#no worrying about poses or eye shape or how to draw a hand

[sleepyselkiesiren]

1C ebony or other oc

I'm starting to think this is just an excuse for me to get to draw my ocs XD Amber was the only one I could think of who would be willing to dress in something this revealing

The outfit meme was by @traulisms!

[sysig]

Just be honest! (Patreon)

Bonus:

Could be :)

[sabertoothwalrus]

How did you get so good at drawing such expressive bodies/faces??? tell me your secrets!! (But srsly your skills are amazing)

AAAA THANK YOU!!

I think my initial inspiration was about 10-11 years ago watching Adventure Time and finding Rebecca Sugar’s boards. Sometimes I get a little frustrated because she gets so much more notoriety than the other very very amazing AT boarders, but….. her expressions man…. she was always able to convey so much with SO LITTLE. (SU’s expressions are on another level of course, but I think AT’s are just so impressive to me because they’re dot eyes)

But the thing is!! I’m also a fan of deadpan. Which AT also does very well. It’s tempting to want to do BIG, extreme expressions at every moment, especially in comedic comics, but you really don’t need to. I find that characters often feel more expressive if you reel it in more often. That way, when you DO have bigger expressions, they FEEL bigger!

for example, a panel where the contrast between big and subtle expressions sells the contrast:

I don’t really,,,, know exactly what I do that works, ?? I kind of just like, think of the emotion I wanna convey, make the expression, think about what my face feels feels like, and try to convey that. Using a mirror helps!! You’ll feel a little stupid but it’s funny.

some misc expression tips:

Definitely prioritize eyebrows, eyes, and mouths!

Noses aren’t as important BUT flared nostril can totally sell an expression, so it depends!

Remember that your upper jaw is stationary, and your lower jaw can move, and then your lips and cheeks can move all around that!

Just subtly changing the placement of eyelids and location/size of irises can completely change an expression

Don’t be afraid to make your characters look weird or stupid.

Don’t reinvent the wheel! Take reference from different media you like that stylize expressions in different ways, and find what works for you. I take a lot of inspiration from AtLA

Again, NUANCE! Like, when most people are sad, they do their very best to try NOT to cry. People hold things in. Sometimes what characters don’t say can speak louder than what they do.

some expressions I’ve done that have varying levels of nuance:

Also framing!! You can use the composition to help project how the character feels:

As for body language!

Having a better sense of three-dimensional form and anatomy isn’t necessary, but it sure helps a lot

Hands!! I have adhd and my family is italian so I use my hands a lot when I talk. But even still, most people don’t just leave their hands hanging loosely by their sides. People cross their arms and fidget with their zippers and put their hands in pockets.

Head, neck, and shoulders. If you can master the foreshortening of these overlapping shapes at most angles, you will be very powerful

Hips & feet!!!!! People RARELY stand straight with both feet flat on the ground with even balance. Most people will shift their weight to one hip, leaving one leg looser and at an angle. It also helps to practice perspective, because people also rarely stand with their heels lined up side by side. One leg may get kicked foreward or loosely bent backwards. I sometimes cross my legs when I stand.

Ultimately, if you want more lifelike expressions and poses, study from life!! Don’t worry about your drawing being “good” or “bad”, instead think about what can make it successful. Ask yourself, “is this conveying the expression I want to convey?” and if it’s not, figure out what you need to change to get it there.

[starry-nights-garden]

Jake ✧ Necklace

✧ Enhypen Jake x gn!reader ✧ words: ~800 ✧ genre: domestic fluff, comfort ✧ warnings: reader is implied to be struggling with depression

Desc.: In which you’re having a hard time lately, and your boyfriend Jake knows just how to make it better.

You’ve turned off most of the lights when the front door opens late in the evening and your boyfriend comes inside. Engulfed in the comfort of an oversized sweater you have dug up from your closet, you were in the middle of walking over to the kitchen to look for something edible to have for dinner, even though your appetite is nowhere to be found. You’ve been feeling down these past few days, and you’re used to this state by now, as it’s a recurring one, but that doesn’t mean your boyfriend won’t worry about you, so at least for his sake you want to try to take care of your basic needs as well as you can. 

“Hey babe,” he mutters into the dark room as his footsteps draw closer. “I’m back.” Jake comes to a halt right next to you and you turn on your heels to look at him. A weak smile shows on your face, warmth growing in your chest upon his return from work. He spreads his arms, cocking his head to the side just a little bit and waiting for a second to see whether you’re up for a hug or not, and when you step towards him to close the distance between your bodies, he wraps you up in a comforting embrace. Feeling lighter as he steadies you, pulling you towards him, you close your eyes for a moment, taking in the faint scent of the perfume he had applied in the morning and that had mostly faded over the day.

“I got you something,” he announces once you part, and you raise your eyebrows at him in surprise. He pulls a small white paper bag out of the bigger one that he often brings with him whenever he goes out, and he hands it to you. “It’s nothing big,” he says, avoiding eye contact and very obviously feeling a bit shy, “but it reminded me of you, so…” He doesn’t finish his sentence. Instead, he watches with great interest and a bit of worry behind his gaze as you open the present, and you eventually find a silver necklace with a small flower attached to it. It’s painted with a muted pink color and its shape is elegant - quite the style of accessory you like to wear.

“It’s beautiful…” you mumble, and when you look up at your boyfriend, he doesn’t miss a beat to offer you to help you try it on. You walk over to the small mirror you have displayed on one of the shelves in the living room as decoration, and you remove the hood from your head so your disheveled hair comes into sight. You watch as Jake puts the accessory around your neck, and for a second you find yourself regretting that you haven’t managed to make yourself look presentable today, because surely the necklace would’ve looked better on you then. However, next thing you know your boyfriend snakes his arms around your waist from behind, placing his chin atop your shoulder and pressing a soft kiss to your neck.

“You’re beautiful too,” he whispers, making you feel butterflies in your stomach.

“You think?” you ask, and he can probably see why you would pose such a question, as he’s chuckling at your words now.

“Of course,” Jake answers, pressing his lips against the side of your throat again. He spins you around in his hold, simply smiling at you for a moment, until he retrieves one hand from behind you in order to trace the side of your face with the back of his fingers. “Can I kiss you?” Now it’s you who’s chuckling at the way your boyfriend is still careful as ever not to accidentally overstep a boundary, even though you’ve been dating for a while and you know each other very well by now. You nod, and the next second you feel him capturing your chin between your thumb and index finger, before brushing his lips against yours. He kisses you with care, making your heart soar from how loved his gentle touches make you feel, and when you part slowly, you whisper against his mouth,

“Thank you. For thinking of me.” He receives your words with a smile filled with adoration for you, and after standing in each other’s arms for a while he finally peels himself away from you, grabbing you by the wrist instead.

“You haven’t eaten yet, right?” he assumes and you answer yes while lowering your head a bit, feeling bad about most likely making him worry again. However, instead of scolding you, he simply says, “Let’s order your favourites then? It’s on me.”

[pepsichrry]

I see you write for regulus, and wondered if you would be up to writing something like reader and regulus saying their goodbyes before he leaves to destroy the locket ? 🙏🏻🫶🏻

Hey!! I’m back from the dead since it’s easter and I’m not really busy with assignments anymore (sorry about that)! I’d love to write this bc I’d like to write a little bit of angst once in a while..

Malicious || Regulus A. Black

Summary: Regulus leaves to destroy the first Horcrux, but you aren’t ready to see him leave.

Set during the Marauders Era!

Warnings: Angst

—————————————————————————

The day that Kreacher returned back at Grimmauld Place was the day that something shifted in Regulus. It hadn’t been long until you started to notice his change in behaviour, it was as though someone had reached their hand inside of his body and flipped a biological switch beyond his very thoughts and feelings. Something had changed about him, the very essence of his being. Perhaps that was why you never saw him anymore.

He’d pace around his bedroom, careless of the creaking floorboards beneath his feet. He’d shake like a leaf, a result of the meals that he skipped. As soon as he was approached, he’d look right through you as though you weren’t even there, that, you couldn’t explain.

Ever since you’d known Regulus he had been nothing short of doting and kind to you, a stark difference of how he seemed to treat everyone else, so when he began to act so strangely, it led you to wonder if he was only treating you how he treated everyone else, like you were nothing special to him. But that couldn’t be it, you thought. Despite the fact that Regulus hadn’t planted his gentle kiss on your lips or even so much as looked in your direction, you were sure you hadn’t done anything to incur his behaviour. He confirmed your idea one evening.

The sun had frightfully dried away the earth that summer, leaving the nation boiled within an inch of their lives, and Grimmauld Place was no exception despite the various cooling charms cast over the property, the sun still managed to beam over the horizon and warm the air unpleasantly. June had bled into July, then July into August and you couldn’t seem to recall where it had gone, slipping through your mind like sand in a glass timer, it had disappeared like all of your worries of school or work. You seemed to be peaceful.

Regulus joined you that evening outside in the back garden, a pitcher of icy cucumber water between you on the cast iron table. You took small sips of your water to pass the time that you spent in peaceful, albeit awkward, silence.

It was after a while that you decided to break the silence, desperate to cling on the fact that you finally had your gorgeous Fiancé all to yourself since he had proposed just a month earlier, despite your lack of conversation in the past few weeks. You slipped your leg across the ground and nudged your ankle against his own, causing him to look up from his glass of water and over to you.

You sent him a fond smile, which he replied with a weak expression of his own, like he was trying to smile, but his body wouldn’t allow it.

“What’s going on in that complex head of yours?” You called over the summers breeze like the far off song of a record player. Regulus could barely hear your soft words through the noise in his head, but he managed to hold eye contact as you asked him the most difficult question he’d been posed.

“Nothing and everything, all at once.” He admitted. It wasn’t uncommon for Regulus to speak in rhymes of some sort, he was so intelligent that his brain couldn’t help but find away to make everything about him poetic.

Your smile grew and you reached a hand across the table to graze his knuckles. “I know there’s something, Reggie. I’d have to be blind not to notice how you’ve been acting lately. It’s like something has possessed you.”

His palm opened, revealing the lines of his soft hand, allowing you access to draw shapes over his skin with your fingertips.

“I’ve been researching some things.” He told you with a blank stare.

“About a job?” You wondered. You and Regulus had just left Hogwarts, ready to embark on your life together. It was why Regulus had proposed nearly as soon as you left school, he said he couldn’t wait to spend the rest of his life with you.

You’d drawn out a plan as you lay together in the four poster bed of his dorm room in fourth year. You’d marry as soon as possible, Regulus would propose with the family ring, passed down for centuries by his ancestors. You’d be wed by the end of the year and Regulus would find you somewhere to live and he’d work a fantastically boring ministry job, just so you wouldn’t have to. He wanted you to stay at home and live lavishly, just like he’d been taught, and you didn’t mind the idea, as long as the both of you were happy.

Regulus shook his head across from you. “No, not quite.”

You frowned at his answer. Regulus used to tell you everything, but now, it seemed as though he felt that he couldn’t.

“Reggie, you can tell me anything, you know that.” You reminded him honestly. It had always been you that he turned to, when he had received his dark mark two years prior, he sought you out to tell you about it, teary eyed and writhing in searing pain, but oh, so proud. When he received O’s on almost every exam in his N.E.W.T.s, you were the first to know, his joy was infectious and he held you so tightly you thought you were going to burst. When his parents had died only seven months earlier, he found you clutching the very same letter at the dinner table as he’d received, you’d gone back to his dorm room and sat in astonished silence until he was ready to talk. When Kreacher returned home last month after assisting the dark lord, half dead and shaken, he allowed a few tears to fall out of frustration as he sat beside you in the living room, obviously conflicted about what he could possibly do next. That was when he had changed.

He mulled your words over for a moment until he nodded slowly. “I know, Mon Amour. I know.”

Your heart soared once again, revelling in the feeling of Regulus’ affection once more. But there was still a feeling nudging as your insides, telling you, deep in your gut, that there was something bigger than you going on.

No other words were exchanged that late summers evening, not until the very last day of the month.

Only when september was creeping around the corner, did something finally shift, something that you wished had just stayed still like you were willing to.

On the 31st of August, 1979, Regulus had nearly been at the front door when he heard you call his name from the top of the stairs. It was nearing the middle of the night when you’d woken up to a cold and empty bed, the only hint that there had been anyone else there at all was the distinct smell of Regulus, his hair, his clothes, his very body. It still lingered on your sheets.

“What are you doing?” You had a feeling that you already knew that he was leaving for whatever reason.

Regulus looked up to you, your silky white nightgown pouring over you like milk, your soft hair falling over your shoulder in its braid, your soft and tired expression as you slowly descended down the stairs.

“Mon Amour.” He breathed, as though the wind had been knocked out of him.

In that moment, Regulus wondered what you’d look like in a wedding dress. This task that he set himself guaranteed that he would most likely never make it to your wedding, that that moment might be the only one where he’d see you in a white dress walking towards him. Except you didn’t carry the gleaming expression he hoped you would, but deep confusion as you’d been roused from your gentle, dreamy sleep.

The second your bare foot met the hallway floorboards, he began to approach you. That was when you noticed that he was fully dressed, head to toe in black wizards robes, like he was prepared to go somewhere in the middle of the night.

“Are you leaving?” You ask calmly as you took in his appearance, calmer than you ever thought you would be at the mere idea of Regulus leaving you.

He didn’t say a word, he didn’t dare to. He looked upon you with a guilty expression that said it all, tears welled in his eyes, and you couldn’t bear to look. It was one thing seeing him upset, but it was another for him to be upset because of something you asked. You could read him like a book.

You sunk down onto the lowest step of the stairs, hardly feeling your trembling legs.

“Listen to me.” He said softly in the dim lights, dark curls falling over his forehead. He knelt before you, not like how he would when he didn’t want to get his clothes dirty, or how he would as though he expected to get up straight after, but rather he felt to both of his knees like he would beg of you for help or pray for your blessing. But you couldn’t give him either and you both knew it. “I have to leave.”

You frowned at him, now level with you as he looked so small before you. He had lost weight, more than needed, and he looked like he hadn’t slept a wink in Merlin knew how long.

“You don’t have to do anything.” You reminded him, because as far as you knew, he didn’t.

“Mon Amour, you may not understand what is waiting for me now, but I pray that you will one day-“ You go to cut him off, to ask him what he means, but he presses a cool finger to your lips before you could speak. “One day, you’ll realise that it’s my responsibility to stop this now. That only I can stop this now.”

Your brows pull together as salty tears began to pool in your eyes. You wanted to grip onto him and beg him to stay but the determination in his eyes told you not to. Perhaps that was why you had been to calm seeing him by the front door, because you knew that there was nothing that you could do to stop him, that it was out of your control, that he wasn’t yours to stop anymore, he wasn’t the same Regulus as he was those weeks before, red-cheeked and bashful as he knelt on one knee as though he worshipped you. Now he knelt as though he was sorry.

“Why can’t you just explain why you’re leaving? What can I do? What can I do to make you stay, Reggie?” You grappled onto him as he pulled your shaking body towards him.

You both lay a crumpled heap on the floor as he tried his very best to soothe your sobs and tears, hand brushing over your hair and laboured breaths on your bare shoulders. He was barely holding it together, something so awful to you, but it gave you hope that maybe he did care enough to stay.

His hot tears burnt at your body as they fell from his eyes, but you didn’t flinch, you only clung onto him tighter with that tiniest spark of hope dwindling inside of you.

“All will be explained after I leave. There is a letter in your dresser, just look for it and you’ll know everything.” He said quietly, guiltier than he’d ever been before. You cried louder in his arms, hope fizzled out like the miserable stifling of a melting candle.

You tried to push him off of you, but he clung to you like a limpet. No matter how much you wriggled or hit him, screamed of kicked him, you wouldn’t let you go, not until you cried yourself into a deep sleep in the comfort of his arms for the very last time, such an innocent sleep that you never would have dreamed that when you woke up, he wouldn’t be there.

As the summer disappeared into the first day of September, so did your Regulus, as you slept soundly against the cold floorboards of the lonely house, never to see your love again.

-1st September, 1979

[feyspeaker]

Hii me again. I'm not sure if I sent the ask I'm talking about on anon, so maybe that's why you didn't see it? It partially got answered with a recent ask you got anyway so no worries. I was just wondering if you use 3d in your process and if so, how? I've seen other illustrators use it to varying degrees and it seems like a really helpful tool to push your work.

Oh that's so weird! No I periodically go through my asks in chunks and I didn't see anything like that. I've had a few people in the past few months send me asks that looked like the second half of something else with no context, so maybe it's Tumblr fuckery. Sorry!!

I recommend learning Blender so you can help sculpt shapes and render lighting onto them in order to get the weirder/more complex shadows right. You can also apply colors onto the things you sculpt in order to see how the colors act in different lighting. It's pretty much an invaluable tool to me as it keeps me from having to problem-solve too much. I did a lot of digging around in my house to build references to photograph but it was just impractical to achieve the things I want to a lot of the time. I still do that, and you would not believe how many goofy photos I have of my husband in the poses you've seen me paint Astarion in lmao...

I do think that it needs to be used in moderation if you are a more beginner artist- I think that using 3D is DANGEROUSLY close to becoming a massive crutch for a newer artist and improper usage or over reliance on it can lead to stiffness or artificial looking colors. You need to be able to train your eye to create compelling compositions by bashing things together, and train your hand to replicate/add/subtract as needed from your references with an organic feel.

I will say this as a total committer of this crime myself in the past, it's VERY easy to tell when an artist relies too much on, for example, Clip Studio Paint posed models as bases for pieces without a good enough grasp on their fundamentals. And I also used to prickle when I saw more advanced artists warn of this, so I do think maybe it just has to run its course sometimes, because I know that using 3D for reference seems like an easy-button.

I've taken a lot of in-person classes for live figure drawing and painting, as well as just totally done drills, basically, on sketching and painting from life before relying too much on static imagery/3D/etc.

I often fret over every piece I do looking too stiff even still.

You have to do a LOT of the boring hard stuff the old fashioned way. And I regularly go back to it over and over when needed.

For example, I recently did a stupid amount of rose petal/flower studies deconstructing and painting ugly little paintings/doodles over and over because I know that I've been horribly weak at painting flowers for years (actively avoiding them). And I've been doing a lot of floral stuff lately due to that.

Whenever I start a new piece in new territory, I know it's going to mean several 3AM nighters where I have two other tabs open on Photoshop where I test out different textures or do a couple of studies. I'm working on a piece of my OC right now that has a lot of gore/medical instruments and I've been working on testing out different methods for shiny metal painting and some anatomical studies. I'll come to a snag in a painting and go "here we go" and work through it one piece at a time.

My Halsin piece, "Secret Spot" in the hot spring, was a massive undertaking with a lot of these moments. The Karlach x Dammon piece took 3 times longer than it should have due to me just having to go back and fix things knowing I could do better after doing some studies.

Ultimately I personally find art tutorials to be quite useless overall once you get to a certain point, unless they are teaching the use of a tool/software because you HAVE to figure out what works for you. And even then I use Blender like a monkey with a keyboard, I suspect, because I've just bruteforced through it, so I could probably use a tuneup from a good teacher on that haha. I hope this helps some, and sorry if I overstepped if I sound preachy.

[scaranation]

༊*·˚ 𝐃𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐏𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐊 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌

ft. Tartaglia, Kaveh, Kaeya, Capitano

Content: Fluff, Modern AU

A/N: Kind of a filler post while I work on more requests, I promise I’ll have more full length fics ready soon 😭❤️

You had seen a social experiment online in which people pretended to be homeless to test whether or not their loved ones would recognise them. The same question occurred to you, and so you posed on the street your lover frequented to anticipate their reaction.

TARTAGLIA

He’d probably pass by you on the way home from Northland Bank, with you watching amusedly as he cheerfully walked down the street - murmuring happily to himself about something to do with you.

He’d do a quick double take upon seeing you, before immediately being flooded with concern. He had many enemies, and his mind instantly jumped to irrationality. As the eleventh harbinger would crouch down to be eye level with you, you’d almost feel bad at the worried expression consuming his features.

Once you assured Tartaglia that you were fine (albeit a little cold from waiting) and that it was simply a prank, he’d be more than happy to join you in sitting on the pavement - head resting in the crook of your neck as he pointed out shapes in the clouds smattered across the growing sunset.

As the two of you prepared to head home, seriousness would settle upon Tartaglia’s face again as he pulls you to him, muttering that you should never scare him like that again.

KAVEH

Kaveh was no stranger to homelessness. In fact, prior to meeting Alhaitham, he’d simply lived a nomadic lifestyle, claiming that it strengthened his artistic character.

And so, the man would likely spare a coin or two from his money-starved wallet to any homeless person regardless of their identity. Upon recognising your face however, Kaveh would stumble back in surprise before teasing you for ending up in the same state he’d been in.

You decided to drag on the act a little - after all, having a partner like Kaveh practically demanded theatrics - and Kaveh would be the type to catch on and also act his part. Pedestrians would stop and look at the two of you in confusion as you dramatically carved out a scenario in which your rich parents had disapproved of your relationship, forcing you to the streets. By the time Kaveh had finished a soulful monologue, you two could barely choke out words through fits of laughter.

Kaveh would then sit beside you and draw you into him, breaking the act for a moment to question why you’d chosen to be in this situation. You’d respond nonchalantly, before noticing the time and returning to your (admittedly existent) home.

KAEYA

This man wouldn’t spare a second glance at you on his way back from the winery, already having caught onto your antics ages ago. He’d simply walk exaggeratedly slowly past where you were sat on the street, smirking slightly as he saw your face grow confused at the lack of a reaction.

You’d watch him pass by in shock before he jokingly turned back and engulfed you in a hug, chuckling as you pouted. If you thought you could fool this man, you definitely thought wrong - your sneaky demeanour in the morning had been enough of an indicator as to your plans for the evening.

Kaeya would be the type to help you up quickly, however - sitting on the streets was not a pleasant memory of his - and entreat you to dinner at a nearby place instead. When you’d asked him how he’d have reacted if he believed you were homeless, he’d just shrug and proclaim he’d never be fooled.

On the inside however, Kaeya knew that if anything happened to you, he’d only blame himself. And so, his hand unwittingly tightened on yours for the remainder of your meal together - a silent gesture of reassurance for himself.

CAPITANO

The man is notorious for showing little care for others, his brusque nature rendering him a distant and emotionless figure. However, when it came to you, his instincts would immediately pick up on your hunched form on the side of the street.

Capitano is certainly not one to joke around, and so he was dead serious when he dropped to his knees before you to check if you were alright - gloved hands gently holding your wrists in a delicate display juxtaposing the brutal manner of the job he’d just been doing as a harbinger.

You’d be unable to contain your giggles, only feeling your smile widen as Capitano’s head lifted in confusion. His mind immediately jumped to the conclusion that you’d gone into shock, and he leaned in closer to study your expression.

After you explained it was a joke to the very confused (and concerned) harbinger, he’d only let out an exasperated sigh before gathering you into his arms, insisting that he was apologetic for keeping you waiting for so long. As you laid your head on his chest, you could hear the thud of his heart racing despite his attempts to play it off - allowing yourself a small smile at his protectiveness.

[chaoticgoodthief]

A Gem for The Princess

Written for @feline17ff using the prompt of Oblivious x Smitten! Hope you enjoy! 😄

“And her eyes, oh her eyes are like the distant ocean, roaring with power and beauty yet always so far out of reach,” the Hero moaned, slumped dramatically on the closest surface for the fifth time that day. “I could drown in those eyes and thank her. But alas, I find myself surviving off nothing but the raindrops of her gaze. But this gem! I am sure that the Gem of Burning Passion will let her see the love in my heart!”

“Can someone please shut him up?” the Barbarian pleaded, groaning when nobody responded to his request, “Come on, I even said ‘please’ this time!”

“You wouldn’t understand! You have never felt the coldness in your heart of a love unrequited!” the Hero cried out, finally moving out of his dramatic pose in the Rogue’s trembling arms. And like Cinderella at midnight, he dashed away into the darkness.

“Ten coins on him getting lost,” the Barbarian laughed, throwing down the coins in question onto their makeshift table.

“This is not a joking matter, Barbarian,” the Wizard scolded, before letting a small smirk make its way onto their face. “Make it twenty, coward.”

“R-Rogue?” the Cleric hestiantly called out, snapping the Rogue out of his trance. “You’re n-not usually this… q-q-quiet.”

“Don’t worry about me, pipsqueak,” the Rogue laughed back, flashing a fake grin with practiced ease. “I’m just scheming what I should buy with the coins I snatched from Hero back there.”

“You haven’t paid for a single thing in your life,” the Wizard deadpanned back. “I don’t expect you to start now.”

“You wound me,” the Rogue gasped, heart over hand in a perfect imitation of Hero. “When have I ever been anything other than the most handsomely noble hero with any of you?”

“And you didn’t even steal anything from him.” the Babarian added, drawing the shocked gazes of all of the other members. “What? I’m dumb, but even I know you always make the same stupid face after you steal something.” To his side, the Wizard blushed a furious red and stared at the Barbarian like they wanted to break their vow of celibacy.

“He’s right. You didn’t steal anything. Then why did you catch him when he-”

“I’m going out to find Hero,” he snapped, storming in the vague direction that Hero had disappeared.

“Hey! That wasn’t part of the bet! That doesn’t count!” he heard the Babarbian yell out behind him. The Rogue ignored him, heart pounding.

“Hero? Hero, if you’re dead I’m going to get a necromancer to bring you back to life and kill you myself!”

“Have you ever been in love, Rogue?” the unnaturally soft voice of Hero asked. He followed the noise, finding the other man sitting against a tree, gaze staring mournfully in the distance.

“Nah,” he lied, sitting down beside the Hero. Well, sitting was probably not the right term for it, but it was at leasy in the vague resemble of a sitting position. “Too much trouble.” Hero laughed, and he smiled.

“You are trouble, my dear friend. Trying to avoid it would be like trying to stop the sun from shining.” But his good humour faded as quickly as it came, and he returned his gaze to the distant horizon. “She will never even notice me, will she?”

“What the hell do you mean?” the Rogue snapped before he could stop himself. “You’re… you! You would spend years grow a rosebush so that you could shape it in her image! You would thank someone for stabbing you if they painted their blade your favourite colour! If she can’t see-” He forced his mouth shut before he could go any further.

“...You’re right!” the Hero declared, smiling bright enough to blind someone. But the Rogue was too used to shiny things to be affected. “I shall fight the gods themselves if it means gaining a mere fraction of her time!”

“Woah, woah, woah, how about you just stick to finding that magic gem for her? Sometime this week, maybe?”

“The gem! How could I have strayed so far from my goal?” The Hero pulled the Rogue into a tight hug, with he accepted with awkward stiffness. “Thank you! Thank you! I don’t know what I would do without you!” And just like that, the Hero was gone again, off into the darkness.

The Rogue stared at his retreating form, completely frozen. A tratorious part of his brain began telling him how good of a rogue the Hero would make with the right training. He shook his head, forcefully dispelling the thoughts. He had one rule. Never steal people. And the Hero? He knew far too well that the Hero would never belong to him.

With a sigh, he made his way back to the campsite and tried to stop thinking about shiny things.

[tomatoart]

mwah your art is good and nice :>

can I ask for some advice? no worries if u don't want to answer.

do you have any tips on how exactly to practice art? everytime I ask for art advice everyone always says "practice" but idk what to practice first! do you have any strategies for learning how to draw something? do you do excercises? and if so how do they work?and are there any beginner mistakes I should look out for and change specifically?

thank you so much!! have a wonderful week :>

thank you so much! im ok w answering! i dont want to speak as if i am an expert on how to draw things in general as i am learning as well and definitely am not completely learned, so i might not be the best person to ask since im not very professional w my art as I do it as a hobby (and I can only speak on mostly digital cartoon matters) but i reallly hope to try and help u out even a lil ! im really happy that you’re eager to draw :] I wish you so much luck muwah muwah

i also hated when ppl told me “just practice” and i dont wanna inflict tht on u EITHER LOL but also thats just what i ended up doing for awhile but i tried to find some things to help ^_^

tips for practice: My number one rule is that practices should be challenging but still fun, I know it can get frustrating trying to redraw a pose over and over trying to get it perfect. And over time it rlly is all about muscle memory, the longer you draw the more your eyes will pick out specific shapes in everyday life and convert them into its own vision of them! or at least its good to look at life that way, try to pin point key shapes and stress less on details in practices. after you look at key points, THEN you can go over what you have and draw in and over it to make it more “complete.” To stop practices from getting too stressful I recommend starting out drawing what you want a little more simple looking than ur desired finished product. This helps eliminate the pressure of everything not looking “perfect” and keeps your art more loose and fun. Doing this a few times is gonna get ur brain to recognize patterns in art and how things look/flow in anatomy and such. dont get stuck in ur own head abt perfecting everything to the point you either 1) give up bc ur not at a level capable of it being 100% “perfect” or 2) focus so much on making it perfect that you end up saying the work looks “wonky” or stale in dynamics, So while I do think studies help, don’t get too lost in them. I always practice with media I enjoy too, whether it’s characters or fashion I enjoy.

Strategies learning to draw something: people get mad abt this one but I think tracing reference photos is great. its been awhile but When I tried learning to draw hands better at first I would trace them then put the traced image to the side of the canvas, then try and replicate what my mind saw as its most important angles and aspects. Same for clothing folds/hair/etc! I think it’s maybe not the best idea to trace the ref and use the tracings as is, because you learn more from tracing it then trying to replicate and simplify what u learned into the style you’re working in. Find what shapes you like from them and don’t over detail it. you may have to go by eye and think “what parts of this ref photo should i simplify to fit my style” and for me, its usually adjusting the length of the torso and then the limbs by associations. i dont recommend feeling like u need a reference for every art you make though, its ok to let ur own head try out its own sometimes too while trying to learn this, see if it remembers any call bad from the past referenced sketches! over time ull remember where everything goes more, these days i rarely kick myself to use refs but im sure they still would help to use, but figure drawing simple blobby figure in a bunch of random poses was a big thing i used to do as well to get better at full body art + overall dynamics (still does this). also paying attention to silhouettes is great 

Exercises and how they work: I WANNA HELP U SO BAD BUT to be honest, all the works on my blog ARE exercises! i rarely actually do finished pieces, if u scroll thru my posts ull notice most r sketches. i usually just fill up a page and call it “warm ups” then i get attached to some of them, take a few, and just line them up pleasingly on a smaller page, then color them in (or sometimes fix the lines to be more clean too). im not rlly a person who “exercises” to practice, it more so happens from just me drawing a lot for fun as a hobby! but i really should. i will tell u this has humbled me a lil i need to start practicing too 😭 LOL but a good exercise is to look at what ur inspirations do, and study it. Make a collage and write out what you like most abt their styles/what u want to gain from them. For ref Here’s a page I did awhile ago when someone asked me abt my insps:

i also look at fashion magazines and as well as anime figures and take insps from that sometimes with learning cool poses and compositions to convert into my own things

Beginner mistakes to look out for: its hard for me to pin point “mistakes” beginners make, as sometimes we cant avoid all of them or even notice them, progress comes from growing out of old ways. some mistakes are even the foundation of ur future amazing cool style! but i think some things to look out for could be these, from my own old art experiences

Hands were the first thing I learned bc i liked drawing them. I don’t know if that is the best way to go but I think it is smart to practice sooner than later, here is a lil guide thingggyyy wingyyy from awhle ago

i see beginners shy away from drawing signs of age in people, sometimes adding too much detail on an older person in cartoon art makes it look weird, so i try and hit the key markings on ppls faces of age.

Too thin of lines. sometimes its a stylistic choice to use thin lineart, and it can look amazing ! but sometimes it can flatten an image if ur not familiar with its flow. im not saying use thick line art, but more so to keep in mind the weight of ur strokes, adding depth with a thick thin combo of line art can do SO much for the simplest of pieces. heres a visual from a while back when i talked abt my brush + more abt lines:

but if ur desired style is thin lineart that is cool too! tbh it was just harder for me as a beginner

sometimes artists think they need to do full lineart for everything and then hate how it looks compared to the sketch, do not fear i will introduce u to my bff: painting over a sketch, extractinging the lines, then calling it line art. i only do this sometimes but its a fun exercise-ish thing to do in a pinch. example:

finding what shading fits ur art. sometimes ill see ppl starting out who have a style thats very simple, but they use a very detailed rendering process on it. this is not something id ever police of course, art is each persons own choice! And it CAN work. It can be so cute! but sometimes mixing two very contrasting mediums of art can throw off the “put together” look of it. i use to abuse the airbrush tool thinking it made my simple style look super cool and detailed, but looking back on it now those pieces looked a little off, having such a simple style have somewhat more realistic shading. dont get me wrong the ability i see ppl use rendering like that is so insanely talented! but i found cellshading to be a good match for cartoony art like my own. a tip i learned way too late abt that is rather than shading each layer by color picking a darker color, instead use a clipping mask over the entire art (above line art too as I color my lineart) and lasso tool the areas u want shaded + fill it w a saturated purple then set to multiply + lower opacity. also, sometimes coloring can come out chalky looking when u meant for it to be smooth and transitional, i think this comes from overshading and overlighting pieces without reason. pay attention to where the light source is, and focus on making the shaded and lighter areas nice shapes that cover the necessary areas, then u can add additional shading to the smaller details of what should have a casted shadow/light  

its good to spice up ur art now rather than later, focusing making ur art pop more w backgrounds will help ur coloring skills look better too! i dont mean detailed huge backgrounds, a small lil color pallet and design rather than a blank white bg. like this will make u feel better abt it or at least it helped me *sweats* yeah:

beginners tend to draw blank faces like “:)” but I think a good thing to do is try and get silly with expressions early on. It’s okay if the mouth hangs off the face cartoonishly with joy or shock, it’s ok if the eyebrows are super high in surprise.

tracing and pasting it as is (already said this but I’ve seen ppl do it a lot with hair styles and it makes it look alienated from the rest of the style) (final fantasy fans found critically injured) n if need a ref for a pose, using a real humans anatomy as-is doesn’t look quite right on a cartoonyish drawing. Shortening torso and legs usually comes out of this for me!

flip ur canvas i promise u it’ll be less embarrassing over time!

using guidelines for perspective and foreshortening is GREAT. Do it stylistically rather than realistically to add some groove to it...yay. Having silly perspective in art can make it look like a 10 so easily opposed to a normal front facing sketch. Look at cool poses from fashion magazines! Don’t be scared to draw something you don’t feel confident in conveying perfectly, this is why progress redraws exist :)

Drawing the hairline b4 u draw the hair is great, it helps u understand where their hair flows from, where it starts and stops, AND prepares u for drawing bald ppl. Also don’t make the head too big, the skull IS bigger up top, but sometimes I see an alien head affect.

Anatomy is an interesting mistake that beginners make a lot, but it’s one they find harder to notice! When I started out, all my art would be SO wonky, but I didn’t even realize it! It still happens today too! specifically though I see beginners struggle with the arms in this department. My advice is to try and measure them out and make sure they don’t go past the knees, and are the same length as each other when Unfolded. asking for criticism is hard but it helped me realize when i would make something bigger/longer than it should have been in my art, and stuck with me being able to go “oh... i see it LOL” 

clothing wrinkles- do not over do it! Too many wrinkles and shading can look unpleasant and wirey- like a plastic table cloth all bunched up which isn’t exactly what ppl wear. pay attention to gravity too

I hope this helped even a lil im sorry tht I’m not very good at explaining or didn’t have much to sayyy! If u have any troubles no guarantee I’ll have the answer, but ur always free to ask!

[clever-fox-studios]

I RETURN SUCCESSFUL FROM MY DISSECT—I MEAN STUDY OF CAT—I MEAN @8um8le s ART STYLE!

That’s right. Art study.

Absolutely not my excuse to shamelessly draw Cat.

ANYWAY, red and blue is lifted directly from refs, pink (some blue) is freehand stuff

Enjoy my unhinged notes—

First I did some line tracing, I wanted to see what was going on with how the form came together without worrying about color; the pose language is divine. There’s so much personality and they’re well balanced in shape and gravity. My own poses tend to come off stiff at times, so if anything, I need to learn to loosen up and exaggerate a bit more

Then I went and looked at the use of color and came away with some confirmation about my own problems with color—I use too many high sat/high value colors too often and don’t trust myself to use contrast of warm-cool and complimentary colors to do the heavy lifting 😅

Did a few design reviews; this is freehanded unless noted otherwise. The design work of the machine parts is so nice; I get too caught in “believable movement” that sometimes I forget robot parts can and should look badass and detailed enough to read as such. My first attempts freehand were still a bit stiff and not reading correctly so I tried a different pose altogether and really pushed the exaggeration and then really went ham at free handing Cat. I think he turned out pretty damn good

Then I decided to compare my own art from months ago and this week to the design choices of Cat and came away with realizing that, even if there’s a theme to my design, visually Ylixir (the Oc) is really muddy when turned monochrome and that’s not great. I love her design still since too much clutter would be eye killing, but it’s a reminder to me at least to strive for more contrast and visual interest to help a design.

When I trusted the contrast (without realizing it) and remembered my value variations since I was working in monochrome oranges it came away as a very interesting and something I’m very proud of. It’s a reminder to do more work in monochrome to make me more comfortable with colors that might seem boring alone but come together to be incredibly pleasing

3: —saving strain CAUSED* by relying on TOO MANY* high saturation/same value colors

I’m literate, I swear.

Anyway, thank you, 8um8le! This was fun and I learned a lot I think. Excuse me while I eat these notes and put Firewall back in containment before she realizes no one’s around to stop her—

[aspisera]

10 things I've learned as an artist

(Resources below text)

Take a step back - I know we all get a lost in the sauce but if you look at the bigger picture, you can pick up on things that look strange or that you don't like.

You can criticize your art but don't hate it - I've said this before but hating your art is hating your progress. The only way to grow is by learning the things you liked/disliked about your older pieces.

Listening to music helps you more than you think - Every art teacher I've ever had always played music in their classroom. Classical, alt, rock, pop, etc. ever since I've noticed my art had more emotion tied to it and (imo) was sharper.

You're only able to draw anime? That's not a bad thing - Drawing anime can be very helpful when it comes to drawing human profiles and it can also help with proportions. No one can tell you how to make art. That's the whole point of it. It's subjective.

You can totally have multiple art styles - Of course you would hear this come from me. Having multiple art styles can help you find the one you like and it's fun to do. I usually take all the sketches I've done and take bits and pieces i like outta them.

Never be afraid to use a reference - Reference models/artist put their pictures on the internet for people like us! The their whole thing is to help young/inexperienced artist to get a grasp of anatomy, creases, and gestures. Never be scared to use one.

If you're working on the computer, give your eyes a break - This doesn't just go for artist, this goes for everyone. I know I'm gonna sound like a parent here but looking at a screen for hours really can make you tired. It can fuck up your melatonin production because of blue light from the screen.

Don't just give your eyes a break, give your hands a break, too. - For the love of fuck please don't spend 4 hours on a huge piece and not give yourself at least one (1) 30 minute break. Carpal tunnel and Arthritis are artist killers. Rest yourself.

Avoid burnout - (This goes for everyone too) Feeling burnt out can take you out for years if you let it get bad enough. I know your art is important to you but remember to keep an eye on your mental/physical health. Being well rested, having good nutrition, and going on a walk every so often can make you feel amazing.

Show your family and friends your art (if you're comfortable with it) - I like to show my mom and siblings my art sometimes. Even though my mom doesn't get it most of the time, she's always happy to give me pointers and compliments. My brother really likes my art and was super excited when I got confident enough to show him. He thinks the way I draw Kris (Deltarune) is incredibly gender and loves it when I send him my pieces.

Here are some apps and websites I use to help with my art:

Pureref - This is an app I use to keep an eye on references while drawing. You can set it to remain open even when in a different software. It's free but they accept donations.

Krita - This is the art program I use. It's reminiscent to Photoshop (something I'm familiar with) but it's completely free and you can get it through their website (Or Steam... if you wanna pay $15 for it).

Krita-Artist.org - Krita has a forum for their users to help other users and give news/updates. There's hundreds of resources, free brush packs, and tutorials on there to help you out.

CapCut - Video editor that's mostly used for Tiktoks but it's easy to use, free, and has it's own copyright detection system. I use this for animatics.

AdorkaStock - Reference photo website that allows you to choose poses from angles, objects, number for models, and positions. All the models are clothed, it won't jumpscare you. They all also have different body shapes so if you're worried about having to draw a chunky character with a slim model, you're all good on that front.

[booklovertwilight]

sketching people from references: my process

(This is mainly a long-winded reply to @ace-catboy-ryuuzaki's request for constructive critique on their art, because I didn't want to reblog their post with all this junk. But anyone else is welcome to reblog as well!)

When trying to improve at anatomy, I always work from photos or from life instead of off other peoples' art. That way I can be sure all the problems with the art are mine and not the original artist's.

So step 1 is to find a photo. As an example for this post, I found this pose reference on google images.

First thing I do is hold my pen/pencil up to the image to get a sense of where the lines are. How steep an angle is that pole at? What about the lines of the arms and legs? Think about the bones, rather than the actual outlines of the form, for this part. I'll start my sketch with these lines, and then around them, draw some cylinders to get a sense for the three-dimensional shape of the figure.

Here's an example of this step. But wait! That top arm doesn't look right. What I'll do is just erase it until it looks plausible again, look back at the photo, and maybe hold up my pen again, and then re-draw it.

There, that's better.

I make sure to use curved lines at the joints, to show the perspective.

Since I do digital art these days, after I've got this sketch, I tend to make a new layer and turn the transparency on this one down. But back when I did traditional pen-and-paper art, I'd just do this first sketch really gently, with very light pencil strokes, so I could draw over it easily.

After that I can go through and add some detail. NOW I'm thinking about the actual shape of the muscles. I'll pretty much draw in everything except the hands, feet, and face.

(Note those guidelines, though, at the halfway point of the head vertically and horizontally: they'll come in handy later.)

My process for hands is to sort of block them in with rectangles and then define the details afterwards.

I've got two trapezoids to show where the fingers are, and some teardrop shapes for the knuckles. The first thumb-joint is pretty much a cylinder with a pointed end.

After that I'll put in the fingers...

Then round them off and erase the extraneous lines.

Feet are just rounded off triangles.

Eyes are halfway up the head, and ears are halfway around the sides. With that information I'll use the guidelines I made earlier to draw in the facial features.

Finally I'll put the hair in -- hair is kind of a tricky thing but most of the trick is just to use light strokes and not worry too much about where your pen's going.

So here we are, a finished sketch.

[toy-sitting-anon]

toy sitting variations

These are all ideas I’ve had for toy sitting fanart. I doubt I’ll draw them all, and I may not draw any, but the question of how to render them as pictures has been on my mind. My own skill probably isn’t enough for the task (at least, not yet).

You may notice a butt focus:

A woman sitting on a toy fire truck, wheeling it around with her legs (“wee-ooh, wee-ooh” she says, “where’s the fire? Stop, drop, and roll!”)

A woman sitting on a toy dinosaur (“my butt is the asteroid” she says to the kid it belongs to)

A woman stuck on a playground slide (“I guess I’m too big now” she says)

A woman sitting on a swing where the ropes might snap under her weight, wondering whether to try swinging

A woman sitting on a bucking bronco carnival ride (“I won’t let it throw me this time” she shouts as someone in line behind her guiltily eyes her bouncing butt)

A woman sitting on a rocking horse too small for her which creaks badly with each rock (“I loved this as a kid” she says)

A woman sitting on a bicycle too small for her, her butt almost engulfing the seat (“you really do remember how” she says)

A woman sitting on a sled or toboggan or tube, crashing into a snowbank and leaving a butt-shaped imprint in the snow

A woman in a bathing suit sitting on a sandcastle as the tide comes in

A woman in a winter coat sitting on an overturned snowman, trying on his hat

A woman dressed as one of Santa’s elves sitting on a boxed present (or a Christmas tree?)

A woman dressed as a witch sitting on a broomstick balanced on a jack-o-lantern (or sitting on and crushing a sagging jack-o-lantern?)

A woman dressed in her Easter best and bunny ears accidentally sitting on a hidden egg, crushing it

A woman sitting on a piece of paper, tracing her own butt instead of a hand turkey at Thanksgiving (“it’s a pumpkin” she claims)

A woman in a swimming pool sitting on an inflatable toy (on July fourth? Saying something about fireworks?), spraying water back between her legs through a pool noodle

A woman sitting on and popping balloons at a birthday party

A woman sitting on an exercise ball, deflating it (“I’m balancing” she says)

A woman sitting on a whoopee cushion, deflating it (“oh, very original” she says)

A woman sitting on a jack-in-the-box, turning its crank and giggling as her butt holds the lid closed

A woman sitting on a house of cards (“cool card house,” she says, about to sit, “have you played fifty-two pick-up?”)

A woman sitting on a domino, starting a chain collapse that writes out “oops” in cursive

A woman sitting on a wobbling Jenga tower (“come on, it’s your move” she says)

A woman sitting on a model tower as part of a youth engineering competition (“official stress tester” her shirt says - she seems a little embarrassed)

A woman sitting on a Play-Doh sculpture, leaving a huge butt-shaped imprint in the material

A woman sitting on a big bowl of Oobleck as part of a physics demonstration, slowly sinking into the non-Newtonian fluid

A woman sitting on a plasma ball, having her butt zapped (“I thought this would tickle, but I hardly feel anything” she says)

A woman sitting on a video game controller (“I can still beat you like this” she says)

A woman sitting on a television in the middle of a cubic room with fully mirrored walls (and a fully mirrored floor and ceiling) facing a camera and posing nude as her image (a miniature of the entire scene) is displayed as a Droste image on the television screen

A woman sitting on a toy version of herself (“I love being objectified” she says)

[end original submission]

I um. I don't want to be rude but I'm not sure what you want me to do with this list? Draw whatever you like, I'm not the Kink Commissar.

Don't worry about presentability too much, pretty much every toy sitting drawing I've ever done has been unshareably bad, a lot of them are from tracing or copy-pasting the least appalling ones over and over and over and over, the poses are stiff, the faces are plastic-looking, the anatomy is abhorrent, I can't stray outside of abstract-adjacent cartoonishness or the aforementioned flaws will be too glaring for me to enjoy it even if it is a picture of a woman squishing a toy car. I know I've only seen the one drawing but compared to what I can do it is stellar. If you keep drawing these please do keep sharing them.

If you want, like, feedback or direction:

A woman sitting on a model tower as part of a youth engineering competition ("official stress tester" her shirt says - she seems a little embarrassed)

This one is such a fun mental image and also the hottest. Wish I had come up with it myself! If you draw any of these, do this one, please.

[istherewifiinhell]

Look at my turtles boy

(turtle comics turtle comics turtles comics)

[images description and alt text is the same]

classic mirage comics! now with colours (hard to say how to feel abt them being coloured, also they only credit the studio who did it not individual artists. sad)

[Tales of TMNT #6 pencils by Jim Lawson, ink by Ryan Brown, colours by Digikore Design Limited.] Boxy chunky turtles with big cheeks/beaks, and have tails.

ID: Mikey (with a red mask) slumped against a brick wall, in a daze, cartoon stars over his head. END ID

and how do we tell Mikey apart when his weapons aren't visible? Well. O.o

[TMNT #45 Art by Dan Berger, Colours by Digikore Design Limited] Rounder turtles with the big beak/cheeks, defined eye ridges and no pupils for the most part. Art has heavy, textured inks. Collection of Mikey's where no matter the expression he's making one eye is bigger than the other.

ID: 1. Smiling saying "Wicked cool dudes! Let's party!" 2. Two panels where he has one of his brothers on his shoulders. He's whistling then says, "I'm starving! I sure could go for a... Taco!" 3. A small drawing, walking behind his brothers, arms open in a question saying "Are we almost there, Papa Smurf?" 4. Looking surprised saying "Awwww Party Poopers!" 5. Smiling wide, looking to the side, one arm up. 5. Smiling threateningly, gesturing to himself with one hand, and pointing out with the other. Saying "It's showtime!" 7. Looking concerned/nervous, thinking "Whoa. Heavy deja-vu. This is really strange" END ID

Bonus Donnie's <3

1. Scratching his head with his tongue out and thinking "If I insert an electro-magnetic repulsor-wave mechanism, I'll bet that..." 2. Leaning back from someone yelling at him and his brothers. Also doing the one small eye one large eye expression.

More recent turtles.

[TMNT Universe #6-9 Art by Brahm Revel] More Oval, smooth shapes, 3 toed turtles, with large carapaces. Art in warmer pinkish and purple skewed pallet, with blocks of black shadow.

ID: 1. Donnie, with a strapy belt, a shoulder bag, and many lense'd googles, jumping out a window away from enemies. 2. Mikey sitting on a park bench feeding birds at night. 3. Mikey bowing with one foot back and arms to the side. He's surrounded by downed enemy's and a person he saved, who looks scared of him. END ID

GIRL TURTLE? Can I offer u some fucking GIRL TURTLE.

[TMNT: Jennika II #1 "Monsters" Art by Brahm Revel] Round head lanky turtles, with big flat teeth. 3 toed again. Collection of Jennika's, a turtle with a yellow head band, hand and foot wraps, black pants, and a loose top that covers the front of her shell.

ID: 1. Jennika looking distressed, her hands out in a placating manner. She's saying "I'm sorry... I'll get the... Sorry!" 2. In an action pose, kicking a gun out of a bat mutants hand. She yells "Don't" and the bat mutant says "Ah!" There's a large "Bang!" sound effect by the gun. 3. Her eyes wide and mouth wobbly as she peeks over a roof saying "Jeez... This one's big!" 4. Two panels of her yelling at someone, gesturing emphatically to herself, and then the other person, as chaos unfolds in the background. END ID

FASHION TURTLES. behold their robes. just dont worry about the how of it so much... (-> deeply interested in the how of it)

[TMNT #116 (IDW) Art by Sophie Campbell, Colours Ronda Pattison] Round turtles with thick limbs and slight snout bumps. Various turtles in clothes.

ID: 1. Mikey opening a door and rushing into a room. His mask around his neck like a kerchief, in a grey sleeveless hoodie and ripped jeans. 2. Lita, a very young turtle with white scales and a pink mask tied in a bow. She wears a yellow tank top/dress with a star on it. 3. Donnie smiling pleasantly, hands in his pockets, and his mask around his neck like a scarf. He wears a red flannel with the sleeves rolled up and large patched beige pants. 4. Jennika in punk gear, black pants and shirt that are more rips than not, and a studded leather jacket. She wears her mask like a headband and has black eye makeup. END ID

Ohhh and bonus, April, this is a reference to "April's Ballad" from Coming out of Their Shell (sponsored by Pizza Hut). So, validation for doing that...

ID: April, with long curly red hair sits on a couch in an beat up apartment, singing "...They told me / You can count on us..." END ID

annnnnnnd two last Mikey cuties...

[TMNT #56 (IDW) Art by Mateus Santolouco Colours by Ronda Pattison] Smaller round turtles with snout bumps. They're wearing clear full head breathing apparatus with air tanks on their backs.

ID: 1. Mikey looks at Raph excited saying "Raph! Pirates with mutagen! Do ya think--". Raph cuts him a look saying "Shhh... Mikey! Don't interrupt!" 2. Mikey looking abashed, two pointer fingers together saying "Oh, yeah. Sorry, dude." END ID

Thus concludes the turtle look book (just kidding lol these were from two best of collections, 3-4 issues long. I have a full run massive multi volume hardcover to read too....)

[intersexroadshow]

A.I. illustrators are still trippy.

I know a lot of visual artists are having a freakout about how quickly illustration AIs are improving. They’re worried they’ll be put out of work. Customers and patrons will just type a description of what they want into an AI app, and out will come the fulfillment of their desires.

As someone who has been using the MidJourney AI now for months, let me tell you that that day is not yet at hand.

Don’t get me wrong--the latest version of the MidJourney AI is amazing. It has a great sense of composition, is excellent at capturing stylistic vibes, and is capable of a photorealistic feel.

Ask it to produce something novel based on popular cultural figures, historical periods, and artistic styles, and it is gold. You want a painting of the Joker in the style of Rembrandt? You got  it!

But specify details that are less common, and the AI is just going to fudge it, in creative but often truly bizarre ways. So:

I asked MidJourney v4 to draw me an anthropomorphic cat version of Sherlock Holmes, in a Victorian street, smoking a pipe. This is probably the best image I got out of many rerolls and tweaks of the search, and a lot of it is great! The depth of field, the light, the fur textures, the Victorian feel. The steampunk detail of the top hat is a lot of fun. But. . . why is the smoke coming out of the hat, not the pipe? I suppose because the pipe entirely enclosed. . . not a very functional design. And look at the hand, eek. MidJourney is very agnostic as to the number of appendages a person or creature should have. And the text on the sign in the background--is that Cyrillic or Greek or the Roman alphabet?

Rerolling the search and hoping for a more plausible hand and pipe, I get this:

The clothing and setting are again excellent. But. . . what is up with the ears? Does the pipe end in a blob of solidified smoke? Of cotton wool? Of an abstract mouse sculpture? And oh ghods. . . the right hand. Does it have a dozen fingers? Let’s try again.

Ok, now the pipe is just a stick, and Sherlock the Cat holds some bizarre smoke-fuzz creature. Clearly we need to keep trying to tweak the prompt with descriptors of the pipe shape and how it is held. The result? 

Oh, better! Kind of. Our Sherlock-cat is now smoking a demitasse espresso cup, but the pose is right. Six fingers on the right hand and seven or eight on the left, but it feels like we are getting close. I like the detail of the mirroring quadrupedal cat in the corner of the image. Let’s try again!

This looks great initially. Then you notice that the quadruped cat in the corner is some kind of small eldrich horror. And Sherlock’s left ear and hat are a single item, with what appears to be a bonus third ear in the place of a feather in the hatband. And what is going on with the bicycles in the background? 

Once more unto the breach!

Great outfit here, and I love our Sherlock’s coloring. But. . . now the cat in the corner has morphed into something Sherlock is smoking. I presume that the AI was exposed to a few meerschaum pipe images, while tripping on the entirety of Google Images. And we get six fingers on the right hand and an earhat again. Are we getting any closer to a ten-fingered, pipe-smoking Victorian detective cat--an image that won’t make human viewers tilt their heads and feel vaguely woogy inside?

No. No we are not. What the heck! Sherlock smokes a cat tail, while a bonus tail frolics by itself on the Victorian cobblestones. Dare we try again?

Uh oh. MidJourney’s definitely gone Lovecraftian. 

Now instead of the pipe being a small cat, the corner-cat is a pipe.

The pipe is a tophat! The anthro Sherlock-cat and the corner quad-cat have merged into a single entity! The fur is a suit! And the entity’s eyes are multiplying. . .  

For sake of our sanity, it’s best to stop.

At least our journey has brought us some understanding. Illustration AIs are becoming better and better at doing what we want them to do. But they are also very, very high, and they insist on putting their own vision into what they produce. 

And that, in the end, is what makes them fun for me! But I don’t think they’re going to drive human artists to extinction any time soon. 

And remember, similar hand-wringing claims were made about the end of human artists when photography was invented. The camera did empower ordinary non-artists to generate all the self-portraits their hearts could desire. And artists were freed thereby to do other things.

[arcstral]

[Ylisse] — The successor of the Archanean minuet, this waltz suits modern Ylissean tastes with easy-to-learn steps, a faster pace, and a closeness to your partner that continues to scandalize the older generations in Ylisse.

How it is that this many years have already come and gone never ceases to amaze, as if it were still only days prior that his very world had been shaken to its core on that early dawnlit morning. Made to reckon with the revelation that there had been a mutuality to unspoken longings all along, as hearts were laid bare and a token of shining promise exchanged hands; an unfulfilled past giving way to a hopeful future between light and shadow. Kris would have once thought it impossible, an illogical fantasy to be eventually cast aside given the barrier of their stations. Yet here they stand now, on a glittering dance floor once more. No longer plagued quite so much by worries of impropriety and self-doubt when there is honest, heartfelt desire at the mind's helm.

“Sire– ...no, Marth.” A rare warmth greets the king's eyes when they meet, his knight's hand already extended in offering. Though they are well beyond the need for such humble requests, Kris asks them all the same– with a note of teasing only heard if one knew to look for it. Humorously intent to repay the favor of an Ethereal Ball past, whether Marth recalled it or not. “Would you do this royal guard the honor of sparing a dance? He seems to have forgotten most of the steps after all this time, you see...”

The light and the shadow; without one there is no semblance of the other, and if this is a law belonging to the natural order, then it belongs to them just as well.

A familiar taper of broad shoulders, a well-known shade of blue, and a cherished ring wreathing the neck before him from a past year's bestowal, all come together in the shape of a man, a knight, and an other half. Already Kris extends to him the faith of a grip that will never waver, a love and loyalty that will never die. Already Marth steps closer as if to fill his arms with Kris, to steer two pairs of feet, one light and one heavy, onto the marble floor for another dance. Another rare and special night come once a year, specially aimed to forget the heavy tendrils of duty that wrapped around them.

But this time- on this Ethereal Ball- there is a stark difference, drawing Marth's eyes wide with a sudden flush of all color from his face, replaced in record timing with a ghostly pallor. "Kris, you. . . you. . ."

So rarely did a natural born Prince find himself at a loss for words, a king even less, and they evaded him now in favor of a stutter. A name bespoken with such ease, for once, sinking heavily into his consciousness like a stone; the anomaly posed by a calling stripped of its usual titles is clear; and the unexpected happiness of it, too, rears its head with transparency. At long last the uneven slope that might sit Marth upon a high throne with the man he loves beneath him has leveled. If he can recall little of his few remaining desires, he realizes now that he always wanted for this.

"—pffft." Joy and surprise risen together to a fever pitch, laughter shutters in the shade of an enclosed fist, hiding behind it the glow of a bright-brimming smile. "Hah! Forgive me, I was only just thinking about how belated such an event has come to occur. That you should call me by name, and my name alone, after so many years spent together. Such a occurrence makes me. . .truly happy."

Two wars, a thousand battles, and then some in their native land, succeeded by a confession, tragedies, joys, and intermittent times of peace, unity, and separation in this one. So much more. Words alone could not etch either the fine details of the bond they share or the larger picture, but perhaps the tender expression on Marth's face could- the careful, tidy placement of his fingers within the other man's as he draws them closer for the Ylissean waltz. Within the realm of propriety, then in the wastelands of its disregard.

"With that said; a dance and nothing more?" Two playful eyes bright like the twinkling of stars, in their nebulous depths is the guidance the Lodestar offers to a kingdom and a world, and now to his clumsy knight loved more than any other. He leans against Kris as if to wear his very shadow, touching his fingertips to the royal guard's mouth- a dancing, skittering touch with the faintest hint of warmth; just as a light ought to impart. "I would be most obliged to remind you of the pattern to any dance, Kris; and to do this, too."

And the heat of two fingers falls away, replaced with a kiss, well and proper.