#their proportions are so funky my dudes

[glisseo-here-we-go]

I know we all love Harry going back in time and raising Tom, but there’s something about Voldemort raising Harry that really just hits

[arcadian-vampire]

Rice just sent me this Guilty Gear guy and was like 'you're either gonna love him or hate him' and

I'm not sure which rn tbh. His design is so wack I'm just staring like "............"

The paper bag (??) on his head: Iconic. Relatable. I once wore a paper bag as a Halloween costume and would 100% do it again. Epic 'do not perceive me' vibes

Zelda redead (tm) proportions + skin: Iconic. Relatable. Me-shaped. His lower legs should be a horrific shade of purple like mine I think. I just know this dude can dislocate his collarbone at will. Somebody get him some lotion

Ill-fitting nurse (???) uniform: Yeah that's a scary costume. He looks like he's gonna irritably tell me he knows what he's doing, and then fuck it up royally. Very accurate

Giant-ass syringe needle whatever on a chain: Why. I want to draw him and fix that just bc it's driving me bonkers. Put it on ur hip or wear it as a necklace like what tf are you doing

Stethoscope: Stethoscope.

Funky gloves: Yeah mood I hate touching things w my bare hands. I want to say 'negative points for them being fabric instead of rubber' but maybe his fingers get cold

Spear: YEAHHHHHHHHHHH but I want this to be a knife duct-taped to a cane, I want it so bad. I'd say make it a sword in a cane but those don't make good mobility aids. We're running on the assumption he's disabled as shit bc he reminds me of me. Anyway yay violence ❤ Beat the shit out of ur doctors ❤

Tennis shoes: Good choice. Lov that the colors match his nursey outfit and stupid yellow chain

I was informed he has a move where he rams you w a wheelchair or smth: FUCK YESSSSSSSSS THIS IS MY DREAM THIS IS IDEAL

In conclusion: I think I'm gonna adopt him. He's my son now.

[ksjknj]

...

[candycatstuffs]

OKAY OKAY

so this morning i drew this shitty thing

but then i looked at your art so im gonna include the drawings you did as reference so we have these

then

and then i tried doing some without references so

i drew these and i just. improved so much in like an hour im so happy and its all bc your art inspired me!!! so i wanted to say thank you!!!!!

Honestly, thank you dude. Seeing my art actually impact you and even your art is a little bit insane to me. Im so happy i hav the honor of getting to do that. I never thought people would really care about my art, much less be inspired by it and use it as reference :']]

Okok all the mushy stuff outta the way, u improved so much!!!!! I already really see a better understanding of sonics facial and body structure :D He also def has more mass to him which is super 👌 And I rly like his expression in the first sketch after the ref studies <33 reference studies r one of the most helpful things ever and the number one way i learn how to draw new characters on god. I TOTALLY recommend doin reference studies of official stuff, it rly helped me with his shapes, body structure, proportions, alla that funky hard stuff

ALSO quick artist psa here, try not to call ur art shitty!!!!! I try to avoid that with even my worst doodles cuz it creates a very negative mindset!!!!!!!! All art is amazing, fact

[transmogrified-in-the-void]

please explain pyschonauts to me im incredibly interested now

Okay this is gonna be long

so psychonauts is about this 10 year old circus kid razputin "raz" aquato who is psychic. his family doesn't like psychics because a long time ago a psychic cursed the entire family to die in water. he loves to read this magazine abt psychic agents called the psychonauts called true psychic tales, and one day some dude gives him this flyer for this psychic camp called whispering rock. his dad finds it and destroys it. so raz runs away on a pony then hitches a ride and gets there.

whispering rock is actually a secret government camp for future psychonauts or psychic children of psychonauts. it's run by coach oleander, who is short and has a head to body proportion of 80% to 20%, camilla "milla" vodelo, the representation of the right side of the brain who thinks and lives the 80s and calls everyone darling and has probably done every drug known to man recreationally but who knows, and sasha nein, the left brain rep who is tall and green and a scientist/inventor and his brain is actually a cube.

there's also ford cruller, who is seen around camp doing like every job bc he can teleport but he doesn't remember bc his brain is fractured and he needs to be near the psitanium deposits to stay mentally together.

after breaking in during a speech by coach oleander, raz's parents are called but they wont be there for a few days, so he can stay and do stuff. he does coach's "basic braining" which is the tutorial level and it's full of like war stuff. by going through mental vaults (which hold memories), it turns out he was rejected from every military everything (including cook!) bc he's too short.

also there's this kid called bobby zilch who does this funky dance and song thing bc he thinks he's better than raz and when raz absolutely kills it in the level he takes bobby's taunt and it's so fucking funny.

anyways! sasha sees raz doing so good and is like "here's a button. go to my secret lab :)" and raz does but also you can make him talk to the kids and he'll straight up ask if they know where it is like i love him

you go and he has this thing called the brain tumbler where it goes into raz's mind which is the caravan he was born in and it's all dark and as he goes through it there's all these vines and stuff, eventually coming to this huge tower that raz has never seen, and when he looks in he sees this evil dentist dude in a shower cap who's doctor loboto, unlicensed dentist and ameature brain surgeon, with this kid named dogen (another camper), and threatens to make him sneeze his brain out.

raz is pulled out of the brain tumbler and he runs to dogen and looks in his ears and turns out he's brainless! so he gets his oarsman badge and goes to milla's brain to learn levitation (its a ball you can run on and a balloon that floats down slowly). i love her brain though because it's literally just an 80s party. also she has hidden trauma aka she went to get groceries and the orphanage she took care of burned and she heard all the children screaming for her :)))) you also go to sasha's mind to learn psi blast, and his brain is a literal cube and you fight censors (an enemy). raz is 10 so he puts the lever up to danger the moment sasha leaves, releasing so many censors and also parts of sasha's brain comes out of the cube. there's this giant censor and sasha returns at that point and says something like "you're my own creation i command you to stop!!!" also turns out that sahsa's mom died when he was young and he used psychic powers to learn abt her from his dad's brain thoughts on her. he ran away bc his dad was thinking abt sexy times eventually and he was scarred.

SO raz goes back into the brain tumblr and sees dogen sneeze his brain out, he follows it and ends up in coach oleander's mind again and sees plans for an evil brain tank before being forced out bc sasha turned off the brain tumbler and runs off for psychonauts business. he leaves behind a door called a psycho portal that can take raz into ppls brains.

he meets this girl named lili (who wants to make out with him real bad??? and he's just like :) hi im raz abt it its so funny he kisses her twice but its weird idk man it was 2005), and they think that coach is going to take over the world by stealing the brains of the campers and turning them into brain tanks or whatever. before they can even do anything lili is taken by this thing called a lungfish only this one is huge and raz is forced to take this thing called the bathysphere that's just a waterproof tank to save her

he and the lungfish fight under an air bubble and when he beats the lungfish he goes into her brain and it's just a kaiju movie sort of thing and frees the lungfish of oleander's control. once she's free, the lungfish takes raz to the asylum and when raz asks what her name is she says her name is linda, gives raz a thing to call her, and leaves.

raz goes into this dude boyd's brain to get into the asylum, and enters one of the best levels in the game: the milkman conspiracy. apparently it's based off the mind of a paranoid schizophrenic, but god is it so cool!!! i can't even- it's just so good and i love it and it has so many good lines. anyways once you fix up boyd's brain by reminding him that he is the milkman and he can throw milk Molotov's, you go into three people's brains.

gloria von gouton is an actress who has a horrible and very evil inner critic, and after literally beating him up and turning him tiny she feels much better and walks around the garden outside. edgar teglee is a painter and ex-wrestler who was cheated on by his girlfriend the day of like finals i think and he's haunted by both of those things, and by killing the mental image of his ex and the guy she cheated on him with while also portraying the inhumanity of bullfighting, you're able to let him finish a painting of dr. loboto. also there's fred bonapart who's suffering from a mental version of napoleon bonapart who's his ancestor and that world is like catan but way cooler.

you need to get this dude named crispin to think you're dr. loboto and you do bc he can't see very well by holding a claw while wearing a straight jacket and teglee's painting. by going up the asylum you can get the camper's brains (which raz kisses as he gets them in true 10 year old fashion), and you find this lady named sheegor who is being forced to help dr. loboto bc he's holding her turtle mr. pokeylope captive.

once you get mr pokeylope (who sounds like a full ass adult man its so funny), you use his brain to throw dr. loboto off the side of the tower (he lives) and rebrain sasha and milla, who are in a separate room with lili but were brainless.

oleander shows up and tries to beat them but sasha and milla are too good and also ford shows up with psitanium on his back and sneezing powder which makes coach sneeze out his brain. then boyd blows up the asylum and everyone in there leaves. meanwhile in the courtyard, everyone but raz thinks its over but coach is actually in the big brain tank and survived the explosion and he knocks everyone but raz out bc he has a bone to pick w him and they fight. raz wins but sneezes his brain out which he then telekenises into the tank with coach and their brain worlds merge into another absolutely amazing level: the meat circus

raz sees a young oleander who's trying to protect a bunny from his dad. after looking at some memories (oleander's dad killed the bunnies in front of him) you fight his dad and defeat him but then raz's version of his dad shows up and needs to prove that he's still an aquato by acrobatting his way up and away from rising water while brain dad is throwing explosive bowling pins at him.

also this entire time something's been saying 'razputin' and after fighting both dad's at once and they fall into a meat mincer raz's actual dad appears and is like 'hey wait you think that's me??? raz im also psychic i just wanted to protect you bc i thought that by showing you were psychic ppl might try and hurt you :(( but i understand now that this is who u are and i support you'

and then this horrible mix of raz brain dad and oleander dad appears and raz's real dad turns him into a big psychic version of raz who beats up the brain dads and then he wakes up with his brain in his body and oleander apologizes for trying to take over the world.

and then it before everyone leaves and raz is making the decision of staying in the psychonauts (ford made him a psychonaut!!!) or going back to the circus turns out the leader of the psychonauts, lili's dad, is kidnapped and they need to leave, and that's psychonauts 1

[finalgirlagatha]

 ranking the alll alumni handbook pictures

Tedros: 8/10. his smile is very accurate to his personality. i love his eyes, i’d be down to get lost in them. he DOES looks like a chad or a walter, and someone got carried away threading his eyebrows but idc i love my funky bisexual boy

Agatha: 9/10. I'd die for her and she looks like she'd gently protest before letting me. Nice eyes. Witchy thin eyebrows. Is that a dimple I see? yeah, she cute. soman stop calling her ugly challenge

Sophie: 8/10. I don't have much to say but this seems about right. I love her facial proportions, her upturned nose and the hair. she looks like the  volley ball girl who bullied me in middle school. 

-10/10 not my beatrix. she looks like a Karen. She’s gonna ask to see my manager and I’m just gonna pretend I work there to avoid conflict. 

5/10 ok it’s not that bad, he is described as a beefy lad, but when i was doing the handbook redraws chaddick came out super trippy bc i didn’t know how to draw the head:neck ratio without making it look unbalanced. It could be better and it could be worse. at least he’s not white, right?

10/10 she could pour soup on my lap and i’d apologize to her. i am a Reena Loving Individual and everyone needs to know that. Look at her smile. look at her eyes. she knows i’d do anything for her. ugh. queen shit. 

10/10: look at her dimples and her round face and tell me you wouldn’t marry her the second she apologizes for bumping your shoulder in a crowded hallway. look me in the eyes. yeah. i know, me too.

8/10: cute man idk i love her. do you think kiko listens to girl in red? 

5/10 i don’t even know who this is but he looks like he’d listen to eminem unironically. he’s the token straight on thin ice. 

7/10 I think I’m being too mean. this is pretty good, i love it . i always thought she’d have a pixie cut but this is cool too. no one takes the nevers calling themselves ugly seriously bc of this goddess 

10/10 exactly how i always pictured her. love how she threatened the painter to let her rats stay or they face her wrath. very cool of her. 

8/10 I don’t have a big opinion on Hort but he looks okay. actually tbh it looks great for him, he’s not too hot, or ugly. it’s meh. like hort. 

6.5/10 Ravan sweetie I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Points for the original book accuracy and the fact i like dudes w long hair ((nah but like give this man a reason to smile and he could be a ten not even lying))

9389408493/10 amazing. amazing. amazing. there is nothing wrong with this. i love this. periodt. s h e. look it she has a chocolate. swan. good for her!! she deserves it. look at that ~sparkle~ she has in her eyes. you’re doing amazing sweetie. 

10/10 mona step on me challenge. look at the way she’s staring the painter down. if she ever looked at me like that i’d immediately fizzle out and manifest into a million little atoms. 

9/10 i love her. she’s so precious i’d die for her look at her smiling 🥺💞😫 she’s trying to be intimidating but she can’t help it and tbh good for her 

overall: they’re all p chill and i like the art bc it’s fun and imaginative. now, where is my brone handbook art 

[droolingdemon]

The Fencer 

[mrfutureboy]

I would like to know when you started drawing and where your passion for fanart started 😊

Oh FUCK dude i did not see this i’m so fucking sorry this is so late 😭 damn you, tumblr, for not fucking notifying me!! Anyway buckle up this is gonna be much longer than you asked for <3

Honestly ive kinda been drawing all my life! I hope that doesnt sound dumb cuz obviously almost everyone drew pictures when they were kids, but i know that it’s been a consistent hobby for me since i was little. By the time i was in 3rd grade I was hoarding notebooks to draw in. Cuz that’s something fun about me: i had a real huge habit of drawing in things that werent sketchbooks. Through middle school and beyond I did buy/receive sketchbooks, but I started out with various kinds of notebooks. One I had from like 2nd grade was like a hardcover, stationary-type notebook that I drew cats in lol, and I have 2 velvet lisa frank notebooks from 3rd grade. In high school and college I had a really bad habit of drawing in the margins on my notes and on handouts the teacher/professor would give. Those classes where the prof just prints out all the notes beforehand and gives them to you to follow along? Oh man, I spent so many classes barely listening while I drew on them! I also used to draw on my physics homework and tests and sometimes I even got extra credit for them (thank you jeff :D). I actually have a folder of various drawings I’ve kept from that 8yr time period and a lot of them are on classwork 😂

Obviously, I’ve been doing a lot of digital art lately, which I’m sure is what u were more curious about rather than the shit about drawing on my homework. I got a surface pro as a graduation gift in 2016 bc prior to that i had a wacom tablet and a janky ass laptop, so the gift was kinda a 2-in-1: i can do schoolwork AND art easily! i like digital art a lot and honestly im still learning new things abt it every time i draw. I use Leonardo currently (i’ll skip that story) but I started out doing digital art on sketchfu WITHOUT the wacom tablet in maaaaybe 2012??? 2011??? does anyone on this site remember sketchfu? Honestly couldnt even tell u how i found that site hahah the internet was just full of wonders back in the day. RIP sketchfu. Once i got the tablet tho some time later i used sketchfu still (i think) but also gimp and krita i believe.

Oh i suppose I should mention that i took art all four years of highschool and also minored in it in college! So it’s something i did academically as well as for fun. I keep thinking about going to art school for realsies but idk. I’m already $$$ in debt from my first degree i dont feel like adding to that 😅😓

Ok now for the second part of your question: I’ve also pretty much always done fan art! Ive never really been one for OC’s, EXCEPT for the self-insert superhero double life “comics” i wrote about a poodle named Sassy when i was in third grade. And then the knock off “comics” i wrote at a later time which honestly it was weird that i did a knock off of my own thing rather than just adding them to the original or making it a spin off with at least one of the og characters. Cuz it wasnt a spin off!! But anyway there wasnt really much to any of these characters; i just needed vessels to get my weird ideas out.

So anyway yeah most of what ive ever drawn has been fan art or self portraits, because its just easier for me to take characters that already exist and bend them to my will (artistically). Well excluding art assignments in school i guess because i would usually have to draw something specific and therefore not something self indulgent. But yeah ive drawn for lots of fandoms like the earliest i remember is warrior cats. Then theres things like pokemon and warriors and random other books i read thru middle school (i used to read a LOT but now im practically illiterate); spn, sherlock, and marvel through high school; and then marvel and bttf thru the end of hs and beyond. Idk i also have always loved looking at other peoples fan art and so im like “shit i wanna do that too!”. Tho i will say marvel was my biggest fandom and the one i had the longest interest in, so that was probably where the passion REALLY came from cuz I was drawing marvel stuff for such a long time (tho not posting shdjsk u have to trust me), but ive been doing fan art forever :)

(Of course, a lot of the fan art i was making prior to recently was drawn in lined notebooks or on homework sheets or what have you, and I wasn’t posting really any of it, but i was still making it and a good chunk of it still exists. Oh i should also mention most of it was with pencils or ballpoint pens like i wasnt doing anything too fancy. There was some digital art in the highschool-college time frame but it also really wasnt…much. Honestly i barely posted any of it here but I know some of it’s on deviantart)

I cant pinpoint the exact time I started getting more “serious” about my art in general, but i know the first pandemic lockdown gave me more free time and i was less stressed about schoolwork so i just kinda had a good outlet. (Tho i will say that prior, I had been in a life drawing club for a short while, and i had also been working on a personal sketchbook project that had me pretty ~inspired~ to do art. Also i watched twin peaks around this time and it inspired a lot of Feelings and i was making funky collages and other art pieced that were sometimes related to that. Some of those are on deviantart)

Honestly I think the Big thing with my digital art was coincidentally getting back into BTTF the summer of the 35th anniversary bc the fandom here was THRIVING and i was like “oh shit wait i want to contribute!” But as i kept drawing i kept wanting to improve and that leads us to right now where im constantly trying new things (whether subtle or obvious) and challenging myself to do full body drawings with different poses, and doing screencap redraws and what have you for various reasons (backgrounds, proportions, pose, etc)

So yeah :) Basically I’ve been doing fan art forever (I didnt even get into all the mediums ive tried but that’s another conversation bc this is already so long and convoluted) and it’s kinda coincidental that ive suddenly really gotten back into it and have improved dramatically in such a short time. Thank you so much @rovermcfly for the ask and again im really sorry you had to wait so long for a response! Stupid tumblr

[daaziscoolbesties]

i yearn for one(1) thing only, and that is to have a nice, simplistic, cartoonish artstyle. an artstyle that doesnt rely on anatomy, but the "movement" of the drawing, if you get what i mean.

i dont want realistic proportions and traditional colors and basic poses and gradient shading, i want funky lil dudes in funky poses with funky styles littering my sketchbook :( but alas i havent figured out how to develop that kind of style yet, my brain wants anatomy to look nice but also i dont want to draw eyes. i dont want to take time out of my day to learn how to draw lips i want to draw a line that extends past the characters face. i dont want all my characters to have pointy chins with curved cheeks i want their heads to be round and friend-like or full of sharp edges depending on their personalities and styles. i want to give them all not-quite human ears, blob feet, simple faces, but at the same time i want enough detail to convey the story or emotion im trying to tell.

ive spent so much time recently agonizing over how to use 3d model websites, using real-life references and tracing over them for practice, color-picking from real images to try and do realism and failing miserably, but you know whats easier than that? funky little dudes. little dudes who do not care if their legs are too long or their hair is too bouncy. i dont want my characters to look human.

ive spent enough time on the artfight website to realize that most people who classify their characters as "human" have the most basic ass designs (no offense to people who like basic human designs its just not my thing) or its like dnd-medieval style outfits which i cant draw for the life of me (ive tried). again no offense to people who actively enjoy and draw characters like that. i just need my dudes to have that certain,,, off-ness to them. tails are cool. wings are swag (especially if they arent even like,, fully attached,, ), elf ears are so wonderful to me no matter how much theyre overused, horns are so much fun to draw, and colors!! i have no knowledge in the color theory department so this works great for me!! the only thing i really know is dont shade with black, other than that i just colorpick from references usually but i dont want to do that!! i want the colors to hurt people's eyes but in a satisfying way. like the character's design is so nice to look at that you dont mind your eyes hurting a bit. like how im enjoying writing this post even though its 2 am and the brightness on my computer wont go any lower.

and then another thing ive noticed from being on the artfight website is that a lot of people classify their characters that are anthro/have anthro features under humanoids/monsters. like i made a google form to find some people to attack and someone sent me in a character with some sort of animal (wolf? idk) arms and legs. like dude!! peak character design i love her. but me personally? i cant draw that shit, its so hard for me. i tried a while back and its just Not my thing. nothing against furries i just. cant. and i dont want to either.

and i got another submission that i accidentally deleted that was like full anthro/wolf-like like my comrade,,, i cannot draw animals what makes you think i can draw an animal who acts like a human lmao. i can do like. very basic tails, and also animal ears but i cant do the arms and legs and such i just dont know the anatomy, and i know i was talking about how i dont want to care about anatomy but i feel like for anthros you really do need to know at least basic animal anatomy so you know how the limbs look and shit and i dont have that knowledge and dont feel like gaining it.

and then there were some submissions that i absolutely adored. there was one that like, was vaguely human shaped but definitely was not a human. they had a dark-ish lavender colored skin and horns and tusks and like goat ears and a sorta fluffy tail with spikes on it and they had wings and such and they were such a pleasure to draw i love them. and they had a fairly simple outfit too, nothing too complicated. and then i also enjoy object head characters, theyre so neato to me. i got one of those and i really wish i had the motivation to work on it cause it looks so fun.

i want to make funky characters but id have nothing to do with them because the only book i ever tried writing (key word tried - never got past planning it out) had strictly human characters in it, and most of the books i read are humans/humans with powers in situations specific to them so id have no idea what lore to make with the dudes. assuming i have the motivation to make lore and backstory because honestly i just really enjoy character designing its super duper fun.

(side note a song about trucks doing the deed came on just now and its interrupted my flow, apologies).

i only have three actual characters right now. one is an original roleplay oc whos design is literally athletic shorts, an oversized long sleeved grey sweatshirt, long purple hair, and demon horns. the second one is my persona whos design some sorta medival knight outfit kinda thing? but not ugly it looks really cool (idk one of my friends designed it bc i won some contest from him but the drawing was on a super small scale so idrk the details,,,) with a plague doctor mask and crown, and shoulder length wavy brown hair, dyed bright pink at the end. and then my last one im not too comfortable using other places because theyre a character my friend is using in the story hes writing, and thats really the only place theyve been used. but theyre easily my favorite and im already writing a ton so ill talk about them too.

they're a sorta elf species thing from another planet, with pale green skin and pointed ears. they also have a tail, its like,, super thin, but with a feathery bit at the end. probably not the texture of a feather but i dont know how else to describe it. they have short, curly, almost-draco-malfoy-blonde hair that when it gets too long they can put in a man bun. their eyesight is kinda shitty so when they got to earth, they were exploring some supply closets around the airship. drop off area. thing. like airport but for rocketships and also fancier. yeah. they were exploring that area and found a nice big pair of round glasses with grey frames. and they also found a cowboy-style hat and a sharpie so they wrote their name on the underside of the brim of the hat and stole the hat and glasses (but left the sharpie in the supply closet).

yeah theyre my favorite, my absolute beloved, my child, so cool. i want more characters like them but with maybe a bit more snazzier designs. theyre super cool and all but they could have more pizzazz if they werent in a story where its too late to give them more pizzazz. i just want to be able to give my characters thigh-high boots with a bunch of buckles and fluffy hair with tons of accessories crammed in and abnormally large and long ears that can harbor many piercings and horns that can hold rings on them and special little details on their outfits like who knows what but i dont have any characters to do that too, so i have to make them from scratch, which is always hard especially when you have artblock.

and i also have like 17 characters i need to fully draw, line, and maybe color for artfight before august 1st. so i dont know. i have many things to do and plenty of time to do it but instead i spend my time halfway watching repetitive youtube videos that get boring or sleeping all damn day because i stay up too late doing things like this or i just do nothing at all and its tiring and frustrating but i also feel nothing about it like theres no consequence if i dont do it besides you know. not doing it, not gaining that experience, not making something i enjoy.

so i should do it but i dont for whatever reason, i think its called executive dysfunction but im not sure. this post started out very differently than it ended and i said somewhere up there that i was writing this at 2 am but now its almost 3. this is so many words why couldnt i have put this energy into something productive

[carryonsimoncarryonbaz]

Gift Fic!!

A very happy birthday to my dear @vkelleyart !! A little something to brighten your day and hopefully make you laugh!

I’ve Been Everywhere

Shepard

I don’t think I would have given them a second look if it wasn’t for the wings.

You see a lot of unusual cosplay at Ren Faires. You see a lot of cleavage too, but I’m not going to complain about that.

Some of the cosplay is amateur, homemade, but still in the mood of the whole thing, you know? And some of it is expert level, seriously slick.

Those wings were something else. Those wings were magic.

It’s hard to spot Speakers. They blend in, glamour the obvious, layer on the mundanity, making it nearly impossible to catch even a glimmer of the magic they hold. They go out of their way to do it, to mask the magic.

Not these three. At least not in the usual way.

Granted they looked pretty run-of-the-mill at first sight—a chubby, Middle-eastern looking girl in something like anime cosplay, what with that school uniform look. The tall, dark-haired guy with the Anne Rice, modern vamp vibe. My eyes almost slid over the stocky dude with them–he was just so ordinary looking .

Until those wings popped.

Maybe that should have been my clue. The ordinary. But it didn’t feel like the way Speakers usually mask it.

Because once I took a good look at them, they were practically leaking magic everywhere. Like they failed a Subtlety of Magic class or something. Do they have classes for Speakers? Like schools where they learn to control the magic and filter it, to hide it in plain sight?

I wonder. I’ve never heard about anything like that on the message boards.

These guys would obviously be dropouts, if they actually do have schools like that. They could use a semester of Remedial Magical Skills 101 or whatever they’d call it.

Those wings got my attention. They looked so real, even from a distance. Fluid. Not like the mechanical stuff I’ve seen before. And there was that weird thrum in the air when they popped out.

I mean, I’m not saying I can sense Speakers or anything, but there’s definitely been a change since the whole demon incident. Like I crossed a threshold or something, with magical beings? Like a veil was lifted, maybe.

I can spot them a lot better. Most of the time.

These three though. They didn’t look like much at first glance but they may as well have had SPEAKERS tattooed on their foreheads, the way they were acting. As if I could stay away from that.

I don’t know what was up with all that nonsense they were doing at the Faire. Wands out in the open. Magical words flying. Poorly, at that.

They really must be dropouts or complete dumb-asses or have gone rogue or something. No magicians would ever risk being so blatantly obvious with their magic.

I mean, I’ve followed other Speakers before and I’ve never seen a hint of a wand or heard a whisper of a spell cast out loud. I’ve read up on it—on the web, on the message boards, heard from other people who were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the magic workers doing their thing.

I’ve managed a few words with one or two myself.

But they’re evasive, secretive. They don’t talk about magic, they don’t even admit they’re magic. And they most certainly don’t go around sprouting functional dragon wings, decapitating fellow vampires with funky spells and using wands in public.

I’d be surprised if these three aren’t on some delinquent wanted list.

I trailed them when they left the Faire. For a whole mess of reasons.

They’re intriguing, for one. I’ve always wanted to know more about Speakers. These guys, they’re so out of control, so careless with it. I thought maybe this was finally my chance. My chance to get in with Speakers, find out what I can about them. Research, you know?

They’re nothing like the ones I’ve read about, the ones I’ve sweet-talked into spending a bit of time with me.

A witch-girl who decapitates first, asks questions later.

Berserker fly-boy.

And then that magical vampire. That’s a new one. A vampire with a wand. Who kills other vampires. I’d have said they were some sort of elite, covert, vampire infiltration squad, what with the decapitation and dusting they unleashed a few hours ago on the local Dracula crowd.

If they weren’t so completely inept at the covert part of that equation.

Maybe they’ve got something to do with the Next Blood.

Not that I got a chance to ask. They bugged out of there before I could get close enough to start chatting, introduce myself, get a conversation going.

They probably wouldn’t have given me the time of day, being magicians. Even though I helped that homely Edward Cullen wannabe with his spell. He’d have been dusted if I hadn’t.

I get why he chose to stick with the vampire cosplay. I mean, I can see it. Camouflage yourself in plain sight. It makes sense. Puts people off your trail.

He’s pale. And he’s got a widow’s peak.

But still. The circles under his eyes kind of detract from the look. And that crooked nose. It’s kind of the first thing you notice—it really takes over his face, like he’s all nose. Overly groomed eyebrows, far too heavy with the foundation, and then that honker. Yeah. He’s no Edward Cullen, that’s for sure.

I can’t believe they’re driving right into a Quiet Zone. You’d think they’d know what a bad idea that is. But then again, these three seem mighty clueless for magicians. Or vampires. Or harpy hybrids. Whatever they are.

It was quick thinking by Edward (I’m just going to call him Edward, it’s easier) to act like it was all a show. That might work for run-of-the-mill Normals. But anyone like me—or a demon in disguise, any Maybe really–wouldn’t be fooled.

Not with them spilling magic like that. I’ve never seen anything like it. Spells, magic fire, the dude bro guy literally flying. (I’m going to call him Kevin, it’s easier.)

It was unreal.

I flash the brights. I don’t know how to get these idiots to pull over. If they’re driving right at it, they’ve got no clue what trouble they’re getting themselves into.

I flash the brights again. The Mustang just speeds up.

Mustangs aren’t made for late night drag races on gravel. I try to stay close behind. They come back onto the main road just before the Henge.

Well, that’s it. Just crossed into the Quiet Zone.

I speed up.

The Mustang practically does a donut as it turns into the parking lot. No idea how to drive either. They need more than some friendly advice–they need a handler. Like a chaperone or something.

I pull up in front of them. Cut the engine and the lights. Get out.

“Hi.”

They don’t trust me but at least they let me get them out of that mess with Jeff Arnold. Never a good idea to cross Jeff or any of his posse.

And I was right about this crew. They are careless. The girl–Penny–she just magicked her way in here, into this hotel room, without a care in the world. Then she cast half a dozen spells on the other two. Simon and Baz. (I’ll have to stop calling them Kevin and Edward in my head.)

Spell after spell, to try to get the skunk funk off. It’s not as bad as it was, I’ll say that. Not as good as it would have been if we’d had tomato soup, but I doubt there’s a spell for bringing bathtubs of soup into existence.

She just cast them all in front of me, like I didn’t even exist. I expect they’re going to try something on me. I wouldn’t put it past them. They’re not masking their distrust, I can tell you that. Not the first time I’ve dealt with that and I’m sure not the last. I’m used to it by now.

These three don’t seem to be following any set playbook, just reacting to situations as they come up. I suppose you could call it resourceful and bold, but that doesn’t fly with the local Maybes or the resident Speakers.

Not the way it’s supposed to be done. There’ll be a reckoning if they don’t watch out.

That’s where I come in, if I can smooth talk them well enough to get past their defenses. Penny’s fierce, I’ll give her that. Put a proverbial knife to my throat while I was driving the getaway car. I don’t know if that’s sheer bravado or stupid desperation. Probably both.

I should be able to bring her around. If she ever lets me get to talking, that is.

They all look like hell. Grubby, exhausted, the faint aroma of skunk still clinging to them.

I’m right about Baz though. He’s a vampire, no question. Took a chestful of shotgun pellets and lived to tell. I don’t know if lived is necessarily the right word.

Survived might be more accurate. I know people call them the undead but I didn’t really believe it until I got up close and personal with this guy. Scrawnier than the Twilight vamps and a lot less sparkly, for one. Almost as fast though, when he was running alongside the truck.

But there’s a weird innocence to him. I don’t know if that’s the right word.

I mean, he’s fierce too. Cold as ice, grimly menacing. Certainly not afraid to play with fire, which seems a bit risky to me, considering.

No qualms about incinerating his own kind, that’s for sure.

I’ve seen vampires before, from a distance. Like the ones at the Faire. They’re pale and arrogant, powerful and vicious.

None of them ever looked quite this lost.

He and Penny collapsed on the bed by the window almost as soon as we got in the room. I hadn’t pegged them as a pair, but it works, I guess, if you squint.

Opposites attract, so they say.

And they are opposites, at least in looks. He’s tall and lanky, pale as the moon, all sharp edges. She’s short and round, warm brown skin, warm brown eyes. At least they’re warm when she’s looking at the two of them. They’re blazing and accusatory when they’re on me, that’s for sure.

Still, they’re nice eyes.

Edward’s—I mean Baz’s—nose is even more noticeable up close. It’s like they fitted him with the wrong size? Like it was made for a much larger person. Someone with a broader face. And it’s too high, like it needs to be shoved down a half inch. That’d probably make the proportions even worse, what with that wide mouth of his.

Was his mouth always that way, I wonder? Or did it get bigger because of the fangs?

I have so many questions.

Doesn’t look like I’m getting any answers tonight. Penny and Baz fall asleep in minutes, not even bothering to get under the covers.

So it’s just me and Winged Victory over here. He’s got his back to the door, like some threatening sphinx guarding the exit.

The sphinx I ran into last March was far more attractive.

I can’t tell if Simon’s got freckles in his acne scars or scars on his freckles. In any event he’s got literal craters on his face. And so many freckles. Big ones, small ones, clusters of them.

It’s like some pint-sized Jackson Pollock shook a paint-laden brush at him. Repeatedly.

I don’t know what to make of him. He was like some Biblical avenging angel, wielding cosplay swords like they were the real thing this afternoon. Staking vampires like it’s his literal job.

I don’t know. Maybe it is.

Simon’s got a scar that runs down across his left eyebrow. Splits it in two, with a little bare patch in the middle. His arms are crossed over his chest at the moment. He’s got scars all over them too--wide, silvery scars. Thin pale ones. Puckered gouges that look like they were left by claws.

He’s glaring at me, but I’m used to that from Maybes. At least until they get to know me.

I just smile back.

read it at ao3

[skeetlehand]

HI!!!!! I have been tagged™™™™ by @gheysnakelady and so here are my Hot Opinions!! :D

who is your favourite member on the smp?

I mean, i have SEVERAL faves: awesamdude, eret, wilbur (rip), techno and phil - I’ll watch sometimes, tubbo and tommy, but if you’re going by who I watch th

when did you first start watching the smp and what made you get into it?

Oh, it was thanks to the sudden influx of dream smp animatics all over my youtube home page - and tbh, they were all pretty good! and so, i was like: ???!!! and started watching and now i religiously check the dsmp tag for plot updates so i guess that’s where we’re at rn… haha…

what is your favourite part about watching the smp?

Just watching these creators make these amazing stories+narrative - it’s free tv! i am entertained! even just watching them interact, this large community of a variety of streamers/youtubers, in the most diverse topics (not all of them are really minecraft-centered, but they are all great!). The idea of showcasing underrated creators in a platform where they all have the opporunity to shine, is just a wholesome idea tbh

what piece of cursed lore is your favourite?

…………. the toe…………. 

who is your favourite duo on the smp?

Miss the ol’ tubbo n tommy dynamic! But i do enjoy techno and ranboo - they’re hilarious, too.

… Niki and Jack give me Stress… i try to think about them like: team rocket! it works! almost! i try not to think about them murdering children on purpose and more like a little evil duo who cause problems and miss. please-

who are your comfort streamers?

I like to watch awesamdude (he’s great!!! <3) bbh and tubbo, when I want some nice times where I might play minecraft myself... or just relax

who is your favourite character?

mexican dream, no sweat. tubbo and tommy tie for second second place, and back when elections were a thing, so was Big Q (he still is! he says the most brutal things these days but also ,,,, stream me dude pleas-).

who do you think is the best actor (s) on the smp?

A LOT OF PEOPLE OKAY LET ME ELABORATE ON A FEW:

- schlatt. evil president. wilbur. chekov’s gun but tragic. do i need to say more.

- bad is actually really good! and terrifying! surprisingly! because he’s.,,. he’s supposed to be one of my comfort streamers.... you should check out his eggpire!!! egg for the egg god

- tommy is good at subtleties, for someone who isn’t very... subtle... yknow? I was surprised by the AMOUNT of detail that went into the exile arc - and he played it adequately

who on the smp would you like to be best friends with?

ajgLJHGdljhagjJHGJHLGDS you can’t ask me that!!! they all seem like cool people and id like to meet them but also i am a mess so hhhhh

what are your favourite quotes said on the smp?

i have a lot here too but here are just some that I can think of rn haha:

connor’s whole: “you’re not a bad person, and I hope you find what you’re looking for” had me BAWLING aaa

tommy’s dialogue with dream during their battle was good, but when 

a) tommy asks tubbo: “but what am I with out you?” and tubbo responds: “yourself.” I CRIED AAAA

b) tommy said: “Hey Dream, Dream, kill me.” because he knew dream wouldn’t, because he knew why dream wouldn’t - CHILLS

which part of the smp made you feel the saddest?

- ... pogtopia...

- Wilbur/ghostbur (out of character? in character? i don’t know which’d be worse, actually) admitting that he only wanted to make tommy president so he could blow it up seconds later

- .... tommy’s exile....

- A lot of tommy’s interactions with Techno have me kinda... :( ... you know? Like, the pit, the manberg vs. pogtopia war, doomsday - it feels like they keep shouting the same lines at each other, but neither of them really hear nor understand what the other is saying. Expecially doomsday - techno siding with dream, predictable but also hurtful, kind of. I can see why - but also techno was the closest to learning what had happened over the exile, and yet, the farthest from understanding it.

- doomsday was equally frustrating, hopeless, and depressing tbh

which part of the smp made you feel the happiest?

A LOT OF THINGS: but here are just the ones on the top of my head

- Quackity killing Schlatt and leaving manberg like: ✌️😠✌️

- When Tommy finally realized that dream was just. manipulating him. YOU GO funky exile child, LEAVE!!! 

- PUNZ coming in to save the day with: “you should’ve paid me more”???? YES YES YES

- Sam giving tommy little tasks to build the hotel?? wholesome. Acknowledging tommy’s been through a lot, abnd being one of the few people to know most of the exile story that tommy still won’t tell anyone about outright? 😭 (and i am looking AWAY from the possibility that this is just for profit, nonononono, not in MY line of sight-)

be honest, who do you simp for? (ayo if anyone says tommy or tubbo i will 🔪)

....schlatt (who ironically, was somewhat my introduction into the smp), but only cause he was a TERRIFYINGLY good actor, and he sounds EXACTLY like what id imagine an evil president would sound like 😳 what can i say, i like my voices...? jkashdlhfgal closest ill get to simping anyway so all of you can just take this and go, go elsewhere-

what’s your favorite stream?

Hmm... one of the chaos ones? kjahdlkg i can’t decide...

what’s your least favorite stream?

The butcher army stream. I mean, it was good I loved the dialogue and set up... but like... story-wise, butcher army didn’t accomplish anything in the end, their existence was as volatile as the person they hunted and tbh nothing was gained from it, just lost and made worse. Hot opinion though, so take it with caution.

what’s something about the smp fandom that makes you sad?

Hmm... A somewhat common point: sometimes people can be really critical about characters, but like, not in a good way - just straight up bashing. I get disliking a character but it makes me :( when i don’t see reason for it. Or bashing someone’s opinion of a character. Look, we’re all interpreters here, but like.... cmon.... someone might just have a different view of a character and that’s fine! 

for example: not a big fan of c!phil as a father. Some interpretations say he’s not a father because phil never said he was. Some might say he was an okay dad, and some might say tommy was never his son. all of these opinions are valid. another one of my opinions: tommy’s “punishments” were injust, some might agree with the idea that they were blown out of proportion and he didn’t really learn anything from them, some might disagree and say he got what he deserved. all of these opinions are valid -but on my end, maybe not the ones where people go: “aww man, c!tommy should’ve died cause he’s so annoying, and he totally deserved it.” did we watch the same arcs, buddies on that end???? are you okay????

Just, i get hating a character, but it bums me out when i see someone just straight up say “this character should die. cause they suck” - why though? story-wise, how would that play out? what

ANYWAY THIS IS ALL MY OPINION DON’T TAKE THIS TOO SERIOUSLY PLEASE

what’s something about the smp fandom that makes you happy?

Yall are great!! I love how much we’ve created - art, animatics, writing -all of you <3 <3 <3 and also all the discussion about the story, the characters, the interactions - I’ve found a community in some groups and honestly it’s just *chef kiss* great!!! yall are super cool and awesome and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!!

anyway, for the spread: i tag - @territorialufo, @an-inspired-eternity and @n-ugg... don’t feel pressured to do this but if you guys want 😳 

[enter-the-phantom]

Enter’s Massive Online Garage Sale, Part 2: Electric Boogaloo (now with director commentary!)

Selling off a bunch of stuff. Collectibles, subscription-box exclusive HP merch, and just random stuff. Prices don’t include shipping, but I’ll do my best to keep shipping prices down. PM me for anything you’re interested in and don’t forget everything comes with free art!

Please reblog, I need this stuff gone and I need the money badly to help pay for my surgery bills, especially being out of work at the moment.

Everything will be washed/Lysol’ed very thoroughly before shipping!

Anything mentioned without photos, just ask me about them. Tumblr will only allow a certain amount of photos at a time so I’m saving those for the things that need photos.

1. Harry Potter coloured pencils: These are from a subscription box. With delightfully eye-rollingly color-themed puns such as “Greengotts” and “Plumbledore”, these will are great for colouring or just displaying so your guests can roll their eyes, too. Never opened. Set of 12. $5

2. Harry Potter Funko POP Pez dispenser: Ever wanted to eat the sweet nectar of mass produced confection out of the torn open throat of chibi Harry Potter? Now you can! The most hardcore candy dispenser around, if you choose to think hardcore! $5

3. Marauder’s Map Infinity Calendar: Subcription box exclusive. Fuel your existential crisis with the power of rotating wheels and nerdy papercraft! I wrote a little about this particular item on my collection blog. Check it out there for more info and then come back here and give me money so you too can experience the monotony and dread of watching your life pass by before your eyes. $5

4. Death Note L plushie: He’s been sitting in a box for two years, craving cake and companionship. Give him one of these things (not the cake, you’ll have to wash him and you’ll have wasted perfectly good cake trying to feed it to a plushie) today. $5

5. Angel Beats! Weiss Schwarz cards (set of 8): Does anyone actually play this game or do we just collect the weeaboo cards? This is one booster pack because I got my blood taken in middle school and it hurt so mom bought me these and then I never got more. But you don’t care about that, you care about the cute anime girls (and TK)! Also one of them is all shiny and shit. $5

6. Flying keys Hoo-rag: Subscription box exclusive. It’s an athletic bandana, which explains why I never opened it. The athletic part, not the bandana part, bandanas are badass. Bananas, which I keep accidentally typing, are also badass. Get that potassium, playboy! Also get yourself a flying key Hoo-rag, so you can keep the sweat, blood, and tears out of your eyes while you exercise! $10 

7. Venom enamel pins (set of 3): Hot Topic sent me a double order on a Secret Santa gift and then wouldn’t do a return, so now I’m stuck with these pins of a character with whom the only experience I have is accidentally stumbling across vore on dA two years ago. Help me erase the mental scars of my past and get yourself some pins! $8 

8. Body-Chan Deluxe (tan): Have you ever wanted an anatomical model for drawing that perfectly replicates the cutesy-ridiculous proportions of your favorite waifu? Sure you have. Even if you haven’t, you will when I tell you that she comes with lots of cool accessories, several different hands, and a stand! Yes, a stand! Bet your fancy digital model doesn’t have one of those! She’s been out of the box a few times but she’s got all her pieces and is in perfect condition. $25 

9. Body-kun Deluxe (grey):  What’s that? You don't want to give me money for Body-Chan because you don’t have a waifu? That’s okay, I’ve got a featureless husbando, too! This dude comes with a bunch of stuff, I’m not sure what all exactly because I’ve never used him, but judging from that fancy Ziploc bag, it’s a doozy! He was given to me by the fine folks at work and before that he belonged to a stranger, so the plastic parts of his packaging are gone but all his parts are there as far as I know. And here’s the kicker: I’m offering him as part of a $30 lot with these two little peeps! They’ve never been opened and I don’t read whatever language that is, so I’m not sure who made them, but they’ve got extra heads with additional hairstyles, and tennis shoes! Tennis shoes, folks! You can take anything from this photo for $15 or all three of them for $30. If you can do math, which I can’t, you’ll see that's a savings of...something! Like I said, I can’t do math. 

10. Assorted enamel pins: Lunala, Kyogre, or some funky hands. I’d really love to trade these for Harry Potter enamel pins if anyone wants to make me some trade offers. Or you can just offer me $3 each and I’ll take it because I’m broke. 

11. Harry Potter quote journal: Another subscription box exclusive. Because you don’t already have enough unused journals lying around. But this one is fanmade from recycled materials! I wrote about it here, read this and then come buy it! $8 

12. Octavia Melody Funko Vinyl figure: We all had that one pony we collected everything of, then we ran out of room collecting other stuff and were like, “uh-oh”. Octavia is still in-box and sadly not does come with a cello or a loud dubstep roommate. $12

13. Octavia Melody plushie (medium): Again, that one pony. $5

14. DC Bombshells Batgirl Funko Rock Candy figure (HT exclusive sepia version): Still in-box because I bought her on clearance three years ago when I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. Come give her a home with someone who cares! $12

I’ll add more as I find them! Again, please reblog, I’m poor and I’ve got cool stuff! 

[saythankyoumood]

Project Runway: 18.2 Cats of the Urban Jungle (Safe Looks)

Designer: Chelsey Carter

I have a feeling Chelsey will quietly do consistently good work until some of the other designers are weeded out, and then she’ll blow us all away. This streetwear look actually looks like streetwear. It’s cool and funky, and most importantly it looks comfortable. It looks like something you might see someone in on the streets of New York or Chicago running errands. I usually hate crop tops, but I even like this one because it’s balanced with the proportions of the pants. And she put her model in sneakers! Bless the Lord.

Designer: Shavi Lewis

Okay, Shavi, this dress is well-made, but it entirely exists in the world. I have seen this dress (even with a deep back) before. Shavi’s lucky the bottom looks were so bad this week!

Designer: Nancy Volpe-Beringer

Honestly, Nancy might be a dark horse favorite this season. My mom and I were blown away by her design. It was just kind of weird and innovative, and we loved how she manipulated her fabric to give it a raw look. We were honestly surprised when she wasn’t on the top. I even love the sheerness of the skirt (even though I don’t know what fabric she used). Keep on rocking it, Nancy!

Designer: Melanie Trygg

Look, I’m a cat lady. I love a print with a cat on it. I wish Melanie had just leaned into that because I can’t really see the print the way she used it. Also, isn’t this design kind of cliche? An asymmetrical top and skirt? I actually kind of like the top, but I absolutely hate her skirt. Topped up with the styling, she just made her model look older and frumpy (neither of which her model is).

Designer: Brittany Allen

I’m starting to see those hints of Hester and Erin that I saw in Brittany’s portfolio. Significant lay, however, unlike those two Brittany does not put the fabrication first. She made sure she had a sleek and polished top, skirt, and coat before painting her pattern on the sleeve. It was a really smart move, and I think she had a cool look. Honestly, I just want the coat!

Designer: Sergio Guadarrama

Sergio makes me want to hit my head against a wall repeatedly. Like, dude, you made a gown for a STREETWEAR CHALLENGE! No woman wears a gown with a train in the street! It drags and gets gross! And the gown isn’t even revolutionary! It looks like anything you could get right now, and it’s a little too madam. Also, I hate a high-low skirt. Brandon was seriously side-eyeing Sergio this week, and I don’t blame him! I was too.

Designer: Alan Gonzalez

Guys, Asia is serving LOOKS this week! I’m so happy for her because I don’t think a designer has ever shown off and highlighted her body like this. She looks amazing! Now, do I like the look? *shrugs* I’m not big on snakeskin as a general rule. I think it’s a little too 90s. The design, other than the skirt which is interesting, is also pretty simple. But I’ll give Alan props for this because he was not afraid to design for Asia and his styling was on point.

Designer: Dayoung Kim

Honestly, I think Dayoung got through this week because she was in the hospital and only had one day for this challenge because this look is not good. It’s a loose robe with sleeves. I like the fabric, but I don’t really see much design here. Still, props for doing it in a day!

[hysteriamodes]

Coloring in grey scale

So, hey, this is somewhat of a tutorial for those curious about some of my coloring and blending. I made this especially for anyone younger than me and is exploring digital art, but this is also for others who are curious about what I do. I love reading other artist’s comments and looking at their WIPs, so why not.

Another reminder: if you’re looking for my artwork, please follow @rainbow-illness and not this blog. All of my finished stuff goes there; usually, my works in progress (WIPs) or Angry Doodle Corner go here. Sometimes I use this blog to repost my art, but that is my official art blog, no this one. Not unless you like nonsensical posting and metal, then have at it. If you have any questions, don’t be afraid to hit me up, I love talking about art.

So I can’t always sit down and talk about my processes and how I go about doing them, but I was able to sit down and take some screencaps while I was working on my iPad Pro. Using the iPad is actually my first choice to draw on because of the convenience of carrying it around like a sketchbook, whereas my laptop isn’t always easy to carry around--it’s a big laptop. While I use my iPad, I also like to go back and correct things, recolor, re-proportion, or spend more time privately working on a drawing. I have my iPad with me, all the time, so I’m out in places usually like Starbucks doing this. I also struggle with pretty bad PTSD and agoraphobia, so having my iPad out with my headphones on gives me an excuse to put my mind elsewhere to calm down.  My family just usually looks at me and goes “oh, she’s working on her art again”; I did this as a kid, too, only with sketchbooks.

I do not have a Cintiq either, though I would absolutely love one. This laptop is capable of using a stylus, but I think I need a better one to do it with. All I’m using is a cheap Wacom Bamboo tablet that I’ve had for five years, that’s it. Everything I’ve done on this blog has been on a small surface. So if you’re just dabbling into art, don’t beat yourself up for having the small stuff, I’ve worked with small stuff and still do. The only thing I have that’s not small is, well, the space and processor on my laptop are much faster than any other laptop I’ve owned, bought especially for graphic design classes and my artwork. 

So, that being said lemme just forewarn some of you guys. My artwork is all done in two to three layers! Yes, you read that right! Why? When I was 16, I didn’t have a Wacom tablet to mess with, so I had to use a mouse and learned from there. When I turned 18, I got my first Wacom tablet while working my first official job and the family computer didn’t have a good processor. So when I got my first official laptop, it was basic and not made to run anything beyond the web browser and such, it could barely handle Photoshop. It did, however, run Paint Tool SAI with no issue (which is why I still prefer it over anything I use), it just couldn’t handle more than five layers. After losing my drawings constantly and not being able to do anything in the prized software I’ve been eyeing since my Sophmore year of high school, I found a workaround with it. 

And that’s what I’m going to write about here. With that in mind, no, you do not have to limit your layers! I’ve taken traditional art classes so my first instinct is to literally paint over my stuff like I would on a canvas. If you don’t want to do that, you don’t have to! Yes, I am nuts. 

That being said, let's do this.

If you haven’t taken traditional art classes, that’s cool! I’m going to be using some art terms you haven’t heard of, but you definitely will when you take your first ever drawing class. These terms are foreground, value, negative space, contour, and weighted line (I’ve seen it called line weight too). For the more experienced art students who are likely groaning over that stupid contour practice from that book “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”, I’m sorry, guys. Newbies, you are going to know this. 

And you are going to hate it. While I still hate it and, yeah, my eyes are rolling into my skull right now just even talking about it, there are some useful practices in here that I... actually use. Who would have thought? At least we’re not talking about still lives.

Anyway, here’s what I’M going to say that some art teachers will not tell you but I want anyone to read this to know:

- Do not obsess over your drawing to look exactly like your reference. Just don’t. Forget this completely, worry about it later or don’t even worry about it at all. This is your style, your interpretation.

- Digital art is hard. Art is hard! Practice makes perfect and you learn over time just by studying (looking at) other pieces of art. It took me like well over 10 years to find my own little niche and I’m still playing around with coloring styles. I have a lot.

- If you’re just starting to draw with a tablet of any kind, play around with it. My first official program was a cheaper version of Paint Shop Pro and when I first got it when I was 14, I sat around and experimented on layers to see what it would look like. Explore!

- When you start drawing figures or faces, try not to think of it as, well,  face or a figure. Reduce it to basic shapes, like squares, triangles, and circles.

Greyscale can establish light source, value, scale, and negative space.

I don’t always use greyscale for my art, but when I do, I appreciate it because it makes my life easier. For example, Alphonse Mucha’s pieces here from his “Slav Epic”.

Chances are, you’ve seen Mucha’s art nouveau on prints, fanart, fabrics, and all of that. But Mucha did so much more and he is a huge influence on me for a reason. By the greyscale we see here, we can see foreground/subject with each illustration. Mucha is using value (that’s shadow) to emphasize this, in addition to negative space (background) to draw you in, just by using black and white. Notice how the other subjects don’t have such a powerful contrast and light source versus the other, especially the woman on the left. Mucha made his art pop by his understanding of contrast.

For this first part of this entry, I’m going to be using Papa Emeritus II from “Ghost”... who is a good example of how to draw faces, too. Huh. Regardless of what drawing program you’re using, keep your opacity low, at 50%.

Simplicity at its finest

Instead of focusing a lot on Emeritus’ face, I’m going to focus on the negative space behind him. I’m using this to define his figure. This is a good picture because of the stark contrast, though, it’s a little tricky because it is really contrasted and you can’t see where the light source really is. But that is okay!  I am going in and just using this negative space, the contour of his head and torso. Before I even think of a face, I want to softly go in and use black (or grey) to fill up that negative space. Keep it simple and work your way up.

After I lightly fill in the negative space around him, I can start lightly going in and establish his face by blocks of shadow.  And this is why Emeritus II is such a good example for this kind of work. I don’t usually start going in and drawing eyes, I rely on the shadows of the face to see where their eyes, ears, lips, and such lie. 

Here’s another example (though, it’s old):

This is in my maroon style underpaint, which is what I post most of the time. For their faces, I just used basically eye sockets to start working on their faces, like Papa Emeritus II down below. Again, this dude is a great example.

Here is where it may get a little funky.  I created a new layer and set that layer to Multiply, still keeping that opacity low. Since I have no light source and I just want to create a really dramatic lighting, I made a vignette with a simple airbrush tool.  

With that little vignette, you can create a new layer (unless you’re me, I just merge it down because of that constant fear of nonexistent software crashing) and I’m using the color pick tool to go back and forth to start using greys to really get into Emeritus’ face, especially his wrinkles. I’m painting over it constantly, switching back and forth between a paintbrush tool and color pick tool to blend. Again, keep your opacity low... unless you’re me and you’re feeling adventurous. You’ll also notice here that I have more than one photo reference. I use several for a lot of my art, so I encourage you to do the same. I had no idea what his jaw looked like, so I grabbed a second photo. Now that I have a better idea of where his hat ends on his forehead and how his nose looks, I start doing a weighted line.

Weighted line and Contour

Now is the dreaded talk. Of contour.

Welcome to Drawing I hell. This cursed image is from the book “How to Draw on the Right Side of the Brain” and if your teacher does not talk about this in your first drawing class, I am going to eat my hat... I have a hat lying around here somewhere. ANYWAY, the contour line exercise is basically you just using a neverending line for a drawing. I don’t know who drew this (and tbh, thanks a lot for every single boring assignment I’ve done in drawing classes), but this guy used contour lines for his drawing. I’m having war flashbacks over here, but I managed to find an art teacher’s page talking about different types of contour. My god, they are evolving.

Going back to our dear friend Papa Emeritus II, I used weighted line to start adding in little shadows to his face.  Weighted line goes hand in hand with contour; it is a great technique to not only add details, but add little bits of shadows.

This is a simple example; the thicker line is adding to the shadow of the apple, giving it value!

Papa Emeritus II is such a good reference... I used him as inspiration for King Melwas here.

Gwenhwyfar is also a good example of weighted line. Gwen is essentially a very, very pale character. In contrast to Melwas, who is in darker clothing, Gwen is soft, she is the focal point in this drawing. For the little pieces of her hair, the corner of her lips, eyelashes, and her fingertips, I used a weighted line to establish these things, otherwise, Gwen is so pale, she’ll easily be washed out completely.

This drawing of Alice, which I’m still messing around with, is another example of how effective a weighted line can be with depth. The lines I added into her face, eyelashes, creases, hair, and fingers add those little details since everything I’ve done before like Papa Emeritus II was so soft with a low opacity on the brush settings.

Layer masks and curves

There are two ways you can color greyscale images.

You can do this by going into Layer > Adjustment Layer > Curves (this is how it looks like in Procreate).

This gives you a neat ol’ base color! I am playing around in the blues, adding soft hues of blue in their figures and the white in this picture can either turn blue, cream, or even green. You don’t have to use Blue, you can use any of the other colors. For me, I’m always drawn to blues. Another cool thing to play around with is Color Balance, which is underneath the same function as Curves.

But if you don’t have any of these, you can add a new layer, and do Multiply.

The only drawback to this, of course, is how destaturated (the lack of color) it looks. And yes, that’s an issue you will have and I did run into this while doing this. How I combat this is using additional layer masks. Believe it or not, Alice here was once at a grey scale, looking even more desaturated than Gwen.

For Alice’s face, I went in and use:

- Soft Light because she needed more peach and roses in her skin. Omri’s original drawing gave her a light rose blush so I wanted to do the same.

- Overlay to mask out the black lines from the greyscale I had.

- Lighten which I used to make her lips pinker, her apron’s shadows lighter, and parts of her hair brown.

The same went for Gwen, who is, again, very pale. But while she’s supposed to be pale, I didn’t wash her out completely. To add more saturation, I used a combination of Soft Light over my Multiply layer and Overlay to start working at the highlights on her hair, nose, and shoulder. 

This little walkthrough isn’t as visual as I like, but with limited software like Fire Alpaca, GIMP, or Paint Tool SAI that don’t have the abilities of Photoshop in terms of color correction and playing around with colors, I really encourage you, readers, to play around with these tools. Using the color picker back and forth, especially after using layer masks, gives you an ability to mix and blend colors. The reason why I work with greyscale or a maroon under paint is that you can create brilliant colors and make a new palette; the trick is to constantly mess around with them. I never go in and flat out color anything, with the exception of things like “angry doodle corner” which is basically what I call my lazy drawings, drawings where I’m just honestly goofing off with.

So in summation...! Or me trying to summarize this.

 Experiment and explore with layer masks and adjustments. Whoever says that using these tools isn’t real art, they’re wrong. And please don’t ever be afraid of using references of any sort!  Alphonse Mucha is saved ten times over on this computer.

[kiefercat]

30 Day Trans-Challenge except not really bc my memory is too bad for that so you get it all now Little intro and context for new followers and also for me when I look back at this; I'm a 22 year old trans guy from Canada. I've been out since I was 16 and have been on T for 5 years in October. My top surgery is scheduled for 2019 with Dr McLean in Mississauga, Ontario. 1) When did you realize the term transgender referred to you? In grade 10 one of my best friends started transitioning to male. It was my first exposure to anything trans and everything just fell into place after that. I talked to my partner at the time about it a lot and how my identity suddenly started making sense. After around half a year i started going by male pronouns with my friends and I came out publicly a year later. 2) How did you choose your name, and what names were you thinking about using and why? Contrary to popular belief I didn't choose Cooper because of my high school obsession with Alice Cooper. I ripped it off of a cartoon character that had no discernible gender to me. I was also debating going by Kiefer but after some research found out it connects to Cooper like Bob to Robert and just rolled with it. At some point before transition I asked mom what she would have named me if I was born a boy and she said fucking Wayney (dad's name is Wayne) and yeah no I did not want that name at all 3) Have you ever been outed? Quite often. Surprisingly from the people closest to me. My mom and stepdad out me all the time and my best friend/ex gf used to do it a lot too. She stopped thankfully but my mom keeps insisting on making me a discussion topic 4) How did your family take it when you came out/ if you are not out why aren't you? I came out in stages to my family. Mom was first. I fucked up though and forgot I had a stepbrother and basically walked up to her one day and said “you only have a son” and then ran out of the room? She thought I was running away????? Woops. She was kind of ignorant about some stuff for a while but changed a lot of her views pretty quick. She wasn't initially going to let me medically transition before I was 18 but turned around over time and I started t at 17. Stepdad was awkward but supportive. I didn't come out to my dad. My mom had to for me a year after I'd been out to everyone else. I was terrified of rejection bc yay abandonment issues but it went over well! Right after I came out my dad started dating my step mom and she really helped things bc she wasn't afraid to ask the questions that he was too weird about to do himself. She actually administered my tshots for me for a while. Fast forward to last year and suddenly family I hadn't seen for 9 years wanted to get back in contact with me and mom. I was expecting my grandparents and uncle to be really weird about it but they've always been chill. They used to call me a dyke and tell mom she was a failure bc I wore boy clothes when I was a kid so obviously I was worried. 5) Are you active in the trans community or LGBT community? Not nearly as much as I'd like to be. My local active trans community is 80% 40-60 year old trans ladies. Like I love them to bits and I appreciate them sharing their experiences as older queer people but I feel very out of place there. I've been invited to a gay dude cafe meet a few times but am too nervous to go. That being said, my entire friend circle is trans sans a few sprinkled cis people. So I guess we're all just an informal support group lmao 6) Who was the first person you told about being trans? My first partner. She was super queer (was identifying as a bi male at the time we dated) and very understanding and supported me through a lot of the mental gymnastics of realizing I was a dude. 7) Who do you look up to? My friends, honestly. Like I don't know what else to say here lmao 8) How do you deal with being misgendered in the beginning of transitioning by people? Told them politely to only use he/him with me. If they were malicious about it I would try to explain how ignorant that was and if they still didn't get the hint I'd ignore them. 9) What is something positive about being trans? I don't have to hide awkward boners. 10) What are some of your fears in regards to being trans? I'm super afraid of top surgery ending in a result im unhappy with. Like I don't care about the pectoral scarring at all, but I'm worried about proportional problems or dog earring. Basically anything that would require a revision. I'm also super insecure about not having a bio dick. It limits me a lot sexually even with strap ons. No harnesses stay where they need to on me to get anything good happening and my dick always slowly drifts downward. Its frustrating. 11) How do you manage dysphoria? Hahahaahhaa ice cream And usually taking nudes. 12) What are you doing to stay healthy for transitioning mentally and physically? I'm working out every day now. Nothing too intense, but it feels nice. I want to drop about 30-40 pounds before top surgery so am slowly amping up the workouts. Mentally I'm a disaster and am frantically looking for a psychiatrist but can't find any open that have experience with a trans patient. 13) Bathrooms I haven't used a women's bathroom since before I was in testosterone. I'm not anxious about them at all unless there's a lot of drunk dudes or the locks on the stalls don't work. 14) What are some of your passing tips or things you do to pass? Confidence. Fake it till you make it. Being a walking masc alt stereotype got me through high school. 15) How have you embraced your trans identity? Tbh coming out and living life as trans is one of the few times I've been able to do one very important thing consistently: do something for myself no matter what people think. Its something that I've been trying to spread into other aspects of my life. If anything, my trans identity embraced me. 16) What's your rock anthem and why? I think this is the only answer that hasn't changed since last time I did this. I Am, I'm Me from Twisted Sister. 17) What's your binding choice and why? I use a GC2B binder. They're comfy, last long, don't roll, don't have prominent seams, and don't smell funky like my old underworks ones. If I swim publicly or want to slim out my hips for special occasions I wear a full length underworks swim binder. Fun fact: I didn't bind for a year and half bc I gained a fuckwad of weight and my tits passed as moobs. 18) How do you feel about the trans laws where you live? They're getting better. I live in Ontario, Canada so am pretty protected all around. I wish the technical side of transition (name, gender marker) was more streamlined. 19) If you're religious how do your views effect being trans? if you're not religious what about your family religions? I'm in no way religious. My mom had to jump through a bunch of hoops in her head to legitimize my transition through her religion/spirituality. Its a little disturbing to me for details I will not share publicly. 20) Do you want to be a parent? why or why not? I hate children. Keep them away from me. 21) Your views on the cis-gendered community? ??¿¿ they exist. I believe education about trans people and other queer identities should be taught in schools to help cis society not be as blissfully ignorant. I don't believe all cis people hate trans people, but they do have a lot of misconceptions about the community. 22) Do you feel being trans holds you back from your career choice? Fuck no. Honestly I haven't felt nervous about transition affecting my work since my first job. I was just coming out when I worked the museum and was scared they might kick me from the position. Nowadays, I do not disclose my trans status to potential employers until they're hiring me. I thankfully live in a place and time where I'm protected as a trans person in the workplace by the law so haven't felt held back at all. 23) What stereotypes are put on trans people? Undercuts Tbh The stereotypes that stick out to me are the fucking weight ones. Where the fuck are my chunky trans men and ladies at? As a trans guy I am pressured a lot by the representation in the community to aspire to be a buff/cut beefcake or stick thin. Hell, a few of my already very small trans girl friends think they're not as valid bc their bust/waist/hip ratio doesn't make them look like a model. There's literally nothing wrong with being any weight but I find the pressure to be small is even higher within the trans and queer community to fit the stereotype/preconception that we have to be conventionally beautiful to be valid in our identity. 24) Who is your favorite LGBT actor/musician/director/artist etc and why? Uhhhhhhh Tbh I don't even know 25) Doctor visits? I hate them. They make everything about my trans status even if I'm there for something completely unrelated. There is FREE training on trans care for doctors in our part of the province but none seem to opt for it and instead decide its appropriate to ask me transition questions when I'm there for something as unrelated as an impacted nail. 26) Do you feel comfortable answering questions about being trans if say your teacher/friend/stranger asked you? If I'm not paying for their time, if I'm not busy doing something else, and if they are polite, yes. I don't mind answering questions at all! But there's a time and a place and some people just don't understand that. 27) What goals do you have? Lose weight and tone up a bit in time for top surgery. Be aggressively body positive. Continually try to normalize trans bodies. Find a local community to be a part of. 28) What is something you have to do everyday or else you feel like your whole day is off if you don't do it? Shower. If I go out or if people outside of friend circle are near me I have to have my packer and binder. If I'm alone I need music or something on at all times. 29) Write out something positive about yourself using the letters of your name. Ex. Your name is Bob so B-Beautiful O-Outstanding B-Boy Um. I don't have a good name for this uhhh C-Creative O-Open hearted O-Okay P-Phenomenon E-Eager R-Rad I had to Google positive words to do that lmao 30) Write a haiku about being trans I hate writing these Please just cut off my titties Throw them in the fire

[treeplays]

me:a spoiler-free rambling 1/ 5

some thoughts, i’m going to be spacing these out according to category so less wall of text

character creator: i LOVE the import character feature, very handy. just wish we could have some control over the uploaded characters on the archives website so i don't have a dozen nearly identical faces with no way of knowing which is the one i want to use.

the ability to customize both twins was v necessary and appreciated. that being said, actual customization is zilch. forget the good hair and eyebrows i was hoping for, you can't even tweak the eyes. or the nose. or the lips. or anything really. beyond basic proportions that mostly just end up looking weird if you mess with them. i have no idea why they suddenly went with this instead of the cc working the same as it has in every single other game theyve released. it seems like an extremely basic oversight. honestly feels like they just forgot to add the sliders in before launch lol. (and i guess if we cant even change the sliders on the customized heads i can forget about being mad we can never customize their default presets lol) 

not a fan of the tattoo's. i really wanted to have one but they were mostly goofy looking and only confined to the face/neck from what i can tell. sadface. 

also, the scars look like paint.

i actually really liked default sisRyder's face and was planning to use her. just that damn everlasting grin. at least the update somewhat improved her soulless bugeyes. but i had to quit fifteen hours in bc i just could not stop laughing at the faces she makes. (THAT FKCING VACANT GRIN STOOOOP) whatever happened to the very first version of her face that we saw bc i was pumped for that one :C oh well its ok my custom ryder is adorable anyway

also im rlly sad the pastel hair colors are not pastel. theyre neon. i dont want neon hair i want pastel !! ghhhhh!!

*forgot to talk about hair! again, disappointing that there isn’t better variety of quality styles, esp with their promises that the cc would let you create a more funky and casual character. but the default ponytail hairstyle is good and its the one i used so guess i cant complain. 

but idk why there are hairstyles that we can’t get on random npc’s, like the low long ponytail and the curly faux hawk

**also, disappointing that dadRyder’s face is basically just the same exact morph of the corresponding dude ryder’s preset. is this why we cant customize the faces?? and imo almost all the custom ryder’s faces are ..bad

music & sound design: the soundtrack is nice. when you can hear it. which isn't often. im the kind of person that doesnt really notice things until you hit me over the head with them. so the few times where i stopped and really listened to the background music was super cool, in certain areas there's this rhythm that you only barely notice, it almost doesn't feel like soundtrack, just part of the overall atmosphere and mysteriousness, which was very cool. but in the parts where you do notice the music in cinematics really stand out because the music is so much more prominent. so that made those moments really effective. the sound effects and explosions are all fun and high quality. that said, i was honestly confused at the weird-ass background civilian chatter sound effects. it honestly sounds like they forgot to remove placeholder effects like they got them from some shitty $0.99 stock sound effect library or some shit lol. like i have no idea why it sounds so completely amateur??

also, background conversations are either too loud or too soft and turning at a specific angle makes them almost completely silent, dai had this problem too iirc