art blog

ill preface this by saying dont think theres a correct way to draw abstract stuff.

but for my specific stuff i like to simplify things down to basic shapes. i draw a lot from cubism, so i sometimes put a bit of emphasis on seeing one thing at different angles or poses at the same time. think of it like looking at a bunch of animation cells at the same time. its a bit obvious in this faust one here, where shes both holding the test tube and her sword at the same time.

when i draw characters, especially limbus ones, i like to think about the experiences the character had, and the source materials they come from. i know theres some people who dislike referencing the characters source materials in limbus but i find adding little source details can really spice up a piece.

i bring up the source stuff because its especially necessary to put a lot of thought into the sort of scene youre trying to portray in your piece because often times, its not obvious to the viewer what you might be drawing. take this lucio drawing i made. if you were not a limbus player, would you have been able to understand what these shapes were supposed to represent?

you might be able to understand that this is a drawing of someone getting stabbed, but what about the odd teal circle at the bottom? it looks extremely out of place compared to the warm colors from the rest of the piece right?

however, with the proper knowledge (playing through canto 9), you would be able to identify this as lucio getting his heart ripped out by gregor. lucio is portrayed as a victim between two "monsters". gregor, who we know was unwillingly experimented on as a child to become a weapon for old g corp, and valencina, whose behavior towards him and ryoshu was nothing short of monstrous.

valencina herself is represented by the circle, more specifically, her eye of precognition, which is thinly linked through thread like lines to lucios sword, represented by the yellow triangle. its a subtle nod to how the two are linked together. lucio, as we learn from his flavor text in battle, had struggled to dispose of valencina despite her treatment towards him as she took him in from an unhappy and potentially short life in the backstreets.

'Maybe I can kill her now. Maybe this is my chance.' Once again, the same contemplation comes to seize Lucio as he looms over his master, who lies fast asleep. But this impulse remains an unactioned thought, for he had both fear born from experience and gratitude for his deliverance from the Backstreets. Yet, his resentment runs too deep. Lucio makes a promise with himself, even as he swears utter fealty without a trace of deception: 'Once this battle is behind us, I will kill her. I will gouge out her other eye and stab and slash at her, again and again, until she no longer moves.' For the first time, fire burns in the eyes of the boy whose body is covered in bruises.

on the other hand, valencina "cares" about lucio in her own twisted way. although she berates and abuses him, still says this when lucio is defeated in combat.

Fall back Lucio, you're getting in the way! Listen, you don't get to die until you're done teaching Ticket everything she forgot, capisce?

(she also goes absolutely insane when she had to be told that lucio was dead. its definitely not a healthy form of love, but from what weve seen of her, its probably the closest she could get to it. but i digress)

what im trying to say here from this shoddy analysis, is that every little choice you make, from a line to the background color, has to be intentional. theres no right or wrong with this sort of art, its more of how you convey something on your canvas of choice.

sorry for the vomit, i hope this was helpful. ;;^^) i might make a tutorial someday but thats sorta my thought process whenever i walk into things like this.