Everything I draw ends up wearing a bow-tie

(and for those 5 anons who just asked Julienne is a ladygal :|b just fyi)

TPoH: Update!

Here and here in english.

WIP of German, Russian, Chinese, Dutch, Polish, Esperanto, Swedish, Latin, Hungarian, Norwegian, French and Spanish translations!

Anonymous asked: I was so inspired by your art that I went out and bought some Winsor and Newton inks! But I'm kinda struggling with using them a bit--if you have time please could you maybe make a tutorial on how to get different shades with the same color of ink and how to make those white highlights where you've colored with black ink? Thank you!

actually there isn’t really a secret to it- you get different shades by mixing the ink with a little water (or a lot!) and all the white parts in my ink drawings are just plain paper! negative space is your friend, my friend

Anonymous asked: Mod do you have any tips for getting better at inking? Im quite poor, so using what little good ink/inking pens i have to practice feels wasteful since i don't really know what I'm doing...

Actually I had the same fear of wasting materials in school when using ink and paint, and using ink with a brush can be pretty scary because you have to trust both it and yourself- you’re going to make mistakes that aren’t reversible! You have to learn to go with it and adapt those mistakes into something better, or just start over, but it’s hard to do that when you’re using something costly. What I used to practice was super concentrated black coffee. All you need is some cheap instant coffee and hot water to make it (best to let it cool down before you use it though, or it can warp the paper); the trick is to use a tonne of granules and not much water, just add it bit by bit until all the coffee is dissolved. The less water, the darker the liquid. Make yourself a little dose of it in an egg cup or something and away you go.

Try to get the solution as saturated as possible, and use a decent water colour brush- a good brush can make a good picture out of almost anything! You can also use beetroot juice, but it kinda stinks and the colour changes over time. Experiment with what you have available! It’s difficult to make a liquid as dark or permanent as ink, but this is a method for learning how to use a liquid medium; the important thing is to make your liquid medium about the same consistency as ink or watercolour, so it will get you better and more confident at using a liquid medium with a brush. That way when you want to step your game up you’ll be more familiar with the methods and less likely to make simple mistakes that could have been avoided with a little practice.

Anyway, that’s the method I used, and hey you can make some pretty great pictures using coffee! Go have fun :D