‘Taste of Tranquility’
collaboration with @lhuin we did for NFC this year :3
Prints are available HERE
One Nice Bug Per Day

ellievsbear
Claire Keane

if i look back, i am lost
Stranger Things
Today's Document
"I'm Dorothy Gale from Kansas"

@theartofmadeline
styofa doing anything

Product Placement
Aqua Utopia|海の底で記憶を紡ぐ

PR's Tumblrdome
Alisa U Zemlji Chuda

Love Begins

Discoholic 🪩

roma★
Xuebing Du

❣ Chile in a Photography ❣
i don't do bad sauce passes
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Brazil

seen from Malaysia
seen from United States

seen from United States
seen from Israel

seen from United States

seen from Portugal
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seen from United States

seen from India
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seen from France

seen from Malaysia

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@lhuin
‘Taste of Tranquility’
collaboration with @lhuin we did for NFC this year :3
Prints are available HERE
It seems like that one old “DeviantArt is EEEEEEVUL! All artists beware!”-post from like two years ago is making rounds again, and I’ve been getting tagged to it.
So just for your information, here’s DevArt’s own post about that situation, and here’s the artist in question who’s design got used in the post explaining the case.
Thanks for the concern for my art’s well being, but there’s really no need. That fearmongering reblog about the situation is just reading the legal text in a really provoking way (dA’s user agreement text looks intimidating, I know, but it’s pretty much just because dA needs your explicit permission to use your art in their site = your own gallery/other people’s faves; needs the permission to let dA to edit your art because it needs to do that in order to make thumbnails, and there’s also a clause that lets dA to have those “share on tumblr/facebook/whatever”-buttons next to your art. Yes, it needs you to agree to the site’s basic functions with the user agreement, that’s legal text for you.)
Ugh, looks like THAT post is back again. It’s come into my dashboard twice now since yesterday, and I just know there are people deleting their galleries in mass hysteria again so, ughgghh!
(also note that you can opt out of the “share on tumblr/twitter/facebook/etc.” buttons from your settings, the clause just needs to be in the TOS in case people use it.)
A new painting and a GIF with some process steps! This is actually a remake of an older painting of mine from 2009 that I also redid in 2012, you can find them here: https://twitter.com/johisart/status/1009179015167598593
Prints available at https://society6.com/lhuin
Hi-res and PSD coming up on my Patreon: https://patreon.com/johis
A small swim for a tiger
...But a big adventure for a little tabby!
I’ve opened an Etsy shop! So far I’ve added the sticker designs I made and some prints I don’t have for sale anywhere else at the moment. Will add some more prints of personal works too in about two weeks so check back later for even more stuff! :)
Shop here: johannatarkela.etsy.com
Morning retweet! :D sending the current orders out today
I've opened an Etsy shop! So far I've added the sticker designs I made and some prints I don't have for sale anywhere else at the moment. Will add some more prints of personal works too in about two weeks so check back later for even more stuff! :)
Shop here: johannatarkela.etsy.com
Here's some of the things I've uploaded on my Patreon page so far! I'm really liking the platform and it's been fun so far and really happy with how it's going! If you'd like to see all these and even more stuff, have a think about becoming a patron! :) I've uploaded one full page tutorial already (it doesn't show fully here to show some more other work), a good few videos and I'm already planning some more tutorials and brushes. Lots of other stuff too, I update quite often! I've also added a new reward for the $10 tier - feedback/critique! https://www.patreon.com/johis Thanks so much for looking!
Guys, I keep seeing that post going around about putting uncooked spaghetti noodles in your tablet pen to work as replacement nibs, and I know OP means well and stuff, but PLEASE DON’T DO THAT.
Pasta, no matter how smooth it is, is still a product of dry flour, and rubbing it down on a surface creates micro-sized grit that will scratch up your screen faster than any tablet nib, and they wear down even faster, so it won’t even be worth it. Also, it’s so brittle, if it breaks inside the pen, it will be difficult to clean it out.
Tablet nibs are a pain to replace and buy, but buying a 10 pack of them for $7-8 on Amazon is going to be a better choice than having to pay a heftier sum to repair a scratched up tablet surface/screen.
Spread this post if you can, because I’d really hate to see someone accidentally damage their tablets this way.
My newest personal painting that's been in the works for quite a while, but happy to finally call it done and share it! This one was inspired by a trip to Italy a few years ago. I wanted to do something with bright and warm colours, and the cats featured in this painting are all based on real life kitties I know! Hope you like it! If you'd like to help me create even more personal works like this and follow the process, have a look at my Patreon! I've uploaded lots of WIP images of this painting there and the PSD will also be available shortly :) http://patreon.com/johis
My 3 Unfortunately-Secret Programs for Illustrators
There are a few programs I use on an almost daily basis as an artist and illustrator which I find invaluable, but that seem to be unfortunately more secret than they deserve to be. Which is too bad, because they solve a lot of small workflow problems that I think a number of people would find useful!
I’ll keep this list limited to my big three, but it is organized in order of usefulness. (And incidentally of compatibility, as the latter two are Windows-only. Sorry! Please do still check out PureRef though, Mac users.)
1. PureRef
PureRef is a program specifically designed to make it easier to view, sort, and work with your references. I actually put off downloading it initially because it seemed redundant– couldn’t I just paste the refs into my PSD files? Indeed, the only real barrier to working with PureRef is that learning the keyboard shortcuts and the clicks to move around the program takes a little while. But getting over that hump is well worth it, because it has some distinct advantages over trying to organize your refs in your actual art program.
Firstly, you’re no longer bogging down your actual PSD file with extra layers, nor having to fight with said layers at all– PureRef has no layer panel, so you never have to scramble to grab the right one. All images you paste into the program retain their original resolution data, so you can resize, rotate, crop, etc as needed without distortion. If you find yourself needing to adjust the values, color, etc of a ref image, you can just copy paste it into Photoshop, make your adjustments, and copy paste it back into PureRef.
The other great advantage is that you can toggle the program as ‘Stay On Top’ and keep it above Photoshop (or whatever else)– which was always a problem when trying to make a reference collage in a separate PSD file. I find that I just don’t look at my references as much as I should when they are on a second monitor, and this solves that problem.
I’ve used it religiously for about a year now, creating a new PureRef file for every illustration I do, as well as a few for specific characters, cultures, or settings in personal projects. As you can see in the example above, I like to sort my images into little clusters or ‘islands’ of specific content, so that I can easily scroll out to see the entire reference map, then zoom in to the relevant cluster easily.
There is one big tip I would suggest for using this program, if you have the harddrive space: As soon as you get it, turn on the ‘Embed local images in save file’ option. This will make your PureRef files bigger, but you’ll never have to deal with a ‘broken link’ if you move around the source files you originally dragged in.
2. Work Timer
This is such a simple little app that it doesn’t have a very formal name, though I think of it as ‘Work’ or ‘Work Work’ (for some reason.) It’s a timer that counts when your cursor is active in any (of up to 3) program you set it to count for, and stops counting when you change programs or idle. No starting, pausing, stopping, or forgetting to do any of those three things.
I use this one to accurately track my hours, both to inform myself and for commissions or other client work. At the end of a work session, I take the hours counted and add them to the hours I’ve already spent on that image in a spreadsheet.
I have it set to count my three art programs (Photoshop, Painter, and Manga Studio), so based on the settings I use, it doesn’t count time that I spend doing relevant work in my browser (such as looking up an email to double check character descriptions or ref hunting), so to counter that, I set the 'Timeout’ option in it’s menu to 360. This means it will count to 360 seconds of cursor inactivity before it considers me idle and stops counting. Since it instantly stops counting if you switch to 'non-work’ a program, I figure this extra time just about cancels out relevant time that it ignores in 'non-work’ programs by counting an extra minute or so when I walk away from the computer to grab some water or what-have-you.
3. Carapace
I use Carapace the least of these three, since my work doesn’t often have a need for creating perspective lines. But when there is architecture involved in something, this proves invaluable in simplifying that process.
Carapace lets you copy paste an image into it, and then drop in vanishing points and move them around to create perspective lines. (Though you’ll want to scale down your full res drawing or painting a bit to avoid lagging the program.) Like with PureRef, fighting the shortcuts is the worst part of it, though for myself it’s more of an issue in this program because I don’t use it often enough to remember them. Still, it gets the job done, and it’s easy to adjust the points to feel things out until you get them 'right’. Then you just copy and paste the grid back into your art program and you’ve got that information to use as need be on its own layer.
Of course, using Carapace isn’t a replacement for actually knowing how perspective works– you still have to have a sense of how far apart the vanishing points should be placed to keep things feeling believable. But it sure does save you a lot of trouble once you do have that knowledge.
So, there are my big three recommendations for programs to help your art workflow. I hope people find them useful– if you do, please share so that they climb a little higher out of their unwarranted obscurity! And if you’ve got a favorite tool like this that I didn’t cover, feel free to share it in the comments. I know I’m curious to see what else is out there, too. Also, if Mac users have any suggestions for programs that fill similar functions, feel free to share there as well!
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A couple of dog paintings I’ve done recently :D
Dust Clears by Lhuin
This picture has a loooong story! It’s definitely one of my most personal paintings, I actually started it a few years ago, when I was going through a life change. In a nutshell and without going into the details too much, it was meant to be quite a happy and reflective image but a lot of things went wrong during that time, and I was SUPER stressed out to say the least and it put me off this picture that had originally had such a positive meaning. Suddenly what I associated this picture with was a lot more negative things and I didn’t touch it for ages. I kept coming back to it, but something always felt off with it, not only because I chose quite a tricky perspective. But recently I finally felt like I was ready to give it a bit of an overhaul, both technically and mentally, and went over it with everything I’ve learned in the past 2 years or so and even changed the colour scheme and fixed the anatomy to the best I could from what I already had. Didn’t take long and still has some quirks but I’m FINALLY happy enough with this to share it! :) Feels like an achievement haha. The original working title for this was ‘Dust Clears’, based on the song by Clean Bandit and while in a way I don’t think it fits anymore in the same way it used to, I decided to keep it as I do still like the song and the lyrics do strike a chord to some degree, even if the meaning changed. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdfL2nY-Xs8 Hope you like the final result! I’m glad I decided to change the colours, it was originally pink and purple but I think the biggest thing that helped me feel like I could finish it was to just change the whole tone of it (guess in both literal and not so literal way!) I also put it up on my Society6 http://society6.com/lhuin Thanks for looking!
Whatever it is you’re working on, DON’T STOP.
Fox Trio by Lhuin
New personal painting finished, first one for 2017! Aiming and hoping to do a lot more personal work this year
http://lhuin.deviantart.com/art/Fur-Brushes-657581724
My first ever brushpack!
The pack is completely free to download and use for any project, personal or commercial, and you don't have to credit me anywhere. Just do not claim these as your own creation.
Includes lots of tips for the brushes as well, from general fur painting tips to settings you can use to adjust these even more. DOWNLOAD HERE: https://gumroad.com/products/UUbrb/
They're free but you're able to set a price on it if you'd like - tips are welcome and hugely appreciated but not required of course! Works in Photoshop versions CS3 upwards.
My newest round of experimental portraits!
A collection of some anthro-themed work I’ve done this year!