#also trying out a messier style of sketches

[cocoabats]

im starting a hotguy&cutguy matching tattos propaganda

[blueathn]

Obligatory coffee shop au art

Close-ups and ramblings under the cut because I spent waaay too long on this

Welcome to my brain soup.

Disclaimer, I didn’t really plan this piece and just kept adding concepts as I went, so it’s kind of all over the place. It’s more a big patchwork of dumb ideas I got excited over, rather than a well thought-out drawing, but I like it as it is! It feels like my brain did when I was reading htn :]

1. The whole concept behind this is just "Vintage coffee ad but make it the griddlehark coffee shop au". I was aiming for cheerful but also not quite right, in a very stock photo kind of way if that makes sense. Gideon is smiling but she is not a willing participant in this. Also that coffee is cold.

I - very predictably - took inspiration from Leyendecker’s work, since his ads and posters are the first that come to my mind when I think "vintage ad", and also because I do feel like his painting technique is close to how I naturally paint. This is not meant to be a study of his style tho, I didn’t try to break it down on more than a very superficial level.

2. 3. Nothing special to say, just Gideon’s arms (her perfect biceps are hidden from view lest they cause a riot in the cafeteria). Also arm hair. I feel like it’s becoming a recurring feature in my art lol

4. I debated whether or not to add a foam skull on the coffee then ultimately decided against it. That’s one skull too many, and honestly Gideon neither has the skill nor the patience to attempt one. Let’s be real, if they let her have access to the pitcher she’d make tits. So here is your tits-free coffee, courtesy of the Cohort photoshop editors.

5. Isaac, sporting the Fourth’s blue not only in dress but also in his questionnable choice of eye makeup. They have matching haircut only so Jeanne can showcase how much better it looks on her.

6. This is where I finally have something clever-ish to say. Thoughts ! I have them ! Sometimes. So. Harrow. You can’t see it but she has a nose piercing as well - this is relevant to spreading my agenda that Harrow is full of bone (piercings, that is). Sue me, I forgot that they let her keep her face paint in this scene. Onto the actual thought process.

This is where Abigail interrupts the scene, before Harrow can catch a glimpse of barista!Gideon. Her interruption is shown by the unfinished look of this panel : the sketch lines peeking through (in a reddish hue, to mimic sanguine, the red chalk that artists used to draw sketches and studies - and also because the contrast of the colors makes it pop better against her skin) + the rendering is messier from the neck and down.

Abigail is blocking half of Harrow from view - I wanted to have her hide Harrow’s eyes and thus line of sight entirely, but I feared Harrow wouldn’t be as recognizable with more than half her face hidden, frowny eyebrows and all.

Abigail herself is meant to look out of place here, without taking too much attention away from Gideon. I drew her in a much simpler style, using a more monochromatic palette and cell shading, to contrast against the rest of the gang, where I used a lot more color variation and a more detailed & textured painting style.

That’s about all I have on this, if you got this far thank you! Your support is much appreciated. If you liked this drawing I’d be overjoyed if you reblogged it and left your thoughts in the tags/notes! I’m always happy when I read them, even just a "#nice" makes my day.

[excali8ur]

How did you get so good at drawing? And do you have any tips??? (Pls I'm a beginner help)

Honestly dude you never get good at art. It's sweet that people like my stuff but I still feel like most of it sucks and I think that's sort of an inherent part of drawing lmao. You've just gotta decide to keep doing it anyway because it matters to you

I do have a few tips for improving your technical drawing though:

Do figure sketching. If you can go to in-person life drawing classes that's great, and there'll usually be at least a few running if you live in a city/big town, but you can do it online too. Here are some websites I use: Line of Action / SketchDaily / Quick Poses. Try drawing with different lengths of time (so start with poses appearing for 30 seconds, then move up to 1 minute, then 2, then 5, then 10). Also don't feel too bad if the first few times you try it and the sketches don't turn out quite right or the proportions get messed up or you run out of time. It's part of the process & you'll improve the longer you keep at it. Just try to use longer & messier lines and don't focus on the details until you have basic shapes blocked out. (This is literally what I tell anyone who asks me for art advice because it's about the only drawing exercise I ever deliberately do lmao)

Draw real life subjects and not just from photos- it's more challenging but helps you develop your observation & sketching skills. This includes still life and landscapes/architecture as well as living things btw

Use references as much as you can. I suck at this but it'll genuinely make you improve faster if you do lmao. You can find loads of references on Google or DeviantArt but I also have some specific places I get them from: JookpubStock / Fat Photo Ref (requires registering but I can verify they're legit) / AdorkaStock / Teamwarchicken (actually my blog that I use for collecting images)

When you're learning to shade remember that you're shading a 3 dimensional object, and try to avoid just doing shading around the very edges of things. Same goes for highlights.

Try drawing in different styles and subjects you don't usually draw. If you can afford it try out different physical art materials too. It helps keep the art block at bay if nothing else lmao

Don't be a perfectionist. Learn to just say "good enough" and not obsess over mistakes. It's better to draw lots of slightly wonky things than one thing that you freaked out about getting perfect.

If anyone else has any other advice/resources then please add them! I do not know as much about art as people think I do hjfgjkhdf

[kikker-oma]

hi friend!

idk how you phrase this but like

How do you draw bodies

because your art style is so good and I’m trying to find mine but people just don’t make sense to me 🥲

but aside from that, how is your day been?

Line of Action - best for figure drawing practice

@mellon-soup - has an INCREDIBLE repetoir of pose references. Here's their insta handle!

PROKO - has a lot of really great drawing fundamental resources on their YouTube channel for free. They also have paid online courses that go more in depth!

PoseManiacs - I used this when I was trying to learn and practice poses as well!

@miyuliart - on Twitter (or X , whatever it is) has a lot of great posts regarding pose study and anatomy! She even has some books for purchase too.

Lovely Blare, you are so sweet!! I'm glad you like my art style ❤️ it's definitely still being developed and I'm no master, but. I'm having fun building up my skills!

See below the break for more info cus this is kinda long lol

Above I've listed just a few of the many many many resources out there to study poses. These tend to be the people I look to most for references, tho they aren't the only ones!

If you're looking to practice and get better at anatomy and the fluidity of your poses, I would suggest starting by drawing actual people first. That way you know how real bodies move and twist and turn and what masclues go where. It makes simplifying and stylizing easier down the road!

Something I did a LOT, and honestly still do a lot, is find pictures of people or art of characters whose poses I like and just try to draw what I see. I have sketchbooks fuuulll of poses I copied just to practice! Tracing can definitely have it's value as well when you're learning!

I utilize Pinterest a lot to creat difference boards for reference photos I may need, and it's come in handy quite often!

I can show you how *I * draw bodies in general, but know that I kind of flub around until something starts to feel right haha. I'm still learning and practicing as well! How I draw bodies may now work for you and that's chill! Its all about trying out lots of different styles and seeing what you like best, or what methods make sense to you.

Fair warning: this probs isn't the most accurate tutorial, I just kinda threw something down as a general example hehe. I'm preaching about references but didn't want to use one at the moment cus I'm tired haha

Often my sketches are much messier and I just make lots of lines so I can find the "right one" lol.

These are some sketches I did for Peggys fan art!

Basically, just keep practicing until it eventually starts to look right lol

[kirnet]

Easy Texture Tutorial!

I've gotten a few comments lately abt the texture in my latest portraits so I wanted to show how I do it using just one brush!

This is pretty much it. Go to your brush settings, find the color jitter settings and turn it on. The higher the hue/saturation/luminosity sliders are, the more pronounced they are at forming different bands of color. I'm just using the default oil paint flat brush in clip studio; it has a bit of a blend built into it that makes it good for painting.

From there I take my sketch, lay a flat background down with my brush, fill in the flats on that same layer, then rough in where I want the shadow and highlights to go. (I changed the background color to something I like better by just painting on that same layer.) This helps create a lot of visual interest by blending colors in some places and leaving the background color peeking through in others. I also try to pick shadows and highlights from around the color wheel, not just the same color as the flats. You can see my layers here (very complicated):

Then I merge everything down to one layer and render! In order to create even more interest and take the pressure off of smooth rendering, I use hatching. Hatching is using lines that curve around the shape that you are drawing in order to make it appear more dimensional. it will make the piece feel more 3-D without having to spend a bunch of time smoothing things out. Because the color jitter and the hatching add a lot of activity, I try to simplify my shadows into flat shapes of flat color. Honestly, the simple way is the best way to go most of the time.

There! The brush does literally all the work of making the piece appear fuller. Instead of having to go in and manually add pores, bumps, and other bits of surface variation, the brush simulates it for you! Also, colorpicking gives you a chance of getting different colors from the one you originally put down, which means your adding more color variation around your piece. I think this lends very nicely to a messier/sketchier painting style like my own!

[yugiohz]

Hi! I’m sorry I hope I’m not bothering. I remember you mentioned you liked traditional drawing more than digital, and that you like the messier strokes rather than a very clean style. I was wondering how do you chose what to keep from your sketches when it comes to messiness when rendering. As in, what lines you chose to keep or erase when coloring. I ask because I love how your art looks and it’s very flowy and not stiff at all.

thank you :) I’m not doing anything specific tbh I just look at the piece and try to figure out which parts I like, usually it’s the long lines with good movement in them and I erase the shorter lines as short strokes tend to take away from the flow. as a general tip I think it’s helps to exchange lot of small strokes for one or two longer strokes, let the lineart show your movement/direction/process I think that’s also what adds to the dynamic of a sketch?

[mafufuu]

hihi arte! 3, 17, 19, & 24 for the artist ask game?

hihihi ruya webe been on a call which is silly but i hope youre doing well rn !!

3. your favorite piece(s)?

as of now, my most favorite piece, off the top my head, is the greyscale thing i drew of lucia from tmk. i was messing around with brushes i had saved but never really used and the textures came out nice. i like the work i did on that canvas in general, i felt i got a good hold on her character. i tend to be happy with full body colored stuff i do of characters as of recent. most things i crank up the warmness on for a character and then slap a square bg on i tend to be more than satisfied with. same goes with playing around with brushes. fuuta trash and trash was a fun dabble in trying to recreate another style, and la maine de gloire i like for similar reasons. i hold a fondness for my deep cover william wisp redraw and we outta lightbulbs though that may just stem from a lot of attention on a pice that took a lot of effort

17. what is something youre confident about in your art?

uhhhhhhhhhhhhh i suppose my color choices and stylization. i like toning up the warmness + saturation and lowering the brightness of my art for a cozier feel and i like how it turns out. whenever i do contrast checks (literally just turning a piece to black and white to see if my values are good) the results are pretty good. i think most of the reason why im confident in my stylization is i just kinda like how it looks. some amount of the time i just do doodles that are just linework so i feel like ive gotten comfortable in how i translate things and i also tend to work from references. also ive been told my art style is quite unique and i feel that is the root of it

19. where do you find inspiration?

inspiration! this one is fun! at least for some amount of how i do(/did) eyes and how i color i draw from lavendertowne! her art is very cozy and nice looking, its cartoony but you can see anime influences in it. i think that's probably my main one. i also look up to drawing wiff waffles, she was the first artist i ever really became a fan of! whenever i do pick up alcohol markers (not much nowadays) i make sure to use a colored pencil for sketching. she's prolly also the reason i make sure to carry a kneaded eraser for traditional art. i like watching scott christian sava's videos. being an older artist with more life experience makes him sorta feel like the most mentor-y to me. also he's very nice and some amount active here. yunayuispink is who i mainly use for tutorials. their art style is simple but that is not to say its bad! the colors are nice and the linework is nice. i also like marikyuun's art. her use of linewidth and colored lines makes her work very merchandise-esque as she says. i own a couple studio ghibli art books that i should probably be busting out more for references. their films are very pretty. i also like to take bits and bobs from my moots' art styles that i think are cool. for instance, i think the main reason i tend to gravitate toward thin messy lineart is @/not scorb on here. though i think mine tends to lean messier (or maybe moreso them doing it gave me the confidence to post art like that.) i also take influences from other anime/manga, vaguely, often to the point where i just kinda forget the names. there's probably more but this list is very long already so ill stop

24. whats a compliment about your art that has always stuck with you?

hm. im not really sure. it might be from my bad memory in all honesty but i feel like most of the compliments ive gotten recently just tend to be a "great work!" which i dont mind or take for granted but its not really that descriptive, yknow? actually i remembered one. one time i drew different characters from a thing in chairs i thought suited them (lore rise) sitting based upon their character and i remember someone told me i was talented from the way i portrayed my personalities from how they sit. it really stuck for some reason, i dont know why actually. also being told my art is unique when i was asking my sib to describe my art style bcuz i didnt really know how. it just felt nice to know it was really something that felt like mine !

thank you for the ask !! have a nice rest of your whatever

[etautkusarts102-02]

The project I worked on last week was typography abstraction. When first starting the project I decided to check out how all of the letters worked/looked once manipulated, so that I could get a better idea of the type I was working with. I originally thought I was going to do a messier look, but then when I chose 3 different fonts I went with angles instead because it was easier to mask the shape design when the letters were aligned. Once I finished the final product I liked what I came up with, but when I showed them to someone I then realized I did not push the legibility because she could still tell what some of the letters were. Next time to do better I would potentially make the type a bigger size and try to make it messier or make a pattern, so that people view it from an aesthetic view instead of trying to search for letters. I think that if someone who didn't know what the project was they might not see the letters within it, but I stared at it too long so in my mind they were not legible. This week I am starting Project 3 (poster with a famous quote) and thinking of doing it in a different medium like photography. I have never added my own medium onto InDesign or photoshop, so I will have to explore that more and I also have never scanned in any illustrations. I am making sketches right now, but I need more abstract ideas- mine are very on the nose and I am in desperate need for inspiration. Out of all my sketches I am leaning toward the simpler ones because then I can do more with the typography to emphasize the quote itself. From the reading I learned that collaboration is key in the art industry today because of how many different social/internet platforms and media exist. Also, when finding partners to collaborate with it is best to find someone with a similar aesthetic and style on projects. Though it is important to find someone that has knowledge in areas you do not and vice versa, so that you can learn from each other and know parts of each area of the business.

[traveli]

Sketchbook Entry: Alpha and Oskar It feels so good, to do these couple again. I really like them and it‘s a bit sad, that I don‘t draw them to often. This time I don‘t use any pencils for the sketch and use a fineliner instead. It was a fun activity and it gives a unique style. I know it‘s messier than if I would start with a pencil, but it has a own charm and the look also kinda lively. Especially if the simple coloring. That means, I want to try to do more sketching without a pencil and look how it‘s goes. #sketchbookentry #sketch #sketching #artstudies #artpractice #owncharacter #oc #fantasycharacters #owncharacters #unicorns #lineart #lineartsketch #fineliner #fineliners #finelinerart #artsketch #messy #wild #unicorns #warmcolors #coldcolors #sketchbooks Do you like this kind of art, then check out my redbubble store :D   Link is here: TraveliArt.redbubble.com https://www.instagram.com/p/Ckfvh6LKlQ-/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[drawingwithgreen13]

How do you make your sprite edits?

Hey! I'm flattered that you're interested, that's very sweet of you <3 I'm sorry if this reply came later than you expected but I thought for this I'd made a small tutorial, so I had to get screenshots for the whole process and stuff ehfuerhgr

So first, I start with grabbing the DRS bathing suit sprite of the character I want to edit because those sprites have the least amount of detail for me to erase (for this example let's use Junko)

Then I turn the opacity down on her model and start a basic sketch of the outfit design on top of it on another layer. Because the base has a lot of dark lines and details, I change the colour of the sketch to bright red so it's easier to see the difference.

After that, I make a new layer and start the lineart. Because the artstyle uses inconsistent line length, I try to do the same with my lines (a good tip is to see how the line width looks on the original base and try to mimic it on your own lines, it may not be 100% accurate but it'll at least be closer to the original style than if you used the same width throughout)

Then, I add the colours and the shading. This part gets a little complicated, because instead of doing the base colours and the shading on the same layer, I make one layer for the shading and then create another layer for the colours, which I put underneath the shading layer so I can keep the shading consistent (another tip: follow the shadows on the original base where appropriate and then add any extra shadow for stuff like fabric folds. This is especially important if you're editing a female character because of the shading around their breasts)

Next, I go back to the base and edit out any details from the original bathing suit that wouldn't be there with the new outfit (Junko's actually a good example for this, as her bathing suit covers her midsection but my outfit design doesn't, so I would have to edit it to look like it's exposed)

(Another tip is to add shading in accordance to the new outfit, such as the beaded armband in the picture above)

Buckle up for this part because it's a Lot-

This part might be a little confusing because I realised after taking the screenshots that I might have done the process...out of order? Compared to how I usually do them at least lmao. So what I ended up doing was blurring the lineart and shading layers slightly to match the blurriness of the original sprite, merging those layers + the colour layer together, making yet another layer, choosing a dark colour that fits the palette of the original character and making a circular gradient over the outfit, as the original sprite also has a gradient.

Then I searched for the polka-dot texture you see in Junko's hair and overlaid it with the outfit, resized it, blurred it and set it's opacity to where it matches with Junko's hair as much as possible (thanks @sir-sunny for this tip!)

(The texture that I use is the first result that shows up on Google Images when you search 'danganronpa texture overlay', which was made by JLE42 on Deviantart, who says it's free to use)

Generally I don't name my layers, and I usually delete the obselete ones as I go on, but for the sake of this tutorial I decided to keep them so y'all know what they look like. These are the result of this one edit:

(Before the gradient)

(After the gradient)

After that, I add every layer except the sketch layer together so it's one image (depending on the layering, I have to add certain layers in different orders so the last image is as neat as possible)

And there you have it! I'm sorry if this got hard to follow, this is my first real tutorial and I'm extremely bad at articulating myself efhiuerg. I hope it's at least enough for you to get an idea of how I work!

(Any messy bits I intentionally left in because the THH sprites are messier than the other games and I wanted to replicate the style as much as possible)

(Program is Firealpaca btw lol)

[pakhnokh]

Could you (please, please, please) show how you draw wangxian? Like their body proportions or what you use for drawing?

Hello! Wow I’ve never been asked that question before! I’ll try to answer the best I can. First, what I use for drawing: I draw on procreate, and the brushes I use can change. I have like 3 brushes I use for lineart, and as for coloring, I go wild! I don’t even remember what I use for each drawing (except for comics where it’s really just cell shading). I do my linearts with a pen brush (mostly for comics), with a 6B pencil brush (most of my drawings) or pen set on low opacity if I want something messier. I usually tend to color lineart.

As for the characters I draw, I base my wangxian on donghua/manhua design, like proportions, hair style, clothes etc…. though I tend to the manhua’s one (especially Lan Wangji’s older style in the manhua, anatomically/facial structure speaking)

When I draw wangxian, the style can really change according to the mood of the drawing. For example, if the piece is really leaking with stupidity, I can even make lwj totally OOC with these kind of faces:

However back to the normal narrative setting, lwj is mostly restrained while most of the gestures are from wwx’s part.

Anatomically speaking, I draw lwj more masculine. He’s taller than wwx, more built, and his face features are sharper. Drawing his expression, I mostly try to reflect all of his feelings through his eye’s/eyebrows.

I draw wwx with softer features, but I don’t really like making him feminine. I guess my style of him changed the most throughout my 1 year being in this fandom, because before MDZS I really tended to draw more “manly” men, so in my first works he looks sharper and more built, and lately I started drawing him thinner, and softer, but I still try to avoid too feminine features. His style of drawing really depends on the role he plays in my work. Is he a gremlin? Is he a badass? Is he coquettish?

There’s something else I do occasionally, especially since the protagonist is wwx, and we mostly know more about him and his feelings than those of lwj. To be honest, as opposed to wei wuxian who’s really an open book with all his actions and all his “roles”, lan wangji is somewhat of a mystery. We see his actions and reactions through wwx’s eyes. I guess that is what sometimes makes me “hide” lwj’s face, of parts of it.

But I sometimes also love drawing a rather angry expression on lwj because it’s what wwx said he loves seeing on him isn’t it? Hehehe. I just really love expressing lwj’s state through his eyes/eyebrows, especially since he’s a block face type of guy.

That’s it I guess? I hope I could answer your question and to share my way of seeing wangxian. If you want to see sketches, wips and full process videos, you can also check out my patreon where I share those!

[cloverwoodss]

Hello!!! I have said this before and I'll say it again: I have always adored your art style

I had always had a talent for drawing, but I only ever drew by looking at a drawing and making an exact copy of the drawing. I never dared making my own art because I didn't want to fail. But you inspired me. I tried getting out of my comfort zone. I wanted to be like you. I wanted to be that artist on Tumblr that had the cute art style. I wanted to be the artist that loved drawing Tom's hair

I have been improving, and honestly, I'm not doing too bad. I'm ok in traditional art, but I've been trying digital

And I don't know how to do line art. HOW DO YOU TRACE???? It's a pain. :,) If you don't mind, could you give some tips?

But, what I wanted to say was: Thank you. You may not have been aware of it, but you had been great inspiration. You made me get up do it. And hey, who knows who else you've helped

Thank you <3

Hey there! (You asked a single question and I wrote practically an essay, I'm so sorry aaa)

First- Thank you so much gOSH :’0 That means SO SO SO much to me. Anyone considering me an inspiration is one of thee biggest compliments I could ever get. <33

There are a few art programs, but it seems most have a “Stabilizer” now. It helps smooth out lines when you draw, making more fluid looking lines. I sometimes have shaky hands due to medication and anxiety. So it really helps!! I'd look into it, but I personally use Clip Studio and it does have a stabilizer options under tool properties when a brush is selected.

This might help as well but- I wouldn’t think of doing line art as “tracing” you’re re-drawing the sketch on top of it. If you only consider the sketch’s lines and think of tracing the lines it will end up like those “the sketch” vs “the line art” memes. It’s hard to explain- sketches can be messier so your eye sees the thicker part of sketches and “fills in” what it considers to be right. So you're still drawing when you line art, still analyzing and correcting as you go. Also have the sketch layer at much lower opacity. Don’t have it in a light color and at 100%, the chances of drawing on the wrong layer is higher that way. Some programs have a "lock" option for layers so you could even lock it so you don't do it on accident.

My OTHER advice is. You don’t HAVE to line art. You can clean up your sketch, leave it a little messy and consider it good enough. There’s nothing wrong with that! :) Duplicate the layer and hide the original so you can always go back to that if you don't like how it's coming out. and SAVE SAVE SAVE.

And don’t even get me started on how much I love Tom’s hair and drawing it ; u; I love drawing fluffy hair so so much.

Another piece of advice I have is- similar to how you mentioned re-drawing other's art you can use that to study. Don't 'just' draw what you see, try to really look at it and think but why was it drawn that way? Then draw it yourself a few times using structure and guide lines. just REALLY study it and it could really help you learn. Just don't upload or claim it as yours obvi.

I allow anyone to study my art as long as it isn't uploaded. Technically you don't have to ask to do so if you stick to the "Study it and don't upload it" rule. And look into multiple artists! Experiment with different ideas and ways of doing stuff. When it comes to art styles don't worry about that too much. Don't feel bad if it seems inconsistent or keeps changing. That will always be apart of life. You learn, you gain more experience, you change and you grow.

Wishing you the best with everything!! <3

[tipsycad147]

Going to a faery festival? Costume tips and ideas

by Michelle Gruben

One of the best parts of attending any festival is putting together a killer outfit. Faeries especially love fashion, frivolity, and the art of disguise. But budget, weather, and travel concerns can have any faery feeling less than magickal. Costuming for outdoor festivals is challenging, but it’s worth it when you get to run around with other faeries in a beautiful natural setting.

Are you going to Faerieworlds? Glastonbury? Or another faery festival or Renaissance faire? Here’s some ideas to help plan the faery costume of your dreams.

Inspiration

Maybe you already know what kind of Fae you want to portray. A fairytale godmother with a giant updo and a poufy skirt? A lusty satyr with body paint and a loincloth? If you’ve already got the character idea in your head, start by drawing out a few quick sketches. (Don’t worry—you don’t have to show them to anyone.) Drafting out a plan will help you figure out what costume pieces you need to obtain. There’s no need to be too practical at this stage—let out your wildest ideas out on the page.

If you’re stumped, try looking at books, movies, and past festival photos for inspiration. Keep a folder of your favorite accessories and ideas. Borrowing like crazy is totally encouraged: Victorian, Gothic, Steampunk, Disney, Renaissance, Medieval, Lolita, D&D/LARP, Hippie, Psychedelic, Rave, Circus, Gypsy, Ballet, Carnivale, Tolkien and Tribal fashions have all had a notable influence on the garb that appears at Faery festivals. Look up any of these styles to uncover a wealth of inspiration--then combine at will!

Budget

In a perfect world, we faeries could just close our eyes, wiggle our nose, and (poof!) be transformed into a fantasy fashion plate. But we live in the (sigh) real world where money exists (and costumes cost a pile of it. A ready-made getup from a costume shop or clothier runs several hundred dollars or more, plus accessories. You gotta stay within your budget if you want to have any money left over for your ticket to the ball.

Fortunately, it is possible to put together a worthy costume without spending all the gold in Middle Earth. Faeries can be a scrappy lot, and nothing in the faery wardrobe need be shiny and new. What you do need is time. If you’re going to be scrounging, adapting, and making most of your costume, start early (like, several weeks before). Plus-size and teeny-tiny faeries may need even more time than that to find clothing in their size.

Thift stores and even your own closet can yield great base garments for your faery costume. Gypsy skirts, vests, sundresses, tunics and tights can all be easily modified or embellished. (Big tacky prom dresses are a great source for yards and yards of tulle!) Craft stores have fake flowers, ribbons, and feathers galore. Fabric scraps can be become appliques, junk jewelry can be taken apart and turned into faery bling.

It helps a lot if you can sew. If you can’t, take a class or have someone show you the basics. Faery sewing doesn’t have to be perfect—the messier, the better, really! But it sucks to have something fall apart the first time you wear it.

If you go the DIY route, be realistic. Some costume pieces take a lot of skill and are worth every penny. A circle skirt is relatively easy for a beginner to sew—a corset, not so much. It might be worth it to splurge on a purchase that will save you a giant headache. Plan ahead and build it into your figures—shopping at the last minute is a sure way to blow your budget.

Big multi-day festivals like Faerieworlds give you the opportunity to create multiple costumes and wear a different one each day. There are also various themed events (like Good Faeries/Bad Faeries). Obviously, this can get really expensive and cumbersome for travelers. A new hairpiece, overskirt, or bodice can freshen up yesterday’s costume (or last year’s) if a whole new outfit isn’t in the cards.

Transportation and Packing

While admiring your new 36” wings in the closet mirror, you realize that you have to get them to the festival. Oh crap. Make sure there’s enough room in your vehicle or luggage to bring the costume(s) you’re planning to wear.

Fabrics like rayon, silk, and cotton voile are wonderful for traveling faeries because they’re lightweight, compact, and wrinkle-resistant. With any luck, you can just shake them out upon arrival and be ready to go. But other accessories aren’t so forgiving. Pack flower wreaths and headdresses in boxes (if you can) to prevent crushing. Small wings can be folded and packed between two layers of stiff cardboard. A mesh cover is great for keeping wigs in line. One more tried-and-true faery travel rule: Anything with glitter gets its own bag.

Lost luggage is pretty rare on commercial flights, but of course that knowledge won’t help you when the airline loses the suitcase with your Swarovski-encrusted bodice. Valuable or irreplaceable costumes should be carried with you at all times.

Being Prepared

Outdoor festivals come with a special challenge for costumers: The weather. Over the years, Oregon’s Faerieworlds has been held in weekend-long rain, scorching sun, and plenty of fair-weather days.

You can’t exactly have a different costume for each weather possibility. But you can plan to dress in layers and still look the part. Toasty leggings and an elf cape are good things to have if the weather turns chill. A stylish parasol is handy if you’re not a dancing-in-the-rain type faery.

In addition to rain and wind, your costume will probably come into contact with the following: Sweat, perfume, sunscreen body paint, copious glitter, mud, sticky children, intoxicated adults, UV light, animals. Oh well. Your costume will definitely be tested for durability by the festival. So will your feet!

Live music and dance performances are a big part of many faery festivals, so don’t let your costume be a buzzkill. Accessories like stilts, oversized wings and headresses may block the view of the stage and keep you from dancing. Have a plan for ditching them so you can join the crowd, if you wish.

In case of an emergency, you should have a set of human clothes, too. (I know! Boo!) You can leave ‘em in your duffel bag until it’s time to go home.

Last-Minute Faeries

Okay, so not everyone is able to spend months planning a festival costume. If you’re down to the wire, but you still want to look faery-fabulous, there are options. Lots of stores have off-the-rack clothing that fits the general vibe: Sundresses, bohemian-style skirts, blouses, tunics and leggings. Top it off with a festive wreath or garland and you’ll be fit for the faire.

If you’re still feeling drab and human, try another accessory. A bright hair color, horns, mask or face paint can help transform you into a Fae creature. These things can almost always be found within the festival gates. In fact, if you’re truly strapped for time, you could do all your costume shopping at the festival—the vendors will thank you for it!

Have fun at the festival, and don't forget to take pictures!

https://www.groveandgrotto.com/blogs/articles/going-to-a-faery-festival-costume-tips-and-ideas

[lumilasi]

Oof. Im finally done with this. This should not have taken the whole day, but to be fair this style is new to me so I’m still practicing on how to work efficiently with it and the new tools it requires that I normally don’t use.

I had no clue what to do with the background, sorry. Also his vigilante look is messier because, well, the sketch was messier and I was running out of motivation in trying to tweak it lmao, so it is what it is. 

Staff seems to be a very common weapon to give to hero/vigilante Tomura/Tenko judging from what I’ve seen, but...it just fits so well?? Sorry for not coming up with something more original lol

Few (non-spoilery) notes about Adult!FS-Tenko:

He doesn’t cover his face much, unlike canonical Tomura. In general that comment he says in the pic summarizes his attitude towards the whole topic in regards to his appearance. 

He often keeps his hair tied, except in vigilante form

Tenko tends to wear his dad’s old clothing sometimes

His coat in the vigilante outfit is in fact his dad’s old one

He owns a rainbow of hoodies, but tends to mostly wear the blue, red and black ones

Touya still can’t even with the fact that the scrawny kid he made friends with grew up to have more muscle than him lmao. 

Natsuo likes to joke that Tenko could totally bench-press his big bro now. Tenko never confirms or denies this (he totally can)

[four-rabbit]

The Last Piece Left

This was supposed to be fluff the first time I had this idea. But then I decided that it could be fluffy with angst in the end. But then I got to actually write it and it became angst with even more angst in the end, so... hope you enjoy

I apologize in advance for any mistakes

Summary: For the first time since he left the Others, Virgil reunites the courage to talk to an old friend, but neither of them seem to know how to feel about each other. Or how to not make things worse. 

Characters: Remus Sanders, Virgil Sanders

Warnings: swearing, mentions to death and dead bodies, angst (does that count as a warning?), fight, sex mention

Word Count: 2287

“I told them my name” Remus looked away from the canvas in front of him, just to see who he once called a friend standing in the middle of his room, with an expression as abstract as the paint Creativity was trying to finish. So many feelings in such a small space it became impossible to understand. 

“Ok? Good for you, I don’t give a fuck” replied, focusing his gazes on anything except Virgil’s eyes, doing his best to keep his emotions simple. We hate each other. He abandoned us. That should be enough. Virgil stayed in silence for what seemed like a lifetime. “What do you want, emo?”

“Thomas painted his hair” he started.

“Yeah, I noticed. Purple doesn’t really go well with green. Unless we’re talking about a wound. Or a dead body. Nevermind, purple and green are awesome together”

“Yeah, I really liked the hair, actually. I was thinking… I mean, you and Deceit have green and yellow. The core sides also have colors. I’m kinda tired of the black” 

“Are you? I think it matches you, boring, quickly establishes that you’re the villain, having been washed in at least some months”

“I just want you to teach me how to sew,” Virgil replied, already starting to lose his temper. Calm down, he said to himself,he may be hard to deal with, but you are here to help, not make things worse. 

“Roman knows how to sew, probably way better than me. Do you think I should add like, blood red or more like a wine red?” He pointed to the canvas, answering his own question before Virgil could do so “Yeah, blood red of course, the classic”

“I kinda wanted it to be a surprise. Also, I don’t think Princey’s style really matches mine” Remus wishes he was as honest to himself as he was with other people. He knew deep down it would hurt more to do that. He knew that getting a bite of what used to be their friendship would just make him more hungry for something that didn’t even exist anymore. He knew it would probably hurt both of them even more. But someone wanted his help for the first time in… well. Virgil wanted his help. 

“Ok, get out of my room” said, finally turning to Anxiety, who tried to pretend those words didn’t send a wave of disappointment though his body. 

“Of course... This was a mistake” mumbled, starting to sink out.

“No dude! Fuck, I mean, like, intrusive thoughts and anxiety is never a good mix, let’s go to your room or a neutral room” quickly explained. 

“Oh” Virgil came back, seeming surprised “I can take your room just fine, dude, I’m used to it”

“It got way worse since the last time you were here, trust me, Gerard Gay” Virgil looked around. The view did look messier, if it was possible. The floor felt like skin, but with something off. He could hear whispers in the back of his consciousness, to which he could never identify a source. The smell was less like trash can and more like a trash can on fire where a corpse had been discarded some days ago. But he could take all that. He could take hours in that room, the same way Remus could take hours in his room. 

“I don’t see how”

“As much as I would love to see Thomas hyperventilating because his anxiety can’t stop thinking about how people are going to invade his house and slowely murder him if he doesn’t check all the locks at least five times, I’m pretty sure you don’t want that headache. And it will be a hell of a headache as soon as the room reaches your mind”

“Fine, My room, then?”

“Yeah, I’m in need of some new spiderwebs anyway” 

Virgil’s room didn’t change much since The Duke was there for the last time, except for some new Disney posters, probably from Roman and a drawing on the desk right beside anxiety’s bed. It was terribly colorful and childish, with all the three core sides and Virgil. Patton, then. Of course it was Patton. Anxiety immediately took the gift out of Creativity’s sight. 

“I’m not gonna eat it or anything, y’know?”

“It’s personal”

“Of fucking course it is” He could see how Patton seemed better compared to Janus. But they didn’t need a stupid - and shitty, let’s be honest - card to prove how much they cared for, everything was just so fucking stupid and boring with the core sides, why would Virgil fucking chose to be with them?! What was wrong with him?! What did Remus do wrong?! “It’s really shitty, but I guess daddy has always been bad at everything he did”

“Could you keep it down? For at least thirty fucking minutes?” Virgil snapped, clenching his fists and looking at Remus with pure danger in his eyes. 

“Do you have a… “He looked around, wishing he could just stop fucking talking for at least one damn second “A sketch. For how you want your hoodie to be? 

“I do, actually” Virgil kept his eyes away from his old friend, the tension in the room so heavy it could be cut, grabbing one of the drawings on the same table Patton’s gift was and giving it to the duke. It was… a concept. Remus conjured a pen, turning the paper and using it’s other side to make a more clear image, giving it back to anxiety.

“How about this?” Virgil tried not to smile, but his eyes betrayed him by shining. It was perfect.

"It 's cool”

“Great” he then started to reunite all the materials. One of Virgil’s older hoodies, purple fabric, white and black threads and…

“Why a spinning wheel?” 

"It 's cooler” replied, shrugging. 

“If I touch the needle will I also sleep for one hundred years?”

“Who knows? Now sit your ass down, emo, this will take time”

“Ok, what do I do first?” said, sitting on his bed and waiting for instruction. Remus flinched until the realization struck him. 

“Wait, you actually want me to teach you? Buddy, I’m the worst teacher ever and you know that” And also I’m a selfish motherfucker who knows very well that if you never learn it every time you need to fix it you will have to ask for my help. 

“It can’t be that hard”

“If you actually want to do something decent, it will take at least some days. Do you want The Duke in your room for days? I wouldn’t mind it, we could even have some fun” He smiled maliciously. He was right. Virgil wouldn’t want any of the core sides to know he still talked to Remus. Especially not Roman. 

“Fine. How long will it take for you to do it?”

“One hour” He could do it in a couple seconds, actually, but sshhh. 

“Ok” Virgil looked down, seeming almost… embarrassed. Creativity grabbed all the materials, conjured a bench, sat down and started to work. He tried to stay in silence, but it was almost painful to do so

“How are the core sides doing? Anything interesting, if that’s possible?”

“Are you trying to do small talk?” Virgil almost smiled. The only one of the Others good with that was Deceit and they all knew that. 

“I’m trying to keep it down like you said to protect your now light side ears or whatever” Virgil chucked, rolling his eyes. 

“What was that painting about?”

“Oh… I was trying to do an abstract representation of the emotions decay and rottenness bring”

“Sounds like you. How was it going?”

“Like shit. Not literally, even though that’s a good idea, did you know that when we die our whole body, like, relax, including our stomach muscles and all? And yeah, we shit ourselves, so go to the bathroom before you die, I guess” Virgil flinched with that unwanted information.

“I feel like you told me that before”

“I probably did, it’s pretty basic. I don’t know what the fuck is happening, I haven’t being able to paint anything good”

“I thought it was pretty nice” For Remus’ standards. 

“Sure you did. But really, how are those dorks? Did someone already explained to Daddy what sex it or nobody had the courage yet?”

“That’s what you’re concerned about?”

“Of course!” 

“Nobody did, obviously, but I’m considering, I like Patton, but if he refers to adulthood as adultery one more time I’ll lose it” Remus snorted. 

“He does what?”

“Long story, dude”

“Holy fuck” He laughed “He’s definitely doing that on purpose”

“What would he win by doing that?” A couple of answers came to Remus’ mind but he was sure VIrgil would hate all of them. Still, he had to choose one, that how things work “Maybe he likes fucking with you guys”

“Not everybody finds it funny to manipulate the people around them like Deceit” Oh, here we go again. 

“Patton and Janus are not that different”

“Name one thing they have in common” fortunately for Remus, the first answer that came to his mind was not that bad. 

“Well, if you’re right, they both don’t know where babies come from” Virgil seemed divided between keeping arguing and smiling. He went with the second option. You can do it, Virge. You can not screw everything. 

“I guess so. But Patton is definitely better with hugs” 

“Which one of the light sides would you fuck if you had to chose?”

“Where did that come from?!” Remus shrugged.

“Just curious”. 

“I won’t fucking answer that!” exclaimed, his face starting to get red.

“For me it would be Logan. Or maybe you. Do you count as a Light side already?” Anyway, Logan must be amazing. It’s almost like fucking a teacher and I always wanted to know how it feels like” Virgil was about to order him to shut up, but he knew Remus enough to know it would only make things worse, so he went with a more effective technique.  

“How is Deceit doing?” Remus raised his eyebrows, the question surprising enough to stop his line of thought. 

“Fine? Why do you care?”

“I mean… are you guys good?” 

“As always”

“Haven’t he been… hurting you or anything like that?”

“Janus never hurted me, dude, what the fuck?”

“Except that he did. Except that he does it everyday. You just don’t want to admit it” Remus looked into his eyes, frowning.

“Emo, what is this all about?” 

“What do you mean?” Based on how he focused his gaze on the floor, Remus raised his eyebrows even more. 

“This is not just about the fucking hoodie, is it?” Virgil stayed in a seeming never ending silence.

“They accepted me, Remus.You guys said it was impossible for the core sides to accept us, but here I am. They could accept you too” Oh, so that’s what this is about. Remus went to one of his rare silences, which were always scarier than his loudest noises. 

“We already talked about this, emo”

“But that was before! When we thought they all hated us! But they don’t! Logan is welcoming and Roman is trying and Patton… Patton is willing to receive us with his arms open”

“No, he’s fucking not. Patton hates me so fucking much I’m pretty sure he would get rid of me the second he had the fucking chance and would still convince himself it was the right thing to do” He got up without realizing, putting all his efforts into not crying like a pathetic child. 

“I think you’re mistaken him for Deceit” Virgil also got on his feet.

“Janus, his name is fucking Janus, why can’t you just call him for his fucking name?! He yelled. 

“He’s a liar, Remus! He doesn’t care about you or any of us! He just wants to… Follow his plans or whatever”

“Oh, do you think Patton cares about you?!”

“Actually yes, I know he fucking does”

“Well, yeah, maybe he does, maybe he doesn’t, but if I get there? Not only will he get scared and kick me out, he will also be angry at you for bringing the freak here into his perfect little world of sunshine and rainbows, so thank you so much, but Janus at least was there for me when I needed it, unlike those dicks or you!” Don’t cry, don’t cry, don’t cry. 

“I should have known this was a mistake” Virgil said, letting his shoulders drop with the height of defeat. 

“Yeah it was. Here is your fucking hoodie” He finished it with a snap of his fingers at threw it at Virgil, sinking out right after. “Have fun with your new friends, Virgil” 

Slowly, anxiety grabbed his new costume. It was amazing, Comfortable, spooky, creative. And it was so… detailed and clearly done carefully, It was… He started crying.Ugly crying, with the tears scratching his throat to came with violent sobs, their warm burning as they fell down his face, wetting his own clothes and the new one in his hands, the pain in his chest seeming like a monster was tearing apart his whole soul, trying to destroy his heart, it hurted more than anything that he ever felt. 

He knew, deep down, it was impossible to have a real famILY like that. But he also knew he was a hypocrite and it was easier to pretend things were simpler. It was easier to pretend he didn’t need Remus. Or Janus, by that extent. It was easier to pretend they weren’t family. But not easy enough for him to not hold on to all there was left from what they once called a friendship.

 He held the hoodie tighter.

[not-xpr-art]

Art Advice #2 - How to beat art block!

Hi again everyone!

This is the second instalment to my Art Advice tag offering hints and tips for artists of any skill level! 

This time I’ll be going into ways I’ve found that help me to combat art block or creative ruts. Of course, these may not work for you, and a big part of art is learning about what things do and do not work for you, but I hope it at least offers some advice to anyone who struggles with art blocks!

How to beat art block. 

Getting into an art block can be one of the most frustrating things as an artist. Especially if you’ve tried to dedicate a window of time to drawing something, only for your brain to ‘nope’ out and give you no motivation. I’ve found it can often make you feel worthless as an artist, particularly when you see fellow artists continuing to produce countless amazing artworks, and this kind of self depreciation only adds to your inability to produce anything. 

And I’m not about to suggest some magical cure of art block, since I don’t believe there is one, but I hope that my advice can at least help lead you towards getting out of these vicious circles of art block & self deprecation!

Tip #1 - Explore other mediums 

I feel like as artists we get incredibly ‘comfortable’ in the mediums we’re familiar with. For me, that’s digital and pencil drawing. I’ve been doing pencil drawing for as long as I can remember, and digital for a little over 7 years, so I’ve become very comfortable in using them. 

However, I think that a good way to not only help combat art block, but also to expand your art horizons, is to step out of that comfort zone into a new field of art. 

Of course, I’m not saying that I expect every artist to go from pencil drawing for 10 years to suddenly picking up a paint brush and doing some oil painting. But instead that every so often maybe just try and dabble in mediums you’ve not used as much, or haven’t used before at all. A lot of shops sell pretty inexpensive paints, pens or pastels nowadays, not to mention a quick Google search will give you tips on how to use the particular medium if you’re not sure how to start. 

A thing I want to mention here, too, is that I think it’s important to not to expect yourself to be automatically ‘great’ at a particular medium. For example, last year I did my first embroidery piece. I had wanted to do embroidery for a long time, and did actually enjoy it a lot (even if it was incredibly time consuming lol). But I found myself dissatisfied with the finale result. 

And in a way this is because I expected myself to be perfect at embroidery after just one attempt, which is ridiculous of course, since any kind of art takes years and years to ‘master’. And when I look back, I can’t help but think ‘why does it have to be good in the first place’? Why did I put this pressure on myself to be a sudden Master of Embroidery, when surely the main goal of any kind of art is to some extent the enjoyment of the process? 

This is still a mindset I think a lot of artists will relate to, and is something I’m trying to combat myself. 

Recently I painted some fake plastic eggs inspired by the Polish folk art tradition ‘Pisanki’. They took a long time, and my neck hurt a lot from being hunched over and painting little dots, but honestly I really loved the whole process of them! Painting on 3D objects isn’t something I do a lot, and I also rarely do purely pattern-based work like this, so it was a real deviation from my comfort zone.

In a way, exploring other mediums is like a creative respite. Giving yourself a break from what you’re familiar with not only helps you to be inspired by a wide range or arts, but when you return to the mediums you enjoy the most, I’ve actually found you appreciate them even more!

(Really, nothing makes me more appreciative for digital art than painting a wrong dot on the surface of an egg and not being able to rub it out...)

Tip #2 - Try different styles

Another tip, similar in many ways to the first one, is to try different styles of art every once and a while. 

Like with materials, I think we as artists can get overly caught up in ‘our style’ of doing things. Whether this is a particular stylised or cartoonish way of drawing, or doing realistic art, or even sticking to a particular colour scheme. And I think especially in the world we live in, where artists have to make themselves as ‘consumer friendly’ as possible, which often means having a ‘recognisable brand’, it can feel like we have to do our art in a particular way, otherwise people will lose interest in it. 

I think this is harmful for a lot of reasons. Partly, I feel it stifles artists creativity to force themselves to do one style and one style only. I also feel it assumes that non-artists are so single-track minded that if an artist were to post works of art that involve different styles, then they would immediately lose interest. 

So my advice to any artist who has a particular style is to once in a while try out some different styles. It doesn’t have to be big pieces, and it also doesn’t have to be the polar opposite of what your style actually is. But instead if can be as simple as doing a ‘style challenge’ (something I’ve done in the past), or even just trying a different way of drawing or painting! 

In a way, changing your medium and changing your style occasionally go hand in hand. I particularly find that how I draw people will change with the kinds of mediums I use, or even when I start using a new brush with digital art.

For example, I recently did this super quick sketch of Kiki Layne, because I really loved the reference image, and it came out a lot more stylised than my art usually is. And this is almost entirely down to the brush I used (which was an ‘ink’ style brush, in comparison to the ‘pencil’ or ‘pen’ brushes I usually use for sketching). 

This isn’t a drastic change in style for me, but I do think even trying to do rougher or messier styles of art like this can allow you to see your art in a new light! 

(A side note here, but I already pretty much change up my style with every piece because I have no interest in being ‘marketable’ lol... But I’m definitely not suggesting everyone should be like me, just every so often changing up your style I believe can be really beneficial!)

Tip #3 - Changing subject matters

This one is essentially the same as the other two, and I’m sorry if this comes across as repetitive, but I think another great way to help beat art block is by changing up the kinds of things you draw!

Being predominantly a portrait artist, I rarely go out of my way to draw things like trees or birds or cups or whatever. But I know that often when I feel myself entering a kind of creative rut or art block, it’s because I’ve been drawing too many people & my brain is sort of all people-d out lol... 

(this is a tree I drew in oil paints midway through last year because I was feeling particular people-d out at that point)

So I think occasionally drawing other things, and going out of your art comfort zone, can help to improve your creativity. And hey, who knows, maybe you’ll end up incorporating something you drew randomly into a new artwork!

TL;DR (/conclusion)

So, remember that exploring other mediums, changing up your regular style and choosing other subject matters can all help in beating art block! Of course, you don’t have to do them all at the same time, but instead just dipping in and out of them as you produce your regular work can be highly beneficial! 

I mainly wanted to make this post not to say that by doing all three of these things, you’ll magically be free of art block forever, because that’s just not true. (I’m someone who does a lot of these things pretty regularly, but still gets into art blocks every now and then). I instead wanted to inspire you to deviate from what you are usually drawn to as an artist. 

The world is your creative oyster, so don’t be afraid to explore it! 

~

I hope you enjoyed this post about ways to beat art block! I may make a part two if people are interested since there are a lot of other things that I think can help in improving creativity!