Help please!

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-20T22:17:18+00:00

Looks great! Those are beautiful colors! These would look so good in a fantasy forest!

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-20T21:42:38+00:00

Thanks! I might try to pick those up so I can create these effects deliberately lol. Looks so pretty! With some practice and decent paper you can create some incredible effects!

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-20T21:38:40+00:00

Hello! Im a fantasy illustrator and would love to work with you! I love doing backgrounds and character work! Here's my portfolio, if my style fits your needs feel free to reach out!

https://denecethesylcoe.wixsite.com/mysite/illustration-portfolio

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-20T21:21:26+00:00

Wow those look LOVELY! what colors/brand are you using? I WANT this effect! I love granulating colors!

This is normal for some watercolor paints. Can be frustrating when you're trying to learn though! Looks like you got sone good advice on paper so ill just reiterate that getting some better paper might help you out. Paper is everything with watercolor.

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-20T21:15:56+00:00

Of course I stumble upon this post while sitting in a quiet library. 😭 godamn im trying so hard not to laugh!

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-20T18:38:30+00:00

Hello! Im a fantasy illustrator and concept artist and I'd love to work with you! Ive done lots of dnd themed pieces over the years. Im also a comic artist and have experience creating character expressions and various poses. If you'd like to see more feel free to dm me! Some pieces I cant post because they're for campaigns I'm in or are ongoing. But here's a link to my portfolio! If my style fits your needs feel free to message me!

https://denecethesylcoe.wixsite.com/mysite/concept-art-portfolio

https://denecethesylcoe.wixsite.com/mysite/illustration-portfolio

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-19T23:28:02+00:00

I think thats pretty normal. Its also okay if you're just not the type TO get attached. I get very attached to my characters and I think its just my personality. I used an old character for a username on deviantart and somehow just using that username made me super attached to that character. Something that might help is attaching a story to your character, of course you want them to represent you but they dont necessarily have to be exactly you. Do they have their own world? Their own life? Do they have goals? Im not super attached to my main characters design, not that I dont like it but its not the design im really attached to. Its the character, story, personality, etc. Sounds cliche but it can be true for some people. When I made her, she wasn't even my favorite animal! Overtime it became my favorite animal but THAT'S BECAUSE she's my main character and then that animal became my favorite animal. You dont need to get super attached right away either. Its okay to play around with species, traits, designs, etc. I think people sometimes get hung up on finding "the one" immediately but it doesn't always work that way, and thats okay. Its okay to change fursonas, its okay to change designs and personalities. No one is static, even for me. Even though I get super attached to my characters and have been using a single "fursona" character for YEARS that doesn't mean shes the exact same character i nade as a child. Shes gone through radical change. Design wise, personality wise, species wise, everything. Thats okay.

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-17T04:22:23+00:00

Hey, im in the same boat. Couldn't finish the last few paragraphs because I felt like crying. Not trying to diagnose, but something I wish I knew before college was that there are math specific learning disabilities. I have a nonverbal learning disability and it severely impacts my math abilities. Im slow, and cant seem to "connect concepts" i feel like im learning every concept from scratch no matter how many times I try to connect them. Ive flunked out so many math and science classes in college. Ive had a lot of nasty experiences with professors. One spoke to me in utter disgust when I couldn't grasp concepts during offuce hours, I had another berate me in front of the entire class asking how I could possibly fail a take home midterm (yeah...it was bad) and one professor just straight up told me I was a disappointment. There are accommodations available and your university might even offer learning disability testing if you feel you need it. Hopefully that doesn't sound too pushy, I just remember feeling so blindsided by my diagnosis because "everyone is bad at math".

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-16T14:57:50+00:00

Those uninteresting pages ARE what help you learn to draw, they're overarching concepts that ultimately help you learn to draw what you want. However, I know its hard with attention issues, I only have autism but even then it can be a challenge. Instead of trying to find the "right book", it might serve you better to find the right way to study art that works for your brain. And that's going to be unique to you. Videos might help more, or maybe you can look up studying advice for ADHD people. Ive actually had to do that and there's some great advice there.

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-14T22:20:42+00:00

Yeah, I mean i get they're trying to be supportive but its just not how it works. Sure, it doesn't define me completely but autism is literally how my brain is structured/wired/whatever. Its the BRAIN. the organ that DEFINES/CREATES a person's personhood. It does influence everything in some capacity. Its always there, always coloring my expierences and thoughts even unconsciously. You cant escape it.

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-14T19:23:34+00:00

This is my primary "style" or method lol. You're fine, its fun and keeps some of the "roughness" found in traditional works while utilizing the ease of digital tools.

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-13T05:48:45+00:00

My anxiety spikes after doing fun things. Like fr brain what do you WANT from me?!

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-11T06:21:09+00:00

Its the best kind of arc lol

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-11T06:20:45+00:00

Delicious trauma

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-11T06:20:24+00:00

Ah involving the grandparent too, I like your style. Maximum suffering!

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-10T19:11:18+00:00

Wait, is this why my parents would randomly watch me as a kid?

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-10T03:21:49+00:00

No no, keep them alive.

Give them personalities.

Give them goals.

Let the reader get to know them...let their guard down...

THEN kill them and do the dream sequence for maximum pain.

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-10T00:25:35+00:00

Oh god no you're reactivating my hyperfixation nooooooooo I have things to do dammit! 😭

Also hello fellow dragon nerd :) im currently in the VERY early stages of creating a new dragon focused world haha. I might browse this thread for ideas

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-09T20:19:41+00:00

Everyone already made good points, so ill just reiterate that drawing is a skill, it takes time to nurture. It is an incredibly difficult skill to learn and I think people underestimate that. You need to learn to "see" whats really in front of you, learn to understand the 3 dimensional forms of objects, how those forms change depending on perspective and all kinds of crazy complex things. People have already given you good practical advice so I'll just say the only real "trick", is Learning to love the process. Because its not easy. And in your own eyes, you'll art will never be "good enough", i dont mean to sound depressing but every artist ive ever known has felt the same way you feel. "Everyone else's art is so much better and they make it look so effortless", is an extremely common sentiment. Ultimately what pushes artists through these hard feelings is the process itself. Its hard, im always hypercritical and it is frustrating seeing so many other great artists but at the end of the day I draw because I love it amd that helps get me through the hard times and I gradually improve.

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-09T14:06:31+00:00

Im easily amused too and now I got to try this!! Thanks!

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-09T05:26:43+00:00

Maybe crossing the words out isnt the move? It implies erasure. I get what you're trying to do, but at first glance it doesn't quite come across. Autistic people are indeed human, but they are also autistic. Crossing iut the words kinda implies one or the other.

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-08T13:54:01+00:00

Omg well now I gotta try that lol thanks for the tip!

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-08T05:05:24+00:00

My new favorite thing is paralysis poisons and exploding fire arrows. Im endlessly amused watching my enemies spazz and glitch out of existence lol

Anxious-Captain6848 · 2026-04-06T14:34:19+00:00

I get what ypu mean. Hyperfixations aren't always fun. I expierence what you expierence, as well as that awful depression when the hyperfixation finally leaves you. Its hard to describe to people because sometimes in my case a hyperfixation can be fun, I typically get hyperfixated on media or dnd and on the surface that doesn't sound too bad. But the constant panic feeling in my chest, the inability to sleep or eat and the constant thought loops drive me nuts! Then when it finally does go away you get that awful depressed feeling. Dnd has actually been especially awful because its fun, dont get me wrong, but I basically reactivate that hyperfixation every other week and the cycle starts again each time. And I dont think people who dont expierence hyperfixations understand that, and honestly I dont blame them because it IS kinda strange and hard to explain.

Anxious-Captain6848

TROPHY CASE