#I'll ink and color these properly

[supercantaloupe]

wip. bitches be sketching

[trellia]

I decided to re-draw the VERY FIRST digital art I did, which was in September of 2001. (second drawing ). Back then I would draw and ink on paper, scan it, and color it with a mouse and I honestly have no clue how I had this much patience because I didn't know about layers then and worked on only one layer??? ( not sure how I got the background in there either lol)

First painting is the new piece with the updated character ( Angel/Angela in 2024). As you can see, a LOT has changed. She was a character I created for an American McGee's Alice roleplay on a forum. I think I wanted her to have a connection to the Cheshire Cat, hence the cat ears and tail. ( Listen I was 19, I loved cats too much (still do tbh lol) don't @ me lol). This is DEFINITELY not the case with the recent piece as she has little to do with Wonderland anymore, but I didn't really wanna take all of it away. She also changed nationality over time much, much later so I fixed her skin color to reflect that, as well as the jewelry and attire which uh.... yah, back then I was EXTREMELY influenced by 90's american comics ( l also knew nothing of anatomy which explains why she has no organs in the old piece >> ). I think it shows how much I have changed with time, both artistically and mentally.

However, I won't lie, I am not happy with the result... I started this piece at the beginning of June, then got extremely ill and had to work on this on and off during the month... which also means none of my interactions with the piece were the same and it shows. I feel like there's too much going on and the wing stumps are lost in there. Maybe a decade or two from now I'll repaint this again with a different perspective and better health.

However I am better now and I can paint more properly.

So apologies with this regurgitated piece lo!!

Regardless, thank you for sticking with me during these difficult times. Mucho appreciated!!! Much love!!

[sanctus-ingenium]

I was wondering how achieve such a wonderful textured finish on your pieces? They are wonderful and I love their resemblance to aged photographs and the speckles of colors in the backgrounds. Your art is mesmerizing :)

you can see some of the texture brush sets i use in my #info_asks tag but i have some more (procreate) tips aside from just brushes

also hi i made this whole thing and then stupidly hit ctrl z to erase ONE word and i lost the entire bottom half of the post and all my image descriptions so fuck you tumblr i had to make this twice

to get a faded photo or old digital screen look, consider duplicating the canvas (once all the layers are merged) and using a gaussian blur tool on the new duplicated layer. then set that to low opacity to add a misty sort of look. looks nice in combination with some chromatic abberation and a small bloom effect. then a subtle noise filter on top:

for faded print effects, it's really worthwhile to learn how to use layer masks. you can use a layer mask to non-destructively 'weather' blocks of colour or lineart, without erasing the layer itself. the weathered ink/block print effect here was made using layer masks which means that if i just hide the mask, the lineart becomes solid black again and easy to alter or colour in:

for old paper effects you can just set a paper texture on multiply over the art sure, but you can also combine it with the blur & bloom thing, a really subtle drop shadow and canvas tilt, and highlights to make it look like an aged photograph of a card. this originally had a transparent bg but i'll post it here with a white bg so that the drop shadow is more obvious. the scuffed edges of the card (left) were hand drawn, simple white stucco brush. the bigger patch of scuffed ink (top right) was a texture stamp.

for block print looks you can move the colour layer out of alignment by a few pixels - but only after you're absolutely sure you're done with it, otherwise you'll get something like this -

i forgot to erase out her eye before i moved the red layer so now her eye defeats the 'look' of a misaligned print. the black lineart and red layer were also given the same layer mask treatment as described above to make them look faded or like the ink didn't stick down right to the paper

you can do this with multiple colour layers too. if the colour layers are separated and set to multiply (as in this cmyk example), it'll leave halos and edges around each shape which mimic old comic book print

just to show what you can do WITHOUT any special brushes, here's a piece of one of my mez tarot cards from before i got any extra brushsets at all. for this one, i added a green tint over everything to mimic a sun-bleached or faded print (my actual goal wasn't 'medieval illustration' but actually 'trading card from the 60s that got left on someone's windowsill for decades'). the background texture is the procreate noise brush. the texture under the green lion drawing is the procreate concrete brush (to make it look painted onto a wall). the lettering and lineart is procreate's 6B pencil. but to properly aim for The Look of it being a printed physical object, i also used a perspective blur so that the edges are out of focus, and metallic gold highlights which don't match the lighting of the actual illustration and appear to be catching some other external light. that texture was made from the procreate noise brush

it's pretty simple compared to my later stuff but i still really like the effect

in terms of colours, you need to keep them unified so that they all appear to be acting under the same external light source, like if someone is holding up a torch to a painting then the painting colours will be glazed with firelight even if there's no painted fire. a really easy way to do this is to slap a multiply layer over everything in one shade - grey-yellow for a weathered paper look, or greenish blue for sunbleached photos. this unifies all the colours of the drawing. or you can apply a gradient map at a low opacity so that there's only a subtle change. or just do it by hand - if you want everything to be slightly tinted yellow, just pick the colours you normally would, but move the colour wheel towards yellow to get a yellowfied version of the base colour. easy

it's really important to consider how fading and weathering can affect printed colour. white paper yellows, black fades. you will rarely see pure black or pure white. which means you can use pure black or pure white to add external effects like the white scuff marks on the hierophant card. if the whole drawing is yellowed from age but there's some white somewhere, it's an easy shorthand to show that the scuff mark or whatever was not originally part of the drawing (great way to add some nasty stains lol)

[anachronismstellar]

Another day another scene from >Airplane vs The System< fic.

Should I post this on Ao3? Maybe, but that sounds like a Commitment(tm), and I'm pretending this is not a full fic lol so I'm posting here like is just a silly thing

There is a reference to another fun robot from a very good game released in 2007, if you get it I'll love you forever ❤️ fjsjskdjsk

Also, if you squint you can catch my fav mxtx baby showing up as a guest :D

TW: The System being a bully and uh torture? Nothing like canon tho

Hope you like it~!

----

Mobei-Jun became aware of himself slowly, like the first snow of the season. He wasn't able to feel his body, but his mind was there, commanding his fingers to bend, his head to turn left and right. Not that he had much to see, encased on an infinite white that made his eyes water.

Another thing that took too long to remember was how he ended up in such a situation. It was like trying to catch a slippery fish, the memory swimming away from him in the middle of a river of pain.

The only thing that kept him grounded was the memory of warm brown eyes and ink stained fingers. Shang Qinghua's face was a constant flash on Mobei-Jun's mind, but something kept making him flinch, there was something wrong with their last encounter, something that he couldn't-

“Oh, you're awake. Welcome Character_s201,” the Thing that looked like Shang Qinghua appeared in front of him, wearing something that seemed to be An Ding Peak robes, but didn't layer properly, as if the fabric kept melting against itself when the Thing moved.

Not that It moved much, it was like watching the shadow version of Qinghua, the Thing so still It looked like a doll. Mobei-Jun had faced many monsters throughout his life, none that actually chilled him to the bones such as the creature in front of him.

“There's no need to be scared, I won't hurt you,” It said as if It wasn't keeping Mobei-Jun bound to the wall, holding him so tight he could barely breathe. “You are here to complete a set of experiments to gather data. After the experiment, food will be provided, and you will be released.”

He said nothing back, focusing on keeping his eyes wide open. Could it be a shapeshifter? It would make sense, although no shapeshifter he had met behaved like that, they usually did their best to imitate their original forms to not attract suspicion. And a shapeshifter capable of knocking him out would be able to copy Qinghua's eyes.

A beat of silence passed between them, neither of them blinking. Then, as if It was seeing something to the side, it nodded, waving Its hand before changing forms right in front of Mobei-Jun.

Again, Mobei was an experienced demon. He had seen shit, as Qinghua would say, before even becoming Junshang's right hand. And after getting his title of Junshang's right hand, his encounter with weird creatures increased by leaps and bounds. He had seen shape-shifting done by different creatures and by magic, but nothing that could compare to what the Thing did.

It was like watching Junshang create a portal with Xin Mo, but instead of a tear in space and reality, it exploded in tiny multi-colored shards of glass, regrouping itself in a glimpse, the outfit now a neutral green and gray with accents of gold. Its face kept Qinghua's rounded shape, but the hair was mostly down, a small bun on top of Its head being held by a golden crown. The only thing it had kept the same were the eyes, still poison green that made Mobei's skin tingle as if a thousand fire ants were crawling over his body.

“Apologies for creating discomfort. Is this avatar more comfortable for interacting, Character_s201?”

Again Mobei kept his mouth shut. Whatever that thing was, it didn't want Mobei's comfort. He didn't believe in Its honeyed words either, what experiments? Was It going to torture him? What did It actually want?

“Character_s201 experience cannot be improved without proper feedback. Should I undo the avatar change?”

It was like he was listening to the words but couldn't grasp the meaning behind them. The most terrifying part was that the Thing sounded like Qinghua and Consort Shen when they thought no one could hear them. Was that the connection? Was this thing after Consort Shen? Or-

“Wh-” He tried to ask, the metallic taste on his mouth making him cough. The Thing approached, offering a ceramic cup with what seemed to be water, but Mobei wasn't stupid. He turned his face sideways, the movement bringing a searing pain to his neck, nausea and dizziness forcing him to close his eyes.

“There's no need for Character_s201 discomfort. Character_s201 health is important to not skew data results.” It insisted, grabbing Mobei-Jun's face, pressing the cup against his lips until he drank the liquid. He felt feverish, doing his best to spit on the Thing's face, but It did something to his tongue, as if it could control Mobei's body. He swallowed, the water healing his scratchy throat, but at what cost? It could have given him poison, or a truth serum, or-

“Water is important for Character_s201 maintenance. Now, Character_s201 experience cannot be improved without proper feedback. Should I undo the avatar change?”

Mobei-Jun felt himself sag, his wrists and legs burning as they held his weight. He was falling right into Its trap, spending his energy faster, becoming weaker.

“What's… An avatar?” He asked instead of physically fighting, but keeping his glare on the Thing. Which was good, because as soon as he asked, the Thing blinked, possibly for the first time since they had started talking, as if It had been caught by surprise by Mobei-Jun's question.

“An avatar is a graphical representation of a user, the user's character, or persona.” It explained after Its eyes flashed, blinking a couple of more times. “It's what Character_s201 would call my appearance.”

“It's fine,” Mobei-Jun grunted, agreeing with whatever nonsense the Thing was asking. Better a stranger than Qinghua's face, for sure.

“Understood. Avatar preferences updated. Now, shall we proceed?”

For the second time, the Thing pressed Its thumb against Mobei-Jun's demon mark, making the world around him plumb into darkness.

----

OK off I go to sleep now lol byeeeeee

[the-broken-truth]

Blot-Mates: Yuu & The Overblots [Part 4]

SEGMENT: JAMI

Summary: Jami is struggling with his innate programming of servitude, but he has no one to serve. Consequently, he is finding it difficult to relax and function properly. What would happen if Yuu decides to teach Jami how to live a life where he is no longer a servant but rather spoiled?

[Note: The Yuu Variant is Male with Enma Yuuken's Body Build, Yuuka Hirasaki's Fighting Skills, and Yuuta Mito's Cooking Skills.]

[Note: This Storyline will be written in Script Format.]

Parts: [Prologue] - [Ri] - [Leo] - [Azu] - [Jami] (Here) - [Vi] - [Idi] - [Mal] - [All] - [Epilogue]

[Coal-colored eyes were fixed on the ceiling while serpents made of dark locks of hair hissed in irritation or struck at each other, showing their displeasure. Jami placed his hand on his forehead and ran his inked hand through his bangs before sitting up from his bed and perching on the ledge with his head hanging. He lifted his head and looked at the digital clock on the wall of his room: it was 6:45 in the morning. This was usually the time The Prefect would get up to make breakfast for the Overblots. The thought of the Prefect making breakfast for all of them, just as he and his Original Body would make breakfast for Scarabia Dorm and Kalim, was overwhelming. Jami wasn't sure how to cope with it..]

Jami (Hearing something coming downstairs): Prefect... (Stands up and leaves his room)

[Jami walked down the hall and down the stairs as silently as he could to make sure he didn't give away his location. He crept to the opening of the kitchen and hid around the corner while listening to Yuu speak to himself.]

Yuu (On the phone with Sam): Hey, Sam. I know you're getting the shop ready, but do you have cookbooks or teas from the Land of Scalding Sands?

Jami (Thinking): 'The Land of Scalding Sands? Surely, he is not thinking about...'

Yuu (On the phone): Did Ace and Deuce tell you about what happened in Potion's class? Yeah, The Overblots got separated front their original bodies and I offered them to stay at Ramshackle; I wasn't going to make them uncomfortable with dealing with their hosts in their dorms.

Jami (Thinking): 'He cares for our comfort? After we attempted to kill him? (Looks at the ground in shame) After I used him for my personal vendetta?'

Yuu (On the phone): I noticed that Jami seems uneasy and I want to do something to make him more at ease here. I thought of making him some food and tea from the Land of Scalding Sands, as he's not much of a coffee drinker. Also, I noticed a Mancala Board and I'm interested in buying it. Can you tell me how much it is? (Sam Talking) Great, I'll also take the Cookbook, Tea Canister Bundle, and Silk Bundle. I think I can make Jami some new robes with the silk. When can I pick up the items? (Sam Talking) Yes, I'm willing to do all of that for Jami, just like I would for the others. He deserves just as much as the others do. Can I come get the items now? (Sam Talking) Perfect, I'm on my way. (Hangs up phone)

[Jami silently moved away from the kitchen opening and around another corner just as Yuu left the kitchen, grabbed his wallet off the table, and walked out of the first door. Jami looked around the corner and stared at the door for a while before the same question began to haunt his mind.]

Jami: Prefect... Why are you willing to do so much for me...after everything I have done to you? All the pain I caused you? Why are you doing so much for me - A Servant?

[The front door of Ramshackle opened, and Yuu walked in with his arms filled with stuff; he walked over to the sofa and placed everything down before reaching into a bag and pulling out the Cookbook from the Land of Scalding Sands before he walked around the corner, only to see Jami sitting at the table with his hair snakes constantly hissing.]

Yuu: Jami?

Jami:...

Yuu (Placing the book on the table as he walked over to Jami): Jami, are you okay? I've never seen you up so early.

Jami: I had a hard time sleeping - the snakes are very...aggravated at the moment and their hissing is making it hard to sleep.

Yuu (Looks at the hair snakes with a thinking expression on his face before snapping his fingers with a knowing smile on his face): I know - They are dry.

Jami (Raises an eyebrow at Yuu): Dry?

Yuu: When was the last time you oiled your hair since coming here?

Jami: I... I hadn't.

Yuu: Give me a moment. (Walks over to the bags on the sofa, reaches into one, and pulls out a bottle of Hair Oil that came from the Land of Scalding Sands - Sam gave it to him for free) Found it. (Walks back over to Jami) I'll give you a hand.

[Yuu whistles, gaining the hair snakes' attention as he pours some hair oil into his hand and holds his hand out to the snakes, showing them what is in his hand. Once the first snake came close enough, he rubbed his hands together and rubbed the oil on the hair snake, making it hiss in pleasure. Yuu continues this process with all the hair snakes until he reached the top of Jami's Head and massaged the hair oil into Jami's dry scalp, making the Overblot hiss in pleasure.]

Jami: This... This feels nice...

Yuu (Smiles): I'm glad you like it, Jami. I'll make you some tea after this.

Jami: I have been meaning to ask you about that, Prefect: Why are you doing so much for me after everything I have done to you? Used you for a personal vendetta I had against Kalim? Why do all of this for me, a mere servant?

Yuu: You are not a servant here, Jami. Ramshackle Dorm has no servants and I will not allow you to speak about yourself in such a matter.

Jami: But... My entire life, I have served...

Yuu: And that was a crime done to you. It's no wonder you and Jamil overblotted; who would want to live like that? Forced to hold themselves back for the betterment of someone who doesn't deserve their staion?

Jami: You don't think Kalim deserves to be Housewarden of Scarabia?

Yuu: In all honesty: No, he doesn't. Listen, I have nothings agsint Kalim personally, but he is too immature to hold the position of power he does; constantly throwing parties at the slightest whim and leaving the aftereffect up to you and the other members of Scarabia; it's pitiful, really. The only reason he is in his position of power is because he was from the Asim Family. You are clearly a better choice of Housewarden, considering all the work you do.

Jami: You... You really think so?

Yuu: Of course, you are. Jami, you are skilled in both magic and cooking, your memory is sharper than a blade, you are skilled in multiple languages...

[4 Minutes Later]

Yuu (Making cups of tea and breakfast for Jami from the cookbook): You are able to craft an antidote from plants within a matter of mintues before the poison can actually kill someone, and don't even get me started on your Mancala Tips...

[5 Minutes Later]

Yuu (Placing the food in front of Jami with the tea): All and All, you are a amazing person, Jami.

Jami (Staring at Yuu): Prefect... You just spent 9 minutes praising me...

Yuu: Of course I did. I would say more but we would be here all day and I have to make breakfast for the others. Jami, you deserve every bit of praise I can give you and I shall give you as much as you wish. (Pets the top of Jami's Head) You are brilliant and loved, Jami. (Goes into the kitchen)

Jami:...

[Later that day]

Leo (Pounding on Jami's Door): OI, SERPENT! GIVE ME BACK MY LITTLE BROTHER! WE'RE GOING TO PLAY CHESS!!

Ri: No, Rose and I are going to tend to the Roses!

Azu (Shouting downstairs since his pot can't go upstairs): PEARL AND I ARE GOING SWIMMING!

[Inside The Room]

Jami (Moving his stones on the Mancala Board): Your turn, Little Flower.

Yuu (Thinking of his move while Jami's Hair Snakes are wrapped around his waist - preventing him from leaving): Jami, when can I leave? I need to make lunch.

Jami: They can order-in.

Yuu: But...

Jami: You are not leaving me until you beat me in Mancala, Desert Flower. Listen to your brother.

Yuu: Jami, you've beaten me over 20 times. I'm not gonna beat you anytime soon.

Jami: Then, you won't be leaving anytime soon.

Yuu: Okay. (Makes a move on the Mancala Board)

[END - TO BE CONTINUED]

[mellosdrawings]

What do you use to draw with? Like what device and drawing app? I finally graduated high school and want to get back to drawing and maybe start posting it but I wanted some advice

Hi~

I'm just gonna go and give you my full setup (plus health advices coz trust me they're important).

These days I use an IPad Pro 11" and Procreate. My friend has the bigger version but I hurt my elbow using it because it made my moves too big, so I settled for the littler version. I suggest you chose based on your feelings for that. If you want a bigger screen to see more of your work, it's perfectly valid.

If you do take those two, I suggest you also take the ICloud save. (I have the 200Go save and that's only 3€ a month, but the 50Go save in free!) Should your IPad eventually break, you'll be able to retrieve ALL your art files from the Cloud, which is a huge lifesaver!

(I used to use a simple computer plus graphic tablet plus Adobe Photoshop, but it kept crashing so much that I had one too many rage quits. Plus it's super expensive since it's subscription based, and nowadays they take your art from the Adobe Cloud to feed their AI, so I can't really recommend that. Photoshop is an excellent tool but the direction Adobe is taking does NOT suit me.)

For brushes I just use the default Procreate Pencil. For the eraser I use Syrup, which is found in the default Inking Brush set.

My base canvases are 4000x4000px with a DPI of 300 (I suggest you improve the DPI if you do illustrations or really precise work. I only do little fanarts and comics with that DPI). For posting online please be careful to chose an RGB color profile (I use the default Display D3). If you ever want to print though, you should chose a CMYK color profile (I use the Generic CMYK Profile then).

Now back to the real world! I'm going to strongly suggest you make sure your paper/computer/screen is at least at an angle, at best right in front of your face. The least pressure you have to put on your neck (bending), the better it will be. If you do traditional art, I'll suggest actual art tables that you can adjust in size and angle. Here's mine.

To prevent any pain in my thumb I use one of those hold-helpers thingies kids use to hold their pens properly! It increases the size of the grip which prevents from holding the pen too tight (trust me, it's important). You can also find special tape to roll around your pen if you need an even bigger grip.

I wish I had a proper desk and chair because that will also be very important for your posture and health, but rn I'm not in my own flat so eh. What I'll encourage you to do instead are stretches and exercises BEFORE and AFTER an art session. Fingers, wrist, elbow, shoulder, back, neck. If you want to avoid medical costs (masseur, kine, osteopath) you need to take great care of your body. You can also find little self-massaging gadgets in sports shops to help with your muscles.

(Talking from experience there. I'm only 25 and I already had to undergo surgery on my writing wrist because I f*ed up. Your health is important!)

I'm aware most of those are extremely expensive to get (it took me half a year of intense working and savings just to get the IPad) but I've found that they were 100% worth it in the end. It's alright to get things little by little if you feel they are going to be important for you. I strongly suggest you invest in your health first though!

Once you have decided on your preferred setup, I guess the only thing left to do is train, experiment and have fun!

I think that's all? If you need more advices on setups or art or whatever, I'd be happy to help, my DMs are always open!

Also congrats on graduating highschool!

[hewkii]

Acht (Dedf1sh) Cosplay Rundown

feel free to copy or take inspiration :]

assembly instructions and print settings/materials for 3d printed parts are on thingiverse (headphones) (other parts)

models designed by me are in brackets in the materials list

Hat/Tentacles

black trucker hat with blank white front panel

[dedstencil.stl]

fabric paint

shiny indigo fabric

less shiny white fabric

glow-in-the-dark pigment powder

polyfill

metal marbles (to weight the ends so they hang properly)

two of [octosucc.obj] in different sizes

acrylic paint

conveniently enough i've had this hat hanging on my door for years. i got it with N from pokemon in mind but i never actually did that cosplay ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

here are the sketches i based my patterns on (1 square=1 cm). don't forget to add seam tolerances

Headphones

full details on thingiverse (mudmouth not included)

Arms

mesh bolero with built-in gloves

rit dye

fabric paint

10 of [finger_claw_vase.stl] in varying sizes

i wear claws under the gloves, but sometimes i'll wind up taking them off after a while since they can get uncomfortable and they make it hard to use my phone :/

Bracelet

[acht_bangle_vase.stl]

acrylic paint

glow-in-the-dark pigment powder

glossy clear coat

a cut up mello yello bottle

packing tape

eva foam

Misc. Doodads

red mirror shades

color chips

necklace chain

[acht_tag_jelleton.stl]

[acht_tag_ident.stl]

[acht_tag_hook.obj]

did you know that acht gives eight a mobility chip in the trailer but a power chip in the actual game? bc i didn't notice until after i'd already finished making the mobility one. so i've got a spare chip i guess

the dogtags were kind of a spur-of-the-moment creative liberty. i had the jelleton one sitting around from some experiments with composite filaments, and while i was brainstorming a way to incorporate acht's cool fish hook into the cosplay without needing to actually get my ears pierced it all sorta clicked together. i made the ident tag shortly afterwards and swiftly forgot what the text says :P

the rest of it

dress tunic thingy

metal eyelets

red string

camo pants

combat boots

i skimped on accuracy in favor of comfort for the lower half ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ the dress is more of a shirt, i added comfy pants bc i hate wearing colored tights (or god forbid painting my thighs green), and shorter boots bc more accurate ones are expensive as hell. plus any heel higher than this makes walking feel like playing qwop (skill issue). speaking of which does it bug anybody else how long acht's feet are on their in-game model or is that just me

idk if it counts as part of the cosplay but i also add a leather jacket when my arms get cold. i think it goes hard

To-Do:

ink the shaved streaks onto the hairnet

swap out the red leather cord for something less stiff

see if beans would work better than marbles

hand bandages?

single pointy tooth?

make a pre-sanitized version so i don't have to scrub off face paint every time

[tokushuhere]

Undertale belongs to Toby Fox Character: Ink!Sans [Belongs to Comyet (aka Mye Bi)] Photographer & editor: iitucos Cosplayer: Me

This spring and summer 2024 I started after many years pause my new cosplay project which was Ink!Sans!

Last year I got back into Undertale related content and also fell even more in depth in Undertale AU's than I had previously been into and that lead me to find Inktale and Underverse. These two gave me so much joy and emotions to go through and I fell in love the concept of Ink!Sans so naturally I wanted to make a cosplay, especially since this character gave me a perfect excuse to learn how to make pants similar to japanese hakama pants!

The pattern that I used for the pants was bought from online throught Etsy [link to there here]. Other cloth patterns I had from my basic cloth seeing book which I edited to fit more to myself or created myself from fly with trial and error.

The ink bottles contain small origami wishing stars that I folded from paper that I colored one line at time, turning 8 papers into colorful lines with one color's different shades to make them look good and it took at least 8 hours to color all the papers. I made the decision to do these just in case in conventions it's not okay to bring small bottles that contain liquids/paints because of the rules conventions can have about cosplay props + I don't wanna stress about these glass bottles falling from someone's hand and breaking while containing liquid/paint inside ;w;' I also thought it could be a fun idea to share these small stars with other cosplayers and people who I meet during conventions! ^^

The cosplay is now wearable and presentable but not 100% finished which I intent to do slowly through months and the following year. I gotta take time with the head prop and other details since my arm injury can't handle too much crafting on one go. I'm especially having hard time to make Ink's head prop work properly and look like I want it to look so I'll need to deal with it with more focus, time and get other resources for it + I wan't to make the giant paint brush Broomie too so there's still more things to do! I'll have more photos of this cosplay later during September!

[smol-bean-of-the-smols]

beans, how do you get the lines in your art so clean

OOH YAY IVE BEEN WANTING TO EXPLAIN MY LINES (its a bit of a long rambling post, sorry jkasfgjhak)

I use a specific brush in clip studio paint, Rough under India Ink in Brushes, and i believe it came with my program. This is how it looks at varying pressures (zoomed in for the texture). It's a shaped brush, so it's wider when being moved vertically and thinner when moved horizontally (i use this to my advantage with rotating the canvas :D)

I use this brush for sketching, and a very large portion of the time, that sketch is cleaned up and made into the lines you see in the final pieces! For example's sake, here's what a rough sketch would look like:

The sketch could be cleaner or messier than this, yet the process remains. The sketches get cleaned up with that same brush and the eraser. I like making the width of the lines quite varied, normally the outside/shaping lines thicker and the lines of shallow folds thinner (in the context of drawing clothing).

Usually, I start with erasing the parts of the lines that extrude a bit much and reconnecting the lines properly, and that brush makes it quite easy! Sometimes I also make an area, like a weird intersection, thicker than necessary so I can erase it into the shape I want. This happened to the area with the red arrow below (it's a very fun part :D).

The process of cleaning up the lines usually consists of just drawing over sketch lines to make them more solid and erasing some edges for a sharper look. You'll notice some (not all) intersections are thickened, like around the outside. I don't do this with intersections made of thinner lines because it'd take away some of the delicacy.

And some lines I never touch! Like the line the blue arrows are pointing at. What's also important about that line is the almost angled part of it in the middle. I like using this brush to make smooth corners, like where the yellow arrows are pointing, using pen pressure. I like using almost-triangles in my lines and shapes. You may notice I use a lot of triangles in the middle of clothing to make folds, even when they don't really make sense to stay as lines rather than just shading but shhhh.

And lastly, something I also do, but not always, is copy and paste the lines and blur them with a gaussian blur of 6 and turn down the opacity to how I see fit. It dulls the sharpness of the lines, which depending on the drawing can be a VERY good thing, as well as darkening them a bit.

I can also put that layer beneath the original lines, alpha lock the transparency, and make it a color! Like on the right if you can see the difference. Depending on the drawing, maybe I'll make the layer a blending layer to interact with the colors beneath it in interesting ways! I don't do it that often, but I do love doing it anyway.

Anyways, in conclusion, it's the brush I use that is the main part of the process. Idk what I'd do without it kjashfklaj

[madhattersez]

I finally got my hands on something I've been looking for (for a reasonable price) since I was just a lowly little level 12 hornball - A "Marvel Swimsuit Special!"

This is the second issue in the series (though the third book of its kind), and it was released in 1993 when... times were different.

The coolest thing about them (other than the totally radical '90s hunkeroos and baberinos in general) is the amount of really talented artists that submitted pieces - So many industry-leading folks putting their spin on the self-aware, low-brow, tongue-in-cheek project.

This first image was by Joe Jusko, a super popular cover artist at the time. I remember his Conan covers the most.

I'll eventually scan the whole thing in high quality, but for now, I'll take some preview pics to show you some of my favorite and/or goofiest pages:

Here is Domino, looking like we might need to race her to a Dermatology appointment. She's apparently tacky enough to wear a swimsuit with a domino print on it.

And check out Cable in the back - Sun's out, cyberbun out! He's ready to catch some waves on a totally-worth-the-money-and-production-time rocket-powered machine gun surfboard.

I really appreciate this artist's commitment to all the "Liefeld pouches" here. I hope they're waterproof, or all those Tic Tacs inside 'em are gonna get ruined. :(

Penciling by Chris Batista, ink by Hector Collazo, coloring by Mark McNaab.

Let's kick off the "after the jump" part properly with this glorious image of Pip. Because this is certainly what people bought this book for.

It just so happens that this fuzzy little asshole narrates the entire issue, so he's to blame for the inherently sexist captions on all the pictures.

Jesus Christ, he's got two big toes on each foot.

Pencilking by Darick Robertson, ink by Andrew Pepoy, coloring by Tom Smith.

I love me some Cloak and Dagger.

Tandy looks as gorgeous as ever. Surely she owns stock in boobie tape by now.

Tyrone, however, is getting so much sand stuck to him right now... I don't think he digs being used as a beach blanket. I'm... not even sure he's ever had to wash his cloak before today! Yikes. He's all like:

Penciling by Joe Madureira, ink by Terry Austin, and coloring by Gregory Wright.

I can't stop laughing at how much Thunderstrike looks exactly like the Genetic Freak, Big Poppa Pump Scott Steiner in this picture:

The work is entirely by Lou Harrison. It may not surprise you to learn he's also a Fantasy artist.

I've always had a thing for Silver Sable, and this page is just fantastic.

That being said, my favorite part is Sandman sitting there, looking like a dope, shaped like a sand castle. Which, while it seems silly, was probably the most challenging and detailed thing I've ever seen him do with his powers. Worth it for the shot, I suppose!

Line work and ink by Steven Butler, a favorite of mine. He did penciling for the "Silver Sable and the Wild Pack" series (which got me attached), but he's also known for designing the Scarlet Spider suit. Coloring by Gregory Wright.

If you thought I wasn't going to Morb out on this post, you were undead wrong.

Just look at that ridiculous batpackage. Also... Is he really serving a cape over a leather jacket, but with absolutely no pants? Damn, dude.

Penciling by Gary Barker, ink by Jimmy Palmiotti, coloring by Tom Smith.

I can spot Adam Hughes' work a mile away, wow. I guess I didn't realize he was doing work for Marvel this far back.

A fierce-as-ever, short-haired Natasha who looks like she got slammed so hard against a rocky wall that it cracked, got up, emptied out the rest of her clip, and still had enough time and energy to pose during a reload.

Black Widow, bay-bayyy. ♫

Oh my god, Ghost Rider is just so naughty. Wearing nothing but his birthday bones.

This scene just looks like it smells awful.

Artwork by Tristan Shane.

Shulkie in a metal bikini (function over fashion?), bursting out of the lava from an active volcano. You wanna talk "hot tub?" Sure, this gets a feature.

Penciling and ink by cover artist Steve Geiger, coloring by Paul... Mounts.

Deezamn, Bishop. Never seen guy looking so buff before.

Instead of just Bishop, this looks like Hank McCoy and Bishop had a child together. Does he have any other mode than "arm vein p-pop?"

Penciling by Dwayne Turner, ink by Mark Farmer, coloring by Gregory Wright.

Ah, one of the more famous '90s Psylocke images that wasn't done by Jim Lee.

This centerfold was used in lots of comic store ads for several years after this issue came out. I remember seeing posters in the shops themselves. Trading cards of this picture are one of the most costly to collect.

It's beautiful, and the colors/lighting/shading are all fantastic.

Penciling and ink by the wonderful Art Thibert, creator of the Raft max security prison and inker of some of the most iconic X-title covers.

Coloring by Paul Mounts, who did the coloring in hundreds and hundreds of just Marvel comics alone - I didn't mention that earlier because I was snickering at his name earlier in the She-Hulk feature. My bad.

Well, this wouldn't be Tumblr without a cat picture, yeah? Or a catgirl picture, I suppose.

This is the most adorable scene in the book. Just Tigra innocently taking a cuddle nap with some... um... wow, I don't know what the fuck those things are. Snuggle up anyway!

Penciling and ink by Amanda Conner, coloring by Gregory Wright.

Huh. Of all the characters in this book, I really didn't expect to see Dr. Cooper... Either which way, the swimsuit under the detective get-up is pretty choice, honestly.

This is, of course, another Adam Hughes line art joint. Ink by Mark Farmer, coloring by Gregory Wright (who did a lot of these, huh?).

What's this? A parody ad that you'd more expect to see in an issue of "What The--?!" that only '80s kids will understand? Yup, totally.

This was in the back of the book and doesn't fit the theme at all, but it gets a mention because of the weird inclusion and also to stall time until I had the final image ready, because I needed time to prepare...

THIS.

This is the one.

How could I not end this little "show and tell" without this beauty right here?

Here, we have remorseless killer Frank Castle flexing his best end-of-catwalk pose in front of a... wrestling match between a bunch of lady demon dinosaurs battling... for his affection? To tip him American cash? Or maybe all those hearts come from their love of beating each other up? I'm not here to judge.

And then there's a sign for 75 cent hotdogs, but it's been covered with another sign for... $20 tooth brushes? What in the shit is going on here?

There is one thing I do know, though. The artist wants you to think that The Punisher has at least $2.75 worth of hotdog under that massive crotch skull.

[pyromaniacblujay]

How do you render your colored pieces? They look gorgeous!

thank you so much!! i'm not very good at explaining my process, but i'll try my best aha

a while ago i made this tutorial (...of sorts) explaining the general idea of the colours i pick, shown below

i only talked about it in terms of what exactly everything is and not why i do it... i took the idea of the way strong light shows on people with light skin (subsurface scattering, it's what makes the skin on the edge between light and shadow look reddish or why light shown through fingers or ears looks red) and apply it to pretty much everything. it's not realistic, but it sure makes things look a lot more vibrant

i also made an image about the brushes i use, which are actually default clip studio paint brushes, here

with my rendering style, i usually draw the darker colour with a flat ink pen, then blend the edges with the design pencil, swapping between the lighter and darker colour until i'm satisfied

usually i just use the base colours that the characters usually have in every piece, so for a lot of pieces that feature more dynamic lighting, i have to use an overlay layer for colour correction (maybe one day i'll get good at picking out colours myself...) to make them fit into the piece a little bit more, as shown below

honestly, i don't really have strict and hard rules on myself when it comes to choosing the opacities and the colours for the shading (other that that mentioned in the first image i suppose). a lot of it is just talking to myself and saying stuff like "does it look like it has enough colour here? maybe i'll use a more saturated colour in these shadows here to make it look less bland" "i think the light here is too bright maybe, i'll adjust the opacity on this a bit" "hm, i don't really like the way this spot looks. maybe i'll use a different filter?"

there's more i could say about how to make everything come together, but that would involve talking about stuff like ambient occlusion, light bouncing, etc. etc., and i'm not sure i can succinctly explain how that works aha... that sort of stuff you kind of need to practice a bit to get a proper feel for it-- i've gotten through art by glancing at tutorials and eyeballing my art until it looks good

i will say, a lot of the things i do i picked up from watching Marco Bucci's painting tutorials on youtube! i don't really employ every technique properly, but i did pick up a few things, including the way light bounces. he explains it in a way that actually makes me properly understand how it works, most artist tutorials just tell you to put the colours there because it looks good

[wyllwithay]

💌

Wyll/Astarion

Send an emoji and a pairing to my ask box and I'll write something for it! If you just send an emoji, I'll pick my own pairing

---

Love Letters Pairing: Wyll/Astarion Word Count: 838 Very much fluff that hints at something spicy

Wyll gets home from his adventures and discovers a secret that Astarion's been keeping

Standing and stretching, Wyll climbed from the bed that he and Astarion now shared. After several months on the long road, curling up next to his beloved was more than he could’ve asked for, even better was the rarity of being the one to rise first. He pulled on a set of trousers, not wanting to shock anyone he might pass on his way to get breakfast. He paused before he slipped out of the room, pressing a soft kiss to his vampire’s pale cheek and taking a moment to admire him. 

Food was easy to scrounge up, and coffee was welcome. He made his way back up to the room, not wanting Astarion to wake alone. He knew the other would not enjoy such a thing. There was a small table in their shared room, and he sat at it, sipping his drink and enjoying the feeling of not having to worry. For the first time in so long there were no monsters or villains to best. It was just himself, his love, and- he paused, noticing that one of the drawers of the desk wasn’t quite closed. 

He glanced to his lover, making sure that he was still asleep. He truly was, there was no trance, just a pleasant slumber. He gently pulled the drawer open, knowing that he really shouldn’t be snooping. After all, he had some ideas on how to wake Astarion. Something nagged at him though, and it was in that drawer. 

Inside it was tidy. All the papers were neatly stacked and tucked into place alongside two bottles of ink and several quills. At the back, was what looked like a bundle. With another glance to Astarion, he reached in and grabbed it. It dislodged with ease, as though it had been pulled out of place hundreds of times. As soon as Wyll saw it properly his heart raced and he could feel tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. 

He’d written to his lover as many chances as he could get, every day when possible. In his hand, tied with a well worn cord, was every letter. Some were more worn down than others, their corners folded and edges torn. Some of the parchments were slightly different colors, coming from lands far from Baldur’s Gate. There were even a few splattered with mud from being interrupted whilst writing. They were all there though, he was sure of it. 

He tugged one of the worn ones loose from the bundle, gently unfolding it. It was one he really didn’t remember writing, and considering the mess of his handwriting he hadn’t been particularly sober. He found himself blushing at his own words, and realizing he should’ve proofread before sending them. He recalled Astarion calling him silly for writing so often, now he needed to enact a playful revenge. If he were so silly for writing, then the other was just as guilty for keeping them. 

He carefully folded the letter, tucking it back into the stack where he thought it had been before. He stood and made his way back to the bed, intent on embarrassing the other for his sentimentality by showing him exactly how finding the letters made him feel. 

… 

My dearest Astarion

Tonight I felled a great beast. I do not quite recall what it was, as they’ve all begun to blur together. So many adventures await in these lands, and yet my mind has only one thing on it. I’m sitting at a party now, listening to a bard sing and drinking with the locals. The wine is sweet, but nowhere near as sweet a kiss from you. 

I miss you my darling. These lands are strange and wonderful, but your body is what I wish to explore. The day I arrive home to you I will trace every curve and crest of you, whether by my hand or tongue I know not. I shall keep you in bed until I’ve heard every song you can sing, and then I shall make you sing them again. 

There are a thousand stars in the sky tonight, but none of them could ever shine as bright as you. Their beauty can’t begin to compare to moonlight on your skin. They take me back to the night when we threw the curtains open, and I pressed you to the window. The way the night sky framed you, as if you were artwork the gods made only for my eyes, is a sight that I could never forget. I find myself sitting, wanting nothing more than to wax poetic for hours. If only your ear were here for me to whisper it into. 

One day soon I’ll be back with you. I promise you that. Tomorrow I start my journey home. I shall spend every night thinking of the time I wish to spend with you. May we spend many nights tangled in each other's arms, not sure where we end or begin.

I love you. I’ll be home soon. 

Wyll

[pseudo-ersatz]

Benthic Zone art, small little 2-color poster I'm working on with color breakdowns shown here. I'll print on blue paper stock using light blue ink, then overlay a metallic silver ink in several areas.

This design is not finished, and I might try adding some typography to experiment with is as a drink packaging label (beer/wine/whatever). But I'm getting close enough with what I'm experimenting with that I might need to rework some other details that were completed - to make it more print-worthy. For example: now that I look at this, I don't think I'll be able to make the background lines in the upper area register properly, so the blue ink films will have to have that removed.

[smilingroadkill]

HOLY SHIT I FINALLY FOUND YOU!!

I caught wind of Wrong Body and I was like "oh cool a fic!" only to find out it was a COMIC?? A PROPERLY LINED N INKED COMIC. FOR ORIN AYO. AWWW MAN.

I got a bit scared that it was discontinued once I found it on twitter, since it only got up to pages 5-8 of Volume 1, so I was SO HAPPY to find it on tumblr! And I found you! :D

I love your take on the gang's designs, and I love the style of coloring/shading you use. It's ok if you don't feel like it's worth it to continue—it's sucks when something you write to be cool ages poorly when you look back—but I'll absolutely stick around if you do. With how you've grown through your time making this, it's more than likely that this volume will end feeling better-formed and mature than Volume 1.

Ultimately though, the choice is up to you and I'll still love your art and what you did manage to make either way!

Dude. You have me 56 NOTIFICATIONS. /SILLY

I deadass thought i was being canceled LMAOOOO

But yeah i discontinued it on twitter because i simply didn't feel like updating it on their anymore and also because it got no attention there.

Im so happy people feel this way about my wrong body, and i swear although progress has been...... slow........ very slow....... it's not discontinuing any time soon!

[merchantarthurn]

hello!!! if you dont mind me asking what kind of white pen do you use for adding little highlights in your art? your art inspired me to start inking and coloring my traditional art and ive been having a lot of fun with it for a year or so now but i can never seem to find a good white gel pen to use 😭

you and me both friend 😭 I have a lot of issues with the ones i've tried and im thinking i might switch to just using white dip-pen inks (shirahama has given the brand she uses it's something like icy-white but i'll have to dig that out again).

the best luck i've had has been the following:

General notes of paint/acrylic markers - be extremely careful of smudging and drying times, both of the pen and whatever you have underneath. For any solvent-based mediums (paints, alcohol markers and ESPECIALLY linework inking) acrylic markers can pick up some of the colour or damage the paper and create smudges and tears. This is relatively easy to avoid so long as you wait for stuff to dry and work in small areas. The paint itself will take a while to dry so I usually let it sit for 30mins-1hr before putting it anywhere near my scanner bed. If you need to work on a larger area and the paper you're working on isn't pretty robust you should probably switch to a paintbrush and just use regular acrylic paint (which has a longer drying time).

I've also found that with smaller pen nibs getting a reliable opacity is an absolute crapshoot lol.

Artistro paint market pen - really good when fresh, but god help you if you go without using it for too long after you start using it. it'll gunk up and I don't know how to fix them. They are relatively cheap and come in packs at least. Doesn't seem to have larger sizes though.

Posca paint pens (various sizes) - far more robust than artistro if you store them right but regrettably more pricey. I've also found the finest nibbed white pen to be... deeply underwhelming. It never seems to have adequate pigment no matter how long I shake and prime it. By contrast the artistro gave the same sized line much more consistently, but at the cost of the pen nib itself being pretty unreliable.

Decobrush pigment - I've not got these in white so can't speak for them directly, but the colours I do have are pretty spiffy and it's a BRUSH pen, which gives you so much more control and a range of sizes per pen. There is some difficulty with low opacity on these though (since they're meant to be used with other decobrush markers), so I don't know how a white "corrector" would fair. The colour range is generally pretty gorgeous though, in the long term i'd like to have more of them.

General note on gel pens - I've got a love-hate relationship with gel pens honestly. I find I can get more consistent results out of them because the ink doesn't settle and you don't have to prime the nibs, but that's only if you can find a good brand... and then a good specific pen lol. I've also found an issue when you don't let the medium below dry properly re: smudging, but it also seems like if your work isn't boneeee dry (like overnight or multiple days of alcohol markers drying) the gel can very easily take on the colour of the pigment underneath, especially darker ones. Oddly this doesn't always show up when scanning, but it will look odd in person. Not always a draw back though - it looks great for white detailing in shadow.

Sakura Gelly Roll 08 - Not sure if there's other sizes (or their efficacy) so I thought I'd be specific because if there's one thing about gel pens the specificity MATTERS. I've got a couple of these and they don't disappoint (insofar as my expectations for gel pens go)

Uniball signo broad - this was my favourite until it ran out of ink. I cannot say for the uniball signo (without the broad part) which seemingly just gave up delivering ink and enjoys carving lines on the page and maybe delivering just enough ink that you can see where the ball is on the track it leaves behind. But the broad? I really liked. It honestly probably performs the same as the gelly roll but the pen just feels nicer to use lol, and the fact that it ran out of ink rather than dried out speaks for how much I liked it lol

as a general warning though - basically any gel pen or acrylic pen should be the last thing you do on your piece, because the second it goes down you will not be doing any more colouring in that area (unless you paint with acrylics). You can maybe use lineart pens on top of them once fully dried for at least an hour (ideally more) but it's very likely to smudge.

honestly... if you scan your work, there's no shame in cloning a white area of your work to use as a highlight post-scan. i always feel like im cheating until i remind myself that every digital-artist peer i have gets do to this at their leisure lol. i'd recommend getting a good scan/photo of the work before adding any highlights anyway because it's sooo easy to bugger them up and be unable to fix it (i say this as someone who never remembers and always regrets it lol)

examples:

you can see where the opacity doesn't quite hide what it's covering - an extra layer or digital correction would have been great. pretty sure this was artistro acrylic pen. but the unseen thing is i had to correct around the iris to the point where i said "well fuck i can't do what i want now" and just fixed it digitally.

dot highlights on the left and in/around the eye - definitely gelly roll. gel pens are really good for little pin pricks because you avoid the ball-point smearing things too thin and you can get pretty high opacity from that. also some more digital "help" with a bit of airbrush glow.

Definitely gel pen but i forget which kind, but I wanted to show what I meant by "picking up some pigments" and how can can be a boon, but also how sometimes the scanner just picks it up as white anyway (left is scanned, right is a photo - you can see it's purplish in the shadows)

[ghostlier-templates]

Oh im so sorry, I didn't realize, lemme do this properly this time ^^"

type (rentry, pk, sp): rentry

it’s for (alter, system, etc.): singlet

theme/fandom/character: Susie Campbell & Alice Angel - from Bendy and the Ink Machine. Vintage i suppose? (Nothing about Twisted Alice tho..)

any specific symbols (will not used closed): any is alright!

any specific emojis (if you don’t want any say it here if nothing is said we will pick what we see fits): 🪽 ☁️ 🎙

leave space for your own pixels/emojis / theme for pixels or emojis: only for a pronouns page link

information you would like included: pronouns, relationship status, and otherwise any?

simple complex or somewhere in between: somewhere in between

any specific colors (preferably color codes): #C1A665 & #202020

anything else you’d like me to know: Could the template be private? If not thats okay

-----

theme / fandom/ aesthetic/character: Susie Campbell & Alice Angel (avoid Twisted Alice images.)

colors (preferably color codes): #C1A665 & #202020

text: She's quite a gal! "First the worse, maybe third's the charm" "I'll be your angel" "And when I fall its into your arms, you devil"

specific font: sorta old timey fancy/cursive? But not too hard to read (sorry for not being specific..)

simple complex or somewhere in between: somewhere in between

any specific images? if we don’t get any we will pick what we see fits: use what you see fit

gif or still image?: still image

how many images would you like us to use?: two-three are fine

anything else we should know?: please please avoid any imagery of Twisted Alice and horns aswell if possible (Alice Angel cut out is fine)

temp sent in DMS - not posting but i really liked it so imma at least show it! plz DO NOT COPY.