#but i sure do need a photo or a model or an svg silhouette or something

[nokingsonlyfooles]

Screen Protector Works!

I decided to see if I could draw my characters without painstakingly rendering their heads in another doc and then copy-pasting them wherever I needed them. Also without erasing or touching the line tool. I guess so? But I still need to look at my cheat sheets. I may have a bit of an imagination deficit, autism-related or no. Situations, yes. Objects in space? Ah, no.

I dunno if that reads as John, but that's certainly how he feels. I am, indeed, completing his narrative arc - for now. I will not stop. More character development is coming! But maybe he can have a doughnut when he's all done with his latest freakout. If the lion doesn't eat them all. (I am not kidding, there is a lion and he will totally eat the doughnuts.)

The spouse says "just trying my gay little best" is T-shirt gold. Maybe I'll do you some printable designs when I'm ready to art for serious.

I get way better art results if I make a reference and trace it. I have a lot of ways to generate references, but I mainly cut and paste public domain stuff. I used to steal stock photos, 'cos I started out making my references and then drawing them on paper, but tracing might get me in trouble if the end result resembles the original too much. After an attempt to pay for photos like a good consumer, I got annoyed with the cut corporations take. And now that there's all this AI shit in the public domain, I'm looking into buying a digital model. I probably won't find one with, like, a toaster, but hands, bodies and some basic props are possible.

In other news, I'm trying to clean and organize my shit on this new computer and:

I MISS SHADING! WAAAH!

I used to be so good at making things look wet! And hair! I know why I quit, and the eyestrain is still a factor, but I wanna do it that way. I don't like shadow puppets anymore! I'm pretty sure I stole the shape of those headphones off some Amazon product information, but all the shading and texturing is me... and pattern-fill, but... Look! I even did some freckles! I can do that if I cause myself pain, and pain is so fleeting! I don't even remember!

*sigh* I'm not gonna try it. I'm not. Not right now. I don't have the stamina. I WANT the stamina, but that means eye exercises, every day, for I dunno how long. Probably forever, though I must assume they won't hurt as much later. But I dunno if I'll ever be able to put the time into an image like that again. I got, like, a half hour drawing time right now, max. That's not even long enough to remember how I used to do that in Paint.net. It's barely enough to get used to the screen protector.

God, I know every smooth line in that is the shape tool or the line tool. That's bonkers. Maybe if I get used to GIMP again I'll be able to draw faster. Even with the screen protector, Paint.net captures my wobbles - as is evident. What a difference a digital assist makes.

#tin soldier and soldier on #art #i can draw better than this #i have proof #but i sure do need a photo or a model or an svg silhouette or something #i am not spatial #“hey i should try sketching john!” #“...wh-where does the nose go? no that's not it...” #cut and paste and mod first ALWAYS cut and paste and mod first