#digital wall art tutorial

[kranthigifts]

I Create Inspirational Wall Art

[thesathei]

Window on a Brick Wall

Trying to do as many watercolour tutorials as I come across in the hope that the techniques start to stick 😊. This one is from Tatyworks.

I almost feel like it’s cheating a bit to use a brick brush rather than draw it all by hand, but then, why not take advantage of modern tools 😊.

[justskyla-art]

haven't animated in forever so i made a quick little gif!

[decafbat]

i really like how much depth your art has, do you think you could show how you break down bodies when sketching if that makes sense? it’s something i struggle with a lot in my art! ｡ﾟ(ﾟ´ω`ﾟ)ﾟ｡

ok apologies in advance, this is probably going to be a really long and tangential rant about art that may or may not actually help you in learning how to construct bodies. im just gonna put it under a cut to save everyone from seeing this huge text wall.

i dont think its gonna be possible for you to replicate my methods here, because theyre mostly just really specific shortcuts for finding certain proportions and reference points for anatomy, which i'm fairly versed in, but not as much as i'd like to be. the shortcuts you'll need will be different from mine. im glad you think my art has depth, that is something i am trying to seek very intentionally right now, and i dont think im even close to the depth of form i am actually aiming for. so like. this makes making a tutorial kind of inherently hard. nevertheless, i threw this quick sketch together after like 3 failed attempts. (i was doing those attempts digitally, ended up giving up on that and going back to traditional because its what im most comfortable with rn)

i didnt get all the steps i took to get here because scanning that much would be cumbersome but ill try to explain how i got here. i start with the head almost every time.

i use a lot of symbolic/graphic shapes when drawing heads and dont stick to using forms very often besides the circle at the center of the head, which i use as the base to form these graphic shapes around. think of it like "wrapping" the ball in various textures and masses. the eyes are usually "textured" onto the head, notice how the her left eye looks narrower then her right. of course i try to make sure her bangs sit along the curve of the sphere and her ears look like they sit on opposite sides of the head. its easy to forget that part, making the head look unsymmetrical. the particular masses of leica's head would be her snout, which is just a curve extended slightly outside the diameter of the ball, and her hair, which are two strange organic shapes that are quite hard to draw, two hair sprig anime antennae things (forgive me, i forgot the word for them,) and the back of the head, which i usually need to extend slightly. its a little too extended here, needs more on the top, i fix this in the final pass. this was a quick sketch, so i didnt focus too hard on the forms of the head beyond the most essential ones for her design, but i sometimes highlight the form of cheeks with curved hatching, or try to make the eyes appear more sunken-in as they are on human faces. i dont know how to proportion the neck and torso correctly until i draw the head, so i always do it first. next, i did the torso.

so heres why i said that you probably wont be able to replicate this approach. you do kind of just have to practice anatomy, i cant just make it make sense because im not very good at explaining this stuff, but ill try to go through what i did here. so, i generally use simplified bone shapes to find proportions and reference points, as well as more complicated shapes like those of elbows and knees. i try to study fairly often because im not satisfied with here im at with this stuff yet. of course, i dont think i'll ever be. so i'll usually start with the ribcage, add a shoulderblade out the back to find the shoulder, the armbones come out of that, the bone in the upper arm connects to the ulna with a sort of three-pronged attachment, one big knurl in the middle, which forms the thrust of the elbow, two little ones on the side. i think those are part of the ulna but i dont remember. see, you dont really have to know what exactly they do as long as you know what they look like. the ulna does some goofy rotation shit i dont understand, connects to the wrist, and then we have a hand, which, i mean, im not good enough at hands to even be telling you how to do it, but i just have a big squarish mass and some little hotdog fingers coming out of that. you can see on her left hand that ill have a big circle forming the the area on the hand where the thumb attaches... theres more depth to the hands, i think you can easily find better tutorials then i could offer. anyway, under the ribcage theres the pelvis, represented with a box. ill get into that when i talk about the legs. i wanna briefly talk about the way i add the flesh and fat to the bones.

so, i really can't give a comprehensive crash course on anatomy, but i can point you towards the morpho series, which is where i get most of this stuff from. you can get very far with the volumes Simplified Forms, Fat and Skin, and Skeleton and Bone Reference Points. moving on, i just kind of have a feel for where the masses attach by now. the important thing to remember when drawing fat characters like this is that the fat should "hang" from the bones and flesh, drooping down slightly. leicas fat hangs substantially, so she's not very wide despite her weight. this is important to her character design i feel. i almost always draw characters naked first when doing serious drawings because it will come in handy knowing where the forms of the body are when i add the clothing. by focusing on the way her body looks naked, i can modify the impression of those forms when adding clothes, and when i add them later on in this drawing, leica will take on the distinctive boxy look i try to draw her with.

if you look at the arm, youll see that the place the line of bone sits is very high compared to the whole mass of the arm, the flesh and fat of the arm "hang" from the bone, and then the upper arm squishes against the bent forearm too. even if the anatomy in the arm is indistinct, it can still look convincing when the forms act realistically against one another. the elbow has much less fat connected to it, so its more bony then the rest. this isnt actually consistent on all people so like, think about that kind of thing when designing characters, like i was talking about before, fat can sit in infinite different ways. maybe if i was doing a more objective anatomy lesson i'd draw cath, because i do have a sort of vague understanding of muscle placement that doesnt come through here, but probably would if i was drawing a scrawnier character. let me know if you want that.

a word on the breasts too: they hang a bit lower then you'd expect, keep that in mind. the attachment point is also angled, as the line shows. the line starts roughly in the middle of the torso and ends around the armpit, but the form of the breast can go underneath the armpit or even connect around the fold of fat in the back. many things to think about. i love boob shapes. ok lets finally get on with it and talk about the legs.

so, the really specific shape of the pelvis doesnt matter that much unless youre drawing a really thin character, so its just a box here. out from the sides of the pelvis, extending out more then you'd expect, is the femur, which ends in a similar joint to the arm. this shape helps me figure out the form of the knee. two masses on each side with a bunch of complex and weirdly shaped bones forming the kneecap, which i have omitted because i dont yet know shit enough to include them. i am learning though. so, obviously the feet are just scribbles here because im just gonna put her feet in socks anyway. you really dont have to do more then you have to. a few tips i can offer here, the butt should hang a bit too when drawing fat characters, i think the butt is supposed to start just below the pelvis if i remember, but take that with a grain of salt. i also didnt really do that here but its hard to tell because she's facing mostly forward. again, i dont think i can really communicate what's going on here. morpho has a lot of great drawings explaining the shapes and muscles of the legs, all things i might focus on more when drawing a scrawnier character. for this case, i regrettably don't go too hard on the legs. also i should note that legs would usually be much longer, leica is really short so ive exaggerated the proportions to communicate that. i may change my mind on that front in the future and give her more grounded proportions. the important thing to remember with legs is just getting a nice hierarchy of forms going. bigger thigh going into smaller calf going into smaller foot. it mostly comes automatically now.

i added the clothing, shaped up her head a bit, added a bit of fur. i put her in her classic outfit, just a sweater and jeans. i enjoy the big thick folds that come out of these clothes, and big areas of white space too. its nice. i try my best to form all the folds around the forms of the body i drew earlier. thats one case where i really really have no idea what im doing and could never explain it in words. its just some fun intuitive play with loops and lines. this is at around the stage for a sketch where i'd do inks, or if it was going to be a finished pencil drawing i'd erase out parts piece by piece and replace them with nicer and more defined lines and tones.

i guess that's all i can offer , i hope that halped.

[skyshard13]

short tutorial on how I've recently been approaching lineless interior illustrations like these

small disclaimer: I am not a professional, this is just what's been working recently for me. this thread is aimed towards digital artists who understand the fundamentals behind perspective, but don't know how to practically use that information

step 1: look up your art program of choice's support for perspective ruler tools. if your program doesn't support these tools (cough, cough, photoshop), I would recommend downloading krita and giving their perspective tools a try. this will make life much easier

programs that have perspective rulers should also have a "snap to ruler" option somewhere that will make all of your brush strokes move in straight lines across a 3D grid. I turn this on, but for details and curves, you may want to turn it off

step 2: once I have an idea for how I want things to look, I start laying down lines to figure out 3D form and composition. the more iterations you do at this step to make your lines clean and precise, the less of a headache you'll have in later steps

step 3: fill in base colors using the polygonal lasso tool. make sure to separate every shape onto its own layer. in the first piece, I made a separate layer for every wall, the bed frame, the mattress, etc. go ahead and hide the lines, but look out for jank where edges meet

step 4: using clipping masks on the layers from step 3, build up texture and ambient occlusion (the space where two planes meet should be darker than the rest of the planes) while considering your light source, start to paint in hard and soft shadows

for brevity I won't delve into what kinds of shadows are appropriate in what contexts, but at least in digital art I find softening hard shadows to be easier than hardening soft shadows, so I would try those first if you're ever not sure

step 5: at this point, you can go where your heart takes you and start painting in details. personally, I like to apply some strange and interesting textures at this point to unify the image. this helps me get out of the "every plane is a separate object" mindset

step 6: start painting! I usually like to continue pushing the lighting at this stage using a soft brush and blend modes. paint in details and objects that have irregular shapes

for wall decorations like posters and windows, I recommend looking into photoshop's "smart objects" feature (or whatever the equivalent is in your program.) these allow you to place a flat painting in 3D space while still allowing you to edit the flat painting

and that's all! I hope this tutorial might have inspired someone to try out painting an indoor space, I know I put them off for a while because I didn't know where to start

if you have any questions, please send them my way :)

[bathroomtrapped]

ur art is so, so amazing, is there anyway u could do a tutorial bc I wanna draw like u so badly

i can try but idrk how to explain myself or make tutorials lol

i think my style is just a product of my brush and what im trying to get out of my art, which is trying to portray the characters as accurately as possible. i rly just want it to look like it could be a stylized redraw of a deleted scene or something

my process is kinda everywhere bc i just move on to whatever step will probably make me hate the piece less when im done with it. i draw with a more square brush (blurring marker 1 on ibis) which i def recommend. its great for focusing on shapes in ur art and it helps me not overblend/forces me to think of more interesting lines/shapes. my sketch is a thicker size of the same pen, focusing on the major shapes and proportions and i just make as many additional layers overtop of it, lowering the size of the pen and adding details as i go

once im at the lineart i usually use a site that creates color palettes based off images (usually just steal some from old catholic art) and i steal my base colors from that. it doesnt matter how terrible ur base colors look as long as they make sense and r what ur generally going for.

these were my original base, i use colored line art and shade the basic shadows using the line art mixed with the base color, highlights r whatever is the lightest color in the palette. after that i duplicate and throw it through this filter

i play w the colors and use it as a color/hue/luminosity layer on top of the original version, lower opacity and render now that theres more colors on the canvas (the filter creates more contrast between the lame base colors i mix, then i can add bounce shadows and shit).

i use a shit ton of digital cheats. single color overlay layers at the end of a piece, pizza face overlay glow, using vignettes around the border to draw the eye towards the subjects at the center, filters, color palette generators, etc. they make things sm easier so u can worry abt experimenting with other things.

i dont rly know how to explain how i do clothes or hair other than focusing on the shadows and worrying abt lights later. this is honestly the best tutorial i can think of bc in my head im just drawing what i see as best as i can with the pen i use. use a fuck ton of reference, do actor face studies, and try to experiment with ur style everytime u draw. ur never gonna learn how to use ur programs or expand if ur bogged down by trying to achieve a specific look. sometimes that thing u were nervous abt bc thats not how ur style usually works is the best thing on the piece at the end.

actually draw only what u want to draw in that very moment and use that as an opportunity to experiment however u can. i just draw chainshipping and find ways to trick myself into learning 👍🏻 sorry this is so bad if u have any specific questions i can try to answer those better

edit: this is what i mean when i say just draw with whatever base colors and use the lineart to add value. i thoroughly hated this piece at this stage but once i adjusted the pallet it felt much more cohesive and i could continue on with the drawing. the best thing i can say is to have absolutely no process past the same few first steps and resign urself to a cycle of self hatred and throwing random bs at the wall to see what sticks

[dorianwolfforest]

maybe contemporary art is bad and annoying and "not valid" and a money laundering scheme for the rich or maybe the climate that used to exist where rich people used to value artists has died not only with recent technological development where they can get away with AI but also because of the availability of digital art and its tutorials and programs and brushes, artists no longer benefits only the rich which means it's no longer shiny and interesting to them and maybe when you say you hate contemporary art what you mean is you hate rich people because all art is contemporary, we haven't figured out what epoch we're in yet (I figure we'll be the digital age and the fact that rich people spend money on people putting bananas on walls will be a small part of our history because we've created such climate through digital means that no amount of moneylaundering can overshadow that) so we're stuck being contemporary for now, and that means all of it, the good, the bad, your friend's OC drawings, the kink art on deviantart, the bananas. All of it belongs to right now and the reason the stuff you see is bad gets sold for so much is because the rich no longer have monopoly over good art so they don't have to pretend to care about artists. What you mean is the rich are bad and annoying and not valid. Leave the art and its movement out of it.

[cynopoe]

heyyy idk if you remember but I once asked u about your inspiration/how you learned anatomy/draw etc. and I wanted to ask if you have answered that already. ofc you don't have to (you don't have to answer this one either, if you don't I'll just assume you didn't) ig you posted stg about not having time etc to reply and again: i love your art

Hey! I distinctly remember something like that although I don’t think I answered. And I can’t find it in my inbox either. Either I responded it and it got lost in the void or I might have deleted the ask when I was cleaning the box from all the porn bots. Either way I’m sorry for losing your ask 🥲

I will answer it now

I started drawing digitally when I was 15 on an old wacom tablet. I didn’t stop doing traditional stuff until I bought an ipad and got lazy with the endless options it offered me. I still use the ipad with procreate and CSP interchangeably. In my experience Procreate has a better coloring tools be it the colors itself or the brushes, the editing tools. Blending modes are, in my opinion, slightly better than CSP. and CSP inspires me to do more sketches and comic style stuff. I recommend them both.

What I will say now will stay between you and me. Alright? I learned doing anatomy from drawing filthy, filthy pornography. I wasn’t any good at it in the beginning, but honestly it is the best way to learn it, in my experience. I developed so fast when I was doing nsfw art. A lot faster than if I had only been drawing normal stuff. Many of those drawings will never see the face of day, but they’re there. And they helped me a lot.

Other than that I also recommend studying real life. Try to understand where body parts start and where they end. Try to study the “line of action”. Try to remind yourself a body is a 3d form. Foreshortening helps, although I’m not the biggest fan of it. Trace photographs- and I’m not saying like go over like by like. Study photographs. There are many reference pictures online. I often find mine on pinterest.

Redrawing one pose over and over again until you can do it with close eyes, helps, and will drive you up a wall. You will want to break your pencil. But it will help. Compare what you draw with the reference picture. Remember to flip the canvas often. Our eyes get used to our art, good parts and the mistakes.

Sleep on a pose if you can’t get it just right. Your eyes will be kinder to you in the next day.

Yeah using references and being very mindful of them will help you a lot. There are some youtube tutorials. This streamer has been my favorite lately.

About finding inspiration… I’m sorry I can’t help you much with this one. You see, I’ve lost mine and I have been looking for it for a year now. Idk. Get unnaturally obsessed with a media? Get into a moderately large fandom? Have some people around you to keep your interest alive? Idk I haven’t been active in any fandom in years. But when I was, I saw that social interaction of it helped me to stay motivated to create.

Keep your mind sharp: read, study, interact with anything out of your comfort zone. In my personal experience, keeping in my walls never really gives me that rush, that eureka of inspiration. I often get this desire to create when my mind is active. I don’t know if it will be the same for you though.

Thank you for this ask! And thank you for being incredibly patient. I’m sorry again for losing your ask before. I hope I could help even a little 🖤 stay creative, friend.

[homosexualmorelikehomiesexual]

choosing violence and haterism here tonight but so much of art tutorials are like. "heres how to make bad art good! *insert built in preset digital filter or brush or setting*" instead of actual advice on how to do shading or lighting or lineart or coloring or like. anything. like dont get me wrong, i get it, digital art popular, art program have useful tool, consumerism create push to churn out art fast as possible, create push to cut corners and use as many hacks as possible. using those hacks and doing the easy thing is morally neutral. i have no beef with people who use purple filters on their lineart (just as an example) or even rlly with those who make instructions for how to do so. im mainly just frustrated that more and more recently its flooding results for all art tutorials, and making it more difficult for me to find real material on how to do anything but that. it also strikes me as such a shot in the foot...? bc like theres a massive pressure to make your art look realistic (and ive absolutely got beef with that, bc it kills your fucking creativity over time to always feel obligated to pripritize realism over experimentation, but i digress) but like if you never actually learn the *why* behind all these hacks for stuff like line weight, shading, coloring, etc...youre gonna hit an upper limit to how far you can really go before youve got all these admittedly neat tricks and tools, but dont actually know how to utilize them, bc you dont understand *why* it is what they do makes your art "look good"

idk. like. i promise im not being an eletist snob here, you relying solely on pinterest tutorials that tell you how to slap specific art program filters on your drawings does not hurt me, you, or your grandma in any way, i have no quarrel with you. but also like if you ever find yourself hitting a wall with your art, i do suggest learning to not rely on them and like. go learn a little about shading and color theory as it stands on its own outside of digital presets. the knowledge is a learning curve to absorb but not inaccessible i promise. just use youtube

[timpac-capstone]

Week 10

I finally did another digital drawing, this time using Adobe Fresco on an iPad Air 2. This piece was actually way more relaxing to draw than the last time I tried drawing digitally on Krita using my roommate's touchscreen laptop because nothing was glitching out. Everything worked perfectly this time and the Apple pencil felt very intuitive in my hand. I still struggled to get my line work to look nice and I'm not sure if the process in which I colored and shaded my drawing was the way most people do it but after finishing this piece I walked away wanting to do more digital art which is a victory in itself.

When I walked out of Manga in New York I finally understood the importance of how the presentation of an art piece can add to the overall experience of the audience member. This was a quick sketch I did in Adobe Fresco of how I was planning to display my animation. I'm thinking of getting one of those old TV carts that I would often see in elementary school where it had a big CRT TV that was hooked up to a VCR. The VCR is just for display because I'm not sure how to put my animation onto a VHS tape and even if I did it doesn't really add anything but I was planning on displaying my animation on the CRT TV. The reason the setup is like this is because this is the same setup that the two brain cells have when they are watching Dillon's embarrassing memories. I will also have two bags that will be labeled Embarasing Memories and Good Memories, after the audience member is done watching my animation they will write one happy memory and one embarrassing memory on an index card/cassette tape and throw them into their respective bag. I'm not 100% sold on this idea but it is a good start.

My professor recommended that I watch more animated short films that weren't just from previous alumni to broaden my horizons in terms of storytelling in a short animation and the way animation is used as well as its quality. I saw 10 animated short films but I'll only talk about the ones that stood out to me starting with This Actually Happens A Lot by Tom Law. I remember my professor asked me to explain why I love animation so much and I showed her the transformation sequences from Ben 10 (2005) and I just said "I mean just look at that". But she didn't see the same thing I did and said I needed to look deeper for the reason and I feel this short gave me that answer. Animation makes the unnatural feel natural without needing to explain why it is the way it is. In this short, we see that the male character's social anxiety is causing him to stick from wall to wall and be suspended in thin air. Obviously, this doesn't happen in real life but I didn't question it, I accepted immediately that this is how this world works and because of that I'm more in tune with the author's message instead of fighting the way he presented it, creating a much more enjoyable watch. If this was live-action I would be more interested in how they did the effect rather than what the point of this character being suspended in mid-air is supposed to represent in the first place.

Resilience by Yunie Choi gave me a new perspective on the horrors of war and life after death. They used animation to do a timelapse of a decaying corpse over the course of several hundred years and it is quite beautiful to see how life moves on without you. The use of colors and interesting animal designs really add to the beauty of this animation.

This guy, Manu Mercurial, does a lot of YouTube tutorials for animation but I haven't seen his animated projects in full before. I thought it would be topical for me since we are both interested in the subject of memories. He very much took a very different approach from what I was thinking of doing but I still think it was a good watch to see how people visualize revisiting their old memories

I like Afternoon Class by Osro for the same reason I like This Actually Happens A Lot, I don't question why this kid's head turns into several heavy objects but I have an immediate connection to it because I understand the feeling of trying to stay awake in class. Also, the use of sound effects is excellent in this short.

I put Forget Me Not by The Lonely Star Studio on here because it shows that even with terrible voice acting and mic quality I can still appreciate the animation of this short which has also been a huge stressor.

Bounty by Arrowmi is on here because it has the opposite problem of Forget Me Not it has amazing voice acting but the art style and animation are pretty rough. It's not bad but it's not super pretty to look at either. However, it was still able to tell an intense story of an ex-bounty hunter and suck me into the world despite its noticeable drawbacks.

Going back through my old script ideas, I had this one part where at the climax of the story the main character would wake up in a car sitting next to his dad. He's in shock because his dad is supposed to be dead and yet here he is just driving nonchalantly, the main character knows this is a memory but he decides to ask his dad a bunch of questions to see if his dad would still be proud of him if he were to meet him as an adult. I feel that this entire scene I made was inspired by this Spiderman story I found 2 years ago on Instagram in which Peter gets 5 minutes to talk to Uncle Ben after years of being Spiderman, this story really connected with me when I first found it because what I want the most in life is to just ask my dad "am I doing good". There are a lot of things that I struggle with; not being masculine enough, I'm almost 23 and still haven't had a girlfriend, and I constantly wonder if I picked the right career choice. I don't know if my dad struggled with the same things but I assume that he didn't and I often feel that if he were to meet me as an adult he would be disappointed. I know that most likely he would say that he is proud of me despite all my shortcomings because that is what parents are supposed to do but the fact that I will never get that answer kills me. I decided to read all 3 parts of this story to get a better idea as to what led up to this Uncle Ben interaction and it was pretty good, if you watched Spider-Man 2 it hits the same story beats. Lately, I've been thinking of scrapping the two-brain cell idea and instead animating the car scene I described earlier on its own.

REFLECTION:

I'm really happy that I finally found a groove into digital art and I'm hoping this will finally jumpstart some animation this week. I'm also glad that I watched all those animated short films, they all had their unique quirks and drawbacks that you don't normally get to see in professionally animated TV shows. I also want to explore the idea of being able to talk to a dead relative for a brief period of time before you never see them again.

[marshmallowprotection]

Hi! I see that since you mentioned match ups are open people have eagerly hopped in. I honestly don't blame them since you're so good at it. It's really fun reading everyone's match ups so I wanted to give it a go too! I wanted to avoid mentioning or comparing characters to avoid influencing the results but like simplifying a person's personality is hard so I'm just gonna roll with it, lol.

In terms of personality, I'm an introvert but that doesn't mean I'm shy. I can be (I have, like, 3 different anxiety diagnosis) but usually I'm generally low energy and relaxed. Very deadpan. So much so much so that people tend to laugh even when I'm being serious. I'm a Taurus and I find the description very much fitting. I take pride in being pragmatic, grounded, down to earth. I like taking care of people in a more realistic way (and just in general). In spite of seeming calm or blunt I'm actually really sensitive and emotional (although I'll never show others my vulnerability). I always try to consider the other person's feelings which is why I'm often called kind and considerate. A good listener. I'm quiet so that comes with the territory lol. I generally don't like to talk about myself and will only say something if asked/spoken to first. In simple terms I'd say I'm a weird mix of Jumin(practical, decisive, analytical) and V(emotional, sentimental, self sacrificing). I always end up getting the most hearts from them when I respond honestly especially Jumin haha. One last thing for me is that along with my millions of anxiety disorders(including paranoia so I heavily relate to Rika and Saeyoung) I also have ADHD(I guess *also* like Saeyoung lolol). As I'm sure you can tell by now I don't have the one that makes me bounce off the wall. I believe the one I have is called inattentive and it makes me a total space cadet. But I was very imaginative and creative so I think it was good trade off? I'm pretty sure my mom thought child me was a plant because I was so quiet and still. Never cried that much and was an "easy" child except when she had to coax me to do things. Then I was stubborn lolol. Definitely a Taurus haha.

For work and study, ever since I could hold a crayon I've been drawing and art has always been my focus. In public school I'd pick the all the art classes and I'd even take outside classes during summers off and when I grew out of that I'd do self study with books and online tutorials. I do illustration and graphic design and my major in college was visual communication design (which is a wordier way to say graphic design). I got my associates but sadly had to drop while doing my bachelor's (would love to get a master's and study art forever but it's just a dream for now). Currently, I work as a bakery clerk part time until I can get a better job but I like it. I like seeing people's faces light up saying "SO PRETTYYY~" when they see our cakes. I do a little bit of everything so bread bagging, baking, set up, orders, cake decorating. It's very well rounded job where I'm breaking a sweat and feel like I'm earning my dollar while also having creative input. I like giving the customers advice for their get togethers and parties. It's nice. I'd like to one day have my own brand and put myself out there as an artist but for now this is fine enough.

When it comes to hobbies I feel like it's on the nose cause I like to be creative and have my hands moving. The obvious is drawing (both digitally and traditionally. Love using soft chalk pastels) and baking but I also like more crafty hobbies like crocheting and scrapbooking. I'm a big stationary nerd and I love collecting paper, notebooks, stickers/washi taped, pens/pencils, ect. Been into watching bookbinding vids. I also have the more typical hobby of listening to music, reading (big book nerd put me in a book store I'll leave with a tall stack), big gamer nerd.

Some other miscellaneous info about me is my favorite color is green 💚. I generally like deep earthy, natural colors but I also like gentle pastels like pink and lavender. I'm a big dog person and I dislike cats. I'm actually afraid of them and they cause me a lot of anxiety. I would never cause trouble for them and I hope they are homed to people that genuinely adore them. I just don't jive with them. I can and have taken care of them in a pinch. I wouldn't let my personal stuff cause them harm. I definitely understand and relate to dogs more. I want to grow old with a bunch of pups to take care of lol. I don't want kids so cute puppers will do. I have hazel eyes and rusty red hair. When I was younger my hair was much brighter yellow orange compared to Saeyoung but as I got older it turned into a deeper, darker rust red. I also have freckles all over. My favorite shape is stars! I love astrology and magic and whimsy (again such a contrast from how I present lolol ⭐)

Im more prone to forgiving and moving on and I found Saeran's AE really relatable. It brought up a lot of topics that were really important to me that I feel a lot of people overlook in stories about healing from abusive parents. I really can't hold onto my anger for very long and generally prefer to look at people for what they are and either work with them or move on. I don't like letting others take my time and energy which is why I'm "nice", or at least normal, to even people i don't like. I feel like being petty and angry all the time is draining. It's just my style of healing. On the contrary I find anger and yelling very triggering for me even from friends who I know won't hurt me or are speaking on my behalf. The antagonististic energy is just very uncomfortable. I prefer a gentle touch I can trust. Everyone is capable of getting angry, it's healthy and normal, but I prefer someone who's first instinct isn't to jump to anger but understanding. Makes me feel safe.

That's about everything I can think of. I don't normally think about myself so it's hard to write haha. Hopefully that all made sense. Thanks for taking the time if you see this. 😊

I match you with...

Jihyun!

Hear me out, I know this might sound odd, but you seem to fall into the same realm as his heart.

Don't take this to mean that you're self-destructive, it's actually that you're passionate and that this passion is what inspires you to be who you are. Even though it may not be a lucrative career to survive as an artist, you find a way to make it work, and in doing so, you don't sacrifice what helps you feel like you have artistic liberty. Not a lot of people have that opportunity, and it would be interesting to be close to Jihyun, wouldn’t it? He didn't give up on his dream of painting, he simply found something else to fill the void in his chest because his father made him believe he would never be able to make it. 

Seeing you be your most authentic self is a challenge to everything he's ever told himself. You're the kind of person who challenges him, because while you are similar, you are inherently different, as well. It's not a bad thing, it's something he welcomes, and he can't help but want more. 

He's not the kind of person who's going to jump to anger when something goes wrong. You don't have to be afraid of being in a conversation with him, especially not with the two of you are upset, because he has a level enough head to know that you need to take some time to breathe, and do whatever you need to do before you come back to the conversation. Nothing ever feels like it's going to explode when you're with him. It feels like you can overcome any challenge that comes your way. 

[kranthigifts]

I Create Inspirational Wall Art

[darktailkin]

Tag thang pt2

Fandoms you dislike: Welcome Home, FNF (sometimes), Cat-girl, DSMP, Turning Red, and Mandela catalogue.

Hyperfixation character: Wooly (Amanda the Adventurer), Rosemary Walten (The Walten Files), Hog (Sonic.EXE 3.0), Lord X (Sonic PC Port), Secret Histories Tails, Suicide Mouse, Max and Ruby 0004, and Amanda the Adventurer.

Creepypastas you like: Max and Ruby 0004, Suicide Mouse, Looney Toons Spatter, Margolo Mouse, 1999, and Abandoned By Disney.

Fav art YouTubers: https://youtube.com/@LelaStudios

https://youtube.com/@ssavaart

https://youtube.com/@liahansen

https://youtube.com/@HappysCharms

Fave art supplies you want: More Alcohol markers, More paints, vintage/Obscure crayons from a thrift store, white gel pen, and thicc sketchbook paper.

What are you currently drawing: Wooly doodles.

Fave art styles:

Martin Walls style.

Shutupjojo style.

Colored micron outline then color with light color with color from same family.

Fav short films: Hamster Hell, Mickey Mouse in Vietnam, and Thingu.

✨Add fave Maps/Meps at the bottom✨

@redscorpiocat @msdragon @gore-iskawaii @nintendoneko64

Also add another fav character in bottom lol

[uraberika]

Paparazzi

Rating: T Fandom: Inazuma Eleven Chapter: 1/? Relationship: Domon Asuka/Urabe Rika, Ichinose Kazuya/Urabe Rika Characters: Domon Asuka, Urabe Rika, Ichinose Kazuya Summary: Domon Asuka is a twenty-something fashion journalist stuck between last-minute speed-running articles at midnight and editing photos of fashionistas who think way too highly of themselves. But when he accidentally ruins the career of celebrity model Urabe Rika, he finds his life suddenly turned upside down as he is forced to help the insufferable fashion icon (quite literally) get back on her feet. On other platforms: AO3

A/N: This work is inspired by a model!Rika AU by @inazuma-art from like four years ago (check her art of model!Rika here). The recent actor!AU by @misfitmiska and @irisviel101 might have also inspired me to create this celebrity/model!AU. :D I first had this idea years ago and then completely forgot about it, until @frosty-tian asked me about DoRika and now I have the urge to turn my idea into something written. I have some ideas as to where I want this story to go but I have yet to write most of it so updates are most likely going to be sporadic.

To put it plain and simple: Domon Asuke was fucked and he did not know what he had done to deserve this. Everything started great when Domon woke up in the morning, fresh and well-rested, a feeling he rarely encountered in his busy life split between last-minute speed-running articles at midnight and editing photos of fashionistas who thought way too highly of themselves. So when Domon woke up energized in the morning, he should have been more suspicious, really. But it only occurred to him after he had brushed his teeth and had his lazy morning coffee to glance at the digital clock on the coffee table which was… in the simplest of terms… not working. The numbers 04:32 were blinking on the screen accusingly, which could only mean that there had been a power shortage at around dawn. The third fucking time this month. Domon stopped dead in his tracks (and in his pajamas) to take a look at his phone. Shit, it was already 8:30. The journalist cursed, throwing his phone in his bag while trying to strip off his pajamas at the same time. Shitshitshit, he elaborated further to himself as he haphazardly threw on a shirt and plucked his camera’s battery from its charger on the wall. He hoped that despite the shortage, the batteries still had some juice in them. He quickly tossed the camera into its textile case, pondering his options. If he managed to catch the metro leaving in seven minutes, he might just make it. He cursed his stupid decision to have moved the digital clock into the living room, but the bastard machinery made such ungodly alarm sounds that it would give him a heart attack if it would go off in his bedroom. Hit by a sudden burst of determination, Domon slipped on his loafers and closed the door behind his apartment with more force than it would have been necessary. His shoulder bag was practically holding onto dear life as he made a run for the station, ignoring the curious stares he earned along the way.

He just cannot fuck this up, not when this was his biggest opportunity ever since he entered the scene of fashion journalism, just fresh out of college. Domon has been working as a fashion journalist for four years now, and maybe that was the problem: maybe his content started to lack originality or it was just due to the sudden rise of self-proclaimed tik-tok influencers, make up artists and thrift girlies, but Domon was not doing so well in terms of money. His agency paid him by his articles, but also by the popularity of his articles which left a lot to be desired in terms of engagement. Domon was sure that it was the internet’s fault: these youngsters raised on five minute make-up tutorials would never be able to understand the fine details of the honored craft that was fashion, let alone read about it!

But this gig, he swore to himself he wouldn’t fuck it up. It was Tokyo Fashion Week and every reporter worth their salt from teenage girls on social media to world famous fashion moguls fixed their gaze (and pens and keyboards and cameras) onto the imposing catwalks of the capital of Japan. Domon, being a mid-tier journalist at an averagely acclaimed journal with a dwindling fanbase, failed to snag a press pass (not that anyone expected him to get one in the first place). Luckily, his best friend came through: Ichinose Kazuya, world-renowned football player, fashion icon and the object of adoration of many adolescent girls had managed to pull a few strings and get him a press pass. Ichinose could convince the hot model chick he was currently seeing to put in a good word for Domon’s agency and the next day, Domon found a velvet black lanyard on his desk with his name and “PRESS” on the tag. Domon was most grateful for his best friend’s help which made the fact that he might just miss the whole shabang starting at 10:00 am even more so embarrassing. 

He tried not to cringe too hard as he stepped out of the metro car he luckily managed to catch, and took off, taking the escalator two steps at a time, ignoring the other passengers' scandalized stares. Of course this would happen on the only day when everything hinged on him being in the right place at the right time! As he quickened his steps (he still needed to cover ten minutes of walking within seven minutes, or ideally, within five) he tried to make a mental list of any potential disasters. He had no clue how long his camera’s battery would last, but if push came to shove, his Iphone made decent pictures enough. Since live streams were forbidden during Tokyo Fashion Week, novelty preceded quality: the first ones to report on the event got the most views, not those who had the most perfect pictures. Domon would try to take perfect photos anyway, but he was not in a position to aim higher than “good enough” at the moment. 

If he was really honest with himself, for all the glitz and glamor, Domon was not fond of fashion weeks anyway: they tended to center around female clothing too much, while his main interests lay in men’s streetwear. But obviously, Ichinose’s chick asked the lanyard for Domon specifically which might have earned him some jealous glances from his female colleagues in the office who would have been much more suited for Fashion Week, but he felt little remorse: fashion was a dog-eat-dog world after all, just as much about connections as craftsmanship.  

Domon’s lungs were begging for mercy but he was not in a merciful mood at the moment. The building was a glorious tower of glass windows with multiple stories and it seemed to be shining condescendingly down on him as he pushed the glass doors open with much less grace than the occasion would have required. He waved his pass at the security guard, then scanned it at the electric gate: he was lucky that his show was on the ground floor. As a good journalist, he had done his research before the event: he knew that the collection presented by the fashion brand Aldena would be centered around buzzwords like “chic”, “formal wear” and “postmodern” which honestly gave him no clue on what to expect other than it was surely to be way out of his comfort zone. 

The door was already closed but thankfully it gave when Domon pushed the silver handle down. He glanced at his watch: 10:02. He barely just made it. The commentator was already on stage surrounded in the sharp white halo of stage lights, and he was in the middle of introducing the collection. Thankful for the dimness, Domon made his way among the rows of seats, whispering soft sorrys and trying to ignore the low grumbling of those who were forced to stand up to let him through. He peeked a glance at his pass to find his seat: A22, the letter corresponding to the row and the letter to the seat. In regular shows the lettering of rows usually started from the back, A referring to the furthest row, and the one closest to the end of the alphabet would mean the closest one to day runway. To Domon’s shock and surprise, Tokyo Fashion Week did the reverse: the journalist tried to calm his heartbeat as the realization hit him that he was going to be sitting in the first row. 

Shit, Ichinose’s girl was not fooling around, that’s for sure! The poor woman must be smitten with Ichinose if she arranged a seat in the front row for his best friend, someone she could have only heard about. Ichinose was very adamant about keeping his love life and professional life separate, and Domon separate from both of those things. Despite Ichinose’s good appearance and charming personality, the football player failed to keep a girl for more than three months and he did not want to risk his friends getting way too attached to any of his girlfriends for that reason. The tabloids called him a womanizer but Domon suspected that his best friend might have some underlying issues concerning commitment and that was why he was secretive about his partners, even in front of Domon. The journalist humored Ichinose for his nonsense, understanding that this was his way of regaining some control over his life. Not that Domon would not instantly side with Ichinose if he had any sort of conflict with his girlfriend: their friendship ran deeper than that, he made that clear to Ichinose a long time ago. Bros before… supermodels, or something like that.

The presenter now moved aside and the stage light increased tenfold the same time as the lights above the audience went out. Right, time to get to work. Domon took out his camera and angled it towards the stage.

The first model to enter the stage was a petite girl with bubblegum-pink pigtails. Her hair was styled in small little bubbles and the orange eye makeup only further enhanced her youthful features. To snag a position at a brand like Aldena so early on in one’s career can only mean that she was especially talented, Domon knew this much at least. He did not know whether to be impressed or feel pity for the girl for dropping into the fashion scene at such a young age. Shaking himself out of his thoughts of sympathy, he turned his head to observe the outfit. The model was wearing a two-piece set made of black satin that glistened under the white stage lights.The legs of the dress pants were exaggerated to absurd proportions, exceeding the size of regular flares; Domon could almost hear the swooshing of the material as the model passed him. Embroidered fire lilies climbed up her pants’ legs in orange and salmon threads; her blazer had the same pattern on the lapels. The model wore a comically ruffled white blouse under the blazer and the whole outfit was topped off (if Domon could afford the pun) with a top hat. The journalist broke out in cold sweat. The outfit was no doubt pretty but this style was way out of his league; he did not know if he could do it justice in his writing. He felt dread climbing up his throat. What the hell was he doing here anyway? He looked around himself in panic; the guests seated were all dressed in over-the-top outfits with crazy accessories and here he was, just regular old Domon in a black t-shirt and cargo pants. The realization hit like a punch to his gut: he was severely underdressed and severely underqualified for this event.

By the time the girl reached the end of the runway, Domon managed to gather his bearings.  The journalist rarely felt small but the atmosphere of the crowd emanating such high class and professionalism started to mess with his head. However, he would not fuck up this up; he had promised himself he would not. Most importantly, Domon could not put his childhood best friend to shame after he went so out of his comfort zone to help him. He reached for his camera and quickly snapped a few shots only to fight back an exasperated groan. Ichinose’s girl might have managed to snag a spot in the front row but the seats were arranged in the shape of a U around the catwalk and his place was the last chair at the end of the U, almost at the jut of the stage. It was impossible to get a good shot from here, by the time the model would be close enough for Domon to capture the outfit, she would be obscured by the expensive-looking velour curtains on the two sides of the stage. Domon grumbled and got out of his seat. He would need to move closer to get a better shot. Getting up seemed like a rude gesture at an event like this but Domon's previous experiences at fashion shows were that photographers with little inhibition would do that every now and then. And oh boy did Domon not give a fuck about these mighty ass fashion moguls at the moment! He still crouched down to avoid causing an uproar amongst the people sitting behind him: there was brave and there was foolish and Domon prided himself in usually knowing the difference. 

The next model appeared on stage and Domon’s heart jumped in his throat. The woman was tall, taller than the previous model at least and her height was further played up by her hairstyle: she was wearing blue-black box braids twisted into a large bun on top of her head. A few braids slipped their confinement (or, more likely, intentionally left out by a hairstylist) and showed off how the model’s own blue hair transitioned seamlessly into black extensions midway through the braids. The contrast was striking, especially with her vivid purple makeup, complimenting her dark skin. For a moment Domon, forgot to look at her outfit, completely enthralled by the extravagance of the model herself. Then he was all professionalism again, observing the clothes in front of him. The model was wearing a form-fitting lilac dress, satin ruffles cascading down the neckline. The dress was most likely an off shoulder one but the woman’s shoulders were obscured by an oversized dark blue tuxedo jacket ornate with digitally printed roses. The influence of Y2K, his brain helpfully supplied, as his writing gears finally started kicking after much delay. The homage to the early 2000s is clear in this design of Aldena’s: the digital floral print gracefully mingles with the sleek and clean style of formal wear. The overexaggerated, floor-length swallow-tails pay a respectful nod to the high-fashion of corporate dressing as  while doing justice toAldena’s personal style that is usually characterized by the enlargement of garments to an almost disproportionate degree. Yes, that definitely sounded professional in Domon’s head.Engrossed in his own thoughts about his article, Domon almost forgot to take pictures, yet again as the model finished her poses at the end of the catwalk and turned to leave the stage on Domon’s side. The journalist crept a few steps closer again and his loafers bumped against the ridge of something hard, causing his stance to waver in his awkward crouch. To save the precious cargo, Domon raised the camera in his hands up above his head on instinct as he tried to regain his balance. He looked down at his feet and realized that he had gotten too close to the stage: he managed to bump into the large cables running along the foot of the elevated platform of the catwalk. He let out a shaky breath in relief: he had almost tripped over them and mentally chided himself for his unawareness. He could have fallen! Just as the thought crossed his mind, Domon felt a tug at his hands and suddenly, the camera was abruptly jerked from his hold by the strap of the machine that Domon should have been wearing around his neck. He turned his head in fear towards the catwalk, towards where his camera disappeared but the stage lights were too blinding for him to see anything. Unfortunately, his hearing was working just fine: he heard the sound of lens shattering as well as the deadly silence that fell onto the ridiculously large room afterwards. Then, the woman on the stage fell over with a dull thud and a sharp scream. Chaos erupted.

[fortheloveofwonderland]

The Kids Aren’t Alright | Chapter 3

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter Summary - JJ and Spencer both fight against feelings they wish would go away. Meanwhile, Luke starts to spiral.

Pairing - Spencer Reid x BAU Team / later chapters include Moreid, Temily and Ralvez.

Category - mystery | coming of age | fluff | angst | smut

Content Warnings - pining JJ, more mean kids, slight self deprecating thoughts, smoking, mention of weed.

WC - 3.5k

Chapter 3 - Dreaming With a Broken Heart

When you’re dreaming with a broken heart,

The waking up is the hardest part.

You roll out of bed and down on your knees,

And for a moment, you can hardly breathe. 

Once upon a time the BAU’s photography program was one of the shining glories of the camp. They’d had state of the art Canon digital cameras for each camper in a group, even a few analog cameras and an impressive darkroom where they kids were shown the dying art of developing film. Nowadays, the program left a lot to be desired. 

The darkrooms had been demolished and analog cameras gotten rid of. Over time they’d been left with fewer and fewer digital ones and now only three remained. Trying to get a group of twenty teenagers excited to share three cameras was a hard task for Jennifer Jareau. She’d been excited her first summer here, two years ago, when they’d at least had enough cameras for half of the group. She’d always enjoyed art and getting to spend her summer roaming the outdoors teaching the teens how to compose photographs was a lot of fun. She used to have them make scrapbooks of their works to take home to their parents but the camp printers went the way of most of the cameras and now their images were destined to be deleted once the kids went home. It was sad really, without anything to show for it the kids didn’t care about the art form anymore. They’d be able to edit their images in Penelope’s computer class later, crowded around one device while the bubbly blonde tried to get excited over menial photoshop tutorials when last summer she’d been teaching the campers all about VPNs and firewalls. 

Mostly JJ would spend the day watching the kids argue over the cameras or sit twiddling their thumbs whilst waiting their turn. Today she’d taken them down past the lake to the dirt track tucked away on the other side of the trees where another group or twenty kids fought over two ATV’s to ride. She perched on a large rock just at the edge of the clearing, far enough away that her group weren’t going to get mowed down by the all-terrain vehicles and the boisterous kids riding them. She tried her best to stay away from this particular area of the camp because she didn’t want to be seen as some kind of stalker. 

Usually she had her groups photograph the kids in boats on the lake or Matt’s wall climbing activities, sometimes even sports games. Anything to keep herself away from the object of her desire. But after seeing her so pally with Alvez this morning, JJ couldn’t stay away. She told herself the speed in which the ATV’s flew around the track was a great opportunity to teach the teens about shutter speeds and ISOs, but that wasn’t the full story. 

The truth was JJ had been enamoured by Emily Prentiss from the first time she met her two summers ago. Emily was two years JJ’s senior and had shown the younger girl the ropes so to speak. That first summer the two girls had been inseparable, spending every moment of their free time together. JJ had never felt this way about someone before, least of all a girl. But Emily was magnetic, confident and beautiful and she made butterflies form in JJ’s stomach. Over the course of the summer, JJ had fallen head over heels. 

But the following summer had been different. Some new counsellors joined the staff, one of whom was Tara Lewis. Tara and Emily were the same age and bonded instantly, leaving JJ out in the cold. Since then things had never been the same between JJ and Emily. They still talked but it wasn’t the way it used to be. They didn’t sit up at night talking and giggling by the lake, they didn’t share lingering glances across the campfire. JJ had spent a whole year building up the relationship in her head, desperate to see Emily again and maybe even confess her feelings but she never had the chance. And this summer Tara was back again and things were just the same as last year. So instead of watching her group or even watching the kids on the ATV’s, she was watching the beautiful instructor. 

Emily’s long hair was tied back from her face, her bangs sticking to her forehead slightly due to the heat. The sleeves of her top were rolled up to her elbows and her jeans were tucked into the calf high boots she had to wear for the purposes of demonstrating how the vehicles worked. She held her helmet under her arm, cushioned against her hip and she didn’t take her eyes off of the two kids on the ATV’s skidding around the dirt track. And JJ didn’t take her eyes off of Emily. She was so tunnel visioned on the other girl she didn’t notice one of the teens approaching until a shadow was cast over her face. She glanced up to see the lanky figure of one of the boys hovering over her with a camera. 

“Just wanted to know what you thought of these.” Riley Jenkins smiled sweetly at JJ as she pushed herself up off of the rock. 

He was only seventeen and already had at least a foot in height on JJ. He was a good kid from what she’d seen, friendly and kind, unlike a lot of other boys his age. She took the camera from him and looked at the digital display. She clicked through a few photos until she found one that captured her attention. It was a shot of one of the ATV’s as it was airborne, only a foot off the ground but he’d clearly listened to what she’d told them about the shutter speeds to be able to take such a shot and have it be so clear. But it was what was in the background that caught JJ’s eye.

Emily Prentiss profile was bathed in sunlight, the slight sheen of sweat on her brow glistening. Her lip was upturned at the corner as she smiled at the two kids on their ATV’s. JJ thought she looked like a goddess, an angel fallen to earth. Her heart clenched in her chest, wanting to look at nothing but this photo for the rest of her life.

“Wow, good job Jenkins. These are really great.” She forced her eyes off of the display and onto the boy next to her. 

He smiled brightly, slightly bashfully, as he took the camera back off of her. 

“Thank you.” He blushed a little. 

“Teachers pet much, Jenkins?” Someone scoffed and JJ turned to them with a frown. 

“Firstly Hernandez, I’m not a teacher.” JJ scowled at the trouble maker. “And secondly, I’d like to see you do better.”

JJ motioned for Riley to hand the camera over to Hernandez who rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets. 

“Not interested. Sorry.” He turned his back on JJ and Riley and shuffled over to a group of his cohorts. 

Riley hung his head in embarrassment, holding the camera limply. JJ was going to comfort him, she told herself that anyway, but she felt a set of eyes on her. When she looked up, Emily was smiling at her from a distance and JJ forgot her own name, let alone Riley next to her. She awkwardly waved in the older girl's direction, feeling her cheeks flush pink as she did so. Emily waved back before she was turning back to her own group of teens. 

JJ chewed on her lip, making sure to catalogue the interaction in her head like she did every interaction with Emily, no matter how small. And just like that, Riley was a long forgotten memory. 

***

After showering the lake water off of himself and fishing out a dry uniform, Spencer headed back out of his cabin, hair still slightly damp. He quickly locked the door behind him and when he turned, there was someone waiting for him at the bottom of the steps. 

Luke stood sheepishly on the path, hugging Spencer’s chemistry book tightly to his chest. 

“You uh…forgot this.” He seemed to give it a squeeze before holding it out in his hand. 

Spencer slowly descended the stairs and took the book from him with a small smile. 

“Thanks.” 

“No problem.” Luke shrugged. “I’m really sorry about earlier. I can swim, I just…I can swim.” 

“You sure about that?” Spencer raised an eyebrow at him. 

“I can kinda swim. I’m ok but I’m not going to win any medals if you know what I mean? I can keep my head above water but I’m not so sure I’d be able to keep two heads above water. Strauss never even asked when she offered me the job so I figured it wasn’t that important. The sailing part I’m good at. Not so much the swimming.” His cheeks flushed red and he chewed on his bottom lip in embarrassment. 

“Let’s just hope no one else drowns before I get back from speaking to Hotch. Try to keep them all alive until I get back, yeah?” Spencer sent him a playful smirk which Luke couldn’t help but return. 

“I’ll try my best.” He nodded with a small chuckle. 

Spencer felt his heart soar at the sound coming from Luke’s lips. This boy was doing things to Spencer he’d never experienced. And he wanted more of it, so much more. But that could never happen, Spencer was not allowing himself to succumb to those kinds of thoughts so he quickly shook his head, trying to snap himself out of it. Luke was hot, he just wanted to sleep with him, nothing more. Never anything more. 

“I should uh…go find Hotch.” He averted his gaze, not trusting himself to look at Luke for too long. 

“Yeah sure. I’ll see you later.” 

“Uh huh.” Spencer mumbled and then he was scurrying away, leaving Luke slightly confused. 

One minute Spencer had been friendly, even borderline flirtatious and the next he’d turned cold out of nowhere. Luke didn’t understand. Perhaps he was imagining the whole thing. Maybe Spencer wasn’t flirting with him at all and Luke had just built the whole thing up in his head. Maybe Spencer was just trying to be nice, but like everyone else had grown sick of Luke already. He wouldn’t be surprised, wouldn’t even blame him. Luke was sick of himself too. It was his own fault really, he made a rule never to let himself get close to people and he’d almost crossed that line today. He’d let himself crack open his walls if only a little, testing the waters and seeing what it might be like to have a friend. 

But Luke didn’t need friends. He didn’t need anyone. He’d been alone long enough now and he was doing just fine. Why upset the balance and try to change things, when it would inevitably end in tragedy anyway? He had briefly let himself fantasise of something more with Spencer, let himself foolishly believe that he might be worth more. But it was nothing more than a flight of fancy and Luke would not allow himself to live in that delusion a moment longer. Getting his hopes up always ended badly for Luke. It was better for him to be alone. 

***

Penelope Garcia is: BORED! 😩🦄

Penelope’s pink nails clicked against the screen of her smartphone as she updated her Facebook status with a small sigh as she hit “Post”. Her eyes remained on the group of teens crowded around the lone computer, she had long ago learnt to touch type and rarely needed to look at the device. The group had just come from JJ’s photography outing and were now trying their hand at photoshopping at the images they took. Penelope sat on a table behind them, barely able to see the computer screen with all the bodies surrounding it. But as long as they kept themselves busy it didn’t matter to her what exactly they were doing. 

Her phone vibrated in her hand and she opened Facebook again to see the new comment on her post. 

Jennifer Jareau: at least we have the campfire party tonight! While Strauss is away, the counsellors will play 😘

Penelope laughed lightly at JJ’s comment, pleased for a smile to be on her face. JJ was the closest thing Penelope had to a best friend at camp, they started working here the same summer and were now in their third year together. They were extremely different people, chalk and cheese really, but that didn’t stop them from growing as close as they had. 

Penelope was about to reply to JJ’s comment when another one popped up. 

Derek Morgan: if you actually spent more time doing your job and less time on socials you might not be so bored, baby girl 😝

Penelope felt her cheeks instantly burn as she read the comment from Morgan, specifically the use of the pet name baby girl which never failed to make her heart leap into her throat. She wasn’t delusional, she knew she never stood a chance with a guy like Derek Morgan. She’d stood by and watched each summer while he flirted shamelessly with every female camp counsellor who wasn’t her, Emily, Tara, even JJ, and all the others who had come and gone over the years. She wasn’t Morgan’s type and she knew it. Of course it hurt, it filled the outwardly bubbly and confident girl with an innumerable amount of insecurities which she kept bottled up beneath her pink and fluffy exterior. But it never stopped her from imagining what it might be like for Derek Morgan to look at her in that way. 

It wasn’t as though she didn’t have interest in her. Back home the neighbourhood dork Kevin Lynch was utterly besotted with her. Admittedly she enjoyed the attention, even if she did find him a little creepy. Then of course there was the ever so lovely Sam who liked to listen to her play her ukulele and whose smile was so magnetic it sometimes took her breath away. But still she couldn’t shake Derek from her mind, even though she knew it would never happen. 

She gave each of the comments a thumbs up but decided not to reply to either of them and clicked the button on the side of her phone to lock it. When she tuned back into the room some of the kids around the computer were giggling among themselves. 

“What’s so funny, chickadees?” Penelope got to her feet and skittered towards them on her too high heels that Strauss was always telling her were “inappropriate” for camp. 

“Look at the way she’s looking at her! Pathetic!” One of the girls nearest the screen giggled. 

“Her tongue might as well be hanging out of her mouth.” Another girl scoffed. 

“What’s going on here? Scoot over.” Penelope gently pushed her way through the teens to get a look at the computer screen and what the kids were laughing at. 

Penelope inhaled deeply as she took in the picture on the display that one of the campers had snapped. It was taken down by the ATV track but it didn’t show any of the campers. Just two counsellors.

Emily was in the distance, chewing mindfully on her bottom lip, whilst decked out in her ATV gear. In the foreground was JJ, the look on her face similar to that Penelope imagined her own to look like whenever she saw Morgan. JJ was the literal depiction of the heart eye emoji. There was no way to misinterpret the way she looked at Emily like she hung the damn moon. 

So that was why JJ had been so concerned about Luke and Emily this morning. She didn’t have a crush on Luke, she had one on Emily. But why wouldn’t JJ tell her that? Penelope told JJ everything and she thought the other girl did the same. Did she not think Penelope would understand? Was she ashamed? Had Penelope done something to make JJ think she wouldn’t accept her? Penelope suddenly felt terrible, like the world's worst friend. JJ felt as though she had no one to talk to about this when she should have been able to turn to Penelope. 

The giggling continued around her and she pushed the teens out the way, snatching the mouse out of one of the girls hands and quickly closing the window so the photograph vanished. 

“That’s enough.” She snapped at the group. “You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Computer time is over, now you all get to sit in silence for the next twenty minutes and think about the way you acted.” 

Penelope scurried back to where she’d been sitting while the kids started muttering under their breath. She plopped down on the table before giving them all her sternest look. 

“I said silence.” She spat, in a tone she’d never used before. It seemed to work though as the muttering died out and the room fell quiet. 

She pulled out her phone again, opened her messages and tapped out a quick text.

📱 Jennifer Jareau: meet me behind the sports building at lunch time. We need to talk xoxo

***

Spencer might have proven his aptitude at swimming, but when it came to boats, it was quickly clear that was best left to Luke. To say the young genius was uncoordinated would be an understatement and Luke lost count of the amount of times in the space of one session, the boy nearly capsized. He’d spoken to Hotch who had been far too busy with other things to care much about what Spencer was saying and shooed him away like a fly with a “yeah, sure whatever.” He’d run it by Strauss when she was back but for today at least he was assisting Luke at the lake.

Eventually Spencer had stopped trying to be a champion canoer and observed from the dock with Luke. Conversation didn’t flow as it had earlier, Spencer read his text book while Luke sat awkwardly at his side. It was the last session before lunch when Luke would be able to finally have a smoke without the campers around - that was strictly against the rules - and boy did he need one.

As soon as his watch read twelve thirty, he called the kids out of the lake and sent them on their way to the canteen at the top of the hill. Spencer hung back to help Luke get the boats back to the shed. As soon as everything was away, Luke fished in his jacket pocket for his smokes and quickly lit one. He noticed Spencer watching him as he inhaled and then exhaled the smoke.

“Want one?” 

“Uh, no thanks. I don’t smoke.” Spencer shook his head, only just refraining from telling Luke all the grizzly facts relating to smoking deaths. “Are you going up for lunch?” 

Luke took a deep drag, holding the smoke down in his lungs for a few seconds before puffing it back out of his mouth. 

“In a minute. You can go on ahead if you want, don’t feel like you have to wait for me.” Luke sighed as he spoke, leaning back against the boat shack. 

“No it’s ok I’ll…” Spencer trailed off as his eyes wandered a little way up the hill where Morgan was standing, waving him over. 

Luke saw it too and it wasn’t lost on him the dopey smile that sprung to Spencer’s lips. 

“Go, it’s fine. I’ll be up when I’m done.” Luke spat a little harsher than he meant to. 

Spencer looked towards Luke and then back at Morgan, then to Luke again who would not make eye contact with him. It was simpler if he just focused his attention on Morgan. His attraction to Morgan was animalistic, no chance of feelings developing there. He knew the same could not be said for his feelings towards Luke. Morgan was the safer option, he was less likely to get his heart broken that way. So with a sigh, he turned his back on Luke and started away. 

“See you.” He called back but he didn’t turn around. 

Luke swallowed a lump in his throat and watched Spencer go. When he reached Morgan, the older man pulled him into a large bear hug, and Spencer nuzzled against his strong chest while Morgan messed up his hair. That could be him. If he wasn’t so fucked up that he could be honest about his feelings, that could be him holding Spencer in that way. It should be him. But of course, who would be stupid enough to choose Luke Alvez over Derek Morgan?

He took another pull of the cigarette but it wasn’t hitting the spot so he tossed it on the dock and stamped it out with his boot. He needed something stronger to take the edge off, nicotine wasn’t going to cut it. He fished into his inside pocket and pulled out the little tin he kept inside. Opening the lid he was met by that delectable scent usually reserved for after his shift. 

One blunt couldn’t hurt. Just one hit to get him through the rest of the day was all he needed. No one ever had to know. 

Taglist

@andiebeaword @dreatine @measure-in-pain @takeyourleap-of-faith @dirtytissuebox @smurphyse @ssa-uglywhore27 @reidselle @reidsbookclub

[sukinapan]

Hey i was wondering what program / programs you used for your last artwork? ive been wanting to get into pixel art and that weird gradient dot art but i dont know where to start 👍

"weird gradient dot art" djfdfj

i made my last one on flipnote studio 3d, which is an old program for the nintendo 3DS. it gives for a very specific look because of its format and the ability to turn photos into pixel art easily and directly, but apart from that ability it's more about specific restrictions, you could technically recreate everything about it in other programs.

what i use most often for pixel art is a program called aseprite. i used photoshop for a few years but aseprite is specifically made for pixel art so it's much more comfortable and efficient, i really recommend it. it's also made with animation in mind.

iirc, it's cheaper to buy it through steam than directly from their website, but anyway it's a one time purchase and it's very worth it IMO. There's also a free trial where you cannot save but you can try out the program and see if you like it. the interface may be confusing at first but there's a lot of resources online and on their same website.

if you don't want to spend any money, i recommend you either just use ms paint for simplicity (i've seen some people do wonders with it), or use any free digital painting program such as gimp, and draw on small canvases with the pencil tool. you could also try dotpict or pixel studio on a phone or tablet.

as you can see from my wall of text there's many options :) you just have to take the time to see which one works better for you. there's also premade color palettes and tutorials on lospec, and the pixel art community is pretty active on twitter from what i've seen.

hope i could be of help!