#i have my sketchbook w me but i am LONGING for digital art ;_;

[malacandrax]

hi sry this is a lil long but i just felt like giving my own comments about ur post re: feeling left out/regarding more detailed work, and wanted to say that your work singlehandedly has inspired me SO much to the point that because of your more simplistic coloring/shading and focus on movement/body language, i was finally able to find a coloring/rendering style that i actually like aesthecially and enjoy doing! i've struggled w replicating color in a way i like digitally for over 6 years but your work, and especially so your sketchbook scans on patreon have been so useful for inspiration and for my own understanding of anatomy and what not. we're always our own worst critics with comparison and whatnot, but please know that your work and your style are a huge accomplishment and skill in their own right, and your comics inspire me to keep studying so i can one day make my own!!! i'm so thankful you share your work with us and to have come across it and be able to draw inspiration off it! your colors, expressions, and the palpable intimacy and dynamic character interactions are so amazing and specifically unique to your work, never doubt the impact it has just because of other's having a different style or approach or something <3

This is so extremely nice I don't even know what to say!!! I honestly feel so hyped that my style inspired someone else, I feel like it's not something I expected and its SO COOL. I sometimes feel like my style isn't particularly STYLISH you know, I often admire really strong punchy styles, so it's nice to hear my own kind of chiller style is inspiring! And that the things I enjoy come across as strengths, too! Also I am so happy to hear someone enjoys my sketchbooks haha, they're really precious to me but I also try not to be too fussy about my art in them which means it's not 'beautiful'*- they're for studying and/or chilling out, so it's SO nice that it's inspiring nonetheless! Wishing you the best in your art journey and also I think if you want to make comics you should just give it a go! Make teeny tiny comics! [it does not have to be good] [tangent oh my god] I feel very hypocritical because for the longest time comics were something my friends made and I didn't know how to, and I felt like my style didn't work for comics, but honestly when I eventually sat down and started a long comic the style happened out of necessity, I Had to simplify or I wouldn't be able to keep up. And you can see from the links that I just did sketchy comics before and that was fine! I think it was just as valuable as making polished pages. I actually probably ended up making comics For Real because I made a silly fandom ask blog, where I kept wanting to say more than I could do in one image, and that gave me the confidence to try something longer with OC's.

ANYWAY thank you so much!

*I find polished sketchbooks so inspiring, but its so limiting imo to try to make a beautiful sketchbook HAHAHAH

[cimicherrychanga]

i wanna draaaaawwwwww

[franollie]

ok so back in december i posted some old marauders art i found in my digital sketchbook, and i said something along the lines of i want to make a post on the marauders fandom and how it’s changing fandom as a whole. and then i forgot about it. BUT BEHOLD! Fran’s study on transformative fandom through the marauders fandom! strap in because this is gonna be a long one:

I want to preface this by saying i have a lot of nostalgia for harry potter—more specifically the marauders—but i obviously do not support jkr and her transphobia.

reminder that I am critiquing the marauders fandom as a whole. as a w h o l e as in the collective fandom. not you specifically. okay?

now, if i remember correctly, the marauders fandom started because people shipped wolfstar and wanted to explore their dynamic in hogwarts. simple as that.

then, it came out that jkr was making blatantly transphobic comments. at this point in time, i had moved away from the harry potter fandom as a whole because i saw something shinier to hyperfixate on (hello sailor moon), so i’m foggy on the details in terms of the marauders fanbase at the time. but from what i understand people started pointing out the racism in the series as well.

flash forward to 2020–the marauders renaissance on tiktok. suddenly the marauders fandom was no longer just wondering what the 4 marauders + lily would have been doing in school. it had expanded to involve a diverse array of characters with agreed upon backstories. And it was really fun to dive back into the fandom. for many, it was reclaiming a series that held a lot of nostalgia to a lot of people from a bigoted woman.

however, i think with the rise in popularity of the marauders fandom—an entirely transformative fandom—fandom as a whole made a switch from creating fanworks out of love and respect for a piece of media to caring about the fan content first and foremost over the media itself. that’s not me saying that the marauders fandom is to blame for everything wrong with modern fandom—the lack of community, the complete disregard of canon characterization, lack of media literacy, etc.—but i do think the marauders fandom gave all these issues the little nudge they needed to take a deep rooted place in how fandom works.

when fandom becomes canon, it’s easy to ignore genuine problems within the fandom as “oh well its not really canon”. But thats really only true to a certain extent. Most people within the marauders fandom consider ATYD as the canon they follow when ATYD is in fact fan fiction. additionally, i’ve met people in the marauders fandom who haven’t read ATYD.

the marauders fandom is quite literally whatever you want it to be, and that’s fun but it’s not fandom in the traditional sense.

remember those new characters i mentioned earlier? well a large majority of them are women including many women of color. however, these women are almost entirely used as props for the boys’ stories and are entirely one dimensional. (lily is snarky and smart, mary is fun loving, marlene is a party animal, dorcas is cold-hearted softie, pandora is ditzy, but most importantly they’re all ✨girl bosses✨). that’s not to say these girls dont have potential for interesting stories or that no one writes them as three dimensional characters. but the fandom at large uses them as props for their favorite mlm ship. jegulus having more fics than jily (the only canon ship in this fandom) alone proves this point.

“but what about marylily/pandalily?” also great ships that i love, but they only really exist to get lily out of the way for james to be with regulus. thus, they are inherently supporting the internalized misogyny of the marauders fandom. i’m not disregarding people who do genuinely ship marylily and pandalily, but that is where the ships stemmed from.

first and foremost fandom is about loving the source material so much you’re inspired to engage with others who enjoy the source material. you can’t really enjoy fandom if you don’t know the characters or world you’re working with; kind of a “you have to know the rules before you break them” type of situation.

i could talk more on the internalized misogyny within the marauders fandom or how we can use the marauders fandom as a study on fandom in the modern age. instead, i’ll leave on this note: as i said before, fandom is about loving the source material so much you want to engage with others who enjoy the source material, and at the end of the day the source material for the marauders fandom is harry potter. and i don’t have much love left for a series that is transphobic or a fandom that doesn’t treat its women with the same care as it’s men.

to reiterate: i not implying that everyone who enjoys marauders materials supports jkr, in fact i’d go as far to say most marauders fans are actively against jkr. however, i feel uncomfortable in a space that fundamentally cannot exist without harry potter.

i have a lot of ideas for marauders stuff and i still enjoy these characters (namely dorlene and jily) but me including my versions of these characters doesn’t really solve the problem. atp can the problems even be solved? idk this got away from me, and i still have more thoughts.

so yeah! peace love and trans rights 🫶 probs won’t post much marauders stuff—not that i really did before but some of you follow me for marauders content for some reason???

[sourkitsch]

adam i have an ask i've been meaning to send you for like 3 weeks now oopsie. i know you've mentioned keeping a daily/pretty regular sketchbook practice. it's been so long since i've even touched a sketchbook so i was just wondering what you do. preferences for tools, how long you shoot for, references and resources you pull from, etc. <3

Hi Joey!!!

I try to draw at least one thing per day in my sketchbook, nearly always from photo reference or direct observation. I work in a 9x12 hardcover spiral bound sketchbook —working at that size helps me stay loose I think, and also gives me lots of room for thumbnails I can squeeze in.

In my sketchbook I work in pencil, mostly! I use either a mechanical pencil or a carpenter pencil, both have their uses depending on the kind of line I wanna play with. I also use crayons sometimes! They’re really fun and I enjoy that weird sticky texture.

I am really. Really slow. One drawing can take me a half an hour. It’s something I’m trying to work on!!

I get a lot of references from digitized museum collections, mostly sculpture, but sometimes I’ll look at portraiture too! Google Arts & culture is a great place to get started w that. Also Pinterest! My pinterest is fucked to hell idk how everyone else uses it for pretty photos I just get weird animals and bodybuilders. My sketchbook is filled with antelopes and muscles.

I try to be low mess in my sketchbook just cause I carry it literally everywhere w me. I use my sketchbook like it’s an extension of my brain, so there are a lot of notes on art history & gallery shows I’ve gone to, weird thumbnails and bits of poetry or song lyrics that I feel are related to what I’m working out.

Also maybe this is me on a soapbox, but like… don’t make your sketchbook look good. I have very few pages that look like… anything, really. But that’s kind of the point. Get weird. Draw a bad hand. Don’t show anybody. Draw one million dicks on a single page. Don’t be embarrassed. Sketchbooks are for you above anyone else, and I think that’s something important to remember!!

[wattpadscapcons]

*rolls on in a office chair* Hello wolf aonn here can I have a fnaf 1(seplily)x reader where the reader do art comisons? *rolls on out*

Hey! You can't just roll that thing through my café! You're gonna leave marks on the wooden floor! Ugh I just had that cleaned! Café drama set aside, I will have to tweek this ask, both in characters and change the reader to be a freelance artist.

The following ask is directed to take place after the events of the "Falling For A Security Guard" Asks except for Mangle, since no one has asked for them yet. Theirs will be written on another date.

=

Freddy w/ Freelance Artist S/O

- Like on any normal shift, Freddy would come in to see you to talk

- This time he saw you, with a drawing tablet

- "Hey S/O, what are you doing?" "OH! Oh god I forgot I was at work again...." "You ok?" "Yeah I'm fine Freddy, I'm just getting some art commissions out of the way." "You're an artist?" "A freelancing artist." "Ah so you do this for extra income." "Exactly."

- He'd actually take some interest in what you were drawing pretty often

- "Hey Freddy can I get you to stand still for a little while?" "Why?" "A customer actually asked for me to draw you." "Well alright then. Just let me check for Foxy every once in a while." "Sure thing."

- Would be happy if you were actually drawing him in your free time

- And if you were to show him that art sometime

=

Chica w/ Freelance Artist S/O

- "Hey S/O, what are you drawing?" "Oh, Chica, sorry I forgot where I was for a second." "Guess you got really into your art for a second, am I right?" "Yeah, you could say that." "You doodling for fun?" "I'm a freelancing artist." "What's that mean?" "I create art on commission for extra income." "Oh. Well that didn't answer my first question." "What did you ask?" "What are you drawing?"

- She's very interested in your job

- She'd be doodling on a notepad along aside you while getting up every once a while to check that Foxy wasn't coming

- "Hey look Y/N, I drew you!" "Very nice work Chica, oh but don't forget to sign it." "Oh shoot."

- If you asked to draw her she'd get all giddy about it

- She likes asking about the things your customers ask you to draw, a lot

- Would totally ask to see some of your older art too

=

Bonnie w/ Freelance Artist S/O

- "S/O? Are you drawing?" "Ah! Oh it's just you. Sorry Bonnie I was kinda in the zone there." "I could tell, I would've thought my presence in the room would be enough to get you to look up." "Yeah I tend to forget where I work sometimes." "So, back to what I was asking..." "Yeah I'm doing freelancing art. I had a few commissions that I had been waiting a while to do." "Were you having problems?" "I couldn't chose an art style I liked enough."

- While he is interested in art he isn't one to draw, he's afraid of messing up

- He'd probably ask if you could draw him

- "Hey Y/N?" "Yeah Bon?" "You think you could draw me?" "If you can stay still long enough in a single position, then sure."

- Loves looking through your art if you carry around a sketchbook, his fingers won't allow him to scroll on your tablet

- "Ah, this is great Y/N! You can even do color?" "Yeah it took a lot of practice. I can do both traditional and digital." "You're so cool Y/N." "Says the Rockstar rabbit."

=

Foxy w/ Freelance Artist S/O

- "Aye, lass! What you doing there?" "Oh s***! Foxy don't scare me like that!" "Sorry there Y/N, but I've been standing here for a few minutes waiting for ye to notice I was 'ere." "Ah I'm sorry, I was just focused in getting these commissions done." "Ye mean the art right?" "Yeah." "I didn't realize I had such a talented partner."

- Definitely wants you draw him

- "Lass could ye draw me?" "I'm sure I could. Can you stand still long enough to get a good start on you?" "Aye!" "Alright. Go stand over there for me."

- Sad that he can’t actually draw with you, due to the hook

- "Lass do you have any tape?" "Paper ripped again?" "Yeah." "I'm sorry Foxy."

- He can't even really look through your sketchbook because he's afraid of ripping up your artwork on accident

=

Mangle w/ Freelance Artist S/O

- "Hello, hello!" "Ah! Oh, it's just you Mangle." "Just dropping in to check on my favorite person....Are you drawing?" "Yeah, I have a few commissions to do." "Ah, this for extra income?" "I got to pay bills somehow hon." "You could just stay here with me." "I like being alive long enough to do laundry, but I appreciate the sentiment." "Awe come on, I won't bite." "Foxy will though."

- Likes just watching you draw on your tablet while hanging down

- They do attempt to doodle on occasion, but due to their endoskeleton, they have some trouble

- "Y/N, could you hold the paper still for me?" "Having trouble with your endoskeleton again?" "Yes, I really wish the day shifters would work on fixing me." "I could try to at least fix your arms if that'll help." "That would be great. Thank you."

- If you bring your sketchbook to work, they'll end up swiping it and return it to you the next day

- They'll sing praise to you over your work

- "You're such a great artist Y/N!" "Thanks Mangle. I thought your work was great too." "Oh stoppp! You're way better!"

[ask-shakespearehigh]

Q&A post with the Mods!!!!

This is going to be a long one oh boy

How strict is the delineation of creative control vis-a-vis characters/plays between the mods? (@pedanticlecturer)

We generally have the plays split up along lines of “what we know”— we have a list at the very beginning of the blog. Sometimes we’ll draw the others’ characters (mostly me drawing some of Star’s…) but even then the final say on characterization is up to the “main” mod for that play — mod aster

what aster said -- mod star

What is your favorite play? What is your favorite character in terms of how they were written in the source material? (@pedanticlecturer)

I think my favorite play overall is Macbeth, just because I like the vibes (and the fact that I too could kill Macbeth), the fact that you don’t say it’s name in theatres, and the fact that it’s a play I did a full read through and analysis of in class. Favorite character? Puck from Midsummer. — mod aster

uhhhh,, hmm. ive always had a soft spot for midsummer since i saw it with aster esp bc of how fun the costumes were. of the comedies it has the largest potential to be the most visually pleasing bc of the concept of fairies,,,and im gay and dramatic so i love that. id die if i got to costume design for midsummer,,,or be in it,,,yeah. fav character. hmm. probably mercutio?? i recently saw a version of romeo and juliet where mercutio was played by a woman and oh my god it was amazing!!! not to mention mercutio’s portrayal in baz luhrmann's INCREDIBLE version of r n j!!! (I based my mercutio design on him) he just spends the entire time making dick jokes. love that. -- mod star

How do you answer asks so fast? I mean it's great but I'm impressed 😂 (Anon)

Personally, it’s a mix of: notifications on, quick drawing speed, and using the blog to avoid my class work — mod aster

aster is fast and (as you can see from all of my answers) im lazey -- mod star

Are there any elements/characters of the plays you're covering that you would have liked to work into this blog's plot, but couldn't due to the constraints of the setting or the synthetic nature of the blog? (@pedanticlecturer)

I wanted to make everyone gay but unfortunately due to plot constraints we have to have some hets but that wont stop me from making it lgbt as possible. -- mod star

I did want to make The Tempest more of a central play, but it just didn’t translate well. Similarly, other supernatural elements like the witches in Macbeth. This isn’t so much a constraint mentioned, but my own time/energy means that I want to show the Macbeth backstory, in a specific format, but I can’t right now— mod aster

Is there a hierarchy of import when it comes to each play's individualized impact on shakespeare high's general arc? If so, what plays are crucial to the foundation of the story? Which ones did you do mostly for shits and giggles? (@pedanticlecturer)

This is phrased like an ACT question and i might not answer it right so sorry in advance but: mod aster and i only selected a few plays for each of us to do given we dont know all of shakespeare’s works, but we tend to put more emphasis on the the more well known. But it also comes down to 1. How much we have plotted out for each play and 2. What the followers ask about most. Our two most popular are hamlet and macbeth bc people are familiar w those but around march caesar always becomes relevant again. I didnt even have designs for some of the characters until someone asked about them. -- mod star

I would say the same as star— it generally comes down to what people ask about. I will say that the overall plot is sort of separated into “has happened” and “is happening”. Like, the human potion of Midsummer, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth are all in the “aftermath” portion, while Twelfth Night, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet, among others, are happening. We’re trying to incorporate as much as we can, and I don’t think any of them were really put in without some thought.— mod aster

What personal significance does shakespeare hold in ur guys' lives? (@pedanticlecturer)

I go to a theater school rn and so ive dealt w shakespeare (although not all of them) it also helps that i was in loves labours lost last year as moth and that i read hamlet and r n j. Theres also a theater in my state that always does One Big Shakespeare per season and they always do them super well!!! My love for shakespeare probably started w seeing midsummer at that theater w mod aster!!! So. Theater kid rights!! -- mod star

To be honest, I got back into Shakespeare Because of the blog. I’ve been friends with some people that got really Pretentious about Shakespeare, and it kinda put me off of it. I did have a book of abridged plays (the plays’ plots written out in prose, basically) that I read as a kid, which is what got me into not only the plots of a lot of the plays, but also the idea of having them illustrated. And, same as star, the theater in state does the One Big Shakespeare— and they tend to do some really cool things with the costumes, setting them in diff time periods. I haven’t been able to see any lately since I’ve moved, but they still slap. — mod aster

🥰😘💙🥰🥰💜💟🥰I 😍💗💚😍😍LOVE🖤🖤 YALL ♥️♥️🧡💛💚💝❣️💕💘💖💗💓💞💝❤️💛💜 okay now i have a question i swear— how long have the two of you been doing art??? and what were your first shakespeare plays??? (@hellaghosts)

Uhh i started drawing when i was like idk 12 and i have the giant boxes of sketchbooks to prove it!!! I moved to digital art at abt 14-15 but mostly stayed traditional until this yr when i got a Neat New Tablet so some of my sketchbooks are sitting abandoned rip. My first shakespeare was either romeo and juliet or midsummer nights dream and i love both of them v much!!! I have a very old piece of art that i did for r n j for my freshman class assignment on it and it hasnt aged well alsdjfjafd circa 2016 i think??? -- mod star

Oh man. I started drawing when I was about 10, but it was Bad. I don’t think I got much into drawing again until I was about 14? Sometime around the end of middle school/beginning of high school. I would say I started getting into drawing as more than doodling/coloring edits sometime around 2015-16? I would draw on my iPad with my finger, then I got a tablet for my computer, and now I pretty much stick to my iPad with an Apple Pencil. My first Shakespeare play was….. uh…… probably Midsummer???? I have No idea. We would go to plays when I was little, so I honestly don’t remember if I saw others before. It may have been Romeo and Juliet— I had that book where it was the original and the “modernized” with the little dog that explained things— which, if you know it makes sense, but if you don’t is probably a bonkers answer. — mod aster

Do you think this blog has like? An overarching thesis (be it b/c intentionally or simply b/c ur own take on the world has bled thru to the point where u believe it’s central to the piece at this point)? (@pedanticlecturer)

Not gonna lie, I had to read that like three times AND dm you to figure out what you were asking from us and all I have is “be gay, respect women, write your own happy endings”. — mod aster

This blog started with an ides of march shitpost and you think we have enough brain energy to write a whole thesis? I projected feelings of found family onto my half of the blog but idk if that counts. Be gay do crime 420 69 -- mod star

What’s the nature/rough dynamic of ur relationship? How do y’all know each other? (@pedanticlecturer)

Met mod aster when i was like 4 and even tho we didnt live close we became like, best friends although the Best part didnt start until we were like 13-ish and eventually we talked like non stop (about anime and homestuck. Yknow. 13 year old kid things) and we didnt see each other a lot bc of Distance and now its even worse bc aster is in colleg.,e but we consider each other siblings regardless of family bc we’re adopted into our own respective families so that bled over into our friendship and it would feel weird calling him anything other than my brother now. We’ve seen each other at our best and worst and if you really want a good insight on what we’re like as siblings watch griffin and justin mcelroy’s overview video of catlateral damage wherein i am griffin and he is the long suffering justin. -- mod star

Star is basically my long distance sibling and functionally the only cousin I recognize bc like their parents are basically an aunt and uncle and like our dads look enough alike that we’ve both accidentally gotten the wrong dad for a hug or similar so like. Anyways yeah Star is the Griffin to my Justin, complete with our absent middle brother who we love dearly— mod aster

Dubiously relevant q but what kind of music do y’all listen to when u do art (if that is indeed a habit either of u partake in) (@pedanticlecturer)

It can depend on the piece? I was working on some (unrelated) oc prints that were song-focused, and for those I just listened to said song on loop. Sometimes I have playlists. Sometimes I’ll just be in a Mood and throw a song on loop. But a lot of time for the blog, I’ll listen to The Adventure Zone for the billionth time, because I have Too Much Attention. I’ve also, on request from Star, linked the most recent “loop song”.— mod aster

I tend to obsess over the same like 3 songs every few weeks so those get listened to on repeat but it also depends on the tone of what im drawing or who im drawing i might genre switch bc of that. If im drawing ophelia i stick to lana del rey and if im drawing hamlet its the neighborhood, horatio is sufjan stevens etc. i have categorized,. Most of the characters i draw into different songs/genres/energies of music but not like i ever follow that. Sometimes i just pull up a really long nonsense video and forget to draw. Essentially: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ -- mod star

How’d y’all come up with ur pseudonyms? (@pedanticlecturer)

I love space so much and my main blog is starryeydsailor space gay rights!! Im also tiny and full of energy and bright so basically i;m star -- mod star

Uhhhh i was like “hey i want to do uhhhhhh flower?” And then I google searched flower names until I found one I liked —- mod aster

How did you end up deciding the rough timeline of events in canon? (@pedanticlecturer)

It’s mostly determined by like. How we choose per story? If that makes sense. Like, we just take story by story, and decide “is it happening, has it happened, and when?” And then we fit them together in relation to each other just by dint of. All existing at once. Like, I knew I wanted Macbeth to be in aftermath, because like, even though there’s no murder, the way I’ve translated it to the AU is still kinda heavy, and it’s something that I don’t know that I could do properly if it were happening right now. Also, it’s more interesting IMO to have them at different times. Tl;dr we wing it per story and slot them together— mod aster (mod star agrees I just can word better, in theory)

If you could tell the story of shakespeare high in a different format than an ask blog, would you? Obviously y'all are making very good use of the format, but would you want to write this as a animated series or like? a comic book? or is the form inseparable from the story? (@pedanticlecturer)

I kinda wanted to do a webcomic or maybe to plot develop through like, animatics but the element of surprise comes from the asks we get and really makes us think so the blog is a good start. We didnt think we’d get this far -- mod star

Pretty much what Star said— there are certain elements where it’d be neat to do as a comic or as an animatic. Like, the fantasy dream is like, an anthology webcomic of each story, where you can like, see other characters in the background and stuff. But to be honest, we develop a lot by what we’re asked— there was a post about developing worldbuilding by being asked questions and then pretending you’ve thought about the answer, and it’s not far off. Personally, it’s hard to just lay out a story, because I have a whole WORLD and what’s relevant? What are people interested in? It’s by getting questions that I can then focus in on an area to develop. And yeah, we Super didn’t think we’d get this far lmao — mod aster

Any headcanons about your characters that you don't think will ever come up on the blog through asks or plot posts? (@pedanticlecturer)

I could make a whole separate post for this!!!!! Mostly its voice headcanons (and by mostly i mean like 1 or 2) or relationship hcs!!!! -- mod star

Honestly same. I don’t think I have voice headcanons for mine, though I bet I could find some. I’ve got a bunch of miscellaneous headcanons that just kinda float around, but like they’re scattered, too numerous for this post, and also not always things I’m sure are canon yet.— mod aster

[standfortheangels]

Do you prefer traditional drawing, or digital?How long have you been drawing?Do you have a DeviantArt, personal website, or art blog?What’s your favorite thing to draw?What’s your least favorite thing to draw?Do you ever collaborate with others?What is the most difficult thing for you to draw?What is the easiest thing for you to draw?Do you like to draw in silence, or with music?What inspires you to not just make art, but to be a better artist?

[Artists Asks] Ooookay here we go!! x)

Do you prefer traditional drawing, or digital?

That depends wholly on how much energy I have at the time~

If I’m tired or just really need something low-energy and relaxing to do, then traditional is the way. It feels much less intense than when I draw digitally, when I feel like I need to concentrate more and do better in general~ But when I do have the energy to match that, I prefer the results I get digitally, I have way more options with colour...

The whole UI on Photoshop and the tablet, feels so different to pencil and paper, so my favourite varies when I feel different to match~ ^^

How long have you been drawing? 

Kind of forever~? I used to draw SO much when I was little. My mum had to go to hospital a lot when she was pregnant with my little sister- I mean hours of monitoring every other day- and at three years old I would come along, just with a few colouring pages and a sketchbook and I would just sit and draw the whole time~

At a point though I did more or less stop. I’m not entirely sure why or at what exact age. But I picked it up again at 13 through school art classes, and loved it so much, it was like I’d found myself again! So, I’ve been drawing seriously now for 9 years and counting :)

Do you have a DeviantArt, personal website, or art blog? 

Oh wow, I do have a DeviantArt but I haven’t been on it in, years x’) I am setting up an Instagram though that I hope I’ll be able to stick to posting on regularly >w> But I’m not sharing that until I’m sure~

What’s your favorite thing to draw? 

OOooohhhh that’s haaaarrd.

I guess as a top 3... Flowy hair, any fantasy features, and one single prop that I think makes up for not drawing a background ever >w>

What’s your least favorite thing to draw?

ANIMALS. Well, not really, probably it’s the backgrounds BUT WHY ARE ANIMALS SO HARD THO???

Do you ever collaborate with others? 

I have done once or twice? Honestly I think I’d have to say no but I would definitely like to try properly sometime! It seems fun~ :)

What is the most difficult thing for you to draw? 

Ah! Now this is where the animals come in then~ ^^ THEM.

What is the easiest thing for you to draw? 

Hmmmm.... This is harder to answer. Unless something particularly causes me trouble over and over which, tends to be the stuff I don’t practice if I’m holding my hands up ^^”, then I don’t tend to pick up on stuff like that. I know there are things that I enjoy more, mostly because I don’t get to draw them as often~

Everything else is like the rest of art, it can go surprisingly easy one day and feel like pulling teeth the next~ >w>

Do you like to draw in silence, or with music? 

Not in silence, for sure, but it doesn’t have to be music~ Ambient sounds like if I’m just drawing outside, a podcast, a TV show or YouTube vids that I can just glance back at occassionally and not worry about missing anything, because sometimes I just want some familiar human voices rather than a plot or entertainment~

But yeah, music does work great~ x)

What inspires you to not just make art, but to be a better artist?

ohh I was hoping this one wasn’t going to come up actually x’D

At the moment, I am going through kind of a motivation slump to be honest. I’m getting enough ideas for new art to keep me slowly doing things, but I’m not feeling really driven or inspired. I think it’s just because of all the health stuff I’ve been dealing with over the last six weeks or so, and if I’m right, then hopefully things will start improving now that I’m back to my regular meds again from today!

[angelicrome]

Eyes│a.i

i’m like 110%  sure i’ve used that gif before but whatever - also this is rly good like read it you won’t regret it lmao, i’m begging 

Series: Paid to be Popular - The Purpose of Love - Bittersweet Generation

Requested: no, but i had a convo w @calumofficials a very long time ago about college!ashton lmao

Pairing: Art major!Ashton x Y/N

Description: When Y/N looks over the cute and curly-haired art major’s shoulder, she realises who he has been drawing for a long period of time; her.

It had become a normal thing for Ashton just to sit outside on the grass with a sandwich by his side and his sketchbook in his lap as he leant up against that one bench and then he would just draw whatever or whoever crossed his road. Sometimes it would be a gloomy flower in front of him, other times it would be scenarios or a person with a crazy hairdo just walking past. This had become a habit. After lunch, he would just sit down on the grass, not on the bench, but on the grass. Normally, he would take his lunch with him, maybe even some music occasionally. Drawing everything that he could think of.

This day was no different. He sat with his brown, round glasses on the bridge of his nose, the curls laying perfectly messy on his head, and his tongue sticking out as he focused on the current drawing. A girl. The girl he had slowly become more attracted to. He didn’t know her. All he knew was that after lunch she would be sitting with her friends on the lawn, the exact same time Ashton was.

Ashton leant against the bench with a sigh. Ten meters in front of him the girl he was drawing was sitting with a smile and friends surrounding her. He didn’t draw her friends, it was only her. It was her eyes that had caught him, the way the sunlight hit them. He sighed out of frustration. Her eyes were special - and he couldn’t draw them right.

He had used days on drawing her. Three days, to be exact. She looked ridiculous - not in person, but on his paper.

She looked his way, turned her head towards his figure. His eyes had automatically gazed towards her, as they did when he didn’t focus on drawing. And she looked his way, caught his eyes and Ashton forgot to look away. Her eyes were mesmerising, the way the shadows from the tree above danced on her face, the only light being her eyes. She had stopped talking with her friends and just… she just looked as Ashton as if he was a creature, something she had never seen before.

Fuck, Ashton thought. It wasn’t normal to look a stranger in the eyes. Especially, when you were drawing that exact stranger without the stranger knowing. If, if, the stranger found out about the scribble on the sheet on Ashton’s lap, she would think he was weird. Insane, even.

So, instead, Ashton cut her out. Looked down to the paper and started drawing long lines across her waist. He focused on something else on the drawing now, something that wasn't her eyes. He cut her out completely, pushed his glasses up and forgot about time. Forgot about the small talk, forgot about the girl.

Time passed and now the only thing missing on the drawing of the girl was the eyes. He let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair before looking up at her usual spot under the tree. But she wasn’t there. Neither were her friends. The only thing left was the tree, still casting shadows on the lawn.

“You’re a really good drawer,” Ashton flinched at the unknown voice. It was calm, and the words were said with care and sincerity. He looked up only to find the girl with the eyes, the girl he had been drawing for three days. Her eyes were scanning the paper and her lips were thin before they turned into a faded, loveable smile. Ashton didn’t say anything. The sounds of birds filled campus and the girl sat down beside him - not on the bench, but leaning against the bench.

“Is that me?” She asked with a smirk and nodded towards the paper. Ashton quickly closed his sketchbook and put away his pencil as if it was going to delete what she had seen.

“Uh, I just draw whatever…” Ashton murmured and fumbled with the sketchbook in his hands, his face turning red as his stomach flipped. 

“Why don’t I have any eyes?” She questioned with furrowed eyebrows. He could feel how close she was, how she watched every move he made. But he didn’t look at her - but at the tree ten meters in front of him. The tree she would normally sit under.

“I… I haven’t gotten to that yet,” Ashton answered, closed the book and bit his lip. The girl didn’t say anything for a solid second before she pulled the book out of his lap and looked through it. She stopped at a few of his best drawings until she reached the latest, hers.

“Could you finish it? Even if I'm sitting right next to you?” Her voice was quieter as she studied the page. She studied the lines drawn with a single pencil and ran her fingers down the paper with an impressed look.

“I don’t know,” Ashton said slowly and watched how she analysed herself on paper, almost scared to take his book back. “You’re not exactly easy to draw.”

Her head shot up towards him and for the first time, they looked into each other’s eyes. Ashton couldn’t look away as the colours blurred together in her eyes, giving her a curious exotic look. Somehow, he had caught her attention with the way he drew and the way he talked, just like she had caught his.

“Why not?” She sounded almost hurt and Ashton quickly took the book back and stared the drawing. It was hard to draw such a stunning girl with a hint of mystery.

“Your eyes are… they’re kinda hard to draw.” Ashton nodded and turned his head towards the sheet.

“Why?”

“They’re just… they have a special glimpse. A glimpse you can’t draw.” He bickered, raising his voice a bit more than intentionally. She looked away from him and his drawing and said completely stiffly. The heat rose to her cheeks as she thought about her words.

“I’m Y/N - if you ever needed a name for the girl.” It was almost a whisper, and Ashton closed his book and put it aside, hiding it under the bench.

“Ashton.” He answered and reached forward to shake her hand. As he looked her in the eyes for the second time, a smile appeared on her beautiful lips.

“I know that. I’ve heard about you.” She said and nodded with a sly smirk. Ashton’s cheeks got a deep red undertone.

“What?” He questioned with a smirk, his dimples appeared under his blushed cheeks as he looked away for a moment before looking at her again.

“Ashton. The cute and curly-haired art major.” She changed her voice to a high-pitched sounding and batted her eyelashes, looking at the air as if she was in love. Clearly, she was impersonating someone she knew. Ashton chuckled at her as she stopped her ‘acting’. “I live with three other girls.”

Ashton ruffled up his curls, trying to hide his face just for one second because of the embarrassment. Ashton never saw himself as… wanted among girls. They usually left him alone with his drawings and gave him weird looks when they walked by.

“I did not know that.” Ashton grinned, as his confidence grew. He looked her in the eyes, only to see how flustered she was getting.

“Yeah, you’re pretty popular among the girls around campus.” She murmured and fiddled with one of the silver bracelets around her wrist. A small heart was hanging loosely as a charm to the bracelet.

“That’s not how I experience it,” Ashton said quietly. Y/N was looking at him with big eyes, knowing that in a minute she had class. Why couldn’t he just ask her out yet? She needed to leave soon and… she didn’t want to leave without a date or at least his number.

“Me neither. Guys aren’t exactly standing in line for me.” She hinted and put a stray of hair behind her ear. Ashton's eyes widened with joy.

“Really? So no boyfriend? Even with your gorgeous eyes?” The last sentence wasn’t supposed to be said out loud and Ashton coughed slightly as soon as he had realised what he had said. But Y/N only giggled at him and shook her head.

“No boyfriend.” Her eyes light up as he watched her, thinking about his next move.

“Would you want one?” He questioned and bit his bottom lip, thinking. A huge smile smeared across her face as she tilted her head with a laugh.

“Are you asking me out?” She decided to give Ashton a small push to get him to ask her on a date. She couldn’t wait forever.

“Maybe… uh, I mean, yes. Yes, I am.” He stammered and fiddled with his long fingers. “Unless you don’t want to.”

“I would love to.” She giggled and looked at Ashton with a serenity. “Should I write down my number somewhere?”

“Sure.” He said and quickly pulled out his sketchbook from under the bench. He found the page with the drawing of Y/N and reached her his pencil. She held back a smile, as she wrote down her digits at the bottom of the page, quickly standing up from the grass.

“I have class now.” The sun shined in her eyes, making her squint as she looked down at Ashton with a smile. The colour seemed to change as the light hit her and she blinked a couple times, her hair hiding parts of her face. Ashton was almost hypnotised as he studied her eyes. They had a soft glimmer of knowledge and eagerness, and Ashton had completely forgotten about time as he realised what he was missing on his drawing. He had figured out why he just couldn’t get her eyes to look as stunning as they did in person.

“I’ll call you. Or text you.” He said and Y/N nodded with a smirk. Before she was gone, Ashton had already begun drawing the missing piece in her eyes.

After endless talking on the phone when Ashton had gotten home that day, they sat a time and place for the first date. And instead of flowers Ashton brought Y/N the finished drawing of her.

And the eyes looking as striking and complex on paper as they did in person.  

A/N: i literally had zero idea for the title but i decided to call it eyes bc it’s a beautiful story - i actually think this imagine is one of my favourites ever which is great :))

Masterlist // Talk to me (and give me feedback lmao)

[doodlewash]

Hi, I am Pamela from Davao City, Philippines, and I’m a self-taught watercolorist. Growing up, I have always had this strong affinity to artsy endeavors where I could use my hands and imagination. I came from a typical Filipino family where my parents’ income was just enough so spending on art was more of an indulgence than a necessity. As my dad was a CPA, I followed on and took a finance-related degree. Life was hectic and time for art was sparse. The spark was there but I just didn’t have the energy and resources to take it any further.

15 years after, in 2017, I was where I planned to be in my career. I felt the slow simmer of wanting to do more than just work. I’ve always felt a sense of calm when I paint, and so I decided to pick up a pencil and start drawing again. It was pen and ink sketches initially which progressed into watercolor and ink. And finally, after a year of self study, I managed to establish an online gallery. In just over 12 months, I sold around 15 artworks and that tiny spark was finally set ablaze.

​

The beginning wasn’t easy. I was torn between my grueling day job and my extreme desire to just spend all day painting. Like any newbie, I was definitely overwhelmed but the universe of free information lying around is more than enough for anyone to get better (Wetcanvas, youtube). I read books on composition and perspective (Ian Roberts), color theory (Stephen Quiller) and watercolor techniques (Michael Reardon, David Webb). I watched videos of watercolor masters like Alvaro Castagnet, Joseph Zbukvic, Chien Chung Wei, among others. Resource sites such as enterclass.ru and slon.it, tremendoulsy helped me to progress further in watercolor.

Colors

I don’t use cobalts and cadmiums anymore for safety and environmental reasons. I have always loved Daniel Smith and W&N but they’re a bit on the expensive side. Recently, I have discovered below brands which I believe are comparable and more affordable.

Holbein (Lots of semi opaque pigments which are beautiful for muted scenes like chien chung wei)

Mission Gold (Extremely bright colors, lots of semi staining pigments)

Shinhan – PWC (professional) I have not fully used this but the reviews are all positive

My Current Palette

​St Petersburg/ White Nights – I have been using their fantasy set for a while and I have right now these colors in my palette: Lemon Yellow, Naples, Burnt Umber, Burnt Sienna, Golden Yellow Deep, Ruby/Claret, Quinacridone Rose/Lilac, Sap Green, Emerald Green, Blue/Bright Blue, Cerulean, Ultramarine, Indigo.

* wild card colors – Lilac and Jaune Brilliant (Holbein, opaque), white gouache (for highlights), Paynes Gray (Winsor & Newton watercolors, for quickly achieving darker tones)

Paper

Arches cold press 300gsm

Saunders Waterford cold press 300 gsm

Brushes

Joseph Zbuckvic – Escoda Aquario set (Big shape washes)

Isabey squirrel mop (Big shape washes)

Italian art store Kazan squirrel mop – Loose medium size shapes

Escoda Perla – 4, 6, 8 (for more details objects, controlled shapes)

Rat Whisker Outline/Detail Brush (bought at blueheronarts store in the US) – this is an amazing rigger brush for poles and electrical lines

Palettes

Brass palette – by David Cooper (UK)

Holbein metal palette

Plein Air Set & Studio

I have a portable plein-air kit (tripod and tray) handmade from Indonesia by artist Denny Samawa. For my home studio, I have a self assembled set-up composed of:

Vanguard Alta Pro 264AB 100 Aluminum Tripod

Guerrilla Painter, half sheet, watercolorboard

My technical profession taught me that a solid framework is key to excel in any endeavor. I personally don’t believe in “talent.” I believe in grit and resourcefulness to get to anywhere significant. In watercolor, the primary things to understand are: a) color theory b) composition and c) understanding of basic shapes.

My process is both structured and intuitive. First, I choose a specific scene then, I try to grasp the atmosphere and what colors would work best. For example, I use Naples to exhibit early morning light whilst Quinacridone Gold is for sunset scenes. Also, I use at least 2 variants of each primary color, preferably one warm and one cool. Of course, these are relative to the hue you want to dominate in your work. Taking blue as an example, if I can only have two in my palette I’ll have Ultramarine (“warm blue” bias towards purple) and Cerulean/Cobalt for achieving clean skies and beautiful bluish-green waters.

Second, is composition. As I’m a bit of a tech geek, I explored ways to visualize what I want to achieve. Recently, I discovered a neat app called “Sketchbook” where you could recolor and sketch over photos of scenes you want to paint. I use my note 10 to digitally sketch and edit images. Through this, I got better in “simplifying” which for me, is the foundation of a great painting. And the third element which I learned from Zbukvic is answering the question of what makes “IT”, IT? In a scene, details are irrelevant, focusing only on the basic shapes results to a loose and more cohesive painting.

​

Lastly, I believe that the only way to get better is to recognize that the race is long, hence humility is key. Venturing into an artistic endeavor requires soul and a genuine desire to showcase your innermost emotions (the reason behind my gallery “thousand shades of feeling”). When I look at each of my works, I feel I’m seeing a part of myself I’ve never seen before. I know there is a long way to go, but I will venture on, as I’m certain that art will lead me to a better me. Thanks for reading my story and feel free to reach out to me anytime.

Pamela Lagrosa​ Instagram Website

GUEST ARTIST: "A Thousand Shades Of Feeling" by Pamela Lagrosa - #doodlewash #WorldWatercolorGroup #watercolor #watercolour Hi, I am Pamela from Davao City, Philippines, and I’m a self-taught watercolorist. Growing up, I have always had this strong affinity to artsy endeavors where I could use my hands and imagination.

[comicteaparty]

August 10th-August 16th, 2019 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from August 10th, 2019 to August 16th, 2019.  The chat focused on the following question:

What is your process for planning out the paneling/layout of each comic page?

kayotics

I’ve finally gotten my process down to a process that works for me. For Ingress Adventuring Company https://www.ingress-comic.com/ I start with scripting the whole chapter out. Step two is thumbnailing the whole chapter out, so I can figure out pacing and paneling. I started to do thumbnailing on sheets of printer paper, which has been easier to figure out my drawings and to see how the comic flows on paper. Once that’s done it’s pretty straight forward. Panel borders in pencils > rough sketch & balloon placement > letters and tight sketch in pencils > ink letters > ink bubbles and borders > ink the rest of the page. Then I scan it and do the colors. With the thumbnail process I kind of do the chapter twice in pencils but it ended up being way easier in the long run, since I hate doing panel layouts and doing that work in the beginning is way easier.

Steph (@grandpaseawitch)

Afraid there's no scripting for https://oldmanandtheseawitch.tumblr.com/. It's all pretty much in my head but I go over it literally every day, and I have a few roleplays archived to keep things on the right track, but that's about it. Thumbnails are done in big batches. Last batch was about 20+ pages done at once. Thumbnailing is also where I figure out composition and such. Just detailed enough to give me the idea of what I want, with enough leeway to do as I please on the page itself. Thumbnails done, I make a batch of empty pages, and go in and make all the panels for the 20+ pages. Since I already know the composition from the thumbnails and I have digital guides set up on each page, that's super easy. With all of those done, then I just go back in, do rough sketches for each page. Cleaner than the thumbnails but not too clean yet. Once the rough sketches are done, this is actually where I'll add text and balloons, so that I know what the bubbles will be hiding and don't have to waste extra time. After that, I do as much in large batches as I can, usually cleanup sketches, then inks, maybe flat colors. But after that point, I just have to sit down to work on individual pages until they're done. And voila!

authorloremipsum

http://signsofthreecomic.webcomic.ws/comics/ For Signs of Three, I always start with the script, get the basic idea of what I'm going for in the page. Then panel layout and gesture sketches of people and the environment. THEN! BEFORE I START DETAIL SKETCHING! I LAY IN THE SPEECH BUBBLES. Seriously speech bubbles are critical to controlling how readable your page is and so so many people don't seem to see that. They must lead from one bubble and panel to the next in an easy to understand way or your reader will get lost and confused. So I always make sure to put bubbles in during thumbnailing. After that it's just basic refining the sketch, lining, coloring, and shading.

AntiBunny

Typically in AntiBunny http://antibunny.net/ I thumbnail a page first to decide what needs to happen. After that I look at those event and decide panel layout based on how best to depict them, factoring in what needs to fit, who needs to be there, and how time will pass. I'd say time is the most important aspect, followed by emphasis, and then content. Typically bigger panels depict more time passing, but that's not a concrete rule. A big panel can depict a very short moment in time. The amount of population has a big play in that as well. A lot of action in a big panel can be a short moment in time that's just heavily emphasized. A big panel with very little movement depicted is great for dwelling on a single moment, which is great for slowing down the pace of reading.

heroesofcrash

I used to not have a script at all, but now I tend to write out scripts in advance. I keep a four-panel format in mind (2x2) when I write a strip, but I'll sometimes combine or split panels depending on the flow of the story. (I'll place some sample strips below, showing a "default" 2x2 strip, and a few that combine or split panels based on that structure) I then draw guidelines in Manga Studio (I have the CD, not the digital version that became Clip Studio Paint) for where each panel will be. I put the dialogue in each panel, sometimes editing for space or to fit it nicer in a speech bubble. I can usually visualize how a speech bubble will generally fit in a scene; it's easier for me to draw around the bubble than to draw first and add the words later. After I sketch out the panels, I may move the words around to fit in the scene a little better. I may even tweak it a little when I draw the speech bubble around the text, if I don't like how the text fits in the bubble or how the bubble fits in the scene. As I mentioned earlier, here's two strips. One has four panels (which is the most common for me), the other has six. The latter is made by splitting the upper right panel into two skinny panels, and breaking the bottom half into three panels rather than two. Not only does it give me enough panels to do a complicated visual gag, but having panels with a similar layout next to each other makes the action easier to follow, and thus makes the gag flow better.

Desnik

For http://ask-a-warlock.tumblr.com/, I make tiny thumbnails to quickly go through layouts. I tend to have a few different ideas and doing small/quick is a lot easier on the revisions

LadyLazuli

For Phantomarine (http://www.phantomarine.com/) I've gotten into the habit of thumbnailing each chapter extremely roughly in a sketchbook, then bringing the pages into Photoshop and shifting the panels around to improve the flow throughout the chapter. I put in rough dialogue bits to anticipate balloons, then I get going on rough sketches and color placement in Procreate, then clean up and paint the sketches, then bring them back into Photoshop to finalize the page. It's honestly really haphazard, just because I tend to change details and dialogue around a lot, depending on what I feel is working/failing - but that core chapter flow doesn't change too much, just so I don't get caught needing more pages in one part. So... I keep the roughs very rough, but I adhere to them quite strongly? The details are where things get experimental (edited)

JUNK

I am a fool who hasn't been doing thumbnails lately, so my process is the typical script>sketch>inks>tone.

MJ Massey

I start with my storyboards, which are just skethcy first drafts of the pages in a sketchbook. I have a vague genreal story outline, but this is where I really figure things out--both the layouts and the script.

In my head, I tend to see things as if they were an animation, so I am usually trying to catch that sense of movement in the comic panels. I try to keep things interesting and thinking outside the typical grid layout, usually resulting in some pretty crazy stuff. It's easier with action scenes, but I try to mix up everything. I do my final pages on 9x12 bristol (I used to work on 11x14 but that was...too big for markers), but there are many times where I will scrap the storyboard and do something totally different for the final page, or add or take away things. But it's good to have that first draft down as an idea, it's easier to adjust from there if I need to

FeatherNotes

@LadyLazulii love your process ahhh!!!

LadyLazuli

@FeatherNotes MERCIIII

Nutty (Court of Roses)

For Court of Roses http://courtofroses.thecomicseries.com/ I mostly sketch out thumbnails, scan them in, and lineart/color. Like most of y'all, I have a general story outline, and specific scenes get more detail as I work closer to them. If there's a scene that has emotional hits and I want the right dialogue for it, I'll script it. If there's lots of exposition and detail, I'll script it. Just, largely winging it on my end!

Tuyetnhi

I usually work from loose script dialogue for a chapter, to get the feel for the page, then start thumbnailing. After thumbnailing tho, I redraw the thumbnails on csp, sketch, then change/define panel layout or render till finish. Often, my thumbnails don't give me enough info till I start the page. And that's good for me since it's still under a set guideline but I don't feel rigid on "Oh gotta make it exactly like this" or some sorts. Same goes with dialogue/scripts too since I tend to go back and correct panel layout if i don't think it was strong enough on the first go. Idk, I treat it more of a fluid process that I can go back and fix due to how I digitally paint/render things. Still the process depends on the page i'm working on, how strong the thumbnails are, dialogue, and color scheme theme I had with certain pages. Most of it is 40% gut feeling tho. Images shown here how I got OIYD! Ch. 2 - Page 15 to be to its finished form. [thumbnail-> Rough sketch -> add with color -> final render with dialogue]

ErinPtah (Leif & Thorn | BICP)

I took scans/notes about each step of the BICP page-making process back during chapter 5: http://www.bicatperson.com/comic/step-by-step/ ...and then again, seven years later, during chapter 28: http://www.bicatperson.com/comic/the-webcomic-page-making-process/ The art has gotten better, but the actual workflow...basically hasn't changed. (If it ain't broke...)

snuffysam

First I have the script for the entire book, which I'll have finished ahead of time. At the start of each chapter, I'll divide the upcoming script into pages based on how I want the comic to be paced - e.g. making sure the setup and punchline to a joke aren't on different pages, making sure there's not too much dialogue to read on a single page, etc. Then, when it comes time to do the page, I'll split things up into panels. That's pretty easy - I generally want to keep things to one line of spoken dialogue per panel, or one "action" per panel. Sometimes there'll be beat panels, sometimes two people will talk in one panel, but that's the general rule. Next I... put together the panels. I don't really use thumbnails to work this stuff out - important panels or panels with more dialogue are bigger, less important panels or ones with less dialogue are smaller. I try to make sure panels don't intrude on each others' vertical space, because i've always found that complicates things in a web medium - but that just means there's less for me to worry about. I make sure the panel layout is different from the previous page, and if there's an action I need to emphasize I'll do something weirder than just a rectangle. If there's not enough space on one page for the panel sizes I want, I'll make it a double-length or triple-length page. As for the actual artwork - I try to make sure the reader's eye line is led along the page. So panels on the left would have the characters generally facing to the right, and panels on the right would have the characters generally facing downward and to the left. I try to leave enough space for word bubbles - and in general, the characters on right panels will be placed lower than characters on left panels, because i want the speech bubbles to move downward as you read across a row. And, well, that's basically it!(edited)

authorloremipsum

finally someone who considers the eyeflow (am joking, mostly)(edited)

snuffysam

i didn't always, but a reviewer once told me how one specific action scene was really difficult for him to parse because the eye flow was just completely in the wrong direction, nearly every panel. so since then i've been making a conscious effort about it :p it's tough when there's two characters up against a wall and you need the page to flow the other direction from how they're standing though, lol.