#been experimenting with different render styles lately!!

[averaillisa]

quick guili sketch ❤🌻

[tuxibirdie]

have a blueberry!

[acaiis]

a belated birthday piece for lan sizhui because I 1.) didn't realize until the 11th and 2.) had wilderness first aid training over the weekend which was like,, nine hours each day. so hopefully being a bit late is better than nothing! the juniors have stolen my heart and run off with it

[ribbonetteart]

Tribute to one of my favorite movies of all time + the franchise that has me in a death grip 💖

a bit late for Christmas but at least Valentine's day is around the corner ^^;;

Process below if that interests you:

AS I SAID EARLIER, I had been working on this piece as early as December of 2021 😱!!!

This was the original sketch! I was inspired after learning about Blaze's own design inspiration coming from Takarazuka theater, as well as it being the Nutcracker season so this film was in bouncing around in my head.

and this was allllll the way back in 2021 ^^; I had put the idea to paper to capture the image in my head immediately. But the idea in my head was extravagant and beautiful and would certainly take time to complete, as well as the patience and skill to work with watercolor 😔 I've certainly done my share of watercolor, both physical and digital, but I still feel like my physical watercolor work is a fluke, and I was still a novice digital artist at the time of this sketch.

In short, I was confident my skill could live up to the vision.

So I would put this on the back burner. It wouldn't be ready in time for Christmas, and I could use this as an opportunity to hone that digital art experience so it could be ready next year!

2 Years Later...

It's December 5th. Fuck it. Let's crack this open again, I tell myself.

SO starting with the line art, it's actually 2 different brushes layered over one another.

I also changed Sonic's expression to be more love struck-looking, because I'm a sucker for romance.

The image on the left is a watercolor line brush, while the right is a pencil brush. The reason I wanted a water color look was because I thought it would make the illustration look dreamy and fantastical, and I wanted that to extend to the line art as well. However, my usual lines on traditional usually veer more towards thick and cartoony from years of studying the Sonic art style, so I really felt like I was working against myself here. I had also asked friends for their input and they preferred the lines on the right as well. If my followers actually do read these blog posts, I'd love if you could comment which line art style you prefer drawing or looking at.

The happy medium was to just combine the 2. Here's a better look at that:

I like it! I think it combines the solid line with the rustic water color grain. Best of both worlds :]

For the actual painting, The most notable thing I can say is that getting the right pastel-y color was VERY difficult to achieve for someone like me who often loves to use bright and saturated colors in her art. I feel like I really set myself up to do one of those "evil art style" or "opposite art style" challenges I've been seeing around. I had to repaint Sonic at one paint because the blue of his fur was WAY too saturated for the style I was going for:

I started with painting Sonic and Blaze in first and then working on the background. I think that's probably the backwards way of doing it but one of the perks of digital art is you can do stuff any order you want when you have layers.

The background wasn't actually as difficult as I thought it would be. I wasn't going for any difficult perspective, and I was using a reference so that could be it. I'm usually averse to backgrounds but I really wanna tackle more of my weak points in art. I actually had way more fun than I was expecting, painting the sky and adding texture to the grass. I think I had the most fun rendering the water coming from the fountain (which you can't even see too well anyway, lol).

Funny enough, I had just about finished painting the characters and background by early January. So why am I posting this in February?

The Flowers...

In case you don't know. I love flowers. I love looking at them, I love learning about flower languages, I love drawing them. so seeing that my reference image showed flowers circling the fountain, I was excited! I was already having more fun than I expected to be, working against my usual style, rendering a background, so how could this be a pain in the ass?

Well, I am my own worst enemy 😞I couldn't exactly identify each flower offhand from this screenshot alone. The texture of the flowers is kinda grainy, since I don't think the animators were expecting viewers to look too closely at the set piece to use as reference for my lovingly crafted crossover fanart. If anyone has this in high quality though, please tell me.

(I think I actually got this reference from a tumblr post but I can't find it on my blog for the life of me nor can I find it in the tags I'm so sorry)

I'm a huge stickler for details so I really wanted to be as "accurate" as possible in my illustration. I can hardly identify some of these flowers with confidence. I think there are roses in there? or tulips? I'm not sure if those yellow flowers are roses or some kinda petunia or if I'm way off.

I'm sure these details won't matter to most viewers but it was EATING AWAY AT ME. Eventually I decided to try drawing in flowers that might look similar to the ones in the reference. Or some based on their flower languages. I was certainly overthinking it ;;;; It led me to going "fuck it" and just throwing in whatever I wanted. There are no irises visible in that screenshot but I made it the centerpiece of the flower ring. Who give a shit.

I made some guides for me to follow: The blue ring was so I could make sure the flowers make a half circular border around Sonic and Blaze. I was envisioning how it could look as like an icon or sticker or something, which is why it's framed this way. then the second guide is the sketch of the flowers I made. I always do line art and I'm not great at just improvising with color to paper, or color to screen in this case.

The rest of this process is then just working on each flower piece by piece (with the help of the mirror tool of course) with varying degrees of detail. Some flowers are more abstract than others, and I had debated if that would look jarring and disrupted any kind of harmony I was trying to maintain with the style parameters I set for myself. And then I decided I was overthinking it once again which is why this was taking me nearly 2 months to complete.

At some point during this process, my wifi went out for a whole week! Of course, I could still work on this illustration offline, but I had a lot of tabs open with a bunch of reference images on there (plus I like to listen to music while I draw otherwise I lose focus and I had neglected to download a varied selection on my phone or laptop 😭 Learn from my mistakes).

The most tedious of this process was making each set of gladioluses a unique color.

Was it worth it? You tell me! I think they're pretty, at least.

Along the way, I repainted the grass because it wasn't symmetrical (It didn't need to be but I had been using the mirror tool for a lot at this point and it was bugging me). I made other little final adjustments, like color adjusting the leaves on the flowers, lowering the flower ring border, and so on.

Ultimately, I'm extremely satisfied with the final product. I had my heart set on doing something like this for a long time. I had so much fun just experimenting throwing on color or not worrying about technical stuff. Of course, I did do what I usually do and overthink it at some points, but I'm working on it!

I've wanted to do an extremely indulgent AU illustration and other drawings for a Sonic x The Nutcracker story for a long while. I will be totally honest, I'm still a little embarrassed to share stuff like this, even after years of posting fan art online. It feels like the more self indulgent something is, the more people might judge me for it ^^; But I wanna practice what I preach and kill the thing inside me that cringes at my harmless attempts at joy and whimsy.

I would love to do some more drawings for this AU, but maybe post them around December when it would be more seasonally appropriate. I hope you'll stick around for it!

If you read this whole thing to the end, thank you. Whether you follow my blog or not, I hope you have a lovely day :3💝

[minecraft-inspo]

Striking the Balance

Considerations for designing vanilla-adjacent block models

or “A Case Study in Bivalves”

I’ve spent a number of years working on Minecraft textures and models for various projects, from small retextures to hand-crafted mobs. Lately, I’ve found particular interest in the design philosophy of vanilla Minecraft, specifically, how complex ideas are illustrated in simple models. In coming to understand this design philosophy, I have been able to learn how to better design “vanilla-like” models and additionally discovered where I am able to push these boundaries of design without creating a disjointed experience. As I have worked through retexturing and remodeling the Prehistoric Nature mod for my personal resource pack, Vanilladendron, I have had to make many design considerations along these lines, and I hope my thoughts are useful to those considering creating vanilla style resource packs or mods in the future. 

The design history of Minecraft is long and messy. With the earliest developers being programmers but not artists, a purposeful design philosophy took time to develop and left numerous exceptions, from the inconsistent pixel sizes between entities of different scales to greatly varying levels of detail in blocks. Despite this, with time, two general thoughts would prevail. First of these is that Minecraft is not a voxel game, and second, that objects should be represented by the simplest possible model that can accurately communicate their identity. Failure to align with either of these two thoughts is the primary way that modded aesthetics clash with vanilla Minecraft. This is not necessarily a problem, and may in fact be a purposeful design choice, but anyone wishing to create an experience congruous with the core of Minecraft must keep them in mind. 

Thought one: Minecraft is not a voxel game.

In understanding what Minecraft is, it is important to understand what it is not. So, what are voxels, anyway? In an artistic sense (no, we’re not gonna talk about the coding or rendering of voxels), voxels are essentially 3D pixels. Rather than just representing points on a flat grid, voxels have volume - they fill three dimensional space. So, knowing this, in what sense is Minecraft not composed of voxels? While Minecraft uses pixel art and 3D environments, pixels never represent stand-alone 3D voxels. Instead, textures are applied to flat surfaces on larger polygonally-defined objects. If, instead, Minecraft were a voxel-based game, you could expect to see objects such as flowers represented by 3D structures, with each pixel converted to a voxel, as has been done by many resource packs, such as the fittingly named “Default 3D”. For examples of voxel-based games, consider Cube World or Teardown. Both games show how voxels can be effectively used to create an aesthetic very unique from Minecraft, with varying degrees of blockiness. Note how objects and character designs from each game would be greatly incongruous with vanilla Minecraft, which does not use a voxel art style. In designing models for Minecraft, it is often tempting to stray towards a voxel aesthetic, as this can allow for clear shaping and detailing in 3D space, but if a vanilla-adjacent look is the goal, this should be thoroughly avoided.

Default 3D resource pack displaying voxel-like models

Teardown, a game with a voxel-based art style 

Thought two: Objects should be represented by the simplest possible model that can accurately communicate their identity

This thought ties closely to the prior, and discusses how objects are represented without being detailed 3D voxel structures. The vast majority of objects in Minecraft are blocks - cubes with six 16 x 16 faces. While this works well for many things, particularly pieces of terrain, there are many cases in which objects could not be communicated well by a meter cubed. In these cases, the simplest solutions are used. For example, rather than representing vines as a series of twisting voxels, they are a 16 x 16 texture on a single flat plane. Flowers and saplings - too complex for a single plane, are formed from only two faces, crossed. Of course, objects get more complex than that. Take for instance cauldrons, anvils, or hoppers. In these cases, the shape of the object is important in communicating the purpose of said object, and despite being more complex than most blocks, they are still relatively simple and do not stray into the territory of being mistaken for voxel art. It can be difficult to know how detailed to make a model. Even Mojang struggles with it. Sometimes they undershoot, creating a model that lacks necessary details, such as early versions of the campfire or archaeology pots. I am of the opinion that the redesigned campfires represent the most detailed block currently in Minecraft that still fits the vanilla aesthetic perfectly. Sometimes Mojang overshoots, such as with the dragon egg, which borders on voxel art, and which provides repeated frustration to the current Minecraft dev team. With this in mind, I view the dragon egg as the furthest extent of detail which can be accepted within “vanilla-like” models, and mods should truly go no further. You must figure out how to strike a balance between simplicity and complexity. If you are unsure how detailed to make your model, start with the least detail you can conceive and work up from there until you are happy with the aesthetic you have created. 

The original, under-detailed campfire block

The dragon egg, an overly detailed block

Opinions by the developers on the dragon egg

Philosophy in practice

Let’s apply these thoughts to a model from the Prehistoric Nature mod, specifically the “upright bivalve.” This is a model which has, to my mind, overshot the vanilla look in terms of detail. Specifically, it looks as though it is composed of voxels rather than larger, textured faces. Thus, it stands out greatly against vanilla blocks and other underwater decorations such as seagrass. 

While I know where I would start in terms of reworking it, I would like this to act as a full guide, and so I will walk through my entire design process (which I usually do in my head) in the form of fully-fledged models, starting as discussed before with the simplest possible model, and then increasing complexity until we reach a design which I believe fits the vanilla feel of Minecraft and which I find personally pleasing. 

Our first option is a flat plane, something similar to vines or glow lichen. It should be quickly obvious that this is not the correct choice. It’s hard to tell that these are even supposed to be shells, and certainly not “upright” ones at that.

The next level of complexity would be that of a cross model, like saplings. I personally feel this one has some potential, and with a bit of texture tweaking, it could work. I suspect that if Mojang were to add this block, it would look something similar to this. However, I don’t feel it fits the aesthetic goals of myself or the original artist of the mod, so let’s continue to tweak it. 

Perhaps we could mimic the shape of the original design, but use flat textures. While I feel this does better represent the shape I want than the previous option, it still appears too flat to be the oyster-like shells that I’m going for.

So we finally land at the version I like (in fact, the one I originally designed, the others being merely representations of my thought process). It is very similar to the design from the mod, just with the voxel shapes being simplified down into clear faces. This design is likely a bit more complicated than would be added to vanilla Minecraft these days, but doesn’t clash horribly with what is already in the game. 

There we have it! A vanilla-inspired remodel that fits both the default appearance of the game while generally following the ideas introduced by the mod. Here it is featured alongside a variety of other remodels that I have done for my resource pack.

 

Thanks so much for reading! I hope this guide is useful to up-and-coming resource pack and mod makers!

[salemssimblr]

resolution tag. |

tysm for the tag @simatomica!!! ily!

What's your resolution for your Simblr ?

I have big hopes, dreams and plans for my simblr this year. Of course more art, always more art, but also: -blender scenes -more tuts on my secondary render school blog -downloads (scenes, lots, sims etc) -I want to finish at least one challenge (probably cas), create at least one (probably cas lmao) and actually participate in Simblreen after being unable to for various reasons for the last several years. But my biggest ambition for my simblr this year is an upcoming story! 👀 I had been working on one when my dad passed that I've been unable to get back to (for now) and was derailed from completing Vignettes last year when my collaborator suddenly dropped out/no longer wanted me to work on it. That's been weighing on me lately. I hadn't planned to 'announce' anything fully but like, I'm bummed it's no longer happening mostly because it makes me seem noncommittal when I'm anything but, I've just been asked not to do it. SO, idk, I want to create and I will create so the show will simply go on without that character/in a different direction/with a different storyline. It's still in the earliest stages but I'm making progress on it day by day and I hope to start posting it before/at least by the fall. It's very ambitious but I'm very ambitious so I hope I can accomplish that this year.

What do you want from the Sims franchise?

It's always so funny for me to answer these questions as I barely play the game but like, I want more diverse hobbies, like BANDS? Music pls give me musical instruments our sims can play that's not the piano/guitar/violin PLEASE, but I'd also kill for some FULL build sets in a different/new aesthetic. & another city that's actually well developed please. Let me thrive EA I'm begging you.

Any other New Years resolutions ?

After a catastrophic personal loss towards the end of 2023, I'm just trying to live my best, most authentic life this year and beyond. I want to embody everything my dad was and live for him. He was fearless in his hobbies and endeavors, and I strive to be the same way now. There's no time to be afraid of what people might think. This year I want more laughter, more real friends, closer connections, my truest sense of self and style, more tattoos, clothing that I actually like/want, more experiences, more time with family. More concretely, I want to create more. Do more with my hands. I'm in the process of reopening my Etsy storefront with a major rebrand, this time focusing on gothic accessories (jewelry so far), decor and oddities. I'd like to eventually participate in trade shows that come through my area.

There's a lot to do this year, but I think I'm ready for it.

I'm tagging @simlishpiadina, @potionio, @picardsims, @scholarlysims, @boobpancakes, @morrigan-sims, @eyebawll, @moonfromearth, @steffystah. @crazy-lazy-elder-sims, @lost-souls-story, @ethelgodehel, & anyone else who wants to do this!

[lil-tachyon]

Who are some of your biggest influences in your art?

I’ve answered this question or something like it a couple times (1 2 3 4 + archive of interviews I’ve done with people)  so I’ll hit the main points and then talk about some different stuff I’ve been into recently. 

Favorite artists who have influenced me the most in no particular order:

Wayne Barlowe

Moebius

Mark Schultz

Simon Roy

Cosimo Galluzi

CM Kosemen

John Howe

James Gurney

Katsuya Terada

Hayao Miyazaki

I could name more, but those are the main people that I come back to, year after year.

Picture above by John Howe

General art movements/styles that have influenced me

19th century academic art, especially Orientalist painters (to be clear, I don’t endorse any of the harmful racial attitudes behind many of them, it’s just stuff that I saw as a kid that I thought looked cool and different and mysterious)

Ukiyo-e, Shin Hanga, Japanese woodcuts generally

Late 80s to 90s anime

Most comic art

Online spec bio art communities

Video game character/creature designs: Sonic, Pokemon, Legend of Zelda, Shining Force, etc

Art Nouveau

Fuck it, basically all Gilded Age, Fin de siècle, Belle Époque, late 19th/early 20th century European art movements that were more or less representational or illustrative

Picture above by Ludwig Deutsch. I had a bookmark of this painting for many years and I would often get distracted while reading and just stare at it.

I think I’ve talked about all that stuff before but if you want more details or specifics just ask!

For the last couple years, my really big influences have all been other artists I’ve met online. I mean I made a whole book with @ordheist and @bagb0ss. There’s a sort of loose cloud of (mostly) SFF artists that I’ve been really lucky to work and speak with and we all kinda know or know of each other or end up in the same Discord servers, or working on the same RPGs, etc. I’m not gonna link everybody but if you go through the interviews I’ve conducted for my newsletter or check out my side blog you’ll start to figure out who I mean (seriously a lot of these people are coming to tumblr now from twitter and I’ve been reblogging the hell out of them.) Seeing all the stuff my peers are putting out and talking with them is the source of like 90% of the ideas for my personal illustrations these days. It’s cool to be part of a community. I wish there were more opportunities to meet in person, but it’s still cool.

The other stuff that’s really been in my head lately is art that’s less illustrative, more abstract and graphical. Not pure abstraction mind you, but I’ve really been digging stuff that’s more about communicating a concept, feeling, piece of information, or idea than a narrative. More about design and composition than rendering. I recently read Philip Meggs’ History of Graphic Design and that’s turned me on to so new many artists and styles. In particular I’ve fallen in love with all the Vienna Secession guys, the Glasgow Style artists, and all the graphic and bookmaking ideas that came out of the Arts and Crafts movement. I don’t know how I want to work these ideas into my drawings yet and I haven’t had a lot of time to experiment lately but they're definitely bouncing around in my head.

Above from top to bottom: two pieces by Koloman Moser, two posters by Frances Macdonald, and two pages from The Glittering Plain, written and designed by William Morris.

There’s a whole lot of art that I really love but it rarely gets reflected in my drawings- American Regionalist paintings, gig posters, childrens’ storybooks, Eastern European Mosaics, Native American art, outsider art, colonial Americana …. One day I’ll find a way to synthesize it all.

Anyway, hope this is interesting/fun/informative and if you have any follow up questions don’t hesitate to ask!

-Logan

[cosmicgardencreative]

DTIYS of an illustration by Kazuya Minekura. Needed a subject that I wanted to experiment with workflow and brushes. Plus, meditating over old fandom is so therapeutic.

TL;DR: Life is short. Just go ahead and write your story and draw your art. If you want to do something with your art, know that it won't be easy but it's possible as long as you keep learning, make good connections, and don't stop.

(Reflection of current art journey under read more)

This is of one of my favorite illustrations by Kazuya Minekura. If there's one big, major influence in my art journey, it's the creator of Gensomaden Saiyuki. I was maybe in 5th grade when I discovered the manga, which coincided with me seeing the anime on cable. A retelling of a Chinese folktale with a Japanese perspective: this was so appealing to me from harmonizing different cultures into one story, to beautiful men getting mixed with supernatural horror. This may as well have been my queer awakening then.

There was so much to be introspective about while drawing this… like how 6th grade me couldn't comprehend why people treated gay/queer as different from straight, my love for Asian folklore and mythology, and this burning desire to draw anything and everything. It only seemed appropriate that I'd gravitate towards Minekura as an art idol. And despite people's criticism for it, this is a foundation that I have no regrets in.

I remembered how much I wanted to emulate Minekura when I was younger. It's such a striking style! Unfortunately, my art journey has seen a lot of stop-and-go to the point I couldn't comprehend the progress made. There have been times where I just resented my art because I felt directionless with my creativity. Thanks to Ismaire and some art friends, though, I'm actually happy lately to see how much my "art style" evolved to where it is today.

[***]

While I was finishing up the rendering, I couldn't help wondering how Ms. Minekura had been doing since I last read Saiyuki Reload Vol. 4. Was she even still around? What about her other works, like Wild Adapter? I knew that she had a blog, but whenever I took a look at it in the past, the updates were sporadic then that it may as well have been a dead blog.

Then, after one more bout of curiosity, I came across her twitter/X profile.

It was both relieving and energizing to see so many works that I didn't know she had drawn then! I was so happy to see she seems to be thriving with her works, but I was surprised to see that she was still contending with many health problems. I had to pause in my scrolling through her profile at one point. How she could sound so positive and cheerful while she's dealing with Cushing's syndrome now? Last I heard anything major, she was about to undergo surgery for a tumor on her jaw -- and I only found out about that update through an online fan news years back o-o;;

I can't assume too much about Minekura's personal life, but with what she was willing to share with her fans online, I have a more nuanced respect for her as an adult creator.

It's so reassuring to see a creator like Minekura continue growing her creativity. I only hope to aspire to her level of good attitude despite IRL hurdles, while having the means to share such a prolific world for everyone else to enjoy.

[dhabitahpunk-art]

Hi! Your art is absolutely gorgeous and I loved that Paint With Me video!

I'm also a digital artist and have also gotten an anon ask like that saying they were convinced I was an AI :/ Even though I've literally made a long post about my process which included ugly WIP pics but oh well

Anyway, my point with sending this was mainly to just send you good vibes, and say I hope you don't let comments like that bother you too much, and tell you, as a fellow artist with a very similar style and process, how beautiful and inspirational your art is ;u;

Seriously the colors, the rough brush strokes, the mood, it's all I always want my own art to be like but only sometimes succeed at... I think one thing that makes a big difference, which I've been trying to be more conscious of lately, is the choice of references. Sometimes I just choose pics because I wanna draw the subject in them but don't think so much about the harmony of the colors involved or the lighting or the compositon etc etc and then it's only when I'm like 70% through the drawing that I start noticing how underwhelming it is compared to what it could have been like but at that point it's too late to make such drastic changes so I just end up frustrated and disappointed.

And that's all stuff that could have been avoided by choosing a better ref in the first place and I think you always nail that you know? Like I never have any pre established interest in the subjects you draw but the art is so beautiful on its own if that makes sense, I really love it. And I also love how loose you're able to keep your brushstrokes by having a lower res ref so you can't see too much detail. I struggle with that sometimes.. either I work with a low quality pic to keep the drawing rough or I have a better quality ref so I can draw some nice details in the features, but then I overdo it by adding too much detail anyway. So having the multiple versions of the ref for different purposes makes a lot of sense and I was actually just thinking about that today XD

Anyway uh this got a lot longer than I meant it to, sorry for the rambling, but yeah really love your art and your style and your process!!

Aw, thanks so much for writing in, dear anon!!! My blood is always boiling whenever someone accuses me of using AI. 🤣 I get those comments a lot on Instagram especially.

I get that issue sometimes too when the piece just feels underwhelming. But I usually just push thru and it's all about the experience. Sometimes we get to learn new things during the process even tho the end result isn't what we expected.

You should totally try to have a lower resolution version of your reference. It's helped me a lot and also stopped me from over-rendering which I am sometimes guilty of. 😆

Also, I bet your art is really cool and you're so kind. If you don't mind, you could private message me your account so I can give you a follow!!😇 No pressure, of course!

[bigjimbopickens]

Hi! I wanna say I love your art first of all! I just read the message under your last post about Kevin’s art video and you said you’re mostly self taught - I’m curious about how you get into that? I’d love to learn to draw but have no idea where to start!

Sorry for getting back to this so late I am not as active on Tumblr. And yes, I am mostly self-taught because of my circumstances growing up. To those who don't know, I am SnowfallWarning/Big Jimbo and I am currently an animation student. I do 2D animation, concept art and character design and I graduate this year (hopefully). I am disabled both physically and mentally which is why I mostly do digital art. I have a coordination disorder (dyspraxia) and am blind in one eye but that doesn't stop me. For my entire childhood I was discouraged from drawing as I apparently wouldn't go anywhere with it or that I was terrible. Where I lived most of my life had no opportunities for someone like me so I had to leave to continue pursuing art. Because of the poor access, the only things I had was notebooks, school supplies and an old iPad mini to draw with growing up. I learned everything I currently know now from using those. I don't know what got me into drawing still, may have been Warrior Cats and dinosaurs. Like what Jose said in Kevin's video, art comes from the soul. It is human expression and we've always been doing it. Anyone can be an artist and we all start somewhere, trust me. Here's some stuff I usually tell people because I do get asked this often (I'm also not the best teacher): 1: Experiment. Find what works for you. Be messy with it, not every piece needs to be perfect. If you are a digital artist then also trying different programs can be helpful too. Maybe you're better at drawing landscapes, characters or abominations that defy God. 2: Use references if necessary. Not sure why for a while it was considered "cheating" to use references. Everyone in the industry uses references, I would know. If you also want, you can try tutorials but I found I learn more from references. 3: Take inspiration. I'm always adding things I see in other people's art to my own style if I like it. Though try not to copy them. 4: Tracing. I believe tracing is okay for learning purposes. It's how I learned to draw humans after doing exclusively furry art for years tbh. I tend to stick to real-life references for this, this is a great site for practice: https://line-of-action.com (if you're not okay with nudity then do remember to turn that off). "But where do I even start?" Grab a piece of paper and pencil (or open a blank canvas on a digital art program if you prefer that) and just start doodling whatever. If you have an idea then go for that as well. Every class I've had in college so far has started with drawing and rendering a bunch of shapes to see where everyone was at and to get a feel of our styles. So maybe try that too. Draw random shapes with different materials/brushes, colour them in and add details like shadows and highlights. I know it seems ridiculous but I do it every once in a while to experiment and try different methods. You probably won't improve overnight. Hell, it took me 7 years to get to where I currently am. A lot of people quit because they think they're not good enough when pretty much every artist is only proud of about 10% of their work. Definitely the case for me. Not every piece is going to be a masterpiece and the imperfections can be what makes it special, so please don't be so hard on yourself. Don't be discouraged because other artists may be better than you either, they've probably been doing it for longer. So please, if you are dedicated enough, keep trying. I'm sure you will get somewhere :) So basically, - Use whatever material you got and draw what comes to mind, even if it's terrible it is a great start. - Experiment with your style and/or materials. - Reference, take inspiration and trace for memory. - Don't give up but do take breaks to avoid burnout. - Try not to be intimidated by other artists, we also don't really know what we're doing tbh (and just as afraid of you as you are of us).

I hope that all made sense and was somewhat helpful :)

[krisravencroft]

An Introduction

I am Kris Ravencroft, author of The Darkwhisper Chronicles.

The Darkwhisper Chronicles is a book series that I am currently working on, and it is not yet released. With the nuances of my writing and storytelling, as well as my protective nature over my creative vision, it is possible my work will be too niche and strict to ever be formally published by a company. If such is the case, then I intend to at least self-publish, unless something catastrophic prevents even that.

I have been simultaneously developing these characters and building this world myself (and for my own entertainment and creative channeling) since my adolescent years: starting roughly between late 2011 and early 2013. It is only recently (roughly a year and a half ago from this post) through changes in my life and the encouragement of a dear friend that I have decided to tell these stories in novel form. If nothing else, doing so would allow me to immortalize my stories in writing and gift them to the friends who have known of them for a long time, but certainly, the temptation to share them with any kindred spirits that might be interested has also driven me forward: especially now that I have reached a place in my life where I am confident I can render these stories with their best possible face.

Currently, I am working on the first nine or so books in the series, seven of which I am -- at present -- writing concurrently. Internally, I dub the nine as "the starter novels/saga" or "The First Wave," as I view all of them to be perfectly valid entry points into the series which will uniquely frame how a reader engages with the rest of them. This is intentional, as with the nature of my storytelling and the diversity of tales to tell, the reader will be exposed to several main characters all at different points in their respective arcs and all driving their entangled stories forward. I currently have over twenty books planned, and in the total absence of padding, my novels are each likely to be between 500 and 900 pages if I can keep myself from going over.

The identity of The Darkwhisper Chronicles is fully fleshed out and that will be palpable in the reading experience, but pinning down how to describe the series is daunting even for me to explain. When reduced to its absolute bare-bones, it is generally an adult high fantasy and gothic horror series -- meant for veterans of the genres -- that also has dramatic (and conscious) shifts in tone, perspective, narration style, and general flavor based on not only the main protagonist of a given novel, but the driving protagonist of a given scene within said novel. These shifts can be from fast-paced and utilitarian to tranquil and contemplative; from heavy and dramatic to light and comical; from adventure to horror; and from swords and sorcery in a medieval backdrop to noir against a diet steampunk backdrop.

It is worth noting that I subscribe fully to the mindset that a protagonist is someone we follow, rather than the hero/good guy/agreeable figure of a narrative, as many of the primary protagonists will be established as flawed people at best and outright villains at worst, and depending on the perspective of the character as it influences my narration, who serves as protagonist and antagonist will shift just as often as the tone and perspective of a story.

These characters -- and the world they live in -- are very near and dear to my heart, and I look forward to eventually being able to share them with others. For now, I am going to keep track of my progress, use this blog to establish that I am well into the project, and when it sees the light of day, I can interact with those who've enjoyed it. In time, I may give updates here, but I am still thinking on it.

I am open to receiving questions, but keep in mind that I will not be sharing crucial information to the development of the series, and I want to ensure that my ideas remain mine with no room for dispute. Prior to the publication of the novels, I ask that none of the information I share here be used in any capacity, unless specifically stated otherwise.

I simply wish to document and share a bit of my journey as I write.

[chazuramen]

2, 6, 22, 25! (for those artist asks)

artist asks ough this got l o n g

2) 5 favorite works of your own?

1-2. After being in a slump for so long and not being able to finish full pieces, I'm really proud I managed to push through with my entries for Rose Magazine! I really enjoyed trying make insect themed clothing inspired by Barong tagalog (though most of it is hidden ;w;) and Baro't saya.

3-4. These drawings I did for this year's artfight! (Olive belongs to Maizemaze and Preston belongs to U3pxx. Used this year's AF as a way to experiment with my process a bit and really liked how these ones turned out (cleaner rendering with olive and fiddling with lighting with preston)

5. Oldie but but goldie (to me,,) this is where I really wanted to start pushing myself to do bigger illustrations.

6) Which artists inspire you right now?

Hoo boy a lot, I can think of a lot of artists with all different types of styles with all different types of reasons. I tend to lean towards artists who do character design and narrative illustration. Off the top of my head though, these are who I can think of at the moment!

Ryoko Kui

Where to begin??? Everyone knows her character design is *chefs kiss* just gorgeous, but i also love the way she draws food, dunmeshi's panels (especially anything involving Falin) and the way she draws expressions (especially Marcille's reactions to the party's shenanigans)

2. Vivian Ha (TWT/ Tumblr)

ahh man they've been such an inspiration to me for such a long time, i think i found out about them around 2016? their linework and the shapes in their work are so fluid, and their coloring is so so soft

3. Tan Jiu ( IG / Twt)

Tamen de Gushi my beloved. There's something about their colors, the way they draw their characters interact (aside from sun jing and qiu tong, I also really love sun jing and mophead's dynamic, the way they draw their expressions are so funny) and just the warmth and coziness from their illustrations with sun jing/qiu tong. fills me with utter joy

4. Lyoo_lyoo (IG / Youtube / Class101)

Lot of pretty boys in this one, I found them through one of their speedpaints on youtube and their process was very interesting to me! Their colors are so warm and tasty and i love the way they paint hair and clothes!.

5. Jarvisdean (IG)

had to screenshot this one on IG ignore the arrow ;w; One of the official illustrators for All Saints Street. The way they draw characters so SHAPED, the composition and the detail!!!

22. When is your prime time to work on your art?

Usually afternoon to evening! I've been trying to avoid staying up too late to draw but this also ends up with me drawing personal stuff at work and forgetting to do my work tasks until it's really late.

25. Based on your recent reference searches, what would the FBI assume about you?

i wouldve probably gotten away with something mild but unfortunately i have the word foot in there so nothing good

[ivettel]

behind the curtain ep 4

bit late with this one but i wanted to finish laundry first so here we go.. notes on this bitch

right off the bat, yes! i did rotoscoping!

what! after avoiding it since 2017!! shoutout to jennifer @antoniosvivaldi for inspiring me to do that, btw. you should absolutely check out her stuff if you haven't already--her style is so unique and refreshing!

for the most part, i think they turned out swell--after effects behaved itself for once, which like, thank fuck, because i was on a call with fio @maranello and others at 1 in the morning like "haha! i totally know what i'm doing!" narrator voice they did NOT know what they were doing, they were making educated guesses based on past horrible experiences (hence avoiding rotoscoping for years 💀).

but this is meant to be educational lol so! what is rotoscoping? simply put, it's a tracing technique. it has its roots way back in animation when tech was starting to pick up in like the 1920s and artists wanted a more efficient way of animating. rotoscoping is one of those tools that've been used differently from how it was originally intended, which is actually? so cool from like, a media arts study perspective?? because it's commonplace to use it for live-action film and vfx work as a way to mask scenes out and isolate them in addition to its original use of mapping things to isolated scenes. i won't bore you with the stuart hall encoding/decoding stuff, but just know that i find the development of digital art circa adobe dominance fascinating. i am using this century-old animation technique to impose my blorbo upon the eyes of thousands.

ANYWAY. i really liked this particular mask--it has a lot of movement but still manages to flow nicely?

me: [cuts off luke's arm] fio: i think that's his arm me: oh... my god

next up: the lightsaber

goodness. where do i start. well first of all i had a vision of something much more 2d when it comes to lightsaber anatomy, lol. but i extended my subscription for maxon and figured--why not take full advantage of this while i've still got it? so i got this 3d model of luke's lightsaber. it's untextured and unrigged and clunky but thankfully it had most of the inner parts so as far as i'm concerned i struck GOLD.

idk what i can really say in terms of like What Is 3d Modelling, because i think people have an understanding of that. so we'll go instead thru my process!

i added materials and added a null object (does that count as rigging? for something as straightforward as this?) to do a simple rotation animation on the first day...

and then i had an idea before bed to separate the parts like that one scene in the clone wars where they show how a lightsaber is assembled, except i haven't watched the scene so god knows how they animated it NKJFGNDFKJGDF. anyway the day after, this was kinda where i got:

keyframing on c4d is a Bitch because u can't just Access The Graph Editor you have to go through the dope sheet and change ur views and it's just. annoying!! coming from an after effects standpoint! but i can see how it's optimized for Actual Animation work so ughgh. we deal. onwards..

asked the team over at usergif and natalie @kenobiis suggested putting in a kyber crystal to fill out the middle. i ended up taking the og "laser" cylinder and modifying/animating it because uh THIS is the real inside of a lightsaber and i am not putting all that into a 3 second gif LMAO. but yeah i fine-tuned the animation and plopped it in after effects, then fiddled with video copilot's saber to make luke's blade.

u might notice the motion blur--that's re:vision's RSMB! i also added a little bit of depth of field with frischluft, but it doesn't show up well in gif form. speaking of things that don't render well:

there is A FUCK TON of aliasing going on. i couldn't make any anti-aliasing settings work for some reason so i ended up trying to smooth it out in ae.. to probably not a lot of effect. i got the very edges around it smoothed out with the classic gaussian blur and a matte choker method, but the black rings are killer. ugh. it's whatever, i figure i'll work something better out for the next time.

finished animation in c4d + the final gif:

the rest

everything else is fairly basic and intuitive i think? obviously used shape layers + alpha mattes, my beloved. i fucked up a little on the text because i think i made my offset keyframes backwards somewhere in the middle of the process but at that point i was too lazy to go back in and fix it. oops!

anyway if u got this far hello thank u i hope this was informative in some way. if u have any questions don't be afraid to ask :D

[quickluxuryride]

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[rgp-ai-art-plus]

A.I Art Plus Post 01

AV Girls Series

When I first signed up for the A.I generated site, the AV girls was the second series I wanted to experiment the A.I generated sites on. (later, I will tell you number one). I use this as a learning series to know about prompts, negative prompts, Lora, etc.

The AV Girls was use to experiment different style of Models to use and the results are very good. Lately, I was getting likes for the models I have been using and the characters I have created.

The AV girls are Maki, Suzu, Mana and Natsu. I have only worked with Mana and Suzu for most of the pictures (their story will come later). This was a good test of my photographic shills to see my creation and poses through my mind's eye in photography.

Later, I did some art form and 3D rendering and I am kind of fond of certain Base Models. I will show them off later here or you can check out the TikTok channel / YouTube channel to see more.

Next Week - More Suzu

I figured, I would continue more of Suzu before bring in different pictures

[laocommunity]

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown gets an exhilarating Metroidvania twist

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown gets an exhilarating Metroidvania twist Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Gets an Exhilarating Metroidvania Twist Prince of Persia is a game series that has been around since the late 80s. The game has become a classic for its storyline, visuals, and gameplay. Over the years, the game has seen many iterations with varying degrees of success. The latest addition to the Prince of Persia series is Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, which has created a buzz among gaming enthusiasts. What makes this addition to the series unique is the way it combines two popular genres of gaming, platformer, and Metroidvania. Metroidvania games are known for their nonlinear gameplay, exploration, power-ups, and abilities that are locked behind certain areas. They are usually 2D side-scrolling games that have been around since the 80s. The name Metroidvania comes from the game titles Metroid and Castlevania, which laid the blueprint for this genre. Metroidvania games provide a sense of exploration and discovery as the player travels through different environments, while unlocking new abilities. Combining Prince of Persia's platforming style with Metroidvania gameplay gives the game a unique twist. Players will be able to explore various environments, gain new abilities, and access new areas. The game's developers, Ubisoft, have made sure that the gameplay mechanics work seamlessly with the game's story. The game's story follows the Prince as he embarks on a quest to retrieve a lost crown that has been stolen by an evil villain. The game's story is told through cutscenes, which help to immerse the player in the game's world. What sets Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown apart from other games in the series is the way it uses the Metroidvania gameplay. The gameplay mechanics in Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown are intuitive, and the player will be able to learn them quickly. The player is able to run, jump, climb, and swing their way through various environments. These abilities will be essential for navigating through the game's world. As the player progresses through the game, they will unlock new abilities that will allow them to access new areas. These abilities include wall running, double-jumping, and grappling. Another exciting aspect of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is the game's art style. The game is set in a large, open world, with a variety of environments ranging from deserts, forests, and ancient ruins. The game's graphics are impressive, with a lot of attention to detail. The game's characters are well-designed, and the cutscenes are beautifully rendered. The game's music is also a standout feature of the game, with a mix of traditional Arabian music and modern electronic music. In conclusion, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is an excellent addition to the Prince of Persia series. The game's Metroidvania gameplay provides a unique twist to the game, making it stand out from other games in the series. The game's story is engaging, and the cutscenes help to immerse the player in the game's world. The game's graphics are stunning, and the music adds to the overall experience. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a must-play game for fans of the series and those who enjoy platformer and Metroidvania games. Key Takeaways: - Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown combines platformer and Metroidvania gameplay. - Metroidvania games provide a sense of exploration and discovery. - Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown has intuitive gameplay mechanics. - The game's graphics and music are impressive. - Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is a must-play game for fans of the series and those who enjoy platformer and Metroidvania games. #TECH Read the full article