#I use a free sketch book app

[glo-katt84]

Guys

I'm gonna be honest with you I do all of my digtital art on my phone lol

[not-poignant]

Hello, I was wondering if you have any tips for how to start getting into writing?? I’ve always wanted to write the stories in my head down but I struggle with writing and am not very good in general haha. When I read your books I get so filled with inspiration but feel like it’s too late for me to start ( even though logically I know I’m still quite young, but being in my final year of university feels like I’m running on quicksand ).

When reading Falling Falling Stars for the first time, it was like being shown a new type of love, being shown that has changed me as a person, which is why I’m reaching out.

Thank you for your time and for sharing your wonderful stories.

Hi anon!

People can learn how to write - especially for themselves - at any age. In fact sometimes it's easier to start when you're a bit older, when you've read and experienced a lot more stories and have an idea of the kind of things you enjoy reading.

It's important mostly to just be patient and gentle with yourself. You don't have to sit down and write a contained story, free yourself from the idea that you have to write a chronological/sequential complete story when you get started.

Start with the things you want to see most. Say there's a show where you just want two characters to hook up. Write a page of that. Not even the reason why, just...start with what you're imagining.

At first it might not be exactly what you're hoping for. There will be lines you like, and dialogue you think 'oh yeah this is kind of what I wanted' etc. that's okay. Think of it like...when people start out in art, it's not what they imagined yet, but that doesn't mean it's bad! It's a 'sketch.' It's good to do lots of writing sketches too.

If you find you enjoy writing things that you've always imagined and wish you could read, practice other things too! You can look around your environment and write 'how would I describe where I'm sitting if I loved this place more than anywhere else in the world' and then write 'how would I describe where I'm sitting to an alien' or 'how would I describe how this place smells, or looks, or sounds (practice listening for the sounds outside too, it can be meditative!), or feels to the touch.'

You can do those 'sketches' anywhere - in cafes, in restaurants, on public transport, on your notes app at a friend's place, at a family dinner after everyone's eaten and you're just chilling.

And then often without thinking about it, you will use those skills to breathe more life into the things you want to see most in your writing. Instead of just a one page hook up, you might write four pages where you describe the bedroom, how things feel, what the 'mood' is etc.

All you need is an urge to see certain things in the world and wanting to write them down. Put down random lines of dialogue. If you imagine two characters arguing, or hugging, or making up, write down somewhere quickly: 'These two characters hugging' to inspire you later. Maybe something specific about it makes you happy. 'They're hugging but this one is grabbing the other one's jumper/sweater really tightly.'

Writing for me is a sequence of moments, and while I write chronologically / sequentially now, I didn't used to! I gave myself permission to write scenes because I found it freeing, because if nothing else, then I have a scene of something I always wanted to see in the world. Maybe I do nothing more than just read and enjoy it sometimes, well, that's what I wanted - to write something I wanted to see in the world!

Anyone can do that, anon, and age is seriously no barrier to that. Writing creatively is one of those things that, like wine, tends to age/get better with time, whether you're practicing it or not. Learning more about the world, other people, ourselves, and the things in it, reading more, watching more film and TV, that actually enriches our imaginative landscape, and that's what fuels writing (even if you don't have an 'imagination' in the classic sense).

Writing creatively isn't about writing 'books' - anyone can sit down and write a moment, and you can too. And if you don't like looking at a blank page, just put down a sentence. Even a sentence from another story that inspires you.

My favourite writing advice to defeat a blank page because it always makes me laugh is:

Write the worst sentence you possibly can. Like, go out of your way and make it bad and silly.

'What a dumb brown rug.'

There, you no longer have a blank page! And you can definitely write a better sentence than that!

'He hated that rug, the colour reminded him of mud, and it didn't suit the room at all.'

'He rubbed his shoes on the brown rug, locking his hands together, twisting his fingers and hoping no one noticed him.'

But you know, 'what a dumb brown rug' is fun too. :D

And ultimately, you just have to try and have some fun with it <333

[kimyoonmiauthor]

Better Novel Scrivener Template

BTW, If you liked the Settings Template, this has that plus more...

The Current Novel Template is out of date, the templates aren't really doing much for you. And the variety of icons is rather thin. I set out to fix this.

The template as a whole is PG-13 as the Character Template mentions "dangerous" things like "Kinks" and "Safe Words" OMG. I know. So terrible. So if you don't want to explain those things to anyone underage, don't download it.

As I am NB, and generally queer otherwise, I have included things like Sexual Orientation, Romantic Orientation and a whole load of things to think about when building CHARACTER, SETTING, WORLDBUILDING. I included things that people often forget by using my Uni and College knowledge.

Please, please read the "Read Me First" file if you want to avoid having to load missing icons. I give instructions.

In case you still opened it despite my warnings or it doesn't work, you'll have to load in the icons manually. In which case this is a reference:

The New Icons are: Domestic Products, Imported Goods, Exported Goods, Laws, and Social Stratification. I added extra icons for Weapons and Warfare in case you're not writing Fantasy. Laser Guns and a Historical Pistol.

I did my best to make it CULTURALLY NEUTRAL. If you want them specific, you're on your own.

I also added if you'd like to load them

All these Icons to the folder so You can finally color code your manuscripts to your heart's content. (My unending frustration with Scrivener).

I added an SVG file so if there is an exact shade I missed on the Spiral Notebook Colors or the Hardcover Books, you can add it.

The Composition Notebook file isn't included as it contains a pattern. However, I made pains to make sure it matches real life colors that exist in Composition Notebooks. You wanted the Settings Template? There are 2. One for City/Towns. One general one.

Zero Organization or Clue on Querying or Self pubbing?

I put up Organization Folders for you.

Here are the Templates you get. Everything is beefed up for you. I spent forever on these Templates and testing them. I also cued Styles to them so it's easy to change the colors. If you want to change something, as the About document says, turn on invisibles.

The Default Styles aren't useless anymore.

If you need a more Definitive Guide, I also made one in the file:

Download the Scrivener Template. It is a ZIP FILE Win Zip or other Zip app should be able to handle it.

Warning: Direct Download https://www.kimyoonmi.com/BetterNovelScrivenerTemplate.zip If you want to Skip the Template completely, but are wishing to add the Icons to your Scrivener:

https://www.kimyoonmi.com/ScrivenerIcons.zip

This template itself is not for sale or profit nor are the icons. Also don’t be the person that lies that says you made it. It’s a Creative Commons License Attribution, Noncommercial, No Derivatives by Yoonmi Kim 2024. You may change it for personal use only. Any problems can be addressed directly to me at https://www.kimyoonmiauthor.com. If you would like to translate this into other languages, let me know.

Don't be the ass that tries to sell my hard work, 'cause really, it's free. And I spent a lot of pains and time to make sure it's free and easy to use with a lot of subtle UX. Edit: I added even more stuff to the newest version.

Yes, a Pets Sketch, a Fauna Species Sketch a Flora Species Sketch, there is Literature added to the list of Art (I forgot it. lol I thought the mistake was silly, but yeah.)

And I added a Medicine Section with an icon to the technology section. There are two native icons already for Medicine--syringe and pill, but I kind of felt it didn't always give the feel of fantasy, so I made a Mortar and Pestle from scratch to add, but if you're doing sci-fi or contemporary, etc you can change to the syringe or pill.

I added explainers as well for the items to the guide.

Why?

'Cause. I would love to be able to see people put more thought into their worlds/worldbuilding, even if it doesn't show up. Maybe it won't be only horses for animals as pets. Or an occasional dog. Haha. Having a gay dog like Robin Williams would be great.

[srmt-zine]

At last, some details!

(A while back on @srmthg we had a zine interest check, and it remains open for any additional suggestions/feedback about what you'd like the zine to be (you can also shoot this blog an ask) but I don't plan on doing a second interest check. If enough people feel this is a mistake, there's still time to do one, but as it stands I don't see the point. I will continue to accept feedback and take it into account moving forward!)

By the way, my name is @netbug009 and I'm your friendly head mod for this project! This will be my first time running a zine, but I've been helping run projects in this fandom for 18 years!

The Format

SRMTHG Zine (cooler name tbd) will be a free PDF zine scheduled to release on September 18th, 2024, AKA the 20th anniversary of the series' first episode!

I know a lot of folks (myself included) like to have nice, shiny, hard copies of zines, and I hope to get the zine onto a publishing on demand site such as Lulu to let people buy them at-print-cost if they'd like, but a free digital edition will be the first priority. Since this zine is a celebration of the anniversary of a relatively small fandom, I want as many people to be able to access and enjoy it as possible! Plus, this is my first time running a zine, so I think it's smart to keep it simple. This also lets us worry less about page counts - if a lot of cool people contribute cool stuff, a PDF can be a chonk as we want!

The Content

The zine will include both fanart and fan fiction (and maybe even a few QR codes to some other digital goodies like AMVs and fanmixes if there's enough contributor interest!)

Light shipping will be allowed, with a few exceptions - no adult x child and no monkey x human ships will be allowed. (This was THE overwhelming request in the interest check and is not open for debate.)

We're going for a general vibe and love the idea of getting copies into the hands of voice actors/staff, which should give you a rough idea of the type of content we're going for - if it's too creepy/fetishy to hand to Ciro at a convention, it's too creepy/fetishy for the book. (That said, Monkey Team is a very silly and weird show with a love for classic horror tropes so I hope people don't let that limit their imaginations too much if they wanna do something spoopy!)

NO AI WORK WILL BE USED OR ACCEPTED IN THE CREATION OF THIS ZINE. I hope that'd be a given but just to be 100% clear, no.

The (Rough) Timeline

March 2024 - Contributor Applications Open!

April 22nd - Zine members selected and invited to Discord

May 1st - Zine members finalized

June 1st - Zine check-in 1

July 1st - Zine check-in 2

August 1st - Zine pieces due!

September 1st - Zine layout finalization due!

September 18th - ZINE RELEASED!

You might notice this is a pretty long timeline for a zine and we're starting pretty early; because this fandom is fairly small and this is a big occasion, I want to provide extra time so that as many people can hear about the project and participate as possible.

If you're looking for something to do until contributor apps open, SIGNAL BOOST, SIGNAL BOOST, SIGNAL BOOST! Reblog, post to Twitter, tell your friends, get the word out so this can be the biggest celebration it possibly can! If you make any graphics in your quest to help get the word out, PLEASE tag this blog so they can be shared!

Aaaand that's the basics! Again, feel free to send an ask with any additional questions. If you're considering applying in January, it's never too early to start sketching/considering ideas!

[goat-yells-at-everything]

First art on a new tablet!

Grian having a crisis due to Watcher things. c:

I talk about my new tablet under the cut if your interested!

So, as an early birthday present I got an inexpensive portable tablet called a PicassoTab. I've had it for a bit but I've mainly used it to take notes for my externship and other things using the Squid notes app but I've finally sat down and pulled up mediabang and done real art.

So what do I think of this tablet?

The PicassoTab is an inexpensive general tablet that supports a real drawing pen. Basically, its a cheap iPad and apple pencil. Except I would definitely NOT call it cheap. Its actually a really nice little tablet and pen combo and I'm quite happy with it.

I'd liken it to my large Ugee tablet in terms of draw feel. Its very obviously a tablet and does not at all feel like drawing on paper. This can be a major downside for some artists to PLEASE keep that in mind. While I prefer my Gamon as far as draw feel, since I've used the Ugee before its not a huge downside and the portability makes up for that less than desirable draw feel.

The pen uses a single AAAA battery which isn't ideal imo. While it keeps the pen smaller and more pen sized, its a hard battery to find outside of online stores. Its not rechargeable so when the battery dies then you need a new one. Though there are rechargeable AAAAs out there, I dont know if they will fit as rechargeable batteries aren't the same size as their normal counterparts.

HOWEVER, I've been using this thing almost CONSTANTLY for over 2 weeks now and there is no sign of the pen dying so I think its got a good battery life and the passive discharge is minimal.

Whats nice about the Picasso is that its a general tablet as well as a drawing tablet. It has access to the play store and runs on android software. It came with 2 drawing apps installed and I really didn't care for them. But with access to the play store I was able to download mediabang which is a free software app that works wonderfully. It doesn't have all the same options as clip studio but its more than enough for the sketch book experience I want from this. I did make this art as a finished work on the Picasso but I didn't get it to replace my Gamon, just to replace the chunky sketchbooks and notebooks I used to carry around (and use less paper).

The other positive about it being a general tablet is that I can use it as a notebook, too. I write A LOT. Notes, lists, planners, ect. My house is stacked with notebooks of all shapes, sizes, and colors. I have SO MANY pens, too. Like WAY too many pens. But because the Picasso has access to the play store I can use the note app Squid to replace all of these notebooks and pens. I now carry around about 12 notebooks and counting in my purse and the notebooks have unlimited pages. Squid also lets you edit and move text after its written so its pretty easy to reorganize notes without rewriting everything.

So ya.

100% recommend if your looking for a portable sketchbook/notebook tablet.

[dogsstew]

absolutely adore your art style and the brushes you use are so perfect what app is it!!!!!!!

also! do you have any tips, the anatomy is always gorg and you render things so beautifully😭💖

Yea of course!

I use the free app Tatasui Sketches! Or sketches for short lol. I bought the pro version in like….2010 and I’ve had it ever sense. (I don’t remember how much the membership costs but it should be around 5-9$) so not a lot but it does cost to include more features, and the membership lasts forever. Not to sponsor them lol

As for anatomy, I use line of action to do figure studies! The more the merrier. Do so many that your hands hurt! Even the shitty ones are good practice. Medical books are a plus too to understand where the meat of everything is and how it all twists.

Just have fun with it. Draw for yourself even if it’s bad don’t stop! No one sees it other than you until you get something good out!

Sometimes I use photoshop too if you’re interested in those brushes too :0)

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Hi! As a fellow knitter with a love for embroidery and cosplay, your Grishaverse kniting projects sound amazing! 😍 Would you be willing to share progress photos as you go? Or perhaps talk a little more about the designs, patterns, or techniques you'll use? So excited for you!

-sixofcrowsdaydreams (side blog)

Hiya, thanks so much for your interest - I'd love to share more!

My current Grishaverse knitting projects are a Healer kefta (which will probably be more along the lines of kefta-inspired than an accurate reproduction because of the material etc) and a full-size blanket of the Six Of Crows book cover (uk/us paperback edition).

For the Kefta, I'm adapting a free cardigan pattern that I'll link if anyone would like it. The pattern outlines the structure and shaping, which is mostly what I'm using it for, but is designed in a specific basket rib that I'm not using; I decided to use stockinette stitch because I think that it will be easier to embroider since I'm planning on using the Swiss Darning method. I'm teaching myself the Swiss Darning method from the wonderful book "KNIT: step by step" (Vikki Haffenden and Frederica Patmore), which I absolutely love and highly recommend. I just checked and the RRP for the book is £14.99 but I got mine for £7.99 so it might be worth looking around for where it's cheapest. I'm knitting it with DK weight yarn and so far I have the back and two front pieces complete and am currently working on the first sleeve. I used a free digital art app called Ibis Paint X to sketch out my designs for the embroidery and then overlayed them with a grid - I'm treating each square as one stitch.

The blanket it being knit in chunky weight yarn using a fair isle pattern I designed by using the same digital art app to draw and the book cover, overlay it with a grid, pixelate it, and slightly simplify the colour scheme (that was mostly due to the availability of the yarn since there are so many shades of grey in the cover). I am relatively new to colourwork, or at the very least colourwork on this scale, and this was a massive undertaking I went into with unearned confidence. Unfortunately I have now realised a massive mistake I made in the fair isle technique that means I'm going to have to undo everything I've done so far and restart, but luckily I've realised it early enough that I'm not even a quarter of the way through the project yet; if I'd done more it would be more annoying, as it stands it's not too bad but it is a setback. I've yet to decide how I'm going to back the blanket once it's complete, I have two options: 1) sew it onto either white or black fleece, 2) knit a Crooked Kingdom book cover the same size and back them onto each other. The pros of the first one is that it would give it a finished and hopefully gorgeous look, plus would be super cosy. The pro of the second option is that it would be awesome, but the con is that it might not look as neat and finished. On top of that, if I back the first one with fleece I can then knit a Crooked Kingdom one and back that with fleece, which means I get two blankets. So yeah I haven't decided yet, but I'll see how it goes and keep you guys updated.

Thanks so much for your question! If anyone has any specific requests for me to talk about regarding the knitting patterns/processes/techniques/ etc then absolutely feel free and yeah if people are interested then I will definitely put some update photos on here as I go as well :)

[dglvr1760]

Me

I've never actually made a post about just me... crazy so here we go!

Hello! I'm bell (dglvr1760 or even Doglover1760), I am currently 20 and attending university 3 hours away from my home (that info will not be disclosed). I major in Zoo and Wildlife Biology and minor in communications.

Ive always had this dream of working with animals since I was young *most ppl working with animals says the same thing*, but I pushed. I went into college stuff a little early, I went to a career center for two years while in college to handle and work with animals. I graduated and attend my college now for two years and have taken the roll of a leader in the zoo at my school. I will deal with the education aspect and will be in charge of shows with my coleader!

I always have believed we should care for those who can't care for themselves and to aid in helping people learn, this just so happens to fall into animals for me. I love animal behavior and the interactions with them, people have been hard to interact with for me, bit my minor has helped with that.

I started art a while ago, just little things as a kid, mostly self taught animal art books taught me shape and such in 2015, then I actually posted stuff in late 2017 on an app called Sketch. It was a Sony made platform that was eventually shut down from being a community posting place and is now just a hard to find app for making art (I still use).

I have grown in my art, made and lost many friends, and am proud to see this change! I am glad Tumblr took me in and glad to have made many friends though my journey!

(I was messing around in the image above, mainly where the heart is on the 2nd one lel)

So thank you and ik this intro is long and you can scroll past it, but I never got to talk about myself bc I have alot of self issues. Kinda being traumatized at a young age doesn't help but I'm getting through it. Even taking that pic at the top was hard, but I did it.

Anyways, have a great day, enjoy my blog, you can request anytime and I don't take money so plz, feel free to ask! And more detail helps lel!

[acaseforpencils]

Lynn Hsu.

Lynn tells us about her methods for making her wonderful cartoons featured in The New Yorker and many other publications this week!

Bio: I worked as an architect for many years before changing paths to become a cartoonist and writer. While working as an architect, I dabbled in printmaking, painting, and humor writing, often collaborating with sketch comedy groups at ImprovBoston. When the theater shut down during the pandemic, I started cartooning, which I found therapeutic and fun, as it combined my love of drawing with humor writing. Online classes taught by Emily Flake, Amy Kurzweil, and other talented people, were incredibly helpful and inspiring. In 2022, I sold my first cartoon (below) to The New Yorker and soon after, my first Daily Shouts piece.

Find this print here! 

My work has also appeared in publications such as Alta Journal, Air Mail, Weekly Humorist, Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, WSJ, and The American Bystander (cartoon below). 

Find this print here!

While I mostly focus on humor, I occasionally write darker stories for horror and sci-fi magazines like Space & Time. Currently, I reside in Boston with my husband, twin boys, and dog, Mochi, who provides emotional support when my work is rejected

Once I have a list of ideas and rough sketches, I draw the cartoon on my Samsung Galaxy Book 2-in-1 convertible laptop. It has a small built-in pen that comes with it. My preferred app is Clip Studio Paint, which is a less expensive alternative to Photoshop. I’m still experimenting with different brushes and washes in my work. For my posture, I use an adjustable stand by Lpoake. For my sanity, I often work on the porch so I can get some fresh air and vitamin D. Mochi keeps me company and nudges me periodically for attention.

Tool I wish I could use better: Watercolor. I love painting with oil and acrylics, but I struggle with washes and hope to improve. 

Tool I wish I existed: A magic chair that heals back and shoulder pain (and also teleports you to any location in the world). 

Tricks: Not a fancy trick, but I’ve been using Google Keep to jot ideas down in an organized way when I don’t have my sketchbook with me. I can access this list via phone, tablet, or computer.

Misc: Getting feedback on your work is invaluable. Sometimes, I’ll draw a cartoon and think it’s hilarious, but then I show it to my husband, who doesn’t understand the caption or the sketch. I’m fortunate to have found a group of supportive cartoonists with whom I can share my work and exchange comments on a regular basis. Online classes and workshops are also great ways to learn a new craft and meet other amazing artists, writers, and humorists.

Links: 

Here’s my website: lynnihsu.com 

I post cartoons on Instagram:@loopyline 

For New Yorker cartoon prints: Conde Nast Store 

---

If you enjoy this blog, and would like to contribute to labor and maintenance costs, there is a Patreon, and if you’d like to buy me a cup of coffee, there is a Ko-Fi  account as well! I do this blog for free because accessible arts education is important to me, and your support helps a lot! You can also find more posts about art supplies on Case’s Instagram and Twitter! Thank you!

[juiceboxscans]

Where to buy raws and manga

Updated: With the anime coming (MON) October 7, 2024 and Volume 8 being released in English September 2024, and Volume 9 coming April 2025, we are reaching the end of canon content. Please support the mangaka if you are able by purchasing physicals and voicing your support for the work where you can.

How do I support something when I can't even get it?

It can take a little work. Ask your local bookstore to stock Yakuza Fiance: Raise Wa Tanin Ga Ii, special order the manga where possible (bookstores pay attention to enthusiastic fans who place special orders), put in requests on websites, reach out to your local manga publishing companies.

Hi fellow Raise fans! Thank you for the follows and reblogs. Can't say enough how much we appreciate knowing our work, however imperfect, is appreciated. We will keep doing our best!

While you wait for the next update, and if you can afford to do so, we hope you'll consider purchasing the raws or physicals of the manga. It's so good that it's worth owning, we think, and if you can afford it you won't regret it!

With that in mind, we have some resources for you.

Please note: These are not affiliate links and clicking on them does not benefit us in anyway. This is for you in case you are inclined or are able to buy this fantastic manga!

Physicals

Please note:

Volumes 1-8 are now available for purchase

Volume 9 April 2025

Earlier volumes are often discounted up to 25%. Click bolded text to be taken directly to RWTGI book pages or other helpful information as noted.

Barnes & Noble Amazon Seven Seas Publishing (the license owner) Penguin Random House Pika Edition (French)

Note: We know RWTGI is also licensed in Spanish and Korean among other languages but we do not know the publishing houses. If you do, please comment and if not please be patient while we update.

Kinokuniya is a Japanese bookseller with locations in 12 countries (includes the UK, southeast Asia, Australia, and the US). They carry Japanese and licensed English volumes. Pre-orders can sometimes come with a premium like an art sketch. Click for locations worldwide. They ship!

Secondhand volumes are available on Walmart's site, Thriftbooks, and Alibris. They are also available from various eBay sellers.

While you're at it, consider getting a copy of Konishi's first work, Haru no Noroi (or Haru's Curse) It's a great story and a heartstring-tugging read.

Digital

For Japanese: Click on the bold underlined text links and enable your browser to translate. If you are using Chrome there is a free translation extension in the Microsoft store.

For a monthly manga subscription: Kodansha Afternoon has a really nice monthly magazine which includes Raise and other manga.

For single chapters: Kodansha has the COMIC DAYS site. New members get 100 coins to start-- each chapter is between 60 and 80 coins. Chapter 1 is free and more recent chapters are free for a short time a few months after their release.

For ENG (US only):

For single chapters: Kodansha's app K MANGA. One of our friends on the RWTGI fandom Discord tested it and you can get the first 9 chapters for free, another 3 for free around 13-14, and every month or so they unlock another chapter. For $1 you get 99 tickets to 'rent' a chapter (like you own it but you can only read it on the app, isn't Digital Rights Management fun?), you can also 'earn' tickets each time you log in, and currently they have a promotion going.

Unfortunately this is only available to US residents as of this writing. If you have Twitter, give Kodansha a shout and let them know what complete bollocks/bullshit this is: KMANGA_KODANSHA

Here's where we cover our asses!

Don't repost our work, don't retranslate it, don't make us another casualty of copyright law. Kakao and other publishers are currently cracking down on 'M' scanlator sites and doxing site admins.

So please: Be chill so we can just enjoy this thing together. Thanks!

Happy shopping and thanks for your support! 💞

[monakisu]

hi!!!! i really really love your art and it's been a really big inspiration for me lately ^_^ i just wanted to ask if you'd be okay with maybe going through your usual art process?? every time i try to draw i just end up getting frustrated since i never know where to start 💔if this is too much to ask for feel free to ignore me and i hope you're doing well regardless!!! 💕

thank you for such a sweet ask wow what the heck ૮(꒦ິཅ꒦ິ)ა❤️🌈 i hope you’re well too and i’ll gladly share my process!! i love oversharing anyways….!!! (although i often dont know where to start and it takes weeks for me to gather up the energy to even start aufhijfjghhh)

💖CRITICAL STEP before i do anything at all: surf pinterest for inspo!! 💞💕 it can be inspo for art styles, ideas, or just ~vibes~ (if that makes sense lol?? 😸) but ever since i started actually sorting my boards my feed has become a lot more colorful and cute and inspiring…! 😸😸 i especially like seeing all the unconventional art styles on there!! it’s where my cartoony-ish style originated from ( •ૢ⚈͒⌄⚈͒ •ૢ)💖💓🌸🌷🍃

sometimes i come across a post on twitter that i GOTTA manifest into a drawing, so even though twitter is very rancid and negative, it can be good! sorta!! but yeah i try to start out drawing with a solid idea of what i wanna do in mind, or else it’ll just end up being a generic right-facing 3/4 portrait LMAOoo…….. 🤠👍

❤️colors: generally i will give up after i have a sketch and slither off to binge horror novels, but RARELY i might proceed onto the coloring stage… i have this disorder in which i need to maximize the vibrancy of every pixel on my screen or i’ll Die. 🪦(ɷ ꒪ཀ꒪)ɷ for shadows, i rarely use black unless i reallyyy need to; i just do dark purple! 🦄💜🔮🪄 for highlights, i never go for pure white; usually it’s cream or neon yellow, but sometimes skin will have these little light green spots to stand out (this is actually a color theory thing i learned from oil painting… green vs. red!) 😸🍏🤝🍎😸

🧡overlay: i have at least 2 different layers set to overlay, so i can augment color vibrancy EVEN MORE and make things ✨glowy✨ like a 💥flash bomb💥!! on my first overlay layer, i go over dark colors with either dark brown or dark purple, set to a very very low opacity (practically transparent) to make things DRAMATIC, and then lose all my marbles on highlights at regular opacity!! my other overlay layer is for me to go crazy with the rosette brush, which looks like those comic book dotsies! ٩(๑′∀ ‵๑)۶•*¨*•.¸¸♪

💚touch-ups: after i’ve given up on my drawing and accepted that this is the most i can do, i proceed to do even more to it by slapping filters on it in picsart and picmonkey. my go-to filters in each app:

💙picsart: indie 2, usually set at 30% (it makes colors EVEN MORE NEON as if they weren’t eye-searing enough QAQ💧). i used to bypass their dumb af membership thing to access their gorgeousss glitch filter for my backgrounds, BUT THEY REMOVED THE ABILITY TO SCREENSHOT INSIDE THE APP so i hate picsart lol 😸🫶 indie 2 slaps fat cheeks tho

💜picmonkey: my true love!! they don’t hide their BEST FILTERS behind pretentious subscriptions 😁 okay i’ll stop complaining… 😁😁 so much Good Kush in this thing like lux, lightleak (makes things purple and glitchy!), splendor, lush…

💖and then i’m done FOR REALS and i post it and i don’t draw for 3 weeks while i writhe in guilt nyahaha (ง˙∇˙)ว=͟͟͞͞➳❥

i hope this helps!!

[rowzeys]

My Favorite Gadgets: Cellphone, Tablet, and Camera - How I Use Them Daily

Technology has become a big part of our lives, and for me, a few gadgets stand out for their functionality, convenience, and versatility. I want to share with you my top three favorite devices: my cellphone, tablet, and camera. Each of these gadgets plays a unique role in my daily routine, helping me stay connected, productive, and creative.

Cellphone: The All-in-One Companion

My cellphone is undeniably my most essential gadget. It’s more than just a device for calls and messages, it’s my pocket-sized computer that I carry everywhere. With its powerful processor, intuitive user interface, and functionable apps, my cellphone helps me stay organized, connected, and entertained.

Operations and Uses:

Communication: From messaging apps to video calls, my cellphone keeps me connected with family, friends, and classmates.

Productivity: Apps like email, calendar, and note-taking tools help me manage my school works and personal tasks efficiently.

Entertainment: Whether it's streaming my favorite shows, playing games, or listening to music, my cellphone is a constant source of entertainment.

Photography: With a high-quality camera, I can capture memories on the go without needing to carry a separate camera all the time.

Tablet: My Portable Workstation and Entertainment Hub

The Tablet has become my go-to device for productivity and entertainment. It combines the portability of a phone with the screen size and functionality of a laptop, making it perfect for many tasks.

Operations and Uses:

Work and Creativity: From writing and editing documents to sketching and designing, the tablet offers a range of apps that enhance my productivity.

Reading and Browsing: The tablet larger screen make it ideal for reading eBooks since I’m fund of reading books, browsing websites, and catching up on news about Alice Guo and Pastor Quiboloy.

Multimedia Consumption: I often use  my tablet o watch movies on Netflix and other free websites and enjoy YouTube content. The display quality and sound are fantastic, providing a wholesome experience.

Camera: Capturing the World Through My Lens

While cellphones come with impressive cameras, there's something special about using a dedicated camera. My camera allows me to dive deeper into the art of photography as it somewhat gives me peace and make it as an instrument to divert my attention from stressful things. It also provides a higher quality of the image.

Operations and Uses:

Photography:  Whether it's landscape, portrait, or macro photography, my camera offers nice and superior image quality. I enjoy taking photos of the things that caught my attention.

Filming: For filming some special moments of my life since I always cherish every moments that I have for my loved ones and having a good camera makes a significant difference in the quality of the film.

Learning and Experimentation: Photography is a continuous learning process. With my camera, I can explore manual settings, lighting, and composition techniques that aren't possible with a smartphone.

These three devices—my cellphone, tablet, and camera—each have a unique role in my life. The cellphone keeps me connected and productive, the tablet serves as my portable workstation and entertainment hub, and the camera fuels my passion for photography. Together, they make my everyday experiences and help me stay creative, organized, and inspired.

What are your favorite gadgets? Share in the comments below!

[sherbetlemonss]

Hey no pressure or anything but I was wondering if you wanted to do a tutorial or something on how you do lineart/coloring??? It always looks so fantastic I was just wondering how you achieve it

No pressure! feel free to ignore this!

Thank you sm for this ask!! I’ve never done a tutorial before so I hope this is what was expected!!

First of all, the art app/program I use is Procreate

In my art I usually use one main brush which is the Sketch Round from Jingsketch Procreate Brushes: Basic 10. I use it to sketch, do line art and sometimes colour! I also erase with it sometimes as i feel it makes the line art smoother

I don’t really know how to explain in detail how I do my line art but I follow my sketch (done with sketch round) with less vague and fast strokes of my pencil (if that makes sense) and use longer strokes to allow the line art to be precise to my liking. I use the Sketch Round usually at size 20 (lower if I need to zoom in a lot or higher if I want the lines to be thicker) and always at 100% opacity

My line art typically has a lot of gaps in it that I feel adds to the softness (?) of my style and I don’t connect them together as I don’t colour drop with my colouring, I use a layer under the line art and colour like you would a colouring book (idk how else to explain). Arguably it may be easier to colour drop but I enjoy the colouring process and by doing it like this I like the finished product a lot more

With colouring I usually colour pick from character references and adjust the colours if need be.

After the colouring I colour my line art using a clipping mask layer above the line art.

I’m not sure entirely how to explain this part so, I colour pick the original colour i coloured Boyd and I altered it to be darker, I then colour the parts of the line art that uses this colour

and repeat with different colours until I’m satisfied with how the line art looks

I hope this makes sense and is ok to understand!

[ambientaster]

Hello! I am back after a long, long hiatus haha. I am back with a masterlist for learning Albanian!!! I will update this with more later, I have like 592949294 other links to add, but this is a good start! Also I will be updating more, hopefully with my Spanish, German, and Arabic practice too! Here we go!

Albanian Language Resources

Free—————————————————————

BEST OF THE BEST: https://m.youtube.com/@LearnAlbanianOnline

This youtube channel!! <3 This channel has videos of actual Albanian classes being taught to English speakers. The teacher is a native Albanian speaker. He had slides of information and goes through many of the syntax rules of the language! It also helps to hear the English speaking students learning since you can compare how they sound with how the teacher sounds, and learn how to correct your own mistakes! 100% my most recommended first resource for beginners.

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https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol_toc/albol (https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol_toc/albol)

A wonderful resource by a university that provides many of the grammar rules for Albanian, for verbs, nouns, tenses, cases, etc.! I suggest looking at this along with a book for more context and so it is less daunting.

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https://archive.org/details/ERIC_ED195133 (https://archive.org/details/ERIC_ED195133)

The Internet Archive has a TON of free pdfs, and I found one of a book called Readings In Albanian. It has Albanian stories with an English translation side by side, and the stories start out at beginner level and increase in difficulty! A great supplemental resource.

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https://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/languages/DLI/Albanian/Volume%2001.pdf (https://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/languages/DLI/Albanian/Volume%2001.pdf)

This is a 282 page PDF about Albanian for beginners, and I’m pretty sure I found it on a site that mentioned it was for the Peace Corps or something haha. Regardless, my favorite part about this resource is that about 20 pages in, it has a sketch diagram showing the human mouth/throat regions, and a chart showing how each sound is made in Albanian with its corresponding IPA letter! (IPA: international phonetic alphabet).

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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Albanian (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/Albanian)

The Albanian alphabet with its corresponding IPA letters. You can find interactive charts IPA letters all over the internet as well as people who read them out loud on youtube. You can use the interactive chart along with the listed letters in the wiki to learn how to say each letter properly! :)

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https://www.youtube.com/@AlbanianFairyTales (https://www.youtube.com/@AlbanianFairyTales) a great beginners resource! It has animated fairytales that are read in Albanian, with English subtitles! The reader speaks clearly and slowly, and it’s super easy to understand! Also pretty entertaining too! :)

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Studying Apps (free and paid options):

Memrise: look up Albanian on desktop, add any Albanian courses that you like, and they will show up on your mobile app (you can only add official courses on mobile). They have a set of cards for one of the books I listed as well! Some of the Albanian courses on Memrise also have audio for the words!!

Anki App for flashcards

Clozemaster for audio and reading practice

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Books:

Colloquial Albanian: The Complete Course for Beginners by Hector Campos and Linda Mëniku

Discovering Albanian by by Hector Campos and Linda Mëniku

541 Albanian Verbs by Rozeta Stefanllari and Bruce Hintz

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Courses (not free):

Udemy- Learn Albanian: Beginner to Advanced by Toby Soenen and Muhamed Retkoceri

https://www.udemy.com/share/107Vpc3@bbYWSZOx0APye82YKpfkqJr5NDWMyVoVUaanoNCaHtp-jFQGWXuy7mLCnpyS6SIlpw==/ (https://www.udemy.com/share/107Vpc3@bbYWSZOx0APye82YKpfkqJr5NDWMyVoVUaanoNCaHtp-jFQGWXuy7mLCnpyS6SIlpw==/)

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If anyone has other recommendations, please let me know! :)

[catslilypad]

Lots of new followers!!

HUGEST WELCOME and thank you for following here here! We've only recently started using Tumblr again ourselves.

I made a post about the more unknown side of my studio the other day for my PNGtuber CocoLouCovers (I might make a separate Tumblr for that soon, so i can share WIP covers and Lets Plays)

But thats not what this post is about!

This post I wanted to introduce the games I'm making to you! My name is C.L and I am a programmer, audio editor, writer, studio owner, marketer, social media, vocalist, project manager, casting director (the list goes on) I have worked on over 19 games as a freelancer and I have 3 of my own games in production.

The Inn Between

Character Art: XianJin Backgrounds: Vui Huynh

A modern fantasy BL visual novel following Myka Riley, a young barista with a mystery on his hands.

He has no memory of his past, a sketch book full of creatures only he can see and a nightmare he can't shake.

A phone call from a stranger changes the course of his life as he's directed to a mystical inn on the outskirts of town.

Features: Fully voiced free demo 3 Love Interests Original Soundtrack 30+ Backgrounds NSFW

This game is our "flagship" game and was funded in November 2021 on Kickstarter! We're hoping to have it released by the end on 2023.

Available to Wishlist on Steam.

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1776200/The_Inn_Between

Itch: https://cats-on-a-lilypad-studios.itch.io/the-inn-between

Heart Agency

Character Art: 6nii9 Backgrounds: Anybangchu

A modern day BL visual novel about a composer from a famous family who isn't so keen on fame himself.

Not only are his parents world renown performers, they also own their own talent agency, which Adrian Heart is now compelled to work at.

Becoming the PA to one of three elite talents Adrian has his work cut out for him. All while maintaining his anonymity.

Features: Gorgeous art 15k word demo Heart Agency was made in a 2 months (programmed in less that a week) for Yaoi Jam 2021. Over on our Patreon we're planning an update to the demo with a revised script, additional CGs, sprites and new music!

Itch: https://cats-on-a-lilypad-studios.itch.io/heart-agency

Moonflower

Character Art: Tomomochi Backgrounds: Saed

A fantasy bl visual novel with slight steampunk aesthetics.

Our brand new game!

Moonflower tells a story about legend, about love and about betrayal.

When a once a century festival is attacked, High Alchemist Nika Skylar is forced to take matters into his own hands. Accompanied by a mysterious stranger he has one night to save not only the kingdom but the rarest and most powerful entity in the world.

The fabled Moonflower.

Features: 30k(+?) words 5 Backgrounds 4 Illustrations Minigame? All Ages

With The Inn Between not releasing until late 2023 and Heart Agency not planned to continue past the demo (just yet) we wanted to release something smaller that would be quicker and cheaper to make to give everyone something to play from us while they wait for our main game!

Moonflower is available for wishlist on steam

Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2145530/Moonflower/

Itch: https://cats-on-a-lilypad-studios.itch.io/moonflower

With three games in production our patreon is a fantastic place to follow us!

Monthly illustrations by poll, sketches, completed illustrations and assets as they're created, playable beta, merch discounts.

The more support we get there the more we can do and the faster we can get our games our because I think dont have to take so much freelance work which keeps me away from my own projects.

Heart Agency and Moonflower both have planned beta releasing exclusively to the patreon!

Our tiers range from $3 to $35

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/CatsonaLilypadStudios

Psst, we also have a discord! ^

[briannas-casebook]

Storytelling Script To Screen: EVALUATION

For my project, Storytelling: Script to Screen, I was tasked with coming up with a story for an animated short film, pitching a synopsis with concept art to my peers, writing a screenplay/script and creating a 90 second animatic of my story.

I first started by doing research into different philosophies of storytelling and the different types of story structure in order to get a good idea on how to make a well-structured story for a short film. Looking to creators like Andrew Stanton and his rules of storytelling, and Dan Harmon’s story circle – a narrative structure formula created by Harmon loosely paralleling Joseph Campell’s theory of The Hero’s Journey. I analysed several animated short films, taking note of how they fit into or, in some cases, subverted the steps of structures like Harmon’s story wheel, what that said about the types of stories being told, and how I could apply these types of rules to my own story.

With these theories in mind, I brainstormed possible ideas. After collaboratively brainstorming with my classmates and on my own - based on the prompts unrequited love, mysterious portal, obsession, and heist, I eventually came up with two ideas: a short where a bird becomes attached to a snail who she mistakes for one of her own eggs, and a plot where an activist breaks into an animal testing lab and discovers something sinister. After writing a synopsis and artwork for both, I pitched my ideas to my class and received their feedback which was more favorable for the serpent synopsis. I ultimately agreed and chose the second idea, as I felt the story had more potential for interesting visuals and would convey a message I felt more connected to.

I then made a second draft of my synopsis that refined some details and cut down the length significantly. That way it could fit into a shorter runtime for my animatic short film.

After this, I used the synopsis as the basis of a script which I wrote on the script writing website Celtex. I then edited and redrafted the original script and created a final script in which I added more location detail and refined its format.

With this script in hand, I set about drawing some concept art for the two main characters; Sam the activist, and the Uktena serpent Sam frees from the water company lab. I also drew concepts for maps of the film’s locations, such as the interior of the lab, some thumbnail sketches for storyboard shot compositions, and created a Pinterest board to gather reference material for inspiration. I also studied material such as Peter Loomis’s book ‘Figure Drawing for All Its Worth’, as reference for figure drawing and drawing multiple figures in a 3d plain with two-point perspective.

For the animatic, I used the storyboarding program Storyboarder on my laptop whilst using my iPad (connected to my laptop) as a drawing tablet using the app Astropad Studio. The storyboarding process was going well as I drew each shot. But at some point, the program crashed, and I lost a few drawings, even though I was saving frequently, and the program was supposed to save things automatically. So, to prevent these shots being lost, I started screenshotting each shot and saving them to a folder.

Once the animatic was completed, I took all the clips and screenshots and put them all together in Adobe Premiere Pro.

Some clips and frames did not fit into the 16:9 aspect ratio. So I selected the clips, set the frame to fit to scale and the image fit the screen.

I also sought out sound effects on Pixabay (royalty-free sounds/music site) and edited these into my film.

Originally, the animatic was two minutes and twenty-seven seconds in length. But the brief specified the animatic be ninety seconds to a maximum of 120 seconds. So I edited down the footage. Eventually being able to cut down to one minute and fifty-seven seconds, including the opening title and end credits.

After this, I exported the video as an MP4 and uploaded the whole thing onto my Vimeo page.

I also arranged the animatic shots on a PowerPoint in three-by-three rows, much like a professional storyboard. This way, I could put these frames in my visual portfolio.

I’m overall proud of the work I’ve done for this project. I gained a better understanding of the animatic short film production process. I gained valuable experience writing a well-structured narrative through studying theory and other short films, writing a synopsis and a properly formatted screenplay. I learned to use new software tools such as Celtex for script writing and Storyboarder to create my animatic. As well as gain more experience with editing an animatic on Adobe Premiere Pro. All these programs I will use in future creative projects. Most of all, I’m very proud of the film I created through this project, and I feel it’s one of the most high-quality short films I’ve produced so far.