Red Riding Heart

I think there's a lot to be said about drawing things in an anime style that aren't as widely represented within it so forgive me if this isn't as in depth as it needs to be. I'm also not an authority on these subjects, but I think that both of these end up having the same piece of advice which is that it's really important to look at real photos of the hair/bodies/features that you're trying to capture and learn to interpret them through your own eyes and hands.

This isn't putting the idea of looking at this content down at all, looking at tutorials and other artists' work is helpful to learn ways to simplify different features. But I think artists also run the risk of not actually developing a solid understanding of how things should look/work, and things are always being lost along the way in favor of what's commonly represented, and what appeals to large audiences, and where artists' flaws come through in their work. If artists are referencing other artists' works and someone else references that, I think a lot of the nuances don't get telephoned through. Your observational skills come in handy when it comes to that, since you'll start to see what gets drawn more than others and you can identify that there's more outside of that.

Looking at photos helps me to play with my own process, and I think this will be different for everyone so I'm hesitant to give out definitive advice. For example, if you often sketch with contours, it might be helpful to capture volume by blocking things out first instead, but I'm not sure of where your starting point is. For hair, there are a lot of really nice brushes out there too, but I think it's valuable to learn how to draw things yourself first if you struggle to do it. If your bodies are turning out more pillowy, it'd probably be good to try and focus in on how parts of the body will sag and fold. Everyone recommends Michel Lauricella's Morpho: Fat and Skin Folds but I also think it's good reference material.

(Sorry for bothering you 3 days in a row about your OCs X'D)

It makes me happy that you were reading some of the stuff on Toyhouse! I mostly set it up so I could look at my own characters, so I always get surprised to know that someone else has taken the time to look at the information there. Especially because I don't think the code I made is especially flashy and ends up being all text.

There's nothing formally written out for Aiyue that isn't on her profile, but I do think about her a lot! She also has lots of sketches in my files since she's one of my favorites.

As a few extra pieces of information, I based her on the experiences of lots of people in my life where responsibility and people pleasing often come at the expense of your own desires. I also grew up at a time where characters like Aiyue who struggle to stand up for themselves, and who also crave affection from others were put down for being weak-willed and shallow (especially next to other female characters who come off as stronger), so I've always had a soft spot for personalities like that since there's a lot of inner struggle that comes with being that way that tends to be dismissed.

Aiyue also does like women! She learned that about herself when she was in school but since she has trouble putting herself out there, she doesn't tend to be very successful. I feel like the way a lot of her relationships tend to start in general is that she gets asked out on the street by strangers, and even if she's not really feeling it she can't find a good reason to say no so she says yes instead (she needs to stop doing this haha).

I love Wilhelmine too so I'm glad you like her! There's lots of little drawings of her in my notebooks. I always have a lot of fun drawing my more artsy characters, since their styles feel more distinct in my head. Due to the nature of Aiyue's magic, the two of them don't know each other in-story since Wilhelmine doesn't remember her. Still, because of her own powers, Wilhelmine retains more knowledge of the time they spent in her dream. It gave Wilhelmine a way to reflect on her own circumstances, allowing her to voice her discontentment for herself, so there's a strong part of her that really wants to meet Aiyue. She still has a bit of her image lingering in her head, which is why she ends up painting girls that sort of look like her.

It's Meredith! I don't have a lot of experience with putting my writing out, so I thought that it was important that I really cared about the main character and what direction her development went in. It helps me keep the course clear in remembering that she isn't the central protagonist for the sake of having one, but the character whose feelings are the most emblematic of the story that I wanted to tell. I particularly love her earnestness contrasted with the quietness of her struggle to understand the others.

Thank you for the asks, these characters mean so much to me haha. Also waah the birthday thing is so fun!!

The story and characters have changes a lot since I first made them. I conceptualized all of them in middle school which was like half my life ago at this point. There was little plot surrounding them and very few ties bonding them together. They were set in a school for witches, with individual stories about how they'd develop their powers over time set into my head. It was a lot more whimsical at the time - an issue that the students would solve is how to put a fallen star back into the sky, for example.

They weren't characters I invested much time into especially art-wise (besides Meredith, who I drew from time to time), so they mostly swirled around in my head during lectures and things like that. Some notes that I recall from that era was that Meredith was a lot more of a happy-go-lucky protagonist, Merpati was a lot more solitary and stoic, Elsie was the studious and widely admired type, and Posie was a shrinking violet with a troubled background. Clementine was definitely the closest to her current iteration, personality wise. I also had a much larger cast, since this was the main setting I had in mind for characters that I designed but didn't have much to do with. Some of these concepts show up in the current version of Wish to the May as side characters - there are very few characters that I designed purely for the latest iteration.

As a kid, I was really into roleplaying my characters with friends on dA but I was always a little discontent that I never had anything that felt like it was entirely mine or that I could enjoy on my own, so I went back to these characters again and again. I have a love for melancholic stories and the sincerity that goes into making them, so at this point, the story revolved around Merpati's overly-giving nature and how it leads them to leave nothing for themself. It was only Clementine who saw the extent of Merpati's efforts. Meredith's story would mirror Merpati's in how she felt like she had nothing that made her a worthy person, and as they developed a bond they'd find themselves little by little. It was also in this iteration that Posie's role shifted from being a character with visible conflict, to Meredith's closest friend who struggled where others couldn't see. Elsie also found more of herself at this point as I thought more about the anxiety of being perceived and how that ends up shaping peoples' actions. I pared down the main cast to these five since they had the most natural stories come up to the surface.

I'd say it was only in recent years where I've developed the desire to share their story, and when that started to happen I started to organize its presentation in order to create something more cohesive. I used to be the same age as the characters when I first created them, so something that I gained in the meanwhile was the ability to reflect on that period of life through an outside lens.

A running thread throughout that time was the struggle of me and my friends to look to the future when we felt like we had little power to do anything about issues that seemed bigger than anything we were capable of solving - namely depression and the inability to simply get away from whatever was troubling us at the time. As difficult as it could be, I also remember the warmth of trying as hard as I could to take care of someone that I treasured, as well as what it was like for someone to look out for me.

Waaah thank you so much for taking interest in them!

In Wish to the May, Cœur has four magicians under their care who draw magic from them as the source. Their individual powers and capacities are limited, but what they all share is the ability to access other worlds, or "fronts" created by the interaction between a human's strong feelings and the fragments from a shattered artifact that Cœur aims to restore.

However, magic can manifest in others naturally as well since it stems from the same feeling as aspiration. While this is exceedingly rare, this is Posie's case. Because of this, she has a wider range of things she's able to do. Her magic can be unpredictable even to her, in spite of/because of its role as a reflection of herself.

The thing that kicks off the story is her disappearance from the human world, a wish that she was able to actualize through her powers. As an inhabitant of other planes, flowers appear at her feet when she walks which evens out any terrain — trading "everything" for "anything," it allows her to travel wherever she wants on foot, but she no longer has her connection to reality or its earth.

The others only really have one or two things that are under their care, but still reflective of their characters. Similar to how their transformed outfits show their comforts and preferences. They all possess a greater level of control in magic spaces, but they can bring a lesser version of it into the real world.

Merpati — Like Posie, Merpati's powers let them go anywhere, just through levitation instead. This reflects their bird motif (Merpati means dove in Indonesian) but also their current mindset in life where they don't hold ambition for their own sake and feel as if they can be pulled in any direction. People have high expectations for them, but they want nothing for themself and it feels like that potential is wasted on them. In fronts at least, it makes them happy that it's a power that can help them get to those in need. In the real world, they have telekinetic abilities over small/light objects.

Gelsey — She creates floating, konpeito shaped stars that act as lights. They possess a warmth that soothes familiars that reside in fronts. In the real world, they're much smaller and dissolve into stardust with touch. Her powers reflect her desire to make an impact on people through her creations and ideas, even if it's bringing them simple comfort. Her real-world manifestation of these powers lack that warmth, but they are stars in the dark regardless.

Clementine — She can make herself imperceptible while moving throughout fronts. In the real world she can make herself completely invisible, but only for very short periods if she does nothing else. She describes it like using a muscle that she isn't used to controlling. Her ability notably contrasts with her character as a sunny, enthusiastic person who captivates her peers. It's more of a rejection of vulnerability and another way for her to shield herself from being truly seen. This additionally grants her some extra awareness of things that don't seem right/don't belong.

Meredith is the last to join Cœur and she does this in order to see Posie again. The real benefit of having magic comes from the shared ability to transverse worlds. She has her own unique powers as well, though I'll refrain from telling for now since it's something she learns in the story itself.

Thank you! I feel like I struggle with this question every time I pick up the pen honestly.

It's a bit of a hard question to answer since I draw in my own style without having to be so intentional about it!

In terms of my process, I do lineart while putting colors on another layer underneath - sometimes I see some people emulating my style through painting with minimal layers, and while the results can be really close (and pretty!), I think that knowledge can still be helpful since I think that separation tempers some of the softness/extra cohesion that painting brings. It also lets you edit things like expression more.

Hello, thank you! When it comes to my original works/full pieces, I don't really use the eye drop tool from references - I used to have this issue when I was younger where I would establish a palette for my characters and for that to be "official" in my head. As a result, that palette wouldn't change as my style adapted over time, and this also made the character less flexible when other people were drawing them.

These days I like to pick the colors on my own each time and experiment a little each time I draw them so that their palette suits the idea/concept behind the work more than anything else. I try to give characters a little bit of wiggle room when it comes to what looks like "them." As an example, my character Ray is supposed to have these dark magenta eyes, but I make them more red, pink, or brown depending on what I think suits the drawing. I also think this encourages me to experiment more with design so that I'll be able to differentiate their palettes from one another, but I definitely still have things that I like more than others. I love warm-toned hair and brown eyes, so I end up with a lot of characters who look like that.

I'd say that my colors lean warm colors and towards peach pinks just out of preference. When I render characters, I try to include a little bit of their theme color/a color I like from another part of their design in the shading to tie that in.