Anonymous asked: i struggle with dynamic poses and posemaniacs just isn't cutting it anymore :(

Well! This is kind of hard to answer since everyone deals with anatomy problems differently. I think if you think too much about how things should look, it sometimes inhibits you from being able to understand the form. It isn’t good to force yourself to try poses you maybe aren’t comfortable with either. Dynamic poses can be pretty tricky and I actually tend to avoid them unless I can get it to look right. I don’t really use posemaniacs or any other pose site often anymore so I eyeball everything (wow this is really bad) until it looks right to me (probably not right to most people)….

But all this aside, I think that drawing the same pose a lot (and while I’ve seen artists get slammed for this—it’s not actually a bad thing) really helps. You start to understand how things sit and interact with one another in the space in which you’re drawing them. I hope this kind of helps? I’m really sorry if it doesn’t, you can tell me if you want further clarification…

Anonymous asked: i remember stumbling across some of your traditional sketches and im curious about what kind of fountain pen you uses c:

ohhhh I don’t draw with a fountain pen! I do like brushpens though, they’re either cheap ones I got from Daiso, or these two! Hope this helps a little!

Anonymous asked: WAH thanks to you and your incredible fanarts I started watching/reading JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and it's really great omg THANK YOU.

WHOA DAAANG I’m really flattered!!!! I haven’t been keeping up well with JoJo lately and I feel very bad about it but I’m really excited that you’re watching/reading JJBA!!! IT IS AN INCREDIBLE SERIES I HOPE YOU ENJOY THE WHOLE RIDE

*reusing this edited panel I posted a while ago

*it’s ok to cry over jojo

KEEP READING JOJO!!! ARAKI forever!!!!

Anonymous asked: Your art work is a huge inspiration to me and I hope I can be as good as you some day! ;3; I hope this doesn't sound silly. Your works help encourage me to keep going.

Wehhhh hhhhh thank you so much! I’m certain you’ll be way better than me!! :) I’m extremely honoured that my work encourages you… this is one of the most heartfelt and kindest compliments I’ve ever gotten, thank you….

Anonymous asked: you probably get this alot- do you have tips on how to improve drawing? i'm stuck in a rut when it comes to art and i just dont know how to overcome it. i want to transition into coloring better but i just dont know how

I don’t get this a lot, thankfully, because I’m not very good at answering it when I do. I’ll do my best to answer this in the most honest way possible, because I’m in the same boat. I cling to black and white a lot more because I’m pretty poor with colour theory. It’s a lot to take in when you aren’t familiar with it! 

For me, it really helps if you build an aesthetic, or an archive of things you like, which I’m certain you may do already! Colour combinations that catch your eye, or maybe a composition that elicits an emotional/intellectual response from you might guide you along what you want out of your art. 

I look at a ton of saved pictures when I decide to do something in colour (never), and improvise on what I see based on a predetermined mood/setting I already have for the image I’m working on. References are never a crutch. And practice, always practice. I cannot stress that enough!!! Every single day, draw something. Anything!!! Even if I don’t post every day, I doodle every day. It really gets your mind thinking alternatively and seeing what your habits are (so you know what you want to improve on). 

Anonymous asked: what is graphic design like? i'm thinking about doing it. your help would be much appreciated!!

I think it really depends on what school and what program your school offers! You might want to ask students who go to the school you want to go to in order to get a better idea. Mine was very Swiss (we were taught by a professor who was taught by Bauhaus successors), and so it’s a pretty austere program for about two years. You learn a lot though, and it sticks. You cover a lot about the basics of typography, print, colour, composition, etc. what to do/what not to do. I hate clichés, but here’s one: design is all about the details. There’s no frills, no frivolity, no bullshit. Every piece, every element will have purpose behind it. You won’t worry about your work being “just some other art piece”, the faculty will make sure of that. (though I’m sorry if I took a jab at anyone, my major tends to poke fun at fine arts) 

And there’s obviously a lean more on digital media due the world today. It’s a very fast-changing curriculum, to catch up to the world of work outside this major they also focus a LOT on webbased languages, coding, scripting, motion design and animating. Markets change and thus we have to adapt to it. 

I’ll be honest though. I’m nowhere near as hardworking as the rest of my classmates, who actually plan on getting jobs after graduation….

Anonymous asked: hope it's ok if i ask you what your major is 0:

Sure! 

I’m studying visual communications, which is a fancier term for graphic design. I don’t particularly like it though, but I’m going to graduate this spring anyway.