#I am learning how to love my sketches again 💖

[anoddopal]

Doc always feels better when Bun sings to him. ❤️‍🩹

🎶 Inspo: [Setting Sun]~✨

[ravangie]

Your style of characters is so beautiful!! How did you learn/develop/practice to draw like that?

Ah!!! Thank you!! 💗💗💗✨✨

Here comes a long rant, get ready

Talking about your own art style is kinda tricky, I feel like to artists it comes as second nature, so one doesn't really see it as a so-called separate "style". Rather they see it as a continuation of themselves in a drawn form (at least i do). But if i had to, i'd say that one's art style consists of two things:

1) What comes naturally.

I look at 5 year old kids drawing and see that each one of then has their own unique style. Already. Without even trying.

I've been drawing my whole life and I never tried to shape my drawing style into a box that I could call "my style". I just let the lines flow naturally and followed where they led me.

I started going to live-drawing sessions again recently and my friend told me that she could see "my style" of drawing that she sees in my digital works in those quick sketches that I make during these sessions. I think that's because when I work on digital illustrations, I don't think about how I should draw this or that. I just do it.

So, practise! With time, the ways you personally draw things will flow to you. When you draw one thing a 100 times you start to notice simularities in all of the 100 different examples, and then you systematize what you've learned and put it to use drawing your 101 drawing. After a while you won't even think about it before drawing them in the usual for you way.

I like to draw freely, not picking up a pencil from paper, with my lines just flowing naturally everywhere that I want them to. And I try to keep that same feeling in my finished drawings (where there is lineart still visible).

Here, found an example of a quick live sketch without any boobies for ya (just to be safe) and a linework for one on my more recent digital works. See how I try to keep the lines alive in the same way. And add highlights where I deem them necessary just for something interesting to the eye.

2) Your inspiration.

Everything that you see and like impacts your style, whether you mean it or not. My friend (other friend) watched Wolfwalkers the other night and immediately texted me saying she could see the inspiration that I've drawn from that movie. And she was right. I am a fan of the artstyle of the whole studio, so it's only natural that i, maybe even unconsciously, took something that i liked from their works and incorporated it into my own art style.

When I asked my friend what exact simularities she saw, she couldn't pinpoint them, she said it's just the vibe that she's getting. And i was content with that answer. Means i didn't copy and paste, but rather interpreted what i liked in my own way.

Also. Very important. You have to love what you draw. You're gonna wanna spend some extra time and add those extra couple of strokes that don't add anything in meaning, but are there to just be pretty. Sometimes those couple of strokes make the biggest difference. I think it's is very important to take time to just sit with your work and listen to what it needs to make it truly finished. A drawing can go from empty and unfinished to fantastic in just a couple of lines.

So. There it is. Sorry for the long answer. Or maybe you're welcome? Anyway hope it satisfies you!💖💖

[neocelticavalon]

Hello, how's life y'all??

Just letting you know that I AM STILL ALIVE 🙂🙂 How's life been treating y'all..???😀 I'm wishing the best of luck for everyone here 🤗🤗 Sorry, I haven't made a life update post and it made some of y'all been worried sick about me 🙏🙏🙏

Me myself been doing well in real life, doing usual activities as well, split house chores with my sister, eat well and cook daily, feed our cat, etc. My sister just graduated from college last month and she's turning 23 y.o. My closest family, aunties, uncles, nephews and cousins been very supportive and caring to both of us (me, and my sis) 💖💖💖💖 We've been taking care of ourselves very well 😊😊 and I hope everyone's been taking care of their health! Health is top priority 🙂

The GOOD NEWS is....since the beginning of August, I started to get back to doodling & drawing slowly as I saw my mutuals sharing their beautiful artworks here...slowly bringing me back my motivations and courage 🔥Learning again as beginner starts from the basics and fundamentals, croquis ✏✏🔥🔥 (maybe I'll start posting some of my previous pencil sketches, and I can be a little selective)

Please do interact on the comments and let me know you are all there supporting me and caring to me cuz I love reading your comments 💖💗💝💝❤❤❤👇👇👇

[malcolm-reeds-pineapple]

@frostysfrenzy made the audience inside my head very happy by tagging me in this anyway picture me like this for the duration of this post (I am miss piggy)

Writer interview ✨💖

About me

When did you start writing?

I was was 10 and a deranged little girl so my best friend and I cowrote what I considered to be the most ambitious crossover of all time: a Star Wars/The Beatles/Bleach/Monk/WKRP/The Partridge Family/Corner Gas fanfiction trilogy. It was utterly bananas and at the time of writing we considered it to be our magnum opus. It wasn’t and I believe we destroyed all but one of the “books” when we were about 12 when she visited. I know that one still exists cuz I have it and my brother and I read it when we need a laugh.

Are there different genres or themes you enjoy reading other than the ones you write?

I almost exclusively read nonfiction. I’d love to do that, but I don’t have the attention span. That being said, I am working on a collection of memoirs from my particularly wild youth.

Is there an author you want to emulate, or are compared to often?

I try to be my own person, but my dad tells me my voice is similar to Hunter S Thompson at times in my personal pieces. I can see it.

can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

Currently it’s my bed and my phone/laptop, but I prefer sitting at a desk with a notebook nearby for quick notes. I’ve tried to digitize the secondary note paper, but I’m so boomer pilled apparently that I want to have the physical paper beside me just because I like the flexibility of being able to sketch out mind maps and timelines for lore.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

Watch a show and pick a guy to obsess over for til college

Did the place(s) you grew up in influence the people and/or places you write about?

Yeah absolutely! I’ve lived in a lot of places and been in a lot of circumstances, so that definitely bleeds into my work. I tend to write what I know, so it’s not uncommon for me to base characters, scenes or scenarios on real people, places and scenarios I’ve encountered.

Are there any reoccurring themes in your writing? If so, do they surprise you?

Yes and yes lmao my recurring themes I find are found family, loneliness, and the moral grey areas in crime and punishment. When I first noticed these recurring themes, I was definitely surprised, but in a way, noticing these themes has really made me learn a lot about myself and how much of my past truly looms over me. Then again, now that I’ve recognised this about myself, I find that I’m able to process everything better.

Characters

would you please tell me about your current favorite character?

His name is Nathan, he is a sad, scrungly wet cat of a man found behind a dumpster that has been surviving off of scraps and spite for many years. He’s unlikeable, constantly feeling sorry for himself, peaked in high school and has very few redeeming qualities. My favourite thing to do with him is put him in mental agony, physical peril and moral conundrums. He’s a cop who, through his own foolishness, hates his life and self destructs. He is constantly taking his problems out on his coworkers because he has no real friends and has cut most of his contact with his family. However, he goes through a lot of character development where his morals are being constantly called into question and he discovers the power of friendship and not being unbelievably fucking unpleasant. I hate him so so much that I love writing him.

Which of your characters would you be friends with in real life?

Definitely Scout and Dan considering I based them entirely on myself and my brother. I literally wrote them in so my brother would listen to me talk about my writing and he won’t do that unless he’s in it. Their full names are Scout Trouble MacKenzie and Atticus Danger MacKenzie and they’re fully aware of how bizarre those names are. Dan goes by Dan because he likes watching the light fade from people’s eyes when he says Dan isn’t short for Daniel and is in fact short for Danger. They’re chaotic gremlins who are considered to be not well socialized and developmentally arrested at 16. Both of them are noted by other characters to be staggeringly bizarre and incomprehensible as they communicate entirely with inside jokes and meme references. They bicker like small children, especially when the topic of their old GameCube is brought up as the ownership of Monkey Ball is still a point of contention as one of them received it for Christmas in 2004, but they can’t remember which one was the actual recipient.

which characters would you dislike the most of you met them?

Josh, easily. My man is unemployed, stinky, and refuses to mature beyond an edgy teen. He doesn’t even do his own laundry. His vibes are so pungent that he makes my crops wither and causes the foxes to eat my chickens. I hate him. He really is the Josh of all time. Close second would be Kaylee but that’s just because she would stress me out too much.

Tell me about the process of coming up with your characters?

It depends on the day. Most of the time it’s utility driven, so as an example, for one of my WIPs I needed a librarian character, so, as I often do for background characters, I kind of just thought of the librarians I’ve known all my life, culminated them into one character and called it a day. Then, phase two was me ending up really liking the character and developing her more as I wrote her. Eventually it got to a point where I gave her a husband and a son and she’s now a recurring character. Effectively I am both the DM and the Party and every time I make up a detail about a background character, I end up really liking them and it snowballs. I have, on a few occasions, sat down with the express intention of making a character, and sometimes it works, but if you ask me details about both Theodore (carefully crafted over a few days) and Freddie The Information Guy (Background character I developed by accident), I’d be able to tell you a lot more about Freddie.

Do you notice any reoccurring themes/traits in your characters?

Again, going back to writing what I know, I always end up writing AFAB characters as being extremely tight with their dad’s. I don’t know, man, aside from that, the poor fuckers all just get a delightful little spoonful of my personal trauma as a treat.

How do you picture your characters?

As little dolls that I pick up and play with. They are my littlest pet shops and I am a 7 year old girl who wants to watch the world burn.

My writing:

what’s your reason for writing?

I have to write otherwise the characters just spin around my head like that fish in the funky town (low quality) video. I need to get them out of their enclosure and onto the page so I can know peace. On a more serious note, I write a lot as a way to process my thoughts. I’m a journal girly which I started doing when I was in the throes of alcoholism with undiagnosed BPD and ADHD. Whenever something bad happened, my gut reaction was to buy a bottle of bourbon and drink it like it was a race. Once I started journaling, I was able to replace that instinct of needing to drink with needing to write. Nowadays, I’m on occasional drinker and constant writer which I’m very proud of.

Is there any specific comment or type of comment from readers that you find particularly motivating?

Any and all for the most part. I’m always a fan of people liking The Characters and telling me that, but I acknowledge that no one cares as much about your OCs as you do, so I’m content with it being an uncommon but very welcome compliment.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

Isolated and weird, the type to fly a kite in the middle of the night, too bizarre to be welcome in polite society so I live in a farmhouse of the edge of nowhere and Exist. Hopefully they think of me as the personification of those unhinged author’s notes in fics.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

Probably dialogue? I dunno, it’s definitely not the plot, because my characters are all just on side quests, if there’s a unifying plot than it’s accidental.

What have you been told is your greatest strength as a writer is by others?

Character development/creation and dialogue.

How do you feel about your own writing?

Illegible garbâge that is so self-indulgent and convoluted that it should not be perceived by anyone but me. However, that does not stop me from burdening my friends and readers with it. Their enjoyment of my writing is collateral damage of my creativity.

If you were the last person on earth, would you still write?

Yes, I’d be even more nuts if I didn’t write. Besides, I really am my own target demographic, so hell yeah.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, do you write purely for yourself, or is it a mix of both?

I write for myself so hardcore that I’m surprised when other people like any part of it. As previously mentioned, if other people like what I write, that is incidental and not part of my grander mission of making things that make me happy. That being said, I do consider one opinion sometimes when I write, and that is the opinion of my brother and what will make him laugh.

Anyway, I’m gonna tag @swaggysagiewagie @sarcasticsciencefictionwriter @prismatica-the-strange and anyone who wants to do it hehehe also no pressure to do it

Blank version can be found at the bottom of the linked post :)

[shatterthefragments]

✨ End of Year Questions ✨

Tagged by @ongreenergrasses 💖

I also didn’t think I created much this year, and. To be completely honest, I didn’t really make much new art, and what I did I didn’t really post here. Most of what I’ve done this year is really continue writing snippets of lyrics/verses/poetry in my notes. Hoping to make more time for a lot of things this year!

What is the favourite thing you created?

A sailboat reduction print (lino style but on a literal disposable plate)

Which work are you most proud of?

Honestly, either that same sailboat print or some of the poetry/lyric snippets I’ve written this year. Or the leather medicine pouch (also created for my class final project)

Is there anything you’re proud that you achieved this year?

I’m proud that I created anything at all outside of class requirements (I took one art centred course at the beginning of the year, which my sailboat print was created in)

Did you explore anything new this year?

Not so much for creating, but I did get stickers made of some of my previous work to sell at fairs and whatnot.

Wait no the leather medicine pouch - I haven’t done much leatherwork yet though I really want to create super long lasting functional pieces and textiles is very new to me and is a way of connecting to my grandmothers’ past. And I also joined a sewing/quilting club at school (which doesn’t seem to be running this year but I have no time anyway this semester so that’s fine) (I have not finished the sewing supply bag project we started)

Which work gave you the most difficulty?

Anything finished haha. I am still striving to fully finish and edit and refine some of my lyrics into songs (eventually to try to record and produce with whatever free and/or cheap software I can find).

Also some of the more unusual custom cake requests at work were difficult to do but they worked out.

And textiles can be. Frustrating.

What was your biggest creative challenge this year?

Finding time to create. I definitely took this as a year to go and do things that I. Had to go to. And while I probably could’ve brought a mini sketchbook with me, I didn’t usually.

Which work brought you the most joy?

A birthday card I did for a friend. It’s a pen sketch of their favourite beach (at least the view I got when I took a quick visit and picture of it)

Which of your works do you think people should check out?

…from 2023 nothing is posted unless you’re on my personal instagram or something. (Unless I did post my year of the water rabbit watercolour paintings? In which case - those.)

Otherwise my Creating Awl Together story/series (once I make time to create more for it 😅)

Do you have creative plans for the new year? Is there anything exciting that you’re working on?

Oh always 🥺💖✨

I accidentally made a new years resolution to record one of the songs I’ve written,, but also I want it to be. Better than the literal middle school vent lyrics I’ve written.. so we are. Trying to write some new stuff and upgrade to… mid twenties vent lyrics… (and some like!?! Joyful lyrics too?!?!) (I’m actually excited and terrified and don’t really play any instruments right now and what I played on flute isn’t really necessarily the vibe for what’s in my head?? But it could have a place so I’ll probably play again and if need be I could probably rent a tenor sax for a day or so.) so. Next up is learning (or throwing together) a bit of music production (I am currently gathering royalty free free samples from anywhere I find them more or less)

I really want to draw a lot more this year!!

And paint more again!!

And of some of these drawings I want to transfer them to be lino cut or dry point and do them as prints!!!

I have several quilts I want to make!! I’m going to start really small though to. Learn how to sew them haha 😅 But I hope my first quilt is a lovely sea turtle themed quilt for one of my best friends’ cat. Or a lap quilt for mum. I. Realistically I don’t think I’ll get to this before the end of the year.

I want to paint more ceramic pieces at the paint your own ceramics place (I have. Several pieces that I just need to finish painting)

More cards that I drew on~ I have a bit more energy than last year despite everything it seems right now so I am hoping I can continue to draw on cards for my friends 💖

This shall be the year I finish my dogs out doodle (barefoot ship life!!!)

Lastly, any words of wisdom or advice to share?

To myself: just try. Just try. Just do. It can be whatever. Just create something. Just create anything. Joy, catharsis, one single line. Anything you can.

Given how late I filled this out I’m not tagging anyone 😬

[softlimefluff]

Hello, may I have a match up for jojo part 5 or 6 characters? A defining trait of mine would be my doe/doll like brown eyes and beauty mark by my mouth. I’m a girl who is quiet and calm, with a lot of patience. That being said, I’m not a push over. I‘ve been through a lot of abuse growing up from a bad home life to catcalling men in the streets, I can handle high stress situations well, know how to sweet talk, and am harsh to men who don’t treat me or other women with respect. (1/2) 💖

Your match is:

Narancia! 

(sidenote: He was only 17 in Golden Wind, so this is for a slightly aged up Nara 🍊🧡)

One of the biggest reasons I chose Narancia is that you need someone who will support your dreams!! Nara will have the biggest and brightest energy, bringing support and encouragement to match your sweet, optimistic nature. He’s a little bit in awe over your eyes and how beautiful you are, and though he was younger/didn’t have a ton saved up, I think as he gets older he matures well!! He’s able to balance his youthful energy with more wisdom and really learn how to treat others. He’ll take you out on shopping trips for new outfits and makeup whenever he can afford it and would sometimes take extra side jobs just so that he could treat you (he cares that much).

Your patience will be needed at times with Narancia, who is prone to outbursts of anger (usually only when necessary, though). You two would be compatible in that aspect—your anger is usually only directed at those who deserve it, like men without respect for women, those attacking the defenseless, or people telling lies for power. Both of you have known your own share of hardships and would bond over the past, determining that you want to create the best possible version of the future together. 

When you find each other and commit to a relationship, Narancia would be very playful and romantic! He’d love hearing your dreams of finding true love and work every day to be the person deserving of your love (though you’d tell him again and again that he doesn’t have to work for it—you love him for who he is). He’s fascinated by your fortune teller heritage and tarot card skills, often asking you to explain the process and share with him! He’ll listen patiently and try very hard to get it. Even if he doesn’t understand immediately, he’ll keep working and listen all over again each time. 

Finally, Nara would LOVE that you want to work in comics and constantly encourages you to keep drawing, suggesting little comics to make or things he wants to see. He’s not shy about making requests, but eventually realizes that he wants to repay you for all the drawings. He often trades you a new tube of lipstick or eyeshadow compact in return for a colored sketch!

Your first date would be getting gelato after meeting on free comic book day! Even though his favorite thing is music, Narancia has a soft spot for comics (to him, they’re way more interesting than the complicated books Mista always reads). You both would be waiting in line to check out at the shop, leafing through you new books, and would accidentally make eye contact. While you might avoid each other for a moment, Narancia asks if you found anything good and you decide to talk to him. You get chatting about comics and that you really want to make your own—but just then he has to check out, then you as well. You’re not quite done talking, so Nara asks if you’d like to come grab gelato and finish your conversation. You agree, thinking that you can leave if he turns out to be weird, but end up having an amazing time chatting and trading stories!

Your first kiss was a surprise!!! Narancia had just asked you, after going out on a few dates, if you would be his girlfriend. When you agreed, he was so excited that he immediately leaned over and kissed you in his rush of joy. Pulling away, blushing and sheepish, he apologized, saying that he should have asked you first. You reassured him that it was fine and quickly leaned in for another, to his delight!! Nara was beaming and practically giggling with joy as you shared your first kisses that day!

[theherocomplex]

Can you tell us about The Artist's Way? I re-read your NaNo post-mortem as I was scrolling through my likes and I've been wondering about it. Wishing you all the best for 2018 💖

I would be happy to! 

The Artist’s Way is a creative-recovery program by Julia Cameron, which is designed to help you dig into why you’re blocked creatively, and how to get past those obstacles. It’s a twelve-week program, though some tools you’re given during the process can (and should) be continued afterwards. 

It’s not for everyone; it’s a substantial time investment (I usually spend about four or five hours a week doing the exercises), and the spiritual bent to TAW can be off-putting. But Cameron is very clear that the spiritual aspects (she refers to the creative force as “God”) is a shorthand for her, and that you should use whatever works best for you. 

I’ve talked to a lot of people who have done TAW, and most of us have struggled with the parts of the program that focus on us learning to let ourselves succeed (by whatever metric we choose to measure success); part of learning to succeed is figuring out how the people around us try to block us (unconsciously or otherwise), but it’s hardest to let ourselves be fulfilled and happy. I struggle with that a lot. 

TAW was instrumental in helping me stop comparing myself so constantly to other artists -- I’ve not stopped, by any measure, but it’s much, much easier for me to say “Yes, they did this wonderful thing, and I enjoyed it and wished I could accomplish something like that, but I would rather celebrate their success and keep working toward my own than beat myself down”. I always intellectually knew that we all have our own voices, and that no voice is objectively more valuable or better than any other, but TAW helped me internalize it. 

It’s a scary process, because you dig through a lot of buried issues (as in, who in your life has hurt you as a creative person, and how you’re holding yourself back), but if the book speaks to you, it’s such a worthwhile journey. 

The two tools that you continue once you’ve finished the program are the artist dates and the morning pages. The artist dates are two hours, set aside weekly, that you use to refill your creative well. I’ve gone to see plays, visited art museums, gone for walks in the woods, explored botanical gardens, gone to concerts -- anything would work, so if there’s a poetry reading near you, or some arthouse movie you’re curious about, that would work! 

The morning pages are hands-down the most important tool in the whole process; every morning, as soon as you wake up, you handwrite three pages of anything that’s on your mind. This is not good writing, this is clearing your head and training yourself to sit down and just start creating. I’ve used my morning pages to complain about doing my morning pages, to get through work stress, to make budgets and shopping lists, and to work through issues with whatever I’m writing (my morning page notebooks are full of sketched scenes). When I do my morning pages, I’m calmer, more present throughout the day, and far more emotionally stable than I am when I don’t. They’re a pressure valve for me. 

I highly recommend seeing if your library has a copy, so you can read the first couple chapters and find out if the book will work for you. 

If you or anyone else wants a buddy for TAW, I plan to do it again this summer, and would love to team up!