DRAWINGS
DIGITAL ART WITH COMMENTARIES
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Don't Hold It Against Us
September 21 2024
[Skull of Michael Afton with Ennard's wires emerging from the eye socket]
I kind of knew what I wanted the piece to look like from the start; Mike's skull with wires coming in and out of the different holes in the face. To start, I used a large, plain brush to create the general form of the skull. I followed a reference pretty closely, so that's why it looks pretty accurate (in my opinion at least). It took me a while to get the eye sockets to a point where I was satisfied, but other than that it all went very smoothly.
Next up were the wires. These were slightly more challenging. It took me several different attempts to land on the configuration of wires that I did. Honestly, I could have probably done better with the placement of the wires; I think they could provide a unique opportunity to explore the contours of the skull. I also had trouble making them fit with the more realistic style I was going for. I ended up doing the sort of segmented look to them, which I did by just carving small sections of each wire with the eraser tool. I was actually inspired by the flexible cables used in shower heads, which is something I thought of quite a while ago but never really did anything with.
Onto the coloring, I first simply colored the main outline of the skull a greyish-purple and the wires a light grey. I ended up switching between a few different shading methods until I settled on using the brush I did. The shading of the skull was rather straightforward; I just shaded with regards to the light being in the top left. The reference helped a lot with figuring out the shading. Once again, the wires proved slightly more difficult. I ended up using a black brush on low opacity over the main color layer in order to color the connections between each wire segment. I did this just to add extra depth to the cables and make them seem more 3D. I also decided to add some light oranges for rust and a little bit of red for blood.
Lastly, I applied a few filters to round everything off. I adjusted some of the saturation values, then burned it (of course). I ended up palletizing it as well, which worked out pretty well, especially with making the blood stains on the wires far brighter than the original colors. I also posterized it, just for good measure. To finish everything, I added the text, which I played around with a bit before landing on the single line, all lowercase, low opacity format that I did.
Overall, this was a pretty fun piece to make. At the time, I was experiencing major artblock, so being able to just open Krita and make something was very refreshing. I think the piece itself is also pretty good; I'm particularly proud of the way the shading makes the zygomatic arch very pronounced (I think that's what that part of the skull is called). The posterior part of the skull could use some work though, it does look a little flat. Other than that, very satisfied.
Decade of Overtime
August 8 2024
[Freddy and an anniversary cake]
For this piece, I really wanted to try something special, so I decided to try and actually paint for once. The OMC painting from before utilized the polygon tool to create geometric shapes and was more of a mix between digital lineart based drawing and traditional painting techniques. This time, however, everything was hand drawn (with the assistance of the symmetry tool). The original idea for this piece was quite different, actually. It was originally going to be a poster-style drawing featuring the Mimic, Springtrap, the classic 5, and a bunch of other characters. Then, I decided that it would be too cluttered, so I made a much simpler design. The main idea of the new design is just to emphasize the small beginnings of the franchise. I chose the text on the cake specifically from the FNaF 1 paycheck to add to that nostalgia (although apparently the text is actually "good job" T_T).
I started with a sketch, and then moved onto base colors. I used a generic paintbrush on Krita, and was really just experimenting with the brushstrokes. I was very much just seeing where my hands took me in that regard. It took me a while to get to where I was satisfied in terms of lighting; I didn't really have any references and was just kind of winging it. All in all, I think that part turned out decently well for a first attempt. I'm mainly proud of Freddy's main body. I think that turned out very nicely. The cake is alright, but not perfect. Also, I was debating whether or not to include those two eyes in the background, because I wasn't sure if they would read as eyes or not. I decided to anyways, obviously. I also didn't use any major filters, like posterize, on this one, unlike my other pieces.
I actually started this piece quite a while before the anniversary. I anticipated needing much more time to make it. In the end, I only spent about 4 hours on it. I'm actually pretty pleased with the result. It is by no means perfect, but I think it's a pretty successful foray into the world of digital painting. I also just had a lot of fun making this. The entire energy of the anniversary week was so wonderful. Again, read the blog for my full reflection on that.
MVP
August 1 2024
[Stylized portrait of Michael Afton]
You're our MVP, Mike.
I definitely got a little experimental with this one, but I think it paid off. I had been watching digital paint tutorials and noticed a lot of artists had this sort of square brush that I didn't, so I managed to replicate it sort of by changing some settings in krita. Anyways, I was really quick and messy with the initial strokes, just mainly trying to get the form down without undoing too much. It was fun not getting too bogged down in details, as I tend to do that with my others pieces. I really tried to keep a good pace with this one.
I think the face itself is alright. I didn't use a reference, so it kind of looks strange in some places. Also, I didn't really put that much effort into the teeth, so they look kind of bad and out of place. The shading method I employed was strange, and a first for me. I essentially just shaded with the same brush I had been painting with, and then covered small parts of the shaded area with the base color, to make the strokes feel more jagged and less clean so that it would look more like mottled flesh. I think it turned out okay.
I used a lot of effects and filters on this one. I upped the saturation first, then applied a posterize filter, then palletized it, then added some dithering just because. I played around for a while until I settled on these effects. I like most of it, although I think the dithering might have been a bit much. It also leads to crazy compression and just makes the image look weird all around. Will probably avoid that in the future. Also, I do like how that text came out on the side, it helps fill in space and makes the whole piece feel a little more complete. Overall, this was a pretty fun piece to make, and I think it was a pretty successful experiment. I learned some more about what works and what doesn't, which is always helpful. If I were to make this piece again, I'd definitely use and reference and fix the teeth, and avoid using that dithering filter.
This drawing took around 1 hour 20 minutes.
Gone Fishing
July 9 2024
[Old Man Consequences fishes at the red lake]
I decided to try something a little different this time. I wanted to draw OMC, so I started looking for some reference photos. I found this one online, and used it to get the pose of Consequences and the general shape and composition of the background. This is actually my first time trying digital painting (if you can even call this a painting), and in fact, my first time painting at all, really. I didn't know what to do, so I looked up a tutorial for digital painting and learned to use the polygonal selection tool to make geometric shapes. From there, I was shading it by hand. It took me quite a while to get
everything working.
I'm happy with how the water came out, and the grass is okay as well. Consequences himself looks nice, but the anatomy is strange in some places, like his left arm. I couldn't see the left arm on the reference, so I just had to wing it, so it looks weird. The trees are my main issue with it; I had no idea what I was doing. Overall though, I think the colors ended up really nice. The red lake is such a unique and striking location with the black and red contrast, and I always love seeing "realistic" interpretations of it. That being said, it took me a bit to get the colors to a place I was satisfied with. I played around with nearly every single filter on Krita, and used color balancing and burning to get what I wanted. I used the posterize filter, again, and as usual I'm pleased with the result. The only "issue" with it is that it makes the sky look red rather than black, but I can live with that.
If I were to make this piece again, I'd probably just learn how to paint trees, as well as maybe putting more effort into some places of OMC's anatomy. So, aside from a few nitpicks, I'm pretty proud of this piece and think it's a pretty good first attempt at digital painting. I'm looking forward to learning more about painting techniques and expanding my artistic capabilities.
This drawing took around 2 hours 40 minutes, although with the time spent applying effects and filters, it's probably a little over 3 hours.
Just a Nightmare
July 2 2024
[Spirit of the crying child stands in front of Nightmare, promising to forever haunt his brother]
Sorry Mike! Looks like you're gonna have to be tormented in your dreams by your dead brother's ghost for the next 40 years. That's too bad. Anyways, yes, this is based on the idea that Nightmare is the crying child. Not really a popular theory, at least I don't think it is, and it probably isn't canon, but
from a storytelling standpoint I think it works pretty well. I've wanted to make a Nightmare drawing for a while now, and it took a good deal of trial and error before I settled on this look. As for piece itself, I think it turned out quite well. The colors and gradients work nicely, the text looks good, and just the general composition is nice I think. The rays coming out of the crying child's head that reveal Fredbear is a nice
touch I think, if somewhat unclear. The idea was that it was simply showing how Nightmare is the dark reflection of Fredbear, and how the crying child turned the means of his own death into a tool for torturing his brother (and also just a reference to the fact he sustained a head injury). Also, I made another border for this piece, similar to the previous one, and I think it'll probably be a staple from now on. At the very least, I'll add it to my toolkit in case I need it, because I really like how it looks. I also used the posterize filter, which is something I did back in my fredbear plush drawing, and I really like the outcome. The filter works particularly well for the wall of "NIGHTMARE" in the background, as it makes each line have its own step (kind of). Anyways, overall a very fun piece to make and I'm proud of how it came out. I make these poster style drawings often, so I'll definitely experiment with different styles and perspectives eventually. I still do enjoy making these posters though, so I'll probably continue to make them.
Anatomy of an Afton
June 30 2024
[Diagram showing Ennard inside of Michael's body]
Another poster style drawing, this one being inspired by classroom anatomy posters. Mike and Ennard are my two favorite characters and I always loved how Sister Location ended, and I thought this was clever. That being said, I'm not entirely happy with the result.
I think the idea is really good, but the artsyle may not have been right for it. I don't really know. The background is also not very good; I've never been great with backgrounds. I also made the image far too tall and it's hard to view normally without zooming out
and losing a lot of detail, like the wires. I'm also not sure how I feel about the gradients. I might remake this piece in the future with a different artstyle or coloring method, because again, I do really like the concept. I do like how the glitch effect on the word "human" came out, though.
Ennard himself also looks good, although the wires took ages to draw. Also I like how Ennard's eyes came out, I think they look nice.
I Will Put You Back Together
February 16 2024
[William Afton talks to his son through the Fredbear plush]
Sister Location's recontextualization of FNAF 4 is... interesting. It raises a lot of questions but I also like it a lot. The original sketch for this was very different; it went
through a few iterations before I settled on this more abstract poster style. I've done other drawings like this before and I really like it. I wanted to go for a very geometric sort of thing, kind of like
low-poly video games. The gradients and the colors add to that feel too I think. This was actually my first time using a filter for a drawing (posterize filter on Krita)
and I really enjoyed it. Anyways, this one was overall really fun to make and I think it turned out really well.
The Vengeful Spirit
January 15 2024
[Springtrap is bound in chains by the vengeful spirit]
UCN is a fun game. I made this one while I was still trying to figure out an artsyle I liked. I ended up using this pixel brush thing which worked all right. I really like how the chain links came out,
but the rest seems a little flat, especially Springtrap himself (I was going for the movie design where the hole in his torso exposes the springlock prong things but it didn't really work out).
Despite that, I do like the idea behind this one, especially the chains connected to the heart (cause it like represents how the vengeful spirit's soul is just as trapped as Afton's cause they're both in chains). Honestly the whole soul represented
by the red heart was very much inspired by Undertale and Deltarune; Chara and Cassidy are both wretched little children and I find that funny. Anyways, the red gradient isn't anything special but it's nice, and the colors are fine. Mainly it just
feels flat.
Lich-Trap
October 3 2023
[The Mimic/ Burntrap as the Lich]
I made this after watching the first season of Fionna and Cake. I'm not very proud of this one, but the file was in my drawings folder so I feel an obligation to put it here. The idea is fine, but I made it not really thinking of it as a real piece; it was really just me coloring in a sketch of a cool concept.
As a result of the lack of planning, the piece ended up feeling really bland and uninspired. In any case, it was a learning experience for sure.
SCOOPED!
September 27 2023
[Michael Afton is scooped]
Poor Mike. I tried doing some kind of dynamic pose for this one, but the anatomy is just a little weird. That aside, I like this one a lot; I think it has pretty good motion with the scooper and stuff. I also enjoyed doing the colors;
what I did was I made the flat base colors and then used a layer on top with a solid color (red or magenta I think) and then turned the opacity down. It worked pretty well at giving the piece an overall sort of reddish-purple tint. Anyways, I enjoyed
this one.
87
September 17 2023
[The Mangle prepares to lobotomize Jeremy Fitzgerald]
I remember making this one when I got really into FNAF 2 again; specifically I was focusing a lot on the Bite of 87 (obviously). This was the first piece where I did the "geometric poster style" type thing. I was originally going to do my regular style at the time but
I didn't think it fit very well so I just started messing around with line tool and the paint bucket. I think this turned out alright, especially
considering I didn't even use the symmetry tool for most of it. Mangle's head was inspired by dinosaur skulls and dragons, the red and black shapes jutting from Jeremy's head represent blood and agony (also I just thought it looked cool), and it took me a while to get the
87 at the top to look okay. Overall, this was a fun piece to make
and it definitely influenced a lot of my future works.
Old Man Consequences
September 15 2023
[Stylized portrait of Old Man Consequences]
OMC is a very fascinating character. He's like this super weird, psychopomp-deity thing. He's pretty much the W.D. Gaster of FNAF, it's cool. Anyways, this piece is a redraw of something I made back in 2022 (you can actually find it in the archive below!).
I like the way the colors pop in this one, I wanted to make him glow, and the bright red and the feathering effect work pretty well. Also the scan line effect thing was just me drawing a brush back and forth on a low opacity layer on top. This was one of the first times
I used the feathering radius on the fill tool to make something look like it's glowing; that ended
up being a pretty common tool for me which is neat. The lineart is nothing special, but I think it looks alright; I think the "sharpness" of it makes it a little more vibrant. In any case, it's a serious improvement from the original and I think it looks nice.
Archive
Click on purple guy to see a collection of old drawings!
