#alas I am still not that great with making finished digital art

[eun-gealach]

*peeks my head in through the Moomin fandom’s door* hey guys I know it’s been a while but I’m just gonna throw this feral Snufkin at you all in honour of spooky month

[jimmyflemion]

Hi everyone. The Spiritual album is here. Damaged Goods  / Sinned in Reverse. Out now! Finally. Our album that has been talked about in interviews & the works for the last 30 years. Today digitally available everywhere. Always had it in mind for this to come out as an album in album form (who knows, maybe someday?) but now that it has been finished this seemed the perfect time for its release. Over the last 9 years all the song versions were listened to meticulously, chosen, vocals & instruments added & recorded, the theme of the story & running order placed in a schematic theme, mixed, mastered & the artwork went through several renovations until today as it stands in its completed form. Whenever it seemed like it was finished & patience had given out, there was that voice saying that when the time was right it would be ready. Why are any of us here? Our spirits, our souls, the learning, the forgetting, the remembering. What is my purpose? Is it something other than what I think it is? Am I supposed to be helping in some other way? I often ask myself these questions. Music always has given me hope to figure out these things & be good with myself & my choices, helping me to make sense. I often think of my sins & sins of omission words I feel I should have said or shouldn’t have said. The life I’ve led, previous lives. Being honest with myself & others & communicating my feelings freely & openly. Reflecting how my life would have changed dramatically. Often pointing the finger & not owning up to my own part in things. We all play a part in the communion. I’ve judged so much in my life. Through my own faults perceived through my own judgement, I become more & more conscientious & conscious & not so much on autopilot. For those I’ve hurt through my own neglect, I offer my sincere apologies. To be good with yourself & your pure refection brings peace. Myself & my brother were The Frogs. We grew up together, played & wrote songs entwining a world revered & a world despised & quickly scribed them with quill, in the end giving you the listeners your own choice in choosing where your heart aligns. From seeing both sides of characters as well as taking an honest look at ourselves, there began an introspection as to who we are as humans & it made its’ way into the work. We uncovered a society of depravity we had no intention of joining. Although given somewhat of a view of the music biz here & there from a ringside seat, in fact we were never invited to the party for we posed a threat in seeing through your false idol’s bullshit. We were different, we didn’t fit in & in retrospect a very good thing to be, working in our favor. But alas however cool or punk or whatever someone might think that might feel it took on an aura of loneliness. We were outsiders, who still in a way wanted for our ego’s sake (remember this is show biz, it takes some sort of ego to continue on, year after year) to be appreciated or make some sort of a living at this game. However, looking at things now, there really was never anything we missed out on, knowing how proud he was of me & I of him & what we set out to do through our creativity. I am reminded by a beautiful princess who once upon a time told me, we are all frogs. We are God’s children that keep getting turned into frogs & under the spell of the witches. The Frogs, the band represents all the frogs of the world. The Frogs, the band are the narrator, the storyteller as in the fairytale. The Frogs have their sweet revenge by flipping, showing the people thru song their own judgements of what beauty, evil, cruelty & perception of what is truth or not. You are the judge. It’s always been up to the listener of the message what they were to receive from it to learn or unlearn. Like a lot of music itself, it’s multilayered, multidimensional, the listener gets to decide what it means. We are all frogs, right & wrong, good & bad, ugly & beautiful, loving & hateful, mean & kind. We have a choice. Thru our own experience, we can heal & help to shine our light or to stay in the darkness & continue to judge all of it or accept & return to all that is within us which is love. & somewhere within all that we must not forget what they do to frogs in school’s biology class, cutting them open, dissecting removing parts showing children that it is ok in the name of science & men who eat & destroy the lives of children. Becoming comfortable with these ideas as if it’s cool or gross, not really understanding what they are doing. That which was once life, God’s creation lie there on the table, it represents us thru the fairytales. Being manipulated, being blinded from the day of our birth that we should be okay with all this and yet that is the great big lie too. The world you, we know/knew & the people of it that revel & cling to darkness remain at that vibration until they subscribe to the light. The light is for all yet some have an allergic reaction to it due to their disposition & judgement of the collective creation. The Frogs, myself and my brother spoke the truth about everything the 3rd dimensional world holds & ascending dimensions above. Together we were not puppets, poseurs, plagiarists or frauds, follow the long lost line of money, our trail is short. Those who hijack the heart will find & attract those of like. There remains nothing to be taught or learned for the kingdom of heaven is within, pretty simple. It’s easy to innerstand, if one makes a concerted conscious effort to spread love as opposed to their fascination with fear & pornographic obsession with death, which spoiler alert walks hand in hand with life. The music we created has nothing to do with “satire”, in fact at times there is no rhyme & reason & in times needed there is rhyme & reason. A fool auditions for a song, a wise man dresses up in costume, the world’s zoo comes to life & appears & disappears in illusion or what some call magic or a critic appears on notice to define art. There is a floodgate of material & songs to peruse & at times it makes the most sense to corral them conceptually. I used to be so concerned on being comprehended correctly to my liking but matters not. If I must spell it out, see how the Phoenicians, use their created language & words in plain sight, with the word spell to cast spells. In conclusion, the words with respect to the music are laced with wisdom. There is no other way. The goal, the direction, the soul purpose being co-creating beautiful sounds, energy & vibrations with the maker. In appreciation of creation. The heart beats, the world turns, the divine nature of the soul is changeless, without wavering, it answers the call of protecting & nurturing the mutual life force. Love avoids competition as it stands in its own sovereignty. ‘Tis the very common ground we all share & vibrate to. No one else can control our destiny, that which we were put on this plane, planet earth to fulfill. There was a shared mission only Dennis & I shared. The understanding & meaning that music in the right hands transforms the soul. Caging people, labeling, putting them in boxes, thinking these monsters own you is the absolute antithesis of love. The angels provide the roadmap, speak to them, I’ve spoken in song about freedom, having loved the show “Born Free” growing up under the Leo sign. I pray someday people that are real will find like minded humans & the fake actors satisfied with their empty empathy will have a true awakening. Judge much, yes but ‘tis a lonely world full of ghosts. So on a lighter note, as we float higher, what have I learned in all these years later 9 since Dennis has passed. What I’ve always known that I am so beyond blessed & grateful to have had him as my brother, how much love, care & detail he put into every moment of his life, how much he gave & how everything was a gift, how much he cherished life & being in everyone’s presence. His heart was always in the right place. An angel. Finally this album is the final Frogs album (the spiritual album that has been promised for years) 32 tracks, (number 5) Dennis & I were both number 5’s in our life paths. “damaged GOoDS / sinneD in Reverse” Damaged Goods / Dennis in Reverse In reality this album could not have been completed without the help of our dear friend Bjorn Thorsrud (additional production, mastering & editing) Dennis always wanted to have Bjorn work on this album & when he offered to help it was a GODsend. I devoted my heart & soul into this record & when I finally completed it on the final playback, I broke into tears, my only wish was for Dennis to be proud & happy with this record as a testament to The Frogs legacy. This album is in 432 hertz, the highest energy that governs the universe, vibrates with the earth’s heartbeat, the golden ratio, divine proportion. We made music because it brought us joy & made life such a wonderful experience. The telepathic musical communication Dennis & I shared is innerstood, felt inside. With regards to words they would have you say understood, but none of us is beneath or under where any other human soul stands, we are all equal & equally divine. I love Dennis with all my heart, always have & always will. I am so happy & thank creation so much that I was able to be here on this day to fulfill Dennis & my dream for you to hear this our final Frogs album. This album is for you all the fans who drove all over the country to come to our shows, stood in line, supported us at our merch booths. We started out having fun playing music together in the garage, writing songs in our bedrooms, had absolutely no idea any & all of this would have happened, well it couldn’t have happened without you our fans, we love each & every one of you for showering us with your love all of these years. This album is dedicated to the fans. Love,         Jimmy

[fineillsignup]

“#Challenge” (Sakura and Rock Lee brotp gen) - Shinobi Summerfest 2019

@keepyourpantsongohan! You are my giftee for @shinobisummerfest and you requested (among other possibilities) fluff/humour, any member of team 7, and the keyword “green”! And that of course made me think of the beautiful Eternal Rivalry 2.0 between Sakura and Rock Lee. I hope you enjoy this fic, which is also available on AO3 in my Sakura & Lee Eternal Rivals one-shot collection!

———

“Sakura-san!!!”

Only Lee could speak at a regular volume and yet she could still hear the multiple exclamation points in his tone. Still, Sakura smiled. She was just about done harvesting the sanshou husks anyway. “Hi, Lee! Nice weather, isn’t it?”

“Alas, I have hardly been able to enjoy it! I have been outside for my daily thousand laps around Konoha only.” He took a deep breath of the cool, crisp autumn air, and brightened a little. “Indeed, you are right Sakura-san! This pleasant chill calls out for hot-blooded exertion! We can bring summer to life no matter what the weather!”

“Maybe I’ll join you for another hundred laps, then, when I’m done here,” said Sakura, picking another berry off the plant. “What’s been keeping you inside, mission reports?”

Lee suddenly looked stricken again. “No! Konohamaru-kun has been most kindly teaching Guy-sensei and I how to use the computer! It is most kind of him, because now Guy-sensei will be easily able to record down all his wisdom for students of taijutsu across the world, and even generations yet to come to be able to benefit from it!”

“Oh? That really is great!” said Sakura. “Shizune’s been digitizing her poisons compendium and it really does make searching it easier. Is Guy-sensei enjoying it?”

“Well, he is, but so far he has not been able to get the ‘hits’. I am not quite sure about what the ‘hits’ are, but apparently you get them when people read and watch your content. So I have been trying to come up with ways to help his wonderful work attract attention! But alas! Nothing I have done is sufficient! We cannot get the hits, Sakura-san!” His large eyebrows knit together as his lip trembled.

Sakura hurriedly grabbed a few more berries and then called it a day. “That really does sound like a challenge, Lee. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“A challenge!” Lee’s melancholy was swept off of him in an instant. “You are so right as always, Sakura-san! Of course! It’s a challenge! A good challenge is never easy, is it? I will not give up! I will get the hits for Guy-sensei! That means I need to train more!”

Sakura tied her hair up. “First to a hundred laps, then? Loser buys me dango.”

Lee chortled. “Ohohoho! Your youthful confidence inspires me, my eternal rival! I will buy you dango even when I win!”

“Ready… steady… go!”

A red-pink streak and green-black blur shot forward and were almost instantly out of sight.

(this art was previously made for this series by @corgi-ears and is used with permission)

 ———

“Sakura-san!!!”

Sakura nearly flipped over the entire table at the curry restaurant where she was almost finished her curry udon. “Lee! How many times do I have to tell you not to sneak up on me like that!”

“I am most sincerely sorry! But when I saw you it was like the answer to my dreams!” Lee clutched at his chest. “My youthful spirit is flagging! I require your spirit, like a spring breeze, to revive my purpose!”

Sakura blinked at him. “Maybe you should eat some curry. I think that will be more helpful than a spring breeze.”

Lee clapped his hands, then flagged down a waiter to order a katsu-don. “You see how your practicality already assists me. You have your finger on the pulse of youth!”

“Actually, let me take your pulse, Lee,” Sakura said with a worried frown. “You don’t look so good.”

“Ahahahahaha,” chortled Lee as she put her fingers over his wrist, “well, you see, I haven’t eaten. Or slept.”

“For how long?!” Sakura demanded.

Lee’s big round eyes were twitching around in his head. “In the heat of my passion, one day is no different than another!”

“Lee,” Sakura said reprovingly.

“I need the hits, Sakura!” he pleaded. “I cannot rest until I get Guy-sensei the hits!”

“You are going to eat your curry, and then I am going to take you home, where you are going to get rest. You know, inspiration can strike in dreams, sometimes!”

“That is true…” Lee brooded, drumming his fingers on the table. “That is very true.”

Lee ended up nearly falling asleep in his curry. Sakura sighed, fished in his pockets to get enough money to pay for his share (since she only had enough for her own), then hoisted him unceremoniously over her shoulder and across the village to his apartment.

———

“Sakura—oh, hello Naruto-kun. Sakura-san! I have come up with an idea! It struck me in my dreams, just as you predicted! That was very cool of you, you know.”

Sakura was reattaching Naruto’s prosthetic pinky. “That’s great, Lee!”

“Can’t this go any faster, Sakura-chan?” whined Naruto. “I was only in such a hurry in the first place because I heard old man Teuchi is debuting a new flavour of ramen today! It’s the first time he’s debuted a new flavour in over a decade! I gotta get a bowl before it sells out dattebayo!”

“Haven’t you ever heard of the saying haste makes waste?” Sakura said, stitching the prosthetic back together with what seemed to Naruto to be deliberate slowness. “Let this be a lesson to you not to try to close a window when your hand is still right under it. You’re only lucky this was your prosthetic hand!”

“But Sakura-san, indeed, if you could finish it quickly I would be most grateful! You see, we have to spread the virus!” Lee said.

Sakura paused with the needle mid-stitch.

“Don’t distract her, Caterpillar Brows!” griped Naruto.

“Spread what virus?” said Sakura. The needle still didn’t move. “Lee, are you sick?”

“No, no, spread the virus on the computer! To get the hits!” Lee said.

Sakura relaxed, and to Naruto’s relief, resumed reattaching the finger. “Oh! You mean we need to go viral, I think. Well, it’s easier said than done.”

“But I have heard the viruses are about challenges! Sakura-san! Surely no one is better at challenges than you and I!”

“Heh! Yeah! Sakura-chan could do a bottle cap challenge in her sleep, probably,” said Naruto, flexing his hand now that Sakura had finished reattaching the pinky. “She could probably make the caps explode off every bottle in the convenience store if she wanted to!”

“Bottle cap challenge?” asked Sakura.

“You do a spin-kick—” Naruto tried to demonstrate, and Sakura caught his foot with one hand, making him flail. “Sakura-chan! I’m trying to show you!”

“This is a hospital, idiot Naruto!”

“Well you do a spin-kick,” Naruto pouted, tugging his foot free with some difficulty, “and you make the cap of the bottle come off without knocking over the bottle!”

“Oh! Precision, huh? That actually does sound fun. Yeah, Lee and I could both do that easily. Will that really make us go viral, though?” Sakura pointed out. “I mean, you have to take it to the next level from what people are already doing, right?”

“Of course! You and I must not limit ourselves to a single challenge, after all, we are eternal rivals…” Lee trailed off. “That’s it! That’s the answer, Sakura-san!!!!”

Though she was bewildered, Sakura patted Lee arm affectionately as he twirled her around the clinic room.

“Hey! How come he gets to do that kind of thing and I don’t? It’s not fair -ttebayo,” grumbled Naruto.

———

Tsunade hit play on the video.

A montage of Sakura and Lee smashing their heads through brick walls began to play.

She hit pause, switched to another tab, and hit play again.

This time Sakura shouted at the camera, “Water running! Taijutsu only! Go!” and Lee took off across the water.

“Children might drown trying to do this,” Tsunade said severely, then clicked to the next tab. “But that isn’t the worst thing I’ve seen from you two. Oh no. I saved the very worst for last.”

The camera was struggling to focus in the smoky and dimly lit interior of Konoha’s best, and indeed only, izakaya.

“B-bottle cap challenge?” Lee was slurring. “There’s no challenge I won’t take! No path I won’t walk! No mountain I won’t—hic—climb! No c-curry I won’t eat! No tracksuit I won’t wear! No squirrel I won’t pet! No… no… where was I going with this, Tenten?”

“The bottle cap challenge,” Tenten, from behind the camera, prompted.

“R-right, bottle caps! You challenged me, you metallic… you metallic… butts!” Lee swore in his strongest possible words at the bottle caps.

“Yeah! Tell ‘em!” Sakura, who had been face down on the table, suddenly jerked her head up, revealing cheeks as pink as her hair. “Is it time? We’re gonna kick their butts, Lee?”

“Let’s go! For youuuuth!”

After that, what was happening in front of the camera became very difficult to follow indeed. There was screaming, shouting, the sounds of broken glass, Lee and Sakura shouting numbers back and forth at each other. Tsunade hit pause and scrolled down slightly to reveal the text beneath.

#EternalRivalChallenge

Tag the person YOU want to see become YOUR eternal rival in the comments!

Views: 7,390,830 Likes: 790k

“Well, what do you have to say for yourselves?” Tsunade demanded.

“I’m so very sorry shishou,” Sakura began, head hung low. “I know we were encouraging irresponsible drinking—”

“Not that nonsense,” Tsunade interrupted crossly. “Do you know what you’ve done to the sake supply in this village? Do you know the depths to which I had to debase myself, begging Shimura-san, the izakaya owner, not to leave town? Do you know how hard it is to get a bar to stay open in a ninja village?!”

Lee and Sakura looked at each other and shook their heads.

“I’m docking both of your mission pay by 20% until the damage to Shimura-san is paid back,” Tsunade said severely, “and I want you to consider that you have gotten off very lightly, and only because the ninja academy has seen its enrolment applications for the taijutsu program more than triple since you posted these videos. But you two are on notice. No more sake challenges!”

“Yes, Hokage-sama,” they both said.

“Good,” said Tsunade, “dismissed.”

The two fled out the window before Tsunade could change her mind about the lightness of their punishment.

Tsunade pulled a sake bottle out of her drawer, and went to open it, paused, put it on her desk, eyed it for a moment, and then spun the cap off with one well-aimed kick of her kitten heel.

“Still got it,” she murmured, pleased, and took a swig.

[windmilltothestars]

Hey y’all!  It’s been a while!!  My students finished their exams, drama was resolved, the weather here in Korea is becoming insufferably muggy, I socialized with my coworker and actually enjoyed board games for once, I binged Stranger Things 3 out of sense of duty and found it mind-numbingly awful (apologies if you liked it, it probably came down to characterization things and narrative priorities), and I am currently being crushed under the heel of a monstrous Doctor Who obsession that’s been raging for a month and a half.

Like seriously, I spent my Sunday evening yesterday watching black and white Troughton episodes from the ‘60s that were presented in disconnected frames or clunky fan-made animations because the original footage was lost, I’m spending my money on digital downloads of Eighth Doctor Audio dramas, I now consider myself intimately familiar with the TV movie, Jamie McCrimmon and Charley Pollard are vying with Rory (alas, poor Rose,  I still love you, though) for the top spot as my favorite companion (along with their respective Doctors, 2, 8, and 11, plus 10 and possibly 5; gotta look more into Davison), I have proposed to stop in Chicago to go to a Doctor Who con on my long journey home to America so I can finally officially meet Paul McGann (and sound like an idiot spluttering to him about how I’d recognized his voice when I saw him in the play in Ireland 6 and a half years ago), and I’ve debated whether I would cosplay Jamie or Charley or some amalgam of costume items from many Doctors (8′s cravat and vest, 2′s recorder and oversized pants, 10′s shoes, 11′s fez, 5′s glasses, possibly even 6′s coat), I’ve drawn pages and PAGES of FAN ART of scenes from audio dramas, never quite settling on what kind of clothes Charley, an audio-only character from 1930 who was cross-dressing in her first appearance to blend in with the airship crew and later expresses great enthusiasm for dressing like a Jane Austen heroine, wears in everyday life once she starts traveling in the TARDIS, and I’m currently working on a fan fic in which Eight and Charley meet John Keats and Joseph Severn in Rome - and, of course, encounter some problems with alien tech.

It all started when I was dying of fatigue but unable to sleep on my 9-hour flight back to Korea, so to distract my mind I watched some of the in-flight movies, one of which was a biopic about Vincent Van Gogh.  Then I was like, aww, I remember I saw that one episode of Doctor Who about Vincent Van Gogh, so I went back and watched that and it was the episode after Rory vanished so I missed him so I watched more with him and fell back in love with 11 and his crew, then remembered how much I’d loved 10 and Rose and all that, then I stumbled into some of the classic doctors and . . . here we are.  

Last audio I listened to was “Zagreus” and I’m actually rather the dreading the next installment (”Scherzo”), considering what I’ve read about it.  (I spoiled a lot of stuff for myself because I have no restraint.)  Not only because of horror elements but because of beloved character conflict, as just the modest amount of Charley-being-mad-at-the-Doctor drama in “Zagreus” was almost enough to do me in . . . I just want them to be cute and love each other, you know?  They’re both so adventurous and warm and sweet and enthusiastic and witty and affirming, dang it, they’re GOOD at that!  I don’t ship it, though I acknowledge on her side that’s what she wants; I tend to think of the Doctor’s adoring, obliging and protective affection for her being more fatherly in nature.  I also don’t think her crush was all that obvious, but that could be more of commentary on how oblivious I am, and be another thing I have in common with Eight.  Anyway, I am looking forward to meeting the new alien companion who shows up in the following installment.

ANYWAY, now that you know the history of the obsession in WAY MORE detail that you EVER asked for, I should wrap up.  Just, uh, be aware that this is my headspace as you might see a horrifically disproportionate amount of Doctor Who content on this blog in the coming weeks -- or possibly nothing at all.  I don’t make promises here,  I’m just following my capricious heart that has latched onto this Time Lord for the long haul.  Thanks for reading!

[colonyworkshop]

Colony Workshop July Newsletter

Hi everyone! It's time for another one of my monthly newsletters! This is where I look back on everything I've been working on and give a little peak at what's coming next. 🦋 Would you believe me if I told you that I didn't realise until very recently that I completely missed the June newsletter? Alas, I was still struggling with things around then and while I still managed to keep to weekly uploads, my sense of time wasn't great and I was still working on getting my Busy Bee routine back on track! I spent a lot of time (when I wasn't just resting) sketching ideas I had for digital drawings, Colony panels, and a bunch of other characters. I also finished a few more character references for Rise of the Monarch, and posted some other cute drawings. Going into July I'm noticing that there are a lot of WIPs stacking up and although I really want to fully realise each of them, I may have to prioritise one or two. I really wish that I had enough time for all of them but I need to focus on more important things right now. At the top of my priority list is finishing the chapter WIP for Colony: Rise of the Monarch. I have been working on this for a bit longer than I expected but I am coming close to its ending. Once I have finished all of the episode sketches I have a few changes I want to make to earlier episdes and a couple of stylistic updates, and then the real work begins- Colouring, finalising, and publishing the episodes! This paragraph is to give thanks to all of my lovely Patrons! Thank You So Much for supporting my little art page! Thank you for backing the Colony webseries! -And thank you for your kind words and continued support during my recovery time! I am so happy to be able to draw for you all and glad that I can share my stories with you~ ❤️ I wish you all a Happy Summer! I hope you all have a lovely time! I'm planning on doing a lot of walks this year and have a personal goal of 'seeing a Stag Beetle'. Also, at time of posting it is my Birthday! Go me! 🎈

[ikkydikky]

Here it comes! Time for an end of the year “Here’s what I drew this year” list. Mainly just to archive my art now for future’s sake and tell myself my thought process and how I felt about it now.

I’m skipping over sketches and going straight to stuff that was finished and polished and I’ll explain each image as we go. Buckle up boys its going to be a long one. 

We’re going to go to the first image I did this year and explain how things went from there!

Drawing #1, Scrubbed off Katia Managan 

March 3rd 2017

Art is actually kind of hard when you don’t know what form, line consistency, anatomy, or any of those things are! In fact I only know about two of them right now! And how to put into practice one of them! This image shows what its really like to start out with base-nothing. The idea is cute! And I’ll probably redo it later on when I am probably a years worth better. It marks however the first thing I really posted online. To me, that makes it special.

Drawing #2, Sigrid, but smug.

September 9th, 2017

BIG gap between the two! And not a lot of improvement, or maybe a lot of improvement? Who knows. I think this image was the first thing I did digitally that I put up for other people to see, and it was exciting! There’s absolutely no construction to this. Prior to this image being done I was basically drawing people’s heads and circles. Like, pages upon pages of circle grinding to actually know how to draw a circle digitally.

The main reason why there was such a gap between March and September was due to me graduating high school. I basically didn’t feel like drawing at all when I already had the work load of school ontop of me. But the art starts coming a lot faster now. Yes you can see there was a huge prequel influence. 

Drawing #3, Blushin Bob

September 29th, 2017

Art is something that you can really do a lot of, but you can easily get burnt out on. Animal crossing is actually one of my favorite games out there, and to try to pay tribute I drew this. Not uh, not exactly my favorite. 

This image has me trying basically 3 new things I’ve never done before. Shading, clothes, fur tufts, and bodies. Yeah. Not exactly my best job at any of those. The shadows are, very inconsistent and its clear I didn’t really know how to do it properly. The fur is atrocious with it looking like spiked tumors, and the shirt rides up way too high like hes wearing a shirt thats way too short! Also he might be a bit too skinny. 

This is kind of an image that broke me. At the time I was trying to fix every error when I just couldn’t, from the arm in the first attempt being god awful, to how the shading and shirt looks. I genuinely think this is the worst image in my library, and I knew it at the time since I drew nothing for all of October. You know. The month that’s meant to be the most inspiring artistically?

Drawing #4, Gondola The Peaceful Giant

November 12th, 2017

This was actually just a shitty paint up I did of a sketch practicing perspective. It was mainly for a draw thread on 8chan’s /v/ and probably my only work I’ve posted to an image board. I think generally doing art for anonymous people is a bit thankless. Its great for practicing but it really gives back no validation.

Keep in your memory these clouds, I’ll be talking about those later. 

Drawing #5, Bunny, The space mechanic.

November 12th, 2017

This character was a mistake, not the drawing but the character! This is my first actual tabletop character and boy I flubbed it. But this is art retrospective. Not roleplay retrospective. Anyway. A portrait done with a new pen style that I don’t think worked out too well. It comes off a bit too rough and gritty. But it makes for unique coloring when it comes to painting. I’ll actually have some more to say about that in a bit too! This also marks the point where I really got into drawing again. See. The table top group I’m in rewards you for drawing pictures of your characters, no matter how shitty it is, as long as you do your best, you get a reward in game. Its actually a really, really neat system!

Drawing #6, Oh dear god why.

November 16th, 2017

This is going to be a reoccurring character, so. Lets get to talking about it here. This character was as far as I know, a joke character made by a friend that got turned into a full blown character for a campaign, she is nonsensical, random, actually crazy, and worst of all, vibrantly colored. She is the Deviant Art Sparkledog as a character. Which funny enough, is her character name. This was my first attempt at really going ‘sexy’ and ‘nude’. And actually I think Sparkledog is a perfect candidate for it because its already cringy and god awful to look at! So it hides my bad attempts at a sexy lady behind an already cringy character. Thanks friend.

Anyway to talk about the art its self. It was done with no ref or pose. And I think it kind of shows. Everything’s proportionate to a degree but something about the perspective of the whole thing feels... off. Of course the background is just slapped together with glue but I mean on the character. She’s laying on the ground but not in a way that I think is possible or comfortable.

This also goes as my second attempt at fur, it’s, better. But definitely not good. Ontop of that this is probably my first attempt at an actual muzzle! Pic below related.

Muzzles are really hard to do. For some reason. If you ever read Loomis’ Fun with a Pencil it becomes slightly easier, but it also kind of isn’t. A month later and I still struggle with them, A lot of my joke sketches I often forgo any sort of attempt at drawing a muzzle and go for round head shapes, this works out if the character’s species is a prey type, as the eyes for herbivores are often on the side of the head, while for predators, its facing dead ahead. On another note, apparently I can just *do legs* with almost ease. I’ll touch on this more in a bit.

Drawing #7, A background for the end.

December 2nd, 2017

Tabletop is a wonderful thing, art groups are also an amazing experience to ever be apart of. The group I’ve been with has been an amazing experience for me artistically as I’ve learned to grow so much more. This is an image I did as soon as I woke up on my birthday. Friend A. did the character sketch. Friend b. did the coloring of the characters, and I got to practice something that I’ve wanted to do for ages.

Environmental art.

Ontop of character art and such, one thing that always draws my attention is environment art. Its something you can always get lost in. Your eyes can search to every corner imagining what it would be like to be there. Genuinely amazing works of art is often environment art. 

Its also time we talk about the clouds. I hope you remembered them from the gondola picture. See. Clouds are all about layers, and layers, and layers. Especially when done in a thunder storm. They’re something I might recommend painting if you ever want to start out! I do however think the clouds in the gondola image work a lot better. But I think that might be from the several things I did to trick myself to think they look better.

 And that’s all there really is to say on this image. Which is a problem. I learned a bit more about perspective and how floors work when under character’s feet... and how to do lightning kind of. But there isn’t much else. If I were to do this more I’d probably add another cliff to the background. A mountain, a landscape just beyond the fog, because it seems unfinished as it stands. 

Drawing #8, Oh dear god why, Revengeance.

December 5th? 2017

Probably the only unfinished image that gets posted! So lets talk about it. I think fur is my least favorite detail to make ever.Yet it also is my favorite when its done. The tail also might not be the best but its league’s better than my first attempt! But lets talk about the main thing about this image.

PAWS.

I don’t have a thing for paws, or feet, that’s not my kink. I think footjobs are sort of appealing sure but I don’t care much for it. so this was my first attempt at paws, and I think I did damn well. However, digitigrade legs are something I still have an issue with, and I am working towards fixing that. I don’t think furry characters look great when their legs are humans, but with paws. As well I think legs are the easiest part of the body to draw in some ways, that might just be me.

The face also is a bit of a mistake? Its better than its.. original incarnation...

[NOT EVEN THE DEAD KNOW PEACE FROM THIS EVIL]

Animal faces with human features is the proper way to do things, but human faces with animal features is... Hell incarnate.

Also that ass took me like 30 tries to get right god damn. 

Drawing #9, The last hoot for today.

December 18th, 2017

The last one for today. Some point after Christmas I’ll post probably another three drawings. But this is the final one. Lets talk about a few things about myself.

Art style is all about inspiration. You pick up inspiration from everywhere. Specifically from art styles you really, genuinely enjoy. You might have noticed the art style at first was I Wanna Be The Kazerad and then to something completely different from Kazerad but not distinct from anyone else. This is the process I think to finding your own art style. Emulation.

You might also noticed I ditched aliased (pixely) lines in favor of smooth lines, this was because I was having a tiny issue with drawing at large scale. For some reason I always liked zooming in real close on my 2000x2000 canvas and drawing tiny little things. The bunny picture is a really good example of this. He only took up the tiny corner of my much, much larger canvas. Speaking of his part of this post, lets get into color.

There’s been 3 ways I colored things, the first was plain flats, second was with a sort of homemade crayon brush (Ala Bunny and Gondola), and third was a unique way in how I did the eyes of this image. Looking at them closer you can see theres, actually a lot of rich detail in them!

This was a pretty easy thing to do and it has such amazing results that, I want to do a full image using it just to try it. For how I did it, I use krita, and how it handles gigantic brushes is like most art programs, by automatically raising the spacing between each ‘use’ (for a lack of a better term.)

Here’s what the blue part looks like with a white background behind it and the layer count to make this beside it. (Only one of them visible.)

It also kind of hits close to to another artist I’ve been following pretty closely as of lately. (And more recently on tumblr.)

You might not have heard of @jamdrawers , and you should definitely check them out if you haven’t. They are someone who, in my eyes, has such a wonderful art style. Other artists that do a style with pixelly, aliased lines don’t even come close in my opinion. I bring jam up here because of a few things, the art style he presents has thoroughly inspired me to pick back up trying to draw in aliased lines again, and because going forward I’ll continue looking to him for inspiration. Also if you read this jam tell winrarphile I said thanks for getting me into your art. 

Now, when it comes to the owl its self. I regret not adding a thicker outline to all of her character, and instead kept it to just the head shape, as well I do think she comes out a bit bland. Of course color wise its to keep in theme with the rest of the table top groups color theme. But outline wise? Definitely needs work. I tried a ‘hair style’ for her but that didn’t really work out either. So I kept it to the three feathers at the top of the head. I also think I spent more time on this image than I did any other, to quote myself “I’ll finish this owl up in about an hour or two”, which quickly lead to 8 days instead, just through procrastination.

Don’t do something in art if you really don’t want to do it. You can easily, easily get fatigued and burnt out with out delay, but among this procrastination came other sketches that, I don’t think I’ll post here, but helped me learn hands somewhat. So there is that.

Thus ends this posts governing topic. If you read this whole thing, good job. If you didn’t and skimmed to the end. That’s fine too! I understand I got a bit wordy but, I genuinely wanted to lay out my thoughts about all this.

In conclusion, I think the rate at which I’m getting better is decent, Mistakes are being ironed out each new drawing I take on. Each study and figure drawing adds onto the many experiences I’ll use for later in my artistic career, and I think the rate at which I’m drawing is far too slow for my own tastes, as such its a goal for the upcoming year to get a lot faster with finishing each drawing so I can quickly move onto the next. Thank you for reading this.

Have a noid chewin’ some pizza as a reward for coming down to the end.

[mikeycheersquad-blog]

FAQ

What is the final product going to be? The final product will be a compilation in book format. See the Submissions page for details.

Do I need to sign up? Nope! It’s entirely up to you whether you want to participate, and there’s no absolutely no obligation to commit. This is just a fun project to send a little love back to someone who’s been so loving and awesome to us.

Can I send a handwritten letter? Short answer: YES! Long answer: STILL YES. Since everything is compiled digitally, all I ask is that you submit a clean, legible scan of your letter by email.

Don’t have a scanner? Your local library probably does, and I can promise it’ll look better reproduced on a page if it’s a scan rather than a photo.

Remember that it’s gotta be legible at an 8”x10” (20×25 cm) size!!

What dimensions do I need to fit my submission to? The active print dimensions will be 7.25 x 9.25in (18.415 x 23.495cm). If you’re submitting an image, the minimum resolution requirement is 300 dpi. The size of the image itself can be larger or smaller, but smaller images will only be printed at their original size – bigger images will be scaled down to fit the page accordingly. Want a full bleed image that reaches the edge of the page? Make sure it’s 8.125 x 10.25in (20.637 x 26.035cm) and there’s nothing vital on the very edges. Here are the dimension specifics & a handy template you can use to make sure your image will print beautifully. 

Will you edit my submission?

This has two answers.

I will not be changing whatever you choose to submit. Whatever you send me is what will be printed. Your work is your own, and you are responsible for submitting what you think best reflects your thoughts. Please proofread (or have a friend proofread) for errors like spelling/grammar.

I will be checking for resolution & size requirements, and if there’s any red flags I’ll get back to you.

Will you print everything that you receive? Yes. If it doesn’t fit within the allotted 200 pages, we can add a few pages or discuss a Vol. 2.

I missed the deadline by, like, a day. Will you add my submission to the book? Unless we’re short on content, no. (If we are short, the deadline will be extended). You’re more than welcome to submit after the deadline, but everything will be put into a folder marked Vol. 2 and won’t be included in Vol. 1. Why? Deadlines are important -- to you, so you have time to consider what you want to submit and when it needs to be together by; and to me, as the person compiling the book, I need all of the content before this can be completed.

How is Michael going to get this book? Great question. I’d love to hand-deliver this, but sadly I have no plans right now of ever meeting him in person (I live very far away from any of the places that host events that he frequents and have Many Student Loans so travel is sort of a stretch right now), but he did very kindly give us the mailing address of his agency, who forward mail to him. I’ll be verifying the address with him before it’s sent.

I’ve already sent stuff to Michael over Twitter/Instagram. Can I submit it anyway? Yes!!! If you want to immortalize your words or art in a book he can access even when the electricity or wifi cuts out, send it on in!

Will anything submitted here be posted online? I’d love to share anything you send me on this blog -- it’s great for inspiration to see what other people are making -- but that won’t happen unless you give me explicit permission to do so. But does that mean I won’t be able to see the finished product? I’ll be posting a link to a PDF of the final product so that everyone can see their contributions all together. 

How can I help? I would cry and also add you to the This Project Was Made Possible By page if you do.

Things that could be done:

Networking!!! If you know of anyone who might be interested in participating in this project, let them know we exist! Shoutout on the social media platform of your choice!

Funding (see below)

Costs:

You are under no obligation to pay anything to be a part of this project. Participation is free!! This is just full disclosure of what’s going on with the production side of things.

If I had a decent printer, I would print everything and bind the book myself but alas I am no longer in college.

I’ll be using Blurb.com (a print-on-demand service) to print – an 8”x10” (20×25 cm) trade hardcover with imagewrap (no dust jacket), in full colour on 70# paper. If I have time, I can make and construct a dust jacket to put over it, no problem.

Why a trade hardcover instead of a photo book? Price. A good quality photo book is in the range of $80. A trade paperback offers slightly lower quality paper (70# paper is still hecking amazing, btw, I love printing on it), and lowers the cost significantly. It’s also still a very high quality book (I love blurb??? They do an amazing job)

Economy colour at 200 pages: $25.55 (additional pages $0.06)

Standard colour at 200 pages: $49.39 (additional pages $0.15)

(This does not include shipping).

I’m not made of money but I can afford to print a book.

And hey, if everyone who submits also contributes as little as 50c or even $1, this would be covered in no time and if we pool enough money, I’m all for splurging for the photo book, no bother.

If I donate, where will my money go? It’ll go straight into funding this book. If we reach the goal, then I’ll update this page & also make a shoutout post – life is expensive so it’s really not necessary to go over the goal. If the amount goes over, then it’ll go straight to the next volume.

As always, thank you so much!!! This wouldn’t be possible without you.