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"Losing Face"

[source/stock image used: x ]

Glitch art/ditherpunk art made in GIMP with a free stock image from pexels.com. Makes use of (fake) pixel sorting. (Open in new tab for best resolution)

I stumbled over 'pixel sorting' and remembered there is a filter in GIMP that gives a similar effect. Played around with it, and looked at glitch art/pixel sorting and the phrase 'losing face' popped into my head, so that was how I got the idea to make this piece.

I then also played around with dithering options and arrived at two versions I really liked, one of which you can see here - the second one will likely be posted in the future.

I think ppl know what it is like to be so embarrased you want to disappear, to mess up in a way that feels like makes you lose a part of your confidence - maybe even your sense of self (in how others perceive us).

Fitting to make this piece in a Glitch Art style then, as this art style (from what I read) is meant to embrace imperfections and mistakes.

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"take a seat."

Weirdcore/oddcore edit made in GIMP with a free stock image from pexels.com.

Just an attempt at making an image weirdcore that kinda felt like it *could* be but wasn't yet, while trying out different elements of the aesthetic/art style. Also I randomly found this sky-and-clouds pattern in GIMP that looks so eerily fake that I knew I wanted to try using it for something.

(Note: tbh, the longer I look at this the more ways I find this could be interpreted. Neat. I kinda like that. Art is weird like that sometimes.)

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12 pngs of black tape; photographed, scanned and edited by me (in GIMP).

Free to use for collage work, textures, remixing etc. including commercial works. Do not sell these themselves/as is though. Credit not neccessary, but I would be delighted if given credit or shown the art these pngs appear in.

(Question, should I make a post with scaled-down versions of these too?)

Just something I felt like making/trying when I saw some pngs of tape online. Also considering I myself am making collages, it felt right to make some resources myself, especially of stuff I had a bit of a hard time finding.

This will enable me to create some art that I have been thinking about making for a bit, and experiment with textures and the likes more. I am curious if/how other people might use these.

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[sources: x / x / x / x / x / x / x x / x / x / x / x ]

Dithered 'icons' made from free stock images from pexels.com. Inspired by the videogame "Who's Lila?" by Garage Heathen.

I kinda really enjoy the little icons used in Who's Lila? - the lightbulb, the eye and mouth icons etc. So I decided to make a few myself, using stock images and dithering.

These could be used for a fangame, fanart edits, discord emojis/stickers (?), or even a fanpage, for example as a cursor icon or to make an interactive page - the lightbulbs could lead viewers to various subpages for example.

I could even make patterns out of these, now that I think about it. Anyone else have any ideas what to use them for? (Also, anyone interested in the undithered, unscaled pngs?)

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"Waking Dreams / Logistical Nightmare"

[sources: pic 1 x / x . pic 2 x / x . pic 4 x / x / x . moodboard x / x / x / x / x ]

Assorted edits and images I made for @november-venom/ @theoldestview / fable's "Logistical Nightmare" and "Waking Dreams" fanworks for "The Backrooms" and "The Oldest View" by Kane Pixels. Made with screenshots from TOV, images from the Rolling Giant Archive Page, and various free (stock) images.

Considering there is sadly very little written fanworks for The Oldest View especially, I was really excited when I found "Waking Dreams" on AO3. It was around a time when I was pretty sick and just before I got back into GIMP, so it is no surprise I ended up going wild making some stuff inspired by it (and that I hoped would inspire the writer to continue writing hehe).

The first 3 images are variations of a banner for the fanfic, using images from the Rolling Giant Archive and screenshots from The Oldest View. In hindsight, I must say I did quite well considering my GIMP skills were waaay beyond rusty at that point lol. (The phone is a bit too big for example, maybe one day I'll go back and adjust it.)

4th image is based on a little spoiler bit that was posted in the KF server, though that is sadly not canon to Waking Dreams anymore. Still wanted to share it though, considering I tinkered with it for quite a bit and I am still proud how well it turned out.

The last image is a moodboard for Logistical Nightmare, the Backrooms-centered 'prequel' fic for Waking Dreams. I think I managed to capture some of the key aspects from the story in it, even if I couldn't find 100% accurate stock images in some cases. But I like how it turned out.

Fable, I hope you like these and having these in one place. Good luck for your creative endeavours, and Thank You for all you have given this fandom so far.

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"Null Zone Ahead"

2 Warning signs/pictograms + variations made in GIMP. Fanart for "The Backrooms" by Kane Pixels. Self-made, I recycled and altered the Async "A" I made for earlier fanart and used an altered version of the running man pictogram I also used in earlier art (both made by me).

Gosh these are just so much fun to make, I just cannot make myself stop. I love how this could be both an 'ad' for the series but also appear within it - Async might fashion something like this to warn the ppl working the Complex or in the wider world, depending on whether or not Null Zones become common knowledge.

I first made one and then decided I wanted to do a variation as well (a reoccuring theme with my art it seems); one is inspired by Found Footage 2, the other one by Informational Video.

I decided to make the sign Backrooms-yellow instead of the usual, more vibrant warning-sign-yellow, though I suppose Async would actually go with the classic yellow most likely.

(Addition: So I got another idea how to depict the 'no-clipping' and it wouldn't leave my brain, so I did the reasonable thing and made that version as well. Welp. Perfectionism is a curse and a blessing. The first row pics are actually the ones I made later on, 2nd row came first.)

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"take a peak" (Click on the image.)

[source/stock image used: x ]

Glitch art made in GIMP with a stock image from pexels.com.

I love absolutely everything about this. The fact that this almost looks like a heatmap. The fake halftone effect. The pseudo gameboy camera effect. The dithering. The idea to make use of what pngs can do.

This was great fun to make - I am still amazed that I only need a few simple steps and a bit of tinkering for this to work. I really like how this came out, just because the colors and everything appeal to me so much.

The idea to play with the capabilities of pngs and how this can be used to make 'transformative' art came to me when I did some other works, especially my smartphone pixel art for which I made a half-transparent screen. I am really curious what the picture will look like when ppl open this one on their dashboards or (if I am lucky) ppl's blogs. (Feel free to reblog and add a screenshot!)

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"<<<<7" ('And if I don't find you, will you show me the way?')

[source/stock photo used: x ]

Weirdcore edit/digital collage made in GIMP with a stock photo from pexels.com. The pictogram was made for another piece of art in Inkscape.

I decided to try my hand at weirdcore - it kinda fascinates me whenever I see it, even if deliberately making lo-fi or 'low quality' images is a bit difficult for me, since I always attempt to make things look as good and even 'realistic' as possible.

The starting point was the sentence I used in the picture; it just popped into my head and it felt right to continue from there.

The title happened because I was hitting the wrong keys on my keyboard just as I was about to type in a title. I decided to keep it.

No idea if I will make more in this style, but this was fun - I spent a few days without making art and felt a bit burnt out, so being able to make this was very nice.

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"Out With The- (Version 2+3) " (stairs edition)

Pictogram/sign made in GIMP for the videogame 'Who's Lila?' by Garage Heathen. 2 variations/imrovements from the one I posted earlier; dithered and non-dithered versions.

It took me two days and I may have broken my brain a bit in the process, but I *finally* found a way to make a round pictogram staircase, at least a very simple one. FINALLY! YES!

So I went back to this piece and changed it a bit and added the staircase. I love this version, in part because it was so difficult to figure out one central part of it.

(I'd love to say that I am never ever going to touch spiral staircases in pictograms again, but alas, I am pretty sure I will. I already got an idea or two.)

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"Pitfalls - No Right Turn / No Turn Left" (2 versions)

Pictogram made in GIMP for "The Backrooms - Pitfalls" by Kane Pixels. I re-used the Async "A" I had used in the Backrooms exit sign I made earlier.

This one gave me a genuine headache, and I am still seeing bits I could improve on - the street should continue on into the tunnel etc. It took me a ridiculous amount of time and planning (at least, in my own opinion) to get things right, and I needed about 2-2,5 hours to finish this piece. Perhaps 3. At times, I wasn't even sure if I would be able to pull off using only two colors.

BUT - aside from some stuff I might return to, in order to further 'tweak' the picture (like the aforementioned street etc), I am actually kinda proud I managed to do this. I think once I got a nap and that headache is gone, I will actually be pretty happy with this.

I really liked the look of the 'red neighborhood' in the Pitfalls video and how eerie it looked, and when I saw a screenshot of the look from the tunnel after finishing the backrooms exit sign, something in me felt very compelled to try and make a pictogram out of that particular scene.

(Update: I actually went back some hours later and made the version with the street going into the tunnel. Because perfectionism. Took me like another 30 minutes at least. I also went back and centered the image a bit more - still not perfect, but better than before imo. I decided to post both versions because I like each one for its own reasons.)

(The title is a play on traffic signs - I saw one that said 'Only Left Turn' and then I realised the potential for wordplay.)

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"Faded"

[sources: x / x . x / x ]

Grunge art experiments made in GIMP with stock images from pexels.com.

I was experimenting and ended up with the picture looking like a faded sticker one might find outside somewhere, stuck to a lamppost or a bill board or sth of that kind. So I cut out the shape and added a border, and it does indeed look like a faded sticker to me. One more experiment in grunge art, this is a result I really like. So I made one more.

Also, I originally had some glitching in there due to the very dark black shadows, but I found a way to mitigate that while working on this.

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A set of 23 digital stamps (200 x 100) I made in GIMP with screenshots from 'The Oldest View' video series by Kane Pixels. The stamp border is self-made.

Not much to say here really - after I had made the border, I wanted to try out making a few more stamps and settled on making some for TOV, considering I haven't found any stamps for the series so far. I mostly used screenshots I had originally taken for other TOV fanart projects of mine.

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"Ladybug - Pattern" (pixelart pattern)

A pattern made out of the ladybug pixelart I made. I made the ladybug in Aseprite and the pattern in GIMP.

I decided to go all the way and made a simple pattern out of my little ladybug pixelart. I might also make neocities stamps or some other stuff, I am not quite sure yet.

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"(Literal) House of Light"

[source: x ]

Album/playlist cover made in GIMP with a free stock photo from pexels.com.

I found a tutorial about how to (more easily) make straight lines in GIMP, and really wanted to quickly try out the technique I saw in that tutorial. I looked through pictures to practice on, found one on a lighthouse, remembered a *different* tutorial about making neon lines, and then had a thought: "A literal house of light".

So this is where this piece came from. It is mostly a practice piece but I also liked the idea of the double meaning of 'lighthouse', so as usual when I am not quite sure to make of a finished piece, I turned it into a pseudo album/playlist cover lol.

I enjoy looking at this. I haven't used a lot of blue/cyan color lately, so this is a nice change as well.

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"The Pixel Giant - Pattern" (pixel art)

Pixel art made in Aseprite and turned into a pattern in GIMP, based on 'The Rolling Giant' from 'The Oldest View' by Kane Pixels, the original Julien Reverchon Giant was made by Kevin Obregon.

So I first got into making patterns after seeing one 'in the wild' (going outside) that I really, really liked and wanted to try and make myself. I then ended up making half a dozen patterns. A literal day later, I made the Rolling Giant pixel sprite, so of course I ended up combining both things. XD It just made sense to me. The end result is a Rolling Giant pattern that is completely DIY and that I really, really like and enjoy looking at.

No idea yet as to what I am going to do with this - I might use it as a background for a neocities fanpage or a blog, or maybe make a banner for this blog with it. Anyone have any ideas?

I might also use the original sprite to make some neocities stamps or icons. We'll see if I get around to that.

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"Solar"

Album/Playlist cover art made entirely in GIMP.

My original intent was to try and replicate a solar flare event in GIMP. Which I sadly haven't completely figured out how to do yet - I know I am likely to best replicate the effect with a fractal, but having a headache and working on the tiny preview window was not a very productive combination lol.

So, this is my progress so far - I think I managed to replicate a sun-like planet quite well, and did some fractal experiments as well. Not perfect, but I like it so far. Hopefully I will be motivated enough to return to this in a little while.

Still, it is a good start. And I also did learn a lot of new stuff; the project made me look more closely at the 'render' filters in GIMP and oh boy, is there a *lot* to try out...

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[sources: pic 1 x / x . pic 2 x / x . pic 3 x / x . pic 4 x / x . pic 5 x / x ]

"Southern Reach" aesthetic/moodboard (Books + Movie)

An aesthetic/moodboard made out of digital collages I made in GIMP depicting entities and people (or concepts) from the Southern Reach books by Jeff Vandermeer or the movie 'Annihilation' by Alex Garland (previous digital collages). Made with stock photos from pexels.com. Made to celebrate the release of "Absolution".

Further thoughts below the cut:

I made a couple of 'creature collages' for the Southern Reach books and eventually ended up having enough of them to make an aesthetic/moodboard, though it also kinda works as a showcase imo. They are not strictly meant to be realistic depictions, but more conceptual. Overall, the collages are on the simple side, but I like the simplicity.

This one features the deer from the movie 'Annihilation', the dolphin with the human eye from the book, the owl mentioned in 'Acceptance', the human-plant hybrids/statues from both the book and the movie 'Annihilation', and the bear-creature from the movie.

I think this turned out pretty well, it is kinda abstract and kinda visceral in its depictions of the entities I wanted to portray.