#i'm so used to sketching comics to be read from right to left

[hajihiko]

Hey. So, I saw your Chiaki & Fuyuhiko comic that I like to call "Look on the Bright Side" (since it didn't have an official name in the post itself), and I loved it. I loved seeing Nanami & Kuzuryu interact with each other with the former comforting the latter on Peko and complimenting on how brave he was to save his friend, the scene between Fuyuhiko & Peko during the latter's execution, and then the scene of you making a throwback to your DR3 rewrite from your Talky Talky Tuesday content where the DR2 cast witness Human Chiaki's death and chose not to help her because of how awful Junko's influence on them was. It was heartwarming, bittersweet, and terrifying all at the same time, and as @/self-in-dulled-gent put it in their reblog of the comic, the 4th & 5th panels depicting your DR3 rewrite is a cool and visceral indication of how far the DR2 cast had fallen into despair. Heck, both the comic & the rewrite even serve as inspiration towards my au/rewrite/reimagine of DR3's Despair Arc & how Junko corrupts the DR2 cast into despair. So, thank you so much for the inspiration. I really appreciate it.

With all that in mind, I have some questions I wanna ask you regarding both the comic & DR3 rewrite, if you don't mind.

May I have your permission to do a review on your DR3 Rewrite post for my Advian Reads & Reviews content (which in case you're curious about, AR&R is reading review series where I read something, like fanfiction for example, while also doing a review on it at the same time, giving my thoughts on whatever I'm reviewing as well as potentially even sharing my own stories)?

Will you ever showcase the bonus panel of the rest of the class witnessing Chiaki's death that you mentioned in the comic's tags?

Who is the 5th person on the right between Kazuichi & Hiyoko in the 4th panel (I'm assuming it's Sonia based on the hairstyle, but I thought I'd ask for some confirmation)?

Will we ever get to see the dialogue of Chiaki not resenting Hajime/Izuru for not helping her you also mentioned in the comic's tags?

Follow up on that previous question, do you think it's possible that we might also get to see if Chiaki resents her classmates for not helping her, or if she would also get it with them like she did with Hajime/Izuru?

How exactly does Junko kill Chiaki in front of her classmates? Does she still have her go through her execution like in canon, or does she kill her in a different way, and if so, then how? I ask because I saw Nanami had blood coming from her eyes & mouth (making it look like Junko literally pulled her eyes out), there's blood on her hoodie & left thigh, and she appears to have been stabbed on her right side.

And those are my questions. In regards to gaining your permission to review your DR3 rewrite, if you do grant permission, great! I'll be sure to credit you and give you a shoutout too if you do. And if you don't, then I'm content with that and will understand and respect the reason behind your refusal, whatever that reason may be. Feel free to respond back to me whenever you get the chance. Thank you and have a wonderful day/afternoon/night. 🤗💕❤️🧡💛💚💙💜💖💕🤗

that's one heck of an ask so I'm using a readmore:

Thank you! I remember that comment hehe I'm really glad people like it

1: sure! Just know that I'm like, you know, just a fan and a hobbyist and not even really a writer so I'm not saying my rewrite is more right than anything else!

2: the bonus panel was actually everyone else's deaths (in SDR2) since they all sort of died alone, too. But it didn't feel relevant enough, I prrrrrrrrobably don't have the sketch anymore

3: yep that's Sonia

4: I'll be totally real i don't remember what I was thinking there at all. Sssssorryyyyyy

5: I think Chiaki, if she got to see the events of SDR2 as the AI, wouldn't resent her classmates so much as feel sorry for them and be disappointed. At the same time though I think she might be shocked at what they're capable of. Maybe she can't help but be a bit bitter, who knows. Hajime/Izuru is a different deal since that guy literally got his brains scrambled, can't really blame him. (sort of like deleting all the save data, maybe?)

6: the blood and amounts of it was more about the drama lol. But I thought the obstacle was like, a little too fantastical, not serious enough, so in my rewrite she straight up beats Chiaki to death with some kind of instrument. I think the image of Junko doing something so realistic (and slow) while everyone watches passively is even worse.

Thanks for asking beforehand! 💙

[talesofesther]

all that love ever taught me - part 2

Eddie Munson x Reader

Summary: Eddie has loved you for a long while, and slowly, he's trying to show you just how much.

A/N: Hope you enjoy this high dose of cuteness.

Masterlist | Read Part 1 here

What Eddie lacked in courage, you had plenty in stubbornness.

After the pitiful ending to that rainy day, Eddie was starstruck to find you waiting for him on that same brick wall beside the school doors the next day;

He would recognize you from a mile away, leaning back on the wall, backpack laid between your feet, and a bright smile on your lips as soon as you saw him.

Eddie didn't know what to do with himself, his own skin suddenly felt hot and prickly, because you were walking up to him, arms open in an invitation so tempting yet so dangerous.

"Hey ange-" he couldn't finish, his words were muffled by your jacket because you trapped him in a hug, fingers disappearing in his hair as his own arms encircled your waist, carefully, as if you'd break in his hold.

The hug ended quickly and Eddie was partially glad for it, because he had stopped breathing the moment you were less than a meter away from him. His eyes were fixated on you, a soft frown on his eyebrows while he waited for the punchline, for the ulterior motive to your affection.

It never came, all you did was ramble on about; 'where were you, silly? I've been waiting for fifteen minutes, we're almost late for class'.

Eddie could feel his eyes stinging, tears that he desperately gulped back were pooling on the bottom lid of his eyes.

You were too good for him, but he'd be damned if he wouldn't make himself worthy of you.

_

That decision was made two weeks ago, and since then Eddie has hardly left your side. He'd carry your backpack around and give you a ride home even if it wasn't raining; he'd sit beside you in class and make you laugh whenever you had a bad day or were bored; he'd leave a little note on your locker almost every day, sometimes there wasn't even anything written on it, just a rough sketch of you through his eyes. And sometimes, when he was feeling brave, he'd take hold of your hand when walking around the school.

He didn't have the courage to put into words what he truly felt for you, but he could only hope his actions spoke for him.

Today, Eddie dragged his feet on the empty school hallways, he had a scowl on his face, pouting as a little kid would. His backpack dragged on the floor as he halfheartedly held one of the straps.

Most teachers are not fond of seeing a student using the lunchroom tables for a catwalk. Eddie was always careful to avoid the vultures. But when one's focused on making a certain special someone laugh, old and boring adults are bound to become a blur.

It earned him some scolding and a fat free pass to detention.

He opened the classroom door to find a few sorry souls almost sleeping on their seats and Mrs. Jones, the teacher responsible for keeping an eye on them; he also found you, right on the last row of chairs in the back of the class, frantically waving him over as if this was the cinema or something.

Eddie raised his hands in a 'what the hell' motion, a comically dumbfounded look on his face as he walked up to you after the teacher grumbled for him to take a damn seat and be quiet.

"Why the hell are you here?" He threw his backpack on top of your table and pulled a chair to sit next to you.

"What? You think I'm such a saint that I can't get detention once in a while?" You raised an eyebrow with a teasing smile.

Eddie snorted, he leaned his elbows on the table, trying to be subtle about wanting to be closer to you. "I just thought you were the textbook good girl type."

You bumped his shoulder with yours, "well, then you don't know me at all, Munson."

You were grinning all sweetly, hands resting on the table close to Eddie's, drawing him in as if there was a gravity field around you and he was nothing but a lonely moon. Just a flick of his fingers and he'd be touching you. "I want to," he said, voice laced with something quiet and timid, as if it was a forbidden fantasy of his, "why are you here?"

The question got you averting your gaze from his, smile faltering ever so slightly, "where's the fun in just telling you?"

"I'm terrible at guessing games, angel."

"Give me your best shot."

Eddie raised a hand to his hair, taking a few strands between his fingers and twirling as he hummed in thought. He could feel your eyes on him, piercing and unwavering.

"You talked back to a teacher?" Eddie tilted his head, chocolate brown orbs meeting your gaze. "Vandalized school property? Maybe… got caught smoking?"

You clicked your tongue, holding back a laugh at his suggestions; "tough luck."

Leaning back on his chair, Eddie lightly raised his hands in surrender; "well, I'm out."

"Afraid you'll remain curious then."

There was something off about the way you avoided telling him, Eddie could see it in the way your smile didn't reach your eyes or by the way your words took on that lower tone that had a shiver going down his back. "Come on, that's not fair."

Your hand landed on his forearm, squeezing softly, "a secret for a secret then, that fair enough for you?" You prompted with a new glint in your eyes.

Eddie chuckled, a shaky sound from the back of his throat. If you asked him to spill his darkest secrets, he would. It scared the hell out of him. He ducked his head, running his tongue over his bottom lip before he took his chance and reached for the hand you had on his arm. The touch was barely there, just his fingertips grazing yours.

"What do you wanna know, angel?"

And then Eddie heard it — because he just realized how goddamn close he was to you, shoulders brushing, noses just a few centimeters apart — the way your breathing grew shallow. He felt the way you tensed. The feeling came off of you in waves and made Eddie gulp, his eyes roaming your face as his stomach turned upside down.

"I've…" You started, and then took a breath, "I've been getting a few notes lately."

Eddie was pretty sure he was a few shades paler already.

"I always find them on my locker, and, I don't know, they make me think of you sometimes," you finished quietly with a shy smile, far away gaze in your eyes before you blinked and focused back on Eddie. "Do you know who sent them?" You asked as if you already knew the answer.

Eddie couldn't look at you, his hands started shaking and he abruptly pulled them away from you. "I uh- I don't…"

You held onto him, palm a bit smaller than his as you threaded your fingers together; "stop pulling away from me, Eddie. Please."

A low curse escaped Eddie's lips, he ran a thumb over your knuckles. His knee was going up and down, the heel of his boot thudding against the wooden floor of the classroom. "Yeah, it was me." He glanced up at you, all flushed cheeks and starry eyes. "Sorry if it… makes things weird."

Boldly as ever, the grasp you had in his hand tightened, and you brought it to your lips, planting a kiss on the back of his hand. "I look forward to them every day, you know?" Eddie felt your words on his skin, the brush of your lips taking his breath away and giving him goosebumps, "kept every single one," you finished.

Eddie turned into mush on your hold, boyish chuckle escaping him as he lowered his head to your shoulder, hiding from your eyes and curling his body toward you because he just about couldn't get enough of you. "Really?" He whispered.

You nodded, he could feel your cheek brushing his curls; "really."

With an everlasting smile, Eddie raised his head to look at you, his chest feeling all fluttery and light now that his secret was out and you liked it. "I think you owe me a secret," he hummed.

The way you dug your teeth into your lower lip caught Eddie's attention; got him thinking of an early night date and how the sweetness of a milkshake would taste on your lips.

"You know Claire? That one prissy girl from the cheer team?" You asked, voice low and just barely tuning into Eddie's ears.

"Nah," he breathed back, too drunk on you.

You stifled a chuckle, he heard it, loved the sound. "A teacher caught me dumping a cup of orange juice on her."

That had Eddie's eyes snapping to yours, his own wide open as he processed what you just said. "What- how did I miss that?"

"They had already dragged you out of the cafeteria for walking on the tables," you shrugged, then your hand held his just a tad tighter, "she was- was saying things about you… and they weren't nice."

"Oh angel," Eddie's expression deflated a little, his free hand tucking strands of hair behind your ear, "don't want you putting a target on your back 'cause of me."

"I don't care about it, Eddie," you shook your head, all fiery eyes and words buttered in some kind of affection that cut through Eddie's heart lovingly, "won't let them talk about you like that if I can do something about it."

Eddie snorted, love bringing an easy smile for him; "my own knight in shining armor."

"More like shitty armor, considering I've been caught."

Averting his eyes, Eddie watched the way your fingers traced the bumps and crannies of his rings and the scars on his fingertips. He leaned his forehead with yours, just for a second, just to know what it felt like to have you, and pulled back; "still more than what this cold heart is worthy of."

A shiver ran from Eddie's chest all the way to his toes when your warm palm came to rest on his shirt, just above the rapid thudding in his chest; "not cold," you said, and he knew you could feel the beating of it, for you, always for you.

Eddie was afraid to speak, afraid to break the spell, his gaze moved from your eyes and to your lips. The same hand you had on top of his heart, slowly traced its path up to his cheek and Eddie's breathing halted. Oh, no one ever held him like he was something precious before.

You leaned in to kiss his lips, all tender and soft, nose brushing his cheek. As if to say; you're worthy of love.

Eddie melted in your touch, his hands grasping your waist in desperation. He caught your lower lip between his own and-

"No making out in my classroom!" Mrs. Jones slapped her wooden table, hard, making both you and Eddie jump apart with a gasp and startling a few sleeping students.

You gave her a tight-lipped smile and a thumbs up. The scene had Eddie feeling all warm and fuzzy inside, he felt the crazy desire to take your hand and run away, find a tree to carve your names and a heart into, and promise to marry you in just a few years.

Raising a finger to your chin, Eddie turned you to him, and he saw it, right then and there; his happy ending gazing back at him with a goofy grin and looking as pretty as a picture. "Angel, will you go out with me?" He breathed, hope dripping from each syllable.

"Took you long enough, Munson"

⋆* ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

Thank you for reading this little story. Feedback and reblogs are very much appreciated. <3

Find extra stories for this universe here, just search for the ones under the "all that love ever taught me" title.

Eddie’s taglist: @milkiane @bookfrog242 @alicefallsintotherabbithole @science--hoes @cherrypieyourface @tssf-imagines @astream-ofconsciousness @fentyreligion @fantasylovestoryme @justabeautiful-letdown @crazyrapunzel @yessica41 @dancing-hillary @bakugouswh0r3 @jakebasement @zervopoulouu @forverdaydreamer-blog @fromthedt @oeuryale @mcueveryday @witchbinchstories

@call-me-magpie @loveshineslikethesky @luvmybbies @tvserie-s-world @agirlsguidetolove @hallothankmas @sweetpeapod @forsaken-letters @hazydespair @fangirling-4-ever @electric-cabaret @ollyoxenfrees @twinkofmydreams @paola-carter @masterlistmanic @xceafh @andraimeide @esoltis280 @eddielives1986 @totallynotkaibiased @just-love-reading @murnsondock

[joycew-art]

Someone asked what my process was to make the Rickbot comic, so I thought I'd make a separate post to show it. The process was kinda all over the place and spread over many months from December 2022 up till June 2023, so I'll try my best to make it understandable. And if you have any questions feel free to ask them!

The idea

So it all started with the idea of; What if Rickbot came back? And then the idea immediately made me think of two things;

How would Rickbot react?

Why is he brought back?

Which ended up with these two scenarios in my mind;

A. Rickbot awakens and he's not happy B. Rick tells the reason he's activated again

These were the very first scenes that started it all.

So then the question became, how do I go from point A to point B?

I would take moments from the show as reference for how they would act in these scenarios. And I'd take inspiration from manga and other comics of how I wanted the dialogue to flow and what the comic layouts would look like. In this case I knew a lot of dialogue would be involved cause these guys talk a lot! But I also didn't want the panels to feel too crowded and rushed so I limited myself to the amount of dialogue per panel.

Right now I'm writing it down like it was very planned, but for me this was often a very subconscious thing I did. I just thought up scenarios while I was taking walks or daydreaming in the shower etc. And sometimes these very specific moments would pop up that I would write down or draw out later.

I would make mini thumbnails of how I wanted the pages to go and write the dialogue next to it. At this point I'm mainly thinking of what I want characters to say and how I want the story to flow. Sometimes I make multiple versions of the same scenario to see how it flows better.

At times I even only write down dialogue and then make the thumbnails for them later. I have a tiny a6 sketchbook for little thumbnails and ideas like this. These were often moments were I didn't know where I wanted to take the comic yet, so I would separate the two to keep it more organized for myself.

As you might have noticed, not everything is the same in the final comic. I always fine-tune or change stuff up as I go. Sometimes things don't flow as well as I thought they did or some dialogue feels awkward or unnecessary.

Sketching

Once all the pages were planned and I have a good idea of how the story would go I opened a new Clip Studio Paint file and used the comic feature to set that up.

I would then copy the thumbnails I made in the page files and exported a thumbnail draft of the whole comic and 'read' through it to see how it flowed.

After I was satisfied I finally started sketching the pages.

Most of the pages stayed the same from the thumbnail, aside from some poses or expressions here and there. But I would also change up stuff I wasn't satisfied with.

For example, initially the Prime panel looked like the left one, but I didn't like how the pose flowed with the text balloons. There was a lot of empty space as well. So I decided to redo it to the one on the right.

Even now for the final version I'm thinking of resizing Rick a bit more. These kind of changes just happen throughout the process.

The backgrounds

I knew the comic would only take place in the garage, so to save myself a lot of time I decided to make it in 3d.

First I decided to sketch out the four walls of the garage as planes;

Then I imported those in Blender. I did some simple 3d modeling to get the basic shapes for the counters and the cabinet et voila! 3d sketch version of the garage!

I know this is a very watered down explanation, but trying to explain how I did it would take a whole new tutorial. And there are many other ones out there that explain it much better than I could. I was lucky that I already have some Blender experience cause of past works I've done for school and stuff.

But if you got the time to delve into it I would recommend it! For this here you only need to know the basics. Also Blender is free to download :)

This has saved me a lotttt of time drawing the same backgrounds over and over again!

Cover

Lastly I did the cover. That one has also gone through multiple versions. I had a vague idea of what I wanted, but I wasn't happy with the execution so I redrew that one as well.

So that's the whole process so far. I do I wanna continue the comic once I got the energy to work on it again. Gonna do some test pages first to see what kind of rendering I wanna go for. Not sure if'll be in black and white, color or a combo...we'll see.

I hope this helps! And if you have any questions don't be afraid to ask them.

[randomyuu]

so hold my hand (consign me not to darkness) [1/4]

Ah, yes. The fic that made me realise I’m in desperate need of Cursed Spirit Gojou in my ever-growing favourite GoYuu tropes.

Content Warning!

Major Character Death. Other characters are disrespectful to the corpse.

I highly suggest you read the fic first, or just the fic, since I don’t think I was properly able to adapt it into drawings. While I managed to use roughly two weeks of on-and-off planning, researching, and storyboarding, I only had a full week to finish it. You can read more of my thoughts below the comic if you’re curious.

Title: so hold my hand (consign me not to darkness)

Author: qalb_al_louz

It’s ongoing, and as of this drawing, the fic is in its third chapter. While this is (sexually) SFW, always be mindful of the tags! Please keep yourself safe and sound.

Please read from right to left, and enjoy!

You can only upload 30 images in one post, huh Damn, I gotta divide it into parts

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Alrighty, I'll put my watered down unhinged thoughts below. No extra drawings down there if you're curious haha (unless you want to see the storyboard and the characters' full body character sheet, lemme know). You can skip the stuff underneath the Keep Reading for all parts.

This fic had me grinning from ear to ear every time I read this. The atmosphere, how it goes from POV to POV—of pure fear and panic—and the peak excitement I got when Yuuji properly meets Gojou, like brooooo 😭

Gosh I cannot emphasise how much I love this fic. I’ve always been wanting to make a whole comic out of it, especially since it was 2 chapters and it doesn’t look like the author will update it, but it just… kind of forgotten ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿

But then the author posted a new chapter and I told myself this is a sign I should really start.

also goddamn I was so naive to think I can tackle 2 chapters as comic—no I was in fact cannot

The moment I laid my eyes on the first paragraph, things were portrayed very vividly in my mind. The panel, the angle, Gojou's head rolling down... I was like, hell yeah. Then I continued reading and I finally succumbed to my desire to draw this out.

At first I want to adapt this into a vertical format like those manhwas. However the longer I try to learn and storyboard it... I am simply not yet comfortable with it, especially for such a big project. Even the 1st storyboard starts vaguely vertical before the panels quickly crammed into that B4-B5 format lol. The first sketch estimated 69 (heh) pages for 90% of chapter 1. I said "no" for my own sanity and fully focused on the usual manga format and it was narrowed down to 60. Still a lot though, quantity and time-wise. So with a heavy heart, I can only do the majority of chapter 1 :”) I really really want to draw Sukuna talks back to Gojou—do you have any idea how good that scene was??? Gojou tried so hard to restrain himself, he’s so other I love him 😭

Due to the sheer length of this comic (I'm still in disbelief), I have limit lots of things, and that includes the drawing. If you've seen my other JJK fanarts, they are more rendered than this one. Well, this one is purely sketched with the help of the eraser to tidy up some lines. This is also the first fanart that I did purely on Photoshop, so I can control the typesets and drawings in one place. Usually, I use Photoshop for panels and typesetting and Krita for drawing.

I don't really like Photoshop's brush, but it did really well in curbing my perfectionist tendencies, so that's good.

It's also been quite a while since I draw in general (sobs) so... yeah, you might find differences, or not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

I know setting is important, but maaan I genuinely won't miss rereading chapter 83-93 with a heavy focus on background and character locations. I just want to read the action and dialogue😭 However continuity is really important. But my spatial intelligence is almost non-existent even GPS sometimes can't help me. All I'm saying is that if you find some silly drawing mistakes, do forgive me ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿I only drew all this in a week because otherwise I won't have another chance to complete this.

Well, lots of things I won't miss from this project, but haha let's talk about the characters instead because holy shit what was I thinking, starting this year drawing this many characters in the same project??? I have never drawn anyone here except for Yuuji, Gojou, Nanami and Megumi. I don't think I've ever drawn older Getou before. I already forgot how to draw my boy Yuuji and I gotta draw all these people???

This is what you call making a bad decision, kids. Don't do your "drawing warmup" after months of not drawing and tackling a project of a scale way bigger than you've ever tackled before.

Thank you for reading this far! I hope you find my complaint entertaining! But make no mistake, I genuinely still love the fic. Drawing this, even with all the headaches it gave me, only makes me adore this fic even more.

Thank you very much to each one of you who follows and leaves comments and tags on my silly art—it never failed to make my day :D And I sincerely wish this one also made your day or even made your minute! I'll see you in the next part!

[little-cereal-draws]

A ramble abt Dr. Blitzmeyer's clothes (pt 3)

Hello, I'm back on my bullshit >:) as if I was ever off

There is no point that I'm trying to make with this, I've just been staring at pictures of her for so long I thought of this

These are all different outfits but I'm grouping them together. This is concept art by Aidan Sugano from the art book. These were for the idea where Blitzmeyer worked at the Silver Society, a secret organization of scientists and other magical creatures who were against the Institute. In this idea, she also had a bunch of tattoos that glowed when she used magic. I think this idea is sick as fuck. Literally the coolest thing in the world. But in terms of her clothes, it's very asymmetrical and mimics a lot of Nimona's motifs. The hems in the clothes are on the organic grid that Nimona uses instead of the rigid, geometric grid of the Institute (they talk abt this earlier in the art book) and because her bottom half, whether it's a skirt or pants, is so baggy, it gives her that pear shape that Nimona has. She literally has the same highlights on her goggles as Nimona has in her eyes. They are using her clothes to characterize her as someone against the Institute, someone who has magical qualities, someone on Nimona's side. (Side note that's not abt clothes: Blitzmeyer also uses the organic S-curves that Nimona does instead of the Institute's geometric shapes - Ballister's a rectangle, Ambrosius' a triangle, and the Director's a diamond.)

In the second, third, and fifth sketches here, she's wearing harem pants. I think that these are too baggy for her experiments and would be a safety hazard so she probably wouldn't wear them to the lab; she takes her work too seriously for that. The designs on the fabric of the first two sketches reminded me of the patterns in African and Japanese textiles. (The first image below is a Zulu pattern from South Africa and the second image is from a Japanese kimono.) The pattern on the pants in the third sketch reminded me for the geometric patterns in Islamic art (third image below). The sash on the right in the fifth sketch, reminds me of ancient petroglyphs. (Forth image below, from the United States; it's so old, I couldn't find a specific culture to go with it.)

--

Drawn by Minkyu Lee. These are probably the most comic accurate outfits in the art book. Out of the two of them, I prefer the one on the right because the one on the left's hair reminds me of ice cream lol

Drawn by Minkyu Lee. I think besides the tattoo idea, these are my favorites. It still incorporates the punk-ness that would associate her with Nimona as well as staying true to the eccentric but smart nature of her comic character. I think these designs also do a good job of making something new but still being based in her comic outfit. Her lab coat here has the same collar and baggy sleeves as her casual outfit in the comic as well as the same black undershirt. The one on the right is a bit baggy for lab work but the one on the left is good. But I think the most important thing about this design is the goggles. The other designs have been missing it, I think bc it's hard to make her expressive that way, but it works so well here. It's an integral part of her comic design and you can't really have her character without them. I would love if they went with this design because I think it has everything it needs to read as her while still being new. Also I love how her hair looks here.

Drawn by Minkyu Lee. This one seems evil, cunning, and not science-y at all. It's giving Lady McBeth vibes lol

part one part two

[archandshri]

23rd Feb '24 - [arch] OH RISO my beloved!!!!!! ft. cyberpunk hermitcraft soup group

A cliffhanger!!!! And now I have to wait a month for you to upload the second half?? How will I cope :’’0

For real, it’s so awesome to see your process and the sheer amount of inspiration you take! In particular, I thought ‘Sit on Two Chairs’ and ‘This Was Our Pact’ were particularly yummy. 

I think book covers are really hard. You have to sum up a book’s energy in one image, make it stand out and show just enough so people want more. Exploring the narrative through those full pages is really interesting - though this is something you did for fun, it could be a really useful technique for getting to know a narrative. When I’m designing my comic covers, I always do it last - that way I’ve had practice with the visual style and I’m thoroughly familiar with the themes, so I guess spending a bit of time with the characters and narrative in this way helps for standalone book covers too. Of course, it helps if you have the time for that XD

Okay!! Onto what I've been up to!!! [warning this is a beefy post I'm sorry for your poor reading brain]

The past two weeks have been really enjoyable! I’ve been playing a lot with slow world-building, in sketchbooks, google documents, and voice notes to friends. Letting myself really sit with concepts, think about the characters, let them play in my head with no expectations. With this relaxation and lack of pressure, some beautiful narratives and interactions have been developing. I’m starting to need a name for a world/ the story. I’m not quite ready to give them a full introduction to the internet - I know it doesn’t but it feels like there’s some accountability to *produce something* and this slow development is really important for the quality and my skill building. It’s really hard to take on, but we actually don’t have to make the perfect thing now! In fact, it’s impossible. Pressure on ourselves makes it so hard to make something good if we’re always grasping at the final result.  In the meantime, while those characters develop, I have been working hard on my basic skills. I wrote about characterization last post, but this week I focused on setting and colour. I was inspired (once again) by Hermitcraft. I’ve seen some really incredible illustrations of Minecraft builds in the fandom, and it seems like a great exercise.

Bdouble0's Season 10 Base illustrated by @applestruda [source] and The Red Zone, built and illustrated by Bdouble0 [source]

One of the creators on Hermitcraft, ImpulseSV, created this build in a recent episode. It takes inspiration from the last season of Hermitcraft, where he was part of the ‘soup group’ with two other players, and his current base concept - a cyberpunk city.  I also LOVE his new character design, so I wanted to place him in the scene.

Screenshot from Impulse's video and new impulse design by @maxx-doodles

Here are some initial thumbnails I did, trying to figure out the composition. I wasn’t sure of the vibe yet, so I tried some rough thumbnailing, and drawing on an isometric grid and other perspective techniques. I’m going a bit mad for characters at the mo, so I wanted to place some in the scene. I found the angle of the isometric grid steep to place characters comfortably, so decided against that.

Looking back at it, I love the second! But I believe I was struggling with the perspective. I decided on the last one eventually.

Now, I absolutely adore all of the players in the Soup Group, and I am BIG fan of redesigning their notable characteristics to suit different settings. So yes, I decided to put all of the soup group in the image.

PearlescentMoon (left) from my comic and GeminiTay's Hermitcraft Season 10 design [from this thumbnail] (right)

Here's the sketch of the final image. I really enjoyed coming up with cyberpunk versions of them all. I used the impulse design almost exactly, with a few extra interesting details since he's mostly viewed from the back. For PearlescentMoon (middle) I kept her fringe, dark hair and gave her a glowing moon symbol on her top. For GeminiTay, I kept her long ginger hair, antlers (but glowing!) and took inspiration from her new season 10 design - a dark blue jumpsuit to match her dark blue clothes in her new design, and the braids she is often drawn with. I also gave them edgy new hairstyles. And a robot arm. I don't have lore for that.

As usual, I filled each flat colour-to-be with black and lowered the opacity to play with the values. Then I added colours one at a time, aware might be riso printing it. Originally I stuck to trying to make it printable (making the colours out of ones I could make my layering 2-3 colours at different opacities), but as I went on, I decided to drop that and focus on the quality of the image in a digital format alone. I did keep the grayscale version above with all the separate layers in case I needed that if/when I came to riso printing it. Below are the main two digital colour schemes I tried out.

I settled on the one on the left, with the blue tones - the foreground characters really pop. I put a few details in Gem's hair, colour variations etc, and cropped it for Instagram. I actually much prefer the cropped version - it sits better in a rule of thirds.

Now the moment we've all been waiting for :'')

RISO!!!!!!!!!!!

I returned to Cardiff after a couple of months away and was delighted to spend my first day back at The Printhaus, an awesome shared print studio where I have basically made my home. A few of my awesome friends happened to be there, so I spent the day playing around with this image with their help! (please check them out they're very cool - Gavin helped me a lot (we hung out at Thought Bubble, remember? and Rhi gave good crits too!!)

For those who don't know, risograph is basically a shitty photocopier that can only print one colour at a time. However, you can play with gradients and opacities, and layer colours really nicely to combine. I've done a lot of single-colour tonal work with riso but this is my first go really layering.

First, Gavin showed me how to separate the channels in Photoshop, using the flat image uploaded to the 'gram. We copied and pasted these layers in grayscale and added blending modes to each layer to replicate what they might look like when printed.

With blending modes, the digital mockup looked like this!!

This bit goes into technical details for replicating what the print might look like for those who might want it - feel free to skip :)))

I copied and pasted the Cyan, Black and Magenta layers as greyscale (as you can see above)

I made all of the greyscale layers multiply layers since risograph ink is transparent and we wanted to see how it layers. The ink usually comes out a bit lighter than you think, so it's good to bear that in mind. I used a clipping mask over each greyscale layer and a blending mode. WHEN YOU PRINT, PRINT IN GREYSCALE, NOT COLOUR.

Here's how I split the colours from CMYK to the riso colours, their hex codes and the blending mode I used to replicate the colours:

Cyan - Mint [HEX#82D8D5] Screen Magenta - Fluorescent Pink [HEX#FF48B0] Screen Black - Blue [HEX#0078BF] Overlay Yellow - scrapped for colour scheme purposes

Blue, Mint and Florencent Pink layers in greyscale in Procreate.

Riso printed Mint and Florescent Pink layers on separate paper, followed by the two layered together.

We always start with the lighter colour inks first, because sometimes the rollers can pick up the ink and cause extra marks where you don't want them. The first two colours came out great!

The first time we printed the blue, it came out very dark (left, first image). I have had this issue before - my last book, Winter Wellbeing, came out much darker than I wanted. Now I realise that the blue ink is super sensitive. All the 'white space' that is covered by a low-opacity blue on the left is only 2%, and yet it has come out pretty strong. We tried printing it on one of the misaligned images just to see, but it took all of the brightness out of the neon soup sign at the top of the image (second image). So I changed the values and pushed them way lighter, so it just pushed the values of the darker bits slightly, and brightened some of the lineart (right, first image)

And this is the final riso printed version!! I'm so so happy with how this came out. It's so different from the original digital version, and I actually love that.

I didn't create new colours in the way that I intended to - I wanted to play with overlaying purposefully to create specific colours eg. orange for the hair etc. But!!! I'm really happy with how it came out. That will have to be a project for next time.

Also, many copies are slightly misaligned, so in future I think I'd do flat layers for the colours a more blobby style with the linework on one layer only so there's less of a chance for obvious misalignment. design for the riso, rather than riso the design.

Overall though, this feels like a super cool step up and a milestone for me. Super happy with how it came out!! And I'm excited to play with colour some more. Can't wait to see the rest of the Lionheart brothers! Enjoy your weekend :)))

Archie 🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺 <3

[biteghost]

State of Affairs: oh, it's not good. Bad, in fact!

listening music (lol)

Greetings, all! I apologize for not much communication, art or comics this month, but things were a bit out of my control! I'll cut right to the point: I had a big oopsie at the start of May, and the situation overall has not gotten much better since then.

Here's the scoop as plain as I can explain it: I dropped my external hard drive, and it no longer connected to my computer. My computer has a very tiny amount of memory (the OS capacity is less than 120GB), so I have used an external hard drive as the brain of my computer for years now. I have no back-ups either on another hard drive, older computer, or cloud service.

This external hard drive housed everything I have created and brought with me between computers since 2013. It stored all my art. All of it. My comic pages, my working files, my works-in-progress, my commission pieces, as well as gifts from friends and other artists. It had all the sessions of my at-home tabletop game 'Blueshift', which is a pretty big hit for me as I had only just finished the game. I didn't even have time to be happy the game was finished until I had to mourn a loss of it I had not anticipated.

I sent the hard drive to a data recovery company with good reviews. It had nearly 2TB of data on it, and I tried very hard not to get my hopes up that they'd be able to retrieve most of my data. Despite this, I still was disappointed by what they sent back.

To be blunt: they did not retrieve most of my data. In fact, I'd say in total they only recovered about 40%, if I am being generous. They were unable to recover any of my in-development projects (A Cure for Athanasia, Super Manifest: Steward Cycle, The Tenth, The Sword of Hours, etc), and unfortunately BACKLASH didn't make it out unscathed either. Old art files that I one day wanted to make Prints off have been lost, as well as small doodles and secret sketches which never made it online.

While reviewing the files that they managed to recover, I also noticed that whole chunks of BACKLASH's working page files have been lost or corrupted. This isn't a huge setback for the comic itself since all of BACKLASH is online to read. But it is hard and heartbreaking for me, because despite everything I did one day want to make a printed edition of BACKLASH. I wanted to hold my comic in my hands.

That dream is not impossible, but it is now much further away. I can recreate my old pages with what I currently have, but it will be a lot of extra work, and there is no getting around that.

Losing this much of my history, artistic journey, relationships and formative time as an artist has been really hard on me, emotionally and mentally. I'm very sad. It's hard to draw right now for myself. Commission work comes easily, since I am given a prompt to draw for someone else, but creative ideas are not flowing for me at the moment. My hands are frozen and dejected.

I am now waiting to get back the files that the data recovery people managed to retrieve for me (probably by tomorrow, they said), and I am looking into other places in order to get a second opinion of sorts. At this point there really is no harm in trying, and maybe a different operation might have better luck. Who knows? It may be grasping at straws, but at this point things can't get any worse than this.

When I get my data back I'll be able to finish up BACKLASH chapter 7. I want to finish it off - there are not very many pages left, and miraculously the few remaining pages are among the ones that were recovered! So that's good. I will be finishing up the chapter, and afterward BACKLASH will be taking a bit of a break. I don't know how long the hiatus will last, and I won't be making any kind of estimate. It'll take as long as I need until I feel I can put one foot in front of the other again. Maybe I'll work on something else for a while, maybe I won't draw anything. Who knows! I don't, haha.

Eventually I'll be okay, and I'll get back on the horse. Even in the midst of all this turmoil I really just want to be making comics ;_;

Until then, I just need some time. It's the only cure for this kind of problem, I think. So, I thank you for your patience, and I thank you for the love you've shown me, my work, and my characters. I couldn't be where I am and I couldn't have made all the work I have without your support and love. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

I'll see you when I get back! Much love and many kisses, xoxo 💖💖💖

(cross-posted from patreon)

[abeinginsand]

A conversation about demon tails (Hermie and Taylor bonding)

(Dialogue and image description below)

Left to Right Panel 1: Hermie (thought): Great set-up but these typos... Surroundings: Closet sign, Making edits to fic Panel 2: Hermie (thought): Also the doctor is-- Taylor: "Hey Hermie!" Surroundings: Door slam sound effect Panel 3: Hermie: "Hello nephew, crime associate, and best friend. What have you come here for?" Panel 4: Taylor (thought): Hey I'm not that short! Taylor: "No one's around so show me your tail, Herm!" Hermie (making a dramatic, appalled face off-screen): "Puzzling choice of words..." Panel 5: Taylor: "Different shapes...yours looks like Dad's!" Hermie: "They (both tails) look like Jodie's. Still need to kill--" Taylor: "Or you could change the shape, dude....Uncle? We could match or make a new shape?" Surroundings: Nicky's (label for the doodle of Nicky's tail) Panel 6: Surroundings: Three new variations (panel header) Taylor: "Kawaii (cute)!" (to the flower shape) Taylor: "Cool like my sword cane" (to knife shape) Taylor: "Mysterious?" (to the mask) Hermie: "Perfect!" Side note: The mask is purposefully drawn with the tear on the 'happy' side of the mask unlike the traditional theater masks with tears on the 'sad' side. ---- Copy of image description: A digital sketch comic with six panels read from left to right and top to bottom. It features the friend and relative duo Hermie and Taylor from Dungeons and Daddies. Hermie is sitting with one leg crossed in the theater classroom. They are looking at their phone and editing Normal's fanfic chapter. Taylor busts into the room very loudly and interrupts Hermie's thoughts. Hermie greets him and the dialogue box seems to be on top of a very low to the floor Taylor. The next panel shows Taylor pushing the dialogue box into the air with all his strength. He asks to see his best friend's tail. The two compare their no longer hidden demon traits. The tail tips are different and Hermie's looks more like his half brother's tail than his nephew. The fact that it looks like Jodie's tail makes Hermie angry and she brings up wanting to kill him still. Taylor offers a less violent solution which is using shape shifting to alter the shape to something new. Three new variations are shown at the bottom which are flower, knife, and theater mask. Hermie likes all the shapes but is most pleased with the mask. Taylor gives compliments to each type excitedly.

[animaginaryartblog]

[Image ID: a colored sketch of several Sonic the Hedgehog characters, each redesigned to resemble a corresponding Yu-Gi-Oh! character. In the top left is a logo reading "Heart of the Chaos", with text under that says "A Sonic the Hedgehog x Yu-Gi-Oh! AU".

From left to right: Shadow is Kaiba, with his trademark white coat. His undershirt is red, his pants are black, and he wears black-and-red boots and gloves. He stands proudly, shoulders back as he glares at the camera.

Next to him is Maria as Mokuba. She is a head taller than Shadow and has been given a suitably Robotnik nose. She wears a blue dress that matches her eyes with a black vest on top. She has a white scarf around her neck and white shoes. She smiles with just a hint of mischief.

Next is Eggman as Pegasus. He is two heads taller than Maria. He wears a fancy red suit with a frilly white cravat, white pants, and red and white shoes. His mustache is neatly groomed. His right eye is covered by a black lens as usual, while his left eye has been replaced by the Phantom Ruby from Sonic Forces. He stands with one arm behind his back and the other at his chest, grinning smugly.

After Eggman is Surge as Malik/Marik Ishtar. Her ponytail points to either side, forming an almost wing-like shape. She wears a black crop top, yellow flared pants, and yellow, black, and white sneakers. Gold bracelets adorn her upper arms, and gold earrings dangle from her ears. On her left hand she wears a black glove with the Tricore from the IDW comics. She stands with one hand on her hip, looking off to the side with a smirk.

Beside Surge is Kit as Rishid/Odion Ishtar. He is a head shorter than Surge. He wears a floor-length hooded purple robe, black shirt and pants, yellow belts, and yellow, black, and white shoes. He also wears black gauntlets studded with metal. He stands with hands slightly raised, staring straight ahead with a flat expression.

Finally, Blaze as Isis/Ishizu Ishtar stands apart fro the rest, looking off to the side uncomfortably. She wears plain cream robes with a gold belt and pink high heels. She has a golden crown of sorts on her head. Around her neck is a gold necklace with a red Sol Emerald affixed to it. /end ID]

Yu-Gi-Oh!, part the third. Malik!Surge and Rishid!Kit was the best brainwave I've had for this AU, it works so well. I might even use it in reverse for my Sonic/Yu-Gi-Oh! AU, too. though that only works if I keep Yami Yugi as Sonic, which I'm thinking of changing. and I already had a very amusing slot for the Ishtars... hmm, decisions, decisions.

Other drawings of this AU: Tails!Yugi and Sonic!Yami | Friendship Gang | Ancient Egypt Gang

[nimbus-bugs]

Nim Sketch Dump

as promised, here's a big sketch dump of my sona/oc nim! this isn't gonna be a popular post and I don't care 👍

I didn't originally intend to post these so I've referenced some art works heavily but I've written the name of the artist and I'll type it out too! if any of the artists see my references and is uncomfortable with it please let me know and I'll remove it from this post :D

dump under the cut!

the first ideas for his "modern design" (he's been around and recycled for a loooong time). the pose in the top right hand corner is taken from @/hiraethminds! they are a very cool artist and inspire me a lot. though the grey-ish tones as the major colour goes away I still really like the centipede tattoo, centipedes are rad as fuck and you can't tell me otherwise

I started to play with the idea of a goat design for him here! which is strange because like. that's not even his main design or motif or anything, I just really liked the idea I guess LMAO also Aurelai belongs to my mate of the same name! she's not on tumblr (yet) but you should still like her because she's cool and awesome

a treat for my qsmp enjoyers!! an unfinished short comic I sketched on the day tallulah lost her first life. the other characters in this are my old ocs, don't even worry about them

I straight up just have the image that inspired me in this one. its by @/sss-eriema and it was a gift from GOD. I was trying to sort out the colours and wanted to incorporate both orange (my favourite colour) and green (my close second favourite colour) but wasn't having much luck. eriema's artwork showed me that it can work in a more muted way and it was very very helpful!!

maid dress. sorry. also slimecicle

I started to get the colours down in the bottom right corner!! I really like this sketch page honestly. some bonus self portrait sketches because I wanted to try and put some more of my own features into his design as my sona! also in the notes I was debating between the two eye shapes and I'm still thinking about it. I think the bottom ones fit his personality more and are way more expressive but I just like the Vibe of the top ones

a lot of little drawings with varying styles! also more slimecicle. I am adhding so hard for him right now, it's concerning.

t. this one is the reason for the blood tw in the tags. I just really like drawing blood. as a treat. don't come for me this is my self-indulgent safe space leT ME BE EDGY </3 also the writing is a little hard to read so I've put it in the alt! and more qsmp doodles!

I'm starting to ditch the goat design but this one is my last hurrah. basically settled on the general colour scheme now! and more qsmp stuff. its literally gripped my brain I can't escape it, even in my personal work

then I realised. nimbus-BUGS. bugs! what if bug? this was a really fun study for using more creature features that I wasn't used to! loving the mandibles tbh

my most recent sketch as of posting! I might update this later, but this sketch page is probably the most gratuitously referenced, the expressions in the bottom left and top right were basically ripped from @/microwavablesquid so if you like those please check them out! the basic design structure of the full body was referenced from @/aresonist, retroactively I realised a lot of my design choices. uh. they also made LMAOOO so if my design in General tickles your brain, follow them!

as for his lore and basic information for what he actually Is, uhhh. ??? I don't know HAHAHA he's a little guy! he's creature! is he human? probably not but no one could say for sure! is he bugs? is he 1000 bugs in a trenchcoat? sometimes he's goat I guess??? I can never decide on a design and I think that aids his cryptid-like habits. he shows up sometimes, vibes and can't die in a way that matters! he has a running motif of my fake-God-thing, the centipede ouroboros, so I was like "what if he was a harbinger of the ouroboros, what then." and I like to imagine he has video game logic where when he dies, he basically respawns. also weirdly it's worked out in a way where he has lots of biblical motifs, like my name is literally nimbus, like the halo, and he's a messenger of a god like some fucked up blorbo angel. also lily of the valley is my favourite flower and I like drawing him with it, it also has lots of symbolism in the bible?? wild.

I sincerely doubt it but if you guys have any questions about nim or want to draw him or anything I would Die. I would just keel over. you'd take me out.

thank you so much if you got to the end of this btw!! this was a lot. seriously though, it means the world if even one person would like to see my little guy <3 have a great day and take care of yourself!

[alphadogg777]

Hey Packmates! This comic was intended to be released in completion as my gift to @mello-jello for a Secret Santa event held in the Levihan Discord server last year! I highly suggest reading the original fan-fiction on aO3 prior to looking this over as these pages only somewhat connect and have gaps of missing scenes! Several pages are unfinished and I apologize for that. I bit off more than I could chew last December and ended up having to give this project up after the Photoshop file repeatedly crashed and finally corrupted, resulting in me losing my progress. I still wanted to upload this for Jello as I greatly appreciate everything you do and I wanted to provide closure on this project I set out on doing last year! So keep in mind everyone, this is far from perfect and not my proudest work (as this all older art and many parts remain unfinished).

I actually didn't create the pages in order, so I don't have the first half of the fic drawn. For story reference, this scene here takes place right after Hange runs the exercise tests on him and he goes to the bath that she's prepared for him and so on. More notes alongside the pages will be included as you continue to read. Enjoy!

So I uh...chickened out of actually drawing the scene of Hange giving Levi a massage. Going into this little project of mine I believed I could draw this scenario taking place in theory, but it felt MUCH more intimate and steamy and I GOT TOO FLUSTERED AND COULDN'T DO IT I'M SORRY GAHHHH ;-;

Anyways it continues after Hange does the calculations based on the experiment to see if Levi's performance on the field has improved as a result of the luxury treatment. And it turns out...

And that's that! Here are some additional bonus sketches below as well! I meant for these to be used in the comic, however due to the file corrupting I wasn't able to recover all of them which resulted in me losing motivation and any confidence I had left in posting this last year. I hope you all can find enjoyment in these comic pages despite being unfinished for the most part!

Lemme know what y'all think! Stay tuned for more content in the near future! Keep sending me asks/requests, I've had a blast reading through them all! Until next time! :D

[cttrajan1206]

[IMAGE ID

3 images of a collage of art titled "CTtrajan's Commission Sheet" and then one image of a block of text titled "Additional Info".

First image is split into two, with the left side using a turquoise background while the right side uses a soft blue background. The left side shows two rough comics that only show headshots of the characters used. Dark blue text reads:

"(underlined) Rough sketch comic / Total characters: 2 / Price: £3"

Underneath, dark purple text reads:

"Quick, inaccurate and without panels / Additional character: +£1 each"

The right side shows two roughly coloured images of individual characters. Dark blue text reads:

"(underlined) Rough colour halfbody / Total characters: 1 / Price: £5"

Underneath, dark purple text reads:

"Quick, softly coloured and with inaccuracy / Additional character: +£5 each"

Second image is split into two, with the left side using a light purple background while the right side uses a light pink background. To the left are two images of clean, flat colour images. Dark blue text reads:

"(underlined) Clean flat colour halfbody / Total characters: 1 / Price: £15"

Underneath, dark purple text reads:

"Fully coloured, steady lines and drawn with prior sketch / Additional character: +£10 for 2nd, then +£5 for each addition"

The right side shows two separate, fully coloured and shaded pieces. Dark blue text reads:

"(underlined) Clean fully shaded halfbody / Total characters: 1 / Price: £35 / Slots [1]"

Underneath, dark purple text reads:

"Fully coloured, fully rendered and drawn with effects / No additional character unless split across canvas"

Third image shows three different artworks at the top over a light purple background, the first displaying two characters and the other two displaying three. Underneath, dark blue text reads:

"(underlined) Multiple character examples! (All are clean flat colour)"

Underneath the screen is split into three boxes.

The first has a light red background with dark red text reading:

"Will (all capitals) not draw: Mechanoids, NSFW / Naked bodies, Incest / Age gap / Non-con, Hate speech / art using slurs [even reclaimed ones], Extremely complex detail"

The second has a light orange background with dark orange text reading:

"(all capitals) might draw if given info: Animal type bodies/Furries, Prosthetic limbs, Gore (I can only do simple), Backgrounds (can only do simple), Mouth to mouth kissing (cannot draw lips)"

The third has a light green background with dark green text reading:

"(all capitals) will draw: Ships (Canon x OC, OC x OC, selfship), Horror / Angst, Portrait from photo, Fandoms I'm not in, Humanoid / Skeleton / Body horror"

The final image has white behind dark blue text that reads:

"All images will be digital and given as PNG files / I can only take payment through: Ko-fi, Cashapp, Paypal / I need detailed instructions and clear communication beforehand / Please contact me through either of these:

Discord (CTtrajan#7796)

Instagram (cttrajan1206) "

/END ID]

Ok so.

Hi !!!

This may come as a surprise but. I'm taking commissions! They're only small ones but I hope you'll consider me! I'll draw you holding hands with your fiction crush if you want :}

Additional note but I'll only be taking payment After finishing the commission, for both of our sakes

ADDITIONAL NOTES FOR MY OWN SAKE OF MIND:

- Armor will be given an extra £5 fee on your first purchase but if you comm me again with that character, it's back to normal price (i take longer to draw it correctly the first time)

- CASHAPP DOES NOT WORK FOR ME UNLESS YOU ARE IN THE UK

[illwynd]

sdcc 2023 highlights (for me)

marco checchetto thor sketch <3<3<3 i'm still not over it. He was lovely in general, and the care and time he put into that drawing i'm just jashdgjklahsjlkdghajkd

hearing JMS utterly drag the whole concept of AI writing. Very heartening.

honestly both the JMS panels i saw were gr9, he's just really fun and enlightening to listen to

meeting chuck tingle

actually the horror panel Dr. Tingle was on was a lot of fun. among other things, a point was made about the similarities of horror, humor, and erotica writing in that they're all considered low-brow and generally disrespected but they're also all very visceral and dealing with deep emotional stuff and, yeah.

finally getting to debut the brand-new AoA Loki trio, result of literally months of work largely by me, and also getting to take out the amazing scepter prop gifted to me recently by @lady-of-misrule

a handful of lovely thor cosplayers to our lokis. (why is it that big dudes joyfully cosplaying Fat Thor do more justice to the character than Hemsworth in the worst fat suit that anyone has ever created? forget I asked, we know why.)

some good photo shoots in general, gotta share some of those pics at some point

hearing from the folks at the TORn booth that there is a Rohirrim show in the works that will be NOT Amazon-made and will have PJ's involvement in some capacity, so... some hope there I guess?

running into several friends and acquaintances. which seems to happen way more often than it should given how huge an event it is?

and lowlights:

IF ONE MORE FUCKIN PERSON REFERS TO MY OBVIOUSLY CAREFULLY CRAFTED COMICS LOKI COSPLAYS AS "VARIANTS" I'M CRACKING SKULLS. This goes double to the people with the TVA display setup who tried to get us to come take pics at their booth and were so shocked and appalled when we turned on our heels and said absolutely fucking not. sorry not sorry that i told them to read some damn comics.

the cops kicked out the taco truck that always used to set up behind the convention center. they took away my cheap and tasty california burritos and left me with overpriced mediocre convention pizza. fuckin bastards. I swear, the security lady who told us why the taco truck wasn't there was right: it was probably because they were offering an affordable alternative.

just about sweating to death before the weather finally cooled down a bit, but even then it was muggy as hell and actually rained in San Diego in July like wut

[demonicsoulmates-art]

Art Class - Some thoughts and notes

So, yesterday (17 April 2023) I had my very first official art class.

I've always been self-taught, and I find my art extremely lacking in some areas. After growing unhappy with my latest sketch, I contacted a colleague who I knew has a degree in Art, asking her if she knew of any classes. She offered to teach me (before you say anything: yes, I'm paying her), and yesterday evening we had our first lesson.

More under the "read more" because this is going to be really long.

She asked me to bring my most recent drawings and, between the digital drawings I printed and the pencil ones, I had I think 16 drawings. This also prompted me to get a folder where I can actually store it and keep it organized, so... Great.

I won't show the drawings I brought, but looking at them, my teacher said we need to work on anatomy and volumes (the depths).

She showed me some of her anatomy drawings and a book on anatomy. I'll either borrow it next time, or find a similar one at the library.

She proceeded to show me mannequins - you know, those very common ones you see artists use. She explained how normally, a human is actually 7 heads and a bit or an half, not 8, which is the "heroic" proportion used in comics. And then we looked at the mannequin, and she asked me to draw him.

So, as you can see, we started from the very basics.

First of all, though, she asked me "where do we start?"

The answer is "composition". She made me check the paper sheet and asked me to decide where I wanted to put it, and to find the highest and lowest point. Then, she asked me to divide that in half, divide those two parts in half, and again.

We didn't focus on the deeper anatomy, BUT we did focus on the proportions of the human body, and where the various parts of the mannequin/human body had to go if we looked at the various divisions I made.

The one of the left is the first drawing I made - she taught me where all the parts went, and how I could check proportions if the model/mannequin/whatever wasn't in a still position. She made me see that the hand takes from chin to forehead, the foot is the same length as the forearm, and how arms are way longer than I thought (they reach the halfway point of your thighs). Also how the bigger chest part ends where the last rib ends. It may seem really stupid, okay, but the realization stuck for me only when I saw my teacher point it out on her own body...

The second sketch I did in class is the mannequin walking, seen in side view. I fucking hate side view. Again, though, we looked at the proportion of the body parts and where they should go. My teacher made some corrections as I went, and I had to delete it and re-do it a few times.

Then, shit became harder by a ton. My teacher brought in a horse doll (the ones children use) and put the mannequin on it.

Again, we found the highest point and the lower point, but from my drawing you can see I didn't get it right. But the horse part for the composition was hard. She asked me how I could divide the paper, and I proposed in three parts and I did, but again, you can clearly see I screwed up because I thought the horse would be bigger.

We checked how the mannequin and horse related to the three parts, and we saw the back of the mannequin meeting the back of the horse was right at the end of the second part. Again, we divided the mannequin and then tried to see where it's body parts needed to go in relation to the horse. With some trial and error, we managed to do it, which makes me really happy. I also pointed out some horse anatomy to the teacher which she didn't notice herself that made the drawing better (I used to do horse riding, and my teacher then also gave us a lesson on horse anatomy fjdkdldl).

Somehow, an hour passed. My teacher gave me two sheets with drawings of mannequin figures doing things.

She asked me to do sketches of mannequins in various positions and to understand where the body parts go - or even not do the full mannequin but a skeleton like in the picture (so, I really need to get that anatomy book lmao)

The second sheet focuses on movement instead, particularly from the side.

I asked her if I could send her my homework sketches before the next class to see if what i was doing was correct, and she was really happy because she said she usually has to beg students to do it lol.

Since I want to improve and I want to use this blog more, as it deservers, I'll show y'all my future homework and stuff too

[drdomo-gem]

I love your owl house comics so much!! Do you mind sharing your art process soemtime?

Thank you! I'm glad you like them!

I've been collaborating on them with @beastalchemistva. He comes up with the idea and writes the script then I draw them out.

I start by breaking the script down into beats and sketching out some shot ideas. I like to start on paper so I can't zoom in or try to cram too much detail too early. I'll also collect reference images, like screenshots of characters and backgrounds during this step and design anything that wasn't the show (like for this one, the star guy).

Then I'll do thumbnails in Photoshop. I'll think about the composition, character expressions and poses, and how I can keep the speech bubbles flowing from left to right so it's easy to read.

The canvas is 3840x2160 (It makes it look clearer when I export it at half the size at YouTube: 1920x1080). I'll set up the perspective, sketch the background with a bigger, lighter brush and do the line art for the characters. I use a pencil looking brush that stays almost the same size no matter how hard you press. (I like drawing with felt tip pens and this is the closest I've found to that digitally.)

Then I'll clean up the background with a thinner line than I used for the character lines. Then I color the characters. I'm still figuring out color, so I'll collect the base character colors from my reference screenshots using the ones with the most natural lighting. Then I can compare the normal colors to how it changes in the weird purple light of the Collectors world.

Then I color the background and put a mask layer over the character colors and tweak it until it better matches the background colors. For this one, I just laid down dark blue, set it to multiply, 30% opacity.

To add speech bubble, I'll draw out the white part and add this layer style to give it a black outline. The font is just some basic comic font I downloaded for free.

Since @beastalchemistva commissions me to make these for him to dub on YouTube, I make them 16x9 to fit the screen. When they're done, I edit them into a comic format. Cropping, moving things around, taking out extra frames, changing speech bubble shapes so they work as a comic.

And that's about it! This is my first time trying to explain my process so if I left anything out let me know and I'll try to answer it

(Also go check out the finished video version heeeeere)

[snysdup]

Okay, so I'm working on a lot of different art projects right now (two drawings for old friends, two more wrestling OCs inspired by Sukeban, eventually outlining older sketches (and shading them too), and fantasy art because I'm head over heels for fantasy stuff right now). BUT I redesigned and finally fleshed out this old OC and gave him purpose! His name is Daigo, and his companion is Ayano (who rests across his shoulders). His story is currently complex and a work in progress (the same goes for Ayano), so for now, I will share what I typed up for his Art Fight bio:

Daigo (he/him) was once a cursed, enraged demon. The curse placed upon him shrouded him in an overwhelming anger. Daigo fought against the curse's veil, to combat the rage that was beginning to seep into his soul, but it was too late. He was trapped by the shroud and left to rot. As time slowly passed, he succumbed to the curse and used the rage that was building inside him to break free from the entrapment. He was free, but his mind had been driven mad by all the time spent trapped within the shroud. Daigo brought chaos and harm to anyone who crossed his path until he was greeted by Ayano. Ayano was a wandering water elemental who used her abilities to soothe Daigo's rage. She was able to calm his soul, which ended up breaking Daigo's curse. Finally free, Daigo was able to find himself again, and slowly find a life of peace. Daigo now spends his time in a small mountain home, learning about teas and tea ceremonies. He also spends his free time by the coastline, hoping to trade his teas for different tea varieties. Daigo does not know who cursed him or the specifics of the curse used on him, but Ayano knows about such dark magic. She has decided to guard Daigo to make sure that the original curse caster does not return to inflict more damage. (Ayano is the dragon resting across Daigo's shoulders btw. She will have her own profile on Art Fight after character art is created for her.) Daigo (and Ayano) exist in the same world as Fauke and Stein. Eventually, they will cross paths, and Daigo will join Demonstein, hoping to encounter the curse caster in the hopes of bringing retribution upon them. Ayano will be hesitant to join, but eventually agrees in order to continue to protect Daigo.

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I spent a month working on Daigo/Ayano, and I think it really shows. I hope to be able to carry this much effort into my future works, including trying to shade my art, even if I hate it, I'll still try to practice it till it makes me happy. Childhood me is so happy that my art is looking more like the comics we loved to read when we were growing up. I love drawing, and I'm always thankful for my journey as an artist. & I'll keep going!!!