linalovesdrawing:

Got super discouraged by people calling animals the wrong name today, so I decided it was about time to post this little gem I’ve been sitting on for a while.

(via bloodraton)

costumecommunityservice:

simonist:

parkwoodlane:

deepredroom:

I’m finding myself increasingly adoring of plate armour. The amount of skill it takes to make something that both protects you from weapons while being flexible and mobile enough to move comfortably is something to be appreciated. Personally, if I was a warrior, I doubt I’d wear anything beyond grieves and gauntlets for the sake of maximum mobility and quietness but I still want a suit.

Here’s the whole lot.

Tasty reference photos!

crying-alone-without-salad:

xhikaruchanx:

thisgrrlwithhands:

Answer all these questions and you should have a fully-developed character for your audience to connect with.
A strong character can carry a weak plot; but a strong plot can’t carry weak characters

oh

my

god

yes

omg i really want to fill this out now THIS IS COOL. putting it in my oc tag so i’ll remember it.

(via bloodraton)

eschergirls:

juniysa:

Hey new followers!

In addition to writing, I also reblog art and great writing/drawing tips. 

This tutorial is incredible if  you are a character designer looking to diversify your  female characters. Adding weight to a character is not as simple as drawing a simple body and curving the lines; you have to know the body structure to get it right.

A helpful guide for comic artists, character designers, and cosplayers alike. 

Tutorial - Curves on Girls by *Ai-Bee

Edit: This is not the end-all, be-all tutorial guide to drawing larger people. This style is more cartoon than realistic. Photo references (of professional and amateur models in the #fatspo #bbw tags) are helpful as well. 

Because people often request more links to tutorials and specifically ones about drawing different body types than are usually taught in tutorials.

(via capsaicinoid)

bigbigtruck:

Thanks for the recs here and on Twitter, guys! Here’s a quick post of the most promising POD printing leads:

Doujinpress.com - Will print adult material, has good per-unit POD costs, quick response, uses 70# interior stock standard, which is nice, site says they only print B5 size books but not sure if they do other sizes. United States.
Marquise - Will print adult material, excellent per-unit POD costs (though this is offset by import fees), variety of interior and cover stocks available. Will print standard comic size (6.625” x 10.25”). Canada.
RA Comics Direct - Will not print adult material. Responsive & recommended by a few artists. Will print standard comic size. Not sure what per-unit costs are in runs over 300. Nice paper options available. United States. I’ll probably use these guys if/when I do a PG-rated side comic.
Keness.com - Will print adult material. Unsure which sizes available standard. Variety of interior paper weights and finishes available. Minimum run 100. United States. No experience with these guys but they responded quickly.

Anyway, I’m probably going to get Whisper Grass printed through Marquise. I used them for offset printing the TJ & Amal graphic novels (they used to be Transcontinental’s comics division) so I know they do good work. There’s a very slight language barrier (all automated responses/notifications are in French) but it hasn’t been a problem.

(via capsaicinoid)

truebluemeandyou:

DIY Know Your Shoes Guide from Enerie here. My favorite shoes aren’t listed yet - Louis Heels which were popular in the 1920s. First seen at inspiration & realisation’s Facebook page.

(via bloodraton)

aeolian-mode:

This is the most unhelpful tutorial I’ve ever made- it’s so disjointed and I don’t know if I’m even communicating how I did this… but essentially, from observation as well as learning from others, I have designed this … pseudo-technique-thing that i use in some of my more serious colored work. It’s a sort of cel-shaded technique that someone might find useful.

I’ve gotten better at distinguishing form shadows and cast shadows since I made this… so … you might just want to ignore that bit I posted. XD It doesn’t make much sense. but maybe I will make a new tutorial in the future.

I’m not saying this is the “right” way to do it- it’s just my way. It may or may not work for you.

This is an unfinished collab- I just figured I’d post a bit on how I made it because i do like how the colors came out, and I figured I might share my photoshop technique with others. 

The lineart is by BosnianSniper.tumblr.com! It is a collab with Otto, the mod. 

Amalia, the maid, is giving Friedrich a sponge bath. Because he’s an old geezer who can’t take care of himself. Derp.

The lighting at the last step is the same one I used in my previous tutorial. I forgot to mention that it is on OVERLAY with 15 percent opacity.

(via capsaicinoid)

Motivation advice for people who can’t stand positive thinking.

kalidraws:

In the past, I’ve gotten some questions about the business of illustration & about how taxes work. Filing taxes is a bummer, but it sucks even more when you have no idea what you’re doing. After progressing from Completely Clueless to Somewhat Experienced* during the past 5 years of doing my own taxes, I thought i’d write (& illustrate!) a generalized rundown. Here’s hoping it might provide some insight for the curious!

*This info is from my own experience and I am by NO means a tax professional! I’m simplifying a lot of the info here, so please don’t take my word as law—check out the specifics on the IRS website instead.

First, the basics:
If you earn an income, you have to pay income taxes, and Uncle Sam has a “pay as you go” system. If you want to avoid a pricey penalty, you are expected to pay taxes throughout the year as you earn income, not all at once when you file your income tax return. There are 2 ways this happens:

1. For people who receive regular paychecks from an employer, your employer will withhold a certain amount from your paycheck to pay for federal (and state) income taxes—you fill out a W-4 form when you’re hired, which determines how much they withhold for you. Easy-peasy!

2. If you’re a freelancer, you don’t have a regular paycheck or a regular employer to withhold your taxes for you, so you have to pay quarterly Estimated Taxes yourself. Estimated taxes cover your income tax and self employment tax*, for both the federal gov’t and your state gov’t (if applicable).

*Yes—as a freelancer, you not only have to pay income tax, but you also pay self employment tax! (basically, a tax that goes to Social Security/Medicare)

I’m just going to focus on federal estimated taxes first:

If you’re a freelancer, the trick is to make sure you pay enough in estimated taxes throughout the year to avoid the underpayment penalty.
You will avoid the penalty if you:

Owe less than $1000 in taxes after subtracting withholding and credits
OR
(A)Have paid at least 90% of the tax amount owed for the current year, or (B) have paid at least 100% of the tax shown on last year’s return — whichever is smaller.

So let’s break down these scenarios a bit:
If you’re a student just graduating from school and you haven’t done many freelance jobs (i.e. probably making less than $8,000 in taxable income from freelance), it’s likely that you don’t have to pay estimated taxes, because you’ll probably owe less than $1000 in federal taxes from your freelance work. So don’t sweat it!

If it does look like you will owe $1000 or more in taxes, you have 2 choices for calculating how much to pay in estimated taxes—the aforementioned (A) or (B).
(A) Make sure you pay at least 90% of the tax amount that will be owed for the current year.
OR
(B) Make sure you pay at least 100% of the tax shown on last year’s return.

There’s an estimated tax worksheet that you can use to help figure out either one.

Since my freelance income fluctuates and I’m lazy enough that I don’t like trying to predict how much tax I will owe for the upcoming year (and adjust quarterly payments if needed), I prefer to just use option (B).

That means that I can just pay an equal amount each quarter, and make sure all 4 estimated tax payments add up to the tax amount I paid for last year’s return (or more).
So, for instance, if I owed $7000 total in federal taxes for 2012, I won’t be penalized for underpayment if I pay at least $1750 each quarter ($7000 total) for my 2013 federal estimated taxes—regardless of whether I owe more taxes in 2013 or not. If I earned a higher income in 2013 than in 2012 and didn’t pay enough estimated taxes to cover it all, I’d still have to pay the difference at tax time, but at least I wouldn’t have to pay the underpayment penalty!
Not too difficult, so long as you have enough in your bank account, but tricky to figure out at first!

All of this information also generally applies to state estimated tax payments, though the specific numbers and percentages can change and a few states don’t charge income tax at all. In most states, you have to pay a state income tax as well as a federal income tax, so I pay quarterly estimated tax payments to the federal government, as well as quarterly estimated tax payments to Maryland, my state of residence.

Federal estimated taxes are handled on Federal Form 1040-ES, but you can fill out the form and schedule your payments online for free at https://www.eftps.gov/eftps/

Your state will also likely have a free online tax system you can use.

Some tax filing methods:
-Just use a tax professional! Seriously, especially if this is new to you and you don’t have any outside help. I know plenty of professional illustrators that use one. Better than messing things up and getting in trouble with the IRS.

-Use online tax software that helps to walk you through the tax experience and will do all the calculations for you, like TurboTax, TaxAct, etc. (I use TaxAct) They usually have a free version for your federal returns well as pay options, (which may include your state return as well). They will also let you schedule your federal estimated taxes, which I take advantage of. I recommend having a tax-savvy friend or relative you can call if you get stuck! I owe huge debts of gratitude to my own tax-savvy relatives that patiently answered questions & put me on the right track.

OR

-Print out all the pertinent tax forms and worksheets, start to fill them out by hand, alone in your paper-strewn room, and then jump out the window in wild frustration when you can’t figure out all the jargon and your math skills aren’t as good as they used to be.

(not recommended)

“Happy” taxing, everyone!

clientsfromhell:

Rules for Freelancers

crispy-ghee:

susheep:

probably one of the most honest statements about talent i’ve ever heard. i try to tell people this all the time.

yup pretty much

(via capsaicinoid)

idk-how-to-art:

Src: ♥

(via bloodraton)

costumecommunityservice:

talesfromtheend:

naiadestricolor:

reftastic:

swegener:

Speaking of different body shapes. These are all basically peak human bodies. 

How come 99% of them don’t conform to what the entertainment industry tells us is the perfect body?

This is a FABULOUS set of body refs. So glad this came back across my dash so I could reblog it here :D

These images are from a book by Howard Schatz of various Olympic athletes, which was titled “Athlete.”  You can buy the book [here].  Also, have some more photos from it:

Never not reblogging this.

Awesome!

(via red-dii)

mermaidglitch:

OK, ACEN is around the corner so it’s time to work my butt off FAST.

Chibi Art

Pencil Sketch: $3.50, OR 2 for $5. This means either two separate chibi sketches or one sketch with two characters.
Black/White Copics: $10:50.
Color copics: $15.50. 
Extra characters in either copic style will cost $5 per character

Full-sized Commissions

Samples are a little sparse but you can get the general idea by looking at my art and at the chibi samples for the copic drawings. The Sailor Moon one was a black and white copic drawing that I colored digitally, so you can expect that line quality and shading.
Pencil Sketch: $5.50
Black/White Copics: $10.50
Color copics: $20.50
Digital painting: $30.50
Extra characters in pencil will be $2 per character. Extra characters in either copic style will be $5 per character. Extras in digital painting will be $7 per character.
Backgrounds in either copics will be $10 more. Backgrounds in digital painting will be $15 more.

All commissions that aren’t pencil sketches can be mailed to you for additional shipping costs! They’ll be put in a plastic sleeve and sent in a cardboard mailer. All prices are in US dollars and all payments will be through Paypal. The funny 50 cents is for the Paypal fee.

NOTE: Tumblr likes to eat Ask messages. Unless you’re able to send me a Fanmail, please try to email me instead at ekqo77[at]gmail.com *OR* send me a note on Deviantart. Thanks!

 I’m sorry to keep posting stuff like this. ^^; Summer break is approaching though, so I will try to try some new and fun things for this blog! Until then….want art? :D

idk-how-to-art:

Src: ♥

This is showing how you grip a sword

(via bloodraton)