#also! let me know if you want a speedpaint of one of these? i have saved everything (i hope strongly)

[gramnel]

[spacecolonie]

i adore your paintings so muchhh would you happen to have any other tips or tutorials for your process? anything from thumbnailing all the way to final render

Thank you 😭♥ I appreciate that a lot!! To start with I've got my advice tag (both new and veeery old stuff lol), & my youtube has a couple of speedpaints on it, one with commentary including process, brushes etc

In terms of general stuff about how I approach painting, I tend to tailor the method to the desired outcome. I talk about it more in depth on this post here, I also link to some references & tutorials that I really enjoy/recommend!

Besides that though, I guess I can do a little walkthrough of the Whisper & Tangle painting I uploaded a few months ago, since I tried something new with it that I pseudo integrated into my workflow & could be fun to talk about? 🤔

SO yes, I do always thumbnail when I'm doing a bigger painting, and they're definitely not pretty LOL. I usually use the colour fill lasso just to block in basic shapes and values with a gradient map slapped on the top -- I ended up swapping the values around in the end because it let me use the fireflies as the sole light source, making it more character focused! Then it's the usual process of resketching it all & flatting in the base colours (I also added Whisper's wisps hehe), then adding shading:

This is how I usually approach it, w/ all the shading layers clipped to the original flats to preserve editing. Multiply, screen & overlay are the most common layer modes I use while doing this, and if I'm ever struggling I'll sometimes add a gradient map too in order to unify awkward colours etc. The new thing I tried for this painting was doing what's often nicknamed as a 'clown pass' -- which is using hard edged shapes to create an easily-accessible selection mask for each part:

It looks Super funny but I actually found it very helpful, and I ended up using it to select & cut out all of their body parts onto seperate layers, which were then alpha locked. It meant I could go ham w/ large or textured brushes, smudges etc without worrying about losing those edges, or accidentally over-rendering and screwing up the anatomy in the process!!

I've kept doing something similar since, though it's a bit more dialed back; mainly using the lasso select to chop it up directly and preserve specific/necessary edges, grouping up similar body parts on a single layer etc.

After doing all that, I sat down and started rendering. The background was all blocked in & detailed with a hard round brush and these amazing brushes from Devin Elle Kurtz. There isn't anything super insightful that I think I could type on how I render, but I do have that speedpaint I mentioned earlier that'll probably shed more light. It's just a lot of eyedropping & painting, rinse and repeat

When rendering is done I usually add a concoction of adjustment layers, as well as an overlay w/ a noise texture on it. I also sharpen it all after doing so! These are the ones that I ended up adding for this painting:

The dupe & blur is a fun thing that doesn't always work, but it looks super neat when the painting itself calls for it, especially when paired w/ that noise texture. It can make stuff look like an old/low quality photograph or recording -- here's another example w/ a shadow and amy doodle I posted a few months ago:

That's about it for this painting, the majority of the time spent on it was honestly me rendering those damn leaves 🥲 Very tedious but worth it & it was a really good learning experience. I'm not sure if any of this will prove useful but thank you so much for sending in the ask, & if you (or anyone else reading this) wants a similar breakdown for a different painting of mine, please do let me know and I'll try my best to do one!! 🥺💞

[wasyago]

would you ever consider posting a speedpaint? id love to see your art process :]

I WANT TOOOOOOO

but im such a noob in video editing its not even funny 😩... i can record the process of me drawing, but editing it is such a pain. well, its not a pain because i can't do it, but it still hurts.

ive recorded and posted one (1) speedpaint, but the program i did it with broke something in my pc i think, so im not using it anymore. i heard some people say to try windows movie maker, and like, i tried but it doesn't let me import an mp4 file to even start working on it. and i dont know if its normal or not or if im doing something wrong or if my pc is just too old for this? i have an hour and a half of raw footage of me drawing that i can in theory upload, but like why would i do that no one is going to watch that...

and im also too lazy to go down this rabbit hole and google and learn about every single problem im having because its too much... so like. if i ever figure out how or in what program to edit a speedpaint i would love to start making them, but the chances of it happening are very slim...

but also drawing while recording is very difficult, because it feels like someone is watching me and i can't draw normally? like, there's pressure and it makes me draw differently from how i usually do it, its weird...

[chibigaia-art]

how did you learn to draw? Would you recommend any classes or certain resources? do you have any tips, general or hyperspecific or anywhere in between, other than "just practice"?

sorry to bombard you with questions. I'm just a frustrated amateur artist trying desperately to improve, so I'm asking around some of the artists i particularly like.

I learned to draw by bashing my head on my desk for several hours, which means practice (sorry,) and also by staring intently at artists I like, trying to 'steal' how they draw some things

I never followed a class online, so I wouldn't be able to give out recommendations for those, and I haven't actually looked up an art tutorial online in years so I can't remember anything, but here's a few resources/general tips under the cut

RESOURCES

haven't used this myself, but my teachers during the first year at comic school mentioned proko as a good YT channel for beginners

quickposes - useful for gesture drawing, I acc use this one when I feel like I need to draw but dont have any ideas

I know some people use designdoll for poses as well, I never used it myself because I tend to use the csp models for that, but if you don't have csp, I think it's a good alternative

coolors - for color palettes

adorkastock - more poses! I don't check it anymore at this point but it was my first actual 'art landmark' when I was a kid and I needed to find some poses, I could always rely on their photoshoots

I'm not linking any tutorials because, as I said, I haven't looked up any online in 10+ years, but I used to watch a lot of speedpaints as a teen, and it should be fairly easy to find decent tutorials on YT at this point;

GENERAL TIPS

if you have a sketchbook, please don't let the internet make you believe every single page has to be a masterpiece, that attitude is gonna break you

not everything will be a hit piece and thats ok

when shading, avoid pure black

experiment with styles!

when inking, you shouldn't move just your wrist but use your elbow as well! also rotate your canvas, both when doing traditional art and digital

true to traditional and digital art as well - flip the canvas to see the art mirrored and find mistakes (for traditional you can hold up the paper to a source of light and look at it from the back)

use references whenever possible

what works for another artist might not work for you ( re my ink tip: I follow that, but I know a couple mutuals don't do that and their art still slaps and looks clean and crisp)

when drawing a full illustration with a background, work on the background perspective first and THEN add the character,, this should be basic knowledge but my idiot ass actually processed this info only a few years ago

learn how to use perspective grids asap, dont be like me

IF YOU DON'T WANT TO LINE YOU DON'T HAVE TO!!! be free

rule of thirds is always useful to keep in mind

I'm not super good at giving advice because tbh I don't think I'm good enough to give it, but I hope at least one of these things will help you out!

[tuxibirdie]

@askpocketsans hi sorry this took so long I didn't know where to start lmao

so first off, here's a speedpaint of the initial drawing

(also a little peek into the design process of dream!)

(and yes, this big piece did come before the proper ref lmao)

now to itemize what the heck just happened:

the initial sketch!

a test rendering of the sketch (to work out colors and lighting)

coloring the sketch according to what I want to make move (there's no rhyme or reason to the colors--just don't let the same color touch if they're on different parts)

rendering each piece individually (as you can see I did lineart first and then coloring)

rendering the background

and done!

here's a clearer look at the separation sketch thing

(the colors don't have the most contrast but it gets the point across lmao)

also! it's not necessary to draw every piece separately; you can just finish the initial thing and then separate it after the fact, I just prefer to separate it from the get go so I don't have to do any cleanup work haha

once that's done I merge each body part/piece so each layer is a body part/piece

and that ends with this:

(man I even popped out the layer tab and there's still not enough space to show every layer 💀)

so like

one layer looks like this

once I'm done merging the pieces, I export the whole thing as a .psd (Very Important!!!)

now for rigging!

I boot up dragonbones and go to "New Project" > "Create Animation" > "Armature Template" > "Finish"

that will bring up the main workspace

from there, I go to "File" > "Import Assets to Stage" > select the .psd file > "Open" > "Import"

that leaves me with this

(note: right click empty space to deselect)

(also, if the background doesn't import you may have to go back to the psd and cut it up into smaller pieces)

from there, I check the canvas option and set the size

(yeah I know I use really big canvasses)

now for rigging!

when I rig I like to hide everything except for the specific things I'm rigging

it makes things less cluttered

now, select the "Create Bone" tool (or just press "E") and then click and drag where the bones should be

that leaves us with something like this:

in this case, the bones should automatically be attached (if you move the upper arm the rest of the arm will move with it) but in cases where that is not the case, you can manually set the parent bone by right clicking it > "Set Parent" (or press "P") > then clicking the bone you want to attach it to

now to make ik constraints (controllers) for the bones

I'll be showing you both types of controller--the type you want to use depends on how you want it to move

click on the bone you want to move, then go to the "IK Constraint" section on the left sidebar

(ctrl + click to select multiple bones)

for the arm I like to use "Create IK Constraint at End of the Bone" and "Create IK by Pick" for the hand

(don't forget to rename the controllers!)

this makes it so that you can move the bones like so

(don't mind how crunchy that gif is lmao)

since I have the upper and forearm bound to the same ik constraint, they move in tandem, and said ik constraint is bound to the end of the forearm bone

the hand (bone) will always point toward it's respective constraint (the little red dot in the gif)

and then rinse and repeat for every moving part heres the fully rigged skeleton (heh):

(also make sure to lock all the bones and assets after you make the controllers so you can only move the controllers)

now to animate!

go to the animation workspace in the top left

(Ctrl + B to hide the bones)

you set the loop here (in frames)

C: current frame S: start of loop E: end of loop

I set the initial and last keyframes of the loop here by selecting every controller (Ctrl + click) and clicking the flags

(that way the first and last frames are the same, making for a smooth loop)

now to actually start animating

I prefer to have this option selected:

it auto keyframes, so if I move a controller it's automatically saved to the timeline

(from here I genuinely don't know how to explain so bear with me here lmao)

those diamonds are all keyframes: aka poses that the animation *will* hit at the point in time

to make it actually move you need to go to a point between the start and end of the loop and move the pieces to wherever, then set it as a keyframe (or just move it if you have auto keyframe on)

once that keyframe is set, if you press space/play, it should automatically move between those two keyframes, smoothly

you can change how smoothly it moves with the curve editor

I don't really use the curve editor unless I think something needs to be eased in/out (like dreams arms in the original idol post)

(I don't really know how to explain further the animation is really a hand-on thing to me 💀)

here's what my timeline looks like when everything is done and animated

(I prefer to just pick a few points in time and animate everything to those points but you can keyframe at any point)

now to export the thing!

go to "File" > "Export" > pick whatever if you get the "This Texture is oversize" popup, I usually choose "Multiple Textures" (nothing really changes) > "Image"

and now we're here

things to make sure of:

Type: Sequence

Format: PNG

Animations: Current

FPS: whatever fps you were working in

Image Contains: Canvas area

Export to: wherever you want it to (you can see I have it going to the project folder with the rest of the idol stuff) (I suggest making a subfolder specifically for the frames bc they can stack up *real* fast

and then "Finish"

and then you wait for a bajillion years for it to export :)

finally, time to make it a video!

I use blender to turn the PNG sequence into an mp4, so here we go!

to the video editing workspace!

"Add" > "Image/Sequence"

navigate to the folder with the frames

press "A" to select all

set "End Frame" to the number of frames you have

set "Fit Method" to "Scale to Fit"

then hit "Add Image Strip"

that leaves us with this

(make sure to set "End" at the bottom right to the number of frames you have)

now for settings

go to format and change the resolution and frame rate

next, go to output

set the file destination

File Format: FFmpeg

open Encoding menu

open Video menu

Video Codec: H.264

Output Quality: Perceptually Lossless

open Color Management

View: Standard

Look: None

finally, hit "Render" > "Render Animation" in the top bar and sit tight while it exports

now, that was probably confusing so here are some videos I used myself (bc this was the first time I touched dragonbones in like a year lmao) [vid 1] [vid 2]

and also bonus video that I had on loop while I was making this hehe

[fluffbeast7]

i found a fake art Channel that's an ARG :) its called ''Snowbird.Rogers''. This post will be about me diving in completely with what i found so far about the channel, if you want to explore it on your own, feel free to skip this!

Im pretty sure this channel is an ARG, the first vid has a weird scene at the end and the second one had all sort of recordings.

The banner has these weird numbers:

2438723490 2947034545 3542524545

and above "snowbrid.rogers" (brid? Not bird like the title?) There's something written in a language i dont understand, but from google translator it means: "what's wrong with zyul?", which I'm assuming is the character or to represent the person posting

i hadn't catched anything wrong with the first video, just at the end that it plays out a video in the dark, i have no idea what it means

in the second video is FILLED with recordings.

''at first, the audio plays of someone trying to call 'Alex', i think it is someone called ''Grim''. They have to record their message (number being 0123456789?)

'' hey alex its Grim, i'm glad to hear that you're back home for the summer. Sorry again that i didn't pick up when you first called, i was- i was busy, but, anyway, uhm, yeah! just glad to hear that you're back, we really need to catch up, its been too long dude. uhm just shoot me a text whenver you're free and, oh, oh- sorry i gotta go again, but, anyway, glad to hear you're back home.''

nothing too weird about the rest of the video then, which comes back with the speedpaint- the channel only has 2 videos, so you'd think that's the end of it? but nope! lets dig in a little bit deeper!

found this at their community tab, but the artwork can also be found at their instagram (which, so far, they only have instagram and youtube.). and loook, A CLUE! we find out that Grim, The one who called Alex, is also an artist and interacts with the person who owns the channel from time to time! and yes, the person who owns the channel is alex, Grim confirms it on their instagram

so.. we know alex has been away, and is coming back from college for summer, (it's mentioned a few times on their instagram)

Don't think i didn't see the link! :D i was just pointing out sum details haha

this is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_vSRk84CWI

and it leads you to this vid!

let's look at the title first, i put it in a morse code translator and it said ''CANARY'', in the video, a bird is singing, and the video does not fail to point that out-

''The canaries are most often associated with happiness, compassion, and the ability to help others through a hard time. They can sometimes come into our lives to remind us of what is important and to keep our optimism in times of sadness.''

I think this video is about Grim and Alex talking to each other, i wrote in what they said but i will put here the most important parts (for me at least)

''you know about the kidnapping that happened a couple years ago in the woods that weren't far away'' (this doesnt have a continuation but its interesting)

-

''you're lucky enough to see me Outdoors, it's taken me so long to get that far, so yeah''

-

''I've told you about how Robin's been acting lately right? she just did a whole jerk about the whole thing I I don't know why and I don't know if it's gotten into her, it, it's just weird I-''

-

''don't sound like her from what you were saying'' ''I know that's why I'm so shocked, it's like I don't know what happened and I am I don't know I'm worried but I don't know at the same time I I just could be''

-

robin is a new character here, but we dont know much abut her.

this is pretty much all i got, Alex posted on the community tab about getting a new social media account but they haven't shared it yet

[pepperpixel]

Hello! I watched your speedpaints on repeat when I was in middle school (like 6 years ago) and sometimes still go back and watch them for the sake of nostalgia and good music. I just wanted to let you know you’ve touched my life and left a print, thank you 🤍

Thank you. So so much. For sending me this??? The me who made all those youtube videos. Doesn’t exist anymore. Life got harder. In so many new and horrible ways. And that like. Spark to create kinda died. And also I had more important shit to worry about all of a sudden. But. Knowing that it left on impact on someone enough to send me a message. Years after I’ve stopped making them tho. Idk.. that means something.. I appreciate you didn’t forget about me! (/my videos lol. I kno u don’t kno me. My vids and art feel a bit like. An extension of me tho? In a way. But I kno that it’s not a 1:1 thing. My art an videos express thoughts ideas and feelings of mine. But they are not. Me. Just lil slivers of me.. Tiny lil portions from specific moments in time.)

Sometimes it feels like those videos were just a flash in the pan. A brief moment of attention and fame I didn’t grab onto hard enough… and now the moments long gone. but. I didn’t rlly want to grab onto it, I just wanted to make fun videos. And show off my music taste lol. And express. The music videos my brain would create in my head into the real world. And then I got too busy w real life kicking my ass. (Ps. life has now stopped kicking my ass!! It’s gotten better. Just. Not the same as it was before) Maybe I’ll get back into it one day. If I have any new ideas. Once I get stable and know what I’m doing. And get like an iPad or something so I don’t have to wrangle w my laptop lol. But yeah!!! Srry.. I’m rambling a lot.. this message just made me emotional ok! I’m being openly vulnerable in turn hopefully that’s not too weird lol. I’m happy my videos had an impact on your life!! That means. A fucking ton. Like. Words cannot properly express the weird happy feeling that gives me in my heart. Thank you so much!! For real!!! Srry for getting all in depth about my life again this message just!!! Struck an introspective chord w me!!!

[ludinusdaleth]

I think I'll go for 4, 5 and 24—dealer's choice as to which of Artagan, Ludinus or Ira (or any npc, really. They don't get enough love.)

oh you have no idea the can of warms you've opened, lol.... i will happily do all 3!

this got so long i actually had to put a read more:

4. If you could put this character in any other media, be it a book, a movie, anything, what would you put them in?

artagan - it isnt media per say but i really want to set him loose in our own reality and see what he'd do (there have been some hints i think, if half-jokingly said, that hes been here - boy do i think about that often.)

ira - we really should just let him star in his own horror movie. you could put him in a guillermo del toro film, and no one would bat an eye.

ludinus - i want to see how lud would react to faerun. a world so close to his own, but where the weave of magic is directly controlled by a god. there is an odd dichotomy in that faerun is more controlled than exandria and yet breaking that universe's laws are infinitely easier, and i think he would fall into obsession with that.

5. What's the first song that comes to mind when you think about them?

so.... im gonna (un)ashamedly plug my playlists for them here.... please ignore that they can go as long as twelve fucking hours.... ill try to narrow down specific songs that REALLY hit about them, though.

artagan - "within you" by david bowie, from labyrinth, is a perfect fit. not only is arti based on jareth but the song's meaning directly ties into him & jester. jareth is terrified of being nothing more than a lost concept, a lost celebrity crush made fae king, as sarah is metaphorically maturing. "how you turn my world, you precious thing/You starve and near exhaust me/Everything I've done, I've done for you/I move the stars for no one..." i mean, c'mon. "family of me" by ben folds, "celebrity status" by mariana's trench, "lapis lazuli" by the oh hellos, and "due west" by kelsey lu also really hit as arti songs for me.

ira - "mad iqs" by i dont know how but they found me is a really good song for ira's hatred of ludinus. "a mask of my own face" by lemon demon is self explanatory and far too specific, due to his fascination with ashton's mask of him, with the song mentioning "dancing with all the bells". he would go wild for and try to emulate "thriller" by michael jackson or "i cant decide" by the scissor sisters.

ludinus - if i did a speedpaint of lud, id set it to "science fiction" by church of the cosmic skull. "and all the people, they stood on their chairs, and they stared, at the man with the silver hair/taken the findings of the science man/raising his hands to the air!/so he's making the minds up of the millions, and they'd never deny that he's right/cause he's taken a prize of many a size/if ever he dies he'll have a tombstone of a very high height". "brutus" by the buttress is ABSOLUTELY a ruby vanguard trio song and i even used it in my art of them before. "all history is vengeance" by brad derrick from the eso soundtrack is what goes through my head at the malleus key. "blood upon the snow" by hozier & "never look away" by vienna teng also really work for him. i think "survivors guilt" by emily axford (yeah, prism) also has lyrics FAR too tailored to him - "i see you in my dreams/young, and brave, and pre-calamity/i will tell you a story/i will be the voice you lost too soon/because even in your absence, even in your death/im still your moon".

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

(i wouldnt say im in the fandoms for all of these, but)

artagan - i think it somewhat obvious he's based off of jareth in labyrinth - his voice is basically david bowie's singing voice. to a lesser but still strong degree he's very much marvel's loki, down to the voice - if, honestly, an infinitely better take on the trickster god. as a past extreme loki fan the pipeline is there for sure.

ira - ashley said she & matt based fearne's story off a guillermo del toro film and i can see that in many fae this go-round, especially ira. he is basically a doug jones character. it's very easy to compare him to creepypastas like the russian sleep experiment or slenderman, too.

ludinus - he has some heavy similarities to emperor belos of owl house, vyrthur of tes, prince nuada from hellboy, and other characters who fit the archetype of a white-haired, ancient, pale elven (or elven passing) man, from a different time, who murders & (in some cases) colonizes to exact vengeance on gods, humans, or similar entities he feels have destroyed those around him. characters clearly in the wrong but who do bring up important topics of the endless cycle of brutality they were caught in, mixed with their privelege in every other circumstance. he also reminds me of mannimarco of tes. they look exactly alike and both shadow run an empire, somewhat in cahoots and yet at odds with a balding white haired pale human man within that same empire. oh! and fëanor from the silmarillion.

thanks for asking! sorry this is so long, floodgates are opened when i discuss men i wish were my fictional partners, lol.

[biganimal92]

update for the 4 of you reading this that care (this isn't meant to be pessimistic I just mean that very few of my friends follow me on here lol)

I feel like my art has been stagnating for a long time and it's mostly because I limit myself to fandoms and the attention I get for my fanart messes with the way I value my self-worth so a few months back I decided I wanted to start doing a lot more with my art to gain more personal fulfillment and to give myself a direction i actually wanted to take it in so that i felt like i was making progress and going somewhere with it. I was making plans to create a proper portfolio of things that weren't star wars yaoi or the dudes from fall out boy fucking, and I was planning on launching a YouTube channel where I posted speedpaints and stuff and I actually made some decent progress

I drew something I was really proud of and I knew the content in it would be pretty popular despite still technically being fanart, and I had a time-lapse recorded for it and everything, I was even halfway through the script. I also had a number of original drawings I'd done that I never posted anywhere and I felt like by this time I should have been able to properly launch this stuff and start taking appropriate steps to have my art reach a wider audience.

butttttt then my laptop died suddenly and randomly (i was literally using it just fine, i lifted it up from my lap and it shut off and wouldnt turn back on) and it's been in the repair shop for a week and they still don't know what's wrong with it. they think it's a motherboard issue and if it ends up being at least $600 to repair it I'm just getting a new laptop. I think they can transfer the data on the hard drive to an external that I have and if so that'd be wonderful because that laptop contains all the work I've been doing these last few months for this thing I wanna do with my art.

thankfully since then my roommate is letting me have one of his backup gaming pcs (he works in tech so he has plenty) and I've been able to get set up there in case I need to start my progress over, but the issue is that it's a Linux and clip studio literally doesn't work with Linux because the desktop version of the program apparently relies on either edge being installed if it's windows, or safari being installed if it's Mac. so I can't sign in or download the full version, I'm stuck with the super limited trial version, and because of this I've been trying to get comfortable with Krita. which thankfully can record time-lapses.

my mental health has only been improving since moving to Seattle despite some pretty low lows so thankfully, even though this is uh a pretty big deal all things considered, I'm handling it really well. I had one horrible encounter with a psychiatrist when trying to get treatment for my anxiety and adhd, but since my insurance here sucks since I'm poor and nothing has worked for my other issues I've been fortunate to be able to see doctors about, I've officially become a crystal mommy and I've resorted to ~alternative medicines~ and as a result I've had a considerable amount of improvement in a very short amount of time with the things I've struggled with getting help with from a professional psychiatrist. so yeah, I'm only getting better

biggest issue that still impacts me is that my attempts at befriending people irl have not borne much fruit, granted I haven't been trying super hard but with a huge covid spike coming up soon, said weak attempts are going to have to be put on hold for the time being. especially since the main thing I was literally going to do as soon as Christmas was over was join this drawing group that meets up every other Sunday, but now I don't have my laptop so it'll just have to wait regardless of what the state of things are looking like otherwise

uhhh what else. oh yeah I got into Chinese yaoi and Indian cinema and I got out of my head enough to start playing genshin impact again so basically I'm a huge faggot ama

OH SHIT I forgot to mention I got another horrible job and I'm kind of trapped into keeping it for at least a year unless something catastrophic happens because it's giving me really important experience in the field I'm trying to go into, but when I say it sucks I mean it's probably the most disorganized place I've ever worked at that wasn't a locally owned franchise. I work at an open-access low income healthcare organization that's all over Seattle so when I say it's terrible and disorganized I think you get the picture

anyway I don't know how often I'll be on here but I'm bored and lonely and scrolling through tumblr seems like a better use of my time than spending an entire shift looking at r/shittyfoodporn

[kamikothe1and0nly]

Can you do a Marellinh story or art, Or a Detz story or art pls?

Where night and day meet

You can have a Detz story and art. I have no idea why you want my writing, it sucks, but it’s a good excuse for me to practice writing.

(If you wanted meralinh you shouldn’t have given me a chose between that and my Comfort ship. I also have no idea how to write meralinh)

Read the story here

Summary: 

Fitz escaped to Foxfire’s roof, trying to breathe after the wall of eyes had trapped him. The wall always followed, bringing whispers of Fitz's failures. Even on the roof in the cold wind, the wall still towered over him. Until one person that the wall is afraid of shows up. With the wall gone, Fitz can’t keep quiet. He and Dex get to talking, and they learn that their lives aren’t as different as they seem.

Speedpaint

Tag list: @loverofallthingssmart @ruewen-and-rising @imaramennoodle​ @sunset-telepath @cadence-talle​ @where-in-the-world-are-we-blog @disasterlesbianmarella @fanartofthelostcities @sofia-not-sophie @cowboypossume​ @real-smooth @dragonwinnie-kotlc​ @cloudivity @constellations-and-kotlc @squishmallow36 @the-resident-gay @booksscienceandmath​ @xanadaus @bluedoodles0 @stellasencen @gaslight-gaetkeep-gayboss @crazedfangirl14 @three-bunnies-in-a-trenchcoat @callas-pancake-tree @that-glasses-dog @nyxpixels @uni-seahorse-572 @didyousayqueeritsunclear @fucked-up-mover-shaker @katniss-elizabeth-chase (if you'd like to be removed/added/or I forgot you from the list let me know.)

[yakeisoda]

Hello, just wanna start this off by saying that I love your art. I've decided to ask my favourite artists for art tips as I wanna get into it, but no matter what I do it never looks right. So, any tips?

HELLO TYSM!!! ngl i dont think im the best 4 this question im also kinda in a rut rn where im not really satisfied w my art n craving more progress and improvement but im getting there somewhat but very slowly! (ive been this way for a rly long time naow) this might be long but im gna try n throw in the things ik, sorry if my thoughts r messy im not the best in articulating stuff :')

i think a good way to start off is to find out what skill you lack the most or what you want to improve the most on, say for ex: u wna focus on getting better at composition for illustrations, then a good way to improve them is to learn about the composition rules (ex: rule of 3rds, etc), look for any scenes in films/animation or photographies and storybooks , study them and recreate it! go crazy !! ive done a study on a friend's picture before, and have asked my friends if i can use their photographies as practice!

looking for inspiration will also improve ur visual library, they can help u find what u wna put in ur art ! like perhaps certain color palettes or styles, it's best to look at different mediums of art instead of focusing only on one, sometimes u can find techniques meant 4 u! (ex: of this is my friend who used to be a watercolor artist, ive observed them using watercolor techniques when they were still new to digital art! basically mix n match whatever feels good/convenient 4 u :] )

disciplining urself is also good to have more improvement! i have trouble w this the most ever since bc its hard 2 focus if no one is like there to monitor u (in my experience), if u rly wna make progress u have to squeeze in some art practice time in ur schedule, it can be around 15-30 mins or even 3 hrs, completely up to you! (rmb to take breaks!). you can give urself deadlines if that will help n maybe timers too!

my prof always said "Proper practice makes perfect", so it's also best to practice with a clear goal in mind, take notes on the things u lack and if ur watching any art tutorials/speedpaints, take notes of those too! it's good to have something specific in mind so u wont get lost n u wud know what u wna do! it helps u retain info as well so u can look back on stuff, to avoid overwhelming urself u can just focus on small bits first, ex: in anatomy, u can focus on the head area first, break it down to drawing eyes and noses, etc! then u can move onto the torso area!

USE REFS!!!! make use of pinterest or any other refs u can find, cannot stress this enuf go crazyyy w references, make a moodboard full of referencess n go crazzyy w them!! i used to not like doing this bc i just head straight in to drawing bc thats what i was used to but art college trained me 2 use refs bc they help so very much, theyre like ur guideline for what u wna make so u have a clear goal in mind, also photobashing seems like a great practice too never tried it but yes it can help when ur planning an illustration/concept art!

^above also applies to art styles! go crazy n experiment w them!! i think its so very fun to explore diff art styles n not stick to 1, again this depends on u but having a different range of artworks is rly fun, u can go from very pastel soft colors n style, to smth very vibrant n sharp, to smth like dark n chalky-sketchy kind of vibe if im making sense T__T, basically go wild!! go crazy!! dont let urself sit in 1 box! hop into other boxes !! or wear all of them!! or poke holes in the box n add stuff to the box or wear a circle!! trust me it looks so fun if u put different artworks uve made side by side n go wow i did that!!

also create small thumbnails 4 illustration! its really best to plan ahead art too, as i said i used to just head straight in n not plan but ive learned to absolutely enjoy planning making art! collecting refs n seeing what kind of composition goes n what colors wud work is so very fun actually! it rly helps a lot

theres also this one post i lost the link, but basically it shows how much progress u can make if u make loose sketches vs full on rendered illustrations vs a mix of both, again this depends entirely on u bc things r different for everyone! i think that post is really good for teaching abt art progress (if any1 knows where it is pls do link!), i think focusing on sketches n practice is better tho bc it helps u draw more freely n loosely! i think that speeds up ur process more as well n doesnt make u lose interest immediately compared 2 focusing on finishing 1 big rendered illust (talking from experience) but then again its different for every1 so honestly just experiment n see what feels right for u!

i wna say tho that although it is good to make sure ur drawing looks right its also good to just let yourself draw freely, i think what matters is that u understood the structures of something and as long as ur able to apply that in ur own way i think thats gud! i think drawing freely helps u draw more fluidly? like having more expression is what i mean. ive gotten into the "i have 2 make this look right" hole before n i noticed it made my art look stiff, so highlyy recommend doing gesture drawing n life studies! rmb to have fun when practicing n learning,

dont pressure urself too much! enjoy the experience :] ! messy sketches r good!! not everything has to look good or perfect! my sketchbooks from way back were just doodles, pencil sketches no color mostly, theres an occasional lined one w markers , ballpen, n some highlighters, n my drawings were either smth funny that happened w me n frens with our personas or making ocs for my faves or ocs for me in general!

ur sketchbook doesnt have to look pretty its like ur diary but its art ykno! ur thoughts in visual form for the day! (again all up to u as long as u have fun! its all different 4 everyone!)

anw tysm again!! sorry if this was all over the place HAHSAW i tried my best but these r the tips i keep in mind most of the time or the ones i hold closest to me n that i try to apply as much as i cud! if u need anything else clarified just lmk! not the best w words but hopefully it helps :'')! most of the stuff i mentioned here i also need to take into practice HAHWHAW so mb its gud 4 me to write this down so i can finally push myself to do stuff,

[salvadoerena]

hey! this is chance & here’s this week’s prompt. what websites or resources do you use while you write or develop a character/story? what do you think of them and would you recommend them?

OOOOO GOOD QUESTION!!

Funnily enough, tumblr is one of the main ones. My characters tend to develop from ye olde tumblr oc ask/rp blogs, so I got in the habit of reblogging a lot of funny posts tagging my characters. It still happens even if I'm not tagging them. For example if there's a post like "every friend group has the chihuahua, the yorkie, and the borzoi" or like, a picture of someone holding a giant mouse or something, in my head I go "haha, yeah Andy is tooootally a yorkie. Too much energy and slight diva tendencies" or "oh man giant versions of little things would be rad. is there a way I can worldbuild on that? more oxygen in grounded islands means bigger bugs?"

Sometimes, if I'm looking for inspiration regarding character designs/fashion references, I might go on picrew or pinterest and just look and see different styles people might have or mess around with doll makers. Usually picrew doesn't have what I'm looking for exactly, but it'll be something like "oh there's a fishnet top in this one. i think Mareilli would absolutely wear this" or "oh this is a fun hairstyle. i should give more of my characters long hair so they can do more updo's," you know? So if you're looking for character design/inspo, highly recommend!!

If you wanted my biggest website inspiration though, it's probably youtube. I spend a lot of time on there watching speedpaints/character designs/costume builds/etc and it's a HUUUUGE inspiration. A lot of dichotomies I make between Grounded/Aerin islands comes from listening to people like Bernadette Banner regarding like...okay so like she made a video re: the costuming choices in Game of Thrones and that REALLY sent me on a spiral into looking at what differences in fashion and textiles you would find in islands that...float...and have windstorms haha;;;

This turned out a lot longer than I thought it would so the rest is under the cut! (Please read under the cut there's some writing programs and editing services I recommended under there).

And I know everyone says this but seriously: consume as much media as possible. I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how much television, music, film, books, anime, manga, comics, podcasts, and video games have either driven me to better my writing or have inspired me to make certain creative choices.

A lot of things from Seraetia were heavily inspired by Black Sails, from things like costume design to obfuscating certain characters' motives to me deciding to go whole hog on including polyamory as an end-game relationship status for some characters. Reading The Locked Tomb series and the Percy Jackson and the Olympians (plus literally everything else in that series haha) really pushed me into forcing myself to work on my imagery and prose, while also forcing me to think about pacing and how/if I should write it as a saga or how arcs should work. Nonfiction stories and documentaries also help!! Though, I'm pretty biased as I'm more into animals and psychological research, but I have definitely referred to those things when thinking up like, units of measurement and cuisine and things.

Also do NOT underestimate the power of infodumping and word vomiting with friends. When I write out my acknowledgements, @okiedoki and @miscbeary are going to be front and center "Thank you guys so much for letting me speak nonsense for hours on end and just nodding along." Roleplay with friends!! Even silly little inconsequential things or alternate universes or iterations upon iterations will help you to flesh out your characters! I've come up with so much about James and he's gone through so much development because I would go "Haha what if he was in the modern world he'd probably own an iguana that would be funny. Why an iguana...? You know, it's probably because he likes to be seen as different, but also because he just thinks they're cool. They're dinosaur-like and he enjoys the fact that something so unconventional and kind of scary can love and be loved--OH MY GOD JAMES SEES HIMSELF AS A MONSTER AND USES THE IGUANA TO PROJECT AND TEACH HIMSELF HE'S WORTHY OF LOVE."

*cracks knuckles*

Now in terms of actual programs you can use to write stories!!

Google Docs tends to be my go-to, but ever since I discovered StimuWrite 2, I tend to switch between both. Since I do most of my writing at night, Gdocs is really harsh on my eyes (even with f.lux, blue light glasses, and darkreader), so I like that you can set a gentler background on StimuWrite. Even better, it makes my ADHD brain happy and actually stay on task bc there's so much stimulation in there lol The only downside is that it doesn't really save your work (there's an emergency back-up it creates, but it's only for the last couple of writing sessions I believe), so I'll use it to write out a bulk portion and then transfer it to Gdocs.

If you're planning on writing a serious novel and want something with a little bit more organizational prowess, I would go with Scrivener. It has a lot of bells and whistles that are actually pretty neat, like being able to save reference documents/photos and putting it in the same "container" as the actual writing passage. Honestly? It's a lot. But!! It includes a built-in tutorial that does a REALLY good job of going through everything, so highly highly HIGHLY recommend following it because it explains the features very well and I do quite like them! Unfortunately, it does cost $60, but it's a one-time purchase and genuinely very useful.

If you're more into screenwriting that novels and the like, cannot recommend FadeIn enough. We had to use that in my Creative Screenwriting class and it was SO easy to use and made exporting scripts SUCH a breeze. In fact, Welcome to Irth was entirely developed in FadeIn, haha.

If you're looking for more like, art resources I would go with things like Clip Studio Paint/Paint Tool SAI. I used to use FireAlpaca like a decade ago, and I really enjoyed it! Can't say how well it's held up, though. PureRef is great too!! It helps you keep track of your reference images, and you can set it to "float" on top of other programs.

FINALLY LAST BUT NOT LEAST!!!

If you're looking for an editing service, please please PLEASE look into RoseLark Publishing. I had the privilege of working with them this past summer getting a Manuscript Assessment and I'm so glad I did. They're very professional and are great at communicating their timelines and everything! They might still be accepting editing assessment applications at this time, but you can shoot them an e-mail on their contact page!

Anyways, I am going to stop myself here or I will literally not shut up. Thank you for asking!! I looooooove love talking about my writing and apparently about the writing process as well, lol.

[lucygriefer]

Mythcraft Axel

This is Axel from MCSM. Within the world of Mythcraft he is a bugbear. A Bugbear from what the Mythical creature definition says (cause there is the word and then the creature itself) a Bugbear is a legendary creature and/or a type of hobgoblin that is like the boogeyman. Used to scare children who misbehave. You can also find them within the world of D&D.

For the bear portion of Mythcraft Axel I used the Sun bear as a reference. If you don’t know what a sun bear is, have fun looking them up because they can be a bit scary to look at. Especially when they're standing. Plus I hope you all like the design I gave him.

I'm gonna try to upload at least one piece of art the latest art that I've done and upload over the past year. So here we go the continuation of the finished Mythcraft characters. The next one for upload will be two pieces since their the same character. Though I guess the next one would have 3 if I get the final form to the character done. Though it would be done by the time I upload it tomorrow. Oh well

Does anyone want me to add a link to my YouTube channel so you can all watch the speedpaints that I've done for these characters? Just let me know and I can do that!

[theeyeofthetigger]

✨Shop and Commission Information✨

✨My shop website is here (I have moved away from Etsy) ✨My ko-fi page is here ✨The tumblr update account for my shop is @cheshirepins​ ✨The twitter update account for my shop is here ✨The instagram update account for my shop is here ✨My tiktok where I post shop updates and art speedpaints is here If you ever want to see a wip/finished commission piece or order packed, please let me know what platform to tag you on, and what name to tag, so that you can share the final result! (Commissions will also be emailed/sent privately)

!Commission info below the cut!

✨Commission prices:

$20 - Single bust shot, lined, no color

$30 - Single bust shot, lined, colored

$40 - One full person, lined, no color

$60 - Full body, full color person

+$20 for a full, detailed background

+$5 if you would like me to outline the character/s against a flat color

>additional people prices, all prices per each extra person in a pic<

+$10 - bust shot, lined, no color

+$20 - bust shot, lined, colored

+$30 - full person, lined, no color

+$40 - full body, full color

>>Price may increase if the background or subject is more detailed, but this will be case by case and open to negotiation. If you want just a simple color for the bg, then just let me know. (bg in example would be the additional price, a flat color is included in price and character/s can be outlined in white/another color if requested) Please send me an ask on here or an email at katmissions@gmail.com if you have any questions about anything listed!

✨Ko-fi Sketch Requests: Minimum of 2 coffees, but the final total is up to you.These will be more quickly sketched, and if you go over 2 ($5 each) ko-fis, then I will do them in quick color. Basically a pay-what-you-want system if you want just a quick return on something simple. These are usually done digitally, but I can also do them traditional and record me drawing it when I do ^^

✨Past commission examples:

✨Digital quick-sketch examples:

✨Traditional art examples:

[sigyn-foxyposts]

✧༺Get to know me༻✧

«Welcome dear traveller, let me give you a warm welcome to my page and introduce myself to you and what this pinned post is all about!»

＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚ This is a safe space for ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊

«Basically everyone! No matter what race, religion and or community you're from. We can all express ourselves and get along without judgement.»

«The least we can be is opened minded and not hate on each other. That is simply disrespectful!»

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* «Now on to who I might be..?»

*✧･ﾟ:* Some nicknames I use, especially online:

🦊 Foxy_Logryn9.

🦊 Artistfoxy16.

🦊 Sigyn, Thea or Thurl.

🦊 Sigynfoxy.

*✧･ﾟ:* Interesting facts:

«I am an INFP 2w1»

« I am an 18 year old digital artist, self taught and a writer. I mostly publish my creations here on Tumblr, Tiktok and on AO3, links are down below if you're ever curious.»

«I can speak 🇳🇴🇸🇪🇬🇧 and understand 🇩🇪🇮🇸🇩🇰»

«Norwegian and half Swedish! 🇳🇴🇸🇪»

"I'm also norse heathen! Specifically one that follows Rökkatru!»

«My birthday is on the 8th of september, which makes me a Virgo!»

«I have AUDHD, Anxiety, PTSD and happen to be born premature as well.»

«My anniversary is on the 13th of march!»

«I go by she/her and they/them pronouns, read more on my pronouns page here ⬇ if you'd like :) »

✿❀ My beloved mutuals: <33

@sparrowmp4 (Hubbie/Wifey Totally not Loki in disguise💜)

@heldril (online daughter Hel 🖤🤍)

@cosmolumine (Online daughter💙)

Price/Stella (Online Child💛)

@kaonashihime (Online lil sister!❤)

@comfort-characters-galore (Perse mutual!❤🥀)

@stravberryie (mutual!🩷🍓)

@amphibifish (heimdall mutual! 💜🦅)

@foxboio (Mutual fox! 🧡🦊)

@jonquilclegane (Fellow sigyn enjoyer Sunny 💛)

✿❀At last, what will I be doing here?

«I would like to use this account to share as much as I can with the people who are actually interested! I like to provide content for my interests and HUGE hyperfixiations, which does vary and some examples can be..»

Norse mythology (any culture, mythology or folklore in general)

SMITE

Dislyte

Afk arena/Journey

Lego monkie kid

Record of Ragnarok

The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok

Destripando la historia

Five Nights At Freddy's

Undertale & Deltarune

Creepypasta

Dont Hug Me Im Scared

Welcome Home

Genshin Impact

MLP

JJBA

Danganronpa

Kamigami no Asobi

Jujutsu kaisen

Demon slayer

Hunter x Hunter

Vinland saga

«Don't be shy to send me a request or message if you want me to draw, make an edit, write about something related to these interests of mine!!»

«After all, that's what I'll be mostly posting on here. Plus the stories/personal headcannons I have. Also whatever research that I can find and or share! :D»

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ Other social media☽༓･*˚⁺‧

Writer Account: @sigyns-drafts

RP Account: @sigynfoxysworld

『••✎••』 Toy house: Artist_foxy

『••✎••』 UnVale: Sigynfoxy

«I use these two to keep track of my art and original characters. Though it would be fun to share :)»

『••✎••』 Tiktok: Logryn_foxyedits

https://www.tiktok.com/@logryn_foxyedits?_t=8b2H82LF3G1&_r=1

«I am very much active here! Posting edits and some art as much as I can about mythology and it's pop-cultures that I like!»

『••✎••』 PDB: Sigynfoxying_around

https://www.personality-database.com/user/2249660

«I just have an account there because it's fun to collect and see what I have in common with my favorite characters and kins!»

『••✎••』 Spotify: Thea or Thurl?

https://open.spotify.com/user/yvlfbdp7n70aa6653f3y6lz9i?si=rI6qugqMQgCmHLc1TOZPug

«This is where I keep all my playlists, I've made a few character playlists already!»

『••✎••』 YouTube: sigynfoxy69

https://youtube.com/@sigynfoxy69?si=TElPF8bPd_q--8QO

«I barely post on here, but when I do it's just a speedpaint or silly videos that I made, that I personally thought was suitable for YouTube!»

『••✎••』 Instagram: artistfoxy_16

«Instagram is more of an archive if anything, I used to post on there a long time ago and try to! :)»

『••✎••』 Discord: sigynfoxy

«Send me a request if you ever wanna talk on there! Though be warned if I don't recognize you I'll most likely ignore you ^^'»

『••✎••』 AO3: Artistfoxy16

https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artistfoxy16

«Finally at last my AO3 Account, so you can easily find me and enjoy my writings!!»

[primaverabutitalreadyexists]

Ma'am? Sir? Glorious divine that blesses us with gorgeous Viktor art? I love you so much <3

Your art is freaking stunning and, as an artist who's an absolute sucker for lighting, I am legitimately salivating over how you deal with light in your scenes and the way shadows are used to set emotion and the like.

Your expressions are on point and your poses are so expressive it's almost violent. I love how I can briefly glance at a piece and immediately know the type of mood it has by the position of a character.

Your colour theory has me writhing in envy/adoration and that embroidery pattern on V's corset vest is gorgeous and if I ever had intention to get one I would love that design. I can almost feel the texture of the fabric by how you paint it and that is so skillful of you!!

***

I'm sorry for all the nonsense happening on twitter, it's the main reason I will never post there. Most people tend to go there to start conflict or be unreasonably defensive and I am not mentally able to live like that.

As for the specifics, I am not someone who is disabled so won't even try and speak on the disability side of things but will happily say somethin on their way of responding. I think the way you replied was perfectly legible. Any misunderstanding could have been from them not bein an artist or familiar with art terms, so not getting what you meant by setting, but it's a simple word so not really an excuse here.

It seems to me like they had no intention of hearing your response at all by purposefully readin setting as "situation" and their reply being *setting but whatever as if the two words are interchangeable.

***

As a long standing creature of tumblr, I can say pretty confidently that you are very welcome here. We love ourselves a content creator and your willingness to respond to asks and such on the subject is a god-send.

Anyways, this is getting long, so apologies!!!! But I hope you're doing well and please don't let this stop you from releasing/working on some of your art. I would die to see that braced/heraldish version of Viktor because the pose there is *chef's kiss*.

Also do not feel off about posting unfinished or WIP pieces because we will most definitely lap that up here XD

Finally, before I let your inbox rest lmao, do you have any speedpaints at all? I love your art and seeing the process would be incredible. Also... I just... really like speedpaints 😏

~ 💭

Wow thank you so much for that looong message, I appreciate it!! ❤️

Do not hesitate to message me your art account so I can take a look at your work 👀

I honestly think the same way as you, they absolutely wanted to be right and to pick a fight, and there was no way to settle this in an adult way. A shame, but I move on.

Im so glad to hear that you can tell the difference of mood based on the poses, it means I did my job well, and it’s the best compliment I can get!

The amount of unfinished pieces I have in my silly little iPad is discouraging Ahah I want to finish them all at once, but I can’t help having an obsessive idea, scribbling a sketch and then never coming back to it, it’s frustrating!

And oh my god YES I have the Timelapse video of each of my artwork and I have to post them, so if there is a Timelapse you want to see first, do not hesitate to tell me! ❤️