#it feels like that just yoyos depending on the artist

[oifaaa]

Apollo survived the war world saga he was just captured and I believe mind controlled. (iirc only lightray and manchester black fully died in that arc but I might be forgetting people). Also I don’t think they’re in nightwing’s generation they’re still batman/superman ages of like anywhere from late 30s to 40s (I think they have a slow aging thing but that might have been taken out in the current iteration? I love them but boy does dc not)

I don’t think Jenny Quantum/Jenny Quarx’s has a confirmed current status. I know she sacrificed herself in the 2008 wildstorm and was in the 2011-2014 dc stormwatch but I don’t believe she’s really been referenced since. The 2017 The Wild Storm reboot had Jenny Sparks? JQ should be 23 now but I think dc just doesn’t know what to do with her and she’s got that thing where she’s too powerful and not popular enough for writers to want to use her

See I remember the mind control thing I just honestly don't remember him getting fixed from that tbf that arc went really weird at the end it felt like it went straight from they won to being back on earth but I might of just missed an issue or something

[arcadekitten]

So about the pretending about being a different species, wild other puffins understand why Yo-yo pretends to be a lobster? Or?

I feel like in regards to Yoyo's situation it would be more of a "Oh you're just a scam artist" reaction. Expected of a circus, usually. To which some people might be offended and others wouldn't care, it all just kinda depends on the individual in that case!

[freedom-shamrock]

Fifteen for Fifteen

Rules: Answer 15 questions and tag 15 mutuals you wanna get to know.

Tagged by: @lovelyliliana101,  @perditaalottachocolate-blog and @tog84 - thank you all!  It was nice to read your fifteen :)

Are you named after someone?

Yes.  A friend of my mom’s  who was a nurse and convinced my mom to have life changing (in a good way) brain surgery.

When was the last time you cried?

December 21, after getting my son’s mid-term progress report. I don’t like feeling like a failure as a parent.

Do you have kids?

Yep.  Two.

Do you use sarcasm a lot?

Me?  Use sarcasm?  Never. Also a big fan of hyperbole.

What is the first thing you notice about people?

Hair, eyes, and expression - though the order of those things can vary.

What’s your eye color?

Brown.

Scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings.  Scary movies are things that happen to other people.

Any special talents?

I’m ambidextrous and can write with both hands at the same time, which is distressing to some people.

Where were you born?

Minnesota, USA

What are your hobbies?

Reading, beadwork, baking/cooking, photography, biking, hiking, and martial arts.

My volunteer work counts as hobbies, because they use a lot of my time, but I do them because I enjoy them - leading Girl Scouts, coordinating two Chinese dance classes.

For those wondering why writing isn’t in that top list, it’s much more than a hobby.

Do you have any pets?

Yes. Currently just one Sheltie, but would love to bring the pack back up to two.

How tall are you?

5′11 to just over 6′ depending on how my spine is behaving.

What sports do you play/have played?

The only sports I participated in, in school were soccer (not by choice) and cheerleading.  I’m more of a non-competitive silent sports person (biking, hiking, and cross country ski), and I’m a martial artist (which some folks count as a sport).

Favourite subject at school?

This is tough.  I graduated university long enough ago that some of my followers weren’t even born yet. My degree is in journalism, and I had a couple of great in-major classes (layout/design, mass media law, and history of journalism).  But then there were the surprise classes that I loved, particularly the three-week intensive (six hours a day) on bryophytes (moss) and the philosophy of modern ethics.

Dream job?

I would love to be able to write fiction for a living.  But that’s one of those things that can require a whole lot of circumstantial luck.  In the meantime, freelancing as an editor and technical writer are making me very happy.

And now, tags - As always, no pressure (and apologies if I’d missed you getting this already): @inkshila, @valkyrieofberk, @gigiree, @soundofez, @beany846, @tbehartoo, @chimpukampu, @ao3bronte, @frostymoon11, @aknazer, @ellohcee, @yoyos-on-the-wharf, @reyxa, @youcancallmecirce, @hailqiqi

[akria23]

Note: Part 2 of my all gay rec list...I really should do a girlxgirl one...there needs to be more stories truly. anyway....I accidentally deleted this whole damn thing and had to type not up again so thats why it took so long I was highly pressed. I almost said fuck it cause most of ya’ll gonna swipe past it anyway but I also like to keep my word so...not as good as when I first did it but here all the same. 

Crashing: one of those stories that are best when you're in need of something quirky and funny. Fred is tall nerdy and the responsible type while Sam is the short over the top drama queen that makes you laugh in a - that lil asshole - type of way. They're totally on different ends of the spectrum and it makes for a charming awkward combination that works.

The way he Looks: tells the story of Leo, a young man who does not have the ability to see. This lack has created a life of being dependent for him where those around him feel like he's incapable and thus his life is sheltered. That is until he meets Gabriel of course. Gabriel is a new student and after he starts to hang with Leo and his best friend he finds himself quickly enamored (read head over heels in love) with Leo. Gabriel doesn't view Leo's lacking the ability to see as a need for dependence as others do however, not being able to see doesn't mean Leo is incapable of doing - it means he just may have to do it differently. As Leo let's Gabriel into his world, Gabriel intern introduces him to the world we take for granted everyday.

Akron: a story that has no coming out issues introduces us Benny and Christopher who meet at a game and decided to get their attraction a shot. That is until Benny finds that their family history is more twisted and connected than either one of them would have ever thought possible (no not incest you losers lol). Benny finds himself stuck between still wanting to be with Christopher and the decision he knows those he loves would want him to make. They cute shit so...I would've been looking at my loved ones like 😬...

The Get Down: (Thizzee) The get down is about a a group of brothers and their friends coming together to create music. Set back when hip hop was in the scratch of a record and disco was the thing. Dizzee is a revolutionary - he tags (spray paints) as his preferred artistic release. And that's how he meets Thor, another tagger whose tags he's seen before. They become quick friends and then something more when Thor introduces him to a new world, where rules are different and freedom reigns - aka bish we all gay round these parts. The scene was hands down one of the best until the show topped itself by having this scene where the two stood in a house covered in their art that represented them both and painted one another while dancing around and laughing. A metaphorical beast - the intimacy, the endorphins, the thought of being so high on happiness that you feel strong enough to do anything allow yourself to be anything. Thizzee is just such purity man - usually I'm not even down for that type of shit but they really pulled the shit together on another level. Thor had respect for Dizzees art, understood him where others called him weird. He helped him realize this greatness of self acceptance.

Note: THD and Thizzee are both still important to me even though Netflix was a lil bitch. They're not overt like my other ships and that bothers some people. I get it after for many years of Hays not getting that rep we want to see them get to be overly physical because we lack that, but I think it's okay to create a story where overt is not the key, I just feel like EVERY story should not be that way cause then it's bad representation and message sending. Dizzee is my fav character, he's what I'd been waiting for for young black men for a long time.

Shelter: I'm sure everyone has seen this one - it's one of the few and more popular gay films we have in America. But I did add this one for a reason - before I get to that, for those of who who don't know, Shelter is about Zach a young man that works at a dead end job and seems at a standstill having given up hos dreams to help raise his nephew Cody because the father is a deadbeat and his sister, the mother, might as well be a deadbeat. Zach has an on again off again gf and it makes sense why they yoyo so much when Zach's best friend's older brother Shaun comes back to town. Zach been on hold for the D - that's okay because Shaun has been in love with him since before that was probably even okay.

Anywho - like I mentioned before I love to read as well, there is a book that is very very similar to Shelter. The book allows a deeper exploration of the characters and their stories - with only slight changes. The book takes Cody from a shit cute kid to an intelligent, charmer that excels at sass and whit. He even ends up getting his own book later in the series. So I'd def give it a try if you loved Shelter. The author is T.J Klune - Bear, Outter and The Kid, the sequel Who We Are and the the kids book, The Art of Breathing.

Also I have switch the vid for the Eyewitness I prefer the new one. And link to original rec list. 

[beihonglin]

[TRANS] 180512 Zheng Ruibin 郑锐彬 EASYiDOL Interview 

It is a spring day and a Zheng Ruibin who just finished his morning schedule steps into the EASY photoshoot. This is the first time we meet him in real life, but we can feel that he certainly is a boy who shines anywhere he goes.

Once you start talking to him, you will realise that the Leo in Zheng Ruibin is really obvious – he started picking up piano when he was three and originally planned to test into the music composing department to become a teacher. However, he soon slowly realised that his interests lay elsewhere and the Zheng Ruibin who maintained first place in singing, dancing, acting and professional classes began tapping into his endless potential. He says, I am especially afraid of becoming stagnant – once I stop, it’s almost as if I fall into a pit of anxiety. He does want to show everyone a better version of himself; if you ask him what kind of artist he wants to be, he will tell you, a well-rounded artist.

[t/n: it got too long, the rest is under the cut!]

Zheng Ruibin’s learning ability is astounding and the things he likes are various. You can feel this from Binbin’s stage performances. What kind of person am I… as long as I feel that it is meaningful, I will try to learn from other cultures’ music styles. I feel that as long as anything has an artistic meaning, I will try to learn from it.

His attitude towards life seems to be working hard for himself regardless of what other people are doing. Using his own words, it’s like working hard even when other people are sleeping – this is really what endlessly improving and getting closer to your dream means.

Zheng Ruibin confesses that he puts his work above everything else, even his life. A little like a perfectionist, he is set on having a great start and a great ending and not being knocked down regardless of how bumpy the process might be. He will endure slumps and come out of it in the end with a perfect product.

Q: The biggest take-away from participating in Idol Producer? A: I feel like I’ve learnt where my limits lie, and my knowledge of my own talents and attitudes has become clearer.

Q: Who in the programme left the deepest first impression on you? A: Cai Xukun. Once he entered the room, I immediately felt he was someone who would be able to go through to the end. He carries an idol-like aura and his style is different from everyone else’s.

Q: When do you feel the most confident and alluring? A: When I get serious doing things, I think. When I work my hardest practising and when I perform every stage well.

Q: What do you do first thing in the morning? A: I put on music – anytime, I need to be in an environment with music.

Q: What are the songs you listen to the most? A: It depends on my emotions and moods. My playlists have different labels and are sorted by type – I have a shower playlist, a sleep playlist, an excited playlist, a happy playlist and so on. I have playlist labels for nearly all my moods. Lately, though, a song that I’ve had on repeat is Park Hyoshin’s Wildflower – I really like listening to Korean ballads.

Q: If you could choose a movie character to have dinner with, who would you pick? A: I’d want to meet Iron Man.

Q: What do you like to do in your free time? A: When I’m free, I like to exercise and play basketball. This is something I do for sure – I’m a really, really big basketball fan, from the start of middle school until now.

Q: When you were younger, did you ever think about going into sports then? A: When I was in my most rebellious phase I wanted to become a basketball star and wanted to test into a sports school. Back then I used that as a goal to train myself. I had no official training so I used that as a final goal for my own practice. I feel like if you want to do something, you need to take full responsibility for your own decisions. If say I wanted play with a yoyo but I can’t get good results, I wouldn’t say that I ever played with the yoyo – once you decide to do something, you need to make it past your own personal goals for it to count.

Q: What is your best dish? A: A four-part bento? (laughs) Shredded potato, tomato egg soup, vegetables, stir-fried meat and rice. And I really don’t get fat when I eat so I eat a ‘scary’ amount. You can ask anyone who knows me – I can eat approximately what amounts to an entire herd’s worth of lamb by myself. I feel like if I were to describing my food intake in terms of an animal it’d be the fifth son of the dragon king* in terms of the amount I eat. [*t/n: mythological gluttonous animal]

Q: What kind of artist do you want to be? How do you want to be remembered by the audience?  A: I don’t know what other people think but I feel like I shouldn’t have these thoughts at my age (laughs). But I feel that artists are first and foremost people and they’re like everyone else; there’s nothing that makes one better than the other. Everyone has their own shining point. If someone were to ask me what kind of role I’d be afraid to play, I’d think of the most ordinary and not outstanding role. I’d act until everyone believes that even the most ordinary person has a shining point. I’d use my own actions to tell people that entertainers are the same as everyone else – they’re like everyone else in that everyone has their own job, just that their shining points are their career. This is my career; if I leave this job, I become an ordinary person. I want to use my works to touch more people and give them a better attitude. I want my works to speak for themselves and produce a better stage, better music, better films or dramas. [t/n: did he even answer the question lol]

Q: What do you think Is the EASY lifestyle? A: Being able to understand and trust the people around you, including strangers. Being able to not worry about anything.

[giraffodil]

Failure Update? LONG POST SORRY

Personal stuff below (I am on mobile, scroll fast) I got super frustrated and decided to take a drive and now I am half way over to the grad school I was going to (from New Mexico to California and I am in Flagstaff Arizona) I COULD just drive the rest of the way over and get my damn self started in the semester. But I have already sent in notification that I am dropping out. BUT I haven't heard confirmation from anyone that they got my email or have done anything about it. BUT I have declined my job transfer in California and accepted my job back in NM. I am still fairly fucked but now slightly to the west of where I was before. I mean, having extreme anxiety attacks that make one barely able to function for days is a fairly good indication that maybe one shouldn't take the most stressful and demanding road available. But failing at this awesome opportunity isn't exactly soothing for my anxiety disorder either. I might as well go over and pick up the damn bed couch thing I had shipped to my dorm that Amazon couldn't cancel delivery on in time. I have no idea how I would get it and/or my money back through the dorm folks. But how surreal and painful would it be to show up, not move in, say hello goodbye, and trundle back home? BUT how terrifying and overwhelming would it be to start the semester off on the heels of an extreme, literally crippling, 3 day long depressive episode? There were hours when I wanted to get up off the floor but literally couldn't. It was bad. I don't know about living in the dorms with this condition. Much less trying to balance a demanding school schedule with the possibility of losing hours or days to this illness. On the other hand, if I go back to NM, I am seriously thinking about looking into getting a therapy dog so I will feel safer living independently. I have a connection to a group who trains them. Please, universe or whatever, help me through this one eh? What am I supposed to do with my life? How do I move forward with my recovery from this mental illness? Do I push through to try and conquer my fears and achieve my highest potential? Do I redefine success and the good life on my own terms and pursue a gentler life? What kind of work will bring me the satisfaction, pride, and joy I need? What about the financial resources I need? The personal growth? The contribution to my community? And for that matter, what is my community? Do I need to have some big impact on the state of justice in the world or just survive and make a few people happier? I am ok being a little poor but will my future kids resent the fact that I could have had a more affluent life but turned it down? What about my parents when they need help In their old age? In what kind of setting should I look for my future partner? What if things get too Naziish here and I need to leave the country? What if I can't manage my student debt? What if I try to be an entrepreneur and don't make it ad go bankrupt? What if I try to make it as an artist and can't support myself and have to keep a day job I hate forever? What if I just get a mediocre regular job like all my friends and lose the ability to follow my passions altogether? What if I was never ever destined to be extraordinary and was always fated to live a dull, ordinary, unremarkable life? What if I look back on my life when I am 80, like my dad, and struggle to find anything significant I have ever done past the age of 25? What if, like my dad, I let my mental illness alienate me from everything except a tiny little world where I can micromanage everything? What if, like my great aunt, I become a spinster and die a virgin? What if by registering on a dating site as a wlw I end up on a registry of known homosexuals to be targeted by alt-right Nazis if they rise in power? What if the attack on the arts and science cuts off both of my possible career interests? What if I become totally dependant on my mom for support for my mental illness? What if I don't find another love of my life and she dies and I am utterly and completely destroyed? What if something happens to my cats? What if Steven Universe gets canceled? What if Eichiro Oda dies before One Piece gets finished? What if I die on accident but because I am known to have had suicidal thoughts the insurance companies don't pay my parents anything? What would happen to my poor mom if I really did harm myself, would she ever be ok again? What do the people at my maybe grad school think of me and my struggling with mental illness? Are they fed up and want me to quit and get out of their hair? Are they rooting for me, and will be disappointed if I don't pull it together and get my degree? Are they entirely too busy to give me a second thought and won't notice or care if I make it or not? What about my potential roommates and classmates and peer mentor and employer and such? How well would they tolerate someone like me who cries a lot and flakes out and is fat and makes too many excuses? What if my potential roommates are homophobic? What if they're lesbians but better than me and don't accept me? What if I run into people I met last year and it is painfully awkward? What if the professors resent me for taking a spot away from another student who could have been successful TWICE? What if I can't find a therapist or get a bad one or have to be on a waiting list for a month or can't get insurance? What if Medicaid suspects me of fraud for some reason and kicks me off and demands that I pay them back for my medications and I can't and I end up in trouble with the law and with terrible credit? What if we inherit a ton of money from the ranch and my mom no longer qualifies for financial aid for her meds and she has to choose between spending her inheritance on medicine or risking her leukemia returning incurably? What if she has a coughing fit and chokes to death while I am away? What if my dad is about to pass away but he doesn't tell me because his paranoia makes him think I don't care or I hate him? What if I find a girlfriend, fall in love, and my extended family finds out and tries to cut my mom and I out of our inheritance? What if my yoyoing on this whole grad school thing has alienated me from my few remaining friends? What if my confidence is permanently fucked by this? What if my mutuals unfollow me for dumping like this? What if my car full of all my worldly possessions is stolen? What if I just get fatter and fatter until I am morbidly obese? What if my new gay haircut gets me attention from homophobes but not other wlw? What if I have a billion cavities or undiagnosed cancers or am diabetic? What if I try to post this long thing and Tumblr loses all of it?

[ectiger]

Sleep deprived ramblings

Currently it is 7:20am, and I have just come off a night shift doing the livestream. Actually that was about an hour ago, not that it particularly matters.

I'm thinking about what is needed to stay positive and strong. There is so much art that needs doing and even more that I really want to do. There is so much I want to create.

Why is the desire to create so easy to break though? Burnouts, depression, lethargy, the occasional straight up procrastinating... Certainly this does not apply to every artist but many may be able to relate.

Some days a bad feedback on an artwork can dip you, or a fight with a friend or customer. Personally rejection seems to do it a lot, especially among people in reality. Social anxieties manifesting slowly into a solid phobia.

I do not enjoy a minute of drawing when in a space like that. It's actually so unpleasant I've referred to it as creative rape when someone attempts to force the art. The mind circles the thought of what has you upset, the more you attempt to distract from it with a mentally strenuous task like drawing the more you end up thinking about it.

This has become a lot more difficult for me since I quit smoking two months ago... If I'm angry or upset I would go punish my lungs with a cancerous roll of poison. What do I do now? Eat? Run in a circle? I've really been lashing out at people and need to do some serious work on it.

Where is the burnout / keep as many people as possible happy threshold though? There is some work that got behind yes, but everyone wants it at the same time, and many are not polite about it. Actually just thinking about what that was like before my last burnout makes me feel exhausted.

To be fair I don't understand people well in general, so I shouldn't be expecting to be understood either. The only reasonable solution I have at hand is total isolation from people as people are always the dip trigger.

However I can state two things: 1) It's like some kind of weakness curse in DnD: a dip typically lasts 4(d6) days. And actually sometimes less depending on the quality of activities that went into the off time. - 1 d6 for good time and another for not being around too many people.

2: The most fragile time appears to be the comeback - go have your great time, recharge that mojo, sit down ready to work. 60 messages from like 30 people. 5 of them probably want to order. 24 just want to talk... Which is overwhelming as is and then there's one. He either did not get the memo, or understand the bad vibrations doesn't make art manifest faster or better, and leaves you a horrible block of text that just dips you back to square one. And so it repeats...

My only solution at this stage is someone to work with customers. Not only am I growing increasingly unstable with this emotional yoyoing, my people skills are devolving and I lash out like a cornered animal at most who attempt contact.

Well, good rant... I'll bbl.

[robrob1127]

Hayes Carll Hits the Road in Support of His Latest Album Release

 By Rob Nagy

 Nearly two decades have passed since Indie Americana artist Hayes Carll exploded onto the music scene with his critically acclaimed debut album, Flowers and Liquor (2002).

 Armed with his latest album release, What It Is (2019), Carll hits the concert trail to share his thought provoking songs with American audiences.

 “It’s a snapshot of where I’m at right now on a personal level,” says Carll, from Nashville, Tennessee. “I’m just looking at the world around me and taking stock of myself, and my on and off days.”

 “It’s observation and a lot more of the internal, and trying to figure out relationship stuff. Part of it was just trying to figure out how I’m going to live and continue to let life pass me by or how I’m going to engage and find a meaningful way to do that.”

 Debuting in the Top 5 on Billboard Magazines Rock, Country and Americana charts, What It Is has already made a splash garnering praise from Rolling Stone Magazine, The Wall Street Journal and NPR Music, among others.

 Voted Best New Act by the Houston Press following the release of Flowers & Liquor in 2002, Carll’s 2004 sophomore album, Little Rock, was the first self-released album to reach #1 on the Americana Chart. Success continued for Carlls, and in 2008, his Trouble in Mind (2008) album, was ranked #60 of the year by The Village Voice. The albums single, “She Left Me For Jesus” was awarded the Americana Music Association Song of the Year. KMAG YOYO & Other American Stories (2011) was nominated for Best Album of the Year by the Americana Music Association. Spin voted the album #3 of the Best Country and Americana albums of the year. American Songwriter voted the song “Another Like You” the #1 song of 2011. Rolling Stone selected "KMAG YOYO" at #46 of best singles of 2011.

 “I’m a singer, songwriter and a storyteller,” says Carll. “My influences are country, classic rock and roll and folk. I don’t know if that defines what I do. I’ve just tried to find my own voice and explore that. From early on I realized that’s the only thing I have to offer. I’m never going to be the best singer. I’m never going o be the best guitar player. What makes me unique on a creative level?  It’s whatever pops into my head and however I take whatever skills I have and create and articulate that.”

 Forming his own label in 2015, Highway 87 Records, Carlls released his critically acclaimed Lovers and Leavers album yielding the Grammy nominated single, “Chances Are” as Best Country Song.

 “Twenty years of doing this has been a blur in a way,” reflects Carll. “It’s been a blast, but I looked up one day and realized that I wasn’t all that happy in a lot of respects. If I didn’t stop, slow down and start trying to figure it out, the next 20 years was going to go by even faster. And then there wasn’t a whole lot of the story left to write.”

 “There are times I’m trying to figure it out, and then there are times when I retreat into just trying to be an artist,” adds Carll. “Sometimes it’s hard to co-balance those two things. Staying up to date on everything that is happening and figuring it out as a small business owner. Staying abreast of all the trends and the things that are happening. I’ve been forced to do that at different points in my career. It has been something that at times I enjoy, but at times I do not.  The more time I can put into actually writing songs the better. That depends on trust and the people that work around you. Putting a good team together that you can trust to take care of that stuff. It’s not any great revelation, but it used to be that you toured to support a record. Now you do a record to support a tour. I’ve always made my money on the road. At the end of the day, I can always grab a guitar, get in the car and go play. If I do what I’m supposed to do there will be some kind of audience out there.”

 What remains most important to Carll, first and foremost, is the genuine authenticity that defines who he is as an artist, and the connection he has with his fans.

 “I consider myself very lucky and blessed to have an audience of any kind that allows me to make a living,” says Carll. “ I’m satisfied that I’ve accomplished some of the things I wanted to do. I wish I had done better. Rather than beat myself up about the past I’m trying to learn from it. So the satisfaction is not that everything worked out doing what I wanted to do, but there’s an acceptance of what’s done is done. The best thing I can do for myself, and the people I love, is to accept that and learn from it.”

 “I hope people feel some connection to my music,” adds Carll. “I hope they see some part of themselves in it.  I want to be able to make them laugh. I want to be able to make them cry. I want them to be pleasantly distracted. I want them to feel like somebody articulated an emotion that they have that gives them courage or strength. I hope at the end of the day that I’ve done more good than harm. And that what I send out to the world has some positive affect on people.”

 Hayes Carll performs at the Ardmore Music Hall, 23 E. Lancaster Avenue Ardmore, PA 19003, on Thursday April 4, 2019 at 8:00 P.M. For tickets, go to www.ardmoremusichall.com.

 To stay up to date with the Hayes Carll visit www.hayescarll.com

[largiloquent]

A terrible issue faced by we artists is conveying motion and energy in a static image. Even if a character is standing still, there's methods at our disposal to make them feel more alive. Can you drop a few bars on techniques to enhance action and add energy to a scene?

Oooh, you’re talking about animating a picture! Not animating as in, giving it actual movement, but giving the illusion of life. Which is admittedly quite difficult given that motion needs time, and time is not something we have in a single 2D image. We are essentially attempting to trick our viewers into believe that time is passing in a single instance of time. Hard stuff!

But the principles of animation can actually help us there! And this is going to get very long, so I’m gonna put it under a read more. I’m gonna take some stuff directly from the wikipedia article, but frame it in regards to 2D illustration.

1. Squash and stretch

If you’re interested in animation at all, this one is the one most people can name. It’s the illusion of compression and pulling of mass within an organic object. 

In still images, you can use squash and stretch to your advantage, to add a little more vitality to an expression or gesture. For example, look at Pinocchio here. 

His smile in the middle there is given a little more oomph by the compression of his face, while his look of surprise on the left there is emphasized by the elongation of his face. In your own face, you an see squash and stretch at work when you make an exaggerated angry face and all of your features squish toward the middle of your face, or when you open your mouth wide and everything pulls a little. 

2. Antici... pation

Essentially this is preparation for a movement. For example, if you’re drawing a punch, the movement is the punch itself. But there’s an anticipatory movement of the arm drawing back and body twisting, to prepare for the primary movement of the punch itself. We can see this in the first panel of this baseball player getting ready to throw the ball.

This one is a little more nuanced to use in 2D illustration, but can definitely be used to great effect. It can give a sense of potential energy within an image, of being on edge for something to happen. 

In a single image, you can also draw both the anticipatory action and primary action together, and this can also create the illusion of time, and thus, motion, happening.

3. Staging

This one can be a very subtle means of conveying animation and life in a 2D image. If you’ve ever worked theater, you know that during a scene, where you place your characters is very important. Where you place them is going to help direct the audience’s eye toward where drama is happening, or away from places you don’t want them seeing. Viewing at certain angles is going to not only look better, but allow the audience to better read the expressions on the actors. This can be done in simple things like how you position characters when they’re talking to each other, by turning them outward, slightly, rather than having them speak head-on. It’s not technically realistic, but your audience isn’t really going to pay attention, and it’s going to look better. #aesthetic.

You can implement this in a single character by themselves, and their silhouette.

And you can do this in the composition itself, to lead the viewer’s eye toward where you want the action to be focused.

4. Straight Ahead Action vs. Pose to Pose

This one, admittedly, is a little harder to apply to 2D illustration. But it can be, if you tweak it a bit. In animation, this is referring to two different approaches to drawing a scene. Straight ahead means you go from frame 1 to frame 10, in that order. Pose to pose means you draw out the key frames, like frame 1, 3, and 7, and then draw the interval frame. 

In 2D illustration, I would hearken this to drawing with guidelines, and drawing straight ahead. Drawing with guidelines, drawing the important parts first then filling in the rest, will give you consistency and help you stay on-topic for what you’re trying to do. Drawing straight ahead, such as drawing the head, then the neck, then torso, etc., is going to give the drawing a little more exaggeration and life, but it’s very easy to go off-model or make mistakes.

5. Follow Through and Overlapping Action (and mirroring)

This principle relates to giving and object the sense of obeying the laws of motion. Follow-through relates to looser parts of a character or object’s mass, that continue to move though the person or object has stopped. For example, hair, loose clothing, loose skin, will stop a little bit later than the rest of the body. A basset hound might run into the wall, and then a second later, its ears slap the wall. Follow-through is one of the BEST principles for giving a 2D image the illusion of movement. The loose elements of a character can show exactly where they just were. Even if the character isn’t moving, drawing their hair or a scarf moving around is going to very easily fool the audience into thinking the character is moving.

Overlapping action is the idea that different parts of the body have different timing. If your head is bouncing, that’ll probably have a different timing than the walk cycle. This would be starting another movement, before the first movement has terminated, continuing after it has. So, say you show a character jumping, the legs might stop, but the arms and torso continue moving for another couple of frames. So, in 2D illustration, if I’m drawing a character stopping their twirl, I can show the hair still moving and starting to slow down. Or, say I were drawing a character landing, crouching and ready to attack, I can show the hair coming down, their body station, and then their hand grabbing a dagger, ready to attack--which helps build anticipation.

And related to these two is the concept of avoiding mirroring. Symmetry in movement. For example, take a look at Pacha here:

His hands are doing related actions, but not mirrored. This helps create a sense of organic life. Even if the limbs are doing the same thing, you can show minute differences, such as if you have a flying character, you can show the wings fluttering slightly differently. In expressions, you can avoid mirroring by having an expression slightly tilted or squished to one side. 

(In a subversion though, mirroring can often show power in a character. Solidity, sturdiness. Inorganic-ness.)

6. Slow In and Slow Out

Again, this one’s kinda more for animation and less for 2D illustration. But can be tremendously useful in sequential art, like comics and panelling. The premise though, in animation, is devoting more time to the beginning and termination of an action, rather than the middle. There are more frames at the beginning and end of a punch, than during the middle. We can take this as emphasizing the beginning and ends of an action, rather than using the middle. Show a punch either at the beginning, or the end--rather than in the middle of the swing.

7. Arcs

Funfact: organic motion tends to move in arcs--not in straight lines! The bounce of a walk cycle follows an arc. The swing of your hand follows an arc. 

Even implementing arcs in your gestures and guidelines can help create the illusion of movement!

8. Secondary Action

Honestly I’d probably lump this one in with overlapping action, but try to have a secondary movement, when drawing a character. For example, having a character swinging their arms when they walk, swinging their hair, swinging a yoyo, things like that. So long as it is emphasizing the primary movement, and not drawing attention away from it. 

9. Timing

Related to staging, in 2D art, how you compose an image can create a sense of time. In Western media, we read left to right. Knowing this, we can place things in certain ways in the image, so that the reader’s eyes follow a natural line that gives a sense of motion. Placing the person about to throw a baseball on the left, and then the batter on the right, then a panel following with the pitcher throwing the ball, creates the illusion of stalling. Of the camera lingering, before the pitcher throws the ball. Whereas you place the batter on the left, and the pitcher on the right, followed by a panel of the pitcher throwing the ball, this will create a different feeling of time. The first is Pitcher........ batter, throw, whereas the second is Batter.......... pitcher, throw. 

You see what I mean?

10. Exaggeration

This one has a lot of subjectivity to it. Exaggeration can really help give a scene a lot of energy, Push a character from slightly falling over to heavily falling over creates a lot of dynamicism, but at the same time, can sometimes take away from a more serious tone wanted for the scene. And, of course, this can depend on the level of realism one employs in the first place. But even when drawing more realistically, don’t be afraid to push things, just a little. Sometimes knowing when and how to do that can really make things pop and grab the reader’s attention.

Personally, I try to go by Van Gogh’s philosophy: Exaggerate the essential, leave the obvious vague.

11. Solid Drawing

This is your basic know how to draw shape and form. In order to know how to animate, to bring life to an illustration, you have to be a good draughtsperson. Someone who understands the principles of drawing, of art, and how to translate 3D forms into 2D shapes. Which means doing realism studies. Sorry, no gettin’ out of that one.

12. Appeal

This is just knowing how to employee Golden Means, how to compose things in a way that is pleasing to the eye and draws the reader in. Giving characters charisma, as it were. Likability, even if they are not sympathetic. This helps engage the viewers, and get them to care about what is in the image, rather than having them skim over the image and move on. This one takes a little time to really get, but will become second nature as you go through art.

There you have it! I’d really recommend looking up various sources on the 12 Principles of Animation, as it is one of the best tools I’ve ever found for helping to give the illusion of life in a static image. c: Hope this all helped!

[alengthyread]

Online Problems

It’s tough when you have an entity, or an element, where it’s supposed to make your life enjoyable. Proper use is essential to literally control the amount of time you’re gonna spend on it. When I dealt with StarCraft 2, I knew that I was going to have forms of problems, because someone told me that it’s a two year commitment with literally ten thousand hours. I got over the hump, but am saying that now I have no weakness, it’s gotten to be a yoyo, and it’s really play for fun. But the thing with this computer game is that everyone @ battlel.net is trying to knock you over to the loss column. Am saying this as the entity and/or the element computer, because you can’t be blind that this has wreak havoc. There’s really no blaming, because it’s pointless to do so, it’s stupid, and that’s because it’s a market behaviour, no one can go in front of Apple in a busy mall, and say heinous stuff about it. I double checked the validity of this news with a civil war in Facebook, and am talking about internal affair of a civil war. And apparently the founder Mark Zuckerberg has social problems, and the whole company is afraid that he’ll take his matters to Congress. There’s a civil war because Facebook apparently is destroying global community. When I log in into my profile each morning, I really just focus two to three people, sometimes I may have an idea what each person is planning if I see the green, active light on Chat. I don’t know if it’s my business mind, or a lifestyle thing where I just focus on two to three people. I don’t know why, probably because it’s easier than two hundred. I just feel that Facebook is dangerous once it is abused.  It’s just that if you have to have one thousand friends, and five hundred likes on a single post, that to me is a problem. I understand it’s a fine line of judgement, maybe you do really love your friends, and that you have to have some connection on a daily basis. It’s just that if you have to have so much attention... That’s a problem. Because there’s competition here, it’s who has the best stuff from job title to material, “Who’s the hottest?” Obviously we all know that, that’s stupid, and that we all know we should walk away from it. It’s destructive.  Again, when phones were being made, it should’ve stopped at some version, because now it’s being changed into a clothing line, am saying that the flip, the innovation, and release is basically good as a Walmart product. Again you can’t cry to Apple, you can’t go to the mall and yell, “Treason!” Am never gonna solve this problem, because there’s addiction involved, there’s a health problem involved. And I think it’s only proper that Facebook has to have this civil war, let the engineers kill each other with their rulers and calculators. It’s a serious problem, I go to YouTube for hip hop music, and I see some hits/views on this site that’s over one billion. I also have an idea that other things need to be done that’s more important financially, but business can be remodelled where this become the main source of finance. I will follow the civil war. I don’t entirely research what others are going through with social media. I just kinda’ hear hindsight that it’s damaging. I write this because I did give up on society, I knew it was gonna be a problem in terms of people stuck on texting, I find it inhumane to prefer the iPhone than me in a dialogue or conversation. Deep down I know that this can’t be reverse, this is a situation where it’s cancer, I really think it’s good as dead: Stage 4. The reports of this civil war is that it’s destroying society. My only problem is that Mark Zuckerberg will go to Congress to fight for what he wants, and obviously his large sum of money. Am using WordPerfect now, and I upload this using tumblr, am not gonna promote both softwares. Am just disappointed, I wanted this thing where it could add value to individuals, but I didn’t know that it would turn out destructive. The flip became sad instantaneously, because when we have to see something, you have to depend on YouTube, or the search engine. Last night I figured out how to plumb my clogged sink, but the housing here in Solmar has two contractors ready to be submitted with house problems. And that walk of life no longer exists, am glad that I worked it with my own two hands, but that hi-hello type of dialogue is amiss, because I see some of these guys here in this small town, and we could kid around women we may encounter, but it’s a subtitle of YouTube. I could see the modern way, because outside I see the pick up trucks, and that garage doors are open, and that there’s potential activity.  Because it has a system.  Parking tickets were being issued, because that “online” registration for eighteen days maximum for a year is over. Am thinking is there another way? It would be great character not to upload this. Because I don’t like it anymore, that term Civil War alone is not comfortable. Because if Facebook should shut down then where’s the balance of what’s good, and what’s bad? But if you’ve stayed healthy then no harm. I learned that media is a tool, when I did photography my mom suggested right away to have them printed at the photo lab in Walmart, and I adhered and everything, but am like, “Facebook is easier and accessible.” It’s tough because we work hard for our photography. It’s tough when your material is not at the store. Obviously you go about your own discretion, am okay uploading my writing material, at least thus far, I’ve been doing this a long time, and it never bothered me to freely just share it. It’s tough when you’re not potentially being incomed. I understand that I can’t under estimate it, I’ve seen situations when it could’ve been over a million dollars just posting photos on Facebook. I can’t under estimate it, it’d be stupid to say that Facebook is useless, and pointless. It’s just the physical copy.  It’s different when you get it from a store. Obviously it’s digital versus physical.  When all that mp3 file came available, I went about it.  But out of artist support, I’ve gone to HMV and SunRise to buy physical copies. With pictures, I have three cameras, but eventually I went about getting a Van Gogh calendar.  And I went to an art gallery numerous times in Milton, Ontario. I know my work, I love seeing photography from other people. With blu-ray and dvd, I went about that production. What am saying is that, because I have enough albums on my profile. Am saying that I went to Erindale Park and took a picture of the grass and trees. Cool? Again, if a YouTube clip gets over one billion views. I’ll skim through my albums again, I just feel that it’s destroying the front page News Feed, because it’s becoming a waste. I really say it’s tough, because you can publish something by Ayyy, Beee, Ceee. It’s tough because you’re not going to be respected.  And I see that with myself, I know that eventually adriancudal dies. It’s different when you’re published by a book company.  I have here PUBLICAFFAIRS.  I have TOUCHSTONE.  I have Microsoft Press.  I have WILEY. No one’s God in this world, I just feel that growing up there was so much criticisms even for people who made it at the top.  I see this with Donald Trump, Donald Trump is the number one guy now in the world, and people still criticize him. The lack of understanding, the lack of knowledge.  Because we don’t really know his position.  We don’t know how he made it there. And say you make fun of Donald Trump, it’s really far fetch. But what happened with social media was make this commentary true to all kinds of nature, and the sad thing is that viewers believe it by being influenced. Let’s say gun violence is on the rise, what can you do personally to slow it down?  Because it’s easy to tweet and say all kinds of it. Ann Coulter I saw the other day tweet that the wall Trump promised hasn’t had a mile built on the border. It’s like you put down a situation when there’s no concrete evidence over statements.  You put it down, and then more people share the same idea, and ultimately Congress could have the same idea, and this happened literally wit John Mcain, I just feel that he had to vote, and he even promised, for the new health care, and he was the last one to make it a success, and he declined. And that Trump momentum was slowed down, and the thing is Trump’s spending a lot of his money on it. It’s weird, we have a great potential of turning things “Making America Great Again”, but it’s like, “America Stays the Same.” Everyone knows the financial problem. Maybe Trump has to say more of the problem, explain it...  But then at the same time the oval office is saying that jobs are up. There could be computer problems, but then in two months have them all smoothened up.