#i think i was using a watercolor like brush to color everything flat

[sntoot]

i think i maybe put their earring on the wrong ear..........

anyways vague azem lore (medusa -> hestia -> azem)

[blueskittlesart]

hello! i love your zelink stuff sm😭 do you have any advice on how you get your characters so textured? like,, idk how to explain, but the clothes, hair and skin have a cool smudged effect. it might be rendering, but i really like your style of it!

uhhh okay im not sure exactly what you mean so i'm just going to go over everything you could potentially be talking about lmfao. (this is the problem with having multiple coloring styles)

what i think you're probably talking about is the very soft, smudgy rendering style that I sometimes use for more finished pieces. I haven't used it that much recently though so i'm not entirely sure?? for examples it looks like this:

this is a combination of 3 different sai brush presets. I sketch with a custom crayon brush, do flat colors with sai's default paper acrylic brush, and shade with a custom watercolor brush, and then i do a second pass overtop of all that with the crayon brush again to smooth things out and define important details. these are the settings for those brushes:

if you're talking about the kind of cleaner block-color look like this, which I think is the style I use most often:

this is the same crayon brush and paper acrylic brush mentioned above, but instead of shading with the soft watercolor brush I use the same paper acrylic brush to cell-shade. color and line do most of the heavy lifting here, since the only brush with any special texture is the paper texture on the crayon brush that's used for the linework.

the third potential style this could maybe (?) be about is this rougher, more obviously textured style, although in my mind i wouldn't call this 'smudged':

this is my new holy grail brush. i love her and i use her for absolutely everything. this one is for CSP, not sai. it's called sketches / doodles by REN99W, content ID 2024976 on the asset store, and it's FREE which is insane because it's the best csp brush ive ever used in my entire life. its pressure sensitivity is really cool because at normal pressure it will basically act like a normal linework brush with a bit of nice crunchy texture, but if you press harder than normal you get that sort of spray effect that looks almost like a halftone. literally incredible. works for sketching, lining, painting, ANYTHING. this brush has carried my art for the past semester and a half

[lunalikestowriteanddraw]

Okay, I normally don’t post my art if I use a base as a starting point (which, I’ll be frank, I tend to do. Mostly just because I view them as dolls and they help me get character/outfit designs down), but yall. I had a fucking VISION. I started this yesterday at like 1 in the morning, didn’t stop until I finished the outline (at 3 in the morning), and I just finished it today (also at 1 in the morning…huh). And I am so fucking proud of everything in this and I just need to share oh my GOD

It’s he!!!! It’s human Kremy Lecroux!!!! And I know I don’t have his top hat, and that’s for a few reasons

1) the hair was already a learning experience on its own and I didn’t want to overcomplicate things and get myself frustrated because of it

2) the hairstyle I went with wouldn’t really allow for his hat

3) I can’t draw hats. Like at all. They always look like shit.

But anyway! I am so proud of the hair yall. I didn’t actually want this hairstyle, i actually wanted them to be down, but the hair just want hairing. The Timelapse doesn’t show the amount of times I hit the back arrow (which was a lot. Especially in the sketching phase. Especially for the hair), but it was A LOT. So I just kinda went with this. I think it fits Kremy though, probably moreso now than it would’ve before

Also, I used this watercolor brush when sketching out the hair, and then when it came to outlining, I traced over the individual brush strokes. I think it worked out beautifully. I then used that same brush later for the individual texturing when i started on the detail work.

Also, that tattoo on his neck was actually inspired by Kremy’s cane and Dr Facilier as a whole (I actually wanted to use the background of Dr Facilier’s shop during “Friends on the Other Side” as the background for this, but they all had Dr Facilier in the picture and I didn’t feel like copying all those details). That’s also the reason why I gave Kremy a shadow, instead of the thick white outline I have a tendency to do on my other works.

Also, notice the ring? I’m just gonna say that’s his wedding ring. Bc why not. It’s cute, it’s him, and the ruby in the middle is vaguely inspired by this fanart I saw on here that essentially had Kremy using his wedding ring as a makeshift lighter on the rare occasion his personal space heater of a husband isn’t there to light his cigarette for him. Just…ignore that it’s NOT on his left ring finger

(Btw, it’s also loosely based on my own personal headcanon—where essentially Kremy, Gideon, and the pixies all got these magical fae wedding rings that magically appeared on their fingers bc it was technically a fae pact so…)

And please ignore the hella inconsistent shading. I had intended on doing highlights as well, but I forgot. I also forgot his mustache. Ah well. I think you can still get the Kremy vibe without it lol.

Idk man I am just so fucking happy with this. I very rarely get so into a drawing that I just…draw. Like this. Most of my artworks lately are just simple shapes and flat colors.

[kradeelav]

so i've got two strips going in parallel.

(this is a long 'talking shop' post about how both comics are diverging in visual style for different reasons.)

the first strip (I'm calling it 'combat instructor' for now) is the gunter/corrin porn comic i've wanted to do for ages, lol. me fucking around with hentai tropes, but also having fun subverting some Stuff with making the fanservice about him.

fanservice, see? :3c

keen eyes will notice i really like the textured inky style i used in 'dead is calling' - it was quick, it's got a slick dynamic sinister masculine quality, but with enough shades of "regular manga inking" so i'm re-using that for this one to block in the characters especially in the latter half of <combat instructor>.

(you see how deceptively simple that style is in the below two images from 'dead is calling' - it's actually very hellsing inspired with the high contrast almost graphically "flat" quality.)

that wasn't really working for the few backgrounds in this new strip though, which i kind of needed to just... fade as a more neutral color. so i started messing with my watercolor brushes, which are working so far here - i think the inherent messiness of the watercolors-as-shading will mesh well with the inking, and the surprisingly more intimate parts of eros. (rendering boob shine, gonads, etc)

pause on that.

this other strip... really should be titled 'the mortifying ordeal of being Known'.

it's uh. haha. it's about my self insert in fe: heroes (spin off gacha game) and meeting a few of the characters. (it's so much more than that with the emotional core - i ain't gonna explain everything but yumijoshi will Get This one on a level everyone else won't - but that's essentially what happens.)

it's also much less serious than the 'combat instructor' strip in a lot of ways. a good half of it is ribbing fe: heroes' gameplay (ultimately being a gacha/gambling game) but the latter half ... deals with a lot of delicate emotional undercurrents? more so than the other one which is just straight up uncomplicated porn.

so i waffled on the style for the longest time, feeling like it needed a much "lighter" (almost shoujo/romantic/dreamy style) - but trying to do precise delicate thin lines almost murdered my momentum on the YRMR epilouge strip. (gotta keep the momentum going.)

on the other hand, i was going fast enough with the watercolor approach for the backgrounds in the 'combat instructor' strip and wondered if the looseness couldn't be applied to the whole panel here, almost like scalera's work - the above is a great proof of concept to see how it works in action. watercolors have that soft dreaminess that works with the subject matter (emotional distance vs closeness etc), and more importantly, i can draft out the basic value/dynamic shapes quickly without getting hung up on specific parts.

i was getting stuck on anna (ponytail lady) in the above part when it was just the lines, but being able to block out the values of her hair vs the other character's outfit vs the background in five minutes is ... enormous.

that's the easy part.

hard part is making this consistent for ~20 pages :D;

[crushedsweets]

How do you do your coloring? (Ex: ur clock drawing) I feel like mine ends up not blending into each other and looks off even when the colors are close. Im still kind of new to digital so i dont know the problem vs traditional. Love ur art!!

tysm!!! im not too sure how to explain it but. ok i really have no idea how to explain it. ill try.

i use a big version of the smooth watercolor tool to lay out flat colors & blend, then use the rough pencil to add that sorta chalky/unblended look i like. when using the rough pencil tool, it does NOT blend, so the colors just cover eachother which helps with adding texture instead of smoothing it all out... JUST REMEMBER NOT EVERYTHING NEEDS TO BLEND, its okay to have transition colors instead!!!!!!!!!!

i usually go for more saturation, reddish tones, and use analogous colors to shade! i rarely darken the color more than i saturate it, if that makes sense... I FOCUS ON COLOR-PICKING THE FIRST 5-7 COLORS/SHADES I CREATED, rather than creating more! occasionally i use the air brush tool to add a light blue hue into the shadow. idk why. i saw others do it and thought it looked good so i copied. occasionally, i'll do a brighter red on the outside of shadows like a transition color. . .

IM SORRY IM REALLY NOT GOOD AT EXPLAINING THIS i really recommend finding an artist you like on youtube!!! i dont think ginjaninjaowo does flatout tutorials, but I LIKE HER STUFF + she explains her process and you can watch her speedpaints to get an idea! the drawfee show also aren't tutorials but you can watch their speedpaints while they chat over art challenges, and its cool! but those are just some ppl i like. .

i really just recommend googling a youtube tutorial for coloring though!

[creaturing-your-faves]

(If you're comfortable with this) could you make a tutorial on how you make your creations??? It'd okay if not, thank you for making them :D

WAA i can try!! baby's first tutorial ft. this guy

🐾 first, a picture of your blorbo

i use waifu2x to up the quality, not always neccessary but it makes everything a bit easier and prettier. i use firealpaca to edit but you can use whatever you like, im not your mom

🐾 probably get a reference

yeah i dont always do this. but you should! i should! so google whatever creature you want to turn blorbo into and maybe scroll for a bit to get a feel for what they look like :3

try to find one at a similar angle to your blorbo picture and paste it/open as a layer. look this is close enough ↓

🐾 onto the actual editing! human ear surgery

in case you prefer just one pair of ears. you have to understand the style so you can imitate it.... so look at their hair, maybe theres more colors or gradients than you can see at a glance or something ! i colorpick a bunch of them and put them over their ears, then blend them together with a low opacity watercolor brush

ALSO, notice the.. lighter glowy aura thing around his ear in the og? i try to imitate details like that too, used watercolor for this again

now maybe you wanna make it look like theres something covering that spot, since theres kinda nothing there now. soo if that looks weird to you, (open a new layer and) put some hair over it. i cant tell u how to imitate Any style so just. study it and keep trying

with enstars here the lines are pretty soft, so i go over it with watercolor brush after doing the general shape. with a higher opacity you could probably just use a softer brush from the start, i just like starting with the basic pen

🐾 the lines!!!

nowww i lower the blorbos opacity to around 50%, bring the reference somewhere i can see and just kinda... start sketching. lot of redrawing and transform tooling here sometimes

TIPS 1. you can clean the lines up at the end so dont stress

2. think of your blorbos new ears as a real tangible part of their body and how they fit on their head since you dont wanna make it look too flat !

3. and for the placement i always end up at roughly one human ear length above their og ears if that makes sense. tried to visualize it

as for inner ear fluffs phew i dont know either. draw a circle and start from there? maybe there are actual animal ears in blorbo artstyle out there you could reference

🐾 coloring 🏳️‍🌈

finally some progress huh. i color the lines in a contrasting color first so i see the lines properly and dont miss anything, then fill it in with the actual color :3 OH and for gradients i just use the airbrush at the ear tips or sides

noww shading! new layer, basic pen brush and try to follow the shapes in the og art. it's best if you pick the colors from the actual picture!!! take notes mentally and just do your best i dont know how to explain this more

taking this as an example, the shading is mostly in pretty simple wider areas, so not a lot of seperate strands in there. and its again pretty soft around the edges of shades and highlights, so i'll go over it with my beloved watercolor. keep things like that in mind so the creaturing blends in well :3

if you like more detail better you can still go with that. or less detail on a complex artstyle. the world is your oyster

🐾 and the rest

what else could there be???? making the lineart more cohesive for example ★ oftentimes it's not one solid color, thicker or thinner than yours, things like that.

for things like piercings or fangs you can just draw them on top i believe in you <3 if its like an intricate earring use the lasso? magic wand? the one that lets you select an area to copy and move on top of your ear layers

+ remember details like shadows, if you put a tail on top of say blorbos leg there's gonna be a shadow under it! put a layer under the tail ones and freehand draw the shadow, OR copy the tail layer, put the copy under the og one and change color/opacity until it fits

[candycatstuffs]

Hello, I hope you don't mind me asking (and sorry if you've answered this before), but how did you get that 80's anime art effect on your summer Amy and Rouge? Did you use any specific brushes or textures? They both look so amazing!

I dont mind at all! I got the gist of it from this video, but I'll show exactly how I did it under the cut! And thank ya <333

First off, here's the base flats and lineart, no effects or anything

To start the effect, I added a multiply layer at 35% with a soft yellow color as a clipping layer over the flat color layers

Next, I shaded it on a normal layer so I could pick all the shading colors myself and added lighting with a light yellow color on a 30% add layer. You can choose the shading/lighting colors yourself or use layer effects like multiply or add, its just personal preference!

An extra detail I added was changing the layer effect on the shading layer from nothing to a 3px watercolor edge, that gives the shading the neat lines on the edges. I think this is a firealpaca specific setting tho

Next, I added a 35% static overlay on top of all the color layers to give the picture its texture. Some programs have noise filters built in, but I like to just google static overlay and copy paste it in lol

The next step is to copy and paste the lineart, drag it underneath the crisp lineart, and apply a gaussian blur filter to it at about 3-4. You also might wanna tone down the opacity

Then I put ALL the layers into a folder, and put a 15% opacity normal layer over it with a bright yellow to warm it up to make it give it more summery vibes, but also to reduce the contrast between the lineart and colors. I think that rly helps give it the retro anime vibes

Last step! Save the image as a png or make a folder containing all the layers and apply a chromatic abberation filter to it

And thats everything!

[tobyisave]

ask dump #3!

rch

Yes and no! Holetta Baby is a character song for a story I wrote in high school with some friends I've since fallen out of touch with --- because of that (esp. since some of the characters were based on ourselves), and because it's frankly bizarre, I don't know if I'll ever share too much about it.

All you really need to know is that it's from the perspective of a man whose wife flew away as he gradually realizes that she's never coming back. IIRC she was just fleeing for a while because their love was forbidden, hence "Loving you's so good I fear it's wrong." In reality, she got trapped on an island somewhere and he was too heartbroken to consider the possibility that she might need rescuing.

Thank you!!! I really can't overstate how happy I am that Townsend resonates with other people who have intrusive thoughts. It's something I still have trouble talking about but she's been a good outlet for that. Also quite happy that the angst is hitting right ehehe

art

Honestly no, I have so much trouble with that too OTL. Occasionally I use the warp tool on a sketch to help put an interesting line of action before I actually do lineart? I recently started experimenting with drawing in fisheye perspective too, and that definitely shakes things up.

Thank you so much!!

I almost always draw in Procreate (with an iPad + apple pen). I have 2 sets of favorite brushes on there - these are what I usually use:

6B Pencil (found in the "sketching" category). I use this for EVERYTHING from lines to rendering.

Studio Pen ("inking")

Medium Hard Airbrush aka the most generic brush on earth

Inka ("inking")

Spectra ("painting") - annoying because it can alter colors by pressure though

Then I have this set I call 'ink kit' which I use when I want to change things up without actually switching mediums lol

Blackburn ("drawing") - Really thick brush that makes me think a little harder about lines. I also have a duplicate modified to make it a little smoother and smaller & I switch between those two when doing lineart on these pieces

Gesinski Ink ("inking") - one of those pens that's flat so it's really thin or wide depending on the angle

Oil Paint ("painting")

Watercolor ("painting") -- just for coloring stuff in when it doesn't have to be precise

Also these niche uses:

Driven Snow ("elements") for freckles

Nikko Rull ("painting") for skin texture

adamandi

It was just a fairly thick curling iron (curled upwards all over my head) and then a lot of hairspray. If I remember correctly, the first night it was done by our costume designer Hahnji Jang (@/hahnjij on insta!) and then I did it myself the rest of the nights. It was definitely their idea at least - my hair is naturally pretty flat and up til then I assumed Vincent's would be too, lol.

No idea where the bag (or really any of it) is from, sorry. I really liked walking around in his swooshy jacket, and I ended up buying it afterwards. As far as normal people clothes I would actually wear, I really really liked his pants, which I was unfortunately not able to keep.

There actually exists in my mind a completely different "biblically accurate Vincent," which is the Vincent I had been picturing all the way up until the actual performances. I always pictured him with long black hair and freckles, and I considered drawing on freckles for the show because of that.

[vasiliquemort]

Hi! I was wondering if you ever make tutorial/speedpaint videos of your work. I'd love to see your process! Additionally, can I ask what program you use? Do you have any specific brushes? I just really love your style and would love to know more about your process!

Hiii!<зз Thank you so much for your message!

Oh, I actually used to - but not anymore, I fret o/////o There is still my account on youtube (Aukane Min?) yet there is just three speedpaints that was made two years ago and outdated to the brim (a portraits for Alucard, Astarion and Julian?). At this moment I generally, too, don't think there is a correct way for me to create speedpaints or tutorials with my current state of workflow and style - it's so chaotic and usually includes constant switching both for techniques and programs and lots of them are really strange and uncomfortable to show for the most parts o/////o

But I always worked with Adobe Photoshop mostly! My blending and painting techniques usually terrible there, but it is always best for composition, setting, tone and coloring and all post-processing for me personally? At the current moment, since I put more pressure into painting element rather than clear line/flat coating, I also switch onto Clip Studio a lot - it's not comfortable for me in terms of coloring and composition, yet it has such good textures for work and brushes? o////o First time when I started working with it it felt like new world opened (my current header was fully painted in Clip Studio and redacted in PS after, and it meant so much for me<зз) and I learn a lot about it at the current time, too, so my style heavily changes from time to tame, specifically depending on time I can put into work and how much I can experiment on it<зз

At this moment I could describe my workflow as:

Gather references and in Photoshop create composition. Make a rough line of basic shapes, create a basic palette to use later. There is no shadows or coloring, only simplest part of design o////o

Switch to Clip Studio to create a clearer line. I like to use it's original rough oil brush for it, too, but it depends on how clear and gathered work should be o////o Usually there is several layers of line, too - one is more transparent for general shape, second one is layered over to create deeper crevices and accents?

Into Photoshop - to fill painting planes? I try to make them as clear as they could be, and separated folders for each plane of working - for example, one for face, different for body/hands, several for different clothing details, for hair, too, for background elements? I cannot physically put myself into painting everything in one place at all - even shadows of one object may contain different layers that are on top of another? o/////o Generally I do not work with textures at that moments, just create as many different layers I might need and redact them as much as I can to create consistent tones of all elements for that moment?

Clip Studio! To create texture and taste of those tone differences, lights and shadows - I like the way how it can be blended and how oil/watercolor effects can be applied? From one side it is very technical process that does not expect huge differences, but I also can feel comfortable at this moment to just create nice depth to shapes, basic textures that was in mind, make all edges more smooth and blended in environment and work over details in general - over hair strands, eyes, crevices in cloth, tone differences over skin and it's personal details and textures? Somewhere lines are lost, too, and painted shapes overcome in the project, too.

In Photoshop! o/////o I tend to merge layers for each plane and redact all tones using combined metods - like color replacement, gradient maps, filters, curves and levels? I also tend to apply additional textures when they are needed, combine photorealistic elements sometimes, or elements and decigions from previous works. Sometimes I add then sharpness to tone differences using contour sharpening (inside planes, yet not on the edges?), and blur other elements or planes, too (not by blur itself but by using oil painting effect with more voluminous brush size setting?).

Then I combine all layers together and start do post-processing? I add more lighting, merge, then copy and blur them several times to create different blur effects, clear them, deepen them, and together with those changes I edit tones of painting again o/////o This time I use curves and levels and gradient maps (like in blending mode to previous version of painting) on whole work rather than different layers, and I add new filters like film grain and grain and deepen sometimes effect by sharpening contour again but with extended radius? Sometimes I use color range to isolate shadows, neutrals, accents and lights and edit them separately? Sometimes I use color filters, too, to simplify their tones into one general? o/////o

o//////o Things differ a lot from how much of time I can put into painting (it's so complicated sometimes! Sometimes when things rushed I try to simplify them to make less mistakes? But also when I work too long over one painting everything just blurs in eyes and there is so difficult to create sharp, artistic and sudden decigions and all is very technical?), and whether it is my own project and for someone (Then there is such specific combination where at the same time I try to do something new and expressive cause for such paintings I can put a lot more effort and time than for usual but at the same time they need to reflect something that person that this painting is for saw in my previous works and expected in their own? o//////o)

Especially since the sketching stage is completely different (it should be extended a lot and personate whole painting in general like it will be in the end, without unexpected decisionds and changes, while for myself I can create them in such way how they can be out of limits? For commissions sketch is always tries to impersonate final stages but in significantly simplified way, but in my own projects it's just a design that can be changed in so many ways anytime and reworked as much as it requires? o/////o).

It's.. Oh, a mess o//////o It makes me so happy, though! I just don't think that any of that can be showed and tutored? Art comes from heart, it's meant to be chaotic and non-recreational, it's not about design of reality but rather of it's interpretation!<ззз

[transformersweatpants]

Can you make like, a watercolor tutorial? Cause I've been trying to learn watercolor since I was baby and can never figure it out ❤

Hell yeah!! This tutorial might suck so my apologies and since I’m not sure where you’re at I’m just gonna start with everything I can think to say, and in terms of materials I’m just gonna tell ya what I use, but hopefully this’ll work for whatever you’ve got as long as it’s not a crayola set (that’s what I started on so I can say will full authority those are bad)

My deepest apologies to everyone abt the length of this post djdjdj I don’t freakin know how to do the read more thingy

So! To start, these are just the materials I use:

I use this portable set from Amazon, it’s lasted a while and the paints are really quite good for it being $15, It comes with a lot of variance in colors and shades, though I mix most of my colors myself! The white in that palette isn’t too great so for fixing mistakes I use this! It works pretty well for fixing any mistakes watercolors are wont to make.

I buy my brushes at Joann Fabrics And Crafts store, though I think most art stores will have a good selection. Joann’s usually has really good thin long brushes which are super useful since I paint small, as well as large and pointed brushes for painting large swaths of paint. I recommend having one or two of each, here’s a picture of the ones I use regularly and a paint covered ruler for reference!

Currently for all of my taz art I’ve been using this Arteza sketchbook (just in general be careful of your finger/hair oils touching the paper, that sketchbook especially will cause the watercolor to not adhere to the page if I touch it too much, so I just put a little scrap of paper under my hand while I paint and sketch and it works great) but for my professional work I use this Canson brand, if you’d like just a visual kind of reference for how I paint, albeit edited (I promise, it’s a lot less of a satisfying and fast process unedited) I do painting videos on tiktok!

Palette

So! Mixing paints. I’ll get to color theory in a second, but mixing your own colors is good to do, and most paint sets will come with a palette to use, but if they don’t any slick white surface will do! I use a big ol piece of glass from a frame and the white backing from it.

Swatching

I always do little test swatches before I lie the actual color down! It helps so ya don’t mess up colors, it’s become kinda muscle memory for me but usually just lil swatches like a couple centimeters wide and an inch long is probably gonna be enough for you to know if the color is how you want it!

Size

Just wanna say: I paint really small! The largest my paintings get is like 5 inches tall, and that’s usually only for my professional stuff, but I dunno if you’d like to do that! If you paint big, just be careful of using too much water or your paper will warp! It’s not the end of the world though, and use of water is something that definitely took me a sec to learn.

Drying

Make sure to let stuff dry! If you’re painting sections, for example like this painting I did, I let the red dry completely before painting the yellow! Or else those bois would’ve bled together, but if you wanna use that to your advantage, go ahead and mess with watercolor textures! Also If you’re using a lot of pigment, it’ll take longer, just don’t make the mistake I’ve made many a time in touching the not dry yet paint! But!! Be wary: watercolors are tricky bastards and if you want a smooth coat of paint, work fast! Or else some parts’ll dry and you’ll get a wonky coat, this isn’t all too worrisome except when you’re painting skin tones!

Pigment

Okay so pigment to water ratio is a tricky thing, and I must admit it probably comes with a bit of practice as dumb as that is to hear, but I’ll try and give ya some tips on how how to implement it!! So for my fanart work on here I don’t use a lot of pigment since I don’t use that many super saturated and flat colors, unlike in my tiktok stuff where I do thick coats of paint for maximum visual asmr stuffs or whatever. It also probably depends on the paints you’re using, but I’d recommend trying to find a consistency that isn’t too thick, or else it’ll be really weird to work with, and always remember to mix enough of a color before you start painting with it!!

Colors and unifying them

Unifying your colors can be a dope trick! Basically like instead of using a bright green and a bright blue and yellow and pink for a color scheme you can change each color depending on if you want like a warm tone or a dark/blue tone! So the bright green would turn into an army green, the yellow would get orangier, the blue would be kinda greyish, and so they’ll all fit nicer with the pink or reds and the piece will be soft and nice on the eyes! Some examples of how if unified colors and stuff in my work below! Also I should say, I use a lot of edits to get it this warm toned! On my iPhone there’s a lil slider for warmth and tints and stuff

So I’m a big fan of warm and orangey toned stuff so for mixing paint here’s the color you’d add to make one color less bright and more neutral so it doesn’t clash with the other colors! This gets into color theory which there are probably some great YouTube videos on! This mixing also goes vice versa.

Blue: add orange, green: add red, Red: add green to make a nice brown or a skin tone, yellow: add purple.

Also! Watercolors are tricky when mixing, basically you’re not always gonna get a perfectly saturated vibrant color when you mix two colors together like red and blue to make purple, so it’s usually just best to use a purple watercolor if you have it.

painting light:

This is honestly something I’ve just recently been incorporating into my work and I don’t have a great way to explain it so I’ll just give a few references. Painting light and shadow isn’t nescessary but if you wanna do it here’s a kinda easy way to:

Painting shadow

For shadows don’t just use grey or black! This usually can make a piece desaturated (or so I have been told) so instead you can use a blue or maybe a red or pink depending on if you’re painting skin or not! Also if you wanna add just a bit of dimension to your piece but don’t wanna go overboard on the shadows, i usually just paint a lil half triangle under the chin!

Blush

It’s not nescessary but it’s a way I’ve found fun to make the characters look more human and cute! Just on the ears, fingertips, knuckles, knees, shoulders, nose if you draw noses, elbows, and toes should do the trick!

black paint

Black is an extremely tricky color to paint with! Sometimes if you’re painting like a goth outfit for example and you have a lot of overlapping black shapes, it’s hard to differentiate them and so I usually do these weird lil lines to show distinction between things!

Lastly, I hope you have lots of fun and tons of success in whatever form that may come in! Let me know if you have any more questions or clarifications or details! Sorry this took me so long! <3

[cricketdrawings]

Traditional art materials I like!

❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤

Pens:

1. Tombow brush pens will never let you down. These suckers are good for EVERYTHING. You know I keep that mf thang on me. You can get a pack of 3 on amazon for about 6 bucks I think! Worth every penny. I own like,,,, 10. The black ink is nice and dark. The blue case has a slightly firmer tip, while the black one is ever so slightly softer. If you prefer tighter line control, I’d go with the blue.

2. Pentel duopoint flex. Just discovered this bad boy when shopping for pens at Michael’s. It’s 2 sided like the name suggests, with a wide brush and thin brush. The wide brush is a little looser and can make some pretty broad lines, while the thin side is firmer and is easier to control. The line variety you can get outta this thing is Insane. It’s a little on the pricier side at $10 at Michael’s, but the website literally always at least has a 20% off coupon, and it’s completely worth it. Not sure how long it lasts yet, but as soon as I saw how well that badboy performs, I bought 2 more. I’ll report back if they wear out quickly.

3. You can never go wrong with a good ol’ ballpoint pen. Bic is usually the way to go. Penmate smears like Hell, especially the blue ones.

4. Micron PN. This one is a firm brush point, and the lines are pretty fine, but you can still press a little harder to get that variation in there. I’ve been using it to illustrate my book a lot lately. Microns also tend to be a little pricey, but if you stock up a little at a time when you can, it’s worth it.

5. Pentel sign pen. These are similar to tombow, but have a slightly wider base of the nib. They work great, but if you prefer darker black ink, go with the tombow.

6. Speedball dip pen. If you’re looking to get started with dip pens, you can get a set at michael’s with a single black pen and several different nibs, from thin to flat calligraphy, for around $11. They’re pretty reliable and last a while! Just remember to clean around the base of the pen where the nib goes in so that the ink won’t clog the entry port and get stuck in there, and you’re golden! You can clean off india ink with ammonia, or glass cleaner like windex. Speedball india ink is also pretty nice, with a lovely dark black.

Paints:

Watercolors:

1. Kuretake gansai watercolors. These guys are the most bright, pigmented, beautiful watercolors I’ve ever used. If you’re looking for a bolder watercolor, this one is for you. Look for the long green box. Japanese watercolors in general tend to vary from so opaque that it almost acts like gouache, to transparent, and have the most bold colors I’ve seen from the medium.

2. Watercolor confections. These guys have wonderful little portable tin cases, and come in a wide variety of color themes. I own the tropical set, and wow is it beautiful. The colors are easily activated, beautifully granulated, and lightfast. They also have a lovely skin tone set I haven’t personally tried yet but that I’ve had my eyes on for quite a bit!

3. HIMI jelly gouache. Yes, this is the super trendy one that everyone uses, but it’s trendy for a reason! I don’t reach for it as often as I do my gansai palette, but if you like the opacity of gouache but don’t wanna fiddle with tubes, this is for you. I know it’s not exactly watercolor, but it’s in the same neighborhood!

Acrylic:

1. Crayloa. Yes, you read that right. Crayola acrylics have downright beautiful mixing colors, and are just really good affordable acrylics. Crayola isn’t always the best choice for professionals, but they’re reliable, and these acrylics never miss. Most of the time if you see me post an acrylic painting, it was made with those paints!

2. Windsor and newton. W&N is generally a pretty reliable company, and their supplies are pretty high quality, and often worth the slightly higher price tag. Their acrylics in particular are around $5 each, which is more affordable than say, golden or liquitex. Funnily enough, they perform similarly to crayola acrylics, but they feel more… luxurious, somehow. Wish I had a better way to describe it, but I just got myself a pretty good sized set and am looking forward to wearing it out. Oh, and they also dry nicer than crayola, in which different colored paints tend to have slightly different finishes. W&N doesn’t do that, and from what I’ve seen so far they all dry a nice smooth matte.

(I don’t know enough about oil to recc paints for that lol but I hope to in the future!!)

Canvas: I tend to just get whatever cheap canvas I can find, but I must say, if you’re lacking in space to store your art, I recommend getting a roll of unprepared canvas. If you want to start out white like a lot of pre-made canvases are, just pick up some gesso and prepare the surface yourself. You can cut out any size piece to your liking! When you’re done with the painting, you can roll it up for safekeeping! I’ve got canvases stockpiled, but I’m going to start the habit of working with the plain fabric much more often, since I still unfortunately live at home and my bedroom also essentially doubles as my studio.

Pencils:

1. Prismacolor ebony. These babies are much more affordable than their colored pencils, and you can get a 12 pack for around 10 bucks on amazon. These guys, like their name suggests, are super soft and dark, so you can get wonderful line variation and contrast. They tend to smudge easily though, so if you have trouble with that, be careful!

2. General’s layout pencils. These guys are also super dark, and lay down almost black. They’re also very soft graphite, so you can get some good line variation and contrast just like ebony, but they have a much less shiny finish, which can be nice!

3. Palomino blackwing. Yes, THOSE pencils. I cannot recommend them enough. They will make you feel so fancy. They lay down soft, dark, and come with this cool little rectangular eraser you can adjust. They’re famous for a reason! They were Chuck Jones’ weapon of choice!! If you feel like paying slightly more, then these are absolutely worth the tag. Depending on where and when you get them, they can set you back around $25-30 for a pack of 12, and they are absolutely worth every penny. The only thing I’d suggest is to be careful when sharpening, since they can wear down more quickly than regular pencils. It helps to carefully sharpen with an x-acto blade, and to only sharpen the lead itself when possible, and not the wood right away. It’ll make them last much, much longer, and make the price tag even more worthwhile.

Woodburning/pyrography tool:

I’ve only ever used one woodburning tool thus far (that’s about to change!) and that’s the walnut hollow creative versa-tool. It’s a wonderful tool to start out with, and you can get one at michael’s for around $30, and even less if you use a coupon. (Can u tell I work at michael’s lmao. Hmu for michael’s tips, you can save a lot of money really easily there!) The tool gives you a nice variety of tips to choose from. The universal chisel nib is probably the easiest to start with. You can shade with the flat end, and get thin to thick lines depending on how hard you press with the edge. It’s a little hard to get curves on it, but with practice and patience it comes easier! If you draw pretty fast, like me, it can take some getting used to, since pyrography tends to be a slow and steady kind of a process. The slower you go, the deeper it will burn, the thicker/darker lines you’ll get, and the quicker you go the more likely it’ll be that you’ll just scar the wood and not get very far.

As for the thinner tips in the walnut hollow kit, don’t be fooled! If you’re looking to get thinner lines, these won’t always work the way they seem they will. It’s kinda confusing if you go in blind like I did, but I learned that the thinner the metal, the less heat that you get coming out of it, and the longer it takes for a line to appear. You can still use them for tiny details, but it takes a bit. You’re better off getting a good handle on the universal chisel nib and making thinner lines that way, since it tends to go much quicker, and with the higher heat you’re able to get from that, you’re less likely to scar or stab the wood.

The shader tip is also a pretty good tool to learn. I’ve seen artists who only use the shader tip and create photo realistic stuff! As soon as you get used to the odd shape, you learn to kind of work with it like a paint brush. Angling it to the side can also get you some nice thin painterly lines. And of course, like the name suggests, holding it flat and moving it gently over the wood (longer for darker burn, shorter for lighter) can get you a lovely range of values.

Choosing your wood; make sure to choose soft, light wood. Darker wood is generally fine as long as it’s soft, but it’s harder to get the image in there since you can’t add highlights with just the burner or leave any blank spaces for the highlights. It’s best to choose a lighter wood, like pine, which I believe is what the plaques at michael’s are made of. In the wood section there you can get pre-made plaques for $1-5 each, and they’re basically perfect for the task. I know less about getting wood slices, but the ones in that same section are also pretty nice, have nice light wood in the center, and it’s got a built in frame around it by way of the bark. They tend to be a lot more expensive though, so make sure you wait for a sale or use a coupon unless you wanna shell out $10 or more for a single piece of wood, even if it is a little nicer. Or just befriend a lumberjack!!

You can also color your woodburnings with watercolor. I unfortunately don’t have much experience with this, since I’ve pretty much only painted on mine with acrylic, which can be fun just as long as you don’t paint over all the lines you made by accident, but I just wanted to throw that out there for all my homies that like color.

💗 That’s all I’ve got for now! I hope anyone who likes my art and wants to try something similar is able to try the supplies I use, and get just as much joy out of these supplies as I do! My inbox is always open if you have any questions about a piece or how I did it. I adore answering any inquiries, so it’s no bother! I’m no professional, but I have been making art for most of my life, so if I’m ever able to provide any help or advice for another artist then I’m happy💗

[volfoss]

i love ur colored panels so much and im considering taking it up myself 🧍🏻do u have any advice or anything :000

AUGH thank u sm🥺🥺🥺 I do all mine on ibis so like my advice might be dif than how it would be on other art programs but!

50% opacity on your shading layers (PLEASE separate the shading and base colors omg you will regret it if you don't) and use a blur tool also at 50 % (altho I do sometimes blur more or less depending, and same w layer opacity but that's normally what i do)

If you are struggling w a color palette, coolors.co will be ur best friend forever, it even has hex codes and stuff! I try and keep my color palette on the panel (altho I normally ajdjfj forget if I'm not doing one from this site but it's a godsend for blushing and stuff!)

If ur doing a chapter cover, go to the file page on the Jojo wiki and find the highest quality one! You can also like def do normal panels that way but I normally have multiple scans I check to get the best quality (I find the shonen jump app is normally the highest quality ones? Esp w smaller panels!)

Big big one (esp bc I struggle w shading), but having the official colors pulled up, it can help a lot, esp if you're staring at an area and have NO idea what the section is!

I uh? Overuse layers a lot (the foolymes one was like 50 layers before I merged) but I keep each color on a different layer so I can rly easily adjust it if I don't like it (I believe you can do this all on the same layer and select w medibang but this is what I do w ibis!) And then merge when I've finished literally everything

I normally just like use my default brush (in ibis it's Dip pen (hard)) to color and sometimes with shading I'll use a watercolor or pastel brush although I normally use the same brush for everything!

For like eyeshines and details that are painted black (ie the baseball threads on the foolymes one were black) you just add a layer on top of your panel and color over so if it messes up you can really really easily just erase it and it doesn't ruin progress!

Also for face shading I normally look at makeup contour guides! It helps to know where exactly everything goes!

Also def start w smaller panels! The chapter covers can get rly rly long and maybe a bit overwhelming so like finding a panel that's just like a face can make it a lot easier (at least from experience!)

Oh also w face shading I normally have it layered with the bottom layer being the shading, middle layer being highlight, and top being blush! I color pick from the base skin and adjust until it works right but it's also def some trial and error! I also like don't blend those layers until they're all down just to make sure I have stuff in the right place!

I don't have a like particular method to coloring overall other than I normally save the big areas for last so I can have a layer underneath and just hit it with a big brush and not have to worry about going around a million things! (I normally use the felt tip pen (hard) brush for this as it goes up to 1000 pixels!)

Shading legit is soooo important tho, like flat colors can def look good (and I do always pass my flats to a friend to make sure the colors work before I start shading, it helps to have a second pair of eyes esp when you've been working on SMTH for so long) but shading adds so much dimension and highlighting can be so so so good too! I think it just like depends on what you're going for but shading is so helpful in the long-run esp when i get the hang of it!

[marlahey]

under the same roof part three: all the time you need

a harry styles rpf part three of six written by annie and aj (marlahey and formerly harryonstage) ratings/warnings: disaster gays, endangered ovaries from dad!harry, women aggressively supporting women notes: enter the rest of harry’s family unit! in case anyone’s curious, annie tells sylvia to give her dad a kiss in vietnamese, to which he responds, good girl. before anyone comes for me, there will be plenty more opportunities for bed-sharing to come. side note: aj always pictured olivia coleman as officer warren.  masterlist | part one | part two | part four (21.12.20)

............................................... • saturday, 5th january 9:18 am • The second time you’re roused from sleep, sunlight illuminates Harry’s room. You lift your head, squinting, but more quickly you recognize where you are.

Harry is nowhere in sight, but a fresh glass of water is within reach on the nightstand, and a cardigan knitted with primary-colored patches lies folded at the foot of the bed. After slipping your arms through the loose sleeves, you take a few gulps of water and make sure to shut his bedroom door quietly on your way out. You hadn’t spent much time in the living room as per Officer Warren’s instructions to avoid the windows, but you can see into it from the hall. And since there’s still no sign of Harry, you take a minute to discreetly look around at the place he and his daughter call home. His flat is obviously larger than yours—he has two bedrooms versus one—but the morning light seems to stretch the space even further, like an open armed welcome. The atmosphere bustles with a little dose of chaos. Two brimming bookshelves span one wall of the living room, and plants line the windowsills. A half-sized Christmas tree stands off in the corner, wrapped in twinkly lights and strings of popcorn. A white fender guitar decorated with various stickers stands with a speaker beside the couch, and records tile the wall behind it: Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac, The Stones, The Cars, Hello I’m Dolly.  There is ample evidence that a child lives here, too. The walls are dotted with drawings in watercolor, crayon, and sparkles. You can see pieces of Lego strewn out on the carpet; they must be from that towering box Harry had towed into the lift a week before Christmas. A small smile tugs at your lips as you follow the smell of espresso into the kitchen. You find Harry leaning against the counter looking contemplative, holding aloft a cup of coffee that he seems to have forgotten about. He’s wearing the same shirt he’d slept in, but thrown on a pair of joggers. You bid a quiet, “Good morning.” He inhales sharply as his head whips toward you, his drink sloshing over the edge of his mug slightly. “Jesus, sorry,” he laughs softly, shaking his head at himself. You watch as he wets a dishrag and cleans the small mess. “Not really used to company my age.” “Oh… Sorry.” “S’alright.” His voice is covered in sleep; it almost sounds like he has a cold. “Coffee?” You hum appreciatively. “Love some.” “Were you able to get some sleep?” he asks, pulling a mug from the cabinet. “Enough, yeah.” All you can think about is waking up locked in his embrace, on the still-dark cusp of sunrise. “Thank you for letting me, um…” “Course. Cream?” “That’s great, thanks.” Harry nods over his shoulder towards the bedroom. “It help at all?” How are you supposed to answer that? “The real bed?” he clarifies, like it is at all necessary.  You listen to the spoon clink rhythmically against the ceramic, and settle on “I think so,” as noncommittally as possible. “How did you sleep?” “Very well.” In passing you your mug, Harry catches your eyes for the first time today in a way that feels like not an accident. “More importantly, how are you feeling about everything else?” You shrug, eyes glued to the cream swirling in your coffee. “Better, a little.” “That’s good.” “What about you?” you ask. “You’ve kinda been through the wringer, yourself.” “I’m good, yeah.” Harry pushes up his glasses. “I was thinking—if you don’t mind—I’d like to come with you to the police department this morning.”  “No, no, Harry.” You wave away the offer. “Don’t worry about that.” “No, really. It might make more sense. I saw him in the hall last night, and I was with you in the lift. They might need to ask some questions of both of us.” You consider this a moment. “I don’t want you to feel like you have to.” “I don’t have to,” Harry counters. “I want to. I want you to, y’know… ” he trails off. “I want them to get this guy.” You blink at him. There’s a strange feeling in knowing that Harry has clearly thought about your wellbeing beyond the night that you’ve effectively been trapped in his flat. Regardless, it’s too early for a battle of wills, and he has a point. You slouch against the fridge. “Alright. Well… I still have India’s car so I can drive us,” you concede. A smile lights Harry’s face. Suddenly your stomach rumbles so powerfully and for so long that it interrupts the conversation. You cover a small, mortified laugh with both hands as Harry’s eyebrows raise. “Well,” he begins, exaggerated. “Let’s take care of that… You take the first turn in the bathroom, I’ll fix us some breakfast.” “You sure?” “Go ahead.” He grabs a skillet from the drying rack, turning on one of the burners. “Thank you, Harry.” “It’s no problem.” You wash your face with something you find above the sink and brush your teeth on auto-pilot before considering your bundle of clothes from the night before. Your cardigan lays at the top of the stack. Four of your fingers fit through the gaping hole in its collar, and dirt covers one of the sleeves. You hadn’t forgotten about the shape it was in last night, but you didn’t consider it a problem until now, as you hold it up in front of you by the shoulders, frowning. You try to tame your hair with a purple, sparkly brush to no avail, so you take a quick look around to see if Sylvia has any spare barrettes or pins. Thankfully there’s a single hair tie floating in the bottom of your purse. You shrug back into Harry’s patchwork sweater—oddly comforting in how fully it swallows your shoulders and hands—and slip back out to the kitchen, where Harry plates grilled tomatoes and bacon. “We’re about ready to eat.” Harry turns the stovetop down to a simmer as the toaster pops. “How do you take your eggs?” “Sunny side up, please.”  He salutes you with his spatula, attention already returned to the pan.  “Can I help with anything?” Harry nods to a drawer. “Yeah can you pass us a couple napkins from just there? I’ll be right back,” he rushes, already halfway out of the kitchen. You pull a few paper napkins from their packet as he returns with two chairs that you recognize from his small wicker table. “Blinds are open in the other room, thought it might be best if we just eat in here.” He sets the chairs apart, facing one another. “Now this is living,” you deadpan. Harry laughs lightly as he gestures for you to sit. The two of you get adjusted with your plates on your lap, and your knees almost bump in the small space. “This is great, Harry. Thank you.”  “I’d make you bubble and squeak, too, but we’re fresh out and Sylvia hates beans so we don’t keep them on hand. So technically...” Harry lowers his voice to a whisper. “S’not a full English fry up.” You can only smile around your mouthful, unexpectedly endeared. The rest of breakfast passes in silence. You shouldn’t have slept on an empty stomach; you’re ravenous from skipping a meal last night.  He looks up at you eventually, a touch more serious than before. “Shall we think about heading to the police station soon?”  You dab your mouth with your napkin and nod. Harry stands from his chair and reaches an open hand down to you for your plate. “No, no,” you nudge him away with your elbow. “You cooked, I’ll clean.”  “Let me deal with these. You’re a guest.” “I’m a captive.” “No you’re not! You’re—” He breaks off, hesitating a moment before plunging on with an amused slant to his lips. “You’re my sort-of friend.” Your assumption he hadn’t overheard that comment to your mother last night on the phone was clearly in vain. You press your lips together against any inadvertent reaction. Your head swivels toward him, eyes full of lighthearted reproach. “Look, just let me do the dishes to give myself the illusion that I’m not just a freeloader here. Besides, I’m already ready to go.” "Fine,” he caves disapprovingly. “I’ll get myself sorted and be out in a minute.” “Take your time.” While Harry is preoccupied, you finish slotting the clean plates from breakfast carefully into the drying rack and pull out your phone to message India. Hey, I have a lot to update you on but it’ll be much easier to explain in person. I still have your car and I need it for one thing this morning but I promise I’ll fill the tank ASAP. It’s about the guy that’s been following me. Just know that I’m safe and everything’s okay. I’ll call you when I can. Love you. Send. That’ll have to do for now. Harry returns in jeans and a sweater. It’s still strange to see him so dressed down. “Ready?” he asks. “Yeah. You mind if I wear this to the police station?” you ask, pinching the fabric of his cardigan. You feel the urge to explain yourself—the hole in your sweater, the grime—but Harry’s already shaking his head. “Not at all. Do you maybe want something a little less… loud? I don’t even wear that one out, myself, really.”  You consider the bright cacophony of color like it’s brand new to your eyes. Loud is right. “Yeah, that’s not a terrible idea.”  Harry’s lips twitch. “C’mon then. You’re welcome to pick anything you’d like.” Pick? You nod because you’re worried the surprise is painted on your face. “Okay.” Harry leads you to his bedroom again, and over to the large wooden wardrobe.  He pulls the double doors open and you cannot help yourself from gawking a little. You’re taken by all the exquisite patterns and intricate textures of the suits, but it’s oddly wistful to run your fingertips along all of them hung in a row. You smile privately, a bit removed. “What?” Harry laughs from behind you. “Nothing!” you reply, glancing over your shoulder before saying more softly, “I just recognize some of these.” “Oh, thought you were sizing them up. My mates all take the piss… They say my suits are eccentric.” He rolls his eyes, reciting the insult like he’s quoting their words verbatim. You turn back around to his closet. “I think they look nice—I think you look nice in them.” You take a step back and crane your neck to the shelf of folded sweaters above the hanging rod. The extensive array of muted wool and cotton is a bit overwhelming. You spot the planet sweater he’d worn the first time you saw Sylvia, the oversized yellow one that reminded you of Charlie Brown, the black one with half a red heart and the letters, NY in bold white text… It takes a minute of jogging your memory before you can recall him wearing something more plain. Harry doesn’t own a lot of plain. You still can’t quite reach the shelf up on your tiptoes, but Harry is at your side immediately. “The brown?” He tugs it from the stacks and passes it down. “Yeah, thanks.” You examine the camel colored fabric with tiny flecks of black thread, and run your hand along the smooth purl. “This should do.” You tug the sweater over your head; it’s boxy, your arms aren’t long enough to fit, and it isn’t doing any favors for your shoulders. You have to roll the sleeves up past your wrists before the outfit can half pass as something you purposely wore out of the house. You spin around to face him. “Does it look normal?” Harry’s jaw flexes as he gives you the up-down. You fiddle with one of the sleeves. “Yeah,” Harry says stiffly. “Looks normal.” It’s bizarre walking through the level six hallway; it’s identical to your own, but the last time you’d been here, everything down to the carpet and light fixtures had been tainted by your deafening fear. What’s more is that riding down in the lift with Harry feels entirely different now. You see it all from his perspective, and try to visualize what you look like to him most mornings, standing in the corner with your school bag and a book tucked beneath your arm. The lift picks up a few people on its way down, but by the time it reaches the garage, you and Harry are alone. You catch his eyes in the reflection of the doors a second before they open. He clears his throat. “I know it’s probably… we’ll be fine, but stay close, yeah?” You look up at him and nod. It’s easy to keep to your word. Harry guides you to walk in front of him the entire way as your eyes scan the shadows in between the rows of cars. You’re sure you will never be able to see this garage quite the same way. “It’s the old Volkswagen.” “I see it.” You’re so out of it that you almost try to get in on the passenger side. It’s the kind of slip up that Harry might have teased you about, but he’s quiet and looking around, too. You pull the jacket you’d left on the seat last night into your lap, the two of you strap in, and you cannot pull out into the street fast enough. The mustard yellow envelope in the back seat is an unwelcome passenger, visible in your rearview mirror.  Who else knew about these photos? How many are there that weren’t in your envelope? Are they online somewhere? Would they follow you to law school? Your grip tightens on the steering wheel as you grind your teeth. “Alright?” Harry asks. His voice brings you back down to earth. He’d asked you that question when you pricked your finger on the poppy in your jacket pocket. He’d asked you in his bed on the most terrifying night of your life. And he’s asking you now. You nod. “I will be.” • saturday, 5th january 10:42 am • In the parking lot behind Lavender Hill Police Station, you’ve killed the engine but remain in your seat. Part of you is still reluctant to have Harry come along; keeping your composure in front of the police feels hard enough without the prospect of him being there, too, but maybe that’s the one thing that will get you through this. “Sorry.” You shake your head, suddenly aware of how long you’ve been sitting motionless at the wheel. Harry’s gaze is unperturbed. He watches you push anxiously at the sleeves of his sweater. “Take all the time you need.” It’s the same phrase the initial officer who’d taken your statement all those weeks ago had used. It’s what Officer Warren had said to you on the phone last night, and you’re so tired of hearing it. You don’t want to have as much time as you need to feel calm or steady or normal again. You want your time back. You want to reclaim all those extra seconds spent checking over your shoulder, the minutes lost to changing your routes, and the hours spent staring up at the ceiling when you should have been asleep. Rationally, you know that there will be time to relearn how to walk down the street and feel at ease, and plan that trip to Brighton you and India have been talking about for months. There will be time with Harry that isn’t this… stuck in a cramped space, crushed by the weight of your own fear. You hate the way you felt with him in the lift this morning; you want that back most of all. “Faster we get in there,” you say—half to Harry, half to yourself, “the faster we’ll get to leave.” Harry nods. “C’mon then.” The heather grey of the building is no less intimidating than it was in October, but at least this time you don’t have to pull the heavy glass doors open on your own. Inside, you speak with the woman at reception, who gestures for you to sit in a small waiting area just beyond the desk. People in uniform bustle back and forth. Harry’s leg brushes against yours as you sit. He doesn’t move. Neither do you. You have no sense of how long you sit waiting—this doesn’t feel like a place where it’s appropriate to play Solitaire on your phone. You can feel Harry looking at you periodically, but you don’t glance back until a woman with a familiar voice appears before you. She ushers you to follow with a quick, professional smile. Harry doesn’t quite offer the same, but you’re reassured anyway. “I’m Officer Warren.” She stops at a desk with an empty chair beside it. You take care to shake her hand firmly, introducing yourself with all the confidence you can scrap together. “Are you comfortable sitting here?” “Yes, this is fine.” If either Harry or Officer Warren notice your voice is an octave higher, neither of them make any sign. “Good.” She reaches past you to shake Harry’s hand too. “Harry.” “Nice to meet you both. We can also find a conference room, if you’d like somewhere more private, or if you’d both like to sit.” Harry speaks up when you don’t right away. “I’m fine standing.” He looks exactly as he had in the car—calm and willing to take your lead, so you sit before you can change your mind. Officer Warren smiles again, clearly trying to put you at ease. You wish it was more effective. “Right, well I won’t take up too much of your time. Since I took your statement last night, I’ve already got a copy of the transcript from our conversation over the phone, and you won’t need to go over all of that again.” Your shoulders cave a little in relief. Harry’s fingers hook gently over the top of your chair. “Okay.” “But,” she continues, “there is the matter of how to proceed. What we talked about regarding your flat still stands… it really isn’t safe for you to remain there, especially since the suspect seems to know which one is yours, and we still don’t have a clear idea of where he is now, or how he was able to access the car park in your building in the first place.” “So…” You shake your head, in either confusion or denial. “I can’t even go home?” “I’m afraid not, for the time being.” Her eyes are soft, regretful. “Not if he knows where you live. Not if there’s a chance he could get more photographs, or try to break in again.” Your stomach twists. “Were you able to figure out who he is?” You’re not even sure you want to know. Officer Warren’s mouth pinches apologetically. “Not yet. We have a couple technicians working on the security footage and the photos you’ve turned in, so hopefully we’ll be able to get something from them. The car he was driving had no plates. You haven’t seen any sign of him since we spoke last?” You shake your head, and she glances up at Harry as if to confirm. “Alright, that’s a good sign at least. He knows we’re watching, now. On the other hand, there’s a chance he’ll carry on, but be stealthier about it. Is it possible for you to physically stay inside, completely out of sight for let’s say, a week?” “I mean… where?” “Do you have somewhere else you can stay for the time being? With a friend?” You open your mouth, but the “Yes,” is not your own. You force yourself not to turn back to look at him; Harry’s fingers touch your shoulder again. “Yes, she does. She can stay with me. We live in the same building after all, so it’ll hardly be disruptive.” Officer Warren gives him a long look. You can’t tell if she approves or is displeased with him for speaking for you, but now that the initial shock has worn off, gratitude washes over you. Asking India to stay with her indefinitely would have been out of the question; there’s no way you’re endangering your best friend any more than you already have. You’d be putting her in a position where she couldn’t say no. She has four roommates. She doesn’t even know about the photos yet.  “That works,” you hear yourself say. This will only be for a few days, you reason—it’ll buy you just enough time to find your feet. By then, you can sort out a longer-term place to stay if the police still haven’t found the man. Officer Warren is speaking again, and it takes effort to actively refocus on the conversation. “The objective here is to make it seem as though you’re gone. On holiday. He’ll be keeping an eye on the building, no doubt, so he’ll notice if the car is gone, or your flat is empty. Is there any way you can take your classes remotely?” You find you can barely speak, so you just nod instead.  She leans in a little, her eyes finding yours more carefully. “I know it’s frightening, but you’ve been incredibly strong. This won’t be forever. In the meantime, we can send an officer back with you this afternoon so you can gather a few of your things.” You nod again. “Do you have any questions for me?” You force yourself to say, “No, thank you,” which Harry echoes. Officer Warren nods, almost perfunctorily, and stands. “If you wait here just a minute, I’ll introduce you to the officer who’ll take you back to your flat. You’ll be in an unmarked car, and we can arrange for yours to be retrieved.” “Thank you. I’ll call my friend now,” you say. “Maybe she can… I'll have to ask her to look after my cat. And it’s her car, anyway.” Officer Warren nods, apparently satisfied.  You shake her hand again, though your mind is stuck on this won’t be forever. As you rise from the chair, you feel the gentle pressure of Harry’s hand on the small of your back. When Officer Warren returns with another uniformed policeman, you don’t want to move, but your legs carry you anyway. Harry’s gaze finds the side of your face periodically like a lighthouse beam while you call India from the backseat of the police car. After reassuring her again that you’re fine, you gloss over the details of staying in Harry’s flat. You can tell even in her silence that she’s not going to let you off the hook that easily, so you start rambling about what to do with Chowder before she gets the chance to say something embarrassing while Harry is sitting right there. “Of course I’m taking Chowder,” she says before you get the chance to phrase the question. “Don’t even worry about it. I’ll get in a cab right now. Do you need help packing up?” “Yeah sure, thank you. But what about your car?” “I’ll take the keys from you and get it after. Honestly, it’s fine. It’s not like it’s gonna get stolen from the bloody police station.” It’s a stupid joke but you’re comforted a little anyway. “Okay.” “Be there soon. I love you.” “Love you too.” Harry glances over at you. “Everything okay?” “Yeah.” You smile a little and for the first time in ages, it doesn’t feel forced. “She’s gonna meet us at home and take Chowder for me.” “That’s great.” “I know,” you reply, a little distant. “Harry, thank you for coming with me… It was nice not to have to, y’know, do that alone.” “That’s alright.” His voice is equally gentle. “We’re gonna… They’re gonna find him. And they’re gonna fix this, and then everything’s gonna go back to normal.” You aren’t sure which of you he’s trying to reassure, but Harry meets your eyes and you nod. Back at your building, you meet up with India. “Think I might just pop home, if that’s alright,” Harry says, going in for the sixth-floor button on the keypad. “I told Annie a bit about what’s going on, but I owe her an update.” “Of course.” You look up at him in the reflection of the doors. “We’ll see you down there.” It’s your first time seeing the dent and scratches on the door to your flat in person. You shiver, turn the key, and push the door open.  “Chowder!” you shout as a flash of orange darts through your legs, meowing down the hall. The officer’s hand lands reflexively on his baton as your cat scares all three of you half to death. Once you manage to corral your cat back to your corner of the hallway, you struggle to keep him still in your arms. “Indy, his crate is under my bed—” “Hold off a minute, I’m going to do a quick walkthrough. I’m sure everything’s fine, but wait out here.” The officer leaves the door cracked open behind him. India offers a small, encouraging smile when you flinch at the sound of him announcing himself in your apartment. You stroke between Chowder’s ears; he is heavy and warm in your arms, and his fur sticks uncomfortably to the sweat on your palms. “All clear.” The officer reappears. “Let’s try to be quick about this.” India immediately ducks through the door following him, but you have to take a deep breath before stepping through the threshold. The place looks completely untouched. Had you been expecting company, perhaps you would have thought to clear the dishes from the sink or remove your laundry from the drying rack. After coercing an unusually talkative Chowder into his travel crate, you and India work as a team to stuff as much into your duffel bag as will fit. Shirts, bras, and pants hurtle past your head. “Indy, I’m staying at a neighbor’s for a few days—what on earth am I going to need this for?” You hold up the silk, strappy dress that just landed on your neatly-folded stacks, shooting her a disapproving look. “I’m just grabbing and throwing!” “Well just, y’know… let’s make sure we’re not speeding through this at the expense of packing with a little common sense.” “I’ve got this,” India says, waving down at the open duffel. “Go sort whatever toiletries you need, yeah?” Thankfully you’ve stayed overnight at her place enough times to warrant a travel case of essentials that lives under your bathroom sink. There’s makeup cluttered all over the counter. You stare at it a moment before rolling your eyes at yourself. “We should probably get going.” The officer’s voice from the other room startles you both as India zips up your duffel. “Are you two about ready?”  As you stick your head out of your bedroom, the officer is peeking through the blinds across the street. “Yes,” you reply. “We are.” Overnight bag and Chowder in tow, you clamber back onto the lift. “Did you get your toothbrush?” “Yes.” “Face wash?” “Yes.” “Pillow?” “Indy, you saw me putting it in—” “Towel?” “Yes.” “Phone charger?” “… Shit.” Ding. The officer steps out with you on the sixth floor as you thank him, and bid a quick goodbye once he reassures you to call if you need anything or, of course, if anything happens. India turns to face you next. “He’s this way.” You nod down the hall, and she leads. “It’s right at the end. The one with the wreath.” The doors of the lift close. You don’t want to think about the last time you’d been walking down this corridor and heard that sound from behind you. India moves aside holding Chowder’s crate by the handle, and the shopping bag full of his supplies as you step up to the welcome mat with your things. Harry swings open the door to his apartment after the second knock, immediately taking the duffel bag from off of your shoulder. “Oh, Harry, you don’t have to—” “I got it.” India elbows you in the ribs. Harry turns to carry your bag to Sylvia's room, and when you look behind at her, her eyebrows are raised above an animated smirk. “Don’t,” you whisper through gritted teeth. She raises a hand in defense as Harry returns before reaching out to accept his offered hand. “Hello, I’m India.” “Harry.”  “Pleasure.” He flashes her a warm smile. She nods appreciatively as they shake hands—at you, however, instead of Harry and your cheeks ignite. “Okay great. That’s settled then. Shall we—um… Indy?” You cut in, then turn to her, nodding to the door with I’m going to kill you in your eyes. “Lovely to meet you, Harry!” “Cheers, dear. You as well.” Harry’s attention returns to you for a moment. “I’ll just be…” He gestures vaguely to the kitchen. You step out into the hall with India. Chowder meows from the crate in her arms and she almost drops him. “What,” you hiss, “was that?”  She ignores your tone, then says your name like it’s a plea. “Call me if you need absolutely anything, or text me—no matter what time it is. I’ll drop everything and come straight to you.” “I’m sleeping two floors below where I usually do, Indy, I’m not dying.” “I know, I know… How’s a Skype dinner tomorrow night? I’ll order us a take away.” “Definitely.” You wish you could squeeze her in another tight hug, but Chowder’s crate impedes you. “Thank you.” “Love you, babe.” “Love you too.” She looks unsatisfied. “It’s going to be fine, I promise. Text me when we’re eating, okay?” You begin to walk backward into Harry’s apartment and blow her a kiss. “I will… Bye!” “Please don’t kill my cat!” You lean on the door frame, watching India’s silhouette shrink as she heads back down the hall to the lift with Chowder. You sigh and close the door, but as you turn around, your hand rushes to your chest in a gasp; Harry is standing just behind you, rubbing his face. “So I’ve just rung Annie while you were upstairs… ” He steps aside to give you a clear path through the hallway. “Oh?” “I’m sorry—they’re just coming,” he rushes, sounding a little panicked as you step into Sylvia's room. You set your phone and laptop down with the rest of your things. “They insisted ‘cause they’ve got a spare mattress, and I told them you needed a place to crash for a bit and also that you stayed here last night so… yeah. You don’t have to be here for that. When they come—oh, and they probably have Sylvia, too, if that’s… ” Harry trails off.” “Wait, I’m sorry.” You close your eyes and shake your head. “Annie? You mean—” “Sylvia’s mum, yeah, and um… her fiancé, AJ.” Harry tilts his head down, as if to gauge your reaction. “And they want to give… they have a spare mattress? But you already have a mattress.” “That’s what I said!” Harry gestures wildly. It must have been a lively phone call. “Oh, well that’s… awfully kind of them,” you begin, trying to keep up. “Would it be easier if I wasn’t—” “No.” He’s clearly surprised at his own volume as he cuts you off. Harry literally leans back, hesitating. “I mean… stay. They’d love to meet you. They’re my family and you’re…” His eyes flit back to yours and hang on. “You’re obviously gonna to be staying here a bit, and they drop by all the time so I jus’ don’t wanna overwhelm you, is all.” Suddenly, it’s your turn struggling to look at him. “Well, I—” “H, open the door! This is heavy!” a voice bellows from beyond the front door. Harry’s eyes shut momentarily. “Coming!” he calls. You stand there, in the doorway to Sylvia’s room, stunned at the pace with which this is all unfolding. Harry jogs to the door. You poke your head out as an explosion of noise disrupts what had before been so peaceful. A child’s high-pitched shriek rips through the flat, followed by a long, labored groan from Harry as Sylvia barrels into his arms and he crouches down to lift her. “How’s Daddy’s girl?” he greets. Sylvia simply continues screaming and tries to bend over backward out of his arms. “Hi, Harry.” A striking woman with jet-black hair waltzes in, carrying a large dish of food wrapped in tin foil, seemingly unphased. Harry shifts Sylvia to one arm, bending over to greet her in a side hug and quick kiss to the cheek. “Hi, love.” What appears to be a twin sized mattress with twig legs follows in suit, grunting softly. “Still heavy.” “Right, sorry.” Harry hands Sylvia off to who you assume is Annie as he hurries to take the mattress, revealing a second, much taller woman with sunglasses atop her blonde head of hair. She’s wearing red lipstick and bright suede pumps. “There we go,” she sighs. “I need a fag.” Harry almost takes out a light fixture as he hauls the bed. You press yourself up against the wall as he offers a quick, “S’cuse me,” and passes you to Sylvia's room. The two women look at you as simultaneous smiles light their faces. “Hi!” “Hello!” Sylvia waves at you, too. “Guess this one doesn’t need an introduction,” the dark-haired woman laughs, approaching with a hand extended. You notice that she’s the one wearing the ring. “I’m Annie.” “It’s great to meet you, Harry has spoken so highly of both of you.” You turn to the other woman after introducing yourself. “AJ.” One corner of her mouth quirks up. “It’s a pleasure.” “Thank you so much for the mattress, ” you begin, wringing your hands. “It seems like everyone’s done so much to help me in the past few days… It’s really meant a lot.” AJ tilts her head to look at you with a more meaningful gaze, and Annie steps forward to rest a hand on your forearm. “Harry hasn’t gone into a terrible amount of detail but… we’re so, awfully sorry for what’s happened to you.” She squeezes gently, her fingers in the crook of your elbow. The strange familiarity of the gesture disarms you. “I can’t imagine what you must be going through, and with your family so far away—I just… we heard about what was going on, and that was it. We had to help.” You nod and suddenly have trouble swallowing. There’s just something different about discussing this with women. “Harry’s air mattress,” AJ chips in, sardonic, “belongs in an incinerator.” “Hey!” His voice comes muted from the open door of Sylvia’s bedroom. Now that you’ve seen the both of them together up close, you realize how wrong you were in thinking that Sylvia only took after her father. Annie’s features are evident in her daughter’s deep, brown eyes, her nose, and the high angles of her cheeks.  “Well,” Annie starts, raising her eyebrows at everyone, “we’re obviously feeding you.” You laugh in disbelief. “No you’re not!” “We are!” She smiles as she sets Sylvia down, who weaves through everyone’s legs to her bedroom. “And relax, it’s already cooked so there’s no use in turning it down.” AJ pulls you in for a side hug, which you were grossly unprepared for. “Thank… you.” In your bewilderment, it’s all you can manage to say as Annie removes the tin foil from a full pan’s helping of chicken and vegetables. “Isn’t this supposed to be tomorrow’s roast? The Sunday roast?” Harry appears in the kitchen with Sylvia on his hip. He frowns, poking his head over Annie’s shoulder as she preheats the oven. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she replies. They lock eyes. Something tender passes between them; part of you feels like you should look away. “Annie… ” Harry says, softer now. “You didn’t have to do all this.” She ignores him, setting the timer on the oven as AJ slides a small mountain of tupperware into the fridge. The kettle starts to scream. You hadn’t realized someone started tea. You’re not sure what to do besides stand by the sink and stare. AJ rushes over to fill four steaming mugs, portioning different amounts of cream and honey into each. She turns to the few stray dishes in the sink, beginning to wash. “AJ, stop tha—” “Harry, relax would you?” She whips his leg with a dish towel and he relents. “Why is she staying in my room?” Sylvia pipes up from Harry’s arms. He looks across the kitchen at you, and then down to her. “Well see, bug, Daddy’s got a friend who’s gonna stay here for a little while.” Harry points at you and twists so she has a better view. You wave your fingers at her, and Harry asks Sylvia if she can say your name, but she simply buries her face into his sweater. “Like a slumber party?” “Um—” Harry falters. “Sort of, but not quite.” “It’s a grown-up slumber party?” AJ chokes on her tea. The tips of Harry’s ears go crimson.  “Honey, it’s like when Auntie Kristen comes over to Mummy and Mum’s to stay on holiday,” Annie salvages. Harry’s shoulders visibly relax.  Sylvia tugs at the collar of Harry’s sweater. “How long?” she begs. Your heart falls. “‘M not sure, Vi.” Harry moves some hair from her face as she pouts, then kisses her forehead. “Not forever.” “This’ll be good for you, Harry. You need more friends.” Annie pinches Harry’s side before turning to you with a smirk. “Maybe you can finally start hanging out with people your own age.” You shrug to play along, pursing your lips against a smile. “I mean… ” “Harry doesn’t go out much.” Annie’s comedic whisper fills the room as she carries your tea over to you. “Neither do you!” Harry retorts, frowning playfully over his shoulder, attempting to smack her; she narrowly dodges. “Yeah, just the one time,” AJ deadpans, pointing between them and then nodding to Sylvia. “Jesus Christ,” Harry breathes before they break into laughter. You can’t help but join in. Sylvia’s head swings from parent to parent, smiling in oblivious delight. “Alright, alright,” Annie wipes a tear from the corner of her eye. “Just leave the roast in there until you’re ready to eat. We should get going soon.” “Have you got sheets that fit the bed?” Harry asks, bouncing Sylvia on his hip. “Right!” Annie’s eyes go wide. She turns to AJ, “Darling, you mind popping down to the car to get those?” “Since I already hauled up the mattress, am I allowed to play the gender card?” AJ throws eyes at Harry. “Hands are full,” he replies cheerfully. He holds one of Sylvia’s arms up to wave. “Fine,” she relents, plucking the keys from Annie’s back pocket. “Thank you!” Annie calls after her. AJ simply waves a hand behind her head. “Promise I’ll make it worth your while later!” AJ begins to walk faster. Harry shoots Annie a jokingly scandalized look with a hand covering his gaping mouth. She squints at him and rolls her eyes. He puts Sylvia down, whispering in her ear as he points to the miniature arts and crafts table in the living room.  Sylvia takes a seat on the colorful stool, her tiny features already pinched in concentration as she finds a crayon and begins to draw. Harry crouches at her side, watching her for a moment before kissing the top of her head. He breezes past you before you hear the bathroom door lock shut and now it’s just you and Annie alone together. “I love Harry, but he’s a man and he doesn’t know anything.” You shouldn’t laugh, but you do. “We live ten minutes away. If you need anything at all—anything, I mean it, please call us. Mine and AJ’s mobile numbers are both on the fridge.” “Thank you, Annie.” She hesitates, playing absently with the tag of her tea bag before nodding to the living room. “Let’s sit.” You have a seat on the couch; Annie takes the small leather armchair on the other side of the coffee table. Her eyes are warm. You see a flash of that expression that had passed between her and Harry. “He is a good man.” Annie’s voice is so low, it’s almost a whisper. “One of the best I’ve ever met… You’re in good hands, I promise.” There isn’t a chance for you to respond as the sound of the faucet running in the bathroom interrupts. Harry re-enters the living room, his eyes flitting between yours and Annie’s with a curious look on his face. “Am I interrupting something?” “Course not, lovely. We’re just waiting for AJ with the sheets,” Annie replies. She must be killer at poker. AJ slips through the door with a folded bundle of checkered sheets nearly covering her face. “Miss me?” She perches on the armrest of Annie’s chair upon returning from Syvia’s room, an arm wrapped around her shoulders. You are acutely aware of the warmth of Harry’s leg against yours, suddenly too nervous to shift and potentially draw attention to it. Though you try hard not to, you can practically see the silent conversation happening between the three other adults in the room; if you had to guess, it’s probably about you. You categorically refuse to look at Harry, so you’re left with AJ’s nearly imperceptible eyebrow-raising, and a curl of Annie’s lip that seems to be a question and a confirmation all at once. The three of them are a little… too quiet. “Well we should be off then,” she says, drawing her hands together in a clap. “Someone needs a bath tonight.”  Sylvia hurries over and locks her arms around Harry’s legs. He scoops her up like she weighs absolutely nothing. “C’mon now, angel,” he murmurs, glancing over his daughter’s head to look at you with a vaguely resigned expression. “Gonna see you tomorrow, aren’t I? Gotta be good for your mums.” Harry fixes Sylvia’s wobbling lower lip with a stern look. “Hey, now. What’s this about? S’not any different from Mummy’s normal turn with you, right? You know you’ve got too much love pumpkin, we gotta share ya.” Sylvia mumbles something too soft to make out; Harry ducks his head close. “Tell me?” You don’t catch all the words, except, “stars.” His face crumples a bit. “Oh honey, of course you’ll still have your bedtime stars. They’re not going anywhere. Nobody’s gonna take your stars.” “And that sounds like the beginning of a meltdown,” Annie says, standing quickly and pulling Sylvia from Harry’s arms. “Best be on our way before she tests all our eardrums.” Sylvia momentarily seems like she might reach back for him, but then she looks at you as though by accident, and shrinks back into her mother’s arms. Shame knots in your stomach as the two women head for the door. Sylvia peeks over Annie’s shoulder as AJ slings her purse over her arm with the car keys in hand. You busy yourself clearing the empty mugs of tea in some small attempt to give them privacy. “Come ‘round about six, yeah?” Annie says as AJ waves at you and disappears first out the door. Harry is sliding Sylvia’s arm through the second sleeve of her coat. His and Annie’s teamwork seems fluid and practiced. “Sounds good.” He tugs her tiny knit hat more securely over her curls. “Love you, bug.” “Hôn ba đi, Vi.”  You have no idea what Annie’s just said to Sylvia but Harry leans forward to receive his daughter’s kiss, placing an audible one on her forehead in return.  He says something else to Sylvia that’s not English. That deeply tender look in Annie’s face returns. Harry’s hand falls to her waist and she touches his jaw to place a quick peck at the corner of his mouth. “Call us if you need anything.” She turns back to you. “You too. Our numbers are—” “On the fridge,” you finish with a smile, waving. “Thank you, Annie.” Harry shuts the door behind them and the flat falls silent for the first time in what feels like ages. You hear him laugh once before he turns to you. “Sorry about that.” “No. Harry, I should be the one apologizing. Sylvia’s so upset, I feel awful.” Harry looks from you to the door and back again, shaking his head as he moves towards the kitchen. “Oh no, don’t worry about that. She was mostly tired, is all. Happens all the time.” He pauses before joking, “Sorry you had to hear my really terrible Vietnamese.” You watch as he begins to rifle through the cabinets. “What are you doing?” “I’m sure I left it in here somewhere—aha!” He holds an empty mason jar aloft before grabbing a sharpie and the magnetic pad of Hello Kitty sticky notes from the fridge door. Harry scrawls quickly, the cap of the pen between his teeth, before sticking a note on the glass and holding it up for you to read the big, block letters. APOLOGIES.

[pachimation]

hiya, I really love your art, and how you make your latest stuff look really vintage and aged, it’s really super cool and I was wondering if you’d be willing to share your process for that?? thank you so much and I hope you have a wonderful day!!! :D

aww thanks so much! and of course i can share my process, no prob!! ^^

i’ll be using this piece as an example, and uh, for the context of it u might have to look on twitter lol. but whatever

it’ll be a bit long so everything is under the cut

(this is just based on my process, and i know its weird and csp specific.

feel free to pick and choose pieces from my process!)

and also the programs i used were procreate and csp and i have a mac. u could probably do this with other set ups, but this tutorial might not be super helpful near the end

i usually make my lineart in procreate and import it into csp as a .psd file

for this, in procreate, select the file you want to export and click PSD and then I airdrop it to my mac.

i think the only thing about the lineart i have tips on is to keep it toothy/gritty if that makes sense?

i use the 6B pencil in procreate with a bunch of tweaks to the pressure sensitivity and opacity/size change.

but anything with a good size jitter should do the job!

in csp i shade and color the piece.

picking out the colors is a whole other mess

feel free to ask about it but ill skip for now ;v;

flat colors

csp has a lot of nice halftone options!

group up ur lineart and everything thats black rn in a folder and above them set a clipping layer to add

fill it with a color lighter than black; the less pure blacks and white u have on a piece the better

feel free to go to town w the grunge or noise texture of ur choosing! the grittier the better bc during this step i try to get the feel of worn off ink. just make sure the linearts still visible, though. u went through all the trouble to make it after all! ^^

(i have specific brushes but again thats something else u can ask me about)

above all the layers, make a multiply layer and do something similar.

same advice as above

this is ur “paper” texture, tho, so try to keep it more even in tone so things don’t get too messy

(but if it works for u, feel free to do it! find what works is my advice!)

ok time for some super csp-specific steps (sorry to non-csp users)

the csp asset store/website(?) has a lot of nice textures and brushes available.

look through it if u haven't

it will make ur life so much easier

theres a really nice tileable watercolor texture set there

(this one specifically)

(it also had some really good paper texture bc whoever made this is a godsend)

i slap that over the color layer, set it to clipping, and mess with the blending modes

its usually a tossup between soft light, overlay, multiply, and the overlay texture effect tho

theres another optional step of using the overlay texture effect on a paper texture

i didn’t do it on this example sorry :’(

i think i used another watercolor texture set to soft light on this piece?

after that, if u want, i like setting a noise texture at a v low opacity over everything for extra jitter

(i use this one. u can just make it in csp and probably any other drawing software but im lazy lmao)

save it as a png/jpg/etc.

and ur done!

i do some extra stuff to the final image like scale everything down and add a bit of a 3D effect for a bit of extra kick

(but again thats a bit complex and specific so feel free to ask but ill keep it short

for your sanity’s sake)

(and once again, the final image! ta-da!)

some tips to keep in mind i guess

jitter, grit and noise textures are very good things when u want something to look rough

avoid pure blacks and whites; most paper isn’t printed pure black or white and it only gets more faded and colored with time

if ur super lost, look at reference!! theres a lot of good artists and media out there to get inspiration from, and looking at scans of actual old comics is a nice way to see if ur work looks aged

(also u don’t have to use old comics as reference; i like looking at old vcr footage for reference bc of the texture!! :D)

that’s all i have for my general process

uhh for specifics feel free to ask

i can make more tutorials but this one is a general overview, i just didn’t to take up too much of ur time….

but i really hope it helped! and im very sorry if it didn’t 

i’ve never made a tutorial so im sorry if it didn’t answer ur question and also im sorry if this one’s not very useful

thank you for reading!!!

and thank you to whoever asked! :D

[fangirlxwritesx67]

Art Supplies

Rowena x fem!reader. 650 words for @marril96

It was amazing how many of the things needful for magic could be found in an ordinary arts and crafts store - different colors of paper, ribbons for knotwork, candles, pens for sigils and writing in a Book of Shadows, little cloth bags and small bottles for herbs and spells. 

You enjoyed the less magical aspects of the craft store too, so you never had to be convinced to go along when Rowena wanted to shop. Usually, while she was deliberating over shades of paper, you slipped a few aisles over to the art supplies. Colored pencils, different markers, and paints could hold your attention for a long time. Occasionally you would pick up a particularly lovely pen or brush and imagine creating something beautiful with it. 

But you never bought anything. You weren’t an artist, after all; couldn’t paint, or draw. Sure, you colored occasionally, patterns for meditation. You doodled things when you wrote. And you took pride in your careful handwriting. But none of that was art.

You started when you heard Rowena call your name in that distinctive lilting voice of hers. You hurried towards her like someone caught in a fault. 

“Something caught your eye, dearie?” She asked, raising finely sculpted brows. “See something we could use?”

“No, nothing useful at all.” You shook your head. 

Rowena looked like she didn’t believe you, but knew better than to pry. “Then let’s check out and go home, shall we? There’s lots to do before the Winter Solstice.” 

Over the years, the two of you had settled into a pattern for the Yuletide season. You would spend the Solstice together, celebrating the turning of the seasons with every kind of magic and candles and anything else that suited Rowena - short of a pagan orgy, which were sadly hard to find these days. 

On Christmas Eve, the two of you would exchange gifts. You could hardly wait. 

That night, when you carried your carefully wrapped presents out of your room, Rowena was already waiting by the tree, her face radiant in the glow of the tiny white lights. She lifted her lips, and you kissed her softly. She was so gorgeous, so sexy -- sometimes it was hard to believe she was your girlfriend. 

You insisted on her opening her gifts first. You had gotten her a hand-crafted leather journal, a velvety soft scarf, and candles. What witch didn’t need more candles? The smallest box of all held your biggest gift to her - a pair of peridot earrings that matched her green eyes. 

Rowena exclaimed over each gift, wrapping the scarf around her neck immediately. She thanked you earnestly before handing you several thin flat packages. The first one was a journal - no, a sketchbook, with thick lovely paper. Perfect for a Book of Shadows, you thought. You grew more and more surprised as you opened the others: watercolor brush markers, colored pencils, felt tip drawing pens. They were all high quality, in a beautiful range of colors. 

Tears welled up in your eyes, and for a long moment you couldn’t speak. Rowena reached out one delicate hand and you laced your fingers in with hers. 

“How did you know?” You finally managed to whisper. 

“Oh my dear girl, do you think I don't see where you go in the craft store?” Rowena scolded playfully. 

“But I’m not an artist!” You protested.

Rowena scoffed then. “You draw on everything, my dear. Your lettering is lovely. I am quite sure there is an artist in you. You just need practice, and the right tools. 

“Besides, this is what you wanted. You deserve nice things. And I want to give them to you. Even if just to make the loveliest sketches on spells and recipes. Maybe all you need is a little inspiration.”

“As long as you’re around, I have the most beautiful inspiration of all.” You answered, before you kissed her again.

[tolbyccia]

hello! im in love with your art its just so warm~ i really like the way you do lineart and coloring and was wondering if youd be willing to share some of your brushes? thanks so much and i hope you have a great day 💞

thank you much, sorry for getting back to you super late. i think you’ll be underwhelmed, but i just use the default brushes on clip studio paint for almost all of my work!

the textured pen is my go to for almost everything, especially inking and any hard-brush painting; depending on the effect i’m going for i’ll set the opacity to be effected by pen pressure! the brush width by pen pressure is usually set to a 20%-50% minimum, if i want a sharper point i’ll clean it with an eraser.

when i need more of a soft, blended look i default to the transparent watercolor brush, i don’t fuss with it’s settings much. i’ll pair it with the default airbrush tool sometimes too, but that’s about it! i tend to keep my colors pretty flat, so the watercolor brush to add some flushing to a skin tone is the standard extent of my coloring!