Art Tutorial Reblogs

I can't draw but I like looking at art tutorials and also they help other people so here you go fam.

[rain3yaltoids]

F2U character sheet templates

A friend of mine was having trouble making reference sheets for her characters, so I made quite a few!

I figure these could be really useful if anyone else was struggling too, so these are all F2U

They could be really useful for Artfight, so keep that in mind :)

------Edit------

HOLY SHIT I did NOT expect this to blow up this much!! Thankyou!!

Here's my artfight! I really hope I get to attack some of the people that actually used my template, that would be so cool!

https://artfight.net/~Rain3y_Altoids

[sevdahalma]

most fantasy books or fics i’ve read that contained a desert biome fell back on real world prejudice and misconceptions in place of authentic worldbuilding for a place and people, and it is so telling that the trope seems to repeat itself

things like

the desert as a lifeless wasteland where ‘life is crushed underneath the shifting sands and blazing sun’ blah blah blah. deserts are full of life and they are beautiful and people have lived and prospered in them for eons. please read a book

the desert as an ugly or barren terrain where everything is harsh and threatening

the desert as something scary

the inhabitants as backwards religious zealots

the men as overly violent and oppressive

the inhabitants in need of outside instruction/intervention, i.e. “civilizing the savage”

the “harem” and women as exotic, sensual, mysterious

writing tribalism with no knowledge of how tribes actually function

djinn (or for the westerners, genies)

Islam Lite (the aesthetics or spiritual practices appropriated and stripped of meaning)

sprinkling random arabic words for ✨flavor✨instead of expanding your worldbuilding to include language as well

clothing as oppressive or mysterious, instead of serving its actual purpose (protecting you from the elements, which should be obvious but i guess it isn’t. covering your skin keeps you cooler and safer in most deserts)

people who live in deserts as ignorant, superstitious, uneducated

this isn’t worldbuilding, it’s just ignorance and bigotry

[sourb0i]

So true!

To anyone writing stuff set in the Mojave/Sonoran Deserts (and maybe the Colorado?) Please please please look up Palo Verde forests!! The trees are green but completely bare of leaves- they photosynthesize directly through their bark. And instead of leaves they have spikes! It's so trippy and cool to be walking through a lush green forest knowing that the nearest water is 50+ miles away.

Other Mojave/Sonoran specific things:

There's tortoises! They're pretty rare to see but you can often find their burrows, or sometimes skeletons

Nightjars will wait till you get super close and then fly up, scaring the crap out of you

There are areas called 'desert asphalt', which are large expanses of black volcanic rock. Looks totally different from any other part of the desert

There are jackrabbits everywhere

Everywhere there aren't jackrabbits there's lizards

It's actually pretty loud; there's loads of insects- mainly crickets and the like- but also lots of birds! You won't see them but by God you will hear them

Wildflower blooms in the rainy season are the most beautiful thing you'll ever see in your life. There will be so many flowers that you never even knew existed

If you live near any mountain range, you'll actually see thunderstorms fairly often. You'll never actually get rained on, but there's almost always thunder on the mountains, especially in the evening. Idk maybe that's a metaphor or something

Source: I lived on the edge of the Mojave and Sonoran for a bit, and most of my job involved wandering around the desert for 8 hours a day

[f8lfool]

My first anatomy tutorial. How I connect arms to the torso. Simplified the muscles for better comprehension

PS. Pectoral is misspelled as “pectorial” in the picture. Don’t make that mistake haha

And I’d love to see the art made from using these as reference, you can message or tag me.. whatever you want

Edit: The extended names of the muscles:

Neck - Sternocleidomastoideus

Traps - Trapezius

Lats - Latissimus Dorsi

[inkwell-attitude]

all the tips I found for drawing a fantasy map are like :) “here’s a strategy to draw the land masses! here’s how to plot islands!” :) and that’s wonderful and I love them all but ??? how? do y'all decide where to put cities/mountains/forests/towns I have my map and my land but I’m throwing darts to decide where the Main Citadel where the Action Takes Place is

[fatal-blow]

okay so i know i said most of this in the replies but it might be easier to actually reblog and say stuff instead lmao

Cities - go near water!  freshwater lakes and rivers (rivers especially) are the best places for cities because A) source of water and B) travel and trade is much easier cus you can put your boats like right there.  Basically ever relevant city ever was built on a lake or a river.

for rivers in general - because gravity, rivers run from mountains (forming from melting snow and ice (this is why they get fat in spring–more stuff melting)) to lakes/ocean where they can empty out (and even lakes will have rivers leading out that eventually get to the ocean), which can help when mapping out where those start and end.  rivers are also much thinner and faster in steeper elevations and very slow and wide when the land is flat

mountains - i like to think of what the tectonic plates look like because that’s what makes mountains!  mountains are also never standalone they’re always in mountain ranges (archipelagos are really just underwater mountain ranges babey).  a cool trick I like to do is occasionally separate mountain ranges across continents, because over time the tectonic plates shifted and literally split the range in half.  These mountains are really old tho so they’ve eroded and therefore it makes them smaller and rounder (like the appalachians) as opposed to relatively young mountain ranges like the rocky mountains which have taller and sharper peaks

Another mountain trick: if your mountains run along the ocean, the ocean side of the mountains will get a LOT of rain while the other side will be very dry–almost desert-like, in fact.  think of temperate rainforests in British Columbia vs the drier conditions in the canadian prairies

forests - depends on how warm the area might be.  coniferous forests are found further north (before you hit the tree line, and then it’s only tundra onwards) but as you head south you get leafier trees, and the leaves tend to get larger too

If you think about general elevation too, you’ll have places that might be swampy (wet + lower).  if your world has an ice age like we did, then glaciers may have carved the land, leaving piles of soil in the south that was left when the ice receded and places where the bedrock has been bared north of that (like the Canadian Shield in Canada–the reason we see that is because of the glaciers)

You might also have a land that’s dotted in a shitton of freshwater lakes as well because the meltwater filled the holes that the glaciers scraped out (this is why canada has so many goddamn lakes)

and if the ice age was more recent than it was in our world, then you might not even have the forest re-growth and it could be a lot of open plains

tl;dr i like to think of major climate events that might have also shaped the land on top of some basic rules

[possiblypedanticrpgideas]

The Artifexian has an entire series on building your world from literally the stars down and then the ground up.

Worldbuilding Videos - YouTube

All my worldbuilding videos

Though, for fantasy, you can make the world operate on entirely different principles:

With that done, the actual topic of city placement can be covered by videos like this:

Or

Once you have your places, if you want help naming them in realistic ways, this video can help:

This one is on architecture, which is definitely a subset of cities:

But for a more relevant practical guide on making settlements realistic:

Here’s a quick guide for making demographics:

[inkwell-attitude]

holy shit?

[primelinchen-deactivated2023030]

@extranatural-verse

[as-warm-as-choco]

A master post of Thomas Romain’s art tutorials.

There’s not enough space to post all of them, SO here’s links to everything he has posted (on twitter) so far : 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12. 

Now that new semesters have started, I thought people might need these. Enjoy your lessons!

[lionwaterrosemary]

Candle Magick

Here is some information on what the flame on you candle can mean.

Also if you are working with a new candle you may want to test the candle before you’ve put any intention into it/dressed the candle. This is a control so that you can see how the candle behaves without magick to ensure that you aren’t misreading anything.

Short flame:

-there is resistance in the working

-you may not be doing the right spell or you have another spell you should do before this one

-the wick could be too short(this isn’t magical, just a short wick)

-if the flame has become weaker that means resistance was met during the reading

High flame:

-there is a lot of energy behind the spell working

-the intension is high or intense

-your spell is getting help

Crackling/Hissing Flame:

-sprit(s) are trying to talk to you/have a message for you(watch to see if this is a positive or negative message)

-if you are hexing someone this may mean they are resisting it 

-if you’re asking a favor pay attention and use your intuition to see if it will be granted

Flame goes out early:

-there is too much resistance for the working

-it finished early

-if it goes out early with a lot of wax at the bottom the spell will not fully manifest

-if you relight it and it goes out again you know the spell has finished

Blue flame:

-there is a high presence of spirits which is assisting your spell

Dancing flame:

-the spell is unstable

-too many variables in the spell

Moving flame:

-if it moves to the front of the candle it is working on a phsyical problem

-if it moves to the back it is working on a non-physical problem

-if it moves to the left it is working on a past problem

-if it moves to the right it is working on a future problem

In the future there will be posts about the directions of the candle, candle wax readings, and black and white soot.

[spirits-child]

Reading candles

Hi witches around! Today we are talking about a topic I’m new to it, i have never read candles so this is just a research of how to read candles in yes/no questions! Let’s start. 

High steady flame: Yes

Lost steady flame: No

Dancing flame: Concentrate more

Agressive flicker: NO, TAKE A NO. 

Low Flame: No

Left Flame: Yes

Right Flame: No

Candles doesn’t light: ask later

Dual flame: thinking, wait

Candle will not go out: there’s more to your answer

[jonsibn]

take it.

[curioscurio]

THIS IS A FREE DOWNLOADABLE PDF OF THE BOOK BTW you don't have to pay for it!!

[inky-duchess]

Fantasy Wardrobe: Popular Headresses (Women) Part 2

Fashion for ladies have changed throughout the centuries, no garment more so than the headdresses they wear. Statement headdresses can be an interesting component to add to your worldbuilding. The use of different styles give each culture a defined feel and could act as a symbol of all kinds of lands in your WIP.

Tichel/Mitpachat

This consists of a headscarf wound about a woman's head, in varying knots ranging from simple to complicated. The two most popular ties are the sinar and the full cover.

Hijab

This is probably the most comfortable of all the headdresses on these lists. It consists of a headscarf covering the hair and neck but leaving the face clear.

Coif

This is a simple linen slip that covers the hair. Noblewomen often wore these beneath headdress while common women wore these just over their hair without any adornments.

Niqab

This headdress covers all of a woman’s face leaving a slot for the eyes. It is quite a substantial garment, usually cut to cover the chest and the midback of the wearer. It can be confused with the burqa with is basically a niqab just that it covers the whole body as well.

Fengguan/ phoenix crown

This is a traditional Chinese headdress worn by noblewomen throughout Tang Dynasty to Ming and Qing Dynasty. Noblewomen were entitled to wear different ornaments in their fengguans based upon their rank.

Mantilla

These are one tradition I wish we could bring back. The mantilla is veil or a shawl made of intricate that is draped over the head and shoulders and sewn to the peineta, a sort of comb to add height.

Gele/Duku/Dhuku/Tukwi/Head-tie

Another very comfortable headdress. It involves a cloth wrap bound about the head popular in Western Africa. They can be as elaborate as you like or more simple.

Isicholo/Inhloko

This is the traditional headdress for a married Zulu woman. It was brought into notoriety in recent times because of Black Panther's sensational costuming team.

Stephane

This headdress was popular among Greek and Hellenistic royal women and noble Roman women. It consists of an arc of metal sitting atop the head in a crescent shape. It would be worn on styled hair and sometimes draped with a veil.

Laurel Wreath

The laurel wreath is the look. Julius Caesar rocked it over his baldness (my poor vain war criminal). Royal Roman and Greek women often wore gilded laurel wreathes for status reasons. It is still a bitchin look.

[inky-duchess]

Fantasy Wardrobe: Popular Headresses (Women) Part 1

(Disclaimer: These are mostly European and from Mediaeval/Renaissance times. Other posts are coming about other periods and places so keep that in mind)

Fashion for ladies have changed throughout the centuries, no garment more so than the headdresses they wear. Statement headdresses can be an interesting component to add to your worldbuilding. The use of different styles give each culture a defined feel and could act as a symbol of all kinds of lands in your WIP.

Hennins

These are those headdresses. The ultimate headdress for a Princess. These headdresses made of stiffened material and draped with veils. They came in the popular cone shape (image 1), or the truncated shape/ flower pot (image 2) or the divided version (image 3). These were popular in the 15th Century, coming from the French courts and the Burgundian court.

Stickelchen Cap

This headdress was made up of a padded piece pinned to the hair, draped with a veil and topped with a heavy almost square-shaped cap usually heavily beaded and embroidered.

Wimples

Wimples were drapes of material that covered a woman's hair, neck and sometimes her face. With its similarities to hijab, historians suspect that wimples might have been among the fashions that crusaders (dick-heads) brought back. Wimples were often worn to show modesty, with many nuns and religious women taking it as their signature look.

Balzo

These headdresses are circular rolls of materials fitted to be worn at the back of the wearer's head. They could be stitched with veils and precious stones.

Crespines/Cauls

These were popular for a long period of time, close to two centuries. These provided ladies with long hair to tidy it out of way. Women wore their hair on either side of their heads, held by thd crespines which could be made of mesh metal or cloth netting. The whole thing would be secured with a fillet, a length of material or metal fitted over the top of the head.

French Hood

The French hood is a crescent shaped headdress that sits atop the head, allowing the front half of the hair to be shown. The back was always stitched with a veil. The front half of the hood wasn't a fucking hairband (calling out Wolf Hall) but rather a significant height usually bejewelled and embroidered.

English/Gable Hood

This sort of looks like a roof but a rather regal roof. The ancestor to the French hood, it was the favourite headdress of Katherine of Aragon and Jane Seymour. It has always been one of the more regal looking headdresses to me.

Kokoshnik

My favorite headdress of all time. It is Russian headdress of all different shapes, the most popular and common being the crescent shaped one. Most kokoshniks were accompanied by bands of beads or pearls laid across the forehead or a large bow at the back. I fucking love the kokoshnik.

[inky-duchess]

Fantasy Guide to Royal Uniform (Male)

Like any job, being royal comes with its own uniform. For the men, there is usually some kind of military uniform. This is mainly because it is seen as a service to the country especially for younger sons of Royal houses to serve their country.

Tunic

This is the jacket of the uniform. Convential colours are usually red, black and dark blue though in fantasy works they can be any colour. The tunic was usually high-necked and long-sleeved.

Epaulette

The Epaulette is the shoulder piece of the uniform, usually fashioned with fringes and and a badge denoting rank or organisation.

Aiguillette

The aiguillette is the corded braid that runs over the shoulder of the uniform, usually pinned to a singular shoulder. The aiguillette is usually tipped with tags or a pointed tip. The size and thickness of the aiguillette denoted importance and rank.

Sash/Ribband

The sash is the strip of coloured fabric worn around the torso, pinned to shoulder and hip. The sash width and colour denoted rank or Station.

Uniform sleeve braid ranks

This is thick embroidery about the cuffs of the uniform, usually stitched in a particular fashion or colour.

Gorget patches

These patches of cloth are usually patches of cloth pinned to collars displaying insignia of regiments and ranks.

Orders and badges

These are badges given specifically to the person for being apart of a certain military rank or given as a sign of favor. Usually there are orders and badges named for past/present monarchs or religious figures, often dipicting their likeness.

[inky-duchess]

Fantasy Wardrobe: Popular Men's Fashion of History

Fashion is one of my favourite worldbuilding components and choosing which way I want characters to look, is one part of research that is more fun than work. The use of different styles give each culture a defined feel and could act as a symbol of all kinds of lands in your WIP. Since it is your WIP, you can play with different elements of the garments and pay fast and loose with the styles.

Shirt

The shirt is the key to every other item of clothing on this list. The shirt was always worn under everything. It was often made of linen and worn by all classes. The shirt was often embroidered with blackwork and was sometimes even able to peak out from slashings in the garment over it. Shirts were seen as an intimate item of clothing. You should hear about the chaos that occurred when Anne Boleyn found out that Katherine of Aragon was still sewing Henry VIII's shirts.

Tunic

The tunic was worn by all classes. The tunic could be sleeveless or with sleeves. Tunics usually reached the knee or mid thigh when worn in hot climates and could be cut to the hip like a regular shirt today. They were belted at the waist.

Doublet

The doublet was a jacket worn over a man's undershirt. The doublet was usually laced or buttoned up at the front, reaching from the neck of the wearer to the hip of the waist. The doublet was often padded in order to keep the wearer warm.

Jerkin

The jerkin is a tight fitted jacket worn again over the shirt that is buttoned or laced at the front. The jerkin could be worn with or without sleeves. Leather was a popular material for these to be made and was worn by both classes.

Breeches

Are pants. Most breeches stopped at the knee though some reached the ankle, similar to today's trousers. Breeches could be in laced at the front and were worn by every class of men.

Hose

These were a style of pants that usually ended above the knee. Hose were often worn with a codpiece, a rather bold fashion statement for men. Hose would have also been worn with stockings held up by garters. Hose might be padded at the things to add some flare to the look.

Overgown

The overgown is rather like a great loose jacket worn over the doublet or jerkin. It was usually sewn with fur for warmth and made of contrasting fabric than what lay underneath.

Justacorps

This is the classic knee-length coat worn by men 18th century. Men would wear this over a waistcoat and shirt. This was a popular fashion for highborn men. It does still look fine.

Kaftan/ Caftan/Boubou

This is a large robe that is pulled on over the head with long sleeves. It can have a v-neck or round neck. They are usually heavily embroidered.

Achkan/Sherwani

This is the long coat worn by Indian men. It is usually buttoned up at the front, reaches just below the knees and is long sleeved.

[every-single-one-of-the-things]

Narcissus Under The Knife

For Anon

[theliteraryarchitect]

Fiction Writing Advice Posts

Hey all, Some of you know that in addition to this Tumblr blog I also keep a blog on my website. A lot of the posts overlap, but not all of them, so I’ve made this list for your reading pleasure:

How to Control Your Pacing

How to Write During a Pandemic

How to Read Like a Writer

What if Your First Draft DOESN’T Suck?

How to Do World-Building Research

How to Properly Format a Manuscript for Submission

10 Questions to Ask an Editor Before Hiring Them

Creating Character Arcs with the DCAST Method

How to Choose the Right Point of View for Your Story

A Beginner’s Guide to Multiple Point of View

Show Don’t Tell? Not Always. Here’s When to Use Summary

8 Ways to Improve Your Fiction Writing

How to Spot Bad Writing Advice: 6 Red Flags to Look For

5 Reasons to Kill Your Critique Group

Are You Using Too Much Stage Direction?

Why Nobody Cares About Your Plot

How to Use Adverbs Like a Pro

How to Activate Your Passive Characters, One Verb at a Time

3 Easy Ways to Transform Boring Descriptions

3 Ways to Increase Conflict in Your Dialogue

A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Killer Feedback from Beta Readers

How to Know What Kind of Editing You Need

10 Best Books About Fiction Writing

How to Spot an Info Dump

Dealing With Procrastination

Want to make sure you never miss a new blog post? Sign up for my writing advice emails and get a new blog post sent straight to your inbox about once a month.

xoxo

[inky-duchess]

Hi, may I ask you a question, if that would be alright with you? You don't have to answer this right away!

This character I have, he has a pretty strong claim to the throne and is beloved by his people due to him actually putting in the effort to care for them.

His cousin the current monarch is /not/.

After over two decades of hard work he finally rises up to take his “rightful place” (he's the son and only child of the king before the current monarch, his death was faked and he was carted off to live with his mother's relatives at a young age bc someone *coughcoughhisauntcoughcough* was adamantly trying to kill him)

He conquers like, half the country. He has a coronation, though very small and shabby bc he doesn't want to drain resources and money that could be keeping people alive. “Just to officiate myself in the eyes of God.”

When he does finally conquer the whole country, and he makes sure everything has sufficiently calmed down, would it be possible or make sense for him to have a second coronation, this time grander and more expensive? (still not That Expensive™ bc he's not that kind of person)

He would probably have an official coronation just to make sure there can be no question on his legitimacy. Buts it's not a good idea to have two. He can proclaim himself King, formally declare himself as the monarch and save his coronation to when he can have the official one. That leaves no question of his legitimacy as King. Two coronation dates might confuse people as well as leaving a lot of people fighting for his cousin (innocently due to feudal reasons) on the wrong side, making them traitors which is not a good look for a new monarch.

[all-that-you-can-draw]

Drawing Tip: Animal Walking Patterns

When walking, all 4-legged animals share the same walking pattern: (1) left hind leg, (2) left front leg, (3) right hind leg, (4) right front leg.

Keeping this in mind when drawing animals as they’re first stepping into motion can help make your artwork look more realistic.

Also note that most 4-legged animals have other gaits than just walking (galloping, trotting, cantering, etc.) and the patterns for those may differ from walking depending on the animal.

[develop-your-oc]

Where does your OC fit on this affection alignment chart?