#and if you want more detail pics i have tons so... i'M just proud of this piece ALL RIGHT? had to make sure i have PICS

[akai-anna]

Rambling post about The Art TM

Firstly, a special thank you to @livmadart who fuelled my motivation with her lovely tags on my art to finish making this post as soon as I could (life just likes to get in my way). You are such an amazing person and artist (by the way, everyone should totally check out Liv's BDay piece for our favourite little menace BECAUSE IT'S GORGEOUS), and your words always mean a lot to me (even if I'm not the best at communication, for which I apologize, still love and adore you, despite the awkwardness and sporadic talks).

The Idea

My art was inspired by the amazing @detshin's piece. Ever since I've seen it, I felt the urge to make a companion piece for it; I adore the composition and the symbolism in it to bits.

The Concept

I also wanted to take my own spin on the piece. From the start I wanted:

Conan's eyes not being covered (because he can see)

Conan looking at the viewer like he is looking straight into your soul. No thoughts, head empty why, it just felt right.

His mouth to be the one that is covered in some way. The sheer symbolism of his mouth being obstructed (but cannot speak) just made my heart ache so badly.

Changing the outfit based on this musing of mine.

As for the rest, it came about when sketching around, and waiting for that CLICK in my brain. And the forget-me-nots covering his mouth was that CLICK: SYMBOLISM IS MY LIFEBLOOD.

The Materials

I had 2 techniques in mind: watercolours and soft pastels. Ultimately I decided on soft pastels because

I haven't worked with pastels in YEARS, yet I adore the technique

I haven't used these pastels since I got them from an attic cleaning that we did for an old lady last year-ish (they would have been thrown away, after YEARS OF DISUSE and my heart couldn't take it, SUCH BEAUTIFUL MATERIALS TO WASTE AWAY)

I felt that what the material has to offer suited this particular piece: the vibrant colours offering a certain contrast to the original piece, and a certain feel (especially on the right paper) to the texture.

After some testing, I decided that going with a dark background works better: it made the colours more vibrant, and the slight texture of the paper did its magic. + Dark VS Light background colour was another nice contrast between the two pieces.

The Making

At first I didn't know what to use to sketch with, so I tested a couple things, and ultimately went with a white pencil: easy enough to erase if needed but also visible enough to see on this particular paper I had.

Looking up and studying tons of reference pictures for various things (sometimes with more, sometimes with less luck): the pose, facial features, the flowers... I have a whole folder of 'em LMAO

Actually drawing that sketch LOL

Then came the colours, which I tested on a separate piece of paper, to see which ones I want to use... After that I added the main blocks of colours.

And when I liked it, proceeding with the actual colouring: mixing all the different colours and layering them. In some places I used 4-6 colours (or more, depending how you look at it), while I used only 2, but mostly 3 in others.

Lastly: I used hairspray as a fixative, which slightly changed the quality and texture of the pastels and colours. (See below.)

The Feelings

As mentioned above, it has been years (I think around a decade actually, what the fck) since I used soft pastels, so it was a bit of a challenge to get back into using the material (and I'm not as experimental and confident I want to be yet, and likely fried my brain a little in the process). Also tons of fun, though! I forgot how much fun is there in the process of creation, and this piece brought that back into my life.

#la junk talks #my stuff #just lots of rambling #also i've been meaning to finish this a lot sooner but life interrupted me #and ended up a lot busier than planned so apologies to my past self that thought i would be finished with this post much sooner #instead of only posting this on the next sunday #which makes it a week. to be fair i haven't had much free time all week. only today lmao #with this i'm shutting up #if anyone wants to ask anything or just want to chat about this piece (or in general): you are more than welcome to approach me #time to faint to bed #and if you want more detail pics i have tons so... i'M just proud of this piece ALL RIGHT? had to make sure i have PICS

[littlemoondarling]

It's time for me to as always be the one to send you tons of questions for an ask game lol ✌ 4, 17, 20, 22, 24, 25, 31, 33, 40, 43, 48, 50

4. A character you rarely talk about?

Bunny.... I really like them, her personality and struggles are pretty relatable. I think I just don't like the design I gave him, and that really puts me off of a chatacter. Might end up redesigning him.

17. Any OC OTPs?

Well I'll tell you the two that are least likely to happen: Rouge x Theodore. Rouge x Lucifer.

20. Do any of your OCs sing? If they sing, care to share more details (headcanon voice, what kind of songs they like etc)?

Ouh now this is a FUN one!

Rouge was a trained musical theatre performer in his youth, so I think David Staler would be a good headcanon voice. His favourite music is still soundtracks, he loves songs that tell a story.

Marcel is just fuckin good lol, and I think AURORA's voice would fit him pretty well. He doesn't exactly listen to songs, but if he were to, it would be heavy metal.

22. Is there any OC of yours people tend to mischaracterize? If yes, how?

I can't tell you how much I like this question, but I don't know...

24. If you could meet one OC of yours, who would it be and why?

Probably Theodore, I mean he's just fun to be around and I literally created him because I'm lonely and wished I could be someone so confident and sure of myself as he is.

25. The OC that resembles you the most (same hobby, height, shared like/dislike for something etc?)

Elliot is like a split image of me lol (except that he's taller, tho Theodore is the same height as me). He is trans and was emotionally abused as a kid, he feels as if his problems don't matter and prefers to keep them to himself eventhough he desperately needs to talk to someone. He has social anxiety and struggles with accepting the fact that he could possibly be loved by anyone. He likes writing songs and poetry but hates performing them like me, he's also an aspiring writer with tons of wips that will probably never be finished :'3

31. Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

Theodore is the one that actually has a tumblr blog (I'm thinking of actually making one for him... should I?) He'd mostly post design sketches, his progress on his projects, cooking recipes, the newest thing that got broken in his cheap apartment, alot of Franny's drawings because he's just a proud dad, the newest anime obsession, a character he's simping over, how hard it is to pass a video game boss and general venting. He'd mostly reblog animal pics, anything that has to do with the shows he likes, tons of gifs, FANART, other people's cooking adventures and parenting advice.

33. Your shyest OC?

Mmm I'd say Ayumu

40. Any fond memories linked to your characters? Feel free to share!

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm the moment I discovered that Teddy was my comfort character lol

43. Do you have any certain type when you create your OCs? Do you tend to favour some certain traits or looks? It’s time to confess

Aaaahhh YES I DO. Almost all of my ocs look androgynous because I just fucking love that look, I don't have a single oc with short hair bebecause I just really like long hair, alot of them have curly/fluffy hair along with plump lips and a sort of hourglass figure. And if I didn't worry about same face syndrome, all of them would have long faces.

48. OC who is a perfect cinnamon roll, too good for this world, too pure

I don't have a single older oc like that because I don't exactly like that trope, but I have Fran who is just the light at the end of the tunnel, I love this dude, he's so smol and full of life and hope and excitement.

50. Give me the good ol’ OC talk here. Talk about anything you want.

Well, I've been working on more of general lore lately, and I discovered that I really like just creating cultures and traditions for my realms, now I'm not gonna say that they are totally unique but I just like the process!

#aaahhhh #thank you!!! #ask!!! #oc lore #theodore #rouge #fran #elliot #bunny #marcel #ayumu