hehehehe. these two lovely individuals i have seen over and over in vc for the past month or two... @quirinah this is all you. CONGRATS ON FINISHING YOUR FILMMMMM 🎉🎉💥🎉🥳
check out the film here :)
first color palette, from my brain. second one from hey-color-palettes :)
Hiii i absolutely ADORE the composition all your pieces have, you have such a way of utilizing all the space on the canvas and attracting the eye to the key points without it being overwhelming..!!!! If i may ask how do you come up with composition/angles and stuff like that?? Or are there any resources u can point to to learn more about this kinda thing? <- the interested
AAA thank you so much!! I can't say I'm the best at composition cuz I mostly just ball ngl but I do have a couple things I keep in mind for character compositions 👀 I am a certified Yapper when it comes to this thing so you've been warned kasdjh
Tldr; Whether you're looking at references online or not, the most basic thing you can do first is figure out a core concept!
There's 3 things I keep in mind when concepting : Mood/message, the characters (how many there are in one canvas and their interaction with eachother or the environment), and the canvas orientation.
This is my very first sketch for my paian drawing! The mood I tried experimenting with is like a faraway observer looking the two. To support this mood, I chose a landscape orientation because it feels more like an outsider looking in a scenery the characters just happened to be in, if that makes sense aksjd
Since it's a duo drawing, I chose to make their poses angle towards eachother. The dynamic I was going for is Ada who is overeager vs. Ian who is stunned and not quite receptive yet to what's happening. I also wanted to focus on Ian's reaction, so I made sure his face was the focal point and that other elements either circle back to him, or expand further away (kinda like a blooming flower)
Though even after allat I changed my mind and made the concept feel more intimate so the viewer could feel Ian's reaction more strongly. As a result, I also changed the canvas orientation to be portrait and zoomed in.
Because the canvas was zoomed in, I had to pay closer attention to how I angled things. The sketch was literally the same but it felt uncomfortable because it was not meant for a portrait canvas.
So, I now continue to the iteration phase! It's where I make different alternatives of the sketches until I settle on one. I approach this step kinda like animating, where the next iteration is like a body part that gets twisted a certain angle or further exaggerated.
The leftmost image had Ada being angled weirdly and her head looks like it's facing away from Ian which did not fit what I was trying to go for. Ian doesn't look quite as stunned as I would like him to look and his face was obscured by Ada's shoulder which I didn't like since it's meant to be the focal point.
The middle is me exaggerating the twist of Ada's and Ian's torso, but I feel I went too far and it now feels unbalanced. Also again, Ian's face is obscured. I really wanted Ian's right shoulder to peek over Ada's shoulder, just so it's more balanced and kind of frames Ada in Ian's silhouette.
I settled on the rightmost sketch because it felt the most like Ada was wrapping around Ian. I also had the hair angle away from Ian's face and then back the other way so it feels balanced.
Bonus tip is also to make your silhouettes distinct/clear! My art style allows that to happen by kind of outlining each characters silhouettes or airbrushing characters' body parts that are farther back in the scene.
Here's some examples using different portrait orientations and character dynamics! Someone who is feeling free would look into the distance, someone distraught would curl into themselves, someone who is comfortable with another person would usually make eye contact/their silhouettes compliment eachother.
Landscapes! They let the eyes wander and gives the illustration more room to breathe. If there's one character in the scene, all the real estate could be used to frame the subject or subtly lead towards them. If there's more than one, the scene would be dependent on their relationship/interaction. Here Ada and Mark are facing away from eachother bc they don't really know eachother pretty well, but they seem at ease w eachother judging from how close they are in proximity. The last one had Ada and Ian being squished to the front bc of the oppressive force behind them. They also pointedly look away from him lmao
new icon! 2025 has been a messy messy turbulent year so let’s try again. rediscover what i am. get mysterious get humble get curious. become a more coolheaded thoughtful (and possibly slightly more reticent) artist. im not the same anymore, but ill be okay.
Old style guide I did for Tangled back in the day.. Some great quotes from Bill Moore, famous design teacher at Chouinard, establishing a great way of approaching and studying shapes*
Hope everyone has a great Christmas and New Years!!! Thanks to all 20,000+ followers following this tumblr; truly it encourages me that there is a audience out there and motivates me to do more work*
I know I say that I'm kinda nuts for doing the amount of visual research I do, but at the same time:
Specificity is SO much more compelling and real feeling, and imo not getting references often makes things look more amateur.
Eg. drawing a sofa- my mental image of a sofa is something like this:
Like. Its a sofa. It works. But it's not very convincing, the pillows are kinda wrong at the back, and it's not really giving any information about the owner.
Even if you want a basic sofa...
What kind of basic.
comfy and cheap?
kinda rigid?
inherited?
------
who does this comfy cheap ikea sofa belong to anyway?
guy living alone?
teenage girl?
Grandma?
Anyway I'll get off my soapbox but specificity is sexy and fun and it can do your storytelling for you!
I accidentally learnt a lot about sofas via drawing fantasy / historical comics and I feel like it made my art and my life better.
Like in one project I'm working on (set in early 1800s England) most sofas had a similar shape, but I tried to learn a bit extra so they still felt distinct!
It's also pre-mass production when most people couldn't actually AFFORD much clutter or variety, but I think there are still ways to show differences!
And not to be an insufferable nerd, but I do now sometimes notice BEAUTIFUL detailed fantasy art of eg. a rough, battered medieval tavern that also has the most luxuriously polished mahogany Victorian furniture of all time...
I too love a button-backed sofa, but is it always the MOMENT for one?
Is exact accuracy a huge deal or more important than storytelling? NO!!!! But usually you don't need to know anything about furniture to see the vibe is a little off, and a little visual research can add a lot to a drawing, and just be INTERESTING.
No, suitcases weren't a thing in 1800, yes I put them in anyway to give a VIBE
IMO in fantasy, being more specific and conscious of what realworld things you might be drawing from can help avoid 2nd-hand-fantasy orientalist, generic 'Eastern' settings, and gives you a chance to go look up cool craft and fabric art from around the world.
And honestly, looking up real historical settings taught me just how much European fashion, architecture and design has been deeply, inseparably intertwined with trade and colonialism in other parts of the world for thousands of years. (Persian rugs, mahogany furniture, so much wallpaper and almost all block and textile printing, dyes, colours, silk dresses, cotton anything. Anyone who tries to tell you traditional british culture means white culture is lying to you on more levels than you think.)
I just feel these are valuable things to be more conscious of in general, and made me more thoughtful about how everyday stuff gets designed and made.
But IF you do care about accuracy, specificity can also help you avoid accidentally drawing the default ikea chair of the mind into your space future / ancient China / 1400s Bohemia yaoi
ARTFIGHT 2025!!! I got so so distracted and didn't manage as much as I wanted. but im still so cheesed to draw everyone's ocs it's very inspiring ^_^... ur lore so fire... ur designs so awesome... ur revenges so epic.. it gives me a chance to get creative with layouts/interactions. peace and joy and love on planet earth
ARTFIGHT 2025!!! I got so so distracted and didn't manage as much as I wanted. but im still so cheesed to draw everyone's ocs it's very inspiring ^_^... ur lore so fire... ur designs so awesome... ur revenges so epic.. it gives me a chance to get creative with layouts/interactions. peace and joy and love on planet earth
whew this was a blast! I'm a bit sad I couldn't reach last year's highscore (142) due to ongoing health issues, but nevertheless it was fun!! Thank you to everyone who attacked me!! I love it,,!!
For the last day before the zine releases, please enjoy @quirinah's artist statement! :U
"lately, as an animator and illustrator and casual fanboy/girl/whatever, I’ve been trying to really properly work through my relationship through the franchises I love to read and watch with the stories I choose to draw and tell. being an art student has been such a whirlwind experience for me because it’s one of the first times I’ve ever been able to talk to peers, across walks of life, who I can relate to as artists. being able to come back to a franchise that basically raised me when I was younger. I see a lot of that feeling of camaderie reflected in this absurdist, coming-of-age, post apocalyptic sci-fi comic about a bunch of teens across the universe coming together to love, lose, and play a video game. on a meta level, maybe there’s a parallel I want to draw between those years the beta kids were stuck on a ship hurling through space-time, working through their relationships, and being stuck in a dank computer lab at 5 in the morning for weeks on end animating, trying to figure out what exactly I wanted from this grueling journey I was putting myself through to finish a short film.
abstract sentimentalities aside! the background here is modeled after one of two animation-focused computer labs, affectionately known as the “party lab” because you go there moreso to hang out rather than lock in. technically, you’re not really supposed to bring food or drink, but there’s school cafeteria coffee and cup ramen and takeout from the 15 minute drive to the local In-N-Out anyway, because it’s late and everyone pays too much tuition to really give a damn. if you dim the lights at night, it basically kind of becomes like a group sleepover. Something something… it’s not much but it’s honest work :”D first to fall asleep will be added to Dave’s candid photo collection of napping college students. Based off a true story!!!"
Buy a copy of IRLstuck tomorrow to see the finished artwork, alongside many other beautiful pieces!
