Destructo Girl

//she-her//art & writing side blog

[naturalnecrosis]

Compiled some basic information I know about drawing fat characters for beginners since I've been seeing more talk about absence of really basic traits in a lot of art lately.

Morpho Fat and Skin Folds on Archive.org (for free!)

[pencilcat]

30 Days of Art Improvement Challenge

Are you tired of feeling like your art just isn’t improving? Do you want to do a 30-day challenge that’s actually useful? Welcome to 30 Days of Improvement Hell. >:D

I made this because I’ve been feeling super ‘blah’ about my art these days, and I needed something to kick-start myself. Who wants to do this with me!? Start now or whenever you can (now you procrastinators!). Challenge yourself and have fun at the same time!

Tag your posts with #Improvement Hell so everyone can follow along and see each other’s awesome artwork. I may even create a blog and reblog them! :D

What are you waiting for? START!

Self-Portrait - Introduce yourself

Draw a figure using a reference - link to reference

Draw a figure that’s in action, using a reference - link to reference

Draw a part of the human anatomy you have trouble with. x20, with atleast 5 being skeletal/musculature studies.

Draw more figures. Quick gestures and silhouettes. x20, with atleast 10 different body shapes

Let’s have some fun. Design a character from either This or This character generator! Be creative and bring something to life!

Pick the weirdest object in your house/room. Draw it. Shadows and Highlights.

Find 2-3 objects, make a scene with them. Draw it. Bonus points for creativity. Double points for dramatic lighting.

Draw a landscape of a place you’ve never been or drawn.

Draw a BG with 1pt Perspective. Negative points if it’s a railroad or an empty street.

Draw a BG with 2pt Perspective.

Look out a window. Draw what you see. Bonus points for adding something interesting.

Draw an interior setting with the character you designed on Day #6 in it.

BG with either bird’s eye or worm’s eye view.

Halfway there! Draw three 'action’ scenes with different compositions in each. Quick sketches are fine, just make them interesting and understandable! Bonus points if it’s the same scene, but different composition.

Draw a single page comic with 5-7 panels (the story begins and ends on one page). 

Draw an animal you’ve never drawn before. x10  Link references.

Draw a car. Negative points for whining. Hint: Use a perspective grid.

Think of the thing you hate drawing the most. Guess what? Draw it! Negative points for lying to yourself.

Pick an object in your house/room. Now design a character from it, using the shapes, forms, textures, purpose and colors as inspiration. Also link/post the object you used. Negative points for using a humanoid action figure.

Draw a character/object/scene, and shade them using ONLY solid blacks and whites. Bonus points for good use of lights/shadows

Draw a different object/scene/character. Shade using hatching, crosshatcing, and/or pointillism. Bonus points for lights/shadows and textures.

Colors! Pick a color palette, and paint a scene/character/object using only those colors (some blending allowed). Bonus points for good use of lights/shadows.

Draw and color a scene/object/character - no lines allowed! (aka - lineless art). Don’t forget light and shadows!

Draw a scene/character in a style you’ve never drawn before. If emulating an artist, credit+link. Bonus for color style.

Draw a character. Draw 10 emotions/expressions. Bonus points for 'uncommon’ emotions. (i.e. anxiety, guilt, despair, loneliness etc.)

Draw three random shapes using your opposite hand (or your foot). Now design characters from those shapes.

Turn on the tv (or load your illegally downloaded movies). Pick an actor and draw them.

Almost done! Let’s have some fun. Draw some fanart. Bonus points if it’s super obscure and unknown. Make people guess what it’s from.

Last day! Find a drawing you did within the last year. Now draw it again using what you’ve learned! Link it for comparison!

 Look at all that amazing improvement! Congrats!

[Update] There is now a sequel challenge, Draw All The Things!

[fancyfade]

Manual Wheelchair Tutorial by Fade31415

So... I technically drew this 3 years ago but forgot to post it. I think I was going to clean up the end and make a nice recap, but I ran out of steam and then just left it as a wip for years. I got reminded of it because I was talking to a friend about how to draw wheelchairs today.

This covers most of what I view as the most common errors when it comes to drawing characters who use manual wheelchairs. I hope it helps you a lot.

Image description is in alt text, but there is a back up image description under the cut in case that does not work for some reason

[image description: a 4 picture long wheelchair tutorial. the background is white and the text, when it appears, is black and in calibri. each step will be labeled with "Step #" and a description of the drawing next to it, and "text" and then the text that is written to explain it to follow.

Step one text: So, you want to draw a character who uses a manual wheelchair? Awesome! I can't approve more. Drawing characters who use wheelchairs is a bit different than drawing standing characters, because of obvious posing differences. But to start, you need to know what parts of a wheelchair you will draw. So, without further ado, here are 3 wheelchairs!

Step one image: a simplified drawing of a chubby woman sitting in a quickie GPV manual wheelchair and resting her hand on the handrim of one of the wheels. this is labeled "the artist"

step two: next there is a lineart drawing of three wheelchairs. one is a tilite TR series 3. this is an ultralight wheelchair with a bucket seat (the back is lower than the front), a big cushion and a short backrest that kind of contours to the back of the person who would sit in it. the caster wheels (front wheels) are very small and the footrest is just two little metal bars. next image is a quickie GPV. this is also an ultralight wheelchair with a low back, but its caster wheels are slightly larger, the back has regular upholstery (it does not look like it was made to conform to the back of the person who sits there) and the frame is boxier -- there is no bar underneath the seat where the wheels would attach, rather each wheel is attached to the side of the chair. the next wheelchair is an invacare tracer. it is how most people imagine wheelchairs when they hear 'wheelchair'. it has no cushion and it has a high backrest with handles. it has high armrests that would be comfortable to rest your elbows on if you were just sitting. the wheels are not bicycle wheels like the previous two but are rather plastic. it has big footrests and big caster wheels.

text: the wheelchairs on the left are the ultralight, sporty kind. I have one of them (the quickie). the one on the right is a more standard one you might find in hospitals or as the public wheelchair in grocery stores or the mall.

step three: first is text to accompany the tilite. "This wheelchair has a really thick cushion - it's pressure relieving, which you need if you use your chair ufll tiem and especially if you have a spinal cord injury. This wc has the smallest caster (front) wheels. They are hte most handy for turning in small circles." next there is text to accompany the quickie gpv: "This one has the one I use -- it isn't pressure relieving, but is still useful." next is text to accompany the invacare: "this wheelchair has no cushion - you do not want to sit on it for long. This one has the biggest caster wheels - they are useful for not 'tripping' when your front wheel gets caught on an obstacle.”

step four text: like with all complex drawings, you want to break it into simple shapes first. I normally have a box underneath the seat, a rectangle for the backrest, and a trapezoidal thing for hte area from the box to the footrest. these are the most important shapes, because your character will rest on them and they will move with your character.

step four image: the lineart of each wheelchair has been put on reduced opacity, so we can see the square representing the backrest of each seat (the square is the smallest for the tilite and biggest for the invacare), the box for each seat and area underneath it, and the trapezoid for the footrests. the next step labels the images of these simplified shapes as the lineart is removed. "Note the proportions of each set of shapes is not the same - just like how you wouldn't draw all your characters with the same proportions on their faces!"

step 5: we see the same shapes to form the wheelchair, but now with blue circles drawn where the back wheels would be.

text: next shape is the wheels - two circles

step six: next we see the wheels and shapes have been reduced in opacity and the basic structure of everything about each wheelchair: footrests, caster wheels, upholstery details, axles has been drawn on in orange.

text: the next stage is everything else that's structure - front wheels, handlebars, cushions, footrests.

Step seven: we see the lineart on top of the lowered opacity sketch.

text: you can then do detailing like axles, spokes, upholstery, etc and lines

step eight: next we see three drawings of different characters. there is patience, a skinny white woman sitting in a blue invacare wheelchair. kelley, a slightly chubby black woman wearing a stripey dress sitting in a red quickie gpv wheelchair and doing a wheelie while smiling. then luke, a white man with short blond hair wearing khaki pants. he is sitting in a tilite chair.

text: once you get your wheelchair basics, you need to find out which kind your character uses. here are three characters who each use one of the example WCs. patience uses the invacare. she needs one with a better cushion, but circumstance prevents it. Notice the chair is a bit wider than her hips - it's not custom fitted. Also notice she has to turn her elbows out awkwardly to move. the high armrests prevent a smooth push. her wheelchair has big caster wheels and far-back back wheels. it is made for stability and difficult to turn,but also difficult to knock over. Her chair indicates a lack of resources or temporary injury, and is primarily a transport chair

kelley uses a wheelchair like mine - it is fairly sporty, but has a box-y frame underneath. this makes it heaver than if it didn't.she has a mediocre cushion - it protects her, but only some. her back wheels are further underneath her body than Patience's, which makes it possible to do the wheelie (demonstrated here). her wheelchair is supposed to look line one you'd use full time, but it is a little old.

luke has a spinal cord injury. he has a very thick pressure relieving cushion for medical reasons. his chair is also ultralight, with no boxyness under the frame. his chair is the newest and lightest - it indicates his wealth/resources, but also that he needs to use on full time.

step nine: just a drawing of me sitting in my wheelchair holding my hands up to show fingerless wheelchair gloves. we're looking at me from above.

text: when you're choosing what wheelchair to give your character, think of both their disability and their resources and go from there. questions to ask yourself: is it made specifically for them or is it mass-produced or a hand-me-down (if it's custom, the seat will not be too wide or narrow in comparison to their body and their feet will rest on the footplate naturally). do they want more stability (further back back wheels, big caster wheels) or maneuverability (the inverse). do they need a pressure relieving cushion? how long are they using their wheelchair per day? how long have they needed a wheelchair? Do they have health insurance? do they have access to a lot of spending money? How much can they spend on their wheelchair? are they athletic etc etc

posing steps:

step one: a sketch of two people standing up. one just shows the outline of a person's body, with legs that are ind of triangle shaped, the other shows a sketched pelvis and rib cage to go along with the bones of the legs and arm. text: step one: Most people have this sketch anatomy they put before drawing their characters for real. I kind of scribble around like on the left, but some people use skeletons on the right.

step two: there are now too sketched pictures of people in wheelchairs. one shows lightly traced human form (arms articulated, curve for a stomach, legs that are kind of triangle shaped and pointing down) sitting in a wheelchair that is just the sketch of footrests and wheels. the other sketch shows the sketch of a body with a circle for hips and an oval for a rib cage and the person doing a wheelie (lifting the front end of the wheelchair off the ground and leaning back). their wheelchair is also sketched out and defined by a circle for their wheels and 2 lines, 1 of the seat and 1 for the backrest. text: you need one of those for your wheelchair character. important: they should have both the person's main anatomy features (Usually upper body and at least hips) and the wheelchair's. for me, these are the back wheels, footrest, and seat. why simplify to just those features? Take a look at this incredibly quickly drawn wheelchair.

step three: there is a lineart drawing of a manual wheelchair with slightly cambered (angled towards the seat) wheels, a backrest, and a footrest. the frame is light and there are no handlebars. there are labels pointing to different parts of the wheelchair: Backrest, handrims, wheel, axle, seat, footrest, and caster wheels (the ones in front). text: there are a lot of parts, and not all of them are essential to your pose. trying to draw the whole thing straight out of the gate will frustrate you.'

step four text: take a character in heavy armor: if you draw her pose without taking her armor into account, her armor will clip through her body. if you draw a wheelchair using character without keeping her wheelchair in mind from the beginning, the pose won't make sense.

step four image: next we see two lineart drawings of different characters. one is a bulky woman wearing plate armor. her hand is on her hip and she is trying to scratch her back with the other hand. there is the label "shoudlerpad clips through face" and "thumb clips through chestplate." the next drawing shows a woman in a wheelchair with one foot rested on her knee and her arms rested back, such that they would be rested on the back of a regular chair, but the back of her wheelchair is not wide enough for them to actually be resting on anything. the text here reads "elbows not resting on anything" and "foot not on footplate"

step five: there are two images, one is lineart on top of a 3d modelled apartment with sketchup, the other is a colored in version of that lineart with the background also colored in and no longer a 3d modelled screencap two characters, one old woman wearing a green jacket and one younger woman wearing a white shirt and blue undershirt, are sitting on a couch. the old woman is leaning forward and the young woman is resting her arm on the couch. behind the young woman is a bookshelf.

step five text: you may say you'll just draw the chair first and then the person, but while that works for regular furniture, it doesn't work as well for most manual wcs. take this comic panel with characters on a couch for example - I 3d modeled the room and then drew the characters on the furniture. it works because you don't move furniture in most poses - you rest on it. but your wheelchair needs to move with you, especially if it's an ultralight one.

step six image: there is a flat color drawing of barbara gordon in her wheelchair. she is wearing a black sportsbra and black shorts. in the first image we see she is doing tricks in her chair, zooming through the air (as if she has just launched herself off the ground in a skater park or somethign) while her left hand is resting on a structure and her right hand is heading towards the right handrim. the next image shows her right hand planted on the ground and her chair and body above her, such that she is briefly doing a one-handed handstand, but the motion line indicates that she is moving and this will not last. her left arm is near the handrim of her left wheel.

text: take exercise Oracle - she is doing tricks. Her WC is an extension of her body. That is crucial to getting natural looking manual wheelchair users after posing.

step seven: we see a lineart drawing of paula from young justice. she is sitting in a standard manual wheelchair with high armrests (goes up to the bottom of her ribs probably) and a high backrest (goes up to just below her shoulderblades). she is setting her hand on the armrest, leaning forward, and holding her other hand out.

text: of course, there are exceptions - if you have a clunky WC, it is harder to move with your body. Take Paula from young Justice - here, i drew her resting her hand on her armrest, because she has a clunker wheelchair. her pose is already mostly static - she's sitting down - and she poses around that.

[spookberry]

Could you give some tips on how to draw chubby girls?

hmm well I mean, I personally use myself as a reference most the time? And that's always sorta been how I go about it. So looking at fat bodies and how they move and how weight sits on people in real life is always a good place to start in my opinion. Legit at one point I wasnt happy at all with how I was drawing fat bodies so i literally just took a bunch of pictures of myself and traced over them to figure out what exactly I was missing. Also! I've seen people recommend the Morpho book a lot so if you find books helpful when learning that's a good place to look.

started typing out some more tips, but then decided a visual might be more helpful

hope that was helpful at all!

[stevieboyharrington]

6 Tips on Writing An Actually Inclusive Reader Insert:

1. Do a ctrl + f search of the colors red and pink. If these colors are being used to describe the reader in any way, delete it.

2. Instead of "blushing", use "goosebumps", "shivers", "avoiding eye contact", etc. It still conveys the same thing, and you can get more creative than just using "blushing" 10,000 times.

3. Don't mention being pale or becoming pale (like, seriously, this is just a given). If you want to talk about the reader looking sick or dying, use "ghastly" or "sunken eyes", etc. Again, this is a great opportunity to be more creative in your language as well as inclusive

4. For body-inclusivity, don't talk about the reader sharing clothes with someone. I personally would not fit into anything that Nancy Wheeler owns, so yeah, let's just not do this

5. Don't mention hair. A lot of us can't just wash our hair and move on with our day. Don't get me started on "running their fingers across their hair". Just refrain from descriptions of styling, washing, and touching the reader's hair.

6. Don't put pictures of pretty, white girls for "aesthetics". It honestly just deters readers, and it's just not inclusive in the slightest

That's it, that's basically all you need to do to be inclusive. I'll admit, as a lighter skin POC writer, some of these did slip my mind when I used to write, but what's important is actually listening to readers and encouraging inclusivity in your writing.

If anyone has any other suggestions, feel free to put your own.

[silima]

oh yea just throwing it out there but. if u are a beginning digital artist PLEASE i am BEGGING you to experiment with different methods of making your drawings because i see so many of yall suffering for no reason using what you’re taught because you don’t know to try a different way. like SO MANY PEOPLE people make jokes about how much worse their lineart looks from their sketch and how much of a pain it is to do lineart… if that’s you, then, don’t do lineart! just clean up your sketch a bit, or keep the bits from the sketch that you like the most and only do a separate layer for the things that really need fixing, or just paint right onto it!! endless possibilities. if u keep having troubles trouble with layers? u don’t need them, just merge them and keep going. better at sketching traditionally than digitally? take a picture of ur sketch and draw on top of it. there is no One Right Way to do anything in art except what’s fun and satisfying for you. be free

[ireadyabooks]

Creating the Cover of Loveless with Alice Oseman!

Hi! I’m author and illustrator Alice Oseman, and I got to design the cover for the US edition of my latest YA novel, Loveless. I’m here to tell you all about that design process, from the first sketches to the finished cover!

THE FIRST SKETCH

I had a pretty clear vision of what I wanted the cover to look like right at the start. Loveless is set at university, and its protagonist, Georgia, is thrust into a world of packed college bars, sweaty clubs, lecture halls, and busy dorms. Students are everywhere, but the main characters of Loveless are all little alone in their feelings. So my idea for the cover of Loveless was to feature the five main characters of the story amidst a tightly packed crowd of students at a college bar, to try to capture that feeling of being alone in a crowd.

LINE ART

Scholastic liked my idea (YAY!) but their suggestion was to bring Georgia to the foreground a little more, so she’s clearly the protagonist of the story. I did this in the next stage of my cover design process – the line art stage. I transformed my sketch into a much tidier line art illustration, and I was super happy with how it was looking!

COLOUR EXPERIMENTS

Next up was colour. I’ve always considered colour to be one of my weaker skills as an artist, so I wanted to try out lots of rough ideas before settling on a colour scheme for the cover. I knew I wanted purple to be a big feature – it’s the colour of the UK cover, which I fought very hard for, because it’s the main colour of the asexual flag.

 I started with some rough studies:

And then I went ahead and coloured the illustration. I still wasn’t happy with my colour choices, so I edited the colours a lot and created a new spread of colour ideas. There were a lot of them, so here are just a few:

THE FINISHED COVER

 Eventually, and with Scholastic’s help, I settled on the colours I liked. I added in some final tweaks and details, and then the illustration was complete! I handed it over to Scholastic to create the typography for the text and to add on all the final bits and bobs. And then… we had a cover!

Start reading Loveless now!

[malabu]

enemies to lovers (part 3): comforting each other

“i know we’re not… friends or anything, but… i’m here for you, if you need someone to talk to.”

“i didn’t know where else to go.” / “i didn’t have anywhere else to go.”

“i feel like shit.” “you look like it, too.” *they bump shoulders*

“just… tell me what i can do to make you feel better.”

“come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”

“hey, look at me. i’m not going anywhere.”

“you seem to be the only trustworthy one around here, so can i talk to you?”

“ you know, if you’re trying to make me feel guilty, you’ve succeeded.”

“i don’t want to bother you. seriously, it’s all just… it’s a lot.”

“i don’t know what’s wrong with me. i can’t stop crying.”

“aren’t you tired?” “i’m fine. don’t worry about me.”

“there’s snot all over your shirt. it’s quite gross, actually.”

“you are, without a doubt, the most annoying person i’ve ever crossed paths with. and don’t even get me started on the sound of your voice.”

“you’re welcome to stay here, for as long as you need.”

“it’s okay to cry, you know.”

“stop apologizing. you didn’t do anything wrong.”

“we don’t need to talk, all right? let’s just… stay here, holding each other.”

“you were always there for me. let me be there for you.”

“oh, god, i’m sorry about your shirt.” *shirt is drenched in tears* “it’s okay. i was planning on throwing it out anyway.” 

[malabu]

enemies to lovers (part 4)

“i don’t even remember why we used to fight so much.”

“they would be so mad if they found out.” “fuck ‘em”

“just because i’m the bad guy doesn’t mean i’m a bad guy.”

“you’re not a bad guy. you’re actually kinda nice to have around.”

“why didn’t you kill me when you had the chance?  “you know why.”

“you bring out the good in me.”

“please, for the love of god, shut up for once.” “why don’t you come over here and make me?”

“you know, you’re really hot when you’re angry.”

“why are you really here? to mock me? to… make me hate you more?” “no. none of that. i came to be a friend, because it really looks like you need one right now.”

“i wish i never acted the way i did towards you. i’m sorry.” “i know.”

“we’re not good for each other.” “why not?”

“i used to want to kill you. now i just wanna kiss you.”

“i don’t think you’re evil.” “you don’t?” “no. i think you’re just lost. misguided. and you don’t know anything else.”

“they’re gonna hear us if you don’t be quiet.” “good.”

“i don’t like you. i can barely tolerate you.” “then why do you keep coming back?”

“no one has to know. it’s not like they’d believe us anyway.”

“it’s too late for me.” “no. i don’t believe that.”

“i’m tired of having to pretend we hate each other.”

“we can’t help who we fall in love with.”

“i think i just… felt this pressure, you know, to be the bad guy.”

“you’re annoying, you know that?”

[malabu]

trauma

“you don’t feel safe here, do you?”

“i’m just tired.” “of what?” “everything.”

“were you crying?”

“it’s like i can’t breathe. i just want to breathe.”

“are you okay? that looked like it really spooked you.”

“it’s fine, i’m used to it.”

“i’m not trying to pry, but i want you to know i’d like to listen, if you want someone to talk to.”

“just… let me lay here for a while.”

“what can i do to help?”

“i’m usually stronger than this.”

“just pretend like i’m not here. what would you say to yourself if nobody was around?”

“i’m sorry i didn’t tell you earlier.”

“when was the last time you ate?”

“you stayed?” “of course i stayed. why wouldn’t i?”

“[name]? can you hear me?”

“i’m sorry, i’m not trying to be distant.”

“it’s okay. i promise you, i will be here when you wake up.”

“i have a lot going on right now.”

“whenever you get stressed, you do this thing with your hands. what is it?”

“you said i could stay with you if i needed a bed.”

“i won’t judge you.”

“i pick my skin/bite my nails when i feel panicky.”

“you don’t have to tell me. but if you do decide you want to, i’ll be here.”

“you’re being way too nice to me.”

“relax, i won’t hurt you.”

[winonasworld]

Character design for Bathsheba, an oc in a horror/thriller i wanna write

[sketchcomplex]

I stumbled upon a website that allows you to blend any colors evenly no matter how opposite on the spectrum they are.

sharing the knowledge

very helpful art resource

[b09875654321-deactivated2020062]

WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE???

[winonasworld]

seen a "draw a td character in your current outfit meme" and obviously had to align with my goth gf gwen

[spacezeros123]

How do you print out your work to sell? I'm going to start selling my artwork but I'm confused on how to make copies.

I use a merchandise manufacturer called Awesome Merchandise:  http://awesomemerchandise.com/ They’re really excellent and I’d highly recommend them if you live in the UK! There are lots of other options if you live elsewhere though. Do some googling!