I Hope This Poster Will Bring Some Sparkly Gigantic Crystal Rainbow Sword Magical Girl Space Magic Into

Finally got my friend's scanner working on my computer (drivers were NOT cooperating) and so now I can share random sketchbook crap! I've been teaching myself Arabic calligraphy, its super difficult because derp I don't know any Arabic :p but it's also so gorgeous so I keep at it! The top one is my name and the bottom is Katherine ("Kathni" in Arabic), both written in fancified Kufi cos that's my favorite form. Eventually when I know what the hell I am doing (so, very eventually, also I'd like to find someone who can spell check for me lol) I would like to offer people's names in Kufi as a commission service... thing. Cos its SO PRETTY omg.

Dug around in my archive drives for Discworld fanarts. I have a lot of Feelings I can’t articulate very well soooooo I’m not going to, just enjoy the draws xD FYI Zombie Reg is still one of my favorite faces I’ve drawn of all time, ever!

MAN I just remembered how I sketched the Vimes family portrait after I read Thud! I should find that and finish it...

If you want to paint yourself and your friends weird colors for Halloween season (OR if you’re a nerd who cosplays at every opportunity, or even when there aren’t opportunities because you’re obsessed with makeup like meeeee) I would like to reccomend airbrushing :D

Top photo is my airbrush kit which fits in a toiletry bag from ikea. It includes a mini compressor which you can get for about $40 on amazon.

I use a $20 Badger airbrush from Michaels. I honestly use it more often than my nicer double-action professional airbrush because ngl I get tired of cleaning that thing out. Paint doesn’t actually go through the Badger air gun at all so its easy to clean.

BEST of all, if you also make props or paint fabric for costumes, you can stop spending money on spray paint! Seriously, airbrushes are where it’s at.

THE KEY ITEM is the Badger to Master brand adapter! The most annoying thing about airbrushes is there’s no standard sizing and shapes for ANY brush item or accessory between brands. I got mine in a set from Amazon for about $9. This way you have the choice to use any compressor instead of the expensive air cans.

Anyone who’s tried to do white makeup knows how ANNOYING it is no matter what! Creme makeup has good coverage but it’s gross and gets everywhere no matter how much powder you use to set it! Airbrushing lets you get 100% coverage with water-based liquid body paint. I got the best results with two layers of white and two of Ben Nye final seal (a layer of sealer FIRST helps the color stick and adds a small amount of protective barrier from sweat/oil). The key is to get full coverage with the thinnest possible layers, it flakes off more easily the thicker the paint is applied. Diluting liquid makeup with sealer instead of water or mixing liquid helps too, I don’t have a brand preference and have Ben Nye and Mehron colors, and some more expensive alcohol-based brands for experiments.

Examples! My QT frans (and me, whatever lol) :3 I painted em and they did the rest of makeup and powder. Powder pigments for colors and shading seem to work best before paint is entirely dry, if it gets too dry for blush/shading/etc, I’ve had good results with a light spritz of sealer to make it tacky again. Riles glows in the dark because Mehron has glow body paint so I had to try it, NATURALLY! Also used pure glow pigment as ~gremlin blush~, TKB has it I want to buy it by the pound, lol LOOK AT THAT SPOOKY GLOW THO

OK hope that was informative enough, I’m trying not to make this twenty pages long ok? K.

Breakin in a new sketchbook.

ww!

alexds1 said: "What area of worldbuilding do you find to be the most challenging in terms of getting it believable enough to your satisfaction?

Oh geez. Actual storytelling I guess. Plot? Does that count? I do ok with character motivation cos I find that fun as all get out. But when it comes to creating Interesting Times and Mysteries™ and Shocking! Plot! Twists! I get a bit frustrated. All that writer advice to write the story you want to read? Well I'm PICKY. I'm very insecure about my writing even tho 99.9% of my drawing motivation comes from it. The majority of my ideas come to me as scenes with characters interacting, and then I struggle to piece that shit together into something coherent with a minimum of plot holes and not-boring. So hard.

Hmm ok something more specific to worldbuilding is when I'm trying to do something with alternate history and I do TONS of research but can't tell at all if I've done enough. Or what details might be higher priority or more relevant? I guess I can manage to avoid some rookie mistakes, but I personally loathe Did Not Do The Research and really really, really don't want to fall into that trap myself. Then there is the tricky issue of cultural appropriation when you're working on something that's not based on your own cultural experiences. So hard.

ww!

alexds1 answered your question: What kind of things inspire you to worldbuild?

Honestly? I just feel like it is the default form of my imagination. My mind just automatically goes to possible alternate realities and worlds and timelines what-if cause/effect stuff. It happens a lot when I think about my own life too which is a problem :| I have trouble existing in the present...

Another commision, D&D Tiefling! I was torn between overdoing the fog and... not overdoing it. Did I succeed? Psh I dunno, I like it though.

I tripled the density of hair on this lacefront so it took a looooong time. BUT Im super happy with how fluffy it is without any product 8D 1. ventilated widows peak & sideburns added 2. trimmed bangs 3. micro crimped 4. rollers 5. heat set into a SWOOSH 6. combed out no teasing or hairspray! floof!

I swear I didn't know this existed until I decided to googlehunt tablet pcs with wacom digitizers, and it's as glorious as it sounds. It's not without drawbacks (windows7 has very decent tablet pc tools, but I'm having a hell of a time trying to get pressure sensitivity AND multitouch working at the same time) but I'm just so happy to have a computer again asshdjkashdjahsd I CAN COLOR AGAIN

How did you come up with the design for you're merpeople? They're freaking epic.

They started out as pretty typical fishy merpeople, sort of like zora but with the usual fishtail lower half. But later I decided I'd rather they have legs and tail so that they could share a common ancestor with my trolls but also cos I do think it makes SLIGHTLY more anatomical sense. and then I made them more mammillian with dolphin and manatee type fins because thats more interesting to me too! And anglerfish foreheads because that's just more fun to draw. So its really almost always about what I enjoy drawing more... heh!