#I tried doing THINGS with the composition of this piece for once look at me go! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

soshadysoquiet · 8 months

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It was my pleasure to draw some Soft Five holding Mr. Pennycrumb when asked. Then I realised I don't usually give Five's clothes much colour and had an aneurysm, the unicorn bag Did Not want to behave itself and got redesigned 3 times. Annnd then I got carried away and drew 4 5's to better showcase the lil gremlin with his emotional support mongrel.

Loved every minute, would 10/10 do more platonic 5 centric requests

I have 2 more doodles planned to do some time, thank you work meetings. The gift that keeps on giving.

#tua #the umbrella academy #five hargreeves #Soft five #The unicorn bag fought me every step of the way #Oversized socks are my happy place #I tried doing THINGS with the composition of this piece for once look at me go!#Mr. Pennycrumb is absolutely chonky and it drives Five up the wall because He Is On An Exercise Plan God Dammit How #Viktor and Luther are defo the feeders #Diego tries to play fetch with Mr. Pennycrumb but the ball just hits him in the face so Diego keeps running to pick it up #How do even draw bags #Mr. Pennycrumb is both perfection and an unspecified breed; probably an unholy mix #He has no brain cells and Five utterly adores him #The feeling is mutual and Mr. Pennycrumb probably pees nervously on the siblings when Five leaves him for too long #Five will not acknowledge there is a problem #Luther's bed is probably ruined #Five is the sort of owner who knows exactly how many freckles Mr. Pennycrumb has and could tell you where they all are without looking

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loverofpiggies · 11 months

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IT’S POWER, EVERYONE!!!

Check out my etsy shop

If you want to see how I made this piece, check out the extended stuff below!

Okay, the story behind this piece is nuts, but. I’ve known I’ve needed to work on improving my art for a while, so as you can tell from all the newest pieces, I’ve been trying to push myself. It started like this:

This was actually the fourth sketch I made. I knew I wanted Power to be looking down at us (you know, what she does with everyone), and I wanted to have her swinging a blood scythe in one way or another. I set up composition lines, but the more I looked at the sketch, the more frustrated I got. I finally just had to accept my anatomy and my 3d understanding of the body is very much lacking, and If I wanted to improve I had to work on something.

I watched a bunch of tutorial videos, and decided to try out the 3D model in Clip Studio paint. It didn’t take too long to learn how to manipulate the model, and I came up with this:

From here, I decided to do my quick sketch with Power

While I was experimenting with Clip studio’s art stuff, I decided to try playing around with their new “Shade Assist”. I figured it could give me some more ideas to make my shadows feel more ‘real’ or have me look at my art in a different way. Once I finished the lineart, got the color in there, and drew in Meowy, this is what I tried.

I really loved how the ‘evening’ mode of shade assist looked, even after playing around with my own colors, but I liked how it gave her a slightly more ‘yellow’ tone, and how the shadows were actually just lavender and light pink. So I took those colors, and worked on the shadows.

From there, I made the background layer. I used one of the Clip Studio gradient pre-sets, the ‘evening’ one, and painted a texture on top of it to have it match more with the textured painting style I went with. I added blood splatters, and ‘rectangles’ in the background, just to have more things visually going on.

On top of all of that, I added another layer on top of Power herself, with a very slight tone color of the gradient behind her, to make her and the background feel like they’re supposed to be together. And that’s it!!

I’m really happy with this so I wanted to explain my process. Looking around at tutorials on youtube, talking to artist friends who- tbh, are WAY more knowledgeable then me, helped a ton. And using the 3d model helped visualize the body, and different angles, WAY better then anything else I could find.

So uhhh thank you, and enjoy!

#chainsaw man #power #meowy #power and meowy #cqart #fanart

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riinkun-art-stuff · 4 months

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Howdy ho! I'm very excited to finally be able to share this illustration I worked on as part of this year's @bumblebybigbang for @tahnex's lovely and super fun fic (with no pain attached whatsoever), "Of Dragons and Panthers," which you can read here! As soon as I read the original notes on it this scene captured me so much I had to do something dramatic for it. It's been such a pleasure watching the whole collab come together, tysm for having me!

First time joining an event like this, and I'd love to again if the opportunity comes around hehe. Still a few postings to go on this one, the pieces before us this year have knocked it out of the park and I'm super excited to see the rest once they come around!

Made a few process cuts just for fun, which I left under the cut!

I did do a few sketches roughly before I started out, especially based on other parts of the chapter, but this particular composition was so fixed in my mind that I ended up just sticking with it. In retrospect, I would've loved to go back and do some more thorough exploration for it. Here are a few of the sketches I managed to fish back up:

I also was thinking of trying a few other doodles/another big piece, but ended up not really having the time between other obligations :')

And the sketch I finally settled on:

Inking was SUCH a fun process on this piece in particular. I'm a huge fan of how dragon!Yang's mane turned out, especially, and all the detailing on the head and around Blake's fur and such. Feel like I'm really satisfied w the particular way the line weight variations came out, and it's where the piece shines the most imo.

Panther!Blake, too. Oh gosh. I feel like it took me a lot of reworking to get her structure to a point where she felt very leopard-like, rather than any other type of big cat- especially around the head.

Colours were such a challenging part. There was a big feeling I had for that glow coming off dragon!Yang in the middle of the heavy rain- I love seeing that sort of effect in real life so that's something I'm really hoping to work to capture better as I practice. Trying to get dragon!Yang's slight iridescence in there and to balance out the lighting on panther!Blake's fur each took a long time, too- I'm only a pinch sad that a good chunk of it is covered by other lighting effects XD

Blake's rosettes were SO fun. Augguhugg.

In terms of backgrounds. HOO boy I was going through a strange patch in life while working on the background and final polish for this piece, which is why (at least I feel like) it looks kinda rushed. I have been practicing natural landscapes and doing some observational studies but still struggling to get those rock shapes quite right, which I think is a big make or break point of something like this. I did really enjoy toying around with inking on the foliage and foreground layers of the ground, though! And in the end, lighting and effects ended up masking a lot of the big weak spots :D

I think natural effects like smoke/steam, and rain, are big things that I got to practice more of in this piece, but also really would like to get better at in future. Esp since I feel like it's been a great opportunity to mess around with different colours and brushes that I use way less, which I'm always grateful for w painting. I think just layering the rain on its own ended up being about 10 odd layers?

I think the only other thing I would have loved to improve is to just help the piece feel more Bumbleby™ in the final look. I think I like the cool colours of the lighting for this particular outcome, but I also would have probably tried to have made things much clearer (ahem at the very least switch to yellow/purple) in the long run in terms of representation and resemblance. Ik that at least for me it is fairly easy to associate the two characters with dragons and panthers since I'm more familiar w the fandom lingo around these two, but esp for outsiders I feel like it's probably not great at conveying who they are, and why they are potentially in this situation.

I'd also love to try and find a shading style that still has a painterly quality but compliments the inking a bit better, rather than overpowering it.

I think that, on the whole, I am pretty satisfied with the piece and had a great time working with Tahnex on the whole collab! And I've also has a fun time reading his work and notes in return, and thank you so much for being so so patient with me even as my updates were slow n rocky at points :'D

That's about all I got, have a great day y'all! Still a few big bang postings to go, so very excited for those once they come around!

#riinkun art stuff #my art #digital art #bumbleby big bang #bbb2023 #rwby #YIPPEEEE #very very happy to finally be able to show this off aaaaahugghh!!!!#it's been v cool working on this collab- tysm for having me again! :'D

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evelmiina · 7 months

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Love your work! I wanted to ask what your process is like when it comes to coming up with a design/composition to a piece? Do you have any specific methods you use or it is more improvised:)? Thanks!

I'd say both - method and improvisation. To me all pictures are basically shapes organized in a pleasing way. Even when I draw lines I think more about overall shapes together and how I feel about them. There's a lot to consider about design and composition, some pretty smart books on the subject are Marcus Mateu-Mestre: Framed Ink and Hans Bacher: Vision - color and composition for film. I'm still learning all the time and I make mistakes but I think method to making composition comes down to: readability and narrative intention, moving from simplicity to complex. But it's also fun and important to play around and see what works, that's why my process is not always the same and I can show some examples. Here are the sketches and final I did for my Magic card illustration:

This is my go-to method when I want to rely on tried and true process and I know I won't get lost once I start drawing/painting because I can rely on my steps. I don't always do things this way, but for paid work I want the client to have as clear idea of my intention as possible. The reasoning why 3 worked the best is because it's more dynamic and dimensional than 2, but more readable than 1. It also best showcases how the tower is supposed to be huge, something that was important for the design.

This on the other hand was personal work and I approached it in more relaxed way just to see where it goes. Still I think what made me want to finish it is I liked the variety of shapes and rhythm of the room, like how the screens lead towards the doorway, lot of rectangles but varied in their size and angle. If it was client work I probably would've been called out in the sketch, because the focal point is this empty wall that makes no sense. I came up with the idea of shadow of a window while making it and in the end it worked, but it was an example how I made a big design problem for myself that I was gambling on to figure out.

This one had very specifically just one photo reference, but I did the sketch to put down the essentials of what I was seeing in the photo. In the end I referenced dog's face and pose more from the photo so it looks more natural, which was also funnier than my own initial interpretation

Sometimes the initial comp just doesn't pan out exactly. I did the sketch for this Unicorn fanart and I even drew the interior at some point, but it just Did Not Work for me, I also discarded the idea of medieval dragon in the statue for same reason. So it sat in my folder for a while until I could look at it again and after taking a break, I still liked the statue and the general idea, but decided to make the surroundings easier to look at so that the statue stands out better.

When I did the sketch for this dragon I wanted it to feel big and heavy, like lifting its head from the ground. But I didn't want to do vertical picture which lead me to painting over digitally and extending the picture, then painting the whole thing traditionally anyway.

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naturecalls111 · 2 months

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I wrote this on twitter but I thought I'd put it here too, since I occasionally get asks on how I draw/any tips I might have. On twitter I also made the caveat that I don't feel I'm qualified to give anyone tips, LOL, but I was drawing today for an assignment and felt like this is worth noting to any beginner artists who have a tendency of clinging onto sketches that they feel like they finally got right! (A.K.A, a habit I still have years later HA!) This isn't so much of a tutorial as expressing my thought process in this discovery of how to draw more dynamic pieces. I found it to be satisfying on my end, seeing it unravel, so hopefully it can help someone who may be struggling with the same thing I am.

MAKING MORE DYNAMIC PIECES, A PERSONAL STUDY!:

I wasn't upset by this drawing, but I could tell there was something stagnant about it so I ended up pushing it and redrawing it a million times to see if I could somehow make it look more dynamic.

Here's one part of the timelapse - I'm clearly adamant on trying to make this pose/composition work but while the sketch itself may look better, the stagnation hasn't changed. Perhaps this works for some people, but anyone seeking a dynamic visual will be able to spot that this simply isn't working as anything more than a semi-decent anatomy study attempting to be applied.

I changed the position of both arms, I tried to play around with the angle of the head, I tried to just the hips forward more so that the spine had increased curvature, but the main issue, really, was that the initial composition lacked the dynamism in general. It prioritised dramaticism over dynamism. Both can exist in the same piece - it did not, in this one.

This was the new sketch I started with. Less rigid base to go off of. Just getting down the general shape I wanted to score - make the spine and tail take a sort of mid-whip path, shoulders hunched, hips cant forwards, as if he's curling in on himself. I think for a dynamic piece, it's more helpful that your initial sketch uses the body as a general marker as opposed to something to do lineart over (granted, I don't really do lineart anyway, my sketch is usually the extent of my "lineart", but since this is just looking at creating a more dynamic composition, I think it still applies!)

Here it's the same principle. For the left image (the legs) I've established where the knee of the right leg goes, and where the hip that precedes the left leg will sit. These are just base anatomical structures that help me figure out 1. Whether or not the mere idea of this composition will work, and 2. where I have to stop once I start drawing. For me, having some sort of limitation for the body helps me stay within range of proportionate anatomy (not that I particularly care for the anatomy to be realistic, just proportionate to the style I'm drawing in)

On the right image is also the same principle. Establishing the movement of the arm, the elbow/arm bend, and the hand. (If you see the full sketch before the two above, I established the hand in that one too - it really is helpful figuring out the placement of the hand ahead of time.) If it looks atrocious afterwards I always have the lasso tool/eraser to save me.

The new attempt brings me to this. While preference in art is subjective, I do think I'd be staying in SOME realm of objectivity when I say this is more dynamic than my initial sketch, LOL. Of course, lighting/rendering choices help push the composition a little more, but this achieves what I couldn't do with that first sketch. I had a general idea, but it's important to know when to let go of something that clearly isn't working.

Would love for anyone to add their own tips or ideas to this post - I'm not particularly known for dynamic pieces so I'm always looking to learn. This was a really valuable study for me so I wanted to share it, but everyone has their own method and what works for me may not work for the next person!

There's a few other asks that asked me for tips on general anatomy, and more specifically legs (oh dear god, I'M going to need to study for that before writing out any sort of resource guide for that, lol) that I hope to get around to doing in the near future. Thank you for your guys' vote of confidence, haha! ❤️

#nc111 tutorials and studies #sketch #art tips #art help #study #I had a lot of fun with this piece so while part of this was definitely to passively respond to my inbox requests #a big part was also just me wanting to talk about my brain expanding as I realised how to Push A Composition #I can't wait to try more things in the future to try and get more dynamic compositions #let me know if this was helpful let me know if it was utterly useless #I'm not a great teacher but I used to tutor my neighbours 7 year old daughter and she found my methods boring but hey she got better

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sugarwithtea · 1 year

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moonlight sonata | myg [teaser]

pairing : pianist!yoongi x fem!reader

rating/genre : m (18+) // angst, smut, fluff, enemies to lovers

summary : Passion is a fickle thing. It is a feeling that drives you to success, but if lost -- you can turn as stagnant as a pond. Min Yoongi has always took pride in his passion, his skill, his art. But what happens when slowly the flame dies inside him? He returns back home, to the place where he had started to love music. But, you are there. The bane of his existence. You hate him like a sweltering flame, bigger than his passion for music. And you, are not so thrilled with the news of his return. What happens when you both inevitably cross paths and start a saga of hate and love?

word count : 978 [teaser] // TBD for the full fic (15k+)

warnings : for the teaser - none // full fic - explicit smut, use of drugs, alcoholism, mental health issues (not glorified) (all of them will be mentioned explicitly in the final piece)

note 1 : this fic is a part of the composition of the century collab hosted by @joheunsaram @raplinesmoon and @kithtaehyung !!

note 2 : this idea has been in my drafts for so long, I'm glad I'm getting the chance to finally put it out !! i hope i am able to do as well as i expected! HAPPY YOONGI DAY !! also, big thanks to @oddinary4bts and @moccahobi for helping me with this one and saving my ass !!

masterlist | taglist (permanent)

Yoongi is falling relentlessly.

He is also failing, relentlessly.

His hands slide down the keys making a sharp ping sound. They then rest on his lap, as his head hangs low and eyes burn with the tears that well up in them.

The moonlight spills into the empty auditorium as if to mock him of his upcoming days, if he goes on like this. An empty auditorium, no audience, no one who will listen to him.

He toys with the fake red ruby encrusted on the edge of the fall board, before he stands up abruptly from his seat, slings his bag over his shoulder and leaves.

He has been doing this for weeks.

He doesn't know how he got here. Not in the auditorium, that was with his Palisade parked snugly in the lot. No, it's not that. He doesn't know how he got to the point where he feels like a college student, struggling to write a composition and bleeding his tips by playing the keys for endless hours, and still not excelling or performing impressively.

It was not always like this, of course. The past five years have brought him nothing but success. He vividly remembers the first time he tapped the heels of his Chelsea boots against the sleek marble of the Juilliard and a swarm of admirers, fans, professors gathered around him.

The renowned school of music had invited him as a guest lecturer. Yoongi, a mere boy of 22, fresh out of the same school with a show stopping performance at Carnegie Hall, which was attracting the ears and eyes of people all around the world. He had clammy hands and a flushed neck as he practiced in front of his mirror in his small Brooklyn apartment.

That day, he gained a massive applause and a similarly huge following of budding musicians who looked up to him. He felt uncomfortable, out of place. As if it was not his place to gain the trust of these students, not his place to lead them when he himself didn't know where he was going, not his place to steer them in a direction when he himself looked in the eyes of his favorite professor, Mr. Castillo, to calm his nerves down. But still, he was able to do that.

And now, years later, he sees a dark fog sit upon his mind as he relentlessly tries to navigate through it.

He once thought of what he would do when he got so old that his fingers trembled when they touched the keys, when his back would hunch so he couldn't sit on the seat, when his face would be ridden with wrinkles. He came to the conclusion that at least he would still be able to write music and guide others.

Alas, he now sees himself nowhere near that Yoongi. The Yoongi he sees now is lost, unwanted, with no traces of passion and no will to move forward. He is like stagnant water, dirt and germs piling up on him. His melody is playing the same note again and again, with no chords supporting it, no tempo giving it rhythm; it sounds like a mess.

He is stuck in a happenstance – at least that's what he likes to think. Because his inner turmoil is still not bigger than his ego, and even though he is getting there, it is hard for him to swallow the thought that this is all because of him. He is not ready to accept that this is a domino effect, how one thing led to another, and now here he is.

After all these years, his brain is wired to think he can't do anything wrong. Although that is going haywire, as after years of working on himself and his self derogatory mindset, he is there again. He knows it's because of him, he just isn't ready to accept it.

Because accepting it will put him into a spiral, a dangerous spiral which will suck him in – like the eddy currents of a whirlpool, giving him no chance to escape. He knows he is weak, that's why he doesn't tread on the edge of the ledge, that's why he doesn't let things affect him. But it's high time now.

The emptiness of the auditorium has irked him, mocked him, laughed at him, made his blood boil. His fingers grip the steering wheel tighter as he changes lanes on his way home. An empty home – as empty as the auditorium.

His passion is dying, faster than the flame of a candle on a windy night. And that is concerning. Because Min Yoongi has a steadfast personality, a strong will, and a mindset to never give up. Then why is it that whenever he sits in front of the keys, his fingers refuse to move? Why is it that whenever he thinks of a melody, his fingers refuse to reciprocate it?

There was a period in his life, a few months, when he thought he was on the top of the world. The fall of a musician, and the rise of a celebrity. He didn't know the pianist in him would sleep so soundly when he embraced his public persona. Didn't know that the musician would starve when he fed his fame.

But now he knows what he needs. He needs to get back to the ground, touch his feet on the earth that gave him the platform in the first place. The place where everything started. The place where he dreamt his dream, the place where he found his first friend – a brown piano. The place which will never turn him away.

Home. His safe place. Back to his people, to the ones who never let him feel like he was a failure.

Min Yoongi is returning to Korea and there is nothing left that could change his mind.

taglist : @nuniah @jinsquishes @jeonkookiesworld @sailoryooons @jjkeverlast @aliimac @gimmethatagustd @namjoonwhoresworld @apotatomashedbybts @synnfulqt @saweetspoiled @chimchimmarie @sugababylove84 @axigailxo @yoongukie-ff @instabull @graycosco @wobblewobble822 @jungkooksseuphoria @kalea10 @yoongimarryme3

also, end notes : if you'd like me to tag you in the final fic -- join the taglist (which is permanent so it means you will be tagged in all my fics henceforth) or send me an ask, or reply to this post and I'll tag you in THIS FIC ONLY !! i am not making another form for moonlight sonata because it's too much of work, so it will be better if u reply to this post 🤍

feedback, reblogs and comments are highly appreciated so please let me know your thoughts :)))

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accio-victuuri · 7 months

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once upon a time, we were all going 👀 over ZZ’s hidden necklace and the alleged ring tied to it. then after that — nothing. it went unsolved. now, people have noticed him wearing what seems to be a necklace, but the string of it looks more like a rope.

2020 2023

while i do understand the speculation of some that this may be his version of “bone necklace” and how it may be holding the ever so elusive bjyx promise ring lol — my personal deduction is that it’s not. yeah, it would be wonderful if it was and i don’t think we will ever know but to me there is a more rational explanation, knowing what type of “jewelry” XZ sports during his personal time. when he’s not wearing gucci or other really esspensive pieces at events, the regular person XZ prefers his jewelry to be more meaningful.

( photo source showing times it was worn & visible )

Everyone knows his red rope, given to him by his mom for good luck when it was his zodiac birth year, and he’s always been wearing it. he said, “my mom gave it to me, i have to keep wearing it.” Then another more recent one is the beaded bracelet, which from what i can remember is also for protection. something that you can blessed at a temple.

A popular guess is what’s tied to it is a jade. So it’s a jade necklace. What’s the meaning? I found this helpful article to support this speculation. It just makes more sense and more “on brand” for ZZ to wear it because of this reason:

Whether someone gave it to him or if he picked it up on one of his travels, we don’t know. but a “gentleman like jade” is so him. it’s the kind of person he tries to embody.

Anciently, superior men found the likeness of all excellent qualities in jade. Soft smooth and glossy, it appeared to them like benevolence.

Fine, compact, and strong—like intelligence.

Angular, but not sharp and cutting—like righteousness.

Hanging down (in beads) as if it would fall to the ground like (the humility of) propriety.

When struck, yielding a note, clear and prolonged, yet terminating abruptly—like music.

Its flaws not concealing its beauty, nor its beauty concealing its flaws—like loyalty.

With an internal radiance issuing from it on every side—like good faith.

Bright as a brilliant rainbow—like heaven.

Exquisite and mysterious, appearing in the hills and streams—like the earth.

Standing out conspicuous in the symbols of rank—like virtue.

Esteemed by all under the sky—like the path of truth and duty.

( Confucius ; Book of Rites )

The times we have seen him wear it, his clothes were too loose to make out if there was pendant shaped thing. However, the recent photo shoot appears to give us a better view.

For comparison, p1 is the composition. that rope like string and a jade pendant. his is surely not that big, but you get the point. p2, it may just be a crease of his clothes but it’s a good approximate of a “pendant”.

-END.

#yizhan #bjyx #there is no science here i’m just clowning like i always do #my fixation with their jewelry is unhealthy — i know

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palidoozy-art · 1 year

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(Figured I'd throw this up as a separate post so I can ramble on longer about it).

So I'm gonna be honest: I don't always use grayscale. For more casual pictures, I actually just throw a colored multiply layer over it, mask the whole thing with black (so it completely hides the multiply), then paint it out on the mask layer in white

The bottom is what that mask layer looks like when it's actually separated out. Masks are generally non-destructive, so if I change my mind on the shadow or want to pick a lighter color, I can pick from the mask and not alter the actual shadow layer at all (if that makes sense).

The reason I use grayscale on a bigger piece is because it's easier for me to visualize the composition as a whole, and then just... throw a gradient map over it to add a base of color and highlights. I can see what areas are high contrast and low contrast immediately and easily, without having to worry about color. Once I ensure the picture works in grayscale, adding color to it is easy.

The image on the left is the grayscale. The image on the right is that grayscale with the gradient map clipped overtop of it.

That's the gradient map I used. You can see how its colors are reflected in the highlights and the shadows.

The left are the local color flats. To the right is the gradient mapped grayscale set to multiply overtop of the simple flats. Like this:

It gives you an easy base to tweak, paint over, and adjust.

For bigger pieces too, I also do it because... I'm gonna be really honest: I love inking characters. I hate inking backgrounds. So usually, I add a lot of detail painted into the value layer that's not present on the line layer.

Again, I don't always do this. Sometimes i just use straight colors and go nuts. I change how I work a lot. But I've always found working in grayscale supremely useful when I'm trying to paint a scene.

Also, I will add this: grayscale has its limitations. Stuff can look really dark or kind of dead and lifeless if you don't adjust and paint over it. There was a lot more I did to that picture after I slapped grayscale over it.

The colors are all off, but here's a gif of me going through the file and turning on all the layers. I tried to do it in order I worked, but in fairness I did the grayscale before the flats. ah well.

(additional note: it would be an absolute lie to tell you that I neatly name all of my layers. I named all of these just so it'd make sense for ya'll)

#long post #palidoozy rambles #tutorial #?#i guess?#i hope any of this makes sense

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viccharine · 8 months

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who the HELL is panicking at this disco!!!!

(reblogs greatly appreciated!)

(available on my ko-fi shop!)

process + commentary under the cut!

about the piece: i found myself in a bit of a slump after pushing out so much art in about 2 weeks so this piece took wayyyyy longer than any of my other ones. i knew I wanted the concept of a thermometer as a “cigarette” (do you guys get it. because like. a fever you can’t sweat out. a high fever. right you guys get it right??????) but it took me a LOT of tries to eventually land on a composition i actually liked—do not even get me STARTED on how I incorporated the title. I couldn’t decide on using a font or hand lettering or even where to place the text, it took me a solid two days to get to where it is now and I’m not even 100% happy with it. i tried to mimic a playing card design with the text placement but I’m not sure how well I pulled it off

here are some of the process pics:

the concept itself comes from a lot of the references to addiction in the album as well as the heavy burlesque, early 1900s, circus influence on the album aesthetic (whoever thought of this album theme deserves an award, AFYSCO has genuinely some of the coolest concepts from a design perspective to me)

about the album: AFYCSO is probably one of the best debut albums imo (although that title probably goes to Olivia Rodrigo’s “SOUR” for me)—it’s genuinely in my top three favorite albums of all time, no skips whatsoever on there. regardless of my opinion on Panic! at the Disco (which was pretty much neutral, I never really got into bandom and I didn’t really listen to panic’s music outside of AFYSCO) AFYSCO will always have a special place in my heart, both musically and lyrically it’s SO GOOD

although, I will say that there are some misogynistic undertones (and in some cases just outright misogyny) in these lyrics—I did touch on this topic in my DANCE DANCE commentary so I won’t repeat myself, check that post for more of my thoughts. all in all, the album bangs, but the misogynistic undertones were basically unavoidable if you look at the album in terms of being written by a teenage boy in the early 2000s who got cheated on. hell hath no fury like a woman scorned but the devil himself doesn’t write lyrics like a teen boy cheated on—go figure. im not saying all the songs have misogynistic undertones but I will say there are a couple that are WAY in ur face (looking at you, I write sins)

anyway, that’s basically it, ok byeeeeee!!!

p.s: i was debating mentioning this because I feel like im beating a dead horse, but in light of Brendon Urie’s recent actions (as well as past controversial actions), I don’t support him and feel extremely bad about the people who his actions have hurt—but I don’t think that means much from a person who never really liked him in the first place. again, while I was a BIG fan of AFYCSO, I never really got into Panic! at the Disco (I only listened to Pretty. Odd. recently this month and before that I only really knew the big radio hits). im not gonna pretend like I know everything about what happened with Panic! at the Disco in recent years and truly? I don’t Care to find out—panic! has been disbanded, and while I look at AFYSCO fondly with nostalgia, I don’t feel much about the band itself

p.p.s: AFYCSO almost killed me once because when I had a kidney infection (although I didn’t know it at the time) I had an INSANELY HIGH fever. I thought to myself “haha this is a fever I can’t sweat out!! like the album!!” and then promptly passed out—I wasted my last coherent thought on some stupid P!TAD joke instead of. asking for medical attention. anyway I ended up in the emergency room so I didn’t die but it was a near thing

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summmeister · 4 months

Text

A Look Over the Art I Made in 2023

2023 has come and gone, with a sizeable improvement on my art skills. Once again, I am VERY proud of the work I managed to accomplish this year. I'll be going over some of the highlights month by month in this post, being sure to point out anything of note.

JANUARY

Starting off the year, I made some new artwork of Skweeb! I consider this fairly outdated now, but it did start a few trends with the character, mainly how I draw shine on him. His eyes bulge outwards, they're not holes! I also drew @akfamilyhome's character, Leddy.

FEBRUARY

This was a BIG month for me! I tried a lot of new things, and most of them worked out! This month also contains what I consider to be one of my best drawings this year, a celebration of Hollow Knight's 6th anniversary. Other highlights include a dashing tribute to Dangeresque and an entirely new reference sheet for Skweeb!

MARCH

March was not a particularly noteworthy month. These are the only two drawings from it! That said, I am quite happy getting any drawings out this month at all! As you'll see later on, this wasn't actually my most dry month.

APRIL

A VERY full month! I can't even fit everything I wanted to! Lots of Skweeb here, some Lucy too! Also a fitting send-off to Courtney (very sad Dead End got cancelled). Tried some big things here, like with the parody Album art, but for the most part I was just doing what I was good at: simple character full-bodies.

MAY

VERY dry month for art. This is the only piece from May! I participated in @some-fool-fp's aRtPG collab this month. Skweeb joins the party!!!!! Made my own custom logo for him, too.

I had a LOT of college work this month. I was working on a game!!! I got the highest grade possible on it, very proud of that. If you would like to play it, you can do so here. Just a warning though, it's very short and VERY jank at times.

JUNE

Another big month!! Some proper reference of Winslow, another Jevil drawing, and my FAVORITE piece of Skweeb art to date!!! The pose and the shading is just so good on it, I love it.

JULY

...Well this is awkward.

Art Fight was this month, and with all of my effort going towards that, I kinda... didn't draw any of my own art this month. Whoops.

Let's press fast forward, shall we?

AUGUST

A NEW OC WAS CREATED THIS MONTH!!!! Meet Chao. He helps out at the circus. He babby. I put a TON of effort into getting his design just right and ensuring he had the proper referencing before working on anything else. I love this 'lil guy.

Also some of my favorite art from this year!!! Inspired by Lemon Demon's "One Weird Tip", I made some art that takes place on a ficticous desktop! Getting the shapes and text right was hard, but I am so glad I put the time and effort in.

SEPTEMBER

Always Watching.

WOW, I am so so proud of what I accomplished with this CoTL piece. Everything from the pose to the composition and the use of colour is just PERFECT. This is up there in my favourite pieces of art from this year.

Skweeb and Jack Frost are here too... wait, it's not December yet!

OCTOBER

A certain someone turned 2 this month! My baby boy, now 2 years old... how time flies...

It was halloween this month too... but Skweeb isn't dressing up this year. It's Lucy in his place! Got some nice Jax art here too, I love that asshole.

NOVEMBER

I was never the most content with my previous Jevil artwork. I never felt like I was giving it my all, which is why I'm happy to say that this month, I did!

I also took a second shot at drawing Jax; this time, featuring Pomni! I used thinner lines and taught myself how to draw hands a whole lot better, I think it helped, haha.

Lastly, (part of) my piece for @hillelart's 10th Anniversary FNAF collab! The full thing is staying secret for now. Keep an eye out for January 15th!

DECEMBER

Finally, we arrive at December.

Funnily enough, I didn't actually draw for half the month. But when I got back into it, I got BACK in. I'm very proud of both of these pieces, and the shading and blending I used in them! This certainly feels like a new era of my art, and I'm looking forward to continuing it!

And that's it. You made it to the end! Most people just together a simple image for their art recap, and while that certainly works just fine, I like to go into the nitty gritty, write down my entire year in art, y'know?

I'm not sure if this year contains as much progress as 2022, but it certainly contains a BOATLOAD of progress! Look back at the start of the post and compare it to the end of the post, the difference is insane!

Lastly, I've got just one more thing to show, once again, redrawing my first ever piece to mark off yet another year. I hope you like it, you'll only have to wait another 365 days for the next one!

Bring on 2024!

#digital art #digital illustration #summs-art #art #artists on tumblr #artwork #digital artist #original character #skweeb #summs-thoughts #cult of the lamb #the amazing digital circus #five nights at freddy's security breach #jevil #lemon demon #clown oc #sam and max #hollow knight

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heyheydidjaknow · 2 years

Note

Can I ask for head amp s for dating 2012 Donnie?

This ask and the other one I received suspiciously close together elicited the same feeling in me as finding an old shirt in the back of a closet; I completely forgot about it and I remember vividly being involved with this but my god it’s been a minute. I didn’t know how to finish this properly so it’s whatever.

The most notable thing about being in a relationship with him is that you will, in short order, be the owner of way more things than you would normally be. He is not wealthy; even if he was wealthy he has no way to buy anything. You know what he can do, though? Build shit. If you are with him, and you mention that you want literally any physical thing— be it a jacket or a puzzle cube or a phone— that thing will be the next side project. Will it smell strange? Yes, it will. Will it be surprisingly high quality? Yes, it will. This also goes for knickknacks; every other day or so he’ll get bored and throw a little thing together and just slip it into your bag if it’s usable. He understands that he is not feasibly able to give you much, so what he can give you he gives you a lot of.

He does make an effort to take you on dates. They are not exciting dates— a lot of hanging out on rooftops with music and discarded candles that would probably cut you if you picked them up— but they are dates. Regardless of your skill level, he enjoys dancing with you, hands around your neck or around your waist and swaying to the beat until the sun starts leaking over the horizon. He is a horrible cook, though, so if you want good food you should probably bring some.

He talks a lot. He doesn’t necessarily talk about things that you also understand— he tries his best to keep things on the appropriate level but there’s only so much he can do— but even if you don’t understand it all the way and can’t give input apparently talking with you helps his thought process because he really enjoys having you around while he works. Sometimes it’s just as simple as having you hold a couple pieces of metal together, sometimes he needs you to hit him with a thing to make sure that it works properly— which he insists is fine because shell— but more often than not he just likes having you around to keep him awake.

He plays bass. One time— and it only happened once, because he is horrible at singing and music composition— he wrote you a song. It was awful. He burned it on a CD and gave it to you. Of all the things that he has made for you, that’s the one he was the most nervous about for obvious reasons. This was early in the relationship and looking back on it he wishes he had realized how awful it sounded but you don’t seem to mind it so it’s whatever. Since then he has taken to making you playlists instead using pirated music off the internet (Mikey’s idea). That he feels better about, but he doesn’t do it often for lack of time and lack of skill. He has made you a couple though. He would probably keel over if you played his song for you again, though.

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budderdomo · 4 months

Text

My Paint Tool Sai Brushes/Painting Process Tutorial!

Explanations and Examples down below

Disclaimer: long post

Hello! I wanted to first thank everyone for liking/reblogging my most recent art piece (the Darkiplier one) It has become my first post with over 1000 notes which is just insane for me. I just wanted to do something to thank you guys for that.

Anyway, this post will be divided like this, so scroll to the title if you want specific things

Introduction

Brush textures/shapes for download

Overall process -> Terms and Definitions

How I use each brush (+ examples) -> Sketch -> Lineart (only do this sometimes) -> Rendering -> Textures + Post Processing

Conclusion

Introduction

This post is mainly for me in the future to look back on how my painting process was. My process changes ALL the time, sometimes I use lineart, sometimes I paint, sometimes I don't use textures, sometimes I have 100 layers, sometimes I have 1. It just changes depending on the piece. There is no "correct" way to do art. Do what you want!

Second of all, I feel I should point out you don't need fancy brushes or many brushes to make good art. I painted this piece with 1 brush.

That's right, 1 brush (it was the P A I N T brush shown in main). I didn't have a sketch, I didn't have any lines, I started with big shapes and went from there.

Third of all, I use Paint Tool SAI (the first one). So this will be specific to that program. I'm sorry, it's just what I know how to use.

Brush Textures/Shapes

You may see in my brushes that there are textures/shapes that don't come with the standard SAI program. I tried to find the links for you to download them yourself.

Arrow: https://www.deviantart.com/digikat04/art/Custom-SAI-Brush-I-265506547

All texture brushes: https://painttoolsaibrushes.splstc.com/painttool-sai-textures/

For some reason I can't find where I got marble pt. 2 or chalk so here's the png files. (You can convert them to .bmp files) (Hopefully that works!)

Chalk : Marble pt. 2

Overall Process

Before I go over my process I'm going to define some terms I'll be using and what I mean by them:

Flats - base colors

Rendering - Includes shading, lighting, small details, and texturing to define a form

Blending - mixing two separate colors together

Reduction - Once you've made a line/shape, reduction is the act of erasing part of it -> At the bottom of my brushes (in the images up above) you can see a checkered box which makes your brush transparent. I use the erasing brush to Reduce the red circle.

Persistence - How well the brush can create a new shape/color on top of pre-existing colors (If the brush blends a lot on top of other colors it has low persistence)

"Hard" vs "Soft" brushes - How well defined an edge is on a brush

Stabilizer - Turns trembly lines into smooth lines

So, I draw a different way each time. My canvas size is normally between 2500 pixels and 4000. I usually do around 3000 though. In general for my paintings I usually do

A sketch

Flats

Hue Shifts

Lighting/Shadows

Brighter Light/Deeper Shadows (Highlights/Ambient Occlusion)

Smaller Details

Texturing

Post Processing

For my bigger compositions, I make thumbnails. And for my "comic book" style I use lineart and layer modes (like multiply, luminosity)

How I Use Each Brush (+ Examples!)

Sketch

I have 2 sketch brushes. "pencil" and "sketch" For most of my life I have been using the default pencil brush on size 1. But recently I have been using this softer "sketch" brush on size ~20 or so. Either way works, but I find that the "pencil" brush is easier for linework and the "sketch" brush is easier to blend into paintings

"Pencil" : "Sketch" examples

Lineart (opt.)

Nowadays I don't use lineart that often, but if I do it's with my "Softlines" brush. It's great for both very thick and very thin lines. I lower the opacity of my sketch and put lineart on a new layer on top of it

"Softlines" brush examples

Flats

With lineart I seperate each new color with a new layer. For painting I'm now using one color as an underpainting color and working on top of that layer. So I render one thing at a time while working on the same layer.

I lower the opacity of the sketch and create a new layer under my sketch. I use my "pencil" brush to lay out the underpainting color and "blur" for hue shifts. And then I reduce it to the silhouette using my "sketch" brush (This gives a softer outline)

Rendering

This would take way too long to explain every step of how I do it. So I'll explain how I use my brushes in this step.

"Arrow!!!" - I use this brush for laying out intial shapes, big areas of color, shading, lighting. The arrow shape has a point on the end that's really great for triangular shapes. It's not very good at small details because of the texture applied to it.

"Sketch" - I use this brush during the rendering as well. It's great for small details that you want a softer look of. It has a high persistence so it's great for working on the same layer.

"P A I N T" - This is a brush that's good at very many things. It has higher blending than "sketch" or "Arrow!!!" and it's shape is square. Great for blending, general painting, small details, reduction, etc.

"blur" - great for gradients or to smooth something out a lot

"Gaussian" - is a gaussian blur. Great for making things out of focus or fuzzy

"square TEX" - texture brush that has high persistence with some blending

"metal TEX" - texture brush with high blending and a spread shape.

"speckle TEX" - texture brush for kind of a sparkly look. High persistence

"water TEX" - texture brush that works kind of like a glaze. You can use for flair/fun

example

Post-Processing

Typically I use more filters for this. Paint Tool Sai has sliders to change hue, saturation, brightness, contrast, luminosity, and color deepen. So I tend to mess with those. I also add effects like chromatic aberration

The tutorial I follow for chromatic aberration in Paint Tool Sai: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thmaephD9Ec&t=169s

I also add particles like dust and other objects.

Finally I use my Gaussian blur to make things out of focus/motion blur

Conclusion

I hope this helps! I feel like I'm at a point in my art journey where I'm good enough to give advice. So hopefully this helps someone out there with their art journey! Obviously I have a long way to go, but I'm pretty proud of where I've come. I remember watching speedpaints and tutorials trying to become better at art. So I kind of want to add to that cycle for artists. :D Have a great day!

#paint tool sai #brushes #art tutorial

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mrjadeleech · 6 months

Note

Hello Jade,

To start, I sincerely hope your day has been treating you well. I did hear that a small... incident occurred at the Mostro Lounge earlier, but I'm pleased to hear it was dealt with quickly.

If I may, I'd like to ask you a few things about yourself. I hope you don't mind me saying, but you do somewhat intrigue me.

I am curious about your musical background. I've heard you play flute, and have been told that you play bass as well - I would assume upright bass, considering the other instruments in your trio with Azul and Floyd, but please correct me if I'm wrong. Do you have a favourite genre or piece that you've played? And have you learned - or tried - any other instruments?

I appreciate you indulging my curiosity.

Thank you,

🌾

P.S., If you are ever interested in playing a piece with a clarinet part, you can feel free to contact me. I would be happy to play something with you!

Hello, anon. Of course, I am faring well, and I hope that you are as well.

Hoh? The incident... It appears we have a mole in our ranks.. I will see to it that it will be dealt with. Thank you, my dear.

Now then, in terms of music.. Hm, well, I never really gave it much thought. I happen to enjoy all that piques my interest, of course. And not to mention, I am much too busy to find a hobby in another instrument... For the moment, that is.

I have always been fascinated in the more contemporary instruments... Anything electric will gain my attention, of course. I also, if you will indulge me, have been rather curious about the more intense compositions... Remind me once more.. Ah, "metal," was it?

I admit, I am always drawn to the art of the soul... I love to feel, you see. To peer into the depths of the spirit... Even if it costs me everything.

...

My, don't look so startled. Did you think I was serious?

#twst #twst asks #twst wonderland #disney twisted wonderland #twisted wonderland #disney twst #twst jade #jade leech #mrjadeleech #🌾anon

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femenaces · 1 year

Note

[it’s already being used to program entire websites and applications that used to take months to build in just minutes] this isn't happening. maybe extremely simple html/css skins and one off js/python/whatever scripts but i know for a fact it (chat gpt) can't actually, Actually program.

once again: it is not intelligent (it cannot THINK), it's just an extremely advanced web scraper. you give it pieces and it tries to match them. that isn't thought, it isn't "intelligence".

also your og argument was like, "ai is removing our ability to think and be human!"...i mentioned ai art taking effort to show that no, actually, you do still need to think about what you're making it do. you are still learning...picking up a book on composition and reading it so you better understand what makes an image look good is doing. and even then actual artists will have a better understanding of what makes something look good! they should integrate ai into their workflows to make things easier.

also also i have literally seen ppl on twt take your posts word for word and claim them as their own. you're already being consumed i'm afraid. artists also copy other artists all the time. this isn't anything new from a logical standpoint, it's just happening quicker now

Again, most of what you are interpreting as me "not understanding" is actually us disagreeing on a fundamental level. The exception, as you picked out, was my statement about programming. I misremembered the article I read and you're correct, as of right now, AI seems to mostly only be capable of programing "html/css skins and one off js/python/whatever scripts," and the time saved is weeks, not months. Still, that's weeks. And as is the case with everything AI right now, the limitations it has today will not be present in the very, very near future.

"once again: it is not intelligent (it cannot THINK), it's just an extremely advanced web scraper. you give it pieces and it tries to match them. that isn't thought, it isn't 'intelligence.'"

I never claimed it was real intelligence. When I used the word "think" in the phrase "aims to think for us" I didn't mean it in the literal sense, I meant that the humans who use the technology will be handing over their real, genuine thinking to an, as you say, "extremely advanced web scraper."

Which brings me to my other qualm: I don't consent to having my creations, visual, verbal or otherwise, "scraped" and fed into AI algorithms. I suspect many others do not either. The fact that the only response to this complaint I hear from AI supporters is "well then get off the internet!" is extremely concerning. That's not an acceptable solution.

"...you do still need to think about what you're making it do. you are still learning...picking up a book on composition and reading it so you better understand what makes an image look good is doing. and even then actual artists will have a better understanding..."

No, reading about what makes for a good composition so you can recognize it in one of the images your talent-scraping computer program spits out is not "doing" in the same way that actually painting the piece of art is. And it's frankly disingenuous to even suggest that. Not to mention that a general ability to recognize good artistic composition is not a difficult skill, and most people have a pretty robust innate sense for this already, or else the average person would not be able to discern between a good painting and a bad painting. And like I said before, as AI improves, users will have to do less and less of this curating.

"they [artists] should integrate ai into their workflows to make things easier"

Creating art is as much a part of what art "is" as the final result. Your use of the word "they" to describe artists leads me to believe you are not an artist yourself. So kindly, shut the fuck up about what we "should" let AI do to our hobbies and passions and livelihoods.

"i have literally seen ppl on twt take your posts word for word and claim them as their own. you're already being consumed i'm afraid. artists also copy other artists all the time. this isn't anything new from a logical standpoint, it's just happening quicker now"

Who is reposting my words on twitter and claiming them as their own? I am fine with people spreading my writing, even without credit. But I don't accept people claiming to have written it themselves. I think this portion of your ask is the most telling. "You're already being consumed i'm afraid," you say, snidely. To that I respond that consumption is entirely different than plagiarism. "Artists also copy other artists all the time" Again, direct copying, aka plagiarism, in the art world is universally frowned upon.

I've seen AI lovers claim that all AI is doing is "taking inspiration." Not only do I disagree that a machine is capable of the abstract concept of "taking inspiration," not only do I assert that the mechanisms of a human mind taking something it comprehends and re-creating it in a new way vs a computer modifying a direct image input based on algorithms is not comparable, but I also think that non-human generation of "art" is not art at all. There are beautiful, naturally occurring patterns and formations in nature, but they are not art. Art is something humans do. It isn't just a product, it's a behavior. So yes, logically, this is entirely "new." And I oppose it.

Lastly, your extremely condescending follow up ask telling me I am "blowing my top" is hilarious. Yeah, I am. I think everyone should be blowing their top over this.

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lord-shitbox · 5 months

Text

part 2 of this ask

📝Process for hurt mezu drawing

here are the steps i dug out of an art server's wips channel lol

1. initial sketch

2. refine sketch. thats lines now babey. (omitted "the sleeves are KILLING ME WAHHH" stage that led to this)

3. grayscale, to use with gradient map (this is a more polished grayscale than I started with, i dug the working file out to get better images)

4. find nice gradient map (ended up being the same one I'd used for the piece i made right before. the goal is to make what's essentially an underpainting, not to color the whole thing with one map)

5. tweak and add colors that arent in the map with hard light layers & also sneak in a layer for special effect and atmospheric/ scenic perspective while you're at it

6. shading & more finishing effects. pretty much all of the shading was done with hard light layers! the only non-hard light layers I used for the shading were the particle effect layers & like one faint glow layer to fix some values. blood was done with linear burn

✨Inspiration for hurt mezu drawing

the coloring method (grayscale -> saturated gradient map underpainting -> additive color adjustments) is something I tried out with the piece i'd made right before (the one where gozu is holding mezu from behind) & turned out really well, so I wanted to keep going with it

I also wanted to draw them angstily again because it'd been a very long time. like half a year at least. angsting them is very enriching for my soul so I try to do it regularly, this one was overdue

subconsciously referenced the poses in the initial sketch from this old thing (feb 2021). i love doing this. all my for-fun works recycle old elements in some way. my favorite game is "what old art reminds me of what im doing rn" im so good at digging stuff out of my archives for it. everyone loves when i do this

the gangi-kozou panel also

i went through a "shade in bold red-orange & dark blue with hard light layers" phase in like..april/may of 2021. i still like that stuff a lot so I wanted to revisit it

💚Things you like about hurt mezu drawing

repasting the link there but the sixth image in the process is essentially the final so you can just look at that

the colors are nice!! I'm real happy with using more saturated colors n I think the warm vs cool balance works really well

the sleeves (man being dramatic on the sand meme)

no like fr look at the 2021 piece's kimono sleeves vs the one I just did 2.5 years later. so satisfying

Gozu's expression came out nice

i think the claws and flash lines successfully added Emphasis to Gozu's expression & the piece overall

the poses … the drama …. the brush textures are also good

⏳Things you’d do differently with hurt mezu drawing

add in a liiitle more contrast...aka use a wider range of values. Some lighter lights and darker darks. I miss my 2021 hard neon lighting

a bit more distinction between the characters and the background also

the composition isn't bad but it could be better. Should've thought more about the way the eye would flow around the image in the drafting stage (solid b&w color block thumbnails are good for this)

Moar Sparkles. (I put a solid amount of large & low opacity light bubbles in there & some finer brighter dots especially around the claw stems, but I think more clusters of tiny bright lights on the characters themselves would've gone hard)

💌Some favourite feedback on art

as the wise man Austin Kleon once said: keep a "praise file" of all the positive feedback you get (if you've never read "Steal Like an Artist," you must). so. i am prepared for this question hold on

tastes like sugar glass

multiple people have told me my art is soft & dreamlike

jayce you reblogged my touchstarved art with nice tags on april 10th ive got that saved love uou

umm theres a lot...anytime someone keysmashes or feels emotional because of my art i get happy ,,, lys messaged me about the hurt mezu piece that made me happy also,,,,,there is so much joy in the world

#shitboxposting #asks #shitbox drawn #JM SORRY I FEEL LIKE THE FORMATTING ISNT EASY TO READ NO MATTER WHAT I DO....AUGH #all my class work with actual conecptual meaning is monochrome what am i doing...man.......#i need to post more art and i also need to make more art. aghhh. boots up ultrakill and magical drop again #im actually Not sure how im going to afford the next few years of my life 😭😭 a bitch gotta have time to do fuck all but i need money..!!!!#whatever its fine. i have time to do fuck all right Now and thats what matters

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thesweetnessofsalt · 7 months

Text

Process Blog #1

Process Blog #1 covers the title page and first five pages of Chapter 3.

So lately, I've been journaling while making comic pages. Sometimes it's just to note process things, like what brushes I used or continuity items. Sometimes it's writing related - why I revised a line, or just thoughts I have about the characters while I translate it to the page. Sometimes it's just a joke, or a fun fact that didn't make the final cut.

That's what you're getting in these process blogs: a behind-the-scenes look at TSOS. For the most part, there will be no spoilers in these blogs! If there ever are, I'll mark them obnoxiously. Enjoy!

Title Page

Previous title pages have come to represent a significant location in that chapter. In Chapter 3, the girls finally get to leave the cottage! (Ok, it's only been about a day for them. But for all of us...?)

Originally, this was a day scene because that’s how this location appears in the chapter, but once I got into the interiors, the colors and tone just didn't flow from one to the other. So the banners became string lights, day became night, and I cropped us in for a cozier composition. Now, behold; the flow:

Anyway, get excited for the town scenes. They're good ones :)

Let's talk balls:

Leah’s balls of light, maybe unsurprisingly, are inspired by Eilonwy’s in The Black Cauldron. As a kid, I reeeally wanted those balls.

Leah’s magic so far has been pretty unobtrusive - and that’s not necessarily characteristic of all magic in this universe as much as it’s an extension of Leah. She’s a little repressed. But these whimsical, physical pieces of magic might indicate how Sha’s been making her feel instead.

The balls are basically a swirly brushstroke - I did them that way once, and it felt right. Like they were made by a person - not just once, but over and over, by Leah and by me, in every panel. So I left it that way. I'm doing that a lot lately, indulging in mark-making and leaving things unpolished, just so it's not forgotten: comics are magic, made by people, always.

Wardrobe Changes

Sha's wearing what I refer to as 'the rom-com sweater', a usually white/cream sweater worn by relatable protagonists or appealing love interests (think Nora Ephron flicks - incidentally, another big inspiration for TSOS's general vibe).

I tried inked ribbing at first, but it wasn't quite cozy enough, so I used a couple knit brushes from the Alan Pattern Knit Brush instead (Content ID 1892449 on Clip Studio Assets).

Leah's robe is from the first few pages of Chapter 1, though I took out the pattern for simplicity's sake.

Coo and aww over how Leah turned the stone Sha found into a necklace now, cus that's the only spoiler-free aspect I can talk about at the moment. ;)

There's gonna be lots of wardrobe changes in Chapter 3! It covers more physical time than the previous two chapters, which I find very exciting (and not just for all the opportunities where I get to dress them up).

That's all for now - stuff to look forward in Process Blog #2: Sha's backstory, stylized flashback sequences, and historical inspiration!

And if you have any questions about the process, leave it in the comments! I'll answer them in the next blog.

Process Blog #1 was originally published June 19, 2023 on Ko-fi. Supporters get early access to TSOS pages and process blogs!

#the sweetness of salt #webcomics #process blog

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