shepullsmytrigger

Happy holidays to @stardreamerl0ve !!!

13. Talk about a WIP you like!

Hahaha finally someone asked me this! I actually have more than one I want to talk about. First, there’s this one:

You might not be able to tell what’s happening. It is, Sandra is actually grabbing Peter’s chin with one hand and holding a lit cigarette with the other. Now, you might be wondering, “Why is Peter sticking his tongue out?” It’s because Sandra is pretending she’s going to put the cigarette out on his tongue.

I really like this one because, first, I think there’s a lot of tension in it. Second, I think I did a good job drawing Peter’s face from this angle (which I’m usually not good at, so I was pretty happy I pulled it off?!).

That said, I didn’t know how to draw the body from that angle—it just kept looking weird no matter what I tried, so I kind of gave up. And the more I thought about it, the more I felt like it was a bit out of character for them anyway.

There’s another one—but warning: this contains Baldur’s Gate 3 spoilers, so skip this if you haven’t played!

Actually, I feel a bit embarrassed calling this a WIP because it’s barely even a sketch—it’s just a super rough doodle so I wouldn’t forget the composition.

I like this one for the concept and composition: it’s right after Orin killed Durge. If you’ve played the game, you know Orin is into bloody, artistic displays. So in this drawing, she’s pulling out Durge’s intestines and shaping them into a heart. The bottom of the heart is made from Durge’s tail and Orin’s hair.

If I ever finish this, the caption will be: “love u so.”

21. What do you think your art style would taste like?

Emmm I’m not even sure I have an art style! I think I have at least two—one that leans more realistic and one that’s more anime-inspired. You can usually tell by how I draw noses: if I draw the bridge of the nose, it’s the former. If I leave it out, it’s the latter.

The more realistic one tends to use less saturated colors, so maybe it’d taste like bitter coffee (but sometimes I go brighter too—so maybe it’s just coffee with a lot of milk).

The anime-style one is usually very saturated, so… maybe it tastes like candy? Haha.

35. If you had one piece of advice to give your younger artist self, what would it be?

“You can paint over the lineart layer.”

“Use layer modes more.”

Back then, I was totally trapped by my lineart. I’d make it super clean and precise, erasing every single stray mark—and then when it came time to color, I’d feel completely restricted because I didn’t want to mess up the linework.

Then one day I just merged the base colors with the lineart and started painting directly on top of it. That’s when I discovered a whole new world.

…But that also made me lean really hard into messy painting styles. Now whenever I get a bit of visual effect I like, I just stop working on it. I’m really too lazy to clean up details, lol.

19. Where do you find inspiration?

Most of my drawings are fanart, so I usually get inspiration from the original work itself—either from specific scenes or the text. I like expanding on what’s already there, imagining what happens outside the frame. For example, in this Tumblr post, images 4, 7, and 8 are all based on scenes from the original story, reimagined through my own interpretation. After finishing a story, I often have lots of thoughts about the parts that were left unexplored.

Aside from that, I do more common fanwork things too—like imagining a happier alternate ending if the original was tragic, giving male characters a genderbend twist, or placing characters into AUs.

Most of my ideas come from my imagination, especially when it comes to content. Sometimes, I just want to draw two characters standing there looking pretty or dressed in cool outfits. In those cases, I’ll look for pose or fashion references on Pinterest.

Every now and then, a specific lyric from a song or a sentence from a novel will hit me hard emotionally, and that can also inspire me. But that’s pretty rare—mainly because I don’t think my taste in music or literature is that great. :P

14. What’s your favorite thing about drawing?

My favorite thing is being able to draw the characters I love. That’s honestly the most important part for me—it’s kind of the whole reason I draw in the first place. I want to make them do whatever I imagine… though I’m not quite skilled enough to do that perfectly yet. :(

Also, being part of a fan community through fanart feels really rewarding. You find people who love the same things you do, and you create something out of that shared passion. That kind of connection is super valuable to me.

As for the process of drawing itself—it kind of feels like playing a Soulslike game. There’s no real end, just endless bosses and new mechanics. It’s full of uncertainty and despair, but pushing forward is somehow always joyful. Even if it’s tough in the moment, watching your character level up is super satisfying.

15. What’s your least favorite thing about drawing?

I’ve been drawing since I was really young—doodling princesses on scrap paper. Then my mom signed me up for a charcoal sketching class when I was 8. I hated it. Just the thought of going there on weekends gave me a headache. I just wanted to draw what I liked, but every class we had to draw shapes, then vegetables, and other boring stuff.

Looking back, I think maybe I never really liked “drawing” itself—I just wanted to depict the things I loved. That’s probably why I basically only draw people, and mostly just their faces (because I love faces?). I struggle a lot with backgrounds, animals, and random objects—my skill level with those is probably no better than a baby.

If drawing is like playing a Souls game, then it’s kind of like that infamous stretch before the Bed of Chaos boss in Dark Souls II—a long path filled with annoying mobs you have to get through just to reach the boss.If the ultimate goal of drawing is defeating the boss—finishing the piece or capturing your vision—then that tedious, enemy-filled path becomes something you have to endure. It’s often dull and repetitive, but it’s part of the process whether you like it or not.

Also, I never take commissions because I don’t want to draw things I’m not into—and deadlines give me major anxiety.