FREE COOKIES!

[Bella]

@bells: poast toast!
if you can actually get it done this time har har har

s'not ice-fishing but I feel I managed to make it pretty darned Michigany nonetheless.

If you're curious what's going on I recommend reading the artist's comments.

[Chocofreak13]

comment'd. it took me a bit to figure out what UMES was holding, and at first i thought it was bread. -w-;

[Dr. Kraus]

New tablet came in today, decided to do some tracing to get used to how it feels


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[Chocofreak13]

hahaha, we get to see a picture of your spirit animal.

finished versions of the art for my sister's birthday




old art that i photographed today

[Bella]

Nice work guys. :3

Old or not that pineapple mosaic looks really good!

[Chocofreak13]

loving the scout pic, bells! : D

@Pineapple: hahaha, thanks. i believe it was made in Crafts in High School, meaning my freshman year (so it's 7 years old). i remember a substitute teacher we had frequently remarking "It's a Pineapple!" over it and i expressing some pride in it. ^^

Mr. Falkenberg was so awesome, and he was even cool that i forgot his name constantly and kept calling him Mr. Falkner (so suddenly he was a flying-type gym leader). ^^;;;

also, those pics seem to be broken, lemme fix em'

[Dr. Kraus]

C#-tan practice trace for today

[Chocofreak13]

heh, cute. ^^

[Bella]

How can such an ugly language have such a cute -tan?! ;^;

Now for some THEN AND NOW pics~~


March 2009


July 2014


July 2013


July 2014

[Cockleshell]

Your proportions and posing have definitely improved a lot, Bells. I love it <3

[Bella]

Thank you so much Cockle!!

[Chocofreak13]

your understanding of bone structure has gotten better, too. dat 09 nose was alright but a bit middle-school-manga-book-y.  on the upside your old colouring is still fabulous despite time. is that watercolour?

also, yeah, second look tells me your grasp of anatomy has gotten better. no more noodle arms ^^;

[Bella]

Thank you! I was long plagued with noodle-limb syndrome.  C-chan always suspected I was influenced by CLAMP (Code Geass WAS one of the first animu I really got into...) but truth be told my tendancy toward pencil-like bodies and spaghetti-limbs predates my interest in anime by a few years. For example this 2004/05-era sketch of some OCs of mine...



Thankfully, I seem to have finally shaken that particular issue for once and for all. I'd tried to get rid of my pinheads and noodle bodies before, but more often than not I ended up going too far in the OPPOSITE direction (as evidence by this piece from what I like to call my "Terrible Massive Heads Era"):



As for nose/facial structure, 2009 me had a very poor grasp on head shape for some reason. I do agree that the nose isn't bad per se, but the nose-mouth region is jutting out way too far, almost like a muzzle. If i'd had the cognizance to move them closer in, it'd have held up a lot better, imo:



To answer your question, yes, it's watercolor! I wish I could work with watercolor more but I'm running out of supplies and it resupplying them will require a bit of an initial investment (tubes of paint can easily cost $5 a piece and I believe a standard watercolor paint kits requires about 8 different colors). There's also paper pads, which cost more than regular sketch pads. And I'm probably due for a new set of brushes too.

[Chocofreak13]

hahahaha, you got yours for 5 bucks a tube? lucky you getting them so cheap. (you don't want to know how much we shelled out for my watercolour class. and i still have an entire block of D'Arches at home... ;v; )

also, that first pic makes me feel weirdly better, since at least i know you weren't always the pencil goddess you are now. your early work sucked just like my early work sucked. -w-

only difference is, rather than noodle limbs, i had box torsos and eyes like motherfucking saucers. and grapefruit boobs, god the grapefruit boobs. >>;

[Bella]

Nah, I actually got mine in an art kit years ago, but I've looked at Michael's and the 5ml tubes go for something like $5 or $6 bucks a piece. That's for 5ml — they're absolutely tiny. ;^;

Seems we had opposite stylistic weaknesses then — I've always suffered from spaghetti proportions and creepily long face syndrome. (See first picture.) I didn't even begin to have a grasp on normal proportions until a couple years ago. Better late than never, I guess. ;^;

Although I DID go through a grapefruit boob phase also. >_>;;