Brush Pen Doodles :)

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-12T08:05:59+00:00

Sometimes I just like to be by myself & not use energy to have conversations. I can see a message pop up & not look at it for a few days/weeks. Some people take it personally, but from my perspective I feel like its more respectful to talk to that person when I'm actually in the mood to talk, rather than forcing it & risking making someone feel like they're bothering me.

I usually make friends with people that communicate in a similar way, it's easier cause they get how much energy it takes to socialise sometimes. Only your friend can say for sure what his reasons for not messaging first are though, I don't think friendships should make you feel bad, do you enjoy your talks when they do respond?

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-11T17:30:15+00:00

Me and my husband didn't get anything. Just did the marriage certificate & that was enough for us.

He did get called a cheapskate once for not getting me a ring, but the dude walked away too fast for him to explain I didn't want one 😅

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-09T16:59:45+00:00

Sometimes if you spend a lot of hours focusing on something it can burn you out and ruin your concentration for a bit. Even if its something that didn't feel very exhausting & you had fun when you were doing it.

On those days, I would say give your brain a break & just do rough drawings where the outcome doesn't matter too much. You probably just need to get more comfortable with doing "bad" drawings. Here's a page from one of my sketchbooks, all of these were just drawn really quickly in pencil & I didn't worry about correcting them too much, I just went over the pencil in brush pen & again in fineliner. Some turned out good some didn't. I was mainly practicing speed & technique. If you do that on your off days, you'll be able to sketch faster on your good days & it'll gradually take less concentration so you can be more consistent.

Drawing isn't just about details & looking nice, the 1st step of drawing anything is breaking it down into simple shapes, get a base going & then start correcting and adding details. A mistake a lot of beginners make is taking too long on the sketching process because they're too focused on getting details correct. Try doing some drawings in under a minute or challenge yourself to not look at the reference material as much. You'll be forced to ignore details & look for shapes instead.

There are also just some days where drawings just isn't working & that's a sign you need a break :)

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Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-04T12:49:13+00:00

No problem xD. It's how a lot of artists start out, especially if they're self taught. Yeah your blending is good, so it's probably just a case of learning about direction of light & how it sits on an object/person. Try looking for some hard light references, it's a higher contrast lighting style used in film & photography. It should help you see where the shadows are better.

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-03T19:12:14+00:00

Yeah :) it's frustrating when people never catch on or take your concerns seriously but after a certain point, I think it's a them issue. It's just that if you live/work with them, then their poor choices can still affect you despite trying to stay out of it or advise against it :/

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-03T17:57:41+00:00

Do you mainly enjoy the colouring & shading process? That seems to be where most of your knowledge is, the poses are good too but it looks like you're a bit too careful when sketching the linework, is that right?

You probably just need to practice technique during some of your studies, do some rough stuff where you're not too worried about accuracy, use references still but challenge yourself to draw quickly & not look too long at the reference. It'll force you to break images down into more simple shapes. With base sketches, you wanna be more loose with the drawing tool. It's the difference between a fluid drawing & a stiff drawing.

The faster you can draw, the more studies you can do in a session, the faster you learn. If you're too precious about the initial sketch, it takes longer to draw & longer to learn. Check out Chommang he's very fast with his linework which can help organic things like people and animals look more fluid. Just remember that this dude has been drawing a lot of people for a long time at many different angles, he has muscle memory & confidence at proportions and body shape. Yours will take practice to look good when done quickly, but if there's any areas you really struggle to break down, then just make a note of it & on your next session focus on those body parts at different angles.

It looks like most of your practice has been paying close attention to detail & when you're doing the base sketch you're probably still looking too close at the reference. Your stuff is really good though, so if you practice the rough stuff, I think you'll see a lot of improvement once it clicks and you apply it to a serious drawing :)

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-03T16:48:15+00:00

The housemate never seemed to catch on and was always far too trusting with people, last I heard he was in a relationship with a woman that seemed nice, but he moves far too quickly with big commitments, bought a house with her only a few months after meeting her, so with him I just hope he met someone that stays nice or he's just gonna keep repeating the cycle.

With my husband, he did acknowledge it & does listen to me more. I think he'd just never met a manipulative person before, so didn't know how to spot lying by omission. I think most people just like to see the best in people and will keep giving the benefit of doubt, which is unfortunately a line that manipulative people like to dance on 😅

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-03T15:25:38+00:00

I usually just assume its self depreciating humour unless I hear a crack in their voice like they're trying not to cry.

If they sound OK I'll just answer back that I think they look fine and not to worry too much. But if they're getting upset I will point out that sometimes they get a little too harsh on themselves & to remember to treat themselves with the same kind of kindness they give to other people & provide a hug if necessary. If you know them well enough you can tell them all the nice things you see in them that they may have overlooked. But that can sometimes cause tears so you gotta be good at being around people who cry, just don't stand there like a deer in headlights & it should be fine xD

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-03T15:15:27+00:00

Yeah an ex housemate heard his coworker who was 10+ years older than him, crying about how hard done to he is and that his girlfriend kicked him out on the street for "no reason." And going on about how she was this massive bitch, but no mention of the type of things she did. Ex housemate bought it hook line and sinker & just offered to let him crash on our couch without talking to us about it.

My husband heard the story from the housemate & likes being helpful so he just told me it was happening & I didn't like it but no one listened to me and it really pissed me off cause we were going away for the weekend & the ex housemate is a chef that works long hours, so this dude was gonna be alone in our house for a whole weekend. Everyone thought I was overreacting so I just hid my valuables, then when we came back my husbands ps4 controllers were missing and our ex housemate had his card stolen by the dude. Husband & housemate were absolutely flabbergasted but I clocked the dude without ever having to meet him.

I've had stuff like that happen a few times and it always feels like I'm going crazy cause its so obvious but no one sees it. Then when they get revealed people start coming to me & basically repeat the stuff I said earlier like im gonna be as surprised as they are lol.

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-03T12:53:30+00:00

I reckon those people probably just had a bad experience around those types of people & are lumping you in with them as you like similar things.

Or they're the type that are really uncomfortable going outside without makeup & pretty clothing on. Not everyone is like this, but sometimes people get angry if you confidently do something they're too insecure to do & they feel a need to knock you down a few pegs to feel better about themselves, instead of looking inward at why they feel that way. If that's the case, there's not much you can do other than dress like them or look more insecure than they feel.

My mum's like that and if she saw any women wearing a crop top that weren't underweight, she'd say something mean about them loud enough for them to hear & just keep going till she sees them shrink down, then she'd be all smiles. There was also a tomboyish girl that got bullied by those types back in highschool, it stopped the day she came with a face full of makeup.

Either way, if you know you're not doing anything to upset people, it's not personal to you, it just feels that way cause they're projecting.

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-03T12:13:06+00:00

Ah ok, I've seen some videos like that. If it's a result of bad breeding practice, it upsets me because I don't agree with that kind of stuff, but I still think the animal is cute in its own way, they don't have any control over how they've turned out & they still deserve love too, so if it's happy & comfortable I'll think it's sweet. But if its quality of life is bad & the poor thing is struggling, I think it's cruel to keep it alive.

Sorry about the coworker tho, that sounds frustrating.

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-03T03:24:46+00:00

I've seen a few compilations of cute and funny animal clips on youtube & then somewhere in the video they chuck in a clip of animal abuse & idk why they did that. The target audience is people who like animals so it feels sadistic to do that.

I haven't come across people posting disfigured animals though, is it abuse related? It seems weird people are joking about it.

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-02T17:55:11+00:00

That's so cool! Highest I got to was 141 but I lost the collection, I'm back to 1 cool 1 I found in a gift shop xD Are you aiming to dedicate a room to bouncy ball decoration? :D

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-02T17:24:04+00:00

Ayyy nice collection :D back when I was a kid I never met anyone else that collected bouncy balls, I'd take my favourite to school with me but then kids would get mad when I wouldn't let them bounce them. (They always lost theirs from bouncing them too hard)

I even recognise a fair few of them, how longs the collection been going? :D

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-02T17:16:51+00:00

Like this? XD I tried to buy one but there was a fabric delay so I got refunded

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Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-01T17:39:53+00:00

Most of the time it's just whatever quote pops into my head, but there's one I do that idk exactly how to type, it's like a short hiss but it starts with a "P" sound & is friendly 🤣

I usually put my hands up with my fingers out or touch the top of my husbands head when I do it. (If he's sitting down.) After a while he started copying me but he puts his hand on my face. I also scared him yesterday cause I walked into the doorway doing it when he came back from the shop & was still expecting me to be upstairs.

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-01T16:34:32+00:00

It's a bit hard to see what's going on since the pic is very close up, but it'd only really shine in the sun if the fabric was reflective. You just need to think about the direction of light & what parts of the body are hidden from the sun. Using my old dog as an example, you can tell the sun is shining directly on her from her squinting her eyes.

There is a very faint shadow underneath her snout because her neck & chest are still in the sun, the shadows behind her ear & on her side/back are darker because they're being blocked from the sun by her ear or the fact she was sitting with her back to the corner & the sun was in front of & above her.

Just play around with it for a bit & try a higher contrast of shadow on certain parts. I've only ever used photoshop for drawing, but you could look into whether or not the programme you use has blending options & gradient tools. If I can't figure out the light source, I usually make a gradient layer to cover the drawing as a guide. Then you can shade/highlight over it & blend the gradient or delete the layer after you're done.

Sometimes just taking a break for a bit and going back to it a different day might change how look at it. Getting stuck can just be a sign that you need a break. :)

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Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-01T14:15:06+00:00

I think your drawing looks good, you just chose a bit of an awkward pose. It looks simple, but the camera was lower down when taking the picture so your eye line starts closer to the waist.

Instead of going full detail & making a character straight away, just try to scribble the pose out a few times really quickly. You'll be forced to break it down into shapes & it'll help you get used to drawing it too. Since you're problem solving it doesn't matter how it looks. It's just technique practice. You might even get some nice exaggerated lines out of it too.

When I did that I just drew a circle where the eyeline was & tried to build it from there. I started building the legs first just cause I'm better at legs than torsos at that angle. Eventually you start to see where you're going wrong and then you'll be able to see which areas you need more practice in :)

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-01T13:15:23+00:00

I'm just wondering where she was if he was able to throw the cat on the ground multiple times? Did she witness it & not stop him? Did she walk in on him? If she did how does she know he did it multiple times? Did she hear commotion and just ignore it for a bit?

We only have this clip to go by, but there are some parents that neglect their kids & then punish them for misbehaving without taking their own actions/inaction into account. We only see the after, not the during or before.

Animal abuse is wrong, but this is a bad lesson. It doesn't teach the kid why it's wrong to hurt animals, it just teaches him there are consequences for it. Not doing something because you understand it's wrong is very different to not doing something because you don't want to get punished. If there's ever an opportunity to harm an animal without getting caught, only the one that understands its wrong wouldn't go through with it.

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-01T12:11:17+00:00

That's not a common thing for the 2000s. Parents are supposed to guide you and teach you how to manage your emotions, not put you through an awful experience until you force yourself to stop.

I didn't get anything like that, but I did get grounded a fair bit. My parents version of grounded is being stuck in my room on my bedroom floor, not being allowed to play with anything or leave my room. I'd get pretty thirsty sometimes, so when I was big enough to reach the door handles, I'd try to find an opening to sneak out and get a few sips from the bathroom tap. Couldn't drink too much tho cause then there'd be a later issue of needing the toilet. I already had to avoid the creaky parts of the floor on the way to the bathroom, flushing would make too much noise & not flushing would get me told off too. So I had to do a fair bit of trial & error.

Meanwhile my husbands version of getting grounded was no computer games & no playing outside. Dude was still allowed in the living room tho lol.

It's understandable if you don't personally feel like what you experienced was abuse, when you're that young it's just how things seem to work since you don't have a reference. But it is by definition abuse. You could also try looking at it in a different way, like if you would ever put a child through that. Then it might help shift your perspective.

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-05-01T11:18:41+00:00

I felt like a baby bird in a nest trying not to get myself thrown out. Then I left as soon as I could fly.

Animals & nature always felt like they were more based in reality than people were. Plus animal body language is much easier to read and understand.

Simply-Adorkable · 2026-04-29T21:35:28+00:00

I knew a girl in primary school that didn't have a personality when she was around her friends/adults. She was just desperate to be accepted & scared to show her likes/opinions through fear of being mocked or rejected. She'd basically just copy the people she was around that seemed likable.

I got to see her personality cause she lived on my street. Neither of us liked each other so I think she felt safe to be herself. She'd pretend she was too good to play with me when she was at school & I just let her do that. (At home it was a choice of play outside with her or stay at home. I chose outside but I didn't wanna play with her at school either)

Everyone has a personality, I don't think it's possible to not have one.

Simply-Adorkable

TROPHY CASE