raincandyart

[raincandyart]

This one is fury and betrayal. A prisoner of those she trusted, a demon to those who trusted her, robbed of the life she believes she was owed. She will make for a wary heart.

Do not mourn her, for she would not mourn you.

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oh my god i forgot to share my full piece for @aawomenzine

absolutely bonker to see how gorgeous everyone's work were I want to chew my hands off tysm for letting me join the zine, technically one of my first zine everrr ;;;-;;;;

this piece was a lot of fun and effort to make, i wanted to incorporate snow white elements here (poison apple, mirrors, jealousy, the witch whos also the princess, glass casket, etc.) to various degrees of success 😅❤️ regardless i had a lot of fun brainstorming for it!!!

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I am in so much physical pain but I must play umamusume

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My piece for @aatranszine !! (definitely check it out if you haven’t already)

Ms. Edgeworth is ready to choose some new courtroom attire ⚖️

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I will say this ONCE. if you are an intense Krisnix fan. you should listen to Fiona Apples Shadowboxer

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opened up a couple slots for sketch comms on kofi again *smiles*

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dollie request from tiktok

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🔑🥩 the comfort of a warm bed 🔑🥩

speedpaint!!

boosty | patreon

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shes my fave

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i love dahlia both as a character and a villain but its always so frustrating how much fanworks involving her just kind of ignore the fact that she barely knows phoenix, doesn't really care about him, and only met him twice.

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just spent about two or so hours updating all my characters on artfight @raincandyart and while I might not be revenging.. if you're looking for someone to attack, I am a willing victim 👍

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best mom(s) ever

my page for @aawomenzine! go and check out the leftover sale if you missed out!

[raincandyart]

“That One Hairstyle? RETIRE IT!” Black Hair is an Art (pt.1)

(This is part one of two lessons, with this one focusing on how our hair itself! The next lesson will encompass how to incorporate its existence into your writing. It'd be a massively long post otherwise.)

So! Black hair. Black hair is a CENTRAL, ESSENTIAL part of our culture and identity. Writing and drawing it means understanding the vulnerability and trust that comes with access to it, and yes, it is racist to suggest that ‘it’s just hair’ when our hair serves such an important role in our history and art. I already wrote a mini-lesson and ask on the topic, but being aware of what our hair looks like, and what means to us, will help you to understand why we care that you put in the effort to get it right.

Hair Textures

We are not a genetic monolith! However, for the sake of this series, we are focusing on 3C-4C, because 1) it's most likely to be seen in life and 2) least likely to be seen in popular art! When you are creating your characters, consider the style and care for THESE textures. I will get more into this next lesson.

Let's get into SOME of the hairstyles!

Afros (36 Afro Hairstyles)

“So, what’s the phenomenon behind the Afro? Well, it’s our hair in its most natural form, but that’s only part of the phenomenon. It’s a way to fight the status quo without saying a word.”

-Ebony Magazine, The History of the Afro

When nonBlack society hears ‘afro’, they think completely picked out, Black power imagery, political statement. And it was, and is! But in actuality, afros are just the natural hair growing out of a Black person's head. The same way your hair grows out of your head. Our texture. Even my hair is not allowed to be ‘hair’, it has to ‘assign’ my Blackness; my distance from whiteness. Imagine, the hair growing out of your head being automatically associated with how you should be perceived. Just by existing, it is making a statement in a Eurocentric society.

Braids (31 Braid Styles)

There are SO MANY TYPES of braids and ways to wear them. If you can imagine a design, I bet there's a Black braider that can do it!

CORNROWS ARE NOT AUTOMATICALLY BRAIDS! Internalize this! They may be used in the same style, but they are NOT INTERCHANGEABLE TERMS!

Braids are considered a protective style; that is, a hairstyle designed to let our hair 'rest' and grow without having to manipulate it. If you have a Black character that's constantly on the go and/or doesn't have time to focus on their hair, and you want an accurate, more true-to-life experience for them, braids can be a crucial part of character design.

Locs

(Yes, while that link has plenty of examples, it was also self-indulgent. Locs are gorgeous, Black men with locs are gorgeous!)

"Locs vs Dreads": As someone in the loc community, there’s been a push to refer to the style as ‘locs’, rather than ‘dreadlocks’. Some people with the style will not care, but others take it very seriously, so it’s something to keep in mind. There’s a societal stigma behind having locs, that they’re ‘dirty’ or ‘unkempt’ or ‘lazy’ and that is NOT true. Locs are beautiful, and they take far more effort than people seem to want to believe lmao.

Locs, though there is currently a positive revival, are still highly discriminated against. Kids have been expelled from school and even have had their hair forcibly cut off to be allowed to participate in sports. Many places won't hire you if they think your hair is 'unprofessional' or 'dirty', especially if you're a Black woman. To consider yet another example of the hair that grows out of my head 'dirty' is extremely racist.

LOCS ARE NOT BRAIDS!!!!

Locs are also a protective style, albeit a much more permanent one, and one that comes with a long history and culture behind it. Many Black people consider the biblical story of Samson to be a man with locs, and that our locs hold power within them. That not just anyone should be allowed to touch your locs. So, if you're interested in mythology and powers, that might be an intriguing way to go, that would be possible if you had a Black character with locs!

In Professional Media

The lack of awareness and concern about our hair isn't just a fan or amateur creator experience. It is ubiquitous in the professional media world. Black actors, actresses, and models have discussed having to do their own hair when working, because no one would properly care for it on set if it wasn't familiarly white. It’s admittedly grown better- however! After decades of not having options other than ‘stereotypical afro’, ‘box cut’, and ‘white people hair’, it is LONG PAST TIME to stop settling for the bare minimum in Black character design. We can tell when "one of us" (with some sense, at least) wasn't in the room to make decisions in popular media.

If you were curious about the lesson title, here's a current example of what I'm talking about in video games. Tell me if you see a pattern:

This style? The Killmonger? We seent it!!!! It has become the “hairstyle to show I understand the exaggerated swagger of a young Black teen” option, the "I know the Black people!" go-to, and frankly, we are all tired of it. Okay it was cute on Ekko. The Black Delegation DEMANDS the professional video game industry pick something else! We have SO MANY DIFFERENT HAIRSTYLES!

I'll give you an example on the other end (not trying at all; refer to Lesson 1) from one of my favorite games, Hades:

This is my blorbo. My favoritest guy. I’ll fight for Patroclus being Black til the day I die. While I begrudgingly settled in my excitement, I can tell you no one Black with any voting power was in the room at Supergiant when they approved this design. Why? His texture! Locs were such an easy option if they wanted long hair! Locs existed BEFORE Ancient Greece! The man did not have a flat iron while fighting in a war! A good Black designer would have considered that!

To give him a more accurate design, some artists (myself included) lean into giving him locs (one of my favorites is @karshmallow 's Pat; a phenomenal example in caring about your Black characters). It’s something Black fans find themselves doing- redesigning Black characters. That's not something we should have to do at all, especially in media we pay for!

But if you REALLY want your Black character to have straight hair, that leads into the last style of this lesson:

Straight Hair

We do have straight hair. But it’s not straight because it grew out that way! It will still look and be thicker! It might be a wig or a sew-in (human or synthetic), it might be flat-ironed (while relaxed? While natural?) It takes effort to get and maintain straight hair.

'I think it looks better good this way!'

If you catch yourself thinking this, this is a racist statement. Whether you’re aware of it our not, there is a bias towards Eurocentric/white features in our society, and that includes in our media. When you think “I only drew [this Eurocentric hair texture and style] because I think it looks good on them!” I want you to PAUSE and think about the WHY. WHY do you think that this Black person’s natural features are unattractive in comparison to the white hair texture you gave them? And how hurt might a Black peer of yours would feel hearing that you find their natural features not worth drawing because they’re “not attractive”. It requires approaching your own internal biases, recognizing them, and then working to unlearn them. And that means practice! Using references to draw our hair and styles, and growing used to using OUR features on US!

Doing it in Art

Me personally, I think if you think drawing thinner hair textures is easy, thicker hair textures should be a BREEZE. I was curious, so I challenged myself and-

(it took me about thirteen minutes total to do ol boy's hair and it's still not right. I'm sick fr y'all don't even know 🤢)

@ackee has a really good art lesson on the how-tos of drawing Black hairstyles. I highly recommend checking it out, as well as following and supporting a fellow Black artist (who is far better than I!)

Hair Brushes

Finally, an option you can use for painting is downloading Black hair brushes! Vegalia has an amazing array of brushes with different types of curls, locs, and braids at her Etsy store! You can also follow her on social media to see how she applies them, and support yet another amazing Black creative!

I know this was a long one, but you made it! Just keep going. Remember, it's the thought that counts, but the action that delivers!

[raincandyart]

🫂Please stop and listen to my story. Don't ignore me.💔

Save family 🙏💔

My name is Enas. I have eight children of varying ages and two grandchildren.

The reality of war, pain, and destruction we have faced daily for nearly two years is indescribable. Before that, we were a normal family, like yours: we worked in various professions (accountant, school guard, nurse, etc.), held social gatherings, and celebrated birthdays. Since then, we have lost everything: our homes, our jobs, our possessions, our family members, and our friends. Our lives are in tatters.

The past three months have been hell. Constant displacement (five times), living in a squalid tent, water scarcity, and unbearable food. We eat at most one meal a day, usually canned beans or rice. The cost of one meal that would suffice for my family for a day is $50, and prices are constantly rising.

Escaping starvation and death seems impossible. The crossing is closed, keeping us trapped in Gaza.

I launched this campaign because it is our only hope for survival until the crossing is finally opened, or, God willing, this war ends and reconstruction begins.

You are our hope. Your contributions make a direct difference in our daily lives, and we use the funds as soon as they arrive (the total you see is the generous donations from people since the beginning of our campaign).

Every cent counts. Every contribution within your network helps us.

I will always be extremely grateful to you.

Help us live 🚨💔 donate to us, even if it's a little. Extend a helping hand and save us. Prices are high, and we can't satisfy our children's hunger. Can you donate $100? If you can't donate as much as you can and share my post so my children's cries reach as many people as possible. Thank you in advance🙏🫂🥹.

Please donate to me as much as you can. 🙏🥺😭💔

Your donation, even if it's small, could save us. It could bring a smile to the face of a child who has only known the cruelty of war🥺🙏🍉.

✅️Vetted by @gazavetters , my number verified on the list is ( #611 )✅️

Verified by : @ana-bananya

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Hey guys! Mohammed Ayesh's initiative to help University students in Ghazzah pursue and finish their degrees has finally taken off! Of course for this initiative to be successful, they need continuous support. Ayesh has decided that a medium-term goal of 10k would make most sense to aim for, as that would provide several more months of rent, maintenance, and supplies for the academic needs of the students. Rebuilding Ghazzah after the genocide ends begins with rebuilding the careers of academics and professionals, and you can help by being a part of this rebuilding effort!

[raincandyart]

Sketch request from @queeranarchistscissorsister

"Catgirl"

[Image ID: the first image is of a sketch of a catgirl. She has long twin pigtails, large cat ears, a cat tail, and downturned eyes with long underlashes. She is wearing a strapless corset top, shorts, heeled leather boots, and long socks covered in a sardine pattern which have "meow" written across the top. She is smiling shyly, and is in the anime catgirl pose. There is a solid pink background. The second image is a close up of the catgirl's face. END ID]

Plus! Another catgirl under the cut (blood tw)

[Image ID: a sketch of a different catgirl, who has short, wild hair and several scars. Her eyes are in slits and she is holding a dead fish in her mouth. There is a blood spatter on her face and shoulder. END ID]

I think catgirls should be a little violent. As a treat.

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