my vgen is currently up and i'll be offering only surprise-me (or skeb style) illustrations for now. i'd like to hear what kind of art you would like to order from me so i'm posting this poll to gauge other services i can offer in the future
hi! (˶ᵔᗜᵔ˶)ﾉﾞ i'm so so sorry if i'm bothering you but i really love your art and i was wondering if you could maybe explain to me how do you draw faces? i think your artstyle is amazing and i would love to draw in a similiar style (if you're okay with that!) but i'm still a beginner and i don't really don't know what i'm doing haha ( 〃．．)
hello hello! sorry this took a minute for me to answer, i received this ask while i was back in the groove of drawing masked spirits so when i tried making visuals for this, i hated each attempt
it's a bit hard for me to give good examples because i'll end up with an owl tutorial step 1 step 2
so instead i'll try to walk u thru my process by layers and ill leave a timelapse of the gw spirits i drew a while back since i have a recording of that
my go-to is drawing a circle for the base of the head, then cross out the face to divide the front face into 4 quarters. i do all this with a larger brush so that i avoid overthinking the details.
the cross has 2 purposes: (1) to divide the face so its easier to know where to draw the facial features, and (2) to set the angle at which your character is facing. are they looking up? down? facing front to the viewer or 3/4s or to the side?
the cross is not meant to be a rigid rule for me, but an estimate for where everything else needs to be
then i proceed to draw the edge of the face, eyes, nose and mouth. i usually edit my construction lines when sketching out the details so that it looks "correct" to my imagined idea and understanding of anatomy
when it comes to deciding on the shapes of facial features, i think about shape language and real life facial features. how do i want this character to come across? also, what facial features i've seen on real people can i use as reference?
for example, i view saluting captain as a straightforward and diligent person. they don't speak much but when they do, it's blunt and can come off insensitive at times. i expressed that neutral aspect to them through boxy shapes like their face and their prominent eyebrows. when deciding on the colors, i made sure to keep the lighter palms (in hindsight, i could've colored it lighter tbh) and the two-toned lips.
in comparison to frightened refugee who has a mix of round and sharp features. i gave them rounder eyes and nose in connection to the round bun they have, while giving them a more oval/kite face shape and breaking the bun outline with a few curls to demonstrate how frazzled they are. i searched real life references for their hair texture and based their nose shape and lips off of some black youtubers' faces
i've gotten comments of how people love seeing the variety in the faces i draw and the easiest way to think of different features from imagination is just diversifying the media you engage in! you always get inspired or think of some aspects of the media/content you consume, so it's good to have variety. naylissah provides really beginner-friendly art tutorials in drawing black features and hairstyles that have helped me out when references were hard for me to study on my own. monica.raviii's make-up color theory series and pippa barnes's make-up looks are my main inspirations for how i translate sky spirit masks into face paint/make-up
and if i haven't said it before, i'll say it again: koyoharu gotouge (demon slayer mangaka) and harukawa95 (bungo stray dogs illustrator) have been my main anime-style inspiration for a very very long time. that's why i love designing different eyes and hair details! i've literally taken inspiration from muichiro's eyes in how i've drawn stewie like ever since lol
i'm really honored you'd like to draw in a style similar to mine >< <3 i don't study the fundamentals very much so i can't tell you to do that, but i will say: keep drawing what you love! i don't improve quickly but my consistency and inspiration have kept me going and i think i've gotten better in drawing faces in comparison to when i first started posting here in 2021. i always smile when i see a reblog note or comment acknowledging my efforts in adding some more variety to the faces i draw
hi hi! i ran out of time today so crabsalute tomorrow hopefully.. in the meantime, have a clue!
i'll also be posting commission info and opening comms tomorrow 🙇iap trades will still be finished first, i'm just short on money for necessities and our financial situation isn't the best rn
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