Digital Rose & Sunflower: The Half-Arsed Art Thread- Now with Upgrades

Due to peer pressure encouragement from such forum greats as @MagicallyClueless and @CjBeats I attempted to get a quick sketch of Lysander ("Lys") from my currently-ongoing fic, and... Funny enough, I don't hate it. Still don't quite like it, but it's not as bad as I had expected, especially since I haven't drawn in something like ten years. I got the smile right, and the slightly Scandinavian/Nordic look I wanted, so it's not total rubbish. (Yeah, I know his last name is German, but I don't speak Swedish, Dutch, or the like, so nyah.) Need to have angry words with the scanner, though, as I specifically used the "red-orange" pencil and it came out slightly pink. Damn it, Epson, L2scan n00b.

And putting this up here (in addition to opening myself up to commentary, OMG...) sorta forces me to pick up my pencil again and do a bit more, for practice and so this isn't just flapping out here in the wind by itself. Though I still do wanna do the "Burned" homage as well as the Flareon companion funny as referenced in one of Magic's art threads, so provided I'm not punching above my artistic weight class, there should be another two pics in here. ...Someday...

I'm off to have a beer to numb the crushing weight of despair! Looks like I truly am an artist now...

 

Hey, that ain't bad! I like it!

 

It looks great Risu. You did amazin fam.

 

moar /peer pressures it up

 

I thought you were good but I was wrong. You're great! Knock the ol rust off and you'll be even better in no time

 

yessss good! i am pleased~

 

Fine, you lot, I'm trying again. I actually got up the energy and courage to start that second pic!

...

And holy crap, it's not bad. Not exactly what I was going for, but it still works, and I think I actually like it. Still WIP right now, taking a break to do errands/chores and decompress a bit, as I was getting a bit frustrated for a bit. But okay, I'll have something a bit better soon-ish. Wow.
--- Post updated ---
Okay then, got a lot more work on it now that I finally found the time, and it's MUCH better than it was when I started. Still not done, I've got so much more work and cleanup before I can color, but it's not too shabby thus far. And a hell of a lot better than the first pic in this thread, which is why I'm posting now and not when I'm done. Whoo...

I remembered his choker and sunglasses, yay. Here's hoping I don't screw them up on final pass, since I took the time to draw them.

...Also I just noticed a minute ago that his look and design right now reminds me quite a lot of Souichi Tatsumi from Koisuru Bo-kun, a very hardcore boy-love manga, and you all have NO idea just how hilarious that is for me. Do not GIS for that unless you're prepared for a lot of NSFW images...

 

*screams at the post format*
i want to be able to like this again!!!

as i said before though, love the hair and the face!

 

That's what you all were talking about. wth is this posting system lol it sux!! Anyway I'll be skipping the google searches thanks but the lineart looks real good so far Look at him standing there, 2cool4scool

 

Yup, he's proper cheeky, isn't he?

Finally got the time to do final cleanup and colors. I kinda screwed up the initial pose, so instead of sitting with a Flareon, to heck with it, he's standing around and chilling out doing whatever. Also, the paper I'm working on does not seem to like colored pencils much, as I was really hoping that everything would come out a bit more bold. Ah well, it gives me a "style," I suppose, until I stop being a cheapass and go get better materials. ...Or get a tablet and go digital... The scanner also likes to play silly buggers, too, look at all of the wrinkles in the paper. Curse you, traditional media, why do you vex me so...

 

Fantastic color work! It would be even sharper digitally but as you know, the ol tablet doesn't play nice with everybody. or in my case I don't play nice with it but obvs as you can see with Magic's stuff it can work out really well.

 

So we've had a tablet for a while that the hubby was planning to use and never got around to. So I've nicked it and have installed it successfully, now I need to map a few macros to it and tell it where it's allowed to play and I can join you lot in the digital age. I've been cautioned that it's weird to make the jump, because you're not looking at the surface upon which you're drawing, but I've been using gaming and computing peripherals for almost 30 years now, so I'm not terribly perturbed. I've got half a mind to take the existing scans, trace 'em, and do some cleanup and layered coloring, because they're not bad, but I was really expecting something better. Though I should probably hold off once I've had sleep; I woke up around one in the afternoon yesterday, it's 7am now, and I haven't gone to bed yet. Time for another 30+ hour day to reset my circadian cycle! Ah, it's like being in college again...
--- Post updated ---
Okay, so today's take-away lesson is that I learn crazy-fast and am quite comfortable working in a digital environment. For kicks and practice, I did a rubbish trace of that last post, just to try and get a feel for the tablet and pen. Another take-away lesson is that I'm totally crap at drawing hair, but it's two thirty in the morning now and I was having an argument with the image editing software about how layers properly worked for over fifteen minutes, so I just got all scribbly because AUGH I'M GOING TO BED NOW.

*Throws plushie at screen, puts tablet and stylus away very carefully.*

 

Nice!!! Can't wait to see more!

 

Not bad at all for the first foray This is one piece of tech you seem to get along with

 

Now is the time for the ultimate question.

IS LYS A BOY OR A GIRL?

I keep seeing you refer to Lys as "HE".

 

Lysander is male, although he can come off very effeminate if he wants to, and isn't above cross-dressing or using makeup if it's for something that amuses him. Or for some of his theater work. Though in fairness, with the (low) level of my art, it IS difficult to tell!

 

...I was a little surprised that there was a Elliot x Male Farmer coming from a woman,but im stereotyping! *Punches self*

Srsly,When i saw He-His concept art i thought he was a girl.

 

*Laughs.* No worries, my art is still a work in progress, so I'm not bothered! And yeah, it is strange for a female writer to have a male OC like that, but that's kinda the fun of writing, isn't it? Stretching one's self and seeing things from a different perspective. ...Though I was a tomboy growing up, my job fields have been male-dominated, and for the longest time most of my friends were men, so, yeah, gender roles are a thing that happen to other people.

 

in all honesty, it's not really that strange. most male + male ships and characters i know about are from ladies, and i've noticed on this forum that a lot of male users have female characters that marry the bachelorettes. it might just be a "put yourself in someone else's shoes" thing. another version of yourself, but genderbent?? or maybe people just like boy love and girl love. lmao, it's all over the place.

 

It's all fine,lol,well,i never really readed any male x male fanfics even though i lurk in the biggest story sharing site ever,i guess its all about our experience! And yeah,its really interesting,even if i imagine your story in a whole diff perspective (I make animations in my mind about what happens,to either pass my time or im bored as hell,especially during classes)