#in a hobbyist way tho

[0saippua]

lmao i feel like clown comparing my commission advertisement (?) to other artists

>everyone else: i am freelance artist potato2 trained by art school of potato hogwards, here are my clear, strict and numerous terms, rules and clearly listed prices of art

>me: i draw poni for mcdonalds money

[krockat]

https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=dispose+grease

hey-- you know as much as i appreciate a funny anon as much as the next guy, and the occasional 'hey get your head out of your ass, here's where you can find perfectly good info' jab,

GOOGLE? how dare you insinuate i use Google for my searches. neigh. neigh, stranger.

as much as i may use Google for various services as it is an inescapable and allegedly (under investigation) illegal monopoly that has gored and vored most things i love and/or am in need of using;

i try not to dally with their results and thievery more than i need to.

why i so hot and sexily and sillily asked an open ended question in a tag on a rb'd post about degrease-ms.

i will take your peak and i will take it. but i SHANT stand for resorting to google searches on my own.

also sometimes it's just a fun time for the potential to get a take from an internet mutual or stranger coming at it with their specific take.

or a passive-active anon sending a passive-active link to me, like good samiratins like you :)

[beeseverywhen]

I just think that if someone's paying their rent and they are using the land you rent to them for its intended purpose (growing food and flowers for my households use) what does it fucking matter how they do it. Like please. What is the point. Chill the fuck out

[sexhaver]

In my niche kink/fetish community the "kink can be not sexual" people are using it to justify why they want to write about doing it with kids, or more disgustingly, talking abt it to kids. (bc theyre pedos). They make "nsfw dni!!" blogs where they use exact kink lingo and imagery, but somehow it's "sfw". (and minors are welcome to interact, if course). Also sometimes they want to post abt being into incest but not catch any heat from people weirded out by it. I don't really know why other people claim that tho.

tbh i feel like this specific flavor of "sfw kink" discourse that you're describing is mostly endemic to online communities centered around fantasies that aren't really possible to act out irl, like inflation and vore. since they're fantasies, they're also much harder to participate in non-hornily, since the only way to participate in the scene is to... fantasize about it, which, like, im not saying it's impossible to spend hours each day thinking about getting eaten or stepped on or blown up like a tire in a non-horny way, but i am saying it's happened maybe a dozen times ever in history. then you mix in the standard "inviting minors to discord to DM them about sexual stuff while telling them it's not sexual and they're so mature for their age" playbook and stuff ends predictably.

what's more interesting to me are the people making this claim about irl community spaces like the oft-bandied-about "nonsexual BDSM parties" or "platonic shibari" or what have you. setting aside for a moment the logistical issues with ensuring that everyone at these events is on the same page wrt the horniness (see that anon i got the other day about someone who gets aroused by BDSM tying up people who want it to be "nonsexual"), specifically referring to these meetups as "kinky" instead of "hobbyist" despite the nominal absence of sexual arousal gives me the exact same vibes as those pole-dancing fitness classes that try to separate themselves from the existence of strippers (NO I AM NOT SAYING POLE-DANCING IS A KINK). they want to have their cake (calling themselves "kinky"/having the allure of being Sexually Deviant) and eat it too (make sure everyone knows they aren't actually horny about it unlike those devious Sex Perverts who are just trying to get off)

[psshaw]

You have been one of the most unapologetically yourself artists Ive come across and I dont mean that in the cliche way I mean like... your idiosyncrasies seem particularly unstifled. Your art is purely yourself and the mainstream isnt gonna go for it but the audience you do speak to gets to feel like an alien finding someone else from their homeland. AI image gen feels like a beautiful cake with flowery frosting and when you cut into it its actually frosting all the way down and has nothing of substance. I obviously can speak only in metaphors lol so I just wanted to say I appreciate reading your thoughts on AI and tho I feel strongly abt it I have a hard time putting exacting words to what about it is so worrying to me. As an artist it energizes me when I see artists who are wildly unique and expressing themselves without a care to their skill limitations or personal strangenesses (read: mainstream unmarketability). Manga artist ONE and his charming and funky style is a great example. Anyway I love your thoughts and wanted to say thanks and also throw words at you

FUCKIGN DAMN DUDE, ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE ME CRY? Why is the weather getting misty on my face specifically. Thank you. My most contentious trait is that I keep forgetting to care what people want from me.

It's really interesting following people who are very honest but more mathy than me, because the way they talk about art and AI lately has gotten... increasingly callous. Even bitter. It's partly justified, because artists tend to suck at defending themselves charismatically. ("AI art isn't real art"; the "AI can't do hands" thing was always destined to age badly) But also, I can't stand the sheer selfishness of people who claim to be rational but don't seem know how to investigate what art at its best is for and why they view it the way they do. When I read "AI is great for hobbyists" I'm like. 95% of the time, I'M A HOBBYIST... I would never generate a script, or music... javascript maybe, but I'd feel guilty about it... but the excitement? I think some guys are just looking to suckle on a feeding tube. Cos they were done a disservice by thinking they had to stop visual art after fingerpainting!

I don't think AI NEVER has substance, but the type of person who gets excited about AI doesn't tend to do interesting things with it. And what really bothers me is that I can never tell exactly WHAT they did, versus how much was a coin flip. This is useless for understanding your voice as an artist. I don't care to see more by you.

ONE is a perfect example. His style MAKES that story. The manga and the anime feel so different. That's why I hate when people say that hating AI is discriminating against people who can't draw, cos like... if you can't make something intentional and real without using what's functionally a search engine, why would I believe you're having ideas worth the cliche conceptartdotcom overrendered AI polish at all? Not to be a dick, but like. In terms of rate of return on my attention investment, so far I'd do better by sitting at a craps table.

[mewpathy]

FINALLY. THE REASON WHY I MADE THIS SIDE BLOG. HER.

Been having a TON of brainrot from TOH again and my old mlp next gen habits kicked in sooooo... yeag

More ab her under the cut bc WOOOO BOY i have SO MANY THOUGHTS ON HER

So! I think I should begin with just the fact that she is, for lack of a better term, a anomaly. Grimwalkers have never been recorded to reproduce- on top of her being a weird mixture of not really human and not really witch... Uncanny valley for both species yk?

Hunter and Luz were in their mid-20s when Luz got pregnant with Lunala,, which was a shock for both. More Hunter than Luz lmao she was cruising. At the time the two had just started up a cultural exchange of sorts with the human realm so on top of the stress of new baby... yeah it was a time.. Doesn't help that halfway through Luz's body was like- smth,, smth aint right and so while not on bedrest, she did have to tone down her activities and now, with medicine advancing, many theorize that the left over Titan magic in her is the only reason she survived.

Then out popped Lunala! Lil freak of a girl. Hunter cussed out the fact hes a clone bc bby girl gots her wack goofy ahh cousin(?)s blue eyes- Phillips last F u lol- the yellow from Mama only started coming out when she turned 4-ish. On top of that, she got the staple four digits with pawpads all Grimwalkers have and EXTREMELY horrible equilibrium and thermoregulating ability. She is bundled up 24/7 and cant walk without her cane. Messed up gal.

Due to the irregularities of magic during her formation her bile sac cannot filter magic properly- some days she'll be equal to a fully grown witch and others she'll be bedbound due to her own bile sac essentially leaking the excess out of her when a usual one would get rid of the "used up" magic via normal ways- another reason why she uses her cane. On top of this, the excess magic (if she hasn't used any in a while) starts to drip out of her mouth, being almost acidic. A fine line she has to walk between literally spewing acid and being poisoned by her own body. She survives tho! Also her teeth too big for her gotdamn mouth,, queen of braces

BUT OH HO HO. THIS DOES NOT STOP HER FROM BEING A LIL CREECHER. A GOOFBALL. A MENACE. She looks /TERRIFYING/ when happy/scheming but genuinely means well- taking her Mama's words to heart- "It becomes bullying when no one but yourself is having fun" and essentially tries to make others laugh/be in a good mood,, unfortunately a lot of people find her to be unnerving- only really finding a few good friends in Ophelia- Willow and Amity's adopted daughter-, King, Collector, and a school friend Ricardo- a human on the Boiling Isles via the cultural exchange program.

Outside of other's around her age, she gets along with her parents and family wonderfully! Lunala can be very quiet when she wants too and has found a particular gift for essentially reading people and being able to help them- magical therapist if you will. On top of exploring the human realm with her Auntie Vee (Who has become a cross country explorer and nature conservationist), she has a hell of a time helping her Dad practice for his games or his most recent pailsman carving, or helping her Mama document the entirety of the Boiling Isles or be a proof reader for her Mama's books. Fun stuff!

Her pailsman- Manny- is named after Luz's dad, after seeing pictures her Abuela left out. Manny and Lunala are two peas in a pod- with both being seen as unnerving. On top of that, Manny being a King Cobra gives a slight hint to Lunala's... less than spectacular anger. She doesn't get angry often but when she does her bile sac works overtime with the amount of adrenaline she gets from her anger, which, of course, leads to the acidic overspill and very... unsightly view.

As she gets older, and learns to control her anger more, she'll become a terrifying politician both in the Boiling Isles and in the human realm and hobbyist child psychologist.

ANYWAY ITS MIDNIGHT AND I GOTS SCHOOL BYE HOPW YALL ENJOY THIS RANT

[tomatoart]

i loove the way you compose your art, it’s something i really struggle with, do you have any tips on composition? ^_^;

Tysm! I get so surprised each time someoen compliments my composition bc I struggle with it too, so ur no alone! I’ll try to put it into words below and give a lil example… excuse the misspellings or odd wordings ^_^ !!! im just a hobbyist so idk much! hope it helps tho

[thechekhov]

Hello sorry to bother but I was wondering if you have some recommendations for a good graphic tablet (with screen) that's not too much expensive? Keep in mind that for me it would be amatorial work/hobbie/only used for free time, so it doesn't have to be something pro. A good reliable one yes tho.. and I have no idea what to look for ahahaha can u maybe help me?

It's a good question but I'm afraid without knowing your budget, I don't know what you mean by 'cheap'.

And I'm afraid that as a universal law, things which are cheap are.... not often reliable. Of course, there are exceptions! But they are few and far in between.

What I CAN recommend is a brand - I currently use a HUION tablet and although mine wasn't cheap, HUION does have smaller tablets which are significantly cheaper:

HUION - Kamvas 13 - about $200 USD

This one is a small hobbyist tablet that will likely serve you well. I've been using my larger Huion tablet for about 2-3 years now and it has been an absolute dream.

However, if you're literally just chilling, maybe consider - instead of getting a GRAPHICS TABLET specifically for drawing................ just getting a tablet?

Many computer tablets like iPad and various non-apple options now have great touchscreens and styluses for drawing. They may be a smidge more expensive but they're useful because they are also just.... a computer. And you can use it for way more things, and therefore paying a bit more may be worth it.

If you get a cheaper iPad or a tablet, you can simply download the free program called MediBang Paint Pro and draw whatever you want!

happy drawin!

[insertsomthinawesome]

Sorry if this doesn’t make sense but how do you… art? Like from looking at your art, there’s just so many different fandoms and it’s all fantastic!! How do you not stick to one or feel like you *have* to stick to one? Sorry

Aw Friend! No need to apologize! :D You asked your question plenty politely! That's a really interesting question actually, and I'm fascinated to be asked it! Because I actually do know the kinda thing you're talking about! or at least I have experiences that feel like they line up with what you're asking. A lot of its... growing up? I guess? And not in the sense of like. becoming an adult. but the non-stop process of growing and learning more about life. When I was younger, an actual child, I just Did it. I drew whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I didn't question hoping to a new interest or drawing different fandoms. I just did it. But the older you get the more complicated a lot of things get right? 😔 That was true for me.

I actually spent several years terrified, of moving on. Of leaving old fandoms behind. There was one fandom I actually forced myself not to leave for like... 2 years? Because I was afraid of all the projects I wouldn't complete, all the stories I wouldn't tell, all the art i wouldn't make. But honestly that was a horrible decision? It burnt me out of the specific fandom SO BADLY. Its only been around this last year that I've been able to enjoy things around it again without an overhanging shadow of stress.

I was still scared to fandom hop after that incident tho. Despite having gotten burned by caving to my own fears. It wasn't until I got into Trigun that I actually started to get less scared. A friend I met in that fandom, someone who was older than me, told me that... things have a way of coming back around. If you know the song "Everything Stays" From Adventure time? She said it was like that song. You will inevitably get older. But these things won't be gone. And you can always come back to them :) That clicked in my brain... and it took a bit longer, a bit more time of accepting that fact for me to find peace... but honestly? I kinda have now. At least for this moment in time. I wouldn't be surprised if the fear comes back around again, fear is funny and insidious like that. But I have the tools to beat it now :) The other two things I would mention are these: For starters: this might be obvious? But I'm a hobbyist artist. I don't make money off of my art, I don't sell it, I don't need numbers or clout in order to pay my bills. I'm completely free to do my own thing! Ain't nothing wrong with making a living off of your artwork and if that's the path that you want to walk GO FOR IT. But that path does have its own challenges. Because I don't walk that path, I am free to make whatever I want, without worrying about how it might reflect on my finances. The other thing is...

PERFECTIONISM...

THIS, NASTY LITTLE VILE COCKROACH, WILL RUIN YOUR ART LIFE SO BADLY ITS INSANE. It will ruin your NORMAL life super fast too 😔 it is an insidious little shoulder devil telling you, that you will be happier if you just do it the "perfect" way. IT IS SO SO SO SO SO SO WRONG. That is the key to the door of endless procrastination and broken dreams. SFLJSLF to get less metaphorical about it though: If you're always waiting for the perfect moment to make art for a fandom, to leave a fandom, to join a fandom (in this case i just mean "Get into the thing that interests you" when I say "Fandom") or create literally anything, you will be waiting forever. I know because i have been :') And its made it very hard to draw both in my past, and right now this very day.

Truthfully i'm still working on that one??? I've had some epiphanies recently that have helped a lot with my perfectionism... but I haven't tried drawing since having them? (drowning in the new Honkai Star Rail Patch WHEEZE) So uh. Not sure If I'm over that hill yet xD But yeah, if that's one piece of advice i could give you to take seriously, its don't chase perfection, in ANYTHING. Especially art. It will never be enough for you. And if you're doing it for other people, it will never be enough for them. Art is wonderful and messy, and human. And that is okay.

Its taken me a lot of soul diving and thinking and a lot of help from outside influence and kind people for me to figure this stuff out too. So don't feel bad to ask for help kay? We all need help. A lot xD I'm still not like, the king this stuff either. There are a lot of smaller, more niche, fandoms, I want to draw for, but still haven't, because of my own anxiety and embarrassment. There are fandoms I haven't drawn for because I don't feel like i have the adequate amount of information to be, ""allowed"" too (which is totally a fake standard btw, there is no barrier to entry for when you're "allowed" to draw something). I'm working on these problems every day.

Oh actually one last note: People can influence how hard it is for you to draw for a bunch of fandoms too. If you know you'll get made fun of for drawing something, its hard to draw. If you know you'll get praised for drawing something, sometimes that makes it easier to draw. Both of those things can mess you up BAD. Constantly drawing for other people (when its not a deliberate gift) can make you feel really upset and angry, and dissonant with your artwork.

But it can be equally as hard to realize nobody will share your enthusiasm if you don't draw what they like. That's not a judgement against anybody's friendships, we all got our own interests, and nobody can be 100% Invested in everything their friends enjoy. But It can make it a bit more emotionally challenging sometimes. And it can be hard to like?? Emotionally deal with that? in a way it makes art that you know will perform well, either with your friend group or online, like... "Candy". Its tastes good, but it doesn't give you long term energy (ie there's nothing wrong with it, but its not sustainable as your only form of sustenance) Meanwhile making art that is purely self indulgent is like eating a full and healthy meal. It gives you that long term energy of personal satisfaction, and your enjoyment and happiness also doesn't inherently hinge on whether or not other people appreciate it like you do. Obviously there's no issue if what you genuinely want to draw would also do well online/with your friends!

ANYWAYS, yeah, I'm still maturing and learning and growing with a lot of my opinions and perspectives and emotions on this stuff? Its definitely easier said than done, and while from the outside it looks effortless... I understand why you'd be struggling anon. I hope you can figure it out for yourself too! Best of luck :D also i could go on and on and on about this topic for years because alsjdfaksjdflJSDJGSD ooohhhhhhh boy I have learned and witnessed and thought many a thunk.

[a-lonely-dunedain]

I got tagged by @the-journey-was-the-point for this headcanon game! basically you just plug an OC's name into this headcanon generator and see whether or not what it spits out fits your OC(s)

first up is Tossdir I guess

"Tossdir watches my little pony"

afuyfdgahsjdghjkahsd ok how did they know the last thing I drew was an mlp/lotr thing... anyway yeah sure why not. I think he would casually enjoy it. I feel like Ethedis would be a bigger mlp fan tho, so he probably watches it because of her (a bonding activity <3). his favorite pony is Rainbow Dash btw

"Tossdir can drive"

yes and no. in a modern setting I always envisioned him with a motorcycle, so he can drive that just fine, but DO NOT let this man behind the wheel of a car

"Tossdir got hit by a bus once"

Maybe.

next up Ethedis

"Ethedis's least favourite subject in school was Gym."

yes, accurate. her favorite subject was Everything But Gym. she's a nerd. a scholar with noodley scholar arms. while you studied the blade she... just studied I guess. there's a reason LMs don't get sword proficiency til like level 40 lmao

"Ethedis is a cry baby."

YOU DID NOT HAVE TO COME FOR HER LIKE THAT. she only cries for good reason! the epic line just.... gives a lot of good reasons to cry :(

"Ethedis nearly drowned in a river as a child."

she was just trying to talk to the fish ok??? leave her alone

Margim is up next!

"Margim steals other peoples clothes."

hmmm probably not. I think she's the kind of person who has like 2 outfits that she wears until they can't be worn anymore, she's just piratical like that (meaning she hasn't yet learned she's allowed to have/want more than the bare basics needed to survive)

"Margim bites their nails."

I mean she probably has some sort of nervous habits, but nothing quite as obvious as nail-biting. it's the sort of thing you wouldn't easily notice. like just getting even quieter than usual or suddenly being unable to maintain eye-contact. maybe she fidgets with her hand but only when it's in her pocket so you can't see.

"Margim is afraid to close their eyes in the shower."

yeah she probably would be a bit jumpy in a shower. not only is it loud but she's also unarmed! she might get soap in her eyes this way but it's better than being ambushed!

and let's do a few for Celeair

"Celeair tackles and wrestles people to show affection."

lmao I'd like to see him try. but no fr I don't think he would even if he could, he definitely likes physical affection, but in a more gentle way, like cuddles and hand-holding and tender forehead kisses

"Celeair is in your house"

well, I am currently rotating him in my mind, so does that count as being in my house? he's not in your house tho, person reading this.

"Celeair is smart but also very stupid."

truer words have never been spoken.

annnd let's do some of my less developed OCs for funsies!

"Elwar crashed a riding lawn mower into their fence."

yeah she probably would. she would try to hide it and pretend she didn't tho

"Ciriondil cries while watching disney movies."

Ciriondil doesn't strike me as a disney adult lmao, but more broadly speaking about animated family movies in general? depends on the movie but yeah I think he would, and he wouldn't be ashamed about it either!

"Lothrandon speaks only in meme refrences."

even in a modern setting I am 100% confident this man does not know enough memes to use them in casual conversation. but I do think he would be part of online communities for outdoor hobbyists (like fishing and wilderness camping fourms) and would understand/share boomer memes from those niece communities

"Nimelloth has a pet lizard"

I have just decided that this is true and his name is Lothrandon II. Lothrandon is not aware that his wife named a lizard after him.

and oh gosh right I have to tag people now. uh I do not know who has been tagged already but here! @rohirric-hunter @aurore-parle-de-ses-idees @find-the-path @sweetearthandnorthernsky

[dabookgoblin]

I don't say this to start fights or anything, but I've been watching a lot of booktube videos lately by creators I'm new to and I've been hearing a lot of the same complaints-- and MAYBE this is bc I honestly haven't been on top of the latest releases (in my niche or outside) the past two-ish years-- but every time I hear people talking about how samey publishing is, in particular for the romantasy and romance genres... I feel like it's bc none of y'all complaining are actively reading as diversely as you pretend to be.

I read queer fiction/sci-fi/fantasy almost exclusively and there is a lot of diversity in that genre (tho it is a niche not without its own criticisms) I see people who read a lot of these 'book-tok darlings' that are all these cis-het allo-normative books by (predominantly) cis white women and then complain how everybody is "using the same tropes" "every romantasy is just a SJM clone" "romance books are just thinly veiled erotica anymore" and how even the online book community/creators all fall into the same ruts and like, BABES. YOU ARE LITERALLY READING ALL FROM THE SAME POT.

I'm in the community, I read a lot and often, I was even on (queer) booktok and my experience could not be any different. If you just went out of your way to follow people that promoted and read things that are different LO AND BEHOLD they often don't fall into a lot of these issues and complaints???? Like at all?

I'll be listening to these people vent and even tho they talking about books and the community I feel like I'm only allegedly in at this point, it always feels like finding one of those rant/gossip videos from some niche potting hobbyist community you've never even heard of.

IDK, I want to hear what other people think.

[theriverbeyond]

☕️saw you were reading Annihilation, so I want to know if you have opinions on the horror genre (I don't know why this ask is yelling and I don't know how to make it stop)

no worries thanks for the ask

I think the horror genre is really cool! I love how it is such a broad genre, I really love how it can be used to explore really personal/micro level fears in addition to more universal experiences. I like how creative a lot of it is, I like how it is inherently more resistant to attempts at sanitization and censorship (tho of course not entierly immune and people try etc etc).

I also really like how different artists can harness the specific storytelling format they are using to maximize the experience, like junji ito's page turn or horror games that really take advantage of YOU being a person IRL who has to press a button that you know might make a scary thing happen.

however I'm like, a massive dweeb and can't handle 99% of video-format horror, and only some audio formats. Like.... normal audiobook is fine, but spooky sounds are too much. Some level of scary stuff and etc is okay like I could watch Super 8, but I hate jumpscares and also like, high-fidelity gore/body horror. I also couldn't watch the newest cartoon harley quinn tv show because it had too much cartoon blood and violence so like, take that as you will! i also hate feeling afraid which does throws a real wrench into my whole "horror is super cool and I love it" statement above, but we contain multitudes.

My favorite ways to experience horror are hobbyist level short stories (like what people post on reddit nosleep), written and comic format horror (like TLT, blood on the tracks etc), longform youtube analysis (and other types of written essays especially on horror media I am too scared to actually experience myself), and finally wikepedia summaries

ask game (send me ☕️ + topic and i will Share Opinions)

[rui-drawsbox]

hey dude

how did you develop your art style? ive been drawing for years and I cant seem to get a handle on ANYTHING

4 almost 5 days late sorry dude you shot right into my inability to put thoughts into words properly HAHA

alright so first of all, i don't even think a style is something you need to do art. I'm a hobbyist apologist and as long those people enjoy creating it doesn't even have to look "good".

That aside i'm assuming you want to take art at least a little seriously so i'm just going to be straight forward and say that the only way is ping-pong between styles/techniques/themes and just stick with the stuff you feel more comfortable doing.

Now going into my personal experience, that's what you asked after all lolol (from now on this is just yapping so feel free to ignore it)

alr soooo im skipping my first steps into art and going into the humanoid phase. I actually started with sonic! Specifically the show Sonic X, of course i picked up mannerisms from the anime when it was time of doing comedic doodles (and cuestionable taste on fashion)

(im going thru my big inspirations so bear with me here)

2015 came and i discovered my two main inspirations for a long time: fnaf and Ed00chan! (link to her abandoned deviantart so yall can see the style of the time). As i was completely enamored by her anime-yet-cartoony style i was also hyperfixated with fnaf and those two things combined perfectly into (the infamous in the spanish side of the fnaf fandom) fnafhs! bing bang boom there it goes my personality for the next 5 years!

sprinkle a few power puff girls z too why not

anyway at that time i wanted to become a pro like ed00 so i had to understand anatomy, and my go-to channel was Bgm94! But the elders said that to broke the rules you have to understand them, so i just kind-of started doing more "realistic" bodies while maintaining the cartoony-ness i liked so much. Which to be fair, didn't last long before i got bored and jumped straight into cartoon/chibi again

also since we're entering my digital era i'm including some drawings with wild style changes since the experimentation never ends owo9

anyway that was 2018 and before! it was around 2017-18 that i dropped the general tutorials and just started experimenting on my own style/anatomy and trying to improve my skills (im ignoring my sketchbooks bc from now on they just become- well, sketchbooks, instead of doing full drawings i just doodled in classes and leaved the detail for digital stuff)

i would love to include all my 2019 folder bc i consider it was a year full of love for my silly doodles but tumblr has a limit for images HAHA. Hopefully you can see how i go trying out stuff and pick little stuff from every stage with me lolol

2020 hits and you can *see* my hyperfixation with twisted wonderland here, at least my folder is 60% twst drawings i made for my fanfic at the time LOL. Not so many style jumps here tho so let's keep going

2021 and 2022 here! at the second half of 2022 i found my oh so beloved crunchy brush and i also fell hard for Arashi Narukami, so basically my tumblr became an arashi fanpage lol

stuff at 2023 keeps pretty the same until now tbh, the only highlight would be the re-inclusion of noses bc of spiderverse 2. My style also has been pretty well maintained since i started doing commissions so i don't really do so much experimentation anymore, at least not with proportions and such.

alr so that was my journey on artstyle! Of course it's not like you're gonna guess all my process just by looking at the images so i'll say what type of stuff i feel influenced my decisions.

i'm very lazy and for a log time i just abandoned my projects if it prolonged more than a day or two, that obviously made me lean into the cel/plain shading rather than spending hours and maybe days rendering (not that i don't try rendering every now and then but i don't enjoy spending so much time in a single piece)

everyone around me always has been extremely supportive so i had the privilege of dedicating all my soul to drawing silly characters haha, i feel like since i never felt the need of comparing myself to others i could actually experiment so unapologetically with my style until i was satisfied

finding an actual brush that i like is always crucial to me tbh, even in traditional i'm pretty picky with how the ink and type of pen i'm using. Of course, i also tried multiple traditional art techniques (watercolor, acrylics, crayons, pencils, pastels, my favorite are pen+markers)

i dont like feets. that shows until today.

in general i think an artstyle is something extremely personal that every person has to shape themselves and that it can't really be a permanent thing, it's gonna fluctuate with the artist whenever they like it or not.

[just-a-carrot]

Hey! Just a heads up, I'm sending this to multiple people, since I wanna get as many different viewpoints on this as I can. I hope this doesn't bother you. Also, this is pretty long.

So, I have a question about gamedev, but more on the marketing/presence side.

Most gamedevs I know, even hobbyist ones, keep their accounts relatively professional. Sure, they may shitpost here and there, but it's mostly in relation to their games, the gamedev sphere in general, or very general inoffensive stuff. And, most importantly, I've seldom seen my favorite gamedevs (or any of my favorite internet personalities, for that matter) comment on random videos unrelated to what type of content they usually post.

All of my social media accounts are quite unprofessional. I've also had them for a long time, so there are a few things on my digital footprint that I'd rather people not see. I also, for lack of a better way of explaining, watch and read random shit and like to leave comments on it sometimes.

I feel like, I were to become a gamedev, I wouldn't be able to do that anymore. I'd have to treat my internet presence as its own balancing act, rather than a place for me to express myself unabashedly. I know this is working under the assumption that I would get big and that people would give a damn about me, but there is always the off chance of that happening. Of a random game you make suddenly blowing up because it hit the algorithm just right. So it's better to be prepared. And even if I don't get that big boom in popularity, I still plan to at least make games consistently enough to build a community of their own. Nothing like, huge, but I really enjoy the idea of people enjoying my work and sharing that enjoyment with others. But I don't want that to cross over into my personal life!

I know that's not an impossible feat, but I feel like it kind of destroys the purpose of the internet for me. To me, it's always been a safe space where I could express myself and easily connect with people with similar viewpoints, but I am now coming to odds with this concept as I consider how I want to become a gamedev.

There's also the side note that I don't wanna rebrand. At least not completely. I don't mind cleaning up my accounts or deleting some old ones, but I've grown very attached to being "Quamai". I can't imagine myself having any other online identity, even if there are some cringy moments attached to it.

So, do you have any advice for my situation? How did you personally go about your own online image, and what do you think is the best course of action?

Thank you in advance!

oh gosh what a question ldkjfadl

hmmmm

putting this under a cut because it got long and rambly lakdfa

for me personally i don't think i've ever made that many "right" choices when it comes to how i handle my online presence in game dev, it was mostly just me doing what seemed like the right thing to do at the time. it's also changed a lot all throughout my time as a dev

tho i guess the main thing is that i did create a whole new game dev online identity, so to speak, when i first got into game dev. this wasn't really due to any purposeful thought put into it though and was more just because 1) i didn't really have much online identity anyway at the time and 2) in the beginning i was trying to be more "professional" LOL

when i released easter, i did it without any presence at all. i had no accounts or anything. i literally just finished the game and threw it up on itch and gamejolt using the new studio name i had come up with based on an inside work joke. it wasn't until i started to get a few people talking about the game or linking to it/making vids that i was like hmmm i should have a twitter maybe LOL so like a week later i made a twitter. but i barely posted on it, it was just responding to other people. a year later when i released the 2.0 update i also made a few posts. then thought i might start using it more so started posting just a few random updates of new stuff i was trying out/working on (this was when i made my first couple of posts about early OW stuff)

but then when i shifted out of game dev again for a while, i abandoned it

it wasn't until august of 2021 that i began actively using my account again to post production updates for work on ow. but back then i was a lot more "emotionless" for lack of a better word. like i approached it in a more no-nonsense way than i do today. i also never got that much response from it either, usually lucky to get like 2 or 3 likes on stuff 🤣 over the course of that first year or so though i would change a lot in how i handled my online stuff, acting much more like myself, interacting a lot more with people, and getting increasingly more unhinged(???) LOL perhaps because i'd begun to see that being "super professional" when i'm just a little random person making a game all by myself there's no reason to be so stiff (and it's just much more fun and genuine to not be afraid to be myself and be a bit silly). over this time was also when i'd shift away from using my studio name and just taking the "carrot" identity. because i realized i didn't like people thinking about me as an impersonal studio and wanted to just be me, carrot, interacting with people, making games, and getting unhinged about my chars and stories

is this the right way to do it???? i have no idea. but perhaps since i never have any aspirations of grandeur and don't plan to be any kind of business, it's fine for me. and while it's true that i don't like to post, reblog, interact with, content unrelated to my games or other VN stuff, that's mostly because i don't want to annoy people who i know only follow me for game stuff (i worry about annoying people a lot, actually, it might be one of the core foundations for how i handle myself online LMAO). i don't have any other presence online though. once i started my game dev stuff, carrot became me, and it's all that's out there. so it's not like i need to "separate" anything. but also i'm not a very avid user of social media in general so it's not like i have an active desire to have different accounts so i can tweet about or comment on other stuff lakdjfasd i'm an old socially anxious duck who gets mentally exhausted just scrolling my feed. i don't need to spend any more time online than i already do with my game dev stuff hahaha. i do know some other devs though for instance that have private accounts on twitter just for their friends and more personal thoughts. so that's always an option too

as for what you should do in your own situation with your own online presence, i'm not really sure, as it all comes down to what you want. for me, since i didn't have much presence anyway, and because i wanted my game dev stuff to be its own thing, it made sense for me to create a new presence just for game dev (that eventually evolved into my entire self LKDJFAS). so it's hard for me to say what would be the best course of action if you already have an online presence that forms a core part of your identity that you don't want to lose. it also depends on what you want to eventually do with your games and if you see yourself really wanting to pursue it actively and make it a big part of your life. most devs that i know do have "game dev" presences for lack of a better word, where if you go to their accounts, it's just for game dev. or they create studios and studio accounts. i think no matter what you decide to do, even if you keep the name the same, it would probably be best to at least keep your game dev stuff separate, because people could potentially be put off from following an account for games but then their feed gets filled with a lot of non-game stuff from you that they don't care about

no matter what you decide to do though, i recommend being yourself no matter what. whether you keep with your same identity or craft a new game dev only one, still do what feels right for you on that account and be yourself and have fun with it!! game dev can already be such an isolating and hard experience, so creating a space where you can be silly and have fun with other devs and fun with your chars and ideas can really help so much to give you motivation and just enjoy your time creating games!!!

(sorry if this was a complete ramble that didn't even still fully answer the question; i can only speak from my own personal experiences that i went through after all and i don't really have any good or professional answers since i also have no idea what i'm doing most of the time 🤣)

[zytes]

what camera do you use?

I learned on a Canon T3 and currently use a Canon T6, an inexpensive DSLR that’s several years out of date - it isn’t exactly professional gear and I usually avoid talking to self-labelled photographers about my equipment because it’s quite insufferable listening to 50 year-old hobbyists tell me that I *need* a mirrorless camera for the Nth time; they’re like $4000 tho, so even if I could afford that I’d be too scared to use it in the ways that I like to use mine.

I think the T7 or T7i is the more current model, and it runs around $500-700 brand new in a basic starter set with two lenses and a soft case. In addition to the lenses that came with the camera body, I also occasionally use a half-dozen different plastic lomography lenses that I bought in a set from a thrift store many years ago — they take sorta shit photos, and are a little inconvenient to use, but they’re really unique; plastic lenses are super underrated imo. The only other accessory I use is a $20 aftermarket battery pack that doubles the battery life and extends the body of the camera to make it fit more comfortably in my hands. Using inexpensive gear has allowed me to be much more adventurous while I’m shooting without fear for rain or snow or dirt - although I do occasionally have to digitally remove water spots and other small shadows that make it into photos whenever my lens is a little scuzzy.

^ the lomo lenses I mentioned, extremely cool vibe but literally held together with tape.

[mihai-florescu]

i also told half my friends about that poll and it was like, kind of doubly insulting of a comparison because i watched II when i was like 13 and am actually familiar with it. and it getting so many votes was kinda shocking to me (beyond the size/prominence of enstars' fandom playing a part) because 1. i still thought object shows were relatively niche or obscure and didnt know there were enough fans to give it so many votes in the first place and 2. the entire story is constructed so badly that there isn't even like a story to talk about. if you asked me about the plot of II i'd have to explain the history behind its existence and then how there is no concrete plot because the writers are hobbyists who don't know how to make a comprehensive story. it's so bad, it was already bad enough but then sometime way in they introduced a plotline about a corn version of steve jobs stealing alien eggs to fuel his iphone production line. his name is steve cobbs. this was meant to be a total drama esque show, what are the writers on?

anyway i dont have to explain to you how greatly interesting wataei is but i hope you know my pain at that poll. discussing enstars is getting to talk about themes and ideas and how they interplay and contrast and parallel between characters, it's stuff you can chew on. discussing inanimate insanity is just talking about the 3 simultaneous ideas they had for a show that they tried to write and failed horribly each on an individual level and also it all just clashing egregiously in tone. they wrote an entire spinoff alternative show because they knew they couldn't salvage it and were sick of making it.

so yeah even as a former fan of inanimate insanity in my childhood they just ... it's not a comparison you can meaningfully make, it's like comparing a delicious pudding to nickelodeon gak. you can do it but what's the point? they aren't the same thing, you have to talk about each in a totally different way.

also lightbrush isn't even canon because there are no romance plotlines in II (thank god). i really shouldnt have felt so strongly about the poll as i did

It's all such a fever dream of an event... but i somehow feel like the enstars fandom on tumblr is very small compared to other social medias (good. Well, either this or i live in my beautiful bubble of very lovely followers & very lovely people i follow. It's most likely the latter). Yet i cant imagine it's smaller than the ii one... but i remember it breached containment and ii fans were promoting it on twitter. At some point it became less of a "looking at it objectively" and more of a "we should win because...we should?" on both sides. For us it actually made sense tho. Were the lightbrush fans writing thousands of words and bringing dozens of screenshots to compile a measly showcase of maybe 10% of their ship's canon relevancy like i was? (Or we were, probably, i dont think i was the only one but i only focused on doing My Part, didnt really look at what others were doing. My discord name is still "brave wataei warrior" to this day after that event) No. They couldnt. We all knew that. Which is why the whole thing was baffling and infuriating. They just wanted to win for the sake of winning something despite the objective evidence. Haha lack of objectivity in the object show fandom *badum tss* thank you thank you im here all day.