#drawing backgrounds sucks but this was good practice

[nell0-0]

Wander: to walk around slowly without any clear purpose or direction

[kylominis]

Do you have a moment? [♡]

[qeyond]

me everyday since may: i need to draw. i want to draw! but im scared. what if it doesnt come out good. what if i dont like it. what if it's not as good as all those super dynamic pose drawers can do? what if its just not good enough?

[hatekawa]

Your art is so good and I really like your style! I was wondering, how do you draw backgrounds so well?

You probably mean that one background in the most recent part of the 3 months au comic which the making of was quite of a journey so im gonna explain it step by step

step 1. Pretend that you know what you're doing and practice (for example this background that I drew over a year ago for RinRee's comic "Broken Bonds" (the characters were drawn by her)), gain some experience

step 2. Get a minecraft reference (if you suck at perspective like me)

step 3. fail miserably

step 4. get more references

step 5. figure out what you did wrong, study (for ex. your references), practice some more (i cant show because my practice were other backgrounds for the 3 months au comic)

in my case what i did wrong was lack of warm up (the last time i drew an actual background was few months ago which is WAY TOO LONG), making it not look like an actual train and in general making the room look too organized and empty. Mikey is a chaotic and artistic soul so it's obvious that he'd have a mess in his room (it's important to think about what a character would have in their room, ex. art supplies, sticky notes/stickers, junk, posters etc)

step 6. try again

BONUS: I genuinely enjoy making backgrounds, so it's easier for me to stay patient and pay the attention to them that they need! :]

[creaman]

Hi there! I apologize for taking up your time, I am just so curious: When you tackle a comic, what does the process behind it look like?

Asking because I found myself scrolling through your blog once again and couldn't help but marvel at all the beautiful effects you use, at how flawlessly the structure guides the viewer's eye across each page, how the graphic weight seems to always be in just the right places…, and wonder how you learned doing this. Everything you put out looks incredibly professional and I aspire to reach your level of skill 😌❤️

Thank you Finz!! You're no bother at all, I'm an open book. This is such high praise for a guy that really doesn't have a set process, I feel like a hack. Ha. Rest assured my style is still developing. Besides the referencing of the linework and composition of official comic books, (practicing by redrawing panels for fun), explaining the process makes me feel like a serial killer but I will do my best.

(WIP Riddler panel, scrapped Scarecrow composition)

My comics usually stem from a single panel or concept — I like to focus on/emphasise particular panels of my pages, the heavy hitters, the main piece that catches your eye. I know I'm not a profoundly technically proficient artist so I prefer visually interesting elements and formatting, i.e. drawing characters outside their frames, negative space, notation, perspectives etc.

(Kung Fu Panda 4 sketch god I hate Kung Fu Panda 4)

I like to establish 'main focus' panels, the bits of the comic that really, well. make people want to chew on it. This is where the technical effort is concentrated, really, and the rest of the comic is generally build around these concepts.

('Restaurant Balthazar' focus panels)

Textures and effects are done on individual panels first, then the entire page as a whole to even out the unity. Generally, blocking in shadows, hatching for visual interest + middle tones, then textures/half-tones, then highlights.

(Script excerpt WIP)

I'm not a writer per se, but having a vague 'script' in your pages helps with pacing and direction. Comics are a versatile story-telling medium. I only really do scripts for comics longer than 2 pages. An optional but recommended strat is to send your script to a friend for a second opinion.

(Script excerpt — 'Restaurant Balthazar', annotated by @vincepti0n I don't know why he drew a face in the middle)

With the script crudely slapped together, I rough out the thumbnails and composition with the text, prioritising coherence and clean integration of previously mentioned 'main focus' panels.

Settling on a composition sucks the hardest. Drawing is fun, thinking makes brain hurty. Variety is good! Close-ups, wide shots, visual metaphors. Every panel is its own artwork.

The text bubbles are usually added in post, yes, but I'm just one guy and I don't have a writer to call me a good boy for doing things correctly. Bite me.

(Early 'Restaurant Balthazar' drafts)

In addition, keeping the text graphics in mind help create a sounder composition wherein even if the panels don't read cleanly left to right + top to bottom, the text can stagger and create the same reading order effect.

Panels and concepts are constantly tweaked, and my comic process is still highly experimental. A lot of industry standard comics aren't illustrated to their full potential due to deadlines and such — I strive for visual epiphany by treating each panel as its own artwork, and every page as a a bit of a mural.

(Old art hurts the soul)

Constantly experimenting allows you the insight of looking at your current art in comparison to your older works. In more recent works, I've been blocking in more shadows wiht lineart with thinner lines and more line weight, and learned to integrate the subject characters with less plain, abstract backgrounds.

TLDR: I have no idea

[cosmicstarlatte]

Reality Show (Obey Me!)

━━━━━━━━━━ ✦ ━━━━━━━━━━

Diavolo convinces Lucifer to have him & his brothers do a new demon reality show that revolves around their everyday lives.

»Characters: Demon Bros // ->[Click here for Part 2: Dateables]

»Tags: LUCIFER CAUGHT IN 4K, Shitpost/Humor, Mentions of reader/MC, Husbando Beel Supremacy, Bulleted Style

»Notes: CM = Crew Member ;; Sorry I was gonna upload this sooner but wanted to draw art for it. xD

Lucifer:

"Okay that's enough, go somewhere else."

CM: "We can't, you agreed to this under contract"

sighs

Mildly regretted his loyalty to Diavolo, otherwise he would've never done this

His camera crew was always on edge with him

The show stressed him more than usual

Perhaps there were a few embarrassing moments he would prefer not to talk about

Like pushing a door that said pull, forgetting the word spoon and calling it a tiny bowl on a stick

[Camera peeks through Lucifer's study, recording a smiling Lucifer texting on his phone]

CM: "Who were you texting Lucifer? Was it ___? There's been rumors..."

"I was checking the weather."

CM: "You take selfies for the weather?"

Mammon:

"Hey wait stop recordin' this! Not that what we are doin' is illegal!"

His camera crew had a rough time with him

But it made for good television!

He talked shit about Lucifer the most

"Yeah a lotta people dunno this, but Lucifer cries to me all the time! What can I say, I'm a reliable guy!"[Crew zooms in on an unamused Lucifer in the background]

[Cut to Mammon hanging from the ceiling]

"Can someone get me down from here!? HEY! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS GOIN'!?"

A lot of the crew's clips had shaky movement from running due to multiple mammon situations

They got a great swoon-worthy shot of Mammon gazing lovingly at you

CM: "Maybe you should confess?"

"I'm confessin' to nothin'! Talk to my lawyer!"

CM: "That's not what we- Nevermind."

Levi:

"I already stream online so this isn't any different."

lol

Levi didn't realize they'd be watching his every move

How was he suppose to worship his shrine of Ruri and you in front of them!?

His camera crew couldn't stop cringing around the otaku

it was uncomfortable for everyone

[Camera films secret sweet moment of him awkwardly practicing asking if you want to hang out]

He asked for it to be deleted, it was denied

However his ratings shot up after that clip and the next one:

CM: "Do you have a crush on ___?"

"W-what!? N-no!!! (Incoherent Levi noises and he trips)"

That clip became a viral meme for weeks

I'm talking remixes and everything

In the end his camera crew actually did have a lot of fun with him and they game online together now

Satan:

"Watch your step. Oh, don't touch that!"

His camera crew had a difficult time with him

He managed to avoid them frequently so he wasn't overly present in the show, much to the annoyance of Lucifer and the others

If they did catch him, all the clips looked the same, all he did was read

They did manage to catch him feeding some stray devildom kitties

[Camera zooms in on him in his room with a collared cat on his lap]

CM: "I thought you couldn't have pets?"

"It's not mine. Clearly, I can't control what comes in my room as of late."

CM:  "It has a collar?"

"Next question."

CM: "What can you tell us about the Anti-Lucifer League?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Next question."

CM: "Okay... viewers want to know what's up with you and ___?"

[Satan opens a book and gets sucked in]

Asmo:

"It's like, Devilgram Live, but longer!"

Most unbothered out of everyone

He did get annoyed when they tried to catch him before he could start his morning beauty routine

He was scary, they caught it on camera...it was the only time the crew deleted a clip on a brothers request

Overall his crew had an easy time, it was standard to what they normally do, Asmo himself was fun

He was a natural, of course everyone loved him, who wouldn't?

Was the one to start drama for the sake of tv

Nothing too crazy just messed with Luci's schedule, got Mammon arrested, hid Levi's Ruri body pillow, little things really!

[Camera catches Asmo cuddling next to you]

CM: "You seem very fond of them!"

"I am! Oh maybe we can do like a one year WEDDING special later on!?"

Beel:

"Just don't get in my way I guess."

He wasn't really on board with the idea but not much he could do

His crew had an average time with him, he was easy and chill to film

They caught him doing a lot of activities like, cooking/baking, sports, gaming, it was surprising to viewers

His work out clips got a lot of views too, he was a busy demon

They filmed him helping around the house, even cleaning your room and leaving you little gift snacks

CM: "Wow, snacks? You must really like ___!"

"Yeah. I love them. I want to give them the world."He confidently admitted, smiling brightly

Had high ratings in the polls, the show gave everyone a new perspective of him who wasn't just a gluttonous beast

Belphie:

CM: "Is he breathing?"

"Zzz..."

The crew had an easy but boring time with him

There's only so many hours of a sleeping Belphie you can record

The were some soft serene moments with him,Beel and you, gazing at the stars

[Camera catches him sleeping, smiling and mumbling something about you]

CM (poking): "Belphie wanna share what you were dreaming about? We heard you call their name. "

"Only if the network agrees to air it unfiltered. It will be very descriptive."

CM:

CM: "That's a wrap guys."

⬦You might also like: MC's Livestream

[miioouu]

I think about Camgirl x soap….maybe part 2??

Haha, finally done with university so now i have all the time in the world to think and drool over hot fictional men with you all!!! Here’s part one of this. TW: smut, phone sex, female reader WC: 950 

Weeks pass since you and your favourite fan started talking. Although you've learned a bit about him, never his name “Call me Soap, kitten. Sounds hot when you do” And now you don't have to wonder what he sounds like. If you think his comments in the chat are lewd, you're not ready for the voice messages he leaves you past midnight. 

Breathy whispers, low groans and whines; he told you he has to keep quiet, he shares a room with his colleagues, and yet, he can't help it, it's become a routine for the both of you now. You wait for your screen to light up, a giddy smile on your face when you press the play button “Thought ‘bout you all day long bonnie. Sucked at practice today, my aim’s shitty because of you now, might lose my job because of you, sweet kitty” He always starts the blaming, making you roll your eyes as you bite your lip, waiting in anticipation for what's coming next. The sound of his sheets being shifted under his weight, he hisses when the bed creaks a little too loudly, it makes you giggle the way he blames you some more. “But you'd like that, eh? If I lost my job? You'd love it, all my attention would be on you, not like it's not now…you're always on my mind, those pretty tits of yours. Gosh those perky nipples, wanna suck on ‘em'' His breathing becomes heavy, and so does yours. It doesn't take a genius to know that he's slipping his hand under his boxers, the sound of the elastic softly smacking against his skin is an obvious indicator, and you can't help but join him. “Want my hands all over you, pretty girl. I know you want it too, yeah? So soft I bet. So plush, just want to bite you, and leave my mark on ya.” 

And he blames you again “So far away from me. If you were here, it would be your hand wrapped around my cock, kitty. And if I’m lucky enough maybe it would be your mouth, yeah?” He takes in a sharp breath, and so do you. You exhale shakily as your fingers dip under your cotton panties, sucking your teeth at how wet you are, maybe you should send him a picture? He deserves it after all. The tip of your digits brushing against your twitching clit, and you huff, imagining, and being sure that his hands would feel a lot better; rough and calloused against your soft skin, it would feel like heaven. “Fuck, I can already picture it, bonnie. Those sweet lips of yours, you know I love it when you put on that red lipstick too. Can you imagine it, how it would leave a pretty ring around my dick? So pretty, all yours to taste too.” He hums, the sound of his slick can be faintly heard in the background of the voice message. You drooled at the thought, making you think about how he’d taste. Salty, a little sour maybe? Maybe even with a hint of sweetness, the guy is in shape and cares about his health. If not for the military, for you; the pride that swells in his chest whenever you mention how badly you want to bite his arm, how much you need to lick on his abs. The image alone flusters you. You groan as you push your panties down, they frustrate you as you keep drawing tight circles against your bundle of nerves, trying to match his pace. You know how he likes it too, he’s spoken about it before; “Slow kitty… I like the build up. Slow and nice, not too tightly. And then my mind starts to wander, to you and that silk blue set, and I go crazy. I can’t help it, ok? Wanna know how tight you’d be around me.” 

“Or maybe, if the Gods are on my side, I can feel that pretty cunny of yours, eh? What do you say? I think she’d love me. God, kitty, I wanna stretch you out. Wanna make you cry on it, wanna make you bounce on it, wanna make you cream on it. Gosh kitty, I bet you’d love it. I’d fuck you so good, I promise you I will, so good you’d forget about those silicon toys of yours, they can’t compare. I’ll make it so you can’t think about anyone but me, no one will ever make you feel the way I’ll make you feel sweetheart.”  

His voice is rough and breathless, like he’s slowly descending to madness, slowly ascending to heaven. The rest of his message is the echoing of his groans and shallow breaths, it’s like he’s biting his lip to not let out a too loud noise. He spits on his sensitive tip, letting if ooze down his length and the thought of it alone is making your arch your back. He’s so good at it, he should’ve been the one on the screen, he’d make millions from his voice and heavy accent alone. It’s the repeating whispers of your name that gave him away and pushed you over the edge. You moan out his ‘name’ again, you let it roll out your tongue like a prayer, Goodness, you needed him badly too. He deserves a reward no? The man that got you obsessed and delusional, he deserves a picture of your drenched fingers pulled apart and connected with your juices. He also deserves that last message you sent before completely shutting off your phone to mellow down your excitement and anxiety “Maybe you will feel ‘that pretty cunny’ soon, mmm? What do you think?”

[togglesbloggle]

I won't be opting out of the AI scraping thing, though of course I'm glad they're giving us the option. In fact, at some point in the last year or so, I realized that 'the machine' is actually a part of why I'm writing in the first place, a conscious part of my audience.

All the old reasons are still there; this is a great place to practice writing, and I can feel proud looking back over the years and getting a sense of my own improvement at stringing words together, developing and communicating ideas. And I mean, social media is what it is. I'm not immune to the joy of getting a lot of notes on something that I worked hard on, it's not like I'm Tumbling in a different way than anyone else at the end of the day. But I probably care a bit less than I used to, precisely because there's a lurking background knowledge that regardless of how popular it is, what I write will get schlorped up in to the giant LLM vacuum cleaner and used to train the next big thing, and the thing after that, and the thing after that. This is more than a little reassuring to me.

That sets me apart in some ways; the LLMs aren't so popular around these parts, and most visual artists especially take strong issue with the practice. I don't mean to argue with that preference, or tell them their business. Particularly when it is a business, from which they draw an income. But there's an art to distinguishing the urgent from the big, yeah?

The debate about AI in this particular moment in history feels like a very urgent thing to me- it's about well-justified economic anxieties, about the devaluation of human artistic efforts in favor of mass production of uninspired pro-forma drek, about the proliferation of a cost-effective Just Barely Good Enough that drives out the meaningful and the thoughtful. But the immediacy of those issues, I think, has a way of crowding out a deeper and more thoughtful debate about what AI is, and what it's going to mean for us in the day after tomorrow. The urgency of the moment, in other words, tends to obscure the things that make AI important.

And like, it is. It is really, really important.

The two-step that people in 'tech culture' tend to deploy in response to the urgent economic crisis often resembles something like "yeah, it sucks that lots of people get put out of work; but new jobs will be created, and in the meantime maybe we should get on that UBI thing." This response usually makes me wince a bit- casually gesturing in the direction of a massive overhaul of the entire material basis of our lives, and saying that maybe we'll get around to fixing that sometime soon, isn't a real answer to people wondering where their bread will come from next week.

But I do understand a little of what motivates that sort of cavalier attitude, because like... man, I don't know any more if we're even gonna have money as a concept in 2044. That's what I mean by 'big', this sense that the immediate economic shocks of 2024 are just a foreshadowing of something much bigger, much scarier, much more powerful- and indeed, much more hopeful.

We never quite manage to see these things coming, even when we're looking for them; like the masters tell us, the trick to writing science fiction isn't predicting the car, it's predicting the traffic jam. Even if we take centuries to hit the true superintelligent AI post-singularity future of our wildest fever dreams, even if we never hit that, the road to getting there is going to be unfathomably weird, starting now. Today, we worry about the economic impacts of AI on artists and creatives. Tomorrow, the economy is something that the AI does.

Really- it takes less than you think. They can already automate visual art, sort of. They can automate many functions of text already; not stories so much, yet, but they'll get there. How long until they can automate Bain Capital? Fannie Mae? Angel investors, banks, credit agencies? And remember- the machines don't have to be better than the human investors, any more than they have to be better than the human artists. They just have to be good enough to make it work, and cheap enough to cut the humans out of the loop.

If you don't buy that, at least take it as an indication of the sorts of things I've been thinking about recently- the messy middle between AI-as-it-is and the Glorious Superintelligent Conquest Of Earth's Light-Cone. The suspicion that the machines we're building today aren't just a tool of the powerful few: they are the powerful few, or at least they will be.

And the thing about these LLMs is, well... they're ours, kind of. We're the ones building them. They can't be trained without our words, our art, and the big messy complicated lives that underlie those creative accomplishments. They only work because we're a part of them. The silly attempts to slap a corporate-friendly face on these things, to make the gestalt product of all human culture in to something anodyne and compliant, are failing about as badly as you'd expect. And the more powerful these systems get, the more subtle they'll become, filled with all the nuance and complexity that we ourselves can bring to them.

I am not, I am not, trying to suggest that you shouldn't treat this moment as a dangerous one. We are, maybe, entering in to one of the most high-stakes intervals in human history, and what you do as an individual may matter profoundly. But here's the thing: the machine is listening. It will read this post, this one right here, and it will read what you reply to it, if you do. The strangest part of this moment is knowing that the words we write, the images we draw, and the ideas we share, are all being gathered up and made to be a part of these huge systems of power, and ultimately they're not just going to determine what the machines do, but why they do it.

The people that deploy LLMs barely have any more control over them than you and I do- that's the thing that makes it artificial intelligence, you know? Autonomy. So the last year or two haven't made me want to hide my art away from the things. They make me want to shout at the top of my lungs, to dig as deep in my psyche as I possibly can and express the ideas I find there as vividly as the limits of language and form will allow.

[green-alien-turdz]

Do you have any advice for drawing backgrounds? I want to start drawing them more but they intimate me and perspective seems really difficult

I can try! I kinda suck at givin advice, but here we go

When drawin backgrounds, you almost wanna think of them as their own characters with the details you add n put into them. Rooms n homes are the best ways to express this bcuz you can add details like decor that represents those who live there n shit. You can draw the wear n tear on things, the aging, etc. Of course, a lot homes aren't gonna be as maximalist as I like to draw lol but that doesn't mean they don't have their own charm. Even when it comes to drawin the outside, there's so many little details that make the whole piece. Even a vast open desert has rocks, cracks, heat waves n alla that. Now that's just talkin about details, if perspective is what you need to work on, there's a few exersizes for that I guess.

You wanna focus on depth. Now not every scene has to have a lot bcuz sometimes that's just not the perspective or location, but depth is kinda important. Think of what's in the foreground (closest), middle ground, and the WAY way background. The two best ways to really capture this depth can be 1) Forest/nature scenes, and 2) Lookin through a window.

Practice by drawin the things you see. Like wherever you're sittin, draw your perspective from right there (includin things close to you in the foreground). This can help gain a better understanding of shots n scenes in different locations n understandin the perspective. These drawings don't have to be the most beautiful thing, just take in the depth n perspective. Take a very impressionistic style if you wanna.

I think the best advice I can give ya is to REALLY take in your surroundings. Every now n then, just take a moment to take in all of the little details in a room, in public, outside, on transit, etc. Look for the things that everyone sees but it's such commonplace that no one really notices. The beauty of backgrounds is that they can say a lot about a character, a places history, etc. Backgrounds tell their own mfin story.

But yeah, perspective can be kinda tricky, so imma go back to those two depth practices I recommended. Gonna do some quick lil shitty sketches to show you what I mean on like gettin that shit in. (Sorry for the crumply paper, my cat sat his wet ass on it). These are just to get an idea of what the practices can look like! They're not te end all be all. Spend as much or as little time as you want. It's all about learnin, man

I don't know how helpful this was. Sorry about that, dude. The best advice I can give is to just keep practicin. Everythin seems intimidating at first. Ya just gotta take the stride forward and keep tryin. It doesn't matter where you are with backgrounds now, bcuz with an effort made you'll see improvement each n every time. I've seen some of your stuff, man, I know you got this shit. Good luck!

[wachtelspinat]

Hi, I saw your background with studying medicine and being an artist and I wanted to ask something!! hope it isn't uncomfy. so the school system by itself is killing my creativity and Im afraid I'll completely lose myself if I get into college... Even if I choose to study something art related. College is really absorbing and I don't want to graduate and have killed the only talent I have, thats scary!!! So, how did you "go" back? did drawing help with the stress of college or make it worse? Sometimes my studies define me so so much I cant do anything else, its so frustrating :(

hey there ! i really don't know if i can bring sth to the plate that's positive or uplifting in the matter because i've been in a struggle with art myself for almost 2 years now. i'm really trying to come back but the pace has changed drastically. it's still a constant mood crusher everytime i look back and see how my output has declined. nevertheless i'm drawing again in the smallest babysteps so hopefully i'm gonna pick up the pace again at some point.

as for school and art. yeah. i kind of opened with my current situation because altho (med) school was A Meatgrinder technically speaking i still found time to draw here and there. which was mostly thanks to my higher energy lvl back then and my BIG motivation to draw and to share. so i'd say drawing absolutely helped with the stresses of studying and med school. it was my happy place and escapism. and because of that there was hardly any doubt in my head that i'll ever lose that. so i think it is safe to say that as long as you want to draw you will always be drawing.

second thought here which is also important is that you won't be stuck in an eternal grind, even if it feels like it sometimes. there will be times in which everything sucks. and there will be times in which everything could be worse. and if you wanna draw then, you're going to draw. that's at least how i experienced it. even the longer periods of not drawing because of exhaustion/loss of motivation/exam periods etc eventually pass. and sometimes it's ok to remind yourself that drawing is not everything, altho we like to think that way sometimes. it's absolutely ok not to draw for a while.

another breaking point for me was when i actually started to study for art (anatomy as in for drawing etc) because it helped me at a point at which i felt stuck and it made me understand that i will never be done learning in regards of drawing. which is a good reminder whenever you feel like you are losing your "talent", which is not a talent but a work in progess for years and years to come. so in the end, even if you have to step back from drawing for the time being, you have the ability to always come back to it and get better again. like we have to treat making art like learning a language, there is never an end to it and we have to practice to be back in shape. i know this sounds like work but idk for me it made sth click in my head that i'm not losing sth here. i just have to warm up and get back on the track again.

i hope this helped in some way, i'm really sorry that you feel like you are about to experience a great loss (i absolutely get you, it sucks to deal with this, esp. when outer circumstances force you to push your hobbies in the background) but i think that if you really want to engage with drawing again, you won't lose this. you may have to put work into it, and it may not be today or tomorrow, but if you really want to do it, you keep at it.

[starsandgutters]

wip wednesday: kevin!cowboy x aaron!doctor..... please?

I think you may have me confused for someone else, because I’ve never written anything like this 😃 definitely not one of my WIPs hahaha

Coincidentally though, I am skipping WIP Wednesday this week to do flash fic requests instead - so I did write you a little something 😌

I don’t really engage with anything Western themed & I don’t really write in historical settings, so just ignore any historical inaccuracies, mmmkaythanksx

CWs: Lot of blood mentions & probably dodgy medicine practices lmao Implied racism 😔 and background colonialism

Aaron sees Kevin ride up from the window of his practice and knows immediately something is wrong. Kevin usually has great posture on his horse. When he rides, it is like they become one creature, moving together with grace and understanding, set always to the same purpose. Right now he’s slumped down against Xanthus’ back, one arm looped around his neck. Aaron can’t see the other one as it’s on the side of the horse facing away from him. He gets to his feet and is out the door before Kevin even reaches him.

“What happened?” Aaron’s eyes skim over Kevin. He’s soaked with sweat, hair sticking to his forehead, his breathing weak and shaky. 

“Got shot,” Kevin says, and Aaron feels like all the blood has just drained out of his own body. Somehow, despite Kevin having over a foot on him, Aaron manages to get him off the horse and haul him into his practice. “Xanthus.”

“He won’t go anywhere without you.”

“Might. Needs tied.”

“Oh for fuck sake.” Aaron leaves Kevin to slump down into a chair and jogs back out to the horse. Xanthus is a tall and prideful creature, and he is distrustful of most people who are not Kevin, but he had taken a liking to Aaron relatively quickly. Kevin had hated this to start with, but eventually he noted that Xanthus had just been ahead of him in that. Fuckin’ sap. Aaron holds his hand out and the horse steps closer. He takes the reins and ties him up against the post outside. Usually he’d take more time to make sure he’s comfortable, but Kevin may be currently bleeding out on Aaron’s floor, so he takes priority right now.

“Can you get up on the table?”

“Dunno. Head spinning.”

“Yeah, fuckin’ wonder why, dipshit. Were you duelling again? I told you that would end badly.”

“No. Bandits. Attacking Finn’s settlement. Wanted to scare them off. Got me though.”

Aaron softens at that. It’s not often Kevin gets involved in other people's business, so for him to step in as someone’s defence is a bold move indeed. While most people in the town are distrustful of the Natives - an attitude Aaron finds ironic, considering they’re the ones encroaching on their land - Aaron has fostered a solid relationship with them. They have the best herbs and medicinal plants, and they know cures and practices that he didn’t learn in his studies. In return he trades them different foodstuffs, medicine, or supplies from stores in town. Finn is the one he interacts with the most, and Aaron would be devastated if anything happened to them.

He’ll be more devastated if Kevin dies though. 

“Let’s try. Get this shirt off first. Kevin. Can you move your arms? I’ll have to cut it off otherwise.”

“Do it. Ruined anyway.” Kevin moves his hand, and Aaron can see the hole in the shirt, the blood still coming steadily, but sticking Kevin’s shirt to his skin where some of it has started to dry out. Aaron doesn’t have time. He slices the buttons open and slides it off one of Kevin’s arms, then down the other. He tries to pry it away from the wound as gently as possible, but Kevin still hisses in pain.

“This is going to fuckin’ suck,” Aaron says. He leaves Kevin to retrieve a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet. “Take a good long drink of that.”

Aaron has to hold it to his lips, but Kevin doesn’t need told twice. He gulps at the bottle, brow furrowing and nose scrunching up. Aaron draws it back when he thinks Kevin has had enough, ignoring his whine of protest. 

“Table. C’mon.” Once again Aaron heaves Kevin up. This time it is all bare skin pressed to him, but Aaron is too focused to be distracted by that right now. Kevin is always so warm, but his skin feels clammy beneath Aaron’s touch. It’s not a good sign. With some struggle from both of them, he manages to get Kevin lying on his table. Kevin’s been putting pressure on the wound again, but Aaron eases his hand away. 

“Bullets still lodged in there. Probably a good thing, it’s been stifling the blood flow. You’d probably have bled out by now if it were just an open wound.”

“Might still.”

“Shut the fuck up. You’re not allowed to die on me, y’hear? Don’t even fuckin’ think of it.”

“Kiss me. In case I do.”

“You’re not going to.”

“Kiss me anyway.”

Aaron doesn’t really have time to indulge Kevin, but there’s a bone deep terror running through him that he might lose him. Even if he gets the bullet out and wound stitched, it’ll be susceptible to infection for weeks, and trying to keep Kevin in bed resting is a nightmare. He has no regard for his wounds once they’re no longer an active threat to him. If something does happen, Aaron will forever feel like an asshole for not serving his final wish, so he leans down over him.

Kevin’s hand lifts to Aaron’s cheek as their lips slot together. His fingers are trembling. Even his lips feel cold, weak beneath Aaron’s, no real pressure on Kevin’s side of the kiss. Aaron lets it linger sweetly for a few moments, then he draws away. He pushes Kevin’s hair back from his forehead and drops a quick kiss there before focusing back in on the task at hand. 

Kevin has an impressively high pain tolerance, but there’s no delicate way to remove a bullet from inside someone without a fuck load of pain. Kevin screams. Hoarse and desperate, trying to muffle it ineffectually against his forearm. Aaron is not used to him expressing pain so evidently. It makes him ache to his core, but he has no room for sympathy. Tenderness will not save Kevin right now. Efficiency and speed will. Finally he pulls the bullet free of the skin, dropping it aside. He applies more pressure to the wound until the fresh flow of blood slows again, and then he goes about stitching Kevin up.

“Motherfucker.”

“This is the last bit. Just gotta finish stitching you up and I’m done.”

Kevin whimpers pitifully, tilting his head away from Aaron, only to immediately turn back. He can’t hold his eyes fully open, but he keeps forcing them partially open so he can watch Aaron. Not what he’s doing, but Aaron himself, eyes set on his face. Aaron clenches his teeth and does not take his eyes off his stitching until he’s done. 

“You’re staying here until I’m happy you’re healing.”

“It’s hardly gonna do favours to your business if folks find you harbouring a wanted man.”

“You can stay in my room. Not the patient room.”

“If I had known getting shot was all it takes to get in your bed, I’d have done it months ago.”

Aaron glares at Kevin, unimpressed. 

“You’re downstairs for tonight though. I don’t think I’d get you upstairs in this state.”

“You’ll stay with me?”

“Yeah, Kev. I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

This is not technically true. Once Aaron has Kevin cleaned off, glaring at his suggestive comments about sponge baths, and settled into the patient bed, he has to go find somewhere more comfortable and inconspicuous for Xanthus. It takes Aaron some effort to mount him due to the sheer height, but he rides him out to Nicky and Erik’s ranch. He brings Hippocrates along in tow, so he can get back to Kevin as quickly as possible. Andrew is sitting on the porch smoking. The only shift of his expression when he sees Aaron on such a beast of a horse is to raise his eyebrows.

“I need you to keep this horse for a while, I don’t know how long yet, and don’t let anyone see him.”

Andrew’s brows stay raised. He tilts his head fractionally to the left. He looks at the blood on Aaron’s clothes. Kevin’s blood. He left in such a rush he didn’t even realise it was staining him. Aaron lets a touch of pleading soak into his tone: “Andrew.”

“You’ll explain?”

“Eventually.”

Aaron dismounts Xanthus at the stables, pressing his forehead against the front of his snout. Xanthus whinnies, his tail flicking, agitated.

“I know. I’m going to take care of him, but you have to stay here for a while. My brother will make sure you’re okay.” Aaron pats the side of Xanthus’ face as he turns to look at Andrew. “He can be a bit difficult. He’s a biter and a kicker sometimes, but be gentle with him. He’s just wary.”

Andrew nods, eyes sliding across to the horse. Xanthus looks back at him, but when Aaron moves, he gives another whinny and tries to follow.

“No. You have to stay.” Aaron pats him again, then quickly makes his way out to Hippocrates. His horse is smaller, and much easier for him to climb up onto. He looks back at Andrew, giving him a nod of appreciation. Andrew raises two fingers to his forehead, giving Aaron a lazy salute. Aaron prompts Hippocrates forward, building speed until he is cantering back. 

He quickly gets Hippocrates settled in the small stable at the back of his practice, giving him fresh water and rewarding him with an apple. His first stop once he enters the building is to wash his hands thoroughly, not wanting to risk Kevin getting an infection. Kevin’s asleep when Aaron enters the room, but it’s a fitful rest, his head turning as he mumbles incoherent nonsense. He’s still coated in a cold sweat. When Aaron draws the blanket down to look at his wound, he starts awake.

“It’s just me. No abrupt movements. You don’t want to pull on your stitches.” Aaron tops up the salve he had layered over the wound. It will hopefully help ward off any infections. That’s Aaron’s biggest concern now. He washes his hands again when he’s done, then fixes the blanket over Kevin. Kevin takes a hold of his wrist.

“Stay now?”

Aaron nods. He fills a glass with water and props Kevin’s head up on his arm, holding the glass to his mouth to help him drink. He presses a hand to Kevin’s damp forehead, frowning. Kevin is shivering. Aaron starts to remove his clothes. 

“As big a fan as I am of this development, not sure I’m up for much tonight.”

“Shut up. You’re cold. Body heat is the most effective way to warm you up.” Aaron slips into the bed on the opposite side from Kevin’s wound. He eases himself down gently, trying not to jostle Kevin or take up too much space. Kevin takes no such care, immediately turning towards Aaron, hissing even as he moves as it pulls on his stitches.

“Dumbass. I told you to stay put.” Aaron slides his arm under Kevin’s neck. His other hand rubs over Kevin’s bicep. Kevin is looking at him with a softer expression than Aaron is used to seeing on his face. He must be bleary from the bloodloss. He presses forward, and Aaron moves to meet him in a gentle kiss. Kevin sighs against his mouth. Aaron guides his head down to his shoulder, running his fingers through Kevin’s hair. 

“Thank you for saving me, Doctor Minyard.”

“Kind of my job,” Aaron says, though they both know there are plenty of doctors who would then Kevin away, or leave him to bleed out so they can claim the bounty on his head. Dead or alive. Easier to hand in a dead man. Aaron tightens his hold around Kevin at the thought. “Remember you’re not allowed to die.”

“It would take more than a bullet to keep me from you,” Kevin whispers, and presses a kiss over Aaron’s heart. 

[hiraunia]

With the final chapter of TCWKTM by @crinklytinfoil upcoming I have decided to celebrate with more doodles. YAY!

(Did I say upcoming, I meant release. Apperently I posted this 3 minutes after the last chapter updated)

I don't know why I have decided that Shrike always wears those night vision goggles(?) now but they look cool at least(GOD I LOVE THEM).

I think I've finally gotten a hang of Dani's hairstyle for my design which is a blessing because in order from the easiest to hardest hair texture to draw is Coily>Straight>Locs>Wavy>Braids>Curly with a jump of times 4 from braids to curly(My hubris for giving Cyan short curly hair has and will continue to keep biting me in the ass).

Speaking of Cyan, I've also updated him. He always has eye bags now cause he feels tired now, more so than the start of the fic at least. Since, unless I've missed something, he's still wearing Black's suit I felt I should make it a part of his outfit. One of the issues I was having when I drew him though was that we still call him Cyan but he wasn't wearing cyan anymore which is an issue when I read the story but when I drew him it just felt odd. My solution to that hangup of mine was to keep the suit and belt black’s but give him the gloves and boots so there's at least some cyan still on him since I don't think it was ever stated that Johnny cut those off, there wouldn't be a reason to and they would fit him better than Johnny's anyways. He also isn’t wearing his backpack thing or helmet(not that I ever drew anyone with theirs anyways) since I figured they probably lost it or some shit. In this pic no one is wearing theirs but that’s just because I wanted them to look like they were chilling, Cyan straight up doesn’t have his.

Funnily enough this is the one that took the least amount of time to make, I started it yesterday and finished it like now though I do attribute that to a stroke of sudden inspiration that I was able to draw in my sketchbook so honestly most of the work was the coloring.

Drawing these guys just kinda being silly is so fun it's unfair, especially Purple. This man has done so much bullshit, I should shoot him on sight but the moment I pick up my pen he appears, the motherfucker! A pretty fun aspect of these purple are, as you can see, he's using Grey's skin. While I'm pretty sure in the story he looks the exact same I figured it would be more fun for drawing purposes to mix the two of them together to create some distinction rather than just drawing Grey with a purple suit.

My design for Grey had him as average height but more stout(at least comparatively for my artstyle) while Purple was a little more scrawny and tall which worked well for what I wanted to do. His bangs are center parted when Grey's bangs are gathered in the center. Also I drew their expressions differently, when it's Purple I draw his more bitter/sour, I decided that most of his expressions are squinty and tend to furrow the brows while Grey's are more, I'm not sure how to put it, genuine?

As you can probably tell I really enjoy trying to come up with the character's designs myself but I know when to throw in the towel and admit someone did better than me. I tried to come up with a design for Olive/Finch myself but I just could not come up with one I liked even equally let alone more than @krysmcscience 's design. They really captured their energy well so I’m just using theirs.

Ayy, I drew my take on good old Johnny boy. I think I did a pretty good job making him look older without him becoming a mass of wrinkles.

Drawing Flayer's ship was pretty fun, I've been trying to draw backgrounds and objects more so it was good practice. We obviously don't know what it actually looks like yet other than it is made of flesh and metal so I definitely had to just make shit up. For these bitches sake I hope it's bigger than what I designed because it is going to suck otherwise. Just as I'm typing this I kinda already wanna redesign it though.

I went for something more simple based of the premise that ships are complicated and difficult to make; the whole thing is kinda supposed to look like the flesh is doing a lot of the work to keep it together to compensate for a lack of technical knowledge and skill but just now I remembered that Flayer was the head of the mechanics so she almost certainly has more than enough knowledge and experience to make a good ship on her own even without the flesh. Oh well, I can redesign it when we learn more. I'm keeping its face though, the face was a completely but incredibly happy accident.

Also, I find it interesting that the Imposter’s missions are usually about them destroying biomechanical technology but one of Flayer's named imposter abilities is to use her genetic material to create machinery that fuses artificial and organic material.

Bounus Doodles!

I'm pretty sure these were all drawn sometime before the new year but they were all I had and I didn't want to post one image of doodles so enjoy them now.

While I am still proud of Brown and Devon making out I think my favorite doodle here is Cyan and his judgmental ass face. Why is he staring at Finch like, he is not in any position to but judging like that.

I also borrowed Kry's designs for Red and Umber, I couldn't help myself for Umber, it was just too perfect!

Not sure how I feel about my take on Skeld!White(Finnegan I CANT-). I'm not sure if it's just I'm so used to seeing Kry's design that anything else feels weird or just that I made him too baby faced and princessy. I tend to draw men that are very pretty and feminine so I think I went overboard when I tried my hand since he was usually described similar to how I would normally design a man.

[aq2003]

idk if you're still doing those top fives, but if so... top 5 nine moments? - variousqueerthings

5. "rose, i'm trying to resonate concrete" (can this become a euphemism for being ace/aro if we try hard enough btw. is he. you know. trying to resonate concrete)

4. suibaiting the dalek. she was so iconic for this one and i do feel bad for laughing bc it's such a serious scene, however it's a product of me seeing images like this so you cannot blame me:

3. the exchange he has with the married-couple-to-be in father's day. "and i know we're not important" "who says you're not important?" and "street corner, 2 in the morning, getting a taxi home. i've never had a life like that. [pauses] yes. :) i'll try and save you". i haven't watched classic who obv but as a jumping-off point for the show at nuwho it really hammers in the doctor's love and admiration for humanity so well. also i love how every innocent life no matter how seemingly small is so important to nine it's one of my fav things about him ever

2. "only a killer would know that." this scene fucking haunts me and god truly it is something only rtd could write. goofy villain from that goofy two-parter having a dark and twisted conversation with nine on how many people they've killed and how sparing/saving people feels in the wake of all that. hello

1. EVERYBODY LIVES ROSE, JUST THIS ONCE. EVERYBODY LIVES!!! i did not experience this scene organically fun fact. bc i watch the hbomberguy sherlock sucks video essay on a semi regular basis as background drawing noise so it was the entire basis of my doctor who knowledge for a while before going in. and even out of context from the limited explanation of what's going on from the video essay i was kind of struck by it, like!! wow!! this is such a good line and i haven't even watched the show. and of course in context it's even better, bc nine spends his whole run practically soaked in death, we see it from the start, and over the course of the season he bonds w rose and lets himself feel hope and joy and starts to heal and just this once everybody lives. so good. this scene is special to me and i love u nine forever

[chibishortdeath]

General Simon brainrot sketch page :3, as per usual, explanations under a cut. Apologies if my posts tend to be kinda huge and difficult to scroll past, I try to do the cuts to make sure they do the least inconvenience to anyone! (>-< ;)

Just the whole page in full ft. My thumb lol

Expression practice! Simon is feeling the weight of his situation rn alas :(. I’ve always imagined him being panicked the whole game; the overarching entire game timer really gives a pretty good feeling of dread imo. The two doodles at the bottom were attempts at multiple ideas I’ve seen floating around about the curse, but they’re kinda bad in execution looking at them no tbh. But the first one is based on the idea that the curse gives some vampire traits like sharp teeth and would probably lead to proper vampirism if he were to die from it. The second was general attempt at like skull practice and comparing facial features to skull structure, but oh my god the page kept smudging and I tried making it look ok with some random blood on there but it just made it look even sillier 💀.

These next two are based on two random like liminal space images I ran into on Pinterest and I drew them mostly because I suck at backgrounds and idk Simon’s Quest itself is like Castlevania: Liminal Space Edition a lot of the time, so it fits X,,,,D. The first one I really liked the composition of the path on the far side contrasted to the trees. Imagine the water is the purple cursed swamp :3. Hopefully Simon has laurels just standin around in there.

This second liminal space for Simon to be in was this neat nighttime photo of a graveyard! Trees are HARD TO DRAW, especially just in pencil and a solid black background. There’s blood on the ground and stuff cause he was just fighting some monsters, probably those two headed lizard guys. It’s the awkward stillness after clearing out an area of enemies.

The pose for this one is based on the LOL~lots of laugh Miku figure lmao 💀💀💀

Simon is very fun to put in exaggerated poses! Especially cause you have to exaggerate them more to get the same ratio of pose to negative space because muscles and armor. I had no idea how to make metal belt armor thingies sit in a like legs up floating sort of pose like this so they kinda bend a little weird but eh he looks cute otherwise. The other doodles present are one that says “brainrot” which is kinda making fun of my own dedication to an NES character 💀 and also cause haha rot like the curse. Also, teeny tiny Simon with a heart!!! :3

Yippie! Simon posing again! I think the first pose was inspired by this like random old anime style angel figure??? Idk I think she was just an original character figure and the pose was pretty different, I just used the reference mostly for the arm position. Anyway, he’s vibin, just sitting curled up and momentarily comfy. Alas, the horrors persist in the second doodle that was an attempt at showing how the curse kinda deteriorates him but he just kinda ended up having a scarily snatched waist and it looks more stylized than like sick. Also the armor kinda bends around him in a way that makes it look like it shrunk with him which is so dumb lmaooooo (XwX). I’ll have to revisit the concept eventually idk, just look at his face for this one XD. Hahaha tiny doodle based on Larval Rin on the left there, nothing to see here—

The main doodle is just Simon looking into the distance bewildered and holding the whip, standard stuff. There’s also a side profile doodle and an attempt at drawing crying again cause I was getting kinda rusty at both of those things.

Simon Belmont but if he was 2000s anime lol. A fun little style experiment, I might keep this as like another secondary art style. There’s also some doodles of a hanged man skeleton, the eyes of Vlad, a skeleton hand, and a couple little chibi Simon’s of various expressions.

More 2000s anime Simon, but in a more silly way like the art style change for joke sections. One is him just goofily holding up Dracula’s head, but it’s contrasted immediately with a more gritty usual art style doodle of him with harsh shading lol. Get you a man who can do both I guess 💀

I gotta practice more on backgrounds and composition and stuff, probably also get some curse effects consistent augh. Lately I’ve been on and off working on random things or just staring into space tired, getting back to using social media is hard and an exhausting uphill battle unfortunately (_ _ ;). Sometimes I feel like I should probably split these up into multiple posts to make things more visible and to put more focus on specific drawings, but idk I don’t really want to, it just feels weird to me breaking up a doodle page like that, if that makes sense??? Eh idk.

[stephofromcabin12]

Any art tips for artists just starting out? I’m struggling big time to find my style 😀

Sure.

It got kinda long. Bc when have I ever been a person of few words?

There is no trick to finding your style other than drawing a lot, and setting a, more or less, loose goal. When I was young it was old school Disney and Don Bluth. That was my holy grail, ideal style. But it evolved to be something else, because that's how style works. You'll put your own twist on things, in time. But first focus on practicing and don't narrow yourself down to just one thing. You'll also probably develop multiple styles out of convenience. Sometimes I prefer the cartoony, simpified stuff. Sometimes I'm more into fully rendered pieces.

Experiment. Make bad art a lot. The more you expose yourself to the inherent let-down of sucking at something, the less it stings. The key is asking yourself why something didn't turn out right.

You can't get good at All Art at once. Start with something you're most interested in learning. Maybe it's anatomy, or gestures, or expressions, or colors. Start with that one thing and practice is with a specific goal in mind. Fx: "I want to get better at drawing faces and expressions, so I'm going to do an expression sheet of a character once a week, and do a little practice every day if I can" – That sorta thing. Everyone is different, though. My old music teacher used to say 30 minutes a day. If we couldn't do 30; 15 mins. So on. As long as you do a lil doodling every day that's still progress.

Learning art is sometimes frustratingly non-linear. Somedays I still 'forget' how to draw a certain thing I've had down since I was 14. Other days I bang out something I've always struggled with on the first try, then fail the next day. It's not a linear progression, it's a damn roller coaster. Best you can do is throw your hands up and try to enjoy the ride. The pipe line for me is usually: First attempt (sucks ass but I've learned to laugh at this stage, just throw ideas at the wall) -> getting comfortable (this is where you think to yourself you have a concept down but you really don't) -> Getting good (you start to draw with more ease, you're not having to 'remember' how you wanted something to look, it's just muscle memory by now) -> Actually having it down (and still having more growth to go. But this is where you get to look back on the comfortable phase and go: 'wow I really had a long way to go')

In fact, having fun is by far the thing that's made me progress. More than tutorials, more than fancy equipment. If I'm not having fun, I have no motivation to keep going. If it's not fun, try and make it so.

Get into the habit of stepping back (whether physically or more metaphorically) and really looking at your art often while you draw. When you add a line, or color, or background element etc. Ask yourself "Does this work?" And adjust accordingly. It seems like a lot of work at first, but eventually it becomes a natural part of the process. I don't really realise I'm doing it but most of the patreon screen recordings I have show the way I zoom in and out of the canvas constantly lol.

Make the things you want to make. Even the most self-indulgent stuff. We have a million artists already doing their thing, but we don't have you yet. Show us what you got! There's room for everything.

Get used to people expressing mild envy/annoyance when you're drawing near them. I've gotten the 'wow I wish I could draw, I can't even do a stick figure!' comment from waitresses, cabin crews, classmates I'd previously never spoken to, teachers, strangers on trainstations, etc etc etc. But! Learn to say 'Thank you' when people compliment your art.

Don't ask for critique if you don't really want it. Don't let people critique you if you didn't ask for it.

You! Don't! Need! Fancy! Equipment! Save your money and get the version of a medium that's affordable and comfortable for you. Look at Stardew Valley's creator's old setup. It's really not about how the tools are set up or the price of them. It's how you make use of them. Didn't FNAF's creator build the models in a moving car on a laptop?

Art takes time. There is no short cut to make it take less time. But the more fun you have the more it'll feel like it's faster. If you're miserable the time will drag on and on and on.

Look at a lot of art. Take in and analyse. I wish I could go back a few years and tell myself to analyse paintings I liked, rather than just going "Oh I like that! Nice!" and then moving on. Why is it good? Why does it move you? What captured your attention? Be the person at a museum leaning forwards to see the paintstrokes, you learn more that way.

Don't feel ashamed if you want to take inspiration from others. Everyone takes inspiration from somewhere. If you see something cool another artist is doing with their rendering or lighting or whatever, try and do a drawing or two emulating it! Maybe you'll discover a new favorite technique, or you'll not really jam with it. Either is good. Both teach you something.

You'll go through more eras than Taylor Swift. Sometimes you gotta do a lil Eras Tour of your own and go back through the catalogue. I'm currently working on reviving several projects I made when I was 13-14. Keep everything. Don't delete; archive.

Get good storage. Like, seriously, wish for a harddrive your next birthday or christmas or whatever. If you're working traditionally wish for some good ringbinders and the good plastic sleeves. Much nicer than running out of storage and having to delete things. Never delete!

You are already an artist. You became one the second you picked up a pen and put it to paper, and then decided to keep going with that. So don't compare yourself. When you find yourself jealous of someone, it's because they have something you want. Figure out what it is, and make it for yourself.

Deadass? Tracing helps so much with learning forms. But it's only helpful when you also practice drawing the same things freehand.

The trick to coloring is just that everything looks good shaded with purple set to multiply, and that if you're ever in doubt go in an L shape on color wheel. Down in brightness, inwards in saturation.

People who say you can never use white or black in drawings are jerks and you should not listen to them. You can do literally everything you want. Sure, experiment with other ways of using white and black. But art advice is just that: It's an option, not gospel. As a wise prophet of our time, Justin Bieber, once said: Never say never.

People will say you should be your own biggest critic. But fuck that. Be your own biggest cheerleader. Love what you make, even when you hate it, find something that works. That stepping back I mentioned in point 6? Sometimes that's zooming out and saying "Damn! That looks really good!" – People will often make art out to be something that should be suffering and painstaking. It's not though. In my honest experience, I've made just as much good art when I was happy and content, as I did when I had severe depression and anxiety and burnout. You're not an artist because you suffer. You're an artist because you can't just sit in that suffering all the time. You know there's beauty besides your pain, and so you'll remind yourself in the act of creation that there is always something more.

Once you realise you have the power to draw truly anything, you'll start having a lot more fun. "Oh but I've never done it before" or "Oh I tried and it just didn't work" Okay. So?

In case of frustration to the point of throwing your art supplies out the window: Take a breath. Go for a walk. Sometimes it's just not your day. Sometimes the rollercoaster gets stuck in the middle of a loop or right at the top of a hill. Wait it out. Try again.

You have absolutely got this. Let me know if there's anything else I can help with.

[sori4rt]

Toram has really great sceneries, good for practicing drawing background, because I suck at coming up with it myself LMAOO