Latest Posts by longbird47 - Page 2
Some more maniraptoriform/extinct animal designs I've done. Technically they're for a specific ARPG but none have been written as characters. They sit in purgatory until I'm able to write for one or a few of them.
Anchiornis huxleyi/hadropithecus stenognathus
Balaur bondoc/thylacosmilus atrox
Citipati/yoshi garevskii
Dromeosaurus/smilodon fatalis
Two redos of old art of the same creature combinations. First one is quercylurus/dromaeosaurid, second is pakicetus/halszkaraptor. Might recolor that one, I'm not getting enough attachment to the current design.
Small fantasy worldbuilding elements you might want to think about:
A currency that isn’t gold-standard/having gold be as valuable as tin
A currency that runs entirely on a perishable resource, like cocoa beans
A clock that isn’t 24-hours
More or less than four seasons/seasons other than the ones we know
Fantastical weather patterns like irregular cloud formations, iridescent rain
Multiple moons/no moon
Planetary rings
A northern lights effect, but near the equator
Roads that aren’t brown or grey/black, like San Juan’s blue bricks
Jewelry beyond precious gems and metals
Marriage signifiers other than wedding bands
The husband taking the wife's name / newlyweds inventing a new surname upon marriage
No concept of virginity or bastardry
More than 2 genders/no concept of gender
Monotheism, but not creationism
Gods that don’t look like people
Domesticated pets that aren’t re-skinned dogs and cats
Some normalized supernatural element that has nothing to do with the plot
Magical communication that isn’t Fantasy Zoom
“Books” that aren’t bound or scrolls
A nonverbal means of communicating, like sign language
A race of people who are obligate carnivores/ vegetarians/ vegans/ pescatarians (not religious, biological imperative)
I’ve done about half of these myself in one WIP or another and a little detail here or there goes a long way in reminding the audience that this isn’t Kansas anymore.
I truly hate the way dragons in wof border on wild instincts and human behavior. It's as unsettling as if Napoleon suddenly got on all fours, ran down the street, ate a live seagull, and then wiped his ass with a rock.
been sitting on this one for a WHILE
Я водяной, Я водяной, поговорил бы кто со мной
a wet gentleman
Weevil (Pachyrhynchus cabrasae), family Curculionidae, Philippines
photograph by Frank Deschandol
I just had some...thoughts... about sticking animal heads on human shoulders. Bear with me.
I think the reason some anthros look really strange (I’m looking at you, Skyrim) is because animal skulls don’t attach to their spines the same way ours do. Our spines and skulls are very vertical, but many animals’ are closer to horizontal.
Some people solve this by giving the animal skulls a human skull shape on the back. But, to me it makes them look somehow bald(??) and just kinda weird in general. If, instead, you change their necks to curve so that the spine still connects where their four legged counterparts’ do, they no longer look yucky! (And also don’t need a hair-do!)
This seems especially applicable for animals like big cats, cows, and lizards — animals whose spines attach very horizontally to their heads.
Anyway, enjoy some more art I did while having these very specific thoughts.
Cat color chart!
OPEN IN A NEW TAB TO ZOOM IN
This doesn’t contain eeeeevery single possible color mutation but it should cover the most common/interesting ones!
I’m not saying everything on this chart is 100% anatomically/genetically correct, but I tried to simplify it as much as I could!
Feel free to use this for your own designs!
DUUUDDEEE your art is insane!! I ADORE the scales you draw and render, and how you make so much of your illustrations look like real work staff from WoF would make! Do you have any tips for scales? Rendering? Drawing them :0?
thank you so much!! for scales, i'd recommend avoiding circle shapes and instead go for a more angular hexagonal shape! it reduces weird gaps in between the scales and makes the texture look a lot more tight-knit and interconnected
as for rendering, i think my best tip would be to start with shadows first. make a shadow layer, fill it in entirely with the base color for the shadows, and carve out the light source by erasing parts of the shadow layer. I've been trying out a new method of rendering which takes a lot less time but gives the same if not better results (using a color layer on multiply above a greyscale render layer with a color overlay to add color to the shadows! i'll go more in depth with this once i have a finished example piece to break down)
and i usually render scales by filling in each individual scale above the lineart to create an alpha mask and i use a clipping group using the mask
scale mask (normal layer mode, 100% opacity)
set to "color dodge" at 40% opacity, additional "shadow" layer (black color layer set to "erase" above the layers in the clipping group) used to create depth!
Tag yourself, I'm rough skinned newt
Just found out there's a group on inaturalist dedicated to showcasing the silliest observations
Useful
A shading/lighting tutorial by TamberElla of dA~ The supplement in the original has been added in here as well.
Dealing With Executive Dysfunction - A Masterpost
The “getting it done in an unconventional way” method.
The “it’s not cheating to do it the easy way” method.
The “fuck what you’re supposed to do” method.
The “get stuff done while you wait” method.
The “you don’t have to do everything at once” method.
The “it doesn’t have to be permanent to be helpful” method.
The “break the task into smaller steps” method.
The “treat yourself like a pet” method.
The “it doesn’t have to be all or nothing” method.
The “put on a persona” method.
The “act like you’re filming a tutorial” method.
The “you don’t have to do it perfectly” method.
The “wait for a trigger” method.
The “do it for your future self” method.
The “might as well” method.
The “when self discipline doesn’t cut it” method.
The “taking care of yourself to take care of your pet” method.
The “make it easy” method.
The “junebugging” method.
The “just show up” method.
The “accept when you need help” method.
The “make it into a game” method.
The “everything worth doing is worth doing poorly” method.
The “trick yourself” method.
The “break it into even smaller steps” method.
The “let go of should” method.
The “your body is an animal you have to take care of” method.
The “fork theory” method.
The “effectivity over aesthetics” method.
PUT SOME CLOTHES ON
I was going to do the one big image I had of the, but it was blurry so here’s a bunch of smaller ones
Here’s the big one btw:
I made an art/anatomy tutorial about birds! I hope people will find it helpful!
I can and will
Having people like my ocs is so embarrassing like nooooo don't look at himmm I'm still building himmmm 😢😢😢 nooo he's not ready for you yet 😢😢😢😢😢😢 he's still in pre-release beta version 0.8 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
not doomed by the narrative but saved by the narrative. yeah i know you'd rather die than keep suffering but the story doesn't actually care what you want. you have to keep going, even when it hurts. even being erased from existence won't stop you from being salvaged from the wreckage of un-being. get up. keep pushing. keep bleeding. keep living.
TBOFS CONTEST TOP THREE WINNERS
this was tough, to say the least. SO MANY beautiful designs (which I’ll be compiling as the voting goes on) and so many tough decisions between them. I chose the three that I could see best with the prompt, but everyone did so so well. Thank you for your submissions.
TOP THREE WINNERS (voting is below them)
@sidyashchiy-na-plakhe
Allseer! I’m in love with the shapes used, and the colors and patterns are wonderful. Overall totally hit the mark with “recognizable but not overloaded”! He looks like he’d fit right in with the gang.
@longbird47
Naysayer! I loved this one because I didn’t expect a Karen type, but I’m not complaining! Was pleasantly surprised. Very unique wings, and her face is perfect for her personality idea.
@cowgomoo1123
Brightfuture! I found myself being really drawn to this design. The pink belly is super cute, and I adore the wing patterns. I was really stuck between Brightfuture and a few others, but kept coming back to him.
VOTING
Go ahead and pick who you think should win! Each winner will receive a doodle of a character of their choosing, and the top design will be the official character for the story. I want to say I hope there’s no hard feelings, or disappointment to people who weren’t chosen. I love EVERY design submitted, and I encourage you to use the character if you wish :] whether it be making them your own, selling them, etc.
Canonically, it's Clearsight
I should make a new voting game for "who serves the most cunt in wings of fire" and the blaze clears
Another 4 designs from the past few months.
Species combos: purple gallinule/African wild dog, black and white hawk eagle/giant panda, hooded crow/striped hyena, and purple gallinule/maned wolf.
Will upload more later.
Some designs of griffons that I've done before. Technically they were me figuring out a character for the Girfugol ARPG, but there's a slim chance I'll actually use any of these.
Species combos: dromeosaurus albertensis/Quercylurus major, yellow bellied sunbird asity/tufted pygmy squirrel, African skimmer/oriental cat, and Anchiornis huxleyi/Yoshi garevskii
This is part 1, I'll show off more designs.
NightWing design I did for @beefscrap
"I call her Naysayer, though that might be too silly, idk. Perhaps that name was given to her in the hopes that she wouldn't be too gullible and fall for fanciful things. She's the stuck up, boomer Karen type. The condescending teacher that seems to hate kids and you'd wonder why she chose to be that in the first place. She's a history professor, though not super reliable and might alter records to fit her beliefs. Very skeptical about anything magic, since she's all about there being scientific explanations and calculations to everything. A bit hypocritical considering how little sense dragons make but she's not gonna admit that. She doesn't really believe in mind readers and seers either, seeing it all as an elaborate scam. She definitely doesn't let her children read about magic, or anything fantastical at all. Design wise, I gave her musty looking colors and some pearls to clutch. Plus glasses, a ring, earring, some eyeshadow, and some starry stripes that may be reminiscent of a certain flag that has stars and stripes. I draw NightWings with bat features, beaks, and plantigrade feet."
[Image ID: digital art of a NightWing from Wings of Fire in a simplified style, facing left. The character is of a medium build, with a long, narrow face. She has dark, dull reddish scales, with a lighter underside and darker legs, with stripes, the back, and the top of the tail of the same dark color. 3 white teardrops on the neck and tail each. She has long, pointy ears, a sharp nose horn at the end of her gray beak, and downturned gray horns. Claws are also gray. Has some of her teeth exposed in a disapproving expression. She has some wrinkles under her eye, and wears purplish eyeshadow. She has golden glasses connected to the horns by a string, a pearl earring, a gold ring on one finger, and a string of pearls necklace. There are three spines going down her neck and three more at the base of her tail. Her wings are dark with a few stripes of white dots across the inner membrane. End ID]
Looks interesting, may join
(NOT DISCORD EXCLUSIVE) (REPOSTS APPRECIATED VERY MUCH)
edit: If you aren't participating via the Discord server, please message me if u want to apply to participate off-site
Edit 2: If u join thru the Discord server, pls say the codeword listed in the rules and which team you want upon your arrival. I'd like to encourage you to join Team Turtle since they have less people, but it's not currently required.
I'm hosting a Wings of Fire Artfight! Lookin for more participants.
Teams r Peril vrs Turtle, it will run from Dec 15th - Feb 15th (The doubled duration is to make up for the fact that, unlike OG Artfight, most of us will have school and less time to draw.)
(reposting the ad because I finally made the Google doc 4 it!!)
Please read the google doc at the bottom of the post, as it contains 3 codewords which have to be included in your request to join. (Unless u use the discord server)
Discord server (not required): https://discord.gg/2ryERJHA
Google docs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VM0oxiHjY7tf95e8JSEVY8myUDj3ADPyWLdMjlO50Tc/edit?usp=sharing
Another food for thought. What if Firestar joined WindClan instead of ThunderClan? Tallstar was close with Jake and would probably see him in Firepaw. They already had an interesting dynamic but it could be explored more. Maybe a father/son or mentor/apprentice relationship. Replace Graystripe with Onewhisker, who Fireheart already knew anyways. And the main antagonist would become Brokenstar instead of Tigerstar. Yellowfang could go to WindClan instead, as it also borders ShadowClan. More conflict would happen about taking her in because ShadowClan drove them out, but she's just a medicine cat so they might let her in. WindClan wouldn't depend on ThunderClan anymore. They'd be the hero clan. Now ThunderClan would need rescuing from Tigerstar or a senile Bluestar. And it would avoid the whole Onestar going crazy to prove his clan's independence from ThunderClan thing. Firestar could still choose Onewhisker as his deputy after Tallstar makes him leader. Firestar could've started off as a barn cat instead of a kittypet for this, he could even know Barley. And the fire alone prophecy could be made by Barkface instead of Spottedleaf. So I'd say that Firestar could've worked as a WindClan cat just as well as a ThunderClan one. And WindClan is just cooler in my opinion. If there's an AU like that out there already that is awesome.
Food for thought here. So Starflight hatched on the brightest night, yeah? Well imagine if his egg was left in moonlight and he hatched with Darkstalker levels of mind reading and future seeing abilities. Being able to dig around dragon's minds and casually look into the future whenever he wanted. It would make for such a cool story. He could serve as an exposition dump or as a way to foreshadow. It would also make the reveal that NightWings don't actually have powers anymore much more impactful as the only one we've seen does have powers. It would be a shock for the NightWings themselves too. Or it could be done with Sunny instead of Starflight. I know this would ruin Moon's whole character and story but my friend and I found this a bit of a missed opportunity. I'm not gonna make this into an AU, but if anyone likes this idea and wants to write about it please do. Or if someone already has, I would love to see that.
Joining
!!! DESIGN A STORY CHARACTER CONTEST !!!
Finally, it’s here! To celebrate 400 PLUS followers now, I’m hosting a WOF design challenge/contest! Your mission is to design a character that’s going to appear in TBoFS 2. The character is already decided, and you’ll be given information/prompts to design them. First place winner will have their design be the official design for the character, and anyone who doesn’t win can keep theirs! So keep in mind that if you win, I’ll be the ‘owner’ of your design and the character.
!!! GENERAL INFO !!!
- 1ST PLACE PRIZE: Your design will be the official design in the story! You also get a free dumb doodle from me of any OC (or character) you want.
- 2ND PLACE + 3RD PLACE: You’ll each receive a doodle, as well as being featured as winners when they’re announced! Of course!
- Anyone else who submits a design will get honorable mentions, and your design will be linked when winners are announced.
- Very little artistic bias is involved. Not being able to ‘draw well’ isn’t an issue, as long as you have good ideas and a good imagination!
- DESIGNS ARE DUE BY [ Friday, December 20th ] !!! I’ll have results by December 25th!
- I’ll personally be picking the top 3, then put a poll up that lasts for 1 DAY. This will determine the winners.
- TO SUBMIT YOUR DESIGN: Either tag me in a post or send in my asks inbox! I will be reblogging/posting with the hashtag #TBOFS2DESIGNCHALLENGE (and you can post with the tag too ofc!)
- Please ask questions if you have them!
!!! RULES !!!
- I have faith in people but PLEASE BE NICE! I don’t want fighting for any reason, I don’t want unwanted criticism of people’s designs, etc. I want this to be enjoyable for EVERYONE, even if you don’t win!
- You may only submit ONE DESIGN! If there’s some sort of issue where you need to resubmit, just let me know!
- Another reminder that the first place winner gives me ownership of the design, and I’ll put them up on my Toyhouse folder. Please don’t submit to win if you’re uncomfortable with this!
- I have faith about this too, but just in case: don’t submit inappropriate art. If I find out you draw gross feral art/sexualize dragons I won’t accept your design and you’re blocked.
- Similarly, no design you submit should be offensive or hateful in any way.
!!! DESIGN INFO !!! finally the fun stuff
- The character is a PURE NIGHTWING.
- I prefer to stick to MOSTLY canon color choices, but some deviation from this is welcome! Ask if you aren’t sure, but feel free to look at the character designs in my TBoFS Toyhouse folder. That should give a good idea.
- Adding accessories and even little headcanons for the character are fully welcomed and encouraged (keeping in mind that some headcanons may not end up to be true, lol!)
- Name ideas are welcome, too!
- YOUR GENERAL PROMPT IS: a snobby, intelligent, standoffish Nightwing who does not believe in animus magic as it exists.
- Keeping my prompt pretty vague so you can have fun! The best designs (to me) are ones that’re recognizable. Not necessarily jam packed with accessories and colors and stuff… just recognizable.
- Your designs may be sketched, lined, etc, but my main requirements are that it’s at least a fullbody + colored. You CAN add more visuals to the design if you want (front face view, mouth view, paws, wing view, etc etc). It does NOT have to be digital!
Woo hoo! Have fun and thank you again for your support!
All my homies live in the void
