i reblog tutorials here now

Since I defs didn’t want to carve a real pumpkin to put on my head and get nasts pumpkin insides all over my hair I decided to paper mache one. Unfortunately there was no good tutorials anywhere so I will share my trial and error knowledge.

First I got some supplies: 1 Punch balloon (they’re rounder and larger they regular balloons), some paper mache stuff in a bag, cardboard, a glue gun, paint, sculpey clay, tape, some news paper and some water and flour mixed together.

I then put at least three - five paper mache layers of newspaper with flour water on the balloon. I also measured my head and left an opening at the bottom. (NOTE: Don’t put tape on the balloon and try to peel it off after you’re done paper macheing, RIP)

After that’s all dry I put glue gunned some cardboard onto it to give it some pumpkin like ridges.

Then I filled the gaps between the cardboard and the newspaper with the paper mache in a bag stuff. Wait for it to dry. (Note: Don’t pop balloon until the paper mache in a bag stuff is dry cause it holds a LOT of water and your paper mache project will sink, RIP) After that I popped the balloon and lightly dampened the top with a sponge and water until it was wet enough to slowly press down into more of a pumpkin shape.

After it’s all dry I taped a stem I made out of card board on the top and put another layer or two of newspaper mache over top.

More drying wait time (you can use your oven on the lowest setting to make it dry faster) then I sanded it down and cut out a face with an exacto blade.

I added a little bit of backing behind the face on the inside with the paper mache in a bag to give it more of a 3D look which wasn’t that noticeable but oh well, it kidna worked… After all that stuffs done I painted it all white otherwise the newsprint would bleed through and make my colours not as bright, I also added some sculpey clay to the brow area to give it some more emotion in which I used an iron to dry it with cause it was too late to put it in the oven with paint all over it (Note: Put clay on before painting).

I sprayed it with a sealer before painting colours on it cause I find acrylics do weird things sometimes. After it was all dry I begin to paint.

I also painted the inside a red and added a kinda head rest thing on the inside since when I pushed the top down it made an uncomfortable point at the top when putting it on your head. Then once it was all dry I sprayed it with some more sealer, added some cool stuff like stitches with some ribbon and blood which I used nail polish for a shiny effect and put in some lights which weren’t very effective when my head was in the pumpkin but that’s okay, it still looked cool.

And that’s that!

ive never really made a tutorial before but i thought i’d try!

all my portrait paintings are done on a 2000-3000 pixel canvas with 300 dpi using the two brushes shown above with varying opacity

Just figured out this quick and easy water effect.

STEP 1. Fill space with dark watery color

STEP 2. Make sort of triangluar scribblies on it with a medium-soft brush

I started on step 3 in the above pic ;-;

STEP 3: Fill in open spaces and less dense spaces to make the lines thin. You can be messy about it; makes it look better IMO.

That’s about it!

Optional STEP 4: Detail? Haven’t fully figured out this part yet

got asked how i draw water, so!! this is just for beginners (like me) who need to know the very basics

Thank you so much!

I get this question quite a bit, especially when I post character designs. So do take the time to go through my art advice tag if you haven’t already.

As for your question, there is no one or two or few places I get refs/ideas. I following clothing, history, film costumes, Reenactment and LARP blogs. 80% of the blogs I follow on here consist of this (as well as other things such as woodworking, glass blowing, dance troupes, blacksmiths, stained glass and TONS of other miscellaneous artists and crafters). I do everything I can to cast a wide net and constantly keep inspiring and interesting things on my dashboard since I scroll through it everyday.

I also have a pinterest blog that I use for archiving and have been saving/bookmarking clothing inspiration/reference for at least 10 years now. I own books on historical clothing, whether it be speculations based on artwork or archeological finds. I also read online articles, or watch video essays about the historical study of clothing.

I don’t limit myself to historical pieces either when researching clothing. I look to modern and walkway fashion inspirations as well. 

To put it simply. I get ideas and inspirations from all over and I purposely seek out more and really dig into the resources I can get my hands on. 

I do have an inspiration blog that I reblog things too if you want to see some of the stuff I’m archiving. I have a specific research tag where I try to gather resources. You can check it out here. 

Easy Water Surface Tutorial

Male/Male Couples & Embracing Poses Collection

Part 2 of 3

A 112 page book/CD rom with male/male poses, from many different angles, for artist drawing references.

Part 1