#Drawing without lineart is tough

[mikanferno]

HI!!!! new commission post !!!

edit 28/2/2024 11/5/24 14/6/24: . guys😨 . being alive is so fucjing expensive. prices are staying down for some time! (lol)

PRICES:

full bodies are 35 25 dollars (30 shaded 5 sketched), and headshots are 10 5 dollars (7 shaded, 3 sketched)! I also do discord emojis for 3 dollars each, and whatsapp stickers for 5 3 dollars each, regardless of complexity!

ADDITIONALLY. i will draw pretty much anything at all. guys. i will draw you the chucky cheese rat pregnant. hell ill draw you bowser AND chucky cheese having sex. without any extra complexity cost or nothing. ill draw your mary sue self insert french kissing those gacha characters yall like so much. i dont judge. ill draw homestuck. mordetwi. anything.

ehem. prices can be discussed, and additional characters come cheaper (any additional character will be 60% off the normal price) in drawings with multiple characters + each 10 drawings with the same price, one comes free!

i also do gifs! every second is 35 20 dollars!! (gif making is very tough).

sketch pages are 5 dollars, and can have up to 5 sketches in them!

Payment through Kofi, or PayPal! I take payment after I do the sketch, and you give me the go ahead to continue to lineart!

EXAMPLES:

WILL AND WON'T DRAW:

DISCLAIMER and EXPLANATION: "real people" doesn't include self insert ocs; it says "suggestive" because i post these to other social media and if i write "i will draw nsfw" in all of its letters i WILL get banned off instagram i believe.; hateful art includes, but isnt limited to racism, transphobia and xenophobia.

IMAGE OF MY DOG TO ENTICE YOU TO REBLOG:

she is in fact as dumb as she looks. thanks for reading ❤️

[theogm-art]

Im going around asking my favorite mech artists "how to get better at drawing mechs", so now i'm coming to you! What is your approach to drawing mechs, what was your path into learning how to draw em? And how could someone get better at drawing mechs? Thank you for your time and attention

Hello ! ^^

For me, I started drawing mechs 4 years ago. I was just starting to draw again after my big depression era (like 4-5 years without drawing anything after artschool) =w= I kinda had to start from scratch. So, to help me, I started drawabox.com .

I did the first lesson, pulling lines and drawing straight, which helped me a lot gaining confidence in my hand. I ended up drawing 250 boxes . It took me something like a month and a half, doing 10 boxes in day, not everyday, but most of the week.

This was important, especially with mechas, because it teaches you to draw in 3d, to give volume to your shape, and because most mechanical stuff is pretty much boxes piled on top of each others, it's pretty geometric.

At that point, I was already dusting myself of the rust in my drawing muscles, but what really finished it is doing the March of Robots 2020.

I did like 25 mechs in almost as many days, until I started getting comms. And since then, I haven't stopped. ^^

(also a year later, I got a dm from Tom/Abaddon and got hired to do mechs for LancerRPG x)

Of course, between all that, I did sketches, studies. I tried doing 100 hands but didn't finish it. etc

But for mecha, specifically, I think one of the first things you have to understand is that it is a language of symbols, that is different from organic forms. This obvious difference between mechs and humans, one could say, is that humans are soft volumes and mechs are hard surfaces. But , not only is that not necessary the case (you can draw a mech soft and circular), but it is more about filling in with symbols, shortcuts that bring to mind the idea of the mechanical.

I am not an engineer. Most artists that do mechas and robots and vehicles and hard surface are not engineer and/or do not have that knowledge. (some do but my point is it's not required). Which means that, as an artist you have to fake it by learning those symbols, that bring the IDEA of a mechanical form. This is about using the brain of the spectator/viewer, their knowledge of what mecha looks like, so that you can meet halfway.

You learn those forms by studying. There is no shortcut here. You have to practice, not only your hand, but also your eye, in looking at your favorite piece of mecha media, and replicate them until you can pull them from your brain without reference. (always use refs tho, you don't have use 100% of your brain all the time.)

I am a very DETAIL-oriented artist. It's one of the thing people compliment me on and/or hire me for. It's far from being the only approach in mecha (plenty of great artists doing great concept arts of mecha with few details) . The more details, the clearer you'll have to be, and the more time you'll have to spend on the art. Especially lineart for me. BUT details help a lot convey those symbols and forms and shapes that immediately call MECHA in the brain of the viewer.

Another thing about mecha, is that since it is NOT organic, there is 1) lots of repetition of shapes and symbols, which you are 100% allowed to copy-paste (i do that all the time) , that makes you gain a lot of time.

and 2) SYMMETRY (it's not always the case, you can have an asymmetric design which can be far more interesting) because it's a robot or a mecha or whatever, designed therefore by human hand in-context. Symmetry makes it harder for me, personally, drawing a 3/4 angles or in perspective etc, symmetry is tough. Symmetry of shapes from one shoulder to another, symmetry of details etc. That's probably one of the harder part when you work in 2D. Cause you have to understand perspective and foreshortening and all that.

But yeah, because it's inorganic, hard surface requires a better understanding of perspective, because straight lines are easier to read therefore the viewer will have an easier time at clocking wonky mistakes.

I could go on, about design and function, and aesthetic. but i'll stop there. This is basically how i started plus some other stuff. The rest you'll pick up along the way.

Thank you for asking ! =w=b

[cimmerian1275]

A little insight from me when it comes to drawing

Over the past year or so, ive gotten allot of people asking me "how do u do that?/i dont understand how you can draw this??" & "how do you draw so fast?" & "i wish i could be as productive as you" & "how are you so good at art?" <- to name a few of the most common comments i get.

——————

I never have a good answer for that in the moment because i overthink and spiral. But i can ramble my thoughts about it here.

I dont THINK i draw very fast, comparatively to some other people my art style/method that ive developed up over the years actually makes drawing for me take longer than it would for someone else.

Theres definitely artists out there who take a longer time to draw than me, and artists out there who can draw much faster than me.

But for me personally? Im probably somewhere in the middle.

I technically do draw very fast with the amount of details i can add in a short span of time, but 50% of the time spent drawing is actually me sketching, adjusting the sketch, using the liquify tool, resizing and rotating things a bunch of times, resketching the sketch and basically creating a whole rough draft of the artwork before i even begin drawing the actual lineart.

If my artwork took 2 hours to complete, i can guarantee you the first hour was just the sketch.

And after explaining that 👆 it makes it easier to explain "how are you so good at art?". For me, being good at art is... tough to explain because the way i view "good art" is probably different to how others think it is. Itll be a long info dump but ill circle back to that at the end.

——————

I unfortunately have a bit of a perfectionist streak and a very spur of the moment "if i can, why not?" attitude and that heavily influences my art. This is where being neurodivergent (think adhd, autism) becomes a very important factor to consider during my art process:

If the inspiration hits me to draw *something* in a cool dynamic pose that the art gods just beamed into my brain, ill go "ohhh hey that would look awesome!" which then turns into "why not draw that right now? whats stopping me?" ill pause whatever im doing and leap into sketching out that idea. I am a tragedy when it comes to impulse control.

This part is where i inevitably get doomed by my own brain xD

I have two options ahead of me:

1, 'Start drawing right now before the idea runs away' OR 2, 'Let that idea float around in my head for a few weeks, procrastinating how awesome it would be but never actually act on it'

And when i pick option 1?

Ill forget and drop whatever half baked plans i had for the day, ill forget i havent had anything to eat in the last 10 hours, ill forget i should probably go outside and touch grass. Ill lock in, grab my pen and get comfortable because i wont be moving for a couple of hours.

Ill leap into sketching that idea while its still hot, because i know if i just sit there and let myself procrastinate about it, ill never actually draw anything.

I can spend around 2 - 5 hours on average just non-stop drawing when it comes to bigger projects. I absolutely suck at taking breaks, and i only ever do when i get thirsty or begin to feel my brain telling me it needs some enrichment (which is usually just getting up for a snack or drink). Take this with a grain of salt because im no professional or psychologist, but i like to think that i have found my own personal ways weaponize my adhd/autism to aid me with art.

(Lots of people are probably going to relate to what i say next, so buckle up! I need to do some explaining first so you can understand how my brain works)

I tend to lose focus, SO EASILY, i can switch up conversations really fast without a sweat and enjoy it. I can be reading, listening/humming to a song, and have a secret third option where a corner of my brain is thinking of fanfic and art ideas all at the same time. Ill zone out in the middle of a book, a show, an artwork, and start procrastinating about the randomest of things. Ill spend a good couple of minutes trying to stack my pillows just right to sit in a comfortable posture, ill get pissed off if theres itchy fabric brushing against my drawing arm and ill drop everything to fix that, ill keep fluffing up that blanket on my lap until its in the exact right position.

These things often make it difficult for me to sit down, get focused, and start drawing...

But i actually have a good list of tricks that make it possible for me to avoid distractions and comfortably lock in on drawing. And oh boy, when i lock in i reeaaaallly lock in.

——————

Some common problems i face when drawing, that you might have trouble with aswell:

🔶 Ill have an art idea hit me, but by the time i open up the program i use to draw its already nyoooomed back into the void it came from: IT SUCKS!! I lost the idea and cant grasp it in my imagination :C but ive got a strategy i use to grip that idea and keep it in my head long enough for me to draw. And its MUSIC. I love scrolling my playlist for the right song/playlist that fits the "vibe" of what im trying to draw, and i often associate an artwork to a specific song. Some examples of what happens when i just looped 1 song (or playlist) the entire time as i drew it: - 'Odysseus' - 'King Of The World' - 'Falling Feels A Little Like Your Flying' - 'Let The Wind Carry Us' - 'Gold' - 'First Flight/Flight Over Alps' - 'To The Ends Of The Earth' For ALL of these big artworks, i owe so much to music for enabling me to lock in and get that idea down on paper. Not every artwork is based on 1 song though, sometimes ill just have a playlist on shuffle in the background instead as i draw away. I find music helps slow down and focus my thoughts long enough for me to imagine what im actually trying to draw.

🔶 Ill stop midway drawing and lose focus, just zone out for seemingly no reason: Ive discovered when that happens for me, ive simply gotten lost in a decision making process at some point while i was drawing. When i eventually notice ive zoned out, i pause what im doing and take a step back to think... "What was i trying to do earlier?" -> I was trying to decide what part of the artwork i was going to draw next, theres a few things i rlly wanna draw now but i can only pick one! I got lost imagining how both options would look when i do them, and once id stopped to procrastinate about those my thoughts had taken the wheel and spiraled into a ditch instead of actually going ahead and drawing it. This is really common in my case, and its often about 5 songs later that ive noticed im just sitting here staring into space thinking about a fanfic i read 2 months ago and how much i loved it, and not working on the artwork in front of me xD

🔶 Ive lost the motivation to start/finish an artwork/project: Happens all the time, and its horrible, i have projects, commissions and owed art that people are waiting for... yet i cant seem to find the will to work on them. I dont really have advice for this, but i want to drop some wisdom on you and say that Its okay if you cant seem to draw that right now. You dont need to put everything else on hold to finish this, you can start a fresh project instead of continuing that old one thats looming at you from the corner of your files. Dont allow yourself to feel burdened and pressured to complete something, dont let the mere thought of losing motivation turn something you love to do into something you hate. (this is probably not effective advice for anything with a due date, but it can still help in a roundabout way) Ive come to think that when youve lost motivation, your brain is simply just still loading the ideas and motivation, theyll come to you in time. Its like waiting for a massive game to install or update, its going to take a while, but youll still get it in the end. When your motivation finally returns, you can be satisfied that youll enjoy what your drawing again! Maybe you just needed a break from it, maybe your brain needed a moment to work up the courage.

I still have artworks that are MONTHS in the making, and that people are still waiting for, but im content to know what when my motivation returns to finish those ill actually be able to put genuine effort and joy into completing them. Meanwhile, ill keep drawing what im currently motivated for so that i dont get rusty <3

🔶 ARTBLOCK!!! *falls into the void/dies for a month* The thing thats always peeking over my shoulder and asking if its time.... From my perspective, i perceive art block TWO ways:

Exhausted mentally, burnt out <- OR -> Literally art-blocked, your stuck without ideas, trapped in a rut D:

Exhausted and burnt out? Too dead inside to draw? Thats the universe knocking on your door saying you reeaaally need to take a vacation, listen to it. Burning out is NOT fun, and the longer you push past your limits the longer youll have to spend recovering from it. Having breaks for a couple days to a week every once in a while does wonders for my sanity.

Literally facing art-block, ideas not idea-ing? Ive discovered that my brain is asking for enrichment when i face that, it wants to try something new and exiting and fresh, it wants to stretch its muscles and stop drawing the same old boring stuff youve been drawing for the past couple of weeks.

Try drawing in a new artstyle!! Maybe change what brushes you draw lineart with, make them thicker, or thinner? Try a brush with a unique texture to it. Draw with a smaller/larger canvas than usual, participate in a daily art challenge or event? Spontaneously draw someones OC that you like. You just need a breath of fresh air and to mix things up a little bit <3

🔶 Hyperfixating so much that i forget to take care of myself: Half the time I WILL get really bad hyperfixation on a bigger artwork because im in the zone and i locked in too hard that its become obsessive, and it often feels like...

"If i dont finish this or keep drawing, my anxiety spikes like theres something after me and theres this unwarranted sense of NEED to do good and get that artwork done"

Thats the big driving force that gets me to be productive with my art. Depending on how you view it, it can be seen as a good or bad thought process. This is usually a good heads up that im getting close to a burn out when im finally done with that artwork, and i really NEED a break. Stop for lunch, or dinner, grab a snack and walk around a bit.

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To the people who say: "how are you so good at art? how do you do that?", "i wish i could be as productive as you", "tell me how/teach me your ways"

Im gonna be sappy and say its NOT straightforward and this is definitely not the answer youd expect, but im good at what i do because ive taken time to look at myself and understand how my own brain works.

Im good at art because ive spent all this time getting SUPER introspective, picking my own brain apart and discovering that: "when i do this, it makes me enjoy drawing! If this makes it enjoyable it means i can draw more" and that ultimately leads to "When im able to draw more, im constantly growing and improving my skills from all of the experiences im gaining, i now have the motivation and passion to do THIS because im actively enjoying it"

If i know what distracts me, what makes me lose motivation, what causes me to burn out, what i dont enjoy drawing... and ive learned ways to overcome those obstacles? Thats what i think enables me to be a good artist and be so productive.

Im gonna be cliche and say LOTS of practice is also literally the only reason why im where im at today. Sure, i already had a boost at the beginning because i was naturally artistic and its probably genetic somehow with all the artistically talented people in my family, but its because ive put work into refining those skills and honing them that theyre actually GOOD. They would be useless if i hadnt done anything to build them up.

You dont need to have a predestined skillset to become good at art, your just a little behind and have a longer learning curve. Ive watched a close friend of mine over about 5 years, go from really bad scribbles and awkward looking doodles to practicing and discovering they have a really good knack for colors and shapes.

I like to think "whats actually stopping me from learning to draw?", whats stopping me from downloading an art app and messing around, whats stopping me from doodling in the corner of a book, whats stopping me from stealing sticky notes and scribbling on them, whats stopping me from wanting to improve more and more? Too many people are close-minded and negative with "i dont have any devices to draw on" so what? grab a book and pen, i started with traditional art myself. "But i dont have pens or drawing books?" that sucks, but whats stopping you from grabbing a stick and even drawing in the dirt or sand or snow?

[puddingestcat]

My new art supplies arrived! So, several days ago I saw something about being able to use clear gesso to stop markers bleeding through paper. Even thin paper. Google said something like printer paper would still be no good, because it would warp etc. However! I am incredibly cheap when it comes to paper... Because its one use. Even when I get more expensive paper I'm afraid to use it and waste it. So I often prefer to use... Printer paper :P Anyway, I wanted to test whether using clear gesso on something as thin as printer paper really would be doomed. I also wanted to see whether it needed several coats as videos suggested, how the texture was, and whether the clear gesso would cause ballpoint and normal ink pens to smear. 1. The first image is my prepared tracings, two on printer paper, one on super cheap supposedly watercolour paper. Unfortunately I didn't think to take a photo after the gesso was dry, but the normal ink pen definitely smeared, and the ballpoint smeared a bit too I think. The printer paper curled a little with the gesso at the corners, the cheap watercolour paper initially curled a lot, then flattened itself. 2. At any rate, the second picture is colouring with my new Ohuhu markers. Bad colouring is down to me, it has been a long time since I last coloured something. Regarding the texture of the gesso, it definitely feels slightly rough/gritty compared to the normal printer paper. And as you can see there are fine lines in the direction that I applied it in with the sponge brush. When I went to draw in the pupils of the eyes with ballpoint pen the texture made it very tough to draw/write on, as you can see with the date. Definitely pays to have your lineart/sketch under the gesso if you want it to be smooth.

3. This is the reverse of the previous image, so you can see that the normal pen which was used before the gesso went through the paper slightly, but nothing got through after the gesso had dried. I was especially pleased with how it let me blend the marker colours together a bit without any worry of ruining the paper.

4. As you can see, the gesso did fade some of the pencil sketch on this one quite a bit.

5. Applied watercolours, like the markers it allowed me to have some freedom in blending them and even layering some colours. I did not try to wet the paper at all however and was using cheap watercolours that come in those little dry circles and the brushes that have water in them. Like the markers you can see the lines of the gesso on it, but I don't think it turned out too bad. I went over all the outlines in pencil and as you can see the rough texture made all the pencil lines very dark. (I'd also applied a thick coat of gesso in the top left corner of each picture to test if the single coat hadn't been enough to prevent things bleeding through)

Overall I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out. Using it on printer paper definitely seems viable, with the main drawback being the line texture. I have read people mention potentially sanding it because they had concerns about wearing marker tips down for the same reason. It should provide me with something useable to practice on though until I feel confident enough to actually use my fancier paper.

[redux-iterum]

How do you manage multiple projects? Like seriously you have verse, seekerquest, and redux and they are all amazing!

Also a side note but I get so freakin excited for new chapters every week, I absolutely love this series!

(Seeker and Verse)

Thank you so much for enjoying my projects! It's a very good feeling to have someone read and like all these things that are so precious to me. I'm just as excited as you are when I post a chapter (and another one's coming tomorrow, to my delight).

As for managing all of them...it's a number of things.

I have a lot of free time thanks to my job, which allows me to work on stuff for a large portion of the day. That's the most major factor - I can afford to be busy creatively all I want, which I know I'm extremely lucky to have as an option. If I were working a 9-to-5, I would not be able to do all of this thanks to how much that would suck out my energy and inspiration. So, blessed be my fortune there.

Besides that, I've figured out how to manage my efforts and time into a pattern. Three days of working on Verse (one day each of sketch, lineart, color), followed by a free day to rest, then back to Verse. Mind that Verse is specifically designed to be efficient and easy to draw/script, so when I'm done for the day I still have energy to do other things - largely, write for Iterum. On my off days, I can get an entire chapter written, but on Verse days, I have to limit myself to a smaller amount of writing.

There's also the fact that...well, honestly, I just really love doing this. It's my favorite thing in the world. It actively feeds me all of the happy chemicals when I'm linearting a page or I've gotten to a chapter I've been really excited to write, so it's something I spend a lot of time doing and feel happy about. Obviously, I have periods of time where I'm not keen to draw or write this particular part, but I've gotten myself disciplined enough to just power through those until I get to the fun bits. That's not to say I don't give myself breaks (no matter what my friends tell you), I just know when I need a break and when I need to be tough and get the thing over with.

I would say that, if I'm to give any advice on how to do two or more things at once, it's "learn your limits". How much effort can you put into multiple comic pages before it becomes too much work? How long can you work on a chapter of a fic before you're exhausted and crash for three days? Can you do a long animatic by yourself, or do you need support? Questions like that are essential to creating without killing yourself - and once you figure out exactly where you can settle down comfortably without giving too much or too little, the sky's the limit. Don't be afraid to take breaks, but don't be afraid to push yourself past that bit of dialog you weren't eager to write. There's a balance there, a sweet spot that you CAN find and will be comfortable in.

[nocek]

Hello, do you have a guide to drawing faces? I'm going through an artstyle revision to be more soft around the edges and less sharp and I've always struggled with faces...

oh my... that's a very broad question to ask and hard to give any usefull answer without actually seeing your work. But it's good that you have concrete goals and can pinpoint what exactly you want to change about your work. It's a very professional attitude.

Which is why I may be a bad choice of person to be asked for advice. Because I'm not a professional and I want very much for drawing to stay just my hobby to keep me sane. I never consciously thought about my artstyle beyond maybe making it less manga (but residue it's still there, art teachers were right lol XD). It's about having fun in the process for me.

That's why I can only give you some fun things to try out. Maybe one or two will work for you.

If you want to soften your faces in generally paintery way best way I tried is to gradually unblurr your picture. Like take the most basic round brush with soft edges and make it very big. Turn down the opacity a bit and try to sculpt basic shapes of the face using the main limited pallette colors of your reference. Then use slightly smaller big brush to add bit more details. Then gradually make the brush smaller and smaller. And gradually add new details and colors if necessary.

This actually does wonders because helps you stop being precious about some sketch details because there is no sketch. It helps you stop seeing face as face so you don't draw what you know but what you actually see.

Actually speaking of that. Another great trick is to put your reference upside down. Our brains are lazy and just extrapolate the information and our brains are great at face shapes so it's actually harder to draw them. But if you put them upside down you actually need to focus on proportions of this new unknown shape. It actually does wonders!

When it comes to lineart (because after all this rambling I figured that's most likely why you've written to me, sorry) i have 2 suggestions.

Try to figure out if you draw with only your wrist. It doesn't decide if you draw more in straight or in curved lines (I guess in that department we have opposite problems :D) but it's good idea to try consciously draw using more of your elbow. It works well with bigger canvases and actually taught me to draw really long straight lines (yay architecture, it was useful for that and learning how to do really tough boxes XD) but actually it's about stability which is crucial in doing curved lines too.

On smaller scale try using different media or have fun with new pens. It will help you get out of your used path and is an excuse to raid nearby cheap art store.

I guess many people would recommend doing lineart with brushes. The varying thickness will encourage you to use more round lines and so on buuuuut.... actually I think brushes are very discouraging when you don't have the muscle memory to control them properly. My advice here would be to use felt tip pens actually. They are more springy thus more forgiving. Try the ones that are soft and more spongy than actually felt. Idk how to describe them. If that's something you think may be interesting let me know and I'll try to dig up the ones I used.

Generally let me know if you want more details in certain direction because all above is kind of rambly stream of consciousness answer and idk how usefull it actually is but I prefer to post it that way otherwise I'll get stuck in perfecting the reply limbo >.<

[kittemfang]

whats this?? its time for THE 2022 YEARLY ART SUMMARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we’ve got a lot to cover here folks!! this year was interesting, as i basically had a large amount of artblock for around half the year. it wasnt until the late months of the year that i really feel like i started picking up! lets go!

JANUARY:  this drawing is a bit sloppy, but i honestly love it just for how fun it is to draw characters based on littlest pet shop molds. it was tough choosing this one, especially as if you know me you may recall i was deep into hyperfixating on The Hex and drew it a lot, but overall i feel like this drawing was the start of Something... i drew in a ‘painter’ style way more often this year, and this may have been the starting point.

FEBRUARY: febby was a rough month in terms of drawing, almost all of my drawings this month were doodles rather than finished drawings, a trend that is going to be popping up a lot during these early months. this drawing was mainly an experiment, especially with more goopy and meaty drawings, its alright.

MARCH:  i actually made this in the brawling depths of both artblock and psychonauts hyperfixation. for how much i struggled to draw it, it turned out really good, i still enjoy it. i dont draw backgrounds/elaborate setpieces in drawings very often, so it was fun to plan out the composition and stuff.

APRIL: this month of extreme artblock also paved the way for a new drawing style that i adore doing and still do. that is, using my favorite lineart brush to just do somewhat of their own shading. of course, since this was the first time i did that, its not as much as other pieces doing the same style would do. this month had ONLY this drawing as something i would consider more finished, as my artblock was strong and i mostly drew loosely and without care to be perfect, something very good to do for the soul

MAY:  theres not much to say about this drawing, its simply something that i did. ive become more and more comfortable with a painting style. however, it is funny that i just couldnt get her face right, so i doodled it on. there isnt much to say about this month either, i doodled a lot, and drew ocs mostly.

JUNE: this drawing was actually in honor of me getting a dress, its actually the first dress i wore. its an ant dress :) one time i was on the bus wearing it and this lady was like man your dress is totally punk its so cool. i like the way i color tv sheeps wool as usual

JULY: ah yes, artfight season. but i drew this because i was also playing cuphead a bunch, and moonshine mob is one of my favorite bosses. i love the way the colors turned out on this, in general i love the look of it, i like how i did the colors of the fur into eachother.

AUGUST: nothign special to it, i just like this drawing :) i think its funny how the main subject is flat colors, i NEVER do flat colors. and its still good. its just well...its pleasant its a nice drawing.

SEPTEMBER: i was wondering what drawing to put for this, after all this month i started going in an upwards direction with drawing. it was still doodle-like, but the way i colored characters was starting to become more focused and enjoyable, and i still do it this way. however i choose this one because its just..its nice. and i still love knock knock. and i love dark shading with light.

OCTOBER: things are starting to get real this month. doodled a lot, drew nice finished pieces, got more ambitious with things like my full dhmis piece. drew and was thinking about a lot of my ocs this month. i choose this drawing because I ADORE IT??hello??? honestly went off with this drawing. the dark and desaturated dreary colors with the bright, kind of offputting highlights, got damn !

NOVEMBER:  i became real this month. i was taken out for a few days after surgery, but i was on an IV drip named touhou project and she gave me STRENGTH. i have to draw people now. PEOPLE. and i became stronger. STRONGER. i started drawing with full rendered shading a lot more often. i choose this drawing though because while it isnt highly detailed shading, i think the simplicity, the colors, and the lining make it ‘pop’ and its just real good.

DECEMBER:  BECOMING STRONGER, BECOMING MORE REAL. i am drawing a lot now. i love my drawings. im finding different ways to draw and am going between them. a lot is happening. her name is touhou and this is her project. i choose this drawing of eika, because she is my baby, i also think its a really cute drawing. i love how i did the shading, mes was like “teehee you used posterization” nope i just shaded it like this myself... its too much!!

also, for my eika design: the two red bits tailing off of her are not part of her dress, if it was obvious by the different way i shades them. they are umbilical cords that sorta act like tails..kind of nasty, put those things away! also i draw her hands and feet more simple because its sorta like, the idea of her being half formed and boneless

OVERALL: A LOT OF GOOD THINGS HAPPEN AT THE END OF THE YEAR FOR DRAWING. the beginning of this eyar was troubled by a lot of fits of artblock and unwillingness to draw, but now im strong. i fully blame my new interest in touhou project for my good mood and happiness with my art, however it also helps that during november i got on medication and now i really am just a happier person.

here are summaries from the previous years. take a looky at what i have become!

if you want to see my commentary for 2021, here it is

[sleazyjanet]

made a new commission sheet because times are tough and i need money!

as i forgot to mention what the price of backgrounds is, it is +€8 for a more detailed one and +€0 for a flat square behind your drawing.

[ID: COMMISSIONS:

FLAT SKETCH, as shown in the example, consists of a flat colour, possibly a squared background and proper lineart/sketch. PRICES are: portrait / bust €15, full body €25. There is a fee of €5 per additional character.

FLAT COLOURED, as shown, consists of a sketch or proper drawing coloured more freely and with not much precision and no special effects. It is not rendered. PRICES are: portrait €25, bust €32, full body €38. There is a fee of €8 per additional character.

DETAILED, as shown, is a precise, detailed and rendered artwork of your choosing. Scenic lighting, proper shading. CAN be without lineart, if asked, but additional fees may apply based on how hard it is. PRICES are: portrait €30, bust €37, full body €48. There is a fee of €10 per additional character.]

[ask19thcentury-doctorgilbert]

Ahhhh first of all thank you so much for the compliment!! I’ve attached sort of a mini tutorial under the cut for anyone who was curious about my process! (Keep in mind that this will be specific to Procreate and Ipad + Apple pencil users because those are my tools of choice!)

First tip is to use references. I know that posing is something I tend to overthink and struggle with, so finding an image that’s sort of close to the scene I see in my head helps to solve that problem, which means I can draw panels faster! I’ll usually grab a stock image from google or use one from AdorkaStock’s endless amount of pose references to choose from. They’re a great resource if you’re looking for ideas / references. I’ve definitely used their stock as reference for my life drawing assignments back when in-person classes first got cancelled because of the ‘Rona so pls check them out!!

I start by very roughly sketching out the pose based on the image I’m referencing from (that’s the faint orange lines you see there). This sketch doesn’t have to be perfect. Just use shapes --- Circle for the head, blocks or ovals for arms, and circles for joints. What matters when doing that first sketch is getting the general feel of the pose right. Worry about details later!

Once you have that rough sketch you can lower its opacity and start a new layer above it. This is when you can start roughing out more details. I prefer to do this step quick and messy too, focusing on getting the general look right as opposed to small details and making corrections as I go. Black lineart goes on a new layer on top of that.

Now, this has to be the thing that’s sped up my process the most. I used to color all panels by hand, as in taking the brush and carefully coloring inside the lines which takes... Forever and a day. This little trick saved my entire life xsjjjsa.

When you finish your lineart, click on your lineart layer and select ‘Reference’. Then you can create a new layer under that where your colors will go. This will make it so you can just drag and drop your colors to your art and they’ll stay within the lines! It’s very important to make sure that your lines are closed and there’s no gap between sections that are different colors, otherwise your color fill will bleed into those sections!

I do all my colors on one layer since I do flats only for this blog. That’s the other thing that makes my process faster: I’ve learned to keep things (relatively) simple! You might have noticed that for regular panels (so anything without mood lighting or isn’t flashback coded) I only do enough shading to give a rough idea of where light is coming from and I don’t bother shading areas that are already filled with color. The color palette I have also tends to be almost grey-scale so I don’t have to figure out colors (because color matching is a beast djjksd. speaking of, you should absolutely create a custom palette and save all the colors you use often. it’ll save you a ton of time). I find that it works better and I don’t have to stress as much over details if I keep it this simple!

I hope these tips were useful in some way! I’m sure you’re a great artist yourself~! And on those days when drawing is tough and nothing seems to look right or go right, remember that it’s 100% okay to put down your pen / pencil and take a break from it. Do something else and come back to it with fresh eyes. As one of my profs once told me: There’s no getting worse at art. You can be out of practice but you can’t get worse, you can only get better!

[mikanferno]

emergency art commissions !

HI GUYS !! ahah !! please help me cover my hospital bill !!!! for my thumb !!!!

brief summary : i was cutting some paper figurine thingies for my students (13 each, for 24 kids, so over 300 i think) and really hurt my thumb's nerve !! so i need help covering that + my enrollment fee (not as much of an emergency i have like a month or so)

EDIT: MY HOSPITAL BILL HAS BEEN COVERED!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING!!!

commissions are still open for anyone who wants one, but i don't have a pressing need for donations anymore!! thank you again!

SO !!! (copy paste of my last comm post's prices below)

PRICES:

full bodies are 35 25 dollars (30 shaded 5 sketched), and headshots are 10 5 dollars (7 shaded, 3 sketched)! I also do discord emojis for 5 3 dollars each, and whatsapp stickers for 5 3 dollars each, regardless of complexity!

ADDITIONALLY. i will draw pretty much anything at all. guys. i will draw you the chucky cheese rat pregnant. hell ill draw you bowser AND chucky cheese having sex. without any extra complexity cost or nothing. ill draw your mary sue self insert french kissing those gacha characters yall like so much. i dont judge. ill draw homestuck. mordetwi. anything.

ehem. prices can be discussed, and additional characters come cheaper (any additional character will be 60% off the normal price) in drawings with multiple characters + each 10 drawings with the same price, one comes free!

i also do gifs! every second is 35 20 dollars!! (gif making is very tough).

sketch pages are 5 dollars, and can have up to 5 sketches in them!

Payment through Kofi, or PayPal! I take payment after I do the sketch, and you give me the go ahead to continue to lineart!

art examples:

(copy paste over !!)

please reblog !!!!! i really need this ahah. also if you dont want a drawing but would still like to help me out you can do so through my kofi !!!

30/30$ (hospital bill-DONE!)

31/450$ (university semester enrollment bill) (not as urgent as the other bill was though dw)

[kurosmind]

Kuro I have a question for you... How to deal with charas who have white or light coloured lashes (like Fael the powdered donut) without having the eyes lose shape or depth, especially with simple linearts or flat colours? I'd like to hear your advice on this 😊

Hi! Oh  boy, that’s tough. And I mean, it’s really hard for me as well. Usually I detail lashes only on very close shots, and it is hard.  I suggest you to look at a lot of references from albino people:

If you look closely, while the eyelashes are white, they still cast a shadow on the eyeball. For painting, I advice to first draw the eye without lashes and then add the white on top so you don’t mess things up.  As for linearts, It mostly depends on the pose but you can pull it off by drawing lashes as usual and then erase parts of it, on top and bottom. I usually do this when I draw closed eyes tho. Basically my advice is to focus on the shadow that the eyelashes cast to define their shape. 

You can also look at some manga artstyles for inspiration!

I hope that helped!! 

[xdreamer45x]

I decided to take a crack at that art contest for batds, so wish me luck! Fingers crossed I get selected! ^v^

I struggled for awhile trying to come up with a concept, then I finally came up with an idea after turning to Depeche Mode song titles (since I’ve been listening to them a ton for the past month lmao) XD This poster was simultaneously easy and difficult to make; the composition came to me very quickly and coloring was a breeze, but doing the lineart and trying to turn off my art style so it would look more “official” was tough, why is cartoon Bendy so hard to draw XDD

EDIT: I went ahead and updated this a little, see it here! ;P

REBLOG, DON’T REPOST

Do not edit, use, etc. without my permission

[chibinoyume]

Trivia tuesday #3

Creators: give a “behind the scenes” look at one of your works. This could be things that got removed or changed, the origins of ideas/details, whatever you like! (x)

For this trivia tuesday, I’m sharing bits of the second main sketch for Part 1 of 5x10 post ep comic (x). 

Aka the one before the actual lineart (minus Jane’s tattoos).

I often do leave notes to myself when I don’t do stuff all in one go, because sometimes I’m super in the zone and seeing everything clearly and when I get back to it, without the notes, I am like... what was I trying to do with this? 

Also, for this I tried to be especially careful of leaving enough space for the text to fit in. Since most of my comics have white backgrounds, it doesn’t matter if I mess that up, I just make the image wider or longer when I’m editing it in the computer, giving it the comic format. 

But for this one I wanted the background of the frames with color, and while you can still stretch those in editing, it doesn’t always look great and it’s best to do it in the original version (which is watercolor, on paper).

For the “he cried” frame, I was happier with the sketch than the final result, tbh. I feel it has a better aesthetic and mood, but I couldn’t bring myself to make a black background for that. It was tough choosing the background colors too, mostly because I’m not used to do colored backgrounds or serious comics, and also because I had a tight (self-imposed) deadline.

Still, I did what I could with what I had and that’s the most I can :)

A bit of bts on the idea itself, I just... after 5x09 & 5x10 aired, I was (other than punched in the face) struck with a boatload of inspiration I didn’t expect to have after being so royally pissed off by 5x08. I had so many ideas regarding a post-zipped Jane and that ending (that ending, my god) that I just *needed* to make. 

There are some ideas that never left the stage of “written down idea” because I was too busy on this comic and the following ones (I think I may have made just like 2 gifsets or something) or trying to unsuccessfully make progress on my fics. There are some ideas I wanted to do so badly for solo drawings, angsty and with a specific look, but now I feel we’re so removed from the amnesiac vibe it feels weird, OR, it feels too reminiscent of the potential Tragic Ending somehow. And that just hits too close to home atm.

But yeah :) hope you enjoyed this glimpse at part of the process and my thoughts on it! This comic took so long to make, a couple of headaches (and other aches) but I was so touched by the reception it had. Thank you all ♥

[marikaaajoy]

my relationship with digital art and how BNHA salvaged it

I just wanted to let out my thoughts but I can only do it here :>

This might be a downer for some people but I’d like to share it with people here. BNHA means the world to me and this is why.

I first started drawing when I was 7 years old in 2006

I think it’s ugly now, but 7 year old me remembered being so proud of this because this is a drawing of my stepfather. This is the only drawing I have that was from my childhood. I think the aim here is to draw in anime style BUT I didn’t even watch anime back then. I had a classmate who loves anime and she taught me to draw in school. Drawing became a favorite hobby immediately after that.

Then it was 2013 and I was 14 years old. Drawing is still my favorite thing to do besides being on the computer. I love anime at this point too. My parents bought an iPad for the whole family, but I was almost always the one using it. I discovered an app called ArtStudio and thought “Wow, I can draw without making a mess and with only my fingers” because I was always too lazy to take out my drawing materials and clean up afterwards.

These were my first digital drawings. The pirate one was the very first. I got obsessed real fast. I can color so easily, undo any mistake, layers are a blessing too. There was just so much more freedom. I always sucked at coloring in traditional art and I didn’t like the mess (idk my hands get so messy traditionally)

The next year, it was 2014, I was 15. My birthday is in a couple of months and I knew my parents were planning to buy me something pricey (I think it was a laptop) so I approached them and asked if they could just buy the Wacom Bamboo as a present which was cheaper anyway and I even explained how it works to them and how it would allow me to draw on the computer instead of the iPad. I tried really hard to be convincing. I would have prepared a powerpoint presentation if I had to.

They did give me the wacom as a present. They even gave it to me months before my birthday so I could use it already. I thought I was the luckiest teen in the world with my parents.

These are a collection of my favorite works from 2014 to 2016. The middle one was my second drawing using wacom and Paint Tool SAI. I was a part of a lot of fandoms in those years lol

It gets downhill from there :/

April 2016, my mom and I moved to Japan, while my stepfather and siblings stay in my country. It was tough. For someone who is obsessed with anime, you’d think I’d be thrilled to live in Japan.

I was. Though only at the first few months. It’s not the same as it’s portrayed in anime (I should’ve known but I used to be blinded by anime). It was just lonely. The language barrier sucked and then lots of financial and family issues until my parents split. I got my first boyfriend too and I thought I was blessed by the nicest boy, but the relationship became extremely toxic but I didn’t have it in me to walk away.

All the shit that happened affected me mentally and emotionally. My biggest outlet which was digital drawing, was also out of the question because I did not have a computer/laptop when we moved to Japan. We left it in our home for my stepfather and siblings, even the iPad. I have my wacom with me, but no computer/laptop to use it with. I couldn’t draw.

I tried though. I used my phone to draw, but it wasn’t the same. Then the life problems got piled up, things got worse, and I just lost motivation in anything. Literally anything. From 2016 to 2019, I stopped watching anime, I dropped out of all the fandoms I’m in, I stopped watching my favorite TV series or movies, and I stopped drawing. I even got a bit disconnected with my friends who lived in my country (we talk regularly online). My family was broken so I gave all my attention to my toxic relationship as well which made everything worse too lol

I didn’t draw besides from a few scribbles and the drawings above. I did try digital art on my phone a couple of times again and even posted them on my IG, but they weren’t any good. Eventually, I got mentally and emotionally drained and dropped out of senior high school. I just stayed home for almost a year, leeching off of my mom. I felt even more worthless and my life had no direction at this point. Nothing mattered anymore.

April 2019 or so I think, my (ex)bf bought me a laptop. He says it’s a gift, but I think the real reason was to make up for something horrible that he did (which is stupid because money /gifts won’t resolve anything). I have a laptop. I can draw again, but I didn’t. I didn’t care, I wasn’t interested in drawing anymore anyway.

Welp. June 2019, I went back to my country. My (ex) bf stayed in Japan. The distance helped me end the relationship and my friends were there (they always were) to help put me back together along with two trips to therapy. I went back to finish my senior high school in my own country this time. That said, I have to stay in my country for school (but I was happy because I didn’t wanna go back to Japan yet when the breakup was still fresh and with going back to school, my life has a direction again.)

It was weird. I remember just being sorta lost and confused because I used to put my time, effort and everything into my previous toxic relationship, which was now gone. I was free and I had so much free time that I didn’t know what to do with it. I got so used to doing nothing and being nothing.

This is where BNHA enters.

Dunno when it started, but I started seeing Bakugou frequently online. It’s usually just Bakugou. I knew who he was because my friend suggested BNHA to me back in late 2018 I think but I didn’t watch it since I’ve lost interest in everything at that point in my life.

But ye I thought he hot af but I still didn’t watch BNHA.

But then for some reason he REALLY kept appearing in my social medias and it was really frequent. The last straw was when I saw a pic of him in UA’s gym uniform and thought “damn boi aight imma watch bnha for u” (y’all gotta admit he looks good in those colors with his combat boots XD )

I watched BNHA. Fell in love with Iida along the way. Then I switched to Tokoyami (but Shoji was hot too so aaaaa), but then angry emotionally-constipated sea urchin head caught my heart again. But oof. BakuDeku moments really made me feel some type of way I haven’t felt since I moved to Japan. It felt new but nostalgic. I fell hard in that ship.

I started obsessing. From memes to posts to fanfictions to buying merch to filling my room with BNHA posters. I realized I was reverting to my old self from the time I was still happy and it was thanks to BNHA (and the good people who helped me through the worst too)

Shit I wanted to draw BNHA, I thought.

I mean, I have a laptop, I still have my wacom and drawing softwares. I could totally draw digitally again if I wanted to.

But guess what

I can’t :c

My hand physically cannot draw. My drawings don’t look the way I want them too. 3 years of not drawing really destroyed any skill I had. I was back to square one.

September (yeah they’re ugly, I laughed at it). If you’re wondering why I drew on paper, it’s because, for some reason, I really CANNOT draw digitally. I mean it. I can barely sketch digitally at this point. The lines and shapes just doesn’t come to life. They’re just scribbles. But somehow, I can kinda draw on paper with a ballpoint pen. But yeah, that was the best I could do at this point in my life

After that, I still tried to draw, to regain my old art style, but it didn’t happen... It just doesn’t look or feel the same. Drawing used to be fun. But during this phase, it felt like my ugly drawings were just mocking me (probably was just too emo that time lol)

Weirdly, around a week or two I think, after my half-assed attempts at drawing, I managed to draw digitally somehow o.o

I did a Midoriya and Todoroki drawing like this too. It was my first post here on Tumblr I think. The annoying part here is that I cannot draw digitally unless I draw on paper first, take a pic, and then trace the lineart. I couldn’t draw directly on the computer. Granted, drawing on paper and drawing on digital is very different for me in the first place anyway. But it was still a pain. And it still looked like shit. I can only draw stiff poses :/ it seems like my brain decided to delete all data about anatomy and posture and backgrounds. My lineart here is even messy af. It still really not the same as my old style.

By 2020, I think I got my old art style back. On March, I made this. This took me 27 total of hrs to make.

Right now, I think it’s not bad, but back in March, I was disappointed with the result. This is when I finally broke down crying because it didn’t look good enough and I hated that it took me 27 hrs to draw “bullshit.” I was angry at myself for losing interest in drawing for 3 years when I could’ve used that time to improve. I had to start all over again and it still didn’t look good. (Current me thinks that the drawing above is alright. I was just a lot harsher to myself back then. Used to have a lot of issues but I’m doing great now)

I cried myself to sleep that night. Woke up wanting to cry again. I wallowed in sadness for a couple of days. Eventually told my friends what’s up. Got some pep talk. Even talked to my sister (she’s great, she always hypes me up with my stuff and sometimes I think she’s my biggest fan with how she appreciates my drawings and I’m really grateful for that).

My world turned a 180 and I was weirdly positive after all that crying because brain chemicals and shit. I had a revelation. If I hate how my art style looked so much, then I should have been putting effort in changing my art style, not trying to regain my old art style (that I don’t like anymore)

I researched a lot. I analyzed different art styles and anatomy again. I did everything I could think of to find a style that works for me. I might have even neglected school for a bit to focus on digital art lmao

After all that work, I posted a fanart of middle school BakuDeku in their classroom. I love that fanart so much even if I probably have better ones by now because that was the first fanart I made that I felt like I could be proud of and it was the first one I made in my new art style. It was a milestone for me.

March 2020, I moved back to Japan and without the toxic relationship, I’m a lot positive now. Happy. I’m myself again after the previous bad years. I’m still continuously learning though, trying to improve, but at least, now, I found my own art style :) I really suck at interacting with people online, but I’m always grateful for the support everyone has been giving my fanarts. I’m happy when my content makes people happy.

This is why BNHA is important to me. The series is great alone, but it’s not just that to me. BNHA is so much more. It’s what made me find the passion to create again, only this time, it’s focused on drawing (I used to write, but now I just draw, but maybe I’ll write again for BNHA).

My family is supportive with my love for BNHA, but I think they don’t know the deeper reason why I love it. Sure, I was fine living on with nothing much going on in my life. I’ll finish school, get a job, work until I die or something. It was okay. It was the way of life. But BNHA gave my life color again. I wasn’t just blindly going through life anymore. I have something to look forward to everyday now. BNHA even became a bridge to other things. Ever since then, I’m a lot more open to people, to try new things, to explore and not just live through life and waste away. I got better at leaving my comfort zone. I’ve never been happier in my life :D

Thank you for supporting my fanarts. Thank you so much for giving me a chance to express myself through BNHA. I hope to make more content in the future and improve even more :)

[wolfhertz]

Yup. I’ve been making mock Allspark Almanac pages for my OCs, and who better to start with than my first TFA OC, Cloudfire?

This thing took me forever to do. Mostly style-wise. Damn, Derrick J. Wyatt, why is your style so cool yet so hard to emulate??? My usual style has more curved lines and chunky lineart, so having to draw things with more sharp edges and thin lineart was tough. I think it turned out pretty good tho. I’m pretty proud of this tbh. 🤗 I used Jetfire and Slipstream in particular as references.

I actually have another one finished as well, but I’m gonna wait a couple days to post it. To spread them out, ya know?

On DeviantART

DO NOT USE, TRACE, RE-COLOUR, COPY, OR RE-POST WITHOUT PERMISSION 

 The blurb (narrated by Shockwave, of course) is included below the cut in case it’s not clear on the picture. 👇👇👇

CLOUDFIRE Ah, yes, I worked with Cloudfire's father in the early days of the Great War. He was an organized, hard-working, resourceful bot....Cloudfire is none of those things. With a penchant for arson and no sense of self-preservation, she made an excellent aerial squadron captain whose team's sole purpose was sabotage. Unfortunately, those are not great qualities for a medic. During the our last stand at the end of the War, her entire squadron was wiped out. She was the sole survivor and her shoulder was left badly damaged, leaving her permanently disabled and ineligible for combat service. That is when she was put under my watchful eye to be trained into a medic.

I left her as the resident medical officer of the Nemesis upon undertaking my undercover mission and it's been stellar cycles since I've heard from her. I do wonder what became of her though. Rumor has it that she's been seen gallivanting around Earth these solar cycles. —Shockwave

[the5021project]

Project 1 - Image (Re)selection

I originally picked a random image from my documents for the first of the 50 projects on December 30th, but the image that I chose is technically difficult to credit and locate an original location for. It was posted by the original artist to an old blog that has since been scrubbed of its images that were saved there, and unfortunately the blog entry reveals there would have been images from other artists as well. I’m almost positive of the artist, and he’s prolific enough that I could easily pick something else of his to be safe... but I liked the image that I picked, and I would much rather spend some time tracking down something similar to it or maybe even emailing the artist about the scenario. Thats a lot of work to do that isn’t being spent on the art part of this project, so for now I’m just picking something else and putting it on a waiting list.

I’m a little relieved to not being doing a perspective heavy interior environment lineart though! :D

Instead, I picked...

 “Fatigue” by John Brosio 

(unfortunately I cannot link directly to the exact painting. It’s currently 36/87, the octopus on the house. Go look through his gallery, though! Wonderful stuff)

SO, here’s what I’m thinking about this first project right now:

This is oil on canvas, which is definitely not feasible for me. I definitely could not do this with my acrylics or tiny canvases but this makes me want to try. I have a painting i’ve wanted to paint over for a while and this seems like a good time to do that... BUT that might just have to be something I follow up with for a later project. There’s nothing here that digital cant do.  I’ll save physical media for where digital fails.

This isn’t anything TOO complicated. 

The subject matter is all out of my comfort zone, but none of it to an extreme degree. I don’t have to worry about linework or extreme perspective here.

I think light, color, and mood are the keys here and that’s not too tough a challenge. 

I’m excited about drawing some houses and creatures! Which is good. I need to do some studies. 

There’s an orderliness to this that makes it easier for me to get a result I’ll like, and enough negative space that I can focus my efforts on the important bits, which makes doing this in a week a lot easier. 

All in all, I think this is WAY closer to my comfort zone than the original image I picked to start with, and I don’t think thats a bad thing at all. It means I can focus my efforts a bit more instead of learning many different things at once. 

What I’m thinking about for my version:

I’ll definitely be keeping the evening lighting on this. I think the mood of this would be lost without it.

This style of house is a very specific type of Americana, but... it’s not really all that familiar to me. I’m more used to older two story 1900s houses that have seen a lot of renovation over the years, but I’m not sure how much switching to that sort of house would change the composition. I think that style of house would ruin the composition here, so it’s something i’ll have to think about. 

I guess this means I actually have to do thumbnails and think about my composition like a real artist. Painful...

I was going to change from an octopus to some other nice creature, originally. Brosio’s work contains a lot of that sort of thing and I love it... but I think there are some factors to consider:

The fact that the door is blocked to the house by the creature is very important thematically. You can imagine, if the man’s path wasn’t entirely blocked by the creature, he would simply continue with his day and go inside, maybe not noticing the creature at all. The fact that he cannot rest due to being presented with this inconvenience is key to the piece. Whatever the creature is, it has to be something that can do that.

This is especially difficult to do if its a 2 story house.

The otherworldliness of an octopus is important. This guy might know how to handle a giant ferret, for example. But how do you convince a giant octopus to unblock your entryway? We just don’t know.

The creature cannot be aggressive for the tone of this. The creature must be something which simply does not care.

I think the creature also needs to be intelligent and reactive, however. 

I think if it was just a giant worm you could nudge it away. But an octopus can be suctioned to the house.

I can’t identify so much with the man here. The businessman coming home from work to 1950s suburbia is definitely a strong, culturally embedded image, and I think it makes it easier to distance from him and enjoy a bit of his misfortunes. However, I think a very tired college student coming back to see a creature in the way is extremely funny and relatable to me, so I’ll probably consider that change. 

However, I’m not sure if the added complexity to establish that will be good for the composition. 

I think a gray hoodie that says “[LOCATION NAME] U” and a backpack might be enough to establish character archetype

but its not as striking as a plain black suit.

Anyway, I don’t think these projects will ALL get breakdowns like this, and I expect Maybe one person to actually read any of them, but being able to do an analysis if I want was a big appeal of starting a side blog for this. It really helps me to read and write when I’d looking at coding and programming projects, and I like to hear people’s reasoning in other fields too, so I thought a part of this as a learning project would be to write these myself.