#Top one was a freehand pose actually

[ottern0t]

I was doing referenced nude studies and i also needed to flesh out my fullbody headcanon design for ten so I decided to kill two birds with one stone

Uncensored version under the cut

Nonsexual nudity my beloved…bodies r beautiful

[nevarroes]

HI i hope this is okay to ask but your anatomy / posing is genuinely so fucking fantastic you’re like my number 1 art inspo rn and i was just wondering where you find references / if you use them or any specific tips you have? happy valentines day to gortcas btw

gosh thank you so much🥺

I do use references yeah always, I honestly try to freehand as little as possible even because it helps me to constantly figure out and learn new things without doing studies (as in I'll always try to find the specific angle of an arm or whatever even if I think I know how it'll look just to make sure)

I find my refs ermm... everywhere really. I spend hours just browsing images sometimes nd file them away cause I don't mind doing so, its kinda fun 2 me💜 the only thing I kinda try to avoid is pinterest due to the fact that it mostly shows the same shit over nd over so there's a lot of repeat and recognizable stuff but I do still use some generic pinterest poses sometimes, nothing wrong with it just a personal preference atp but you do need to kinda.... learn what is good reference and what isn't for pinterest specifically imo😖 Recently I've been taking most of my base reference pics from videos instead of stills tbh, porn, movies, stock videos etc. so I do recommend doing that it's been quite helpful!

as for tips I only have one really, which is that photobashing and mixing refs is really, really helpful. Especially with Gortcas I haven't been able to use a single ref at all anymore due to both of their bodies being rather extreme, meaning you can't just apply average poses usually. So what I'm doing a lot of the times is use a "base ref" to set the angle and then just build on top of that, posed 3d models for limbs or even the whole other person, then photobash some more on top of that with actual images for parts that don't really move realistically with the 3d model, hands, face 3d models etc etc. Usually I will do a rough to kinda see if I can make a pose idea work and then I will make a bash to use as an actual reference after. I hope this helps at all!

[whirligig-girl]

Character design and step-by-step process for my Torchship Commission. It involved character design, posing, starship art, rendering, and a LOT of work. This is, so far, my biggest and best commission yet. I thought it might be interesting to look at how I went about drawing this.

Initial character design sketches to get the feel of the characters correct. I used more of a lower decks style especially in the eyes at this step, but they would be more detailed by the time i got to making the final drawing. I had to do Martin in color because of the psychic energy being in her head.

the actual line-art is pretty rough here. in retrospect a big part of that is simply the neck placement relative to the head. but that wasn't the point. the point is cool whispy aura/halo.

Iterating on the faces, putting them on bodies with relative heights Holmes is a career spacer and so very tall; Yureli is a martian, and martians are all very short. Also, I forgot Stevens' goatee, so that had to be added! The facial expression on Martin had to be changed to be more "bedroom eyes" as per client feedback. :P

note how Holmes' robot arm attaches to her spine down her back. The robot arm was not specified in the commission info, but I thought something that resembled a NASA rover robot arm, or maybe Canadarm, would be really cool and interesting.

Mockup with the sketch mostly finished. I was asked to lower Martin's ACER pistol to be more like a secret agent kinda pose.

And after more tweaks to placement and proportions and cleaning of lines, the finished sketch:

and then i realized I'd made a terrible mistake.

sorry i just noticed a bunch of technical errors in my previous sketch. this is so embarassing. i had to fix this. here's a fixed version

/joke.

Mary Gilham 32 was started on a separate project file. I started by tracing the basic proportions of the Mary Gilham from one of the reference renders I was sent, then I added a lot of the details. The warp rings were made by using the ellipse tool to construct the different pieces of the rings and move them into place; way better than freehanding it.

Now, I had procrastinated starting this project for a couple days, but by the time I actually got to working on it I could not stop. I had started the concept sketches at 2:44 PM and I finished the line-art and silhouette for the Mary Gilham at 10:48 PM. Job well done for the day, I went to bed.

And then got back out of bed because I couldn't sleep, lmao.

I finished the line-art for the characters, and the silhouettes.

and finally, at 1:00 in the morning, I sent this full color unshaded drawing and. surely i went to bed right?

...I sent this at 2:00 AM.

yeah my brain was broken. i spent another hour rendering the rocket. I considered just using the CGI render by Holly, but the visual mismatch would have been pretty bad. Plus, I like how I did the Cerritos in Guzcomic, still looking both metallic and realistically lit but also storybook kinda feel. The sunlight shading was simple enough, but making the self-illuminated parts of the ship shine was really cool. The glowing bits use a combination of normal blend modes and blurred Screen blend modes on top of the line-art layer to look a little like bloom. I'm not fully happy with the radiator illumination, it looks a little on the unconvincing side, but the radiator emissive glow looks great, and the illumination coming from the cloak ring and the warp rings looks great. By the way, the red glowing end-caps which look like star trek's bussard collectors are just big warning lamps indicating a radioactive nuclear or antimatter rocket. The nacelles are rocket tanks and engines; the warp drive is one of the big rings.

THEN i went to bed, for real this time.

In the morning all that remained was to add the flags on their shoulders and do the final shading/rendering on the crew.

[redacted spoilers about shading a really interesting texture]

and finally I finished the job. There were a few touches I saved for last, like rim highlighting from the engines on the characters, and colored reflections from each other's uniforms, but that didn't take too long. Oh, and Martin got her psychic energy being in the last hour too. Overall I worked from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM that day.

The final drawing has some easter eggs to look out for that would never appear in the format of a podcast thumbnail. So feel free to zoom in and look around. I like placing little easter eggs and visual gags in my art. :)

DM me for commission info. I need money to survive!

[beybladeninja]

I’m jumping on the Spider-Verse train while it’s still hot!

I haven’t seen the whole movie, I’ve only seen clips and scene packs, but I feel that one thing is perfectly clear:

To say Miles Morales is going through a tough time is the UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY!

The poor boy just wants to be accepted for who he is, secret identity and all, and then when he actually finds a group that even remotely understands what he’s going through, they hate his guts!

Their leader even considers him an anomaly, a mistake - just what EVERY child wants to hear, thank you Miguel O’Hara!

He really needs someone to hold him and tell him that he’s not a mistake, that he’s doing the right thing.

Perhaps someone who understands what he’s going through:

(First official Procreate drawing - we’ll see where this goes.)

Lloyd, I feel, would absolutely understand what Miles is going through. He didn’t want to be destined for greatness either, yet fate had other plans for him; Miles was just a fan of Spider Man before he actually BECAME him. And even when he was revealed to be a great hero of the people, the others that shared his destiny couldn’t care less about him; Miles was literally CHASED OFF by the Spider Society because they deemed him a threat. To top it all off, his father is very “popular” in society, and he often feels trapped by his father’s values; Miles’s father is a police officer who loves his son, but might not approve of his secret identity because of his predecessor.

It took a while for Lloyd to gain the trust and respect of his teammates and the people, but he eventually got there. That’s why I have hope that Miles will eventually get there as well.

After all, they did leave us on a GODDAMN CLIFFHANGER!!

Also, I used a reference image because freehanding the hug pose was a nightmare:

[naycelium]

First off, I absolutely adore your art and characters, the lineless and bold colors make them all stand out and pop! Your mushroom persona-type situation is my favorite, I love the pattern on their cap. :D

What would you say is your favorite part about making art? Is it designing characters, sketching, coloring, or a combination of all of them?

Thank you for the kind words!! Since I don't do lines usually, I've had some good time to focus on my color usage! I actually draw pretty desaturated so the colors you see are usually after filtering and adjusting.. And thank you!! My mushsona is a silly little thing (and the designs are arcade carpet inspired)

My favorite part would maybe be the coloring part! After i sketch a draft, I draw and fill shapes directly on top of the sketch layer by layer, like paper cutouts.. Sketching is nice because it allows for errors and it wont be seen usually, a template for where the shapes go.. Designing characters is also fun but as ive made a bunch of OCs I seem to be doing it less so I don't have too many, 9 is already a lot and some get love way more than others, like Chamomile Lilac and Easel only having only like one piece each.. The most difficult part of art for me is freehand and posing. Part of the reason everything is symmetrical and why poses are uncommon is i struggle really hard at making them look right, even despite practicing for years.. Symmetry is sort if a crutch but also a stylistic choice, i don't see many symmetrical artists very often; but ill keep trying and hopefully someday all my critters can have equal love.. Anyway thanks for the question !

[shirecorn]

i followed u because of the High Geologist post, but now i'm here because oh my GOD you're so good at horses. i can't believe how good you are at drawing horses, i cannot wrap my head around them and i have got to learn how you do it

My name ain’t shire for nothin!

Actually the thing about horses is...

They aren’t my favorite animal. Rats and ravens are my favorite. But I’m already good at drawing rats so! 

I studied my butt off.

Back in 2018, I was assigned to learn how to draw an animal of my choosing and make an anatomy packet for it. I chose horses because they’re the most useful animal to draw as an illustrator. Everyone wants horses but not everyone can draw them. Also my mom owned horses so it was easy to study them. 

For four months I studied horses intensely. 

I started with gesture

Gesture is the most important part of any drawing. it’s fast and it has to capture Everything important. These are my very first drawings, while later gestures I did NOT outline the legs, but rather used a single bent line to represent where the leg bones were and I added joints AFTER.

I was lucky to have access to living horses, but if you’re studying gesture please watch videos of horses moving and draw that WITHOUT pausing it. That’s the only way to capture gesture. After that, it’s structure.

(source: wikipedia)

I drew their skeletons over and over and over again. I named their bones. I looked at and redrew muscle charts. I drew and posed skeletons and then I drew muscles on top of those skeletons according to accurate anatomy.

I went to the corral with a brown sketchbook and three pens. First, I gestured, like above, with a transparent gray pen, watching the horses move. 

Then, I used a thick white pen to draw in the skeleton. Notice how I don’t draw every rib? Just the overall shape of the ribcage is important. it’s also SUPER IMPORTANT to know where the horse’s femurs meet their pelvis. It’s way below the spine! I also draw the spikes they have on top of the ribcage, at the withers, since that is part of their silhouette, but not part of the barrel mass of the ribcage itself. I used a printout of a horse skeleton at first, and gradually moved to memory (I traced and redrew reference images of horse skeletons multiple times before this!)

Then I drew the major muscles using a chart I had printed (and traced and redrawn several times). The proportions of a lot of these studies are pretty wonky!

put together everything and! it still kinda sucks!

That’s ok though. Proportions will come with practice, time, and study. getting the building blocks into place is more important than worrying if each block is the right size. This horse was drawn at the end of those four months and it shows an understanding of the mechanics of anatomy, while lacking in proportion and gesture. That’s fine! If you threw away art for imperfection, your trashcan would be full and your walls empty.

Since then, I consistently use reference when drawing. The high geologist was drawn looking at a picture of a horse jumping, but because I understand the bones/muscles and how they move, I can pose it in my mind while using the reference for proportion.

After intense study, keep using gesture to stay alive, use reference to balance proportions, and practice will bring everything together.

A great way to study is to trace photos (not artwork unless its anatomical studies by a vetted professional [not me!]) and draw where you think the bones and muscles are. Don’t trace photos for profit unless you can verify they’re royalty free stock. But still, it’s better to study and then draw freehand with the knowledge you trained into yourself. 

Remember: Trace to learn, not to earn.

With gesture and structure, proportion will follow, and your art will flourish!

Here’s a later 2018 drawing:

And a 2019 drawing where I used reference for the mechanics, but stylized the anatomy and had fun with it.

add in the 2020 High geologist and:

One thing that’s important about me is I AM NOT OBSESSED WITH HORSES!

I was not a horse kid, and I’m still not. However, I’m better at drawing horses than my horse obsessed sister because I studied them, inside and out. Intensely. Because I wanted to and I knew they would be useful for my future as an illustrator. 

Anyone can get good at drawing horses, I promise. It takes work but you can do it!

Thanks for coming to my tedtalk

[cal-puddies]

let it burn || ashton irwin

we’ve got another quarantine piece, this time with Ash. @kindahoping4forever​ really outdid herself with some of these ideas. :D

The tone of Ashton’s text was almost manic. He was texting you about the Shelter in Place order, he didn’t fully understand it but it was stressing him out that it’s changed the way everything was about to go for the album release. 

And then he asked you to come stay. You’d be working from home anyway so you agreed and packed a bag for about 3 weeks, assuming you would need anything more. He asked for a list of groceries you’d want or need so he could get them ordered. 

After two weeks, it became apparent that it wasn’t going to end as quickly as you’d hope and Ashton was bumming around, getting pumped for the album release. Your wardrobe on any given day was over 50% of Ashton's clothes because they were more comfortable.

Ash also started to grow his facial hair out, and right after the album launch it was getting full and you were tired of looking at it, tired of it being a reminder of being stuck inside. You luckily weren’t sick of each other yet. Just the beard. 

“What’s wrong angel?” He asks, after you'd recoiled for the third time today. 

“The beard is a problem.” You admit. 

“What? Why? I thought you liked it. You’ve always liked a little scruff.” 

“It just… it reminds me of this situation and I’m over it. It’s making me a little… like on edge… and…” you stop to wipe at the forming tears. 

“Ah ah, hey… we gotta make this have some good association for you again… you’ve always liked my facial hair. I know this isn’t ideal, I certainly didn’t love having to promote the album this way.” He mentions, holding your hands in his and kissing your knuckles. 

“Now I feel dumb for being upset, that had to be way harder.” You let out an actual cry. 

“No no no. I didn’t tell you that to make you feel bad. At least we're together and we’re both healthy. Angel, we just… we gotta have a little positive and I think we can make this beard situation work.” He grins, “you trust me? We'll do some yoga. Relax you bit.” 

“Ash,” you groan, scrunching your face. 

“No groaning, you only don’t like it because you weren’t instantly good at it… it’s something you gotta practice… c’mon, lets go get changed.” 

And then Ash is trying to lead you through some yoga poses, he knew if he could get you laughing, you’d relax and then he could work on convincing you in his favorite way. 

“No, baby, pull your hips back.” He says, coming to stand behind you and pull your hips against him. “Yeah, like this.” He guides you, “and up… good.” He kisses your neck, rubbing his scruff over your shoulder.

And instead of groaning, you let out a sigh; showing you’d relaxed some. “Guess the beard isn’t so bad.” You mention, scratching his chin, he leans into it. “Yeah, I remember you like that.” You grin. 

“Mmkay, now on to phase two of ‘remind my angel how much she actually likes my facial hair’.”  He grins. 

“Oh it’s a multi phase plan?” You ask. 

“Yes, and the next phase could take hours, so are you well fed?” 

“Have you stopped feeding me since I got here?” You laugh. 

“Just wanna take care of you while I can.” He murmurs, kissing you. 

He pulls you to the bedroom, and slowly kisses you, working it up to much more of a make out than you thought he would. He moves his lips along your jaw, your chin getting kisses first because it was already a touch raw from beard burn. You grab the back of his head as he moves down your neck, your freehand touches the red, irritated skin. 

Ash is a little more aggressive on your neck, nipping at the skin, intentionally rubbing the beard over freshly kissed flesh. “Ash.” You moan. 

“What Angel?” He asks. 

“Just feels good.” You murmur. 

He grins, tugging at the sports bra you were wearing, pulling it over your head. He kisses down between your breasts and then squeezes them together, creating the friction and burn on the more sensitive skin. He pinches one nipple between his thumb and forefinger as his tongue flicks over the other, and then he switches before continuing his way down your stomach. Spending extra time to continue rubbing his beard over your skin. 

“Think I wanna start by spreading that beard burn between these sweet thighs.” He tugs at your yoga pants and you hold his shoulders as you step out of them. He pushes you back against the bedside table so you can support yourself as he takes both legs over his shoulders. He slicks his tongue along your clit a couple times before starting to move his head back and forth to increase the friction for you. 

Ash puts his whole head into, making sure your thighs and his face are soaked from your juices. Also creating that oh so good beard burn on your thighs, and you are loving it. He remembers better than you do, that you’ve always loved beard burn previously, but he’d never push you on it. 

Ashton brings you to orgasm and your grip in his hair is telling him everything he needs to know. He stands and kisses you, hooking his arms under your thighs so he can move you to the bed. 

“You feelin better about this beard yet?” He asks, rubbing his hands up and down your thighs, letting his thumbs gently play with your pussy, rubbing them against your clit and spreading your lips. 

“No.” You shake your head and grin at him, “I need more convincing.” You make grabby hands at him and he moves in and lets you pull him in. His facial hair is still slightly damp and he definitely is still wearing your juices but you don’t mind as you kiss him. 

“What kind of convincing?” He asks. “You tryin to ride my face?” 

“I don’t think I’d ever turn that option down.” You admit. 

“I don’t think you would either.” He grins. You hold him there a minute and look at him, a goofy grin spreading on your face. “What?” His face softens into a smile. 

“It’s nothing. Just really grateful for you, incredibly proud of you. You’re not letting me dwell on this whole thing and working to remind me how much I love the beard and the burn… and you didn’t dwell on the billboard thing for too long and you handled it so well. I’m just really happy to be with you right now.” You shrug. 

“Thank you,” he grins, looking at you before leaning in for another kiss, “but you gotta get on my face before you change the whole mood in this room.” He smirks then pecks your lips and pulls back, rubbing his hands over the irritated skin on your thighs before smacking them. 

You yelp and he moves to position himself on the bed. You straddle his thighs and he’s not having it, he reaches for your hips and pulls you up, “I’ll eat as much pussy as I need to to convince you this beard is good.” 

“We’ll see about that.” You murmur, getting into place over his face. This is very different from the previous round, Ash likes you over him like this because you’re typically a more active participant, getting your hips into it. 

“Oh god Ash.” Your fingers grip into his hair and he has to grab onto you to keep you from rolling your hips too much on his face. He’s humming and enjoying you like this, your thighs tighten a little around his head, causing a harder friction against his beard, and he loves that. He pushes your hips up so he can get his fingers in and you just completely push up and lay next to him. 

“Had enough?” He smirks. 

“Want your dick.” You grin at him, “look at how red my thighs are.” You say, running your hands over the red skin. 

He moves, placing gentle kisses over the red skin, “You’ve always liked beard burn.” He murmurs, kissing you, and finally getting into place above you. “Think you like the pain… the reminder of how good it felt in the moment. Begging and whining for me to make you cum, moaning for me.” He murmurs quietly. 

Ash grabs you and sits up against the headboard, guiding you down onto his cock, puts you in a better position for him to get his beard on some more sensitive areas. “What about here?” You point to the top of your tits, “looks a little bare.” 

“I got it.” He grins up at you, he leaves particularly wet kisses as he kisses up to

Your neck, “and this neck too. Definitely needs some decoration.” 

“Please.” You moan. 

Ash buries his face between your tits, spreading the beard burn down, and then moving his face up. He feels you grip into his hair and he stops a moment to look up at you, head back, eyes closed. “Think you got a thing for pain, baby.” He smirks, kissing and rubbing his beard on your exposed neck. 

“I’m gonna cum.” You moan lowly. 

“Good, c’mon.” He coaxes,It only takes a few more minutes and you’re cumming, you rest your head against his chest and scratch into his beard, and he groans, upping his pace so he finishes too. “Fuck.” He holds you tight, kissing on your skin more, “turned out better than I imagined.” He breathes. 

He scoots and lays you both down; you leave your fingers in his beard and gently scratch, he resituates you so he’s not in you anymore. And you curl up on his chest. “Thank you, love.” 

“So proud of you baby. I know this hasn’t been easy on you, but I think you’re handling it well, and it’s been really nice having you here with me.” He rubs your back. “Been so supportive of everything. I know I’ve been meh with the album stuff. But, it’s been nice having you with me right now.” 

“Woooow, Ash. I was gonna see where else you could give me beard burn but now I feel like we just need to make some food and cuddle.” 

“Yeah… we can do more beard burn later on.” He chuckles. “Let’s get you some noodles, love.”

[melanie-designs]

LINE

in STUDIO GHIBLI’S SPIRITED AWAY (2002)

For any film or animation, lines merge to bring stories to life; this is especially true for 2D animation, where storyboards realize ideas and start as sketches of hundreds of lines. In Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away, numerous diagonal lines---from the characters’ hair to their clothes and limbs---are added to capture the movement of Chihiro and Haku falling from the sky. Similarly, gesture lines are used, especially in the storyboard, to portray various poses and body motions in this particular scene on their descent. Psychic lines are evident as Chihiro and Haku look and reach towards each other, and explicit lines directly outline certain shapes, such as the characters’ faces and bodies. 

GLOSSARY

Lines have both a direction and a length. Line means a mark, streak, stroke, slash, path, stripe, border, contour, striation, course, route, and track. Curved, bent, thick, wide, broken, vertical, horizontal, burred, or freehand, lines delineate shapes, forms, and spaces, volumes, edges, movement and patterns. Not only that – lines create both 2D and 3D objects and figures. Lines are awesome and powerful.

Contour lines indicate the edge around an object or the changes in volume within an object. Contour lines dramatize changes of plane within the form. The curve of a belt around the waist is a contour line.

Diagonal Lines are useful to draw the eye into a composition such as toward the vanishing points. Three common types of diagonals are 1) actual diagonal lines 2) objects placed diagonally in a scene 3) a diagonal line created by the viewpoint such as the Dutch tilt.

Dutch Tilt (known as a Dutch angle, canted angle, or oblique angle) is a type of camera shot that has a noticeable tilt on the camera’s “x-axis.” The Dutch tilt camera technique was introduced by German Expressionists in the 1920s — so it’s not actually Dutch. Directors often use a Dutch angle to signal to the viewer that something is wrong, disorienting, or unsettling.

Explicit means clear, direct, and obvious. If a drawing is easy to read it may be that the lines are explicit, clean, with efficient use of variety. There are explicit lines around the frame of the Dutch Tilt illustration.

Gesture Lines capture motion, such as in an action pose when gesture drawings are used in storyboards. The figures at the head of the Rembrandt Elephant drawing show the quickly sketched human gestures responding to the elephant.

Implied lines in 3-D scenes a line in a scene that is not physically there but is suggested by points in the art. Implied lines suggest the edges of an object or planes within an object. The line may be broken such as a dotted line, it may be defined by value, color, or texture, or it may not be visible at all. With implied lines, our brain interprets that a line exists.

Line As Value has a long history. Artists have used line drawings to create value, or shading, and to achieve the impression of volume. In this quick sketch of a live elephant Rembrandt used outline contour lines around the edges of the elephant and curved contour lines around the big legs and belly. Most of the lines are at the lower part of the elephant to show that the light source was from above.

Line of action is an imaginary line that extends through the main action of the figure. When you draw an action figure you can capture the line of action on one layer then draw the figure drawing on another layer.

Line quality is the expressive essence of lines. Varying the line quality makes objects appear more 3-dimensional and exciting. Range in line quality heightens descriptive and 3 suggestive potential. A single line can change in darkness and width, can vanish all together to mentally reconnect later on an edge.

Line weight refers to the thickness or thinness of a line.

We don’t really need a strong contour line around every part of an object because our brain will fill in the blank where the edge disappears. When a line fades out and then restarts further along the edge it is called a lost and found line. There is a lost and found line at the top of Rembrandt’s elephant behind the head. There is a strong contour line of the skull of the elephant and a strong bulge of the back, but between the 2 curved shapes the line fades out, yet we still know that the elephant shape continues.

Psychic lines are invisible. Psychic lines form between characters or between a gun and a target, or a hand pointing in a direction. There is no real line yet we feel a line. Eyes looking in a direction, especially characters looking at each other create a psychic line.

[thecreativemindofjess]

Line

When it comes to the contents of line, on of my favorite examples is the line work used in the Demon slayer anime/manga. The line weight seems to change every now and then which gives it a calligraphy effect that really ads to what the artist is trying to portray. The setting takes place in imperial japan and they did their best to make the art look very historical that compares to to old Japanese paintings. The contour and explicit lines they used in these images really gives the rough feeling of how life was back then and I just think it’s really fascinating.

Glossary

Lines have both a direction and a length. Line means a mark, streak, stroke, slash,path, stripe, border, contour, striation, course, route, and track. Curved, bent, thick,wide, broken, vertical, horizontal, burred, or freehand, lines delineate shapes, forms,and spaces, volumes, edges, movement and patterns. Not only that -- lines create both2D and 3D objects and figures. Lines are awesome and powerful. 

Contour Lines Contour lines indicate the edge around an object or the changes in volume within an object. Contour lines dramatize changes of plane within the form. The curve of a belt around the waist is a contour line.

Diagonal Lines Diagonal Lines are useful to draw the eye into a composition such as toward the vanishing points.  Three common types of diagonals are 1) actual diagonal lines 2)objects placed diagonally in a scene 3) a diagonal line created by the viewpoint such as the Dutch tilt.

Dutch Tilt Dutch Tilt (known as a dutch angle, canted angle, or oblique angle) is a type of camera shot that  has a noticeable tilt on the camera’s “x-axis.” The Dutch tilt camera technique was introduced by German Expressionists in the 1920s — so it's not actually Dutch.Directors often use a Dutch angle to signal to the viewer that something is wrong,disorienting, or unsettling

Explicit Lines Explicit means clear, direct, and obvious.  If a drawing is easy to read it may be that the lines are explicit, clean, with efficient use of variety. There are explicit lines around the frame of the Dutch Tilt illustration.

Gesture Lines Gesture Lines capture motion, such as in an action pose when gesture drawings are used in storyboards. The figures at the head of the Rembrandt Elephant drawing show the quickly sketched human gestures responding to the elephant.

Implied Lines Implied lines in 3-D scenes a line in a scene that is not physically there but is suggested by points in the art.Implied lines suggest the edges of an object or planes within an object. The line may be broken such as a dotted line, it may be defined by value, color,or texture, or it may not be visible at all. With implied lines, our brain interprets that a line exists.

Line as Value Line As Value has a long history. Artists have used line drawings to create value, or shading, and to achieve the impression of volume. In this quick sketch of a live elephant Rembrandt used outline contour lines around the edges of the elephant and curved contour lines around the big legs and belly. Most of the lines are at the lower part of the elephant to show that the light source was from above.

Line of Action (​Also see​ motion)Line of action is an imaginary line that extends through the main action of the figure.When you draw an action figure you can capture the line of action on one layer then draw the figure drawing on another layer.

Line Quality Line quality is the espressive essence of lines. Varying the line quality makes objects appear more 3-dimensional and exciting. Range in line quality heightens descriptive and3suggestive potential. A single line can change in darkness and width, can vanish all together to mentally reconnect later on an edge.

Line Weight Line weight refers to the thickness or thinness of a line.

Lost and Found Lines We don’t really need a strong contour line around every part of an object because our brain will fill in the blank where the edge disappears. When a line fades out and then restarts further along the edge it is called a lost and found line. There is a lost and found line at the top of Rembrandt’s elephant behind the head. There is a strong contour line of the skull of the elephant and a strong bulge of the back, but between the 2 curved shapes the line fades out, yet we still know that the elephant shape continues.

Psychic Lines Psychic lines are invisible. Psychic lines form between characters or between a gun and a target, or a hand pointing in a direction. There is no real line yet we feel a line. Eyes looking in a direction, especially characters looking at each other create a psychic line.

[rannvadraws]

So, validationthirsty gremlin that I am, I of course read all the tags on my art. And my Connie-traumatic flashbacks drawing got a lot of comments about the perspectives and how impressed people were. 

And yes, it is what I am in particular proud of with that piece.

But I didn’t draw with that good perspective just a few days ago, and I want to share with you what made the quality suddenly pop. I do warn this is also a personal vent post with some triggering mentions because personal growth is obviously personal and I feel that removing that personal part is a disservice to anyone else who is suffering from mental health issues in combination with their art.

So I started a lineup of Spinel designs last week. Just doodling them to get the forms out. (Cyan and Blue might still get some changes, I haven’t redrawn them since this draft. Once all of them are done they’ll get a separate post)

And they were alright I guess but I noticed that it really looked like they all were from different camera angles. And me being obsessive hyperfocused ape perfectionist, decided, hey, lets make a perspective grid and adjust them so they all are standing on the same floor.

Just showing the imaginary vanish points based on a foot.

So I started adjusting their bodies accordingly. (I actually drew on top of the old drawing but I don’t have progress pics)

Of course with hindsight 20/20 I started beating myself up when I saw the difference in looks because damn, this was a thing I did 10 years ago in art school, using perspective grids to draw lifedrawing, and why didn’t I just remember that shit and implemented it into my cartoon drawings. But I was also undiagnosed AD(H)D with slight OCD, unmedicated and at times more focused on proving my emotionally (And sometimes physical but hey at least it wasn’t closed fist, just throwing me like a ragdoll into my room when I was a pest? Aahahahahh) abusive father wrong about my choice of boyfriend so I stayed in an actually non-healthy and downright lifestagnating-relationship, than on myself and my dreams. So just, cut yourself some slack. A breakthrough is a breakthrough. No time like the present.

Using a perspective grid is really helpful because it gives you a constant reference point for both volume, anatomy and the overall pose. I start with just doing a doodle to get the general idea, using a grid on step one would just make it overwhelmingly technical for me and my gestures would get rigid and stiff. Then, I take said sketch and try to adjust it to the perspective rulers before I continue cleaning up. I use Clip Studio (Formely known as Manga Studio) which has a lot of tools for this kind of thing.

So just some additional general tips:

Churn out whatever you want. Fanart, OC, shitposts. Every single drawing you decide to do will give you something. It might give you a breakthrough or it might simply give you joy. Just churn it out. Quantity makes quality.

Use every fricking tool at your disposal. There’s no more shame in using a digital tool for your art than there is to use a faceting machine to cut a gemstone. Don’t buy into the prestige of having to freehand everything. Art is a craft and craft uses tools.

Take your fucking meds. Eat food and sleep. Exercise. Your body is the most important tool you have and it needs to be maintained.

[annielena-art]

All about LINES - taking insights from a study of a Riot Games illustrator

Line of Action (​Also see​ motion)Line of action is an imaginary line that extends through the main action of the figure.When you draw an action figure you can capture the line of action on one layer thendraw the figure drawing on another layer.

- Art by @anninosart​ from Instagram - Illustrator at Riot Games

To start off this blog post let me say that lines can be extraordinarily powerful. They are the base of our art pieces and convey our emotions and perspectives. 

Let’s talk a little bit about lines: Lines have both a direction and a length. Lines can help us create both two-dimensional and three-dimensional subjects if applied in different ways.

Lines can be curved, bent, thick, wide, broken, vertical, horizontal, burred, or freehand, lines delineate shapes, forms, and spaces, volumes, edges, movement and patterns. 

In this study by Anninosart, we can see how lines are utilized to convey motion, volume, and a certain flow. One of the first types of lines in this sketch that we can remark are contour lines: they indicate the edge around an object or the changes in volume within an object. These contour lines are visible by having a darker shade or having a lighter one, but still defining some of the edges of the represented character. Another very obvious type of lines in this drawing are gesture lines: they are the essence of this feeling that the character is in motion. Here, the line quality makes our subject appear more three-dimensional and exciting. Line quality is defined by the expressive essence of lines, which here is reflected on the variation of the lines that compose the character. For example, the lines of the hair are lighter to suggest lightness and flow, compared to the thicker lines that outline the body to give a heavier and stronger feel. 

BONUS+++ GLOSSARY

1. Contour Lines: Contour lines indicate the edge around an object or the changes in volume within an object. Contour lines dramatize changes of plane within the form. The curve of a belt around the waist is a contour line.

2. Diagonal Lines: Diagonal Lines are useful to draw the eye into a composition such as toward the vanishing points.  Three common types of diagonals are 1) actual diagonal lines 2)objects placed diagonally in a scene 3) a diagonal line created by the viewpoint such as the Dutch tilt.

3. Dutch Tilt: Dutch Tilt (known as a dutch angle, canted angle, or oblique angle) is a type of camera shot that  has a noticeable tilt on the camera’s “x-axis.” The Dutch tilt camera technique was introduced by German Expressionists in the 1920s — so it's not actually Dutch. Directors often use a Dutch angle to signal to the viewer that something is wrong, disorienting, or unsettling.

4. Explicit Lines: Explicit means clear, direct, and obvious.  If a drawing is easy to read it may be that thelines are explicit, clean, with efficient use of variety. There are explicit lines around the frame of the Dutch Tilt illustration.

5. Gesture Lines: Gesture Lines capture motion, such as in an action pose when gesture drawings are used in storyboards. The figures at the head of the Rembrandt Elephant drawing show the quickly sketched human gestures responding to the elephant.

6. Implied Lines: Implied lines in 3-D scenes a line in a scene that is not physically there but is suggested by points in the art.Implied lines suggest the edges of an object or planes within an object. The line may be broken such as a dotted line, it may be defined by value, color,or texture, or it may not be visible at all. With implied lines, our brain interprets that aline exists.

7. Line as Value: Line As Value has a long history. Artists have used line drawings to create value, orshading, and to achieve the impression of volume. In this quick sketch of a live elephantRembrandt used outline contour lines around the edges of the elephant and curvedcontour lines around the big legs and belly. Most of the lines are at the lower part of the elephant to show that the light source was from above.

8. Line of Action: Line of action is an imaginary line that extends through the main action of the figure.When you draw an action figure you can capture the line of action on one layer then draw the figure drawing on another layer.

9. Line Quality: Line quality is the expressive essence of lines. Varying the line quality makes objectsappear more 3-dimensional and exciting. Range in line quality heightens descriptive and3suggestive potential. A single line can change in darkness and width, can vanish altogether to mentally reconnect later on an edge.

10. Line Weight: Line weight refers to the thickness or thinness of a line.

11. Lost and Found Lines: We don’t really need a strong contour line around every part of an object because our brain will fill in the blank where the edge disappears. When a line fades out and thenrestarts further along the edge it is called a lost and found line. There is a lost and foundline at the top of Rembrandt’s elephant behind the head. There is a strong contour line of the skull of the elephant and a strong bulge of the back, but between the 2 curved shapes the line fades out, yet we still know that the elephant shape continues.

12. Psychic Lines: Psychic lines are invisible. Psychic lines form between characters or between a gun anda target, or a hand pointing in a direction. There is no real line yet we feel a line. Eyes looking in a direction, especially characters looking at each other create a psychic line.

[cat-tries-art]

Alt Text: A series of female figures bend and twist on a page used to study the movement of the female form.

LINE

This series of sketches, done by Mariia Ushakova on ArtStation uses a mixture of Explicit Lines and Gesture Lines to create dynamic poses. Each figure is blanketed with a swath of lines directing the viewer on their next supposed action; the explicit linework at the center and ends of each figure call even more attention to their action and make them all the more convincing. The Line Quality aids in the argument of the figures being 3D, allowing some pieces of the figure to appear to have depth and motion. The Lines are all generally energetic and meaningful, each figure is well thought out while simultaneously replicating the quick, unrehearsed movements of real people.

Glossary

Lines- Have both a direction and a length. Line means a mark, streak, stroke, slash, path, stripe, border, contour, striation, course, route, and track. Curved, bent, thick, wide, broken, vertical, horizontal, burred, or freehand, lines delineate shapes, forms, and spaces, volumes, edges, movement and patterns. Not only that – lines create both2D and 3D objects and figures. Lines are awesome and powerful.

Contour Lines- Indicate the edge around an object or the changes in volume within an object. Contour lines dramatize changes of plane within the form. The curve of a belt around the waist is a contour line.

Diagonal Lines- Useful to draw the eye into a composition such as toward the vanishing points.  Three common types of diagonals are 1) actual diagonal lines 2)objects placed diagonally in a scene 3) a diagonal line created by the viewpoint such as the Dutch tilt.

Dutch Tilt (known as a Dutch angle, canted angle, or oblique angle)-A type of camera shot that  has a noticeable tilt on the camera’s “x-axis.” The Dutch tilt camera technique was introduced by German Expressionists in the 1920s — so it’s not actually Dutch. Directors often use a Dutch angle to signal to the viewer that something is wrong, disorienting, or unsettling.

Explicit Lines- Explicit means clear, direct, and obvious.  If a drawing is easy to read it may be that the lines are explicit, clean, with efficient use of variety.

Gesture Lines- Capture motion, such as in an action pose when gesture drawings are used in storyboards. The figures at the head of the Rembrandt Elephant drawing show the quickly sketched human gestures responding to the elephant.

Implied lines- In 3-D scenes a line in a scene that is not physically there but is suggested by points in the art. Implied lines suggest the edges of an object or planes within an object. The line may be broken such as a dotted line, it may be defined by value, color, or texture, or it may not be visible at all. With implied lines, our brain interprets that a line exists.

Line As Value- Has a long history. Artists have used line drawings to create value, or shading, and to achieve the impression of volume.

Line of action is an imaginary line that extends through the main action of the figure. When you draw an action figure you can capture the line of action on one layer then draw the figure drawing on another layer.

Line quality-The expressive essence of lines. Varying the line quality makes objects appear more 3-dimensional and exciting. Range in line quality heightens descriptive and3suggestive potential. A single line can change in darkness and width, can vanish all together to mentally reconnect later on an edge.

Line Weight- Refers to the thickness or thinness of a line.

Lost and Found Lines- We don’t really need a strong contour line around every part of an object because our brain will fill in the blank where the edge disappears. When a line fades out and then restarts further along the edge it is called a lost and found line. There is a lost and found line at the top of Rembrandt’s elephant behind the head. There is a strong contour line of the skull of the elephant and a strong bulge of the back, but between the 2 curved shapes the line fades out, yet we still know that the elephant shape continues.

Psychic Lines- Are invisible. Psychic lines form between characters or between a gun and a target, or a hand pointing in a direction. There is no real line yet we feel a line. Eyes looking in a direction, especially characters looking at each other create a psychic line.

[grace-designgrowth]

Lines Analysis

Lines are used to create the illusion of depth, perspective, suggest movement and give each work a unique, recognizable style if used in a memorable fashion. In Into the Spider-Verse, lines are used in many different ways that each help to give the movie a distinct style and suggest both the of familiarity of realism and the flow of a smooth animation. What the movie does specifically is use harsh and fading lost and found lines, which work to suggest the curve or shape of an object without explicitly outlining the entire shape. The movie uses many forms of lines to suggest a shape; the line weight also changes frequently on objects or figures in correlation to the shape’s movement, growing bolder or fading entirely to add another realistic element. Into the Spider-Verse incorporates the line of action quite heavily, especially seen in the picture above where the character Miles Morales is jumping on a web, which itself is another useful line that indicates where the character will move. It is implied that he is aimed toward the viewer, while his body is shifted back towards the web. The background also incorporates many uses of lines, but most especially, diagonal lines are used to outline the city, and point certain objects or areas, like the bridges or tops of buildings, to the vanishing point, giving the movie a much broader perspective that is larger than itself. The movie uses many different types of lines which help to create movement and balance between the realistic nature of 3D animation and flow of 2D animation. Each type of line in the movie help to give it a unique, recognizable style.

Line Terms

Lines: have both a direction and a length. Line means a mark, streak, stroke, slash, path, stripe, border, contour, striation, course, route, and track. Curved, bent, thick, wide, broken, vertical, horizontal, burred, or freehand, lines delineate shapes, forms, and spaces, volumes, edges, movement and patterns. Not only that -- lines create both2D and 3D objects and figures. Lines are awesome and powerful.

Contour Lines: indicate the edge around an object or the changes in volume within an object. Contour lines dramatize changes of plane within the form. The curve of a belt around the waist is a contour line.

Diagonal Lines: are useful to draw the eye into a composition such as toward the vanishing points.  Three common types of diagonals are 1) actual diagonal lines 2)objects placed diagonally in a scene 3) a diagonal line created by the viewpoint such as the Dutch tilt.

Dutch Tilt (known as a dutch angle, canted angle, or oblique angle) is a type of camera shot that has a noticeable tilt on the camera’s “x-axis.” The Dutch tilt camera technique was introduced by German Expressionists in the 1920s — so it’s not actually Dutch. Directors often use a Dutch angle to signal to the viewer that something is wrong, disorienting, or unsettling.

Explicit Lines are clear, direct, and obvious. If a drawing is easy to read it may be that the lines are explicit, clean, with efficient use of variety.

Gesture Lines capture motion, such as in an action pose when gesture drawings are used in storyboards. The figures at the head of the Rembrandt Elephant drawing show the quickly sketched human gestures responding to the elephant.

Implied Lines in 3-D scenes a line in a scene that is not physically there but is suggested by points in the art. Implied lines suggest the edges of an object or planes within an object. The line may be broken such as a dotted line, it may be defined by value, color, or texture, or it may not be visible at all. With implied lines, our brain interprets that a line exists.

Line as Value has a long history. Artists have used line drawings to create value, or shading, and to achieve the impression of volume.

Line of Action is an imaginary line that extends through the main action of the figure. When you draw an action figure you can capture the line of action on one layer then draw the figure drawing on another layer.

Line Quality is the expressive essence of lines. Varying the line quality makes objects appear more 3-dimensional and exciting. Range in line quality heightens descriptive and suggestive potential. A single line can change in darkness and width, can vanish all together to mentally reconnect later on an edge.

Line Weight refers to the thickness or thinness of a line.

Lost and Found Lines are when a line fades out and then restarts further along the edge. We don’t really need a strong contour line around every part of an object because our brain will fill in the blank where the edge disappears.

Psychic Lines are invisible. Psychic lines form between characters or between a gun and a target, or a hand pointing in a direction. There is no real line yet we feel a line. Eyes looking in a direction, especially characters looking at each other create a psychic line.

[floatingskies]

CMYK: Line

Analysis

Lines are often used in storyboarding and animation to help convey feeling and to help narrate a story. In the storyboard panel above from the Owl House, several types of lines are utilized in a way that portrays dynamicity and organic movement in a still image. The first type of line that can be easily recognized is explicit line. The explicit lines in this panel have weight to them that affect how the panel is viewed. For example, the thin lines that outline the hair of the characters suggest a flowy or floaty appearance as with the dress on Amity (left). Meanwhile, the heavy or thick lines seen between the characters and on the hands implies force or a closed space. Whereas Amity is light and flowy, Luz (right) is being guided by Amity’s hands. Another type of line seen in the panel is lost and found line. This is seen in the wrinkles or the clothing and in the hair. This helps to break up a solid space and imply texture and movement. Perhaps the most important use of line in this panel is the psychic line between the two characters. This direct and intense eye contact shows communication and undivided attention, which emphasizes the connection the characters have at this moment. The use of lines in the storyboarding help to set tones and ultimately convey the meaning behind a scene before it is ever finalized. I intend to use this knowledge of line in design for emphasis and to narrate the meaning or intended purpose of my work.

Line Glossary

Lines have both a direction and a length. Line means a mark, streak, stroke, slash, path, stripe, border, contour, striation, course, route, and track. Curved, bent, thick, wide, broken, vertical, horizontal, burred, or freehand, lines delineate shapes, forms, and spaces, volumes, edges, movement and patterns. Not only that – lines create both 2D and 3D objects and figures. Lines are awesome and powerful.

Contour lines indicate the edge around an object or the changes in volume within an object. Contour lines dramatize changes of plane within the form. The curve of a belt around the waist is a contour line.

Diagonal Lines are useful to draw the eye into a composition such as toward the vanishing points. Three common types of diagonals are 1) actual diagonal lines 2) objects placed diagonally in a scene 3) a diagonal line created by the viewpoint such as the Dutch tilt.

Dutch Tilt (known as a Dutch angle, canted angle, or oblique angle) is a type of camera shot that has a noticeable tilt on the camera’s “x-axis.” The Dutch tilt camera technique was introduced by German Expressionists in the 1920s — so it’s not actually Dutch. Directors often use a Dutch angle to signal to the viewer that something is wrong, disorienting, or unsettling.

Explicit means clear, direct, and obvious. If a drawing is easy to read it may be that the lines are explicit, clean, with efficient use of variety. There are explicit lines around the frame of the Dutch Tilt illustration.

Gesture Lines capture motion, such as in an action pose when gesture drawings are used in storyboards. The figures at the head of the Rembrandt Elephant drawing show the quickly sketched human gestures responding to the elephant.

Implied lines in 3-D scenes a line in a scene that is not physically there but is suggested by points in the art. Implied lines suggest the edges of an object or planes within an object. The line may be broken such as a dotted line, it may be defined by value, color, or texture, or it may not be visible at all. With implied lines, our brain interprets that a line exists.

Line As Value has a long history. Artists have used line drawings to create value, or shading, and to achieve the impression of volume. In this quick sketch of a live elephant Rembrandt used outline contour lines around the edges of the elephant and curved contour lines around the big legs and belly. Most of the lines are at the lower part of the elephant to show that the light source was from above.

Line of action is an imaginary line that extends through the main action of the figure. When you draw an action figure you can capture the line of action on one layer then draw the figure drawing on another layer.

Line quality is the expressive essence of lines. Varying the line quality makes objects appear more 3-dimensional and exciting. Range in line quality heightens descriptive and 3 suggestive potential. A single line can change in darkness and width, can vanish all together to mentally reconnect later on an edge.

Line weight refers to the thickness or thinness of a line.

We don’t really need a strong contour line around every part of an object because our brain will fill in the blank where the edge disappears. When a line fades out and then restarts further along the edge it is called a lost and found line. There is a lost and found line at the top of Rembrandt’s elephant behind the head. There is a strong contour line of the skull of the elephant and a strong bulge of the back, but between the 2 curved shapes the line fades out, yet we still know that the elephant shape continues.

Psychic lines are invisible. Psychic lines form between characters or between a gun and a target, or a hand pointing in a direction. There is no real line yet we feel a line. Eyes looking in a direction, especially characters looking at each other create a psychic line.

[michaelangelomondragon]

CMYK: Line

These are concept art panels are from the video game series “The Last of Us” Naughty Dog is the developer behind the series.

What really stands out to me about the concept art of “The Last of Us” is how line is used to convey so much emotion in the characters facial expression. Personally, I really like how raw and free rough concept art can be. The line quality varies so much in rough sketches because you’re trying to capture or get as close as possible to the idea in your mind of what the character would look like. As time goes on, you can start to see a change in the line weight, because the image is clearer you know what you want in the character. You can see that above with both the characters  Ellie (the young girl) and Joel (the older man). Then the use of gesture lines, experimenting and getting a feel for how the characters would move in the environment. Ellie is shorter and more agile so maybe she would move faster than Joel. Joel is older perhaps he would be stronger and slower than Ellie.

This all starts from one simple line to a rough sketch. Concept art is a free and fun way to get your ideas down on paper . The beauty of concept art is that it doesn't have to be perfect, over time you’ll refine your idea and discover new elements to add on from what was originally envisioned.

Line Glossary

Lines have both a direction and a length. Line means a mark, streak, stroke, slash, path, stripe, border, contour, striation, course, route, and track. Curved, bent, thick, wide, broken, vertical, horizontal, burred, or freehand, lines delineate shapes, forms, and spaces, volumes, edges, movement and patterns. Not only that -- lines create both 2D and 3D objects and figures. Lines are awesome and powerful.

Contour Lines

Contour lines indicate the edge around an object or the changes in volume within an object. Contour lines dramatize changes of plane within the form. The curve of a belt around the waist is a contour line.

Diagonal Lines

Diagonal Lines are useful to draw the eye into a composition such as toward the vanishing points. Three common types of diagonals are 1) actual diagonal lines 2) objects placed diagonally in a scene 3) a diagonal line created by the viewpoint such as

the Dutch tilt.

Dutch Tilt Dutch Tilt (known as a dutch angle, canted angle, or oblique angle) is a type of camera shot that has a noticeable tilt on the camera’s “x-axis.” The Dutch tilt camera technique was introduced by German Expressionists in the 1920s — so it's not actually Dutch. Directors often use a Dutch angle to signal to the viewer that something is wrong, disorienting, or unsettling.

Explicit Lines

Explicit means clear, direct, and obvious. If a drawing is easy to read it may be that the lines are explicit, clean, with efficient use of variety. There are explicit lines around the frame of the Dutch Tilt illustration.

Gesture Lines

Gesture Lines capture motion, such as in an action pose when gesture drawings are used in storyboards. The figures at the head of the Rembrandt Elephant drawing show the quickly sketched human gestures responding to the elephant.

Implied Lines

Implied lines in 3-D scenes a line in a scene that is not physically there but is suggested by points in the art. Implied lines suggest the edges of an object or planes within an object. The line may be broken such as a dotted line, it may be defined by value, color, or texture, or it may not be visible at all. With implied lines, our brain interprets that a line exists.

Line as Value

 Line As Value has a long history. Artists have used line drawings to create value, or shading, and to achieve the impression of volume. In this quick sketch of a live elephant Rembrandt used outline contour lines around the edges of the elephant and curved contour lines around the big legs and belly. Most of the lines are at the lower part of the elephant to show that the light source was from above.

Line of Action ( Also see motion)

Line of action is an imaginary line that extends through the main action of the figure. When you draw an action figure you can capture the line of action on one layer then draw the figure drawing on another layer.

Line Quality

Line quality is the expressive essence of lines. Varying the line quality makes objects appear more 3-dimensional and exciting. Range in line quality heightens descriptive and suggestive potential. A single line can change in darkness and width, can vanish all together  mentally reconnect later on an edge.

Line Weight

Line weight refers to the thickness or thinness of a line.

Lost and Found Lines

We don’t really need a strong contour line around every part of an object because our brain will fill in the blank where the edge disappears. When a line fades out and then restarts further along the edge it is called a lost and found line. There is a lost and found line at the top of Rembrandt’s elephant behind the head. There is a strong contour line of the skull of the elephant and a strong bulge of the back, but between the 2 curved shapes the line fades out, yet we still know that the elephant shape continues.

Psychic Lines

Psychic lines are invisible. Psychic lines form between characters or between a gun and a target, or a hand pointing in a direction. There is no real line yet we feel a line. Eyes looking in a direction, especially characters looking at each other create a psychic line.

[gweniala]

Gravitační traktor

This lineart is almost exactly one year old, drawn at the last winter school. (The one where I drew all those Arig x Krevel sketches.) It’s A4 in size, so it’s been uselessly sitting in my lineart folder since I didn’t have the guts to colour it traditionally. Today I was on a roll with my tablet, so I thought: “Why not colour it?”

I must say, I am pleased with the result. After an all-day-long practice, I found a neat way to shade in MyPaint. 1) Fill in the base colour. Tools: “bulk” pen and bucket. (I thought MyPaint didn’t have a bucket until today, but it does, and once I assigned a keyboard shortcut to switch between freehand drawing and the bucket, the colouring became almost as fast as in Sai. God bless Sai, I still miss it.) 2) Add a “burn” layer filled with middle-grey. Tools: “bulk” pen, bucket and “blend+paint” tool to dissolve the cell-shaded edges. (For lack of experience, I am terrible at “paint” shading. I am, however, good at cell-shading, so I combine the two.) 3) Deepen the shades with a “darken” layer below the burn layer (this one is colourful, matching the base). Tools: “blend+paint” tool. The trick is that the two shading layers synergise. The burn layer effortlessly deepens the shading and the darken layer lends it definition and volume. Plus the “blend+paint” tool creates a neat klay-like texture. I had a lot of fun painting this. Yay~

Not to forget, this picture actually comes with a fanfiction! It’s called Gravitační traktor (Gravity tractor in Czech) because I was attending a presentation while drawing it and the teacher said “gravitační traktor”. I found it immensely funny. The fanfic is also pure crack, so don’t take it seriously.

Usha was minding his own business (surprisingly) when his acute hearing picked up a foreign sound among the usual chatter of the Neverhood. He perked up and focused on it. Had it come from the south?

Then, suddenly, there was a sharp yelp of pain. Immediately Usha recognised the voice – his brother Arig. The location – the Garden. Cause – must be eliminated.

Before Usha’s brain had the chance to think, the Guardian had already invoked his second contract. His back sprouted large wings; he beat them fiercely and in a span of two breaths he was high above the Garden, overlooking the scenery.

Down below, somebody was brawling with his brother! Without a second of hesitation, Usha dove head first. He grabbed his brother by the shoulders, pulling him away from the perpetrator. But alas, Arig was too burly for the lean Usha and he wouldn’t budge. In a spasm of desperation, the Guardian swept his wings and blew the attacker away with a wild gust of air. The red-skinned bitch rolled a few satisfying meters before stopping, limbs tangled.

Usha huffed. Nobody messed with Arig! Nobody!

He leaned down to check his brother’s well-being. Arig seemed stunned, but unhurt. “...Huh?” he uttered, mouth hanging open.

“Are you okay?” Usha asked him. Arig looked up. Usha smiled down at him. Arig did not appear thankful, however. Instead, he shook his head a little and began tearing up. It was then that Usha felt that something may have been wrong.

The sprawled Hoodian groaned and, after some effort, managed to roll onto his back. Usha recognised him in the process – it was Krevel, Arig’s friend. Seeing that the Hoodian no longer posed a threat to his brother, Usha straightened and folded his wings back. “Why were you fighting?” he asked curtly.

Silence followed. Then Krevel repeated: “Fighting?”

Usha’s feeling that something was wrong intensified. At his feet, Arig was slowly curling into a ball, his breath betraying the onset of crying. “Weren’t you?”

Krevel pushed himself up, swaying dizzily. But the moment he saw Arig’s state, he focused remarkably fast. He got to his feet and barked at Usha: “Go away!”

Usha goggled at him.

“I said, go away!”

Half subconsciously, Usha spread his wings out. But Arig turned toward him, nodding and mumbling: “Please.”

Quite confused, Usha obliged and took a few steps back. Krevel hurried forth, pausing two metres before Arig.

“May I?” he asked anxiously. Upon receiving a nod, he knelt before his friend and embraced him protectively. Over Arig’s shoulder, he shot Usha an extremely dirty look. Bewildered, the Guardian noted that suddenly he was the one Arig was being protected from!

At that point, Usha’s brain, which had gone on standby when it had registered Arig’s yelp of pain, began to function again. The Guardian noticed how his brother was leaning into Krevel’s chest. He recalled that Arig would always shy away from other Hoodians, and that he wasn’t entirely comfortable even with his brothers’ touch.

He noticed the complete familiarity and trust of their embrace.

“Why are you still here?” Krevel growled, twining his fingers through Arig’s stems and placing a kiss on the top of his head.

Usha blushed. Since he had no damn clue how to ask whether he had just interrupted his brother’s first time, he just flapped his wings and quietly flew back to minding his own business.