mythspirationart

[mythspirationart]

i keep trying to make a funny post based on this egyptian predynastic eye paint palette shaped like two mud turtles but every time i look at them i start ugly laughing so im just gonna post them as is

[mythspirationart]

Or a quick break from art to find a reference for a tricky angle or do a quick refresher on that bit of lore, but nooooooo

you can take a quick pause from writing to fact-check something on the internet. but watch out

[mythspirationart]

New year, new me, I mean new name! To reflect my desire to keep inspiring hope, diversity, and mythology, I'm now Mythspiration Art.

[mythspirationart]

Trying to sell handmade crafts in this economy is so. Like. Hey guys I know we're all broke as fuck but do you want my silly little things. I'm very good at it. For the time it takes to make them + skill + materials it's gonna be 30$ per silly little thing. But also shipping costs 12$ for reasons outside my control so it's actually 42$ now. Sorry. No I really can't charge less than that. Yeah I know. Ok. Bye

[mythspirationart]

Inktober day 1: Snowshoe hare. Did you know that there are ice age refugee snowshoe hares living in the Appalachian mountains?

My Inktober pieces this year will be dedicated to everyone hurt by Tropical Storm Helene. I lived in the Appalachians for 9 years, and seeing the pictures of the devastation in a place I called home and have friends and family in is horrifying. So we cope through art.

[mythspirationart]

Inktober day 1: Snowshoe hare. Did you know that there are ice age refugee snowshoe hares living in the Appalachian mountains?

My Inktober pieces this year will be dedicated to everyone hurt by Tropical Storm Helene. I lived in the Appalachians for 9 years, and seeing the pictures of the devastation in a place I called home and have friends and family in is horrifying. So we cope through art.

[mythspirationart]

Lissajous curve table

[mythspirationart]

Advice I gave someone today was: 'do it stupid.'

She wants to learn photography. Do it stupid. Take a million photos. Don't think about why they're not good. Enjoy the process of taking photos.

Pick out tge ones you like the most and figure out why you like them. Is it because the subject is centered? Is it because you caught them doing something cool? Is it because the light made cool shadows?

Do it stupid. If you try to do it smart, youll get stuck. If you think too much you'll never get to doing. Do it stupid.

[mythspirationart]

Lesson 1: "White Man Painted Black"?

Okay, I recognize that this is a strong foot to step off on! But! If you learn nothing else from this series, if you decide for whatever reason to forsake me: this is the ONE perspective I'd like you to take away!

You may have heard this quote before, when Black fans deride a character design as 'a white man with the brown bucket tool'. On its face, it means exactly what was said. But specifically, what it means is that we recognize that whomever designed the character drew the way they normally draw for a 'default' character in their mind- default usually meaning White/Eurocentric features- and they added a shade of brown within the line art to make that character now 'Black'.

Now if you're feeling defensive, wait just a moment! This discomfort is not inherently a bad thing!

I'm going to use both a 'real world' example first, to show you what your Black fans and peers are seeing, and perhaps you will also understand our discomfort!

(if anyone was curious, my folder for this lesson is titled 'brad' lmao and you'll see why)

(I'll have y'all know that I actually worked very hard to make Blackface Brad look mildly presentable lmao I'm sorry, I'm wheezing, I can hardly breathe looking at him 🤣)

You see how, despite knowing where this was going, and using one of the darkest shades of brown in my Skin Tones arsenal, you still know that that's Brad Pitt? That nothing about his hair texture, his lips, his nose, or really anything other than the palette change... changed? And you can still see that?

It's incredibly hurtful to be told that that's supposed to be you. You know it's not, you know why it's not, but rather than hearing how it makes you feel unseen and what they could do to be better (since they wanted to draw a Black character!), the artist lashes out at you.

And as an artist, you might have worked VERY HARD to do this! That might be a real handsome guy you drew!! But... is he really Black? Did you walk into it with the intention, that you were drawing a Black Character, or did you draw a character that just happened to be Black? It seems like a silly thing, but it matters!

Okay. I just finished laughing over Brad. Now let's get into some more perspective changes:

Now, imagine you drew a character. You want to make her Black, so you change the hair and skin colors. All right! You have your Black character... right?

Changed ONE feature about her? (You should obviously change more than one feature, but let's just go with the simplified example.)

What if, instead of just changing her palette, we changed her:

Hair?

There isn't nearly enough time in the world, let alone in this little scribble and blurb, for me to describe the IMPORTANCE of Black hair in Black character design. There are so many ways to do curls, afros, braids, twists, locs, SO MANY HAIRSTYLES!! Get used to searching in the 3C-4C hair textures!!!! I plan on doing an entire lesson or two on hair alone, but suffice it to say, Hair Texture is thee BIGGEST giveaway that you 'painted a white person Black'- from cartoon styles to realistic! It reveals itself in your writing as well- just based on how your character takes care of their hair, how your describe the texture, how other people might perceive it... it lets me know just how much research was done. Because we can have straight hair! But again, that's a conversation for a whole 'nother lesson so- come back later 👀?

Lips?

I love our lips, I really do. There's a long history of shaming Black women in particular for the way our lips look. So when I see them done in all their glory, it makes me very happy. Two-toned lips vary in shade and intensity, so make sure you're using references if you want to be 'realistic', but it doesn't have to be that hard. Even a little subtle shift like this in the design/story description lets me know that a creator was thinking about me.

Nose?

One thing I've noticed ever since I starting drawing is that... people in a lot of mangas/manhwas barely have noses! I admit, out of all the features on the face, the nose isn't the most important. I think they should be, especially when you want to emphasize that your characters look different! People have different types of noses! I especially want to gear this towards those with a goal of drawing realistic portraits and the like- there, the nose is ANOTHER dead giveaway. There are Black people with aquiline and straight noses- we aren't a monolith- but is that why you drew it? Consider why you went for that nose specifically. That's part of the intent, in all this!

Now, you might be looking at me and going "Ice... this is just character design". To which my answer is: Yes! It is! It feels so basic, and yet if you ask your Black friends/peers how often they've come across this feeling of not being properly drawn/written, from fanart to professionally produced works, it's unfortunately common despite how simple of a concept it is.

I hope that you can walk away from my first lil lesson with new eyes. Remember, it's the thought that counts, but the action that delivers!

[mythspirationart]

Disclaimer: Blackness, and Black features are not a monolith. We can look like anything. That being said-

If I told you to walk outside (or get online, I guess), and point out a Black man, who would you spot first? Left or right?

And if the answer is the left (and it IS, in fact, the left) why do so many artists and fans believe that the right is appropriately and acceptably representative of Blackness in art? Let's talk about it! Check my pinned for when the next lesson, "The Ambiguously Brown™ Character", drops!

Much thank you to my friend and avid learner @devilatelier (Angel) for donating these pieces for this lesson! Here are his kofi and donation pages- check him out; even in the midst of hurricane season, he makes it a point to do great, thoughtful work. CBC approved 👍🏾

[mythspirationart]

Do you have a character that's related to art or writing but in like a magical way?

Do you need a hand reference where they're holding a pencil but like magically? 🤔 ✨

[mythspirationart]

(source)

Unsplash -  photography, illustration, & art

Pixabay - same as unsplash

Pexels - stock photos and videos

Getty Images - photography & illustration

Veceezy - vectors and clipart

Gumroad - photoshop brushes (and more)

StockSnap.io - stock photos

Canva - needs login but has lots of templates

Library of Congress - historical posters and photos

NASA - you guessed it

Creative Commons - all kinds of stuff, homie

Even Adobe has some free images

There are so many ways to make moodboards, bookcovers, and icons without plagiarizing! As artists, authors, and other creatives, we need to be especially careful not to use someone else’s work and pass it off as our own. 

Please add on if you know any more resources for free images <3

[mythspirationart]

did you know jackalopes are my favorite cryptid

[mythspirationart]

If you're a visual artist, reblog and put in the tags advice that actually helped you improve your art, that isn't just the same "keep on practicing!! :)" platitudes.

[mythspirationart]

I have been bitten by an armor-making bug

Local leather shop has a good deal on veg-tanned hide, I’ve found some sick patterns, and I actually have some free time for once, so I think it’s time to make myself the kickass spiky armor suit of my dreams

[mythspirationart]

i love the way classic american artists draw hair