#ok is this sketch or is this illu.

[pocketwei]

Strange as angels dancing in the deepest oceans

#they are almost every song on the Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me album by The Cure #your honor they are in LOVE! ! ! ! #art #ok is this sketch or is this illu. #illustrations #it's not important #what IS important is shanks' tan lines #very important #dracule mihawk #akagami no shanks #shanks #mihawk #akataka #mishanks #one piece #not to brag but i think i got the slight shine of pale & slightly damp skin on mihawk's forehead Just Right #this is so important to me #his complexion and the texture of his skin #he is the most beautiful man in the entire world to me

[insecateur]

I would like to see your illustration process🎨🖌

okay anon !! i will try my best to explain sorry if it's bad or nonsensical 🥲 also will include a cut bc long + pictures

SO this varies from drawing to drawing bc i have different styles n methods depending on my mood among other things... like for example the process between this and this or something like my latest comic is completely different.

usually i start by getting an idea (OBVIOUSLY!!!) sometimes i just start with something rly vague, sometimes i think about it for a while, and sometimes i even do thumbnails... i will use one such example for a more thorough look at the Process i think!

so, for these i actually doodled thumbnails on the note app on my phone... i used to do this on paper also but phone works surprisingly ok to just get a pose/vibe down. so it looked like that:

you can see... the vibes. using these as a base i'll draw rough sketches on the computer, like this:

which i can then refine them further into nicer, cleaner sketches (i usually do this for bigger illustrations like that, or comics):

then i line . note i usually color the lines after i've put flat colors so please ignore that lmao:

then i do flat colors, color the lines, and do shading/highlights etc. usually i use multiply and overlay respectively for this type of illustrations:

then i do the details (snow, dust, the titles...) and add a preliminary overlay that i'm probably going to play with in the next step (please pretend that i didn't forget to up the opacity for the background of the second illus earlier i'm too lazy to retake screenshots):

AND THEN i switch to my shitty old photoshop and do last minute edits, play with the colors/contrast, add textures, etc.

final results!!! yayyyyy🎉

that's basically my process for illustrations like that. for simpler stuff i'll go with the flow a little more... like for example the afterimage art i did the shading with my own colors and lysandre actually isn't even fully drawn (altho there's probably more of him drawn than you'd expect LOL):

ummm there we go idk if that was interesting or not . maybe i'll record myself drawing again sometimes, i haven't done it in years 😪

#la réponse d #samart #<-i guess i can use this tag here too...

[morrak]

Untitled Wednesday Library Series, Part 95

OK, I think I’m back to normal operational capacity. This is not cognate to full capacity, mind — my engine knocks at the best of times — but it is approximately a good thing. Papers are finished and classes handled; I’m finally coming down off of such. I have a bevy (an absolute surfeit; a fucking embarrassment) of personal projects to crunch through in the weeks to come, but for now:

Stableford, B. (1999). The Dictionary of Science Fiction Places (J. White, illus.). [New York, NY]: Wonderland Press.

The How

A few days ago, I found on my stoop a thrillingly large box containing this book, some packing material, and a card from @girlfriendsofthegalaxy. Given the words written inside said card, I have made the leap of conjecture that the box, &c. were also from her. Alternate theories have been devised but stand unlikely.

The Text

The preface calls this a ‘dictionary of imaginary places devised by writers of science fiction’. It is that. It is also a kind of time capsule of the ‘sciencefictional’ universe and a map of the same — it makes an honest attempt to sketch the landscape of the contemporary genre, and (crucially) each entry is cross-referenced to three others. Description and annotation are not easy, especially when they draw on material this diffuse. These entries are generally 3 paragraphs each. There are over 350 pages of them. This is a project of spooky proportions.

I’m not personally moved by much of the content work, but I think a certain kind of person would be. I am, though, impressed by it. Sci-fi’s readership’s collective nostalgia has drifted somewhat since this was written, but shit and goddamn if this doesn’t capture its own moment well. It couldn’t be done without a good grasp of how the genre works, and Stableford’s preface does a very nice job of proving he’s got that. A little grand-philosophy-of-the-genre wanky, but well thesis’d. He likes the idea of chains of influence and collaboratively constructed conceptual infrastructure and language for it. I do too.

The Object

It looks like what it is, for better and worse.

The better: Jeff White’s illustrations fit perfectly, even (maybe especially) when they’re less than lush. The worse: these motherfuckers shouldn’t be trusted to set type. It’s hard to read, they can’t hit their baselines, and the fonts clash in ways that aren’t offensive but merely annoying, which is worse.

In terms of build, eh. The card calls this a ‘paperback of indifferent quality’. Kind of a weird choice for what might have been collector bait, but the original price-size ratio would’ve been quite compelling on the right shelves.

The Why, Though?

Kay gives good gifts is why, and anyway, this series is her fault in the first place. I just got a new and relatively inflammatory philosophy of biology book on the direct recommendation of a prof who used to work in knowledge management and taxonomy. That I spent my day with this and not that should say a lot about how charmed I am, both with it as a text and it as a present. It’s fun.

#images #untitled wednesday library series

[literaticat]

I am getting a book published and in my contract I have no say in the illustrations. Yet the Editor asked for my feedback. I think the illustrations suck (for lack of s better word). Being that my input won’t matter one way or the other should I just stay mum?

I mean I think you probably COULD come up with better words. And... your input might matter ? I mean ultimately obviously it's the publisher's decision, but they wouldn't ask you for feedback if they didn't give a fig what you thought. IT's YOUR BOOK. They don't want you to hate it.

I'm assuming here that you yourself are NOT an artist or graphic designer or whatever book publishing professional who knows the ins and outs of illustration -- so, hey, sometimes you personally might not LOVE an aesthetic or something, but presumably the people making the book DO know what does well or what is usual for this format or whatever.

So, no, I wouldn't approach this feedback like "OK, I'm going to EVISCERATE them and tell them how much I HATE IT and IT SUCKS -- rather, I would be thoughtful. IS this the sketch stage you are looking at, or final art? Because that can make a huge difference. If it is sketches, assume that the final art will be much better.

But either way -- take a step back. They have asked for feedback - give them some. There is no need to be insulting. Are there things in the art that you like and appreciate? Start there.

And then, are there things in the art that are just very strange looking and/or LITERALLY WRONG? Potentially harmful misrepresentation of the text/characters? Please tell them. This is probably the ONLY chance to make it right. Like, if the character is described as plump with fancy braided hair in the text and they have drawn a skinny-minnie with long straight hair, TELL THEM! If the signage on the store front should be in Yiddish but it's in Chinese -- TELL THEM! IF the scale of the animals is all bizarre (and this isn't a fantasy), ask! Should that squirrel be the same size as a Buick and look like he's about to do a murder? Probably not!

They probably won't fire that artist or change the entire of aesthetic of the book -- so I wouldn't advise bringing THAT kind of energy to the conversation. They MIGHT ignore you entirely. But much more likely, they will take any valid concerns seriously and actually change things that are wrong or that you for real can't deal with.

AND, if there really isn't anything WRONG about the illus, they just aren't to your taste -- then probably best to keep the feedback bland and short. I find that a lot of times, authors are surprised by illus at first because they imagined something different - but after a while, they will grow on you, particularly when you see it in real book form and people react well to it -- at which point, if you'd pitched a fit when you first got them, you'd have to be retroactively embarrassed.

[judevic]

bitter

#been dealing with a lot of bottled up anger lately #learning that it’s ok to feel things #sketch #digital #digital illustration #illustration #illus #character illustration

[thomasturnerillustration]

trying to do a good manga bust portrait lesson with my children!! But I constantly accidentally make lesson plans more suited for Highschool ;_; I’ll get the science down eventually! I am super jazzed tho cuz I compared 19th century oil painting portrait busts to hot anime dudes, and created a little gradient from sargent to hyper pop manga illu as an example axis of idiosyncratic portraiture to idealized beauty :’)

Top 3 are sketches from yesterday, inked bottom from the day before that! I’m gonna brag about my grades when I get them, I do not have self control. I bought a SAD lamp for the first time like $18, and it’s been, as the kids say, BUSSIN.  Hope everyone’s doing ok!!

#illu #illust #drawing #digital art #art #digital drawing #procreate #clip studio paint #manga #portraiture #manga portraiture #dibujos #bosquejos #sketch #sketches #sketchdump #ink #inking #inks #black and white #illustration #artists on tumblr #artist #pretty people

[fa-chi]

ok listen up this is not finished and never will be BUT very nice people (2 in numbers) wanted to see it so here you go

this is over 7 months old by now and was created in response to ch 351, the first chapter of the hisokuro fight when i was like there is no goddamn way clown man is gonna win this, so better get used to seeing him dead.

but you know what was the worst thing for me back then? not neccessarily that hisoka would die BUT TO KNOW THAT I LOVED HIM SO SO MUCH BUT THERE WAS NOBODY IN THE WHOLE HXH UNIVERSE THAT WOULD MOURN FOR HIM. like at least give him ONE friend. 

so i sent in illumi.

there were supposed to be 5 more pages, theyre still only sketches but go ahead and imagine anything you want after that. if youre interested in my ending, read on.

the last five pages were supposed to show illumi ripping off hisokas tattered clothes, washing and bandaging his body before dressing him nicely and putting his makeup back on - kinda smudged and asymmetrical bc illu knows shit about make up but still. the strip was supposed to end with a closeup on illus face, carrying a little smile on his lips with the line: there you go, i fixed you

i cried a lot doing this.

#hisoka #illumi zoldyck #hisoillu #gore #blood #death #hunter x hunter #fanart

[eleithel]

dropping smaugust...

Ok, je crois que je vais définitivement m’arrêter là pour smaugust. Je suis en vacances chez des amis et il y a bien trop d’autres choses tentantes à faire... Y compris dessiner, mais du croquis d’observation en extérieur. ça, je remplis mon carnet à croquis. Je posterai ptet ça plus tard, si j’arrive à me motiver. Et j’ai commencé une petite illus avec Apolline, parce que ça commençait à me manquer de dessiner des humains (sérieux, ça fait un bail). Y a quand même deux illus de dragons que j’ai toujours en tête de faire, mais qui vont attendre que je sois rentrée chez moi avec tout mon matos sous la main.

C’était quand même un challenge sympa. J’aime bien les dragons, et faire un peu de design de créature était un changement agréable. Et ça m’a remis un peu le pied à l’étrier, et y avait besoin. Finir des dessins et pas juste faire des croquis. Juste, c’est un peu compliqué de tenir ce genre de défi dans ces circonstances ! :)

--

Ok, I think I’l stop now with smaugust. I’m visting friends on hollidays, and there are way too many other tempting things to do... Including drawing, but rather outdoor observation sketches. I do fill my sketchbook, that’s for sure. I might post some of it later, if I can get myself motivated. I also started a little illustration with Apolline, because I was missing drawing humans (seriously, it’s been a while). There are still two dragon illustration I’m wanting to do, but it will have to wait until I’m back home with all my art supplies.

It was a nice challenge, though. I do like dragons, and doing a bit of creature design was a nice change. It also helped me going back on a bit more finished drawings, when I was stuck with doing only sketches. Only, it’s a bit hard to do such a challenge in that situation ! :)

#smaugust #je vais à un affut pour voir des blaireaux ce soir #ça va être cool

[literaticat]

I'm starting out as an illustrator and have only illustrated for brochures, event programs, personalized greeting cards, and custom in-house materials for organizations. I've never done a book intended for publication before.

A friend reached out to me with a cute picture book on a niche topic that she hopes to submit to a small press that specializes in that topic (there are a few). She said she wrote it imagining my illustration style, and asked me to partner with her and pitch the book as a collab.

I saw your answer recently saying that it's best practices for the author to submit the text without illustrations and give notes on the illustration style she wants--should I pass up this opportunity for now to increase my friend's chances of getting her book published, or should I go ahead (I don't have other commissions on deck right now) and hope my work is cute enough to make her text shine?

Editorial type illustration is a somewhat different skill-set than picture book illustration. With PB illustration, you aren't just showing pictures of what the text says -- ideally, you are telling a story wordlessly as well. The images have to have movement and flow, helping guide the reader from spread to spread with dynamic page-turns.

I'm not saying this will be hard for you to learn, at all (I don't know you! Maybe you already draw like this!) -- just pointing out that making cute "one-and-done" still images is not the same as making sequential art.

I would also point out that making a book can be a quite time-and-labor-intensive endeavor, probably more than you can imagine without doing it, and I don't think it should be taken on lightly.

So my question for you, because you didn't mention it: Is picture book illustration a professional goal of yours?

If so, and most importantly, if you really like the book and wouldn't mind having your name on it forever, I think it would be OK to say, hey, sure, I'd be happy to create a sample on spec.

That sample could include a few character designs (with the characters in different poses, facial expressions, etc) and ONE page of full-color art, and, if you like, perhaps a black-and-white loose sketch dummy. DO NOT do more than that -- let them actually agree to hire you and give you money before you do a ton of work!

Your friend could pitch as her text with some illustrations provided by you, but also say in the pitch, basically, that her friend (YOU) was taken with the text and wanted to create a sample, and you'd be very open to working on the book, but if the publisher wanted to go in a different direction with the illus, that's OK too. (This way if they love the text but DON'T want to move forward with your illustrations, your friend can still have a book).

If all goes well, they will love the book AND the illustrations, and hire you to do the book. If not, well, hey, learning experience, and at least you have some more material for your portfolio and you won't have spent a huge amount of time on it.

(Of course if you DON'T like the book, and you DON'T want your name on it -- or just think this is not the best use of your time! -- I think it's also perfectly fair to say, "hey, I appreciate your thinking of me, but I'm still learning about picture books and I'm not ready to commit to doing one. Thank you, though, it means so much that you like my work!")

(I'd also suggest, if book illustration is your goal, that you build a great portfolio on your website showcasing the style of picture books you wish to create, and to practice drawing stories. This way, when you want to do more books, secure representation, etc, agents, editors and art directors will be able to see your work at a glance!)