#Theres a big gap between the art and the words

[yuukirita]

Look what chapters out- number seven. We get some more happy busy Bee. And STEVE is BACK.

[angletic]

How do you come up with the compositions for your comic pages? They look soooooo 👌

short answer is: i hardcore wing it

long answer: i have a very hard time visualizing things in my head. i go into something knowing the list of things i want to communicate and try to construct something thats aesthetically pleasing while accomplishing those goals. i personally think that its very good for me: i never feel bad for not reaching some insane standard in my head, because theres no standard in there. i just ask myself if i checked all the boxes on my list and if the page(s) look good, and if i did im satisfied!

as for page composition itself, thumbnailing is a super important part of the process for me. it helps me lay out not just the panels, but also the speech bubbles. never ever ever design a page and think you can add the speech bubbles wherever theres negative space: a comic is just as much words as it is art; treat them as equals.

i like to do thumbnails in batches (at least to the end of a scene) so i know how things flow together and i can ensure that the scene ends at the end of a page, and what pages are on an even or odd page (this informs the placement of page turns, which are very important when it comes to comics. theyre one of the few bits of control a comic artist has over their reader: the reader can turn the page whenever instead of having media happen At them as an a show/podcast. The reader controls the story and its flow in a sense. however, page turns reef control back from the reader and force them to engage with the author on their terms: you may get to control WHEN you see what comes next, but you do not get an inclination as to what that is. you allow them to subconsciously build up the the change/shift in space/jump in time in their head as a scene ends, or the suspense of what could be on the next page if your scene is dramatic. very important both for doing shocking scenes, but also for differentiate between soft and hard scene transitions.)

im also very careful to minmax the number of panels i need to execute a scene. use the minimum number of panels to communicate the most information possible. when i was first learning to comic way back in my syrup steals days, i had to teach myseld to not clutter a page with smaller panels (this was an especially frequent issue with eye panels. i looved having a small panel at the corner of a larger one just showing a characters' eyes reacting. while effective in small doses, this clutters up your pages like crazy). you have to be comfortable leaving things implied and trusting your audience will get it.

i also do not fuck around with establishing shots. even a lot of professional comic artists will only use them at the beginning of a scene and typically its just one big wide shot, which works for movies where scenes are in motion (motion inherently implies space better than a still image), but not so much for comics. i think its both more engaging and informative to microdose on establishing shots at all times. one establishing shot will never be enough to describe where characters are fully. i think its good to get in the habit of treating environments like characters themselves: you want everyone to see every angle of your oc? do that with your environments. it both breaks up the monotony/prevents you from shot-reverse-shot-ing, and also provides a lot of visual information about the space a character is in (and gives lots of opportunities to foreshadow!). this is especially important to do in action scenes: it is so damn easy to lose where a character is in a fight scene, to the point where it just becomes visual noise. you NEED the space characters are in to be well-established before and during a hectic scene, or readers will get lost and be unable to fill in the gap.

of course you need to be efficient here as well: minmax your panels! do establishing shots while characters are talking! explore the space in interesting ways even when something not that visually interesting is going on!

really, the constant dynamic establishment of location, minmaxxing of panels, and equal treatment of panels and speech bubbles are what i think are the most important things when it comes to page layout. this sort of became an Angs Guide To Comicking lol, but i tihnk its useful information. thank you for asking!!

[theatercatklio]

Some more info on Argos + her weapon!! (click images for better quality)

Her main weapon is a rifle, she prefers to attack from afar but it's heavy enough that she can smack you upside the head with it.

Can't be a normal gun, it's gotta be magical! ...don't ask how long it took to write out the words on the magic circles TwT

It's kinda hard to see, but the circle on the left says "Magical Firebolt Explosion" and the one on the right says "Mythical Flame". The red words on both say "Aiming".

The stuff under the cut is stuff about the relationship between Argos+My other oc, Klio, THERES MORE ART FULLY COLORED ART but this post was already super long and I didn't want to make it longer :>

Klio is Argos' benefactor (how did you think she was getting all these funds for fancy weapons?). Due to her addiction to novelty, Klio invests in people who interest her, giving them funds, information, and/or weapons, even using her power as an Emanator of Mythus to rewrite history for them so they can continue being captivating. (I have more info + art ab her in my pinned post go check her out!!)

Argos' "blow up the IPC" funds mainly come from Klio (she was also the one to give Argos her fancy weapon), and she often has to run odd jobs for her, or act as a bodyguard. She doesn't mind too much, the tasks are rarely dangerous with Klio backing her and can even be pretty fun, and both see the other as a friend.

I jsut realized how big the hight gap looks in this last pic...just imagine Argos is on a stepstool.

(click image for better quality, close ups under cut)

My Aventurine's sister design! In this au she survived and is trying to get revenge on the IPC, being helped by one of my ocs, Klio (I'll put more info about her + her relationship with Argos in a reblog to my oc blog tmmr)

Aven's sister doesn't have an official name, so I named her Argos. I wanted her to have some kinda peacock connection to Aventurine, and Argos is the name of the giant turned into the first peacock in Greek Mythology.

close ups, click for better quality

[plasticbattleaxe]

A BASIC GUIDE TO DIGITAL ART ON PROCREATE

okay so i joined the digital art scene about a year or so ago and it has been a total whirl! there’s so much stuff that’s so confusing and hard to understand at first. And that’s okay! A stupid amount of what constitutes as “good” or “complex” art is to do with layers, patience and experience. 

and because literally every tutorial on here is for Paint Tool Sai i thought it might be useful for those of us using Procreate! because i don’t have sai and i have a relatively shit laptop by comparison to my Ipad.

so without further ado - here is how to make a KICKASS piece of art on procreate 

1.  REFERENCE + SKETCH

the first thing you're gonna wanna do is collect any references you need for thing youre tryna make. you can collect references by finding stock images, using other artists work (i use these mostly for colour refs cause i SUCK at finding good colours). however when i make art nowdays i usually just snap a selfie and use that. for this work i did the last option (see below)

after grabbing my reference i decide on the style i wanna use. for beginer artists what i suggest doing is just pasting the image onto your canvas, opening layers and adjust the opacity to around 20% by clicking on the little N on your layer with the photo. then once thats done add a new layer by clicking the + and work over that

for more experienced artists experimenting with style just stick that bad bitch reference in the corner, then open a new layer and sketch in your own style.

when it comes to sketching i usually do little flicky lines. i do this with a mid grey (like 50% white 50% black) i recommend the “Narinder pencil” which you can find by clicking the little brush at the top, selecting sketching and then selecting that bad boy. you can adjust size and opacity using the sliders to the side of the screen.

when sketching you just wanna get a rough idea of where you’re gonna do your eventual lines - don’t worry about it being smooth or anything just get down where everything goes 

once you’re done you might have something like this:

this brings us too...

2. LINE ART 

for beginners - lineart is just a sexy word that means a clean drawing with hard lines so you can colour it easier and it looks prettier. you want to do this on a new layer so you can delete the sketch one later.

your goal with lineart is to make it three things:  1) its gotta be seamless so you can select the insides, don’t leave little gaps between lines 2) its gotta be smooth! jagged lineart isn’t NEARLY as sexy as smooth curvy lines 3) this one is more of a tip - but lineart generally looks better if you do thinner lines inside your shape with a slightly thicker border line. again this isn’t essential but i find it looks cuter 

the way i get my lineart all cute is by using the monoline brush (found in calligraphy). sometimes i use my own modified version of the Technical Pen (found in Inking) but mostly monoline is pretty neat. You can use whatever brush you want but mostly you just wanna ensure that its nice and smoooooth. you can do this by selecting the brush and then clicking it again. this will bring up a popup menu like this:

most of these brush settings are complicated and stupid and i’ll do a big post about it later. the only one that really matters here is streamline. if you wanna use a different brush for lineart just wack that slider up between 80-100% and you’re set.

once your lineart is finished on a seperate layer go to your layer menu and unselect the little tick on your sketch layer. you should be left with something like this. 

3. ADDITIONAL DETAIL LINEART + MONOCHROME BASES.

once your focus lineart is done you can add detailed lineart by repeating the same process with sketching and lineart i described above. i like to do details separate because if i dont like it i can just delete the whole layer without destroying my focus. 

what i find important in these now is using my favourite fuckin tool in this whole program. you can find it here:

Only start using this once youre 100% done with your lineart. once thats done - make sure youre on the lineart layer and click that weird little s at the top of the screen. go to the bottom and click automatic. then select somewhere INSIDE your lineart. it should do something like this:

don’t freak out! what that blue stuff means is that you've just selected the inside bit of your lineart. continue selecting until your subject is 100% coloured in. 

MAKE SURE THE BACKGROUND/STUFF OUTSIDE YOUR LINEART ISN’T SELECTED. ALSO MAKE SURE YOU’VE SELECTED THE LINES THEMSELVES. THEY WILL TURN WHITE ONCE THEYRE SELECTED. if u fuck up and select something by accident that’s all g, theres a little undo button on the bottom. if you click on the paint brush or another tool and you cant add stuff to your selection you can reload the mask by holding down on the weird s and the selection will reload. If there are certain bits of your work that you’re struggling to select with automatic selection that’s also not an issue. just click the “freehand” setting next to the automatic setting on the bottom and you can now use your stylus to draw around what you want to select.

once you’ve selected your foreground in its entirety - THEN click the layer button. insert a new layer underneath your lineart layer. Using literally any brush (works best if you get one from the painting section) colour EVERYTHING white. just get round brush and colour all of it. you wanna keep your line art layer separate over the top.

once all of it is coloured hold down on the weird s tool until it reloads the selection. then look along the bottom of the screen and click the little button that looks like 2 arrows pointing at each other. THIS INVERTS YOUR SELECTION. Open a new layer and make this entire thing a grey. THIS IS WHOLE STEP IS OPTIONAL BUT ITS SUPER USEFUL AND THE SELECTION TOOL IS SUPER HELPFUL FOR GOOD ART. DOING THIS WILL BE SUPER USEFUL WHEN YOU COLOUR STUFF LATER.

once you’re done it should look something like this:

4. BASE COLOURS

okay so this is where shit starts to get real. The goal of putting down base colours is to make is easier to add eventual shading to your piece and decide your colour scheme. This is where the white layer you just used is gonna become your BITCH.

you wanna start by duplicating your white layer you just made. You do that by opening your layer menu and swiping that thot to the left. this is what should happen:

click duplicate. Select the top duplicate you just made and select our favourite weird s tool. click inside your shape and the whole white shape should go blue (become selected). next, open a new layer on top of the white layer. colour in your base colours and now none of it can go outside the lines. you didn’t even have to do a billion selections. you just select inside the white blob on the layer we made the step before, opened a new layer and started colouring. fucking superb. so much time saved. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I USED TO SUFFER BEFORE I THOUGHT OF THIS. HOW LONG I SPENT SELECTING AND RESELECTING I CANNOT

A TIP FOR PEEPS NEW TO THIS PROGRAM - if you use your finger and hold down on a colour you’ve just used it acts like an eyedropper tool so you can pick up any colour you want. like this:

once you got your base colours done you can either: 1) go to your grey layer you made in the last step and select the tick next to it. once you’ve done that scroll to the bottom of your layers and select background. it will open a colour wheel. pick your background colour. 2) you can use my second favourite tool from this program! go to your grey layer you made in the previous step. click on it, then click on it again. (not the little n just click the whole layer) this menu should pop up:

oh MAN okay so. “alpha lock” pretty much means that it locks whatever is on the layer. when you get another brush and go over a layer with alpha lock turned on you can only paint over what you have previously put on the layer before turning on alpha lock. Its like automatically selecting everything on the layer. its fucking brilliant. anyway. scribble over your grey layer (once alpha lock is on) and boom you have a base for your background.

NOW YOU KNOW ABOUT ALPHA LOCK YOU GO BACK TO YOUR LINEART LAYER. SELECT ALPHA LOCK. COLOUR IN YOUR LINES ROUGHLY 2 OR SO ISH SHADES DEEPER THEN YOUR BASE COLOURS 

(minus eyes i like to keep the lines around them black.)  this will make your art like 100000000 times nicer (majority of the time)

once you’re done you should get something like this:

this brings up to...

5. SHADING!!!!!!! this is my favourite step tbh.

what you wanna do is chuck on a new layer over the top of your base colours. and go into your brushes. pick up your basic bitch “round brush.” this is (in my opinion) the best painting brush in the program. Its the thing you can do the most with. so what you wanna do it get a slightly deeper colour from your colour wheel by yeeting your colour selection slightly more saturated and slightly more dark. dont just make it blacker move your colour selector on a diagonal to get a nicer colour. (i’ll eventually do a colour theory ref but today is NOT that day.)

i like to do colouring in short, light strokes. DON’T PRESS TOO HARD. you wanna get that cute little gradient.

A THING FOR BABY ARTISTS: on every art program i have ever used, the blending tool SUCKS. it makes paintings UGLY AF. (wow another tutorial i have to do at some point. i HATE the blending tool. SO HERE IS HOW I COLOUR MY ART TO MAKE IT LOOK, YKNOW, GOOD:

Unless you’re drawing something SUPER freaking smooth like a bubble or some shit. when you wanna blend colours what you gotta do is: 1) put in your darker colour. 2) use your finger to bring up the eyedropper tool to select a mid colour of the colours your blending together - a mix between your lighter and darker colour. (remember that tool? it looks like this)

3) Paint the colour you just made in the middle of your lighter and darker shades. REPEAT THIS PROCESS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE COLOUR YOU JUST PUT DOWN TILL IT LOOKS GOOD. The result is an WAY sexier piece of art.

once you’ve put in all your shadows repeat the same process with highlights.

FUN TIP: if you decide you dislike a colour or want to change the colour you already did all the shading for you can change the colour without any major drama. You can do this by select ing the colour on your colour wheel you would like to change your already shaded work too. (make sure you’re on the right layer.) then hold down on the colour dot on the top bar (next to your layer settings) and drag it to whatever you want recoloured. let go of the dot and it should recolour your work (including all the shading you’ve done granted that its on the same layer) like this:

once you’ve got all your shading done it should look something like this:

6. background and pretty bits

so! youve got this kickass work but nothing surrounding it. lets fix that.

In procreate there is SO MUCH you can use to spice up a work. a SCARY amount even. this is when layer settings are gonna start to come in handy.

ill do a masterpost on procreate brushes for backgrounds later, but for this piece what im gonna do it head over to the Luminescence section and pick up a “nebula brush”. this makes a complex galaxy kinda design in a randomised stamping pattern that is frankly SEXY AS ALL HELL. Select a layer below your base colours but above your background colour. IMPORTANT NOTE: this brush’s blend mode is autimatically set to “add” (ILL DO ANOTHER POST ON THAT LATER)which means if you go over the same spot heaps of times it will eventually go a bright white. This can be nice, but its not really what i want cause its kinda intense. to make this thing go glowy but not ~too~ glowy im gonna lower the brush opacity (the bottom slider) to around half way. i set my colour to a light yellow and a darkish pink and put in some nebulas!!!! once that was done I wantd to add some more colour variation so i popped open a new layer - selected the lightleak tool and lowered the brush opacity using the slider to around 20% just to spice some shit up

you can kinda do whatever you want for your background. sometimes its nicer just to go into artistic, select a random brush and draw a square underneath what you were doing. backgrounds can be super detailed or super easy it doesn’t really matter to be 100% honest.

THE PART 2 OF THIS STEP WILL ADD HEAPS OF DIMENSION TO YOUR WORK AND MAKE IT SUPER PRETTY: adding light effects over the TOP of your main subject often creates a more realistic sense of depth. In simple terms it just makes the thing look more 3D and nice. to do this, get a random brush with a nice (preferably light) colour. i picked up a “bokeh brush” from the Luminescence section. make this pretty big. sprinkle your brush across the page on a NEW LAYER above all of your work so far, including line art! Then open your layer menu and click that little n in the corner again. Remember this one:

click the little n. then go down to the bottom and select a layer setting from either of the 2 groups circled (i normally like overlay for this type of thing) you can mess around with layer settings and opacity till you find something that looks super nice. My piece now looks like this:

pretty cool right. now we’re gonna make it EVEN COOLER.

7. LIGHT FILTERS

this is something i picked up from artists like softmushie and cryptidw00rm. (not gonna @ them here cause they probs dont wanna get tagged in my shitty tutorial thing but yeah i owe so much to those two especially)

for those unsure of what im talking about: light filters are layers you add over work to make the lighting on it seem more natural and pretty. you do this by colouring over your natural highlights and shadows with different colours and then messing with the layer settings to make it seem like its being hit by sunlight. these layers go BELOW your foreground stuff (the bokeh lights from step 6) but ABOVE your lineart.

start by opening a new layer. select a colour similar to where the green outlines are here:

now on this layer paint over anywhere where the sun or other light source would be normally hitting (like cheekbones hair etc.) this can be kind of like shading. dont worry if it looks shit at first we’re gonna change it.

open a new layer beneath the one you just made. Using a colour similar to one circled in purple above colour over all the shadows in a piece. it should now look like this:

now open your layer settings on the purple/darker  layer by selecting the N like we did with the foreground layer before. you can play around from here by setting the layer mode to anything from the “darken” or “contrast” menu. For this work i chose overlay. I then lowered the opacity until it looked nice.

Repeat the step above with the lighter highlight layer. when adjusting this one make sure you set the layer mode to anything from the “lighten” or “contrast” menu. For this work i did hard light.

your peice should now look kind of like this:

AND YOU’RE DONE!!!!!!!!

look at that sexy thing you just did. Congrats on creating an awesome peice of art!!!!!!

if you guys are interested in more tutorials like these or have any reqs for similar stuff send me a question or a dm to my blog @plasticbattleaxe

if you create anything by following  tutorial that you want me to see don’t hesitate to tag me or submit it to my blog!!! i love seeing y’all make art

also - i know it’s annoying - but reblogs > likes. thanks for your support

i hope someone finds this useful!!!!!

[beganaskiddy]

Smoke signal , alarm asleep on Grandfather’s Dresser, Why didn’t you incarnate as a Man? octopus above this space inside occular, Benevolence . Prayer to

the Emperor and Empress. where were we? You were above this left shoulder balancing tray whispered napkin telekinesis Grandfather left tangent arrowhead table sky dark ceiling lofted table this pleasance. You arched to pass the vessel the word  a state with this tongue dear , Ive posted lots of leverage all the way to nogales via hermanas searching for your remembrance. Not so much to date or haggle , just precipice’d after Grandfather asked this if it had enough to get wherever, without hesitation /Plenty hesitation with Faith based upon companionless. You were wearing ink your back left shoulder, what ghost? That was all __though like FEVER relative of… Forest Spirit it was humonnguess. You have magical a-ddress though his is red him and his get away with person.whatever. I found my Grandfathers space temporally. translates (narcissus ball (((HAIL)))) and it was hovering one mountain on our center right (wright) my other Grandfather “sideways out the periphery vision” cain’t look straightonatit it  looks back (octopus ceiling) kundalini in this room (Beast)HIVE)) emanating soundcloud stress day afterwork jam. archived hive sound stereo like sinking any ship within range with pure holy spirit. if you Look up later it could come within side of periphery then conscious allocution without spite visually it articulates telekinetic hologram of our mind (mined)IT”S) transmorphic uno geometry sit tight the Lord has angels with Play.yya (terra) yesterdays Raven today’s please do not steal the light, as we are nearing something immeasurable sides down. This not so much/ different incarnation forward/ You why are we living so much longer yet dying to be with the Lord quicker? spiritual calamity or build your strength decay rate quickening like falling if the Lord shows up with the Kingdom lessons started long ago it matriculates as it draws near. awareness. if the sky should ever scroll down stand up please many times before this one. Where were we? Thirsty. reading recent events. Didn’t feel like starting anything until we met. I mustve lost you in Albuquerque at the pearl. English and Espanol JIC. Ohh all the dreams. Sleeping Beauty, outside gravel or whyoming dirt I thought you were deceased knelt beside you. know motion nose to sky. Daphne (archetype) lifted chin leant breath ear mouth ajar and then instead of words only air between us until your lungs filled oxygen twice twilight then big box truck  two redneck twangy friendly (noticed tire parked on both your feet) he talked niceties ;ike returning to scene of rhyme nursery. Justice is in the ROOM. Turned to you and you had gotten up and vanished. Some previous life Is till Love you, the mystery between us is not so much mystery though our Souls departed long ago then returned stranger; our physical connection is missing though our hearts beat to a single drum, forever how could one forget Love? Your life is quaint as it should be almost like a reward for Faith, this is just a tramp timestamp “dandy lion” found Teacher and God. the ones especially afterlife the goto or not. in the WIND. nothings definitive. some other person thinks this about them and whamo. although intent was omniscience perspective within time continuum has not occurred within realm of substrata consciousness timed delay lightning first storm of the season yet.i. could not bear contact bowed my eyes despaired meow meow I’m sure a man could comprehend and celebrate internally nearness with Death, temporally maybe it swings around for a downtempo three feather condor soaring bighorn Crow chorus symmetrically depth chasm watery eyes how the sunny side feral bees crawl all over ya looking for some way inside to cauterize no dice. Others are pure relations. Dark Brother. almost seem to demarcate boundaries (LOTS) worked out months ago though when Angels guard the insides The Lord is near enough to show like how our learning phase continues throughout life based upon too many indiscriminate factors to even contemplate without you there is abundant recovery time.All things Grow WithLove. including the buzz of ethereality. Expressionless, there are abundance of our Teachers. yeah, like potter. One day walking spotted the ROSIcrucian, steepled in someones frontward as a wild rosebush, same colors variegated. it was like the whole existence of the vision was based upon majesty with the earth and all sentient beings. What does it indicate? Oh and (alarm) those Hellcat’s. Spinach just in time. Bloodhounds our relativity possibly what you perceive as otherworldly; what you don’t yet actualize couldn’t hurt yourself due to the proximity with whim. Lightning has yet reached our perimeter . where does it strike first? mt or wy? then witching season over for a spell. i.e. the bridge between the gap of when in the priors of seen lightning before its charge arrives (CHART) dreamings anybodies they hand of time to the winged elements, they initial light i.e. messengers. where were we? ohh I know the violent femmes (trio) like starchy and hush + oversized tranny in back seat. cruisin. red river tribe. well, the person in from of me onto a soft cushion like a bed side diagonally facing wall 110 socket knee high to a moment steeped in forever I could not see you directly only from a strange position. the quiet lasted for some time to eject inside poem each glance between a sweetness drawn and confabulated return to sender from Lunar City, Lunacy USA don’t waste your time you are already voice inside mined learning dharnmic cardio if ever you see the orb dancing is what is on the inside steering time sideways clockwise neutral lipstick and Apex Twin lost ingress visualized blush with Love rose hips 2nd Amendment Guaranteed one in the kitchen , pointed unmerciful. Not the time for ill will, Defense . The Good Lord Provides when we reach within our existence Voodoo SAC’Mcised beyond alert  edge of seat Prayer to first responders. perspective. praying with any bike self aware breath cleated Raptor flesh for flesh fetish anima bride whirlwind rode hard and put away wet in the wind of coldness (ostracized) before the age of 5 years of age , I knew bachelor for life was set with her grimaced snarl that day in 1973. You were alive somewhere in 1973 no matter our age today. wilderness. Some female growls. guards blood. Conch, sometimes seams willow and the stand of fervor in the wind skies are like surroundings live at your discretion. how obsolete is kiss when myth is missing from constructed life based upon input from everything since first breath and before idealized as the dreamtime of nectarine or copper )it’s hot IV of Pentacles, the bedside of OCD (this typing) for one afternoon of Romp to celebrate cardio. ohh theres the sigh… the periphery of the her origin. think in any room without border (although borders are good, they demarcate (LOTS) anyway, you there is only light , though the light is unique, intensity from the same veil of Hue. how hot is your sustain for living everlasting versus short term free for all as though karma were irrelevant , nurture as nature.forgiving based upon how we circumnavigate each moment. this is was a channel of what comes to the near surface of this typist in terms of spirit residuals for dictation to syllables as such; “poetry” self contained psychonautical storied as reverb from past adaptations of time travel. stitches to  Yawn helped with energy from a haven unrealized cart placed horse early to tantra eyes  trance Yagya. illness from internet fever. “Lids off the HIVE SYNDROME” please put the lid back soon or the hive will locate your weakest point and eliminate the threat of so and so, how near the end only the Good Lord knows the date. where are we? subconsciously the we arrive before the presence conjure locality spell weaver dreams silk path radial arched in the middle vortice flowering prayer …… How to walk with the Beast civilized not to spill the light as though to Vanquish time from timeless via internalized questions at some pace equidistant with fervor to avarice with Life versus condition based upon selfless,, what remains of this day?  where were we when in the backseat at twilight some hilly city not sf, hovering above the earth one foot clubbed anima in some old jalopy blue vinyl bench front seat, you and I in the backseat with our legs calfs resting onto of bench seemingly floating backwards downhill without anyone steering the vessel moving at a rate sublime excite you were talking forever like a bus inside twilight central and san pedro albequerque dusk heading nSE towards cemetery crack hoetel big spider left behind, if she only remembered how I wrote and wrote and wrote her bonnets of forget me knots squinted between her toes clover girls buzzing lily pads of seance if only I could sting your absorption with death and sling you within the perspective of current before the beginning months before time slips possibly art once ricochet around the rosies slump test with three Cords of Wood stacked vertical plus don’t forget to go back and get the D chord horseman the headless sERAPHIM . her shirt said “PLAY” , and so I wondered how, till now temporally until the spell wears off FUN, If I told you you were beautiful, would you check it off your list of to do or if withheld like a bonnet of funshine, squandered intermittently forever to salve the lifelong painless of aloneness oddity inland catch yours spirit twin inside spirit world or this land when pure/ There were two that would not vacate…. without work involved magic. time is contracting slow now or near earth outside realm of impure (border) what constitutes boundaries in spiritland ?

[meru90]

(different anon) i think it's less the length of time and more the stage of development that's being pointed out as an issue, like how 18 y/o are already adults and 15 y/o still kids- its like a college student dating a highschool sophmore. and even assuming that they're both liking each other, that still puts them on uneven ground in terms of maturity that can lead to a power imbalance, even if its unintentional

im posting some ask like this cause damn this uncererly expanded and i was ready for bed ; v;; you are all thinking way too much into this…

Anonym schrieb an meru90:i think what they mean is that otabek is 18, which is technically an adult. and so otayuri is kinda iffy because in a relationship between a 15 y/o and a 18 y/o theres a bit of a power imbalance which can lead to an unhealthy relationship.

Anonym schrieb an meru90: (not the same anon but these are the reasons i can think of for people not liking otayuri) i think its more that (at least in the us) 18 is legally the age when one is an adult… and maybe because 3 years isnt a big difference in the long run but during the teen years esp, 3 years means a big gap in like mental and emotional maturity cause puberty

Anonym schrieb an meru90: BUB I DONT GET IT EITHER they just hugging they ain’t doing anything illegal but peeps still get a lil cranky even tho in some countries (I think Russia as well I could be wrong) the age of consent is 15-16. Their ship is honestly just two high schoolers dating which last time I checked is pretty gosh dang normal, unfortunately some folks only see the age gap and automatically assume it’s illegal. ANYWAY IVE BEEN BABBLIN I LOVE YOUR ART AND I HOPE YOU KEEP DRAWING EVERYTHING YOU LOVE peace out✌️

Anonym schrieb an meru90:it’s a big deal because there is a HUGE amount of maturization that goes on from being 15 to 18. yurio has even said it himself, his body has not developed yet. 18 is a legal adult, 15 is not even old enough to drive.

Anonym schrieb an meru90:Throwing my 2 cents, but I find it rather uncomfortable considering that Yurio is literally a child and also very child-like in his behavior, especially compared to the older characters who despite their quirks have an air of maturity about them, so when there’s people shipping him with Otabek & JJ and whoever else in romantic and sexual manners, regardless of whether it’s fiction or not, it’s still a child being sexualised by older people which I find kind of disturbing.

I just don’t ship otayuri (sexually) ATM because while it’s only three years, Obatek is a legal adult and someone around fifteen… Of course once they are both adults you will need to pry the ship out of my cold dead hands. Anyway, that’s my personal opinion, but of course you can have yours

I’m not a passionate shipper of otayuri but honestly I don’t think age is much of a problem. It’s not like once you turn 18 you suddenly become an adult. legally you may be an adult, but that’s just for legal purposes. a 3-year age gap is still a 3-year age gap. It’s reasonably small. outside the fictional world though, its wiser to follow laws. that’s just my opinion!! (And what does the anon who unfollowed you mean by genderbends? i’m confused by that?)

Anonym schrieb an meru90:GIRL ITS FICTIONAL THERES NOTHING WRONG WITH IT not to mention i bet half of these ppl complaining ship kiyoyachi and yakulev guess what they have basically the same age gap so shame on uuu!!! (btw love u and ur art)

I don’t mind a gap difference of 3 years,people are claiming that this is a matter of maturity are quite weird because you’re certainly not mature enough in only 3 years. Anyways, my problem with you is that you think that because you have your opinion people should respect yours. They shouldn’t Socrate died because people thought everyone should have their opinion,nut it’s not necessary a good thing. There is bad opinions ! They aren’t all good

Hey what’s good? I just wanted to say do you, I personally don’t agree with the shippings for similar reason to the anons but at the end of the day it’s just a ship.I’ve seen lots of age diff relationships and life and some have turned out insanely well and others not so well,it all depends on the compatibility of them. I ignore it because it doesnt bother me so much? there’s so much more immoral to worry about than a 15 and an 28 y/o getting into a relationship. Have fun and stay awesome

Anonym schrieb an meru90:I don’t like to add to the pointless discussion but the people who complain about otayuri age difference probably still ship 1st year and 3rd year high school students. Who have the exact same age difference!

Anonym schrieb an meru90:lol die fighten jetzt echt wegen otayuri? sind doch nur irwie 3 jahre unterschied nicht??? so unnötig. Im laughing my ass off here wtfff

Anonym schrieb an meru90:i can’t stand the underage discourse at all, i’ve had to abandon a number of fandoms since the atmosphere was intolerable, bloodhounds ready to destroy and kill you over your personal fictional preferences. jfc let people enjoy whatever they want ugh

Anonym schrieb an meru90:don't listen to that bs >.< ship what you want. and otayuri is a perfectly shippable pairing. not to mention that shipping a pairing does not always mean that you immediately want them to jump into bed tgther, I mean seriously... otayuri ftw!

Anonym schrieb an meru90:bruh, some people get so offended by the smallest things. Like if you don't like, don't look it's as simple as that! Don't let these people stop you from drawing Otayuri cause honestly the way you draw them is lovely!

Anonym schrieb an meru90:I think people are blowing this a bit out of proportion.. peeps need to chill out

Anonym schrieb an meru90:honestly people are being way to mean to you about what you want to draw if they are ganna talk shit to you then they should come off anonymous. your art is good and you should continue to draw what you want and just block the people who have a problem with it cuz people who are technically 18 still date like 16 year olds and such its called high school it happens

Anonym schrieb an meru90:genderbend isnt transphobic... i dont understand why its so wrong to imagine a character being a opposite gender i think its absolutely ridiculous my own community give hate or talk as if it is. its art. personally i just imagine genderbend in the spectrum of being opposite gender cis wise, or trans, or non binary. its a word and damn people are triggered its so dumb i really cant deal with tumblr and I'm sorry you get bombarded with hate honestly people take things too seriously lmao

Anonym schrieb an meru90:Honestly, just ignore all these people sending rude messages. It's a testament to their character that they'd criticise you for doing nothing wrong. 15 and 18 year-olds date all the time, and there's nothing wrong with shipping characters in a platonic friendship. Both Yurio and Otabek have strong, mature personalities - there's nothing about them that indicates anything bad or abusive would happen. I love your YOI art, so draw whatever makes you happiest, regardless of people with little minds❤

Anonym schrieb an meru90:IT IS NOT LIKE MERU IS DRAWING SMUT OR ANYTHING SEXUAL FOR GODS SAKE PLZ LEAVE MERU ALONE THE AGE DIFDERENCE IS WAY SMALLER THAN THE ONE BETWEEN VITOR AMD YURI AND NOBODY SAYS OTAYURI GET TOGETHER BEFORE YURI IS AN ADULT STFU HONESTLY

[thechasefiles]

The Chase Files Daily Newscap 11/11/2019

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Monday, November 11th, 2019. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Government Information Service (BGIS), Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Daily Nation Newspaper (DN).

BUT NOT OPPOSED TO METAL DETECTORS – BARBADOS’ largest teachers’ union is not against using metal detectors at schools to help combat the violence. General secretary of the Barbados Union of Teachers (BUT), Herbert Gittens, said that while detectors should not be the only measure put in place, he would definitely not rule them out. He was responding to comments made by Minister of Education Santia Bradshaw last Friday after the death of 16-year-old Temario Holder, who was stabbed to death at Frederick Smith Secondary School in Trents, St James. Holder became the 42nd murder for the year. (DN)

SJPI TO LAUNCH NEW DRIVE – The Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology (SJPI) is looking to embark on non-traditional avenues for training and development, as part of Government’s desire to transform the country. It will soon be offering courses in drone manufacturing, 3D printing and electric hybrid vehicle maintenance. The announcement was made by Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training Santia Bradshaw, during the SJPI’s graduation ceremony at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex, Wildey, St Michael, on Saturday night. (DN)

SECTION OF HIGHWAY ONE REOPENS – The section of road along Highway 1 between Porter’s Road and Coral Reef, St James, will reopen from Monday. Word of this has come from Project Manager in the Ministry of Environment and National Beautification’s Project Management Co-ordination Unit, Ricardo Marshall. As part of the Adaptation Measures to Counter the Effects of Climate Change Project, the road was closed to allow for the installation of flood alleviation structures, such as culverts and channels. The aim of the project is to improve drainage and alleviate flooding in certain areas in St James. Meanwhile, the public is also asked to note that Trents Tenantry Road will be closed from Tuesday to facilitate necessary works under the project. This closure is estimated to last approximately three weeks, weather permitting. Local access to Trents Tenantry Road will be from the south. (BGIS)

OH GOSH, IT’S JOSH –Employing a delightful aerial rotation and some silky smooth manoeuvres, Josh Burke brought surfing glory to host country Barbados with an impressive capture of the Thomo 1 000 QS at Bathshbea, St Joseph, yesterday. To the delight of a partisan home crowd on the windy East Coast, Burke – watched by his dad, Alan, the 1994 winner – pulled out all the stops to beat the dazzling 21-year-old American defending champion Chauncey Robinson in a riveting final at the Soup Bowl. Burke announced himself in the final with a big carve – a carve is a full rail move that is done on the open face of a wave, it is all about smooth lines, speed and power – waited for the close-out, hit it hard and then rolled it to the inside. It provided him with a wave score of 8.10 and put the pressure on Robinson, who responded with a wave score of 8.00. (DN)

PERSAUD HURTS PRIDE – Rookie Akshaya Persaud’s maiden half-century stunned Barbados Pride and gave reigning champions CCC Marooners their first win of the Colonial Medical Insurance Super50 on Saturday night. Chasing a modest 173 for victory in a day/night Group “A” fixture at Warner Park, Marooners appeared headed for defeat at 82 for five in the 26th over before the left-handed Persaud produced a composed, unbeaten 51 to see them to a come-from-behind four-wicket victory. Sadique Henry struck a breezy 30 while Akeem Jordan chipped in with a crucial 29, in a 58-run sixth wicket stand with Persaud, which change the game’s complexion entirely. (DN)

FOGGING SCHEDULE NOVEMBER 11-15TH - The Ministry of Health and Wellness’ fogging programme continues next week in a number of parishes. On Monday, the districts in St Philip to be fogged are Merricks Tenantry Road, Peat Bay Road, Apple Hall, Apple Hall Terrace, Bottom Bay, Inchcape Terrace with Avenues, Harrismith, Shrewsbury, Harmony Hall, Eastbourne and environs. The team will be in St James on Tuesday, spraying Husbands Gap, Storehouse Gap, Patanne Gardens, Glitter Bay Terrace, Porters, West Terrace Gardens with Avenues, Oxnards, Violet Circle, Cherry Drive, West Terrace Heights and surrounding areas. On Wednesday, the areas to be fogged in Christ Church are Barrack Hill, Vauxhall, Vauxhall Gardens, Vauxhall Tenantry Road, Poinsettia Avenue, Primrose Avenue, Casuarina Avenue, Hibiscus Avenue, Warners Terrace, Briar Hall and neighbouring districts. On Thursday, the team returns to Christ Church to fog Atlantic Shores, Coral Drive, Pearl Drive, Spring Terrace, Lighthouse Lane, Oyster Crescent, Seaside Drive, Ocean Mist Close and environs. The team will return to St Michael on Friday to fog Newton Crescent, North Wildey Terrace with Avenues, East Terrace with Avenues, Wildey Gardens and surrounding areas. Fogging takes place between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. each day. Householders are reminded to open their doors and windows to allow the spray to enter. (BGIS)

FREDERIDK SMITH STUDENTS SHINE AT NIFCA – Sophi-Ann Ramsay, 16, Tamayra Norville, 16, Selena Leacock, 17, Ayanna Goodman, 15, Brineshua Brewster, 17 and Cameron Edwards, 17 did credit to their school as they all delivered thrilling performances before a packed Combermere School hall. MC for the night Darren Watson called the name of the school so frequently throughout the programme that, one patron was even heard saying: “Wow another one from Frederick Smith Secondary…They must have a really good music programme.” Sophi-Ann performed in both the first and second half singing Broken and Cast Away and Redemption Song respectively. She was great. Tamayra did a soulful rendition of My Redeemer Lives and then returned to the stage for a duet with Selena. They did Philip 7’s Beautiful Surprise. Brineshua did a convincing version of Hallelujah with Cameron accompanying her on keyboards.  The most delightful and entertaining performance came from the youngest in the group violinist Ayanna. She did A Bajan Medley which included popular folk songs. The talented teen serenaded the crowd with her instrument and danced in between songs. Frederick Smith has been taking part in the national festival for well over five years. Singers such as past students Cherese Richards and Theres Lambert, who are both recipients of NIFCA awards, had become fixtures of the annual NIFCA Gala which showcases the best if the festival. The recently crowned Richard Stoute Teen Talent winner Diandrea Harris is also a former student. It is because of these and other successes that the school boasts one of the better musical programmes. Head of the Fine Arts Department Jarvis Marshall along with music teachers Mark and Andre Forde were there to give guidance and to witness the end result of long hours and days of hard work. The teachers told Barbados TODAY that the students normally practise during school hours and sometimes after school where needed. They praised the students for putting in the hard work and for being part of the school’s successful music programme. The school, which has copped multiple music awards also performs at Ministry of Education Lunchtime Concert, Schools Music Festival, Mango Bay Hotel, Agrofest, Massy events and pageants. (BT)

There are 51 days left in the year Shalom!  Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps #bajannewscaps #newsinanutshell

[trendingnewsb]

Issa Rae: ‘So much of the media presents blackness as fierce and flawless. Im not’

The creator of Insecure talks the dating totem pole, films obsession with slavery and the gender-race pay gap as season two begins

I dont want the stench of the current administration on this show, says Issa Rae. I dont want people to look back and be like: Oh, this was a Trump show. I want them to look back and say Insecure was an Obama show. Because it is: Obama enabled this show. The sharp, pithy, Los Angeles-set comedy, dubbed by US fashion and beauty site the Cut as the black, millennial Sex and The City, which Rae co-created, writes and stars in, first aired on HBO last autumn, exactly a month before the US election. Culturally, Obama made blackness so present, and so appreciated; people felt seen and heard; it influenced the arts, and it absolutely influenced how I see blackness, how I appreciate it, says the 32-year-old Rae. When a black president is a norm, it enables us to be, too.

Being a norm is a matter of some import to the actor and writer, who in spite of her personal allegiances had no desire to make an overtly political show. She never wanted Insecure to be, as she says with a generous eye-roll, a story about the struggle or the dramatic burdens of being black. At the heart of the series is the relationship between her on-screen iteration also named Issa, who works for an educational nonprofit called We Got Yall and raps soliloquies to herself in the mirror and her best friend Molly (Yvonne Orji), a high-flying corporate lawyer. Together, they navigate the professional and personal challenges of late-20s urban life.

I just wanted to see my friends and I reflected on television, in the same way that white people are allowed, and which nobody questions, continues Rae. Nobody watches Divorce [a HBO stablemate, starring Sarah Jessica Parker] and asks: What is the political element, what is the racial element driving this?

Watch the trailer for season two of Insecure.

But so rare is it to see what its creator describes as a show about regular black people being basic in contemporary entertainment Insecure has nonetheless been hailed as revolutionary. It wasnt always so. Growing up, Rae was an avid fan of the predominantly black US sitcoms Moesha, Girlfriends and A Different World. Then they disappeared, she says of the film and television landscape. Somewhere along the way, being white became seen as relatable, and you started to see people of colour only reflected as stereotypes or specific archetypes. So much of the media now presents blackness as being cool, or able to dance, or fierce and flawless, or just out of control; Im not any of those things.

It is a hot and swampy summer afternoon in Manhattan, and Rae is in town doing the requisite rounds of late-night talkshow appearances ahead of Insecures season two premiere. On arrival, she seems a little lethargic entirely understandable, given her promotional schedule. But once seated in a buzzy restaurant, specifically chosen because its the sort of spot that the on-screen Issa and her girlfriends would patronise, Rae immediately perks up, emanating charismatic good humour.

Born in an affluent suburb of Los Angeles, Rae real name Jo-Issa Rae Diop is the third of five children, her father a Senegalese doctor, her mother a teacher from Louisiana. The rapid rise in gang violence in the city prompted Raes parents to move the family to Senegals capital, Dakar, when Rae was five years old. Her father tried to open a hospital there but things didnt work out and, three years later, they came back to the US, but to Potomac, Maryland, on the east coast, where Rae attended a predominantly white private school. When the family moved once again, this time back to LA, Rae entered a largely black and Latino school. Everybody thought I was lame and hated me, she says, matter-of-factly. It was a huge culture shock.

Part of the on-screen Issas insecurity of feeling not black enough for black people and not white enough for white people is, Rae says, something that I have been called out for by kids in my life. Ive experienced a real sense of feeling out of place. But with admirable chutzpah, she found a creative solution: I wrote a play and cast all of my bullies, and they loved it. They thought I was cool after that. She pauses, and gives a wry smile. Well, cool is a strong word. But I wasnt on their shit-list any more.

Big society … Raes character with co-worker Frieda (Lisa Joyce). Photograph: Justina Mintz/HBO

While studying at Stanford University, Rae began to notice that many of the television shows she loved, including Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld, were all-white comedies. Of course, sense of humour is relative, is subjective, but there is an assumption that black people wont find certain things about white comedies funny, she says. I got really frustrated and just wanted to start making my own stories. She conceived and directed Dorm Diaries, a mock reality show with an all-black cast, in the style of MTVs The Real World. When she posted it to Facebook, it quickly circulated, and Rae realised that she had a talent for portraying everyday black life; she has called it my epiphany moment. A few years later, she created what would be her breakthrough web series and the forerunner to Insecure, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.

A web show is one thing, of course, a mainstream television show on a high-profile cable network quite another. I ask her about the sociologist and civil rights activist WEB Duboiss concept of double consciousness, which she has referenced in the past, defined as the psychological challenge of always looking at ones self through the eyes of a white society. Does she feel that even more sharply now than before?

Absolutely. I didnt create this show for white people, I didnt create it for men; I created it, really, for my friends and family, and for their specific sense of humour, she nods. But now that we know we have an audience including HBO executives the double consciousness comes into play, because youre always wondering: How do they see what I am writing? Are they laughing at this specific joke for this particular reason? When season one aired, I had Asian women coming up to me on the street, saying: Oh my gosh, this reminds me of me and my best friend, she recalls. And thats wonderful thats what you want for a show but you are always wondering: What elements do they relate to the most?

I suggest that in future she stops fans and asks for further, more detailed feedback. She throws her head back and laughs. Yes. Excuse me, but why do you like the show? Tell me right now, please.

Boyfriend material … Jay Ellis as Lawrence in Insecure. Photograph: Justina Mintz/HBO

While Insecure may be only inadvertently political, this second season is noticeably more charged with social commentary, and examples of everyday discrimination. Through Molly, the show explores the gender pay gap, with an added issue to unpick: is she being paid less because of her gender, or her ethnicity, or both? These are questions that we constantly have to ask ourselves, as minorities, or double minorities, or triple minorities, nods Rae. In terms of the intersectionality of it all, you are constantly asking yourself: Which part of me is being discriminated against? Which part of me is being targeted? If not all parts of me.

The often-dispiriting experience of modern dating features prominently, too. At the start of this series, Issa has recently broken up from her long-term boyfriend, Lawrence (Jay Ellis), and thrown herself into the choppy waters of Tinder, Bumble and Hinge. Dating in todays digitally enabled world is rough enough but there is, Rae believes, an added dimension for her characters. Black women are at the bottom of the desire chain, of the dating totem pole; were not the trophies, she says.

In rap culture, especially, theres always an idea that once you achieve an amount of success, your trophy is the white girl on your arm. However, she asserts, thats not limited to hip-hop. Its not scientifically proven, but theres evidence, in dating apps for example, that were the last to be chosen, the least desirable. The theory is also explored in Aziz Ansaris Netflix show Master of None, which includes a scene in which one of his dates, a black woman, tells him: Compared to my white friends, I get way less activity [on app dating sites]. I also find that I rarely match with guys outside of my race.

Lawrence, meanwhile, is also experiencing discrimination, albeit in a different form. In one scene spoiler alert! he is picked up by two non-black girls at a grocery store, who lure him to their apartment, where they proceed to seduce him. Their fetishisation of his blackness has echoes of Get Out, Jordan Peeles racism-thriller which triumphed at the box office earlier this year.

That was based on a real-life situation that one of our writers shared, says Rae of the uncomfortable tryst. It didnt end well, which had nothing to do with his blackness, but we thought: How can we make this story apply to fit our show? Every show can have a threesome story gone awry, but how can we make it unique for Insecure?

Off the clock … Rae in New York last month. Photograph: Amy Sussman/Invision/AP

There is a show-within-the-show too, an antebellum-era television drama that several of Insecures characters are glued to. Last year, our show-within-a-show was Conjugal Visits, which was a comment on the trash TV that consumes us all. Setting it in a prison a system which, in this country, incarcerates mainly black and Latino people and making that entertainment, was definitely meta-commentary, nods Rae.

This seasons skewering of popular culture is no less pointed. Theres [been] such an obsession with depicting slavery that the last few years, I have been kind of slaved-out, she sighs. So we thought it would be funny to have the characters obsessed with this new slave interracial drama. A guest-starring role for Sterling K Brown, who won an Emmy for his portrayal of prosecutor Christopher Darden in The People Vs OJ Simpson, ups that meta ante even further, but Rae is quick to assure me that this wasnt a casting that she chased down. No! We actually have an anti-celebrity policy on the show, she insists. We were doing something together for the Independent Spirit awards, and he was, like: I love your show, if you ever want to cast me The musician Syd, another self-proclaimed fan of the show, also makes a brief cameo.

Although Rae resists comparisons between Insecure and Girls and of herself to its creator Lena Dunham: I get the inclination to compare us because were both young women, but the stories were telling couldnt be more different, she says the two share a deliciously frank depiction of female sexuality. Broken Pussy, one of Issas raps, became something of a refrain in season one, after she speculates that Mollys run of bad luck with men might be the result of a defective filtering system.

My friend and I have a thing where we talk in, um, pussy sounds, Rae laughs. I think that most women know whether they want to sleep with a guy or not within the first five minutes of meeting him, and so we speak in Marge Simpson voices about whether or not a guy could get it. She demonstrates. If its a yes, well say: My pussy was like: [Perky, eager voice] Mm-hm, girl. Or, My pussy was like, [Low, negative tones]: Mm-mm. So, the conversation about Molly feeling like she wasnt attracting the right type of guys was me suggesting her pussy might actually be broken.

What did her mother make of this particular piece of dialogue? She only saw it at the screening! Rae laughs. She pulled me aside afterwards and was, like: That mouth, were going to wash it out but, good job.

Insecure continues on Thursday 10 August, 10.35pm, Sky Atlantic

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[kayroseoldblog]

iPad Pro w/ Apple Pencil vs. Wacom Cintiq Companion

Hello everyone!For Christmas this year, I received an iPad Pro 12.9in and an Apple Pencil!

As someone who has been practicing digital art for almost 10 years now, I thought it made sense to throw my two cents into the internet about this tool. I also included a few other people's thoughts on each device to try and make the review as well rounded as possible!

Keeping in mine that my Cintiq Companion 1 is three years old now, and my iPad is the latest 2016 edition, you can take this review with a grain of salt if you like.

Let me first start by listing the tools I have used to draw with...

Drawing Tablets I've used:

Wacom Bamboo Tablet (No longer available)

Wacom Intuous 4 Tablet (No longer available?)

Wacom Cintiq Companion (First gen, 2013, Windows 8)

and now:iPad Pro 12.9 w/ Apple PencilDrawing 

Programs I've used:

Photoshop Elements

Corel Painter

Sketchbook Express

Paint Tool Sai

Fire Alpaca

Photoshop CC

Procreate App

Medibang Paint App

The Cintiq 

I've had a Wacom Cintiq Companion v1 since 2012-2013 ish, and I have always loved it. I took to drawing directly on the screen pretty fast, and since beginning to use it, I've always had a slight disconnect when returning to regular drawing tablets. I'm just not as used to it anymore, but I do use them in a pinch.

The Cintiq has an amazing Tempered Glass screen which gives the texture of the drawing a really nice feel, though it seems to make its accuracy suffer, it's very easy to tell that you are drawing on a SCREEN and theres a bit of glass between you and your drawing, but you hardly notice it when drawing usually.

However, Wacom recently, in my opinion, has been going down hill with its portable tablets...I haven't tried out/seen anyone usng the Mobile Studio, but maybe that one is better! Sure looks promising!

My cintiq's charger has been broken for some time now, and after doing some research I found out that any tablet manufactured before July 2014 has a really bad charging problem...and Wacom will fix it for free, but it's been known to just be a band-aid fix. Many friends have said this about their external drawing tablets from Wacom in recent years as well. It makes me miss my old Intuos 4!

My Cintiq has a battery life right out of the box of between 8-10 hours. I use photoshop extensively to draw, and sometimes switch between that and other programs, making 8 hours about the max I can get out of it. After a year or so, that went down to 5-8. So I wouldnt use this more at home than on the go.​

Pros:

OS is up to you (Mac or PC available)

Desktop Applications (Creative Cloud, etc)

Pen w/ eraser on back- Comes with Stand/Case/Pen in one cost

Sort of Portable

Custom Brushes/Downloadable Brushes

Can use on its own w/ no external monitor​

Pressure Sensitive

Cons:

Heavy heavy heavy!

Very thick

Fan gets loud

Included stand is pretty bad

Calibration is off near the edges (Granted, not many people draw near the edges)- Wacom usually has problems

Horrible Battery life

Takes a long time to charge

Screen resolution is odd

Colors are always slightly off

While my review is of the Cintiq Companion 1, I've noticed not much difference in my friend's Cintiq 2, aside from the battery charge lasting a little longer, and it being a bit lighter in weight, but they had this to say:

"Haven't used the iPad so i'm biased - t's the industry standard, I like having the touch keys while drawing, i like the texture of the surface, and it's powerful enough to run Adobe programs without lag, I also like that it's fairly portable if you don't mind the weight. The color on screen I think is sliiiiightly off bc whenever I transfer it from there to my phone or elsewhere something is just... off with the colors. Cintiq is powerful. Use it if you're like professional, because Adobe programs and other stuff. Plus it's a laptop. But if you're just looking for something to do digital art on, the iPad is cheaper and will do it for you from what I hear.  I enjoy [my cintiq companion 2], it does what I need it to and that's all I asked for."

The iPad Pro 12.9in w/ Apple Pencil

Now to be fair, I've only had my iPad for a week and a half, but I think that's even more impressive, because I love it WAY more than my cintiq

The battery life of the iPad is already way longer than my cintiq ever had. I've charged my iPad once since unboxing it. (it was unboxed at about 70%) and thats with extensive drawing every day. Apple says it gets between 10-18 hours of life depending on what you're doing, and boy is that true The downside is that this thing takes FOREVER to charge again, but for how long it lasts, I suppose it's a small price to pay.

The Apple Pencil has an amazing battery life and charges incredibly fast. I've topped it off once since getting it, and it charges fast. Charging it for 15 seconds supposedly gets you another 30 minutes of life. I haven't tested that out, but I wouldn't doubt it honestly. I was able to charge it from 12% to 100% in just 20 minutes, and that's the only time I've had to charge it!

The Apple Pencil feels great on the iPad, and glides really nicely and naturally. It didn't take me long to get used to it at all, it's very much like drawing on the cintiq screen which I liked. However the pressure sensitivity is even more accurate, and the ability of the pencil to draw exactly where you put down your tip is INCREDIBLE. It's very much like drawing on paper.

The size is also great, as it's like drawing on any A4 paper if you draw portrait, and the real-estate of the screen drawing landscape is even nicer. The resolution is much more comfortable than the cintiq's, and I don't feel like I'm drawing in a super cramped area. (Though this all depends on the App you use, I'm not a fan of Medibang Paint as I feel like everything is so squished!)

The Apple Pencil also has the ability to draw tilted. The cintiq's stylus has this too, but it's not as accurate or helpful. This is what makes the Apple Pencil a PENCIL and not a stylus.

However, the Pencil and iPad, which are sold separately, don't come with anything to hold the Apple Pencil in, so I had to buy a sling for it, which was only 6$, but still. It's an expensive item and you're going to want to keep it, not lose! Before buying the sling, I was constantly worried about misplacing my pencil. I don't mind not having a stand as the iPad Pro is so comfortable to draw with it in your lap, sitting anywhere you like. If you're looking for a stand for it, they're pretty cheap on Amazon

Pros:

Better Pressure Sensitivity/Accuracy

Amazing Battery Life

Extremely Portable

Cheap or free Apps W/ Great Quality. Bridging the gap for Photoshop.

Pencil feels great to draw with

iOS Updates

Custom Brushes/Downloadable Brushes

Feels more natural to draw on

No Lag

Cons

Pencil/Tablet sold separately 

Slow to charge

Case/Accessories all sold separately (I'm told Mobile Studio Cintiq will also have everything sold separate)

No Desktop Apps (Photoshop, Creative Cloud, etc)

No cursor to show how big your brush is (in Procreate at least)

ONLY compatible with iOS for iPad

Not a full computer

I was lucky enough to have professional Comic Artist, K. Lynn Smith of "Plume" give me her thoughts on the iPad Pro as well!

"Pros, extremely fun to draw on, it replicates pencil and paper perfectly and it's portability is amazing. You can draw anywhere. Cons: not a lot of storage space on the iPad, sometimes the airdrop goes wonky, and though the programs available are amazing, there are some options not available...like assistance in drawing a perfect circle or stamp/clone tool. "

You can read Plume here!

The Final Word

In all Honesty, I think I'll be using my iPad Pro for most of my digital work from now on. Between all the apps and features, especially with ProCreate, this tablet is really bridging the gap between a Ciintiq and an iPad. Procreate specificaly is missing a few things such as a crop tool, and a text tool. It also doesn't have quite as many ways to edit as Photoshop does, but it's got most of them and enough that it doesn't bother me. You can also save your files from this app as JPEGS, PNGs, PSDs, and GIFs, to name a few.

My Cintiq is currently on it's way out and wheezing its way through life , but I don't think I'll be totally getting rid of it in case I need to bring something from my iPad over for photoshop, but honestly, I do that with my traditional work already so that really isn't an issue to me.

If you're looking to get into digital work, I recommend the iPad Pro 12.9 and Apple Pencil over the current Cintiq Companions. When adding in all the things you'll need, it comes out to the same price as a Cintiq Companion.

While the Cintiq and Wacom ARE the "Industry Standard", you really cannot tell the difference any longer, and I know of many professionals who use strictly the iPad Pro 12.9! Most studios/Art Directors care about what the work looks like, not what you made it on. (unless you're animating!)

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What you missed at SXSW: Must-know info from the interactive conference

Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Thanks to the annual SXSW Conference and Festivals, the brain power emanating from Austin in the middle of March was almost palpable it seems like everywhere you turned in this Southern city there was another insightful talk, intriguing pop-up and exciting development around cutting-edge technology.

The themes surrounding the SXSW Interactive Festival this year were diverse and far-reaching. From talks that explored modern-day activism and how business can be used as a catalyst for social good, to the intersection between science and storytelling and why fashion is poised to be one of the next big disrupters in the tech industry.

Image: Kevin Krejci/Flickr

Big names ranging from political luminaries to leaders in the fields of film, business and technology graced the stage as speakers, extolling words of wisdom and advice on their captive audiences many of which waited for hours in order to snag a seat inside.

Former Vice President Joe Biden implored attendees to use their technological expertise to help solve the cancer crisis for good.

Youre the future. -Joe Biden

“You’re the future, Biden said. Many of you are developing technologies and innovations for purposes large and small, fun and serious, entertaining and life saving. They have nothing to do with cancer, but you can make a gigantic impact.

Cory Booker, a senator from New Jersey and a veritable social media darling, also imparted wise words for the crowd, telling attendees at his opening keynote that love is the way forward during times of political discord.

“Love says I see you. I recognize your dignity, your value, your worth, said Booker.

A woman participates in an activity during the Empathy Lab at SXSW.

Image: Nicole Cammorata/Mashable

EMPATHY + THE INTERNET

Theres something so simple about allowing people to connect with each other. -Lance Weiler

The empathetic vibes spilled over into some of the breakout sessions too. Virtual Reality is quickly becoming a device that can be used to bridge gaps in understanding between cultures, transporting people into situations and locations dissimilar from their own. This need for empathy is greater now than ever before, and was a big buzzword at this years festival.

One session introduced a new endeavor called Empathy Lab, a partnership between Refinery29 and the Columbia University Digital Storytelling Lab. Here attendees witnessed firsthand the power of empathy, via a series of exercises that sought to shift the way they saw the world and each other.

Theres something so simple about allowing people to connect with each other, said Lance Weiler, founder and director of the Columbia University Digital Storytelling Lab.

At the Paper & Package – How Life Unfolds booth during the SXSW trade show.

Image: Nicole Cammorata/Mashable

DEVICES OF THE FUTURE

A visit to the SXSW tradeshow was a peek into all the cool gadgets, tech and games people were obsessing over. From an electronic tattoo by Rotex with biometric sensors embedded inside, to 3D-printed shoes from Feetz and the Neko Electro posture-correcting headband, there was plenty to nerd out about.

Ever dream that you can fly? Birdly by Somniacs brings that childhood wish to life. The VR experience pairs with a full body apparatus that allows you to flap your wings as you soar through the air. Unlike other flying VR experiences, there is no joystick or controller here. Its all you.

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FROM ACROSS THE POND…

Historically, the UK has been the largest international delegation to attend SXSW and this year was no exception. At the Great Britain House, a three-story enclave that took over Speakeasy on Congress Avenue, festivalgoers could experience a virtual orchestra, VR activations and displays from a host of tech-savvy UK companies.

There was also a head-to-head Tech Off series like a rap battle for tech enthusiasts where speakers fought it out on the roof and got creative about what the future holds for our world.

…AND BEYOND

Another popular spot at the trade show was the NASA station, where people could learn how to collaborate with the agency as citizen scientists, get the latest information on recent missions like the Juno mission to Jupiter and use a special VR station to experience the Orion spacecraft.

A model of the International Space Station at the NASA booth.

Image: Nicole Cammorata/Mashable

ART + SCIENCE

Museums of the future will seek to create physical experiences in a digital space. By combining design, art and technology, exhibits will be able to immerse visitors in an experience no matter where they are. (No museum required.)

Of course, visiting a museum in person will have its own unique flair too.

Imagine a future where VR can make the animal displays at the Museum of Natural History in New York come to life, or where open source data can inform digital displays at an art museum in real time. Its already starting but were just at the beginning. Art and science are coming together more than ever as leaders seek to create experiences that augment all sorts of experiences museums or otherwise.

Our ideas are waiting for tech to arrive so we can put them in place, said Hlne Alonso, the Director of Digital Experiences at the American Museum of Natural History.

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Issa Rae: ‘So much of the media presents blackness as fierce and flawless. Im not’

The creator of Insecure talks the dating totem pole, films obsession with slavery and the gender-race pay gap as season two begins

I dont want the stench of the current administration on this show, says Issa Rae. I dont want people to look back and be like: Oh, this was a Trump show. I want them to look back and say Insecure was an Obama show. Because it is: Obama enabled this show. The sharp, pithy, Los Angeles-set comedy, dubbed by US fashion and beauty site the Cut as the black, millennial Sex and The City, which Rae co-created, writes and stars in, first aired on HBO last autumn, exactly a month before the US election. Culturally, Obama made blackness so present, and so appreciated; people felt seen and heard; it influenced the arts, and it absolutely influenced how I see blackness, how I appreciate it, says the 32-year-old Rae. When a black president is a norm, it enables us to be, too.

Being a norm is a matter of some import to the actor and writer, who in spite of her personal allegiances had no desire to make an overtly political show. She never wanted Insecure to be, as she says with a generous eye-roll, a story about the struggle or the dramatic burdens of being black. At the heart of the series is the relationship between her on-screen iteration also named Issa, who works for an educational nonprofit called We Got Yall and raps soliloquies to herself in the mirror and her best friend Molly (Yvonne Orji), a high-flying corporate lawyer. Together, they navigate the professional and personal challenges of late-20s urban life.

I just wanted to see my friends and I reflected on television, in the same way that white people are allowed, and which nobody questions, continues Rae. Nobody watches Divorce [a HBO stablemate, starring Sarah Jessica Parker] and asks: What is the political element, what is the racial element driving this?

Watch the trailer for season two of Insecure.

But so rare is it to see what its creator describes as a show about regular black people being basic in contemporary entertainment Insecure has nonetheless been hailed as revolutionary. It wasnt always so. Growing up, Rae was an avid fan of the predominantly black US sitcoms Moesha, Girlfriends and A Different World. Then they disappeared, she says of the film and television landscape. Somewhere along the way, being white became seen as relatable, and you started to see people of colour only reflected as stereotypes or specific archetypes. So much of the media now presents blackness as being cool, or able to dance, or fierce and flawless, or just out of control; Im not any of those things.

It is a hot and swampy summer afternoon in Manhattan, and Rae is in town doing the requisite rounds of late-night talkshow appearances ahead of Insecures season two premiere. On arrival, she seems a little lethargic entirely understandable, given her promotional schedule. But once seated in a buzzy restaurant, specifically chosen because its the sort of spot that the on-screen Issa and her girlfriends would patronise, Rae immediately perks up, emanating charismatic good humour.

Born in an affluent suburb of Los Angeles, Rae real name Jo-Issa Rae Diop is the third of five children, her father a Senegalese doctor, her mother a teacher from Louisiana. The rapid rise in gang violence in the city prompted Raes parents to move the family to Senegals capital, Dakar, when Rae was five years old. Her father tried to open a hospital there but things didnt work out and, three years later, they came back to the US, but to Potomac, Maryland, on the east coast, where Rae attended a predominantly white private school. When the family moved once again, this time back to LA, Rae entered a largely black and Latino school. Everybody thought I was lame and hated me, she says, matter-of-factly. It was a huge culture shock.

Part of the on-screen Issas insecurity of feeling not black enough for black people and not white enough for white people is, Rae says, something that I have been called out for by kids in my life. Ive experienced a real sense of feeling out of place. But with admirable chutzpah, she found a creative solution: I wrote a play and cast all of my bullies, and they loved it. They thought I was cool after that. She pauses, and gives a wry smile. Well, cool is a strong word. But I wasnt on their shit-list any more.

Big society … Raes character with co-worker Frieda (Lisa Joyce). Photograph: Justina Mintz/HBO

While studying at Stanford University, Rae began to notice that many of the television shows she loved, including Curb Your Enthusiasm and Seinfeld, were all-white comedies. Of course, sense of humour is relative, is subjective, but there is an assumption that black people wont find certain things about white comedies funny, she says. I got really frustrated and just wanted to start making my own stories. She conceived and directed Dorm Diaries, a mock reality show with an all-black cast, in the style of MTVs The Real World. When she posted it to Facebook, it quickly circulated, and Rae realised that she had a talent for portraying everyday black life; she has called it my epiphany moment. A few years later, she created what would be her breakthrough web series and the forerunner to Insecure, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.

A web show is one thing, of course, a mainstream television show on a high-profile cable network quite another. I ask her about the sociologist and civil rights activist WEB Duboiss concept of double consciousness, which she has referenced in the past, defined as the psychological challenge of always looking at ones self through the eyes of a white society. Does she feel that even more sharply now than before?

Absolutely. I didnt create this show for white people, I didnt create it for men; I created it, really, for my friends and family, and for their specific sense of humour, she nods. But now that we know we have an audience including HBO executives the double consciousness comes into play, because youre always wondering: How do they see what I am writing? Are they laughing at this specific joke for this particular reason? When season one aired, I had Asian women coming up to me on the street, saying: Oh my gosh, this reminds me of me and my best friend, she recalls. And thats wonderful thats what you want for a show but you are always wondering: What elements do they relate to the most?

I suggest that in future she stops fans and asks for further, more detailed feedback. She throws her head back and laughs. Yes. Excuse me, but why do you like the show? Tell me right now, please.

Boyfriend material … Jay Ellis as Lawrence in Insecure. Photograph: Justina Mintz/HBO

While Insecure may be only inadvertently political, this second season is noticeably more charged with social commentary, and examples of everyday discrimination. Through Molly, the show explores the gender pay gap, with an added issue to unpick: is she being paid less because of her gender, or her ethnicity, or both? These are questions that we constantly have to ask ourselves, as minorities, or double minorities, or triple minorities, nods Rae. In terms of the intersectionality of it all, you are constantly asking yourself: Which part of me is being discriminated against? Which part of me is being targeted? If not all parts of me.

The often-dispiriting experience of modern dating features prominently, too. At the start of this series, Issa has recently broken up from her long-term boyfriend, Lawrence (Jay Ellis), and thrown herself into the choppy waters of Tinder, Bumble and Hinge. Dating in todays digitally enabled world is rough enough but there is, Rae believes, an added dimension for her characters. Black women are at the bottom of the desire chain, of the dating totem pole; were not the trophies, she says.

In rap culture, especially, theres always an idea that once you achieve an amount of success, your trophy is the white girl on your arm. However, she asserts, thats not limited to hip-hop. Its not scientifically proven, but theres evidence, in dating apps for example, that were the last to be chosen, the least desirable. The theory is also explored in Aziz Ansaris Netflix show Master of None, which includes a scene in which one of his dates, a black woman, tells him: Compared to my white friends, I get way less activity [on app dating sites]. I also find that I rarely match with guys outside of my race.

Lawrence, meanwhile, is also experiencing discrimination, albeit in a different form. In one scene spoiler alert! he is picked up by two non-black girls at a grocery store, who lure him to their apartment, where they proceed to seduce him. Their fetishisation of his blackness has echoes of Get Out, Jordan Peeles racism-thriller which triumphed at the box office earlier this year.

That was based on a real-life situation that one of our writers shared, says Rae of the uncomfortable tryst. It didnt end well, which had nothing to do with his blackness, but we thought: How can we make this story apply to fit our show? Every show can have a threesome story gone awry, but how can we make it unique for Insecure?

Off the clock … Rae in New York last month. Photograph: Amy Sussman/Invision/AP

There is a show-within-the-show too, an antebellum-era television drama that several of Insecures characters are glued to. Last year, our show-within-a-show was Conjugal Visits, which was a comment on the trash TV that consumes us all. Setting it in a prison a system which, in this country, incarcerates mainly black and Latino people and making that entertainment, was definitely meta-commentary, nods Rae.

This seasons skewering of popular culture is no less pointed. Theres [been] such an obsession with depicting slavery that the last few years, I have been kind of slaved-out, she sighs. So we thought it would be funny to have the characters obsessed with this new slave interracial drama. A guest-starring role for Sterling K Brown, who won an Emmy for his portrayal of prosecutor Christopher Darden in The People Vs OJ Simpson, ups that meta ante even further, but Rae is quick to assure me that this wasnt a casting that she chased down. No! We actually have an anti-celebrity policy on the show, she insists. We were doing something together for the Independent Spirit awards, and he was, like: I love your show, if you ever want to cast me The musician Syd, another self-proclaimed fan of the show, also makes a brief cameo.

Although Rae resists comparisons between Insecure and Girls and of herself to its creator Lena Dunham: I get the inclination to compare us because were both young women, but the stories were telling couldnt be more different, she says the two share a deliciously frank depiction of female sexuality. Broken Pussy, one of Issas raps, became something of a refrain in season one, after she speculates that Mollys run of bad luck with men might be the result of a defective filtering system.

My friend and I have a thing where we talk in, um, pussy sounds, Rae laughs. I think that most women know whether they want to sleep with a guy or not within the first five minutes of meeting him, and so we speak in Marge Simpson voices about whether or not a guy could get it. She demonstrates. If its a yes, well say: My pussy was like: [Perky, eager voice] Mm-hm, girl. Or, My pussy was like, [Low, negative tones]: Mm-mm. So, the conversation about Molly feeling like she wasnt attracting the right type of guys was me suggesting her pussy might actually be broken.

What did her mother make of this particular piece of dialogue? She only saw it at the screening! Rae laughs. She pulled me aside afterwards and was, like: That mouth, were going to wash it out but, good job.

Insecure continues on Thursday 10 August, 10.35pm, Sky Atlantic

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