#my freehanding skills need work

[corvidous]

Baruk Khazâd! Khazâd ai-mênu!

The Hold Guard are the greatest warriors that the Dwarves can call on. Their armor impenetrable, their shields impassable, their fury unstoppable, their line unbreakable.

These are the elite of the Dwarven armies, the guardians of the innermost halls and the holy places, sworn to defend their homes and bring honor to their families, their clans, and their holds.

They do not flinch, they do not break, they do not run. To charge against a shield wall of the Hold Guard is to attack the sheer stone face of a mountain. They embody the best qualities of the dwarves: relentless, immovable, hardy enough to endure any difficulty with honor and pride. Any that fall know that their names will be remembered forever, carved into the walls of the very hold sanctums they defend. There are none greater amongst the ranks of the Dwarves.

I'm so stoked to have finished these guys I never want to paint shields ever again They're Oathmark Dwarven Heavy Infantry from Northstar, with pavise shields (and horn) from the Dwarven Arquebusiers set by Fireforge Games. I've got 20 more of these lads to do, there will be 10 build with 2 handed weapon and then 10 built using spears and shields from the standard Oathmark Dwarf Infantry kit. Only these 10 are the Hold Guard, the rest will be other, less prestigious formations. I really love this kit, the Oathmark sets just do not miss, I swear. When I finish the next 20 I'm going to have a real force for Dragon Rampant, with a possible 5 melee infantry, 2 ranged (bows, and muskets), and 1 ranged cavalry (pistoliers) unit ready to go. Then I've got a unit of light scouts and a unit of "barbarian mercenary" gnolls that I'll paint up as well. What I really need now is some commanders, some standout centerpieces and some Characters. Possibly Fireforge Games. Someday I might even find an opponent to play with, lmao. Or maybe I'll use them for One Page Rules fantasy. Hell I might even cave and check into using them for Age of Sigmar or something.

[coffeeworldsasaki]

I still haven't fucked it up too badly nice

[batbetbitbotbut]

Low space & low budget weaving

Want to weave but don't have space for a loom? Have a few sticks and yarns but no DIY skills? Come, be tempted anyway. Weaving is a whole family of crafts, some of which don't require a loom at all.

Small-ish looms like box looms (as basic as yarn wrapped around a cardboard grocery tray), inkle looms, and rigid heddle looms exist, but I'm assuming every possible space for a box in your life is already filled. In this post we're going even smaller and cheaper. As far as possible, everything either is flat enough to stow behind/under furniture or rolls up safely into a bundle of just sticks and yarn.

Many of these crafts have some crossover - the same setup can be used for multiple styles of weaving. Most of them can be improvised at home depending on what you have on hand, or if you need to buy something there is not a huge gulf between homemade vs professional equipment. Alas I am not skilled in any of these and my descriptions will not be wholly accurate; corrections and additions welcome! If you need help, I'd only be able to tell you to seek out books and tutorials yourself, ask other weavers, and just try stuff out.

All photos included with permission. My thanks to the people allowing me to use their projects! I saw so many gorgeous and skillful projects when assembling this and I wish I could have included them all.

Fingerweaving

Projects by @kitteniestkitten (here) and @wefty-weaver (here)

Culture - I am aware of this as a Native American technique, I don't know its history with any more specific nation.

Fabric - "Warp faced" cloth of any width, insofar as warp and weft have meaning for this craft as the weaving is on a diagonal. Often used for sashes or blankets.

Method - There is no loom! A couple sticks hold the yarns to begin with, but then it is all freehand. Starting at one corner, you use your fingers to weave a strand through the other strands, and... that's it. Very simple beginnings work up to very complex patterns that no loom is capable of. The whole project can be rolled up when not active.

Backstrap loom

Projects by @calendae-creations (here) and @weavingforlooms (here)

Culture - I am most aware of this from the Andes but I think it is much more widespread than that.

Fabric - Warp faced or balanced fabric of any width up to your own reach, suitable for blankets and clothes and many other things.

Method - You are the loom! Several horizontal rods hold and manipulate the warp threads but your body provides the tension, with the other end hooked to some furniture or around your own feet. When not in use, you can roll up all the equipment into a small bundle of yarn and rods. You can also use a backstrap loom setup for other methods like tablet weaving.

Warp weighted loom

Projects by @shadowcreepling (here) and @doctormead (here)

Culture - used by ancient Greeks among many many others.

Fabric - any kind of fabric at any size. Shadowcreepling is using a warp weighted loom for a tablet-woven band, Doctormead is probably using heddle rods to make a wider piece of cloth.

Method - the warp threads are held by a bar at the top and tensioned with weights on one end that hang down towards the floor, then the weft is woven into them with any method such as tablets, heddle rods, or by hand (if you have a lot of patience) and beaten into firm fabric at the top or bottom of the loom. Warp weighted looms can be very big, but they are simple and can also be very small and taken apart when not actively weaving.

Tablet weaving / card weaving

Projects by @damage-ko (here) and @foxease (here, hardware from CellesKit on Etsy)

Culture - found as far apart as textiles (geographically and temporally) from Byzantine Egypt and the Vikings

Fabric - a warp faced fabric with patterns made by twining warp threads around each other, usually used for strong narrow bands like collars, belts, and shoelaces.

Method - the cards hold open the shed so you can pass the weft through, then rotate the cards to advance the pattern. Many people make their own with cardboard or playing cards, or you can buy some. The rest of the weaving setup can be improvised with a backstrap (or just a shower curtain hook clipped to your trousers), a cardboard box loom, or warp weights.

Rigid heddle band weaving

Projects by @pisaracraft (here) and @crookedtines (here)

Culture - small rigid heddles like the first project have been found in Roman archaeological sites across Europe. The larger rigid heddle in the second project is being used for "baltic pickup" style designs on the band.

Fabric - can be warp faced or a balanced weave, size limited by the size of your heddle.

Method - you provide tension with any setup you please such as an inkle loom, backstrap, or warp weights. The heddle creates sheds so that you can pass weft yarn through the warp easily. Infinitely many "pick-up patterns" let you weave patterns and even words into the cloth.

Pin loom / potholder loom

Projects by @pardalote (here) and @weavingmyheartout (here)

Fabric - a small square (or rectangle or triangle) of balanced weaving, which can be used alone or patched together into larger fabrics. Pin looms are finer and suitable for many knitting/crochet yarns, potholer looms are chunkier and designed for big elastics, but the method is similar.

Method - wind yarn lengthways around one set of pins and then pull yarn widthways through these strands with a hook. Or, work at 45 degrees in continuous strand weaving! Lots of room to experiment with colour and texture. You can improvise a pin loom by cutting notches in a square of sturdy cardboard.

Needle weaving / stick weaving / peg loom

Projects by @thaylepo (here) and @pastelispunx (here)

Fabric - weft-faced fabric and rugs of any size.

Method - thread long thin warp threads through the pegs, then wind a thick weft (eg heavier yarn, sheep fleece, or long scraps of fabric) around the pegs. Push the weft down along the pegs as they fill up, so that it slides off onto the warp. The pegs can be secured in a base to make a peg loom for large projects, or just handled freely. I believe these evolved as separate crafts and the nuances are different, but the overall method is similar.

Frame loom / tapestry loom

Projects by @squeakygeeky (here) and @battlestar-gasmacktica (here)

Fabric - weft-faced or balanced fabric ideal for wall hangings and upholstery, size limited to the frame being used.

Method - (usually) thinner warp threads are wound round a frame, such as heavy cardboard with notches cut in the end, a picture frame, or a small and flat purpose-made loom. Thicker weft threads are woven in by hand using needles or just small lengths of yarn. Some people make lifelike images, others make more ordinary fabrics or geometric patterns.

Bobbin lace

Projects by @crochetpiece (here) and @noxx-notions (here)

Culture - began in renaissance Italy and spread throughout Europe, often as a cottage industry.

Fabric - balanced fabric usually made of very thin threads in freeform shapes. It's not usually considered "weaving" but the basic cloth stitch is definitely a woven fabric!

Method - each thread is wound onto a bobbin (e.g. a clothespeg) and then bobbins are crossed over each other to weave threads together. The lace is pinned to a cushion to hold everything in place while the design grows.

[theelvishfiddler]

AN ARTIST'S GUIDE TO HANDS

No, sorry it's actually not an artist's guide to drawing hands. Those are just warmup studies (which I'll talk about in this post.)

This is a guide to Your Hands and how to take care of them when making art.

No one ever sits down and teaches artists how to take care of their hands. They didn’t even teach me this while I was in art college. This is just what I've learned myself through years of pain and scouring the internet for advice.

This is going to be a long one and geared towards illustrative traditional/digital/pen/pencil artists specifically, but artists of other mediums and crafts should take care of their hands too! Well, we all should take care of our bodies in general, but this is about hands.

(advice is below the read more)

First off I'm not a professional or anyone with actual medical advice. I'm just some guy with chronic hand pain who makes art. This advice is free for you to use or discard.

WARMUPS!

Ever sit down in the morning to draw and wonder why your art is so stiff and looks so much worse than what you were drawing last night? It's because you didn't warm up!

You know how for physical sports they all warmup and do stretches before getting into the actual sport. To prevent injuries and all that? Yeah, it's good to do that for art too.

One way to warmup is to just draw lines. Try to keep them as straight as you can. Going up and down and diagonal. Draw squares. Big squares. Small squares. Circles! You are warming up, keep it loose and relaxed! Basically just scribble away.

(examples. I usually keep going until there is no paper white left. This can double as practice for drawing straight lines without a ruler, which is a great skill to have when freehand city drawing.)

Before hopping right into drawing people you can try doing some quick gesture drawings. Line of Action has timed sessions with a large variety of clothed or nude models. I usually do the 30 min class as it has a nice balance of short and long timed poses. The point isn't to draw nice art, but to warm up. Try to get the basic form down, not the details. I find that doing a full class session can really help my drawings feel more loose and grounded in reality for the rest of the day.

Some examples I found in my folders. I suggest looking into what a line of action (not the site) is and giving it a try with some of the studies!

COOLDOWNS!

For sports it's to return your body back to your everyday baseline after a workout.

Example; you are working on a big project! A masterpiece! It's detailed and cool! You have been focusing on this for hours and drawing so intensely. But you need to stop working for the day.

A cooldown is for winding down out of the go go go mindset. Put away the big project and do a couple small doodles and sketches. You are relaxing your hand and letting it stretch out. Keep the sketches loose. Let the art happen slowly. Don't polish anything, that can happen another day. Just ease yourself out of drawing.

...

Cool! Now we get into the meat of this thing.

HAND PAIN

How to avoid it and how to manage it if you already have it.

I love you artists and creatives, I am begging you to please take care of your most important creative tools. I really don't want this to sound like scare tactics like "oooh you better do this or blah blah!" Nope. I just had to learn all this the hard way and I'm extremely passionate about it.

Take this advice or don’t ╮(ﾟ～ﾟ;)╭ I can't tell you what to do, I'm not your dad

Adjustments and Small Solutions

If you are feeling physical discomfort while drawing there are many different solutions to try! Here are some suggestions that may or may not work for you.

Hold your pencil more loosely. Stop gripping that thang so tightly!!! Relax that hand! They make these… squishy pen grip things... I think they are called Adaptive Pencil Grips or Adaptive Writing/Drawing Aids? They stop your hand from being all cramped up by making your drawing tool wider. It's going to take a bit of time to adjust to drawing with it, but it's worth it for those who hold pencils too tightly.

Don't press as heavily. For traditional art, if you find yourself pressing really hard to get darker lines try moving to a softer pencil. Most standard pencils are HB, the B pencils have softer graphite. Experiment until you find the right one for you. For Digital, adjust your pressure settings so you don't have to press as hard to get thicker lines. You should not be pressing so hard all the time, it wears out both your hand and your tablet! It takes a bit of time to adapt to pencil or pressure changes. Try doing some unimportant sketches, they don't have to be good. You are just training your hand and mind to adjust using less pressure.

Draw with your arm and not your wrist! It's small repetitive motions that cause the most strain. You probably hear this one a lot, what does it even mean? It means moving your arm with the motions of your line, and trying not to make too many tiny movements with your just your fingers or wrist. This one is hard! It takes time and conscious thought to change the habit. Tips? Work bigger. Zoom in more. Use bigger sheets of paper.

(Motions exaggerated for a clearer example)

Change the angle of your drawing surface. They make angled tablet holders, angled desks, angled desktop raisers. Experiment, find and angle that is comfortable and the one that causes the least pain. (It's also good to make sure you don't have to hold your head at an uncomfortable angle when drawing. Staring straight down or hunching over a paper flat on the table can cause pain!)

Compression Glove? Wrist brace/tensioners? Some folks use them and I've been thinking of getting one for years now. I can't give advice on this one, because I don't have experience with it. Look into it if you want!

Managing Pain

First things first.

IF YOUR HANDS START TO HURT WHILE YOU ARE DRAWING. STOP! Put the pencil/pen/paintbrush/whatever down. The art will still be there for you to continue tomorrow.

I know from experience that it's extremely hard to pull away when you are hyper focused on an art piece. It's hard to remember all sorts of basic needs like food or bathroom when hyper focused. But you Need to stop when you feel that pain. (Preferably even before the pain…)

Take Breaks! Let your hands rest when you can. Just like a machine, if you don't schedule maintenance, the machine will schedule maintenance for you. Often that means having to wait a few days for it to return to functional. Best to take a day off from heavy usage or take an occasional 30 min break throughout the day to let your hands rest.

Stretching is important! Full body stretches are good; your arms, shoulders, neck, and spine are all connected, but I'm specifically talking about HAND and wrist stretching. There are a lot of stretches and massages for carpal tunnel and arthritis out there. I find they work for hand pain in general. Move into and out of each stretch slowly. Do not push a stretch if it hurts!! Be gentle!!

I am not a qualified professional and I will not be giving out specific stretches (that is beyond my personal comfort level). There are other artists out there who have made helpful stretching info-graphics which are cool, but I will not be because i don't want to be responsible for someone accidentally hurting themself. Ask your doctor for stretches & advice or look some up on your own.

Don't feel bad about forgetting to stretch frequently! Of course it is good to do it regularly and frequently, but I would be a hypocrite if I said that I remember to stretch daily. Setting timers for stop and stretch sessions can work for some people, but also doing stretches whenever you remember is fine! If you are sitting on the toilet you can idly do some hand stretches. On the bus? Laying in bed? At the beach? Do a couple stretches! Even just once a week is better than… nonce a week.

Using Cold or Heat to treat pain. If you really overdid it, put your hands in some cold water or wrap a cloth around an ice pack and apply it to your hand. Cold works best for me, but warmth works for others. This is just pain reduction and reducing inflammation from overuse! This is not a permanent solution.

If your hand hurts a lot! Frequently! Talk to your doctor? Idk mine has never given real advice. Just gently poked my hand and told me there isn't much to be done about it :/ but there are really good doctors out there who will care and give helpful advice!

Again. IF IT HURTS TO CONTINUE DRAWING. STOP DRAWING! This is not a "no pain no gain" type situation. Drawing so much that you hurt yourself isn't noble, it's just… limiting yourself. You only get one set of hands. These things are very handy to have.

Other Advice

Things I couldn't figure out how to fit into the earlier sections.

Your other hand can't handle the strain! Lets say you hurt your drawing hand... the other hand is right there free to use for art. Right? Wrong. Your other hand can't keep up with the demand, it hasn't been trained to the same extent as your dominant hand, it does not have the built up muscle. If you want to use that hand for drawing you are going to have to use it s l o w l y and train it bit by bit over a long period of time. When I tore a tendon in my right hand I decided to just keep drawing with my left and I got Really Good at it. It only took like two months before my left hand hurt too much to move. Then I had 0 functioning hands to pull up my pants. Not fun!!

People who draw on phones. That is extremely impressive! I'm amazed by the things people can create on such a small space. But phone artists are the ones I see most frequently mentioning hand pain. please please please make sure you are taking breaks. Would a stylus work instead of using a finger?

Outside of Drawing. Sometimes it's things outside of drawing that are causing the pain. For me there are multiple sources, but I also have tiny baby hands. Holding a phone too long causes pain. The handheld mode for my Switch causes A Lot of pain. The way my hand rests while typing on my laptop hurts! Playing tense videogames for too long hurts! Find the source of your pain and make some changes. The same things will apply to most; take regular breaks, do some stretches, and find soft things to prop up or rest your arms on.

Change your Artstyle. This one is more of a last resort. You might have to change your art style if you are getting sharp pains every time you draw. I loved drawing tight clean lines and many small fancy details, but drawing like that left me in so much pain at the end of the day. In 2023 I had to take the better part of year off from illustrations just to learn how to sketch and draw more loosely. I had to learn how to be gentle. To stop gripping my pencil so tightly. Learn! Adapt! You might discover a new style that you love even more!

A lot of this stuff gets more complicated in a work setting where you have to draw fast and long in order to get paid. Things like reducing your workload can help, but that can be... financially rough. But outside of that, it’s ok to be a slow artist. Going full steam and hurting yourself is not worth it.

Aaaaaanyway, thats all folks. Today's rant brought to you by me! The guy with chronic hand pain who always forgets to stretch! The guy who got frustrated with a sketch yesterday and decided to push to keep drawing for just one more hour! The guy who woke up this morning and had to spend 2 hours massaging and stretching their hands. The guy who probably shouldn't have typed all of this out because ooww ow ouch

If your hands do hurt, it's going to be ok! You don't need to be a speed demon who draws all the time. It's ok to take your time and take frequent breaks. You are going to do great things! Just be gentle with yourself...

[girl-mercury]

I use a trick in my art that I don’t see people talk about often: erasable pens!

Most people seem to use pencil to make their guide lines, and then go over what they want to keep in ink or paint. I’m a watercolor painter, though, and if you go over pencil with watercolor paint, it seals it in.

If your pencil drawing is good, that works out fine, but my drawings are not. I don’t draw freehand, so I’m usually tracing a reference image. In addition to my lines, I mark out where my shading and highlights are going to be, which is all very helpful when painting, but I don't intend on keeping it in the final image.

This is where my Pilot FriXion pens come in.

They're "erasable" pens. They've got a rubbery bit on the end of them, you rub that on your pen lines, and they erase. But how it actually works is using the heat from the friction to somehow turn the ink invisible... which means you can skip rubbing the eraser on it, and just use heat directly, such as from a heat gun that a lot of crafters have (or just a hair dryer will do the trick too.)

As you can see in the video, I drew out some shapes, and then painted them with watercolor paint, using the lines to put my paint where I wanted it. Then I point the heat gun at my paper, and you can watch the lines vanish, leaving just the paint behind.

What this looks like in my process is this. As you can see, I've outlined all the lines of my subject's face, but I've also got areas that I filled in to indicate where I would need to shade more heavily, like along her jaw, on her neck, and in the inner corner of her eye; I also created directional lines for a crisscrossing pattern on her bonnet.

In the final version, once I was satisfied with all my painting, and I had gone over the lines I specifically wanted to keep in a permanent pen, I pointed the heat gun at it and watched the lines disappear. Now only the shade remains, and the pattern on the bonnet isn't as harsh; I've also used the pen to let me paint a plaid pattern on her cape.

If you look closely, you will see the shadow of lines within the shaded parts. Sometimes, the indentation of the pen tip on the paper will cause a slight relief drawing situation even after the ink disappears. You just have to remember to draw lightly.

I found the pens at Target for not too much money in the 0.5 size, and I just got some 0.38 finer line pens since I need to do more detailed work on my current piece.

Anyway these are SO easy to use, and I really enjoy being able to do art at the skill level I'm at, and doing it like this allows me to. Have fun with art!

[meanbossart]

Any tips for new or returning artists?

I’m hoping to discover my own art style this year (from scratch, no references) by just throwing myself into learning anatomy, drawing random characters, and praying I can figure out how to add depth to pieces.

I have very minimal artistic experience and my work has improved significantly from where I started years ago, but not even close to where I’m hoping to be.

I can freehand faces and tweak the anatomy accordingly but I feel limited. Maybe it’s (in part) because I’m using an iPad, apple pen and Procreate? I recently added the paper-feel screen cover and that’s helped significantly with control.

Do you draw on paper to help your muscle memory? Honestly, ANYTHING helps. I watch videos on anatomy and art all of the time — I just don’t know if my brain is absorbing it correctly 😭

Hello! I don't know if I can say anything in particular to the returning aspect of your situation since I've drawn pretty consistently all of my life, but if someone else has had that experience of picking the skill back up after a long break, feel free to share your thoughts in the replies!

I'm not fully sure what you mean by "hoping to discover my own art (...) from scratch, no references", but if it means trying to whip up a style from thin-air and blocking out all outside influence or take any inspiration from existing art that you like... Uh... Don't do that! I don't see the benefit. All art is a derivation of a derivation, I can assure you that by compiling a folder or collage of your favorite works, borrowing and reworking aspects that you like, you WILL land on an original style and have learned so much more about it in the process than if you hadn't done that at all.

Also I can assure you that drawing on procreate/ipad is not a hindrance whatsoever, plenty of professional artists prefer it over display tablets. @wolfskulljack-art comes to mind as someone who has created several incredible tour posters for Metallica, all in her ipad.

I must have drawn on paper a total of 10 times in the last 5 years, I have no idea if that's bad or not... It Probably is, but I'm at peace with it, LOL. Generally when it comes to improving ( and I know that this is a frustrating answer) the secret is to just draw a lot. There is no class that is going to take you from amateur to Caravaggio, it takes time and takes making "bad" art. A lot of bad art. When it comes to learning anatomy, I think the best thing you can do is draw a lot of real-life human bodies from reference while consulting an anatomical diagram or model of some kind. Otherwise you will just making a bunch of lines without ever understanding their purpose.

I don't think you need to be an expert at the human body AT ALL before jumping into stylization and making confident, art, but if you do something like this whenever you draw I think you will end up learning a whole lot. Muscle memory (no pun intended) will come to you naturally!

I also have a lot more tips in my #tutorial and #advice tags that you can look through if you want to, otherwise, I would tell you to just do more drawing and less looking for the perfect tutorial or golden advice. A lot of artists get very boggled down in learning in the most correct and effective way, and while there are pointers that can be given, they tend to be very straightforward🤷 and the rest falls on you to follow through with!

[pursuitseternal]

My dear, could you write something with spawn!Astarion x reader using 15 and 18, pretty please?

Love your work!!

(just realized I sent this without saying if it’s with spawn Astarion or ascended Astarion lol)

“Oh for a skeleton key…”

Act 1 Astarion x f!Reader | Smut Asks Prompts

CW: Astarion being a smug bastard, is that a lock pick or are you just happy to see me?

“Can you tell me what you did wrong?” he’s laughing in your ear, his voice making you smile even as you search the store of the Zhentarim in the Underdark. In your hands is the evidence of your failure—your last lock pick, broken into useless pieces.

“Isn’t it obvious?” you sneer back at him, annoyed.

“Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to hear you admit it…” he gloats. “Just speak true… darling. Say you need me and my skilled fingers….”

You roll your eyes so far back you wonder if they’ll stick. “I’m not gonna say it…” you huff, folding your arms over your chest.

“Shame,” he purrs, ���that chest looks promising, let’s hope for gold…” He leans in to kiss your cheek. “All you have to do is say please, my cheeky little pup, and I’ll help you crack it open.”

You just give him the most annoyed, teasing, disgruntled look you can muster, even if your heart is pounding to be so close to him. “You can’t guilt me on this. You should really just help because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Ha!” He laughs so loudly, the spores of the closest mushroom burst and make you a bit befuddled. Or maybe that’s just what it’s like to be so close to your vampiric sometimes-lover. “You should know by now, when have I ever done anything just because it was the right thing to do…” His tone is melodramatic and mocking, arms twirling as he mimes a bow. “Astarion the altruistic is a fairytale,” he teases, pulling you close to him again. “Astarion the devilishly handsome… the dexterous god amongst men…”

“You’re not that good,” you huff again, careful not to roll your eyes at him again.

“Better than you… you need practice with your hands, darling if you’re going to lead us to our survival against the Absolute.” He pats himself, pulling out one pin of a lock pick to slide effortlessness into the chest’s padlock. Then, he flashes you that smug, fanged smirk. “Oh dear, I can’t seem to find the other piece to my tool…” his hand grabs for yours and presses it into the waistband of his pants. “Be a dear and look for it for me, while I do all the hard work and keep this pin in place.”

“What?” you snap, his hand sliding yours into his pocket.

“Time to demonstrate your own dexterity, darling. I know I have that other pin somewhere on my person,” he chuckles, that arrogant, seductive laugh of pure sin. “Fetch it for me, and I’ll take care of your little lockpick problem.”

You feel around his pocket, his leathers so tight, you barely have room to move around in it… you can feel a few gold coins… some gems he’s nicked along the way… and then something presses into your palm.

And it isn’t a lockpick.

Your swallow is so audible, even you can hear it bouncing on the cavernous Underdark walls.

“Oh… for a skeleton key,” he taunts as he has while picking locks an innumberal time. “Found it yet?” he mocks. “You do know what you’re looking for?” He thrust his hips into your hand, his one freehand holding you by your arm, the one digging into his pocket. “A reminder? It’s long and dull at one end… and it’s an incredibly powerful tool when wielded with my skills…”

You snarl, disgruntled and having had enough of his smug attitude. As you pull your hand from his pants, his grip stays you where you are. “Ah, ah, pet. Don’t you want this chest looted? If you stop…” He pushes your hand back into the depths of his pocket where you feel his erection fully twitching in anticipation. “If you stop, I stop. And if I stop, you’ll never get the reward of what’s inside…”

[kaiserouo]

do you have tips for drawing armor? (specifically guardian armor but armor in general works too)

Wow this is the first time i got asked about art related question. Life achievement get. Also please allow my rambling.

Tbh, there's... not that much real advice i can give? I mean, the best thing about drawing armor is that there's almost no organic stuff (e.g., facial / eye expression, muscle, etc) and you can just copy the reference. I'll try, but idk if this is what you're looking for

Basic / General Section

Because drawing armor is basically just "slapping a skin on a figure by copying the reference mindlessly", you need quite a few basic "things" to actually do that well enough:

A base figure (to slap the armor on. If you're good you could probably just freehand the armor directly but i cant. Draw the figure now so you can mindlessly copy-paste the armor on it later)

Reference (if you're drawing that armor set for the first time definitely don't use your memory. Just get a set of reference and stare at it and copy each piece you see. I would use destiny 2 model archive, open in blender, render enough reference i need and post them in PureRef. You'd probably need: 8 angles for the body, 8 angles for the head (zoomed in), the inside part of the arm and leg, and maybe more variated angles for the head. By 8 angles i mean front back left right and the 4 in the middle)

Perspective skill (this is generally important in drawing, but for armors (which is mostly about inorganic stuff) this probably matters a little bit more. For example, the shoulderplate might be in weird angles when the character move their arm and you should make sure you can draw that in these weird angles. The general advice would be to just go to drawabox.com and learn as much as you can, at least part 1 lesson 1 and draw (a bit of) 250 boxes challenge?)

Btw, by "copying reference" i don't mean "pose the character in game or in blender and copy / trace the pose and things exactly what you see", i mean "you shouldn't just imagine the armor pieces and clothe design of the character, you should know what the design looks like by seeing a reference and copying its design"

And that's it. Go slap some armor on some figures... Okay maybe I should give some examples.

Let's use these 2 as examples

So first of all, who are these people anyways? They are the Limitless Subversion hunter set (& exo chassis & ghost) and Reynauld from darkest dungeon, so you should probably go and prepare your reference now.

Now the least fun part imo. Drawing the figure.

"Least fun" because all the proportion, motion, perspective information, and just basically anything should be dealt with at this stage and i'll be more and more unconfident in my figure drawing and perspective skill as time goes on. The rest of armor is just detail that you can mindlessly slap on the figure later.

probably should make things more block-y to see what i mean by perspective

not perfect but you get the point. you should know which direction the arm / leg / torso is facing so you can slap the armor at the correct position and angle.

...tbh that's just part of the figure drawing skillset. you also need that when you slap muscles on a figure

(just a random example for my practice note don't actually try to figure that out it's probably wrong anyways)

As for how exactly to do the figure drawing... there's tutorials literally anywhere and each person has their own way to do that. can't really help you with that, go google some videos or just crunch the andrew loomis figure drawing book. free online btw. Also anatomy helps a huge ton even if youre not actually drawing muscles.

And the next step is just stare at the reference and copy the armor pieces on the figure

that seems like a big jump but tbh we've dealt with the most difficult part in the figure drawing section so this is just mindlessly drawing now. the general advice i can give is to get a dual monitor (to not clutter the screen with reference too much), try to understand what each piece looks like in 3D, make sure the armor pieces is in the right orientation, and (do your best to) figure out if what you're drawing would violate the perspective rules you learned before (which should also be dealt with in the figure drawing part)

Detail / Niche Advice Section

we are talking about armor and clothes and outfit stuff so there should be a lot of niche detail stuff that would be beneficial to do or learn

the things i can think of now are these

DIY (do it yourself) means this is a common topic and there should be some tutorials online or in books (e.g., fur, crease), or just do it a bunch of times and you would somehow get the gist of it (e.g., hood). (i kinda hate learning that way because it's just pure coincidence whether you "get it" or not and that makes me uneasy because there's a chance that i'll never get it. but yeah sometimes this is what you need. Go and stare at / try to copy other people's artwork as practice and you MAY get what they're doing. Don't just mindlessly trace them btw it won't help if you're not actively using your brain to understand what's going on)

And that's it. It's probably too much for an AMA but let's just say i'm doing this as a record of my process

[the-100-days-of-junkan]

Day 82

Another one that I love!~ Gonna be a lot of those from here on if you couldn’t tell!

Junko’s the Ultimate Fashionista (in the english release at least but hey Ultimate Gyaru has to have a little crossover right??), so of course she handles Mikan’s wardrobe the moment she’s allowed to. So . . . Extremely cute scene of her having Mikan try out clothes to see what she does and doesn’t like. 

An opportunity for Junko to pamper Mikan, AND i get to draw Mikan in a sweater???? Heaven. Also like are we all in agreement that sweaters just look fuckin amazing on Mikan?? Like I admit, I think I just like drawing Sweaters on Mikan but they just make her look so much cuter because of how god damn cozy she looks in em. 

Unfortunately that’s all I have to talk about for that topic? I think? So instead let’s shift over to a recent development involving Junkan!

I’m in the midst of working on the Junkan Christmas Eve comic, which hopefully will be getting posted on time a few days after this, and during the process of making there’s been something new with my current abilities.

I have officially hit the point of proper freehanding on these two.

Y’see this probably won’t make too much sense but i’ll do my best to explain. 

So normally when it comes to sketches I’ve done things a bit less proper compared to more professional artists. I usually get a little start on the anatomy, and then just start sketching all the character details and moving out from there. It isn’t often that I do a full sketch for the basic anatomy of a character, I only do it when I really wanna not fuck up a pose. And as you also know up till now only one piece in this event was drawn normally. Everything else is a sketch that i cleaned up and colored, or just a sketch. 

This is because generally speaking I can’t do art using my normal pen tool without a sketch to work off of, it requires a lot more finesse to use the G-Pen both because of the larger shifts that can occur in line width, and the slightly looser feel it has compared to my Pencil Tool. 

That’s all to say that I have drawn Junko and Mikan so many fucking times that I can just, draw them without proper sketches now. I’m at a point where I just need to draw the head, torso, and legs for an anatomy sketch, and then with the G-Pen I can just, draw from there. That’s big for me personally, and also fucked up because god how even??? There hasn’t been a drop in quality either so far, i’m still able to refine the expressions and i haven’t fucked up with the arms too much yet, I’d even say it’s resulted in some of my favorite Junkos and Mikans period.

Now, the catch is that again, this is only Junko and Mikan. I could prooooobably get to this point with Mukuro eventually just because her design is much simpler compared to other DR Characters? I struggle with getting her colors right rather than linework, but that’s about it and still not really useful in my main line of work unless I memorize every character that’s ever existed, and it took like 150 fucking times for Junkan I can’t do that for an obscure RPG character that I might get commissioned once and then never again. 

It’s also not something that I think i’ll apply to my normal Junkan works, because I am a perfectionist to a fault when it comes to pieces I care about and I want to make sure every detail these is exact. I need to be meticulous for ship art like this, every detail is important. And I can maximize that with sketching.

This new skill is basically useful for one thing. Speed. 

I pride myself on my efficiency, even if I have waned over the years due to burnout and overwork, when I get into it I can fuckin move with my art. And so if I need to say, make a 28 page comic in under a month? Being able to mostly skip an entire phase of the art process is very, VERY useful, ESPECIALLY because it’s a comic. Something which generally takes more time than my normal art by nature of it’s format and what it involves. When making the Comic for Day 60 it was all sketches, which was equally fast but could leave small imperfections at the time that either went under my radar or I just let slide because i was trying to be efficient. 

This is basically perfect for having to speedrun a Junkan comic, it’s all the speed with the usual amount of visual quality.

So in short . . . I’m turning into a nightmarish hell machine but specifically for drawing Junkan. I am genuinely curious how much farther I can go up from here, like, what the hell else could I be capable of with this???? Am I just gonna learn how to fuckin beam the art onto the canvas with my brain???

Moral of the story is just get mind numbingly obsessed with a ship and I guess you’ll get better at stuff??? I have no idea, i’m still kind of processing the comedic value of what this year has been because I was desperate for these two to make out. 

As always, Reblogs, Comments, and Little Notes in the Tags are appreciated!~ They always make my day!~

[beesbabbles]

2025 Cosplans & Breakdown

I keep changing my 2025 cosplay plans so uh. let's write them down and post them to tumblr so i can be held accountable <3. I will (hopefully) be editing this as I go and reblogging with finished pieces :333. The breakdown is mostly for my own sake, it really helps with trying to not get overwhelmed if I break each bit down. Swapping my Biana Vacker cosplay for a medieval Harrow (the ninth). I still will do Biana eventually, I am just not feeling it right now and I would need a lot of motivation to be able to finish that project (that jacket. no. not right now).

Cosplay #1: Tails (Sonic; Group Cosplay)

Doing this as part of a group cosplay (with @/bloop-im-a-frog-now & @/mikhailovv ), so it is higher priority! It has to be done for Fan Expo Canada.

Parts:

Ears (crochet [Freehand pattern] + headband) - Done

Tails (crochet [freehand pattern]; figure out how to attach to belt; maybe wire? to keep shape better; figure out a way to store it conveniently)

Rings (wooden, paint gold. got enough for the rest of the gang, maybe make little belt clips with nametags?)

Fix hem on mustard skirt - Done

Fix brown hip bag, maybe make a second one?

Acquire & style yellow wig (in a pinch, use Adaine's wig)

Acquire & modify a brown jacket (ideally not leather, instead fabric because. I don't want to boil). Modify it in a way that works for both this and daily wear/my day-to-day-style

Acquire steampunk goggles [i don't think i can make these] - optional, would be cool but not necessary

Figure out shirt situation - in a pinch, my white scrimmage shirt should work if I have the jacket

Because this is a group cosplay, I will also be making some very casual elements for my mom so she can join us. I'll probably just make a little sonic patch that she can put on a baseball cap or something since she doesn't like to have a lot to think about in terms of outfits/cosplay.

Cosplay #2: Medieval Harrowhark (The Locked Tomb)

I mentioned a while back that I had plans to do an 1890s Harrow, and I still do. I am nowhere close to having the skills to do that, so I feel that this will still get that itch out, expand on my skills and allow me to explore a wide variety of new techniques. To the best of my ability, I will be trying to mostly hand-sew/time-appropriate techniques because I am that kind of person lol :p. I am interested in historical recreation so this really will end up accomplishing two things at once. I also do realize this will. Just make me look like a nun but that's okay (I mean. Harrow is one so it's fine :p). I hope to compete in my first ever cosplay contest in this one, so aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Parts:

Plain black kirtle

White/off-white overdress. [Basically, make it like the kirtle but without sleeves and no gores (slit up the sides where the gores would be, to allow access to belt/bags). Embroidery (maybe cross stitch?) of the nine houses skulls along the border (9 on both sides, make two of each). Unsure of how I'm going to do the ribcage. might do it like later style lace-insertion with a different fabric]

Nalbinded knee-high socks [wool, mostly just an excuse to try this craft out, but also its historical and cool!!!!! will be making it orange/pink/white because. lesbian space necromancers and they're not visible to everyone else. also orange for gideon if i really need to justify it further :P edit: local yarn store didn’t have a good pink that I liked, so I only got orange. It does really match Gideon’s hair though :)]

White shift [optional, if time. I could do it as the mockup to the black kirtle hint hint future me, would also save on fabric. whatever colour i pick for the overdress should be the same as this]

Black garter strips [Can be plain out of kirtle fabric if have no time, but embroider them with fun designs or quotes if I have time! Orrrrr if have time, some tablet weaving !!!]

Black headdress/veil [same fabric as kirtle]

White under headdress/hair protector [either scrap fabric, same material as overdress/shift. make this early and practice tying hair properly in advance of con]

Either acquire or make a skull bandana/face mask cover. [leaning towards make but will buy and make properly later if pressed. this is to compensate for bottom half face paint since I mask. which. sidenote. remember to get face paint lol]

Either make a black corded belt (tablet weaving) to hang things or use the brown leather belt that I use for Adaine (time dependent, not pressing)

Find shoes that are at least semi-appropriate lol. tbh just some plain black shoes that i could wear otherwise is good too at this point.

Skull rosary (editing to: probably going to do this with bought silicone beads (doing alternating skull/round to spell out "one flesh. one end" in morse code) because the idea of sculpting a skull out of clay makes me wanna cry lol. But i will do something fun for the end bead to make it look more like a rosary. unsure what yet, will probably be some form of salt dough medallion painted)

[prismatoxic]

talking about my art journey as of late, or more specifically how relying on 3d models actually worked out in my favor

so back in 2023, i started relying on 3d models for poses and proportions. i hated how my art looked and i was frustrated with trying to put something together, taking forever on it, and having it just turn out like ass in the end. the 3d models removed a ton of guesswork from the process and helped me focus on the things i was good at while gently training skills i was less capable of. i'd already been using 3d models sporadically before then, but it was around when i started drawing nate and ken together that i switched to using them all the time.

it's hard to find comparisons around the right timeframe... but here's a nate drawing (with a friend's oc) i did just before i made the switch, when art was so frustrating for me that i wasn't fully lining or rendering anymore, and then the first nateken i ever did, which was when i started using the models in earnest.

it gave me my confidence back. i drew nateken CONSTANTLY, and they overtook my present fandom interest (mgs) before too long.

i did lose some things, though... fluidity, namely. and i've spent a lot of time trying to make my art feel dynamic, make it flow even with the models underneath, but even when other people can't tell, i can. it's been bothering me for a long time. my art is better now, yes, but cursory attempts to not use 3d models were all the more devastating for it. i was scared. i'd grown too reliant.

i tried a handful of times to sketch simple things without models and every time i hated it so bad that i didn't finish it. the past year, time and time again, i've found the prospect of drawing freehand far too daunting to attempt.

some jokey sketches of animal characters came out recently-ish that read fine, and that was good, but... i knew the humans and humanoids i draw all the time were still beyond me.

this anniversary drawing for me and devot back in the summer made me think... maybe... just maybe... i might actually have some skill in conveying what i want in simple shapes while freehanding. not what i'd like to do in full, but i love these little doodles. it was a start. (the main part was in fact based on models.)

more recently, this joke comic i did based on something max said gave me a similar feeling. like yeah it's a sketchy mess, but it does the job. it's silly. you know what you're looking at.

a few weeks ago, i had a silly malix idea that i didn't want to bust out the models for. so i made a loose freehand sketch. and... it seemed okay. so i refined it. and honestly? i really like how it came out.

it has that fluid charm i always wanted my doodles to have. i started to wonder... has this year+ of using the models actually helped me improve my sense of anatomy and proportions? did i actually get something out of this?

the answer might be yes. here's all the things i freehanded recently:

aside from the lineless one, these were all just quick silly things, and ultimately i still intend to use the 3d models for "serious" work or things i just want to make sure have a certain refined quality to them.

idk, i'm just... excited? happy? i thought my skill to just sketch something and refine it all by myself had surely atrophied. i thought my reliance on 3d models had ruined my art potential. turns out it's just been training wheels and i'm actually doing kind of okay taking them off sometimes.

i'll keep making silly simple things this way for a while. the lineless damien one was me having a bad night and needing a major distraction, and it served its purpose alright. i'm just happy i was able to actually finish it. i don't even hate it!

i guess this is me saying, yeah, it's fine to use tools and shortcuts. i know the fear of "cheating" but here i am, having done this for ages, and i'm doing better for it. i will say i think a lot of my ability to learn has been my willingness to compensate for what the 3d models can't do (like joints and muscles) and tweak things once those layers are hidden, but i've still been relying heavily on these shortcuts. it's just nice to realize it wasn't all a waste, in a skill sense.

[authenticcadence18]

recently got an ask concerning art, instead of answering directly I wanted to talk a bit about my own journey as an artist!!!

I’ve been drawing on and off for more or less my whole life. But my artistic journey REALLY kicked off when I was 11 and caught the end of Across the Second Dimension on TV. Within like, four days of this happening, I drew Isabella over 20 times🤣. For the first time there was something I wanted to draw over and over again, I was so inspired! And Isabella is still one of my favorite characters to this day, when I want to draw she’s one of my go-tos.

From there on, I started drawing a lot more. Lots of PnF stuff of course but other things as well. Star vs the forces of evil was also a huge art inspiration for me, my style is likely a blend of those two shows.

I fell out of drawing for a bit, just bc life got busy. But!! in 2020, thanks to a certain world-stopping pandemic, I got back into phineas and ferb and started drawing again, partially as a way to cope and channel anxiety. My growth as an artist just from 2020-2021 is pretty astounding to me!!! And I grew like that primarily by drawing Phineas and Isabella over and over…and over🤣🤣. You CAN draw a ton of stuff to grow but you don’t have to to enjoy art as a hobby. Art isn’t my job, so I only need to learn as much as I need to create the pieces I want. And having that desire to draw certain characters or stories is a great inspiration to grow and expand as an artist!!

Another great catalyst for my growth as an artist was drawing thumbnails for MWCA videos in 2021-2022 (I honestly can’t remember if I drew anything for 2023, I don’t think I did tho). For the first time I didn’t have to come up with an entire idea from scratch, someone was giving me a baseline of what they wanted and I built off of that and responded to feedback. I ended up drawing things and pushing myself creatively in ways I likely never would have otherwise!!!! Like, backgrounds, I rarely draw them for myself but when it’s for a YouTube collab well I had to!! I’m really proud of all my Mwca work, heres just a few examples:

I’m 24 now, I don’t have as much time/energy to draw these days, but when I do I’m able to use those skills I gained from drawing characters I’m passionate about and collaborating with others. My advice to any aspiring artists seeing this post would be to follow your inspiration!!!! Draw the things you love. Draw them over and over. You WILL grow as an artist. You can take inspiration from artists you admire (just don’t trace their work and post it, haha!). I know I’ve done that!! It might take time. It took me, no joke, FOUR YEARS to be able to draw phineas’s head freehand in a way I liked. I just had to keep practicing and practicing till I got where I wanted to be.

I also think working with friends is a great way to grow as an artist! You of course need to be careful with who you interact with, esp if you aren’t an adult, I would not have interacted with the MWCA crew at all if I wasn’t an adult, in fact I didn’t make my tumblr and start finding online friends till I was 19😅😅. Just be mindful if you’re younger, be safe, maybe work with friends from school if you can! I used to do that when I was a teen.

[aesfocus]

art portrait progress for my RT under the cut I guess? and a bit of sad noises about art

I lamented this earlier today and quickly deleted it but, the issue with not drawing people is that I don't know how to draw people.

I used to do a lot of drawing when I was kid, and then as time went on I drew less and less... and less. Until i completely stopped. I drew my Hawke in 2011 and didn't draw another person for more than a decade.

After my mother died I turned towards art again but basically started from scratch, I learned a new skill! drawing from reference until I could freehand things, rather than just winging it and hoping for the best. Weird that I learned that skill in my 30s but whatever.

ANYWAYS last year I drew 2 people, my shep and my inquisitor, and both I used art base references that I paid for and then adjusted etc. and I hate both. Just not my thing.

ANYWAYS I want to draw my rogue t/rader, and as unless I want to draw a sailor m/oon head my free handing a person skills are just not a thing. for now! It took me like 50 cuttlefish before I can just... draw them, but until then, I found some good creative commons reference photos and am working from that.

Got my values and a rough sketch done and am working on this like I might a sticker sheet. Like these friends!

Which isn't what i was aiming for exactly, but I need to start SOMEWHERE.

the other kinda.. rough bit of this is that... my hands shake. really badly, to the point where it's crossed a line to I need to get a diagnosis and some sort of aid/meds/help, and digital isn't where I have the most technical skill but its where I don't have any pain and can fix my shaky lines.

(if you look up taliesin ja//ffe's essential tremors mine are on that level about half the time, but sometimes my whole arm shakes its so embarrassing I won't leave the house some days... whoops)

ANYWAYS onwards! I need to also take some war/hammer meshes into blender and fiddle with angles and shit before I draw the dress/jewelry, but gonna do that later. just happy to have the sketch and some values down for the moment.

I've never drawn eyelashes before and I don't like it lmao.

[s-creations]

21 for the soft ask..?

21. if you could tell your past self one thing, what would it be?

Doing for others doesn’t help you feel fulfilled.

I started writing and posting fanfic when I was in high school. Right when I was introduced to FanFiction.net. I loved writing, but I knew I wasn’t the best.

I stopped writing after a while when I got a really negative review. And decided that not writing was best for me.

I had another YouTube channel before the one I currently have. Even through my 1st had WAY more videos than my currently one, I’ve had more success and fun with this one.

I was trying to push out video after video after video to just make some ground. But nothing worked. And I wasn’t having fun because I was worried about getting videos out. It’s was maddening.

I was the artist growing up. I could look at a character and recreate it without the need to trace over. I was amazing with freehand. The praise was amazing.

When I reached high school, I realized how ‘under developed’ I was with art. Mainly for the traditional standards. Which is important to learn. I compared what I was doing to others and it made me miserable.

I started posting stories again in 2019, at least 8 years without posting something. The more I write, the better I become and I like what I’m writing about.

I love my second YouTube channel because I’m not pressuring myself to produce when I don’t want to and I can take my time learning a new editing skill.

I know my way around being a Graphic Designer and I’m retraining myself on drawing the way I want. Because I want to create comics and games.

I’m still trying to become more comfortable with what I’m creating. Meaning not being harsh and just making someone for the sake of making and learning.

But I can’t push myself to create for the needs of others. I was too worried in the past about making to impress others. I need to make for myself.

[experthiese]

@pr0tur0 asked: ❛ you wanted the truth. i’ve given it to you. it’s up to you what you do with it. ❜ / time 4 crime (always accepting!)

There's a long, long moment where Lupin doesn't react. Doesn't even seem to breathe, trapped motionless slouched over an uncomfortable metal café chair. The moment's soon broken when he tips his head back towards the sky, exhaling his latest lungful of smoke and kicking his chair back onto two legs.

❝ Y'know, doing what I do gives you a lotta knowledge about a lotta different things. You need to be a jack of all trades if you wanna succeed. Did you know I can swordfight? Yeah. I'm no Goemon, but if it came down to it, I know how to keep myself alive. Pretty good trickshot, too, though Jigen's skills blow me outta the water. Even played detective once, if you can believe it. ❞

He's gotten around, is the point. Knows what he's talking about no matter how far removed the talent in question may seem from his more criminal proclivities. All this to say, that when he shoots to sit bolt upright again with an observation of--

❝ You haven't got a single pore on your face. It's like a mask. ❞

--he's not just pulling accusations from thin air.

❝ So I thought you might be a little like me. As unparalleled as mine are, I'm well aware I've not got a monopoly on disguisin' myself. Anyone can do it, given enough time and artistic capability. You'd even have the motive, given how secretive Area Zero is. Stealin' the face of its authorised personnel would be the perfect choice. But then I noticed something else. ❞

That signature blue jacket is pulled to one side, allowing Lupin just enough leverage to slip his hand inside and pull out a scrap of paper. Nothing scientific or important - even if he had gotten into Area Zero, he knows better than to start pocketing classified research notes willy nilly - but good enough to prove his next point.

He tosses it onto the table between them, pinning it down with the cracked sugar pot the waitress had so generously provided.

❝ You recognise this, right? You should: it's your writing. But d'you wanna know something interesting? I can't forge this. ❞

Those dark eyes are blown wide with wild excitement, the filter of his cigarette crushed between a grin splitting his face from ear to ear. He's on a roll now.

❝ I can forge the Professor's. Some of his old work's displayed back in Uva-- ❞ or it was, for now it's also being pulled out of Lupin's jacket and thrown unceremoniously on the table ❝ --and they've yet to notice my switch. They're perfect replicas. But this? ❞

❝ I can't forge this. There ain't a human alive who can write like that freehanded. Do you understand what I'm gettin' at? ❞

What he's getting at? Of course, what he means is...

There'd never been any need for Tur0 to reveal the truth.

( Lupin had already known. )

[asanasterisk]

i've always felt that "damn how r u not more popular?????" type comments are both a little bit backhanded (or at least unintentionally rubbing in the lack of traction) + not every creator even wants to hashtag Blow Up anyway so one shouldn't assume...

... but I genuinely cannot understand how your work hasn't caught on more off the strength of your character design skill alone- you pump out so many visually interesting designs, both humanoid and distinctly un-humanoid, and usually with pretty clean and concise image composition as well. It always brightens my day seeing your art cross my dash (and go on binges to catch up on anything i missed) and I hope I keep getting to see it for many years to come <3

Thank you very much, it means a lot!

If I had to self-critique I'd say it's generally because the subjects aren't visually "striking".

*I always do backgrounds which, yes, make it more detailed, but often kind of muddle it visually.

*I tend to focus too heavily on shading and not enough on highlights.

*I need to work on line art, the foreground subject should have a more distinct outline than background objects, and within that outline I could benefit from doing more 'freehanded', having it less rigid and maybe some coloration in the lines to help with that.

*I'm too 'anatomical' and often there's a certain lack in liveliness, it's generally too structured and rigid and could do to be more dynamic and expressive to make it more fun and interesting.

Just generally I overthink things too much which hurts the drawing over all. I've settled into a "groove" in how I operate and it's easy to slide back into it when I'm trying to improve unless I'm consciously trying not to. Like, I'm a bit of a perfectionist, when trying something new I'm obviously not going to be 'perfect' so I feel like something's wrong, and then when adjusting it I eventually just slide back into what I did before instead of the new thing I was trying. It's already a bit of a time consuming process, and I'm used to that, if I'm too "fast" it feels like something is wrong, but if it takes too long I lack energy to maintain that attention to improving. I think I'd benefit from setting a timer and forcing myself to only work on certain parts for so long no matter how much I want to tweak it.

It's a problem of caring less about some stuff while caring more about others that's hard to find balance with, especially with habits already having been formed.