#pretty difficult to draw this one!! i'm new to drawing faces from this angle

[soybean-official]

It's going to hurt every time

[lukellios]

Really curious to know how you got so good at art? Bc you've improved so much in the last few years but even back then you were really good...

Hmmm I'm not sure about which "back when" you're referring to 🤔 I've been drawing seriously for over thirteen years so I've got a few "stopping points" of skill

This is about where I started, if that gives you a good reference point. It's... bad. I am pretty sure it was my best attempt at a stylized human face, but it was not supposed to have cartoonist anatomy. At this point I was going for realistic proportions, and it was a struggle. It's not awful but it's got a lot of room to improve.

A year or two later and I'm in my adventure time phase, but I have a better understanding of form and posing. Human faces are still hard for me so I avoid them, animal faces are easy enough that I'm trying to experiment with more difficult angles. My digital art knowledge is very very low.

I branched out into bots for the next couple of years and that gave me a much better idea about form and perspective just because it was trial by fire. Mecha are incredibly hard but I had (and have) brain worms so I did it all out of love. It was challenging but fun (and rewarding), I tried a lot of new color palettes and tried to figure out how to make digital art look better.

Even going back to something I hadn't drawn in a long time after drawing bots showed I'd made significant improvements overall, but drawing human faces was still extremely hard.

At the end of the bot era I've massively improved, but I still shy away from humans. My traditional lines are very controlled and uniform, my digital lines still leave a lot to be desired.

I finally have to learn how to draw humans but it's a struggle. I draw every day, not vigorous traditional studies but just small sketches, practicing over and over. I'm starting to understand digital art a little better and I have a much better sense of posing and framing characters

Around this time I finally have a firmer grasp of how to draw humans and how to use a tablet. I want to show this piece even if it wasn't my favorite because I still wasn't happy with it. My composition is better and there's a lot of improvement on my line steadiness and varying width, but even the two profiles were giving me trouble. The movement felt dynamic but disconnected.

I redid this piece a year ago because I could finally see what I was unhappy with and change it. The profiles are much better, the hair and clothes are following the same direction of wind, the clothes have weight to them, and the shoes have much better form. Everything is also just a little more polished, and I didn't even have to change the background from the first attempt.

Really over the years it's just been about fixing a few things at a time by branching out and trying a lot of different things. Dipping my hand into a lot of subjects and really challenging myself has helped me learn a lot. Even though I wasn't always studying the same thing, learning as I went helped me in a lot more areas than just the ones I was focusing on at the moment. Hope this helps, if even a little! It's a really hard question and there's no one right way to improve, so take a mixed bag of advice and try it all c:

[isosymmetry]

The Image (as compulsion art)

Written May 25th, 2022. Partially edited for clarity, still referential writing. Some information is outdated or incorrect.

So yeah, compulsion art… I've never been open about OC-like stuff I have since forever but it only ever really took a future epiphany for me to solve the question: Why did I make so much stuff in 2020? While I spent a long time trying to find out what motivated me through that time to produce as much as I've never done before, I thought it was just an unattainable inspiration that came from some unknown divine source, but not really.

The truth was more down to earth and negative: it was a compulsion caused by extreme stress. A lot of things happened that year, and it was difficult to cope. While half of my work was positive and from a place where I felt free to experiment and explore as an artist, at some point (around the time I started college) my art also became either destructive, or a consequence of a negative environment. That's how I formed some drawing habits, specifically about Stanley.

It's not a bad thing to draw to cool off from a rough day with a sketch, but what happened to me was a feedback loop that grew as my presence grew in general. It's not bad to get praise, but for me it fed the rumination. Note that I'm speaking from pre-incident. While the cycle of rumination could have ran on its own until I get tired, outside perception motivated me to dive deeper into that to the point of exhaustion, regardless. This is around January 2021. Numerous personal issues have shown themselves, and I was also exhausted from finishing my last semester. The exhaustion crept deep into my psyche, where slowly I notice that I am not producing as much as I did in 20. I paid it no mind, as I needed the rest.

I'm going to skim over the escalation that happened last year and instead focus on how this manifested from interest to something that was pretty much obsession. Also... this isn't the only compulsion I have. This one just makes sense to bring up right now.

The reason I'm aware of this is because of where I am now. I'm still susceptible to all that rumination, only that it actually appears as it is: a maladaptive strategy. It's only more obvious because the feelings are negative, but it was the same pattern from before: an image, and the compulsion to make that image, usually caused by an external force or trigger. While I've had a pretty good tolerance threshold for the past few days, exhaustion and other physical limits can still cause the same discomfort. Why is it just him? Does it apply to Irene? In the end, you can't justify why a compulsion is a compulsion. He was repetitively drawn to the point where the image was everywhere, which had no end in sight. Two years later, it's still pretty much there. I just don't have the time to do it.

While I can't justify why I did all this, I can say that it wasn't done out of trying to fix the character or to make him perfect. It was simply a pattern that needed to occur. It was simply something that had to keep existing, and over time, so many angles, faces, emotions of this same image have been produced by me. There was never an end goal of being recognized or anything. That's also why I was unfazed about "losing" credit or credibility.

With regards to him turning into an icon of consumption, yes, some of it had shown up in my rumination. However, my perspective is completely different from the critique of capitalism the new stuff is pulling off, the concept of making a thing better over and over and over. Mine was simply powered by mostly by an illness and virtually just one month of pay for me. My story is still oddly personal. I'm not the person who can afford to do nerd capitalism and buy collector's items and other commodities. I am still behind the scenes and beneath the outer greater narrative of most of it. Sure, maybe we can talk about distribution of global workers, but that's another discussion for another time that doesn't faze me and is mostly irrelevant.

Conclusion: No, I still have no idea how to rid of this, especially since the wound is still open. My only hope is focusing on how I react to bullshit right now. Nevertheless, I probably won't let it consume me more than it already did. No, Irene is a more complicated case, and I made him. He's not an image forced into my mind.

Tangent: how do you balance your interest in a way that doesn't harm you? While you can't prevent being [psychologically] obsessed about an intrusive thought, usually I just do mindfulness over my actions. If I let it be, it's also just me STILL trying to process that entire shebang. If an obsession disrupts your everyday routine/life, has been present for a long amount of time (think above a few weeks), and tends to be your distraction from a stressful environment, PLEASE step back and try to see if you need mental help... Or, just some people to help check on your well-being.

End of text

Late note: I don't want people just thinking that the image is just a compulsion. It's more complicated than that. It just started that way.

[robotslenderman]

Snip: The Blood Runs True

So instead of working on nano today (I'll get to it tonight!) I started writing a fic of the night Beckett and Anastasia first met, and this happened.

Extra long snip because it was too funny to make any shorter.

Context: Beckett is tracking down a missing Kindred, circa 2005, and Anastasia is one of the last people known to have been in contact with him. Beckett is waiting for Nastasya to get home, along with Norman and Grigori. He is reticent to admit who he really is, given that Vykosians don't tend to like him and he doesn't know if Anastasia has inherited Sascha's homicidal tendencies or not.

While they're waiting, however, discussions on Anastasia's work makes it apparent that Beckett has information that can confirm what a new source in Anastasia's life has told her about Sascha, confirmation that has been very difficult for her to get.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: [Speaking with a Russian accent] Got here as fast as I could without breaking the Masquerade. Uh. Are you guys just… casually reading out my work on Sascha to the guy who just broke in?

BECKETT: For the sake of the recording, a young African American woman in her late teens has just arrived.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: [Simultaneously] I'm Afro-Russian, you dumbass.

BECKETT: [Simultaneously] She has long dreadlocks to her waist, tied back neatly, and thick eyeliner. She is wearing a short black dress.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: [Simultaneously] Please tell me that you didn’t Dominate them both. ‘Cause if you can Dominate Grigori to just rat me out like that, I’m so fucked.

UNKNOWN FEMALE: Wait, are you recording this conversation or something?

NORMAN: [Giddily] Stasya, you’re going to lose your fucking shit.

ANASTASIA: You know, that’s really not reassuring.

[It must be noted that Anastasia speaks with a rapid cadence, compared to everyone else present, especially at her more verbose moments.]

[Poor fucking Cesare -- a]

GRIGORI: This man is confirming to us some of the information that cel Frumos gave you — specifically, Sascha’s physical appearance before their possession, and the possession itself.

BECKETT: Uh, I’m not sure that that’s confirmation. Anastasia —

ANASTASIA: [Simultaneously] Uh-nuh-STAASS-ya. It’s pronounced Uh-nuh-STAASS-ya.

BECKETT: [Simultaneously] — is quite a thorough scholar, clearly —

ANASTASIA: [Simultaneously] Damn right I am!

BECKETT: [Simultaneously] — surely she’d have stumbled upon portraits or drawings of their original appearance?

BECKETT: Whoever her contact is could have done so, too, so I'm not sure I'm really verifying anything here.

ANASTASIA: How the fuck does he know who I am without realising what clan Vykos is? Dumbass.

GRIGORI: [Translated from Russian] Natasya. He is our guest.

ANASTASIA: [Translated from Russian] The fuck? He broke in here!

NORMAN: [Translated from Russian] I've been saying that the whole time!

BECKETT: I beg your pardon?

ANASTASIA: I'm saying -- hello? Vicissitude? First thing fledglings do is go absolutely nuts on their faces. You have no idea how many I had to fix back in the night. It’s pretty rare for a Fiend to go longer than five minutes after discovering the Discipline without changing their appearance, or having their sire change it. It’s pretty rare to discover someone’s true appearance. Even this is my — ugh, pardon me. Cammy face.

[Pause for 4 seconds.]

BECKETT: I… heard you were tall.

ANASTASIA: Fuck yeah.

BECKETT: For the sake of the recording, Anastasia has changed her appearance with a ripple, willing the change from within instead of sculpting it.

ANASTASIA: [Simultaneously] Yeah, if you’ve taken a form before it’s pretty easy to just… will it back.

BECKETT: [Simultaneously] Her dreadlocks are now long thin plaits, pulled into a high ponytail. Her face is now heart-shaped, her jaw and chin more tapered, and her eyes at more of an inward angle. Her hips are quite narrow for a woman, her waist even moreso —

ANASTASIA: [Simultaneously] That’s ‘cause I’m not, I just like to look like one.

BECKETT: [Simultaneously] And she, uh…

ANASTASIA: [Happily] No tits! Well, I don’t mind them sometimes. I show ‘em off on special occasions. Like at the exposition. Those were my actual tits, by the way, though not my natural appearance. My natural appearance is like this, but with hips and tits. And also. You know. Shorter.

BECKETT: That’s… what, seven feet tall?

ANASTASIA: [Happily] I like towering over people. It makes them nervous.

BECKETT: Well, you’re definitely a Vykos.

ANASTASIA: You know, whenever someone says that I don’t know if I should be proud or horrified. So my sires are saying that you can confirm the possession, too? Shit.

BECKETT: I was there when the Dracon was removed.

ANASTASIA: Shit, seriously? When did this happen?

BECKETT: Not six months ago.

ANASTASIA: Fuck. You’re joking.

BECKETT: It happened in Constantinople and was rather… violent. Which, in fact, leads to why I’m —

ANASTASIA: Is Sascha okay?

[Grigori sighs in the background.]

BECKETT: As well as they can be after having a Methuselah burned out of their belly. Actually, they recovered quite well, a good friend of mine nursed them back to health himself.

ANASTASIA: And they didn’t eat him?

BECKETT: I… no? I didn’t — no, they didn’t eat him. What kind of a question is —

ANASTASIA: People who see Sascha at their weakest don’t tend to live very long, so this is pretty interesting. I had suspected after what — after what my friend told me, that — what name are we using for him? Can't use his Cammy name.

NORMAN: Cel Frumos.

ANASTASIA: Cel Frumos. Does that name mean anything to you?

BECKETT: Should it?

ANASTASIA: No. Anyway, cel Frumos told me about the possession, about how the Dracon was... let's say, weaved into their flesh.

BECKETT: And I’m given to understand that cel Frumos saw this happen?

[7 second pause.]

ANASTASIA: … Yeah.

BECKETT: I get the feeling there’s more to it than that.

ANASTASIA: Let’s just say Sascha’s not the only one who was possessed at the time.

BECKETT: … oh.

ANASTASIA: Anyway, I suspected that the Dracon might have had a big influence on Sascha’s personality because of how dramatically they changed after the transition. The fact they didn’t destroy your friend after seeing them at their weakest… that is curious. Damn, I hope Sascha’s coping okay, it must be a mindfuck to be melded with someone for over seven hundred years and just be suddenly… split in half, like that.

[Another sigh from Grigori.]

BECKETT: That’s a… strangely compassionate way to talk about someone with a reputation like Vykos’s.

ANASTASIA: I’m a biographer. It’s my job to see the person in the monster. If we can’t see the person in the monster, however will we learn to see monsters in people? Anyway. Cel Frumos reached out to us over a year ago, and started giving me information on Sascha. He knew them, you see, back during the Middle Ages. I was… not gonna lie, I was pretty suspicious of cel Frumos right off the bat. No idea if they were who they said they were, and even when they gave me the name of another allegedly neutral party to back up their claims —

BECKETT: [Simultaneously] Which is why I’m here, incidentally —

ANASTASIA: [Simultaneously] — I wasn’t sure if he was just paying him off and lying through his teeth to us. It’s really hard to get good sources on events that occurred that far back, and now a guy shows up and offers it to me on a silver platter, free of charge? Yeah, no, I’m calling bullshit. Everyone has an agenda, they never tell you the truth. But now? Shit. We have another actual witness. Who are you, anyway?

[6 second pause.]

[A strangled noise from Norman.]

ANASTASIA: What’s so funny?

NORMAN: [Giggling]

ANASTASIA: What’s so — are you one of the Sabbat Gang —

[Norman stops giggling.]

[3 second pause.]

ANASTASIA: [Joy completely gone from her voice] Aww, fuck. You're fucking joking.

NORMAN: [Loud cackling]

[I never thought I would ever relate to Norman Cosgrove, but there you go. — a]

ANASTASIA: It’s you. [Sigh] Why’d it have to be you?

BECKETT: You know, that’s the second time someone of your blood has said that to me in the last six months.

ANASTASIA: [Muffled noises of frustration]

NORMAN: [Still cackling]

GRIGORI: [Translated from Russian] Is he a friend of Stasya’s?

NORMAN: [Barely able to breathe, speaking in English] Is he a friend of — [Laughing even harder]

[There is a muffled thump.]

ANASTASIA: Oh my god. Norman. Get up. Get up!

[The laughter trails off into wheezing noises, as if the Tzimisce is laughing so hard he can’t even make a noise.]

ANASTASIA: Fuck my life. Just. Fuck my life.

BECKETT: Ahh, feeling remorseful for the charming things you said about me, are you?

ANASTASIA: Not for a fucking moment, I’m just remorseful it’s the scholastic world’s greatest asshole who gave me this information! FUCK!

GRIGORI: [Calmly] Ah, I see now, it’s Beckett!

ANASTASIA: No fucking shit it’s Beckett!

NORMAN: [Wheezing noises intensify]

[yuseirra]

hello! i hope you're having a nice day!! (: i've been following you for a long time, and i just wanted to say that your drawings are always really expressive! i'm not sure how to put it into words, but it's very easy to see how the characters you draw are feeling- do you happen to have any tips or advice on how you draw facial expressions? thank you! ;o;;

Hello anon!// Thank you for wishing me a nice day, I hope you have a good one too! Also thank you for following me throughout my different interests and for seeing my drawings for a long time. New followers are amazing, but it really cheers me up to hear from someone who’s watched me over for long, it’s thanks to people like you that I were able to stay encouraged and keep going!

Ah, and this is such a lovely message to get as well!// If I had to pick one thing that I’ve tried to incorporate into my drawings I think it would be expressions and feelings.. I’m really excited to hear that they feel expressive to you!! I’m not sure if I’ll be able to write a good one but of course! I’ll be happy to share some things I have in mind as I draw expressions!! 

When I draw expressions, I try to feel the same way the characters are feeling in that particular scene. I think this is the most crucial thing for me, since I draw comics and write lines I tend to get absorbed in the situation of the characters. I try to think what kinds of feelings would this particular character with this personality have there, and what emotions will be displayed through their faces. Of course, if I’m drawing fanworks my interpretations won’t be entirely perfect but I think it’s still very important to try to see through the character’s eyes. For me who tend to get immersed very easily, this is something that comes pretty naturally.. thinking about expressions is not something that’s too difficult for me because I am an expressive person! I can’t hide my emotions very well and it shows all over my face; but I think trying to get engaged with your own drawing & the characters portrayed is certainly the one thing that helps you draw better expressions. I believe this is something that many artists experience but when you draw smiles, you smile, and when you draw frowns, you tend to frown together. When you draw sad scenes, you also end up feeling kind of sad along with it, and when you do, I feel those kinds of feelings become part of the drawing!

So that’s the basis of how I draw expressions, but to be more practical about it, here are some ways on how I draw certain types of expressions, I sketched something really fast but I think it can still help you! I’m self-taught so this is not a tip from a  professionally studied artist ;v; but here’s some things I consider as I draw. I feel the most important features to reveal expressions on a face are the eyes, and mouth. If you watch and take note of how various artists draw those two aspects when they portray a certain expression, you will start noticing a pattern/get new inspirations on how to do them better.

Happiness/Smiles tend to be shown with larger-wide open eyes. They also have less wrinkles (there’s a saying that you age faster when you frown a lot because frowning uses more muscles, right?// so It’s scientifically proven too)

Anger/Sadness, or other various expressions that display some kind of frustration have more wrinkles displayed on the face, and the eyes are usually narrowed/tilted to a certain direction. The mouth is also very important, as gritting the teeth or widening them, closing them shut can reveal various feelings that a character may be facing at that particular situation.

Shock/Surprised expressions comes with very widened eyes and smaller pupils. Sometimes there are shadows sketched in between the eyes to increase the impact and show contrast with the eyes. These are some things I can think right off the bat and there could be exceptions/more things to consider, but I think it’s an okay place to begin! :)

One more tip I want to give (and this may not work as well depending on your artstyle) is the use of extra lines around the eyes. Since my artstyle is pretty sketchy, this is something that works pretty well for me. 

When you’re drawing strong, or pained expressions, try highlighting or shading around the eyes with extra lines. Also,the angle of the eyelashes(?) are very important with depicting what kinds of emotions you intend to draw.

some emotions are very complex and cannot be described with a single word. But with good use of the eyes and the mouth, and the combination of the two, it can be still be displayed effectively.

*note that pure smiles don’t need any extra lines around them.

** without the extra lines near the eyelids and beneath the eye, this cut below would have made up a pretty happy smile. With the use of extra lines, however, it is able to show a sign of sadness.

*** casual expressions don’t need the extra lines either.

This is how I’ve been drawing my expressions, and you don’t have to follow it, still I hope this helps! ‘v’)/ I feel the way someone draws expression is something that comes along naturally- there is a knack to how many people draw it, but the basis below it all would be that you have to feel the emotions yourself in order to be able to express it well (this is a personal take btw!!) So if you can, indulge, engage, and have fun!!/// There are many different ways to enjoy art but for me, I really have a lot of fun when I could feel and express through my drawings!

[multi-fandom-inserts]

Baba Yaga {Part 1}

Hey Guys! So this is going to be a series! After so many requests for John Wick x Pregnant Reader, I have answered your prayers! 

A/N: there is a few pieces of violence towards the pregnant reader, it isn’t graphic but I understand it may be distressing to some readers.Violence towards anyone is not tolerated it’s simply for story purposes. ENJOY.

XXX

Not every legend is a myth, some are flesh and blood. Beyond every legend is a reality, as radiant and sometimes as chilling as the story itself.

  You have witnessed the first hand power of legends... after all your husband is one of the best,

Baba Yaga

XXX

Over the past few days, the rain had begin to settle, roads and rivers had began to overflow and the news had started putting out weather warnings. Business shut and schools were suspended. People were told to stock up on food and water, stay sheltered and wait for it to pass. Hospitals began setting up small walk in centres for the needy and communities opened their doors to the homeless. The human race was a hard and selfish bunch but in times like this, I suppose we can be gentle and caring when needed.

Signing heavily, you switch the channel over from the news to catch the end of Labyrinth, you then turn to the fireplace, gently crouching down to poke the fire with a metal rod, tormenting it to keep the flames alive to warm your cold living room. Your dog, Max, whimpers from the sofa, followed by a nudge at your feet, begging you to come back to the warmth of the sofa for a cuddle. You smile to yourself, pushing off the ground you strain to get to your feet, placing a hand on your swollen stomach.

Five months ago, you discovered you were pregnant. You and your husband, John were excited of course but with the... professions you were in, it made life a whole new level of difficult. John had popped out about an hour ago to do some last minute shopping (plus the little human inside you was begging for pickles) but he hasn't returned yet, making you worry.

As you return to the sofa and try and get comfortable, a strong kick echoed from your stomach making you jump. “Excuse me!” you laughed to your bump, just then Max suddenly barked loudly making you jump sharply causing a twinge of pain to shoot down your side. Max's large, German Shepard frame ran less than gracefully down the corridor, continuing to growl and bark into the kitchen. You ignore him at first, Max liked to watch birds and other wildlife from the kitchen.

But then, a clang echoes from the kitchen, the sound of metal hitting the floor making you freeze. Max growls aggressively. Your heart freezes, beneath the sofa side table is a small handgun. You creepy silently – which is hard for a woman of your size – and edge towards the kitchen, listening out for noises. You nudge your way into the kitchen, the fruit bowl is on the floor with the various fruits spread across the floor. From your view, the kitchen was empty but as you nudge round the island, you saw something that made you sick.

Max lays on his side, unmoving, you walk closer to him, your hands fumble for your phone as you call John and place the phone in your pocket. His light fur was splattered in blood with the  suspected weapon beside his body. Your heart wrenches as tears begin to collect in your eyes.

“Y/N?” you suddenly hear a distant voice,

“John, someone’s in the house, they've killed Max.” you sob, not removing the phone from your pocket as you slowly get to your feet, holding the gun with your fist angrily as your sadness slowly develops into rage.

“Y/N! Get out of the house! Go!” John's voice yells, “Y/N!”

Suddenly, your face stings and everything blurs. You feel some sort of support as you fall to the floor but soon the cold stone floor is all you can feel. The figures that surround you are too blurred for you to recognise any of them. They quickly remove the phone from your pocket;

“Your wife is very pretty.” the person speaks, his accent is foreign... Russian perhaps but bought up in America so he's got a odd twinge to his voice. You can hear John's calm, collective voice speak back to the attacker. The man then laughs loudly but then suddenly, one of the intruders is in your face, a gun goes off and your vision goes black.  

When you eventually come round, your head is pounding, your forehead feels hot and sticky with blood above a open gash. You're sat in front of a large fire, the décor was old yet modern, art work hung on the red papered walls proudly but the lighting was low with a huge bar, coffee machine and deck at the far end just before the large frosted window. There was large bookshelves with huge, old chairs and tables. You move to touch your stomach, trying to coach baby into kicking to show they are okay but your hands are tied to the arms.

Your head runs over a million different scenarios, you start to look for little things, weapons, photos anything that could indicate where you are or who has taken you. Then a smell becomes familiar, the hint of cigar smoke, brandy and wood. Your heart sinks as you bite your lip, drawing blood. “Hello?” you say loudly, you were nervous but years of training has taught you to keep your nerves on the inside, if you look scared they will take advantage. The noise of large wooden doors open followed by the sound of footsteps.

“Sleeping beauty is up, boys!” a lad-ish, Russian voice screams, more footsteps enter the room, whooping and shouting like idiots. You can smell the booze before they come near you. The boy dumps himself in the chair opposite you and eyes you intensely.

He was young, twenty-five maybe thirty. Dirty blonde hair, a mole on his upper lip with piercing blue eyes. A scar that runs from the right side of his nose to his jaw. His wore a expensive suit with a red pocket square similar to the colour of the walls. Into his jacket was sown the letters: I.T. You watched him for a minute, as his eyes gobbled up every inch of you, you were doing the same.

“Do I have something on my face?" you finally snap, sarcastically.

He looks taken back, a hard frown settles into his face. The boys friends begin to snicker and laugh behind his back, you smirk at his friends reactions and just as he threw his hand into his jacket and removing a gun, either to shook or to strike you for a second time, the slamming of a door broke the laughter and makes the man freeze.

"Put that gun down, Iosef!" a older, manlier voice yells.

The man who stood before me, almost srunk in his shoes as he moves backwards away from yourself. The other men flee the room, leaving the two gentlemen and me. Your head has really started to pound now but as the man moved round into view, you gasped silently.

His name is Viggo Tarasov, leader of the Tarasov Mob, one of the most powerful crime families in New York City. He also was your husbands employer before retirment. Viggo's eyes widen in horror as he looks at you, before he knew it, the man who kidnapped you, was punched so hard in the stomach, he threw up.

"What did I do?"  Iosef renches as he cleans up his own vomit with a towel thrown at him. Viggo steps over to you as he mumbles something in Russain to his son, removing a knife from his jacket, he cuts your wrists free, giving you space to cluch your stomach and as you do, the small life kicks inside you making you relax.

"We did what you asked, no one saw shit!" Iosef argues as he's removed from the floor, your eyes widen, Viggo ordered this hit?

"I'm not talking about that, you stupid fuck!" his father roars grabbing him by the struff of the neck and angling towards yourself, "It's about her, you attacked and kidnapped a pregnant woman!"

"So? I wasn't gonna hurt her!"  Iosef insisted, "I just liked her husbands car so thought if I took her, he'd give me the car and I'd give her back to him."

"You fucking asshole, you killed my dog too." you suddenly spit in anger, removing yourself from the chair, storming forwards, Viggo's guard stoppped you grasping you firmly by the arm. You wanted to fight back but looking down at your stomach, you knew you couldn't, but you did manage to swipe the guards small pocket knife which you quickly threw into Iosef's shoulder.

Viggo stepped backwards, looking at you with gentle eyes as his son whimpers and screamed in pain, removing the knife, Viggo does not offer his son any aid, but instead waits for his son to speak. “I'm going to fucking kill you” the young boy stuttered as he removed the knife, his father strikes him once again, this time he's forced to sit on the ground as his stomach empties.

“You touch her again, I'll let her kill you.” Viggo threatens before pouring himself another drink, “Now you see, son. It's not what you did that angers me the most. It's who you did it too.” Viggo said as you remove the knife from his sons throat and takes a seat at the bar.

“These fucking nobodies?! A chick that's good with a knife and some fucking loser?!” Iosef says defiantly.

Viggo signed,  “These fucking nobodies, are John and Y/N Wick.” the names rolled off his tongue like poison, “Both are, well there are no secret here anymore, the best hitman and assassin in the world. John used to work for us about two years ago whilst Y/N worked for our Italian rivals, we called him, Baba Yaga.”

The name sent goosebumps up your spine, you hated it when people called him Baba Yaya, it's the name that haunted your life so years and the name you never wanted to say and as the years of working for the Italian mob flooded back, you shivered violently.

“The fucking bogeyman?”  Iosef asks with a scoff.

You laughed, “John wasn't the bogeyman,” you say softly.

“He was the one you sent to kill the fucking bogeyman!” Viggo spat, Iosef suddenly looked pale. “John is a man of extreme focus, commitment and sheer will. Something you, know very little about.” the father and son were now, nose to nose with each other,  Iosef looking more and more worried by the second, his father smirked a little, “I know, I once saw him kill three men, with a pencil.”

Viggo joking poked his son with a imaginary pencil before refilling his glass, you sat in complete silence, taking in the surroundings and the men squabbling in front of you, listening to them tell old work stories about your husband.

“And then, one day he asked to leave, I suppose Y/N had something to do with it. I said I'd let him leave on one condition, one agreement. I have him an impossible task, something no man could of ever pulled off: kill all of our enemies. The bodies he burned that day, lay the foundations for what we are today...” he trailed off, almost thinking about that day, you remember it very well, you had word he was coming for you but what you didn't know was if it was to help you get out or kill you.

“I can make this right!” Iosef then screams, begging to help and forgiveness. You can only laugh at his  desperation.  Iosef turns to you, angrily as he storms quickly across the back between you. His arm his stretched out for your throat, the bodyguard does nothing as you snatch  Iosef wrist and twist it, he drops the knife into your palm as you manipulate his body to where your arm his round his throat with the knife gently piercing the soft flesh.

“Listen up, kiddo.” you say softly in his ear, “No one can help you, John will find and he will kill you, there's no way you are going to survive the next 72 hours because no one on John's list has. But I'll guarantee you, if my husband doesn't put a bullet in you, I will.”

You throw him to the ground in front of his father, who makes no effort what so ever to help his son, instead he kicks him in the ribs, flipping him over to face upwards, and then he angrily spits in Russain. “You've started the clock, son.”

[deerfests]

what is your process for likenesses?

Oh, well I can't make a full tutorial with images at the moment but this is essentially what I do at this point (one step might be considered "cheating," but my actual real-life artist friend insists it is not so idk):

Find a reference image of the person you're drawing, if you can, as close to the angle you need as possible. Open that up in your digital art program of choice.

Give it a good look, if you need to mark out the most prominent features you notice, their shape (if you're just starting out, it might be difficult, but essentially it's one of those things you train your eyes to do).

Lower opacity of the layer with the reference, turn off your marked-out features if you have them, and make a new layer atop it. Do not trace it but make a light sketch of proportions. For example, the shape of the face (not line for line, but stuff like -- is it square? angular? round? and so on), how far apart are the eyes, where the nose sits...

Move the sketch off of the reference image, turn your image to the opacity you find most comfortable, and turn on the marked-out features if you need/want them (feel free to move them off the image reference). This is, essentially, all the setup.

The hard part-- start drawing atop your proportions sketch. Look at what you marked as prominent features and try to capture the shape as closely as possible. (I really sucked at this for a while since I started doing this but then I just got better?? I hope?? I mean, I'm not perfect at it but I do pretty ok. Wish I'd do better in everything else.).

Just go till you're satisfied!

And-- you can probably stylize from there on out, I just don't know how cuz I'm not a real artist and I only do this as a lame-ass hobby...

Hope that helps, anon.

[unproduciblesmackdown]

How do you even come up with your drawing ideas? Like, the poses and actions and stuff... I always try to find different poses for my characters but end up using often the same, so, yeah going back to the question, hOW dO YOU DO IT AAA also i'm super jealous of you?? Your style is amazing and your skills just aa omfg good job ily but i'm also jealous

hmmm first thank you!!! i am jealous of everyone too coz who isnt but im honored to be someone anyone thinks of as Good…and to get nice asks abt it is a real gift and i always appreciate it a lot…makes my week and all

uhh its kind of a good question how i come up w ideas….im actually heinously uncreative. but i AM gay & thats pretty much the theme in everything i ever make lol…i kind of just have ideas on a whim i guess, or thinking up certain scenarios that i also find i can picture as drawings, or just getting inspiration from any random little source & converting it into a drawing…hm. i just think of any sort of moment that would seem fun to depict & kinda reverse engineer it into how i might manage to put it into a drawing

pose-wise, i rarely ever have a drawing fully envisioned before i start making it, which probably just makes things more difficult for me…but like when i think of a certain general possible Pose, it tends to come to me in pieces…like i’ll start with some main idea about posture or a certain action or point of contact or something, but i’ll end up having to be like ok so uhhh, what are the legs doing?? or where is the other arm in all this, etc etc etc. often i’ll try to plan out how the Main Thing will look, and build the rest of the pose around what will simply look good with that &/or contribute to the balance/flow/silhouette of the body idk

i really do not have that much of an organized approach to anything i do at all rip

most of my inspiration for drawing bodies ever was to be able to show actions / interactions & to use the body to further express mood/emotion……you can only do so much thru drawing only from the shoulders up yanno? and it gets kinda fun to draw the more you get used to it

tbh i find it harder to draw like really basic poses like the Just Standing There feet together / arms at sides pose….so i’m part drawing things more dynamically as a convenience for myself, which is also always the motivation behind all my artistic choices pretty much. but it also kinda helps that nobody really ever stands that way, and if they are it sort of implies some kind of formality. posture and the way ppl carry themselves can express a lot….basically everything i draw is also about expressing emotions, so i really like how things can be shown via the body as well as the face. like hands and legs can be really expressive & overall posture and the way ppl move, which isnt always showable in a static image, but movement can always be implied / shown in one way or another…though i still tend to primarily focus on faces. like how i really enjoy subtler color palettes but always end up using really bright colors myself when im using color at all, rip, oh well

basically idk i find more expressive poses more fun to draw, and more yknow expressive…also i’m really picky about lines/curves having clear angles where they connect and shapes being fairly distinct, and i think thats also easier to have when bodies are moved/held more angularly….it makes the silhouette more fun too, not like thats hugely important, just again that i think all of this is more fun to draw than having a Just Standing There default pose. though those can be good too. there is a place for everything

ummmm it IS really frustrating trying to start doing something you don’t usually do & you’re like god whats the point doing something thats just misery all the time…i mean i dont consider myself that great at drawing bodies, i’m trying to be better at keeping things as 3d shapes in my head and being kinda sculptural abt drawing poses and stuff, and perspective always throws a wrench in things. but the silver lining is that when you’re starting out is generally guaranteed to be the worst of it & even though eternal dissatisfaction is the curse of drawing & everything else, things at least get easier & you can always look back on stuff and want to die because you were so much more shit at basic things back then sigh

i’m the worst to give advice about how to Practice Things, because i don’t. because i’m not trying to get good at art, i’m just trying to be better at whatever i wanna draw, which is always very limited…and i dont have the focus to ever do basic exercise stuff anyways…i cant even ever remember to use references 95% of the time. but it can help a lot, especially starting out….some artists will do like a whole page of really dynamic / dramatic / unusual poses and those are great to look at, and theres always photos of course…though idk that i’d worry too much about being strictly realistic, just kinda think of it as a starting point to build off of and make adjustments as you want them / use it more as guidelines. stylizing something sometimes looks more realistic than a picture honestly….real pix of bodies can just be ridiculous like wtf. aesthetically terrible, boo

idk if any of this seems relevant to anything you were really asking or if i all went off on a tangent there lma o …..i dont think im the best for advice!! but the good news is you probably already have a better approach than me. i just sneak practicing shit / trying new things into whatever gay thing i feel like making, and i guess i just happen to get better lol…every drawing makes you better even if the drawing sucks….thats one less bad drawing out of the way yknow

[jane-runs-fast]

Drawing Process- Nico

Step 8: Texture

This step includes any overlay textures, effects, fixed backgrounds.....

Starting at the end of Step 9: Shading, (for this particular work) I'm gonna adjust the size and angle of the image.  

This part is particularly painful- because normally a good deal of work is lost for the greater good of the image.

‘Why adjust the size angle now?’ You might be wondering....Well, there are several reasons- but for this specific work, their is only one.

You never really know how an image is going to turn out until it is shaded

Deformations that may have been missed before shading are pretty obvious now. So readjusting the size and direction of the image can help draw the eye away from imperfections.  

The focal point is the area in an image that your eyes are drawn to.

If you look at the image below, your eyes should immediately be drawn to Nico and MC’s chest/neck area... 

Ideally, the focal point would be their faces- BUT, after coloring I noticed that Nico’s arm looks deformed instead of foreshortened.  By adjusting the image, this becomes difficult for most people to notice.

       After I adjust my image I sketch out a background. This sketch is to keep me focused on what the background is supposed to be- it is not a set thing... ( Im not worried about ‘coloring in the lines’  or anything.)

Next I decide on a base for my background. 

 I want the background to be a blue hue to help draw the eyes closer to their faces (red/ pink of their hair will be highlighted with a deep blue background.)

It is important to remember to work from ‘back to front’ while drawing a background for one image...If I had decided to create a ‘stand-alone’ background I would be going about everything in a different way- but since this background is a ‘one-time use’ thing- I am working on the image of the characters to accentuate them.

Notice that portions of the background are darker than some areas- If nico’s arm looked as it was meant to the ‘lightest’ area of the background base would radiate out from nico’s head- but because of the arm, I have had to adjust to the right.  

See how the light of the background changes the focal point?

when you look at the image now- your eyes should be drawn closer to MC’s hands/ nicos shoulder.

(From here one of the goals is to make the background and effects direct viewers focus to Nico's face.)

To create the illusion of depth in the forest that is being created random lines are roughed in with a Textured oil brush in a deep blue color.

Using the same brush I add a new layer of trees with the same brush, using a darker shade of blue.  in this layer, I add more detail to the branches.

Now it appears as if a dark foggy forest is behind our lovebirds.

after the main trees are added I go in and add some detail here and there in there.  on the trunks I add thinned light brown strokes with a textured oil brush, as well as blue and green leaf ‘clusters’ with a watercolor brush

It should be noted that not much time is spent working in the background.  I intend to have most of the background ‘blurred’  in the finished image so with this in mind I don't spend a ton of time adding detail to it...

After the background has detail added where I feel it needs to be I move on to color closer to the characters.

I throw on a dark blue base with a thick paint brush- it doesnt really matter which one as long as the base is fully colored.

I then add ‘grass’ by throwing down tons of thin overlapping thin lines using a dense watercolor brush.

then I throw down some red for the fabric the two are laying on- the cape and grass took maybe five minutes to throw down and shade.

Then I decide the lawn needs to be trimmed and I remove half of the grass...

I also adjust the hue and contrast of the entire background.

At this point, I take a break and come back- to see where my focal point is and how everything looks together....

With a fresh look at the image, I decide there are too many details to look at, and it has gotten pretty confusing for the eyes....To fix this I decide to add a blurred flower to the edge of the image.

After doing that I blur the background and the bodies. 

The bods are blurred to make them appear more natural.

And ^^^ is the finished product.  

Please keep in mind that I am still learning and by no means do I consider myself a pro- but I hope the things I have learned have helped other beginner digital artists.

Next is shigezanes comic- almost done! Sorry, I can't really give a tutorial or previews for that- since it would basically take the surprise out of it.... I'll try to keep old/random art posted while I'm working on the shigezane stuff.