Andy

"Lament! Terror! Despair! I shall kindly teach them all to you! And in your final moment, I... shall kill you by my own hand!!"

pandora hearts print for anime north this weekend 🥀🖤🤍

I also put this up on my inprnt! there's a sitewide sale for 40% off right now 🌟

For this drawing, I really wanted to emphasize the gothic and chaotic, convoluted nature of the series. Pandora Hearts has become a lot of things to me, as someone who's read it since I was like, 14 years old. but I eventually found the perfect words to sum up the series - a cross between a Shakespearean tragedy and a Grimm fairy tale.

The ink brush + watercolour brushes I used turned out so well together!! I wanted the style to be kind of a nod to like the manga cover art you'd see from the late 90s to 2000s, kind of like Mochizuki's early approach to traditional art.

A lighter approach to both the lineart + coloring also helped me not strain my arm too much - besides work, I stopped doing full illustrations due to the amount of work being heavy on my arm/shoulder T__T. my last full illustrations were the TGAA/DGS zine + WHA zine pieces back in Dec-Jan, but my heart really lies in illustrations more than anything and I definitely want to get back into it!! (as long as my physical health allows it!!)

anyways, above is the thumbnail/inspiration board for this drawing! I also did some quick chickenscratch studies of others' drawings to help me get a sense of their composition. I started on the top left and then made a sort of meandering curve through... definitely went through a lot of ideas for this one. If I explained the intended symbolism.. I would be here.. all day..............

the candles were definitely first inspired by an animation of a lighter I did during art skool... and then I did this AA Dahlia animated illust... and then this OC charm (below) I did in 2022...? maybe I should draw fire more often. it's like, the way that fire looks in animated keyframes that I really like drawing out, and I guess I kinda really enjoyed translating that into a non moving visual medium??

This drawing simultaneously took SO long but I also sped through it?? I had to like... not dwell too long on certain parts... like for example I think some individual character compositions really could be a lot stronger... because I knew this would be a beast of a drawing, I didn't want to spend an unnecessary amount of time focusing on details when I should be looking at the big picture. and I know that's a bad habit of mine!! I'm trying to unlearn my perfectionism!!

thanks for reading if you got this far, hope ya enjoy it!! and I hope I'll keep drawing Pandora Hearts in the future (clearly I haven't stopped since high school omg) and I hope to draw some more Vanitas someday beyond just chibis!

I love looking back at old art of mine. I tried do hard to make it just right and took an obnoxiously long time for every drawing. However, I'm much happier with my art now, with a simpler style and more opportunity for me to actually enjoy it rather than staring at it for so long that I hate it by the time I'm done. (aka art rant time, since I can do that here!!)

These four drawings are from within a span of at least two years. To explain, the top two are drawings of Catacombtale!Grillby (or Chance). The one on the left was my first version (an entry to a contest to draw Grillbys), the one on the right I redrew later on. The bottom left is something I drew for a crossover contest last year sometime, involving Dream and Nightmare (Jokublog). Lastly, bottom right is another contest drawing for the concept of an X-Tale oc (I used Ec-4o.Nightmare).

The first drawing of Chance is easily a good example of an attempt to make the drawing look fun and inviting. I've got a decently fund pose, the colors are warm, and there's a simple background. However, I did this Lineless. Why? I don't know, but I don't like it. Plain and simple, this is my least favorite of the drawings pictured because I took so long to meticulously shade and color and it still wasn't worth it. Served it's purpose for the time, but that's it.

The second one of Chance is overall better. I used cooler colors, and by now I kinda understood how to put deoth into backgrounds. The style I used for him is fine too. Here, I hate the posing. His composition in comparison to everything else makes him look like he's about to fall off his stool. His second set of arms look stupid too, since I recall I either forgot them or didn't want to draw more hands, so I just folded them unnaturally. Better, but not my favorite.

The Fnaf/UTAU crossover drawing is my favorite in concept. It's not the best drawing style, not the worst. I'd redo the designs slightly if given the chance. However, the composition and background I'd keep almost identical. I really liked how the background came out for this one (minus the doorway) because I started to paint my backgrounds around this time. The character poses, I like Night's more, but Dream's is good enough for it's purpose. The execution of using two characters with brand new designs works well enough here, but as I said, I took too much time with minimal effort for this to be too good. (Also completely skipped shading in favor of darker colored gaussian blur.)

The bottom right, X-Night, is my favorite of these specific four. The body proportions are clearly more rounded and small, the style of lineart and colors are very simple and bold, and most of the real charm cones from the lighting and after affects rather than meticulous shading or complex backgrounds. There were still things I'd change if given the chance, but this is a perfect example of my mindset at the time too. The other three drawings here were fun, but I drew them with other people's expectations in mind. For this piece? I drew what I wanted to, since it was my (relatively speaking) design and my art. I'm not as active or social on the app I drew these for anymore. So, I'm much less inclined to please the overlords that might've gotten it more popular had I drawn it in a more realistic or engaging style.

Don't get me wrong, I loved being on that site and drawing so much. I like all of the pieces I posted on too. However, this is a good chance to reflect on what exactly I've been doing all this time in the UT Fandom and how it helped me improve my art over the course of just barely 3 or 4 years.

More looks back on this, a continuation, will be coming soon. This is gonna be a long rant I'll probably revisit often just to catalog ideas for redraws, as well as notes for myself. (Not all of it is degrading, because I plan my next one to be about what things I have enjoyed drawing and why, followed by a completely redraw-cebtric post!

Hello! Your artwork is amazing!😃 You inspire me to start drawing again! I have several questions for you (if you don't mind😅). How did you find your art style? Do you use traditional media or digital? Also how do you manage to draw different anatomical positions? Thank you💕

Nonnie you’re gonna make me cry! I’m so glad to hear that though! If you share your work online, be sure to tag me cause I’d love to see it!

Not at all!

How did I find my art style: Well...I’m not sure if I really have? It doesn’t feel like I have, but looking back on old work I can see a difference. I’ll be honest - I see things that other artists have been inspired by, and start out trying to imitate it. If I don’t like the way it’s turning out I’ll tweak it until I do (and by that point it looks nothing like what I was studying). Doing realistic portraits has helped, especially with jawlines. So even in fanart I’ll still be using some elements of portraits, just not all the crazy details. It takes time, and it’s not something to stress over. It happens gradually and with practice.

Traditional or digital: Both, actually! I’ll use HB, 2B, 4B, and 6B pencils, a white rubber eraser, and a kneaded eraser for pencil drawings. Sometimes work in shading with a couple Wet n’ Wild eye makeup brushes when I can’t find my tortillions. When I use colored pencils, it’s a combination of Pigma Micron pens for inking, gel pens for effects, Prismacolors, and Crayolas with a colorless blender. For digital work, most of the time I’m scanning in a pencil sketch and going over it. I’ll do lineart in Paint Tool Sai, then bring it over into Photoshop CC 2017. Sometimes I’ll use Paint Shop Pro 2019, but lately it’s been giving me fits so I’m trying to get acclimated to Photoshop for the majority of my digital work. Drawing anatomical positions: Practice. A lot of practice, swearing, and scrapped sketches.

I have a ridiculous amount of references both in binders and on my computer for all sorts of things. Clothes, static poses, dynamic poses, it’s endless. Sometimes I’ll attempt to reference the pose to a T and it just doesn’t work. Either it has something to do with the character I’m drawing or the way my eye perceives it, but I’ve been known to move an arm “just so” so that it looks “right” to my eye. It’s not always a hit, and foreshortening is still an enemy of mine. So if you’re practicing with a pose that you know for certain is out of your range, sketch lightly! Cause sometimes you gotta make that pose work for you in the moment, and then years later you might recreate it and find out you have the skills to execute it better.

I hope that helps, nonnie!

Rant time (oof)

I go to school. At this school of mine, we have an art department. Within this art department, I scribble away at my latest drawing. It's a semi-realistic eye, and, to be quite honest, a very good work on my part. However. I would love to show it off, I really would! But I can't. This teacher lets us do.... letter patterns...... and Letter patterns...... and letter patterns..... No, nothing useful, just letter patterns. You see, my teacher has a mentality that only realism is 'true art'. I think all of you know my style by now. Defined lineart, simple colours, sometimes cel shading. I'm very happy and efficient with this style of art. Well, was. My teacher is obsessed with shading. Realistic shading. I can't shade like that, I don't have the patience. So from now on, I am no longer good at art. Sorry but, that's what the teacher says, and teachers are ALWAYS right? Right?? No. Don't EVER let someone tell you you aren't good at art because of your style. I don't want anyone giving up on art because of someone's stupid opinion. Do what you enjoy, and you can only improve. This teacher I have is narrow-minded, has 'favourite students', and doesn't like my art because 'digital art is the easiest thing in the world'. Mhm, do go on. Tell me how easy it is. Yep yep yep. Now can I tell you about how stuff can glitch, how much work I put into my stuff, and all the wonderful tools I can use? Oh, sorry, I forgot, Teachers are always right, of course, of course. I don't particularly care, but, there's a point where this stuff GETS to you. I've lost a lot of sleep, and the Shadow-whisperers (cough slumbertale cough) have been more frequent than ever. I've seen people just give up on art because they couldn't do realism like the teacher instructed. And I saw so much potential in them. That's why if someone tells you that sort of stuff, they're narrow-minded or just dont like you. Second teacher. She is.... worrying. She's a substitute. Let's call her Ms/Mrs L. I am discussing stuff with my friend, Chris, in Maths. He's trying to do work, but the date is wrong and it's triggering our OCD. Chris asks Ms/Mrs L, and she launches in a tirade about how she's been a teacher for so long and she doesn't need us bothering her. It's still triggering us. Us, being the stupid 12 year olds we are, get the student helping Mrs/Ms L (Oh did I mention she never does any actual teaching?) to change the date. Mrs/Ms L sees Chris saying thanks, and boy, I still get chills from the look look of pure rage in her eyes. She marches over to Chris, grabs him by the arm, and yells. Like, not teacher yelling, full up SCREAMS at this 11 year old kid, who's the smallest guy in the year sevens. "HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT ME IN THAT WAY YOU LITTLE BRAT!!!" She full on screams for about 10 seconds, then drags Chris out the room, forcefully. I asked him to show me the force later, and he got to drag me around. It was a lot of force. The room goes silent, as outside her raised voice continues. Chris comes in five minutes later, looking.... subdued. Chris is a bouncy, hyperactive kid. And he's my friend. I stay behind after class and talk to her about it. She's adamant Chris is the devil. I can't do anything about it. That was a long time ago, and I still remember it clearly. Then came the breaking point for me. It's social science. We're close to packing up, and we've cut and stuck quite a few things. The paper is building up, so Alyssa (My friend) asks me to put it in the bin as I'm closest. Reasonable request. I get up, and am about halfway to the trash can, when someone grabs me, pulls me back. I am extremely hapephobic around anyone I don't know very well. I can't stand brushing against anyone in a crowd, its that bad. I whirl around, and I just stand there in shock. It was Mrs/Ms L! I... I'm not thinking clearly. Did a teacher just.... pull me back? On purpose? What is she going to do to me?? I barely refrain from a full blown panic attack, which are way too common for me, and seriously affect me. I had some physical bullying done to me when I was little, and its still mental trauma. "We wait til we're going out of the room at the end of class to do that." Mrs/Ms L says. I mumble something and go back to sit on my seat. "What do we do?" she asks, like I'm a child. "I-I'll wait til I'm going out of the room at end of class to put paper in the paper bin." I spit this with enough venom in my voice to not be noticeable, but I'm shaking as I sit back down. There have been reports of her verbally abusing students, but no grabbing them, until my last friend, Charlie, was in PE. We wear our bibs like superhero capes sometimes. It's fun, and the teachers have had no issue with it. Until Mrs/Ms L is subbing for our teacher. Badminton. Not ideal, but fun all the same. I'm with Charlie, Alyssa, and Liam (My bf :3). Not a bad team at all! We're the green bibs. Mrs/Ms L suddenly storms up and pushes through us as we're talking to Charlie. My heart sinks. Forcefully, Charlie is grabbed by his collarbone area. "PUT YOUR BIB THE RIGHT WAY!" she howls, and I snarl lowly. "Hey! Get off him! Let go of him! You can't touch students!" I yelp, and push my way to him, and I stand in front of Charlie. She backs off, with me hurling legal phrases after her. I made an appointment with the Dean, but I haven't had the chance yet. It's been 2 months, and to be quite honest, when I had music with her, I was scared. Scared that I'd lose control and physically defend my friends and classmates. I hate injustice, and she's gotten away with too much for me to be comfortable around her. I feel like.... one day, she's gonna seriously injure me or my friends. And I won't be able to help. Yes, I am afraid. I don't know what to do, to be honest. The school could just kick me out for being a 'troublemaker'. But I'm scared, and I want some help.

Hiya there folks! I present you a drawing I finished tonight, I was working on it back on december 2018. But I left it aside because I wasn’t sure if people were going to like it…or not. Since the theme is fitness and I’m not sure if it’s something interesting for my watchers. But tonight I saw it lying on my computer and I decided to finish the last details and share it. It’s based on an old sketch I did from my original Character Estelle, who happens to be french :D It was a gift for a dear friend of mine who is fan of her, and always left great feedback on my drawings of her, so to thank him I shared with him that one sketch. And he liked it a lot!

I commented him that at one point when she was younger, Estelle used to be a fitness girl, so he told me that he always wondered how she could look at that time. And asked me if he could ink my sketch and help me with doing the lineart of my sketch to make her a bit more muscled to ressemble to that age. I thought it was a cool idea and this is the result!

He did the lineart of my sketch, and then I did the coloring. I’m very excited to share this cos it’s my first collab! And it means a lot to me that he appreciated that little sketch so much to work with it! So here, this drawing is a giftart to him for supporting my work all these years, and specially for being a true friend for me since I met him! I'm  very happy and honored to have work with such great artist! :D  I hope you like her sculptural body and also the vintage inspired swimsuit, and of course…the dialogue in french!!! :D Estelle have always had strong arms because she likes sports like basketball and tennis. Also she loves ping pong. Oh also she’s the mom of one  of my characters of my comic. The best friend of my character Jean had a crush on her when he and his friend were teens, heheh. And a couple of her admirers on dA have said they think she’s a milf…So, who I am to say that’s not true? XD The character wasn’t created for that, but if people find her sexy and beautiful it’s always appreciated!  So I guess it makes sense to draw pinup illustrations of her, hehe

I wanted to go with the drawing tecnique with a 2D style, because of nostalgia hehe! I miss 2D style animation! I’m taking comissions right now by the way! :D Please sent me a private message here to know more details.                    

Hey everybody! I’m launching a little side-blog where you can send in art you’re having trouble with and I can see where it can be improved to help you out! Or, you can ask for advice on something specific! To show exactly how it’s going to work, I used an old piece of mine as an example.

(art dissection and critique under the cut)

Key points:

Anatomy:

The heads are pretty big! Be careful about that.

AVOID FLOUNDER-FACE. The side-mouth deal is a thing used in anime to cut down on animation costs. If you’re not animating, you shouldn’t use the flounder mouth.

The eyes are drawn as if they’re facing the viewer head-on. Be sure to shape the eye from the side - I find that they make a sort of sideways “A”-shape. I can elaborate on this if there’s a big enough demand!

That hand is MASSIVE. When the human hand lays flat, it is about the same size as the face.

Lineart:

The lines are very constrained and unnatural, as if the pen tool was used for all of it. There’s no pressure or movement, which takes away a lot of life from a piece. Try using some pen pressure, use your whole arm when drawing, and try out cleaning up sketches instead of fretting over perfect lineart. Nice colored lines, though!

Color/Shading:

Try a more colorful palette, instead of just adding black or white to get darker or lighter shades. Uses shades of brown with red, purple, orange, etc!

Don’t abuse the blur tool, or airbrushes. Try experimenting with a harder brush, and blending with the airbrush!

The placement of the shadows are a little strange and random. Remember the source of light, and think of the shapes of objects and how shiny they are. Wherever light hits, there’s a shadow right behind it!