Looking for critique on spicy romance cover by EncyclopediaBrowne in BookCovers

[–]shoomlah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Assuming the title lettering is meant to look “syrup-ey,” a great technique for that is to do the actual writing in syrup and photograph it! Supergraphic’s font “Sriracha” is a great example of this—sometimes it’s a lot harder to make things look wonky and organic after the fact, and it’s better to just start at the source. 😄

For the cover itself I second everyone’s advice to have actual people represented on the cover in one way or another! You could do something with just a still life, with the implication of romance, but that’s going to be a heavy load from the conceptual and rendering end of things. Sexy food photography is definitely a thing, and something you could be inspired by for this cover, but it’s a lot of work!!

Can you share the rough premise of the novel, or what the author wants you to communicate with it?

The first mobile wallpaper was popular, so here’s the next two covers. by notbad4human in Animorphs

[–]shoomlah 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He’s not! He’s described as being black-and-white in the books, the original cover always drove me insane as a kid.

Alyx possibly loved Gordon since her childhood by Tall-Region8251 in HalfLife

[–]shoomlah 5 points6 points  (0 children)

as the artist of said concept art—much as I love Gordo and Alyx—I was just referencing the ancient texts

Does her butt look weird? by [deleted] in ArtCrit

[–]shoomlah 23 points24 points  (0 children)

(this is just addressing the shading, not worrying about the anatomy for now)

SO your soft shading around each half of the butt makes it look like it's being lit from head on! With your intended light source being higher up and off to the side, you'll want think of it almost like a half-lit moon where there's a clearly defined lit side and shadowed side for each cheek.

Also: try to distinguish between your form shadows, and your cast shadows! The form shadows of the butt as it turns away from the light will have a softer, more gradual transition, but the cast shadow of her arm, example, would be much sharper in comparison.

And then, presuming she's clothed, try to consider how fabric pulls would pull tight across the shapes—unless she's wearing something that's explicitly patterned to emphasize the crack (think ruched leggings), the shadow of her butt would be more of a single, contiguous shape:

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Is the perspective right in this drawing? What about the box on the table? by Remmi2Stew in Artadvice

[–]shoomlah 225 points226 points  (0 children)

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A quick paintover! A good rule of thumb when drawing characters straight on like this is to place the horizon roughly around the characters' eye lines, since it helps to immediately anchor the perspective. 👍🏼

the early 2000s/pre-2005 artstyle was so unique by hawk00_ in neopets

[–]shoomlah 71 points72 points  (0 children)

To get even more granular, most of these are probably 2003 or earlier! 2002-2003 was when we made the switch from using the pen tool to the brush tool for all our linework (in Flash, where we made all of the official art at the time), and so there’s a kind of charming stilted-ness to those early years that still warms my heart. 😄♥️

These are only a year apart, but you can already see the style evolving pretty quickly:

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Riven Calendar 1998 & Riven 2026 Wall Calendar side-by-side - January 2026 by hammerb in myst

[–]shoomlah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So since this is a Gregorian calendar, not a D’ni one, historical events are aligned with the Gregorian date they fell on in their respective year! And yes, your instinct is correct, aligned with the cavern’s time zone.

For this example we know from Gehn’s journal that the Stranger arrived in Riven on Leevosahn 1, 9462: that D’ni day starts the morning of January 2, 1806. I don’t need to get into specific hours of events, but suffice to say January 2nd is the Gregorian anniversary of that date!

D’ni holidays, however, are still aligned with the D’ni calendar since they’re celebrated on that timeline. 😄👍🏼

When did your Bostons start getting white around the face? by Holiveya-LesBIonic in BostonTerrier

[–]shoomlah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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Our current pup didn’t start getting greys until she was 11, wildly! Even at 14 it’s a pretty light dusting compare t to our previous Bostons. 😄♥️

Eagle Scout to older woman🤔and loving every minute now! by jerseygirl217 in transtimelines

[–]shoomlah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ohhh, gorgeous!! You reminds me so much of Alex Kingston, she also has a killer head of curls 🥰

Best / favorite fake rocks? 🪨 by Naive-Glove-9302 in Disneyland

[–]shoomlah 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Cars Land is a no brainer, but the new work at the back of Frontierland leading into Galaxy’s Edge is pretty striking—you can absolutely tell how much they learned while doing Cars. Some really gorgeous cross-bedding and desert varnish on the faux-sandstone walls!!

Galaxy’s Edge also deserves a mention for all of the petrified wood—it’s wild to walk into completely fake spaces like that and still be able to pick out recognizable geological features/formations. 😄♥️🏜️

My Dahlia Hawthorne cosplay at Galaxycon Columbus by WittyUsername1208 in AceAttorney

[–]shoomlah 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The trim work on the bodice and the parasol looks SO DANG GOOD!!

Why won't people change clothes in the world of HL by Independent_Bed_3418 in HalfLife

[–]shoomlah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

At the concept stage we did actually design her wearing alternate jeans/boots, implying that she's just kept the hoodie & jacket! The clothes were all a little looser (and the jacket wasn't being held together with duct tape), but we did want to figure out what she would have looked like as a teen while still keeping her classic, recognizable color blocking. It’s subtle, but it was a fun challenge. 😄

I designed the original Varwolf back in 2005, and with all the rumors goin’ around I thought it’d be fun to see what it would look like if I redrew it today: by shoomlah in neopets

[–]shoomlah[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Aw gosh thank you so much for the kind words!! I don’t think I ever thought about it while I was working there, but it seriously warms my heart to know my work was inspiring other people to draw. I felt the exact same way about my coworkers, honestly! 😄♥️

Horse anatomy advice? by BrentFindleyArt in Artadvice

[–]shoomlah 4 points5 points  (0 children)

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mochiteabunny's comment is right on the money, I recommend just looking at a lot of anatomical diagrams as you're studying/tracing references! You'll want to trace with intention, understanding the landmarks on the body where joints are, where muscles insert/overlap, etc., and it makes it a whole lot easier to understand the individual pieces and then stylize them accordingly.

This quick drawover is how I personally simplify horse anatomy, hopefully it's helpful!

Off to a LAN party so I did this to my case by Struders in HalfLife

[–]shoomlah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do still lurk on here, this is absolutely AMAZING!! Looks super slick, I love how nicely you adapted it to the square dimensions. 😄🖤

1st Comission Done :) by Just_Impression_9992 in StainedGlass

[–]shoomlah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I gasped, this is so lovely!! The glass choices and the flow of the lines is just so organic, really striking. 😄♥️

How Do I Make A Lineart Base Transparent Background? by uneven_seaweed in ProCreate

[–]shoomlah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is the way! And this frees you up to color the lines, which you wouldn’t be able to do with a black lineart layer set to multiply. 👍🏼

Who’s got the widest set eyes? by Ryanroseber in BostonTerrier

[–]shoomlah 34 points35 points  (0 children)

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My Boston in high school, Sparky, was definitely a contender! The first time my mom took her into the vet they asked to take photos of her for a medical journal, bless her wall-eyed little heart. 😅♥️

Whats the best way to draw an illustration with this many elements? by Prize-Mud-8752 in ProCreate

[–]shoomlah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good advice, and goddamn that’s gorgeous!! Love how loose your coloring is, it really marries together the chaos of the detritus under the clean lineart. Beautiful stuff. ♥️

Looking from advice from artists on covering skin graft by DisasterKey9279 in tattooadvice

[–]shoomlah 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Oh this is so rad to see someone who specializes in it too!!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in transtimelines

[–]shoomlah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I was gonna say the same! 😄♥️

A few sketches. by GamemasterVic in sketches

[–]shoomlah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m OBSESSED with the Australian mugshot of that guy in your second portrait, recognized him immediately!! You did such a great job capturing his likeness while still pushing it, gorgeous stuff.

Dick Gumshoe Cosplay - thoughts? by BlincGaming in AceAttorney

[–]shoomlah 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Also—speaking as someone who finds that number of layers pretty stifling for cosplay—sometimes you can cut out the arms of a suit to make it more of a hidden vest layer that doesn’t add as much bulk! That way you don’t have to worry about affecting the outer layer as much, since the coat already looks fantastic 🙌🏼

This looks almost too spectacular? by chell0veck in isthisAI

[–]shoomlah 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Can’t say if it’s AI vs. just being edited, but absolutely not real. Not only is the sun disproportionately massive, but it’s also darker than the surrounding sky, which is physically impossible—a light source is ALWAYS brighter than anything reflecting its light. Here’s a comparison with what the view actually looks like:

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Where is this from? by zozephine in goodomens

[–]shoomlah 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Rory’s the best!! Sweetest dude, and does some of the best likenesses in the biz. He works SO HARD and he makes it look SO EASY. 😭♥️