AAOC Times #63

𝒜𝒜𝒪𝒞 𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑒𝓈 #63

AAOC Times is a weekly newsletter that features amazing artists, tips and tricks for new and experienced artists, as well as updates in what’s happening around the amino!

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                         ┊🏹 —table of contents

                         ┊i. feature of the week

                         ┊ii. advice column

                         ┊iii. highlights

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                                            ┊ ۵

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↷ ·˚ ༘ 🏹 Tsu is typing :: ꒱

༺ FEATURE OF THE WEEK ༻

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Hello hello! Its Tsu here with Feature

of the Week. Today, showcasing ??'s

wonderful and featured post, Cinder.

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Everything seems to be well-put together; from the colors to the fur, it's all beautiful! The background emits a peaceful and whimsical feeling to the viewer. Plus, it's a cat! They're adorable little creatures. I thoroughly enjoy this piece. Simply fantastic!

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Bold : Tsu, the interviewer

Italics :??, the artist

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O1: First question

"What inspired or motivated you to create the piece?"

❝ I was inspired to do this piece mostly because I wanted to improve my skills, I believe. I that this was one of my first paintings and I still was not really into this kind of art style. Seeing works made by other artists always motivates me a lot :).❞

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O2: Second question

"Did you have a hard time making it? If so, which part did you struggle with the most?"

❝ Aaaa yeah, it was a complicated one for me, but at the same time I felt like it was challenging my skills, so it was also fun and interesting :). I had a harder time doing the fur texture, it was difficult to do without a suitable brush. But after a little bit of experience, I found the right technique.❞

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O3: Third question

"What was your favourite part of the piece?"

❝ I had a lot of fun making the eye, I think it's my favorite part in every drawing I do. I also really like how the background came out, it's a very simple one, but I think it's an important part of the piece :).❞

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O4: Fourth question

"Which part of the piece do you think you could improve on?"

❝ I think I still need to improve a lot on this art style, especially in the way I do the shadows, lights, and effects. In this piece, I don't particularly like how I did the neck part, I find it much less detailed than the head and that's why I increased the blur effect. So I think I also need to improve on doing other parts of the body besides the head :). ❞

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O5: Last question, I noticed that you drew the eyes very beautifully and mentioned how it was your favourite part.

"What's your process on drawing eyes?"

aw thank you :)!

❝ So, first of all, I look for various references (real photos) and start coloring with a simple flat (with a single color). Then, I add a layer above the sketch layer (in this way I can cover the sketch lineart as I add more colours), for details like shadows and highlights. At the last step, I add the pupil and other lights and small details.❞

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Well, that covers up for this week's

featured artwork neatly. I hope you

enjoyed this article and go give the

artist some love and appreciation.

This is Tsu, g out. Toodles!!

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↷ ·˚ ༘ 🏹 Rin is typing :: ꒱

Hello AAOC ! It's Rin, here with the Advice Column. The Advice Column is a section where AAOC Times can answer your questions about art ! If you'd like to know more or want a question answered, check out the AAOC Times Advice Wiki.

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Onto the questions~!

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❝ I really want a good tablet that isn’t thousands of dollars, how do you research which to get and what would you recommend? ❞

Asked by CrowKiller

When looking for a good tablet for a good price, first you have to decide what kind of tablet you want and your price range. Regular tablets can range from ~$25-$150, while display tablets are more around ~$300-$700 and possibly even more into the thousands.

Once you know what you're wanting as well as your price range, start researching ! The best place to do this is on Amazon. With Amazon, you can use filters for prices. I chose $25-$50 here:

Next is looking at reviews ! People who have bought the product know the most about it, so it can provide useful information for your final decision. I hope this helped in your journey to find a tablet that is right for you !

If you want my personal recommendation, and don't mind spending a little more for great quality, I recommend the Gaomon PD1560. It's about $330 and is a display tablet ! I've had mine for about a year, never had any troubles with it and the quality is amazing ! It's a fairly big tablet as well (15.6 inches). Good luck in your tablet searching !

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❝ How can I fit art study into a slightly busy schedule? ❞

Asked by Chee

When people think of studying art, they often think of hours and hours of practicing and studying one thing after another, when in reality it isn't just that ! You can study art whenever and for however long you want to !

If you have a busy schedule, it might be more difficult to push yourself to make time for art. I suggest fitting it in whenever you can for however long ! For example, I use my breaks in between classes to study (sometimes I draw during classes as well, if I have down time). These breaks are about 20 minutes and even just that time is enough to sketch many things, depending on what you're wanting to work on.

Here's a sketch I did during downtimes in classes for example !

You can also do art while eating, taking breaks from homework, etc. Art study doesn't have to be a 'sit down and study this one body part for hours'. It can be whatever you're capable of doing !

If you can't afford to give up time, my biggest suggestion is to make time. Give yourself an hour, 30 minutes, or even just 10 minutes out of your day to practice what you want to. Make it a set time and not let anything interfere with the time you give yourself.

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❝ What are the best beginner (free) digital art apps? ❞

Asked by toxicity

I'll start with phones/tablets. While I don't do much art on my phone, sometimes I'll be out and about and want to sketch something !

I would recommend ibisPaint X. It's got one of the simplest layouts I've seen, friendly, and great brushes/tools ! It's completely free to use, with the exception of an option to remove ads with a payment and a hip. Despite the paid factors, using the app is very easy and paying for anything is not necessary at all to use the app to its fullest potential.

Another app I may as well mention is Adobe Photoshop Sketch. Adobe Photoshop Sketch is a very clean app and has a nice layout, if you want something very simple I would go with it. The only downside is you do have to sign up, although so far I haven't run into any paid features. The brushes are also on the more limited side, but the options it does have are fairly good !

Next, I'll talk about some art programs for computers ! For beginners, FireAlpaca is likely the easiest to use that has decent tools and brushes. The layout is nice and simple as well and fairly friendly.

If you're looking for something a bit more professional, I recommend Krita. It's the program I use and I've loved it since I got used to it ! It can be a little intimidating at first look, but once you explore the brushes and options, the quality of the program is incredible. The only downside is it may run slowly on certain computers.

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That's all from me ! Thank you for reading~

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↷ ·˚ ༘ 🏹 Sinister is typing :: ꒱

Highlights of the week

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Ello, AAOC! It’s Sinister here from AAOC times.

Here for some new inspiration? You’ve made it in time for this week’s highlights! :>

Cute artist

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Yami’s art is extremely adorable! Not only that, the soft color pallet in their canvas is beyond a perfect combination. The colors are soft and gentle, giving off a light and calm texture. This really catches the eye with the unique color designs throughout their art! Go check ‘em out! :}

http://aminoapps.programascracks.com/p/67ng1c

Anime artist

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The details in hellmirr.art artwork is astronomically fascinating! The character designs and fluid backgrounds make their art energetic and dynamic! The vibrant colors and light shading highly kicks off their art style! If there was an anime possibly involved, I’d definitely make it first in line to watch it! （╹◡╹）

http://aminoapps.programascracks.com/p/0qo58u

Vibrant Artist

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Larunart’s artwork is incredibly active and vivacious! The effulgent lighting and shading in their work is suring from amazing! The colors they chose for each art canvas is always intense and satisfyingly saturated! At times, it triggers their character designs to include rich and vivid hues which are so pleasing to look at. ( ・∇・)

http://aminoapps.programascracks.com/p/xmck3g

Cartoon Artist

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The balance between Weezy’s lines and shapes in their artwork is a nice organic art style! The colors are aesthetically beautiful without clashing with each other. Their artworks are always capturing attention on the character designs, without leaving the background out! :>

http://aminoapps.programascracks.com/p/holpu0

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And that’s all! Hope you enjoyed, and we look forward to creating more interesting content for everyone (/^▽^)/

Cover & Border Artist