#or that if I had digital materials I would draw more or be better or something

[girlscience]

I tend to forget how much I love traditional art until I see someone highly skilled doing it in person

[winonaparadise]

short story 💯

wrote a very quick story about a class i took in college. if you like my writing in my videos you may like this

Five years ago today I was clawing through state university. I had switched majors in an effort to come away with something more material from my college experience – but I was also trying to earn as many credits with as few courses to keep my schooling short and cheap.

I took a heavy weighted class in “media law.” A subject notoriously as intricate as it is absolutely fucking stupid. Anything you could learn, Disney will change tommorrow. The professor was an adjunct, splitting his time between the humble basement where boys with Pulp Fiction posters in their dorms fiddled with cameras and the actual law school where he was employed some miles down the road. I have never seen Pulp Fiction, but I’ve fiddled with enough cameras and enough of the boys who own them to have reviewed it twice. This is not a problem to me now.

Then I was stupid. Twenty. And basically friendless. I spent all my time trying to make something the same way the universe spent billions of years pouring hot soup into holes and hoping life would bubble out. I studied Japanese during quiet matches of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. I never got a win, and I never got an “A” in Japanese.

Weeks of school went by as I skimmed textbooks, got high, and thought about talking to literally anyone. Academic words danced around the edges of my brain like sand. I wrote essays on the same autopilot I write today. Feverish. Flowing. Fantasizing about what it would be like to go out with someone instead of texting a girl who now lived in Japan and making ramen noodles while listening for footsteps in a digital warzone.

I did all my work. I submitted it on something called “canvas” that the muscle memory in my fingers still types in search bars to this day. I never checked my grades. I knew they were bad.

Classes dragged me through the week on a bungee cord. I lived a block away from the bulk of them and found myself drifting in halls of buildings I’d never attended just to keep myself from meandering back home to draw a bad comic about a girl who lived in hell. 

I knew nobody. I went nowhere. I struggled to do classwork alone on outdoor benches dreaming of someone speaking to me. I needed to live in hell instead.

My media law professor was late the weekend after our first term essays were due. I don’t know what mode of transportation he took to get from one school to the other but today the Carolina sun had drenched him sweaty. We were chilly waiting for him to begin.

“Just about every single one of you failed.” He spat and chugged coffee through the entire period. “While I first was grading I thought I was the one who failed.”

He didn’t let the moment of respite last. “But I also did something I’ve never done before.” He paced like my father did when a restaurant was closed early. “I gave out my first perfect score. Which prevents me from grading on a curve.”

He huffed, he assigned a new reading, and he rushed out like he had lit dynamite. “Do better!” “What an asshole.” The girl who sat next to me in every class spoke as if she had been holding her breath. “Fuck him and fuck whoever got that hundred.”

“I know right!” I launched in on her anger, feeling it too. Back and forth we complained. We walked off campus together. She had long blonde hair and towered over me. I had felt ugly and mousey next to her, but today I felt like her equal. It felt good to bitch.

“I got a fucking 50. What about you?”

“It wasn’t pretty.” I recalled how I stayed up the night before the assignment was due. I milked bullshit into a puree. I got a rush of adrenaline from killing someone with a shotgun through a door in an abandoned house on the outskirts of Pochinki. I was probably close to being expelled. “This class is too fucking hard,” she smoked and shook her head by a bus stop on Tate Street. “I’m not about to lose my freetime over it.”

“Right.” I imagined her at parties. Black silhouettes against colored lights and deafening music. Like The Social Network. “We should be partners for the next assignment,” she got out her phone and passed it to me for my number. I typed it in. I waved her off on the bus. We did the assignment together. We texted each other about our studies. We joked about finding the guy who got the perfect score and beating him senseless. I thought about talking to her about my art or what we were making in other classes, but never did.

Towards the end of the semester I had to plan the next. A whirlpool churned in my stomach as I clicked on “grades” on my campus’ online portal. I had an A+ in a single course. 

Media Law.

My friend from class texted me that she was dreading the final. I texted her that if we failed I would kill Mr. Perfect Score. She texted “lol.”

She passed the course. I got my degree so I assume I did too. We stopped texting.

That professor emailed me asking me to take a course at the law school down the road. He said he would let me sit in and see if I wanted to change majors a third time. I never replied.

A law degree would just make Mr. Perfect Score a hundred times more punchable.

[corbbbyboiii]

Keegan Russ Part 2

Part 1

fem! reader, vaginal fingering, mild degradation, AFAB reader

The second he put his hands on you, you couldn't help but melt into his arms. Your knees buckle at the sound of his voice and the promises spilling from his lips.

"Yeah, just like that," he hoarsely whispered in against your skin, feeling every ounce of resistance leave your body as he grabbed your chin and tilted your head up and to the side, giving him a much better access to your neck.

"God, please, Keegan," you quietly beg as you closed your eyes.

You couldn't help it, the man just had this certain thing... vibe(?)... aura(?) about him that just made you soak your panties through. The moment that his lips landed on your neck, you were a needy, horny mess for this man, and you can't help but shudder. He knew every button to press, every place to touch, and every word to say to turn you into a compliant, needy mess in his arms.

"So needy."

There it was again. That teasing tone that somehow always managed to make your blood boil. He knew what he was doing, and that was only further proved by the way he low out a low, rumbling chuckle from deep within his chest as he softly sucked on the side of your neck, making sure to leave behind marks.

"Asshole," you breathlessly murmur, unable to put much effort into the half-hearted insult.

"Your asshole," he playfully chided as he bit down on the side of your neck and splayed his hand over your chest, squeezing and groping at your tits through the incredibly thin material of your shirt.

"You married me. I'm all yours."

"Don't remind me," you groaned, not quite out of annoyance, more like arousal.

Keegan's ears perk up at the quiet sound of your voice, instantly recognizing the  thinly veiled arousal.

"I thought you loved me?" He playfully whined as he teasingly picked at the elastic of your waistband.

You were such a goddamn tease. Always walking around in those tight, tiny panties that barely did anything to contain that beautiful pussy and his t-shirts, which hung off your frame in such a wonderful way due to how big they were on you.

"But that's okay. I know you love me 'cause I know I love you... aannddd this wonderful body of yours," he roughly laughed as he help your earlobe between his teeth, gently tugging on it and eliciting a soft groan to come from your lips.

You couldn't help but lean into him, loving the way he played with your tits as he slipped his hand into your panties, lightly dragging his fingers over the curve of your body.

"Such a needy, little, obedient wife," he softly teased when he feels you shudder in his grasp as he slides his middle and ring fingers through your slick folds, teasing at your entrance.

"So wet for me, too."

You whimpered, something that he would be likely to tease about, and a smug grin grows on his face as your pussy greedily sucks his fingers in when he plunges his digits into you. He smiled, lowly laughing at that fact that you were so wet that your pussy was practically drooling all over his hand.

"Kee...," you whine, pleading him to stop teasing you as you desperately try to move your hips, riding his fingers before he tightly grips your hips, stopping you, and letting out a slightly annoyed growl right next to your ear.

"Not yet, hun." He punctuates his words with a quick flick of his thumb to your clit, sending a sharp pang of pleasure through your body, and drawing a surprised gasp from your lips.

"Patience, my love. You'll be rewarded for it later," Keegan coos, gently working his thick fingers into your slick, aching pussy.

If he had his way, which he usually did, he'd spend hours with his fingers stuffed deep withing your wet heat, teasing and edging you until you couldn't remember anything but his name. But, he didn't feel like doing that today. Today he wanted to make you cum until you couldn't any more.

Your pussy made embarrassingly loud and wet sounds with each lazy stroke of his fingers. Every time he rutted his digits into your dripping cunt, and every time the rough pad of his thumb rubbed slow circles around your swollen clit, it sent boiling heat to build in your abdomen, building the pleasure until he quickly pushed you to your peak.

You loudly cried out his name, your hips involuntary jerking as you came on his fingers, your delicious juices dripping from your trembling pussy and onto his hand.

"Atta girl," he hoarsely whispered against the side of your neck as you gasped and moaned and gripped his wrist. "Don't worry, you'll get more."

You're welcome. I finally mustered up the mental strength to get over my writers block to actually write a part 2 lmao. I'm also so down bad for this man it's not even funny

[ghoul-slime]

Kinktober/Ghostober 2023 - Day 3 - Gloves (Aether/Dew)

Falling more and more behind but hey, I saw Sleep Token last night and they fucking absolutely ruled. So totally worth it. Anyway, here's some Aether/Dew glove kink!

Day 3: Gloves (Aether/Dew + latex gloves, fingering, handjobs, very light medfet focusing just on the gloves)

Sure Dew misses him on tour terribly, but Aether’s recent role reassignment from the Ghost project’s rhythm guitar player to head of the ministry infirmary had come with a certain number of unexpected benefits.

Dew had realized it the day before the band had gone back out on the road, when he went down to the infirmary for one last goodbye kiss from Aether before getting on the bus and heading out on tour for the next six months. 

Aether had just stepped out of the exam room when Dew’s eyes immediately zeroed in on the pair of black gloves he was wearing. The way the shiny black latex stretched tight across Aether’s big hands, hands that were so familiar to him now piquing Dew’s brain in a completely new way. Dew inhales, flares his nostrils, goes hot under the collar when Aether pulls them off, stretching the latex taut and pulling them off with a sharp snap.

His cock twitches in his pants.

“Dew?” Aether calls his name, snaps him out of it. When he finally looks up Aether is staring down at him with a raised eyebrow.

Ever since that moment Dew has thought about them. About what it would be like to be touched by Aether while he was wearing the gloves. He fantasized about it alone in his bunk every single night with his dick in his hand. He’d gone two months before breaking, admitting his interest to Aether and begging him to send him a picture of his hands covered in latex. 

Aether did him one better, sent a video of himself with gloves on and his fat, hard cock in hand. In the video Aether stroked himself from root to tip, smearing lube around with his gloved fist, tugging himself off until he came, breathing hard and dribbling pearly white cum across the black latex, all over his hands and fingers.

Dew came watching that video so many times he lost count.

Now, months and seemingly endless months later, Dew is finally back home. Back with the quintessence ghoul he missed so achingly bad and at long last, ready to go to bed with him and try out his new special interest in person for the very first time.

Dew’s naked and laid out on the sheets when Aether walks in. His eyes dart to bare hands, he’s not wearing the gloves yet but Dew’s face still goes hot. Aether sits beside him on the mattress, gives him a gentle peck on the lips before he’s pulling Dew’s prize out of a box on his bedside table. A brand new pair of black latex gloves that he makes a show of pulling on. Slipping big hands into the tight material and pulling at the wrist, tugging and stretching the latex down his palm to his wrists. He wriggles his fingers and lets go of the latex with a snap, drawing a sharp gasp from Dew. He repeats with the other hand before clasping both together, flexing his fingers and holding them up for Dew to admire.

“Legs up,” Aether instructs. Dew complies, spreading his skinny legs open and folding them up reaching to hook his arms around the backs of his knees. 

“Good boy,” Aether smiles, taking in the sight of Dew holding himself open and completely exposed. “Just look at that,” he hums in appreciation, eyes roaming every inch of Dew’s exposed flesh. “I can see all of you. So pretty for me.”

Dew keens, spreads his legs just a little more, humps his hips into the air insistently. Showing Aether just how ready he is for this.

Aether brings one hand to Dew’s lips. “Taste?” 

Dew nods enthusiastically, opens his mouth, offers up his little pink tongue for Aether’s latex-covered fingers to pet at. Dew sucks them in, laps at his digits, slips his tongue between his fingers, relishing in the unfamiliar taste and smooth texture of latex on his tongue.

Dew looks up at Aether with glassy eyes when he draws away. Swipes his tongue across his lips, chasing the taste of the gloves.

Aether chuckles fondly at Dew’s enthusiasm, reaches to the bedside table to pump a generous squirt of lube into the palm of his hand, smearing it around until his glove is shining and wet. He reaches between Dew’s legs to pet one finger across his fluttering, pink hole and Dew lets out a sharp oh as the cool lube makes contact with sensitive skin.

He rubs the pad of one finger around Dew’s hole, letting him take in the feeling of the smooth lube-coated latex against his entrance. Dew closes his eyes, mouth slack and lips parted when Aether slides in slowly with his middle finger, pushing in to the last knuckle before withdrawing again.

He fingers Dew with that slow pace, pushing in and out, letting Dew linger on the feel of the gloves, of the slick and slippery latex and Aether’s thick fingers sliding inside his body. Working him open, slow and steady and wet.

Aether pulls out, pumps more lube into his hand before he’s crowding his two middle fingers together and pushing back in. He feels his way in deep, until he’s crooking his fingers up, petting at Dew’s insides with the latex-covered pads of his fingers. Dew cries out when Aether finds his prostate, pressing firm and rubbing back and forth with wet, slippery fingers. 

Dew’s grip on his legs goes white as Aether fucks in and out, setting a rapid pace, flicking the pads of his fingers repeatedly against his most sensitive place. The latex of the gloves makes it even more slippery, lets Aether push in even deeper. The wet sounds of Aether’s fingers working Dew’s tight little body open have Dew gasping, legs quivering as he fights to hold himself open, cock kicking out a steady stream of pre as Aether fucks into him.

Dew is close to shooting all over himself when suddenly Aether stops, pulls his fingers out and leans back to admire his work. He groans at the sight of Dew's slick, wet hole, pink and stretched open so pretty from Aether’s fingers. Aether takes it in, the way Dew’s skinny little chest heaves as he struggles to even out his breaths, the way his claws leave little red indents in the skin where he holds his own legs open, the way his pretty little hole gapes and winks at him, begging to be filled again.

Aether pumps a squirt of lube into his free hand, rubs both palms together, wetting his gloves completely before he’s reaching back in, smoothing his fingers across Dew’s hole, petting at his balls, pressing a wet thumb against the sensitive skin of his perineum while Dew writhes and whines, begging with little moans and whimpers for Aether to touch his cock, to fill him up again. To let him come with Aether’s latex-covered fingers in his ass.

Aether wraps a wet glove around Dew’s straining, dribbling cock, slicking him up and jacking him off. He rubs the tip of one finger across the head of it, smearing beads of pre around, drinking in Dew’s shallow little gasps as he circles the pad of his finger around the tip, dips into the slit, rubs at the underside of the head with his thumb until he feels Dew’s legs shaking.

He crowds three fingers together on his other hand, slides in deep with no resistance and pets, finding Dew’s prostate again and flicking the pads of his fingers with short, quick strokes. Dew cries out as Aether works his cock with one hand and and fucks his ass with the other, the sound of wet latex on skin filling the room alongside Dew’s sharp little gasps, guttural moans, and pleas for more.

“That’s right, baby,” Aether encourages him, pressing in deep and jacking him off faster. “Cum for me sweetheart, cum all over my fingers. Feel me inside of you and cum for me.”

Dew’s eyes fly open when he cums, back arching off the bed as Aether wrings the orgasm out of him, petting in deep with his fingers until he feels Dew stop spasming around him, until his cock stops spitting ropes of cum across his heaving chest and belly.

Dew lets his shaking legs drop to the bed, struggles to push himself up on his elbows as Aether pulls his fingers out of him, lets his softening cock rest against his now-wet stomach. He groans at the sight of Aether’s hands, gloves filthy and wet, completely covered in lube and cum. Dew lets his head fall back against the pillows and he giggles, satisfied and spent and totally boneless.

Aether tugs the gloves off, balls them up together and tosses them into the bedside trash before he’s diving in to kiss his little ghoul on the lips, running his sweaty fingers through Dew’s even sweatier hair.

As they kiss, Aether thinks of all the other fun supplies in the infirmary that Dew might be interested in trying out next.

[doshmanziari]

Without a doubt, and by far, the most marginalizing development I've seen within media analysis over the past decade is a shift towards the production of long, flashy videos which tend to require the same for a dialogue to occur. Literally nothing which has been written about Elden Ring, for example, since its release has enjoyed even a fraction of the visibility as a one-hour-and-forty-minutes video by Joseph Smith, or another of similar length by NeverKnowsBest. I don't know when exactly the shift started to happen most obviously -- maybe 2016 or 2017 -- but, today, circumstances are such that pretty much the only way to get real discursive traction on your thoughts about a piece of media is to make a colossus of a video.

Although worried and worrying discourse has complemented the unveiling of newer public A.I. technologies, we've already done a perfectly fine job of out-dating other forms of media communication by way of the aforementioned analytic format; just as, of course, earlier methods of industrial production rendered a whole variety of professions or emphases as outmoded. If you don't have the relevant editing tools at your disposal and/or don't want to spend hundreds of hours cropping footage and making it fit with music and your own narration, well -- too bad! And even then, of course, there's no guarantee that your video will reach your desired scale of an audience. I've found dozens of such videos on YT channels with only a few thousand views, if that; and on each channel it's clear that the people finally gave up after the monumental task of assembling these videos had no equivalent payoff.

Personally, I do still believe in the primacy of the text (or the spoken word, with no competing stimuli); in text as the primary form of critical engagement. More than that -- if I'm going to read a non-fiction work, I want the paged book, and not a digital version. Now, this preference is just that: a preference. And it surely is a preference a good number of people share. I find that a paged book lends itself better to my own retention of the material; and I really enjoy making my notes on the book's paper with a pen. But I don't believe that the construction of multimedia behemoths should be a baseline requirement for discourse.

I wonder if we will, in the near future, start to see some resurgence of the valuation of unembellished textual analysis complementing a more general fatigue with Internet-derived overstimulation. I've already run across numerous channels with fairly sizable communities where there is an appreciation for the "simplicity" of the formats: a person in a room just talking to the camera. I think a lot of people like engaging analysis where the only barrier of significance is devising a good script. To be sure, this is a formidable barrier in itself. I find writing long-form pieces to be the most difficult of any of my creative practices (which include drawing, painting, and music composition). But if writing on media were my main passion or goal in life, I'd feel fairly crushed to know that these projects now required me to put in perhaps quadruple the amount of time to make a blip on the radar of engagement.

EDIT: Thinking on this -- I wonder if there's a parallel to be found in the realm of supplementing one's work with excess-entertainment via social media engagement; e.g., daily Instagram videos. "Excess-entertainment" refers to material that's being made not because everyone who's making it wants to make it, but because each person is now beholden to an abstractly instituted algorithm of engagement -- an algorithm reinforced by audiences who, also under algorithmic influence, will wonder what's going on if a week goes by without something from a Content Creator.

Most artists who I've talked to regarding their Instagram videos say they would be only too happy if they never had to do another upload showing them adding paint or linework to a work-in-progress with lo-fi beats. Similarly, I wonder how many people making these mega-videos actually want to make them, and if we're not rather seeing the production of this material under a mutual, and mutually untrue, assumption of necessity, and the demands of a largely imaginary audience; and how long they'll be able to keep the act up, given the certainly enormous time investments they require (while noting that I am sure the more successful people hire others to do most of the editing for them).

[master-of-the-game]

seeing you make oil paintings of elim garak has changed something about the way i perceive art, both in what others make but also in what i am capable of making.

it’s probably due to learning mostly euro-centric art history, but i’ve always thought of oil paintings as like the peak of painting ability? like, it’s fancy and it takes a while so i thought that it must be the best (ignoring the fact that my artistic field is mostly in acrylic paints and 3D sculpting and yet i still consider it very good). and i’m still working on disproving this sort of mentality that there are mediums inherently better than others, because it’s incredibly limiting to my creativity to impose a higharchy, and also it feels kind of xenophobic.

i digress a bit. point is, i’ve viewed oil paintings as a medium only deserving of gallery-type realistic portrait stuff, which is very much not what i do. i don’t make the sorts of fancy art rich people would pay for- the type of art i thought oils were for. i make paintings of comic book characters and sculptures of my personal heroes, i make jewelry and clothes and stuffed animals. stuff that i enjoy. which is good!

but still somewhere lurking in my brain was this voice telling me that on some level my works weren’t as meaningful or creative because they were fan works or made from materials i’m not an expert in or because the only people i draw and paint and sculpt are queer and trans, like me. that because my art was self-indulgent, on some level i suppose i thought it lesser.

but then i see your art. and holy shit! you’re work is INCREDIBLE! at first i was excited because, hey, i’m a big star trek fan, and garak is one of my favorite characters. i love coming across fan art of him, and it always manages to strike a chord with me. but then. as i looked at it closer, i realized it was on canvas. as i scrolled down i realize it was oil on canvas.

before, i’d pretty much only seen fanart as sketches on paper or digital drawings. one that is really only meant art-wise for quick sketches or planning of what will become “real” works, and one that doesn’t actually take up any physical space in our world, and is stored away in a little digital file.

but oil on canvas? that’s not meant to be thrown away, it’s meant to be held in gloved hands, as it is precious, and it’s not meant to be hidden away in the “files” on a laptop. no, those hang on the walls of museums or houses, meant to be displayed with pride for all to see.

and with those too colliding thoughts, that of fan works as some lesser form of art but oil paintings being the art of the rich and talented… well i realized that both were wrong. fan works are not in any way shape or form lesser than original works. what makes my layered ink painting of dream of the endless any less important than my painting of the ocean during a storm? nothing! they’re both good works. and on the other side, there is nothing that makes my oil paintings more important than my acrylic paintings or my sculpture or my knitting. it’s all art, lovely art, in the end. and the only thing that really matters is that i enjoy it.

seeing your art has helped me break some (minor) yet harmful thoughts i didn’t really even realize i had. so thank you for that. also your garak art is fucking good, and it really makes me think about what sort of life he would have after ds9. anyways, thank you. that’s what i’ve been meaning to say (that’s what this whole thing is). thanks for changing my vision for the better.

Oh wow! You know, it is very important and gratifying to know that results of your work make person rearrange their thoughts and views on something. Thank you for your sincerity! Now back to subject. I personally believe that fan work can be something fine and vice versa something fine can be a fan work. One thing that is very important to remember and remind yourself is that most of fine art that you've mentioned - gallery and most famous works (at least in european tradition) - are, well, derivative. Of Bible, of ancient myths. Yes. All this stuff can be considered maybe not fanart - but it is a subject for discussion - but illustration at least. And it is still fine art. Book illustrations - oh well. Sometimes I want to hang them on the wall, especially old ones. So - why not? Fan work always has a connotation of something derivative, and it certainly is... But just as well as most of the most prominent works. Dixi :D So that's the matter. Medium of course matters but medium does not always define the subject of art (except for common sense), as you've said. It's just maybe the cost of medium (some watercolor brushes for some reason cost... ehm. Too much :D) that defines its price, but not necessarily. I like thinking about this issue and discussing it... Plenty room for ideas. Thank you!

[noircartoons]

Bauhaus, 1920 vintage poster

Ofélia SQ @abstract-mind

It was 2AM, yet i found myself looking at products with discount in the abyss that is online shopping. An addicting desire to find a decoration for our wall, one just for myself. Even if i have to share this wall with four people—this small corner, this painting, is mine.

I found a poster i had not seen in quite some time. The poster did not credit an artist, it only said "Bauhaus 1920 vintage poster". The art was clearly done digitally, to be mass produced and sold online effortlessly.

I found myself...drawn towards those posters. They were pretty, yes—but not in the way a flower is pretty. In the way a siren song is pretty. I was never one to fall for sirens myself, i have few desires to fill me with such carnal instincts to seek for it at all costs once under a spell, the feeling of it being so close you could dig your canines into it's neck is enough to speed any man's heart.

That was not what i felt, no. It was a whisper, almost. I was unsure what had drawn me in. I could see beautiful colors and lines without the desire to buy them, what is different about this one? It was simple enough and i knew enough techniques that i could repaint it myself, but it was not enough, it would have flaws—i needed the one they sold. The one forever frozen in this A3 paper that would either catch dust in my wall or be forever locked inside it's plastic bag, gasping for air as no treasure has ever asked to become a treasure.

I pondered more over my strange feelings, if it could be remade and did not impress me that much, what made me feel this way? Why could no other poster strike my attention like this one? Why did i feel incomplete without it?

A friend of mine, an anarchist at heart, would call it blantant consumerism. A hole barely disguised with a carpet of leaves, only waiting for me to get distracted. Yes, i understood his reasoning, but i was far too inteligent to be compared to such a foolish act! Yet, my brain failed to provide me with any other results,

for such a simple question none the less; "Why do i like this?"

I look at the corner of our room. It has several canvases, some unfinished, some white, some complete. My piece is there, as well. The only piece i had ever produced: A painting inspired by these posters, abstract and with limited colors, though the materials were what shined. A patchwork of handmade canvas fabrics, glued in several spots, barely connecting, over a plane piece of paraná paper. Behind the paper, i had painted and glued some cheap thin foam that was used as a pizza plate under the store bought pizza we cooked. My anarchist friend is the one known for recycling, yet when i broke that foam to throw it out, I found it beautiful.

That was my first and only painting. I struggled to paint since, despite wanting to. When i look at these cheap, consumerist posters, it's my art that i see. Is that what drawns me in?

When my anarchist friend began volunteering in an art gallery, i found that people tended to like art that they could see themselves in. My friend had very intense emotions despite his calm demeanor, his lines were shaken and blurred and sketchy. He refused to draw otherwise. He refused to draw prettier, or more convenient. He enjoyed a canvas that was too small, and other that was taller then him. He enjoyed throwing his ink on the canvas to the point he always had to shower after a painting to get the nankin off of his hands and thighs.

I believe my fascination with him...would be how strongly he carries himself. He is no shadow, the sun competes with him for attention. I do not need such futile things, no. I do not need to be remembered, or known. Yet, when we're in an exposition together, he photographs everything with so much passion, he sees everything with so much beauty, he gives all of his body to his paintings to the point i wouldn't be surprised if he covered himself in paint and rolled over a canvas.

I believe...he is a better poet than me, although visually. He gets a good part of the wall for his art. I only made my only painting, that once it had dried the first thing i did was change completely its color palette and repaint it. When i was in the art gallery with him, all i could find where things i'd do differently, or feel nothing at all. I fear my love of art is not enough to melt my dried heart into proper ink to finish writing this poem.

It is 2:30, and i have yet to find out why i love those cheap Bahaus posters, made specifically to sell. I believe, on one hand, i understand being superficial to better sell yourself. It is all i know how to do. On the other, there's a beauty in the abstract, on not needing to be understood. Perhaps it is just a pretty poster with lines that overlap and find each other, or sharp black and white pinaccles against a burning red sky. Perhaps it is just a red square against a cream colored background. There is no texture and no technique, it is a commercial design over a painting. There are much better abstract paintings over there, with fantastic techniques. Yet—this is the one i'm drawn towards. There is nothing special about it besides it's superficial beauty, but perhaps i can find a beauty on it if i seek hard enough. And perhaps, i will want to seek that beauty on myself, as well.

[attyattlaw]

heyyy I'm new to digital art, would you mind sharing some tips regarding programs and tutorials and etc? also on how to turn a real life piece into a beautiful and clean digital piece... really love your art

oh good luck with your art journey! my experience with digital art is pretty dated (as in a decade + levels dated) and i might be too out of touch to give beginner tips but regardless, allow me to attempt

Programs: it would help to know which hardware you have for digital but ill put down some i have experience in 1. Clip Studio Paint Pro - PC/Android/ipad/everywhere i think? unfortunately they betrayed humankind and its now a subscription everywhere but on PC. i bought a one-time license years years years ago on sale and its probably the best available on my end. I also got it on subscription on android so i can sync works between my PC and tablet. its very flexible in a way that you can draw with it in the most basic way single layer sketches or whatever but they have so many features and keep adding more.

2. procreate - ipad only never been an apple user but my friend is, and he's been a procreate user forever. he recently tried CSP on ipad though and he still claims he likes procreate better for ease of use and compatibility with tablet ergonomics and apple pen

3. medibang paint - pc/android/ipad

free forever. and out of all the free programs i recommended my other digital art newbie friend this is what he liked best.

4. adobe photoshop - dont even look at this the only reason i have one is im leeching off company license. its still unfortunately the industry standard tho but CSP is much cheaper and has the same controls and most of the basic functions 5. Paint Tool SAI - my first art program but i haven't tried it again. honestly still think this has the best brush flexibility and pen pressure control ----- As for tutorials, i find digital art has such a steep and high skill ceiling and its a challenge im still tackling and probably will forever tackle haha. I'm trying to osmosis painting techniques from splash art painters from League of Legends who most of them post complete timelapses (my favorite being Bo Chen) where you can study not just their techniques but like, art directions that make their pieces striking. Anyway, I also promised a friend I would make a simple coloring tutorial so maybe after inktober hustle, I would look for a piece there I'd use for the guide.

---- Traditional to digital is never a satisfactory process to me but if you can, invest on a scanner. I use an epson v39, had it for years.

scanned vs edited. the goal is to at least get the white of the paper as white as possible and the blacks the blackest, without whitewashing/burning the rest of the colors. Level correction function is your best friend here and most art programs have that.

Then i just clean dust and errors and slide the contrasts around until it looks as close to the original piece

If you have a decent phone camera, you can get away just posting instagram aesthetic pics with materials framing it or smth and just edit as usual. natural light tends to be a lot more forgiving than the harsh light of scanners anyway.

Anyway I hope this helps and have fun learning!

[tropigar]

Hey millie! Do you have any advice or tips on someone who has no idea where to even begin getting commissions? I love seeing all your stream art on my dash n thought you might have some ideas

Hi! I have a few pointers. And thank you, that is very kind :)

You'll need a payment processor. Paypal is pretty defacto in the art community. I always send invoices and it helps the transaction go smoother and gives you some control over the details and is better for recordkeeping purposes. You'll also need a platform to advertise your commissions on. Ideally this is just the same place you post your art and you have established yourself with a decent amount of art and some time on the platform to build an audience. There are artist-for-hire forums and the like where commissioners can seek out artists but I find the ratio of artists to commissioners tends to be astronomical so getting commissions on there can be difficult (I've never used them for that reason, if anyone has and wants to chime in it'd be appreciated!)

You'll need some way to advertise your commissions and organize the information. I use trello, I love that I can have my prices, TOS, examples, queue and finished pieces all in one spot. When you advertise your commissions an image that leads potential customers to your information helps. Some people make an image sheet with their examples and prices and TOS all included but honestly I've found that's more work than it's worth. The less digging customers have to do to find your commissions, the better.

You'll need to know what sort of commissions you want to offer. I see a lot of artists newer to offering commissions offer options for sketched, lined, colored, and shaded pieces that are also split by headshot, half-body, and full-body, so that's already 12 potential commission options, and then throw on options for backgrounds and props and such... less is more. Excessive options can be overwhelming and generally people will gravitate to one end (sketches if they're low on funds) or the other (fully rendered if they really like your work and have the cash). I try to keep it simple, I had my sketch headshots at $10 and lined fullbodies at $50-$70. Finding a "niche" is great! I did psychedelic portrait commissions and that was my best selling commission option for awhile.

As far as pricing goes that is a personal decision with a lot of variables. With digital art material costs are hardly a consideration but time spent making the piece, your skill level, and demand all are. I always start with an estimation of how long it takes me to complete a piece and go from there, I start at $20 an hour because that's how much I need at a full-time job to get by. If I think something will take me about 3 hours that's a $60 commission. Sometimes that does bite me in the butt and I end up spending something like... 16 hours on what I estimated would take me 8. Personally I always just eat the difference because I care more about providing a good experience for my commissioners than getting every penny :P I also charge up-front so it would feel unprofessional to go back and ask for more. Your commission prices should really be more of a rough estimate than a guaranteed quote, subjects can vary greatly in complexity, you don't want to charge the same $50 for a fullbody if some characters can be drawn in 2 hours and others take 6. Personal advice... if you are struggling to sell your art for say at minimum $10 an hour, it is either your skill level or your marketing / visibility. If it's the former, I really recommend stepping away from taking commissions for the time and spending a couple months or so working on developing your art skills. You will thank yourself later!

It's also important to know where your strengths and weaknesses lie. If you struggle with drawing backgrounds it's better to find that out in practice rather than on a commission while you're suffering through trying to figure out how to make rocks look like rocks or incorporate lighting and that sort of thing not that I would know what that's like, haha no wayyy.

You'll need a terms of service and there's a lot of considerations that go into that:

will draw / won't draw (can you draw xyz species? backgrounds? technology? etc)

turnaround time, queues (how long will it take to finish, a week or two months at most? do you finish commissions in a certain order?)

slot limits (how many outstanding commissions will you take at a time? it's important not to bite off more than you can chew)

payment options (how will they send you the money? also, when? up front, 50 now, 50 later?)

refunds (how will you refund if you can't complete a commission? do you offer refunds if requested by the buyer and at what time? if so, are they partial refunds determined by progress completion?)

work in progress images and revisions (do you offer WIPs? at what stages? how many revisions will you make? do you charge for additional revisions?)

usage rights (what will you do with completed commissions? just use as portfolio pieces? what can the buyer do with commissions? can they draw over them, crop and color filter, use as icons, print off, use commercially? if commercial applications is a considerations you need additional terms on that)

contact methods (email, discord, the same platform as posted, etc. how often will you reach out to them?)

anything else you can think of that would be relevant.

Having a public queue is good so people can see how much work you've done on their commission and/or where in line they are.

When working with commissioners it's important to be clear on what they're looking for. Have a character reference if applicable, know a bit about their personality and maybe how they want them depicted. Also things like time frames and resolution might be important.

And social skills is an obvious one. Be corteous and all that. Not much advice I can offer in that area. Be transparent, don't be rude, and you'll probably be fine lol. Overtime, you get practice with some less obvious things like commissioner personality types and vision and are better able to tailor your approach to what works best for the client. Some people just want to see their character in your style, others have a specific vision in mind, that sort of thing.

There are a few other things I can think of like, I really recommend you give yourself a month minimum turnaround time as breathing room for commissions (and if you finish it faster, hooray!), also I generally recommend charging 100% upfront (or something like 50/50 on larger commissions), I could go off on a few different things but that's more personal advice and opinions and this is getting to be a long post already :)

Also, take a look at a few different artists that offer commissions and what their process looks like and go from there!

If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask and I'd be happy to help ^^

[spinetacks]

i was wondring how you started custom painting because i'm a beginner with little to no experience but i've started to have an interest in it. what would be your recs for beginners? anything would be helpful really! i'm mostly looking to do custom painting on action figures and dolls but maybe start at a larger scale first

hi! you do need a slightly intimidating amount of materials for starting out, but it really doesn’t matter what quality it is apart from a few things !

things you absolutely need regardless of project are a primer/sealant like mr. super clear (very important, materials won’t stick to the doll without it!) and a mask for using it, something for removing the factory paint like acetone (results really vary so this takes some experimenting! acetone can melt some types of figures. some people say rubbing alcohol works but I haven’t had much luck with it. some figures require a soak but generally you can remove paint with cotton buds and a lot of scrubbing), soft brushes (like makeup brushes), medium paint brushes, at least one good quality fineline brush, something pointy like toothpicks or a nail dotting tool

from there it’s pretty optional what you use! though I’d recommend always having gloss for finishing the eyes/lips regardless

for shading/tone/blushing you can use chalk pastels ground up and applied with soft brushes or washes of watered down acrylic paints (watercolour paints aren’t suitable!)

for details you can use acrylic paints, watercolour pencils, or especially for action figures you can use paints like citadel (I don’t have much experience with these, but they’re much more permanent and better than acrylics for things like repainting the hair colour on figures and doing really solid details like tattoos. I think they’d be good for a strong painterly style!). please don’t be tempted to use fineline pens 🤧

other stuff: kitchen paper/a cloth for wiping brushes off, cotton pads/cotton buds for applying pastel and cleaning, if you can get a magic eraser™️ they’re very useful for gently removing pastel. palette for mixing and thinning paints

preparing is quite a long process! remove paint, wash them in warm soapy water, make sure they’re 100% dry, 2 base coats of primer. boring but important stage 😴

always make sure things are 100% dry before you use primer/sealant or you’ll get bubbles on the surface 🫧

in my experience pastels work best for larger dolls, where as little figures work better with washes of paint and some blotting

on larger dolls you can use watercolour pencil to plan shapes with a steadier hand and then paint over them. on small figures sometimes you have to use kind of roundabout methods to get a result;; (like you just can’t draw an eye! too tiny. so it’s more like doing lots of dotting and gentle smudging until it resembles an eye)

sealant is useful whenever you want to make sure you don’t damage the work you’ve already done, and especially if you’re using pastels and pencils - you can increase vibrancy by sealing and repeating

making a digital mockup and/or drawing the design on paper before starting work can really help

standard beginner advice for anything, but practice lots and lots! it can be really frustrating because removing the paint and starting over is a time consuming process, so having a supply of cheap dolls for experimenting on is useful. it’s definitely a type of work where you have to try things and get a feel for the materials and what works for you

ok I hope that all makes sense ;u; I have experience working with bjd, fashion dolls and wrestling figures, so if there’s anything you’d like help with hopefully I’d have answers 🙋 good luck !!

[maridiayachtclub]

let's try documenting a big Satisfactory project!

so i have this facility called SPINE. it's a multi-function structure with a stupid (but cool) name. pics under the cut because they're big:

it's bad and it could stand to be renovated.

it was one of the first large facilities i built. it was conceived as a centrally located factory that would gather in resources from the surrounding area, use them to manufacture various fundamental parts like iron plates and screws and whatnot, and then funnel them outward to specialized factories. where possible, additional functions could be built within what felt at the time like a roomy interior, and the structure could be extended upward to make more factory space within.

in addition, it was built on legs, making space underneath for three purposes:

allowing tractors and other vehicles to pass through (at the time, i had an automated tractor running stuff back and forth between a few buildings, and anticipated having a fleet of little wheely friends going to and fro)

making space for ceiling-mounted conveyor belts that would not just move materials through the building but provide the means to deliver them up into the building's interior for processing

room for aminals to wander through :)

so, seeing as this was going to be the center of a general stream of many different products needed throughout my growing factory-city, it seemed analogous to a a spinal column. hence, SPINE, or rather, S.P.I.N.E. what do the letters stand for? i figured i'd think of an appropriate combination of words eventually, but i never did. the name nevertheless stuck

SPINE has been doing what i have asked of it for a while now. the inside chambers mostly look like this

anyway, as mentioned, this was made early on, and while i think the concept is sound, the implementation has ultimately proven insufficient. the space underneath ended up being too small for the variety of materials i require to move through, as well as all the necessary branches needed to move things back and forth between the transport space on the bottom and the factory spaces inside. here's what the underside looks like:

seriously it fuckin sucks down here bro

i can't just keep extending the conveyor lines further down from the ceiling; making enough space to move all these materials and move them up into the factory requires all sorts of stupid twisty turny conveyor belt tricks. the backside, where everything funnels in, is absolutely embarrassing. wizard-of-oz-man-behind-the-curtain bullshit. glasgow willy wonka experience-ass levels of fulfillment. slapdash mickey mouse duct tape effort. real "I didn't do my homework and now i gotta make up this presentation live in front of the class and they can see me sweating" energy embodied.

the horrid tangle running through SPINE is complicated by its output, set up so that it delivers things to my central storage barn. things need to leave the facility in a very specific way, like so:

this part, at least, works fine. this massive vein of conveyor belts is a bit ugly but it works very well. i put a lot of time into designing my central storage barn (there were spreadsheets involved) and it paid off. look at this shit, look at how neatly everything gets sorted into easily accessed bins

i love it. the power fantasy of living in an organized environment, realized here in digital form!

unfortunately the clean functionality of this building just draws into stark relief how bad SPINE is. even if I spruced up its exterior, fully finishing the walls and adding fripperies such as signage and doors and lights, its core functionality is insufficient for my needs. SPINE was conceptualized and built far in advance of my understanding of what i would actually need it to do and i can't stand it any longer! no more!

so, i'm planning to tear it all down and replace it with a bigger, better-organized SPINE. in addition to making it look nicer, it could actually be expandable without adding another strand into its already tangled guts. it would give me an opportunity to incorporate the functions of numerous smaller satellite facilities, cleaning up the surrounding landscape a bit and making room for other factories i know i will have to build in time. it would, potentially, allow me to incorporate a train station or two, so products could be picked up or delivered as needed... not something i need at this time, but even if i never do, having the capability of entertaining visiting trains is a worthy goal in itself.

anyway i haven't started on that yet. SPINE 2.0 is still in the planning stages, and i'm leaving on a trip in a day or so so i'm not gonna be able to start on this project in earnest for at least a week.

i might keep documenting the project here for funsies. i love Satisfactory; it's a perfect vehicle for one of my favorite things to do in a game: turning nothing into places. if you're in a video game and you see a bunch of hills and trees and rivers and piles of iron ore and other natural features, it doesn't really mean much on its own, but spend enough time there and you grow accustomed to it. you put together a mental map, figure out whatever routes you're going to be taking through it, learn how to navigate it quickly and efficiently, and soon that random bit of wilderness is a place. the rocks you have to navigate around and the rivers you have to jump over become familiar sights. and if it's a building kinda game, and you're populating this unsullied wilderness with the mortal profanity of civilization, that place is even more place-y than before. i very much like the places i have built in Satisfactory, so regardless of how this is received, it's fun to talk about it, get some of my internal thoughts on this project down in a format that can last. at least until tumblr shutters its doors and gets sold to some venture capitalist vultures in 2026

[jadethest0ne]

Have you ever drawn traditionally? Say, with pencil?

Oh yeah, of course! That's where I started actually. I didn't get into digital drawing/art until college, and even then I mostly drew traditionally. Ironically, I was slow, and even at a point stubbornly refused to do digital art for a while. But since it became more accessible and I found that it fit will with my interest in comics and animation, digital ended up becoming my main medium!

Old art incoming!

I used mostly pens and pencils, and stuck largely with black and white, and very little color. Below are some of the oldest pieces I could find at the moment. They're from 2008/2009, when I was 16-17 years old. One is a page from an old comic that I did, and another is the rare opportunity that I had to work with copic markers

(these can still be found on my old deviantart (@/jadethestone) account haha)

I also did Inktober for a few years. For 2017 I used just ink pens, for 2018 I created India Ink portraits, and for 2019 I used some brush-tip ink-markers which were fun and colorful (all can be found on my instagram (@/renaissancef0x) if you dig far enough)

I actually really like working with India Ink and doing portraits. I even liked combining it with a bit of watercolor for a splash of color! These are my more "recent" pieces from around 2019. The second one was part of a series that was featured in a couple small galleries in Tokyo for a short time

The main reason why I don't do traditional much anymore is because it takes up physical space and materials are more expensive. Also, I became more known online for my comics and such, so that's what I started leaning towards. When I started opening up commissions, I even offered traditional portraits, but no one wanted any, so I took them off this year.

It would be nice to have more opportunities to do/show off my traditional art skills, but I'm very focused on comics and animation now and I work better digitally with them

[bigjimbopickens]

Hi! I wanna say I love your art first of all! I just read the message under your last post about Kevin’s art video and you said you’re mostly self taught - I’m curious about how you get into that? I’d love to learn to draw but have no idea where to start!

Sorry for getting back to this so late I am not as active on Tumblr. And yes, I am mostly self-taught because of my circumstances growing up. To those who don't know, I am SnowfallWarning/Big Jimbo and I am currently an animation student. I do 2D animation, concept art and character design and I graduate this year (hopefully). I am disabled both physically and mentally which is why I mostly do digital art. I have a coordination disorder (dyspraxia) and am blind in one eye but that doesn't stop me. For my entire childhood I was discouraged from drawing as I apparently wouldn't go anywhere with it or that I was terrible. Where I lived most of my life had no opportunities for someone like me so I had to leave to continue pursuing art. Because of the poor access, the only things I had was notebooks, school supplies and an old iPad mini to draw with growing up. I learned everything I currently know now from using those. I don't know what got me into drawing still, may have been Warrior Cats and dinosaurs. Like what Jose said in Kevin's video, art comes from the soul. It is human expression and we've always been doing it. Anyone can be an artist and we all start somewhere, trust me. Here's some stuff I usually tell people because I do get asked this often (I'm also not the best teacher): 1: Experiment. Find what works for you. Be messy with it, not every piece needs to be perfect. If you are a digital artist then also trying different programs can be helpful too. Maybe you're better at drawing landscapes, characters or abominations that defy God. 2: Use references if necessary. Not sure why for a while it was considered "cheating" to use references. Everyone in the industry uses references, I would know. If you also want, you can try tutorials but I found I learn more from references. 3: Take inspiration. I'm always adding things I see in other people's art to my own style if I like it. Though try not to copy them. 4: Tracing. I believe tracing is okay for learning purposes. It's how I learned to draw humans after doing exclusively furry art for years tbh. I tend to stick to real-life references for this, this is a great site for practice: https://line-of-action.com (if you're not okay with nudity then do remember to turn that off). "But where do I even start?" Grab a piece of paper and pencil (or open a blank canvas on a digital art program if you prefer that) and just start doodling whatever. If you have an idea then go for that as well. Every class I've had in college so far has started with drawing and rendering a bunch of shapes to see where everyone was at and to get a feel of our styles. So maybe try that too. Draw random shapes with different materials/brushes, colour them in and add details like shadows and highlights. I know it seems ridiculous but I do it every once in a while to experiment and try different methods. You probably won't improve overnight. Hell, it took me 7 years to get to where I currently am. A lot of people quit because they think they're not good enough when pretty much every artist is only proud of about 10% of their work. Definitely the case for me. Not every piece is going to be a masterpiece and the imperfections can be what makes it special, so please don't be so hard on yourself. Don't be discouraged because other artists may be better than you either, they've probably been doing it for longer. So please, if you are dedicated enough, keep trying. I'm sure you will get somewhere :) So basically, - Use whatever material you got and draw what comes to mind, even if it's terrible it is a great start. - Experiment with your style and/or materials. - Reference, take inspiration and trace for memory. - Don't give up but do take breaks to avoid burnout. - Try not to be intimidated by other artists, we also don't really know what we're doing tbh (and just as afraid of you as you are of us).

I hope that all made sense and was somewhat helpful :)

[gingersnappish]

Hi! I just want to say I absolutely adore your art, and I'm so excited to see your new stuff! Particularly anything Kylo Amidala related, it's my favourite au/concept of mine and I love seeing different artists takes on it!

I was just wondering if you had any advice for new artists? I want to be good at drawing but I get so discouraged when things don't come out how I envisioned.

Also, could I ask what you use to draw your art? Is it a digital setup you have? Would you have any recommendations on things to get?

Sorry to ask you so many questions, so please feel free to ignore this! I hope you have a lovely day, and thank you so much for all your wonderful contributions to the kylux fandom ❤

Thank you so much, Anon, for this lovely missive! It was such a warm feeling to find it in my inbox and brought a smile to my face! I love Kylo Amidala more and more the longer I'm in kylux fandom-honestly I wasn't sure if he was my 'thing' or not at first, years back, and then the more I saw takes on him in art and writing and fandom in general, the more he grew on me :) He allows for so much fashion fun and character creativity-like you said, it's really fun to see everyone's 'take' on him! Part of the reason it's taken me this long to respond is that I read what you asked about starting out with art and related hardcore! The thing where you got the vision but it can feel discouraging when stuff doesn't come out finished like it looked in your head? That was me for like- a couple decades. Still me on certain days. Like, MOOD, my friend! The good news is: every artists struggles with the above problem. So you are not alone! I guess in a sense, the bad news is also: 'everyone from beginners to seasoned professionals ' struggle with this....so yeah, it doesn't ever *entirely* go away? BUT! Better news: There have been a lot of 'takes' written and a lot of good advice given about how to mentally manage the 'it doesn't come out how I wanted' phenomenon! It's not so much 'make it go away' as it is 'learn to manage that phenomenon in a healthy, painless, productive way'. And that is a learnable skill that gets *a lot* easier with practice!

Also: I hoard tutorials/drawing resources for all levels/YT channels/'how to think about and approach art meta'/etc like a dragon hoards gems, so I'm putting together a post of resource links that might help or give you some starting points--that is taking a hot minute to craft though, so I figured I should just go ahead and respond here today and then post the resources list as soon as I get it finished (so you don't feel like your ask just went into the void)! Re: What I use to draw....time was, that would have been a whole post to itself on traditional materials and comparing computer programs and such. These days it's real straightforward: Procreate on an iPad :) I'm entirely digital these days but my honest opinion is that everyone is drawn to different materials and media and you should feel free to try out working in whatever interests you, whether that is digital art tools, or traditional media like acrylic or ink or something else! Also: making lots of drawings and practicing with what is cheap and available will get you farther,faster than any expensive supplies when you are starting out. Ballpoint pens and a pad from the Dollar Store (or equivalent where you are) are perfectly serviceable for practicing-plus sometimes I personally find I relax and have more fun experimenting and less angst if things don't come out how I wanted if I'm not working with something 'precious'. Case in point: I have custom-leather-worked sketchbook made by a friend sitting up in the office, being exquisitely beautiful and gathering dust. It is empty but for a single drawing, that I became unsatisfied with the day after I finished it. I got that sketchbook 7 years or more ago and I'm still trying to convince myself to use it properly. In contrast, last summer we went to the beach near our house and while we were there I ended up with access to cheap kiddie art supplies from a summer 'communal stash'-a blank sketchbook of the lowest quality paper and 10 colors of crayola pencils, half sharpened. It was a 'throw away', didn't matter what was done in that book-there were 10 more like it in the pile. I ended up doing a bunch of messy stuff born of people-watching and seagull-antics-observation. Filled 5 pages, both sides, and felt incredible joy in the making of shitty scribbles! And then I just put the book back in the 'communal stash' at the end of the day, since there were still a bunch of blank pages left. It was low-pressure and extremely freeing. (side note: when we went back a week later, the other sketchbooks were gone but that one I'd messed around in had more doodles from artists of all ages and beginning skill levels. And more the week after that. I think it turned out to be pretty freeing for a lot of people.) OK, this turned into a way longer response than I intended-boy, can I 'talk'! I hope you have a good day! Wishing you lots of positive creative vibes!

[siennanotes]

I was in elementary school when I first started loving writing my notes by hand. I would often say that it helps me study better, read the material with more intention, and is just generally therapeutic to do. However, when classes shifted online because of the pandemic, writing my own notes was no longer as efficient as I want it to be. Our university’s blocking system demanded a faster pace of learning things and although I would have loved to keep writing my notes by hand, I knew I had to adapt to the present times to make ends meet.

Who knew this day would come?—that I now use digital note-taking methods and modernized media to do my revisions. This is the reason why I haven’t uploaded a new photo in so long. I try to cling to familiarity. I attempt to produce the content I am known for; forgetting that growth is one of the most beautiful things I could actually share on this platform. Perhaps it’s because during birthday celebrations, people would wish you to “never change” when in fact, change is what keeps us alive day by day.

Being able to adapt is an important trait everyone should have and this year, my priority is enjoying the process while pursuing things that are meaningful to me. This priority requires being efficient and being mindful of my time. Here’s to longer captions and a slightly new theme that I can hopefully maintain. 🤞🏻

-

Technicalities: Notes taken above were written using a drawing tablet (XP-PEN Star G640) but captured on the iPad Pro 2021 12.9”

App: Microsoft OneNote

Camera: iPhone 11 Pro Max

Photo Editor: Instagram Stories + Snapseed

[asocialmoth]

Oh look, it's the Fakemon I've finally gotten around to posting!

Sampanggal (Ghost/Flying) and Bridanggal (Ghost/Flying) is already familiar to this blog. They are the signature Pokemon of my gym leader OC, Frills. This line is also among my oldest Fakemon I've designed and still care about. They are based on the Manananggal, a creature from Filipino mythology that I for some reason got attached to when I first heard of them. During the night, Manananggal detach their upper torsos from the bottom and grow wings. They prey on newlyweds, newborns, and fetuses, and that's why I themed them around weddings. If Bridanggal is a bride, then my thought process was its pre-evolution would be a flower girl. The flower Sampanggal is based around is the Sampaguita which is the national flower of the Philippines, and I think that reason alone is why I chose it cause I decided to recheck what flowers are used for Filipino weddings and the Sampaguita barely comes up in the webpages I found.

In the night, this line preys primarily on Pokemon eggs, although it does eat already hatched Pokemon and berries as well (Sampanggal particularly prefers berries as they're easier to eat). During the day, they hide within caves or other dark places. The Bridanggal's veil is different depending on the ability it has. Uh honestly I haven't nailed down which abilities yet though.

Catersquint (Bug) and Chitopti (Bug/Psychic) were inspired by how butterflies/moths have eyespots on their wings, basically fake eyes that scare or confuse predators. Masquerain is also based around this concept and that's why it has Intimidate but I wondered what it would be like if the eyes on these types of wings were real.

All eyes on Chitopti work independently and uses Psychic abilities to fall slower needing less flaps or do more elegant maneuvers to take advantage of its eyes. Despite them being eyes, they are covered with hard material to keep them from being easily damaged or hurt. Also Catersquint is actually blind except on its front eye which is short-sighted.

Myelanket (Poison), Scarnvier (Poison/Electric), and Saltarings (Poison/Electric) are based on neurons, myelin sheaths, and saltatory conduction. They were originally Psychic instead of Poison since I was thinking about them the same way as the Solosis line plus the fact that they're neurons, but realized that since they interact and battle with neurotransmitters which are chemicals, Poison seemed a better fit.

Anyways, myelin sheaths basically insulate neurons and lets electricty move faster by "jumping" through them to the spaces in between them (known as Nodes of Ranvier). I thought making them into scarves and blankets were a good idea because of that, though I'm not super sure about if rings were the next logical evoulution. Regardless, even if they are I feel like the execution of Saltaring's design isn't the best and subject to future redesign.

Germibuoy (Grass/Water), Aydrofyte (Grass/Water), Bulaquatic, and Lumilypad (Grass/Flying) honestly exists just because I was amused by how flying in Filipino, "lumilipad", sounds like lily pad, and I like puns. No proper digital illustration for them, I felt like I really should be saving my art time for Art Fight and drawing another full line would take some time, plus the extra sketches were cute I think. Honestly I think the line is self-explanatory, however I will note that despite being the reason the line exists in the first place, I'm not super satisfied with Lumilypad's design, particularly the wings. If I had time to digitalize this I would've probably improved it, but for now I wouldn't say its too bad.