toonocosm

[toonocosm]

My inbox is open

Hey, so I just remembered that it's okay to ask for help sometimes.

And I kind of need help building investment in my art and to kick-start my daydreaming again. So if you have any questions about anything art-related, ask here!

Any questions about my art or process or projects, or OCs are fine. Or you can ask something directly to Api or Lotl or any of the Toonocosm crew, this is partly an OC ask blog after all. Really, ANY question that can make me think about my art again is good.

I'll draw an answer if I think it's appropriate. Drawing prompts are good too.

I know it's up to me to build up my investment again, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask for some assistance 👉👈 And if you want to ask something but can't think of a question, you can ask at a later time. As long as my inbox is open, you can assume I'm happy to receive more asks.

[toonocosm]

Boredom in school, which I turned into doodling and daydreaming, greatly contributed to my obsession with art and OCs. But due to being creatively burnt out for so long, I've lost that emotional investment. It was out of necessity to let my brain chill, but I've been feeling very frustrated with myself that I can't get back into my art and projects again, even though I really want to!! But like, my heart is not in it.

I've been thinking about what made me daydream so much about my OCs in the past, and a big reason was out of boredom when I went to school. But I'm not in school anymore, and my life situation is a bit different due to my disability. So I have a lot of free time that I can fill with distractions of my own choosing.

So I'm cutting off a bunch of distractions, even if that means I'll just end up sitting in my living room doing nothing. That's kind of the point. I need to leave brainspace for art instead of gaming and Youtube brainrot.

So that's my master mind plan to get back into art and personal projects again! I've even made myself a written schedule. I only game on weekends, and a bit on Mondays.

Anyone got any good OC prompt lists? For like, either drawing them or imagining them in different situations.

[toonocosm]

Strangers don't know he's a complete pacifist, so it's an effective threat.

[toonocosm]

He has lived rent-free in my head since 2011.

Original meme here

[toonocosm]

It's the blorbo's creation day today! I made him in 2011, he's 14 years now!! That's crazy.

Here he is with his updated design in a finished piece. I'm still struggling to make art of him that I'm satisfied with, but the new design does help.

I might also need some distance from this piece to appreciate it. That's usually how my brain functions, it can never like my art right after I finish something.

[toonocosm]

It's been a while since I drew Api's new design, and good news, I still like it. His old design is still canon though, which I'll call his prototype body from now on.

And I tried to redraw some old doodles on the second page, I'd rather do it digitally though. The old doodles aren't very well drawn, but I love this interaction between them so much. I think he would have his prototype body in this scene though, unless I'm confusing the timeline.

I gotta make a finished drawing of Api's new design in time for his creation day, January 22nd.

[toonocosm]

One kind of interesting idea I've had about Lotl is that they've had top surgery and need to take pills to halt their regeneration abilities that axolotls naturally have. It's interesting taking such an advantageous super power and turn it into a curse.

But eeehh, it's pretty uncomfortable bringing something like that up. And honestly, I never really decided on Lotl's biological sex. They're just creature.

If I ever end up making a story that involves them losing a limb it would maybe be an opportunity to go there and write how they deal with having to stop taking those pills for a while to grow back their limb, but that feels improbable.

[toonocosm]

A little style experiment with Lotl.

I bought Nicholas Kole's Domestika course on Fantasy Character Design. I haven't watched it yet, but I hope I can get some inspiration and new ideas from it. Maybe I'll redraw this if I learn something!

[toonocosm]

[toonocosm]

Can I ask

You sure can!

[toonocosm]

An idea for a visual gag

Lotl or someone says something along the lines of "I wanna feed the poorly drawn birds, that would fix me" or whatever. And the next panel shows a bunch of these fuckers.

This is how I drew birds as a kid.

[toonocosm]

Posting this whole scene because it's kinda fun!

[They're walking home after having just properly met. Up until this point, Api has been acting very rigid and robotic]

Lotl: "Why are you acting like that?" Api: "What do you mean?" Lotl: "…I scared the shit out of you last night." Api: "I do not experience stress responses to frightening situat-" (Lotl hastily unfolds their wings which takes Api by surprise and he flinches and stumbles backward in fear) (Lotl looks at him with a smug expression) Api: "…Okay. It's just a thing Cress and the others tell me to do to not draw unnecessary attention towards myself. They're afraid the wrong kind of people might want to get their hands on my technology if they knew the level of advancement." Lotl: (Bewilderment) "Huh." Api: "And you tried to attack me last night, of course I'd get startled." Lotl: "I.. what? I was just trying to run past you. Becuase, yeah! I know what kind of effect I tend to have on people." (Lotl turns away from him in anger) "Ugh, this is not going to work out." Api: "Then why did you agree to this arrangement? If you're not even going to give it a chance?" Lotl: "I don't know… Curiosity maybe". (wind blows by) "And I guess I wouldn't have minded if it turned out if you were some psychotic murder robot." Api: (He ponders on what Lotl just said for a moment) "That's just a movie trope, and it's quite a hurtful stereotype."

(Lotl looks at him with bewilderment and laughs, they start walking away) (Api speeds up a little to catch up to Lotl)

Api: "Why wouldn't you have minded that?" (zoomed out establishing shot panel)

[END SCENE]

I wish I could write out every scene of the comic this clearly, it would make it so much easier. But brain no work. Brain goes offline when I try to write. In so many scenes, I know what needs to happen, but I don't know how to execute them. I don't know how to get from point A to point B.

[toonocosm]

Wait hold up, I'm cooking actually. HE'S CUTE LIKE THIS.

Admittedly, it's not the biggest change, but it turns out it's more important to me to keep him looking like himself than anything else. I still gotta draw this version of him a lot more to really figure out the design. But I think I might end up making both old and new designs story canon, his old design was always meant to be a prototype in canon.

He's shorter like this, but he's also more agile and lighter. Which I imagine him being excited about in-story. Gotta be nice not to have to deal with input delays anymore :'>

[toonocosm]

I got some sleep... and I don't dislike the redesign attempts.

I think I gotta do a fully rendered version.

[toonocosm]

Some exploration sketches... is this something? I don't know, I need to not look at these sketches for a bit.

I tried some screen faces, and the hinge joints and ball joints are in their proper places in this version. I have no idea what to do with his solar panels (aka the butterfly-shaped "ears"). They are a pain to draw every time, but changing them takes away a lot from his silhouette.

I guess my big goal is that I don't want to feel self-conscious about his design. Because like I said, it is a design by a 17-year-old. I want to reduce the amateurish look, but I still want him to look like himself at the same time. It's a tightrope.

This could change, but the plan right now is that he will actually get a canon in-universe upgrade in the story. So maybe I could make both designs canon, old and new.

[toonocosm]

Being torn in two directions

I made Api in January 2011, and I was 17 years old then. An unexperienced 17 year old designed this character, and instead of changing his design over the years I've done my best to make his design work through small adjustments. The biggest change I ever gave him was a new design for his hands to make them more expressive, which was always a major goal with his design. But it's still a design by a 17 year old that had barely ever drawn a robot in their life.

The objectivly smart thing to do now would be to give him a redesign with my current experience and skill level, to make his design make more sense. Like giving him a screen for a face to keep his facial expressions. His current face does not make sense, metal can't move like like. And I would make his body be more informed by real anatomy, something I had little knowledge of as a teen.

I've known doing this would be a smart thing to do for several years, so why haven't I done it yet?

Attachment and sentimentality. Pure emotional reasons. Ever since I made Api he has been my comfort character. His personality is what it is because I needed someone who was kind to me, something no one was to me IRL at the time. I was depressed, suicidal and had still not received a diagnosis for my intellectual disability (and everyone was mad at me for being dumb af lmao). But having this imaginary person in my head helped me cope.

So yeah. He got a lot of attachment tied to him, which is why I haven't wanted to change him. But recently, I've really felt like my art has been held back, specifically by Api. And it's like being torn in two directions, do I want sentimentality or advancement?

I might do some sketches, to see if I find something I like. If I don't, well his old design is still there. I've thought about tying in my experience with art burnout to keep some sentimental symbolism, something about starting anew... or getting through this brutal burnout and coming out of it better. Something cheesy like that.

[toonocosm]

First comic for the first time in forever! I should save these silly little ideas about their mundane lives in the "fun and games" section of the actual story instead of making one-off comics like these.

I've struggled the most with liking my Toonocosm art while trying to recover from my art burnout, but for once, I don't utterly hate what I just made! That's a good sign.

I also can never decide on a font that I want to stick with. I also keep forgetting the names of the fonts I've used so I always need to find a new one every time I make a comic. I need to find one and stick with it, this one is just called "Hey Comic".