I finally decided to get around to making an FAQ, especially now that tumblr has the pinned posts feature! This should hopefully help out.

🐡 Who are you and what do you do?

I’m Chekhov (not my real name) and I draw things! (Twitter ・ Instagram)

🐡 Where are you from?

I’m from Siberia! Yeah, you read that right. Siberia. That one cold place in Russia. Yes, I do speak Russian. Infrequently. 

Currently, I live and work in Japan. 

🐡 What are your pronouns?

They/them!

🐡 Do you do art for a living?

No, I draw as a hobby, and currently use my Patreon to supplement my income! 

🐡 Where can I find examples of your work?

My art tag is #chekhov draws, and there are sub-categories such as #chekhov-draws-su (steven universe art), #chekhov-draws-critical-role (you can guess), #chekhov-draws-go (good omens art) and #chekhov-draws-rqg (rusty quill gaming podcast art), but you can find my more comprehensive portfolio on my artstation! 

I also have an art-only blog @chekhovdraws but it stagnates. 

🐡 Do you do commissions?

Yes! Please check my commissions sheet for my prices and to check if they’re open! 

🐡 What program/tablet/brushes do you use?

I use a Huion Kamvas 22 Plus for my tablet, MediBang Paint Pro for my art program, and most of my brushes are just the standard default ones on Medibang! 

🐡 How did you learn to draw?

I drew a LOT. I have been drawing for over 10 years pretty seriously now! That means 10+ years of drawing almost daily! It’s the grind that does it, I’m afraid.

If you’d like art help, you can check out some tutorials on blogs like @theredlinestation which is specifically dedicated to helping out beginner artists!

🐡 I have a question about Russian / languages / linguistics!

Please check out my #linguistics, #langblr and #russian tags to make sure your questions hasn’t already been covered before asking!

🐡 I sent you an ask but you didn’t answer it... :(

Sorry! It’s not on purpose and I’m not ignoring you - I get a LOT of asks and I end up not having time to go through all of them. (Currently I have over 3000 in my inbox.) I try to answer at least a few every week, but sometimes I just can’t answer in time. 

Especially if you’ve sent me an ask that requires a longer explanation - there’s a good chance I tried to start it, put it into my drafts folder, and am still waiting for a chance to get back to it! 

I’ll do my best to answer, but please be patient with me!

If it’s something time-sensitive, please try sending a DM instead!

Thank you! I really appreciate you saying that, and I appreciate you respecting me enough to ask for advice.

As for your question...

Well, to be frank, I don't START with character sheets and mini-comics. In fact, for WD!AU, I didn't have any character sheets until I started season 2.

Think of your story as an aquarium. Your characters are fish.

Yes, they're important, but having a whole bunch of fish without any substrate, tanks, feed and WATER..... will not really make for a memorable aquarium experience.

The reality is that all stories should start with an end.

That's my personal approach, anyway.

What I mean is - you need to know the general idea for your story before you begin to write or plan it.

Let's try this:

1.Tell me about your story in THREE sentences!

Just three. Not long ones, just regular ones.

For my AU, @ask-whitepearl-and-steven, it would be:

"A young orphan runs away from home with a mysterious lady who seems more cryptid than human. He realizes that he's not human either - he used to be the ruler of an alien planet! He and the other aliens he meets decide to (REDACTED) (REDACTED) (REDACTED) and he (REDACTED) (REDACTED) (READACTED) (READ ANDCTED) (READ AND FIND OUT)."

YOU should know how YOUR story ends too! Even vaguely.

It helps if you know at what point you plan to lay down the pencil. Because if you DO know, you are always going to know which direction to walk in, even if the end is so far away it's beyond your line of sight.

It's true that when I began WDAU, I didn't have much information about White Diamond and white Pearl, because they had literally ONLY been introduced. I had to guess a lot of the details (like WP being Pink's originally) and what White would be capable of. And thankfully, my original intent for the story's end fit pretty well with what was later revealed!

But don't forget - you could also just fuck around with stuff! It's your story, after all.

And don't forget... to also look back!

2.Tell me WHY the story is happening in the first place.

There's a reason that the beginning of your story happens when it does. If there is no reason to start somewhere, then find a different place to start.

You should be able to tell me "We're picking up the story here because something significant has happened... and that significant thing happened BECAUSE...."

That 'because' is your main background information that should be revealed slowly throughout the story. In WDAU's case, we only have a few pieces of the puzzle. We know Greg's side. He know Earl's side. But there are still little bits and pieces missing! And they're all important for finding out WHY Steven ended up an orphan and WHY he is being followed by White Pearl (Earl) at the very start of the comic!

3.Tell me what the coolest and most interesting things to happen would be....and then write them!

I think this may be something that's rarely said out loud, but I will speak on the behalf of the people...

We should write the scenes we want to read. If you don't want to read the scene you're writing, then DON'T write it!

If you feel like you "have to" do a page and a half of 'lore' because you think it's traditional to have that 'explanation' about the location of your story, or the history of the species or whatever, you're simply wrong. There are other ways to reveal information aside from just forced paragraphs upon paragraphs of information that would make an SAT Reading Section sweat.

Instead, I recommend that you find the most exciting or hilarious way for the characters to discover the most important bits of info. Find a dramatic twist. Shove it into the narrative. Then, figure out what needs to happen to get there.

Ultimately, though, remember this: When you're taking advice from me or from others, don't forget to take advice from yourself, too! It's your story, after all. You know it best, and only YOU can figure out how to get it written.

I hope that helps at least a little bit! Writing it never easy, but it should still be enjoyable!

Another commission for my friend-group-in-dnd-law! They've been playing in a Tyranny of Dragons for a few years now and wanted a new thumbnail for the YouTube recordings. :)

Some close-ups:

A lil bit of Pearl and Rose art I did for a recent monthly request on Patreon!

To be quite honest, we never really cared about her breed. The DNA test was fun, but the most important thing we discovered is that she has only one genetic marker that we should keep an eye out for in terms of health concerns.

But since many people threw their hat into the ring, I figured I should tell you guys about it as well!

I'm not sure about the accuracy of the tests, but I don't much care. The important thing is that she's a very good pup!

I have to confess something to you guys..... up until now... I've had.... dog privilege.

The privilege of owning dogs that DON'T want to Eat Every Bug/Leaf/Stick on walks. (Even my Boston Terrier, who was extremely food motivated, did not care for the lawn charcuterie.) This is kinda new territory for me.

I'm learning.

For legal reasons, this post is for fun only. I am not asking for, nor do I need, dog training advice.