#I'm a digital artist so I'm used to just posting the digital file of my work the second it's done. this is nonsense.

[andthebeanstalk]

Homophobic that I have to record and edit a whole video in order to share the songs I write in a visual medium tbh

I need a wizard to just magically broadcast how good I made this cover of a song from The Last Unicorn. Beam it directly into the hearts and minds of the nation and also the author Peter S. Beagle, whom I googled just now and who is still alive AND WOULD SURELY GIVE ME THE RIGHTS TO USE HIS LYRICS IN MY GRAPHIC NOVEL IF HE ONLY KNEW HOW SICK MY UKULELE SKILLS ARE

[colleendoran]

How Do I Do Stuff

The question was phrased a little strangely, and I don't want to embarrass the person by posting exactly what was said, but I'll answer it and hope this clears everything up.

I do almost all of my drawing by hand. No, I don't trace in Photoshop. Not a judgment on those who do, but I come from a generation of artists who did not use Poser programs or other digital tools. We learned to draw using a technique called the Sight Size method. I know a lot of people assume everyone - including the old masters - traced everything using optical tools, but while it is true some people did, it is just as true that most didn't, and you can draw with great accuracy if you learned how to draw the old fashioned way.

Sight Size breaks everything down into its barest components of geometric shapes and you build from there. Once you learn it, you never forget, and it applies to everything you will ever draw.

I learned it using a set of Famous Artist Course books my mom had since she was a kid, and they are still the gold standard. They're often on ebay. If I were you, I'd buy them.

I actually find using figure reference really annoying because I like exaggerations and modifications from reality in my final work.

This page from Neil Gaiman's Chivalry was drawn and painted without figure reference of any kind.

I don't know why people assume I trace all the time. If you were to try to use photographs to replicate these figures, you would find they are slightly off. There is no tracing here.

This is not to say I never use reference. This page, for example, was referenced from a photo of my mother. Isn't she pretty.

But this page of Sir Galaad was drawn and painted without reference.

He's pretty, too.

If he were real, I'm sure a lot of people would be very happy about it. But he's not. And had I reference, the art would have gone a lot faster. I had a time trying to nail this face that is very alive in my head but doesn't really exist.

Back in the ancient days, all cartoonists had to learn to draw and paint extemporaneously because reference was limited and digital tools didn't exist. While some high end artists had photography studios and professional models with costume and sets on hand, small fry like me were limited to what was in the house or available at my small local library, which was no bigger than a few rooms of my current house.

Artists kept extensive "morgue files" or "swipe files" which were collected from magazine clippings and photographs so we would have as much of what we might need on hand for quick reference. These ephemera collections could get unwieldy. I have thousands of photographs I've simply never sorted. I finally dumped most of my files this past year.

Have I ever traced anything? Of course, especially if I have to re-use a shot or setting over and over. Making extra work for myself is just silly. It's my job to make pictures, not to perform magical feats, like copying one shot after another over and over without making a mistake.

However, for almost 15 years of my career, I refused to copy or trace anything, and did not even own a lightbox. On the one hand, that forced me to learn to carefully examine what I saw. On the other hand, it was a stupid hill on which many deadlines died.

Only after I realized many professional artists had lightboxes and overhead projectors did I finally break down and get one.

The one thing I use my lightbox for more than anything is for tracing my thumbnail sketches to the final drawing paper. Instead of trying to capture the liveliness of the original sketch by copying what I see - only bigger - I blow the thumbnail up to the size I want the final art to be, then I trace over the thumbnail using a lightbox onto the final drawing paper.

Here's a look at thumbnails from the graphic novel Neil Gaiman's Snow, Glass, Apples.

I enlarged these on my computer to fit onto 11"x14" paper, and traced the thumbs before finishing the art which was drawn in pen and ink and colored in Photoshop.

While I obviously made some changes, the essence of the thumbs is there in the final work. Tracing my thumbs retains some of the looseness of the original sketches, which is often lost otherwise.

So, there is a valid purpose to tracing at times, though in my opinion, too much tracing can weaken drawing ability, substitute for developing skills, and make the work kind of stiff.

If you want to, I'm not your judge. But it's weird to me that people think I must be faking my skills in some way.

Ironically, the word cartoon comes from the Italian word cartone, which is a large heavy sheet of paper - also, the origin of the word carton.

Preparatory sketches were made on this paper which was then transferred to the final work surface via either tracing or by stamping little holes in the paper through which dust was sprinkled, recreating the contours of the drawing for the artist to follow.

So the origin of the word cartoon comes from a process often used...for tracing.

[empty-movement]

May I ask what scanners / equipment / software you're using in the utena art book project? I'm an artist and half the reason I rarely do traditional art is because I'm never happy with the artwork after it's scanned in. But the level of detail even in the blacks of Utena's uniform were all captured so beautifully! And even the very light colors are showing up so well! I'd love to know how you manage!

You know what's really fun? This used to be something you put in your site information section, the software and tools used! Not something that's as normal anymore, but let's give it a go, sorry it's long because I don't know what's new information and what's not! Herein: VANNA'S 'THIS IS AS SPECIFIC AS MY BREAK IS LONG' GUIDE/AIMLESS UNEDITED RAMBLE ABOUT SCANNING IMAGES

Scanning: Modern scanners, by and large, are shit for this. The audience for scanning has narrowed to business and work from home applications that favor text OCR, speed, and efficiency over archiving and scanning of photos and other such visual media. It makes sense--there was a time when scanning your family photographs and such was a popular expected use of a scanner, but these days, the presumption is anything like that is already digital--what would you need the scanner to do that for? The scanner I used for this project is the same one I have been using for *checks notes* a decade now. I use an Epson Perfection V500. Because it is explicitly intended to be a photo scanner, it does threebthings that at this point, you will pay a niche user premium for in a scanner: extremely high DPI (dots per inch), extremely wide color range, and true lossless raws (BMP/TIFF.) I scan low quality print media at 600dpi, high quality print media at 1200 dpi, and this artbook I scanned at 2400 dpi. This is obscene and results in files that are entire GB in size, but for my purposes and my approach, the largest, clearest, rawest copy of whatever I'm scanning is my goal. I don't rely on the scanner to do any post-processing. (At these sizes, the post-processing capacity of the scanner is rendered moot, anyway.) I will replace this scanner when it breaks by buying another identical one if I can find it. I have dropped, disassembled to clean, and abused this thing for a decade and I can't believe it still tolerates my shit. The trade off? Only a couple of my computers will run the ancient capture software right. LMAO. I spent a good week investigating scanners because of the insane Newtype project on my backburner, and the quality available to me now in a scanner is so depleted without spending over a thousand on one, that I'd probably just spin up a computer with Windows 7 on it just to use this one. That's how much of a difference the decade has made in what scanners do and why. (Enshittification attacks! Yes, there are multiple consumer computer products that have actually declined in quality over the last decade.)

Post-processing: Photoshop. Sorry. I have been using Photoshop for literally decades now, it's the demon I know. While CSP is absolutely probably the better piece of software for most uses (art,) Photoshop is...well it's in the name. In all likelihood though, CSP can do all these things, and is a better product to give money to. I just don't know how. NOTENOTENOTE: Anywhere I discuss descreening and print moire I am specifically talking about how to clean up *printed media.* If you are scanning your own painting, this will not be a problem, but everything else about this advice will stand! The first thing you do with a 2400 dpi scan of Utena and Anthy hugging? Well, you open it in Photoshop, which you may or may not have paid for. Then you use a third party developer's plug-in to Descreen the image. I use Sattva. Now this may or may not be what you want in archiving!!! If fidelity to the original scan is the point, you may pass on this part--you are trying to preserve the print screen, moire, half-tones, and other ways print media tricks the eye. If you're me, this tool helps translate the raw scan of the printed dots on the page into the smooth color image you see in person. From there, the vast majority of your efforts will boil down to the following Photoshop tools: Levels/Curves, Color Balance, and Selective Color. Dust and Scratches, Median, Blur, and Remove Noise will also be close friends of the printed page to digital format archiver. Once you're happy with the broad strokes, you can start cropping and sizing it down to something reasonable. If you are dealing with lots of images with the same needs, like when I've scanned doujinshi pages, you can often streamline a lot of this using Photoshop Actions.

My blacks and whites are coming out so vivid this time because I do all color post-processing in Photoshop after the fact, after a descreen tool has been used to translate the dot matrix colors to solids they're intended to portray--in my experience trying to color correct for dark and light colors is a hot mess until that process is done, because Photoshop sees the full range of the dots on the image and the colors they comprise, instead of actually blending them into their intended shades. I don't correct the levels until I've descreened to some extent.

As you can see, the print pattern contains the information of the original painting, but if you try to correct the blacks and whites, you'll get a janky mess. *Then* you change the Levels:

If you've ever edited audio, then dealing with photo Levels and Curves will be familiar to you! A well cut and cleaned piece of audio will not cut off the highs and lows, but also will make sure it uses the full range available to it. Modern scanners are trying to do this all for you, so they blow out the colors and increase the brightness and contrast significantly, because solid blacks and solid whites are often the entire thing you're aiming for--document scanning, basically. This is like when audio is made so loud details at the high and low get cut off. Boo.

What I get instead is as much detail as possible, but also at a volume that needs correcting:

Cutting off the unused color ranges (in this case it's all dark), you get the best chance of capturing the original black and white range:

In some cases, I edit beyond this--for doujinshi scans, I aim for solid blacks and whites, because I need the file sizes to be normal and can't spend gigs of space on dust. For accuracy though, this is where I'd generally stop.

For scanning artwork, the major factor here that may be fucking up your game? Yep. The scanner. Modern scanners are like cheap microphones that blow out the audio, when what you want is the ancient microphone that captures your cat farting in the next room over. While you can compensate A LOT in Photoshop and bring out blacks and whites that scanners fuck up, at the end of the day, what's probably stopping you up is that you want to use your scanner for something scanners are no longer designed to do well. If you aren't crazy like me and likely to get a vintage scanner for this purpose, keep in mind that what you are looking for is specifically *a photo scanner.* These are the ones designed to capture the most range, and at the highest DPI. It will be a flatbed. Don't waste your time with anything else.

Hot tip: if you aren't scanning often, look into your local library or photo processing store. They will have access to modern scanners that specialize in the same priorities I've listed here, and many will scan to your specifications (high dpi, lossless.)

Ahem. I hope that helps, and or was interesting to someone!!!

[cutepsycho17]

Haiiiii ^_^ hi!! hiiiiiii <3 haiiiiiiiii hii :3

Welcome to my blog :3

Irl i'm just cringe fem-nonbinary artist

from Poland nothing to say lol

-16 years old (older in the drawing so that anything legal :3)

-b-day: 7th november (plixie month)

my prononus are: she/her/they/them

🩷💜💙 (i like both :3)

fandoms i'm in:

-vocaloid/utau

-project sekai

-mario bros

-incredibox

-parrapa the raper

-genshin impact

-league of legends

-my singing monsters

-cookierun

-my little pony (Childhood)

-sonic

-scott pilgrim

-brawl stars

-madoka magica

-hazbin hotel/helluva Boss

-monster high

-clone high

-pokémon

-sanrio series

-south park

-family guy (kinda)

-masa works design

-rick and morty (kinda)

-demon Slayer

-yo gabba gabba

-MAD (kinda)

-smiling friends

-paw patrol (Childhood)

-teen titans go

-adventure time

-simpsons (kinda)

-mister maker

-your turn to d!e (kinda)

-Higurashi no naku koro ni

-boku no hero academia (kinda)

-pretty blood

-eddsworld (kinda)

-omori

-spongebob

-the amazing world of Gumball (Childhood)

-danganronpa (kinda...)

-boungou strays dogs

-bluey

-pizza tower

-subway surf (kinda...+ Childhood)

-one piece (kinda)

-neros day at Disneyland (kinda...)

-rayman

-bad guys

-melanie Martinez

-blackpink

-SMG4

-THE AMAZING DIGITAL CIRCUS

-MURDER DRONES

-kung fu panda (kinda)

-five nights at Freddys

-welcome home

-skullgirls

-needy girl streamer

-the walten files (kinda...)

I think its a all....i guess

(PLS DON'T HATE ME 🙏🙏🙏)

DNI:

-PROSHIP/COMSHIP

-IZRAEL SUPPORTERS

-PICK ME B!TCHES (THEY ARE SO PROBLEMATIC AND ANNOYING FOR ME)

-TERF

-PEDOPH!LE/ZOOPH!LE

-UNDER 13

-TRANSPHOBIC/HOMOPHOBIC

-FATPHOBIC/RACIST

-ANTI-FURRY/ANTI-THERIANS

-PROBLEMATIC PEOPLES

-LARRY X LAWRIE SHIPPERS (BRUH...THEY ARE SIBLINGS)

-KAGAMINE RIN X LEN SHIPPERS (BRUH...THEY ARE SIBLINGS)

-MAKING NSFW OF MY OCS WITHOUT MY PREMISSION (WTF)

-OR IF YOU ARE JUST BAD PERSON

-IRL GØRE (THAT'S MAKE ME SICK IN MY STOMACH)

‼️PERIOD‼️

THIN ICE:

-alfred Playhouse fans (can still interact if want)

-don't hug i'm scared fans (can still interact if want)

-jinx fans (can still interact if want)

-dogday X catnap shippers (can still interact if want)

-cringe peoples

‼️ PLS DM ME IF I FALLOWING SOMEONE BAD‼️

ART TRADE/ART REQUEST OPEN:

I WILL DO:

-FICTIONAL CHARACTERS

-MONSTER GIRLS (BC YES :3)

-OCS

-SFW/MILD SUGGESTIVE

-MILD GØRE

-PASTELGØRE/CANDYGØRE

-KAWAIICORE

-SHIPS

-FURRY/ANTFRO

I WON'T:

-NSFW/HARDCORE NSFW (SORRY BUT I WON'T POST SMUT AT YOUNG AGE)

-HEAVY GØRE (THAT'S MAKE SICK IN MY STOMACH)

-MECHA/WEAPONS (LIKE SHOTGUNS OR SOMETHING ELSE I GUESS)

-OLD/MIDLE AGES PROPLES (I CAN'T EVEN DRAW THEM)

-ACTUAL ANIMALS (SORRY-)

-PROSHIP/COMSHIP

-FETISH/VØRE ART (EW, YUCK!!)

‼️ DON'T COPY/TRACE/STEAL‼️

-ALSO DON'T REPOST MY ART

-BUT YOU CAN TAKE INSPIRATION OF MY OCS IF YOU WANT (BUT PLS TAG ME), AND YES YOU CAN SPAM LIKING, I DON'T MIND

-FEEL FREE TO USE MY ART AND FANARTS AS PROFILE PICTURES OR USE THEM AS EDIT (BUT PLS TAG ME)

ALSO COMMISION WILL BE OPENED IN: 25/08/2024 (SO PLEASE BE PATIENT) i changed the date bc yes

I THINK IT'S A ALL I GUESS...

THANK YOU AND I HOPE YOU WILL HAVE GOOD DAY BYE BYE ^^

[steve-rambo-leaks]

ＺＩＮＥ　ＣＯＮＴＥＳＴ　（ｗｉｔｈ　ｐｒｉｚｅ）（≧▽≦）

Ｉ　ｈａｖｅ　ａ　Ｚｉｎｅ　ｃｏｎｔｅｓｔ　ｆｒｏｍ　ＮＯＷ　ｕｎｔｉｌ　Ｆｅｂ　２４ｔｈ　（ａｕｔｉｓｍ　ｈｏｌｉｄａｙ）．　Ｐｌｓ　ｒｅａｄ　ｍｏｒｅ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ｈｏｗ　ｔｏ　ｓｕｂｍｉｔ，　ｔｈｅ　ｐｒｉｚｅｓ　ａｎｄ　ｗｈｙ　Ｉ＇ｍ　ｓｏ　ｈｙｐｅｄ．　

This is for BOTH people who consider themselves artists and those who don't. It doesn't have to be a comic. A ZINE CAN BE ANYTHING :D It can be a tech tutorial, it can be a comic, it can be flash fiction, it can be a local history guide, it can be Street Fighter II Turbo strategies printed out to be left in arcades, it can be anything!

The video below explains the process better than I could probably in text (I suck at conveying thing through text). My video also has a tl;dr that I would appreciate everyone read before submitting.

There's some other stuff below, but if you're more visual, like not the reading type (like me) then feel free to skip and just head to the video description to jump in.

Also, you may know me for my "Raspberry Pis are for paypigs" video where I try to advocate for the upcycling for ewasted Chromebooks.

I've been into the idea of leaving around Zines for a while. Every time I walk into a coffee shop or local business, I think "wow, I really would wish there was something cool to read." So I started making things to put there: 8 small 2.5 inch panels, folded into one 2.5 inch square for those interested to unravel. I put them inside of these origami boxes that a learned how to make, ones with a logo printed on them.

So far I've made: a zine template (I call it a dog ear zine for some reason), a template for the box to put them in, a zine about using yt-dlp, a zine about a reindeer working IT (along with a collaborator) and (coming soon) a zine about a monster in a cave doing stuff. All of the odg LibreOffice Draw template files to make your own zines or print out mine are on my archive.org page (linked at top of my Tumblr). I'd really like other people to try this 8 panel 2.5 inch zine format, and I'm willing to bribe people with sweet, sweet Gabe Newell bucks to do it. You can submit as many zines in this format as you want. Just make sure they're printed out and have pictures of both the front and back (plus other pictures if you want) . In the video I mentioned you can use my submit page, which is probably the easiest for me to keep track of. You can also use the #dogearzine hashtag to enter. Please read the video description before entering, though (which includes Youtube's and Tumblr's terms of service, though this is more of a youtube thing).

Also, and this is completely unrelated, there's a lot more to me than just the faux-clickbait Wojak thumbnails. I like doing tech, wrestling, japanese, vidya and other videos, but I love to throw art in whenever I can shoehorn it in. Like, the video where I go over inchworm, butterfly, colors 3D and flipnote sudomemo - colors 3D on a hacked 3DS was my sister's first experience with digital at (she's moved up to an iPad and Procreate). So, it hold a special place in might heart, as a lot of the things I talk about do. I made a Whomp video because I miss Ronnie. I made a Rockbox video because I wished more people used dedicated MP3 players and knew where and how to download music. I want to help people do interesting things. And I also want to thank anyone who read all of this. You are cool. I hope everyone who's able to can compete in this contest and challenge themselves to get out of their comfort zone, to try something new! Also, also, thanks for liking these posts, people on Tumblr. You all have cool blogs. (^o^)丿

[korolife]

Blog No.003　24年5月10日

「Let's Talk About Coloring+Rendering!!」

～ The Chaos of Akehhh-style Layering w/ Colors & Values ～

ArtStreet recently released some weekly coloring contests and as someone who likes joining 'em + colorwork being the absolute joyous part in drawing for me, I got really into it!! One of them somehow won and I still have the raw .mdp file of it with most of the layers unmerged... so, I thought there might be some value in sharing my chaotic coloring progress with it. There may never be an opportunity like this ever again...

CONTENTS:

Preface・・・・・・・・・

The Linework・・・・・・

Composition + Planning・

The Render・・・・・・・

Additional FX Tips・・・・

The Layers of Dread・・・

1. Preface

I use the free software MediBang Paint, which is made by the same folks who made the aforementioned Art-sharing website, Artstreet. Although its file type extension is .mdp, it can also save as and open .psd files all the same. You can download it on their website here! I believe it's available in both PC, Apple, iOs, and Android (also on the PlayStore). ☞And here is my google drive link of my fully rendered entry's raw .mdp file. I also included a .psd version that should be accessible with most other softwares.

NOTE: I'm not sure how some layer effects will be displayed on other softwares that may have different modes (either in name or function) from MediBang, though. But I think "multiply" and "overlay" is fair game mostly anywhere with layer systems.

Either way, ↑this is just a bonus thing if you wish to see for yourself how much my MediBang cries everytime I work on something, since visuals of the rough step-by-step will be provided here as well!

At the end of this post, all of the layers' purposes will be explained...y-you'll see...

■And just as a disclaimer: I'm an instinctively self-taught illustrator who is a heavy visual learner, so there are certain terminologies or methods I do that I cannot readily explain with a concise rational 'why' or 'how's / with back-up info on color theories or formally taught techniques in art schools and the like. I mostly operate on instinct, observation, subjective preferences, and vibes, so this would just be me trying to verbalize my process (with visual aid) as a means of share-rambling, rather than actually directly "teaching" anything, I think haha You can take it as a cautionary tale too, honestly-

※I will also be going through this with the assumption that the reader has some background knowledge of the basics of digital illustration and general drawing terminologies. If you have any questions or needed clarifications, or maybe if you'd like to request any potential topics of discussion in the future like this one, please feel free to let me know!

Although art can be fundamentally "wrong" when it comes to achieving certain specific styles, structures (especially when involving realism as the standard), or general executions of intentions/themes, I am of belief that there is generally no wrong or right 'way' for drawing anything; or for doing ANY type of artistic endeavor for that matter. This might be perceived as a "bad anatomy defender" / "no need to improve, then" stance on my part, but it is absolutely not the case! An artwork is never finished, there's always room for improvementsーa galaxy's size of a room especially for myselfーbut I just think anything at all that brings you an expressive or creative outlet, joy, or peace of mind is worth pursuing, regardless of your own skill or tact and there's no shame in that. I do not wish anyone, especially people starting out with drawing to be discouraged for having their own different approaches or styles in comparison to other people's works by misconception of, "oh, am I doing it wrong?". Sometimes it's just different or an uncommon worldview, and that's not always a 'bad' thing, I think. Heaven forbid artists actually start getting creative and unique―

What I will be presenting here is simply my one way out of thousands of thousands of different possibilities. So, let's start★

2. The Linework

Equally lengthy talk of lineart is probably for a later discussion, but here is the template provided by ArtStreet for the contest + what will be colored in for today.

☞The contest has since ended, but you can still download it here if you'd like!

3. Composition + Planning

The contest rules said it's "OK to draw backgrounds", so let's go!!

I had already decided on how I want to color it early on: It will be more scenic in nature, rather than stylistic. So, there will be more focus on looking 'real' than 'aesthetically stylish'! Just so it doesn't look disconnected or too out of place, I tried to draw my additions similarly to how Mr. bowman's linework looked as much as possible.

This how I visually define "scenic" VS "stylistic" illustrations (in my head)

I tend to think about my approach with the rendering long before the coloring process, even waaay before I line my final sketch, usually. I like experimenting and mixing different rendering techniques with varying linework styles, but for this in particular, I'm simply working with what was given to me.

At first, I just wanted a "cool breeze w/ leaves flying away ahhhh refreshing~~" mood, but the space at the side of his head looked rather empty as is, even with Nessie. So I thought about putting him inside a vague...darkly-lit abandoned ruins-setting to eat up some of that space.

And with that, it's time for colors.

4. The Render

My coloring process is the lengthiest and often makes people who see me color in real-time scream in horror, but I think it's actually fairly simple and can be summarized into three nutshelled stages:

①Fill in the colors with a finalized palette of your choice,

②cry Continuously render until your arms fall off you're satisfied.

③ cry even HARDER (optional) Adjust accordingly to fit in better with other elements of the illustration, such as with the focus/subject to background. *will be explained later.

oh and btw, the word 'render' or 'rendering' tends to confuse a lot of people, artist or not. I tend to think of it this way:

・Coloring is the selection of your color range, tints, tones, and palette to use in a drawing, ・Rendering is the act (or product) of the specific set of techniques (including effects) you use with the colors/values to create illusions of depth, shadows and light, movement, warmth/cold atmospheres, etc.

But that's just how I define it with my own step-by-steps. Otherwise, I think either term is pretty much interchangeable.

Anyhoo, what do you think should this man's hair, skin, eye, and clothing's colors be?

here are some of the variations on the color picks of his outfit that rotted my brain for about 3 hours straight, like it's a 2000s dress-and-match flash game

The many submissions for the contest had many fun color combinations and interesting interpretations I personally think should've won. I saw a lot of blonde archer-princes wearing greens, browns, and blues, as a lot also went for the "forest hunter boi" vibe. But I was saddened by the lack of my favorite colors being used as the primary colorーorange and yellow. So, let's use those!!

The start of my coloring/rendering journey is never at Layer '1'.........

―Starting with what I've always referred to as "environment prep":

The purpose here is to 'set' the base colors so they match with the environment or general atmosphere.

This could mean adjusting the saturation, or spraying gradients of the BG's most prominent color on parts that...gives me anxiety the most-

As someone who tends to work with very, very bright color schemes, trying to blend it in when the illustration is meant to be scenic or 'serious' in tone without it being a distracting eyesore can be a challenge. But I just think gradients look cool lol- by doing this as my step 1 for the rendering process, it like an appetizer? It makes me a little giddy on what to do next.

Shading is usually an early step for me as well, even though I think it's a lot of other artists' near-to-final step. I tend to lean towards an abomination mix of soft shade and cel shadeーsolid enough to trace where the shadows start and end, but softened around the edges for effect.

I also tend to apply an additional spray of subtly darker shade on top of the first one? It's usually on spots where I think the light source won't be hitting as much.

※Just a side note: You may see multiple things changing around but during the actual drawing, I'm most definitely working on one area or part at a time lol. These visual aids were ripped off the raw .mdp by hiding some of the layers, so that's why different parts seem to progress all at once.

Apart from the previous 'multiply'-ing for the preliminary shadows, I add another layer of distinct shadow on there for objects or other characters that can cast shadows on the subject. In here, it's the bow and the hovering strap across his chest.

Lighting is also starting to be added as well.

One direct alteration I did with the lineart template was change the line's colors. I find it really softens them to mix better with their filled-in colors + as well as not stand out too harshly against a light-colored scenic background.

I think you now have a good idea over my hyperfixation on making sure colors are 'vibing' well against the BG lol A lot of these steps are basically just doing the same thing over and over with new layers for the sake of this purpose, really.

And after that, just repeating all the stuff we did with the character onto everything else until it's all done!

A lot of these changes are very subtle on their own, but makes all the difference in the bigger picture, I think!

Just maybe some additional finishing touches for some boom shakalaka and...that's pretty much it! You will notice that throughout the entire process, there's a lot of random little things that suddenly appear or change with seemingly not much purpose or meaning on its own. I unfortunately have always drawn in this sort of vague, quickly impulsive, directionless way since I was a child and I don't think even I will ever understand it, logically. It's mostly a... continuous string of instinctive feelings of "HEY let's do it this way, if not there's like 10 other things we can try next", is the closest I can get to an explanation of how it feels.

I don't know if it's common for other artists to think or function this way, but I do know for a fact that many people seem to be surprised and confused when they see me drawing in real time this way. Everytime I get asked 'how' I draw certain things, I say things like 'I turn my brain off and vibe with many, many layers with a broken back.' and people think it's just a dismissive joke. I-it's really not, it's literally what happens, I don't have any secret shortcuts for you-

Hopefully this very lengthy post's visual aid can help demystify some misconceptions on what "really" goes on + make my nonsensical ramblings somewhat understandable... like, with an illustrated instruction manual written in a different language using many borrowed english words, but used incorrectly haha

Anyway, the rendering stage is where the simplified steps ② and optional step ③ branch out like a fork in the road for me; I don't think one is any "better" than the other, I think doing either is simply a matter of personal preference and artistic choice.

I removed the walls to see the whole figure better in a side-by-side comparison. I like the unadjusted (L) without the wall, but with the walls in the final illustration, I think adjusted (R) felt 'right'. What do you think?

There are some things, although realistic, don't look that good as a visual aesthetic and are just downright excessive/unnecessary to add to certain types of illustrations. Then there's things that aren't possible in real life, but artistically? Looks really dang cool. Being biased for either ends of the hyperrealism and hyperstylized spectrums of styles is fine; only as long as no discrimination is involved towards people who don't share your opinions, in my opinion-

and to conclude this section, I say,

『 You go render however you wantーhellーno colors even necessary if you wish! Simple ≠ laziness, just as much as complexity ≠ skill。』

I will never stop yapping about how a lot of minimalist styles require so much more amounts of planning and effort to make sure everything is nice and clean, especially compared to mindless rendering loops like these. Mine's a maximalist hell and I wouldn't have it any other way, but I greatly envy minimalist artists that can render with just something like my step ① with so much grace and tact; not a single stray or wasted stroke!! Anyone who dismisses these types as "lazy" I will violently stuff inside a couchーwithout any potato snacks to snack on!!!

5. Additional FX Tips

Just a shorter section for some optional finishing touches tips'n'tricks used in this I frequently (ab)use☆

From the very beginning, even before I understood how to draw, it's always been a tradition to doodle around sparkles all around the place. I usually do it with MediBang's sparkle brush if I want it to look polished, or simply draw it manually using either the pen or airbrush tool for a cruder charm.

Motion blur is great, and MediBang in particular also has different types of blur effects like Gaussian and regular blurs. If your software doesn't have these effects / if you're working traditionally but still want to achieve the illusion of motion in a still drawing, you can still achieve the same effect through your linework! Try looking into incorporating action lines (commonly seen in manga and comics) into it. Otherwise, purposefully drawing something blurily to begin with oughta work as well.

Apart from the color changing from the rendering section, there's also this little effect that is achieved by duplicating the lineart and blurring it. It gives something like a...'dreamy' quality to it? The higher the blurred copy's opacity is, the more emphasized it makes everything look.

6. The Layers of Dread

At long last we've arrived... at my MediBang's repeating demise for all of eternity...

Here's a preview of what the .mdp/.psd file of this colored entry's unmerged layers looks like + how I try to validate their existence. When I work on full-sized illustrations, I tend to merge layers as I go, so this is probably one of the rare times I can show something like this without either mine or your PC dying. If you'd like to see, play around with, and toggle them for yourself in all of its............glory, feel free to download it here.

Yes

we're starting at Layer 611. Enjoy.

I will now delete my PC's copy because jfc that's one too many MBs ...and it's still eons lighter than what I usually work with on my own full illustrations from sketch to finish......。 (;´༎ຶٹ༎ຶ`) thank you for reading this far and making it out alive, goodbye for now...

・・・ホームページALL LINKS・・・

・Art Gallery・Commission Info・Ko-fi shop・

[henriiiii-1001]

NEW BLOG!

hey there! new account because i felt i needed a fresh start. i will keep my old blog up because i'm gonna need it for archival purposes.

im henry, 19 y/o, they/it/he/xe prns. nice to meet you

im an artist and writer, mostly focusing on oc stories. i also have an instagram and an ao3 (both henriiiii_1001)

current interests: - internet horror (analog, digital, etc) - ruby ru amenalism (newer series, highly recommend!) - vita carnis - cabin tales - twf - etc... (NOTE: i do NOT support tmc or alex kister, and anyone who does is not welcome on this blog) - vocaloid - pjsk (stats) - ocs - murder files/殺人ファイルズ (blog here) - unholy gift (info here) - repurposed fairy tale au (will post info soon)

tag navigation: #posts - general post tag #interview box - answers to asks #tumblr polls - tumblr polls i host/rb #shitpost - as name implies #creative - art tag #almost creative - wip tag (mostly seen on my wip blog) #a bit rambly - ramblings, usually abt au stuff #a2t - meaning "ask to tag", signifies that i'm ok w ppl letting me know if i need to tag smth #upset posts - vent/rant (will more likely be used for rants) #sillies - random posts i find funny or cool or just smth i felt like rbing to my blog #[media name here] - indicates which media i am making a post abt. goes with characters as well #delete later(?) - posts i will (most likely) delete eventually #[insert trigger/warning here] trigger/warning - my trigger tag. is not used for certain things like eye contact and eyestrain. feel free to ask me abt this for clarification tho

askbox usage: please don't use it as grounds for rambling abt your ocs, aus, etc. it is mostly restricted to asking questions about my content (aus, ocs, etc.), myself, and ask games

im a college student now, so i wont post very often. please be patient with me.

[sothasil]

Hi! You're one of my favorite artists ever, and I would love to do some studies of your art! What are some of your favorite pieces that you've done, and how do you pick your colors? There's a lot more questions that I could ask, but figured you wouldn't appreciate an entire list of questions XD

Hello and thank you, I am honored! Feel free to send me all and any questions! I'll answer these two, starting by:

How do you pick your colors?

As I change art style with pretty much every illustration project of significance, this varies a lot. Here are, from most to least common, ways I pick my colors.

Eyeballing it. Unfortunately my most common... What I will do a lot digitally is lay down a color background, and flats of a few colors, then manually adjust each until they look good together by selecting by color and using adjustements. I then paint over it all.

Using a limited palette, eyeballed. Same as before, but this time I force myself to only use a few colors. It helps me, as constraints do.

Using a reference, eyeballed. This happens a lot when I mimick an art style. My medieval drawings for example, are often done by looking at images of actual medieval art to get an idea of what colors to use to look medieval.

Using an existing image, pipetted. Rarely, often as a challenge or if I'm super stuck, I'll just take a pic with colors I like and pipet from it. This website automates this if you want a good easy starting point!

These can be combined around. I'll post examples now, explaining how they use each.

This is a sketch for a drawing I ended up doing way different. This is the first method - I used a flat layer for the characteres and three colors for the sky to test out atmosphere. This is how I plan out most full paintings, just trying to nail down a mood I have in my head. I fiddle around until I like it or, like in this case, fully give up and iterate further. Here, the composition was to be redone too as I did not like the body language. I was going for "bright hot sunny day under a weather that feels wrong".

For this comic, I combined a very limited palette and a photo ref to pipet from. I was looking for the stark cold/warm contrast of a mid-season bright night by a fireside. I took a google image photo of a campfire at night that was already edited. The photo itself looks unnatural but conveyed what I wanted. It's still on the file itself! From it, I pipetted a few colors I found "summed up" the palette and did all with them.

While my own habits make me prefer painting as you would in traditional methods, with directly picking the right colors, I will often digitally alter with overlays and layer blending modes some colors and gradients, etc, to alter a drawing to fix it's color palette. The following is a quite egregious example, because I first drew the character in flats before putting him in a full scene. Here is a before/after summed up.

The shadow is a layer, the bright yellow light zones also, and the orange "transitions" of light zones on the skin a third. There's also an overlay over the full character to blend him in. I do this by...making a full flat color of a layer, fucking around until a blending mode does what I want, and adjusting hue/brightness/saturation and opacity until it looks good.

Another WIP where I was struggling with the overall palette. I was going for late 60s psychedelic. You can see in the top right the original color. I thought it looked too...new, so I added a yellow layer on top, and fiddled with it. Final choice was the following setting. I then put it with my sketch and color blockout in a folder and painted over it.

For this sort of adjustement, the "Color Balance" modifier in CSP, Photoshop, and others is also a godsend - but one I often use for fine tuning a finished piece.

This being said, there's some rough rules to coloring which are...born from studying color theory and doing studies. I am guilty of doing very little studies...so I'll just sum up the basics of the color theory rules I use.

For "default" shading, I use a color that is darker, more saturated and with a slight hue diff. This is my "don't shade with black".

Using a shadow that's cooler will make the light look warm.

Vice versa.

There's a bunch of stuff to remember in how colors relate to each other and pipetting images who's atmosphere you think is interesting really is the best way to learn... It's learning how to black-blue/gold-yellow dress in your own art for the lack of a better word...But the basics will be:

Don't trust numerical values, but look at your colors in context. A same hue, brightness, saturation can look so much different. This is how Rakkan's beard looks whiteish here despite being a light very grey brown.

All this but...colour is such a wide topic, I can't really say a lot but can also type for hours... if you have precise questions about a piece in particular I can explain :') I hope this wasn't too vague and was instructive!

Speaking of particular pieces, answering your question last under the cut:

What are some of your favorite pieces that you've done?

In no particular order, illustration only.

Including this in another poast bc staff's new post editor limits the amounts of pics I can put in response to asks. Insert colorful language here...

Frankly twas hard to pick I am rarely fond of what I draw

[iraprince]

hi ira, you're a big inspo for me! especially as a fellow adhd artist.. i often struggle with "letting go" sketches / leaving them be, i always end up focusing on each as if it has to become a full piece. i personally feel this is bc of my adhd and was wondering if you struggled with something similar, or had any advice on sketching?

thank you so much! and yeah, okay, let's chew on this one and see what we can come up with.

so i actually usually have the opposite problem: I can generate a bunch of loose sketches really quickly, but i have a really hard time buckling down and putting the focus in to take any of them all the way to being full pieces. i think sketching and leaving those sketches as-is comes easily to me because i enjoy it (as in i physically enjoy the feeling of drawing in a loose, gestural style, AND i aesthetically enjoy how unfinished sketches look), and i'm extremely accustomed to it (most workdays i start up by doing ~45-90 mins of sketches, usually a few digital pages worth). these things combine so that the habit of churning out a bunch of little images and then immediately moving on is something that's really natural to me.

HOWEVER i am def not just advising "sit yourself down and sketch for an hour and a half every day" with no other context; i think "draw every day" as ironclad advice is usually pretty clumsy and isn't always applicable to how people work best, or always effective against what actually trips people up with art stuff. i think a lot of this is abt getting mindset right!!! drilling and repetition is good later for building speed and confidence but it's not as useful until u've figured out the underlying struggle imo.

so, some thoughts:

do u keep going on the sketch bc u get distracted by the idea of the final piece, and u just get sucked in to progressing toward that? for me, sometimes i do nail a sketch and im like "ooh, i want to do something more with that!" — but because these sketches happen during my warmup time and i need to keep moving, i don't do it right away. i usually just make a note right on the canvas, or i copy/paste the sketch into a separate file to come back to later. if u get the urge to keep going on a piece bc u want it to have more, but what u Actually want is to do a few more sketches, consider scooting the sketch over into a wip file/folder/etc for later (if ur working digitally; set it aside in a physical wip folder if you're working traditionally).

do u keep going on the sketch bc ur insecure about the fact that it isn't polished, or bc u feel like it "needs" more to look good? u may be affected by The Spectre of Posting. something i have wrestled with constantly and that i think many artists wrestle with is that, even if we aren't having these thoughts consciously, whenever ur drawing there is kind of this little voice in the back of ur head that's like. "is this gonna be good enough to post. if it turns out crappy i won't want to post it and then i will have wasted all this time. will this flop? if i post this will it make me look like i'm bad at drawing? what if this isn't as good as the last thing i posted and then it looks like im getting worse" and on and on and fucking on. this is all fucking nonsense, but also it's really hard to break out of. try, as hard as you possibly can, to start becoming okay w the idea that not everything is for posting, and that if something doesn't turn out great or u don't necessarily want it to like Artistically Represent You then nobody ever has to see it, and i think u might find that a lot of the tense little subconscious urges and hangups and anxieties you have about your work will start to unravel. any statement abt your art that starts with "i feel like i need to...." or "i feel like i should...." is probably somehow tangled up with the idea of other peoples' eyes on your work, and as long as you're letting a vibe like that breathe down your neck, you really can't draw freely.

do you keep going on the sketch bc you just don't like the sketch and you think if you keep picking at it it will eventually get better? well — okay, sometimes you're right! sometimes picking at something endlessly is how u eventually get something really nice and fleshed out and cool looking. but also we are mortal creatures with a limited amount of time on this earth and i am assuming from the fact that u asked for advice that u want to create More drawings. so the only real advice for this category of sketch hangup is: dude, fuck it. make a bunch of bad sketches. do it on purpose, if that helps loosen you up! designate "fucked up stupid sketch day" and make a bunch of the most dogshit drawings you can muster. remember when earlier i said part of why this is easy for me is bc i do so MUCH of it? sometimes it's about volume. if every time u start on a sketch, it ends up being the only thing u pick at for the next few days, of COURSE it's going to start feeling super precious and high stakes to you. you're not being irrational for getting attached to stuff u spend time fussing over. but if u want to be LESS fussy and LESS attached, probably the fastest way is to just start making yourself churn a bunch of shit out, because if you've made TWELVE little sketches today who actually cares if four of them are dogshit. make MORE of them, and it becomes way less serious. u can use time limits to push yourself along, if that helps — an exercise i really like is putting my music on shuffle and then doing a bunch of little drawings where i work on each one for ONLY the duration of one song each. when the song ends, i stop working on the sketch i'm on and move on to a new one. and sometimes they're totally dogshit, because the best songs in the world are all sub 2mins! or draw yourself a bunch of very small rectangles on a sheet of paper and fit a bunch of little drawings into those. anything to help Shove u past the idea that a drawing has to, like, LOOK LIKE anything or be cute or appealing or look good in any capacity will help break up the apprehension u get about wanting sketches to come out a certain way.

i have talked ur ear off as always but i hope that some of this is helpful!! or if i totally missed the mark and none of this connects w u re: why u find this stuff challenging, pls feel free to send me another ask clarifying what u get stuck on and i'll see if i can think of any potential fixes :)

[blackbackedjackal]

That post about brushes is so real. Ive downloaded so many brushes to try and use but inevitably go back to two of the default ones that came with the program. Its a shame cuz some of those brushes look cool in theory but i never like how they look with my style

And yea, maybe some of them would save time, but I'd rather do things the long way and get a result im happy with ykwim

I feel that so hard. Like I'd love if there was a brush for every scenario to save me time but sometimes you just don't vibe with them or you can't mess with the settings in a way that works well for you. It's like having a pencil or pen you like to draw with then jumping to a colored pencil or crayon and not liking the way it feels. Everyone renders differently and not every tool will be useful or work for everyone but when you have that one tool that words it's super nice. Hell, I'm guilty of buying 2-4 of the same kinds of sketchbooks just because I like the paper and it feels weird to switch after being accustom to the same texture for a while.

I use the same brush for most of my digital work and only use different ones for certain situations. Both of these were rendered with the same two tools (lasso tool and real watercolor brush). If you know how to mess with file sizes and brush settings you can get a lot out of just using tools you're comfortable with.

I deffo would have saved time using a fur brush or something, but sometimes hand drawing with a tool I'm comfortable with just gives me more control of what I want my work to look like in the end.

Shortcuts like specific brushes are always good and welcome, especially if you like it and it works for your style. But for me, if I gotta draw every damn strand of June's hair to be satisfied with the results then I'll do it because that's part of what makes my style, my style. I'd rather experiment in my comfort zone so I can learn how I personally render something. For me, leaning HOW I render helps for when I study how other people render things, or try out different tools. I have a better understanding of what I'm working towards stylistically, so when I try something and it doesn't work, I know it's just because it doesn't work for me and know I need to keep searching for something that does.

You're allowed to learn and try new things and make mistakes (assuming those mistakes are in good faith) because that's how you grow as an artist. So long as it's an honest and earnest attempt and you're willing to learn and evolve as you go, I don't think it's fair to just dog on someone for doing their best in that moment just because it's not perfect. There is always room for improvement, but sometimes that improvement won't happen until several attempts later. Like idk some people just don't know how to be chill and jump to really insane conclusions. It's so much easier to be like "hey, I noticed that you were trying to render this, here's some resources I used to learn how to do this, hope they help next time you try this out," instead of WHY DIDN'T YOU USE THESE TOOLS OR MAKE THIS LOOK PERFECT??? WHY DID YOU POST THIS IF YOU KNEW IT DIDN'T LOOK PERFECT??? etc.

[angelasscribbles]

AI Art

I am aware of the controversy over AI art. You can google why it’s good or why it’s bad and get plenty of opinions either way. That’s just what they are though, opinions.

I have read a lot on both sides. But I wanted more than opinions, so I sought out articles by people who are experts in pertinent areas such as technology, law, and visual arts.

I’m not going to rehash all the arguments here, but I will link a few good articles that I feel are measured, logical, and reasonable for anyone who cares to read them.

If you want a point-by-point, well thought out and technically sound defense of it, please read the following articles (I see no reason to reiterate what was said better by people who know more about it than I do)

I understand other people have different interpretations and that’s fine. My only motivation here is to offer a counterpoint to those who might not have seen/heard/read anything other than “AI is theft” because it literally and legally isn’t. Again, you may read the articles above on how it all works.

If you hate AI-generated images, I’m not trying to change your mind and I respect your right to hold that opinion. This is simply my disclaimer on why I don’t hate it and don’t see any inherent ethical dilemmas with playing around with it. If new information comes to light that changes my opinion, then I will proceed accordingly.

Meanwhile, I wanted to make it clear that I have always and will always support human artists. I simply don’t believe this is an either/or situation. And neither do many, many artists.

[iris-polaris]

Oh, my reason for procrastination is actually not having image resources haha! It seems like such an arduous task to find images, so I'm just putting it off.

it really can be Annoying!! let me share some Resources for you.

if you are doing Work you intend to later sell, it is best to use all Vintage imagery. i can't guarantee it's all Copyright free in your country, but generally (very, very generally) if it's older than about 100ish-120ish years, it's good to go in the US. consult with a Human Lawyer on this as it varies around the world.

anyway, great Vintage imagery, art, and photos:

Heritage Type

Flickr Commons

The Graphics Fairy

Reusable Art

Wikipedia's list of public domain Sources

a list of museums/orgs with Public Domain images for artists

there are also Sites with free modern photos, textures etc to use, like:

Pixabay

Unsplash

Morgue File

Pexels

if you are just doing Personal work you intend to post online but not Sell, you can open things up to Creative Commons imagery. you can Search CC images here. not all CC imagery is modifiable for Digital Collage artists, so check the Licensed it's published under. generally you have to give Credit to the person whose work you used as well.

i hope this Helps!!!

[vodid]

Question if you’re fine answering!

What’s advice you would give young people wanting to open an art store for the first time? If that makes sense?

this is a very general question and there is SO much to cover so i'll just put a buncha different points:

research research research all your store platform options (etsy, shopify, bigcartel, kofi, etc.) before choosing one and, when you find one that will work for you, look into how established artists structure their stores if you need help on building your own. you'll want products to have a decent picture and a description that lists its size and shipment options. not required but def recommended, i'd see about adding a faq page too that mentions shipping times, if you'll replace damaged artwork, etc.

prioritize having pictures of the physical product over the digital file (if applicable) customers want to see what they're getting!

keep track of all your finances (easiest way is to just use a google spreadsheet) track your revenue, fees, production costs, shipping costs, supplies, everything you spent money on for your store. i can give a tutorial on how to set up a spreadsheet if you need!

DO NOT SKIMP on protective measures for your art. buy chipboard, buy plastic sleeves/baggies, buy rigid envelopes, buy extras of your products! have lots of scotch tape! chipboard i think is the most important one that i hear some artists don't use. PLEASE USE IT HSDFSDFS it's a sturdy but flexible and thin piece of cardboard! this will make sure your artwork won't be as easily bent or creased during shipment. you can find these at crafts stores or online!

research post offices in your area. (if US) look into cost of postage, travel times to the post office, if you have a post office with a 24/7 kiosk available, and decide if you are willing to ship international (no shame in choosing not to!) — for this and the last bullet, i have a lot more about how to ship your art if you need it

optional but strongly recommended: handwrite your thank you notes! nothing makes people feel better than to see a personal touch in their order saying it was packaged with care by the artist themselves. you don't need good handwriting to write a simple ty 💕

be annoying about your store. promote it like fucking crazy (on your own blog, please don't self-promo on other ppl's blogs hsdfsdfs) and make it fun!

i hope that helps :') feel free to ask for clarification or about other things and i'll try my best to provide an answer!

and last thing, i'm not sure what you define as "young", but keep in mind that most platforms and paypal require you to be 18 or older to use their services!

[ultraferal]

Hello, I'm following your blog, and I just wanted to say that you're doing a hero's work in persecuting all these creeps.

Have you considered filing a report against NSFW s*baciel artists on Twitter? Like @nyamiiscarex and @oefss

haven’t looked into them. although i find people drawing character cp abhorrent and worthy of punishment, as it is a federal crime, i would be putting all my energy into every little thing because unfortunately these sick freaks are EVERYWHERE. their like fruit flies. what i look for are red flags, like the ones i saw these last few days. i also can’t subject myself to all of it personally, because it is too horrific for me to really even glance at. it’s triggering to say the least and forces me to step into my own trauma. the one that user made about ciel being a 7 year old girl being raped by her babysitter had a huge fucking kick to the gut as i was once a 7 year old raped by a care giver. it definitely rocked me to my core. as much as i’d like to do this to prevent what i see as red flags, i’d be killing myself doing it. the only reason i confronted the people these past fews days is because one of them made a comment on my post, and the other bullied my friend into submission over a post about their belief on seba/ciel. otherwise, i just can’t make myself do it. as much as my justice sensitivity drives me to overcome it, i’m only human. i need a break, and i will look into them when i feel ready.

what i can do is provide ways in which to report these people and find more information about them to do it. i can’t do it all. so if you’d like to do your own investigation, dm me, and i can provide sources to do it with that private investigators use to digitally collect evidence. thank you!

[prettygirls-grave]

⇢ ˗ˏˋ welcome ࿐ྂ

this is my blog! i'm not an experienced tumblr user, so trust the processes. i think will use this blog for just a creative outlet for things like my opinions, experiences, tips, guides, (more for myself but if you like them, enjoy!) photos, and whatever else.

basically a digital diary.

my interests are really vast, and i just need somewhere to dump everything. this might turn into my masterlist once i develop my account, but below will just be my interests and links to my accounts.

enjoy as much as you can <3

https://www.pinterest.com/prettygirlsgrave2/

https://open.spotify.com/user/dbfjxqhl2t787xbauj3pk6glq?si=441106e6592c4485

here's just a list of everything i like that i can think of right now, which will be in the tags.

music- the smiths, lana del rey, the cure, sisters of mercy, joy division, morrissey, pixies, lou reed, billy idol, tv girl, new order, jeff buckley, siouxie and the banshees, radiohead, slowdive, the sundays, crystal castles, mazzy star, and cocteau twins.

i listen to many more artists ofc, and if u check my spotify you'll see! these are my favorite artists, and i listen to a lot of others more casually. i loooooove music and i really want to expand my taste and knowledge of it. some genres i like are post punk, new wave, alternative, rock, synthwave/darkwave, glam rock, french music, goth, indie pop, dream pop, brit pop, (the brits have the best music istg) and permanent wave.

film/shows: watching the detectives, marie antoinette, girl interrupted, sunburn (1999), closer, dead poets society, black swan, the x files, gilmore girls, freaks & geeks, roswell (1999?), little women, and probably more.

i have SOOO many movies on my watchlist, and i'll make seperate post eventually. i love sofia coppola!! my favorite actors are natalie portman, christian bale, cillian murphy, matt dillon, kirsten dunst, chloe sevigny, and ana karina.

random- i'm really interested in literature, (reading everything, history, basically anything involved) history, (i don't like wars tho) art, fashion, music, and writing. i'm so passionate about all of these but i've never really put much effort into pursuing my interests. my favorite book is the secret history, i can talk about it for houuurrrrsss. i love love love writing, and i'd like to have a career involving these things. i'm very passionate about being an individual and self expression. i have a lot of niche little aesthetic and interests that will probably been revealed as this blog evolves.

i'm also interested in self improvement, manifesting, and actually getting myself to do things lol.

idk if this will reach many people, but if we seem similar, dm and follow me <3 i'm really looking for likeminded people. sorry this was long but there's a lotttttt

∗ ࣪ ˖༺ ♡ ༻˖ ࣪ ∗

[davidmariottecomics]

Ask Me (Almost) Anything 2023, Part 2!

Hey all! Welcome back! 

Two weeks ago, I solicited a bunch of questions for an ask me (almost) anything feature on the blog and folks really delivered! I had so many questions that I had to break it up over two weeks! You can read the first half here and let's get into the second! 

@ultimanggo asks: "Hallu David! Ty for the opportunity! Say that there are artists who are fresh grad artists or first timers seeking to apply in IDW as a comic artist, do you look into their works or pitches and consider of hiring them?"

Sure! I have worked with folks who were still doing their undergrad and making comics in their spare time. A lot of comics places are not terribly particular about formal education. They are more concerned with execution--can the artist tell the story clearly and to the standards set by editorial, including meeting deadlines, making requested revisions, not deviating from model, etc. I, and other editors, also sometimes work with colleges to do events and do portfolio reviews for students and recent graduates, and sometimes people get work from that. 

I am often very happy to work with new talent. I like seeing people at the start of their careers and watching them grow and being a part of that. 

@lurkingsupport asks: "Thank you for the opportunity! For someone's first indie comic, what's the best strategy for publishing? Should an artist consider keeping the comic online at first?"

The best strategy for publishing is going to depend heavily on your comic and there isn't a clean one-size-fits-all answer, I'm afraid. If it's a 4 page pastiche of another popular comic, yeah, you're probably fine having it mostly exist digitally. Or printing it as like a little zine that you can take around. If it's a standard 20-24 page one-shot, or series of 20-24 page issues, maybe look into getting it printed. I've heard good things about both RA Comics Direct and Comix Well Spring for indie comics, particularly if you're looking for a smaller print run. All the comics I've made have either gone through larger printers we work with at IDW or are things that I've printed at home (we have a nice printer for stuff my fiance Becca makes), so I can't speak to their services firsthand, but I've heard good things. The biggest factor is ultimately what do you want out of publishing? If it's supposed to be a portfolio piece that you'd want to give out at conventions, or you're interested in having a comic to table events with, I'd say get it printed! If you just want to have a comic done and out in the world, maybe it is better for it to just exist digitally and save the expense of printing for down the line. 

There are other variations--this is not getting into the differences between posting a comic on socials vs. posting it on a subscription site vs. posting it on a webcomic service vs. hosting your website for it or seeking a publisher vs. self-publishing or looking into crowdfunding. And a lot of that comes down to the quality of the work, your comfort with exploring these avenues, your time and finances, and what your starting support base looks like. 

@CalamityCons asks: "How does an editor usually keep track of things like timelines and character rules? Do you have a spreadsheet? I would make a spreadsheet." It only just clicked for me that you're probably asking about "timelines" in a continuity sense, more than a deadlines sense. But I'm going to answer for both! 

In the deadlines sense, I have a whole suite of programs that I'm using to keep track of things. I do use spreadsheets. I have multiple business software sites that I use--from project tracking sites to file transfer sites to internal product databases to external product databases to collaborative sites for art and reference sharing. I mark stuff on my digital calendar and keep track of my daily projects in a notebook (see next question). I have licensor submission sites that help keep track of things. I work with a team of very talented people who help build and watch schedules and readjust when needed. All sorts of stuff! 

In the continuity sense, it varies by editor and property. I tend to work more with documents and decks. So, sometimes I'll be adding new rules to a Google Doc that I share with anyone else working the property including other editors, proofreaders, sometimes talent, etc. Or I'll be reviewing a PDF or Powerpoint from a licensor outlining certain guidelines for us to adhere by. A lot of it is repetition and practice and learning as you go. When I was working on Transformers, I always kinda had a loose timeline written down in a doc for how stories fit together and what happened when, but it was also loose enough that we could make adjustments if a new story needed it. 

@rileysauruss asks: "How do you keep track of everything in that one notebook that seems to have no system? (respectfully) What’s it like working with me? Do you like doing balloon guides?"

The notebook has a system. It's organized chronologically. Every day, I go in, write down my to-do list for the day and as I accomplish things, I cross them out. Generally it's high level information, but I will drill down into something if I know I have multiple tasks to do with it. If I have a meeting that day, my meeting notes go under the day's to-do list. Most things are kept track of by the daily to-do. It's easy to track "finish this issue because it isn't printed yet and it was on the list yesterday." New items are added as I go, so they get incorporated too. Bigger notes that don't fit the "to-do" style--say licensor update type stuff--often has some level of follow-up sent via email or is otherwise added to one of our other tracking mechanisms so it isn't lost in the shuffle. And sure, sometimes I'll be like... figuring out page turns on a Best of and making sure it all works or whatever and will want to eventually go back to that, but then I just sorta flip through and look for it because I usually give those things their own page rather than squeezing them between the daily stuff. 

Pretty great. I like working with you, Riley. You remember stuff because you don't just write it like a mad man in a chaos notebook. You give good feedback. You tell good jokes. It's a really great experience and other people are also lucky to work with you. 

Yeah, actually, kinda? I am very glad that I don't have to do them all the time because they can be kind of a timesuck, but I do like having the extra chance to go through the script and look for typos and adjustments as I'm reviewing the art and I like thinking about balloon placement. It can be almost relaxing. But don't think this means you're getting out of balloon guides. 

@GigiDutreix asks: "Can Luna be a comic?" 

Ask Riley. Luna's her cat. I would say yes, but in this case, it is Riley's decision. 

(This weirdly is a very basic example of how licensing works. Swap "Luna" for "Sonic" and "Riley" for "SEGA".) 

@KWalthersArt asks: "How does one go about working for companies like IDW and what difficulties that might entail especially for people with chronic health issues and/or introverted and anxious?"

Let me begin by saying comic companies employ people in two ways. You have people like me who are staff and you have freelancers who work on contract for certain projects. The necessary requirements of each are pretty different and so the difficulties can be very different too. 

As a staff person, comic companies are ultimately creative office jobs. You start by applying when there's a job posting and take it from there. Most companies have at least one in-person office still and may ask you to regularly show up. Some have gotten a lot better about working remotely over the last couple of years, which I know is a boon to a lot of folks who do have chronic health issues. It is also a job where, besides if there is an in person expectation, a lot of business can be conducted via email. There are often calls--both on the phone and on Zoom and other video calling platforms, but I usually have at least a day a week where I am allowed to work from home and the only people I speak to are my fiance and my cats. Again, that is not necessarily uniform, but sometimes a possibility.

And, like many office jobs, there are also other major drawbacks to all of that. I know a little about how office jobs can be very unfriendly to people on disability and to disabled folks who may not be on disability specifically because of the limitations the American disability program forces upon them. 

From a freelance perspective, a lot of getting work early on is some level of networking, which is tougher when you're introverted or anxious (though TBH, I think a lot of comics people are, which sometimes makes it easier). The whole of the con circuit is different now in many ways, but like... I don't think "bar con" is as much of a thing, which is probably a relief to a lot of folks. I don't drink very much either and do a lot of my social time at shows with people I know, so that pressure is very different. But when it comes to doing the work, I think you just have to be as upfront as you are comfortable with. Like, you don't have to explain everything, but know your limitations and be willing to take on work that matches. Comics often moves quickly and has hard deadlines and needs you to make them, so figure out what is reasonable within your life and schedule and keep to it so that you don't burn out or make yourself sick.  

@Rechi_C asks: "Very important question, do your cats like to read the comics you work on or do they prefer to sleep on them?" My cats can't read. They too dumb. Real cute though. Honestly, more or less sleep? Credit where it is due, they largely leave my comics and books alone. They don't claw at them or chew them or lay on them very much. Sometimes they'll sit on a few, but fairly space-dependent. They are however monsters in basically every other way. 

@RikDraws asks: "Where did you bury the diamonds?"  This is not the real Rik Mack, this is obviously Rouge the Bat posing as Rik and you're never going to find out! 

@spacecolonie asks: "I'd love to hear your thoughts on specific things an editor may look for for when hiring cover artists! any big green flags in portfolios, ways of networking etc. thank you so much for the opportunity to ask! 😄♥"  Yay! It's fun to talk green flags and things I like! 

This may sound a little strange, but I don't look for cover artists very often. A lot of the artists I work with--not all, but a lot of the artists I work with on covers--also are interested in sequentials. I think that practicing staging moments in panels and taking the time to consider what information is key to communicate what you want in a smaller space, as well as how that moment connects to the next in a flow of action, often strengthens people's cover compositions.

Like think about a movie. When you're watching it, all the film is running at a pace that creates consistent moving images and carries you through the story. But if you were to break it into the film strip (or the storyboards), you'll see only key frames are really needed to convey the information when it is still. And one of those key frames might be stronger than the rest and make for a compelling single image. That's kinda what making a cover often is--figuring out what your one compelling image is from all the images that could create the story and that may encompass a story unto itself as a microcosm. And being able to sort through those with a stronger eye makes your work better. 

Rarely are the covers to books I work on character portraits. There are some amazing cover artists who do primarily do portraits, but I often gravitate toward covers with strong action, backgrounds, and/or contrast. Solicits went live this week and we announced a new Godzilla book with some killer covers! And while only one of them is mid-battle, all of them convey really strong action and story, right? Even if they are non-literal to the story inside (which I also kinda like for covers a lot of the time and find compelling), they convey a sense of what the book is about from first glance. And, of course, being able to draw licensed characters on-model while still maintaining your unique style is really important, too!

I'll also say, huge green flag in portfolios: knowing what you want to do and who you are presenting your portfolio to! This is probably the thing I harp on the most, but there are a lot of jobs in comics. Some people feel really comfortable doing a lot of them, some people feel comfortable with just one or two. Don't try to force yourself to do/present things you don't feel comfortable doing professionally. Obviously, feel free to work on things and grow your skills, but a portfolio should be the best representation of who you are as an artist at that moment. The other part of that, knowing who you're presenting to, is not to say you should always (or will always be able to) tailor your portfolio to the hiring person you're showing it to, but it is to say it helps to know who you are showing it to and to have a reason to have them review it. Like... I love superhero comics! No doubt! But I don't edit a lot of superhero comics, so I'm not always the best at providing feedback to superhero heavy portfolios, nor do I necessarily have a lot of openings that fit with the work I'm being presented. And someone who edits horror comics primarily might not have a lot of good feedback for a Disney heavy portfolio. Or a person who excels in character design like for animation might not always work with a comics person because we don't hire a lot of folks just for character design, and most of the ones we do are people who are already in our wheelhouse. 

Finally, networking green flags! Honestly, the big ones there are just being like... a cool person. Pleasant professional interactions go a long way. In this day and age, it's really easy to build a parasocial relationship with someone via social media or whatever and remembering when you're communicating with someone that for as fun as comics are, it is a job is really important. Business cards are good. Respect people's time and learn to recognize when the interaction is over. And if someone says something along the lines of now is not the time to shoot your shot, respect that and wait. 

@DaveScheidt asks: "What was the most unconventional way you have found an artist/writer to work with?" Unconventional? Uhh... I brought a stack of comics to a zine making night for the feminist group I interned for in college and a person really lit up when they saw them and was like "who brought the comics" and then we flirted and went on a date later that week and now we're engaged and also make comics together sometimes, so I guess falling in love. (Hi Becca!)

@tintinpantoja asks: "What's the best way to learn story structure for graphic novels? Do you rely on a certain system, similar to screenwriting?" I find the best way to learn most things about comics storytelling is reading other comics and experimentation. I don't know that every graphic novel has to follow your traditional three or five act structure. And I find a lot of ones I love actively defy it! Not to be a total cop-out, but I think that the structure is highly dependent on the outline. Answers to questions like to what extent is each "chapter" (regardless of whether your book is formally separated in to chapters or not) it's own smaller narrative or what is the intended narrative density of each spread are going to really change things. 

Story structure for a periodical is different, right? Like... you want every 20-ish pages to end in a cliffhanger or some sort of resolution (even if it remains somewhat open-ended). You want your story structure to work across however many issues you're telling the story in, while leaving each hunk as satisfying. But with a GN, sometimes the rhythm of those peaks is going to be different. 

All of which is to say, I think it's something beyond just winging it, but I find it so unique to the work that I don't personally have a systemic version of what I'm looking for/writing to. 

@AndrewCramer78 asks: "How does one get more editors eyes on a colourist portfolio if one is unable to attend US based conventions? Are there preferred online platforms that editors browse for new/undiscovered talent? Thanks!!"

That's a good one! I tend to browse Twitter the most, TBH. The real advantage to Twitter over everything else still at this point is the sharing ability. I'm now on Instagram and some of the other sites, and I check in, but I find the discoverability can really wildly vary there and when it comes to coloring (and lettering) other sites tend to drown out their portfolios. I am curious about Cara and InkBlot, but they are not yet regular haunts for me. 

My other recommendations are collaborate with folks, of course, and have people who can advocate for you to color their work. Check to see if publishers have submission pages or emails because if they do, they do check those, though they might not always be able to quickly reply or be able to use you at that time. Depending on where you are set up, look for bigger international shows you can attend because those do often bring in US based editors. My last big recommendation is getting an agent/manager. I get emails daily or weekly from agents who want to put their people forward for projects and, yeah, have hired folks from those. 

@genderdestroyer asks: "What are the best parts about your job as an Editor? What kind of challenges do you come across in that position, especially with overseeing more than one IP/series? I’d also love to know more about your editorial process and how you work with the artists on these comics! ✍🏻✨" Not to sound too sappy, but I like seeing people succeed. It's really satisfying knowing that like, Riley has become such a strong editor in her own right. Or seeing folks who I gave their first jobs pop up on other books/sometimes be too busy to do stuff for me. I also like getting to reach out to people whose work I admire and get to collaborate with them in my way. Also, I dunno. I like getting to talk to people about comics--including sometimes doing stuff like this. I like helping people figure out what ideas will work best--both on a creator side and a licensor/company side. And sometimes my job pays for stuff. That's nice. 

To the point of collaborating, my editorial style is, I think, guiding more than defining most of the time. I want to hand my artists the reference they need--scripts, other art, whatever--and give them the space to infuse themselves into a project and sort of pull on the reins when needed, give notes when needed, but let them figure it out because that makes a lot of great work. And then in-between that, I play middleman with licensors and approvals type people and work with them and the artist to make sure everyone's expectations and needs are being met. I put a lot of faith into the people I work with and am often rewarded by that. 

In terms of challenges, there are more than a few. Because things are happening so quickly, often the things that are prioritized are the most urgent/the most behind and sometimes having to make the call to fix that means the next thing is going to have less time and that will continue to happen. A huge reason why you see consistent creators--or a consistent pool of creators--on a book is because like I said earlier, I put a lot of faith into the people I work with, and sometimes that is a matter of necessity. I need people I know I can leave be and who will meet the expectation so I can fix the things that need it--especially because not every book gets the same amount of time. Scheduling is always tough too, and tougher when you're working with people who do crossover from one series to another. And problems always seem to come in sets, so if something is going wrong on one property's book, you can almost be assured something's going to go wrong on another. It is a stressful job and I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't love the parts of it that I do absolutely love. 

@Astramyths asks: "Would absolutely love to know what you might look for in cover/concept artists outside of a person's portfolio? Like through their social media, etc. Do you mind if artists have side accounts for fandom stuff? Since I already saw a lot of questions Abt portfolios proper :)"

This is really interesting. Because I do find a lot of artists on social, yes, I do often check people's socials. It often is kind of a vibe check, for lack of a better term. I want my interactions to be pleasant ones and professional ones for both our sake, and sometimes you can tell you would not work well with a person for one reason. I'm not like... searching for a gotcha reason not to work with someone or only interested in working with people with certain follower counts or whatever, but when I do look, I am often interested in whether I think we'll be a good collaborative fit. 

I don't mind fandom side accounts or (as long as the artist in question is an adult and is depicting adults) NSFW side accounts or whatever. I think it's nice to be engaged with the community in different ways. However, to that end, it can be complicated to interact with a fandom once you've worked on it professionally, or it can be complicated to just be in a fandom because communities are complicated, and so that can also sometimes be part of the vibe check too. 

@JustOwenE asks: "Hi, if someone is ever thinking of writing but has had no prior experience, what is the best approach; would you just go at it & hope for the best?"

Kind of? To the earlier question about story structure, I think it's worth it to read other works and get a feel for how they are written. I think outlining can be really helpful to develop a narrative skeleton for yourself to follow. And there are a TONNNNNN of good books about writing because--and I say this as a writer as well as an editor--if there's one thing writers like more than actually writing, it's writing about writing. But, yeah, at some point, it's good to just go for it and hope for the best. Start small and build. Not every work needs to be published or widely read and you can harness your craft slowly and build toward bigger projects. But really, yeah, the only way to start is to do it and to do it for yourself, get a feel of how you write, and then keep really doing it for yourself, but being willing to share it and see if it resonates with other people more and more. 

What I enjoyed this week: Blank Check (Podcast), Honkai Impact (Video game), Mass Effect (Video game), Rise of the TMNT (Cartoon), Craig of the Creek (Cartoon), Devil House by John Darnielle (Book), Trainspotting (Movie), Genshin Impact (Video game), Nadja's birthday, finishing this AMA! 

New Releases this week (4/19/2023): Sonic the Hedgehog #59 (Editor)

New Releases next week (4/26/2023): Off week! 

Announcements:

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! Reminder that Becca and I are going to be at Geoffrey's Comics (4068 Redondo Beach Blvd, Torrance, CA) for Free Comic Book Day this year. As always, it's the first Saturday in May (the 6th). I'll have whatever stock I have left of all my comics after all our other recent shows, so still a pretty decent amount of TF/Terminator, some Hanazuki singles, and some Wreckers, plus a selection of titles I've edited like Sonic, Godzilla, and more! 

Fangaea! I will be there as Becca's booth babe next Saturday, 4/29! Which also means next week's blog might be Sunday or we might be very short the next couple of weeks! This also means Becca's only doing Wednesday streams on Twitch the next two weeks, but you should definitely subscribe! They just hit their 50 follower goal and are on their way to affiliate, which is cool! Also they have a lot of rad art streams and game streams and stuff! 

I was on this week's episode of The Comic Chronicle Podcast! Talking comics, conventions, good advice from Paul Levitz, and more! Give it a listen if you haven't somehow gotten enough of me talking about comics after this! 

Pic of the Week: Podcast promo and another good Nadja pic for her birthday!