#process breakdown

[improveordie]

so im remaking an old picture of mine i did when i was 17. i wanted to see how i would remake this concept at my current level starting with re interpreting the concept. red veil, golden head dress, backlit and holding roses. a saint/holy vibe and a teal background. the row below are my very first sketches in left to right order, figuring out the basics of mood and light and pose.

the image above is the original painting and i was super proud of it and you know i had a right to be, its still a nice piture and i gave it my all at the time. in the new version i move on to fleshing things out and playing with the silhouette a bit. sort of regretting not putting more movement into the piece, maybe next iteration i will think of that from the start.

it was when i reached this point that my too much gene kicked in and i started adding in a whole bunch of stuff to "up" the image. i think at this point i had been staring at it for so long i was getting bored with it and feeling a need to "punch it up"

while i do like alot of these versions the initial feeling of a cold and silent sort of "death saint" or pinhead-y feeling i wanted was lost and i was starting to move into a sisters of battle/40 k territory. which is also cool! but not what i was aiming for. so...i flipped through my progress shots (always save out jpgs of versions thoughout your progress) until i found one i still liked so 8 steps backwards it was. on the left is the version where i stopped and realised i had lost the cake under the icing and the right is what i moved back too and refined instead of adding.

refining and poishing up in areas of focus. experimented with different ways of enhancing the image, per great feedback but finally decided to only do minimal things to not crowd the image. final image here

[akynoctua]

2025 and im still not over her

[enydaghoul]

More humanformers decepticons from TFP

[hamletthedane]

Simply cannot get over this girl going to a bookstore to buy a copy of The Final Empire (at a friend’s recommendation), accidentally running into Brandon Sanderson who was in town for an event, him getting SUPER excited and buying the entire Mistborn trilogy for her to start with, and her posting this to insta less than 30 days later 🤣

[inocennt]

you said i was freeloading...

[bleaksqueak]

Head breakdown and facial construction for Elias.

[aroaceleovaldez]

underappreciated Nico detail that I like - he seems to be an angry crier! very frequently he's angry when he cries and he cries when he's extremely angry. very AuDHD of him. emotional regulation sucks my guy and he's just going through it.

[ingoodjesst]

have you put the pieces together yet, detective

[dyl-z]

269 | 270 | 271

cw: grief

[vertigoartgore]

Comic Art Process (from the original pencils to the published page) : 1986's Avengers Vol.1 #271 pages 1-3. Breakdowns by John Buscema and finished art by Tom Palmer. Words by Roger Stern, lettering by Jim Novak, colors by Christie Scheele and edited by Mark Gruenwald.

[improveordie]

White dress redraw process breakdown

found an old art piece i think had a cool base idea and wanted to repaint it and see how i would interpret it today.

to the far left is the old art,

What works: i like the all white outfit with a white animal and the contrasting red background and red accessories. ive done alot of sculptural work on the clothing and thought about how it would be constructed and got some good different textures in. love how i rendered the white frame element.

What doesnt work: the lighting is inconsistent and very flat with greys. the face doesnt seem to be lit in the same way and neither is what was a valiant attempt at an artic fox. the gold is a nice accent and i have matched it with the eyecolor of the woman but its not noticeable enough. i remember wanting the eyecolor of the fox to match as well but i thought it was cringe at the time. now i know there is no such thing. the pose is also incredibly stiff. also that eyepatch seems like a rogue storytelling element thats hard to interpret how it fits with the rest of the painting.

Brief: pale woman in white dress sits against a red backdrop interacting with some sort of animal in the same color palette.

my first attempt (middle image above) was a fun exploration of color and i figured out here i wanted her hair to be loose so as to have some dynamic lines in this very static image. however it still seemed quite stiff to me and not capturing the emotion i wanted from it. also the hand that hold the bird didnt feel right and seemed like it would be a future issue.

second attempt (far right): i wanted to go back closer to the pose in the original image, add in red hair accessories as in the original as well. the more gothic feel of this i really vibed with. with the framing elements and the bird i also wanted to see if i could get some sort of cage feeling.

i started rendering and then remembered that i should add in lighting as early as possible and not as an after thought after, i blame me doing more line-y sketches for the slip up. also i added horns because it made me happy and looks rad.

at this point i ended up in my "searching phase", same as with my red saint painting. in the end i decided to trust my sketch and went with none of the other options here. though snake version and big poofy sleeves version were very tempting. i ended up not making the red sash as shiny later since it drew too much attention away from the face. i did pull the "V" detail and altered collar on the dress from far right second row though.

shortly after this i also decided to make the eyes pop more with them being milky pink. because it made her look more like a vampire and i love that shit. utilized a greyscale layer to check my values alot in this as white on white is quite hard.

continued to render and tweak the lighting and ended up with two versions of the finished piece with two different moods i personally love the nr 1 version best but nr 2 is a bit more striking and vampire-y. might go back and add some Ivy to the white framing elements but i think that might be too much of a color distraction to add in dark green. it was important to me that the woman felt like shes in control in my newest version, confident in herself. the old version struck me as looking a bit like shes holding back tears.

ive found that when painting i follow 4 distinct phases. sketch, ugly phase render, searching phase (bored make 15 different versions), render until final. hopefully ill learn to cut out the searching phase and save myself time

final image here

[zorlok-if]

would love to hear more about your process! i also have insane adhd brain but i Hate coding and im always like how do i unlock the forbidden enjoyable coding experience..

Well then, welcome behind the curtain! (Sorry, it's a fucking mess back here.) Can't promise that this is a magical coding panacea, but it's what helps/works for me. 😊

An Exploration of How Albie Codes:

So, for my particular flavor of ADHD brain, my biggest issue when coding is keeping track of my variables. Gods, I love a variable, but I'll quickly and easily lose track of what I called my variables, where I called them, why I called them, and what I intended to do with them after calling them. My brain also tends to jump between hobbies/special interests/projects. Between that and a busy job, I might leave code unattended for a while. When I come back, I have to make sense of what schemes my brain concocted.

So, to help with these things, I have one spreadsheet per game where I track every variable that I set. That isn't hyperbole. For every single variable I track what I called it, where I set it (especially if it can be in multiple places), every value it can have, and what I intended to do/signify with it. I'll go into detail about this spreadsheet below and share a template version later. First, I'll explain my usage of objects and arrays (because they feature heavily in my spreadsheets).

When I started coding IF, I'd just set a bunch of unique variables. To cut down on variable/system bloat and keep myself more organized, I devised a system reliant upon objects and arrays.

Object variables—if you don't know—are variables that can have numerous properties (so, in effect, it's variable inception). Each main character and section of the story gets its own object variable ($dev, $dog, $har, $pro, $ep1, etc.). The rest of the cast's info is held in one object ($x, which breaks down into properties like $x.elena, $x.jin, $x.sally, etc.). This means that almost all non-object variables are temporary. So, when I'm testing, if I see that a temp variable is active, I know it needs to be unset or that data needs stored in an object. Like, if $brokeArm is true, I'll do $pro.mem.push("brokeArm"), unset $brokeArm. This stores a memory of the fact that Z broke their arm in the prologue-memory object and eliminates that unique variable.

To demonstrate, in Zorlok the MC's data is all stored in the $z object. Tommy's is stored in the $tom object. This is what they look like in the StoryInit passage (notably, with extensive notes in the Tommy one, I leave a lot of notes for myself in my code):

So, when I'm writing about Zorlok, I'll type $z.they and that will print Zorlok's subject pronoun. If I want to know if Tommy believes in God or not, I can say <<if $tom.thinks.includes("realGod")>>God's real, folks.<<else>>God is a lie.<</if>>

This gets into my next main strategy: Arrays. I use arrays to store collections of data instead of having a bunch of unique variables.

The hellhound's unique stats? $dog.tags (values can include: mammal, fly, teeth, bite, scary, cute, fluffy, etc.)

The things that happened in the prologue? $pro.mem (values can include: tomPassive, claraHair, noTea, believedHar, gotSlimed, demonAttack, etc.)

The information that Zorlok has unlocked? $unlock.info (values can include: vesselTerm, noEatSleep, hellBroken, cannotDie, susDemManip, susKilledVessel, etc.)

This is a lot to keep track of, and it would be impossible to keep track of without my spreadsheet (aka, my beloved). Forewarning, these are a real chore to setup if you are trying to create one for a story you're already working on, but they are so helpful! I genuinely don't know what I'd do without it. If you are working on a big Twine game, you don't have to follow my method, but I promise that keeping track of your variables in some way will make your life so much easier when coding.

This is what my spreadsheet looks like:

This is the sheet tracking my StoryInit values. You'll see that I have a column for what the variable is called, what type of variable it is (not really necessary, but I do it anyway), all the values it can have, and the purpose of that variable. For variables with really expansive values, you'll see that I have links to other sheets within this spreadsheet that go into further detail. Now this is the sheet that tracks all of my prologue variables:

Here I track the variable, the type of variable, whether it's permanent of temporary (with temporary ones highlighted in yellow), the values it can have, the meaning, where it first appears, and where it's unset. In this sheet you can also see one of my favorite temp variables, $react, make an appearance. $react is quite simply for temporary reactions. It can hold any number of values but it normally doesn't last or stay the same over multiple passages. This is how I do a lot of flavor text/minor choices (though sometimes the link that will set which reaction the game shows on the next passage will also push a memory into the prologue array, in those cases it's cause not all of the choices have lasting consequences/impressions).

Now, what you may have been waiting for, how do I do character customization? Objects and arrays, you are correct. Let's take a look.

Oh, do my eyes deceive me, $z.hair? Is that an object within an object? Indeed, it is. The chaos grows (as it always must). It isn't really necessary for me to do objects within objects (within objects, in some cases). I could use individual properties like $z.hairStyle instead of $z.hair.style, but having the $z.hair object helps me keep it more organized in my head.

Anyways, you can see just how minutely I have tracked every value, and (in the cases of integers) what the integer values indicate. By doing them as integers, it allows me to do things like <<if $z.height gt 3>>You duck as you enter the room. <</if>> or <<if $z.str gte 1>>The door gives way.<<else>>The door holds fast.<</if>>

By having multiple arrays for things like prosthetics and gender affirming procedures, it allows me to easily check what prosthetics or procedures the vessel has, <<if $z.prost.includes('ra') or $z.prost.includes('la')>>, but then I can print the prosthetic without having to write it out or do extra coding. <<print $z.prosthetic[0]>>.

Now, remember how I mentioned the $dog.tags? Let me show you how I keep track of something like that (this is stored in the Hellhound Information sheet):

So, if I want to know if the Hellhound can fly, I can just go <<if $dog.tags.includes("fly")>>. If I want to know if people are gonna react to it in a significant way, I can go <<if $dog.tags.includes("cute")>>"Aw, $dog.name is adorable! I love <<print $dog.breedName>>s."<<elseif $dog.tags.includes("scary")>>"Shit, seriously?! That's your //pet?// You have a pet //$dog.breedName?"//<<else>>"Oh. Cool."<</if>>

The way I see it, this is the simplest way to do all this stuff. It's just a matter of keeping track of it and keeping my records up to date (which has become habit at this point, I never have Twine up without having my spreadsheet up).

Here are some other notable sheets:

With the $pro.mem values in that third screenshot, this is the main way that I keep track of what happens in the prologue. If I want to know how Tommy reacted to Harlow and entered the summoning scene, I just go <<if $pro.mem.includes("leftSure")>>Tommy believed Harlow and knows that the ritual is going to work.<<elseif $pro.mem.includes("leftUnsure")>>Tommy isn't sure whether this ritual is going to work.<<else>>Tommy and Harlow didn't part on good terms, but he's going to give this nonsensical "ritual" a try.<</if>>

That's all I can think to say right now. I hope all of this makes sense. If you'd like to know more/if I haven't explained something well, let me know. Like I said, I'll share a template version of my variable tracking spreadsheet in a reblog, so look out for that! 😊

[vrihedd]

Animation breakdown ✨ Used software: Blender, Photoshop, Spine, After Effects.

[e-rated-beardo]

"Who let you out of the house like that?"

Aziraphale dresses in his best waistcoat, something which he has in fact never worn; it's just that it's such a lovely piece, emerald green and perfectly tailored, and he had never had an occasion that seemed to warrant it [...] There's a knock at the door and Aziraphale frowns even as he's opening it, and yes, there is Crowley, since when does Crowley knock? Crowley opens his mouth to speak and lifts his foot to step inside, then freezes on the threshold [...] Aziraphale would preen if he weren't equally poleaxed.

You Can Have It (chapter 11) If this is a spoiler it isn't much of one. Not really a spoiler at all. Mostly

Heyyyyy @voluptatiscausa look at our boy in his pretty waistcoat showing off his whole neck like a hussy! Who let him out of the house like that! ❤️

I've been slightly obsessed with (poleaxed by, even) vol's fic You Can Have It, and when Aziraphale dressed up all nice (we love playing dress-up with our blorbos here) and then opened the door and forgot how to words, I just. *gestures*

This art went through a breakdown stage first because I fucked up the watercolour really bad. Writing about that over here.

And hey, bonus line art! The way out of the breakdown stage was 3-4 hours of tidying up a doubtful mobile photo I'd taken of the inked drawing, so this is probably the cleanest line art I've shared in a year. Hint: it was clean enough to print and paint again.

@goodomensafterdark henlo do you want this also

[todayis-snowy]

process breakdown for the latest illustration under the readmore ^_^

[whatudottu]

Don't question what logical loops I had to leap through to make this happen, Shockwave's already doing that for y'all :)

do you think in universes where empurata exists that shockwave can remember the feeling of having a face? of remembering seeing from two eyes instead of one? does his head burn in pain as a twitch of non-existant lips spark incomplete pathways through his brain, does he miss the sensation of teeth and tongue beneath those twitching lips, heavy against the bottom of the mouth he no longer has?

:) Big Boobie Decepticons :)