Weird question, hope it hasn't been asked a bunch before: but what are the physical dimensions usually of one of your art pieces? Like is it a 9x12 sheet of paper or a larger sketchbook size or a whole canvas or even bigger? Asking because I recently tried oil pastels and found them REALLY tricky and I'm wondering if all the detail you manage is because they're actually the size of like, my bedroom wall or something lol
Hey there!
Not a weird question at all, I work on pieces that are roughly A3 size so approx 297x420mm (approx 12x17 inches). I cut the pieces out of large sheets so they’re irregular, and sometimes I get the urge to make it a square art and those end up roughly 300x300mm.
I work in soft pastels, and all the kudos to you for working in oil pastels as I know they can be really challenging to use!
Hi. I wanted to ask, if it doesn’t bother you, if you could show us what type of pencils do you use for your sketches. What materials, in general. Mines are becoming old, and I’d like your advice to find knew ones to draw. Thanks, have a good day 😊
Hey there Nonnie,
From the top, here are my pencils:
mechanical pencils in 0.3 and 0.5mm size (I have different kinds as I was experimenting with which ones are nicest to hold, and different colours so I can differentiate between what softness/hardness leads are loaded in them).
traditional pencils in 2B and 4B.
I’ve been working a little bit on coloured paper, and using Prismacolor Premier pencils in various shades of warm and cool grey.
for erasers, I have Staedtler erasers that come as a pencil, easy to sharpen to a point and very handy for small areas, though sometimes I use them to blend a little too, and they’ve got a handy brush on the other end. Also a Staedtler refillable eraser (that’s the blue plastic case) and a fantastic new one I just bought: the Tombow Mono Zero in rectangular shape (that’s the silver case), which is really good for precision
on the left is a stick of charcoal I use sometimes, a brown OfficeMax pencil I found somewhere and have used in the last couple of arts, and an old make-up brush I use to clear the paper of eraser leavings or dust.
asgardianthot asked: You probably get this question all the time but what kind of pencils do you use? They look like variations of pastels?? I'm baffled, your art is so amazing and you're so talented
I don’t get this question all the time, and even if I did, I would still be happy to answer it
Here’s my pencil stuff:
I most use the mechanical pencils in 0.3, 0.5 and 2mm, and traditional pencils of various weights, mostly 2B and 4B. There are also erasers including a retractable one and eraser pencils which are my favourite thing. Some old make-up brushes for brushing away eraser shavings, and a couple of other bits and pieces.
And here are my pastels and related materials:
Pastel pencils and sticks of various shapes and sizes, I mostly use Rembrandt and Sennelier brands as they’re non toxic and I like their textures the best. I also use conté sticks and pencils.
Thank you for the question and for the lovely message!
Ngl I cried a little when I first saw Steve last year and when I got the original in the mail, I maybe cried a little bit too. I came believe my stylist Steve a) came to life by the stupidly talented @artgroves and b) now he LIVES WITH ME IN MY HOME!!!!!
I got him his Bucky as well cause he needs his soft place.
Alby, thank you so much for both collaborating with me last year and letting me buy some art from you. I’m so in love with him and if I stare creepily at him while I’m trying to fall asleep, he doesn’t judge me.
oh WOW, thank you so much for showing me, I’m so happy Steve’s with you! I know he’s so close to your heart and nobody could love him more <3 I’m so glad you’re happy, thank you for supporting me!
herrhasen asked: Alby, I've always been curious since you work traditionally..... Do you just have a huge pile of finished fandom pornwork in your home? You draw so quickly and produce so much, you must have enough artwork to paper your walls!! (And wouldn't that be wonderful) I often wonder about your storage solutions!
Wow. Very organised. It’s great to see the scale of your drawings / artworks too. Amazing work. Thanks for the peek inside.
To be fair, it’s not all on that scale, I mean, I also have approximately four hundred of these A4 and A3 sketchbooks lying around in various stages of being filled. I usually cart one to work with me in case of sudden sketch attack :D
Hey there anon, it’s not so odd, thank you for asking! I hope you don’t mind me reblogging this to explain. The stuff currently hanging around my space is all top sekrit stuckybigbang and RL stuff, so I hope this is okay.
The answer is: it depends. For my pastels, I use really big sheets chopped down to whatever size I need at the time - sometimes it’s A3, sometimes more like A2 if I feel like I want the room and it’s too fiddly with chunky pastels. My pencil sketches are usually in an A3 or A4 sketchbook.
My God, you’re good. Just in awe at your technique.
I AM SO GLAD YOU ASKED. This is my art. Let me show you it. And the top notch conditions in which it is stored ahahaha. Ha. aah.
These are metal storage drawers I picked up from a local school. They were going to get trashed, but I saved them. Now they’re enjoying their retirement, housing porn. What. They like it!
Each of the drawers sort of looks like this, just jammed full of crap. If there’s a zombie apocalypse and we lose power I’ll be able to keep a camp fire going for a while.
…and then there’s the recently (last six months lol) completed and WIP piles, and VOILA! Welcome to my mess :D
This is obviously amazing and I know you do stuff on society6, etc but have you ever thought about selling your original pieces? Or are they your babies? I sew so I don’t have the same creator relationship (except for like a couple/5 bags) as what you do but I’m sure there would be a ton of interest in buying your art.
AAAAH I’ve been asked this a few times. My first thought is usually why deprive whoever is going to find an enormous stack of slash fanart and porn after I die? My second thought is that, well, I can always draw more dicks so selling originals and leaving a legacy of porn are not mutually exclusive. My third thought is would anyone pay actual real money from their real wallets, so who knows! Maybe?
@kath-ballantyne replied to your post: So pretty! How would you go about shipping?
Since years ago when I first made this post, I’ve set up an Etsy shop, and am now able to sell some of the original pieces and answer this question.
I have been shipping them flat, in a heavy card sandwich and slipped into ziplock plastic bags, in case they’re left out in the rain or something, and then in a heavy envelope. They’ve been sent all over the world without incident (that I know of, please let me know if you’ve purchased something from me and have had a concern with its condition when it arrived to you), which is amazing, and the only time there was a problem and the package has been returned to me due to non-delivery, the artwork was safe inside the sandwich and ziplock bag even when the envelope was a little worse for wear. All in all it’s been a pretty good shipping experience so far, and I have to say that knowing some of my artwork is hanging in someone’s home, seeing daylight in their part of the world instead of languishing in the dark in my storage cabinet forever, has been a wonderful thing. <3
A couple of months ago I bought this picture by @artgroves from the first collaboration we did, and I finally got it framed. I’ve never been happier with a purchase, even the framer was agape at it’s beauty and the level of detail.
Shoutout to Art for Arts Sake in Wellington for the wonderful job on the frame!
holy cannoli, that looks AMAZING all framed up, I’m so happy they’re happily snoozing on your wall!! <333
It was different, holding him with only that thin barrier between them. Steve could feel more—the muscles of his shoulder, the raised places that could be nothing but scarring.
Anonymous asked: I’m so happy you are selling some of your art!! Oh my gosh they are all so beautiful!!! ❤️❤️ Question: will you be selling some of your pencil sketches too? And will you post when you put new stuff up?
Most of my sketches are in sketchbooks and I don’t want to rip those up, but I do have a number that were done on loose sheets which I will be putting up for sale soon along with a stack of pastel art that has been featured on this blog in the past couple of years, as well as art prints and post cards which I’m preparing.
Yes, I will be posting here when new works are available for sale on my Etsy.
As requested, a selection of unhelpfully cropped bits (and a photobomber) from the 5 bangs i’m currently drawing for, anon! 4 of them are for @cabigbang and one is for After Camlann, a BBC Merlin bang because I’m sentimental like that.
