#and i like your art too!! i love the pixel art and the ms paint drawings are very nostalgic and funny

[mclalan]

Can you share what your art-making process is? What software and tools do you use?? I'm falling in love with your work!!

Thank you, I'm so happy you like my work and are interested in the process. The short answer is I mostly use Adobe Animate.

I hate how I'm using an Adobe product (although I still regard it as a MacroMedia Flash product), but there's just no other software that compares to its jankiness. Perhaps it's just my long familiarity with the program, but nothing I've experienced matches how it simultaneously feels like drawing in MS Paint and using Microsoft PowerPoint vector shapes. The result is something that feels in-between the two; handmade yet computer-generated.

Typically, I'll start with a hand-drawn sketch, often beginning as a thumbnail done with pencil and paper.

I'll then do a mix of hand drawing and vector shape tool rendering. I use the Paint Brush tool to hand draw strokes, and the line and shape tools mixed with transform to make more geometrically accurate shapes. The design is rendered into divided closed loop shapes, ready to be filled with a solid. The strokes are kept or removed depending on the design.

These fill shapes are then either coloured and rendered in Adobe Animate, using fills, gradients, or a more complex process of masks and effects.

Alternatively, I'll bring all these vector shapes into Photoshop and use them as clipping masks. The vector shapes act like masking taped areas or shields to maintain sharp edges, while the brush is like an atomized airbrush used to build soft volumed forms.

Please excuse all that horrible Adobe Cloud and AI bloatware...

And there we go!

Variations in the process include just using MS Paint, index color in Photoshop, or 3D programs.

Very old works of mine were almost abstract, just exploring digital mark-making, which was a trend I was following in the mid 2010s that I loved. This kind of stuff.

While my current work uses its digital material specificity as an intermediary to the subject in the illustration.

For example, #ersatz.world parodies clip-art and flash edutainment styles but imagines the characters living within that kind of world. The designs are meant to be cute, easy to read, light in computer processing, but also irreverent, janky, and generic too.

People typically regard this sort of clip art style as ephemeral trash, but I always found them charming. I use Ersatz World primarily as a satire vehicle, parodying educational formats to spoof corporate explainer content and digital media.

However, part of the problem with Ersatz is I've made it look too polished, complex, and I've grown too attached to the characters, which I imagine is a typical issue with overbuilding a world. So recently, I've made an even jankier Ersatz-like set of characters to play about with, using an even simpler style with less cohesion. I like to try and use slightly different styles and digital material styles to relate to the property at hand.

That’s why #autonymus has a bitmap digital material and a denser feel to it. Unlike Ersatz, Autonymus is not meant to be an overt semi-meta fiction. It’s not exactly pixel art, but the pixels are just about visible, as the intention is to create a digital expressionist depth to the setting. Although it’s still stylized and not realistic to our world, I definitely still want to evoke semblances of our world. That’s why there’s attention to landscape, plant life, and implied life beyond what you see in the frame with the characters, etc. But I'm still making a cartoon, and I still want it to feel at ease with itself being a digital material work. Characters are therefore flat, simple, stiff, and the speech style is like a bad Shakespeare parody. I like to balance between ugly and appealing, simple and complex, familiar and unfamiliar.

In regard to things like inspiration, references, and my relationship to aesthetic genres; these things certainly factor into my work, perhaps I'm even overtly dependent on them. My work can definitely be post-modernist in method; creating new, ironic, or fragmented interpretations through deconstructing a mix of various styles or methods. But at the same time, I'm still trying to make a digital gestural representation where the aesthetic is driven by my relationship to the software and techniques directly—not simply in an attempt to reference a style. For example, I like drawing lines in sweeping strokes, not to a point of geometric perfection, but just in a way where the curves are smooth and simple. But if I want perfectly curved or straight lines, I'll use the vector tools.

Working this way, you can sort of learn why certain styles and design choices in past vector aesthetics were made, as they would have also needed to make similar choices. That’s why I’m more mindful of using digital material specificity as a foundation to build narrative and subjects upon these days.

For example, genre references like cyberpunk clichés for #cyberhell or late medieval design for #autonymus or 2005 to 2015 era subculture fashion for #gradientgoblinz.

I think it’s important to take inspiration and reference from a wide variety of sources, but I think they’d mean nothing without having something to say or express. Autonymus, although it is a collection of tropes and clichés, isn’t just about that. It’s a story about the tensions of socially constructed systems and how that shapes faith, technology, and the natural world, or at least that's what I'm aiming for anyway.

But despite all that, I think there’s a danger of locking myself into the past by using these methods. For example, using nostalgia and references to past aesthetics can result in just recreating the past in a form of role-play. To avoid that, I try and evoke the past through a messy, inaccurate pastiche rather than caring to accurately re-enact anything. I’m probably not always successful at communicating the deliberateness of this, and it can certainly get very frustrating and pedantic. To be honest, I do kind of hate aesthetic labels (terms like Y2K, global coffee house, utopian scholastic designs from a pre-9/11 world).

I do not believe that a project aimed solely at mapping history through aesthetic styles is worthwhile. Sure, they can be handy for organizing style trends, but they can also be reductive and ahistoric. Who are these people to define the history of these design eras? The result is a kind of suffocating simulation of design history but removed from context, perfect for moodboardism. I wish it felt more tongue-in-cheek, less absolute of itself in its own practice. Instead, it acts to legitimize and engender those making these labels, almost giving them ownership of the design styles. It’s similar to the logic and process of generative AI and its databases in a way, just done manually.

I’m very inspired by artists like Oneohtrix Point Never in this regard, as I think he’s able to create an aesthetic portal to all kinds of memories, feelings, and worlds reminiscent of the past, while still being in the present. It’s more a reflection of how timelines are messy now, like a memory or dream, rather than an audacity to say the past was actually like that, or to try to actually map some kind of timeline.

I think the benefit of this process is how it avoids the other side of the spectrum—being locked into chasing the cutting edge of digital processes. I don't necessarily think using an old digital process means your work inherits the semiotics of old aesthetics. Non-digital mediums don’t have this issue to this degree, as you can still paint in oils and be considered contemporary, or at least it's not frowned upon to such a degree. And I also don't think anyone in the heyday of Flash ever made work the same as I do, especially as computers are more powerful now so can handle more. I probably shouldn't boast too much about that though, as artists at the time probably just had more sense than to use Flash like a painting program! So then, why is my use of Adobe Animate critiqued as obsolete and an aesthetic dead-end? Because to whose standards is this process obsolete? If you value digital aesthetics as an apparatus in industry practice, then sure, my work is redundant.

But as wonderful as the latest tech can be in creating new aesthetics, I do feel it can be overtly dependent on the trends and directions of tech corporations, and therefore act as an indirect propaganda tool to their hegemony over digital aesthetics, such as the ever-demanding processing power needed for simulated realism. If anything, work that does follow in the direction of the latest tech trends is ironically the quickest to date once the trends move on.

I've noticed I've not really described what my work is about, just the process, in this text. But I don't know, maybe I like Flash because it is regarded as redundant. No one really cares about it, so I feel free to make whatever I want, and can decide on form myself, to my own standards, the quality of my work. As fun as making images is, I find it difficult to put into words what it is exactly I'm expressing in my work, and perhaps that would spoil it anyway.

[gargyshmub]

Hey, just wanted to tell you that I love your glitchy mspaint art and I wanted to ask how do you achieve that scattered pixely look. Do you do it by hand? Whenever I look at it seems like the pixels are different sizes too

thank u <: ) its pretty much become a TOXIC CRUTCH for me at this point, i've been trying to branch off and find something cooler to use but nothing is, as fun, and has, a similar effect, as the ms paint spray can tool

honestly just use it like you were really painting? create an object you want to shade and then use the spray can tool to make your shadow. after it's yknow, really dark, you can go over again with your base color (still using the spraycan tool) to make it look more solid and shapelike, and then wallah, it looks like a giant Pixel Shaded Shit <3

little cat fucker as example (his name is maxwell) ((this isnt a really good example)) (((i just wanted to show off my little cat fucker i like the way he be looking))) ((((and by looking i mean without eyes and shit))))

[sh1-n0bu]

MOMMY NOBUUUU /p i need someone wise’s advice !!!!

i like to make silly looking “art” (i don’t even consider it real art, it’s more like memes/doodles) (like the ms paint art style, that looks a bit like pixel art and also looks sketchy and simple) and i CAN’T DECIDE if i should make an account to post it??? i really want to but i know NOTHING about ig and its algorythm (even though i did use to have disney and anime fanpages with a decent amount of followers when i was, like, 14). i don’t wanna end up with an account with like 2 followers cuz what if affects my self esteem and the way i view art hsjsg ???? i like my cringy artstyle but.. idk im probably overthinking this AGHH

yk it’s just that when i was a fan account it wasn’t my art so it’s not like i got offended if people didn’t like/comment/save. with things i created it would be different i think??? i’ve been wanting to make an art account for YEARS and i just got into the artstyle (i had a “normal” artstyle before) but wait wait lemme try to link the pics

(hope they work)

so this is the first thing i’ve ever drawn in this style https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-AJt9jSnPo1Enyg4B8Dnm0HMYeFIhxYX/view?usp=drivesdk

and then it just kept going. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-I8x_U-9_ZVwpPE6aDAWlW0ApEuJ2r5Z/view?usp=drivesdk

and going (yes that’s a gyaru trying to talk to a golfball and yes it’s a remake of this meme https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/d6udnl/why_wont_it_move/)

and then i saw this. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-1qO6MbBOo51PK-jhMltsnpfCb0yTGV2/view?usp=drivesdk

and i went “this is so hsr main trio” https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-5MwpEQLIFx_iLdif6R9o66Xc2HW5vjw/view?usp=drivesdk

this is cursed, i’m aware.

then i started making these https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-60FA9_FROx2c0SQrzh1RXOXxm7tFl5G/view?usp=drivesdk

you have NO IDEA how many of these i’ve made. because idk either. all i know is that in three days i had made 20+ of them (which may sound like it’s not much, but for me and how little i used to draw it’s a lot)

and now i REALLY want to make the account but i’m TERRIFIED bc what if no one likes that kind of cringy stuff?????

i’m literally so sorry to bother you with this /gen it’s just me overthinking stuff as always :/ don’t feel pressured to answer me ofc!! <3 also i rlly rlly hope things are going better for you! sending love and support <33

gratefully yours

breaker anon~~<3

MOMMA NOBU HAS ARISEN /j j j j

first, those arts are fucking GORJUS my sweettums. as someone who has lost the ability to draw, that is beautiful. i used to think of becoming a free style painter or to learn how to draw digital but somewhere along the way i just gave up and decided to simply settle on writing instead. even now, when i see art tiktok or recommendations of compilation videos on yt, i feel a bit of an ache in my chest. its just there, y’know?

second, i think you should do for it. maybe try opening up an account on a platform ur incredibly familiar with. perhaps tumblr? or even ig? or even tiktok works too! just any platform you feel safe and comfortable and know how to navigate is good.

and yeah, i can def say felt to the “it will make my mental health worse if i only get 2 likes or smt” bc same same same. i try to write good and capture the characters’ personality correctly while keeping the fic ‘alive’ only to end up with like,,,, hundreds of likes but no feedbacks or reposts or smt LMAOOO

as for a single tip i would give is to expect everything. not everyones going to like ur content and they will suddenly crash into ur inbox talking abt how they hated this fic or smt of yrs bc it was disgusting or not their thing. that has happened to me like,,,, 3 times???? i think?????? and and!!! be sure to do a bit of research beforehand, me thinks. see what kind of attention you would get when u start to post on ur page or account.

honestly, i started this blog as only reposting blog. but then one day my very first 🦝 anon came and i decided, why not write a thirst thought i had with friend and see how it goes? and it just spiraled from there.

main thing is, have patience and love what ur doing. don’t burn urself out over it too much or else what u used to love will end up being what u hate and take good care of yourself sweettums<3

[kittydeliverycomic]

I love. your comic! Very cute. Two questions:

1. What inspired your art style?

2. What drawing program do you use?

Thank you so much! I am glad that you like my silly little comics! The biggest inspiration for my art style is Vanessa Stockard's cat paintings, haha. You can definitely see it. :p

I absolutely love the "Amorphous cat blob" vibe they have. I just decided to do it digitally with a pixel brush and make it a comic-diary thing. :p

I also have a black cat like that in real life too, so she helped me with a bit of inspiration too.

I have actually been drawing cats like this for a while too! I drew this in 2021! (Discord kept kicking me from calls unless I was screensharing something, so I used ms paint and drew this cat with my mouse.)

As for my regular art style... Uh... Japanese artists, anime, you know. Hahaha.

As for what program I use, I am most comfortable with Clip studio paint version 1, so that is what I use!

I like the flexibility and the customizability of CSP, not to mention all the features and stuff! I recommend it. It goes on sale for really cheap often! (I got it for $20 a long time ago, but I think it still goes on sale for $20 every once in a while!)

[worldofgoo]

yayayay yippee (≧◡≦) i love how vibrant & lively your art is, i think my fav pieces are Horse Surgery & hanyuu (even tho i have no idea who that is) but that one wip with the rainbow is also v ery special 2me because it reminds me of my fav kind of weather ^_^ generic Which Program Do You Use question & also which programs have you tried so far? which one would you recommend for someone whose only experience so far wiht digital art has been scribbling in ms paint -_-? on topic, what do you draw with (mouse, phone, drawing tablet, ??) & was it easy for you to get used to digital art? i always get overwhelmed by the amound of different functions available so im not sure where to even start, any advice? which physical art forms do you like / would you like to learn (anything at all, i personally have been getting into air dry clay... well actually ive been using my sisters playdoh but maybe ill purchase smthn fancier :3) & final question how do you come up with poses to draw? your characters (+creatures) seem very animated and i really like that :)

HI okay i guess ill answer these in a list. actually will put it under the cut since i ended up saying a lot (and dw i enjoy being able to talk a lot so thank you!)

-THANK YOU im glad some of my more recent works (in my more current style) are appealing 2 people! like i wanna draw my own way even though i think it gets less notes... the higurashi fanarts (hanyuu and shion) r very memorable pieces to me because its when i started doing the loose sketches with the thin lines and block colors and thats the direction i reallyreally wanted to take my style in. also the rainbow is rian my friend rian

-i draw in paint tool sai! the only program i used before that was sketchbook pro, which i didnt like because the brushes were kind of... blurry/smudgy? sai allows you to zoom in and draw pixel by pixel which is something i like, and i like the way it does its blending. its also just easier for me to understand. i didnt pay for it i think i found some deviantart page that had the link, id have to find it again

-i draw with a wacom intuos tablet! its lasted me... almost 10 years now. ive heard newer ones are poorer quality in terms of at least the nibs needing to be replaced constantly, so idk what the most recommended tablet these days is. ive drawn with my mouse and tbh it caused awful hand pain so i would not recommend this. i draw on my phone with my finger sometimes but i find doing it on my laptop easier, however it is doable once you get used to it

-the way i got into digital art... well. i still have an archive of my earliest art if you wanna see! i was 14 n just drew random shit, often lining over doodles i did on paper and coloring them in. i think esp if youre overwhelmed start with making like throwaway experimental pieces, scribble around, doodle stupid things and color them in with different brushes and see what you enjoy. and then you can just keep the files to yourself if they dont look too good or maybe itll look interesting, it depends i guess haha. the other thing that ive always found helped me was telling myself id draw every day even if it was a little scribble or the tiniest amount of work on a wip bc getting a habit going helped my art a Lot beause it helped me spend more time thinking n focusing on it

more specific advice for sai that i found useful- using clipping groups & the preserve opacity functions are both lifesavers in terms of not spending so much time trying to color in the lines. if you color in a base layer you can just put everything above it as a clipping group and just not worry about it anymore. i also really like using the filters (like multiply) to mess around with the colors a drawing has, though sometimes its more effective to just select a layer/individual color and fuck with the hue/saturation/etc until it looks good. when i color, esp when its not turning out how i wanted to, i rely on shifting colors A LOT. n also mixing colors together using a blending brush and then colorpicking the intermediate color. very useful

-for the most part i stick to uncolored pencil doodles on like, notebook paper (even though i have some fancy supplies X[ one day) but i LOVE making things with clay, wish it was more accessible to do at home. i have a handful of clay animal statues and stuff that i made in my ceramics class in high school. would looove to do more

-because my poses tend to be very pushed/cartoony using references of real people isnt always useful (though obv knowing the basics of anatomy always helps) so in those cases ill use other cartoony art i like as inspiration, i try to see what i like about their poses nd emulate that with my own. sometimes when im struggling ill just do a bunch of studies where i copy art i like to try to get a feel for what im missing. mostly ive realized i like when the pose conveys some level of like, volume and taking up a 3D space (which im still definitely not a master of but bullshitting it can be fun). and i also like to have a balance of curved and angular shapes. sometimes i try to just do a pose that conveys a specific emotion or i just make shit up lol

alsooooo i cant reccomend aimless doodling enough! just random shapes, turning the random shapes into creatures, trying and trying and trying different ways to draw something until you like it, i feel like the things my hand makes when i shut my brain off and just scribble can inspire me as well, and i try to emulate whatever i made by chance while doodling. and if your doodles turn out better in traditional i tend to consider using a photo of a drawing as a way to skip the "preliminary sketch" phase nd drawing a rough sketch over that which i then use for my drawing (or just directly color since i draw very fast/lazy...)

[juni-ravenhall]

📚🐻🙌🌗

📚 How many layers do you typically use?

for ms paint doodles and pixel art and such only 1 (i post a lot of ms paint doodles so). for normal digital art between 1-10 but usually lower end. my average not-mspaint drawing (which is usually in krita) would be 1 sketch layer if i sketch at all, 1 lineart layer, 1 main colouring layer, 1 background layer and then there may be 1-2 filters / overlays on top. the background and colouring layers might be together on 1 layer ofc just depends on the drawing. but for specific purposes i sometimes have more layers, like animating, or making a dressup doll, etc.

🐻 Your go-to things to draw when you need comfort?

answered here

🙌 Draw a doodle with your non-dominant hand

left hand juni (drawn with mouse)

🌗 Is night or day better for drawing?

i relax much more after dark probably due to the home situation growing up (i could finally relax alone when ppl are asleep) so i enjoy in general doing stuff at night, i feel more focused and more at peace. i really like the dark and the cold in general, im one of those ppl who love a rainy or snowy day more than a sunny day. but i like the sunny days too and i really look forward to going out on a warm day to swim in the lake again this summer, and the sunlight has its merits for making non-digital art, easier to see the colours and all that.

[qimindu]

canvas size + brushes + avg amount of layers used??

Also I love your art I would literally eat it if I had the chance and I wanna hear from the king himself

Omg thank you ^^ thats definetly one of the best compliments I ever got in my life

So um

Canvas sizes

As for canvas sizes everything is pretty simple. I used to experiment with it before but nowadays I just start with this basic 2048×2048 square canvas and then when the sketch is finished or if in the process I see that there’s not enough space for it to be finished I adjust the format.

Brushes

Right now my favorite brush is this pixel brush ^^

I was feeling kinda nostalgic for the good old times when I was just a kid drawing shit in ms paint on my mom's computer so I wanted to find some brushes for procreate that would be similar to ones in ms paint. And this is the best I found. It's basically the first set of brushes google gave me when I searched "pixel brushes for procreate" lmao

Tho this one is only used for sketches.

For something more serious I like using these ones which are just average procreate brushes

literally the first two in the set :/ I use them for sketching as well as for colouring the traditional art from my sketchbook.

And the last one of my favorite brushes is this Abel Eraser one. According to it's title I am probably supposed to use it as an eraser but obviously I don't care ^^ I downloaded it years ago so I can't remember where I found it but i guess the set I stole it from is called "Abel Essentials". I just took it from its original set and put it in between the previous two brushes so its easier for me to find

I use this brush to colour most of my digital art.

Layers

I don't use too many layers actually. I think the average amount is about 5 for works like these two, which are the most complex ones out of all that I've done lately.

It's basically because i do all the colouring on one layer that being the one I did the sketch on. So this is the reason why the sketch layer can't be seen in the layers of the pic with Misa and there's only a very simple one in the layers of the pic with Mikami, the final sketch was combined with the colour layer lol.

Other layers are used for some very specific details, filters or rendering.

However in the process up to 10 layers can be used. Usually I use multiple layers to sketch in the beginning because it's easier that way to experiment a little to find the right pose or face expression for the character. Also I add base colours on a separate layer under the one with the sketch but then again I combine them as soon as all base colours are there, and all the details are added on the same layer since then. So yeah basically I add layers for everything I'm not sure about while working on a pic, but once I am sure I combine everything and delete all the extras.

For more simple works like these two there's usually only about 1 or 2 layers left in the end because such pics to not require any filters or rendering.

Coloured sketches are a different case... As you can see there's a bunch of layers used here....

I think the amount of layers used can go up to 20. Thats because there's at least some kind of lineart present so I gotta be a bit more accurate with the colouring and it becomes easier to just add a separate layer for every detail. Also I don't care so much about deleting the extra ones or even trying to organize anything at all with this kind of stuff so that's another reason for having so many layers.

Well that's all I guess. Hopefully this can be helpful at least in some way :")

[silverskye13]

About the art trademark thingy. Overall the blocky and cartoonish vibe. Also the fact that if you zoom in, the lines are just a bunch of pixels. Your art has this really simple but stunning vibe. Like an fabulous painting made only in MS Paint. Also they way you draw expression is very interesting. It feels like you usually draw animals but not furry way, the warrior cats way, the "animal that as easily could be human and the story wouldn't be that different" way. It's kinda like reversed furry art, cuz the furry is typically a anthropomorphic animal with human-like expression. Your art is doing exactly the opposite. A human with animal-like expression. Essentially mouth and teeth are showing it. They give me very strong "warrior cats animatics on YouTube" vibe. And if I'm not mistaken you do draw like a comic about wolves on other account, so it might be the roots to it. Very interesting, cuz it shows how our overall artstyle can and most of the time is effected by the media that we typically create and consume. Actually, as I'm thinking about it, the blocky vibe could actually come from it too - cuz from what I have seen of this wolf comic of yours (I'm vary sorry but I'm not sure if i recall the name correctly and i don't want to butcher it's name) characters there are also very blocky, specific type of cartoonish, the one with very simplified shapes. The muzzle is essentially a fancy rectangle, the same way as humans heads are also fancy rectangles.

Thank you for the kind words :3

The MS Paint / pixel-y feel is actually because of the brush I've been using recently! Or -- pencil I guess. It's the PS pencil tool. It's really fun getting back in the swing of using it again? I attempted an ask blog comic once where I used only the pencil tool, and sorta fall in and out of love with it in waves ever since. Which is fun all on its own because when I first started doing digital art, it was all MS Paint with a mouse ahaha. I still have some of those old drawings.

TBH "reverse furry artist" is both a funny tag to associate with my art style and also hilariously accurate. When I was teaching myself art growing up, me and my sister had this rivalry where I was the wolf/animal/furry artist and she was the people artist, and neither of us were allowed to draw each others' thing. I didn't start trying to draw regular human people until I went to art college.

[entropy-game-dev]

Some thoughts on animation

So my friend was asking me regarding how to go about animating pixel art. I did up some quick gifs (and I mean REALLY quick) in order to give some examples, and I thought I might as well show them off here! 

While I am definitely not equipped to teach people how to do amazing pixel art, I can probably give some thoughts on how to do good enough animations. These are  the kind that, if you have a consistent art style, you can produce them fairly easily and have them look decent in-game.

There are already a ton of good pixel art tutorials out there, specifically for animation. But the pointers here are more for individuals like me, who do the art for their games and other projects out of necessity, rather than because they enjoy them! Anyway, let’s get into it.

Personal style

Even more than regular pixel art, animating pixel art heavily depends on your style. For example, the example I’m going to show here (and something that’s present throughout my own animations) depends on smears to make it look decent. Some may love motion smears, and others may dislike them, and that’s fine! The important thing to remember when doing art for your particular project is to keep it consistent! I can’t stress enough that consistency trumps raw skill every time!

Minimum effort for maximum effect

The three frames you’ll want to spend the most time on are the ones that the players will notice the most. Those are the first and last frames, plus one frame of really strong dynamic action (in my case here, it’s motion smear). Here’s a really rough example (again, spent like no time on this, so please excuse me):

These are your keyframes. Getting these right will make everything else flow super easily.

Anticipation and wind-down

Your next step is to draw the in-betweens. This can largely be broken up into the anticipation happening before the swing, and the wind-down afterward. As the motion component itself happens very rapidly, 1 or 2 frames should be good. Importantly, you don’t need these inbetweens perfect, mine are very janky if you look at them individually, but put together, you don’t really notice that.

I added a sword slash and some dust just to make it look a tiny bit fancier. Already it’s starting to look a lot nicer.

Increasing the JUICE

If you find that you want more weight behind your attacks, like my friend did, I simply added an extra frame of anticipation, and a frame of hitstop as the attack connects to emphasise its “power”.

Naturally, you’ll want to combine this with hit flashes on the target, and particle effects too. Maybe even through in some screen shake if you’re feeling adventurous!

The secret sauce

Here’s what really makes your animation look nice and natural. I always follow this curve when I’m doing my animations (yes, specifically, THIS curve that I drew in MS Paint). You can see that in my gifs and in a lot of other animations when you look closely. A slow start and end, followed by a period of rapid motion.

If you want a better reference, check out the EaseInOut portion of https://easings.net/en - it’s seriously fantastic (those curves are what my tweens use too!)

Summing up

Nothing beats practice when it comes to drawing, but these are a few of the most helpful things I try to keep in mind when doing my own animations. For those less artistically inclined, like myself, they provide a good foundation and structure from which you can practice, develop, and eventually evolve your own style!

[hollowsart]

do you have info about your jynx oc tiffany?

TL;DR: I had a phase where I made Pokemon gijinka versions of the 80s/90s slasher film bad guys, but also drew them as Pokemon cuz the idea was funny to see them like that. And so Tiffany was basically Tiffany from Child's Play. [The funniest thing about this is that I have never seen a slasher film in my life and never plan to].

Long version of the story, picking from there tho: It was way back like.. 10 years I think? Give or take a year, during my dA days that I made them. Mostly I used the Ubuntu Linux version of MS Paint called: KolourPaint. I used bases cuz my art wasn't that great, but my pixel art was pretty decent in comparison!

Anyways, I made the complete set of the popular slasher film characters as Pokemon Gijinkas. Chucky, Freddy, Jason, Jigsaw, Michael, Leatherface, and Ghost face. As well, their female counterparts... Yes I made female versions of them, except for Leatherface and Chucky. I only did Tiffany for Chucky. Leatherface doesn't have one, and they were all the same Pokemon as their counterpart too, but unlike the male versions (and with exception of Tiffany who was an entirely different Pokemon, Chucky was a Machop) they weren't shiny either.

Freddy = Zangoose

Jason = Snorlax

Ghost Face = Duskull

Michael = Marowak

Jigsaw = Mr.Mime (I love mr.mime I'm so sorry I did this)

Leatherface = Darmanitan

Anyways tho, Tiffany was a Smoochum. But as a Jynx, at the time, I made her look skinny, shortened her hair, and tried to make her "prettier" cuz even back then I still liked Jynx and thought it was a neat Pokemon, but still saw lots of people hating on it. (My perception of things back then was really not that great, nor as experienced as I am now to understand things)

Finally, I've since abandoned that whole concept thing and the characters. Except for Tiffany, she's stuck on my mind this whole time. Just on the back burner. So I decided to remove her from that story, but I liked the concept of her in a little wedding-like dress with the veil, and a little biker jacket. It was a cute and silly idea. Also the hair stayed short, that was her thing lol

I still like her and think she's neat, but now she's her own thing, and no longer "evil". I don't have anything set as a personality or anything for her tho, but maybe someday I will.

Edit: Here’s the pixel art:

I don’t remember the source of the bases I used tbh.. it was on dA tho.

man these things are so old, they predate 2016 when I saved them to my laptop before deleting my dA due to bad memories & no longer wanting it.

[uvanym]

MAYA what are three things you wish someone told you when you first started digital art (or even stuff you know now that you'd give as advice)

- make that canvas huge Please You Will Not Regret It, you can always resize but unless your device can’t handle it pls make it large so you have freedom to work how you want

- always start out your sketch with a big messy brush and do not!!!!!! add details!! there’s time for that later! especially if you have no attention span like me, you WILL get too into it and you WILL burn out before you even get to lining

- The Art Program Does Not Make The Man. and i mean it. sometimes i get tired of photoshop/sai and just go ham on ms paint. i used firealpaca before too (my computer at the time couldn’t handle it unfortunately but i loved working in it while i could) which was and i believe still IS free. also paint.net (i loved doing pixels on this one) and gimp if you can get the hang of them, you can literally make art on anything & you can decide which program you feel most comfortable with

(ik you said three but i can’t read

- no one cares if your lines aren’t perfect, no one is going to zoom in as much to look at it as much as you’re zooming in to look at it 

- experiment with colors!!! go wild!!!!! traditional art limits how much you can fuck around with colors but you can adjust everything digitally, go as wild as you want with clashing palettes and neon colors and see what looks best even if it’s not supported by color theory or whatever else. if it looks nice? it is nice

- foolproof technique here: if you don’t know how to draw something and looking at references isn’t helping, pull up a photo and trace over it, then use that as a reference and redraw what you traced. tracing can be good & it’s how you learn to draw things you don’t know how to. me, i have BIG trouble with hands so if i want to draw a hand looking a certain way, i just find a photo (or take one! i’ve used my own hands as refs plenty of times), trace over it, reference the traced image once my brain’s learned how to draw it and BAM new art skill

[petrolfumes]

COMMISSION POST / I NEED NEW SHOES

SORRY IN ADVANCE FOR THE LONG POST

Hi there! I’m an autistic nb lesbian, and I work 8 hours a week, most of which is on my feet. I only have 2 pairs of shoes and the pair i wear practically every day are literally falling off my feet. The money I make from work and that I get from the government mostly goes towards therapy sessions, doctors’ appointments, and public transport. I’d really like to get a new pair of comfortable, waterproof, and sturdy shoes to work in and so I decided to make a new commission post! I’d love to get paid for my work as well because art is something I’ve always wanted to do as a career.

Small

Pixels:

simple character pixel: $5

shading: +$1

2-frame animation: +$3

Medium

Pixels:

simple character pixel: $7

shading: +$1

2-frame animation: +$3

Large

Ms Paint art:

Bust or waist up ONLY ms paint doodle with creative freedom (i tend to be more experimental in ms paint): $7

shading: +$3

Rendered art (Clip Studio Paint):

Bust/chest up: $15

Waist up: $20

Full body: $30

Part shading (only face/skin): +$3 shading: +$5

simple bg: +$3 (plain colour, gradient, or transparent bg is free!)

add a character: +$10 (won’t do more than two characters in one pic, sorry!)

Traditional art (lines drawn in ink pen, scanned, cleaned up, and coloured in CSP):

Bust/chest up: $20

Waist up: $25

Full body: $35

Colour: +$3

shading: +$6

simple bg: +$3 (plain colour, gradient, or transparent bg is free!) add a character: +$15 (won’t do more than two characters in one pic, sorry!)

Will draw:

- humans

- monsters (love drawin these!)

- any type of humanoid

-  anthro furries (i’m still learning with these! if i think i won’t be able to draw your character, i may turn it down)

- light gore, blood, body horror, nonsexual nudity

- fan characters (Even if its from a media im not familiar with)

- fanart

Won’t draw:

- mech (unless its really simple)

- feral furries (just bc i suck at them)

- nsfw/porn

- hateful, offensive imagery in any way. (for example: no n@zi ocs, no homophobic imagery etc)

- anything i deem too difficult to accurately draw

- characters from media I don’t agree with (ask!)

PM me here or on deviantart for a commission. All prices are in AUD and will be taken through paypal ONLY. (Open to discussing alternate forms of payment)

Order form:

username: character reference: commission type: shading: [y/n] colour: [y/n] **FOR TRADITIONALLY LINED ART ONLY** animation: [y/n] **FOR SMALL OR MEDIUM PIXELS** specifics: [pose, etc]

[rpgmgames]

February’s Featured Game: Returning Nightmares

DEVELOPER(S): Saturn ENGINE: RPGMaker 2003 GENRE: YNFG, Exploration, Adventure WARNINGS: Blood, Gore, Swearing, Suicide SUMMARY: Returning Nightmares is an exploration adventure-horror game being developed in RPG Maker 2003, inspired by Yume Nikki and it's multiple fan-made homages (but with dialogue & easier to navigate maps). You play as Akira, a young man locked up in his own bedroom, exploring his dreams to remember the events that lead him to where he is now. But some things are better left alone…

Play the demo here!

Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!

Introduce yourself! Hi, I'm Saturn and I like videya game. I've been into Yume Nikki since about... 2010? And RPG Maker in general since 2011. I've been cateloguing resources and reblogging RPG Maker projects on Pinkuboa for 6 & 1/2 years now (7 in June) and I run Dream Diary Jam, a game jam for making Yume Nikki Fangames. I also love pixel art, writing, and cooking, but the last one I can't make into a game (yet).

What is your project about? What inspired you to create your game initially? *Saturn: I was originally trying to make like a little intro to Yume Nikki project that people could peak into and copy for Dream Diary Jam & future use. However, it ended up taking a life of it's own as something I could goof off in and enjoy without thinking about it. The eventing I did for it could be better optimized, so I wouldn't use it as an example anymore (but don't mind at all if people look & learn from it!). It's basically about me thinking back on my edgy years and my years of looking at other's OCs and celebrating how goofy and fun the stories could be. A lot of the game is me asking "What would someone who watched a lot of anime and listened to MCR do?" There's an appeal to cool edgy stuff I think we forget about when we look back on our edgelord years. Sure, you may not have been the best writer and some of the stuff is over the top, but it was enjoyable to make and some of the characters still appeal to you for basic emotional reasons (good design, relatable story, fun power trip, you just like their hair, etc.) I hope the game is enjoyable to people whether or not they laugh at it or honestly have a good time with it. Both ways are valid - enjoyment is enjoyment!

How long did you work on your project? *Saturn: Oh gosh...I believe I started at the very end of 2017, like a week before the new year. Then I worked on it for like 2 months, took a break, then picked it up and went hard in September 2018 again.

Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project? *Saturn: You bet buddy: -Yume Nikki -.flow -Ignite -The Looking Glass -Fleshchild -Yume Nisshi -Akuma (Yume Nikki Fangame) -Answered Prayers -Ultra Violet -Cheesy internet OCs I read as a kid -Cheesy modern horror movies -Cheesy Creepypastas ...and probably other stuff but I can't think of it right now.

Have you come across any challenges during development? How have you overcome or worked around them? *Saturn: Sometimes I make a world without thinking about it all the way through and I don't know what to do it with or what to fill it with. That's why you can find a map of an Ouija board in the map files with some events and such that you can't access elsewhere. It's driving me mad still. >:T

Did any aspects of your project change over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept? *Saturn: It went from a side project to my current project, a project I wanted to use to help others but ended up teaching myself. I know better ways of eventing now and have an idea of how to make maps and tiles better and faster.

What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone? *Saturn: I prefer working alone on this game. Had it been something that I started with someone else, I'd like it with them. I do crowdsource ideas though: I'll ask discord randomly, "Hey, what should I put next in Returning Nightmares" or "Hey, what else should I put in this world?" Big shout out to Dream Diary Development & Pixel Horror for their help!!

What was the best part of developing the game? *Saturn: Seeing the worlds come together. Once a world has music in it and all the bits and pieces properly moving and intractable, it's immensely satisfying. I'd say finishing an event and having it work properly is second. Eventing is fun!

Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing? *Saturn: I find myself playing with the engine and seeing what I can do with it myself.

Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?) *Saturn: I don't relate to anyone in particular because they're all kinda hollow. However, I like the hidden wizard the best since he was a D&D character I never got to use, so I have a whole backstory and personality for him!

Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently? *Saturn: I wish I planned better & fixed a few bugs for the first release. At least there's nothing game breaking: you can't get a few menus if you don't have enough money, but that's it.

Do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is? *Saturn: Leave as is. This one is mostly to get me comfortable with the idea of releasing a larger game. Akira doesn't have any great stories in him, he's just him. Most of the games I got ideas for are one off since I like one off stuff. Makes everything feel complete.

With your current project, what do you look most forward to upon/after release? *Saturn: I look for people's reactions to it. There's, there's a particular place in the game that's in the shape of a 10 year old webcomic meme that I had people @ me in chats and ask if it was a reference to, while I giggled like a fool. Games like most media can be an interaction between player & creator, and that's one of the fun parts of it all.

Is there something you’re afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game? *Saturn: God I don't know if I'll break the game or make it boring in any particular way. That's my top concern.

Do you have any advice for upcoming devs? *Saturn: Learning how to make a game is like learning how to read or how to do math: you won't be able to read To Kill a Mockingbird right away, nor will you be doing advanced algebra. It took a lot of time for you to be able to do either. Give yourself a break when you learn how to make a game as well: you won't learn how to make a big one in a month! Feel free to screw up. Someone says "Don't do that, it'll be too big"? Do it anyway: you'll either fail and learn a lesson, or you'll succeed and then look back and say, "Oh crap, I could of done that better now that I learned everything new." Either way, you got more practice to make another game, but better. "But I screwed up...." - see paragraph 1 on this question for the answer to that. Cut yourself some slack and remember you're doing this because you want to enjoy making a game! I found the best way I learned is by looking into other games (thanks Bleet & Jojogape for being cool with people looking at their games). I suggest finding the best way you learn as well, whether it's written tutorials, asking people, looking at other people's games, video tutorials, or just messing with the engine yourself. Lastly, I found the best way to take pressure off myself when making a game (as someone who loves perfection) was to make a few goofy joke games first. If they were bad, that was fine: they were supposed to be funny bad! It's like releasing steam by making MS Paint drawings, it makes you laugh and feel less nervous.

Question from last month's featured dev @leirin: What's something you really hope to see an RPG Maker game achieve in the future? * *Saturn: I want to see more games do something with the picture system in RPG Maker 2003. Like, I've seen games play with the new picture system, but not release and it's really burning my britches because it's such a great cosmetic game changer hnnnngh. Otherwise, I'm not sure. RPG Maker is a limited engine specialized for RPGs. I like watching fellow developers Cachi, Hogwash-dev, Rindre, and a few other people see how far they can push the system, but I don't have a particular "I want to see this" from something. I kinda like RPG Maker for it's limits, but I also like seeing what I wasn't expecting from it!

We mods would like to thank Saturn for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!

Remember to check out Returning Nightmares if you haven’t already! See you next month! 

- Mods Gold & Platinum

[sturdy-nerdy-stitchery]

1, 7, and 10!

1) How long have you been stitching?

I’ve been stitching since I was a wee teen! maybe around 12 or 13? I’ll be 35 in 2 months. All I know is, since my mom was big into cross stitching when my brother and I were tots, she thought it would be great to get me a small kit from hobby lobby. At least I THINK she was the one who got me the kit, now that I think upon it. Maybe I got the kit MYSELF with my allowance? I have no idea now...All I know is, my first ever project was a little bee, stitched on 11ct aida fabric. The kit came with all the pattern, thread, needle, hoop, and cloth From there, I just remember my ADHD getting hooked on this new thing, and as common with ADHD people, we tend to go big or go home while the adrenaline courses through our veins, and i remember buying more cross stitch pattern kit things at hobby lobby (a few still sit in my crafting drawer).Thought it would be a life long hobby, but also with ADHD people, we lose interest eventually (or quickly) and we have to move on to something else  that gives us that instant gratification/excitement. I lost that interest for SO many years..15 years, my threads just collecting dust...until one day, I got that inspiration again...that “go big or go home” and thought “OMG I SHOULD CROSS STITCH SAILOR MOON STUFF!!” and I had all these ideas, bought all these threads and hoops...then...never touched them. until about 2 or 3 years ago when i had this GRAND idea to stitch a baby bib for the baby still inside her comfy, warm, and wet, home. But I wanted my own patter, so i went to MS paint and started pixelating a T.A.R.D.I.S...and from there, that excitement kicked in, and it’s been kicked on ever since. 

7) Do you have any other crafty/artsy hobbies?  

any other hobbies? well, aside from cross stitch and knit? Uh, drawing used to be a hobby. I think mainly because I was in school, and one way that kept my ADHD attention focused was to fidget, and i fidgeted by doodling on my  notes/notebooks...Man, from middle school onward. Sketch books. Weeb art. OC characters. And as time progressed, my art skills got better. I took art classes in high school, in college...hell, even thought that getting an illustration degree was what i wanted to do, only because i was pressured to pick a degree by my mom, and illustration looked cool because i saw ONE portfolio that had an anime drawing in it. After college, it seems my art has taken a back seat. I never seem motivated or inspired to draw these days. other hobbies include reading (something i used to do A WHOLE FUCK TON until i got into a reading slump. I’ll be lucky if i read one short story a month. and by short, i mean...ones on my kindle that say “read time: 2 hours” or less. I own so many books and manga...and back in high school and college, i was a HUUUGE WEEB. the annoying kind of weeb who tried to use japanese words in everything. I used to read SO much manga. I hope i can get back into reading more...But i’m not going to hold my breath...I love to cook. This hobby i do often...or often enough when my anxiety isn’t running amok...I do it often BECAUSE MY FAMILY HAS TO EAT so i’ll feed them delicious meals! Thankfully, the rule in this house is: who ever cooks, the other person cleans up. I HATE CLEANING UP BUT I LOVE COOKING! works in my favor! great, now i have to think about what to cook for dinner tonight with the tofu i have. I would say sewing...but...i only do it out of necessity...when i have a hole in a shirt, or need to finish a commission book mark, or need to work on halloween costumes. I wouldn’t say that this is a hobby per se. Or maybe it is? I did take a sewing class through the park district for 2 sessions...in those 3 months...i leanred new techniques and things...but she didn’t teach any seamstress sewing, as the instructor doesn’t know how to sew clothes. Only projects, bags, etc. I saved all her hand outs and projects. I hope one day, to have the space in a new home so that i CAN get back into sewing. I’ll add gaming too! I don’t do it often, as i am very indecisive on what to play  next unless a new fav of mine comes out...and i know that when i DO play, i get addicted and i can play for 8 hours straight if you let me. I am currently playing FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS...as I’ve never played it before...and it’s been sitting on our game shelf for years. I’m the gamer type who like to explore too much...so games for me take 3x or 4x as long to finish because i can’t just do the story line and be done!

10: How/where do you get your patterns?

For the most part, I make my own via KG CHART (look up kg chart or kg-chart in the search when you are on my blog page). I got so tired of seeing nothing but cute bears and flowers, so I decided to make my own, and then sell them on my Sturdy Nerdy Stitchery Etsy page. 

I also may look on etsy and buy some patterns that I see that I like...or, since craft stores seem to be expanding, I can find more selection of cross stitch kits and things and they aren’t just limited to cute bears and flowers! I bought a unicorn one at the AC Moore craft store! 

[askgalato]

((26, 32, 35? :>)) ~ ask-akaripiko

((HELLO!! i love your blog so much!! its so cute!!26. For digital artists: what program(s) do you use?i use three programs!!SAI: most of my stuff!!!Fire Alpaca: Pixel art!!! i’ll DIE on the “fire alpaca is the best program for pixels its SO much easier than SAI” hill its just 10 times easier!!Ms Paint: teiru stuff, and tbh just to doodle in!! drawing in ms paint is really calming, i pixel in there sometimes too!! 

like this piko i drew in ms paint!! (its very much a wip so ignore the weird parts dhskfa)

32. What defines your artistic style?oh hm!! good question, i think definitely the fluffy hair is a staple dfdfsa i cant draw hair thats not poofy!! cant be done!! love poofy hair!!!im not sure what else- lemme ask my palsthe answers i got were “round face, bright colors, soft, and worm” which i can see!! i love bright colors dfjak !!! a different friend said “rough edges” which is also true!! bc i never line art ever in my life my sketch is the finished product fdaj// i should.. probably work on fixing that35. List at least one of your “artspirations.”https://nekomiira.tumblr.com/ def nekomiira!! i love their color choice !!!https://www.instagram.com/cherrysart/?hl=en idk if theyre an artspiration per SE, but im always excited to see them post and they make me want to draw more!!https://dsddsddsd.tumblr.com/ and last but not least sidu!! i LOVE sidus art so much and its like…. The Dream !! ))

[pomrania]

Hey Pom. I love that you do MerMay. The lines on your art are kind of jagged, tho, which makes me think you're using MS paint. If you use it bc you prefer it that's totally cool, but if you want a program that gives you a few more options, Krita is a really good, free, opensource digital painting program. It would let you do stuff like adjust yr opacity so you can blend layers and stuff. A lot of people haven't heard of it, so I thought I'd spread the word

Thanks for the suggestion. You’re right, I am using MS Paint; however, I’m doing so intentionally. That’s because I’ve a major streak of perfectionism, and it tends to come out in the tiny details of where a pixel goes as opposed to the more important things of “how do arms connect to torsos”.

When using MS Paint, it’s a lot more effort to get colours exactly right, and spaces exactly filled, so I tend to work at that stuff less, which means that if I’m drawing, I’m working on the more important stuff of “does this look like an actual body”. Also, MS Paint loads quickly, and I’m pretty much as much of an expert with that program as is possible. (I’m not a good ARTIST necessarily, but I know how to use that program.)

The program I use, when I want to use stuff with layers and transparency, is Paint dot NET. It’s another open source free program, and I’m familiar with it. It’s what I use when I want to do any image editing more sophisticated than “crop to a portion of the picture and draw a circle around this bit”. I’ve heard good things about Krita, but I am very much the type of person who likes to stick with what they’re familiar with. (Even if I had to import the program file from Windows XP because I dislike the default MS Paint that comes with newer versions.)

Basically, my use of MS Paint for my Mermay drawings is an intentional artistic choice, to keep me focused on actually DRAWING stuff instead of playing around with layers and colour choices. That’s the same reason I’m almost always just using their default colour palette too, so I won’t get distracted.

But I’ll pass on the recommendation for Krita, and add my own recommendation for Paint dot NET, for anyone who wants a nice free graphics program that gives more options than the basic.