Anonymous asked: What are RGB and Hero's zodiac animals? I did a little research and I like to think RGB may be a snake and Hero is a rat. By the way, what's YOUR zodiac animal?
Well congratulations, you’re dead on with Hero! She is indeed a rat (born in 1996), but RGB is actually a rooster (born inaahHAHHAHAHYOUREALLY THINK I’M GOING TO SAY) so yes, there you have it!
as for me I was born in a year of the dragon (1988 baby, yeah)
Anonymous asked: I was wondering, you get a lot of comments and asks about the comic and your work, but are there any that you get a lot that you dislike? just want to avoid any pet peeves or words you don't enjoy :'D
What an interesting question! Honestly most of the messages I get are unique and very lovely, and really just anyone taking the time so say a nice thing in whatever way they choose is amazing so I’m always grateful even if I can’t get around to answering them all.
If I really had to pick one thing that people say/have said which irritates me it would be the classic “what kind of drugs were you on when you wrote this/you must have been high to come up with this stuff” comment. It’s not just when people say it about my work either; it gets said about a lot of surreal art and imaginative things in general, and it just makes me incredibly sad to think that a person would suppose you have to be influenced by drugs to come up with anything remotely wild or unusual.
It says more about the commenter than the artist, I know, and I guess it’s largely meant as a joke, but it still sucks the innocent fun out of the work and takes the credit of having an independently functioning brain away from the artist. It also kind of makes me worry that some people really do suppose that the only way they can make something wacky and imaginative is to take something, which is nonsense and for the record I have never taken anything stronger than ibuprofen. Heck I don’t even like the taste of alcohol I am literally a giant goober child- you want to see me high just give me some sherbet and a box set of cartoons that’ll do it.
So yeah TL:DR I ain’t hating on anyone’s lifestyle choices just don’t say that junk it cheeses a lot of us creative types off
Anonymous asked: Where is Julienne from? Or, I guess, if she had ever been a human from our world where would she be from?
The Ivory Coast/the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire
Anonymous asked: so I know Julienne's wings are cotton candy and the knives are chocolate, and Hero likes her voice, so does that mean her voice is 'sugary'? Also, what are the ribbons made of- are they edible too?
I prefer to think of her voice as sounding rich and ‘chocolatey’, but it’s up to your own interpretation really! Julienne’s ribbons are made of a sort of a hybrid between strawberry laces and fruit-by-the-foot, so yes, they are also made out of candy!
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
Anonymous asked: is it bad that I kind of want you to meet Alex and fall in friend with him
I THOUGHT THAT WAS GOING TO END IN A TOTALLY DIFFERENT WAY BUT THIS WORKED OUT SO ADORABLE AND I’M REALLY HAPPY ABOUT THAT no anon please want that that’s so super cute I love you for wanting such a radical nice thing whichwillneverhappenbutwecandream :’D
Anonymous asked: I'm just a little anon but I wanted to thank you for inspiring me to do and enjoy the things I make, no matter how small. I'd like to consider you a friend for all that you helped me with! I hope that in spite of not finding the strength in myself to write off anon, you will find my gratitude to be genuine.
THIS IS ONE OF THE NICEST NOT TO MENTION PRETTIEST ANON MESSAGES I HAVE EVER RECEIVED
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH MY FRIEND
Anonymous asked: Hello! First off your style (art and clothing) is amazing. Though I wanted to ask, what made you stop being involved in steam powered giraffe? You don't have to answer of course! I just saw some of your old spg art and was excited. You are one of my fave artists <3
Had a few folks asking this, and the reason is there is no reason! I just have big fads of interest which I dive into intensely for a while; I draw what I feel like drawing, that’s the only rule here! I kind of fell out of touch with SPG so I honestly have no idea what the scene is like with them any more, but I had fun while I had fun, and I didn’t want to let that get soured by people pressuring me to draw it. Same with more or less all the other categories of thing I’ve done for a while and then stopped- it’s not because I started hating the thing or political/fandom reasons, I just felt like doing something else!
Personally I think that’s an important thing to consider when you’re doing fanart; are you drawing it because you’re drawing something you love and want to show that, or are you doing it because you feel obligated? I don’t know about you guys but I’m a bit too hedonistic to go for the second one, so yeah, I’m a bit of a freewheeling doodler over here; don’t expect me to draw anything forever!
p.s. THANK YOU ANON I LOVE YOU TOO YOU ARE VERY KIND!!!
Anonymous asked: did you used to use ink a lot?
so much so that my teachers once joked that it was my bloodtype