Xi's Art Musings

[xiheeet]

Helllooo! I go by Xi (pronounced like "she") and welcome to my sketchbook!!

This is a space for my doodles, longish art commentaries, and anything/everything I want to draw + share with you all.
You can also find more of my SUPER OLD art on TUMBLR ​

Post automatically merged: Aug 8, 2020

First piece for this post is my male villagers, imagined as high school students! As I was drawing this, I realized these four are such dorks whereas all my female villagers are super wholesome Can you guess which male villagers I have???! Answer in the spoiler below

Spoiler: xiheeet thoughts

I imagined all of them never properly wearing their school uniforms, except for Raymond, ofc. Not because he likes to follow the rules or anything, only because the whole outfit looks good on him. As I was drawing this, I was tempted to make all of them beautiful, welp they all are, but more like, I didn't want to stick to one body type, one skin tone. So I made Raymond a bit more pale because he probably does a 1000 step Korean beauty regime whereas Leonardo is more tan because he probably likes to work out in the sun or smth like that. If you can't read his headband, it reads "gains" because Leonardo is probably a "BRO" too, lol.

As for Hornsby, I wanted to incorporate his horns in some way and was so happy to do so in his hair! He's definitely the cutest of the four and the hardest to do because I really didn't know how I would style his hair or what his eye shape should be. As for Lucky, I knew I wanted him to have brown skin and white hair but wasn't sure of his hairstyle. Because I love fluffy hair and because I love Lucky, I gave him super fluffy hair.

I imagine these four are in the same class, ofc with my other female villagers. As for who is more popular, probably Leonardo?! At first, people would love Raymond but then gets put off because of his smug personality?? I feel like both Hornsby and Lucky would be adored by their upperclassmen?? Like they would give snacks to Hornsby or give Lucky bandages to cover his injuries.

 

[Linyin]

That sounds great! it reminds me of those unfinished drawings in my computer..=͟͟͞͞(꒪⌓꒪*)

 

[Xara]

ahh your art style is super nice!! looking forward to seeing more of your work c:

 

[xiheeet]

Thanks so much for your lovely comments @Linyin and @xara ^ o ^

Today's piece is on costume design....or my lack of haha This piece was inspired by the colors and style of Tang dynasty hanfu (or traditional Chinese clothing, kind of like how kimono are called kimono and hanbok hanbok), although slightly modified and overtly simplified.

I also just love this type of green! It reminds me of my favorite lakes that has a similar hue.

Maybe I should draw my villagers in this kind of hanfu next?! I ALSO TOTALLY FORGOT TO COLOR THE REST OF HER HAIR omo

 

[HungryForCereal]

ooh would love to see you draw a a costume from Yanxi Palace! (not sure if you know that chinese drama but it was very pupular in china and asia)

 

[xiheeet]

ooh would love to see you draw a a costume from Yanxi Palace! (not sure if you know that chinese drama but it was very pupular in china and asia)

Yess, I heard of it!! Though I haven't watched it but I'm such a sucker for period drama with beautiful costume sets.

You've just given me an idea hopefully I can execute it tomorrow o v o

 

[xiheeet]

I saw these shape drawing exercises on tik-tok and thought I would give it a shot. Basically, you draw random shapes on a blank canvas, without thinking too much about it...although it was hard to not just draw ovals for everything. Then, based on the shapes, you create a face/character.

Here's what I did!

The three characters I was super satisfied with are the yellow and blue ones at the top and the red ones at the bottom!

 

[Snowifer]

I saw these shape drawing exercises on tik-tok and thought I would give it a shot. Basically, you draw random shapes on a blank canvas, without thinking too much about it...although it was hard to not just draw ovals for everything. Then, based on the shapes, you create a face/character.

Here's what I did!
View attachment 301067
The three characters I was super satisfied with are the yellow and blue ones at the top and the red ones at the bottom!

These are so cute! I really like the chef one and the top yellow one.

 

[Xeleron]

I saw these shape drawing exercises on tik-tok and thought I would give it a shot. Basically, you draw random shapes on a blank canvas, without thinking too much about it...although it was hard to not just draw ovals for everything. Then, based on the shapes, you create a face/character.

Here's what I did!
View attachment 301067
The three characters I was super satisfied with are the yellow and blue ones at the top and the red ones at the bottom!

I saw someone do these on youtube and I really wanted to try, but faces aren't my strong suit... nothing really is lol
I really love what you came up with, my favorite is the eye creature and the top with the freckles!

 

[xiheeet]

I saw someone do these on youtube and I really wanted to try, but faces aren't my strong suit... nothing really is lol
I really love what you came up with, my favorite is the eye creature and the top with the freckles!

ME TOO, I actually saw it on youtube first...I say give it a go, it doesn't have to be a face, it can be fruits, strange characters, animals, anything you're more comfortable with ^ o ^ it can also be shapes within shapes!! This definitely helped fuel my creativity before I draw

 

[xiheeet]

There were a lot of things I wanted to draw today, but I settled on redrawing my super old drawings. I recently reopened my old (like 8 years ago) Youtube channel and saw a compilation video of all my old art...so I decided to redraw some key moments in my art development. My commentary will be quite long, so I put them in spoilers.

Spoiler: Child Elf

I remember this one distinctively because I discovered that I could copy and paste drawings!! And also because I wanted to fill the empty space to the right. I also remember using a lot of checkered patterns to color my art and called it a day, haha. I never fully stopped using crazy hair colors until well into high school. I'm actually quite impressed with how the scarf was drawn in the original one, it sort of shows how the scarf was folded!

Spoiler: Ghost Boy

There was this super cool artist I admired back then (and still do) that colored grayscale and then would apply color using layer effects. This was my attempt to imitate them..I think I made about 4 pieces that used that style, of which this one was the one I was most proud of. And also the only ghost I ever drew in my entire art journey...which is kind of unbelievable..maybe I should draw more spirits and bishie ghosts longing for their lovers. I also thought blood tears would be a cool addition, that was the most blood I've ever drawn haha OHHH, I also remember being super happy with how the little spirits beside him turned out, they were so soft and fluffy to me.

Spoiler: Blonde Lady

AHHH, the discovery of the scatter brush, which basically created tons of bubbles effortlessly and a good background design, haha. I remembered being super proud of this one! And for the right reasons too I suppose, since my style definitely changed after that. For the redraw, I still found it difficult to draw the shirt AHHH, I'm not the best at profile views, especially of the bodies.

Spoiler: Momogumi Plus Senki

This is the main character from the manga, Momogumi Plus Senki, which I was totally obsessed with at that time and was so in love with the art and story that I had to make fanart of it...I actually rarely make fanart because I know I would butcher the characters' designs. For this one, I had a whole scene painted in my head, he was leaning against a railing and behind him would be his friends. Alas, I never actually got to actualizing that vision. I also remember how frustrated I was with drawing his hair. Breaking it down into parts definitely helped me this time in the redraw.

Spoiler: Balloon Girl

Back when I had creativity, haha. I loved this one so much when I finished it. This was also my "make the background the sky" phase. If you can't read it, the text says "Dream High" which honestly, preach!! I'm no expert on anatomy but I can definitely tell you that the pose there is way off, and I didn't even attempt to redraw the same pose...I couldn't find a good reference for it.

Spoiler: Reaching Out Boy

I think I was quite sad when I drew this one but I don't remember why. But I was super impressed with the composition and the way the water lines were drawn. I couldn't do it justice in the redraw...

Spoiler: My signature

The text is a bit difficult to read. This is what I wrote:
[arrowing pointing to my signature] tentative signature: the box are my initials and the two names are the ones I use online ~
xi <-- chinese name, huahua <--- "drawing" in Chinese
xiheeet <-- like teehee yea...not the greatest username

 

[xiheeet]

Hello! The United States Postal Service has historically been severally underfunded and the new postmaster general, appointed by Donald Trump, has set out to destroy USPS, in an attempt to delay/block off voter ballots for the upcoming presidential election! LIKE MAILBOXES HAVE LITERALLY BEEN REMOVED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! I have always relied on USPS to connect with my long-distance friends and for important life necessities, and I am super grateful for the people we deliver mail, even in this pandemic. You can find more about how you can help here and here. For those who of you who live in the US, I can really use your help!

I am focusing on the following two actions:
1. Call your state representatives to support at least $25 billion in stimulus funding to help USPS - script here
2. Buy USPS stamps and merch of at least $10USD

If you do any of the two action listed, I will do a colored sketch of a character for you (examples in this thread and also here)! All you have to do is PM with the subject, "Free Art 4 USPS" and provide a receipt of your purchase or a 1-2 sentence summary of how the call went!

ALSO, please let me know if this is not allowed and I can just provide a link to my tumblr!

 

[Mikaiah]

ahh, i've been emailing my reps like crazy over this!! no responses yet unfortunately
sometimes i feel like my emails go nowhere even though i have an overall favorable impression of my reps

anyways I don't see how this is too different from everyone doing BLM donation comms 1-2 months ago so I think it should be fine!

 

[xiheeet]

ahh, i've been emailing my reps like crazy over this!! no responses yet unfortunately
sometimes i feel like my emails go nowhere even though i have an overall favorable impression of my reps

anyways I don't see how this is too different from everyone doing BLM donation comms 1-2 months ago so I think it should be fine!

Here's to hoping that they've seen your emails!! ;A; sometimes I feel so small against big corporations or people of power but I have to remind myself the little action steps also counts! I know you didn't specifically PM me but if you would like me to sketch/doodle you something, let me know ^ o ^

Post automatically merged: Aug 17, 2020

On a different note, I decided to take a breather from digital art, dust off my old watercolors and color pencils to sketch this piece:

Spoiler: my comments

This was a lot harder than I thought. My lines are super unstable and I didn't even use the right paper for watercolors nor did I have all the primary colors..hahha, so it was hard to shade. I compensated that through color pencils! Oh, forgot to mention, this was an outfit of the day drawing! I went with my family to get some bubble tea ^^

 

[xiheeet]

In my quest to draw a cozy scene, I ignored the laws of perspective and lighting. Inspired by this super cute balcony and my coffee rush, I present "staring into the void listening to sad music on a balcony" tm

in all seriousness though, I've been wanting to incorporate backgrounds/scenes into my art. I feel like this marks the beginning of that attempt??!

 

[HungryForCereal]

In my quest to draw a cozy scene, I ignored the laws of perspective and lighting. Inspired by this super cute balcony and my coffee rush, I present "staring into the void listening to sad music on a balcony" tm

in all seriousness though, I've been wanting to incorporate backgrounds/scenes into my art. I feel like this marks the beginning of that attempt??!

holy hell Xiheeet! i need to commission you in this type of style! this looks so good. I've been itching to commission a full body and a full background. let me know once you're opening for commissions again as ill prob go with RLC

 

[xiheeet]

holy hell Xiheeet! i need to commission you in this type of style! this looks so good. I've been itching to commission a full body and a full background. let me know once you're opening for commissions again as ill prob go with RLC

afktjltjlrtkl thank you ;A; fully rendered backgrounds are definitely not my forte but I'm always down to get more practice XD as for commissions, I'm thinking of reopening in September...which isn't that far off, haha

 

[xiheeet]

Just finished this piece for @Pupperina !! TYSM for supporting USPS ☺ ☺

Spoiler: my comments

As much as I love coloring folds and hair, they stress me out so much, haha...my process for coloring isn't that refined. I put random blobs on colors everywhere and then go over them again with the flat colors. AND I zoom in a lot, so while I"m coloring, everything always seems off to me..like it's not sparkly enough but I always have to remind myself to zoom out...and then everything looks okay, haha. Anyways, here's to becoming more comfortable with a messy art process

 

[xiheeet]

for @Mikaiah tysm for your support ^ o ^

I'll continue "free drawings for USPS" until the end of August 31st, refer to my original thread for more information ^^

Post automatically merged: Aug 28, 2020

and as a countdown towards my art shop reopening, here's a sneak preview of my shop banner design o v o I realized I don't ever draw my villagers or my island rep for that matter, haha, so I wanted to incorporate something animal crossing related ☺ ☺

​

 

[xiheeet]

I woke up today determined to draw my OCs and practice some backgrounds + lighting! But then I got tired and sort of stopped with making it clean. BUT THAT'S OKAY BECAUSE SKETCHES ARE VALID TOO! Anyways, I present Claude, the white hair child (he/him) and Luce, the mysterious but kind headmistress (she/her).

Spoiler: more on Claude and Luce

Claude woke up on his 15th birthday to an empty house. His master had suddenly vanished without leaving a note behind. With no one to take care of the local crime agency (which his master was in charge of) and its mountains of paperwork, the agency quickly declines. The local crime agency (honestly don't have a name for it yet) investigates paranormal activity around the city (yet to be named), think vampires, werewolves, witches, and the likes.

Claude doesn't mind the mess and spends most of his days playing with the neighborhood stray cats and drinking cups upon cups of milk tea. Deep down, Claude knows his master will come back home and everything will go back to normal. For now, he waits. A year later, a stranger appears at the agency's doorsteps.

Claude enjoyed the new company but he didn't expect Luce to replace his master. Upon their first meeting, Claude faints because 1) he has zero social skills and 2) no social skills --> zero experience interacting with women. Luce is sent by the crime agency headquarter to investigate Claude's agency because it had stopped sending reports into headquarter. Oh, something to note, Luce has another form, Nacht, who only appears in the evenings to early morning. Claude does not vibe with Nacht but grows to adore Luce.

Claude, Luce, and Nacht were all created during my D Gray Man and Pandora Hearts phase, hence why the "Victorian-esque" feel, of course, the outfits and hairstyles are not accurate at all.