You can call me Aleta. She/her. Mid-twenties. Procrastinator extradinare. Doodles, drawings, crafts, and my collection of toys, books, and movies. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taybatoo
Hey there, art advice anon again! Your tips have been very helpful, especially the idea that you just have to keep trying until you find the right combination of lines. Thank you!
Do you have any advice on drawing facial expressions?? I’m autistic and I have a really hard time with them.
Howdy again, and sorry for the delay! Not sure how well some of this advice would translate into different styles, this is just what works for me.
Expressions are hard! There's a lot of nuisance and subtle differences between them, and a lot of different expressions share similar features. Ya just have to play around with them.
There are a lot more things that can all help convey emotion, that aren't just limited to the face, like posing and angling, but I focused solely on expressions, here.
Being a young adult is so strange. You enter a coffee shop. The 20 year old girl waiting behind you cried all night because she just came to a new city for university and she feels so alone. That 27 year old guy over there works a job he is overqualified for, he lives with his parents and wants to move out but doesn't know what to do about it. That one 24 year old dude already has a car, a house, and a job waiting for him once he graduates thanks to his dad's connections. The 26 year old barista couldn't complete his higher education because he has to work and take care of his family. The 28 year old girl sitting next to you has no friends to go out with so she is texting her mother. That couple (both 25 years old) are married and the girl is pregnant. The 29 year old writing something on her laptop has realized that she chose the wrong major so she is trying to start all over. We are not alone in this, but we are actually so alone. Do you feel me
Ive decided the family has finally moved into a bigger house and now everyone gets their own room. Gonky is still doing well.
Wrecker and Hunter quit their construction jobs, Wrecker decided he was gonna apply to the local fire department. He got hired and is now in their fire academy. Hunter is still looking for work, but is taking the time to spend more time with Omega. (If anyone has any suggestions of what he would be good at let me know).
Surprise! Bluey's pupper has my whole heart! I think the Father is still up to interpretation, but I'd like to think it's Mackenzie. Anyway, couldn't resist cute Adult!Bluey and future family sketches!
I was a bit stuck on what to do with Sirena Von Boo as her face was interesting, but it didn't feel quite right to me. It wasn't until @monsterhighprototypes posted a 3d printed prototype of Sirena with Spectra-like ghost eyes and more dramatic makeup, including pearls across her eyelashes.
I really liked how it looked, so I finally had a spark of inspiration to go off from.
I didn't go with black sclera, but I did follow the logic of Spectra having her sclera be the same colour as her hair, so it's what I went with for Sirena.
I did paint the bubbles in Sirena's eyes but it seemed too busy and distracted from her eyelash details so I simplified them a bit too.
Not a perfect recreation of the prototype, but definitely a bit of personality added to her face, I think.
Went over everything with a kneaded eraser and am slowly cleaning up my lines. 23 hours into working on it…
WIP of a Nightmare Before Christmas commission. Just sketching in everything, then do over it with a kneaded eraser, then make clean line work, and then they wanted some shading on this bad boy.
Pencil on Bristol paper.
Updated Jan 05 2024 (because I got a new flat iron and I’m excited!!!!)
For a while, there, I was using this Conair flat iron (you can see when I bought it):
It’s here: https://amzn.to/3tL8Qtt
This one has 30 heat settings, though it doesn’t tell you what they are, exactly. They’re just labeled 1-30.
Kanekalon - 1
Nylon - 10 through about 15
Polypropylene - 10 through about 15
Foil and plastic tinsel - 1 to 10, choose whichever matches the hair fiber
Saran - 5 - 10
Brushed acrylic yarn - I know I have used this to flatten brushed acrylic but I don’t remember what setting it was on. You’d have to start at 1 and work your way up to figure it out, but it’s doable with this iron.
It was ok, but I found it difficult to get close to the scalp on a lot of dolls and ponies with my flea comb, which gives the smoothest flattening. The Conair also had a problem where the plates only really touched each other at the very tip, and that’s not very useful, honestly. It’s difficult to get a good flattening unless you’re committed to doing ¼th inch sections at a time.
I started seeing really narrow flat irons on Instagram, and went looking for one to try.
I found this one:
Now this one, which is here: https://amzn.to/3S7jLqA
I am so impressed!!!!!
It tells you the actual temp (in Fahrenheit; important to know), but not only does it show you the temp you’ve set it to, it shows the temp it actually is! You can watch it count up as it heats up! That’s super handy and makes it easier to know if it’s malfunctioning.
it also beeps at you when it’s ready.
It’s lowest temp is 120F which is far too cool to even do anything to Kanekalon, meaning this flat iron works for many 80′s and 90′s Barbies that are otherwise difficult to smooth out without melting their hair. I haven’t tested, yet, whether it’ll work on Creata hair without melting it.
I found 200 is right around when I could feel the hair starting to stick to the plates, so for Kanekalon I recommend 190 and no higher than 200.
For nylon, 250 is where it started to feel a little sticky, so 240 to 250 is about as high as you’d want to go. Nylon is pretty hardy and may tolerate a slightly higher temp. Go higher at your own risk.
Polypropylene needs a temp right about where Nylon is but I didn’t test it to find out the exact right setting.
Regardless of which flat iron you’re using, remember to wash and condition the hair first, to get the best results.
Ironing damp hair works best, but you don’t want it dripping wet. Dripping wet hair can result in boiling hot drops in your lap, or water getting into the flat iron and causing an electrical short. Towel the hair off, first.
To get the smoothest hair with the flat iron, I use a handled, metal flea comb to lead the iron.
https://amzn.to/3S5ICv6
You do want metal tines. They aren’t going to snag on or tear the individual hair fibers the way plastic tines can. Though avoid any metal combs that are punched from a sheet rather than made of individual wires. Those will destroy everything with their sharp edges
This comb having a handle lets me keep my hands away from the heating elements on the flat iron without needing to wear heat-resistant gloves.
These dog combs are excellent for detangling prior to making your final passes with the flea comb.
https://amzn.to/41UpX8U
The wire tines are smooth and gentle with hair, but it is also unyeilding so you do have to be cautious that you’re not ripping or tearing through tangles.
If you have a lot of knots that are difficult to remove, try a cat slicker brush.
https://amzn.to/47mw4DT
Again, the wires are metal and won’t shred your hair fiber. Using a cat slicker over tangled hair will make an awful noise, but that noise isn’t the hair tearing like it would be with the metal combs above, it’s the sound of the wires being pulled back and then springing up again.
A slicker brush yields to the tangles a bit and doesn’t pull.
You do have to be careful with a slicker, though, because the wire bristles are very fine and will stab you.
I do work with older Barbies sometimes, and sometimes they have Kanekalon hair that’s supposed to be crimped. Kanekalon can’t take much heat and melts easily, so again, you need a variable temp tool.
This multi tool works: https://amzn.to/3S5aT4W
I haven’t tried using it to flat iron because it’s rather wide, but I have successfully recrimped Kanekalon on the lowest heat setting, and nylon on the second or third setting.
You can see that this crimper combo tool is the same brand as the new flat iron mentioned above, but I think this one is in Celsius. I’m not 100% on that.
I do NOT gate-keep tools or supplies so if you have any questions, let me know.