crysrambles

[crysrambles]

Something that I think is missing from a lot of leftist discourse is that a majority of the assholes, the bigots, the alt right people you hate, are Nice.

They aren’t fringe conspiracy theorists in their mother’s basements. They aren’t loners no one likes. They aren’t hated by everyone and only accepted by other alt right people. They’re voted employee of the month at their job. They’re pillars of the community. They donate to their local schools. Hell, half of them would help you change a tire on the side of the road.

I’m not saying they’re good people. But they are Nice.

And this has a lot of complex implications, from white rage, to action over ideology, to community building, that would be extremely long to put in this post. But regardless the sentiment should be said anyway. Most people are nice.

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Art Theory

On learning fundamentals and how art skills tend to be transferable.

So, as explanation for this, I decided to pick up acrylic painting again. Something I have not done for a long time, since I mostly work with watercolors and digital art, and only recently got into gouache. But I picked it up and decided to do some tests, I messed around with some ocean scenes, which I don’t usually paint but I’d seen a lot of neat videos of people doing. And I was able to do it fairly effectively, I knew how to build up color and layer and I knew a decent enough amount about brushwork. Despite never really painting properly with acrylic, i was able to get a really good product on my first try. Which on one hand you might think, well yeah, when you know what something looks like of course you can paint it in any medium. Yet mediums can be extremely different and take a lot of learning to get used to. I feel like it does come from having a strong sense of three things, a visual library of what the goal looks like, an understanding of the fundamentals, and knowledge of the medium even theoretically.

Number one, a good visual library, any artist will talk about this, studies, looking at references, watching how other people paint stuff. Looking at a thousand pictures of waves until you can picture in your mind where all the colors and shades go. References references references.

Number two, a good understanding of fundamentals. Color theory, form, light. An understanding of the fundamentals is the building blocks to any knowledge of art, through strong fundamentals and knowledge of materials you can create anything. Once again about the ocean and waves, knowing how light and transparency works, knowing where colors go and how to get the right shades, fully understanding your lights and darks. You understand what you need to do to create the image, you just need to get it onto the canvas. Which comes to

An even theoretical understanding of the medium. I am by nature a theoretical person before I am a practical one. I like to learn by reading and studying, and understanding things through that. But even that is enough. Knowing an idea of how acrylic works, how it’s thick and opaque, how it’s wet but dries fast, how it can be used and layered for thickness. It all adds up to an understanding of how acrylic works in a theoretical sense, which, when knowing other fundamentals, can lead to a basic product that actually replicates the intended image. Brush techniques can also push a long way here, but so can simply watching the way other people move their brush to paint things. Brush techniques could go into a whole discussion on tutorials and how easily Bob Ross teaches painting, but that’s besides my point or for a later discussion.

So it’s, my point being how theoretical understanding of a medium can combine with a practical understanding of fundamentals and images to create a good product even without practice in certain circumstances, but it’s not just restricted to painting. You can notice how a lot of artists might dabble in clay work, or on YouTube, show their first time using it. Often with fairly good results, using the human body as an example, they have a fundamental understanding of the human body, how it looks how the colors and tones work, how the exact forms and muscles are placed. So it becomes just a matter of working the clay until it becomes that image. If they know where all the dips and extensions of the human body go, they simply have to recreate it. The understanding is transferable.

Does it function vice versa? Can a sculptor without much practice in painting or drawing still draw a form effectively? I genuinely don’t know I don’t have any examples to look from but probably. So please tell me if so.

Ultimately the umbrella term of art is involving so many different fields which will all be very similar yet very different, and most skills from one medium to another can tend to be transferable. But I fully believe it requires a good understanding of the fundamentals and visuals.

I had more of a conclusion but in my defense I wrote this as a rant after I just worked on a research essay so I’m losing my brain power fast, but I tried to articulate my point best I could.

[crysrambles]

While I understand that weed is only minorly harmful (mostly when you’re not inhaling smoke), and that drugs should be decriminalized and drug dealers in jail should be released.

I understand that we shouldn’t shame people for weed or alcohol that it’s their decision and we don’t get to tell them they’re wrong and it shouldn’t be seen as such a terrible and criminal thing and etc etc. I get it.

But don’t tell me that I can’t not want to be around someone because they choose to smoke weed and drink (and have from a fairly young age), especially when i have a severe discomfort surrounding intoxicating substances because of my family issues.

[crysrambles]

This is probably talked about before, I spend more time on Instagram than tumblr so bear with me.

We need to focus on creating sustainable industry. Not just sustainable consumer habits.

We need businesses that are sustainable and more importantly- accessible. And not built upon the backs of black neighborhoods. We need this market to be oversaturated, we need sustainability to be the best and cheap option. We need to make sustainability accessible and affordable. Or fast fashion becomes the fast food health debate all over again.

We need to create jobs. We can start to boycott businesses tht underpay their workers. We can turn away companies like Shein and Wish and Amazon and all those shopping center sites that use underpaid outsourced labor. We can boycott fast food chains for underpaying their workers and supporting the prison industrial complex. But you cannot forget corporate greed. If these companies don’t make money, that couple dollars an hour (in the us) could become nothing, or unemployment. And you know who is working these low paying, minimum wage service jobs or factory jobs? POC. POC who statistically have a harder time finding jobs as we all know. As we all know how having an “ethnic” sounding name decreases your chances of being hired significantly. These people are the ones who need to be protected, if you are going to boycott these companies.

And I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that we need more black owned businesses instead of the only sustainable businesses people paying attention to being white ones. They’re out there, and more can’t be created if you aren’t supporting them with your business and money.

So here’s your daily reminder that there is no ethical consumption under capitalism and we shall consume the rich.

(Side note I’m using POC instead of BIPOC because when we talk underpaid labor outsourcing and minimum wage fast food jobs you get a lot of latinx people or southwest Asian people)

[crysrambles]

Educate me about something

Rant about something you’re passionate about

I want to learn

[crysrambles]

Who wants to have a discussion about jkr and the idea of The Death of The Author with me?

[crysrambles]

Friendly reminder that Taiyang Xiao Long fucked his entire team. Every single person. I don’t take constructive criticism thanks.

[crysrambles]

So here’s my rant on why Uther Pendragon from Merlin is an incredibly written “villain”

We all know that the writers of Merlin have made many questionable decisions, especially as you move further in the series, and that’s why it’s so prone to being rewritten in fan fiction. But one thing they did brilliantly was Uther’s characterization.

Because he’s a three dimensional character masquerading as a two dimensional character. He hates magic. He has his reasons of course, not valid ones but still he’s not just doing it to be hateful. He’s doing it out of bitterness and control, he’s trying to avoid his own crushing guilt by projecting it on others. Pretty normal stuff that only matters because he is a king with total control. And throughout the series he is constantly portrayed as this. This hard hitting villain who hates magic and would kill even children without a second thought. He commits genocide without a care in the world. He sends his son off to die on quests to supposedly “prove himself”. He pulls a Zeus on his best friend’s wife. He double crosses even his closest friends.

And yet no matter how much you hate him, you can’t just view him as a nothing, as just wholly evil. Because we get these moments. Moments where he sacrifices himself for Arthur’s sake. Moments where he has fun, and behaves as an actual father. Moments of regret for the things he has done. Moments where he is wholeheartedly human. He’s not just a villain, he’s a person and you can’t help but see that. But it only makes everything else more hard hitting. Why does someone with the capability of selflessness, someone who is clearly capable of love, behave this way? Why does he do these cruel things when we see that he could be a good person, that somewhere within him is kindness. How can someone with anything in their heart other than utter hatred commit a genocide.

Did he ever really love Arthur? Ygraine died to bring Arthur into the world and Uther knows that. He sees Arthur as simultaneously his greatest accomplishment and his greatest loss. I think he feels that because Arthur’s existence brought such great loss, Arthur has to become all the more amazing. He’s held to high expectations. A way to justify her death. Uther’s vision of Arthur will always be in the shadow of Ygraine’s death. Yet he also loves Arthur all the more for this. Because Arthur is all he has left of her. Arthur is the only family he has and he’s afraid to lose him too. Yet he sends Arthur on these foolish quests that will only get him killed. He thinks of Arthur highly, doesn’t think he’ll actually die, he thinks too highly of Pendragon strength. His own beliefs and arrogance take precedence over anything, even his love for his child. I’d find it hard to even qualify as a fatherly love, it’s familial yet distant, only afraid of losing him as a family member, not caring for him in any other way. He’s not a good father by any means, and not a good person at all.

All this stands to say that he’s a wonderfully three dimensional character, cruel and unjust yet still human. Even in the show they take account of this. Gwen says after everything she wouldn’t choose to kill Uther. And for the last part of Uther’s life, all his cruelty is turned around on him. We see underneath all the kingly grandeur into the pathetic desperate man filled with hate and obsession and guilt. The glimpses of humanity we had seen when he wasn’t being king come to full light. And he’s just a sad man.

It’s hard to think of him as just entirely a cruel villain. And that’s what marks a well written villain. He doesn’t have some tragic backstory, but he has more emotions than just evil.

Personally I don’t hate him, I just pity him more than anything.

I think he’s one of my favorite written villains in western media.

But idk that’s just my two cents, feel free to yell at me or tell me I’m wrong or otherwise discuss I just wanted to essay out my thoughts on this.