bisexualkatelyn

[bisexualkatelyn]

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

[bisexualkatelyn]

hey these are some tips for some of the little details in drawing fat folks that some people might not know!

everyone has fat on their bodies so its a worthwhile skill to have, but most art tutorials leave it out. heres some other good tips from artists!!

[bisexualkatelyn]

for all of you who struggle to draw horse feet. :) You’ve gotta have those pasterns in there, as they are the horse’s main shock absorbers, as seen in the “bearing weight” example.

If you can handle an animal autopsy, here’s an interesting vid on how the muscles and joints work in the lower leg of the horse.

[bisexualkatelyn]

Writing Deaf Characters | Speech is Speech

Before I get going, I’m 75% deaf, as some of you know, semi-reliant on hearing aids and lip reading. My first languages were Makaton sign and then BSL. I now use spoken English.

There are a lot of issues I find with how deaf people are represented in books, when represented at all. I would love to see more deaf and hard of hearing characters in the books I read- without having to read books specifically about deaf/HoH people- but when I find them, they’re grossly undercharacterized or stereotyped. Authors write them in a way that sets signing language characters apart from speaking characters as if they are inferior, and this makes my blood boil.

Some technicalties

I’ll keep this brief.

You may have heard that “deaf” is a slur and you should use “hearing impaired”. Don’t. I’ve never met a deaf or hard of hearing person who believed that. Use deaf for people who are deaf, and Hard of Hearing (HoH) for people who lack hearing. These can be interchangeable depending on the person. This is why sensitivity readers are a useful part of the beta process.

Sign language is incredibly varied. It developes in the same way as spoken language. Fun fact: in BSL there are at least half a dozen ways to say bullshit, my favourite of which is laying your arms across one another with one hand making a bull’s head sign and the other hand going flat, like a cowpat. It’s beautifully crude, and the face makes the exclamation mark. Wonderful.

There are different sign languages. Knowing more than one would make a character multi or bi-lingual, even if they are non-speaking.

Makaton is basic sign language used by children, and it mirrors the very simple language used by toddlers.

Yes, we swear and talk shit about people around us in sign language sometimes, and no, it isn’t disrespectful to have signing characters do this. Just remember that we also say nice things, and random things, and talk about fandoms and TV shows and what we’re having for dinner, too.

Each signed language is different from another. ASL and BSL? Nothing alike. Just google the two different signs for horse.

Remember that sign language is a language, equal to the spoken word

Therefore, treat it as such. Use quotation speech marks and dialogue tags. You only need to explicitly state that this character uses signed language once, and then let your modifiers and description do the rest.  It isn’t a form of “sub-speech" or “making hand actions”- sign language is a language all on its own: it has its own grammar rules, syntactical structures, punctuation, patterns, idioms and colloquialisms. For example, “what is your name?” becomes “Your name what?” with the facial expression forming punctuation in the same way that spoken English uses alterations of prosodic tone (inflections). There is even pidgin sign; a language phenomenon usually associated with spoken language.

In the same way that you would describe a spoken-English character’s tone of voice, you would describe a signed-English speaker’s facial expressions and the way that they sign- keeping in mind that these things are our language’s equivalent of verbal inflection.

So please, none of that use of “special speech marks” or italicised speech for sign. If your viewpoint character doesn’t understand signed speech, then you take the same approach that would be used for any other language they don’t understand, like French or Thai. E.g “He said something in rapid sign language, face wrinkling in obvious disgust.” is a good way of conveying this. The proof that you’ve done this well is in whether or not you can switch “sign language” for French or something else, and it would read the same.

Don’t be afraid to describe how things are said, either. Sign language is such a beautiful and expressive way of talking, and to see a writer do it justice would be truly fabulous. Putting this into practise:

“Oh, I love maths!” She said, fingers sharp and wide with sarcasm. She raised her eyebrows.

“I’m sorry.” He replied and made his face small, but could not keep the grin forming. She was starting to laugh, too.

This is part one of two, for the sake of readability and keeping the information simple as I can. Part two- writing the deaf characters themselves- is coming up over the weekend. See you then and best luck with your writing until that point :D

This is part of my weekly advice theme. Each week I look at what you’ve asked me to help with, and write a post or series of posts for it. Next week: settings and character development (including heroes, anti-heroes, villains, and every other kind of character).

[bisexualkatelyn]

A writer’s guide to forests: the timber harvest

Looking for something that can serve to set the atmosphere, be a background detail, or even be a plot point? One idea would be the logging industry. No matter your characters or their society, as long as they live on land, they will need wood. The scale of harvesting can greatly impact the forest, and your characters.

The three methods of harvesting both wild and managed woodland are:

Clear cutting- In the short term, this method allows for the greatest yield. An area of forest, sometimes many acres in area, is selected, and all trees within are felled. What happens next can vary. Land slated for settlement or farming will be left cleared, while areas that are part of a managed woodland or plantation will be left to regenerate. Periodically, trees that are diseased or crowded will be removed, but otherwise the forest will be left alone until the time of harvesting. Clear cutting is controversial as the wide scale destruction leaves the topsoil exposed and vulnerable to being carried away by the wind or water runoff. The large scale clearing also destroys large swaths of habitat for wildlife, which can spell trouble for endangered species.

Seed tree harvesting-This is a variation on clear cutting. At the time of harvest, several trees are spared from cutting. These then disperse seeds which become the basis for new growth. As the new trees grow, they are periodically thinned, and the parent trees are harvested. Once the trees reach maturity, a small number are marked to be left standing, and the cycle begins again. As the forest floor is (almost) fully exposed, this method of harvesting suffers from the same problems as regular clear cutting.

Select harvesting- The least destructive method of logging. Only a small number of trees are harvested, with the rest of the forest left alone. As more of the canopy is left intact, the forest floor will naturally be shaded, and the growth of new trees will be slower than if the area was cleared and exposed to the sun. Critics argue that this makes selective cutting not viable from a monetary standpoint, especially when there is a high demand for wood and wood derivatives. Supporters say it is more sustainable and preserves the most forest area for wildlife.

No matter how the forest is harvested in your story, there will be a few things that will more or less be constant. Your characters will need some sort of camp where they live, and where they bring logs. There may be a sawmill on site, as well as a way to transport characters, wood, and supplies. Roads or railways can be used to move on level ground. If there are hills or deep ravines, it would make sense for some sort of chute, funicular, tramway, or switchback railway to be used. And don’t forget about water. Rivers, lakes, and canals can be traversed by boat, with large inlets or natural harbors being the ideal anchorage for timber ships. What is the daily life of people here?

Now, the disruptions caused by logging can be a driving factor or your plot. This could trigger conflict between lumbermen and activists, or people who already live in the forest. What will the felling of trees mean for the wildlife? And is this just a timer harvest, or the prelude to settlement? How these conflicts play out will affect your characters and their society. Look to history for inspiration, but don’t be afraid to take things is a different direction.

[bisexualkatelyn]

I made an art/anatomy tutorial about birds! I hope people will find it helpful!

[bisexualkatelyn]

ATTENTION WRITERS

Google BetaBooks. Do it now. It’s the best damn thing EVER.

You just upload your manuscript, write out some questions for your beta readers to answer in each chapter, and invite readers to check out your book!

It’s SO easy!

You can even track your readers! It tells you when they last read, and what chapter they read!

Your beta readers can even highlight and react to the text!!!

There’s also this thing where you can search the website for available readers best suited for YOUR book!

Seriously guys, BetaBooks is the most useful website in the whole world when it comes to beta reading, and… IT’S FREE.

[bisexualkatelyn]

[bisexualkatelyn]

(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

[bisexualkatelyn]

I have the kind of brain disease where my reaction to shrooms is “I have an idea for a Garfield comic”

[bisexualkatelyn]

like okay if we're talking about this anatomically the ear holes on a human skull and a cat are actually in the same spot it's a difference in the shape of the cranium. you can see what's happening if you look at hairless cats

ears is big. so you can put the cat ears wherever you want if you start them at the same point as where the human ears would go.

just like. pull the sideburns back a little and it's fine. it's fine.

it's the best way to catify your blorbos with visible human ears. but that's just my........ purrsonal opinion..............

[bisexualkatelyn]

tweet

Something like this would be so colossally helpful. I'm sick and tired of trying to research specific clothing from any given culture and being met with either racist stereotypical costumes worn by yt people or ai generated garbage nonsense, and trying to be hyper specific with searches yields fuck all. Like I generally just cannot trust the legitimacy of most search results at this point. It's extremely frustrating. If there are good resources for this then they're buried deep under all the other bullshit, and idk where to start looking.

[bisexualkatelyn]

Art Help

I redid this list because broken links 💀

General Tips

Stretch your fingers and hands

Art is for fun

Never too late to start/improve

Using a tablet

Editing software: pictures & video

Moodboard resources

Comic pacing

Watercolor

Coloring

Color Theory (not children's hospital)

Resources: coloring things a different color

Gold

Dark Skin undertones

Dark Skin in pastel art

POC Blush tones

Eyes colors

Cohesive Color Palette

Lights and Colors

Human Anatomy

POSE REFERENCES

Wizard Battle poses

Romance poses

Shoulders

Tips for practicing anatomy

Proportional Limbs

Skeletons

Hair Directions

Afro, 4C hair

Cane use

Clothing

Long skirts

Traditional Chinese Hanfu (clothing reference)

CLOTHING REFERENCE

Sewing information

Animals

Horse -> Dragon

Snouts: dogs, cats, wolves, fox

Foot, paw, hoof

More

Drawing references sources

Art tutorial Masterlist

Another art tutorial Masterlist

Inspiration: father recreates son's art

Inspiration: Lights

ART BOOKS

Plants/flowers: North America, Hawaii, Patagonia

Art Cheats

[bisexualkatelyn]

”there is girl autism and there is boy autism” is a piss poor way of reading “autistic girls may internalize their autistic traits differently as kids” and “we perceive the same traits differently when they’re on girls.”

[bisexualkatelyn]

“Techniques for drawing hands with clenched fists”

Source: Twitter

[bisexualkatelyn]

If you feel a little crazy looking at news coverage of Gaza or any other military operations, I HIGHLY recommend looking at the Words About War guide which provides lists of misleading phrases commonly used by governments and the media to obscure the realities of war. Sitting down with a news article with this guide and replacing things like "enemy noncombatant" with "civilians" will change the entire way you look at war news and the media as an agent of the military machine. They also have a special guide on Gaza!!