Check This Out!

Check this out!

Sideline☆Stars cover reveal!

Our lovely art mod @ayabit created this amazing cover for our project, so look at all that detail! Side characters everywhere, and more!

Come check us out! Our pre-orders are open from May 20th to June 30th! Our full bundle (zine+merch+PDF) is only $45, and the first 30 customers to order them gets a free exclusive sticker!

What more, we have to stretch goals for all physical bundles! One at 50 and one at 100! Come get your copy today! [Links found below.]

✨ Get your copy today!: https://ygosszine.bigcartel.com/

✨Join our exclusive, interact PDF-only zine! More details here!

Something I love about M!iK and don't really see be often talked about is the morals of the story.

Shonen stories usually have to work under the same story restrictions of "power of friendship" and "we can accomplish anything by never giving up!", and while MIK certainly has that, I adore the way they twist it.

Yes, both tropes are present but taken to their absolute extreme. Power of friendship? Ok, here's a huge cast of characters who are all in some level Extremely Possesive of eachother. Never give up on your dreams? Alright, the cast are literal demons who feed on desire.

And the best part is that this is openly encouraged by the story. The story is saying "Yes, be selfish! Chase what or who you want without any shame! Take what you love and guard it ferociously because it's YOURS and no one is allowed to harm it."

Iruma's character growth is not connected to "how much more powerful can he get?" Or "how much better of a person can he be?". He's already powerful and he's already a deeply good kid. His growth is explicitly about how much more demonic he can be.

How much more tightly can he hold onto his loved ones and his desires.

How much more selfish.

Just how refresing is it to read a story where gluttony is a virtue and a goal?

Hey! That's me! That's my art!

Today's Sideline Stars contributor spotlight goes to . . . Bored Bunnii!

IG | Twitter

Hi! I just saw your Minotaur cowboy art (I love it!!) and was watching the process video. I was wondering how you placed the pattern on his cape/poncho(? Idk what to call it)? I’ve been trying to figure out how to do things like that and just can’t figure it out. Thank you!!

Patterns on Fabric!

This is one I can answer! And I actually have a video of how I do this from an old project!

Essentially I make a tiny pattern, and then replicate it a bunch of times on a separate layer so you have a sheet of it. (it can actually be super simple, and still look good.)

Then I use the select tool to take chucks out of it about the right shape for each fold and put it over the base color. If your program has a morph tool, it might come in handy on this step to make the pattern look like it’s bending with the cloth. [On this particular piece, I didnt need a ton of it, so I used the ‘cut’ feature instead of just ‘copy’, but that’s just so you can see a little better what I’m doing. You can definitely just copy it, and then have an infinite supply.]

If the fabric is heavily shaded, you can turn the layer you put the pattern on to be an ‘overlay’ layer, or something, and then turn down the opacity.

Why the flip are you so fast?! Too good my dude!

Day 1: To Infinity We’ll take it on together

What do you do when art block hits you?

GASP! THE BEAST. IT STRIKES WHEN YOU LEAST SUSPECT. LEADING TO FAILED ARTS. NO MOTIVATION. AND WORST OF ALL when you put it that way it sounds pretty painful.

So I’m going to preface this with this is how I combat my own lack of motivation. People are different than me. What works for me might not work for you. Sorry it got lengthy. I guess I had a lot to say about it.Also because I wanted to draw froggits.

ANYWAY. ‘art block’ a period of feeling down about your work, unmotivated, and unable to focus. Usually it has one of three causes for me that I do different things to combat.

First and most common is overworked brain or a ‘low tide’ where the creativity really is not there at the moment. When you do 100 pushups your arms get tired. Your brain gets tired when you use it to make a bunch of things too. Just like everything else your creativity is stronger sometimes and weaker sometimes and when you use it too much it can wear out. This can happen if you place too many expectations on yourself too. When you don’t meet them your motivation goes into the trash. (not even the good trash)

Take a break. Get some air, work them legs, clean the pigsty you live in. Go do something not creative at all. Let your brain recoup from the stress you have put on it day in and day out from taxing it so much to create.

Remember that taking a break is not quitting. You need to go back to it.

If you find that a break does not help you, it could be lack of motivation caused by something else (see lvl up / feelings / you might have some life stuff goin on)

When you are on a creative high point and coming up with a lot of ideas don’t let them sit. Write them all down. Make SIMPLE drafts and save them all for later. When you find you have hit a creative low, go back to them and start working on them. It does not matter how little or dumb it is. As long as you are doing something you are on the right track.

Do exercises and smaller and simpler drawings. Not everything has to be huge. Some of the best stuff is smaller and simple.

Draw something you really LIKE to draw. Just draw to enjoy yourself instead of worrying about what the end is going to look like.

If you are out of ideas and out of backlogged stuff use this time to study. Use tutorials and work directly from references instead of forcing yourself to come up with things.

This is a period of time while progressing where your mind understands the concepts but is not able to put them into action. Does all of your art look crappy to you all of a sudden? Probably this.This gauge is different for everyone and hits people starting out OFTEN. Some people know a lot but can’t seem to translate that into their work yet. This always leads me to ANGRY FRUSTRATION and a lot of shredded paper. I know it seems terrible but it’s really one of the best things once you think about it.

Your art was not and is not ‘bad’. Not being where you want does not make it ‘bad’. It makes it not exactly how you wanted. Every art is more experience gained.

You are improving!! You can see what’s wrong!! Now you just have to keep at it to get those last bars of experience. Your persistence will pay off. Practice makes better.

Use references

Feel like giving up? TOO BAD. YOU’RE NOT A QUITTER. You are going to push through it and work anyway. Force. Yourself.It’s going to feel great when this passes finally.

Watch someone else art! Watching friends or artist you admire can help you want to create too. Seeing what other people do can help you figure out ways to help yourself.

Keep a folder somewhere of inspiring images, movies, and music. Things that get your mind going. Things that remind you what you love about art. Go look and listen to these when you are feeling low.

Your skill only goes UP. You do not get worse you only change.

Try something new in your art. Even if it’s something as simple as using thinner lines or something as complex as shading in a different style. A change might be what you need to push forward.

Change is good in your work. Embrace it.

Lastly, a truly dreadful thing.It took me a while to realize the majority of my problems were caused by myself. There are going to be times where something is going to remind you of how small you are. How there are countless numbers of people that you view better than yourself. You will wonder how worthwhile the hours you have spent are. Fear, sadness, anxiety, being overly critical of yourself and of your work. I have not met a person who has not suffered this. I think they are a bump that everyone goes through in a different way on a road of understanding art.Kind of a motivation killer. Please remember:

Keep Arting.

These are just feelings. Just because you feel something does not make it true.

You are always progressing and always will be progressing.

You put pieces of yourself in everything you create. It is hard to not tie your worth to that. But that is WRONG. Your worth is based on who you are (a good person) not your art.

The world is going to be cruel enough to you. So be kind to yourself. You are not dumber or worse than anyone else because you take longer on one subject. Someone else is struggling with a subject you found simple.

Skill comes with time and training. A LOT of time and training. Give yourself the time you need to acquire the skill you want.

Skill is not the most important thing in art. Ideas are what is important in art. The point is to get an idea or feeling across. You do not need a huge amount of skill to be great at that.

Your work is unique to you and that is what makes your work good.

Take pride in your efforts and all you have accomplished. You’re cool for getting as far as you have already.

Everyone gets down times. Creativity is like water on the beach. Sometimes there is a lot of it and sometimes there is a little less. Getting through an art block is just learning how to get around your low tide. I hope you keep creating things.