matuska

Mat, Matuska, Marley, whatever you know me by. hello. she or they pronouns c:

[matuska]

she's me :3

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i wanna be your dog

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plushie bat Lui

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plushies i made :3

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me & my milk soaked webkinz

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its null so i can post this right :P

[matuska]

Pidge badge

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DRIPPY!!

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dogg bubbles

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gay little sketches, originally for valentine's day

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Cupid for Aisu

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a feeling

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still kind of rotating this one in my mind thinking about edits, but its been so long now i'm just gonna go ahead and share it

[matuska]

different anon, i came across your art some months ago and it's been very inspiring. im pretty much an amateur/learning artist and i admittedly look at your stuff as reference. i really love how your character drawings speak a lot about how the characters feel and stuff, it's really pretty and it's something i try to do in my own art. i just wanted to say something cuz i saw that other anon open up on here. sorry for how silly this sounds !!

🥺 no don't apologize, this is so sweet to hear. im honored to be helping inspire anyone to draw/create more, and i'm really happy to hear that emotional expressiveness is coming through in my work. thank you <3

[matuska]

hello! i love your art : ) do you have any advice for someone who wants to get better, specifically someone who wants to find their style? i feel like a lot of what i draw is just emulating other people whose art i like, but doesnt really feel representative of "me"? any of your thoughts on this would be appreciated <3

oh gosh, im honored that you thought to ask me this. i often worry that my own style is an uncouth recreation of my influences, all mashed together.

the biggest thing that comes to mind is to give yourself lots of grace! its really difficult to 'see' your own style, shape language, and things that make your own markmaking special, in an unbiased way. so don't focus TOO hard on 'figuring out' your style or making it feel 'right'. it will always be evolving, as long as you're creating.

at the same time, its real to be concerned that you're aping an influence a little too closely- if this feels like an issue, my answer would be to look at real life references and do 'studies' (play!!). maybe some of your favorite subjects, animals, etc. fill pages with loose sketches, stretch and pull and play with the shapes of your subject in different ways. see what feels good!

i sometimes use photo/video refs when i'm worried that a character ref im working with is influencing a commission im working on Too Much. with this process, realism isnt the goal at all for me personally, but rather creating a little space between preexisting stylistic choices and my own. note that it can take time to unlearn even the frustrating parts of the shape language you're used to drawing, and thats okay!

as usual, "draw MORE" is the answer, but draw with intention, and most of all, play, play, playyy around!

[matuska]

badge(r)

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Spoons