Scrapbox-in-the-attic - Assorted References

I’ve had a HELL of a day trying to figure out skulls and facial structure, but here’s some stuff I did about proportions and shading and coloring. Face structure was referenced from this,

Shading locations I actually picked up from a thing that’s about makeup I’m pretty sure, but it gave some good results so I rolled with it. And the info on hue in faces are what I applied from this post. Gives the skin some more natural glow? Play around with settings and stuff.

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I’ve been asked a lot about how I draw hoods, mostly Talon’s hood, so I hope this helps a little? Just a pretty basic thing but hey there ya go

Hoods are pretty cool, they usually have a lot of variety in how they can look (and sometimes people even wear two hoods at once) so just get creative with it and have fun

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!! ART TUTORIAL !!

This is my first real attempt at doing a walkthrough for one of my landscapes, I’d really appreciate some feedback!

it is pretty much my workflow process, there’s always something slightly big to change during render I should have solved earlier!

Anyway everyone, feel free to message me if you have any questions and I hope this helps anyone!!

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“Where should I host my webcomic?”

If you’re making a new webcomic it’s often difficult to decide where to put it, especially since if you need this kind of resource you’re probably just starting out. So, here’s some info I’ve gathered on some popular hosting platforms and their benefits/downsides. I’m not an artist, so this isn’t an inside scoop, but I’ve put some research into this and I know what artists have said about their experiences. All of these platforms are free and public to use unless noted otherwise.

Tapas (aka Tapastic)

Tapas is a website and app that is made for hosting webcomics.

Example - Example

Benefits:

VERY well known, one the most popular hosting platforms around.

It’s mostly set up so users check out as many comics as possible -> easier time attracting readership.

Once you start getting subscriptions it starts figuring out what other comics get similar readership. It’ll start recommending your comic and you’ll get more consistent readers.

It’s very easy to use and smoothly designed. Pefect for new artists.

There’s kind of a social aspect to it? I don’t know how to describe it. Every user has a page you can comment on and there’s a robust comment system on pages/episodes.

TAPAS TIPPING. A brilliant, original system. Users can watch ads for “tapas coins”, which they can “tip” towards their favorite artists! This turns into free real money for you. You can also apply to tapas premium to make a comic or novel that’s unlocked per episode with coins. (novels are only acessible on the tapas app, which it seems to be moving towards)

Downsides:

It’s very reader-centered. Not so much on artists.

In fact it recently tried a really sketchy move where it added a clause to its terms of service potentially restricting where else artists could post even the free comics. It was later removed after sitewide backlash and mass comic removal.

No control over how your website appears. You get to make a banner and an icon, that’s it. This could be a good thing, since you don’t have to worry about it and its theme works very well.

Sometimes it’s a little buggy. I’ve noticed a lot of artists post with links to other platforms and apologies because it won’t let them add an update.

How to Join:

Create a free account.

Create your comic.

LINE Webtoon

Example - Example

Webtoons is a free website and app for hosting webcomics.

Benefits:

Similar to Tapas, but with a more high-class feel.

(By that I mean I see very few debut artists and more professionals there.)

It’s about as easy to use, and it’s becoming much more well-known, especially after the mass exodus to Webtoons after the Tapas TOS incident. They also advertise comics on others’ pages with similar readership, but it’s kinda skewed towards comics that already have a lot of readers. I get the feeling that it’s focused on providing a good experience for its users more than reading a lot of comics.

You still cannot control how your site works, but again, what they give you is very good.

Every month the staff chooses some comics to become “featured” artists. Featured Artists make $2000/month as long as they don’t post on any other webcomic sites. As the name implies, they also advertise you more. They really like to mention this benefit.

Downsides:

You might not get any traffic? Mostly the biggest problem is just having to use its framework which is designed for webcomics.

How to Join:

Create a free account.

Create your comic.

Smackjeeves

Example - Example

Smackjeeves is yet another free host for webcomics.

Benefits:

You get a subdomain automatically, which you can heavily customize the appearance of.

It has a very social format compared other hosts.

Smackjeeves also recommends comics, but not on other comics’ pages. You can explore comics throughtout the site.

Downsides:

I personally find the website very confusing. I can’t imagine it’s much better on the artist side of things.

How to Join:

Create a free account.

Create your comic.

Tumblr

Example - Example

You’re on it! Tumblr is a social media platfrom that is based on users having one or more blogs to create streams of posts with.

Benefits:

Tumblr blogs already have a “page” format for scrolling through chunks of posts. Just set your post per page ratio to one and voila! Already looks very similar to actual webomic sites.

One of the highlights of Tumblr as a social media platform is being able to manually edit your blog’s HTML. There are even publicly available user-made themes for webcomics.

It’s a social media platform! It’s very easy to interact with your fanbase.

A lot of webcomic fans use Tumblr - it’s well-suited to fandom in particular.

Your updates would in reality be posts on a blog. Readers might reblog them and share your work with other people. It’s by far the best platform for word-of-mouth advertisement.

If you’re reading this you probably already know how to use it.

Downsides:

Tumblr is just … not made for webcomics. At all.

Archiving in particular is very counterintuitive for webcomics. Page urls are not static - “page 2” is the second-most recent update, not the second page. In order to find an individual update you have to actually page back to it or scroll through the default uneditable archive.

How to Join:

Get a free account.

If you already have one, you can simply create a sideblog. But you might want a whole account just for the comic - outgoing likes and asks show up as your main blog, so if you’re using a sideblog it exposes your personal/main blog whenever you interact with fans.

Edit your blog’s theme extensively.

Begin posting your updates.

Custom Website

Example - Example

No external host. Make your own website, just for your comic!

Benefits:

ABSOLUTE CONTROL. You decide how it looks, how it works, and what features it has. Most webcomic sites have similar formats: prominent centered pages (and usually the current update on the “main” page), first/previous/next/recent buttons, an archive, an about page, information on when it updates, etc. But in general everything is 100% up to you.

I cannot stress that ^^^ enough.

No license or restrictions of any kind. Except, like, laws. Obviously.

Many features are easy to add to your website. Disqus (Insertable commenting platform. Sorta structured like Reddit) is getting more and more popular and I haven’t heard anyone mention it costing anything.

You can get ad revenue from your site, and 100% of it goes to you.

Downsides:

Unless you have the skills to make a functional professional website on your own, it costs money. Plus, there’s the relatively small monthly/yearly cost of reserving a domain name.

Finicky and difficult to fix problems. When Tapas eats your update, you wait a day or two before it works again. When the commenting system disappears, you have to call whoever made your website or fix it yourself.

There’s no real way of attracting readership (and ad revenue!) other than word-of-mouth or paying for ads. No handy recommendation system in place. This is ONLY a move for someone who already has a guaranteed reader base. However, almost every popular comic artist eventually gets their own site so it must be worth it past a certain threshold.

How to Join:

Get a domain name and a website.

Post your comic on your new website.

Advertise the heck out of it.

SpiderForest

Example - Example

SpiderForest is a collective of comic artists, not a public service. You must apply to join.

Benefits:

The application process isn’t very strict; it’s there so that it isn’t flooded with low-quality comics. Not sure how I feel about it but it works pretty well for them.

You get the benefits of any vetted group. They advertise you on their main site, and being a member adds credibility to your work.

Even though it is an exclusive group, its policy allows unlimited mirrors, so you can still use anything else you want.

Downsides:

In order to be a member you have to have at least one mirror on a custom site they can link to or host directly on their site. Not much of a downside but still.

Your comic should already exist somewhere else. They generally won’t approve pitches for potential projects, unless you’re already an established creator with previous work to show instead.

It’s not as well known? It’s still pretty high up there.

How to Join:

Apply using the link at the top of their main page.

Be accepted.

Post your comic on your associated Spiderworks site.

Hiveworks

Example - Example

Hiveworks is a for-profit professional organization. You don’t ask to be a member, Hiveworks asks you to join. There’s like a 95% chance you should SAY YES.

Benefits:

Hiveworks gives you a free website (see: custom website benefits)

All Hiveworks sites have a little sidebar advertising other hiveworks comics. They also advertise your comic on their main aggregate site.

They look for good comics, it’s their job. Having their logo on your site is a testament to the quality of your work. You’ll get so many readers and comissions, trust me on this one.

Downsides:

You do have to provide some art to them. They’ll sell merch of your comic (which you get a large cut of!), and you need to provide icons and banners for them to advertise you with. When they do well, you do well, and vice versa.

If you are a member you cannot host your comic any new sites, especially their biggest competitor, SpiderForest. This contract lasts a while. Sometimes you get to keep your existing ones, though.

^^ Contracts. There’s still the tiniest bit of risk, but it’s a reputable organization.

How to Join:

Be asked to by Hiveworks.

Negotiate a contract.

This is all of the things I have been able to learn as a reader. If one or more of them sounds promising for you, try and send a message asking an artist who uses these platforms for what they think. Good luck!

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I might've added the BG3 Art Book to my dnd assets stash

It' 100% does not have things like the 5e players' handbook + 5e’s character sheet, several gm guides, critical role's explorer's guide to wildmount, baldur's gate and waterdeep city encounters, 101 potions and their effects, volo's guide to monsters, both of xanathar's guides, a bunch of other encounters, one shots, and class builds

In no way are there any pdf’s relating to any wizard who may or may not be residing on any coast

(Edit that I’ve moved the folder to the new link above! So if you catch a different version of this post that link won’t work anymore!)

For all the photographers out there.

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You think “oh it would be useful to learn how to identify my thrifted yarn and clothing” and before you know it you’ve been recruited by fiber witches giving out their spells willy nilly, again

Ufoparty’s Fur Tutorial! by ufoparty

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need refs/inspo for period clothing?

here you go:

Medieval (9th-15th century):

10th century and earlier

Romance (1000-1250)

11th century

12th century

13th century

more 13th century

14th century

more 14th

15th century

and more 15th century

Gothic (1150-1550)

Renaissance (1520-1650)

16th & 17th century

16th century

more 16th

Tudors (1500-1550)

more Tudors

Elizabethan Period (1558-1603)

Jacobean Era (1603-1625)

17th century

more 17th century

and again

and even more

this won’t stop

Baroque (1600-1750)

Georgian Period (1714-1830):

18th century

more 18th century

18th century women’s fashion

18th century men’s fashion

Rococo (1720-1770)

Classicism (1770-1790)

children 18th-19th century

Regency Preiod (1811-1820)/ Empire (1800-1820s):

1790-1820s

more stuff on regency and georgian era

even more

that’s not enough regency

and more

how is there so much

early 19th century men’s wear

early 19th century women’s wear

Victorian Period (1837-1901):

Romantic Era (1820-1840s)

Civil War Era/1850-1860s

1870-1890s

more victorian

Edwardian Period (1901-1910):

1900-1910s

Belle Epoque (1880-1910s)

more edwardian/belle époque

Modern:

1910s-1920s [Fashion between the World Wars]

1920s

more roaring 20s

so much 20s

1920s hairstyles

1930s

1930-1940s

1930-1950s

1950s

more 50s

1960s

1960-1970s

1980s

lots of periods in one spot/fashion through centuries:

here, here, and here is almost everything (and properly ordered)

also here with lots of historic fashion magazines

100 years of beauty (includes lots of other cultures too!)

historic fashion

costumes of antiquity

more historical clothing

history of fashion

more history of fashion

“vintage” clothing

historic costumes

children’s historical fashion/toys

details

historic wedding dresses

historic assecoires (hats, shoes…)

hats

masks

parasols

lots of embroidery/jewlery

it indeed is western/european centric, I’m sorry for that, but for other cultures I simply don’t have so many references

ALSO note that most of the pictures show historical clothing from the upper classes or more festive clothing of the lower/working class because normal working clothes wouldn’t survive for such a long time, and the clothes were often re-used over and over again!

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Great descriptions to bounce off of. Helps brainstorming.

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