Deliciously Random

a/b/o Stucky morning cuddles, uncropped version on AO3, HERE.

America's Day Off - (2026)

It's year 13?! Here’s the AO3 link if you want to see all 13: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1968099 (including me talking about playing the long game, of creating new systems, giving yourself time to rest, and the importance of meetings)

Here’s the tumblr tag if you prefer to stay on this site: https://potofsoup.tumblr.com/tagged/happy%20birthday%20steve/chrono

Anyways, thank you everyone who encouraged me to do this even though I'm not really in the MCU fandom anymore. (I hear Sam and Bucky are currently on the outs? Well I made them talk to each other again here. :P) This is done especially in memory of @rubynye, who passed away this year, and who I miss deeply. She was an eternal friend and perennial encourager of my July 4th comics, from the very first one. <3 Love you and miss you.

Sorry Steve ended up doing most of the talking, but it felt like a Steve year, because it's time to fight back.

Also, at one point I was going to set this by the Reflecting Pool, and had planned an extended analogy about how the Reflecting Pool has always needed maintenance against the sinking ground and the hot sun, but Trump is the first to (a) make it worse, and (b) refuse to own up to the mistakes, and (c) post National Guard to arrest anyone who tries to touch it. [quick reflecting pool history timeline] But then there's the heat wave and I'm like "the boys are staying inside this year." :P

Sorry this year's is more hastily done than usual -- I just finished my Asian American Citizenship comic a few days ago, and haven't really been thinking Captain America thoughts.

We'll see what next year brings!

Happy 108th Birthday, Steve ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

Senator Barnes & his lovely husband Steve Rogers For NSFW-ish version & easter egg, please visit my AO3 HERE :)

Happy birthday to this old man

bonus:

Oh my Captain 🫦

Extra patreon nsfw 😘

I really like the picture of this young man (no idea who that is) so I'm drawing Bucky in the same pose in the style of an artwork I did in 2019 (picture 3). Good luck to me, I guess, because this kind of technique is pretty time consuming (= you have zero texture to "hide" mistakes) and of course there's my "Art Archenemy", Bucky's metal arm 😅

I'm fully aware I'm only posting WIPs at the moment but I'll end up finishing something one day or another 😝 TBH, these days, I'm spending my free time doing...whatever. I was at Richard Ashcroft concert last week, Guns n' Roses this week, went to the museum a couple of times...Long story short, I'm like George R.R Martin: doing anything except focusing on what I should be focusing on. ✌😁

But tomorrow is July 4th, Steve Rogers' birthday, so see you tomorrow with the "Annual Steve B-Day Artwork". 🇺🇸🎂

When I want to give an "oil painting effect", I give this effect thanks to texturized brushes...

(I think you can see the difference between what I consider un-texturized and texturized brushes)

....AND thanks to textures above the original drawing

Here's a very simplified diagram showing how the different Photoshop layers are arranged. As I said, it's extremely simplified because I often have several layers for shadows, highlights, details, accessories like bracelets, necklaces, etc...and then at some point, I merge and rework everything.

Above the main layer + the shadow/highlights layers, you can find all the layers that help create the final "oil painting effect". These "texture layers" bring textures, of course, but bizarrely, they tend to smooth everything and make the brush strokes blend better. I don't know if I'm very clear but here's a picture of a Sherlock art I'm working on at the moment...

....without the overlay/soft light textures on the left and with the textures on the right. (Of course, it's a WIP, so you have a lot of highlights and details missing at the moment. It's a bit messy 😅).

Long story short, the textures tend to hide a lot of mistakes and make the shadows and highlights easier to handle. On my new Bucky art, however, no textures, everything is smooth, in the open, so no place to hide 😝

@stucky-week Day #6: Art

Now with this stunning gif by @otp-holic

🏳️‍🌈Happy Pride 2026: Master Barnes and his Good Boy Steve🏳️‍🌈

For special edition Steve easter egg, please visit my AO3 :)