#early bird palette

[cinimuffin]

[vintagecandy]

Now for the 1920s reimagining of Jonathan Crane ! sorry this explanation is even longer lmao

As everyone's been saying, I should do the rest of the Dork Squad to match 1920s Jervis, and so here is my Jonathan! Easily the hardest to draw out of the three-- but I must say! Despite being outside my expertise, I'm a little surprised how much it looks exactly like I was imagining! Even if it took me ages but that's just procrastination lmao.

Anyways! What is his deal? Well, for one, design wise I did go a more drastically different direction from his usual look by doing a literal scareCROW. He's much more bird like, with a plague doctor mask being common imagery in steampunk, but he's still very southern themed with his messy broken overall strap and patchwork coat. Even his wings are rustic. ( he can't fly just glide btw lol ) Also! I leaned hard into the color orange instead of his usual green gas because it..... bugs me that both Crane and Nygma have a bright green in their color palette. I just want them to have distinct colors if they're going to be a trio. And look how vintage halloweeny he looks !!

So why is he so well dressed out of costume? Well! This Jonathan Crane is not a psychologist at all, here he is the very successful grandfather of horror movies in the silent film era. ( An illustrious origin, i hope canon Crane would be proud lmao ). This is referenced in how his face looks, he's wearing white powder and black makeup that's usually meant to emphasize key features on blurry film like his upper lip and around his eyes. And yes, he just keeps his makeup on during most events, and people just accept he's a little on the... eccentric side.

To me, the archetype of the mad artist fits Jonathan's vibe perfectly. When it comes to striking fear, he's a perfectionist, a trait that drove him to learn every single skill necessary himself, from costume design to props to making his own cameras to mechanical engineering, to.... a "fear gas" that was supposed to gently encourage immersion in the audience but ended up becoming a dangerous chemical weapon.

For his origin crime I am thinking !! Full blown Scooby Doo style monster mystery!! With some nuance! Crane, as a first impression, gives off an immediate air of pompous, aggressively impatient, pretentious director type. His presence is big and dramatic, but its distinctly not southern-- in fact, he seems to play up something between a hollywood accent and a thespian one. But this is all to cover for his farm hick background that he was once very ashamed of.

As a child of a failing farmhand during an infamously dry and dusty era, Jonathan developed an extreme resentment for his country existence from both the bullying of other children for all his strange quirks and the severe verbal and physical abuse of his father, driven to alcoholism by the stress of poverty and the loss of his wife. Originally offering his artistic ideas as a means to help them, he grows sick of their closed mindedness and berating and runs away to learn about the emerging potential of film in Gotham City.

Its been many years, Jonathan now in his early 30s, he finds himself surrounded by the shallow, champagne aristocrats that reflect his childhood bullies. Feeling wrong in his own skin, he develops a sightly unhealthy obsession with the escapism he finds in performing as the monsters in his movies.

But upon discovering that the corrupt rich of Gotham plan to push legislation that would negatively effect farmers like his own history, and that they expected him to be amongst those who support it, his irritation with the shallowness of society reaches its limits. In day, he would feign support for their behavior to cover his tracks, but at night he would don the mask of the Scarecrow, rumored to be the vengeful spirit of a farmer who was hanged, and who he believes to be a more freeing expression of himself than his true face, targeting not just the rich but striking fear in their laborers to scare them off land. And it works. So, he tries bending the will of society more.

Is he doing this out of any moral conviction or just spite and a love for the role? It's... hard to say.

As the Scarecrow, his methods are so effective he's near uncatchable, even by Batman. Its only by solving the mystery of who is under the mask are they able to catch him. They surprise him during one of his screenings, jump him in the dark, and prove his subtle use of fear gas in the theater to the police once he's cornered. Instead of being angry, he goes to the mad house applauding Batman's performance.

What an interesting character they play. He's very inspired.

[darksilvania]

Paradox PORYGON

Another Paradox pokemon, this time a past and future forms of PORYGON, however instead of a far past and distant future versions, they are a bit closer

Past PORYGON (Rock) is based on 8-bit videogame sprites, this based on the idea of the first attempts at making a PORYGON were done using very early technology, its rock typing comes from it being from "the past" and for being made out of blocks

Future PORYGON (Steel) is based on the original idea that PORYGON was intended to be a digital render of a Drinking Bird toy, this based on its color palette and overal body shape as well as the form in which PORYGON and PORYGON2 move their heads up and down just like the bird toy. The idea is for this version to finally achieve this using modern rendering technology. Its metalic finish as well as its steel typing is based on a modern rendering of the Newell Teapot, also known as Utah Teapot, one of the first 3D rendering models that has become a standard reference objet for 3D modeling in general, as well as a little reference to Jeff Koons balloon animal statues made from metal.

[mybeingthere]

Emily Kame Kngwarreye (1910 – 1996) is considered one of Australias most significant artists. Amazingly, she only began painting with acrylics in her late seventies but in a few short years became an artist of national and international standing.

Emily was the first female painter to emerge from an art movement dominated by men and did so in a way that transformed Aboriginal painting. Employing a variety of styles over the course of her eight-year painting career, she painted her Country and sacred Dreamtime stories in a deeply emotional and expressive manner.

She was born around 1910 at Alhalkere (Soakage Bore), on the edge of the Utopia pastoral station, approximately 250km north-east of Alice Springs. Alhalkere was her fathers Country, and her mothers Country was Alhalpere, just to the east.

Despite being married twice, she had no children of her own but raised her relative Lily Sandover Kngwarreye and her niece Barbara Weir. Both becoming famous artists in their own right. Other nieces that also became famous artists include Gloria Petyarre, Kathleen Petyarre, Ada Bird Petyarre, Violet Petyarre and Nancy Petyarre.

Well before she became one of its most senior contemporary artists, Emily held a unique status within her community of Utopia. Her strong personality and past employment as a stock hand on pastoral properties in the area (at a time when women were only employed for domestic duties), reveals her forceful independence and trailblazing character.

Her age and ceremonial status also made her a senior member of the Anmatyerre language group. She was a senior custodian of cultural sites of her fathers country. She was considered the Boss Woman of the Alatyeye (pencil yam dreaming) and Kame (yam seed dreaming).

Emily started as a traditional ceremonial artist, beginning painting as a young woman as part of her cultural education. An important component of this education was learning the womens ceremonies, which are associated with in-depth knowledge of the Dreamtime stories and of womens social structures.

This knowledge is known as Awelye in Anmatyerre language. Awelye also refers to the intricate designs and symbols associated with womens rituals. These are applied to the womens upper chest, breasts and arms using fingers or brushes dipped into rich desert ochres.

Aboriginal art outside of ceremonial painting began in Utopia in 1977, when batik-making was introduced to women as part of an extended government-funded education program. In 1978, Emily was a founding member of the Utopia Womens Batik Group. In 1988, the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) completed its first project with the Utopia Womens Batik Group. This became an exhibition called Utopia - A Picture Story.

From the beginning, Emilys art stood out from the others. Rather than filling her batiks with Aboriginal symbols, she preferred patterns of layered lines and dots that revealed plant, figurative forms and cell like structures. The 88 silk batiks from this first project were acquired by the Holmes a Court Collection in Perth.

In the same year the CAAMA shop initiated The Summer Project, introducing the Utopia womens batik group to the use of acrylic paints on canvas. Among the 81 paintings completed was Emilys first artwork on canvas, Emu Woman.

Inspired by the many Dreamtime stories of which she was a custodian, Emily employed an extraordinary array of styles over the course of her eight-year painting career.

In her early works, Emily preferred the use of an earthy ochre colour palette, reflecting her experience of using natural ochres during ceremonies. Over time she expanded her repertoire to include a dazzling array of colours found in the desert landscape. Colours are significant in her paintings. Yellow, for example, often symbolises the season when the desert earth begins to dry up and the Kame (yam seeds) are ripe.

Her shifting styles also reveal her self-confidence and willingness to experiment with form, pictorial space and artistic conventions. She drew creatively from the geographic landmarks that traverse her Country and the Dreaming stories that define it. Whenever she was asked to explain her paintings, her answer was always the same:

Whole lot, that's the whole lot. Awelye (my Dreamings), Alatyeye (pencil yam), Arkerrthe (mountain devil lizard), Ntange (grass seed), Tingu (a Dreamtime pup), Ankerre (emu), Intekwe (a favorite food of emus, a small plant), Atnwerle (green bean), and Kame (yam seed). That's what I paint; the whole lot.

This is because she chose to present a very broad picture of the land and how it supports the Anmatyerre way of life. Her artworks embrace the whole life story of the Dreamtime, seeds, flowers, wind, sand and everything. Although her works relate to the modern art tradition, this resemblance is purely visual. The emphasis in Emilys paintings is on the spiritual meaning, based in the tradition of her people.

The evolving styles of Emily Kame Kngwarreyes paintings

Emily started to paint in 1988. Her early style featured visible linear tracings following the tracks of the Kame (Yam Dreaming) and animal prints associated with the Emu Dreaming. Fields of fine dots partially obscured symbolic elements.

By 1992 her paintings were so densely packed with layers of dots that her symbolic underpainting was no longer visible.

Another evolution in her painting style occurred when she began to use large brushes. She worked faster, more loosely and on a larger scale. Sometimes dragging the brush while she dotted, producing lines from the sequential dots.

By the mid 1990s she had pioneered a style of Aboriginal painting referred to as dub dub works. They were created by using large brushes which were laden with paint and then pushed into the canvas in such a way that the bristles part and the paint is mixed on the canvas.

Using this technique, she created wildly colourful artworks and her paintings became progressively more abstract. Different artists from Utopia including Polly Ngale and Freddy Purla have subsequently adopted this style.

During the last two years of her life, she used the linear patterns found on womens ceremonial body designs as the primary inspiration for her paintings. The abstracted sequential dots of colour gave way to parallel lines which were much more formally arranged. She had used lines earlier before gradually submerging them under layers of dots. This time, she created simple, bold compositions of parallel lines in strong dark colours.

The above style in turn evolved to looser meandering lines which appear to trace the shapes of the grasses and the roots of the pencil yam as they forge their way through the desert sands.

In 1996 she produced a body of work in which she depicted pencil yam dreaming using a rich ochre colour palette. In this final burst of creative energy, Emily produced a beautiful body of work known as her scribble phase. In these atmospheric paintings, lines and dots were replaced by flowing fields of colour.

https://www.kateowengallery.com/.../Emily-Kame-Kngwarreye...

[thehaberdasheress]

Embroidery Made Easy: Birds edition

I love making embroidery patterns with birds in them. They're so wonderfully expressive! I have six so far:

Beginner

Fancier Chickens: Somehow, they look as silly and regal as the Auraucana hens I grew up with.

Doves in the Garden: I love these. Depending on the culture, these shy kids could symbolize hope, fidelity, wealth, love, or the beginning of a married life.

Lovebirds High: I wanted birds that looked fanciful and grand, inspired by European folk art and suited for embroidery with a showy colour palette

Lovebirds Low: The same day I made Lovebirds High, my hands felt itchy and restless, and I had to make something else. That resulted in these little guys, which look like the sparrows that aren't showy, but stick around all year, even when the weather has driven most other birds south.

Intermediate:

Hound and Phoenix: An entire hunting tapestry in miniature, this pattern shows up over and over again in 16th century embroidery manuals. As well as making stick-and-stitch embroidery patterns, I've also experimented with making colourized versions, maybe for future use in other products.

Birds and Urns Shirt Yoke: Meant to add decorative flair when sewing down the fabric around a slashed shirt opening, these birds look crabby, but thriving. Another subject of my early colourization experiments.

You can find these, and many other animals, at my Etsy shop.

[bones4thecats]

2023 Halloween Special; RoR

A/N: Part 1 of the Halloween Specials, and when they are all posted, I will have a special announcement in regardance to my Request Form, enjoy~~

Their Favorite Thing To Do With Their S/O During Halloween

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📯 This guy thoroughly enjoys singing a bunch of halloween songs through his megaphone at the other norse gods, his favorite to sing is This is Halloween from ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas’

📯 Heimdall does also enjoy judging people’s costumes, though it’s mostly the children who dress up, since most gods see it as pointless

📯 If you ever wanted to do couple-costumes, he’d do it happily

📯 This god does try to get Odin and the others to allow trick-or-treating in the house, so they can connect with the new generation of children faster

📯 It fails, but he never stops trying every year

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🍭 This guy lives for trick-or-treating

🍭 It’s a day where he gets free candy to add to his stash, if he could, he’d make every day Halloween

🍭 He also enjoys dressing up in costumes with you, though it’s mostly just things simple like ghosts, very rarely will he ever put an extreme amount of effort into something to trivial when he could be spending that time with you

🍭 Whenever he gets candy that night, he basically rushes home with you and begins to add the sweets to his already existing stash he hides in your room and the one he hides somewhere else throughout your shared home

🍭 Honestly, it surprised everyone on how the food somehow hasn’t expired

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📨 This god. Oh boy

📨 He has so much work to do when it comes to delivering messages that he never really had a Halloween to celebrate, even with you

📨 But since this year Zeus wanted to see his son happy and free for the day, he gave him the day off as an early Christmas gift

📨 Hermes immediately went home and began to bake

📨 That is his favorite thing to do with you, make all kinds of treats for all the pantheons

📨 He’d love making things like pumpkin pie, but he also enjoys cooking a bunch of foods, he has an amazing palette, and knows exactly what everyone likes, because he flies around a lot

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🐍 This little gremlin likes doing anything revolving around scaring people

🐍 If you think he does this enough when it isn’t Halloween, prepare the sappy movies

🐍 He constantly jumps out to scare everyone that passes by, especially Thor, Odin or his birds, and you

🐍 Loki also enjoys watching horror movies, his favorites are either slasher movies or psychological

🐍 He’s so mental that he even recommends things for the antagonist to do;

“ Come on, just cut her head off, she’ll bleed like a pig! “

🐍 Everytime some child asks trick-or-treat and Loki answers the door, he says trick and sprays them with silly string

🐍 Damn gremlin

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🪩 This head god of the Hindu Pantheon definitely enjoys survival horror movies

🪩 They bring him back to when he and Rudra were younger and battling the gods one by one

🪩 Shiva also enjoys going to pumpkin patches, baking, carving pumpkins, decorating the yard, and making treats with his wives and S/O

🪩 When you first handed him a pumpkin and told him to draw a face, he drew something along the lines of a temple of his

🪩 It was hard to carve, but he did enjoy watching you and his wives take out the seeds and stuffing to fully finish it

🪩 Watching you make decorations and treats also makes him happy

🪩 Shiva especially loves watching you and his wives help Ganesha with a costume if he wanted one that year, it was so domestic, it made him forget he could destroy something with a flick of his finger for a minute

[talonabraxas]

Shirdal 'Lion-Eagle' Talon Abraxas

Ancient origins of the griffin

A legendary creature with the body, tail, and back legs of a lion, the head and wings of an eagle, and, sometimes, an eagle's talons as its front feet first appears in ancient Iranian and Egyptian art dating back to before 3000 BCE. In Egypt, a griffin-like animal can be seen on a cosmetic palette from Hierakonpolis, known as the "Two Dog Palette", dated to 3300–3100 BCE. The divine storm-bird, Anzu, half man and half bird, associated with the chief sky god Enlil was revered by the ancient Sumerians and Akkadians. The Lamassu, a similar hybrid deity depicted with the body of a bull or lion, eagle's wings, and a human head, was a common guardian figure in Assyrian palaces.

In Iranian mythology, the griffin is called Shirdal, which means "Lion-Eagle." Shirdals appeared on cylinder seals from Susa as early as 3000 BCE. Shirdals also are common motifs in the art of Luristan, the North and North West region of Iran in the Iron Age, and Achaemenid art. The 15th century BCE frescoes in the Throne Room of the Bronze Age Palace of Knossos are among the earliest depictions of the mythical creatures in ancient Greek art. In Central Asia, the griffin image was later included in Scythian "animal style" artifacts of the 6th–4th centuries BCE.

In his Histories, Herodotus relates travelers' reports of a land in the northeast where griffins guard gold and where the North Wind issues from a mountain cave. Scholars have speculated that this location may be referring to the Dzungarian Gate, a mountain pass between China and Central Asia. Some modern scholars including Adrienne Mayor have theorized that the legend of the griffin was derived from numerous fossilized remains of Protoceratops found in conjunction with gold mining in the mountains of Scythia, present day eastern Kazakhstan. Recent linguistic and archaeological studies confirm that Greek and Roman trade with Saka-Scythian nomads flourished in that region from the 7th century BCE, when the semi-legendary Greek poet Aristeas wrote of his travels in the far north, to about 300 CE when Aelian reported details about the griffin - exactly the period during which griffins were most prominently featured in Greco-Roman art and literature. Mayor argues that over-repeated retelling and drawing or recopying its bony neck frill (which is rather fragile and may have been frequently broken or entirely weathered away) may have been thought to be large mammal-type external ears, and its beak treated as evidence of a part-bird nature that lead to bird-type wings being added. Others argue fragments of the neck frill may have been mistook for remnants of wings.

Lucius Flavius Philostratus (170 – 247/250 CE), a Greek sophist who lived during the reign of the Roman emperor Philip the Arab, in his "Life of Apollonius of Tyana" also writes about griffins that quarried gold because of the strength of their beak. He describes them as having the strength to overcome lions, elephants, and even dragons, although he notes they had no great power of flying long distances because their wings were not attached the same way as birds. He also described their feet webbed with red membranes. Philostratus says the creatures were found in India and venerated there as sacred to the sun. He observed that griffins were often drawn by Indian artists as yoked four abreast to represent the sun.

[sleepyheadincoulds]

“𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥... 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫.” ☆彡

Twisted Wonderland fan event: Glimmering Soirée event by @starry-night-rose !! ☜︎

꧁Read below for fanfic ☟︎

Notes: Not much dialogue and platonic

꧁Words: 316 (not a lot for this one)

Emmanuel was sketching out her next project, a dress. For a specific event of course that she’s held responsible for Deuce, Kalim, Azul, and Malleus. It’s no surprise when Crowley has a fourteen-year-old do this work, but she wanted to present herself the best way possible. 

Hours and hours of work before her deadline, she even pulled an all-nighter by using those energy drinks Idia offered her. Maybe never give a kid who’s in their early teens energy drinks. 

Perhaps never ever.

But finally. Even with the help of her woodland critters that she befriended, such as birds, mice, raccoons, or even ferrets, it was done. Ball time. 

And there she was, in the very dress that she made. She was making sure all decorations were perfect, music was perfect, and the guest feeling happy. She really was enjoying her time and Grim was hanging around with her. 

The dress color palette was white, blue, and some hints of gold. The dress had a blue vest along with a blue skirt with white lace layering over it, white lace puffing as the king sleeves which you could see her skin, and gold ribbons that laced over as a corset-like suit. She did also have her signature blue ribbon as a bow tie on the collar of her dress.

She was just making sure everything was going well in the ballroom, even for her friends that got picked to be the four princes. 

She was just watching the crowd, some people were dancing or talking, or some were introverted and stay hidden in the corners. She was watching the other rival school, Royal Sword Academy. She noticed how both schools didn’t really interact with each other, but that’s not really a problem.

“Just make sure that this ball goes well… That’s what Crowley asked for.” She mumbled to herself before taking a slip of some fruit punch.

[danothan]

started reading robin 2021 and i wanted to take the time to appreciate two of the most beautiful spreads in issue #1. they captivated me with how gorgeous and momentous they felt, which must have been the point bc i ended up staring at them sm that the symbolism finally kicked in

SPREAD 1:

1) LOVE the red and green at play, it’s such a difficult color scheme to get right lest you end up making the whole piece feel like a christmas card, but gleb melnikov pulled it off. the environment is rich and elegant and well-contrasted; it rly brings out damian’s classic red/green robin combo, even tho he’s not actually wearing his robin suit here. the green of his clothing highlights the green of talia’s, as well as the assassin’s tattoos, and, when combined with the cool-toned background, makes the red just pop out at you. pretty palette aside, it’s a very calculated choice in colors.

2) speaking of red, melnikov rly wanted you to notice the blood in these two pages. from the emphasis of the words DEMON BLOOD to the reflection of damian in the blood puddle, it only draws attention to the fact that his blade is perfectly clean of it in the second panel. one can only assume that talia killed that guy so hard that damian’s sword was caught in the collateral (damn talia !). it frames damian as the one to land the killing blow, as though his doubts/restraint with killing mean nothing because he still has the blood on his hands, blood passed down from talia. that doesn’t necessarily make it true ofc, but it does give us a reflection of his mindset with the blood acting as a literal mirror.

now before we delve into the second spread, lemme preface this with some context: many characters will refer to damian as an actual bird (“what better way to take out a robin than with a hawke,” “i’ve fought little birds like you before,” etc.) which speaks to his reputation, but i think it’s most notable when coming from talia:

at first, it’s used condescendingly, as it usually is from most ppl, and she speaks in a possessive tone when she talks abt returning him to the nest. she even tells him that if he IS to be taken under her wing, she would not treat him as her son but as a weapon. however, we know that this contradicts her intentions as she later uses the same “baby bird” petname as a term of endearment, even to calling him her son—notably when he is out of earshot.

you get the sense that they have this unspoken code of conduct around each other—family dynamics tend to be rigid in that way—but there’s also this feeling of regret as well as unfamiliarity navigating it coming from talia. i mean, she said it herself: damian was just a baby bird. he flew out of the nest too early.*

*see read more

so why does she taunt him for running back to his mother? why is she pushing him away? and why does she monologue for so long that she lets her guard down and closes her eyes long enough for him to disappear…?

SPREAD 2:

BECAUSE DAMIAN IS JUMPING OUT OF THE HELICOPTER!!! BECAUSE TALIA IS PUSHING HIM OUT OF THE NEST !!!!

talia doubled down on her militaristic plans as an opening for damian to leave. with that sense of regret mentioned earlier, talia knows she raised damian under harsh conditions, but she doesn’t know to raise him differently either, so she urges him to find his own path. presenting “the way of the demon or the way of the bat” as the only 2 options to her already rebellious son was guaranteed sabotage. she pushed him too early when he was younger, but she knows that her baby bird is ready to fly now :”)

bonus: what a classic jason todd move to wear a mask underneath your mask btw. guess it just runs in the family! (but on a deeper, unironic level, damian switches out both his robin and his demon suit into this new one. this obviously symbolizes his forging a new path, but also reveals his intent/doubts abt the whole confrontation. a mask underneath his mask? he was never truly looking to rejoin the league. after running away from bruce, he runs to talia to test the waters and see if he would do better there. and when it ends in the same shadowing of an ambitious parent, he ditches the whole thing. the fact that he had a back-up plan meant that his heart wasn’t in it, just as talia’s heart wasn’t in keeping him caged. a confirmation bias given permission by a mother’s facade. god, the al ghul mindgames are truly smth to behold)

*so much can be said abt how talia’s approach to parenting parallels and contrasts bruce’s. they both have the same good intentions for their son, and they both realize that he’s too young to face what he had and what he’s abt to. but talia wants to start the healing process of her control in his upbringing, and bruce wants to prevent damian from having to face it alone knowing firsthand what suffering he “endured to become batman.” one is letting go, the other is desperate to bring him back.

it’s such a fascinating look into the push and pull of their fatal flaws and mistakes as parents, as well as making them feel human and reasonable within the limits of all they know and are capable of. OF COURSE they’re overcompensating for their regrets, that’s just so… them!

and the fact that you can see both parents’ traits and influence in damian as he searches for his own identity just makes the whole family feel well-rounded. robin 2021 is so good you guys, it’s too fucking good

[adobe-outdesign]

Have you reviewed the pidgey line?

Pidgey is basically the original early-route bird Pokemon, something that I rarely find all that interesting. While Pidgey's not our best early bird or anything, I do think it's decent, gaining a distinct visual hook and theme as it evolves.

Visually, I do like the overall body shape, which isn't based on a specific bird but looks vaguely like if you crossed a shrike with a house finch. The colors, while a plain brown and cream, are well distributed and really help to break up the body, with a darker top and a pale underbelly. The thick black streak near the eye goes off the wide edge of it and lines up perfectly against the underbelly in a way that I really like, and the dark color helps draw attention to the eye, which would be lost otherwise.

My only issue with Pidgey is that it's pretty plain at this stage. I'm more forgiving of bland first-stagers if they evolve into something interesting, but I feel like something here could've hinted at the colors it would gain later on. Give it some red on its chest, tail tip, or eyebrows to add that little pop of color.

Pidgeotto (side note: Pidgeotto's and Pidgeot's names should be swapped) is one of those middle evolutions that really didn't need to exist. It looks too similar to Pidgeot, and ultimately adds nothing to line. There are a few visual things that are unique to it at least—a brown band across the chest, solid head feathers/striped tail feathers, and the tail feathers having a V shape to them—but nothing that makes it really stand out. You could've easily gone from A to C in this line and it would've worked just as well, if not even better (with things like the underbelly being more consistent without Pidgeotto).

Pidgeot itself, however, I do like. It's nothing all that fancy, but those long head feathers that connect to the top of the beak and the colored tail feathers do give it just enough to stand out. The smooth body has a really nice shape to it, and it keeps all of the good elements from the previous designs, like the color blocking and dark eye markings.

As a side note, Pidgeot's Gold sprite shows it with striped tail feathers like Pidgeotto. While it's kind of a good thing that Pidgeotto has something unique going for it, I kind of feel like the overall design would've looked better if they had kept the stripes with Pidgeot.

And mega Pidgeot I actually really, really like. It feels like a really good example of taking a fine Gen 1 design that just feels a hair too underbaked and sprucing it up just enough to really make it stand out, all while doubling down on the original theme.

In terms of theme, it takes the colorful feathers to their logical conclusion—making the bulk of the head feathers shorter but giving it one extra-long feather, and adding an ahoge in the front for good measure. The other big change, however, is in colors. Instead of sticking to plain brown with a few yellow and red accents, the palette is shifted into orange with added blue accents that really pop nicely. All of this results in a very pretty colorful design that leaves a much bigger visual impact than Pidgeot.

I also feel like mega Pidgeot kind of highlights what I was saying about Pidgeotto being unneeded. Imagine if the line remained three stages but went (design-wise) Pidgey -> Pidgeot -> Mega Pidgeot; each stage would have it's own unique flair, with Pidgey being the plain start, Pidgeot adding longer feathers and some color, and Mega Pidgeot adding a variable rainbow of colors and bright blue accents. That's how you make each stage unique.

Overall, Pidgey is simple but a decent start, Pidgeotto is uneeded, Pidgeot is pretty solid, and Mega Pidgeot takes Pidgeot's design to its much-needed conclusion. Pretty decent line all around.

[crisis-arts]

Originally, Cassie was going to be my last FNAF redesign before I started other things, but the Daycare Attendant design wasn’t sitting right with me, so I redid them :>

In these designs, they’re separate animatronics, and also birds! I think the biggest reason I didn’t like the original redesign was because, I don’t really care for the humanoid bots (they just feel out of place compared with the rest of the ensemble to me). Now as to why they’re birds, it’s a play on the phrases ‘early bird’ & ‘night owl’!

Sun is a phoenix not only because of his palette, but also because it just fits with the whole sun imagery. And as to why the Moon is an owl, well, I feel like that’s a bit more self-explanatory :v

Now that my ramblings are out of the way, enjoy the art (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

[icaruskeyartist]

Once again, this is @pillowspace's AU that I'm kinda going AWOL with. I just want to make something a little more cheerful after leaving Y/N struggling to get home last night.

Clone AU is being a bit prickly, but I think that's mostly cause I want to draw for it rn and I'm still in the throes of color separations whenever I have a spare moment on my tablet. But that'll be done soonish I think? By the end of the week for sure because I need to start making my mylar sheets soon.

Time Loop whump fic will likely be pecked away at throughout the day to deal with school stress. This is just a quick palette cleanser since to me HD Y/N is a bit in the middle personality-wise.

TL is a lot more extraverted and kind, and Clone is the one most likely to cause the DCA to experience the first animatronic heart attack if they ever spoke because every other word would be fuck. HD is one of those people who recognizes the struggle they're in, but they can also find the good moments and appreciate them all the more while giving the bird to everything making life actively harder for them and their little brother.

"You sure you're fine." Gretchen sounds doubtful, but you smile and keep working.

"Positive. Look, nothing really happened in the grand scheme of things, right? I'm not hurt."

"Your hand is bruised, and you had to cancel your cards," Gretchen says, and to prove a point, she grabs your hand.

You flinch, pulling back. "I made it home in one piece and nothing really valuable got stolen," you reply archly, shoving the last of the books towards your friend. "Go put these away. I need to check the computer room to make sure no one needs help."

"This conversation isn't over," Gretchen warns, even as she pushes the cart away. The library is fairly quiet at this point in the day, early in the afternoon, before school is let out and you all get inundated with kids and teens looking to kill a couple hours before their parents get home. It's the perfect time to make sure everything is clean and ready for kids to play.

The computer room is actually pretty quiet, though there is one brightly colored splotch of a person in the corner. You can hear them tapping slowly at the keyboard as you check each computer, wiping things down and logging out of a couple accounts. Eventually, you've made it to the corner with the stranger, struck by just how tall they are.

"Is everything all right?" you ask brightly.

"O-oh!" The stranger is clearly startled, so you take an extra step back, just for safety. "Yes, sorry. I think we, I, signed up for an hour? Has time. passed that fast?"

"No, sorry. There's a timer in the corner, here." You tap at the monitor helpfully. "I didn't mean to confuse you. I just wanted to know if you needed any help."

The stranger doesn't reply, instead fidgeting with what you're guessing is a scarf around their face. "Is your hand okay?" They ask, and you quickly withdraw it, tucking it close to your chest. "I don't mean to pry. It just looks painful."

"Ah, well." You grimace, remembering that Gretchen is going to be on you the moment she's done with her returns. It's easier to hide in the computer room, and besides, what's the likelihood this stranger will talk to her? You decide to sit, still achey from last night and exhausted from a lack of sleep. "I was mugged last night."

"You were what?" The horror in their voice is less grating than it was with your friend, and when you smile, it just feels tired, not forced. "You can't possibly be okay after that!"

"I kind of have to be. It's making some of my duties today a little harder though. I can't exactly balance heavy boxes with this hand, and my coworkers are sweet, but if I don't do my work, I think they're going to send me home." You curl and uncurl your hand slowly, biting the inside of your cheek to keep from grimacing. "And I need the money, so. Here we are, you know?"

"Here we are," they agree, a bit distractedly. They pecked at the computer a little longer, apparently thinking as they suddenly turn back to you. "I can help you move those boxes. I-if you'd like I mean."

"Oh?" You pause, thinking. "Oh, uh. Sure! If you're sure that is. I --- yeah, it'd be really helpful, but you don't have to. You signed up for the computer and oh fuck, I've just started spilling my guts out to you."

They flinch when you curse, muttering something in the middle of your rambling before holding up one gloved (gloves indoors?) hand. "It's all right. We, I, like to help. Just point us in the right direction."

"Okay," you saw, drawing the word out until it's more a sound than a word. "You can help this time. But I'm going to have to do something in return."

"That's not really---"

"Nuh uh," you interrupt, wagging a finger (from the unbruised hand), in front of their face. "Fair's fair, and if you're helping me, I'm helping you. Consider this a rain check."

"Fine," they say, turning to log out of the computer. When they stand, you feel very, very small. "Lead the way, Mx. Librarian."

"That's Librarian Clerk to you," you say, a little teasingly. You do take point, walking through the library to where you and Gretchen had packed away the Halloween decorations. "And what do I call you?"

"Sun," they say, and they take the first of three boxes without so much as a grunt of exertion. Tall and strong. If you were a lesser person, you would be jealous. Maybe you are anyway.

"Sun," you repeat, and it's an unusual name for this unusual not-quite-a-stranger. You lead them towards the back, fiddling with your keys to find the one for the storage closet. "It's very nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too."

[loosesodamarble]

Welcome to the Black Bird Part 7: A Butchery by Richard

Summary: Introducing Jack as Richard, the esteemed head chef of the Black Bird cafe. Genre: general Word count: ~800 A/N: Jack's art was commissioned from @crazycookiemaniac

..........

Feathers. Hide. Bone. Cartilage. Guts. Blood. Flesh.

Working at a joint slaughterhouse and butcher shop business, he was tasked with processing meat from carcass to sellable product. He prided himself in taking apart eerie, lifeless corpses. In a way, his job was destruction with a purpose. And it brought a smile to his face.

It used to at least.

Jack’s boss took notice of the young man’s dulled vigor. He didn’t scold Jack or tell him to “just get over it.” But instead, he asked Jack to help make a delivery to one of their buyers.

That’s how Jack found himself at the Black Bird for the first time.

After moving everything from their truck to the cafe’s walk-in freezer, the cafe’s matron had Jack and the boss sit at the breakroom’s table. Then, a burly young man sauntered in with a plate of steak strips laid over a bed of minced vegetables and rice.

All it took was for Jack to take one bite.

In a word, it was delicious. A kick that hit the back of his throat. The hearty flavor of vegetables to ground his palette against the heat. The tender meat was juicy, savory, and faintly charred in flavor. And maybe it was Jack but he swore he tasted a bit of iron too.

And there was a high likelihood that the beef he was served was prepared by his own two hands. The flesh he tore into, the carcass he destroyed, didn’t end with being a cut of meat. It was still on its way to being a delicious creation.

Jack put down his fork, looked at his boss, and said “I’m putting in my two weeks now.”

…..

The sound of rapid chopping.

Steam rose from bubbling pots.

Oil sizzled ferociously.

Shouts of “order up” and “how many minutes” and “pick up for table—” during the lunch rush.

Heated and frantic, that’s what the atmosphere was. That’s how Jack liked it.

With one final strike from his knife, Jack finished mincing a carrot. The bits of orange were tossed in a bowl of other minced produce and stirred around. Then, Jack procured a fresh chicken breast from the fridge. He brought it to his work station and set it on the cutting board.

Jack’s knife gleamed as he raised it, as if it, too, were eager to get to cutting once more.

“Oi, Richard!” Jack turned to the voice and saw “Alexander” standing at the service area. As he picked up a table’s order, the burly man called, “A customer wants you to know that your cooking fucks!”

“Keh keh! Damn right it does!” Jack shouted back.

It was obvious to Jack that the customer likely only said “give my compliments to the chef” but Alexander tended to phrase things more entertainingly than other servers did.

With a cackle, Jack turned back to his work.

…..

Flowered Filet. A customer’s choice of meat filet cut to look like a blooming flower. Meant to highlight the chef’s cutting skills.

Every detail of the dish made sense for Jack. He’d handled meat for so long so of course his signature dish would involve protein. And since he wasn’t a professionally trained chef prior, he cut away any bells and whistles and focused on what he knew he could do: he could take a knife and cut, slice, and slash.

At first, he overlapped slices of meat to create an image. But he realized that the idea was more about plating than knifework. Then he tested ways of cutting a whole filet into a shape, like a wing or star. He eventually figured that he could cut numerous, tightly packed curves into a filet so that the meat could be pulled back and take on the shape of a flower in bloom.

When Secre saw an early version of the dish, she beamed at Jack and said, “Now that’s gorgeous. Who knew a butcher could be so artistic?”

Jack certainly hadn’t known.

Growing up, he had been entertained by destruction. Tearing pages out of his notebook and tossing the scraps to the wind. Picking at tree bark until his nail beds were stained brown and red. The dissection labs in middle school science class.

He became a butcher to continue destroying, in a new way. Until he got bored with that as well. And then he discovered cooking, where chopping and mashing and broiling didn’t destroy something but transformed it.

Destruction and creation.

Jack never thought he’d be capable of such a thing. Yet there he was.

The process of turning ingredients into a dish. Maybe it could’ve been called re-creation.

Jack certainly felt like that word suited his work. Like it suited him.

[welcomehomeincorrectquotes]

Headcanon/Fanfic:

Back in the early days of Welcome Home, there was a large red bird named Petey. Despite his intimidating size, Petey was gentle, kind, and frightened of pretty much everything.

Everyone loved the big red bird named Petey and he loved them back, but something felt off.

Petey was sad all the time and didn't know how to explain why to his wonderful, concerned neighbours. He felt unhappy, trapped, not like himself.

Whenever the crew of Welcome Home worked with the bird puppet, they felt uneasy; just saying the name "Petey" when referring to the character was enough to make them feel sick.

One day, a designer had the irresistible urge to alter the big red puppet. They started with adding some makeup, a lovely golden blush with matching eyeshadow that helped the dark red to pop out!

Somehow, the entire crew felt a slight sense of relief without knowing why.

When Petey's neighbours stumbled upon him with his make on for the first time, he was showered with wonderful compliments. The big red bird started to wear his makeup every day, even going on Spa Days with Frank and Julie.

Another day, the urge hit the designer again. Next, the dull blue feathers atop the red bird's head were slowly replaced with a magnificent crest of vibrant blues, greens, and yellows with matching hackles.

The crew felt a wave of euphoria flow through the studio.

It was Julie's idea to try out a new feather-do. Wally was there to help him pick out a colour palette and teach him the tricks to having a good hair day. Trying new things was scary, but the happiness he saw in his own reflection was worth it.

These slight alterations kept on going over the next coming months; longer eyelashes, softer plumage, a colourful scarf with lace, a softer voice...

It all came to a head one day when the crew realised that they barely recognised "Petey Partridge" anymore. She needed a new name.

Petey struggled with what to call herself now, but it came to her on her birthday when Barnaby gifted her a bouquet of beautiful red poppy flowers.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Don't try to be original. Be simple. Be good technically, and if there is something in you, it will come out.

Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse is widely regarded as the greatest colourist of the 20th century. The French artist used colour as the foundation for his expressive, decorative and large-scale paintings. He once wrote that he sought to create art that would be “a soothing, calming influence on the mind, rather like a good armchair”. As a result, he embraced life-affirming subjects, making innovative use of colour, line and form to create loose interpretations of light and space.

Though he was known as a draughtsman, printmaker and sculptor, Matisse is most remembered for his paintings. In his early pieces, created in the 1890s and early 1900s, Matisse’s work belonged to the Fauvism art movement. Fauvism was coined by the critic Louis Vauxcelles in 1905 after he saw the work of Matisse and André Derain in an exhibition in Paris, and translates as “the wild beasts”.

Fauvist paintings used bold, non-naturalistic colours, often applied directly from the tube in loose, spontaneous dabs. The forms of Fauvist subjects were also simplified to their most basic shapes and silhouettes, making their work appear quite abstract. While many Fauvists left the movement to adopt more conventional styles, Henri Matisse continued to use the distinctive Fauvist traits of bright, emotive colours, simple shapes and painterly mark-making while continuing to seek out new influences by traveling the world.

During the early 1900s, Matisse travelled to various parts of the world to study, including Algeria where he learnt about African Art and Primitivism, Spain to spend two months studying Moorish art, and then Morocco. The effect on Matisse’s art from those adventures was a new boldness through his use of intense, unmodulated colour, particularly the addition of black to his palette.

As well as painting, Matisse was also an accomplished sculptor and more than half of his sculptures were completed between 1900 and 1910. He frequently worked in series, manipulating the form and simplifying it over the years. The three-dimensional medium allowed Matisse to twist his figure even more than he had in his paintings. Initially working with clay, Matisse cast each of his 82 sculptural works in editions of 10, typically in bronze.

In the early 40s, Matisse developed a new aesthetic and style of working out of necessity. His now famous cut out period was brought about by physical changes in Matisse’s life. In 1941 the artist was diagnosed with abdominal cancer and while the surgery was successful, it resulted in serious complications, which left him chair and bed-bound.

Matisse developed the new art form using paper and scissors. With the help of his assistants, he began creating cut-paper collages, also known as decoupage. Matisse would cut sheets of paper, pre-painted with gouache by his assistants, into shapes of varying colors and sizes and then arrange them to form vibrant compositions.

Matisse moved to Vence in 1943, a commune in between Nice and Antibes, and it was there he produced his first major cut-out project for his artist’s book titled, Jazz. Matisse saw these works separately from his principal art form, conceiving these works as designs for stencil prints rather than artworks in their own right. However, Matisse soon saw the possibilities this technique offered him as an artist saying: “An artist must never be a prisoner of himself, prisoner of a style, prisoner of a reputation, prisoner of success…”

Matisse began producing works outside of his initial cut-out project, which soon led to mural-sized works. His studio assistant Lydia Delectorskaya loosely pinned the silhouettes of birds, fish and marine life directly on the walls of his studio, as Matisse changed the composition as he went.

Throughout Matisse’s career, whether it was during his oil-painted works, his stripped-back sculptural pieces or in his final years of cut-outs, the consistent theme within the artist’s work is an appreciation of form and composition. Matisse demonstrated the benefits of being open to influence, absorbing techniques from his contemporaries and the colours seen on his travels. His use of bright hues and simple shapes to convey mood and emotion was bold at the time, and continues to be an inspiration to many artists today.

[warframestuff]

Gargoyle's Cry 35.0.3

Tenno: The following Operation is designed for players who have finished the “Whispers in the Walls” quest. Review at your discretion!********

OPERATION: Gargoyle’s Cry

“Your attention, please.

The Murmur threat demands immediate action. Our first order of business must be surveillance. An early detection system lest we be caught sans trousers.

You would agree that a Vigile Jahu Gargoyle installed within each Tenno Dojo is the obvious solution. Not a whisper could be uttered in the system without the connected Dojos overhearing it first.

Your compliance is appreciated. The Vigile Jahu Gargoyle awaits you within your Dojo - simply place it as a Decoration. The enemy does not hesitate. We must do no less.” - Fibonacci

The Murmur encroaches on our systems, Tenno. The Whispers beyond the Wall are a new threat; we must ensure they stay confined to Albrecht’s Laboratory.

Operation: Gargoyle’s Cry is a limited-time event launching today,December 18 at 2 p.m. ET and ending on January 15, 2 p.m. ET across all platforms.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

The Murmur continues to scrape deeper into our realm of existence. Having devised a solution to detect such whispers, Fibonacci won’t allow such trespassing to threaten our system.

This Operation relies on Tenno across the Origin System to construct an invisible ‘living defense’ against the growing Murmur threat.

To join this living defense, or ‘Murmur Telemetry Chorus,’ you must hunt down the power source that’ll continuously power your Vigile Jahu Gargoyle. Fight against the ominous Murmur to earn new and returning rewards from previous Operations.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

Operation: Gargoyle’s Cry is no small task. Only those who have finished the “Whispers in the Wall” Quest can join and complete the event and the associated Mission. This event is for players on-content.

After finishing the “Whispers in the Wall” Quest, Tenno will find a Vigile Jahu Gargoyle decoration to place within their Dojo. This will require a member of your Clan to be capable of placing down decorations, which players will then build via resources gathered from Albrecht’s Laboratories. Once all the resources are contributed, the Gargoyle only takes 60 seconds to build.

Tenno must then complete the Effervo Mission on Deimos to collect Cursed Murmur Energy to activate the Gargoyle. You’ll acquire this energy by defeating one of the Fragmented Trio, with the whole squad earning one of three curses:

Curse of Knowing from The Fragmented Suzerain,

Curse of Seeing from The Fragmented Anchorite,

Curse of Hearing from The Fragmented Zelator.

You’ll acquire only a singular amount of one type of Curse on Normal Path but double of one Curse on Steel Path. Curse acquisition is unaffected by Resource Boosters.

The Murmur is not the only threat, however. Void Angels have breached the in-between of the Laboratories and The Indifference, desiring to consume the Cursed energy. If you do not kill the Angel lurking around, it will consume the Curse dropped by the Assassination Target, leaving you Curseless.

Return to your Dojo afterwards to lift your curse by feeding it to the Gargoyle. Spend time with your new decoration, as the Gargoyle is also a vendor, allowing you to purchase new and returning Operation items while netting progress towards the community reward.

Seek and destroy, Tenno. Uphold the living defense.

(VIDEO DEMONSTRATION OF EVENT)

OPERATION REWARDS

When you defeat one of the Fragmented Trio, you’ll acquire the event currency: Grotesque Splinters. 1-3 Grotesque Splinters are earned on normal difficulty and 3-5 on Steel Path.

Fibonacci beckons your safe return to your Vigile Jahu Gargoyle to spend your yield of Grotesque Splinters. You’ll acquire rewards like new Entrati Sigils, a Color Palette and returning rewards from events like Operation: Scarlet Spear.

New Cosmetics

Fibonacci Sigil

Fibonacci Sketch Glyph

Tagfer Sigil

Tagfer Sketch Glyph

Bird 3 Sigil

Bird 3 Sketch Glyph

Gargoyle’s Cry Emblem

New Color Palette: Cavia

Krios Signa

Returning Cosmetics

Gilded Clan Sigil

Glyphed Clan Sigil

Phased Clan Sigil

Prominence Wisp Totem

Fluctus Rahk Skin

The Ballroom Simulacrum

Weapons and Power

Ceti Lacera Blueprint

Basmu Blueprint

Stance Forma Blueprint

Trials/Eidolon Arcanes

Not all rewards are warranted by Fibonacci’s hand (or fin...). This is a communal effort, Tenno. Each feed to the Gargoyle strengthens the community, resulting in the new Krios Signa debuting from the Void into your Arsenal. If the goal is met, the Signa can be purchased from the Vigile Jahu Gargoyle Vendor!

The Vendor store will be open until February 15, 2024.

SCORING AND FEEDING

Trophies earned are determined by how often your clan fully feeds your Vigile Jahu Gargoyle with Cursed Murmur Energy before each Weekly Reset (Monday at 0 UTC).

Terracotta is one full feed, Bronze is two full feeds, Silver is three full feeds, and Gold is four full feeds. One full charge depends on the size of your Clan. A full charge for a Ghost Clan is two of each Curse, with Shadow Clans needing six of each Curse, Storm will need ten, Mountain thirty and Moon at one hundred of each Curse.

TL;DR:

Once the Vigile Jahu Gargoyle is constructed in the Dojo, Clans will fully feed it with Cursed Murmur Energy from the Effervo Mission to enable the living defense.

Feed your Gargoyle before the weekly reset for four weeks to keep the Gargoyle fully fed and earn a trophy, depending on the number of charges added.

Each full feed adds to unlocking the community reward.

All Operation Rewards can be purchased from the Vigile Jahu Gargoyle for Grotesque Splinters.

THE MURMUR THREAT

On the rare occasions when Murmur fragments assemble themselves into a whole, the result is a monstrous and potent entity. It may manifest in three different forms: The Fragmented Suzerain, The Fragmented Zelator and The Fragmented Anchorite

Together, as heralds of the Indifference, they tether down the Strands of Khra which their bizarre master must travel.

Source