come with the base app and they're what I've use for everything thus far😅

A really good website I've found for learning how to draw figures and proportions is called Line of Action! One of it's most interesting features (at least for me) is it's timed classes, which basically gives you 30 seconds to 10 minutes to draw a person. This helps you to learn how to quickly block out a pose, which is really handy when drawing.

Also, because I did mention class doodles, here is one of my first ever bits of Rise fan-art (drawn during a very boring lecture).