#I feel like I’m too much of a perfectionist too with the lineart which makes it take so much longer

[prisonpodcast]

.

[shootingstarrfish]

HOW DO YOU DRAW SO QUICKLY AGH

I swear every time I turn around you’ve posted another masterpiece I’m jealous you can draw so fast it takes me like 3 days at least for a piece lol

AHH i keep being asked this and im flattered yall think this?? ill take a bit to explain the choices that help with my speed and circumstantial stuff that helps a lot

obligatory YOU DON'T NEED TO DO THINGS FAST taking your time is good!! i just get bored easily so i like being done with things and moving on, but i'm very aware of the fact that social media rewards this and punishes inconsistency so i get it lol

long ass ramble under the cut lol

okay so things i deliberately do to draw fast-

i specifically have 2 distinct styles because i constantly have too many ideas, and most of them don't need to be several hour long illustrations so i try to pick my battles and go for a simpler more expressive style for shitposts/memes/etc and reserve my more detailed style for ideas that actually benefit from having that extra time and effort. ofc this won't work for everyone but i tend to have 50 styles at any given moment anyway so giving myself the freedom to switch between them has been really nice

not necessarily deliberate??? but theres no perfectionism in this house, which helps a lot so i don't spend ages fussing over minute details (im a perfectionist at heart but a lazy one LOL)

giving myself time deadlines is also really helpful, like "i have to finish the lineart im the next half an hour" has been really good for getting me to focus and get things done, even if i don't make the 'deadline'. i think generally being conscious of how i use my time is good

okay so circumstantial (?) things-

ALSO USE REFERENCES they help a lot!!! stumbling around trying to figure things out on your own is time consuming, don't be scared of using references!

this isn't a speed thing but i think it's important to note that i spend like ALL my free time drawing, probably to a ridiculous degree. i draw during my work break, i draw after work, on the weekend, speed is nothing in the face of time lol. im usually tired after work but im also stubborn so i try to push through and draw anyway (50/50 chance it works and i get something done or i just sit there in a daze wishing i was asleep LOL)

im also a dumbass who takes on way too much, i have a whole buncha zines and commissions constantly at all times cause i can never say no so i kinda just HAVE to be fast to keep up with everything. i don't recommend it but it's a thing ashdjfj

i also used to be on tiktok and for some god forsaken reason i spent like a solid few months consistently posting 3 times per day which burnt me out SO fast and i absolutely don't recommend but it definitely required speed lol

i will also say that as i draw more and feel more comfortable in my art it comes to me a lot more naturally, and i'm able to make decisions on the fly a lot easier

also okay so starr lore my dad used to be really against me drawing so i would have to sneak onto the computer when he was out of the house hahaha, this gave me anywhere from 30 mins to 2 hours per day to do whatever i wanted, so i had to quickly adapt to that and be super fast if i ever wanted to get anything done

again speed isnt the be all end all of anything, tbh most of this is just my brain working in weird ways that prefers the quicker pace so please don't compare yourself!!

okay long ass ramble over thanks for reading <3333

[asterlizard]

As a memorial for my first tablet, which died this year, I put together pieces from each year that I had it (it lasted for almost 12 years!) Also I’m curious to see how my art evolved over the years, and this was a good excuse.

Analysis of each year under the cut:

2008: -Got my first tablet in September (the top pic was my very first attempt with it aaa) -Was into fanimations and creating fanart of peoples' OCs, and Japanese stuff in general -Made several attempts at original stories, but they barely lasted after creating the characters --However, I did have two stories that I made fair progress on: one of my group of friends at the time, and a horror story with disabled protagonists

2009: -I was very into horror tropes at this time, so it was difficult to find early stuff that didn't have blood on it :'D -HETALIA -My art themes immediately moved into Cuteness Territory, which I've pretty much stuck with to now -Also pretty much adopted Himaruya's art style almost overnight -The prototype characters of Kaleidoscope Children began here, though I didn't start making proper art of them until next year

2010: -So much Hetalia and chibi content (I should put a cuteness warning next time) -Played around with different art techniques -Discovered SAI -Finally completed a group picture (with 50+ characters!), which is a big accomplishment considering how easily I get bored/burnt out --This was probably the first pic I did that got fairly popular

2011: -Moved over from Photoshop to SAI as my primary art program (PS was only used for extra effects) -Finally drew fanart that wasn't Hetalia, haha -My first commission -Out of my old artwork, this year was perhaps my favourite; there are a lot of works I'm still really pleased with

2012: -Half of my art this year was digital paint, and the other half was 'attempted digital watercolour', which I never really mastered... -First attempt applying for an art job (I didn't get it, but in retrospect I'm glad I didn't, I wasn't ready yet :'D ) -Joined an art contest (and only one) on deviantart

2013: -The number of original pics outnumbered fanart (especially Hetalia, I probably drew it once a year for the next few years) -In previous years I made a couple of attempts at a simplified/more cartoony art style, but didn't really settle on something until this year, though I still primarily stuck to my more anime-influenced style -Used the Fringe tool for shading for a few years

2014: -Too busy with school, probably only made like 5 proper pics this entire year -For the next few years, I drew eyes where the lineart has no gaps between the eyelids (so more Western-ish) -Started experimenting with darker shading -First attempt at detailed food

2015: -Also not very productive -Got a food art commission

2016: -Still not very productive -First 500+ note popular pic -Stopped adding highlights to hair

2017: -Started reviving KalChi and gave them new profile pics -Wasn't super proud of my art style at this point (particularly how I drew eyes)

2018: -BNHA -Finally I had a series to obsess over again and draw lots of fanart for again! -For some reason, something clicked toward the end of the year, and I started to really like drawing??? (not that I had low self-esteem about my art, but most of what I drew didn't feel grand or special or super memorable) -New tricks: Multiply for the lineart layer, also finally drawing a decent BG instead of mostly blank/basic BGs

2019: -New lineart technique, which for lack of a better term I call the 'traditional/marble-chiseling technique', which makes me feel like less of a perfectionist due to the rougher lineart 👍 (i.e.: the rough sketch becomes the final lineart, I don't make a separate layer for the final lineart anymore) -Drew eyes differently (lineart gaps again and smaller irises) inspired by BNHA's art style -Getting back into making comics frequently again -Also more proper BGs! -Perhaps the highest enjoyment I've had yet

2020: -Zines! -The most detail I've done yet -Tablet dies in the middle of my 3rd zine work in mid-late summer (R.I.P.), while I finished it with my backup tablet --This became my first 1000+ note popular pic!

[infriga]

@ancientouroboros​ FLATTERY WILL GET YOU absolutely everywhere I drew an entire picture just for you. Actually I drew two because the first time I tried to record the process Bandicam shit itself halfway through without me realizing until I was already finished. Which is why I made the starry Stan pic.

Here’s the video and a description under the readmore:

Hopefully it isn’t too fast. It took longer than expected, and I didn’t want it too be too long, but I can upload a slower one if anyone wants me too. Basically my process consists of:

1) Having a video in the background to help me focus, usually Achievement hunter or something similar. Something I can listen to and only have to check back on occasionally. I have a hard time drawing in silence unless I’m in a public place like at uni. 2) Work flow. The reason I use photoshop primarily is because I know all the shortcut keys and it allows me to switch between tools really fast. I tend to stick to something I know because I like to have a flow and being familiar with my tools helps with that. 4) Cheating. If I can achieve an effect without painstakingly creating it from scratch I will. I use filterforge myself (even though it’s expensive it has a HUGE filter library), but there are lots of other options. I also have a lot of special brushes I use for textures and other stuff. And if you’re like me and you have shaky hands I highly recommend LazyNezumi! It’s a stabilizer that works with Photoshop, and It also has other cool features like perspective line rulers.

My sketches are messy as hell, as you’ve probably noticed. I’m usually trying to get a feel for the pose without getting too stiff. I like to use the pencil tool instead of the brush tool, since I work at sizes big enough that it doesn’t look weird, and it makes colouring a lot easier. Of course this video also shows how much of a god damn perfectionist I can be, erasing and redrawing and erasing and redrawing, and resizing and flipping, and backtracking, etc. I cut out like half an hour of me redrawing his feet like 10 times. God I hate feet! 

Sometimes I get lucky and lineart turns out how I want right away, but sometimes it takes several tries. Because of this I like to space my lineart out on multiple layers to let me isolate elements more easily. Sometimes I’m a little layer happy tbh, like I needed 21 layers just for the sketch of my Stan WIP I posted a while back. If it’s something quick for a response or a joke it’s not so bad, when it’s a bigger picture, or sometimes just by chance, I can get really anal. How organized my layers get is completely random. Some pictures are meticulously labelled and named, and some are a complete mess. I also like to flip the picture a lot to check for weirdness or inconsistencies. If I can’t get something to work I’ll often just scrap it and redo it from a slightly different angle or with a different pose. I’ll sometimes have a series of action snapshots and chose which one I like the best. I do this with colours too where I save a bunch of different looks/styles, and try to figure out which one I like best by cycling through them. 

I have a folder filled with slightly different coloured versions of one pic that was particularly difficult for me to decide on.

When it comes to colouring sometimes I have it planned out in advanced, but generally I just go with what feels natural. I will often fiddle with hue, saturation, colour balance, and all sorts of things, with different composition modes for layers and stuff like that, just to see if I can add some extra pop to whatever I already have.

So now you can blame @ancientouroboros​ for both pictures and this wall of text. If there’s anything you guys want me to elaborate on let me know cause I’d be willing to make a more in depth post on a certain topic. Here’s the video of the lineart for the other pic before it crapped out, for anyone who’s interested.

[resbang-bookclub]

AMA Transcript: Leap Year

Next up, @blinkfl0yd, @ahshesgone and @innocentcinnamonbun stopped in to answer questions about their Resbang, Leap Year! Here’s some of what went down!

*Please be advised that this AMA contains one (1) small spoiler for the unpublished part 2 of Leap Year :)*

Q: My first question is for Inno and Ash! How did you choose which scenes you wanted to draw! :)

Inno: Ahh I usually like to draw scenes that have a big emotional impact or are just really funny (Which a lot of scenes in Blink’s story made me laugh out loud pretty hard) I also like to make book cover-like pieces for Bangs I do.

ahshesgone: Ohhhhh I was so in love with that first scene with Spirit and Maka, I HAD to do it, because it set the tone so perfectly for both of them. Then it was mentioned that Blair babysat Maka and I Had To also, bc that right there was a dream I had and I realised it when I read it, and Stein and Marie were just impossible to pass up. Blink writes so vividly, I would draw forever if I had the time.

Q: What was the inspiration behind this story? I always love stories about the adults and we get them so rarely!

BlinkFl0yd: Honestly I just really like the adults haha, I just thought they needed some love. I'd been playing around with a college AU for the adults probably since before Resbang was announced, but I think the biggest thing that kind of inspired where it was going to go was probably learning about anesthesia awareness?? Which is pretty much exactly how it sounds and is actually really terrifying and made me think of Spirit and Stein which is pretty much what kickstarted that whole plotline. So that was sort of the basis for the whole fic. After that it was just... coming up with different shenanigans. The horse head was totally a spur of the moment thing.

Q: This one is for everyone: did you guys have fun working together? Was there a lot of communication? :D

ahshesgone: I really liked working with both Blink and Inno!! They're the awesomest. I guess we could do with more similar timezones though, tbh.

BlinkFl0yd: Oh gosh seconded. ash and Inno are so cool and so talented and it was so much fun working them them.

Inno: I had such a blast working with ash and Blink ;;;u;; <333

Q: Was there anything that you wanted to add but couldn't? Or anything that originally wasn't going to be there that ended up going in?

BlinkFl0yd: So the thing is, as a result of splitting it up for Resbang, I now get to sort of rework some concepts that I had to originally cut out because of the time crunch. I think the biggest thing is that I originally had a whole plotline planned out for Medusa and White Star that I had to cut out or rework for sake of time, but now I get to add it back in and I'm really excited.

Q: bb Maka is SO CUTE AND I LOVE HER, how did you go about characterizing her?

BlinkFl0yd: Oh gosh yes, baby Maka was fun but difficult. I have no idea how children work so…

Q: Yeah like, you didn’t make her too babyish which is a problem I see a lot when people write kids.

BlinkFl0yd: I am honestly not very good with kids, but yeah, it does irritate me when people write kids super babyish, I deadass once read a fic where a ten year old was still making baby sounds and even I know that that is Not Right. I think that's the one thing that helped me with baby Maka and the rest of the kids.

Q: Favorite character to write and favorite scene to write?

BlinkFl0yd: It was a lot of fun to get into Stein's head, and I also had a lot of fun writing Blair's appearances. I also enjoyed Sid a lot more than I thought I would, and Nygus.

Inno: You wrote Stein so well, it made me cry tears of joy.

ahshesgone: Omg I loved them both so so so so much. [And] OH MY GOD Azusa.

[there is much joyful screaming about Azusa]

Q: Artist chans, what was your arting process like once you decided what you wanted to art? I think you both did digital, but I bet there are a lot of differences in how you work!

ahshesgone: Hmmm well my process for these ones was pretty all over the place. They were all started around the same time but I finished all of them at different times so I think all of them came [out] looking pretty… dissimilar? I wish I had made the Blair one look less digital because I think that's what I needed for my art for Leap Year, for it to look??? tactile?

BlinkFl0yd: I honestly cried a little when I saw the first draft of the Spirit and Maka picture.

Inno: Ahh I lay out a gesture sketch, then a normal sketch, then I lineart the sketch, fill the whole canvas with a color that pertains to the mood of the piece and use a low opacity brush to lay in colors then just start blending colors from there to form lighting and shade. After that I sometimes air brush some more color into the piece. :,) Other pieces I just color in the lineart and add basic cell shading :,,) I hope I answered right :,)))

BlinkFl0yd: BOTH OF YOUR ARTS MADE ME CRY A LITTLE.

Inno: Couldn’t have made it without such an outstanding source material blink ;;u;;;;

Q: For all of you, do you think Resbang helped you hone any skills/get better at something, maybe something you decided on trying to work on or something you surprised yourself with?

BlinkFl0yd: Honestly, yeah. I've never never actually worked with other people before for a fic, I've never even had a beta before until Resbang? So that was new.

ahshesgone: Oh, I used a really weird way to sketch the steinmarie thing which I was very impressed with myself for. I think I crosshatched the silhouettes and then just erased where I needed lighter areas?

Inno: I've been trying to get better with perspective and comics as well as drawing backgrounds and resbang definitely helped out getting my butt into gear to practice drawing those things. I did pretty well too on it.

Q: Do you feel like your writing has changed or improved at all during the course of writing this? I'm just curious if you felt that your techniques or style had changed at all.

BlinkFl0yd: I'm not really sure if it's changed much? I think if anything I’ve gotten better at working under a time crunch. I'm kinda a perfectionist, which does not go very well with Resbang, so I guess if anything I've gotten better at just word-vomiting first and editing later.

Q: Were there any particularly difficult scenes or roadblocks you needed to work through?

BlinkFl0yd: Hmmm. I think some of the trickiest scenes to write were the ones with Shinigami and Kami. We know so little about [Kami] so she was probably the hardest one to write. I was coming up with a full-on backstory and personality for her as I was writing, so that was both kinda fun but kinda difficult. And Shinigami is… Shinigami.

ahshesgone: OH BUT THEY WERE SO GOOD. I was shaking when I was reading that fight in the car.

BlinkFl0yd: oop. SPOILERS.

Inno: LOL.

ahshesgone: SORRY.

BlinkFl0yd: That's one thing that'll be in the next parts haha.

ahshesgone: Oh my god sorry I read so many versions of it I’M SORRY.

BlinkFl0yd: It's fine! Lol, call it a teaser.

ahshesgone: t-tt-tadah!

Q: Totally not rushing you, but do you plan on posting some of part 2 soon???

BlinkFl0yd: Hopefully soon. School has actually been horrible.

Q: After this, do you have any other projects lined up? And artists, what're you working on next? >:)

BlinkFl0yd: There's a lot I want to do!

Inno: r e v e r b.

BlinkFl0yd: Oh gosh, REVERB.

[badheart]

*WHEEZE*  THANK YOU, I never had someone go in such detail about something I did, I should draw more stuff for ya ;) and it’s like you dissected this piece by piece lol this took me about 4 to 5 hours Finished it at 12am, I was thinking about using blue but I redrew the scene of Ichigo and I decided on a blue background and I wanted to contrast it since blue and orange complement each other. Then just plain orange was boring. It took me so long to mix the blue for his hair and eyes cuz I wanted it to look perfect. Hehe I love redrawing scenes but I’m such a perfectionist when I do my art. I actually drew another scene of grimmjow in 2016 ((which is the other pic I’ll submit with this message, uggh I hate it so much, just the mistakes makes me cringe at the younger me, and you have no idea how long it took me just to get that damn six to come out right. I actually painted the six black, I don’t have a pic of it tho)) but most importantly I wanted to see if I made progress. I was thinking about drawing all his hair but I would die doing it but I should still do it. Also I WISH I COULD PIN IT ON MY WALL!! Sadly..I do not have this artwork with me, I had to turn it in for a Contract piece in art class  ;-; R.I.P. grimmjow..he’s some where in my art teachers room for the summer lol. Thank you again for your tips as well. Ahhh Just you replying makes me feel like I can die happy now  ---  by @midnightmadness5.

This cuz most people can’t appreciate art or simply don’t realize how much time it can cost, also it takes me only a few minutes to write a long comment B)) also i love making people happy back if they made me happy. AND WOAH THAT LONG?! Well art definitely can kill time if you put effort into it and all, horrible is then if you know you could have done it better or you wish you wouldn’t have put so much time into it, since not always turns out the result well, god art can be so frustrating, ne? At least for me. THEY DO, those two colors, yet I am personally not fond of them, sorry B’) M not a fan of this ship after all but yeah, personally I think that Ichigo looks much better with blue background than Grimmjow with orange one, maybe because Grimm is simply such a cold-hearted asshole, mostly. While Ichigo is always this bright sun, which shows his hair color already enough, especially there on your drawing looks the hair color so awesome! With the mix from yellow and orange. Something I would make differently next time though, is lineart the hair with a brighter color, and only where the hair doesn’t touch the skin or leaving it away completely, so it keeps more its realism, after all is our hair not framed. But otherwise pretty awesome, also with his outfit and the mini stars upon it, makes it all more beautiful *^* Meanwhile back to the grimm drawing. OH YES THE SIX, honestly I would search for pictures where you can see his back and the six, because there exist this one six.png file in google images which might be nice, but actually looks his six a tad differently, still I think for the first try, or even if not, it still came out mostly well, I SUFFER WITH HIS SIX quite a lot too whenever I bother to draw it too, which happens luckily rarely. I find it forever funny how grimm cares more about his espada title than the king title which he got from his fracción. oh actually black? tbh just in white it doesnt look bad either, might like it even more but cant rly tell in the end, cuz idk the end result, a shame u cannot show it. if you ever consider drawing him again, draw him from the side, there is hair rather easy to draw in my opinion. ASDFghj damn , well hopefully will the teachers appreciate this motherfucker B)) And no problem!!! I love getting art and seeing the process by artists, by your last drawing was the anatomy definitely much better and all seemed kinda cleaner, idk anyway thank you so much for showing your art again!! ♥

[simblog420]

Quitting as an internet artist.

Most people except those who have been following me on art platforms probably won’t understand this. So feel free to skip this post.

I keep saying that I'm going to try to keep in touch better and post more, but I know it won't happen. I just can't seem to find the drive to draw whenever I want. Truth is, my mind is always filling with ideas and projects that I want to do. But actually sitting down and accomplishing it is another story. I don't know what's happened to me in the past few years, but I have to force myself to draw to remind myself that I can still do it.

Hell, when I was a teenager, I literally had a new drawing every single day, sometimes more. I used to be a drawing machine. But I think I burnt myself out. I take forever to do art now, and its driving me crazy. Not because of procrastination, but It literally takes hours upon hours to do a single drawing. I don't know how it happened. But I've become a perfectionist too (Which Is a huge issue considering that I’m not an overly fantastic artist in the first place) If I see a single issue I end up fixing it 1000x too (If I don't scrap it completely) Im constantly worried of people pointing out issues or not liking stuff because I messed up an arm or whatever.

I know where my strengths are, but my weaknesses outweigh them too much. I’m one of those static pose 3/4 view kind of people. I have been experimenting with different poses lately. But the fact that I can’t fucking color or shade to save my soul is destroying my motivation to finish them. Im lately only getting lineart done. If I even make it that far that is.

I can honestly say, becoming an internet artist was the worst Idea I’ve ever had. I met some amazing people but also a few people who’ve obliterated my confidence in my art to the point that they would give me unwanted critique or nitpick everything I said and did. I am very sensitive and have the worst confidence. Yet art used to be the exception. I was one of those people back in my teen years that were admired for my ability to draw. So you can imagine the difference from when I joined the soon-to-be overflooded internet artist community and realized I was sitting at the bottom along with many.

 I was a stay at home mom at the time hoping to be able to improve enough that I could at least pay the bills from my art, but the standards are way too high for most people to get anywhere without some amount of talent or pre-existing following. I went from producing stuff I loved every day to struggling to produce the odd thing that I was actually proud of. In the 3 years I was a stay at home mom (2011-2014) I made some amazing progress in my art. Especially since I also had to learn to draw digitally. But I eventually couldn’t afford to keep it going and had to get a job. The beginning of 2012 I found out what depression was and have been dealing with it since.

Have you been following me for years? you probably seen how I almost never post unless its commissions. Why is that? Because commissions are what kept me drawing. After I lost all motivation to work on my own projects, ocs, Raxis Saga, etc... The only thing that could keep me drawing is knowing that someone had paid for a piece of work and it had to get done.

Basically I have failed myself and my few amazing followers that have been there over the years. I kept saying I would post more stuff, and It never happens. I post so sporadically and now, I just don’t know anymore. Ive lost track of alot of cool people I was friends with. Ive lost track of time.

I will continue private commissions for those whom I’m familiar with, but I will no longer be posting my art online. I’m done. I need to learn to love my art again and its not going to happen unless I can be away from these places. I will keep all accounts open to support others and keep in contact.

I have made literally one exception for a fandom on an alternate account as that fandom is literally the only thing keeping my very little bit of art going.

Thankyou for your amazing support and encouragement over the years. I wish everyone the best in their own projects and goals! I know you can do it!!