#first one is a redraw of a very old piece of fanart i did back when i first was in my prison break era

[insecateur]

thinking about him a lot these days so here's an alexander mahone doodles dump from when i did my rewatch back in january 2021

[boiled-bronze]

Decided to redraw a very old Hylics fanart, from when I first got my drawing tablet!

It never stops amazing me just how much I have improved, though I have to admit I did cheat a little bit with the background, I made it with the help of Blender intead of drawing it all, but I guess it still goes to show my general artistic development or whatever

Date-less version of the new one, rambles, and comparisons between sketches below

I am really happy with how this one turned out, well, I've been quite proud of my art in general recently actually. I don't know why I was so patient with this one, I spent quite a few hours just refining the lineart, doing some lineweight around the outer borders of the most important individual "pieces" and purely black shading in a few parts. Barely noticable, really, but generally I'm too lazy to do that, not to mention the armor has a decent ammount of detail for what I'm used to. God forbid I every draw Dedusmuln with the same design twice.

Also, look at their respective sketches!! I don't know how or when this change happened but look at how much more natural the new one looks!!!! I remember back when I was making the first one I really hated how wonky my humanoids looked but I never understood how to properly fix it, but it seems I just needed some practice! About three years of it so far, and I'm sure I will keep getting better (and so you can too!)

[darksideofthemamon]

Oh oh!!! 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11 & 30 for the art asks!

1. Art programs you have but don't use

MS Paint ^^" Or whatever default programs there are. Otherwise, I use what I have (and have it in the first place because I use it!)

3. What ideas come from when you were little

Back in 2019 I actually did a redraw of an idea from when I was young!

The old art is from 2012 but the idea's been around since, 2009 maybe?

I haven't posted about this yet, only vaguely alluded to it in previous posts (see #5 for why), but this is linked to my story for that purple haired Kingdom Hearts keykid I'm always posting about.

As for CT, I've liked it since I was that young, but apart from being a Magus fan since I was a kid, all my ideas for it now are recent. Except honestly, shipping Magus with Glenn (even just platonically. or heck not even just the whole dynamic). That's always been there but now I'm testing it out and seeing where it's going with the Janus of Guardia AU.

5. Estimate of how much of your art you post online vs. the art you keep for yourself

For drawings, I would say I post around 85% especially since nowadays I draw with the intention to post. When I draw for myself, it's usually sketches on paper which I don't do as much, but am trying to do more.

For ideas in general, fan stories, AU's and such, it's the opposite. I only post around 20%, mostly because I'm shy, and also because there's so much but not enough time to do it all ^^"

6. Anything that might inspire you subconsciously (i.e. this horse wasn't supposed to look like the Last Unicorn but I see it)

At first I thought I'm normally very aware of the things that inspire me, but I came to a realization lately.

What inspires me subconsciously... is my personality. Which sounds so obvious I know but lemme explain!

Most protags that I have, whether they're OC's or canon characters I projected on, are similar to me in some ways, and different in others. But put them all together and none of them are 100% my polar opposite.

Like I can write another character who is, but none of the main protagonists are. And thing is, none of my OC's are full self-inserts. Like if they're friends with another character, it's still not "me" being friends with them.

Just a fun thing I noticed recently! Like "huh, none of them are 100% my polar opposite"

7. A medium of art you don't work in but appreciate

Watercolors! I don't do them but I love how they look.

11. Do you listen to anything while drawing? If so, what

All the time! Usually music on Spotify, a movie or show in the background, ASMR, and movie/show analyses on Youtube.

30. What piece of yours do you think is underrated

I'm gonna say my recent piece of Desire of the Endless from The Sandman!

And I picked this one because it's fanart from a recent popular show with an active fanbase, yet didn't get as much interactions as my CT stuff (and CT came out decades ago).

[cinnacorn-art]

[image ID: a drawing of dark world kris floating on a black background faintly speckled with colours. the red soul (a heart) is glowing in the middle of their chest, illuminating the picture and slightly blowing their hair and cape back, while kris’s hands hover around it. their light world arms sprout from their shoulders, the left hand holding a knife and the right holding up a birdcage. kris’s face looks distressed and uncertain, with one red eye revealed by the blown-back hair.]

six years ago, just after I got a drawing tablet, my first finished piece was an undertale fanart piece of frisk. instead of redrawing it exactly, I decided to take the concept and draw kris.

comparison to the original under the cut!

[image ID: right picture: a drawing of frisk floating on a royal blue background in roughly the same pose with the red soul as the above picture of kris, but with a peaceful smile on their face and with a stiffer pose. the soul is glowing but the lighting is not as dramatic. out of frisk’s shoulders sprout chara’s arm on the left, holding a knife, and asriel’s arm on the right, holding a golden flower. in the bottom right corner is written “Nov. 2016″ in white.

left picture: the same picture of kris as above, with “Nov. 2021″ written in white in the bottom right hand corner.]

so like, I don’t hate the old picture of frisk, but it does feel very stiff and static, and I really did not have any practice with lighting at the time. I’m definitely still learning and practicing, but I am proud that I’ve definitely made progress. :D

also for almost the whole six heckin years, the fact that chara and asriel’s hands are missing a thumb joint in the first picture has haunted me and I am so glad to vindicate myself y’all

(p.s. I actually copy and pasted the heart over from the original to the new piece, thought it’d be a cute lil easter egg)

[edelwary]

when you were first getting into art, what and how did you draw? (like did you just doodle ur masterpieces on pieces of paper and posted-notes or did you have a proper sketchbook) how did you find motivation? bc ive been trying to draw but I always get unmotivated and stop while still wanting to get better just by doing nothing.

REALLY LONG, LOTS OF ADVICES FOR ARTISTS : 

TL;DR ; skip to the HOW TO ACTUALLY FUCKING DRAW part bc i have a megaton of shit to say lol + The MOTIVATION part 

mmh… I’ll get into details with this one tbh bc it’s a long ass process ahah : 

I live by the sea ; when i was youung i used to draw TONS of boat, but like, dollhouse boats, you could see the insides and stuff ; i loved to add tiny details and stuff, and imbricate everything together !

around 8 or 9 yo, i went to the public library with school and discovered the wonderful world of mangas ! I basically… Copy pasted an entire Mermaid Melody tome x) 

For about 2 years i alternated between reading mangas and trying to copy them ! Then i just kept drawing in the margins of my schoolwork for about… 5 years ! I have a Fuck Ton of sketchbooks of that time, it was… The start. Lol. Never say it’s bad because it’s never bad, just not there yet !!

Around my 13 yo, i went every saturday, for two years, under a bookstore ; there was a cave, and drawing classes ; that teacher was mean and harsh and stuff, but like… Not really. He would take away my eraser for the class, force me to use pencil, to draw something else (bulky boys instead of magical girls). 

I’ve learned a lot, more in terms of How To LEARN to draw than to draw itself, but i still progressed a LOT !! 

Then i kept drawing by myself for a year and i really worked hard on it ; about hours a day, trying watercolors and stuff ; i have a real problem with colors in traditionnal art, but i’m much better with lines (i should scan some RAD stuff i made in the weekend, yall ive never done anything this good i stg i dont know why i always forget im so much better on paper) 

This gets us to my sweet 16 ; i have to year of advance, bc i got ‘’’promoted’’’ idk how to say it ; anyways, i entered my (current) animation school for the first year at 16; vERY IMPRESSIVE AND TERRIFYING. 

And i learned. A fuckmegaton. Of shit there. 

Now i’m going for my third year there and i can make photorealistic marmora blades and cyberkpunk decors if i want to and that’s rad, but here is

 HOW TO ACTUALLY FUCKING DRAW : 

I have one HYPER important advice, and i’m keeping it to heart since i’m like, 11 : Have. Sketchbooks. Please !!! It’s very important. Here’s why : 

You keep everything with you in one place. You have 1 sketchbook, it’s basically easy to take every where (a A5, or A4 are pretty easy to carry, i have like, 12 of those, and around 8 of A3) 

You keep track of what you’ve done. It’s super important, bc first you can cry of laughter at your old stuff bc its cute but not so good, and second, you can just be like ‘holy mama’ and see how much you’ve improved

It’s very important to be organized. I WORK in art, and trust me, if there’s something that i’ve learned this year through tears and missing files and bugs : Be. Impeccable. Now if it’s for fun, go a little loose, and just have a folder for art on your computer, and a sketchbook, no need to stress, but the better you try to keep a record of where is what, the better you’ll see whats wrong

Notebooks are friends !! You can draw, write, glue stuff, make notes, lists, everything !!! I have my life in those. It’s more important to me than any of my phones. 

Be proud of it. Like, not everything, duh ! But try to tell yourself than it’s like a RPG ; even if it’s only 2 xp here and there, one day you’ll beat level 40, and that’s super important : art is. Fuckin. Long.

I cant stress it enough. It’s soooo long !!! SO LONG !! it’s years. It’s like karate and fishing and ANYTHING. To be good at it, it takes time, but it WILL COME if you keep trying. There’s no secret passage. 

You’re gonna me it, believe in me who believes in you. 

Use. References. 

Coming from a little shit who’s got a really good visual memory, that can sound like bs, but i stg everything is always AT LEAST twice as good if you’ve used a visual support. 

I’m not saying COPY EVRYTHING (even though thats a good training) I’m saying, if you really want to do that asian tiger, please have at least two or three pictures of it nearby. Take photos of your hands, and stuff ! 

Make it harder. 

No eraser. 

Paint. 

I draw all my backgrounds on my sketchbook with INDIAN INK; no returns, no refunds. 

Ink, Ink, INK !! Don’t allow mistakes.

And if you make mistakes :

New page, restart

It’s okay

It’s for you

I once started back again a whole EXAM bc it was bad, i got one of my best grades 

You’ll improve and be more assured if you know you just have to DO IT. Trust me. It’s VISIBLE; if you can erase, you fidget and hesitate and ‘’kbeujebez hahhaaa idkkidsd’’ ; stop ; do it, and if you don’t like it ? Try again, there’s no time limit

Draw as large as you can 

There’s no interesting story here, it just helps. Bigger movement of the hand, more place for details, breathing lines

Thin lineart helps

Thinner. Make it even thinner

Break the rules, but not the ones that structure your art 

Big lineart ? Why not

Unfinished lines, vaporeous colors ? Pretty

Cubism is actually based on extensive and intense practice of classical art, it’s not wibbly wooblly ; the anatomy is more correct than you think 

Structure and composition are important, but so is movement and life ; choose your fighter ; mine is fluidity and fun, i’m like, a rogue/archer in drawing. Some people are dwarf fighter. That’s amazing and great. 

Don’t be afraid to do nothing

Pages and pages of my sketchbooks are actually just lance facing right and smiling, you know… 

Sometimes it just doesnt work : two ways :

Take a break, Kiki’s delivery service style

Keep trying, break your art until it obeys and comes back

Take breaks. Breath. 

Don’t compare. I do it, it doesn’t help at all. You’ll make it ; and if you compare, keep in mind that everyone’s different

I’m not gonna lie, it’s NOT easy, it’s even hard 

But I really, really think it’s worth it 

MOTIVATION :

My main bitch 

I’m always pumped for art because i can LITTERALLY NOT do anything else ; i love reading and writing and stuff but at the end of the day i just want !!! to draw !!!! aaaaaa-

Fall in love with it, and with the possibilities ; i have stories to tell, tell me yours ! Do your best, one day it WILL work

Actual advices : 

I have an inspiration blog where i just reblogs stuff i like to draw them later

Find a picture, copy it. Do it again. Change the characters (i have 2 ocs and Lance and Keith as default characters) in the pic. 

Like an artstyle ? Break it to its very core, analyse it, copy it, redo it, trace it and ABSORB it. Don’t copy/past, LEARN from your heroes.

Do what you like. I have 86578 pieces of voltron, this is not a coincidence. I have ENDLESS ideas for this show, wtf. 

Try new things. Buy indian ink im begging you. It’s so cool. 

Have a game with yourself, or a challenge. STICK TO IT. 

Study. When you’re bored, usually it’s because you’re stagnating. Make it harder or do hands until you cry. 

Love your backgrounds; make backgrounds, study trees, and tokyo streets, and venice’s bridges. Decor is just as cool as characters, if not more

Mess a little with everything. My roomate more than one found me stained from head to toes trying to DO STUFF 

Draw outfits. Draw what you want but can’t afford 

MAKE YOUR LIFE A COMIC. Remember those sketchbooks ? Make a comic a week/month/every full moon, whatever, and draw your life (mine’s the roomates au lol) 

Prompts blogs are cool too 

Make fanart of a fic you liked ; you have the characters and the pose already, you just have to illustrate ; double bonus, you probably will make a writer’s day, if not year !

That little movie that plays when you listen to your favorite song ? DRAW IT

Your favorite scene in your favorite movie ? Redraw each shot. On post it. Plus it looks awesome afterwards to have the infamous TREX scene of Jurassic Parks in post it

Get bored. That’s inevitable. Dance, scream, get back to it. Walk, draw everything you see. 

Make a paper google map street view : Take a walk : every 50 meters, draw what is in front of you. 

Snapchats your friends. Draw their snapchats when they answer 

Draw maps. Invent places. Invent bikes, and hovercrafts, and monsters. Make your everyday inventory. Make your life a video game, and do the concept arts of it. 

FETCH your inspiration. I have approx. 20 artbooks, full of drawings and concept arts of my fave movies/games ; take what you like and add it to the story you have since you’re 8. We all have one. 

Ask for it ; your sis, your mom, me even ! If you dont have ideas, someone will have them. 

WELL i’m gonna stop there, even though i got like, 9864567 more to say, but with this you should be fine ! Anon, i’m rooting for you ! we all start somewhere, just hold on!!!! 

[seyaryminamoto]

I am surprised to know that you went to music school and later dropped it.

Yeah, well… you only THINK you know everything about me, muahaha!

Alright, well, the truth is that for a long time I was very invested in music and wanted to be a musician when I grew up. Music was my thing, I’d spend hours every day just listening to it, memorizing lyrics and songs and whatnot. I wanted to learn how to play instruments, so I could write my own songs, and I did. With the encouragement of my family I got several instruments, learned how to play them, and joined a music school.

There were many things I didn’t realize at the time, of course. First of all, I love music, but I loved the effect it had on me more than anything else. And by that I mean the crazy ideas each song could give me, the stories I felt could be told through music. Further growth led me to realize that yes, I still love music, but I loved telling stories much more than I loved making music.

Second of all, the life of a musician was not the kind of life I wanted to lead. I don’t mean only because of the job or money problems, I mean because of how music is absolutely, unapologetically, demanding. Or, to be specific, music schools and teachers are demanding. When you’re a music student you’re expected to practice on a daily basis, and depending on your teacher and your instrument, you’re expected to practice for as many as three hours every day, if not more. It’s not impossible, but it’s exhausting. And what tired me out the most… was the repetitiveness of it. The fact that I had to try again, and again, and again, to get one right performance and then get thousands of them wrong. That I had to spend hours and hours playing the same composition, only for a nervous outburst to make me botch up a public performance when I couldn’t afford to botch it up. Basically, I grew to hate the feeling that I was making next to no progress with whatever I was working on. I wanted to learn more, to move on, to get to the stuff I wanted to get to, but I wasn’t good enough for that yet. So, back to practicing the same piece, over and over and over again until the teacher decided that maybe I got it right.

I simply did not have the convictions or the dedication to try harder in a cycle of endless practice. It felt like I wasn’t creating anything of my own, because I really wasn’t. My performances weren’t nearly as good as they should have been. And there was always a nagging feeling on the back of my head that told me that if I’d started at an age earlier than 12, I probably would be doing better.

I learned a lot in music school, yes, but academic music was absolutely not the field of work/education that suited me, at all. I couldn’t bring myself to keep it up, and I knew that if I wanted music to still be part of my future, I’d have to compromise everything else and devote myself exclusively to music. The very notion horrified me. Taking music seriously meant sacrificing everything else… all for the sake of, as I said, an endless cycle of practice.

So, in short, music is wonderful but I realized I’d rather be listening than playing. Arts like drawing or writing suited me better, because I had no one telling me what to do with either thing. There was no one to tell me that I wasn’t good enough to try digital art, or to say that I wasn’t a level where I was ready to draw shippy stuff. Likewise, there was no one to tell me I was insane for writing a shojo-like story that ended up morphing into an insane mafia story instead, and there was no one to tell me that I wasn’t good enough to execute whatever crazy fic concept I wanted to execute, be it Gladiator, IHTBY, you name it. If I failed at art or writing, I failed on my own terms. And at least I failed by trying new things, rather than failing while doing the exact same thing over and over times infinity.

Mainly, with art and writing, I felt like each piece could be finished, and I could move on to the next one. Five years later, I can look back on those old finished pieces and wince because of how flawed they were: but I know better now, I grew, and I didn’t grow just by rewriting The Reason every day of my life until someone somewhere told me that it was finally good enough, nor by redrawing my first fanarts countless times until they finally came out right. I’m simply not cut out for repetitiveness that only ever does the exact same thing with zero variants, which was why I had been setting myself up for failure in music school.

A lot of people told me I should have NEVER quit music school, because when they were forced to quit they regretted it all their lives. Ironically, I think I never felt as relieved as I did since I dropped out. I’ve barely ever looked back. Seriously, I’m a better fit for other kinds of art, and I’m really glad I realized that when I did.