Since I did an extra blog post last week, I hadn't planned on doing another today. But then I made a new set of print-on-demand patterns that needed to be announced, so what's a girl to do?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

If you want to see what these patterns look like on coffee mugs, pillows, blankets, clothing, and other physical merch, check out my Society6 store!

I'll put links to each pattern's product page below the image.

As promised, here are the links to the pattern-specific pages:

Red: https://society6.com/studio/art/9124266/products/all
Orange: https://society6.com/studio/art/9124242/products/all
Yellow: https://society6.com/studio/art/9124287/products/all
Green: https://society6.com/studio/art/9124217/products/all
Light blue: https://society6.com/studio/art/9124230/products/all
Dark blue: https://society6.com/studio/art/9124196/products/all
Purple: https://society6.com/studio/art/9124256/products/all
Siver: https://society6.com/studio/art/9124271/products/all
Rainbow: https://society6.com/studio/art/9124259/products/all

I hope you find something you enjoy!

The 31st page of my Undertale fan comic, Just Cause, is ready!

That being the case, I'm publishing my May 15th blog post early - almost a week early, yay for awkward timing of chapter completion! - so you don't have to wait a week to see the latest chapter.

Regular Tuesday blogging will resume on May 22.

​Enjoy!

 
Uh-oh. Not only is this mysterious danger killing everyone, but it's threatening Frisk's ability to bring them back to life. If the kid loses their save file, there's nothing to reload, no way to go back in time, and all those deaths will be permanent.

A few timelines later, Sans is trying to intimidate Frisk by pretending that he's happy about the concept of them "hitting the jackpot", but the thought still makes him shudder inside. I wasn't sure whether that came across clearly or not, so thought I'd mention it here, just in case.

Speaking of Sans, out of all the monsters in Undertale, he is the only one who visibly bleeds if you hit him. This has led people to come up with theories that range from him leaking ketchup to him being based on revenants from medieval European mythology.

Personally, I like to think he’s stuffed his rib cage with ketchup-filled whoopee cushions. It would suit both the goofy side of his sense of humor, and the occasional morbid side.

After this many refights, this isn't the first time he's interrupted his monologue to try to catch Frisk off guard, but it looks like the kid's getting tired, careless, or both.

Also, that moment where he went off-script while talking about Frisk hitting the jackpot was based on some unused battle dialogue in this post. Turns out, I remembered it wrong - it was supposed to be tenfold, not a hundredfold - but I think I'll keep it the way it is.

Hopefully all this timeline-jumping didn't make things too confusing for anyone. I had several short scenes in rapid succession, and I wanted to end on a suitably ominous note. >:D

As you may know, Just Cause started as a fanfic before I decided to adapt it into a webcomic.

Due to the complexity of the story, I want to complete the whole thing before I unleash it onto the open web. For now, my Patrons get exclusive access to the first few chapters of the work in progress, including a couple scenes that have not yet been revealed in the comic version.

If you want to see what the story looks like in writing, and/or you'd like to get a sneak peek at the events of page 31, become a Patron to get access today!

I recently found out that there are print-on-demand websites where artists can upload high-res art, and it will be placed on mugs, phone cases, pillows and more for people to order.

I thought that would be a fun opportunity for me to stretch my artistic wings, give the abstract side of me some room to play, and create some designs that would look better on products than as standalone images.

So I spent most of Saturday alternating between creating designs, playing Spyro: The Eternal Night, and trying to convince my brain that it was OK to just take a break, take an idea I like and run with it, and draw what I feel like when I feel like drawing it, even if that means it takes a few extra days to publish the next page of Just Cause.

(Seriously, the cowbell is all too real. Even though my readers haven't been nagging me for updates, which I appreciate, my workaholism loves to guilt me for not finishing pages "fast enough" even when I've created a lot of other art. >_<)

Anyway, if you want to see what the designs below look like on physical products, and maybe grab a couple yourself, you can see them on my Society6 page.

Without further ado, here are the designs!
​

For those of you who've been reading my Undertale webcomic, Just Cause, or who are thinking of getting into it in the near future, I have some exciting news:

I've gotten enough of the prose version written that I think I've filled in most or all of the possible plot holes, so starting in May, I plan to start releasing parts of the fanfiction to patrons pledging $3 and up on my Patreon.

That means after each comic update, my patrons will get to see a sneak peek of the next scene, weeks before the corresponding comic page comes out.

The whole prose version of the story will be released to the general public once it's complete. I'd do it earlier, but this tale's gotten so intricate that I want to get the whole thing written before I set it loose on the open web, just in case there's still something I've missed.

I've also decided to make the work-in-progress previews of the comic available to ALL my patrons, not just the $10 tier and up.

​I wanted to make my most popular story more accessible to people with tighter budgets, so hopefully this helps.

I've seen a few people doing open collaborations, and I thought it would be fun to do one of my own.
​
For those who don't know, and open collab is where one artist creates part of a picture - usually the lineart - and invites others to do the rest and share the results. This could include color, shading, backgrounds, or all of the above.

I deliberately left the face off of this one, because I like how ambiguous the pose is. Is Mettaton jumping? Fighting? Posing for the camera? Inviting a dance partner to come join him? Sleeping? Dead? You decide!

If you choose to participate, please:

1. Add your name or URL to the credits on the image

2. Don't remove my URL from the credits

3. Send me a link to the completed picture, so I can show your work to my watchers and followers!

If you want to have the color, background and lineart in separate layers, you can use the .psd file I've attached below.

I look forward to seeing what you create. :)

  
The fact that Alphys uses electricity magic is practically a cheat code for making her look cool, and I suspect that her love of anime would lead to some pretty dramatic poses if she wanted to psyche herself up for a fight.
 
And so, here she is, doing a ninja leap while spewing lightning into the sky. Just hope none of that electric fury is directed at you.
​  
To get early access to art like this, and exclusive access to works in progress, please consider supporting me on Patreon!
 
If you want to reblog this picture, here’s the Tumblr version.

And if you'd like to download this and use it as a wallpaper, here's the file:

You can also download it from DeviantArt or Patreon, if that feels safer to you.

So many links. Wow.

Enjoy the latest page of Just Cause!

​As usual, since I'm publishing this blog post a few days early, there will be no post this coming Tuesday.

On today's episode of "Things No Child Should Ever Have To Say"...
​
Also, Sans, are you still looking forward to that picnic? 'Cause it sounds like it ended badly last time.

To support me as an artist, and to get exclusive access to works in progress, advance viewing of completed chapters, and discounts on commissions, please consider becoming a patron on Patreon!
​

Great news! I'm now open for art commissions, and discounts on those commissions have been added to my Patreon rewards!

$10 Patrons will get a $3 discount on 1 art commission per month.

$25 Patrons will get a $10 discount on 1 art commission per month. 

$45 Patrons will get a $30 discount on 1 art commission per month!

If you have a character in your head that you long to see on a real-life screen, or if you'd love to see an existing fictional character in a specific pose or situation, please send me a note or email describing what you want.

To get the details, just check out the chart below. If you have any questions after reading the chart, please don't hesitate to contact me!

If you're an artist who uses Photoshop 7.0, and you want the size of your brush stroke to exactly match the size of your brush, you probably know the struggle.

You carefully glide the brush or eraser in the exact place where you want it to take effect, grazing the edge of the patch of color that you want to enlarge or shave down... and nothing happens.

The outer edge of your brush has no effect, Captain, and your perfect brushstroke was wasted.

If you've been finding that only the very center of your brush will draw, there's a good chance that a feature called "Shape Dynamics" is activated.

Shape Dynamics is supposed to allow you to control the shape of your brush by the way you angle and press down with your pen, and it actually has a positive effect on some brushes.

But when you're trying to do precision work by barely grazing something with the edge of your brush, and you just want your brush to stay predictably at the same size, it becomes a huge hindrance.

To make matters worse, there's no simple way to permanently turn it off in Photoshop 7.0. No matter how many times you turn it off, every time you switch to a brush that has it active by default, it will turn back on.

I've heard tell of some legendary button that looks like a pen inside a circle, and supposedly it's supposed to solve this problem, but if it's lurking somewhere in my interface, I haven't been able to find it.

If you don't have this button in your Photoshop, you have three options:

1. Resign yourself to using brushes with Shape Dynamics active.

2. Turn off Shape Dynamics every time you switch to a brush whose default settings include that feature being turned on.

3. The solution I found: create a new set of brushes with Shape Dynamics inactive. It's a bit tedious, but it's easier than you probably think it will be, and it permanently solves the problem of Shape Dynamics turning itself back on.

NOTE: If you like Shape Dynamics in some scenarios, you can always turn it back on, or keep/create brush presets that include it. This process simply stops it from turning on by itself after you've turned it off.

How to create new brushes without shape dynamics:

Step 1: Select the brush you want to use without shape dynamics.

For best results, start with the brush you want to have displayed at the beginning of your brush menu.

Photoshop 7.0 doesn't allow you to change the order in which your brushes are displayed after they're created, so I suggest creating the brushes in the order in which you want them to appear.

The new brushes will appear at the bottom of the selection, so if you want them to be at the front of the list, you'll have to create copies of ALL the brushes you want to keep in the order in which you want them to appear, and then delete the originals.

This is the main reason why the process is so tedious, but it also gives you the chance to explore, modify and create some brushes that you might never have noticed or discovered otherwise.

Step 2: Open the "brushes" tab.

This tab is in the top navigation bar, just to the right of "File Browser".
​ 

Step 3: Deselect "Shape Dynamics".

As you'll see in the picture below, deactivating this feature means the brushstroke is always the same size as the brush, rather than shrinking at the ends or in response to brush pressure.

As noted above, you can turn it back on anytime you want, but the next step will prevent it from turning back on spontaneously after you turn it off.
​ 

Step 4: While "Shape Dynamics" is inactive, create a new brush.

At the bottom right of the "brushes" tab menu, click the icon that looks like a box with a smaller, bisected box inside it. You can see it circled in the image below.

Once you've clicked this, a pop-up will appear, prompting you to name your new brush. After you click "OK", this new Shape Dynamics-free brush will be added at the bottom of your list of brushes.
​

Repeat this process for every brush for which you want to have a version that has Shape Dynamics turned off by default.

As previously noted, you should create the brushes in the order in which you want them to appear, since you can't rearrange existing brushes.

If you want your new brushes to be displayed at the top of the brush list, you'll have to use this method to create copies of all the brushes you want to keep, then delete the originals.

While you're doing this, you might as well arrange the brushes in the order in which you use them most, put ones you frequently use together close to each other, or otherwise organize your brushes in a way that suits you.

I also encourage you to play around with the other brush effects while you're deactivating Shape Dynamics. You might find a new appearance for a brush that you didn't realize was available.

Here are some examples of how brush effects change a leaf brush's stroke:

I ended up saving several different versions of some of the brushes, each with a different effect or set of effects active.

​While you're changing the Shape Dynamics and otherwise altering the brush before saving your new version of it, you should also set each brush to the size at which you're most likely to use it.

Congratulations! You're now free from unwanted self-reactivating Shape Dynamics.

I hope you found this article helpful. If you did, please share it with anyone else you know who's been cussing at Photoshop and unhelpful how-to articles for this issue, and check out my other art advice articles.

And if you want to support me as an artist, storyteller, and provider of art and writing tips, please consider becoming a patron on my Patreon:
​ 

Want to wish someone a happy Easter, but don't have the time to run to the store or the artistic inclination to design your own card?

Here's a card you can copy, paste into your favorite image editor, and write a personal message on. :)
​ 

To support me as an artist and storyteller, and to get early access to art like this, please consider supporting me on Patreon.

Thanks!

Here's page 28 of my Undertale fan comic, Just Cause​. Have fun!
​ 

 
Oh, no. Sans' fear that everything is meaningless is spreading to Alphys! There's a reason why he doesn't tend to share his knowledge about the time loops.

Speaking of Alphys, I'm trying out a new way of drawing her from the front.

When viewed from the front, her overworld sprite makes it look like her head spikes are bent sideways, and I've been going with that in previous pages. But it just didn't look right to me; it made it look like someone took bites out of her head, and when viewed from the side, her spikes didn't look bent.

So now I'm trying to draw her as if her spikes protrude straight toward the back of her head, as opposed to angling sideways. I'm not 100% sure about this new look; I might have to tinker with it.

To support me as an artist, and to get exclusive access to works in progress and advance viewing of completed chapters, please consider becoming a patron on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/StephanieOBrien