mostlygoreart

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you make me want to draw again

here you go! this is also for my future self.

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how to draw arms ? ? 

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How do you do stylized POC without it looking borderline racist tidjjckff help pls

Often times artists may be criticized for white washing POC. On the other swing of the pendulum, we also must be mindful of avoiding racial caricature when drawing people. 

What is Racial Caricature?

Racial caricature is the exaggeration of certain features (small eyes for east Asians, big lips for Africans, and unnatural skin tones among others) for the purpose of dehumanizing a race by reducing them to a stereotype. 

There’s actually been an instance where a Japanese airline commercial was criticized for what was perceived to be a racial caricature of Caucasians! 

So, to avoid racial caricature, we should search up what is considered racist to stylize for a particular race before drawing, so we know what to avoid in our art. 

When stylizing a character, I would also add other aspects that aren’t inherently racial to the character, to avoid making them seem like a homogenized or exaggerated character whose only defining feature is race. 

For example, features that indicate whether they are slobbish/neat, tired/energetic, optomistic/pessimistic, grumpy/friendly, old/young, etc. 

And, er… don’t do this:

^^ The above picture is an infamous drawing of the character Finn from Star Wars. It’s been criticized for being a racist caricature of the character (and consequently, the actor that plays them). The unnaturally pink lips paired with the large protruding mandible (mouth) make this character look very unnatural. Not to mention that this drawing looks WILDLY unlike the actual character, almost as if just homogenizing certain black features without thinking about the way the individual looks.  

Listen to POC

Read/consume stuff from Artists/writers of color! See how THEY stylize POC and take notes! 

Keep in mind that your character’s race doesn’t just have context in their looks, but in their place in the story, and the way that they act as well! Certain tropes, such as the “mammy” black woman or the “thug” black man, will raise alarms. Be mindful of this! Search the web for tropes so that you can learn to avoid them. Now, this isn’t to say you can’t have a strong or violent black character, but if all your black characters are strong and violent, that becomes an issue. 

((As long as we’re talking about tropes, asian women with short, dyed hair who are “badass” and emotionally closed off and “cool” because they don’t care what u think… just.. no.))

To avoid stereotypes, having a range of characters who all exhibit different personalities, and who become their own people, is a great way to spread diversity in your work. 

An excerpt from @/sugaryacid ‘s post on twitter: 

An excerpt from Kat Tsai’s compilation of Asian Faces tutorial! : 

And as always, study study study!!! The only way you’re going to recognize the nuances and diversities between people is if you study lots of different people! So go stare at some strangers face lol! 

-Mod Future (ko-fi)

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Y’all know when Mulan is sitting in the rain and watches her parents silhouette disappear as the candle is blown out and then her eyes squint in determination and the music that starts to play and you see her go into the family temple and light a match and bow in respect and then sneak into her parents room and switch the scroll for her hair brooch and then the way her reflection is shown as she pulls the sword and cuts her hair?? It’s literally more iconic than any marvel movie

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websites:

Animation World Network

Animation Backgrounds

Animation Magazine

Animation & CGI

Animator Island

Anime News Network

Cartoon Brew

Character Design References

On Animation

Reference! Reference! (free database for animation)

11 Second Club (monthly character animation competition)

tumblr blogs:

animationart

animationforce

animationtidbits

aspiretoanimate

calartscharacteranimation

disney-moments-sketches (Allen Ostergar’s blog, animator at Walt Disney)

drawingforsuckas

fuckyeahconceptart

storyboardresources

theanimationarchive

theartofanimation

wannabeanimator

resources/tips:

Animation schools: 1 / 2 (Top 50 USA) / 3 (Top 100 international)

Which animation school is right for you? (Ringling vs. CalArts)

Don’t want to/ can’t afford art school? you’ve got other options.

Animation Mentor: The online animation school

Art school exercises!!

51 Great Animation exercises

20 things you can expect as a traditional (2D) animation student that they never tell you

A Survivor’s Guide to Life Inside an Animation Studio

Animation basics: The art of timing and spacing

Animation Notes From Ollie Johnston

Animated chart of the basic principles of animation

10 Second tip: Always Anticipate

book: Animation: Learn How to Draw Animated Cartoons by Preston Blair

book: A System for Planning and Timing Animation by Glen Keane

book: Timing for animation by Harold Whitaker and John Halas

book: Gesture Drawing for animation by Walt Stanchfield

Basic 3D Animation Terminology

Digital pencil test!!

Keys to Emotion in Animation

Lessons from Disney’s Zootopia

Model Sheets central

The importance of Acting in Animation by Segio Pablos

Printable exposure/dope sheet

Phoneme Chart

Recommended reading for animation students and enthusiasts

The 5 Types of Animation

The Know-How of Cartooning 

The Unofficial Truth about The Animation Industry

Why Disney Sends Its Animators To Life Drawing Classes

Walk/Run Cycles reference

What is Pixar looking for in Animators? (scroll down)

Portfolio Advice for The Disney Animation Internship

What is Rigging?

3D Rigging Terminology

3D Modeling Terminology

tutorials:

Animation for Beginners: Where do I start

Animation Physics (Video tutorials on physics for animation artists)

Animation tutorial part. 1 AKA “the secret of animation”

Appealing Poses in Animation

Background & Movement in TV

Blinking tips

Breakdown tutorial (middle frame between to keys)

Drawing & Composition for visual storytelling

Drawing for Animation

Drawing a Likeness

Animation fundamentals + tutorials

Filmmaking: Composition and Framing

Getting Shape Change

How to animate using photoshop

How to animate Characters in Perspective

How to Animate Head Turns

How to Draw Gesture

OpeenToonz tutorials masterpost

Overlapping Action and Drag

Portfolio tips / Making A Successful Portfolio

Lyp Sync tutorial

Line of action

Basics of good cartooning 1-12 by Sherm Cohen

Squash & Stretch tutorial

Squash and Stretch 2

Storyboarding tutorials by Sherm Cohen

The Illusion of Life: 12 Principles of Animation

Tilt, Flow & Rhythm

Underlying Structure When Animating Expressions

TVPaint tutorial: Uploading and Coloring Scanned Animation

supplies (traditional animation):

10 Essential Art Supplies for the Traditional Animator

How to Use a Light Table for Animation

Making a Simple Animation Lightbox

Peg bars, Animation Disk & Desk

softwares:

free

Blender (3D creation suite. It supports the entirety of the 3D pipeline: modeling, rigging, animation,etc)

Emofuri (animate using .psd files)

Google Sketchup (

Live2D ( animation/drawing software

OpenToonz (Studio Ghibli’s open source animation software)

Pencil2D (create traditional hand-drawn animation (cartoon) using both bitmap and vector graphics)

Renderman (Pixar’s free 3D rendering software)

Sculptris (Free digital sculpting tool by the makers of Zbrush

SculptGL (Online modelling program)

Synfig (2d animation using a vector and bitmap artwork)

paid

Zbrush (digital sculpting sw by Pixologic)

Mudbox (digital sculpting sw by Autodesk)

Cinema 4D (digital sculpting sw by Maxon)

TVPaint  (2d animation)

animation studios:

Aardman (Bristol, UK)

Blue Sky Studios (Greenwich, USA)

Dreamworks (Glendale, USA)

Fox Animation (USA)

Imagination Studios/CN (Burbank, USA)

Industrial Light & Magic (San Francisco, USA)

Laika (Hillsboro, USA)

Luma Pictures (USA / Melbourne, Australia)

Nickelodeon Animation (Burbank, USA)

Pixar (Emeryville, CA)

Rise FX (Berlin, Germany)

Studio Ghibli (Tokyo, Japan)

Sony Picture Imageworks (Vancouver, Canada)

Sony Pictures Animation (Culver City, CA)

Walt Disney Animation (Burbank, CA)

Weta Digital (Wellington, New Zealand)

inspiration: worth watching short films

Coda by and maps and plans

Contre Temps by the Contre Temps Team

Duet by Glen Keane

DOG ENVY by Olivia Huynh

Fallin Floyd by  il Luster

French Roast

Gravity by Ailin Liu

In Between by Gobelins

Jinxy Jenkins and Lucky Lou by Michael Bidinger and Michelle Kwon

My Big Brother by Jason Rayner

Night Light by Qing Han

Nephtali by Glen Keane

Nocturne by Kari Casady

Historia de un Oso by Gabriel Osorio

Home Sweet Home  by home sweet home the film

One Bright Dot by  Clément Morin

Stickboy by Giant Ant

SOAR by Alyce Tzue

Tsunami by The Animation Workshop

Thought of You by Ryan Woodward

Vagabond by  The Animation Workshop

5 Gobelins Shorts That Pay Tribute To Women Animation Pioneers

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Controversial Truths About Ancient Egypt Masterpost

The pyramids were built by contemporary workers who received wages and were fed and taken care of during construction

The Dendera “lightbulb” is a representation of the creation myth and has nothing to do with electricity

We didn’t find “““copper wiring””” in the great pyramid either

Hatshepsut wasn’t transgender

The gods didn’t actually have animal heads

Hieroglyphs aren’t mysteriously magical; they’re just a language (seriously we have shopping lists and work rosters and even ancient erotica)

The ancient Egyptian ethnicity wasn’t homogeneous

Noses (and ears, and arms) broke off statues and reliefs for a variety of reasons, none of which are “there is a widespread archaeological conspiracy to hide the Egyptian ethnicity”

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How to Write Jewish Fanfic Characters

1.  Please don’t write them as “Jewish in name only.”  For one thing, that essentially takes away representation, which is hurtful, and for another, trying to prevent assimilation is a really big thing in the Jewish community.  The characters’ parents died when they were kids?  Write them as having been raised by other Jews (eg family members).  Honestly, doing otherwise is a cop out.  For centuries, people who hated us have wanted us to leave our Jewishness behind and fully assimilate.  You are inadvertently tying into that when you do write the characters as “Jewish in name only.”

2.  Consider writing them as at least somewhat religious.  Of course, there are certainly secular Jews in real life, but there are hardly any religious Jews in media and it gets tiring.  There would absolutely be practicing Jewish wizards regardless of whether Harry is religious; if we can keep our traditions despite progroms, the Holocaust, forced assimilation, and the American melting pot, being wizards won’t faze us.  There are religious Jews who participate in many cultures and subcultures around the world.  That there are no explicitly religious characters in Harry Potter is more of a function of Harry’s inability to notice these things (and JKR’s struggle with portrayals of minority groups) than an indication that there are no religious wizards.

3.  Even if they’re not religious, please write them as being at least culturally Jewish.  What I mean is, have them participate in Jewish culture. They celebrate Chanukah, for instance (if Harry celebrates Christmas, the Goldsteins can celebrate Chanukah, even if they’re secular).  They know some Yiddish words.  You don’t necessarily have to write that in, but it should be the background in your head.

4.  Don’t have them celebrating Christmas, unless they’re doing it solely for the benefit of Christian or culturally-Christian friends.  Cultural Christians tend to see Christmas as secular and universal, but for us, it’s not.  I don’t know any Jews who celebrate Christmas who aren’t part of interfaith families.  This may not seem like a big deal, but it is.  Christmas is a major signifier of complete assimilation.  When you write Jewish characters celebrating Christmas for themselves, you’re making a much stronger statement than you intend.

5.  Consider including positive details.  This is not strictly necessary (for fanfic writers, that is; JKR and Stuart Craig should have done it) but it is nice.  Positive details are little things that won’t disrupt the flow of the story, but will be recognized by your Jewish readers and will make them happy.  Examples can include a reference to candlesticks on a mantelpiece when describing a room, or mentioning that Passover is the reason a character is visiting his sister-in-law but not going into detail about the Seder meal.  Here’s an excerpt from a fic I wrote:

It is three years later (but somehow, it feels so much shorter), when Newt finds himself sitting in the afternoon sunlight, Tina by his side (her hands folded in her lap and somehow still breathtaking at the age of 109), looking up at the couple standing in the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves twined into the posts of their wedding canopy. His grandson, grown into a handsome and capable young man, and Luna, as ethereal as she was at age twelve but now carrying herself with the maturity of someone who has seen all the horrors the world has to offer and has decided still to view the world with wonder, stand face to face, gently clasping one another’s hands and exuding quiet strength.

They are clearly following the Jewish custom of having a wedding canopy (chuppah), but I do not explicitly mention that it is a Jewish custom, and while it is clearly mentioned, it is not the focus.  The advantage to using positive details is twofold; it ensures representation without distracting from the focus of the story, but it also portrays Jewish customs as normal for Jews.  When I’m performing a Jewish ritual, it’s just a part of my life – I don’t stop and think about the fact that it’s Jewish, or think it’s at all out of the ordinary.

6.  Omit negative details.  These are things that would be inappropriate for a culturally or somewhat-religious Jewish character.  I can’t speak for anyone else, but they interrupt the flow of the story for me.  These are things like having a character eat something blatantly unkosher (pork, shellfish, dairy-and-meat-together).  It’s possible that they could be doing this if the character is very secular, but I already addressed that in Point 2 and, if this is the 1920s, plenty of secular Jews actually kept some level of kosher.  It’s entirely possible that secular Jewish characters in the 1920s could even have a fully-kosher kitchen.  That might seem very strange to you if you are culturally Christian, but Christianity and Judaism are very, very different.  The idea you have in your head of “religion” isn’t entirely applicable to Judaism.  Keeping kosher has cultural as well as religious significance.

7.  Mention major Jewish holidays if your fic takes place on or near them.  You don’t need to go into detail, but it would be odd to have, say, a fic during April with not even a single passing mention of Passover.  Likewise October and the fall holidays. This can be easily avoided if you simply set the fic at a different time.  If you’re not sure when the holidays are, Hebcal is a great resource.  Google “hebcal [year]” or “[holiday] [year].”

8.  Consider going into more detail.  This is not necessary by any means, but it a lovely thing to do and will certainly get you a reblog from @jewish-harrypotter if you let me know about it (fics with a lot of positive details will, too).  This is harder because it requires more research, but I’m always available as a resource.  I can’t tell you exactly what Jewish life looked like in the early 20th century, but if you’re okay with the fic not adhering to precise historical accuracy I can tell you what Jewish life looks like now (and the most basic aspects of the rituals haven’t really changed much).  I also very much recommend My Jewish Learning  as a resource.  Also, if any Jews reading this are also available as resources, please comment on this post.

9.  Listen to Jews.  If a Jewish reader points out that something’s off, trust them to know what they’re talking about.  If they’re telling you that Christmas is not a universal holiday, don’t tell them it is.  No one expects someone who isn’t Jewish to know about Jewish culture or religion, but there’s a difference between not knowing something and rejecting what someone is trying to tell you.

Hope that helped!  Thank you for reading!  I know writing about a minority you’re not part of is hard, and I appreciate you taking the time to read this to find out how to do it better!

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Here’s a “life-hack” for you. Apparently concentrated Kool-Aid can be used as a pretty effective leather dye. I was making a drink while cutting the snaps off some new straps for my pauldrons and I got curious, so I tried it, thinking, “ok even if this works, it will just wash out.” Nope. It took the “dye” (undiluted) in about 3 seconds. After drying for about an hour and a half, it would not wash off in the hottest tap-water. It would not wash out after soaking for 30 minutes. It did not wash out until I BOILED it, and even then, only by a tiny bit and it gave it a weathered look that was kind of cool. Add some waterproofing and I’d wager it would survive even that. That rich red is only one application too. Plus it smells great, lol. So there you go, cheap, fruity smelling leather dye in all the colors Kool-Aid has to offer.

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For any of you who are writing ‘across the pond’-here is a little guide I put together of some common differences between British and American English!

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Beyond this, consider how these professions might vary depending on who the customers are - nobles, or lower class. Are they good at their job or just scraping by? Do they work with lots of other people or on their own? City or village?

For younger characters:

Apprentice to any of the above

Messenger/runner

Page/squire

Pickpocket

Shop assistant

Student

Looks after younger siblings

(Images all from Wikimedia Commons)

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how to draw arms ? ? 

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Dear Men Writers

Lesser known facts when writing women:

High heeled shoes don’t become flats if you break the heels off.

The posts of earrings aren’t sharp.

Nail polish takes a long time to dry and smudges when wet.

You can’t hold in a period like pee.

Inserting a tampon is not arousing or sexual in any way, ever.

Feel free to add your own.

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little 5 yr old kid on the bus: look! (shows me a drawing)

me: that’s great!!!

kid: (points at person on her drawing) that’s you!!!

me:

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So my professor lent me this hard tip brush pen thing and thats what i used for the old lighthouse keep dude drawing and guys

Its the best pen ive ever inked with bc im so shakey with inking but this pen made it so easy and it has line variation

And he said i could keep it

*VIBRATES EXCITEDLY*

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How To End Your Story

The Circle Ending- A story that does a full circle and comes back to the beginning

The Moral Ending- An ending where you learn a lesson and see the character develop

The Surprise Ending- A big plot twist last minute

The Reflection Ending- The Character looks back on their past achievements and experiences

The Emotional Ending- Leave your readers feeling sad, bittersweet, or happy

The Cliff Hanger Ending- End on something that will leave your readers at the edge of their seat

The Humor Ending- Finish in a funny or humorous way

The Question Ending- Make the reader wonder what will happen next

The Image Ending- Show, don’t tell

The Dialogue Ending- Finish with a quote from one of your characters