𓆝 𓆟 𓆞

*blows u a kiss*

TYSM FOR YOUR MESSAGE :DDD i get really excited when i receive asks🙏 my requests are currently closed, but it’s hard to resist an opportunity to draw flirty shadow milk.

⚠️ FLASH WARNING

“FountRPG”

the fount of knowledge was considered infallible because he was sent by the gods. he was named after his profession. a title that reflected what he did, but not who he was.

shadow milk fits whatever position others believe him to be. when he was the fount, his self-image revolved around his ability to teach. so when he was called a liar, he became a liar. he doesn't know who he is and has hated every role he's played.

he’s unsympathetic to the worries of mortals because he doesn't know a life outside of divinity. his subjects put his role above his selfhood, because a being that doesn't struggle like a mortal might as well be perfect.

the fount focused on existential questions surrounding their purpose, while his subjects were concerned about present matters of survival, gratification, and status. so while the fount looked to the future, his subjects looked at him. what he’d see was too much for his eyes to behold and his hands to touch, and his subjects grew restless when he didn’t fit the image they had in mind.

neither party understood what the other needed. his subjects thought that because the fount didn't share their problems it meant he had none at all, and the fount thought that a problem he couldn’t relate to wasn’t worth the time to solve. what bred a lack of critical thought in his subjects was how power distance made them believe the fount’s opinions were more valuable than theirs.

a paralogism is a false statement someone believes is true, but isn't intentionally spread to deceive. the belief that the fount knew everything is a paralogism. the fount looked to the gods when he didn’t know something, similar to how his subjects looked to him. it was just a part of himself he hid away.

(Yes, I may or may not have gone through almost your entire blog.)

Regarding your ask question thingy...

How's Dan Heng?

THANK U SO MUCH😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 i'm really happy ur curious about my work.

i like my style because it's just the most comfortable for me. when i transitioned from traditional to digital art i struggled for months trying to get into cartooning because i thought my style had to be something that i had never practiced. when in reality, i could just apply what i was already doing to a digital medium and see if i enjoyed it. i still love to do cartoon stuff here and there but it takes a sustained effort. i'm just really attached to my paper textures and thin lines because the familiarity is comforting.

i also try to make my art as "me" as i possibly can because i want my stuff to reflect my interpretation of shadow milk's character and my personal oshi fixation on him. i like to think of him as a miku because his character is so versatile and can fit many different themes. leaning into the cool and forlorn parts of him is deeply satisfying for me, so i love going for a renaissance style to make him feel like an ancient tale. like he was a personmonsterthing that maybe existed long ago who a few scattered wanderers swear up and down they've crossed paths with at some point.

and about dan heng, it honestly could be better😭 i play his preservation form with my anaxa and they max clear every gamemode, but this pure fiction reset is the first one where they couldn't beat the whole thing. but i was playing like a dickhead so my run can still be optimized and there's hope.

“shadow milk big stretch like big kitty”

drawing exercise with my idiot jester

Can I see how you do eyes chins and front facing noses pls :)

WAUGHHHH THANK YOU SO MUCH😭😭😭😭😭😭. I am not an incredible teacher but I think of these features as a set of identifying qualities that work together to show a convincing angle and convey the subject's character.

Angle

Portrait shots of model CatH

Someone who's looking down will look like they have a smaller chin than if they were facing forward. It sounds obvious but sometimes I physically can't grasp this and feel like I'm doing something wrong when I take perspective into account.

When I need to see how features look at a certain angle I go to find refs on Pinterest. When I can’t find the exact angle I want I close the app and take pictures of myself to use as refs. But the danger of this is that if you constantly use pics of yourself you might fall into same-face syndrome. So it's best to look at the faces of many people while using your own.

Emotion and Personality

I also think about how the eyes, nose, and chin could give nods to their personality and emotional state. First, I’ll use Pure Vanilla as an example.

He has a large chin, but I avoid a square jawline to make him look resolute but gentle. Since he’s facing forward I don’t draw lines denoting where the sides of the nose would be. Instead I shade in some shadows to imply a soft and convincing shape. His eyes are closed in downward half-circles since he's looking down just a little bit, and also to create the stylistic impression that his eyes are smiling with his mouth. It’s a close-up portrait, so his face is the point of the piece. I made his features as readable as possible for this reason.

Readability

but!!!

Sometimes the face isn’t the point of the drawing, so it's ok to keep it simple. As long as the feel of the expression is identifiable while looking at the whole piece it's ok to get away with not getting into the details.

Here I’ll use Eternal Sugar.

When looking at the full piece, you can make out her eyes as these two downward swoops. This suggests to the viewer that she’s gentle and lax, which is just enough information to get a feel for her character within the context of the piece. But when you zoom in, you can see that her features are actually just a couple exaggerated lines and dots. There is no lineart for the chin, but the viewer can tell where it stops because I used lights and darks to imply the shape. She has a chubby face and round relaxed features to make her look non-threatening.

Hey…

If this guide is really loaded in the bad way i give you full permission to disregard everything I've said and just remember this:

TL;DR, Once you know where features are supposed to be placed you can do whatever you want.

I've had teachers in the past who were so frustrated with me because I struggled with concepts they swore up and down they taught me to the best of their ability. And even though they did, the advice just didn't resonate. Sometimes it actually made me feel like my art was worse than before they tried to help. I’ve heard that there are university tutorials on youtube for portraits if you wanna get really cracked at getting where things go, so it could help to follow along and weave in some comfort art of things that you like along the way. Practice can get boring after a while and art should be fun.

Pretty much every single thing I've described is either a stylistic choice or a rule that can be broken once you're chill with the basics. If the rules were never broken then art would lack character, and everyone would draw the same way.

I sincerely hope this helped, and thanks again for asking!!