F(ine)ARTS

art blog of @merroki Commissions CLOSED please do not repost

[merroki-arts]

More plants inside the St. Louis Botanical Garden's tropical biome

[merroki-arts]

Photos from the St. Louis Botanical Gardens and their cherry blossoms 🌸

[merroki]

TLDR; Drawing inconsistency is valid

I’ve been looking at some of my old art of my OC Bartholomew (Bara) and lamented how terribly inconsistent I am about how I draw him. I don’t have an updated ref sheet yet, and even if I did I guarantee I’d still somehow draw his horns/ears/eyes different every damn time.

To show what I mean, here’s a collage of some of my favorite drawings of him I’ve done. The middle one was his very first design I ever did back in Sept. 2017

And y’know I think it’s okay that I can’t draw him consistently yet, and that I might not ever. I know I’m still learning and evolving my style and techniques so yeah my work’s gonna reflect that. Even professional comic artists’ published work changes and evolves over time as they get better. Really the only place you want to be consistent is for something professional like an animated show or game. 

IDK I just thought I’d share and hopefully validate anyone else who feels this way. I’ve felt a lot of anxiety because of this in the past that I’m learning to put behind me and I hope this helps others in the same boat feel the same

[merroki]

Emoji Challenge Adopts

So I’m fixin’ to design some adoptable OCs for sale in a month or so, and I want some ideas from y'all.

Send me 3 emojis and I’ll design an OC inspired by them. Bonus if you DON’T send it anon and then later buy the adopt from your submission, I’ll give you a discount on it!

I’ll save as many as possible so if you don’t see yours in this batch keep an eye out for it in future ones

[merroki-arts]

Year of Art Improvement Plan

As part of my own New Year resolution, I’ve made a rough plan for how I’m going to study and improve my art this year and I wanted to share it with y’all so you can do the same!

This is more guidelines than actual rules because let’s face it sometimes life gets in the way, and not everyone is gonna want to study the same things anyway. But please feel free to share this if you wanna follow along or encourage others to!

Guidelines and Suggestions:

Focus on a different art-related subject/skill each month. 

You can revisit subjects, go longer than 1 month, or skip weeks/months if you really need a break or know you won’t have time

Write down your plan somewhere you can’t forget/miss it. Set reminders on your calendar/phone. Add resource links as you find them for later reference. Personally I’m using Evernote for mine.

Give yourself a very specific focus for every practice session (see this article for examples)

Share your progress work each week! Doesn’t matter where or to who, showing off what you learned helps keep you accountable and may inspire others to try learning it as well! Be proud of your work!

Try to explore different mediums than you usually do IE. graphite, charcoal, markers/ink, watercolor, gouache, acrylics etc.

Do a gesture drawing session at least once a week

Site for gesture references

Set it up as a stream or DM screenshare on discord for digital group sessions with other artists!

Take a local art class (even if you’re not in school, they can be very helpful and a good investment for the right sessions)

Read some art books! I’ll be adding to this amazon list as I find good ones. They can be very cheap if you buy them used, or look at your local library

When you’re first studying a concept, try to work from reference photos as much as possible. As you get more comfortable with it, then you can switch more to imagination or reference other drawings instead (just make sure to properly link and credit all sources if you post work online!) REFERENCE DOES NOT MEAN TRACE

I find it easiest to chain subjects together, IE I’m studying color and light theory before I do landscapes so I can paint them more accurately when I get to them

Don’t beat yourself up if you fall behind, sometimes life happens! Just try to pick it up again when you can

My Study Plan:

(Note this isn’t finalized, I may change/add parts as I go)

January - Anatomy Pt.1 (feet, legs, torso, arms, hands)

February  - Anatomy Pt. 2, full figure drawing, portraits

March -  Clothing/folds

April -  Expressions and poses

May -  Color and Light theory

June -   Perspective and Backgrounds

July -  (possible vacation)

August - Landscapes

September - Comics and Storyboarding

October - Draw from real life (ie. go outside when it’s nice) or Inktober

November -  Freebie???

December -  Busy, holidays suck

I’ll come back and edit this post as I think of more tips!. Y’all are also welcome to follow my resource blog as well, I’ll try and update it as I find more

[merroki-arts]

secret santa gift art for @black-mamba-drug-store (and by association @little-miss-pandora) perish you binches :)c

Sinaros & Naville © @pervynative (art in the album is also hers) Star © @little-miss-pandora

[merroki-arts]

soooo i saw spiderverse a few days agooo...

you can guess who my favs are

[merroki]

Curious cat is a Q&A social network that allows you to connect with your followers and know new people.

Made a curiouscat so people can ask me questions there (though I still accept anons here too!)

[merroki-arts]

HOMD stream request for myotissecunda of Seam hypnotizing Jevil (I tried ;w;)

I gotta draw more of these two, they're my fav deltarune characters (besides Rouxls, Susie and Ralsei)

[merroki-arts]

HOMD stream request for birbarts

Full version on my N🖤S🖤F🖤W Twitter merrdoki

[merroki-arts]

No Suit request for VMod from the HOMD stream

Full version is on my N🖤S🖤F🖤W Twitter merrdoki

[faranae]

HOMD 2018 STREAM!

STREAM TIME: 12:00P CST TO AT LEAST MIDNIGHT

How the requests work:

When an artist is ready to take a request, the following procedure will be followed:

We will call for chat to quiet down.

A KEYWORD will be announced, and a raffle opened.

Enter the keyword into chat to be entered into the raffle.

A name will be drawn, and the winner DM’d by the artist for details on their request.

IF you want to tip (OPTIONAL) you may do so!

Standard stream rules apply: 

DO NOT POST LINKS. They will be removed. 

No self-promotion. 

Keep chat positive (no abuse, venting, politics, etc) and be mature. 

Do not spam. 

No LOLSORANDOM chat. OwO

No backseat drawing (“You missed a spot!”, “You forgot to draw the other hand”, etc). 

Special rules for the HOMD stream: 

WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO DECLINE ANY REQUESTS WITHOUT EXPLANATION OR NOTICE. If we turn down your request, we may or may not offer for you to choose a different character/topic.

Requests DO NOT need to be adult-oriented.

Any requests involving OCs require consent from all owners.

Any requests involving OCs must have references ready.

Any 18+ requests must involve adult characters (no minors).

If you have a question about a fetish, please use Google.

Global DO Not Draw List for HOMD 2018

No: Scat/watersports, AB/DL, Real People, Birthing, Genital Mutilation, Bestiality, DD/lg, Hate Pieces, 

THE ARTISTS

Every artist has hard limits. Please respect that these are ours, and adding your fetish to this list is not meant as a personal attack.

Spud: https://picarto.tv/spudinacup - TIP LINK

Won’t: Pedophilia/Ephebophilia, Infantilism, Distention, Hypersized genitalia, breasts etc., Scat, Watersports, Incest, Glorification of cutting/eating disorders, stuffing/inflation, Vore, Abuse, Rape, Killing Characters, Elderly characters, Lolicon/Shotacon.

Fara: https://picarto.tv/faranae - TIP LINK

Do: Rule 34/R34, All Orientations (with references), DubCon

Maybe: NonCon, Distention (tame)

Don’t: Hate Pieces, Scat/Watersports, Lolicon/Shotacon, Mutilation of sexual organs, Birthing, Bestiality, AB/DL, Distention (extreme) 

Moon - https://picarto.tv/thelostmoongazerr - TIP LINK

Will do: gore/blood, All Orientations, Hate sex, Rule 34 Won’t: Incest of any nature, Hypersizing, Vore, Overcomplicated Designs, Foot Fetishes, Emetophilia,

Merroki - https://picarto.tv/merroki - TIP LINK

Will: All orientations, Polyships, Baras, minor blood Won’t: Loli/Shota, Abuse, Rape/Noncon, Murder, Vore, Birthing, Cutting/eating disorders, Extreme stuffing/inflation, Elderly characters, Mechas

[womenintheirwebs-archived]

the one problem i have with people my age and younger is that a lot of us do not have hands on hobbies. like i have spoken to so many people my age who go to work, go to school and then fuck around on their phone/computer for hours and then ???????? like no wonder ur depressed and have low confidence in urself. u need to get ur hands on something, feed those dopamine receptors! learn how to play guitar, garden, scrapbook, fucking make model trains. i don’t give a shit, MAKE SOMETHING!!

it feels better than drugs when i finish making a thing—and then show it off or gift it.

and then so people my age say to me ‘well—i can’t draw/paint/knit/etc. like you can. my stuff would be terrible.’ yeah, well duh—a part of developing skill is sucking at something and then practicing it over and over and over again until you suck less. u’ll have a hard time feeling lonely or bored when you can’t stop thinking abt a technique you want to try or something you want to make for someone else. making things has SAVED MY LIFE. it gave me a reason to keep living day after day when i wanted to die.

making things have improved my generational relationships (when i worked for the newspaper i would talk to customers abt jamming recipes or cross-stitch, one of my grandmas always gives me pattern books and tell me abt when she knitted things for mom, my other grandma is giving me a wedding quilt that HER grandma gave her 50 years ago because she knows i will appreciate it). it also got me likeminded friends who also make things.

take a ceramics class! pick up water colors, bake cakes! learn to work on cars! make soap. DO SOMETHING THAT DOESN’T INVOLVE STARING AT A SCREEN.

[merroki-arts]

Making things with your hands is one of the best stress reducers. I taught myself to knit with YouTube videos and yeah I sucked at first, but so does everybody else when they start something new. But when someone compliments you on your hat or scarf and you say you made it yourself, that's one of the most gratifying feelings in the world.

Same goes for cooking, woodworking, sewing, literally any craft. If you've ever looked at something and thought ‘I wanna do that but it looks too hard/I don't know where to start' then just Google it. Look up videos, I promise if you're interested in it, someone has a guide out there for you. I disagree with OP about staring at a screen. We live in an age blessed with unlimited access to knowledge at our fingertips, use that to your advantage and teach yourself what you want to learn.

[thelostmoongazer]

HORNY-ON-MAIN STREAM; A ONE TIME EVENT

SO IM GONNA BE DOING AN 18+ “NAME-YOUR-PRICE” REQUEST STREAM ON THE DAY BEFORE DEC 17 >:D

SO as yall very much know, Tumblr has decided to purge all nsfw content in a little over a week from now. While everyone is going to be counting down the days until all of our precious spicy content is lost, ive decided that we should have something to look forward to, to celebrate and create nsfw content rather than anxiously await the demise of it. 

So, i will be your creator curator, your shining kinky light in the dark of this born-again christian website, all for a price of your choosing ;D

now what exactly do i mean by “name-your-price”? well, thats exactly what i mean! you will have the opportunity to pay whatever price you like for your drawing request. This also includes no money at all! Payment is completely optional but it is still quite appreciated!

[DISCLAIMER: We, as the artist, with-hold the right to decline any request]

But it wont just be me you’re watching! This stream will also be featuring @merroki, @faranae, and @spudinacup​ who will be streaming alongside me! wether they decided to take any requests is entirely up to them. 

and Just so we’re clear on this: THIS IS AN 18+ STREAM!! minors will be prohibited from participating and the stream itself will be marked as nsfw. 

SO, COME YALL!! LETS MAKE A PARTY OUT OF IT!!!!

[merroki]

I’ll be taking NSFW sketch requests under the same tipping policy too! :D

Disclaimer I’m better at dicks than vajayjay BUT ILL TRY MY BEST WITH WHATEVER FILTH YA THROW AT ME

[spudinacup]

The stream will start Dec. 16 at 12 PM!

[faranae-moved]

Clarification for those in EST timezone: We’re starting December 16th at 1PM and running until midnight (or later)! 

Join us as we count down to the Titty Prohibition! 

[thelostmoongazer]

nearly halfway there!!! >:D

[thelostmoongazer]

ALRIGHT FOLKS WE’RE DOWN TO THE FINAL STRETCH! im gonna take this moment to clear up a few of the questions that have been floating around regarding the stream. 

Q: WHERE WILL THE STREAM BE TAKING PLACE? A: it will be taking place on picarto! This means that you will need to have a registered account so we can properly verify age. aaand to quote the reblog from @faranae: 

A list of links where the stream is happening:

https://picarto.tv/thelostmoongazerr https://picarto.tv/spudinacup https://picarto.tv/faranae https://picarto.tv/merroki

We’ll be in multistream, so all four screens will be toggleable on the same page!

Q: HOW WILL THE REQUESTS BE TAKEN?  A: we will be using the raffle feature that picarto has! you will put in a keyword into the chat to enter your name into the raffle, then when we need another request we will be spinning the raffle and picking a name, then you will be able to give your request! BUT PLEASE PLACE ONE REQUEST AT A TIME!

Q: WILL THE STREAM BE RECORDED/ WILL I BE ABLE TO SEE THE CONTENT IN IT LATER? A: sadly, since i am not a premium member (and I’m multistreaming from my sisters’ premium accounts) i will not be able to record my end of the stream but all of the things drawn on the stream will be posted to my nsfw side accounts (you gotta dm me stating your age about getting the link to that)

Q: CAN WE REQUEST OUR OCS? A: That will be something that will be addressed in our “WILL-AND-WONT DO” lists that we each will be reblogging from the main announcement that will be posted on streaming day. 

Q: HOW WILL WE BE PAYING IF WE CHOOSE TO? A: There will be links in each respective streamers descriptions to a format that will allow you to pay. i will personally be using Streamlabs

Hope this clears things up!

[spudinacup]

We’re getting close folks! Four days away till the HOMD2k18 Stream! 

As Moon and Fara stated this will be taking place on Picarto! 

[faranae]

(A quick heads-up, Fara changed blogs today! This is the new one!)

[merroki]

TWO (2) MORE DAYS Y’ALL

[faranae]

Why mourn the loss of the adult community on Tumblr when we can instead celebrate the good years we’ve had instead? :)

Reminder that this event is 18+, but any all-ages art from the stream will be posted publicly afterwards! 2 days~! This is a REQUEST stream, done by raffle to keep things fair. Everyone 18+ is welcome!

[spudinacup]

Gotta love that fruit still life!

[merroki-arts]

Little doodle for my boo :3c

Ben @askbigben

Bartholomew is mine

[merroki]

SHOE ON OTHER FOOT BARA 🎄TINK

it’s been almost a year since i started this and i’m ashamed to say i’ll probably never finish it but here u go

[merroki]

Requests vs Commissions

I feel like I should clarify how (at least how I view) the concept of art requests vs commissions in light of the Horny on Main stream coming up

Requests are like loose guidelines/suggestions on what the piece could look like ie. characters and what they’re doing. A good request is like a suggestion to get the artist’s creative juices going to imagine that and draw it how they want

Commissions are usually more specific on what the person wants to see including poses, setting, maybe even a color scheme, and are meant to cater more to the commissioner’s tastes

IDK that’s how I view it. What are y'alls thoughts?

[faranae-moved]

That’s pretty on-point, yeah. Requests are usually more a basic suggestion rather than in-depth specifics. 

[behrtimestories-deactivated2018]

Hrm. I always thought commissions were paid and requests weren’t.

[merroki]

Yes I agree usually, but for requests it’s the artist’s choice on if they want to do them for free or for tips

(I feel even if they’re taking them for free a tip is always appreciated if you can/they can take payments, not all artists who do them can ie. If they’re young/don’t have a PayPal etc)