Well It Being Black History Month Is Reminding Me How I Wanted To Doodle Something Like This Down For

did you know moa (the hatoful boyfriend creator) has a blog page solely for references of hands?

well now you do, and here it is!

Made this lil thing to celebrate hitting 1500 followers on twitter.

hehe

monkey brain like round number  

oh hey new guide thinggg~ some basics on how to practice! there’s SO much I could add to this, so it’s just the basics :O

short (kind of): there’s more to practice than doing something repeatedly, it’s also learning new things, problem solving, and honest critique. Each of those is its own skill…also be nice to yourself!

art cheats

hello i am here today to not lose track of the art cheats i have discovered over the years. what i call art cheat is actually a cool filter/coloring style/way to shade/etc. that singlehandedly makes art like 20 times better

80’s anime style

glitch effect

glow effects

adding colors to grayscale paintings

foreshortening ( coil )

foreshortening ( perspective )

clipping group (lines)

clipping group (colors)

dramatic lighting ( GOOD )

shading metal

lighting faces

that is all for today, do stay tuned as i am always hunting for cool shit like this

U use colors in such a enrichening way, how do you do that may I ask??

thank you so much! 💕

this answer is going to be a little long.

the first thing, i think, is that it's very common to think of color as a means to an end, as just another type of information about a drawing: i'm using brown on the hair to show that the hair is brown, i'm using green to show that the characters are standing in grass.

but if color is information, then we can use it to say a lot more than just the basic facts of a drawing!

if you love drawing but want to get better with color, you have to learn to love color, too.

to want to know everything about how color works, to explore what different colors mean to you, to try and try and try again.

because, and this is the kicker:

ALL COLORS ARE RELATED TO EACH OTHER!

[from this post about how to use a color wheel]

i think it's common for people to talk about complementary colors and that's helpful when you're starting out with coloring, but i feel that it can become very limiting when it's treated like a rule and can obscure the fact that all colors are related to each other. it's called a color wheel because there is no beginning or end!

for example, take this drawing:

in this drawing, i'm using colors from all over:

but by just rearranging them slightly and throwing them against a black background like in the drawing, you can see how they're actually relating to each other and not nearly as random as they may seem at first glance!

[these notes are from this post where i break down how muted or "ugly" colors pull an image together] all colors are related to each other in some way, and that means that

YOU MUST DETERMINE WHAT EACH COLOR MEANS TO YOU, AND IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO CONVEY THAT MEANING TO YOUR AUDIENCE.

for example, to me green can be uncomfortable and overwhelming, energetic and edgy, calm and natural, or fearful and tense. but no matter how it makes me feel, it's my responsibility to convey my relationship to green to whoever even glances at my drawing.

sure you can use commonly held ideas about colors [red = angry, blue = sad], but this shorthand is also limiting. if everyone used these commonly held ideas about color, there would be no room for experimentation or interesting, wild color choices! and colors mean different things to everyone-- that's what makes everyone's colorful art so different and so cool!!

another thing to note about those green drawings: each one is using a specific type of green.

the one with reigen leans blue-green, which creates a cool-colored image. meanwhile, reigen is warmer tones, which almost makes it seem like he's overheating when he's thrown against such a cool-toned background, which further expresses his discomfort!

the dimple!mob drawing is like a sprite or mountain dew-green, which encourages the feeling of electricity or energy. it's a cool yellowish-green.

the one of mob floating is a warmer yellowish-green, to suggest sunny warmth without drawing sun rays.

the divine tree arc drawing is a lot of reddish-greens, which can suggest a sickliness.

experiment with color combinations and different shades and hues! explore what these different types of colors mean to you!

so now let's get into the nitty gritty of color choice. the following images are from my free pdf about color, composition, and intuitive drawing:

the main takeaways from these pages are:

consider simplifying your colors! more colors does not necessarily equal a better drawing.

see how much a single color can do! can you use it in multiple places on your drawing? what meaning can you ascribe to the colors you're using?

consider creating a concept for your colors and a few rules to guide your piece! a lot of great drawings can fall apart because the coloring concept was too vague or because there weren't enough rules or guidelines to keep the image coherent.

are your colors saturated enough? are the different colors you're using fighting for the viewer's attention? do you have focal points in your art, and if so, are the colors you're using reinforcing those focal points?

use the tools at your disposal! color-picking, color balance, overlay layers. it can feel important to try to prove something by hand-picking every color, but even when i hand-pick my colors i almost always check them with color balance anyway to make sure i'm picking the best colors possible.

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SUFFER FOR ART. PLEASE use everything that is available to you, and make sure that you are aligned with what brings you joy when you're making art!

i wanted to show an example of a drawing i've done that is doing way too much vs a drawing that is simpler but more balanced:

on the left, the colors are interesting but the background is too strong and is competing with the actual drawing for attention. on the right, the clear background and simple coloring create a cute, easy to read, successful image! this is what i mean when i say that colors can fight for the viewer's attention and mess up a good drawing.

my final secret is that i rarely shade with or use white, black, or grays. i don't think this is a rule that you have to follow, but i like it because it pushes me to figure out what colors will go best with each other, and i think this single tip has strengthened my understanding of color immensely. however, there are a lot of beautiful art styles that shade with and use pure white, black, and gray. you have to decide what you love!

and

STUDY!!!

look at other people's art, color pick it, and make a palette based on their art! look at how they represent values through color, how they shade, etc. study your favorite artists' work!! you will learn so much!!

i hope this was helpful! if you have any more follow-up questions or if there's something that you want to know that i didn't explain here, please don't hesitate to ask!

So, let me guess– you just started a new book, right? And you’re stumped. You have no idea how much an AK47 goes for nowadays. I get ya, cousin. Tough world we live in. A writer’s gotta know, but them NSA hounds are after ya 24/7. I know, cousin, I know. If there was only a way to find out all of this rather edgy information without getting yourself in trouble…

You’re in luck, cousin. I have just the thing for ya.

It’s called Havocscope. It’s got information and prices for all sorts of edgy information. Ever wondered how much cocaine costs by the gram, or how much a kidney sells for, or (worst of all) how much it costs to hire an assassin?

I got your back, cousin. Just head over to Havocscope.

((PS: In case you’re wondering, Havocscope is a database full of information regarding the criminal underworld. The information you will find there has been taken from newspapers and police reports. It’s perfectly legal, no need to worry about the NSA hounds, cousin ;p))

Want more writerly content? Follow maxkirin.tumblr.com!

Heres a MEGA folder filled with art book pdfs, if anyone has some others that you'd like me to add to it thats missing, please let me know and send me the link

EDIT 1: If you're a bit new to art and you're super overwhelmed by the options and you don't know where to start, I highly recommend the morpho series of books

Edit 2:No more Google Drive, just the MEGA folder now, so don't panic if the stuff on Google ain't there no more, its still up, just in a different location

I've had this little idea in my head for a while now, so I decided to sit down and plot it out.

Disclaimer: This isn't meant to be some sort of One-Worksheet-Fits-All situation. This is meant to be a visual representation of some type of story planning you could be doing in order to develop a plot!

Lay down groundwork! (Backstory integral to the beginning of your story.) Build hinges. (Events that hinge on other events and fall down like dominoes) Suspend structures. (Withhold just enough information to make the reader curious, and keep them guessing.)

And hey, is this helps... maybe sit down and write a story! :)

draw more fat characters ok. i love you

"and the centry owl stood guard, protector of all in need." TFE, S1E13

Love love love Nightshade's new form 🦉

I compiled a reference for all my artist homies, and myself~