why am i back here

A friend asked me if I had any pointers on drawing dingle dongles and I may or may not have gotten totally carried away and drew out a bunch of stuff, heheh. Figured Id post it just in case any nsfw artists found it helpful at all~

male audiences will happily watch a dozen superhero shows, but then something like Agent Carter or Supergirl turn up and they’re panned from the first trailer and have to struggle for ratings. male audiences will watch countless installments of a franchise as long as it’s about men doing man things but the second a character like Rey or Furiosa or god forbid four entire female Ghostbusters steps up and takes a position of prominence it’s “pandering sjw bullshit”.

this isn’t like… an opinion I’m pulling out of my ass here? this starts where earlier than tv shows and hollywood blockbusters, when all the kids in a class are reading Harry Potter or Percy Jackson or Eragon o Lord of the Rings or Maze Runner or whatever the hip book is right now. the books like that, the ones that become popular reading, are overwhelmingly about male leads, because male is still considered the default. 

there’s a split in YA literature, between books that are “for everyone” and “for girls”, and that’s honestly the entire issue in a tiny little box right there. stories about men are supposed to be accessible for everyone, but stories about girls are seen as 1.) inherently for women and 2.) something that only women will care about.

men grow up in a society that doesn’t make them go out of their way to get into the heads of women and empathize with then. historically it’s been very easy for men to not engage with female-led media if they don’t want to, whereas (like someone else commented on this post) girls and women have had very little choice in the past because everything was about men. we didn’t even question it.

and now the women are arriving in mainstream media in ways that say they’re important and they matter and

small (or sometimes not so small) but loud-enough-to-be-acknowledged groups of men lose. their. shit.

because they think there’s something inherently Not For Them about a woman’s story, and they never learned how to deal with it.

i love books, right? and from the ages of about 11-15 i was insanely invested in teenage/ya fantasy and sci-fi. harry potter, percy jackson, all of the books op listed above- and one of the things that made those books so great was that you could have a conversation about them with anyone! a lot of the guys in my class also loved this type of genre and i’d often talk about books with them (even my own brother has read all of the books listed above) we’d have long, interesting conversations about these books and it was great.

but then i’d mention something about the hunger games, or the divergent series, or uglies, the raven cycle, mara dyer, the mortal instruments, the selection, etc. and the response would always be the same: either ‘i haven’t read it’ or ‘i couldn’t get into it’ or ‘it doesn’t seem like my type of thing’

even outside of the ya genre, looking at something like contemporary fiction or whatever- do you know how many guys will talk endlessly about the great gatsby or catcher in the rye or any other male-centric novel? but when you bring up something as influential as pride and prejudice or jane eyre or practically /anything/ written by/focused around a woman- you get the same responses as before

society has made it so that women have no choice whether to engage with male-centric stories or not: from children, a big portion of the media we consume focuses on the male perspective and like,,, that’s not necessarily a bad thing /in itself/- the bad thing is that it doesn’t work both ways and it’s not an even split. whereas young girls are surrounded by and expected to empathise with films/books/media concerning men, it’s not the same for young boys: they have narratives that either focus entirely or largely around them. 

This praying mantis standing its ground 

Marvel’s Spider-Man: The Black Cat Strikes #2 (2020)

minecraft health pride! vintage colors from here

a very, very basic image guide on how your portfolio should be presented or appear, whether you’re in fine arts, graphic design or illustration, illustrated by yours truly

@thinktanks

thank you so much! ;0; that’s very reassuring to hear because i do still struggle with it! this is gonna be a long post, sorry!

i try to consciously consume as much fantasy art with characters whose costume design make sense. i redraw, reference, and experiment;

research/moodboardsi like to browse character design art and collect references of characters with the outfit/armour or vibe i want; my brain likes to look at this stuff painted/drawn, i’m hyping myself up for drawing while looking up others’ art. i also look up photos of elements that are actually made, both historically-accurate pieces from museums, and stuff made up for cosplay - they give me the idea of how it actually behaves on a body, and how functional it is. i personally dislike shit like floating pauldrons, chestpieces that makes no sense, and general idea of all aesthetic and no function. (but you do you)i screencap/save all the pieces onto one reference/moodboard so that i can glance quickly at them while drawing instead of franctically clicking through tabs to find X.

studyi like to grab a photo of a piece and make a study. usually by first tracing to get the shape memorised, and then making a drawing it while just using the photo as a reference - i find that redrawing these pieces helps me notice how they work, what goes where, why am i drawing this strap??– oh it goes here and does that, makes sense, didn’t notice that before; once you know how a thing is constructed, what it needs, what it can’t have - you are able to construct it yourself.this step is especially helpful for things i haven’t drawn before, i’m not doing this every time. it helps you understand the material.

designlooking at the moodboard i have i draw outfits onto the character; some i redraw accurately, mostly i focus on one element of it i like and try to translate it to my style and overall design. i find myself that drawing the pieces themselves is easy enough, but what gives me trouble is to try to keep in mind what mood/feature i’m going for when i move onto actually trying to come up with stuff.

examples!

this is what i did with the outfit designs for retka. i wanted to keep the outfit#1 reminiscent of a ship captain, #2 and #3 of a bounty hunter - comfortable to walk around with, simple; #4 is casual and lightweight; #5 is more orcish and ornate, i don’t imagine it’s easy to quickly put on when going out in a rush to fight, and it’s so different from everything else because retka herself is distant from her orcish heritage. the element i wanted consistent is high boots and a coat - they’re not the same garment, but the same kind, even her orcish straps around her thighs imitate the coattails: (more+zoom here)

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once i have a design ready i like to break it down to see how it works and if it actually makes sense:

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i like experiment with colours (i now see in this piece i didn’t go wild enough) to find the palette i like! (more+zoom here)

but my parents are homophobic and recently kicked me out of their home. I’m a full time college student and will be renting a place for winter break in my college town. Since they kicked me out I have no vehicle and only the funds I’ve saved the past year. I have an emotional support cat (named Beef) and am on anxiety meds that have made a previously debilitating mood disorder stable.

I’m getting a job but I’d really like some help staying afloat this winter if you are willing to share this post or donate even as little as a dollar to my gofundme.

I am an artist and will also be taking commissions during this time (please check my Instagram, Autumnnotgrace, if you are interested in that!! If nothing else I love to interact with people there!)

I also sell shirts on Redbubble and Threadless (I am also Autumnnotgrace there)

My gofundme link is right here.

If you prefer PayPal it’s PayPal.me/Autumnnotgrace

If you have nothing to give, reblogs are very appreciated!!

Character Chart Character’s full name: Reason or meaning of name: Character’s nickname: Reason for nickname: Birth date: Physical appearance Age: How old does he/she appear: Weight: Height: Body build: Shape of face: Eye color: Glasses or contacts: Skin tone: Distinguishing marks: Predominant features: Hair color: Type of hair: Hairstyle: Voice: Overall attractiveness: Physical disabilities: Usual fashion of dress: Favorite outfit: Jewelry or accessories: Personality Good personality traits: Bad personality traits: Mood character is most often in: Sense of humor: Character’s greatest joy in life: Character’s greatest fear: Why? What single event would most throw this character’s life into complete turmoil? Character is most at ease when: Most ill at ease when: Enraged when: Depressed or sad when: Priorities: Life philosophy: If granted one wish, it would be: Why? Character’s soft spot: Is this soft spot obvious to others? Greatest strength: Greatest vulnerability or weakness: Biggest regret: Minor regret: Biggest accomplishment: Minor accomplishment: Past failures he/she would be embarrassed to have people know about: Why? Character’s darkest secret: Does anyone else know? Goals Drives and motivations: Immediate goals: Long term goals: How the character plans to accomplish these goals: How other characters will be affected: Past Hometown: Type of childhood: Pets: First memory: Most important childhood memory: Why: Childhood hero: Dream job: Education: Religion: Finances: Present Current location: Currently living with: Pets: Religion: Occupation: Finances: Family Mother: Relationship with her: Father: Relationship with him: Siblings: Relationship with them: Spouse: Relationship with him/her: Children: Relationship with them: Other important family members: Favorites Color: Least favorite color: Music: Food: Literature: Form of entertainment: Expressions: Mode of transportation: Most prized possession: Habits Hobbies: Plays a musical instrument? Plays a sport? How he/she would spend a rainy day: Spending habits: Smokes: Drinks: Other drugs: What does he/she do too much of? What does he/she do too little of? Extremely skilled at: Extremely unskilled at: Nervous tics: Usual body posture: Mannerisms: Peculiarities: Traits Optimist or pessimist? Introvert or extrovert? Daredevil or cautious? Logical or emotional? Disorderly and messy or methodical and neat? Prefers working or relaxing? Confident or unsure of himself/herself? Animal lover? Self-perception How he/she feels about himself/herself: One word the character would use to describe self: One paragraph description of how the character would describe self: What does the character consider his/her best personality trait? What does the character consider his/her worst personality trait? What does the character consider his/her best physical characteristic? What does the character consider his/her worst physical characteristic? How does the character think others perceive him/her: What would the character most like to change about himself/herself: Relationships with others Opinion of other people in general: Does the character hide his/her true opinions and emotions from others? Person character most hates: Best friend(s): Love interest(s): Person character goes to for advice: Person character feels responsible for or takes care of: Person character feels shy or awkward around: Person character openly admires: Person character secretly admires: Most important person in character’s life before story starts: After story starts: