#beginner drag artist

[adamapparition]

I've been neglecting my blog, here's my latest look

[techutones]

Antonio, my man <3

[effervescent-fool]

i think one of my biggest (and only) gripes with procreate is that they dont have like. a masterlist of features their app has to offer. a full thorough ui navigation. because ive been using procreate for a couple years now and im still discovering preexisting features because they just. dont mention it anywhere

[nataliaheels]

If you saw me being weird on live no you didn’t

[simplorist]

In An Alternate Universe...

I said before I didn’t think Al’e would look good in Zero’s outfit. Well, I had time and motivation to kill so I decided to do a messy mock-up of what she might look like. It’s actually it’s not that bad. I’m sure it’d look even better if someone else drew it, lol. I think I just might have beef with Zero’s outfit in general (don’t hurt me Zero fans). Although I still do think the possible outfit choices for Pulche would all suck. I’m not even testing that one out. 

On a separate note, this was actually kind of fun to draw. I haven’t enjoyed drawing in a while, hmm.

[popcornoncemore]

I went to a pride celebration in some fun rainbow makeup today and it was my first time wearing kind of extra makeup around other people. I got a lot of compliments and I really felt great because I've been working on my makeup skills for around three years now with the intention of eventually doing drag, but I wasn't sure if I was any good or if it was just Drag Delusion™

So thanks to everyone who made me feel confident today!

[opossumarson]

It's her!!!

[number1mingyustan]

hihi !! I love your fics sm. <3

If you're taking requests can you do Mingyu as a biker bf? What if you wanna learn how to ride a bike and he says "you should practice on the biker first." OMFGGG IM CRAZY. Love you

boyfriend!mingyu x fem!reader

warnings: established relationship, cursing, kissing, explicit smut, oral (f+m), sixty-nine, unprotected sex, creampie, riding, light breast play, multiple orgasms

_______________________________________________

Mingyu nibbles on his bottom lip as his eyes remain fixated on the easel in front of him. He's concentrating, hand moving slowly as he drags the brush along the canvas.

You smile to yourself, feeling your heart warm at the sight of him.

Painting is not his thing.

Even with all the effort he seems to be putting into his painting, his lines are crooked and a little messy. He knows this too, he's never really been one for the arts.

Painting is one of your hobbies and always has been. You're more of the artistic type and Mingyu well... Mingyu likes his bikes. He's got more of a grunge sort of vibe that consists of leather jackets, obnoxious motorcycles, and cigarettes.

You were polar opposites. You preferred your quiet life in the arts, sundresses, walks in flower fields, and painting. You've noticed the way he's softened up since you two met, you're sure it's the effect you've had on him.

He sticks his tongue out, drawing his last two strokes before dropping the paintbrush into the cup. "Done."

You turn your head, completely facing him. You eyes scan over the painting in front of him and your smile grows. "Gyu you've gotten so good at this."

He grins at the praise. "Learned from the best."

The painting in front of him is simple, a landscape of a beach sunset. There's not nearly as much detail as the reference photo in front of you two, but it's undeniably solid work, especially for a beginner like your boyfriend.

He leans over, planting a kiss onto your cheek. His eyes can't help but drift to your painting as he does so.

"Oh wow," His jaw slacks open.

He admires your painting. Even though the two of you painted the same thing, yours is exponentially better. He loves how talented you are, and you never fail to impress him.

________________

When Mingyu comes home the next evening, he expects to see you. You're usually in the living room or the bedroom. He searches the house for you, checking every room to no avail.

He frowns. He saw your car parked out front, so he knows you're here.

A loud sound suddenly catches his attention. He makes his way toward the source of the sound, walking downstairs into the garage.

"Fuck!" You exclaim, racing to the aid of the bike.

You struggle to hold the heavy vehicle up as it remains tilted inside the garage. Your boyfriend saves the day, rushing to your side and helping you to lift the bike up to its proper stature.

"Sorry," You apologize quickly. "I swear I was being careful!"

Your words are muffled. He looks at you with confusion written over his face. You're wearing black leggings and a tight-fitting black zip up. It's unusual attire for you.

Not to mention his entirely large helmet is covering your head.

"What are you doing?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at you.

"I wanna learn how to ride it," You say.

"What?" He asks.

You pull the oversized helmet off of your head and place it under your arm. You huff out.

"I wanna learn how to ride it," You move your hair out of your face. "I was trying to surprise you."

"You hate bikes, babe," He lets out a breathy laugh, taking the helmet out of your hands.

"I've had a change of heart," You insist.

He raises an eyebrow. "Why so suddenly?"

"Well... I don't know. When we were painting it made me realize how much you've embraced my hobbies and stuff. I wanna embrace the stuff you like too," You explain. "So teach me.... please?"

Oh you're adorable, He thinks to himself.

"That's very sweet Y/n," He grins. "But it's okay."

You cross your arms over your body. "But.."

"If you really wanna get into my hobbies, we can find another one baby," He kisses your forehead. "But taking my bike is extremely dangerous and it's probably good that I caught you."

"I know," You say.

You lean against the bike, staring at the vehicle with a glint of sadness behind your eyes. You trace your fingers along the metal of the bike, admiring your boyfriend's precious vehicle.

He places the helmet down. "You know, if you wanna learn that bad, you should practice on the biker first."

It takes a second for his words to settle into your brain. You lean against the bike and raise an eyebrow. "Gyu?"

He walks closer to you, wrapping his arms around your waist. He pulls you in close. You can feel his breath fanning over your skin, causing goosebumps to raise. His lips press against the shell of your ear.

"Come upstairs," He whispers against your ear. "I'll teach you whatever you want to know."

You intertwine your fingers with his. He pulls your body back into the house and leads you upstairs.

"You're so cute," He smiles. He presses his lips to yours. "I love doing the things you love.... love you." He says between kisses.

He lifts you up and carries you into his bedroom. He places your body down on the bed and pulls off his shirt. His toned body is exposed, muscles bulging beneath his warm skin as he looks at you with hungry eyes.

His back meets the bed with a small thump and he pulls your body on top of him. Your hips meet his and he lets out a soft groan. You pull off your own shirt and drop it onto the ground. You grind against his hips slowly. He unzips your jacket and pulls it off your body.

His hand snakes around the back of your neck and he pulls you into a passionate kiss. He moans against your lips as you continue to grind against his hardening cock.

You can feel him growing beneath you. His cock swells in the confines of his jeans, causing you to moan as you grind down on his growing length. Heat rushes between your thighs and the aching need for pleasure grows in your body.

You pull away from the heated kiss and sit up. You pull your shirt over your head and Mingyu sits up too. He kisses up your stomach and continues to grind against you needily as you unhook your bra. You let it fall and his lips immediately travel to your breasts.

He holds you by your hips as his lips wrap around your nipple. He sucks on your skin, ensuring to give both your breasts the same amount of attention. Your skin burns at the feeling of his touch. Be it his lips on your chest or his hands on your waist, it ignites something in you.

But as much as you love it, you quickly grow impatient. You lift your hips and pull your underwear and leggings off in one go. You toss them and start undoing Mingyu's black jeans.

"C'mre," He says, pulling at your legs.

He lifts your legs and flips you over so he can taste you. He wraps your legs around his head and immediately starts sucking on your clit.

"Fuck.." You moan out.

Your grip on his jeans quickly grows weak as pleasure clouds your senses. You try to undo the buttons, but the feeling of his tongue on you is highly distracting.

He sucks on your clit, occasionally lapping his tongue through your folds. The pleasure builds in the pit of your stomach quickly. You're finding it difficult to do anything, squirming and grinding against his face.

He holds his hands on either side of your thighs, holding you in place as he devours you. He moans against you, nearly enjoying it almost as much as you are.

You finally get him undressed and return the favor. You take his hard cock in your hand, stroking his length and spreading the precum from his leaking tip.

He moans against you again, allowing his eyes to fall shut as relief washes over him. He keeps his focus on you, pushing two of his fingers into your soaked hole.

You take his cock into your mouth, moaning around his length as you feel his fingers fill you up. He sucks your clit and his digits pump into you, and the vibrations from his moaning quickly have you nearing the edge.

His cock repeatedly hits the back of your throat as you stroke his length, bobbing your head to make him feel equally as good as you do.

You find down against his face with little to no coordination. Your hips move desperately, chasing your incoming orgasm as your saliva coats the entire length of his cock.

He curls his fingers into you and pumps them at a faster pace. His face is coated with your arousal and he slurps it up gladly, wrapping his lips around your clit and circling his tongue around the sensitive bud.

You lift your head, crying out as your orgasm overwhelms you. You grind against his face and fingers as you cum, continuing to drip onto his face.

"Hah-shit," You moan out.

His cock still remains in the grip of your hand, leaking more precum as he tastes you on his tongue.

When you come down from your high, his hands are quickly on your body. He pulls your body flush against his, kissing you sloppily and needily.

He is so obsessed with you and everything about you. His hands wander along your skin, tracing over every inch of your body gently. He lays on his back, pulling you back on top of him without breaking the kiss.

You're the one to pull away, lifting your hips on his lap. He leans back, allowing you to take over.

You sink down onto his length, groaning at the stretch of his cock. He holds you by the hips, guiding you down on his cock. The warmth of your pussy envelopes him perfectly, dripping down his length as you accommodate his length.

"So good baby," He moans.

Your eyes are screwed shut as you sink down, only tightening as he fills you up bit by bit. You gasp out once your hips meet, feeling the entirety of his length inside of you.

"Fuck...holy fuck–" You grip the bedsheets.

You start moving your hips slowly, still getting used to the feeling of fullness. He's patient with you, guiding your hips with soft hands and gentle movements.

You start to pick up a steady rhythm, lifting your hips and sinking down onto his length. You roll your hips with each movement, allowing his cock to fill you up and reach deep into you.

It feels so fucking good.

He watches you with love and lust clouding his eyes. His gaze is locked in on you, admiring how beautiful you look right now. Your mouth hangs open as loud moans pass through your lips.

Your body is dripping with sweat and your tits are bouncing in his face every time you lift your hips and sink back down onto his length. The stretch of pussy is addictive, sending waves of pleasure through his cock and entire body.

He sits up, resting his hand on the small of your back. Your hands wrap around his back, nails digging into his skin as your chests press together.

He lifts his hips, matching your pace as he fucks himself into you. You cry out, lips pressed against his shoulder. The feeling is intense and addictive and incredibly intimate.

His cheeks are flushed red and sweat glistens down his face and abs. His hair falls perfectly on his face and you can't help but admire him. His mouth remains in a small 'O' shape, allowing small moans and grunts and groans of pleasure to ring in your ears.

"Fuck baby," He moans. "I'm close."

His head tilts back, exposing his adam's apple to your line of sight. He continues to thrust into you, cock pressing against the sweet spot deep inside of you with every movement of his hips.

"Hah-me too," You pant.

The pleasure continues to grow, eventually overwhelming your entire body. You cry out and your body falls limp against him. You bury your face in the crook of his neck, moaning and breathing heavily as you cum around his cock.

Your pussy throbs, tightening around his length and bringing about his own orgasm. His hips still and his cock swells as he fills you with his load.

He lets out a long groan as he pumps his load into you. Your chests rise and fall in unison as you breathe heavily and come down from your orgasms. You lift your head and cup his cheeks with your soft hands.

His vision clears and his eyes meet yours. He flashes you a grin. "Hi baby."

You return his expression with a shy smile. "Hi Gyu."

He presses his forehead against yours and plants a kiss on your lips. "I love you, pretty girl."

"Love you more," You grin.

"Impossible," He smiles.

His hands hold your hips as he lifts you up. You wince at the emptiness and and lays you down on the bed. He presses a kiss onto your bellybutton and stands to his feet.

He disappears into the bathroom and you hear the bathwater running. He comes back a few minutes later and picks you up bridal style. You wrap your arms around him happily and he carries you to the tub. He slips into the warm water behind you, leaving soft kisses on your shoulder and back.

"Baby," he says.

"Hmm?" You quirk up.

"We can take a ride tonight if you want, on the bike," He proposes. "Together."

You perk up. "Really?"

"Yeah, but you can't be scared," He grins.

"I'm not!"

He kisses your shoulder. "Okay baby, whatever you say. Just hold onto me tight and I won't let you fall and teach your a few things. Sound good?"

You tilts your head all the way back so your eyes meet his. You smile. "Okay. I love you Gyu."

"I love you too."

_______________________________________________

© number1mingyustan - Do not repost without permission.

[violetasteracademic]

Elriel: Blooming in the Valley of Death

He looked like a god. He looked like the very picture of Death himself, and she would gladly let him drag her to the depthless pits of the underworld. She would bloom in the valley of darkness. For him.

-Golden Doe in a Valley of Shadow

Read here.

This is baby's first fanart! I actually didn't set out to make it fic related, but I realized their pose reminded me of the mirror scene in chapter 14, Ascalaphus Feather's (iykyk)

This is my first ever digital art piece, and outside of that I am truly a beginner artist. Elriel has pushed me to attempt to learn as best I can, and I hope to grow and get better and include art in my fandom contributions! I wish I could have finished it in time for @elriel-month but alas my skill level set the pace 🙈

Thank you to all the wonderful artists who have inspired me to pick up a digital brush and watch a million YouTube tutorials! I hope one day this piece will embarrass me. In a good way. Because I've gotten so much better 🤣

[adamapparition]

Hellooo i decided to make a blog for my drag! I'm a baby/amateur drag king

Here is some of my stuff 👁️👁️

[the-timewatcher]

A disgruntled Tumblrina (gender-neutral) made a website and why you should too.

Or "reject social media, return to personal websites".

PART 1: THE PART WHERE I CONVINCE YOU TO MOVE TO PERSONAL WEBSITES

So, the Web 2.0 social media infested landscape seems to be crumbling before our very eyes. Reddit's leadership is increasingly greedy, Twitter is sinking under the weight of Elon's massive, yet increasingly fragile ego, Tumblr is slowly turning into another lifeless corpo-fest, complete with the layout, Instagram continues to be vapid and soulless and Facebook seems to be going the way of MySpace.

(feel free to check the alt text on these, btw)

In these troubling times, where everything looks the same and you're expected to be milked for every dollar you're worth, what is a disgruntled Internet surfer such as yourself to do? Move to an untested alternative that's bound to get overrun by fascists thanks to poor moderation? Stay the course on the sinking ships you're used to?

Well, what if I told you that we've solved this problem way back in the 90's and early 2000's and were merely duped by the Big Zuck into forgetting our legacy? What if there was a cure for the sanitized, dull social media hellscape?

It takes a bit of work, when compared to just using a social media site, but even if your particular use case makes switching difficult (ex. an artist looking to promote their work), it's still a good secondary option to consider.

The core appeal is the ability to customize and individualize, make a corner of cyberspace unabashedly yours,

It can also be an exciting avenue of creative expression, giving whatever you want to say a unique coat of paint,

Most website hosting services are a bit more lax about what you can do on them, due to changes in the profit structure (rather than depending on advertisers and investors, they either have a premium option to give supporters perks, have another product, or, in the case of paid services, you renting that space IS the product),

If you want your website to be more accomodating and accessible, you don't have to file tons of feedback - do it yourself,

If you'd like to connect with other webmasters and promote each other's websites, we have webrings - sets of circular links that connect websites with something in common, be it a topic, aesthetic or friend group,

You're less likely to have your stuff purged by an ill-advised change in policy (especially if you have a backup of your files somewhere),

The more people do it, the less power those massive social media corpos have over the internet,

It can be a load of fun!

If I have you convinced, keep reading into part 2. If you just wanna see what I did, skip to part 3. If neither, feel free to continue scrolling. I won't hold it against you. You'll be missing out, that's all.

PART 2: SO, YOU WANNA MAKE A WEBSITE!

Good choice, here's some resources!

sadgrl's absolute beginner's guide to Neocities - what it says on the tin!

W3Schools - a more in-depth tutorial site, a learning resource so excellent it substituted for what I was supposed to learn in technical highschool (because our teacher just told us to go on W3Schools instead of teaching us shit)

A list of free layouts for your website - whether to use as a base to learn from or to simply take for yourself,

Neocities - the posterchild for free website hosting for personal websites. Doesn't allow video or audio, but you can get around that by linking those files from elsewhere. Beginner-friendly to a fault - once you have an account just drag and drop your files in,

Gitlab (& Gitlab Pages) - a more advanced option, but it has a few advantages of its own. Gitlab is a website hoster second and a version control service first - which is programmer speak for "keeps track of changes in your code and stores a backup of it online". it helps a lot when working on multiple devices or co-writing with a friend. And secondly, you can use Gitlab Actions to automate putting your website up (even on Neocities, like I do!)

My askbox - I am not joking, if you have any questions about any of this, I'd love nothing more than to help you out!

But with most of my indie web propaganda out of the way, it's time.

PART 3: Welcome to Timewatcher OS.

Of course, because I couldn't be normal when it comes to making a website, I had to turn it into a fake operating system. Each subpage is an "app", opened in a separate embed window. It has unlockable wallpapers (no pay2win, prommy). There's bideo games on it! I even made a music player for it so I can share my incongruent music tastes!

Like I said in my Tumblr bio, if I ever go radio silent for more than a month, it means I've gotten fed up with this hellsite and moved to my own homepage permamently. And I highly advise you make an option like this for yourself too! Lastly, if any of y'all would like to start a webring, do let me know in the askbox - I'm down to manage it if I'm not alone in there.

Anyways, I hope I convinced you to make a website, or at least check out some of the cool sites you've been missing out on! Hope to see you on the Old Web!

[outwalkingthelocales]

More Magmas/Aggies! None from today, but they are all so special to me! I will never forget! The first one of Julie was part of a DTIY for Moinkers(on tiktok) and Boinkerson(on instagram) they have such cute designs for Welcome Home, I'll be drawing more of them in the future!!!

Here are some of my bigger pieces, some old some more recent.....I want to finish all of my work! I'm trying my best, and I love them all so dearly, once again, the Drag Queen designs were from Gampooo here on tumbler and tiktok! And, the design for Julie in the last piece is by Frenzy Neighbor here on tumbler and twitter....

Please give Frenzy neighbor, Moinkers/Boinkerson, and Gampooo love! They're spectacular artists💛💜

I've always had so many ideas for art, both big and small, writing, and wanting to show my appreciation to artists I deeply love...there are so many out there and I want to love them as much as possible!!! Every little doodle, every big piece gets treasured no matter how popular your content may or may not be, there will always be someone who greatly appreciates the scraps, behind the scenes, offhanded doodles, badly done quick sketches, and more!!! A huge reminder that your art is so cherished!!🧡💛💜 and yes, the beginners, pros, and just for funners too...art is so so special and so lovely! I am everyone's cheerleader and I appreciate you! Nobody draws something the same and I think thats so special. You already had a style as soon as you picked up your little crayon!

[wisteriaiswriting]

Could you write a general relationship Kiriko, D.va headcannons?

𝔾𝕖𝕟𝕖𝕣𝕒𝕝 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤𝕙𝕚𝕡 𝕙𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕠𝕟𝕤 𝕨𝕚𝕥𝕙 𝕂𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕜𝕠 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔻.𝕍𝕒

Words: 936

Kiriko isn’t one to spill about her feelings, especially about any crushes. The only people who can know about it is her mother while Genji and Hanzo will find out no matter what. But this also means she’ll confess when she deems it ready.

This timing wasn’t ideal, but it happened. A mission had gone wrong leaving you both separated from the others while you were hurt. You could hear her panicking.  “Don’t you dare leave me yet.” Though the sentence was short you understood her statement.

Growing up she was a massive arcade kid, going with Genji. So she wants you to experience it as well. On this date she’ll win every machine to get you any prize you’d like. And if you’re not ready to end it just yet she’ll treat you to a movie of your choice.

She is constantly on her feet and running all day, so she appreciates a slower and calmer date. Whether it’s inside watching a movie or some board games, or it’s in a quiet restaurant.

A lot of the time she will give you affection in public if you ask, but if you don’t the most she’ll do is handholding and hugs. In private she’ll be attached at your hip, only leaving if it’s really important.

Is a huge baker, if she could she would bake daily. But she enjoys baking anything you can share, whether it’s cakes, cupcakes or even cookies. Her all time favourite is Dorayaki, it’s simple enough and there's always some to share.

At her mother’s place there is a box hidden away, which is full of different types of plushies. Only to find out they are old ones Kiriko made years ago, currently she has improved the skill. Making and giving you different plushies for any occasion.

While awake she isn’t the biggest cuddler, but if she had the chance to hang around you, she would take it. But while she’s asleep, you’re never getting her off you. Starting in the most comfortable position to only wake up still there, Kiriko not letting you move.

There are many parts of her life, but her family and friends make up the majority. Her mother comes first in any situation, Genji and Hanzo have become a close second alongside you. Although missions are above you three, no matter how much she loves you the safety of everyone else comes first.

She’ll drag you for motorbike rides at the weirdest times. Midnight? 4am? Absolutely. While the roads are empty and quiet, able to take you on simple trails and just spend time with you. Although while you’re riding Genji does spectate, on top of random buildings. The bright green standing out from the darkness of the city

You can never catch her without her music, except on missions. She doesn’t want to risk that for some song. But anywhere else she’ll have a pair or headphones or some earphones playing her favourite artists. A few are Blackpink and Stray kids.

Chat got tired of you two not dating quickly, so they did it for you. On one of her streams they outed her feelings in chat when you were looking.

When she caught it the words were deleted immediately, but you saw them. She was panicking before you accepted her feelings. Even when chat was celebrating, the stream was abruptly stopped.

While gaming is her whole thing she decides to do something else for the first date. Booking and taking you to a beginners painting class, leading to her making you a personal painting.

After starting the relationship she became shy to be alone with you, even more than before dating. Which means she’ll do a lot of group dates with her and your friends. Enjoying how they were at the right pace.

After a while of dating she’ll be a lot more confident in her affection. As long as you're okay with it you’ll get kisses all day and all night, in public and private. Though she slows down in the afternoon, at night she leaves slow and light kisses.

She’ll include you in a lot of hobbies, gaming is the main one so obviously you’ll join her. Although her painting skills aren’t amazing they are good, having painted often growing up. So you’ll have a few canvases and other painted objects hanging around.

Is a huge fan of making playlists for anything. For different games, streams, even her friends have one made. But yours? Multiple with plenty of songs.

When she’s awake Hana is one of the biggest cuddle bugs. If possible she will hang on to you, not letting go unless it’s necessary. But when she’s asleep, she’ll start the night by holding onto you. During this she'll slowly drift away but always keeps touching you, whether it’s a finger or her hand.

If you’re dating her at some point you will show up on her streams, whether it’s just hanging around or playing. Her favourite streams are when you join her, especially when playing. Also meaning she’ll buy you any game and in game cosmetics so you can match. <3

Working for Overwatch and being an international gamer is hard work, busy and constantly moving around. If possible she’ll drag you along, but if she can’t just ask for anything and she'll either bring it back or have it shipped over.

It’s unavoidable. You’ll be given gamer and game related pet names. Obvious ones are “My player 2” or “My duo.” A few others are from your favourite character or their game, she expects you to do the same with her.

[nataliaheels]

[caxycreations]

What are some things that a beginner artist should know/learn?

Oh boy...I don't know that I'm really qualified to give advice on this, but I started typing and couldn't stop, so

LONG answer below the cut.

I'm going to steal a quote. I first heart it on Drag Race, but I'm not entirely sure of the origin of it besides that.

"You have to learn all of the rules before you can break them."

Essentially, learn the "standard" methods/styles (this does not mean master them! It just means to LEARN them, gain an understanding of them) so that you can take what is useful and beneficial to you and your style/methods, and leave behind the rest.

There's a million ways to do this. You can go to art school, study under another artist, be fully self-taught, whatever is best for you, but the fact remains: You cannot develop a style if you don't even know how, or what a style even is.

Here's where I'm going to sound a little controversial, but it needs to be said:

DON'T BE AFRAID TO TRACE AT THE START, OR EVEN IN LATER YEARS!!!

You have to practice somehow, and if you only ever practice free-hand without reference, then you're going to reinforce the bad habits and hate the result. Bad habits here referring to things about your own art that you find subpar.

For example, when I first started posting my art online, this is the quality I had with freehand, no reference:

Tracing is a way to build muscle memory, and visual memory. It trains you to notice the proportions, the anatomy of a subject, and it gets your body used to drawing those proportions. Muscle memory and visual memory work together to craft the image you have in mind, and by training them both through tracing, you develop the ability to freehand it far better.

This does not mean to trace and then say you did it all yourself! Tracing images should be done for PRACTICE, not credit/posting unless you outright state it was traced, and cite your reference.

Now! Some things I want to talk about that I can use the image above as examples for...

I mentioned earlier the bit about bad habits meaning things about your art that you personally find subpar. Now, we're artists, we ALL find our own work to be subpar (unless you're Anish Kapoor or Miles-DF, but they're both known to be grade-A douchebags)

When I say that bit about bad habits, I mean things that you look at and go "that isn't me, that's not my style". NOT things you look at and go "It's my style, but it could have been done better".

For example, in the image above, see how I drew the sweater? That is 100% my style. You can see it, even in my newer work, that when I draw a sweater I draw them the same exact way. My linework has improved, my detailing has improved, but the actual style hasn't changed a bit. So that sort of thing is NOT what I mean by bad habits.

Now, notice the way I drew the mouth and fangs? A single, thick black line with two white lines going down from the halfway point?

That's not my style. It isn't how I draw mouths. I don't like the way it's drawn, but it's how I drew it and it's the style I drew it in, despite not being MY style. It needed to be changed. THAT is what I mean by bad habits. With the good habits I have now, I would have had the lips be two distinct things, the fangs would have protruded properly, there would be a noticeable bottom lip.

Part of being an artist is finding your style. That means finding other artists who draw in styles that you find appealing, adapting what you like about theirs into your own hand, as well as leaving behind anything you find hurts your style or your feelings on your style, while finding your own unique methods, your own one-of-a-kind ways of creating art.

Another example, from my own life: I adore an artist called Black-Kitten (Minors, don't look them up, antis/puritans shouldn't either).

I love their art style, immensely. I love the line weight, the way their brush strokes are so clear and deliberate, the level of detail they use that rests somewhere between "realism" and "cartoon".

But I don't want to copy their style. I don't. That goes against ME as an artist, and it disrespects THEM as an artist. So instead, I identify what SPECIFICALLY about their style suits me as a person. What I've found is that it's the line weights. So I emulate their line weights.

Another artist I admire is Fluff-Kevlar (again, minors, do NOT look them up). I love their style for all the same reasons I love BK's style, but something about it is different. From their style, what suits me is the way they blend fur patterns.

So I emulate it, adapt it into my hand, which results in a style that has adapted the line weights of BK and the fur blending of FK, mixed them into something new, and all of the rest is entirely my own.

All of this is to say "Don't find a successful artist and copy them, find an art style you enjoy and adapt the part you love most from it, blend it with yourself, and you'll find your style."

Or you can come up with a style that is 100% your own! There's no reason you can't! But most of us are inspiration-based workers, and we emulate what inspires us, consciously or not, so why not actively seek what we emulate, identify it, and work at it to make it something of our own?

Another thing to be wary of is that little voice in your head that says the result on paper doesn't match the image in mind.

That's the devil talking, and he will tell you that no matter how close your work is to the mental image you had of it at the start.

You could be one single pixel, one tiny little graphite speck, off of the mental image and he would still tell you that.

IGNORE HIM.

"Finished, not perfect" is the name of the game. Doesn't mean rush it, it just means that when it's done, it's done, and whether or not it's perfect, done is good enough. Done is valid.

On top of that...

Draw what you want to draw.

I'm serious. No matter how bland, normal, interesting, weird, fucked up, crazy, insane, stupid, hilarious, jokey, off-putting, insensitive, sensitive, appropriate, inappropriate, or just plain strange it might be, draw what you want to draw.

There are millions of artists out there. There's only one artist that will draw your ideas in your way, and that's you.

If you want to draw a car flying on penguins, do it!

If you want to draw a fat, black, trans character eating churros and dancing the macarena, do it!

If you want to draw steve from minecraft sitting at a campfire, do it!

If you want to draw an airplane with super NSFW anatomy, do it!

If you want to draw smut, or children's book illustrations, or LITERALLY ANYTHING, do it.

Because nobody else in the world will draw it the way you would.

Don't deprive the world of your work, however odd that work may be. Artists are odd by nature, so let your freak flag fly and be proud of it.

The last thing I can really say on this is...well....

Just draw. If you want to get better, if you want to improve, you HAVE to draw. Draw a ton of lines. Draw a ton of circles. Draw a ton of eyes, mouths, lips, noses, ears.

Draw squiggles and zigzags, draw Xs and Os, draw hair and fingers and toes and hands and feet and legs and arms, draw fur and teeth and claws and tails, draw humans and aliens and animals and monsters.

Doesn't matter what you draw. Just draw.

Every line put to paper is practice, every curve is training. You get better and better with each and every one of them.

Do you want proof?

My very, very first art piece to ever go up online:

versus my most recent art piece:

The first image was posted in 2016. I was 18, and thought that using a linework tool in PaintTool SAI was better than using my art tablet because "the linework tool has uniform lines and doesn't leave gaps anywhere"

In 8 years, this is the difference. I went from not even being able to detail hair to being able to do all of this.

And I'm not even that great. I know there are artists who have done 10x better in half the time, and there are artists who can't hold a candle to my work after 10x the time.

Which leads to my closing notes...

You will never be as good as you want to be. Every time you notice improvement, you'll set your own bar higher and raise your expectations. That's how we are. And that's okay.

There will always be artists who are better than you, and artists who are worse than you, and artists who are just as good. DO NOT compare yourself. Acknowledging the existence of better, worse, and equal is fine. Telling yourself "I'm not as good as X..." or "I'm so much better than X!" are paths to the darkness.

“If you compare yourself to others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.” ― Max Ehrmann, Desiderata: A Poem for a Way of Life

Be fair in your judgements of your own work, and the work of others. Practice often, learn from those with more experience/skill, take many teachers, and make their teachings your own. Adapt the good into your hand, and discard the bad from your thoughts.

Sorry if this got rambly, but hopefully you could glean something positive from it.

I'd advise asking other artists this question as well. Like I said, take many teachers. Learn from as many sources as possible, keep what works for you, drop what doesn't, and if anyone tells you otherwise, if anyone says "Actually you should be doing this specific stuff!" as if there's one surefire, perfect way to be an artist, ignore them.

Art is subjective, and there is no wrong way to do it, but there is also no RIGHT way to do it. The best way to be an artist is to be YOUR kind of artist, as unique and one-of-a-kind as the works you create.

[xcerizex]

Lovebrush Chronicles: Godheim Review

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My very long, informal, and definitely biased review. This will contain minor spoilers for the Godheim arc only so take caution. This review is also only limited to the Godheim series so there will be no overall thoughts on the game itself. I followed Otome Kitten's format and I really hope it helps out any beginners to LBC.

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ART:

I found the art very pretty and was extremely glad to see that they did not skip out on giving us CGs either! The sprites all looked good, but I personally have some issues with Lars' outfit (the orange did not look good on you sweetie 💀).

Not all CGs are drawn by the same artist however, which may be off putting for some. The total count number of proper CG's for each route (not including common route) boils down to around 4-5, so that also may be a pet peeve for some.

On another note, there are also mini CG's which appear as small boxes, whether you consider it as an actual CG is up to you. Personally, I enjoyed the roles they played towards aiding the narrative.

Unrelated note, I'm banging on the floor crying and wondering who the hell did Ayn's CGs (the one where he was cleaning his sword was my absolute favorite 😍) and why didn't they come back.

MUSIC:

If there's one aspect of the game that I shall praise to the ends of the earth, it's the music.

Colour me shocked when I listened to the intricate and deep soundtracks for the first time, they just took my breath away! There were many gorgeous orchestral scores that depicted the fantasy setting perfectly. Not to mention the battle ost's which had more effort put into them than necessary.

My personal favorite OST's would be the "River's End", and "Starry Sky", which plays the same tune as the OP song you hear when you log onto the game. It's honestly so iconic. 😭👌

Opening theme:

VOICE ACTING:

I was absolutely flummoxed by the stacked japanese voice cast, which all included extremely famous seiyuus from the otome industry:

1. Ayn Alwyn

[JP VA: KENN]: Shelby Snail (Cupid Parasite), Yukimaro (9R.I.P), Limbo (Bustfellows)

2. Alkaid McGrath

[JP VA: Tachibana Shinnosuke]: Seiya (9R.I.P), Henri (Piofiore), Rafayel (Love and Deepspace)

3. Lars Rorschach

[JP VA: Junichi Suwabe]: Artem (Tears of Themis), Van Helsing (Code: Realize), Sukuna (Jujutsu Kaisen)

4. Clarence Clayden

[JP VA: Kosuke Toriumi]: Rei Mukuni (CollarXMalice), Ichiya (Variable Barricade), Chojiro (Nightshade)

5. Cael Anselm

[JP VA: Daisuke Hirakawa]: Saint Germain (Code: Realize), Tower Overlord (Psychedelica of the Ashen Hawk), Lucas Proust (Virche Evermore)

COMMON ROUTE:

To my delight, the pacing was done very well. Nothing was dragged out and the introduction to the overall plot of the game was well established minus a certain plot point which definitely could have benefited better by being introduced in the common route itself.

I didn't really expect it to turn out as dark as it did however. The common route + modern prologue took me around a total estimation of more than 4 hours but in reality the prologue itself shouldn't take that long at all.

ROUTE ORDER:

Once you've completed the common route, you are given the option to start either Ayn's or Alkaid's route. After you've completed both, Lars' route is unlocked. And once you've finished all three routes, Clarence's route unlocks as the grand finale.

This was my personal playthrough and I wouldn't have changed it if given the chance. I believe it had the best flow of story progression. Though that was mainly because I wouldn't have enjoyed Alkaid's route as much if I'd played Ayn's first:

Alkaid = Ayn = Lars = Clarence

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AYN ALWYN:

- Crown Prince of Godheim

- Tsundere

- Sweet tooth ❤️

Ayn is Lars's cousin, but you soon find out that there is not a hint of familial love between them. He shows up as a mysterious figure during the common route and portrays a conflicting character, making the heroine unsure of his standing. While he appears blunt and crude, he is a determined young man who's sworn vengeance, and with an unexpected love for sweets.

Ayn's route in my opinion had the best consistent pacing as well as romance. I did find the romance somewhat abrupt early in the story, but the strong chemistry between him and the heroine more than made up for it! 🥰 It was just so enjoyable to watch them banter with one another and watching them just click.

I enjoyed the storyline for this route a lot and I think it had something to do with the fact that Ayn's route provided a different perspective in comparison to the others. In this route, we learn more about the the political situation surrounding Godheim and the royal family.

I also loved Ayn as a character, and not unexpectedly became my oshi ❤️.I do think a lot of people will enjoy him as a love interest. His route also has a wee bit of spice 👀, so for y'all thirsty gamers be sure to savor it slowly, as it's the only bit of spice we're getting here lmao. I did find some of his actions, mostly in the bad ends, to be OOC, but I easily brushed it off seeing as how much I liked him.

ALKAID MCGRATH:

- Member of the Noventrate

- Good, sweet boi

- Tea

Devoted and caring, Alkaid is the mage assigned to guard the heroine during her stay in Godheim. He's always expressing his concern for the heroine and will do anything to help her, even if it means betraying his mission.

Alkaid is the character who the heroine interacts the most during the common route. His romance with the heroine was sweet, even if it did feel way over the top in it's initial stages when I first played it. But once I got to learn more about him, I realized that he truly just wanted the best for the heroine, romantic feelings aside. 🥺

The route was fine. But I personally wasn't the biggest fan of the direction (?) it took on halfway. Some parts of it felt irrational to me and didn't really feel like it had any real relevance to its own story.

On another note, Alkaid is such a dreamy man. 😩 I adore just how respectful of a man he is in general (women respect juice, bottoms up!), and it was so sweet how attentive he was in making sure the heroine was always out of harm's way. I guess you could say he was someone akin to a hero in fairytales.

LARS RORSCHACH:

- Emperor of Godheim

- Good at combing hair 🥰

- That chest doe 👀

Known as the "Tyrant Emperor" from the heroine's manga, he immediately sweeps her off her feet, claiming her as his bride the moment she first arrived at Godheim. While his initial impression was flirty and playful, he lives up to his name as a cold-blooded tyrant. For some aspects at least.

His route focused more on the Silver Knight, which was the main (and wrong) reason why I enjoyed his route so much! 😆 On that note, I think that the writers had a bone to pick with Lars. They just had to force him to share the spotlight with an intriguing side character lmfao. The route itself was paced and executed well for the majority, but the quality of the writing towards the end was slightly skewered.

But to be honest, I quite enjoyed Lars a lot as a character, rather than a love interest. It was interesting to see the conditions surrounding his birth as a tyrant and his motivations for his questionable actions.

That's not to say that the romance wasn't enjoyable. I actually quite liked the relationship between him and the heroine. I found some moments they shared together really sweet. I also adored the development of Lars' feelings, and you can see just how important the heroine's existence was to him at the end of the route.

Though I guess I would have found the romance more believable if the heroine articulated her feelings for Lars more. I found it difficult to see the romance from her side. In short, the romance wasn't it's strongest point.

Clarence Clayden:

- Godheim's Archmage

- Get the tissues

- I've never been the same since...

Clarence has somewhat poised himself as an antagonist, only giving leeway in Lars' route. Distant and cold, he is stubborn in wanting to use the heroine for his goal and is willing to sacrifice anything to achieve it.

This route was an emotional rollercoaster. It broke me down, dumped my heart 6ft underground, trampled on its grave, and then some. It left me broken for a whole week for real goodness gracious...😭

This route can probably considered the "True Route", seeing as how it tackles the problem straight on unlike in other routes. The pacing slows down a little bit for a few chapters, but once it picked itself back up, it picked up HARD.

Now let's get to the romance. Out of all routes, some may say it had the least sugary romance, and a part of me agrees. But do igaf? No! ❤️Clarence turned out to be such a longingly sweet character and despite all the harm and pain he's done, I have no qualms in forgiving him and wanting to love him with all my heart🥺, as does the heroine.

I honestly don't want to say too much as it may ruin the experience. I went into this route completely blind and boy was I glad. All I can say that this route was the most popular out of all the routes for good reason. Got me playing up to 2 am with no regrets.😆😭

CAEL ANSELM:

- The Silver Knight

- The bias wrecker

- The sus

- He ruined me...

He is known in Godheim as the Silver Knight as well as the leader of the Rebellion. Decisive and apathetic, the heroine is unable to affect him emotionally in any form.🤡

Cael does not have an actual route, but a personal story, labeled as Expedition from his POV which may serve as an epilogue to the Godheim series. In his story, any unanswered questions are explained here, as well as the many actions he took that did not make it on screen.

If this wasn't a review I'd spend one whole section brainrotting about him so be grateful I'm trying to keep this short. 😅 Cael is a surprisingly interesting character by nature and it was very liberating to finally get a glimpse of his true feelings and thoughts throughout the heroine's journey in Godheim.

I'm scared to say more in case it may ruin any surprises. In my opinion, I enjoyed his story a LOT! It definitely made me feel depressed and empty in its own way and it hurts my heart to see that he never got a route of his own for reasons I won't get into right now. Absolutely amazing and one of my favorite parts of the Godheim series!

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TRUE EPILOGUE:

Once you've finished all routes, the game will give you the option to choose one "True Ending", wherein you choose one of the boys to have a happily ever after with and by your own accord.

"One can only paint a world in which they believe in." 🥰

Please note that you can only choose one boy at a time. Your choice will then give you a Pictura based on which boy you choose.

To change your "True Ending", buy the Diadem from the shop to change your choice. You will not receive a different Pictura however.

I think the best thing about these endings were the music.😆 Each soundtrack was unique to each character and drop dead gorgeous to listen to. 😩

HEROINE (LITTLE PAINTER):

- Cheeky

- Anonymous manga author

- Needs a therapist (rly tho)

Despite China's strange attempts at creating self-insert heroines by leaving them nameless, the Little Painter was far from a blank slate! She's extremely relatable when it comes to her reactions and actions. Often times I would react a certain way to something an LI said or did, only for her to do the same thing! 🤣 I guess that could also count as a self-insert personality.

But if there's one thing I admire her greatly for, it would be her drive and determination to save Godheim. Her journey was far from easy and I doubt I could ever stay sane the way she did. Tbh, I didn't like the fact that her sufferings were never truly addressed properly, or rather, professionally ig?

I also found her quick adaptation and flexibility to her new environment extremely impressive. That goes the same to the way she wielded her powers for the first time. And how she grew stronger to go head to toe with even Clarence in his own route! You👏 Go👏Get👏 Em👏 Girl!

That said, she's not perfect. Some people found her to pushy and annoying though I personally found it okay. I was really glad how she didn't force herself to tolerate any crap and got that anger out rightfully.😆 (Asmoran deserved it...)

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Final Thoughts:

I have enjoyed my journey immensely! The whole premise and setting drew me in, and I was surprised with the impressive narration which absolutely pummeled me to the ground (mostly on Clarence's route and no I'm not shutting up abt that).

The localization was also really superb? Yes it had a few typos + mistakes here and there, but they really pulled out all the stops when it came to making the dialogue natural and relatable. Not to mention a few large words that even I don't understand. 😂

It's not without it's imperfections of course. There are definitely some issues with the writing. And if you're looking for heavy romance or even fluff, Godheim is not the place to go to. 😅

Playing the Godheim arc took me about a week-ish, considering I had to level up and such. It may be a tedious process for some, but for me, it was an iron gate which I violently shook every day, screaming for the next chapter.

All in all, it's definitely worth playing! You don't lose much anyway considering it's free, so just give it a try. You can always drop it if you don't like it. My rating for this game is also very much biased and should not be taken seriously:

8/10